Have you ever tasted the clouds?

This afternoon we were finally able to go up to the top of Table Mountain. Soaring 3,500 feet in the air I was given a bird's eye view of Table Bay, Cape Town, and its bustling harbor. You can even see the skeleton of the brand new 68,000 seat soccer stadium being constructed as a part of the infrastructure improvements leading up to the World Cup that South Africa will be hosting in 2010.
Storms, fog, and strong winds earlier in the morning had kept us from our original agenda of an early morning encounter with this breathtaking piece of God's creation.
So it is a 3 to four hour strenuous hike up a pathway made of stone steps. I sure am glad there is a cable car...did you seriously think I was going to take the path? I am a walker, but there is something deterring about a path straight up. Yeah, not so much!!
We arrived at the foot of the mountain and there was an extremely long line that trailed down the road for blocks to buy tickets. Somehow we were able to bypass that and go ahead onto the cable car. So we began to ascend the mountain in this cable car (sponsored by VISA). I may have forgotten to mention that the floor of this cable care rotates 360 degrees as you are inching slowly up to the top of the mountain so that those on board can soak it all in.
When we got to top we walked along the trails that had been carved out all over the top of the mountain. There were little decks that had been built on all sides so that you can look at Cape Town from all sides.
Still wondering about tasting the clouds? Today I did, along with some of my classmates. What do they taste like? They are NUM YUMMY. As we rounded the trail into the last curve you are in the middle of the clouds. Look up clouds. Look out clouds. Close your eyes and open them again....thats right CLOUDS. They taste clean, and come with a mist that is far more cleansing than the summer rain showers on a sweltering summer afternoon in South Carolina.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine what it is like to be 3500 feet in the air, watching the clouds pass by straight out, and a city that you only know from the history books, documentaries, and movies, pulsing down below...the city that my classmates, professors, and I will become intimatley involved with over the next several weeks.
Our first full day in South Africa has started with a smorgesboard for the senses. I believe that over the next 3 weeks I, along with my classmates and professors, will continue to touch, taste, see, smell, and most of all hear South Africa from its past to the present, and consider what all of this means for its future and ours. Remember that taste, even if clouds are on the menu is more than just eating.