Third Night - Cape Town

It is midnight again in Cape Town.   My last midnight here, possibly in my life, who knows. We are packed and ready to depart to Kruger Park tomorrow.  I do not want to leave; I know what is ahead is fantastic but after that it is the turn around point. We had a fabulous day today.  First off, we well better rested, we got woke up with A's call like all the nights so far but still got to sleep some more and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Albeit not hearty in anticipation of the ride. I opt out of having anti nausea medication which was recommended for the helicopter ride. And I did not regret it. We got transferred to the chopper station ad after a brief safety talk we were airborne. There were three of us in each chopper and a pilot. The take off was fantastic; the view of the cape town, Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles, the Atlantic Ocean, the beaches, and finally the South Point was amazing from 25,000 feet; and we had a rather smooth landing as well.  South Point is the most southern point in the continent, and it is rather a narrow land extended into the ocean; one could see the easter, wester, and southern boarders of the continent at the same time from up there.  M got a brief flying lesson sitting by the pilot. He was a great pilot since despite the wind on the ground he made it a great experience for us without any unexpected fall or turn. So I am sure M has learned a thing or two. We boarded on three shuttles and we had the privilege of company of our president M.P., his wife J.P., and our vice president of sales M.O.  We had a stop at Cape of Good Hope which was the most south western point in the continent.  We all climbed a rock to the top and got a different view of the Atlantic Ocean. The wind was so strong up there it would throw me off balance every time I lifted one foot to walk. The water was just beautiful from up there.  There was a ship sank close by in 1911, apparently there is a rock coming off the water very close to the beach, you could see the swirling waves around it but you couldn't see the rock itself. It called for a need for a good light house.  So there we went, to the light house vista point.  After that we got transferred to our lunch venue: a secluded beach, a tent, built for just us, and wonderful food.  We shared the table with M.O. And got to listen to his fabulous story.  It was indeed aspiring listening to his career adventured from Boston to France to Bay Area.  The lunch venue was so relaxing nobody seemed to care to leave.  We ventured beach combing for a short while and then head down to the Penguins Colony.  Indeed there are penguins in South Africa, which was unexpected for us.  They were small, cute, and wobbly of course. There were local people selling their handcrafted goods by the beach.  I got to by a Ebony Wood Bowl with carved animals around it for 200 Rands, I think it was a great bargain and more importantly, it is nice and resembles good quality. I am excited about it. We went through Simon Town and head back toward the cape town passing by the Hout Bay.  It was another great vista point of the ocean, the bay, and the mountains. The rides with our companions was very nice and we chat about many different things which made it a very good experience.  I really enjoy educated intellectual talks and conversations and this was indeed satisfactory. Back in the hotel we rested for a short while and then walked down to the Victoria Wharf; I got to pick and buy a few other souvenirs and I am again very excited about a hand painted table runner I bought with matching napkins. I am loving it all.  They also carve or paint ostrich eggs which I thought was a great gift as it is really unique and African we thought.  I am also excited about an African gemstone bracelet I bought.  And of corse a few things for my sunny son, including the ostrich egg; I hope it makes him excited. I really enjoyed every minute of the day and night; it was a great great day. I am really thankful for the experience and wouldn't have traded it for anything even the shark diving!