ROBBEN ISLAND, CAPE TOWN AND THANKS

Our last busy day around Cape Town – Jean and Ross packed in a hectic tour around the town and outskirts – including a close up look at Table Mountain and a misty coastline, great views from Signal Hill and on to the Waterfront, via Camp Bay and coffee.

Then on to Robben Island and the tour of the prison where Nelson Mandela was kept for 14 years in this cell – all the guides and bus drivers working there now, are ex-prisoners themselves, so it is a very personal experience. Especially reflecting back on my own anti-apartheid activities as a student, with sit-ins and marches in the late sixties – I would never have guessed then, that I would one day visit South Africa - and it gave a tiny glimpse of what we were actually fighting for.

Permission for the garden in the courtyard was fought for by Mandela and in his words: “To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom.”

Then back to the present with a bang - the Waterfront certainly lived up to its billing as the main attraction after TM – and reportedly more multi millions to be spent on it, after a recent takeover. Great shops, cafes and bars around a busy harbour and we had lunch, beers and a last meal at the Thai restaurant, with speccie views of TM and the Cape Town “Eye”. Busy and buzzy all day and night and a super place to end the holiday.

THANKS

THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO ALL THOSE WHO GAVE US BOOKS AND INFORMATION BEFORE WE LEFT, AND ESPECIALLY TO JEAN AND ROSS FOR A GREAT FEW WEEKS OF GOOD COMPANY, THRILLING SIGHTS AND HOME COMFORTS.

WE HOPE IT HAS BROUGHT BACK HAPPY MEMORIES FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BEFORE US AND INSPIRED THOSE WHO HAVEN’T YET VISITED, THAT SOUTH AFRICA IS A PLACE WITH WONDERFUL SIGHTS AND EXPERIENCES.

AND NOT FORGETTING

THANKS TO OUR FAITHFUL READERS!