Cape Town

Our last week in Africa was amazing. It was hard to leave the kids and all the people we met but it was nice to end our summer away with Cape Town. I don't know quite how to explain Cape Town, it was like a mix between Hawaii, California, Italy, France, Chicago, New York and many more. It had it all... the city, the ocean and coast, beaches, wineries and vineyards, nightlife, and the bay - V & A Waterfront. I could have stayed here forever - it was lovely. I don't ever think that Cape Town was somewhere I had always wanted to go, but now I can't imagine ever not going and seeing how wonderful it was.

We arrived there after our bus trip from Gabs to Jo-burg, then the overnight bus - 20hours - from Jo-burg to Cape Town. We arrived on July 29th and spent the first day getting settled into our backpackers and exploring the area around the backpackers. We stayed at the Backpackers on Castle - which is right at Castle and Long street. So we were right in the middle of the city where all the action is. Long street is where it is at, all the shopping, restaurants, clubs and nightlife, and the Green Market (outdoor market area). All 7 of us stayed in the dorm sleeping room with ALL of our luggage - it was a packed room!

Wednesday the 30th

We had booked tickets to go to Robben Island today - to see the prison and where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years. However it was cloudy, rainy and windy and the water was too choppy to take people out on the ferry to the Island. So we ended up going to the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V & A Waterfront. We were able to walk through the city to the waterfront - which was a very neat walk. The aquarium was neat as well - we saw lots of sharks and fish, and then got to see the penguin feeding and the predator tank feeding.

After the aquarium we further explored the V & A Waterfront. It was amazing! And reminded me of Pier 39 at the Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco. It was wonderful to see all the boats and sail boats with the restaurants and shopping all right on the docks. I wanted to stay there...

This evening we had found a neat little restaurant near our backpackers that was having dinner and movie. The movie was Grumpy Old Men - odd choice - but a good one. And the food was a two course meal which I had the Kudu burger and chocolate cake. The burger was delicious. One of the best gourmet burgers ever!

Thursday

I rented a car today and Jack drove!!! On the other side of the road and with a stick shift! He did amazing. We rented a small little car and squeezed 3 in the back so 5 of us could go. Marinda was our navigator - and she did quite well too. We rented the car so we could drive out to Stellenbosch for the day and go to different wineries and taste the wine. Here I felt like we should be in Italy or in the the French countryside. It was breathtaking. We could see all the vineyards below the mountains. Everything was so green and lush - it felt like we were the only people there.

We went to three different wineries. The first was nice and very good wine, it was the most modern of the three. The next was older and right next to the vineyards - it felt hidden within the mountains and vineyards. We were the only people here and we were taken into a little tasting room with a dinning room and fire place - it was beautiful. The wine here was really good too - we tasted at least 10 wines here. We all really liked a blend that they had there - called Kallista. We then went to Blaauklippen - one of the third oldest wineries in the area - it had been there since 1682! This place was gorgeous - it had the vineyards, the tasting room, a restaurant, old living areas, stables and horses... it just felt like we had escaped into a different land and time. The wine was good and we got to keep our wine glasses. The last place that we visited was a brandy distillery - Van Ryn's. This was neat because we came running in from the rain and when we entered we were greeted with welcoming drinks and then got to go for a tour of the distillery and then finish with a tasting. The welcoming drink was my favorite - it was brandy with cream - tasted like chocolate milk. At the tasting we tried Van Ryn's 10 year old brandy and their oldest the 20 year old brandy. I don't think brandy is my drink but I could tell that the 20 year old was much better. Still don't think I would drink too much though. The 20 year old brandy had also been voted for 2008 the best brandy in the world! So at least I can say I tried that!

Friday

Today we rented another car - a bigger one - so we could all go. Today we drove all along the coast down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. The drive reminded me of driving along highway 1 on the coast of California - gorgeous. On the way down to Cape Point we stopped in Simon's Town to see Boulder's Beach where all the penguins hang out.

We then continued on to Cape Point - where we climbed to the light house - and the Cape of Good Hope. All I can say is that it was beautiful - pictures can describe it better than I ever could.

Here we stopped at a beach on our drive back to Cape Town...

Saturday

We spent the morning shopping around the market and then in the afternoon we got to go to Robben Island - the water was not too choppy. The ferry ride out there was about 30 min and it was neat to experience Cape Town from being on the water. Plus to see the full picture of Table Mountain and Cape Town at the base of it. On Robben Island we were taken on a tour of the prison by someone who had been a prisoner there. We got to hear his story, tour the prison, and see the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years - it was nothing more than a small box. It was 4 by 4 meters with no bed, sink or toilet. Just a blanket and a bucket (used to replace the toilet).

After the prison tour we boarded a bus and took a tour of the island. We saw the view of Cape Town from the island, the small town area and school of those who still live there, and also the quarry where prisoners worked - including Nelson Mandela. It was so cold on the island - we got to get off the bus to take pictures and no one wanted to - it was so cold with the sun setting and the ocean breeze.

The ferry ride home was choppy and fun! It felt like a roller coaster. The sun had mostly set and some clouds and wind were coming in. After the fun ferry ride we ate at a neat brewery right on the water at the V & A Waterfront. It was very nice and our last night in Cape Town before we started our journey home - we we dinned it up and enjoyed! I had fish with calamari and then a brownie to top it off! Lovely.

Sunday

Most of Cape Town and the shops were closed - the city was mostly dead. So we just relaxed and packed up because we left that night on an overnight bus back to Jo-burg. Before we left though some of us went across the street to the M Cafe - where we ate our first night in Cape Town and I had the most amazing salmon pasta - and we had some Tapas - I like tapas. The bus ride wasn't bad - long - but not bad. We were on our way home. It was hard to leave Cape Town and to realize that we were leaving Africa. It was nice that we did this as our last week because it was a nice transition between our work in Botswana and coming back home. Cape Town will definitely be some where I want to return to someday.

Final Days in Gabs

Tomorrow morning at 5am we leave to get on the Intercape bus to leave Gaborone, Botswana. The past few days leading up to this have been filled with conflicting feelings and mixed emotions. Today was the final goodbye. We went to church in Old Naledi and picked up a group of kids that we have all come to know from Tlamelo/the Old Naledi Education Centre. Church wasn't outside today either, it was indoors in a trailer and it was a very nice service. The sermon was given by a man who was originally from the U.S. but has lived with his family in Africa for the past 10 years. It was also in English so it was easy for us to understand. During the walk to church and for most of the service I held my little girl Charity. It was a difficult realization that this would be the last time I would hold her and hug her. At the end of the church service the man who gave the sermon, his wife stood up and said a prayer for us. She prayed for us, what we have done here, and that with us going home would not be the end of our service. I lost it close after this. All the goodbyes began with people from the church and from Tlamelo.

Soon we walked the kids back home, played and all stood around not wanting to leave. When the subject of leaving finally came up, I think we all knew that we could never really be ready to leave or say goodbye. We just had to do it. The little kids, even though I wasn't as close to a lot of them because I worked with older kids, are still the hardest to say goodbye to. I think they understood that we were leaving, but it still hurts to go. Jack got asked by two of his little boys that hang on him, Tsaone and Tspiso, if they could come to America with him. I don't know how you say no to little 5 year olds that love you. I know it had to be very hard for Jack and for the others that worked in the preschool. These were their kids. They played, taught, laughed, and loved them. They are amazing kids, who couldn't love them?

This weekend I spent packing and tying up loose ends. We weren’t able to work at Tlamelo or the Old Naledi Education Centre all last week because of the student holiday, President's Day, and because Tlamelo gave the cooks the week off as well. We did go to Old Naledi a few days to help teachers that were at the school, say a final goodbye to them, type tests, and play with the kids we could. Not the ideal last week we wanted. It would have been great if we could have taught last week and worked at Tlamelo. I guess that is part of being flexible.

When I went in to help my teacher, Mma Julia, and the principle, Mmaphama, on Thursday with typing my teacher gave me a gift from her and Standard 5. It was so sweet. She gave me a beautiful glass coaster with an elephant on it and Botswana written on it. It was very thoughtful of her and the class. I wish the class could have been there to give me the gift as well, but I know that my goodbye with them was rushed due to the holiday. My poor teacher was is so sick too, she barely had a voice when she gave me the gift and told me that she has influenza. I don't know if it is the same as the flu back home, but she didn't sound or look too good. I hope she is better. Marinda also was given a gift by her class. It was a great moment and a sad one at the same time.

Earlier in the week we went to the Gaborone Museum and the Gaborone Damn to watch the sunset. The museum was wonderful. They had an art gallery and also the museum part with history about Botswana. It was nice to get some history and education - I guess with school I am used to it always being pushed on me. The Gaborone Damn was an amazing site. It was just water and land as far as you could see. Even though we couldn't do service work this past week - we tired to keep as busy as we could.

Friday we had a birthday here at UB for Pipiro - a little girl that we have all come to love - who turned 3. Meeka set it all up. It was a great party. They brought Pipiro, her brother Tsaone, and Charity all back to UB for the party. They watched Lady and the Tramp and Meeka made them lunch while we watched the movie and played with them. The party was great - they ate, had cake and ice cream, played at a park near by, and they even all got goody bags. Meeka gave Pipiro her gift - a doll - and because Tsaone (Jackson - his real name - coincidence) is Jack's little boy, Jack gave him a matching football jersey. It was the cutest thing.

Jack and Jackson (Tsaone) We learned his real name was Jackson - it is fate. Tootsi with her son Tsaone (Jackson). She is Pipiro's and Tsaone's mom.The Birthday Girl! Tsaone and Charity
It is really hard to leave here - it has become much more of a home then I could even imagine. One of my roommates told me this quote, "I left my family to live with strangers and now I am leaving my family to go back home." It couldn't be truer. It is a hard feeling to describe. I don't want to leave, I love teaching and I love the kids, but I am also excited for Cape Town and even more so, for home. My body is confused on whether to be happy or sad. Today I felt sad. It is never easy to say goodbye.

Tomorrow we will leave for Cape Town and finally arrive there on Tuesday afternoon. We will stay there for 5 nights. Hopefully we still won't be too sad and can enjoy it. We plan to go to Robben Island, Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. We want to climb Table Mountain but don't know if we can because we think it is closed for maintenance. Just seeing the beach will be amazing. Next Sunday night, the 3rd, we will be on an overnight bus ride back to Jo-burg and will fly towards home on August 4th. The next week will be quite the journey.