Welcome to Cape Town

My tour of duty at Princess Marina Hospital has sadly come to an end. My last day was Friday, which I largely spent taking photos of my favorite nurses & patients and just barely sneaking in one last LP (my streak of consecutively successful LP's is definitely in the double digit area...in general, they are much easier on cachectic, HIV-infected Africans than they are on obese, diabetic Americans).

Now it's on to the VACATION portion of the trip! On Saturday, Jon, Kara, and myself boarded a plane to Jo'Burg, and then to Cape Town, where we will spend our final week on the Dark Continent. Jon's wife Sonal (an Anesthesiology resident at Temple) met up with us there so it's the four of us sharing a hotel and rental car together.

What a breath-taking city! Our hotel is about a block away from the Cape coast, and in prime viewing distance of Lion's Head, part of the ridge of mountains which forms a backdrop against the city. Today was spent gorging ourselves silly at the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet our hotel features, followed by hiking around Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are on the eastern face of Table Mountain, which we intend to hike up a little bit later on in the week as it was a bit cloudy today. Apparently the viewing conditions can change dramatically upon the weather; it is not uncommon for a sheet of clouds to completely cover the top of Table Mountain, the so-called "tablecloth".

And to top it all off...a fast & cheap Internet connection at a nearby Internet Cafe which allows me to finally post some photos up! Admire me in all my facial hair glory! (Don't worry, Claire...I intend to shave it off shortly after arriving back in the 'States ;)