CAPE TOWN, South Africa 
We got up at dawn to watch as we sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa, and later enjoyed the narrated “sail in” as we approached the harbor. We watched as the trademark landmarks came into view, one by one: Signal Hill, Lion’s Head, Devil’s Point and Table Mountain, with the posh Twelve Apostles area between them in the background. Legend says that when the Devil is hungry, he sets a tablecloth on Table Mountain -- this is the curtain of low clouds and fog that often hides the top from view! It was a beautiful, clear but windy day when we arrived on time at 1:00 p.m., but the winds were gale force and the authorities closed the port to large ships… how frustrating
to sit at anchor until it was safe to dock at about 9:00 p.m.!! In the distance we could see the beaches and city skyline, along with Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.
Our first day ashore was spent touring an ostrich farm and the Durbanville Hills winery. Ostrich eggs are extremely hard -- we stood on them without breaking them! -- and one of them is equivalent to 24 hen’s eggs. How would you like to boil it for 20 minutes, or take 7 minutes to scramble one? Ostriches are much taller than I thought and friendly enough to eat out of our hands. We even had a chance to sit on 
one! The winery was very modern, and we sampled 6 of their wines, all very good, followed by wonderful hors d’ouvres. We then made our way to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a charming wharf filled with restaurants, shops and sailing ships.
We got up at dawn to watch as we sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa, and later enjoyed the narrated “sail in” as we approached the harbor. We watched as the trademark landmarks came into view, one by one: Signal Hill, Lion’s Head, Devil’s Point and Table Mountain, with the posh Twelve Apostles area between them in the background. Legend says that when the Devil is hungry, he sets a tablecloth on Table Mountain -- this is the curtain of low clouds and fog that often hides the top from view! It was a beautiful, clear but windy day when we arrived on time at 1:00 p.m., but the winds were gale force and the authorities closed the port to large ships… how frustrating
to sit at anchor until it was safe to dock at about 9:00 p.m.!! In the distance we could see the beaches and city skyline, along with Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.
Our first day ashore was spent touring an ostrich farm and the Durbanville Hills winery. Ostrich eggs are extremely hard -- we stood on them without breaking them! -- and one of them is equivalent to 24 hen’s eggs. How would you like to boil it for 20 minutes, or take 7 minutes to scramble one? Ostriches are much taller than I thought and friendly enough to eat out of our hands. We even had a chance to sit on 
one! The winery was very modern, and we sampled 6 of their wines, all very good, followed by wonderful hors d’ouvres. We then made our way to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a charming wharf filled with restaurants, shops and sailing ships. The indigenous people here were the Khoikhoi and San tribes, who were collectively known as the Khoisan people. They refused to deal with the Dutch, who resorted to importing slaves from India, Madagascar, Ceylon, Malaya and Indonesia to handle the labor shortage. The mixture of all these nationalities makes up the “colored” population. When the British defeated the Dutch in 1806 the slave trade was abolished and the slaves were freed by 1833. There are three distinct ethnic classes -- blacks, whites and colored, who are those of mixed blood. This not a derogatory term in South Africa. Unfortunately the unemployment rate is 34% and the crime rate is very high. In general, the colored people are muslim and do not drink, and have jobs so they are more reliable and careful about their homes than the blacks are. The blacks feel that the government should give them everything for free, are lazy, belligerent and do alcohol and drugs. (This was the opinion of a local citizen).
What an exciting and busy day we had on Wednesday! It was a holiday because it was election day, so there wasn’t much traffic to slow us down. We heard that the turnout was so great that they ran out of ballots! Our city guide was an Indian lady who had been born in Cape Town and she gave us a personalized introduction to the city, telling us stories of what she saw when she was growing up. We walked past the Parliament Buildings, pas
t the Slave Hous
e, and through the Company Gardens on our way to the South African Natural History Museum. We took the gondola to the top of Table Mountain - it rotates 360 degrees on the trip -- and took in spectacular views of the city. The walk through the Malay section of town was inspiring -- all the houses were painted in bright colors to express the joy of the freedom of apartheid!
On our way to Cape Point, the most south easte
rn point of Africa, we passed the prison where Mandela was incarcerated briefly before being moved to Robben Island, saw several “townships” where the blacks lived in squalid conditions, and passed several groups of ostriches and baboons 
roaming freely through the state park where they are protected. We even saw a family of baboons who had invaded a picnic, chased the people away, and were helping themselves to the food! Our last stop on this journey along the rugged and desolate coast was at the penguin colony. They really do waddle along in single file, and are usually in pairs when separated from the group. 
How delightful they were!
What an exciting and busy day we had on Wednesday! It was a holiday because it was election day, so there wasn’t much traffic to slow us down. We heard that the turnout was so great that they ran out of ballots! Our city guide was an Indian lady who had been born in Cape Town and she gave us a personalized introduction to the city, telling us stories of what she saw when she was growing up. We walked past the Parliament Buildings, pas
t the Slave Hous
e, and through the Company Gardens on our way to the South African Natural History Museum. We took the gondola to the top of Table Mountain - it rotates 360 degrees on the trip -- and took in spectacular views of the city. The walk through the Malay section of town was inspiring -- all the houses were painted in bright colors to express the joy of the freedom of apartheid!On our way to Cape Point, the most south easte
rn point of Africa, we passed the prison where Mandela was incarcerated briefly before being moved to Robben Island, saw several “townships” where the blacks lived in squalid conditions, and passed several groups of ostriches and baboons 
roaming freely through the state park where they are protected. We even saw a family of baboons who had invaded a picnic, chased the people away, and were helping themselves to the food! Our last stop on this journey along the rugged and desolate coast was at the penguin colony. They really do waddle along in single file, and are usually in pairs when separated from the group. 
How delightful they were!
One more country to visit in Africa -- Namibia.
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