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Getting Started Again

Perhaps it's time to start up the blog again, now that we're anxiously awaiting adding a member to our family! While this originated as a travel blog, now it can simply be a family adventures blog as we launch into the world of parenting.

As of today, we're 13 days from our baby girl's due date. The doctor says she's "in position" and ready, so we're just waiting for labor to begin! Everything at home is pretty much ready - Elizabeth and Baby's bags are packed, there are fresh sheets in the crib and bassinet, her clothes are all washed and hanging in the closet, there are hundreds of diapers waiting to be used, etc. Steven and I still have some loose ends to tie up at work, but that's really all that's still up in the air.

And, of course, my mom is hoping the baby won't come until after she arrives next week. :)

We can't wait to post new photos of our little one! Hopefully soon!

Long Day(s) of Travel

Well our trip has sadly come to a close. The last two days, like the last two weeks, have been incredible. Tuesday we had gorgeous weather and drove out the southern coast to Hermanus for whale-watching. We didn't actually see any whales in Hermanus, but we did stop in Gordon's Bay along the way where we saw a mom and her calf playing in the water not 100 yards from the shore! It was incredible. And we happened on a pretty big penguin sanctuary on the way, as well, where we saw hundreds of African penguins and even a few babies being warmed by their moms! The daddy penguins all stood close by keeping watch to protect the moms and babies - those creatures (and their relationships) are really incredible. And the scenery on the drive was amazing - green rolling hills, crystal blue water, gorgeous rocky mountains... the cape certainly has it all!

Tuesday night we checked in to our new lodging at the Mana Guest Cottages in Stellenbosch - we had our own beautiful little cottage on the side of a mountain right in the midst of beautiful vineyards. The setting really couldn't be beat! We spent Wednesday visiting a few gorgeous wineries for tastings (not too many, of course) and shopping for last-minute gifts in Stellenbosch and nearby Franschoek. The day started out cold and rainy but cleared up in the evening, perfect for our window seats at Tokara for dinner - we looked out onto the hillside and the lights of Stellenbosch and reflected on our two weeks in this incredible country, mentioning several times all the things that we'll do on our NEXT trip to South Africa... :)

And now we're in the Johannesburg airport, waiting for our long flight home (sitting next to Greg Jones, dean of Duke Divinity School - small world!). We flew up from Cape Town this morning without incident, and will hope to have an equally smooth 17-hour trip to DC with a quick stop in Dakar for fuel. Then hopefully we'll fly right through customs in DC and get our bags rechecked for our early morning flight to Seattle. We're looking forward to getting home and sharing all of our stories and photos!!

More adventures to come, for sure...

Incredible Scenery at Every Turn

The last two days have been full of incredible scenery and incredible people around every turn! We started out yesterday morning with an incredible breakfast at the Four Rosmead, then walked into town for worship at the Central Methodist Mission. Worship was great! It reminded us very much of worship at Seattle First UMC - the congregation was incredibly friendly and welcoming, and the pastor said a special prayer for our travels when he served us communion. We even saw our friends Jane and Gilbert, who continued their incredible hospitality and introduced us to their gorgeous grandchildren.

After church, we walked back up to our hotel (the walk back being less fun than the walk down into town) and changed clothes for a day out. After eating the 'chocolate log' that Peter had provided the night before (for sustenance, of course), we headed out for some more left-side driving. We drove all the way to the bottom of the world to see Cape Point! It was incredible. We drove down the coast and into the national park, then parked and hiked up to the Cape Point light house, where the view was incredible. It literally felt like were were at the edge (or the bottom) of the world!

After our hike, we drove up the other coast of the peninsula, where apparently all of Cape Town had turned out to enjoy the gorgeous weather (very crowded). We went into the de Waterkant district, a hip shopping/dining area, and had a fabulous sushi dinner before heading back to the hotel and turning in early.

This morning, we had another great breakfast (we're getting so spoiled with these incredible breakfasts!), then took off driving again. We stopped in a town called Darling to get picnic fixings, then drove out to the West Coast National Park, where we could spend days just watching the waves break on the huge beautiful boulders. It is also 'flower season' on the west coast: part of the park is only open for two months per year, and now is the time! This little area is absolutely covered with flowers. A giant carpet of yellows and oranges and pinks and purples - it's incredible! All with mountains and ocean as backdrop. This was truly a treat.

There are also ostriches hanging out in the flowers, which is a sight to see for sure. Apparently, before the first world war, ostrich feathers were all the rage in women's hats and things like that in Europe, so South Africa jumped on the wagon and started breeding them and making loads of money. Then the war started and nobody wanted ostrich feathers anymore, so now they have tons of ostriches and nothing to do with them. They're funny-looking birds, that's for sure.

We took a less-than-direct route from the west coast back to Cape Town and went through a couple of picturesque little towns in the wine country, stopping twice to sample wine and cheese at some great little wineries, and then having a lovely dinner in Franschhoek. Now we're back at the hotel lamenting that we have to leave here tomorrow, but looking forward to heading to Hermanus to look for more whales!

It's crazy how time works when you're away: part of me can't believe we're in Africa at all - and part of me can't believe how long it's been since we've been at home! Time flies and it drags all at once; and in the same way, I am both dreading leaving and looking forward to being home. This has truly been the trip of a lifetime.

[I will upload pictures from the last two days as soon as possible... ]

Venturing Out

This tells me that we are approximately 16700 km (10350 miles) from home.

Saturday was our first day on our own, and we hardly knew what to do without a full itinerary! We got up and had a lovely last breakfast at the High Gables with a nice (talkative!) German family that was also staying there. Then we got packed up and met the van at the bottom of the hill for a ride to the airport. There, we said our good-bye's and gave our hugs and ventured out for the first time by ourselves! As our comrades headed to the departure gate, we went inside the arrivals lounge to rent a South African cell phone and to pick up our rental car (with GPS, thankfully!).

Our biggest adventure thus far has been learning to drive on the left side of the road and the right side of the car! Once we get going, it's not a problem to keep going in a straight line, but we have to think really hard and be very careful when making turns. :) And the traffic customs and road markings here are quite different - there are several signs that mean absolutely nothing to us. I guess we should have gotten a list before we arrived! Oh, well...

Not sure what to do with ourselves after we got our car, we headed back down to the waterfront to have lunch and look at our guide book to make plans. We had a wonderful seafood lunch at Willoughby and Co. and happened to sit down next to a delightful South African couple who gave us all kinds of advice on how to spend our last few days. What good luck! After lunch we walked around the waterfront a bit more and visited the Two Oceans Aquarium, where we were just in time for the 'large predator' feeding - so fascinating.

That's me with Desmond Tutu (or a statue of him) at Nobel Square.

Nemo at the aquarium!

Then we wound our way around town (getting slightly lost, since our GPS had no idea where our hotel was) and made our way to the Four Rosmead, where Elizabeth's brother Brian had so graciously made us a reservation. It is an exquisite littel guesthouse with only 8 rooms and superb service - much nicer than we would have chosen for ourselves, but a wonderful treat! We've decided that the three nights here count for the anniversary celebration that we skipped last month. :)

We had a fantastic dinner at a little Italian place nearby, took advantage of the hotel's wi-fi connection to catch up a bit on blogging, and hit the sack, looking forward to three more days of Cape Town!

Around the Cape

Our second day in Cape Town started off beautifully! We woke up and looked out our window at the High Gables and saw southern right whales playing in the harbor!! The rest of our free time in Simon's Town and the surrounding area was spent behind our binoculars, admiring these giant graceful animals. What a treat!

After pulling ourselves away from the windows, we got ready and went down to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront area in Cape Town, which is a beautifully renovated, updated, posh business area right on the water. We weren't there for shopping, however - instead we caught a boat to Robben Island for a tour. The ride out was beautiful and peaceful (except, perhaps, for the giant school group joining us). It was interesting to think, as Dr. Storey prompted us, about the prisoners taking the very same ride - it was probably not peaceful to them, not only because they were headed to prison, but also because 90% of them had never seen the ocean before and would have been terrified...

We learned from our slightly-irritating tour guide that Robben Island was once a leper colony, and thousands of graves still exist from those times. It became a prison during apartheid, where it housed male non-white political prisoners. Robert Sobukwe was kept in a little cottage by himself because he was thought to be so dangerous to the government. Nelson Mandela and others were kept in a 'maximum security' unit for years - one letter a month, no shoes, no jacket (even in winter), no visits from your own children. Incredibly harsh. Unfortunately, the maximum security unit was under renovation so we were unable to see Mandela's actual cell, but having seen so much at the Old Fort Prison in Jo'burg, we could imagine what Mandela's cell looked like.

Sobukwe's solitary cabin at Robben Island.

A view of Cape Town from Robben Island.

The cross (with bird) on the Anglican church (which all Christians shared) on Robben Island.

Steven among the razor wire surrounding the maximum security unit.

These calla lilies grow wild all over the western cape.
They provided a nice contrast to the dark devastation of the prison cells.

After our ride back to the mainland, we enjoyed a nice lunch on the waterfront and then headed into town to meet the director of the SHADE ministry, which offers advocacy, education, and professional development for women all over Africa. Its director is Rev. Tembo Kalenga, who was a pastor in the Congo when fighting broke out there - she walked with her husband and five daughters for more than 3 months to find refuge in South Africa. Her story is amazing and inspiring, and her work incredible.

We retired for dinner to Simon's Town, where we had a fabulous home-cooked meal at Peter and Elizabeth's house with their neighbors Rob and Maureen and Elizabeth's brother and sister-in-law, Brian and Elizabeth (so there were even more Elizabeth's than usual!). Both dinner and conversation were excellent. I, personally, cherished the time to chat one-on-one with Joaquin about his former involvement with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and his service in seminary administration at Garrett. Much to think about for the future!

Friday was the group's last full day together, so we wanted to take it easy and relax around Simon's Town. The weather was kind of cold and rainy so there was no point trying to do any sight-seeing. Five of us were brave (or stupid?) enough to go sailing in the morning, though! Peter took us out on his sailboat, Flash, and we made a couple of turns around the harbor. The wind was really blowing, though, and it was beginning to rain, so we did not stay out long. And we all came in soaking wet! It was well worth it, though. We had a lot of fun and it was wonderful to see Peter in his element as captain of this ragamuffin crew.

Elisabeth and I wait below deck while the guys get everything together up top.

Sailboats in the marina. Notice the ominous clouds in the background...

The captain himself! [No photos during the actual sailing expedition, since salt and rain water were flying everywhere.]

We spent the afternoon hanging around internet cafes and shops in Simon's Town and visiting the penguins at boulder beach, then had a lovely dinner in the Simon's Town harbor at Bertha's. A perfect ending to a wonderful trip together!!

One of the cute little 'jackass' penguins on the coast near Simon's Town. [He's called 'jackass' not for his attitude but because of the sound he makes.]

The Cape

The first thing we did in Cape Town, of course, was to visit Table Mountain. We had gorgeous views of both sides of the mountain on our drive from the airport to Simon's Town, so we could not wait to get to the top to see all of the Western Cape below us. We enjoyed our cable car ride up the mountain (the floor of the car spins as you go so you can see views in every direction!), and got a few great vistas when we first arrived on top of the mountain, but a big cloud (they call it a table cloth) quickly moved in. Still, we enjoyed exploring the top of the mountain and hiking around a bit in the fog. It was wonderful to move our legs a bit and get some fresh air, even if we couldn't see much! And we had a fantastic cup of hot chocolate in the little cafe on top of the mountain, so it was totally worth the trip. :)

On the way up the mountain...

Steven and Peter pointing out landmarks as the clouds move in...

...and me blending into the fog!

After Table Mountain, we went down to the District Six Museum, which is actually housed in an old Methodist church which Dr. Storey served in the 1960's. It's an incredible museum chronicling the removal of an entire community of black and colored Cape Town residents durign the apartheid regime - but unlike the depressing museums we visited in Johannesburg, the District Six Museum is focused less on the injustice of the community's removal and more on the character and resilience of the community itself.

Plaque outside the District Six Museum, installed when it was still a Methodist church.

Then we took a walk downtown, and happened upon a giant march protesting the recent removal from office of the Deputy Health Minister of South Africa. There has been much controversy because the country is being decimated by the AIDS virus, but the Health Minister insists that AIDS is a result of poor nutrition rather than viral transmission. So people are not getting the drugs they need or taking the precautions they should. The deputy health minister was attending AIDS conferences to try to help the South African people with this giant issue, and she was removed from office and fined about $50,000 for using state money for unauthorized purposes. It's crazy. So hundreds of brave South Africans, many of them HIV positive, attended this march past the Parliament buildings to let the government know their thoughts on the health ministry.

HIV positive women march in protest of the removal of the deputy health minister.

We cheered on the protesters for a bit, and then continued on our walk to St. George's cathedral, former seat of archbishop Desmond Tutu. It's an incredible building, and just happened to be the home base for the protest march - as a result, on the steps of the cathedral we ran into Zackie Achmat - and since Dr. Storey knows him, we all were introduced! What a privilege. Zackie is the founder and leader of the Treatment Action Campaign, working to provide retroviral drugs to all South Africans who need them. He himself is HIV positive, but he publicly refused to take his medicine until retroviral drugs were made available to the public in 2003. Now he is healthy and successfully leading protests! He was the winner of the first Desmond Tutu leadership award and the Nelson Mandela award for Health and Human Rights. He's an incredible leader. And he was being interviewed in the cathedral by a woman who attended the public policy school at Duke. Small world!

Zackie Achmat being interviewed in St. George's Cathedral after the TAC-sponsored protest march.

After our protest participation and encouragement, we went out to the suburbs to have dinner with Gilbert and Jane Lawrence at their home. Gilbert and Jane are a colored couple who attended Dr. Storey's church as youngsters and were relocated in the District Six removals. They have gone on to lead extraordinary lives, Jane as an educator and Gilbert in civil service. It was a delight to spend time with them!

The group (minus Joaquin the photographer) with Jane and Gilbert.

There is much more to tell from Cape Town, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I'll post again and try to catch up soon!