So Much To Tell...

Well, we finally are in lodging with wi-fi access again, and I feel like there is more to tell than I can put into a few paragraphs! I'll try to leave nothing out, include pictures, and keep it brief. Riiight. Here goes:

Last time I posted we still had one day left in Johannesburg. That morning, we got up early and went downtown to Constitution Hill (where our camera batteries died promptly upon our arrival), where the Old Fort Prison stood for many years, and where the Constitutional Court (like our Supreme Court) now stands. It was incredible. Much of the three prisons (one for women, one for white men, one for black men) has been preserved, and they have had memorial events where former prisoners and wardens have come back to offer thoughts about their time in the prisons. We saw videos and read quotes from former prisoners who chronicled their torture in these overcrowded facilities in detail. I was amazed at how much humiliation these people could take, but even more astonished by how otherwise normal people could debase themselves to such levels as to treat other human beings like trash. It reminded me of the capacity all of us have to do incredible evil in the name of self-interest. It was appalling.

The amazing thing is that the city has torn down part of the old prison and used the very same bricks that once were the symbol of oppression to build the new constitutional court building, which now stands for freedom and justice. The court building is incredible - nothing like our fancy, distanced court building in Washington, DC. We were able to go right in and sit down and listen to supreme-court arguments, not 20 yards from the justices themselves. It was incredibly hopeful and moving!

That afternoon, we turned in our slightly defective rental van at the Jo'burg airport and headed for Cape Town on 1Time Airways, South Africa's version of Southwest (except they even charge for beverages!). Our flight was delightful, if modest, and Cape Town is gorgeous. The landscape changed dramatically as we flew over a few mountain ranges on our way south. The land got greener and greener until we saw the sea! How beautiful! We drove out of the city along the coast (in our new, slightly smaller rental van) and stopped for dinner at a delightful restaurant in Fish Hoek, just beside the bay. As we parked, the moon rose right before our eyes, over the mountains across the water. Incredible!

The moon over False Bay. Just beautiful!

We moved in to the High Gables bed and breakfast in Simon's Town, just down the street from the Storeys', high about False Bay. Incredible!

More to come from Cape Town...