First day in Cape town

After the long bus and plane rides sleep overtook me. Unfortunately I forgot to turn on my alarm and was luckily saved by a phone call from Bridget. I was ready in 15 minutes just in time to catch the bus. If you don't make the bus the Cal Maradonna rule of "no one left behind" kicks which means he waits for you and you pay the cab fare to catch up to the group. That would have been embarrassing.
     The first stop was the Port Authority. Unlike in New Jersey, NY and Philadelphia, the port authority here is strictly overseeing shipping-commercial and cargo.  Although it is not a massive port they do ship quite a bit of fruits and wine. They import much more - mainly from China and Brazil. They are growing the port as they expect the Cape town traffic to increase by deeping the port and getting advanced machinery. The port is a difficult one for ships due to heavy rain and high seas on the cape.
     The port sits just a few miles from where they are building the main stadium for the 2010 World Cup. The city plans on docking two to three cruise liners in the port area to serve as floating hotels during the influx of tourists and spectators.

    Parliament was next. In just 1994 (only 15 years ago) everything changed in South Africa as apartheid ended and the first free elections were held - Nelson Mandela was elected President. South Africa has five provinces (like states in the U..S. - Western Cape being one). Each province takes most of its direction (but not all) from the National Parliament. The National govt assesses and collects taxes (and redistributes them to the provinces) passes laws, etc. The provinces deal with local issues including the poor and also implementing what is passed at the National level. The government is a multi-party system with the ANC currently holding the most seats (and thus the Presidency).
     After this meeting the visitors (not students) on the trip took a walk to the Company Gardens. A beautiful park with trees and flowers from across the world. I saw the largest rubber tree plant I have ever seen (no ant could move that rubber tree plant). Just beautiful plants under a sunny sky with Table Top Mountain in the background.
   A beer and some crisps (flavored potato chips) in a quite picnic area restaurant near the University of Cape Town gave us the energy for our trek back to the hotel. Dinner came later at the waterfront outdoor shopping area (n,ear the port authority) Overall a very good first day.