Cape town DAy 1

Hello friends!
This is a little later than I originally anticipated, but here goes!
Just as a little warning, if you are traveling to South Africa with children, it is necessary to have their original birth certificates to enter the country.
We arrived in Cape Town at night, and were met at the airport by a family friend. His house was filled with books and interesting bits and bobs as well as two wonderful dogs. The next morning, we trouped off to see penguins (called 'jackass'- because they sound like donkeys?). First, we tried to be cheap and use our zoom functions to creep on the penguins without paying anything. This didn't really work out in our favor, though, so we eventually went the true tourist route and forked over the rand. We ended the adventure with ice cream!
Then we went off to see more animals. This time, we saw several committees of baboons, and an ostrich. We then went to an incredible fish and chips place, where we interacted with some huge, lazy seals.
My day ended with something called First Thursdays; where art galleries, bars, and restaurants are open much later than usual on the first Thursday of a month. The first gallery should have felt pretentious, but didn't. Then we went to a different art gallery that was "experimental" and felt so pretentious it was stifling. This gallery displayed cardboard boxes hanging from string and strips of aluminum foil hanging from the ceiling. I hated it :) Then we went to a bar and pizza place, with a couple of musicians who were far too loud for background ambience. It didn't help that their musical style was not exactly my cup of tea, but the pizza was a mazing and the conversation, though shouted, was better.
EG