Amanda, me & Paul (Mac?)
Me in my compartment on the train
This past Thursday I left the the last vestiges (Victoria & Marian) of the GAP Adventures tour behind in Jo'burg and headed south via train to Cape Town "on my own".
My initial theory, months ago, for taking the train rather than flying was that it would a) be quite scenic and b) give me a chance to meet some locals. My schedule changed a bit at the end of the tour and in ending up in Jo'burg two extra days, that gave me the option of taking a bit more snazzy of a train. I hopped on the Premier Classe train at 3:00 PM and the next 25 hours were insanely luxurious and relaxing. The food was outstanding, I had my own dual-berth compartment and I met some terrific folks. So it was all good........just not what I had intended.
Of particular note on the train was Marily (sp?) who lives in Chile, but whose children attended (briefly) the same high school (Regis) as I did in Denver. Also there was Wendy and Cheryl who were traveling with their 85 year-old mother to celebrate her 86th birthday. They were remarkably kind and generous enough to invite another sweet couple from Cambridge (Paul & Amanda) and myself to Wendy's vacation home in Bantry Bay. We readily accepted and a few hours later were on this insanely beautiful deck overlooking the bay and sampling cocktails. Unfortunately, there are no photos of this evening as the power went out in the whole of Cape Town for 6 hours some time after we arrived! The power supply has been issue #1 in the country since I arrived.
The next day I took a hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tour around the city....something I would mock anyone doing in Philadelphia. Was fairly informative and got me to the spots I wanted to reach. In the evening I met up with Paul & Amanda at an Irish bar to watch a little rugby. They were kind enough to give me a full tutorial.
Yesterday I headed out to Robben Island where South Africa formerly held their political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Probably was my favorite thing I've done in Africa thus far. It's now a museum and the "guides" are former prisoners. Our guide had been locked up for 7 years from 1983-1991. When he spoke, you could hear a pin drop in the room. He now lives on the island with his wife and family...hard to wrap my head around that.
Of particular note on the train was Marily (sp?) who lives in Chile, but whose children attended (briefly) the same high school (Regis) as I did in Denver. Also there was Wendy and Cheryl who were traveling with their 85 year-old mother to celebrate her 86th birthday. They were remarkably kind and generous enough to invite another sweet couple from Cambridge (Paul & Amanda) and myself to Wendy's vacation home in Bantry Bay. We readily accepted and a few hours later were on this insanely beautiful deck overlooking the bay and sampling cocktails. Unfortunately, there are no photos of this evening as the power went out in the whole of Cape Town for 6 hours some time after we arrived! The power supply has been issue #1 in the country since I arrived.
The next day I took a hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tour around the city....something I would mock anyone doing in Philadelphia. Was fairly informative and got me to the spots I wanted to reach. In the evening I met up with Paul & Amanda at an Irish bar to watch a little rugby. They were kind enough to give me a full tutorial.
Yesterday I headed out to Robben Island where South Africa formerly held their political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. Probably was my favorite thing I've done in Africa thus far. It's now a museum and the "guides" are former prisoners. Our guide had been locked up for 7 years from 1983-1991. When he spoke, you could hear a pin drop in the room. He now lives on the island with his wife and family...hard to wrap my head around that.
3 comments:
You picked a good year to travel and miss 'Nova/Saint Joe's. Freakin' painful and horrible.
Will you still be returning in March for the NIT games?
Las Vegas, here I come!
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