cape town - kirstenbosch and tutu

On October 29 I visited Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden as planned. I went alone, and was so happy to be there. It was a bright and sunny day and the garden was in beautiful bloom with lush green lawns. It wasn't crowded and people were quiet, walking and picnicking on the grounds. I enjoyed a long walk through the garden, though it would take much longer than the two hours I was there to cover all there is. There was an art exhibit to see and I enjoyed wandering through the plants in the Botanical Society Conservatory.

Kirstenbosch is on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. Platteklip Gorge that we hiked a few days earlier, is on the north face. (At the risk of confusing everyone by switching the topic for a second, I did find an interesting story of Platteklip Gorge, although it makes the hike sound very easy. See http://www.hiketablemountain.co.za/platteklip-gorge/) The land where Kirstenbosch is, was owned and donated by Cecil Rhodes of Rhodes Scholarship and Rhodes University fame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_John_Rhodes).

I had taken a bus that followed much of the same route that Maggie and George Thomas and I drove the last time we were in Cape Town (http://muellersatsea.blogspot.ca/2009/02/more-in-cape-town.html). Lots of it was familiar to me: Signal Hill, or the Lion's Rump (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Hill_(Cape_Town))and Lion's Head (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion's_Head_(Cape_Town)) on the way to the Garden, then Hout Bay(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hout_Bay), Camps Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camps_Bay) and views of other craggy coasts and sandy beaches on the way back to the port. One place that was new to me was the Imizamo Yethu Township (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Township_(South_Africa)), and although I didn't get off to walk through the area, I was intrigued by a sign I saw concerning Original T-Bag Designs. If you don't read another link I post in this blog, have a look at this one: http://www.tbagdesigns.co.za/about/. I was lucky enough to find a booth right in the port after I got back where the crafts of the people from Imizamo Yethu are sold. If you'd like to get involved and send your used tea bags, details are at http://www.tbagdesigns.co.za/we-need-tea-bags/.

On our last day in Cape Town, we wandered around the Victoria and Alfred waterfront (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_&_Alfred_Waterfront) for the last time, had lunch, then returned to the ship for the reception with Desmond Tutu. There is an excellent story here: http://www.semesteratsea.org/2013/11/07/archbishop-desmond-tutu-inspires-sas-voyagers-young-and-old/, written by our Communications Coordinator, Lucille Renwick with photos by our voyage photographer Bryan Koop. There is also a video at http://vimeo.com/79393550. There was nothing organized in terms of a receiving line, so meeting him was hit or miss, but I did manage to shake hands with him. It was certainly an exciting visit for all of us.