Cape Town, South Africa

Well, back here in Cape Town, South Africa. Arriving here felt so good - like visiting an old friend again after many years - though it's only been less than a year since I was here last. The first several days were a bit rough however because during my trip here, my bags had to get re-routed and were not here when I arrived. I was expecting this since when I arrived in Los Angeles, my bags were not there and I was told that they would be put on a different airline and literally shipped the opposite way around the globe. So, as I flew through Hong Kong - my bags when the other direction through London. They were due to arrive on the same day as me but they did not get here until 4 days later. Needless to say, it was a bit unnerving and frustrating for those first four days as I spent most days calling the airport and not getting much help or relief - not to mention wearing the same clothes for close to 6 days. I was never so happy to see my backpack as when it arrived at my hostel. We spent the first 3 nights in Green Point at a very clean and quiet backpackers and then moved to Long Street which is the complete opposite. It's the place where everything is going on and it was very entertaining. We took advantage of our location and went out to see live music over the weekend. It's hard to beat live African music. Besides taking care of business - spent a lot of time shopping and eating - which isn't hard to do in Cape Town. The diversity and variety of food here is mind-blowing. After about a week of eating and shopping, we decided to get out of here for a bit and we rented a car for a few days. Amanda has friends of her family who live in a beach town just 20 minutes from here called Haut Bay. Renting the car was an adventure in itself. I've never driven on the opposite side of the road AND the opposite side of the road before. I felt like an action figure in a video game. We did great - no accidents and no getting lost which made us quite happy. We spent the first day touring the Cape Peninsula and then yesterday, we went to Hermanus. Hermanus is known for its famous visitors - the southern right whales. It is the number one place in the world to see them from the shore - as opposed to having to go out on a boat to view them. They go there to mate and calve during the months of September, October and November. We were told that they wouldn't be there anymore but decided to go check it out anyway. We were very glad that we did because not only did we see them - but we saw LOADS of them. They came right in close to shore and we literally lost count of how many we saw breaching out of the water. Most of them were mothers with their babies. It's hard to explain or put into words just how spectacular of a sight it was. I feel confident saying that I will probably never experience whale watching like that again in my life. Absolutely amazing. Today is our last day in Cape Town and tomorrow morning we will depart for our 3 week overland trip to Victoria Falls. I am looking forward to getting out of this beautiful city and getting into the "real" Africa. Our trip will take us up the west coast of South Africa, up through the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, the Okavanga Delta in Botswana and then to Victoria Falls. A short description of the pictures that I've included: The one in front of the colorful houses is Bo-Kapp in Cape Town - it's a predominantly Muslim neighborhood and all of the houses are very colorful. The few from the coast are from our drive down the Cape Peninsula and the beautiful beaches, the African penguins and Amanda and I at the Cape of Good Hope. I didn't get any real good shots of the whales so I didn 't include them - unfortunately, my camera doesn't have a good zoom lens - so you'll just have to take my word for it.