Cape Town

Dan and I enjoyed a week in Cape Town, South Africa. Dan had a conference and I explored. The local history is fascinating and the people were wonderful. The highlight was visiting Robben Island just off the coast where Nelson Mandela (and 1000s of others) have been prisoners over the past 400 years. South Africa seems to be recovering well from a turbulent history. The guy in the photo is our tour guide on Robben Island, he was a former prisoner. He has some fabulous stories to share. For example, he was the tour guide for Senator Obama when he visited a few years ago. While taking him through the middle of the island he showed the 4 cannons that were built during WWII. He mentioned that during the war they moved the prisoners to the mainland and used the island for protection, aiming the cannons at Cape Town to blow out anyone who might want to take Cape Town. In typical African time frame, the cannons were not completed until 1947:) He then asked Senator Obama to do him a favor and not mention to Pres. Bush that they had weapons of mass destruction.