Last Day in South Africa

This is it - the last full day in South Africa.  This morning 11 of us went with Dsami (our guide from the cultural tour) and Yusef, our bus driver, to Seal Island.  It was a rather short ride out to Seal island on a small charter boat.  The ride was rough which when added to a strong diesel smell caused some passengers to turn different shades of green and the crew hurriedly (but just in time) passed out barf bags --you get the picture.  The island was really several large piles of rocks completely covered with seals.  We took pictures from the boat and headed back to shore.  Time for a little shopping and a cup of coffee.  Yusef is a (self-proclaimed) colored man in his late 50's. His father was an Englishman and his mother was a Malay. He shared with us the SA history leading up to apartheid (1947) and his family's experience during and since 1994. Dsami is black and shared his story on the Cultural Tour of the township.  Both personal stories added much to our SA visit.  Should note that during apartheid, all were classified as black, colored, white, or Indian/Asian and carried a identification card at all times. 

Next, we visited Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.  Our guide, Andrew, was a very funny fellow who really longed to be a standup comic.  He had a deep insight into the botanical world and the specimens in the garden.  SA has many very unique species found only in this part of the world.  It was a pleasant way to spend a couple hours on a cool autumn morning.  This afternoon we took the hotel shuttle to the waterfront, ate lunch, and did a little shopping and walking around.  The area is large and includes a big shopping center, many, many restaurants with outside and inside seating, craft shops, grocery stores, crowds of people, and musical groups entertaining.  

Tonight is our farewell dinner.  Tomorrow we fly to Johannesburg, then to Dulles - with a refueling stop in Dakar, Senegal, then to O'Hare--arriving around 11:30 AM on Monday. 

This has been a great trip.  I will probably blog one more time after I get home.  Thanks for traveling with us.