Good Morning Cape Town

Arrived in Cape Town safe and sound 40 minutes early.  After a lovely dinner, we stretched out in our pod and dozed off. We got in r a good 6 or 7 hours before breakfast was served.  I had a nice morning chat with my seat mate on the other side of the privacy divider, Mick from Ireland.  By the way, I did try to get a picture of the Dingle Peninsula as we. flew over, for my friend Mary but it was too cloudy.  The very first question from Mick, after he discovered we were Americans, was: "So how do you feel about that guy in the White House?"  And so begins our American apology tour.  That didn't take any time at all.

Going through Cape Town customs was a breeze.  We walked down to the car rentals and picked up our vehicle for the next 3 weeks or so - a VW Polo.  A nice efficient 5 door hatch that will suit our needs just fine.  Loaded up Google maps and we were on our way to Hugh's house.  This is a very suburban neighborhood.  Not terribly picturesque.  All the home are low and surrounded a whole lot of gates and security.  Hugh's home is modest.  We did take advantage of the pool this afternoon.

We arrived here around 12:30. Sat and got acquainted.  Geoff and I went through the package the tour company sent over.  It weighs more than my luggage!!  They very nicely, provided us with an activated sim card for our phone.  Geoff popped it in and voila! It actually works.  In our conversation, Hugh explained that South Africa is now experiencing load shedding again.  Which means that they rotated communities cutting off the power for about 2-3 hours a day.  And, also, although they have had some rain, water is still scarce - so please be respectful -- which we generally are anyway.

The weather is fabulous.  Breezy and warm.  We hung around the pool for a bit before resting up before dinner.  Not wanting to go to far afield, we chose a local restaurant which has fabulous food. Fully sated, we are now back in our room.  Will be turning in early tonight.

Tomorrow the plan is to go on the City Bike Tour.  I didn't book in advance because I wasn't sure what condition our condition would be.  So I will wait and call them in the morning and hope they take last minute reservations.

Next time..... Cycling Cape Town