So long Gabs, hello Cape Town!

Woo-eee! What a day it has been! Two days ago, on July 11th, Camp Hope Botswana finished its 2013 season serving 100 campers! We had a successful departure day and then debrief meetings with the staff and leadership team. In the evening the SeriousFun team celebrated at News Cafe where I had eggs Benedict and the world's best hollandaise sauce-no lie. It was an early night and we all slept in, getting about 12 hours sleep--that's the end of camp for ya! We went for a buffet breakfast at Mma Ramotswe's tea room and tooled around Main Mall looking for crafts and souvenirs. Around 3 we left for the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, about 30 minutes outside downtown Gabs. There we went on a great evening game drive (saw rhino incl. a baby, giraffe, hyena, zebra, warthog, eland, hippo, and wildebeest) and had a grand finale dinner. Hilary was finally able to order gluten free pasta, Zac and I enjoyed $3 Windhoeks (note they were .5 liters) and the girls had amazing butternut soup! It was such a nice way to celebrate the last month and soak up the last moments in Botswana.

Now onto today! It was sad to say goodbye and we had to say it to Zac first, who had a flight at 1 pm. The 3 girls had some downtime since our flight didn't leave until 4:30 so Hilary and I got some extra layers for Cape Town and we found a wifi cafe to do some work. At the airport, right as we thought we'd be boarding, we find out the plane has a hole...somewhere, and we are delayed 2 hours. This wasn't much of a problem for Melissa since her flight from Joburg was at 11 pm but for Hilary and I, it meant we'd miss our connection to Cape Town. Fortunately though, we made it! After a vwry quick goodbye to Melissa, lots of sprinting, sweating, telling the SA Airways people they are ridiculous, and dropping over $250, we sat safely on the plane. Everything shut down as soon as we had gone through; ticket counter, bag check in, security checkpoint! When we got on the flight, we were both in middle seats but the nice lady next to me offered to move and let Hilary sit there. She reminded us that there are good people in this world! Once we relaxed, the flight was great; wine, chicken curry, and some solid girl chat. When we arrived at the airport, so did our bags (thank goodness) and the driver from the hotel was waiting...to take us to the most amazingly awesome and affordable boutique hotel in Cape Town, complete with Mexican and Thai restaurants right downstairs, heated bathroom floors, speedy wifi, and a bath tub! Oh and by the way, Table Mountain is unbelievable..you look left and see the far of a mountain, you look right and see the ocean. I am in love and it isn't even daylight :)

Enjoy the photos from the last days in Gabs and keep it classy state-side,
Mary

PS Zac got us all elephant figurines to thank us and always remind us of this trip...quite possibly the cutest thing ever (see photo, sideways)