SmarTours conveniently sent all their travelers bright orange luggage tags prior to the trip. I met Lily as soon as soon as we were collecting our bags from our Portland flight. We made our way through JFK to the international flights terminal where we spotted Dr. Cook, Patricia, and Macy in line. We were off!

The excitement, and my seatmate, got me through the 14+ hour flight into Johannesburg. Thankfully we were the only two in our row of four. She was from New York and was headed to South Africa to volunteer to teach English at one of the schools for two weeks. We chatted about her work and my class and what we looked forward to after deboarding the plane.

Once in Johannesburg, we had a 3+ hour layover before our flight to Cape Town. O.R. Tambo is the international hub for South African Airlines and serves more the 20 million passengers a year. Being used to America's strict travel guidelines, I found their security to be quite casual. I was also surprised by the number of flights requiring shuttles to board the plane.

My seat mate on the Cape Town flight was a woman from Sweden whom married a South African. They were in the process of having a house built in Cape Town and she was flying in to check on it. We discussed our tour itinerary for the week and she said we'd enjoy everything on the list -- she fell in love with Cape Town upon her first visit and clearly couldn't get enough of it. She discussed the drought they were under and recommended ways of conserving it.

Upon arriving in Cape Town, we collected our luggage and met Desmond Clack, our city guide. We got on the bus and learned our itinerary and tour options for the upcoming week as we drove to the hotel. Des pointed out some local landmarks. The views, even from the bus, were incredible. Of all the research I'd done, and pictures I had seen, nothing compares to being present. With the mountain range so close to the ocean, it was truly breathtaking looking in any direction.

We checked in to our hotel - the Southern Sun Cape Sun - in City Bowl and decided to go explore. Lily and I decided to buy some water for our rooms. We quickly discovered that the supermarkets near our hotel closed at 4pm, so we took a taxi the the V&A Waterfront. We arrived in time to witness an incredible sunset. We went back to the hotel to meet Dr. Cook and returned to the waterfront for dinner. With the exchange rate giving 12-13 rand to US dollar, we quickly discovered how inexpensive food and wine were. My meal which would have easily cost over $50 in Portland was less than $25 with tip.