Into Africa

I took off for Cape Town, South Africa just after 8pm on my new favorite airline Malaysian Air. It was a fabulous 7 hour ride across the Atlantic!

--I was upgraded and got to ride upstairs in the massive plane
--The flight attendants were beautiful in traditional long dresses
--I was seated by a handsome man from Buenos Aires
--The food and wine were amazing
--I watched the movie Sahara (horrible but fit my African theme nicely)
--We had a magical sunrise as we approached South Africa

I arrived at 9am local time and found my new home-away-from-home, The Backpack www.backpackers.co.za, very easily. Within an hour my safari, and local excursions were booked with the help of Mary in the Africa Travel Center.

I jumped right in with a trip to Robben Island in the afternoon. The island houses the now famous former prison where Nelson Mandela was kept. The most moving thing about the tour was that our guides were former prisoners. The first hand account of the conditions took on a whole new meaning. Also, the view of Cape Town from the water was spectacular!