On Top of the Bottom of the World



Martha at the top of Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town

 We arrived in Cape Town Friday the 23^rd, picked up our new white BMW rental car at the airport and found our way, driving on the right side of the car and left side of the road, to our beautiful timeshare suite at the Peninsula All-Suites Hotel at Sea Point below Lion’s Head Mountain. By the next day, Bob was used to driving the South African way. All we did Friday was check into our suite and visit the V&A Waterfront, where we both had kingklip, served two different ways, at the Cape Town Fish Market restaurant. Wondeful! We went to bed exhausted from our travels and the accompanying jetlag and slept in the next morning until we both awakened at close to 10:00!

The Peninsula is a fabulous hotel in a prime location. Our two-bed, two-bath suite is spacious and comfortable with all the amenities, including an amazing ocean front view from our living room and balcony, right on Beach Road above the Sea Point promenade. The weather has been absolutely perfect with daytime temperatures in the 80’s, cooling down to the low 70’s at night.

The Peninsula All-Suites Hotel at Sea Point

View from our balcony of Atlantic Ocean

On Saturday, we went for a nice drive and visited Bob’s old stomping grounds around the mission home in Pinelands. We even had kingklip and chips for lunch at Mr. Fish. We also made a dry run to the Gugulethu chapel to be sure we knew how to get there for Sunday morning. Then, as we drove through the city to Lion’s Head and started up the mountain to Signal Hill, suddenly the fog rolled in and took away our views.  Although it became somewhat cloudy, the drive through Camp’s Bay past the beaches and into Sea Point was still spectacular. What a beautiful city! Since the evening was overcast and cool, we decided to visit the incredible Canal Walk Mall at Century City, the largest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere, and the most opulent mall we had ever seen, with its elegant detailing, over 400 stores and over 200 restaurants! It rivals the opulence of the mall at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas but is several times larger, and it completely blew Martha away!

On Sunday, we enjoyed a worshipful and sacred day that was all we had hoped for and more. We arrived at the Gugulethu chapel a few minutes early and were greeted by three senior missionary couples, all of whom were also just visiting, who pulled into the car park (parking lot) the same time we did. The first to greet us was Sister Wheeler, who has been following our blog because she has been Joyce’s friend since the 1970’s when they were waiting for their missionaries, who they both married. Elder Wheeler visited Bob & Joyce at our home when they left on their mission 18 months ago. The Wheelers are serving in Port Alfred (about a 9-hour drive away), a branch that Bob organized 9 years ago, and are in Cape Town on some kind of mission business. They left before the block was over, so we didn’t get a photo with them . Another couple is on their way home after completing their mission in Grahamstown, and the third couple was there to give a self-reliance presentation to the branch during the third hour. The AP’s (assistants to the president) were also visiting the branch and the four assigned elders were there.

As we walked into the chapel, Thirsly (housekeeper at the mission home for 25 years and now 9 mission presidents) was there to greet us, along with her daughter Sindiswa (about age 24?) and her beautiful granddaughter. We had a very tender reunion, and they were so happy to meet Martha. Sindiswa was so happy to see Bob that she burst into tears and had to excuse herself! The branch president, President Nkukwani , who also remembered the Egans, was especially kind to welcome us, and was very impressive in his calling.

When the meeting started at 9:00, there were only about 30 people there and 14 were missionaries. But by the time the sacrament was passed there were close to 70 in attendance. Thirsly led the music and Sam Nkowane (our former AP who is married to Thirsly’s daughter Bongi) played the keyboard.  We noticed Cebo, Thirsly’s 18-year old son, at the sacrament table, all grown up. He hadn’t turned 12 when Bob left in 2008. Bongi is in the stake Young Women presidency, and she was a couple of hours away visiting the Paarl Ward.

We thoroughly enjoyed the sacrament meeting and Sunday School. The final speaker and Sunday School teacher was Brother Byron of the stake high council, and he was exceptional. Bob went to the Priesthood quorum lesson by Brother Masikwana and Martha went to the self-reliance presentation with the rest of the Relief Society. After the 3-hour block of meetings, we stayed for a baptismal service for 3 new converts, which was a very special, spiritual experience, and Thirsly’s daughter Bongi joined us after the baptism. We had a great reunion and took lots of photos.



Thirsly (left), her son Cebo (center), daughter Bongi and son-in-law Sam Nkowane

Sindiswa and her baby with Martha



Gugulethu missionaries and their baptisms (two women
in center in orange and brown dress and yellow jacket)

 

Tihabanelo DiHolo, one of Bob’s “powerful” SACTM RM’s is also in the Gugulethu Branch and was there with his two beautiful daughters. Bob hadn’t seen him since 2005, as he was one of the first elders to leave after they got here almost 10 years ago. He was the missionary who always used the word “powerful” to describe things he was impressed with or touched by.

The weather Sunday was unbelievably sunny and beautiful, so we drove to Lion’s Head and Signal Hill after the church meetings and saw some breathtaking views of this beautiful city, the Bay, the Waterfront, the downtown skyline, the beaches, the mountains and all the trees. Cape Town is even more beautiful than Bob could remember or than Martha had ever anticipated!

 

Cape Town and Table Bay as Seen from Signal Hill

We drove to the mission home a little before 5:00 Sunday for an open house that was planned for us. It is amazing how little the mission home has changed since our drastic remodeling in 2006. Sister Merrill took us on a tour of the place. Bob felt right at home and felt a ton of memories flooding over him. He knew a lot more about the home than the Merrills, who just got here 7 months ago. The guests at the open house said it felt very natural to see Bob here in the home where he lived and hosted events for 3 years. Eight returned missionaries who served under Bob were at the open house, most with wives and children, and about 20 local members (stake president, bishops, etc.) were there to greet us and visit, along with all Thirsly’s family. We had a fun time, lots of great visits and reminiscing, and felt honored and welcomed. Martha felt very much a part of everything, and everyone loved her! Photos will be posted later.

On Monday through Thursday we were tourists and saw all the tourist sights of Cape Town. In Martha’s words: Every single day was a spectacular day! Monday we drove along False Bay to Fish Hoek and Simonstown and to the southern tip of Africa at Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, hiked to the lighthouse and saw where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean currents merge, had a wonderful meal at the Two Oceans restaurant. On the way, we spent time with the African penguins in their beach colony and closely observed a baboon family that appeared along the roadside. Photos will be posted later. We came back around Chapman’s Peak and Hout Bay to Victoria Road and Sea Point. We finished our evening with gelato cones at the Canal Walk Mall.

Tuesday and Wednesday we picked up the red double-decker, hop-on hop-off, sightseeing buses just outside our hotel door and had beautiful sunny summer weather to observe the V&A Waterfront, including a canal cruise, the immense flea market at Greenmarket Square, a tour of the city bowl and all its historical sights, forts and castles, took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, overlooking the city and the Cape Peninsula, drove above and around Camp’s Bay and the Clifton beaches, toured Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens,  and saw everything in between, beautifully narrated, from a perfect vantage point atop the second deck of an open-air bus. Photos will be posted later.

Thursday we drove to Bloubergstrand and looked across Table Bay at the city skyline and Table Mountain and had our photo taken, then we drove back along the sea coast to Hout Bay and visited World of Birds, where we spent a whole hour interacting with about 30 squirrel monkeys in the Monkey Jungle. Martha had one squirrel monkey climb on her head. Four mother monkeys were carrying their new babies on their backs, even nursing them, while flying from branch to branch through the trees.

 

Then we drove back through the beautiful greenery of the Constantia wine country to the V&A Waterfront for one last visit and meandered through the impressive craft stores in the Watershed (which replaced the former red shed and blue shed in 2012). Temperatures did get into the low 90’s Wednesday and Thursday, but cooled down comfortably after sunset.

We really have had a chance to see the world’s most beautiful city in its very best light. When asked to describe Cape Town after a week’s visit, Martha said she would probably best describe it as San Diego meets Monterey meets Hawaii. It’s like the best of all three. She is also very impressed by the unique diversity of Cape Town, not just racially and ethnically, but how the wealthy live in sprawling, gorgeous mansions not far from the small, humbleshacks and shanty towns of the distressingly poor.

We ate kingklip at Cape Town Fish Market and Mr. Fish, chateaubriand steak at the Cattle Baron, langoustine prawns from Mozambique at the Two Oceans, and samples from 15 different African countries and cultures at The Africa Café with President & Sister Merrill, among other dinners and lunches. All delicious meals!



Butterflied langoustines from Mozambique served with all their eye
and appendages at the Two Oceans Restaurant at Cape Point

It took Bob just a few hours to get comfortably back in the mode of driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road, and he hasn’t needed the GPS at all, as he clearly remembers his way around and is really taking it all in.  Petrol (gasoline) prices seem to be dropping here as well as at home. Bob is pretty sure petrol cost over $5 a gallon seven years ago when they were here. Today they’re advertising 11 rand per liter, which comes out to $4.31 per gallon, which is still more than double US prices.

Tomorrow (Friday) we’re off on a 5-hour drive along the Garden Route, around the Cape to the Indian Ocean side, for the weekend, and our next posting will probably be next week from Johannesburg.