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Published: September 12th 2008
Well, I'm back at it again! After taking a couple of years off from traveling abroad (please note, a break from traveling should never really be taken...), I am back out in the world for another thrilling adventure! Mid-morning I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa and will be here for the week. I'm so thrilled to be in city and country with such diversity and culture. I can't wait to expience all it has to offer.
The trip started off with an overnight flight to London on Wednesday, September 10. You how when you board a plane alone for a long flight and you hope that you don't have to sit next to someone that is going to chatter in your eye...well the exact opposite happened...almost. Justin sits down with a big smile and flat out jolly personality. I bearly slept, which later proved to be bad, and Justin and I traded traveling stories, life stories opinons on the flights dinner (pasta not so bad, Justin's beef dinner, much much better!), had a few drinks (thank you Jamie again for making the best Bloody Mary!) and then settled into watch a few movies. All in all, Justin is my only favorite stranger on the plane travel buddy!
Upon arrival in London I had 12 hours between flights. So, since my cousin Mark and Jeanine have moved to London I met up with them for a visit. I unfortunately did not get to see Mark, but Jeanine and the kids and I had a blast. Or the kind of blast I could have feeling a bit of jet lag due to the lack of sleep. I played with my cousin Thomas, had lunch in a true English neighborhood pub, fed the ducks and swams - they were a bit fiesty - saw Matthew's school (he's in 1st grade and I can't believe it!) and had dinner before heading back to the airport. Jeanine, I hope Thomas is feeling better and my cab ride was great! Loved seein you guys...Mark, I'll see you next week in Miami.
After all the playing with kids and chatting and not sleeping, I was barely able to keep myself awake at the gate in Heathrow. I actually feel alseep and woke up while they were boarding the plane. Thank god! I lucked out on the flight and was in a row of four seats with only one other person. That meant two seats for me and once currled up in the tighest fetile position ever, that's all I needed. I sleep from just after take off until about 7:30 am. At one point the flight attendant asked the people across the way if I was alive. As always, I was all smiles going through customs and very excited to answer all of their questions. The country side is beautiful! The mixture of the Atlantic coast against Table Mountain (the oldest mountain range in the world) is awesome! I had a very nice taxi driver into the city and he gave me some background information regarding the area. We drove past the Cape Flats which is a very poor area of the city. It was a disheartening first look at Cape Town as a whole. You hear of the poverty but seeing it sitting next to the natural beauty of the land was alarming. Jenny and I have talked about taking a township tour to see some of these areas so I may be able to give a better account of it later. But at first glance you wonder how so many can be without in an area that is said to have so much.
My arrival at our B&B was great. The warm greeting put a smile on my face. I settled into the room and unpacked. Something I'm not used to doing when I travel. I headed out to the waterfront area of the city to check out the area, find out about a couple of things we want to do and to have lunch. Along the way I saw several groups of street performers. They were doing everything from the frozen man, to tradiditional African tribal dances, to singing groups, to daredevil performers...it never ceases to amaze me...no matter where I have gone the street performer has been there. I had a great lunch and enjoyed seeing the working harbor. Now I'm waiting for Jenny to arrive for all of the real adventures to begin! We have a few fun things planned and I hope this experience will be like the others I've had.
More in a day or two...CJ
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Rachel & Ellie
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You go girl!! Make sure to travel safely, and take lots of picutres! Ellie can't wait to meet her Cool Aunt Courtney!