My first full day in Cape Town ‘on my own’, without a tour bus, a handheld sign, or passengers to herd around. We walked around the various districts, and then decided to hike Table Mountain National Park. My travel mates and I have been to the infamous Table Mountain numerous times…so we decided to hike the other side of the park, where there were several trails and peaks that we had never experienced. We chose Lion’s Head, and trekked along…and along…and along. I love to exercise, I love the outdoors, and I love beautiful scenery…and today’s hike had all three. The weather was beautiful, and the scenes were breath-taking…overlooking all the different districts of Cape Town, the waterfront, the ocean, Table Mountain, paragliders, helicopter emergency drills, and so much more.
I consider myself to be in decent physical shape, but the steepness of this trail made my heart, thighs and quads scream mercy on me. I don’t know if it was the jetlag, or the fried potato wedges that I ate at lunch, but I was ti-red! In fact, by the time we got back down to town, we stopped at an adorable café called, “The Bombay Bicycle Club” and I needed the waitress to bring me a bag of ice for my knees! We sat around resting our tired bones and muscles insistent that the sea level had dropped in Cape Town and that altitude must have been the factor for our exhaustion, until Dex asked, “What’s for dinner?”
I was like dog hanging out a car window—ears perked, tongue out, drooling to support Dex’s question. Liz was craving curry. Dex was craving more beer. I was craving anything that didn’t look like a mountain. We went back to our hotel, got ready and found a recommended Asian restaurant on-line. Pon’s Asian kitchen—thumbs up by the viewers, and definitely thumbs up by me and my mates! Cape Town is a diverse and cosmopolitan city, and Pon’s menu represented SE Asian cuisine delectably--Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian dishes. We licked every piece of jasmine rice off our plate, had a very pleasant bottle of local South African wine, and had a very interesting dinner conversation about religion, faith, and cultures.
While we had different beliefs and upbringings, we discovered the similarities, and shared the differences of opinions. Isn’t that what life is all about? We are all unique individuals, and we have the capability to bring our gifts to the table and share it with others. The common bond in humans is that we are able to communicate. Even if we speak different languages, dialects, or are mute…we share the commonality of being able to express love, kindness, peace, forgiveness, and understanding. I am striving for this, not only in the mission of Cultural Embrace, but in my daily life.
How ironic is it, that I’m at a writer’s block, not really sure how to end this blog…when I look up from my bed, and see a framed picture of Nelson Mandela on the wall. I guess a picture is really worth a thousand words.
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