Monday and Tuesday, Oct 6th & 7th, Cape Town, South Africa

Today, we traveled from Livingstone to Cape Town.  Shortly after breakfast, we returned to the large theater in which last night we saw a wonderful performance of Simunye Spirit of Africa.  Today, we heard a lecture on Dr. David Livingstone, the first European to witness the magnificence of Victoria Falls.

Others in our group took helicopter flights over the Falls area, and were able to get up close with elephants at the Shearwater Private Reserve.  

After lunch, we were driven to the Livingstone Airport, and were flown to Cape Town for our Post-Trip experience.  We'll meet our new Trip Experience Leader (Wayne) when we land, and will be with him until our flight home on Friday evening.

We began Tuesday by visiting the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which we had visited on our first trip to Cape Town eleven years ago.  Coming back to this Botanical Garden was the main reason Pat signed up for this trip, and the opportunity to share this spot with BT was important to her.  It didn't disappoint us, and our timing was perfect to see many of the most spectacular gardens ever.  

Next, we drove to the District Six Museum, the Homecoming Center which is dedicated to facilitating the resurrection of the community of 60,000 individuals who were evicted from their land during the height of the apartheid era in South Africa.  Beautifully presented in voice and visual contributions, the museum documents the history of the Group Areas Act of 1950 in the 1966 bull-dozing of a major municipal district.Adding to the tragedy is the complete failure to implement the restitution called for under international pressure.

Heading down to the waterfront, we were treated to a great young song and dance group performing in a square near the docks.  If there is one common characteristic evident everywhere in our African travels, it is that Africans have learned to integrate music and dance into their lives well.  And as we showed in our group's invitation to share our music and dance talents, we have none.

After dinner, our guide (Wayne) led us on a walk through the tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly streets which surround our hotel.  We scouted out the layout we'll need to know to visit more of the City sights on Thursday.  

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Monday, Oct 6th and Tuesday Oct 7th, Cape Town, South Africa.