I'm in South Africa and have more observations than can fit in a single entry.  What strikes me most is how little I was prepared for was South Africa was really like.  The paranoid had convinced me that Cape Town was very dangerous.  While it is very security aware, I've never been hassled or bothered while I was here.

Cape Town is physically beautiful.  In addition, you have a real sense of immediate history as you walk around.  After all, the reality of apartheid was a part of this community only a few years ago.  I took a trip to Robben Island and had history put starkly in my face.  A trip to the Cape of Good Hope gave me a sense of the enormity of trying to travel by tiny ship around the Cape.

History and beauty seem to sum up my reactions to South Africa.  Although I was struck by the enormous gap between rich and poor here - - but that's something for a future note.