Good Hearted Cape Town

In the arms of Cape Town. I am writing from the computer of a new friend Lucinda, amazed and grateful for the hospitality I find wherever I travel on this beautiful planet. My days have been so full this week that I haven't stopped to blog until now yet I'm headed home tomorrow night.

On Tuesday night I was fortunate to follow the divine mystery down to the street to explore the sounds of celebration coming from crowds of people I could see from my hotel room. Watching everyone pass by I couldn't figure out what the point was but it seemed to be some sort of charity run... I use the term run loosely as no one was running, instead they were dressed in costumes, drinking beer and generally carousing. I stepped into the Purple Turtle a pub on the corner which seemed to strangely be populated with people from the run and asked a group of girls dressed in flannel pajamas what this was all about. "Well it's the Community Chest Twilight 5K Run, they do a lot of charitable stuff, not sure exactly what. Want to join us?" They were 1K into the run and already stopped at a bar. It seemed the final leg of the runners had passed so we all went back out onto the street. The guys in this circle of friends were dressed in Lycra super hero suits (spider man, ninja turtles, transformers). At one point Green Man the transformer slapped the ass of a traffic officer, she stomped her foot and shook her head at him in disgust! I busted up laughing. At the end of the run I jumped in the car with them headed to a restaurant for a late dinner and drinks. Earlier that day I had gone to buy a pair of trail running shoes (I left mine with Dawna in Zimbabwe). I was talking to Darren the guy helping me with the shoes about climbing Table Mountain and he said he'd hike with me if I waited until Thursday, his day off. New friends.

On Wednesday I toured Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and many political prisoners during apartheid were incarcerated and quietly educated themselves. In maximum security he wrote the book the Long Walk to Freedom smuggled a copy out with a lawyer, burying a second copy in the garden. I was deeply touched by the resilience of these men and their commitment to freedom in the midst of such adverse conditions.

Thursday I had a great day hiking up Table Mountain with Darren and Westley. They are South African Scouts so well prepared for anything that may come up and experienced. We explored a cave, had lunch and did some rock climbing on top of the mountain then hiked down the opposite side into Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where we walked around barefoot drinking milkshakes before taking a taxi back.

Today was more walking around exploring, lunch with a GIS company (a bit of work relationship building) and then the beach all afternoon. It was the last day of school for summer so the beach was packed with high school kids smoking hookahs and clowning around. Tomorrow Lucinda is going to show me a few vineyards as she works in the business. Life is good.