E-mail Kathryn sent Tuesday, November 6, 2001, from Capetown, South Africa

Hello From Capetown!!!!!

I have to start out by saying that I haven't seen such an amazingly beautiful series of Sunrise and Sunset in my life!!!!!!!! Last night, I was running on the Boat Deck, and I hadn't been up to the top deck to see a sunset in awhile, so I charged up to the top deck, the Observation Deck at the bow of the ship and prepared myself for the Beautiful Sunset I was about to see. All day we had been sailing about 4 miles out from the coast of South Africa, so, in front of me I saw the sun setting on my left, and the mountains of South Africa reflecting the sun on my right. I stood with the refreshingly cold wind (Its been summer for too darn long) blowing directly at me and I watched the sun go down as it lined the clouds with gold and silver. I didn't have my camera with me, I should have, but I didn't dare budge because I was afraid I would miss too much. It was FANTASTIC! We reached the Cape of Good Hope around 9pm last night, and the captain did donuts around that spot until morning when he was aloud to bring the ship into harbor. We had no fear of being rerouted at the last minute, because the captain was hell bent on getting us here, it just so happens that he has a girlfriend waiting for him, so it was great FUN to see him teased during the last few days at sea.

I woke up this morning at 5 am and headed up to the deck to see the sun rise over Table Mountain. Now, I have been told over and over, Cape Town is Beautiful, you'll love Capetown etc.... BUT, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw this morning. If my eyes were even the slightest bit droopy when I slugged upstairs so early in the morning, nothing cured that like seeing the city of Capetown nestled into the edge of Table Mountain which loomed over the ocean like a storybook backdrop! I never could have pictured something so amazing. My roomate was still asleep, so I went down and popped her right out of bed because I couldn't possibly let her leave that ship without seeing sunrise over table mountain. A cloud was resting on the top of the mountain, so I haven't seen it clearly yet, but the clouds reflected the light so perfectly with the pinks and purples, that I am so glad it was there. So, that is my nature report for today!!!!! I can't wait to show you all pictures of sunrise, and I'll try to do a teensy bit of justice to sunset with a drawing or something.

We got off the ship around 10 am and headed into Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. It looks strikingly like the wharf in San Fran or Monterey and even a little bit like the Harbor in Boston, as far as the style of buildings and things go, but is definetly distinctly South African. We headed straight to a lunch spot right on the water, and oogled at all the seafood for 25 to 50 rand, which is about 2.50-5 dollars. The exchange is DEFINETLY in favor of the dollar around here. It was delicious, and it started to rain just as we were finishing our pan of Prawns and Teriyaki Chicken meals, so we moved inside and waited out the rain briefly while enjoying the most incredible dessert and a nice warm cup of tea!!! It stopped raining just as we got up to leave and we have just strolled around a bit and ended up here at the internet spot.

Tomorrow I have a visit to a Township, which I am very grateful to have gotten a spot on. The third day, Thursday, we have dedicated to climbing Table Mountain and watching the Sunset over Capetown and the Ocean. The last 2 days are up for grabs, but I am trying to get out to Robben Island, which is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and there is a museum there as well. I also hope to get to Cape Point, which sounds unforgettable.