This morning, after one final brekkie at Café Manhattan with Branden, Sven left Cape Town. It was great to have him over and explore and hang out. It was like a true holiday within the Round-the-world trip.

He also left the Mother City with one bag more… well, he bought some souvenirs, but most of it was stuff I wanted to get rid off.

The second small bag, my hand luggage for the electronics, is gone now, some t-shirts, a pair of shoes, long pants and other stuff. In all I think I shaved some five kilos off my back.

After Sven drove off,  I stayed in the Café to blog and sort some stuff out, take care of my health insurance for the rest of the trip, search for accommodation in Santiago, etc, etc. The works.

I wanted to head out to Clifton Beach one last time but by the time I was done it was overcast, so I just went home to have a nap.

In the evening, after another drink at Manhattan’s (it really became by far the most visited place in Cape Town) I met up with Branden and we watched Into the Woods, the latest movie and musical with Meryl Streep.

It was a quiet way of saying good-bye to Cape Town. In the last days I already has that little melancholy that always gets to me at the end of a stay in a city.

As it was still the holidays, a lot of the people I has met were gone, or had friends and family over. So I didn’t get to say good-bye properly to a lot of them, mostly just via a Whatsapp message.

I met so many fun and great people on this trip, and I hope to keep in touch. But I also regret those who I did not meet properly, or only shortly, just scratching at the surface but not having a proper chance to know them.

But then how could I? It’s already a lot to handle and deal with, I don’t know how I could handle more. But the connections made are the greatest gift, and the potential is enormous.

There are friendly people all over the world, and friends to be made everywhere.

I just have to go out and do it.

And I have to remember that, when I’m back.