Skies Over Africa - Cape Town Revisited

We were into the tenth hour of the overnight flight from London to Cape Town and there were signs of the coming dawn through the window.

The black sky was slowly being illuminated on the far horizon by strands of strawberry, orange and scarlet, reflecting on the aircraft's wing. It was going to be a spectacular African sunrise.

It had been eleven years since our last visit to South Africa and we were looking forward to seeing Cape Town again.

The British Airways 747 swung out over the ocean as it made its final approach and before we knew it we were on the ground making our way into the terminal building. It was 8:00 a.m. local time and we were the only incoming flight - a far cry from the organized chaos of London Heathrow where gates are not even assigned until 45 minutes prior to boarding, such is the volume of air traffic.

Several days later, as Iceland's unpronounceable volcano spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere shutting down all European airports, we shuddered at what it must have been like at Heathrow. We were just grateful to have arrived at our destination.

Our flight was early and there was no sign of our driver, but within minutes he appeared, loading us up efficiently in his comfortable new Volvo for the drive to the hotel. We were far from our best after two overnight flights.

It was only twenty minutes away but traffic was at a standstill, such was the volume of commuters making their way into Cape Town from the townships and suburbs. The N2 is a major highway and we were a little unnerved to read several days later that car muggings on the highway have become a problem......

We arrived at our Victoria and Alfred waterfront hotel to a warm welcome. Even though it was now 9:30 a.m. our room was ready. The view from our room over the harbour and Table Mountain was picture perfect.

The V&A hotel is a converted warehouse that was originally used as a storage and customs facility by the Union Castle Steamship company out of Liverpool - now beautifully restored to showcase its original architectural features. We spent the next two days enjoying the waterfont, its shops and outdoor restaurants.

Seven Seas Voyager was scheduled to arrive the next afternoon - and what a beautiful sight it was to see its bow sliding silently into the harbour. Everyone standing on the waterfront paused to watch the spectacle.

After boarding the next afternoon, we spent a further day in Cape Town at dock before setting sail for Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Happy to have been able to visit Robben Island and the winelands of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek during our brief stay, we settled on our balcony with champagne in hand as Voyager slipped her moorings.

The setting sun coloured the sky over Table Mountain and Cape Town's new waterfront soccer stadium which will host one of the World Cup's semi-finals in June.

And "oh the thrill" as yet another adventure begins!