Egans in Johannesburg: A Reunion in Cape Town and a Cruise to Robben Island

The view of Table Mountain and the Waterfront from our hotel room window

The location of our hotel and the view from our window are unmatched anywhere, right in the middle of the major tourist sights of Cape Town. When we woke up Sunday morning, this is a close up view of the sunrise from our window:

We attended Church at the Mandalay Ward, in a strip mall in the township of Mandalay. When Bob arrived here in 2005, Luthando Matsaluka was the branch president of the Khayelitsha Branch that met in this same building in Mandalay, next door to the "happy-clappy church" with the loud music and African drums. The happy-clappies are still there, but the Khayelitsha Branch was split into two wards since then, the Khayelitsha Ward, which now has its own chapel right in Khayelitsha, and the Mandalay Ward. President Matsaluka moved his family to the town of George back in 2006 and was called by Bob to preside over the George Branch. When the family moved back to Cape Town, he was called into the Cape Town Stake presidency. In a tragic event last year in the new Mandalay Ward, the second counselor in the bishopric murdered the first counselor, and Brother Matsaluka was called into the bishopric to help the bishop weather the storm and get through the ordeal of working with the two grieving families. It was so fantastic to be with the Matsaluka family at church.

With Luthando Matsaluka, his wife and three girls in front of the Mandalay Ward building on Sunday morning

Street perfomers outside our hotel at the Waterfront

A patriotic bystander painted with
the South African flag

Close up of the colorful street musicians

After lunch at the Spur at the Waterfront, above the
new restaurant terraces under construction

Sunday evening was our Open House and Reunion at the mission home for our missionaries and member friends in Cape Town. We counted forty people in attendance, and Thirsly (mission home housekeeper for over 25 years) and her daughter Bongi prepared an amazing spread for refreshments that was probably twice as much as we needed. The mission home hasn't changed in the past eight years. Here are a few photos:

Number 4 Stratford Way, Pinelands

Mission Home Entry Foyer

Mission Home Lounge

Music room off the lounge with 150 year old piano

Mission Home Lounge, looking toward entry foyer

The Kitchen Crew

Dining Room Table - Sweet Goodies End

Thirsly and Bongi in the Kitchen

Dining Room Table - Savory Goodies End

Thirsly and "Sister E."

Five former SACTM missionaries surround their former president - left to right,
Sam Nkowane, Taona Jiri, Brian Jani, Cliff Gudza and son, and Romeo Sande

The kids' table

Visiting in the lounge

Sam and Luthando Matzaluka in
the mission home dining room

Visiting in the dining room

Family photo with the Sande Family

With Kari Kruger and her friend Ethan and
President & Sister Merrill in the mission home

With Thirsly, Bongi and Sam at the Open House

It was a glorious evening, full of reminiscing and creating new memories, and saying last goodbyes.

The next day, Monday, we took the ferry to Robben Island, a lovely half-hour boat ride each way, and toured the island and the prison where Nelson Mandela had been impriosoned, in one tiny cell, for 18 of the 29 years he was incarcerated as a political prisoner, before he was released in 1994 to become the first black president of South Africa as a result of the first democratic elections, where blacks were finally allowed to vote. It was an educational and humbling, spiritual experience.