Ok, well there was no plane involved, but today I traveled by train, taxi, boat, bus, and my friend’s car. That’s got to set some kind of record. If nothing else, it sets a record for how many various modes of transportation I have taken in one day..

Kitty and I woke up early to catch a train to Noordhoek, about 45 minutes south of Cape Town. We were running late so took the taxi to the station. (Not-so-fun fact: it costs three times as much to take a taxi five minutes down the road than it costs for a 1-hour train ride.) Nordhoek is where the Brentwood team is stationed for the various VBS and construction projects they are doing. Cindy and Brandi are serving with a VBS. They’ve had over 200 kids come for the morning session and around 30 older teens come each afternoon. The children this morning were absolutely adorable! Kitty and I had a great time just watching each of them come into the gym, one by one. Each one with such a unique personality. Each one a beautiful child of God. We mostly just helped with craft time. I had a couple of them come over and talk to me for a while. One girl was all in my hair, pulling it, braiding it, just having a grand ole time. I didn’t really mind, but it’s always interesting to see what my hair looks like after such special attention. I love the fact that this VBS is tied in with a ministry that is in Cape Town year-round called Living Hope. Check it out here.

At lunch time we grabbed our sandwiches and headed with Cindy back to Cape Town. We had booked a tour to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. The full history of the island is quite incredible, from its time as a leper colony to its time as a maximum security prison for political prisoners and everything before and in between. After taking the ferry to the island, we went on a bus tour around the island followed by a tour of the maximum security prison conducted by an ex-political prisoner. Another fun fact: There are over 15,000 penguins on the island making it the second largest African penguin colony in the world.

After reading my blog, a lady asked me to share a link with you about a nonprofit organization she is involved in that brings former Robben Island inmates to America to share the lessons of their own struggle against Apartheid in disadvantaged high schools. I told her I would be happy to: http://robbenislandsingers.com.