Lay it all on the Table

Yes, yes. It is a rather boring title, to show you pictures related to Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain, but I promise the spectacular landscapes I present to you here will stand out all that much more without a snazzy titular distraction.

Hello to all of you from atop Table Mountain. Devil's Peak right behind me.

Gazing down on Lion's Head and Signal Hill from a Table Mountain vantage point.

Flanked by fellow Ambassadorial Scholars Emily Kenney and Jon David Connelly, we were taken up in a plane by pilot extrordinaire and Hout Bay Rotarian Clair, up above Cape Town and Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans supposedly meet. Departing from the Cape Town International Airport, near a large group of hangars, we were all treated to an breathtaking experience. Literally, taking my breath away at the end, as we slowly reduced altitude at the end of the flight, my tummy flipped a few times peppered by a queasiness that stopped a conversation between Jon David and I about the quality of Public University state education in the states...

It was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to be up in a plane like this peering down at a peerless landscape, from bird's eye view, where few are rarely afforded such a clear day. Pristine sparkling ocean below us, the maze of urban and natural pathways making themselves apparent, sunlight everywhere, and pilot trainee Wimpy showing his preparedness for his higher level flight exam we were in good hands, aerially speaking. Simulating stormy conditions, we flight rookies were momentarily alarmed when Clair put up blinders on Wimpy's side of the cockpit windows, but the flight continued unabated and the fear subsided.

We were up in the air for what seemed like forever, several times circiling past the City Bowl of Cape Town (the curvature of the bowl created by the chain of Devil's Peak, Table Mountain, and Lion's Head) and over Robben Island, the site where Mandela was imprisoned for those many long years. Traversing the landscape of oceanic spelndor, bays and beaches, mountainous terrain dotted below.

Here's just one sample view from the plane courtesy Emily Kenney's camera, showing off the City Bowl and Robben Island:

Our ever-steadfast flight crew peeping out from the cockpit, Wimpy (pronounced Vim-Pee) and Clair, along with the Emilys:

To say the least, Table Mountain is a majestic sight that haunts you everywhere in all the nooks and crannies of Cape Town. And as I am moving into the city at the end of this month, I will be living at it's foot, looking up at its edifice as I walk out the door every day.

More still to catch up on. Sorry for the total lack of chronology. It's all the last two months, really, that have been an insane blur of whirlwinds sights, cultural adjustments, new experiences everywhere, and always, always being floored by the natural and human beauty of a place that has begun to sneak its way into my heart.