Day 4: Cape Town

Day 4: Cape Town, Sunday, Aug 31

QOTD:

They tell me that our brothers over there

Are defyin' the Man.

We don't know for sure because the news we get

Is unreliable, man.

Weather: Gorgeous, cool in morning and into low 70s by mid-afternoon

Dept of Corrections: here's where we ate lunch yesterday:

Not a great night sleep for THB, DB is doing as well or better than at home already! Fitness center for a bike ride, breakfast buffet (same-same food for THB), and then we hustle over to Robbens Island Museum to see if we can get on the 9am ferry to the island...YES WE CAN! (wait, that’s some other black leader’s slogan, right?). Even though they show as sold out on-line, being there in person counts.

Robbens Island Museum on waterfront

The puppet

45 minute ferry ride to island:

Real ferries are out of service, they are using what seem like tug boats

Clock tower?

Table Mountain totally clear

Built for World Cup, right on waterfront and now used around 15 times per year

The tour of the prison is lead by an ex-prisoner who overlapped with Mandela (who was kept on the island for many years).

We see the cells, various “blocks” and about an hour later we shift to buses where we get a tour of the complete island: snack stand, residences (about 200 people live on the island now), and wildlife.

Guinea fowls seen many places, blue heads

45 minute ferry ride back to the waterfront (which is just a few minutes from our hotel) and lunch at Sevruga, also right on the waterfront a few feet from where we exit the ferry. The restaurant had multiple reco’s: it must have gone downhill as the sushi and dim sum were both well below par. With a can of Liptons, $27 (so the price was right).

We shop the mall for an extra sandisk (the card that holds pictures in your camera) in case THB never figures out the way to load pics from camera to computer to the blog (gave it another try this afternoon: no go). Along the way, pause to enjoy frozen yogurt ($3.50) and to make a stop at the ATM.

Back to the hotel where some strange reason we decide to enter through the restaurant in our building (the hotel is spread over three buildings) and there enjoying a late lunch are our travel partners, M&D. Many fond greetings, exchanges of travel stories, how D’s half-bro came to reside in SA, and of course, given our ages, recent medical histories. Hmmmmm...how the latter has come to dominate reunions.

Back to the mall to help get a sim card where we also ask our young assistant if he knows how to connect camera to Chromebook: nope. Same question down the row at the computer store: nope.

Dinner for four at the hotel: DB has sliders, THB and M have mezze plates, D has a gravlax salad, bottle of their best pinotage, coffee, $60 for the four.

Packing for our early start tomorrow.