From Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town this morning around 9:30 am Cape Town Time. For those of you on the west coast of the states, that's 12:30 am. Our bodies are here and the rest of us is trying to catch up with us. We have had a very long travel time and are glad we got here a day early so we can let our bodies adjust to the time zone change.
The flight from SF to London was uneventful. We are so glad that we had a room at the Sheraton Heathrow as we were able to shower, get refreshed, and even catch a bit of a nap. The flight from London to Cape Town was long and we were able to sleep part of the way, but only in bits and pieces.
We were pounced upon by cabbies as soon as we cleared customs (by the way, no paperwork to fill out to enter South Africa), but told them we were going to call for our car. Cross Cultural Solutions had recommended certain companies, so we called Excite Taxi and our driver, Rashied, was there in 5 minuntes. He was very nice and took us directly to our B & B, the Little Scotia. We had informed the B & B we would be arriving early and thankfully our room was ready for us when we arrived. The bed looked so inviting that it was not long before we were both sound asleep and stayed that way for 3-4 hours.
One of the other CCS volunteers is at the same B & B and we met her in the lobby and went out to have a late lunch/early supper. Her name is Bettina. She is from Colorado and a recent graduate of CU Boulder in International Relations. She flew in from South America where she was in Argentina taking Tango. She will teach English in Spain after CCS and hopes to take the Foreign Service exam in October. She is doing her travels before settling down to life. More power to her.
We have not been able to get a real feel for Cape Town yet. Where we are staying is close to the University of Cape Town and in the shadow of Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the dominant feature in Cape Town and creates a rather dramatic backdrop for us to view. On our way to the B & B, we passed a couple of Townships. They look like they define the word poverty. There appeared to be many buildings constructed of corrugated tin and scaps of lumber. I am sure our eyes will be opened by our experience in Cape Town.
We hope all is well with all of you and will keep in touch.
Art