IAS conference in Cape Town, South Africa 7/15-7/22/09

The flight to Cape Town was very smooth and all planes were on time. On the longest leg from DC to Johannasburg, SA, I was fortunate to sit with a very interesting person. Catherine May was a physician and professor who was on her way to Malawi to volunteer time and medical supplies to an orphanage. I'm looking forward to hearing about her adventures via e-mail.

We stayed at the Protea President hotel in the ritzy part of town. It is absolutely gorgeous! The large windows in my room overlooked the ocean, mountain, and beach houses.

We were kept pretty busy with the pre-conference session on Friday and Saturday. It was a bit tough for me because I had a cold and didn't sleep at all on the 30 hour trip to SA. When we had our first break I slept until 1:30pm!

There were 21 of us at the pre-conference seminar, and Jemaine organized a trip up Table Mountain (1067m, 3563') by cable car.

The opening ceremony of the conference was packed with entertainment! It reminded me of the shows we saw on our cruise ship, only with an AIDs theme. There was an aerial dance show that was really cool.

Pre-conference seminar.


View from my hotel (facing the ocean) at night.


View from my hotel window facing Lion's head (669m, 2195').


Figuring out the taxi fare to Table Mt. at the waterfront. Left to right: Denise, Hera, Jemaine, Angela, Amil, Marie.

Table Mt. cable car station.


View at the top.


I ran out to Maclear's Beacon at the opposite end of the plateau. It's the highest point and is marked by a pile of rocks.


Photo album on picasa:

IAS conference South Africa, 7/15-7/22/09