I had such a restful night on the South African Airlines plane. I was seated in Row 1 again and my seat fully reclined so I was able to lay down and even turn on my side to sleep. Once I was down, the head flight attendant put a comforter over me and it was so restful - I slept for probably 7 hours on the 11 hour flight from Frankfurt.
The weather in Cape Town is dreadful today - rainy, cloudy, and cool. It is almost winter here but in the low 60's. Getting through immigration took forever - long lines and few people working. I understand that there are many strikes around. Unfortunately, my driver was not there to meet me - so I waited a while and then decided to call the hotel. I talked to Peter at the hotel and the booking had been made but the shuttle company messed up. It wasn't hard figuring out the telephone system and once I contacted the hotel, my driver arrived in about 10 minutes. This delayed me about 30 minutes. Also the airport is under a huge renovation - so the taxi couldn't pull up to the arrival hall - so we had to walk to the taxi - in the rain. A real adventure so early in my South African visit.
The traffic on the highway was moving at a snail's pace so it took over an hour to get from the airport to the hotel. I have a beautiful view of Table Mountain from my room - but right now it is covered in clouds - but I'm sure it will clear up. After unpacking and cleaning up, I rested a while and then ventured out to see Cape Town. My first destination was the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The city tour gave me a great overview of Cape Town. I saw the cathedral where Desmond Tutu was based. We went through District 6 where 60k "colored" - most prefer to be called that - were removed years ago. I'll learn more about this tomorrow on my walking tour. We went to Table Mountain but the cable car to the top was closed due to high winds. We then went to the Atlantic Beaches where the water is always frigid. I saw Cape Bay, Clifton Bay (my father's name), Banty Bay, Sea Point, and Three Anchor Bay. We saw the Moiselle Point Lighthouse and drove by the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront where there are a lot of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs. The Grace Hotel is located here. Lastly we saw the Clock Tower - where you pick up the tour to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Then I had the tour drop me at the Hotel Mount Nelson for high tea. High it was - immaculate - One of the best high teas I've ever had outside of England. They had someone playing the piano in a beautifully appointed room - very formal. The service was immaculate and there were 2 chefs standing almost at attention by the high tea buffet and they replenished and fixed presentation as needed. I ordered my pot of team (Camomille) and went to make my selections from the breads, finger sandwiches, scones, muffins, fruit, pastries, cakes, and cookies of all sorts. It was fabulous. One of the chefs was "undone" when an old lady took the first slice out of a cake and messed up the top of the cake and its presentation in doing so. Chef fixed it in short order. I walked back to the hotel and napped since I had been awakened before 5 am this morning. I wasn't at all hungry tonight since I had so much to eat at high tea. so I skipped dinner and instead watched a movie on TV and read and relaxed. Went to bed about 10 pm to rest for my private walking tour of Cape Town tomorrow. Hoping it warms up some.
Larry
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