Heart of Cape Town Museum and Fly Home Sept 19 Friday

Today was the last day of our trip before getting on Delta’s second longest flight (8127 miles) from Cape Town to Atlanta to come home.

We had a few hours to kill before our flight, so we checked out, left our bags at the hotel and visited The Heart of Cape Town Museum. My surgery friends will enjoy this. Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town was the site of the world’s first human to human heart transplant, done by South African surgeon Dr Christiaan Barnard and his team in 1967 (the year I was born!). The hospital is still in use today, but the original operating theaters have been turned into a living museum. It’s actually kinda creepy because there are wax figures set up to look like they are actually performing the operation. Because I spent my nursing career in cardiac surgery, the equipment, the techniques, and the documentation they used in 1967 is absolutely fascinating. I am not actually sure how they kept anyone alive! I kid, but truly, it is amazing how far the specialty has come.

Fifty-four year old Louis Washkansky received the heart from 25 year old Denise Darvall, who was killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street right in front of the hospital. The recipient lived 18 days and died from pneumonia. Now I must say that patient selection is often the best indication of surgical outcome, and this patient had diabetes, was missing limbs, and was in severe heart failure. That being said, Barnard’s next patient to receive a transplant lived for 19 months, his third lived for 20 months, his fifth for 13 years, and his sixth for 23 years.

Original operating theater

Looks pretty real…with a few caveats… ;)

While Christiaan Barnard became world famous for performing the first transplant operation and basically went on tour as a celebrity, many skillful cardiac surgeons were very close to performing transplants themselves. Heart surgery itself was a young and growing field in the 1960’s, and there had many successes and innovations, but in many countries, the ethical concerns surrounding cardiac transplantation was keeping surgeons from actually doing it. After Barnard’s first operation, many other surgeons also immediately began transplanting hearts with varying degrees of success, including in the US. Many would argue the political culture in South Africa at that time made the country ripe for taking the risks that it took, as it was seeking international recognition in a time of governmental sanctioned racial injustice. Much has been written on this topic and it is quite fascinating. Regardless, the museum was interesting and it was fun to see and read about how things were done almost 60 years ago.

Perfecting the technique on doggies

We still had time to kill before our 8 pm flight, so we made reservations at FYN in Cape Town for lunch. FYN was another amazing experience in taste, presentation, service, and atmosphere. We opted for the set menu which included 7 courses, each served with different sake or wine. Nearly FOUR HOURS later, we walked out amazed, full, half (or mostly) drunk, and so very sad to leave not only FYN, but also Cape Town and Africa. We stumbled to the hotel, retrieved our bags, caught an Uber to the airport, boarded our flight a few hours later, and settled in for a long winter’s nap on our 15 and a half hour flight to Atlanta. We actually slept most of the way, and are now happy to be home with our puppies and kitties, with visions of lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, and hippos floating in our heads.

If you are at all interested in this trip of a lifetime, we highly recommend OAT’s Ultimate Africa Adventure. Please feel free to contact us for more information.