Monday, March 05, 2007

Capetownian Weekend!

Plane ticket: $30
Night at hostel: $9

Total cost of hotel + plane for a weekend in Capetown under $40: PRICELESS!

It's TRUE! I had some meetings in Joburg during first week of Feb and I was finishing my meeting on a Friday, so a few days before I decided to go to Capetown and I searched until I was able to get a ticket on one of those Oh-My-God-I-really-hope-the-plane-actually-has-REAL-landing-gears airlines for under $30! And being a big fan of hostels, I booked a bed for $9 and I was all set!

The highlight of my trip was Robben Island, an island 30 minutes off Capetown and was the home of Nelson Mandela when he was a political prisoner. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most impressively organized sites/museums I have ever seen. It starts with a min-museum then you take the Ferry to the island. there you're greeted by a guide and you board a bus that takes you all around the island and finally drops you to the main building of the prison. There you get a new guide who actually was a prisoner! He then walks you through the whole building and returns you to the ferry.

Very, very impressive.

It makes you think why other touristic sites, like the Giza Pyramids for example, don't employ such neat organization.

No comments: