The Last Post

At the setting of the sun, we will remember our fabulous holiday forever!
We drove back to Cape Town through more scenic winelands. Saturday, before we flew out, we did the Nelson Mandela pilgrimage to Robben Island. Today we arrived in Dubai at 5.25 am. Our next flight leaves at 9.25 pm, so we have spent the day sleeping in the hotel, and finishing some souvenir shopping. See you all soon!

Highlights:

1. The beautiful scenic drives around Cape Town, so many beautiful mountains, valleys, rolling vineyards. The route we drive today could have been France, except for the baboons!
2. Finally, on our last day in town, we discovered a fabulous and cheap seafood restaurant. Went there for dinner, then lunch before we flew out. Interesting and new kinds of fish to eat included kingklip, bluenose, dorado and angel fish. What a shame this restaurant is not in Melbourne.
3. The views of Cape Town from the plane, Table Mountain and the city at sunset. Also, the most scenic airport I have been to.

Observations:

1. Cape Town's Robben Island, the prison where so many black South African political prisoners were kept under the Apartheid regime, including Nelson Mandela, is a World Heritage site. However, we found it a disappointing excursion. It could be great, but it's seriously in need of a curator and a business manager. We went over on the slow ferry, and really just got talked at for two hours. There are so many fascinating and inspiring stories in this place, but they need to present them to the tourists in a much more accessible and engaging way. From a distance on the bus, we saw the limestone quarry where the prisoners worked , including the cave where they sheltered from the rain, which was the only chance many of them got to congregate, and the guide described this cave as "their university and their parliament". 70% of South Africa's constitution was drafted there. Yet most of the audience was bored witless, because they couldn't get out and look, or they couldn't understand the guide. We'll just have to see the movie when it's released (soon). Disappointing. Get your act together, South Africa.
2. It's Ramadan. Nobody in Dubai (i.e.locals) can eat or even drink water until the sun's down. A bit rough when it's 40 degrees. The bar in the hotel is closed, and half the restaurants. The others have limited service for tourists. The prayers from the mosque went for ages.