Here at Last, in body if not in Mind

Well, its 2:30 in the morning and I am so overtired but of course I cannot sleep. I envy people with no let lag right now, more than I can say. The flight was really uneventful, for a 17.5 hour flight! First stop Senegal. The lovely city of Dakkar. Well, it looked lovely from the air. We flew over and landed in the middle of the night and were not allowed to get off the plane. I can reassure you that security in Dakkar is outstanding. They went through the plane carefully, searching under and behind every seat very politely asking us to move out of their way. Then we were airborne again, just as the sun was rising over the coast of Africa and my geography lesson began. We stayed along the coast and from my very-cramped window seat I watched part of Africa I had heard of but never seen go by below me the size of anthills. Seirra Leone, Monrovia, lucky for me they had that lovely animated plane with distances at the front of the plane to show me where I was. I really think I need to pay more attention to the geography of the rest of world. We were shown up indeed when finally we landed and people found out we were from the "United States of Obama". Everyone here is so excited, but then they check their enthusiasm and make sure we are not from Oklahoma! They know where Oklahoma is, and I am still discovered the location of entire countries.

I landed in one piece, thrilled to get off the plane at last only to stand the in the immigration lines for about 45 minutes. Lesson, do not be at the back of the plane. At least my suitcase was waiting by then and so was the lovely Intusing, who drove me into Capetown and helped me compare it to San Francisco. Seems she studied at Stanford for 3 months a few years ago. I hope to meet her again before I head back to the states. She does the tours of the townships, which I missed, but which the boys enjoyed.

At this point you may wonder, who am I traveling with. Well, I came on this trip with my girlfriend Kate, who is presenting at a conference here on Addiction. She is traveling also with a coworker of her's Scott, who stayed with us this summer for a month when he was moving from NC to CA. And then our friend Mike, from Raleigh, with whom I have travelled many times is here as well. Did I mention that Kate is not here???? Last minute work kept her at home for the week we will be touring and she will arrive only in time for the conference. Poor Kate. We will miss her.

So, the boys were waiting to greet me outside the Commodore Hotel, just across the street from the V&A Waterfront. Boy could i spend a lot of time shopping there!!!! They helped me check in since by then I was dead on my feet, and a quick shower later we were off to the huge mall and to find dinner at the wharf. Saturday night and the place was humming. We settled on a Portugese restaurant and explored the menu, trying to learn what Kingsklip was. Does anyone know? I did not order it. But the lobster platters looked amazing. Maybe I will try those tonight, if I can stay awake. I will try to take photos at the wharf and of the hotel and post those later today or tomorrow, but I confess i was counting on Kate to be the photographer and now I just hope I can figure out how to use her camera. Keep your fingers crossed for me, everyone.

Plans for later today, after a few more hours sleep I hope, include a tour about the whole Cape Peninsula. Yesterday the boys did some touring that included two cobras. I hope to do without that today! But I expect to see gorgeous scenery and amazing flowers and places. I remember being introduced to Protea the first time I came to Capetown and I have loved them every since. Amazing world, now you can buy them at the grocery store florist! Oh yeah, that is what globalization is all about.

More sleep now....