South Africa wrap up

We really enjoyed our time in Cape Town and felt that we got to see most everything in the 5 days we were there. The full batch of photos from the city is here. We weren't sure if we were going to get to see the top of Table Mountain as it had been covered in clouds since our first day in town. The winds at the top were so strong that the cable car had been closed for 3 days. But finally on our last day the clouds cleared, the wind died down and a 2 hour queue formed! With the help of our favorite cab company we were whisked to the front of the line and had our tickets within minutes.

It's quite stunning, the views from the top. There were people repelling one of the sides and others hiking up from the bottom. You could really get a sense for how widespread the city is and even see the areas of the townships. We spent a while wondering around taking lots of pictures of the views before heading back to the cable car. They have signs posted that say if you hear the hoot get back to the cable cars right away! I wonder if they have had to leave people up there?

Before we left Cape Town Forest treated us to a sail! We had a couple of bottles of nice bubbly and enjoyed the views from a different perspective this time. So fun!

Our last night in town we had a fabulous dinner at Savoy Cabbage to celebrate Forest's bday which was coming up. Nightcaps after at Planet Bar at the Mount Nelson Hotel just about put us over the edge but we rallied!

The way home for Dayne and I had quite a few hiccups- the first being our connection from Cape Town in Jo'Burg was missed and we had to stay at a business hotel without luggage for the night. ugh. The next day we were at the airport for about 6 hours and finally got on a flight headed for home via Senegal. While refueling in Dakar we were told that due to a mechanical malfunction our plane needed to stay within 2.5 hours of land so what was going to be an 8.5 hour flight turned into an 11.5 hour flight after sitting on the tarmac for almost 4 hours so they could re do the flight plan et al. When we finally arrived in Atlanta our connection was long gone so they put us on a flight to Salt Lake. It was snowing and freezing and we were in short sleeves and Dayne in flip flops! Of course we had to walk outside to the tiny plane that then got us to Seattle. The luggage however was a different story! :)