Fabulous Cape Town, South Africa - Halfway Round and Far Away

Cape Town is One of the World's Great Cities

   Arrived in Cape Town late last night from Kenya!  Seems like we're moving fast, but we spent several days near Kilimanjaro, and we will spend several days in this neck of the woods.
   We consumed the day with a number of activities.  This place is the San Francisco of Africa.  In fact, we could not think of another city in Africa that compares to Cape Town.  Indeed, very few in the world.  

   It's a spectacular setting, with the ocean, mountains, history, scenery, wine country ... and it's cosmopolitan while at the same time natural and recreational - it's hip, cool, active, with an awesome vibe!  It's at the very southern most point of Africa, next to the Cape of Good Hope, hence the name.

As I write this blog post, I am covered in salt water.  We went on a boat trip to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years.

   There is an island in Table Bay, the large bay and body of water that Cape Town calls home, that contains the infamous prison where South Africa kept political prisoners.  This was during Apartheid, the brutal racist regime that held blacks down for a long time.  

   The Island is called Robben Island, and we went there on an ocean boat trip. Turned out to be a pretty stormy trip, with waves crashing around the boat/ship - everybody got wet - hey, what's the difference between a boat and a ship?  

   It was an emotional visit to the notorious place, and the host/guide was a former prisoner with first hand knowledge.

Nelson Mandela was held there for decades, suffering abuse, torture, and mistreatment - and his release and subsequent freedom and leadership changed the history of South Africa and brought down Apartheid. 

   Below is a picture of the cell where Mandela was held.  He is a revered figure around the world, and someone we should all admire and respect. 

   A Story:  The guide who was walking us around Robben Island asked more than once, "Mandela was a leader - Why was he a leader?  What makes him such a great leader?"  And he wouldn't answer his own question.  

   Yet he asked it again "why was Nelson Mandela such a great leader?"  Until finally, someone in the group asked him, what's the answer and he said "do you want to know why?  Do you know what made him such a great leader and a world figure?"    ....  well of course we want to know!  

   "He practiced forgiveness.  He forgave those who imprisoned him and tortured him for 27 years.  He said, we are all South Africans, black, white, native, colored, and until we can live together in unity and harmony, we will never be able to move forward!"  

A two-for-one boat trip

   Imagine our surprise when, on the way to the island, we encountered a whole bunch of whales!  What is a herd of whales called?  A pod!  It was awesome!  We've never seen so many whales up close.  Apparently, there are a lot of whales in and around the Cape of Good Hope, and we saw them right next to the ship, terrific fun and excitement.  One in particular was freakin' gigantic!

Halfway Around the World

   By any measure, we are halfway around the world now.  In terms of mileage, time, countries, distance, etc. we are halfway through our trip.  So far we have visited the following list of countries:

• China
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Sri Lanka
• India
• Dubai
• Egypt
• Kenya
• and now South Africa

   And we are at day number 40 - which is just about halfway to our goal of "around the world in 80 days" - Not intentional at the outset, but just the way it turned out (it's more like 78 or 79 days, see comments below).

   And if you drew a line from Oregon through the center of the world you would come out pretty much where we are, you can't get further away from Oregon than this.  

   Remember when you were a kid and everyone said if you dig a whole deep enough you will come out in China?  Well, that's not entirely accurate, you will come out where we currently are, or maybe about a hundred miles out in the ocean, but let's take some poetic license and call it Cape Town. 

   So we begin the second half, and each day will draw us closer to home, symbolically.   

Time Zone Bingo - Do you know where your bloggers are?

   Our good friend Jon Sousa pointed out that we are going to possibly lose a day on this trip, because we first went West across the ocean and lost a day on the way to China. 

   And since we don't go back East at all, we will never make up that day?  Hard to wrap your mind around that.  But at each stop we gain an hour or so.  

   At this point, we are about nine hours ahead of Oregon (or the West Coast of America).  And did you guys just change the clocks? What's up with that?  Nobody told us!  It's hard enough to keep track of time anyway ... c'mon, give us a break! 

   Anyway, to answer the question of whether we lose a day, the answer is no, because we gain it back an hour or two at a time.  

   By the day we return home, we will have gained back the 24 hours we gave up, even though the calendar won't have changed.

Hunh?  Back to the Future Part umpteen?  

   Just Keep Heading West ...