It’s now 4a and the storm still isn’t complete. However, I do need to try to get back to sleep since we are leaving for the airport late in the morning and flying to Cape Town via Johannesburg. I can’t wait for the next part of this adventure!
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It was an interesting morning! I woke up at 9:30a and quickly jumped out of bed. Not only was I missing breakfast, but I knew we were supposed to leave for the airport at 10:30a and I still hadn’t finished packing. I quickly jump into the tub for a quick bath and receive a phone call I don’t answer (I learned later it was the staff calling to say that I needed to hurry to make breakfast). At about 9:45a I receive a call from Liza and Roger saying they too had overslept and that they were heading to breakfast. I run out to join them and meet Moira and Larry at the breakfast table. We eat quickly and grab our things to leave. It is bittersweet to say goodbye to Moira and Larry, JV and all the great staff who have been so kind and friendly toward us the past couple of days. It’s also tough to leave such a beautiful, peaceful place.
Don, our driver to the airport, is a small-framed man with a good sense of humor. On the way out of Kruger we come across a bull elephant that decides to stand in our way and be a little difficult. I ask Don if they are trained to handle situations like this and he matter-of-factly answers, “Oh, no,” as the elephant seems to be coming toward us. Great!
We eventually get past the elephant and arrive at the exit to the park. There is a bridge there called Crocodile Bridge. Don informs us that he needs to call his boss to figure out the next pick-ups on his route and that we are welcome to exit on the bridge and he’ll meet us on the other end of it. We all became immediately wary. I say that I’d rather stay in the car, if he doesn’t mind, and encourage Liza and Roger to take pictures. They do and I stay. We all thought the same thing -- he could just drive off with all our bags. Don does make his call and we head off to the airport.
One of the things we are asked is whether we saw the Big 5 or not. The Big 5 consists of a lion, rhino, elephant, water buffalo and leopard. We saw 3 out of 4. Shortly after on the ride to the airport we pass a private game reserve and sure enough, there is a large herd of water buffalo lying around! Four for five isn’t too bad, I think.
Our time at the Nesprit airport is uneventful with two exceptions: We don’t have to fly in a propeller engine plane (it’s a little bigger) and Liza has now worn out the take a picture of the three of us herself. I believe she has to be near 80 or 90 pictures taken that way. Bless her soul.
We arrive in Johannesburg and make our way to pick up our luggage. Then we haul all our bags to the check-in for 1Time airline. When we go to check in we are told that we can’t check in more than two hours before flight departure. Huh? So we sit around for an hour and a half and make it difficult for Liza to take her signature shots. Liza and Roger are now completely focused on catching up on their blogs. I almost feel left out except I’m caught up!
At two hours prior to flight time we check in. It’s funny how my two bags total less than 24 kilos (the limit before overweight fees is 25 kilos, we think since every check-in person has handled this differently), Liza’s one bag is 30 kilos and Roger’s two bags total 39 whopping, you packed too much crap kilos! Thankfully neither of them is charged overweight fees since the process is annoying.
We head to our gate and we decide to get coffees. Liza and Roger go while I watch the bags. They come back laughing hysterically. Before I hear their story I am handed the hottest freakin’ cup of coffee you can imagine. The tiny paper cup (it’s a large) is covered by a sleeve. The sleeve is made of thin paper and is actually conducting the heat! What’s the point? Roger then hands me six packets of sugar, a chocolate that comes with your coffee order and a stirrer that could double for a tongue depressor! I’m not kidding, folks. If I had gone and was offered this stirrer I would have leaned over the counter, opened my mouth wide and said “ahhh!” to the server! I’ve kept it, coffee stain and all, if you don’t believe me.
It turns out that Roger and Liza had a “what the hell are you saying” moment. They can tell the story better than I, but essentially the server was asking them something they couldn’t understand and kept having him repeat it. On more than one occasion Liza has no clue how someone’s name is pronounced or what someone said. I’ve gotten used to that. But now Roger is joining in on it! I must admit I’ve had the same issue at times, but not as bad as Liza.
Finally we board the plane. I notice that the flight attendants in South Africa act differently than others I have seen. For example, when you get on the plane it seems required that you show the boarding pass to the attendant at the door. She will say something like, “Seat 10E, to the left.” So on this flight, thinking this almost a useless task, let alone one that should be required, tried to get past her without showing her. Her arm shot out so quickly and blocked my path. “Boarding pass, please,” she said with a bit of annoyance in her tone. Triumphant after handing it to her she responded just as blandly as she had to the person before me, “Seat 19C, to the right.”
1Time is South Africa’s low fare airline. They don’t provide anything for free—snacks, drinks, service. Thankfully there’s plenty of legroom. Liza and Roger are typing away again on their laptops. I tell them they look like journalists or writers and Roger says he fancies himself a National Geographic writer, Liza thinks she’s like Carrie on Sex in the City. I feel more like Ernest Hemingway, except I don’t write that well. Also, my sentences, unlike his, tend to be much longer.
We land in Cape Town and wait for our luggage. One of my bags is wet. I’m scared thinking about what could have happened to it. We exit and go to the rental car company. Now I’m starting to get nervous about driving. Not only do I not know where I’m going, it’s also night time. Moreover, and more importantly, I’ll be driving on the other side of the road! After securing the car, we pack it with our luggage (definitely not enough room) and I leave Liza and Roger with the car as I go back to wait for Gareth to arrive from Johannesburg, where he lives.
I met Gareth online a few years back. He and I have tried to pinpoint how long it’s been since we met, but we’re not really sure. Bottom line is that it’s been about five years and I adore him. He’s definitely very special to me and always will be. It’s just so odd to be finally meeting him in person after all this time of communicating solely online and on the phone. He arrives about 30-45 minutes after we do and it’s almost surreal. I catch myself a bit speechless. Even now I’m not quite sure what to say about the whole thing. I guess it’s best not to pursue it here anyway.
We head out of the terminal and find Bons (Bonita). Bons is a dear friend of Gareth’s who lives in Cape Town. She’s very cute and incredibly sweet. We then have this keystone cop drive around the airport until we arrive at the rental car parking lot where Liza and Roger are waiting. I ask Gareth to drive our car as I’m practically shitting my pants thinking about driving. With Bons leading we head to the house where we are staying.
We’re staying in Camps Bay. It’s one of the nicest areas in Cape Town. I believe the details of the house state it’s 1 block from the beach (it’s not), but it’s up in the hills so I know we’ll have a great view once the sun rises. We arrive and meet the owners of the house. They live upstairs and rent the bottom floor. The rental has three bedrooms and four baths, living room, kitchen, game room, den and a patio with a pool. It’s a nice place. The owners are Afrikans and have a different accent than Bons and Gareth. We get a quick tour of the house and are told about some of the key things to know. Then we get to the alarm system. They’re very serious about the security of the house and the wife, Magriet, tries to show us how the alarm system works. Time and time again she tries to set the alarm. Nothing. By this point her husband, Chris, has come downstairs and is just watching her. Then he tries to coach her through it. Then he tries to show me. Again and again, it doesn’t work. Finally they figure out how to set it, can’t replicate it for a few tries, then get it again. Magriet, although very nice, seems a bit ditzy. Once they show me the proper way, I quickly get how to work the alarm. We decide to head out to dinner although it’s almost 11p. As Magriet and Chris go upstairs we hear the alarm go off and the two of them yelling a bit. With all the craziness of showing us how to work the alarm for our area, they activated their system and set it off! Too funny.
We decide to do down to the strip of restaurants and shops that line the street where the beach begins. It’s odd but we keep seeing men and women wearing reflector vests milling about parking areas and directing cars. It turns out they help identify parking spots and are meant to watch your car when you park it in their area. They expect a tip once you return. They’re not very popular because they tend to be a bit aggressive about tips.
After trying a few restaurants and being told they are no longer serving food, we find one
called Dizzy’s. We sit outside and order beers and burgers. The wind is blowing very hard and it’s a bit cold. The music is loud and a band plays inside. It is out here, after such a long trip to get here, that the clock strikes midnight and I turn 40. Woohoo! Cheers all around and a muted and certainly not synchronized (timing or wording) happy birthday is sung. It is probably the best run up to a birthday I’ve ever had. Being in South Africa, going on safari, sitting at a restaurant in Cape Town, sitting next to Gareth, being there with such dear friends, Liza and Roger, meeting such a cool person in Bons—how could it be any better?After eating and having some beers we decide to move inside due to the wind and have a few more drinks (I only had two beers, relax). We sit inside and everyone orders another round of beers except Gareth and I. We get Amarula.
Sometime at dinner, Bons had asked if we wanted to hike up Lion’s Head. We couldn’t see it at night, but she said we would definitely see it in the morning. Some friends were going to hike it and she and Gareth would go as well. We had no plans and I thought it would be great to go on a great hike our first full day in Cape Town and on my birthday. The only catch is that we have to be ready for the hike by meeting the guys we were joining at 9a. All three of us are up for it. So at around 12:30a (now December 6th), we are dropped off at the house. I blog for about an hour and go to sleep.
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