Alive On Arrival-Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town journey, 2016

Cape Town · South Africa · A Return Passage

Foreign LandBack to the Mountain

Four years later, the route led back to Cape Town—Table Mountain above us, the world cruise behind us, and the same horizon pulling forward.

Listen to the Field Note

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The Return

Four Years Ago Today

And we are back in Cape Town, South Africa.

Cape Town travel memory from 2017
2017
Cape Town travel memory from 2018
2018
A second Cape Town travel memory from 2018
2018

Field Note · 3,500 Feet

Irresistible Table Mountain

Irresistible is a good way to describe it. At 3,500 feet above sea level, it is the oldest mountain on Earth, six times older than the Himalayas. The rocks at the summit reminded me of Honningsvåg, Norway, and the Arctic Circle glacier stones—truly amazing.

Happy to duplicate the Christ the Redeemer Art Deco statue pose of Jesus Christ in Rio.

Hope lies on Table Mountain—the exact vista Nelson Mandela looked out toward from his prison on Robben Island. It is an important piece of South African culture I will take back with me and share: the legacy.

Moving Pictures

Three Views of Cape Town

The First Arrival · 2011

A Three-Day Port of Call

The first time we were in Cape Town was during our 2011 World Cruise: Los Angeles/San Pedro, California, to Southampton, United Kingdom.

Are We Clear—Crystal!
Fly a Russian MiG-29 at Mach 2 or take a world cruise in zero gravity—I’ll take things that I know for $60,000, Alex.

Ports of Call

  • Mooréa, Society Islands
  • Bora Bora, Society Islands
  • Nuku'Alofa, Tonga
  • Auckland, New Zealand
  • Napier, New Zealand
  • Christchurch/Lyttleton, New Zealand
  • Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Melbourne, Australia
  • Brisbane, Australia
  • Darwin, Australia
  • Bali/Pedang Bay, Indonesia
  • Kuala Lumpur/Port Kelang, Malaysia
  • Yangon/Rangoon, Myanmar
  • Cochin, India
  • Marmagao, India
  • Mauritius/Port Louis, Republic of Mauritius
  • Durban, South Africa
  • Cape Town, South Africa
  • Bom Bom Island, Principe
  • Takoradi, Ghana
  • Lisbon, Portugal
  • Oahu/Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  • Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands
  • Rarotonga, Cook Islands
  • Lautoka, Fiji
  • Tauranga, New Zealand
  • Wellington, New Zealand
  • Picton, New Zealand
  • Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  • Sydney, Australia
  • Cairns, Australia
  • Komodo Island, Indonesia
  • Singapore
  • Phuket, Thailand
  • Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • Mumbai (Bombay), India
  • Malé, Republic of Maldives
  • St-Denis, Réunion, France
  • Port Elizabeth, South Africa
  • Walvis Bay, Namibia
  • Lomé, Togo
  • Dakar, Senegal
  • London/Dover, England

From the Archive

The Route in Images

The Elixir

The Horizon Remembers

A return is never simply a repeat. The mountain stays where it is; the traveler comes back changed. Cape Town turned a port of call into a point of reference—and the world cruise into a route we could keep reading years later.