Surprise Visitors

The funniest thing happened last week... a friend of a friend from Auburn was headed to South African on vacation and my friend told her friend that she had a friend living here. So, we corresponded and we set up a time to meet. The woman visiting was Gina Layton, an Alaska Airlines employee from Auburn, and she was traveling with her two daughters and her mother.

We agreed to meet for dinner at a jazz club on the Victoria and Albert Waterfront in Cape Town, kind of the main hang out where all the chic restaurants, bars and tourist shops are located. This particular place, the Green Dolphin is the longest running bar in South Africa with live music played 7 days a week. It was a wonderful choice that Gina had made, and I'm the local one!

We had a wonderful evening talking about different things when the conversation turned to tennis. Gina is an avid player at the Boeing Club in Kent, and I know one of the pros there. In addition, she was visiting with another friend of a friend here who used to be the assistant women's coach at WSU back when son, Clay, was at the school. The funny thing was that I knew the girl (now woman) as I had placed a Brazilian player on the team there and knew the head coach, Cari. So, the next day Gina was meeting with her and her new husband meaning I had another friend here in Cape Town!

I love getting together with folks like that from home, so if you ever get close to this part of the world, let me know and we can meet up for some tourist activities or dinner or something. There is a lot to offer in these parts! The only thing I request is that you bring something from home for me...

Franschoek, Western Cape, South Africa

The town of Franschhoek is an absolute gem hidden in a valley in wine country just northeast of Cape Town, South Africa. Most people are not aware that South Africa is the 9th largest wine producer in the world. Of course, France is the largest producer, but South Africa does provide 19% of the world's production, and many of the finest wineries are in the Franschhoek Valley. It is the hearts blood of the Afrikaaner part of South Africa with the old Cape Dutch architecture prevalent in the sleepy towns and wine farms alike. The town's history is amazing:

After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France in 1685, when Protestantism was outlawed, hundreds of so-called Huguenots fled their homeland, 277 of them arriving by ship at the Cape of Good Hope. Many of them were given land by the Dutch colonial government in a valley called Oliphantshoek (Elephant Corner) - so named because of the vast herds of elephants that roamed the area. Soon after they settled here, it become known as Franschhoek (French Corner). By the way, the last elephant left the valley in 1850, but you can sure see why they loved living here!

This heritage lives on today with the Huguenot monument standing proudly at the end of the main street. The museum nearby chronicles the history of those brave pioneers, with each of the original Huguenot farms having its own fascinating story to tell. And, behind the monument is the pioneer's cemetery where many of the grave markers are visible of the original pioneers.

The wineries are absolutely fabulous, and they offer attractions ranging from car museums to the very best restaurants in the country. There are a number of wonderful cottages and rooms to rent that are situated in buildings a couple of hundred years old with floors made of yellow wood and authentic antique furniture. Most have courtyards with swimming pools, hot tubs, and verandas where, on warmer days and nights, you can sit outside and have a glass of wine and watch the sun set. The stars were so bright and vivid and you can see all the southern constellations so clearly that you think you are in the middle of nowhere.... and you kind of are! The town is only 13,000 residents, and it is quite a ways away from the nearest towns of Stellenbosch or Paarl.

So, back to the wineries... the biggest attraction here. The wines are the best I have ever tasted, and there was a Chardonnay at La Petite Ferme that was THE BEST EVER! I had dinner at a table in the tasting room (the restaurant was full as people make reservations here many weeks in advance), so they took a little round table, threw a table cloth over it right in front of the fireplace with a real fire in it (it was winter after all!). I had a squid and mussel thingy that was truly delicious, but the Chardonnay really set it off. The view was from the Franschhoek Pass overlooking the valley (it is a box canyon type of thing with a switchback road rising to over 1,800 feet above the valley floor). It was a sunny day and extremely stunning. After lunch and a cappuccino, I went outside and sat on a park bench and just enjoyed the sun and the view for almost an hour. There were some Mexicans at the table next to me (a rare chance to speak some Spanish), and folks from all over the world having lunch at this apparently famous place.

This is just one of the many wonderful restaurants at wineries, but there are some great ones in the little village as well. There was a place called the Elephant and Barrel that was an old English pub atmosphere with great beer, wine, and nachos? Bizarre but very good. When we were here before we ate outside of a restaurant called the French Connection that has the best club sandwich I have ever eaten (Clay really loved it!). There was a lot of opportunity to buy art of all kinds from stone sculptures to oil painting and metal working and everything in between. But, I will save my money and just have son, Greg, carve me a stone sculpture as he is pretty darned good at that sort of thing.

I really needed this break as I have been hitting the research trail pretty hard lately. And, of course, Reese left this week and I was pretty lonely as well. Franschhoek was definitely the tonic I needed... well, combined with sun, excellent food and exquisite white wine. I was invigorated enough to go back to Somerset West and hit the books again. I have an important meeting with my professor this week as well, so must be prepared!

Days 26 – 30 Our first complete week in Cape Town

The first week here was a blur. Reese was in school all week and I was busy sorting out our lives… including getting wheels, a heater, buying more groceries, etc. Setting up house anywhere takes a while and it sure has taken us the entire week to get organized. Meanwhile, Reese has been attending his TEFL school at TEIS in Somerset West. He goes on through the 17^th of August before deciding which country he wants to go and teach in for the coming year. I am so proud of how brave he is about the whole thing, but why wouldn’t he, he has been raised in an international environment his whole life. And, he wants to follow in his mentor’s footsteps, middle son, Greg.

Reese is in a dilemma over his love life here. South Africa is full of beautiful young women and it appears there are two in his class…. one Afrikaans and one English South African. I’ll keep you posted as he figures out which one to date without blowing it with both. That will keep me entertained following his trials and tribulations!

Friday night Reese had plans so I was invited over to the Coxwells for a typical dinner party here in South Africa. It reminds me where we honed our skills as hosts while living here back 30 years ago. The long lost art of entertaining without having a movie or television was still in play, as was heated intellectual conversation about the economy and politics. There were two other couples there besides the Coxwells, and it was perfect. We enjoyed some wonderful South African wine and good company! That was definitely the highlight of my week!

Day 25 – Our First Weekday in our new home

The bid deal for today is it is Reese’s first day of school. He said he had to be there by 08:00, so I set the alarm and he was ready on time to head out. We made it almost 10 minutes early, only to find out it actually started at 08:30. I left and went searching for Laundromat to take our dirty clothes as they had been accumulating at a rapid pace. I finally found one two blocks from Reese’s school in an “arcade”, which is what we would call a strip shopping mall. They charge based on weight, so I gave them a bag of clothes (about a week’s worth from us both) and it ended up costing us about $3.90 to wash, dry and fold it all. We can’t buy laundry detergent for that little back home, so we’ve discovered our new method of washing (as we don’t have a washer or dryer in our flat).

I also went by the mall again to buy a printer as ours was broken in shipment. It was just as well, as the old printer was only a 110 volt/60 cycle capable one, and they used 240 volt/50 cycle here. I purchased a new printer/fax/copier/scanner for about $155, and so we were ready to roll. The paper sizes are different here as well (A4 size instead of 8 ½ by 11), so I picked up some of that as well.

I then drover to Stellenbosch again just to get the lay of the land so I wouldn’t get lost the next time I tried it. I continue to be amazed at how close it is. Behind our flat is the Helderberg mountain, and the other side is Stellenbosch. It isn’t as easy as that to get there, but as the crow flies it is just about 3 or 4 miles. It is a beautiful old Cape Dutch style town, the second oldest town in South Africa, and the one

Day 24 – Sunday in Cape Town

Not much went on today. We ate cereal for breakfast (the milk was much better here than in Brazil), and I had Raisin Brand while Reese had Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Some things are universal!

For lunch Reese fixed us some salad with cooked chicken strips on it and it was quite good. We have all the pots and pans we need, but there is no dishwasher and only a single sink with a side for putting dishes to dry. It reminded me of cleaning up back in the late 50s or early 60s in the States and I was a bit indignant that I had to do more than load it into the dishwasher! But, I developed a methodology and kept at it until it was done.

We have a lot to get used to and a lot to organize yet for ourselves. People that have not moved much, especially abroad like this, don’t really appreciate all the hassles involved in getting things to the point where you feel comfortable. It used to take me up to three years, but now I can expedite it in a few months. The advent of technology has helped a lot in this endeavor, both by having cell phones and Internet availability.

We are 9 hours ahead of Seattle in terms of time zones, so we called home that evening to speak with Susan. She had gone to church and personally filled out a donation form into which she placed the $50 trillion bill we got in Zimbabwe. She told him that she wanted Pastor Joe to know that the Ishmaels have now given the largest donation ever to the church, and Pastor Joe told her that he thought for a minute he was talking to Barrack Obama when she started throwing around trillions of dollars!

We use Skype to call the States. You sign up, get a screen name, and buy some airtime from which each call deducts a bit. If both people have Skype it is completely free, but if we have it and call a regular phone number in the States, it has a cost attached. However, we can talk for up to an hour for under $1 US, which is unbelievable! That sure makes things easier.

Reese was supposed to complete some homework before his first day of school tomorrow, so he spent the better part of 6 hours learning his material and answering it. We don’t have a printer (ours was broken in transit), so he had to write everything in long hand. By the time he was finished it was time to go to sleep.

One of the things I discovered when we got Internet was that my motorcycle was never shipped from the States. The company I had employed dropped the ball and it is still sitting there, so I have to come up with another alternative. Darned! What to do?????

Day 23 – Our First Day of Life in the Cape

Our two bedroom flat is really an attached cottage to a main house with a full kitchen, a living/dining room combination, and one bathroom with a shower/tub combo. The back yard has a nice sized pool and a braii (South African word for barbeque grill). We had some coffee, some milk, and some water. Other than than that, our cupboard was bare (except for plates, pots/pans and cutlery). So, today was designed to get some errands accomplished except that we had no vehicle! Enter our landlord, Franz, and the problem was solved quickly.

He organized for us to borrow a nice late model Mercedes Benz from a friend of his, and he had a nice “cruiser style” Korean motorcycle. I got the car and Reese the motorcycle so he could have a way to school that is about 3 kilometers away. Franz took us to Stellenbosch to get the rest of our luggage we had left there when we headed out to Durban, and he has a pick up (called a bakke here) so it worked nicely. We ended up with a lot of stuff, so we pretty much filled out his pick up bed. I had also pre-purchased a couple of cases of chardonnay from Lanzerac, so I had to pick that up as well. While at it, Franz ended up buying 5 cases for himself! There was a sale on and the bottles cost R12 each, or the equivalent of $1.55 US, and it was very high quality stuff!

We also went to the mall in Somerset West (it is literally 15 minutes to Stellenbosch), and I ended up buying us cell time and internet time there. We went to Pick n Pay and bought groceries, had lunch at the Spur (the same chain we ate at in Durban where a steak costs $12.00). Then we came home and collapsed.

There is a TV in the place, but the cable wasn’t working. Franz said he would organize it for Monday, but this is still a developing country so it ended up being more like Wednesday or Thursday. In the interim we had some good books we wanted to read, so we really did not miss TV much. After all, if we needed anything we had the internet by USB modem on our cell network.

Our beds were simple but firm (my favorite) and had a bottom sheet and a duvee. It is winter here and they do not insulate their homes here for the most part, but the duvee did its job and we both slept quite soundly as Reese was not feeling well. I think the reality of our being here for a while and facing some of the unknowns was starting to set in by now.

Day 22 –Johannesburg to Cape Town

Our flights out were not until around 6 PM, so we had a leisurely day. We got ready, repacked, had breakfast and took off around 11 AM. I wanted to scope out some things before we left, so we headed off to Benmore Gardens and Bryanston. In the latter we stopped and had a marvelous Indian lunch at a place where our favorite Indonesian restaurant used to be, the Oude Batavia.

Afterwards we went by the Sandton Medical Clinic where Greg was born and took some photos before heading down to Rosebank and the Wanderer’s Club. From there we followed Rivonia Weg (Road) up to the NI and got on. Rivonia used to be upscale (once called the Mink and Manure Belt because of all the rich homes and horse estates), but had slowly settled into being somewhat seemly with bars and strip joints. The landed folk had moved further north to walled communities around golf courses.

From there we headed to the airport and arrived right at 4 PM, just the correct amount of time to get Susan checked into her flight back home and off through passport control. It was a sad and tearful parting, but she was a trooper and kept on going. Only I knew that she would find the big curio shop inside where she was to buy a guinea fowl do-dad, so there was method to her madness!

Reese and I had another hour and a half, so we found a local version of Starbucks (Mugg and Bean) where we plopped down and used the free WIFI connection. We soon found out that it was only available for free for a short time, so within about 30 minutes we were off again to go through security and onto our gate. While there we met a young Texas girl from Galveston who had graduated from Stanford and was a Rhodes scholar in England. She was in South Africa working on an internship in economic development, so we had a nice talk with her before leaving.

We flew a low cost airline similar to Southwest in the US called Kulula Airlines. School started on Monday and this was Friday evening, so the flight was full of students heading back to school. The upscale vacation was over and Reese and I were getting into our new roles as students, so it was quite fitting. Reese was a bit upset that we had to pay for soft drinks and food for the first time.

In the end, we arrived into Cape Town on time and with no problems. Our luggage was there waiting for us, and so we got a cart, loaded it up and went outside to meet our ride. We had rented a flat through Reese’s school in Somerset West, so the owner, a German citizen named Franz Popoff, met us and took us to our new home. It was a mother-in-law suite off the garage from the main house. It was cold and late and so we turned on a propane space heater and fell asleep in our individual bedrooms, thoroughly exhausted and a bit overwhelmed by the reality of finally being in the place where we were to stay for the coming month(s).

Day 21 –Johannesburg

Being back in the civilized world again, Reese wanted to go to Sandton City mall to watch the new Harry Potter movie. Of course, Susan wanted to shop for a new piece of luggage to carry all of her newly bought curios back to the States on the morrow, so off we went.

The mall was much larger than it used to be and was connected with other shopping malls in nearby buildings, so there was much to see. Our first stop was at a bookstore as we had all rediscovered our love of reading and needed more fuel for our reading fire. I bought another Wilbur Smith book and Reese bought some sequels or prequels to Twilight. I also picked up a motorcycle magazine as I am addicted to those, and Susan finally found her new piece of luggage.

The movie came afterwards and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Whereas many movies are delayed in their release abroad, Harry Potter was released on the same day as in the States, so it was still relatively new. We had popcorn and soda fountain drinks just like at home (most of our sodas here are canned rather than from a soda fountain, and I hate canned Coke!). It was a pleasant way to spend the day.

In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant we used to frequent, Tivoli. It was fun and the food was every bit as good as we remembered it. How many restaurants have you been to that are still there 30 years later? It was a perfect ending to a lovely day.

Day 20 – Victoria Falls to Johannesburg

This morning was not as early as we thought. We had time to get up, have breakfast and enjoy a leisurely morning before being picked up by the Thompson’s guy to go to the airport and fly back to Joburg. This time the plane was a British Airways 737-300 so it was quite comfortable and allowed Susan to carry onboard all of her “stuff” which she had purchased. The flight to Joburg was uneventful, but for the first time there was no Thompson’s guy to meet us! Our planned trip was at an end and we had to fend for ourselves!!!

Actually, I had booked a rental car and hotel with Thompsons, not a meet and greet so we were all on target. With Greg perched beside me in the front seat I began my first right hand driving experience in almost 20 years. It was a bit overwhelming at first as the road signage is not ideal there, but Greg adapted and found a way to get to our hotel. It was a bit out of the way, but it ended up being faster than the alternative because traffic was rather heavy. Once we found our hotel there was a McDonald’s not far away, so we parked, unloaded our stuff, and then walked a few blocks to Greg’s first McDonalds in almost a year. He was delighted and proceeded to eat two burgers and a chicken burger, fries and a drink. He was in heaven!

After dinner Greg had to head out to meet up with Jennifer at a backpacker’s hostel. He had accidentally left his wallet in Sabi Sabi, and Jenna, our sweet young Durban girl hostess there, organized for it to be shipped to our hotel in Joburg. Greg was THRILLED to receive it back again as it had quite a bit of cash in it. He took a taxi from our hotel and that was the last we have seen of Greg. I believe that he is now in Mozambique practicing his rusty Portuguese on a beach somewhere as I write. He has almost another month before getting back to Ougadougou, Burkina-Faso to start the new school year on his birthday, August 12th. He has one more year there before seeking out a new assignment.

Meanwhile, Reese, Susan and I went back to our suite and watched some television for the first time in quite a while. It was mostly the news we wanted to see, but it was not particularly interesting, so we went to bed and read some more.

Day 19 – Victoria Falls

Today was a relaxing day. We had a late breakfast buffet (not the best we have encountered) overlooking the water hole. It was a really pleasant way to spend the morning.

There was nothing scheduled today, so we went “you know where again,” you guessed it, the crafts market. The tourist police accompanied us and we went straight for the things Susan wanted. The boys looked around with little interest. Greg wanted to buy something but he couldn’t find anything he wanted. That is the first for a boy raised on the Plateau! Normally the “afluenza” disease is so prevalent there that they buy because they can. Jennifer has cured Greg of that problem, it appears, so he and Reese both came away with nothing to speak of. Lunch was at the Pizza Inn, which shared a space with a chicken place. Reese had a chicken burger, a cheese hamburger, fries (called “chips” here), and a drink. The young lady serving us was duly impressed and she was very cute!

The afternoon was planned for us. Greg wanted to do bungy-jumping and Susan and Reese wanted to do the elephant ride, so I organized it and then accompanied Greg on his jump. The other two had to could not attend as their elephant ride was at the same time. Greg was nervous as he could be (scared to death is more likely), but insisted on going. It was a jump off the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia on the Zambian side, so we needed our passports to go through Zimbabwean passport control. We had to go to Zambia and sign up for the jump, weight Greg, and give him a number…then back to the bridge. After about a 30 minute prep and equipment set up, he was ready to jump and I had the camera poised to take video. The guide had him look up in the air and counted to three… but pushed him off at 2. Greg did his best to do a swan dive, but the fall was 345 feet and he couldn’t hold it when he went vertical. He bounced back up about half way to the bridge before going down again and then hung there while he waited for a guy to come down on an electric winch line to help him back up. By the time he resurfaced on the bridge he was very enthusiastic. I immediately asked him if he wanted to do it again (a favorite trick of mine was to ask Susan after each baby delivery is she was ready to have more kids just to shake her up a bit), but to my surpise he said, “YES, absolutely!”

Reese and Susan were picked up at the hotel by the elephant ride folks and taken about 20 minutes out of town where the refuge was located. They used rehabilitated elephants and taught them to be ridden. Susan’s elephant had about a fourth of his trunk severed by placing it in a lion cage and having it bitten off when he was young, so she had to feed it by putting food directly into it’s truck opening and then it popped it into its mouth. After about a half hour or so of familiarizing themselves, the people and elephants headed off on a ride… one driver and one rider per elephant. For those familiar with elephant rides, it is quite common for Asian elephants to be ridden like this, but this was supposed to be the only place in Africa where people rode African elephants. It was a thrilling and exciting time had by all.

We had a late dinner in the lodge and shared stories about our day. We had another early morning, so we headed back to the rooms to pack and read a bit before sleeping under the mosquito netting again. All told, it was a very fun day!

Day 18 – Victoria Falls

Today was another fairly early rise. A breakfast buffet greeted us when we came downstairs. Shortly thereafter we were met by the now familiar Thompson’s van to take us on a tour of the Falls. Victoria Falls is one of the 7 modern natural wonders of the world along with the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Harbor in Rio de Janeiro, the Northern Lights of Alaska, Mt. Everest, and the Paricutin Volcano. It was HUGE and very impressive, and our guide knew all the great vantage points! What a wonderful morning! We last visited this in 1980 and our memories of that time were not nearly as vivid as it appeared today.

After the Falls we went by the old Victoria Falls hotel, which was built in 1913. It was built by Cecil B. Rhodes, as was the rail line and the bridge that separates Zambia from Zimbabwe today (back then it was the bridge between Northern and Southern Rhodesia). The hotel was situated so that it had a clear view of the falls out the back veranda so folks could take their morning and afternoon tea, not to mention their evening gin and tonics, while taking in the grand view. We had stayed here in 1980 and took our Christmas card photo there. It has been refurbished to its colonial day splendor and was like stepping back in time a hundred years or more.

The afternoon was spent doing “guess what?,” going to the curio market! These guys were ruthless in their desire to sell stuff and in the open air market we were set upon by vendors who would not leave us alone long enough to even look, so I hired some “tourist police” to go with us and protect us. In this manner we were able to make several purchases of masks, walking sticks, carvings, traditional eating/serving plates/bowls, etc. The eating bowls are an interesting custom. They required that before everyone could eat from the communal serving plate (a wooden platter with bowl edges) for dinner that they had to make peace with each other. If brother and sister were fighting they either did not eat or were forced to reconcile before they did. It is not a bad practice, actually.

That evening we had reservations at the BOMA, a restaurant on the grounds of the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. It was about a third of a mile away, but at night you were required to take a van. It appears that predators are out at night and it is not safe to walk, even on the ground! When we arrived we were greeted by a ceremony where they gave us a traditional covering and issued us inside to our table. It was a wonderful open-air boma with a thatched roof to protect from the hot sun and possible rain. The evening consisted of wonderful traditional food, face painting, fortune telling by a witch doctor who threw bones and chestnut shells, singing, dancing and drumming lessons. It was really quite fun! Reese was the first to lead off in dancing and he did an admirable job!

We returned to the main hotel, had a night-cap and went to our rooms to read. As this area was a potential malaria area, we were forced to sleep under mosquito netting at night. It was not hardship as the four poster bed with the netting was quite romantic! Now this was an exciting day!

Day 17 – Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls

So, inasmuch as this was also my vacation (holiday), I decided to sleep in this morning and let everyone else go on safari. Of course, it was the best one yet with a male and female lion crossing their paths during the drive as well as numerous other animals I had not seen. BUT, it was worth it to get some additional sleep. I never had to fight jet lag, but I did have to fight early morning wake up calls! It was pure heaven sleeping in and lounging. I made it downstairs to meet everyone for breakfast upon their return. Coffee, somebody give me COFFEE!!!!!!

The Thompson’s van met us at the hotel at 11 am to take us back to Zimbabwe. This time it was a Botswana Thompsons guy and he saw us through the border crossing and the Zimbabwe Thompsons guy met us there and the luggage was transferred. It was all very smooth and easy. Did I say that Thompsons was GREAT and going through them was the best choice I made on the whole trip.

Our Zimbabwe driver had warned us about the economic disaster that had befallen them under Robert Mugabe. I had the opportunity to meet Mugabe AND Ian Smith, the former PM of Zimbabwe at an agricultural fair in Salisbury (now Harare) back in 1980. He was the toast of Washington DC back then, but not long after had his troops murder 20,000 of the opposition forces (ZANU vs. ZAPU). From then on he took over control of the country with the strong hand of a dictator and continued to tighten his grip to the horror of the rest of the free world. As a result, the Zimbabwe dollar, which was worth over $2 US in 1980, was now worthless. They kept printing money with no substance behind it and soon were printing trillion dollar bills. I am now in possession of a $50 trillion dollar note and a $100 trillion dollar one. Both are totally worthless and the currency of the country is now the US $ by default. You can still buy the trillion dollar notes as a tourist curio, but they are no longer recognized and so no one takes credit cards nor do ATM machines work. I fear that under Obama’s presidency we face a similar fate unless he curbs his spending habits! What will be the default currency if the US $ fails? The Euro?

We arrived into the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge mid afternoon and had nothing on the agenda for the day. The lodge was in the Victoria Falls National Park and so there was a watering hole behind the hotel with lots of game coming and going. Right when we got there they had a feeding of vultures and storks where they threw out chicken scraps for them to eat. It was really neat seeing the group mentality of feeding.

Dinner was in town at a Pizza Inn, believe it or not! It was cheap and delicious and we had to pay in cash… US $ of course! Greg even got the calzone he has been waiting for! Upon our return to the room, Thompsons had gotten us a two level suite with two bottles of champagne and a fruit basket for our arrival, so we went to the room and talked for a while, then we all retreated to our places and read. It is great to be able to spend time reading instead of the constant barrage of television!

Day 16 – Chobe National Park, Botswana

One of Reese’s roommates at Whitman was a wonderful young man named Moabi. We had wanted to visit him in the capital city, but were hundreds of kilometers away and could not make it this time. Nonetheless, we thought of him often as we spent time in his beautiful homeland.

The early morning game drive was at 6:00 AM this time, so we were gathered at the front desk to load up on the Land Cruisers (Toyota’s version of a Land Rover). Our guide was female, she had no tracker, and had no gun! I was a bit nervous and was freezing as we rushed along at 90 kms per hour towards the entrance of the Park. Once there we slowed down and did some dirt roads like at Sabi Sabi… except that they did not go cross-country when they spied game here. You were required to stay on the track. The morning was exceptionally cold and even though we had blankets, there were no water bottles. Again, I did not have coffee, so I mostly slept through this ride. When I started to snore either Greg or Reese would gouge me in the side. Somewhere in there we stopped for coffee and I finally woke up and rode next to the ranger spotting game all along the way for her on the ride back.

Another trip to the internet café was in order to keep up on stuff while Susan looked for, what else?, curios! She ended up buying some Baobab trees made out of wire that you could put candles in for the Sunriver house. Danged! More crap to carry back for her!

The highlight of our stay there, from my perspective, was the boat cruise we took along the river at 3:30 PM. It was a big pontoon boat with some 80 people on it, onboard heads, and a cash bar, so we had a relaxing time motoring along the river. That is when we saw the biggest proliferation of game during our entire African adventure! Large herds of elephant, giraffe, hippos, crocodiles, monitor lizards, warthogs, etc. It was absolutely wonderful being able to do this from the comfort of a boat that you could get up and move around on! The river was teaming with animals and birds too numerous to mention. Wow, this is Africa at its finest! Again, there are no fences in the area so animals can wander wherever and whenever they want… into the villages, farms and hotels/resorts along the way. When they say, “Walk at your own risk,” they mean it!

The guys (Greg and Reese) made some friends the last two nights we were there, so we retired early and let them hang out. There were too many early mornings for my liking (I am prepared to do it for tennis twice a week, but that’s where I draw the line), so I needed my beauty sleep.

Day 15 – Johannesburg to Victoria Falls to Chobe

The 5:00 wake up call came mighty early! I was all ready to go on another game drive when I realized that I was in Joburg and headed to Zimbabwe. It was up, repack the suitcases and head to the lobby to be met by the Thompsons guy. Luckily, the hotel lobby had tea and coffee all set to go. We made it to the airport in about a half hour, so were there two hours before our flight… plenty of time to check in and drop off our luggage.

The mistake we made was that we also had that much time to shop and the airport had turned into a shopping mall on the other side of passport control. I couldn’t dodge that bullet as Susan is always on the prowl for curios and artifacts. She is determine to turn our Sunriver home into an African safari lodge with all the paraphernalia she has accumulated on this trip! The stores were well stocked and very reasonably priced. Greg even bought a new camera to replace his old one that died on him. He bought a nice Canon 12.1 MP camera with lots of great features for the same price you could get in at Target in the US.

Our flight was about 1 ½ hours to Victoria Falls. The airport was rather small, smaller than Nelspruit, but crammed with people. There were native tribesmen singing traditional songs in their traditional costumes outside the airport as we left the airport and boarded the now familiar Thompson van. Our driver drove us straight to the border with Botswana, filled out our passport papers and had us enter the passport control line for the quickest border crossing I’ve done since the advent of the EU.

Just about 3o miles down the road was Katune, Botswana and beyond that was the Chobe Safari Lodge, our destination. It was located along the Chobe River and literally adjacent to the Chobe National Park. It was a beautiful place with thatched roofs and restaurants, swimming pools, and everything else you would want. The rest of the day was relaxing as we set about trying to catch up on sleep. Naturally, Susan wanted to go curio shopping, so we went into town for that endeavor.

The buffet dinners and breakfasts were included in our room charge, so we were just like swine at the trough… eating all kinds of new and wonderful delicacies from Kudu Curry to Tandoori Impala and everything in between. The next morning we had another early morning game drive, so it was off to bed early that night.

Day 14 – Sabi Sabi to Johannesburg

I had chosen to have Thompsons to drive us back to Johannesburg so we could see the countryside along the way. It was a five hour drive with a short fast food lunch break at Wimpy’s Burgers. The kids all slept for the most part, as did Susan, so I kept our driver entertained and awake during the journey.

When we arrived into Johannesburg everything had changed drastically since our departure 28 years ago. I felt a bit like Rip van Winkle awaking after a 28 year sleep to a whole new world. However, once we got to the northern suburbs I knew where we were. Dusk was closing in on us, and since we had a flight early the next morning, I wanted to go by our old house the sun set completely. I found it without much problem and went to the gate and rang the bell. A young South African man met us in the driveway and asked what we wanted, so I explained how we used to live here and just wanted to see the place and take a few pictures. He was most gracious and let us come in and wander around all over the house. It was just like we had left it for the most part, and the family consisted of a young man of 38, his 36 year old wife and three small boys of 10 and twins of 8. The eldest was named Rhys (pronounced “Reese”), and the father was a former Microsoft employee who had been to Redmond many times. I don’t believe in coincidences, so this connection was definitely a God thing. Very cool!

We checked into our room at the Balalaika Hotel where we had lived for over a month awaiting the preparation of our home in Rivonia that we had just visited. The hotel had changed significantly, but the pool and gardens were basically the same. It was now a Protea Hotel as was the President we stayed at in Cape Town. Neither was particularly remarkable and I would not recommend this chain to anyone as they are disorganized and give poor service. So, it was lights out and a wake up call at 05:00 to head out to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in the morning!

Day 13 Sabi Sabi

Our wake up knock at 6:00 AM caught us already awake and partially prepared for the day. We actually had time for a coffee and croissant this morning before the Land Rover left on its morning drive. Being awake is a much more pleasant feeling than not being so yesterday. The hot water bottles were, nonetheless, much appreciated as were the blankets

Our game drive expectations for the day were to find the every elusive zebra and giraffe. We went all over the private reserve of almost 100,000 acres to seek them out. Of course, when you are looking for something in particular you seem to find everything else but that animal. We enjoyed seeing the other animals so plentiful in the bush, though. Kruger National Park removed its fences so that animals could follow their natural migration paths, which meant that they were free to roam into the Sabi Sands Reserve where we were staying.

Our morning walk was only the English/Australian/South African couple that had shared both our dinner table and our Land Rover with us. They were very nice and up for doing just about anything, so when the kids begged off to nap a bit after breakfast, we four plus Jonas went on a game walk. As we left the compound we took a left and about 100 yards down the road we came upon a grizzly old bull elephant with an unpleasant temperament. So, we quietly reversed course and went the other way down the dirt road. About 300 yards down that road were more elephants grazing near the road, so we took off on a dirt track across country. This was a much more intimate and pleasant experience than yesterday’s walk as fewer people were on it so we could stop and ask questions and see the various game that was non-threatening.

Upon our return I was able to finally dig into my Wilbur Smith novel, The Quest. He is one of my favorite authors and the best pure story teller I have ever read. I had the chance to meet him back in 1979 when we lived here as he was a dear friend of Graham Peters, managing director of Premier Metal in Cape Town. I have read every one of his books and this is the second to last that he has written. The final one, Assagai, just came out in late May and I will read it next. Wilbur is a true white African having been born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and educated at the University of Cape Town. He knows and understands Africa like no other novelist.

Lunch was uneventful except for me speaking with the Brazilians in Portuguese. The little boy was confused because he couldn’t figure out where I was from since I spoke Portuguese and looked either white African or British or one of their former colonies. I set him straight, I thought, when I said that I was from the United States (Estados Unidos in Portuguese). He looked perplexed and asked “Which United States” in Portuguese, so I told him “of America.” He was finally satisfied. He could not have been older than 6.

Our afternoon drive was more eventful and we finally found both the giraffe and a small herd of zebra. That was the highlight of the trip thus far for Susan. She wanted to see both these animals the most. After that she was satisfied to do whatever and go wherever as she had achieved her goal. More than anything, the beautiful aspect of the afternoon game drive was the “sundowner,” a quaint English custom of drinks at sundown to watch the sun set. We had to preorder them before we left the lodge, so a single glass of wine was our drink of preference in the bush. The sunsets are spectacular, although the actual sunset is no prettier than those of my native Oklahoma. The difference is that these were in the middle of the African wilderness with different sounds and vegetation that what we are used to back home.

Another wonderful dinner in the boma capped a perfect day for us. We are all ready to retire at the end of dinner even though it is just 9:15 PM. Some folks head to bar for a night cap, but the majority head to bed because of the early morning game drives. Apparently, Reese and Greg were some of those who went to the bar, because they did not show for the morning drive. Neither did Susan or I was we needed to have time to get packed. We were to depart for the Johannesburg right after breakfast, which we did.

Day 12 Sabi Sabi

Our wake up knock at 6:00 AM caught us already awake and partially prepared for the day. We actually had time for a coffee and croissant this morning before the Land Rover left on its morning drive. Being awake is a much more pleasant feeling than not being so yesterday. The hot water bottles were, nonetheless, much appreciated as were the blankets.

Our game drive expectations for the day were to find the every elusive zebra and giraffe. We went all over the private reserve of almost 100,000 acres to seek them out. Of course, when you are looking for something in particular you seem to find everything else but that animal. We enjoyed seeing the other animals so plentiful in the bush, though. Kruger National Park removed its fences so that animals could follow their natural migration paths, which meant that they were free to roam into the Sabi Sands Reserve where we were staying.

Our morning walk was only the English/Australian/South African couple that had shared both our dinner table and our Land Rover with us. They were very nice and up for doing just about anything, so when the kids begged off to nap a bit after breakfast, we four plus Jonas went on a game walk. As we left the compound we took a left and about 100 yards down the road we came upon a grizzly old bull elephant with an unpleasant temperament. So, we quietly reversed course and went the other way down the dirt road. About 300 yards down that road were more elephants grazing near the road, so we took off on a dirt track across country. This was a much more intimate and pleasant experience than yesterday’s walk as fewer people were on it so we could stop and ask questions and see the various game that was non-threatening.

Upon our return I was able to finally dig into my Wilbur Smith novel, The Quest. He is one of my favorite authors and the best pure story teller I have ever read. I had the chance to meet him back in 1979 when we lived here as he was a dear friend of Graham Dunn, managing director of Premier Metal in Cape Town. I have read every one of his books and this is the second to last that he has written. The final one, Assagai, just came out in late May and I will read it next. Wilbur is a true white African having been born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and educated at the University of Cape Town. He knows and understands Africa like no other novelist.

Lunch was uneventful except for me speaking with the Brazilians in Portuguese. The little boy was confused because he couldn’t figure out where I was from since I spoke Portuguese and looked either white African or British or one of their former colonies. I set him straight, I thought, when I said that I was from the United States (Estados Unidos in Portuguese). He looked perplexed and asked “Which United States” in Portuguese, so I told him “of America.” He was finally satisfied. He could not have been older than 6.

Our afternoon drive was more eventful and we finally found both the giraffe and a small herd of zebra. That was the highlight of the trip thus far for Susan. She wanted to see both these animals the most. After that she was satisfied to do whatever and go wherever as she had achieved her goal. More than anything, the beautiful aspect of the afternoon game drive was the “sundowner,” a quaint English custom of drinks at sundown to watch the sun set. We had to preorder them before we left the lodge, so a single glass of wine was our drink of preference in the bush. The sunsets are spectacular, although the actual sunset is no prettier than those of my native Oklahoma. The difference is that these were in the middle of the African wilderness with different sounds and vegetation that what we are used to back home.

Another wonderful dinner in the boma capped a perfect day for us. We are all ready to retire at the end of dinner even though it is just 9:15 PM. Some folks head to bar for a night cap, but the majority head to bed because of the early morning game drives. Apparently, Reese and Greg were some of those who went to the bar, because they did not show for the morning drive. Neither did Susan or I was we needed to have time to get packed. We were to depart for the Johannesburg right after breakfast, which we did.

I had chosen to have Thompsons to drive us back to Johannesburg so we could see the countryside along the way. It was a five hour drive with a short fast food lunch break at Wimpy’s Burgers. The kids all slept for the most part, as did Susan, so I kept our driver entertained and awake during the journey.

When we arrived into Johannesburg everything had changed drastically since our departure 28 years ago. I felt a bit like Rip van Winkle awaking after a 28 year sleep to a whole new world. However, once we got to the northern suburbs I knew where we were. Dusk was closing in on us, and since we had a flight early the next morning, I wanted to go by our old house the sun set completely. I found it without much problem and went to the gate and rang the bell. A young South African man met us in the driveway and asked what we wanted, so I explained how we used to live here and just wanted to see the place and take a few pictures. He was most gracious and let us come in and wander around all over the house. It was just like we had left it for the most part, and the family consisted of a young man of 38, his 36 year old wife and three small boys of 10 and twins of 8. The eldest was named Rhys (pronounced “Reese”), and the father was a former Microsoft employee who had been to Redmond many times. I don’t believe in coincidences, so this connection was definitely a God thing. Very cool!

We checked into our room at the Balalaika Hotel where we had lived for over a month awaiting the preparation of our home in Rivonia that we had just visited. The hotel had changed significantly, but the pool and gardens were basically the same. It was now a Protea Hotel as was the President we stayed at in Cape Town. Neither was particularly remarkable and I would not recommend this chain to anyone as they are disorganized and give poor service. So, it was lights out and a wake up call at 05:00 to head out to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in the morning!

Day 11 Sabi Sabi

Today they awakened us with a knock on the door at 06:00. I was really groggy and had a hard time waking up. We were supposed to be at the Land Rover by 06:30 for our morning drive, and we needed to get coffee and pastry before we left in the lodge. Susan was faster getting ready than I for some unknown reason (she normally take 5 times longer), but I just couldn’t wake up. So, Jonas called our bungalow saying everyone was ready and to hurry. When I went by the coffee and pastry they had put it all away, and I can honestly say that I don’t do well without my morning coffee. Maybe I should give up coffee for Lent this year because I appear to be addicted to it!

They actually had warm water bottles under the blankets on the Land Rover for us, so I curled up with one and was in a fog the whole drive… drifting in and out of sleep. The animals stir more at dawn and dusk, so it is the best time to see them… and winter, as it was now, was even better yet! We saw just about everything but zebra and giraffe. There was a male lion sitting on a termite hill and we drove up within about 15 feets and watched him for a long time. Apparently, the animals think that the Land Rover is just another animal unless someone stands up or makes too much noise, so it was an awesome experience to be close to such a lethal animal. The tracker on the front of the Land Rover said he has been brushed by the lion’s tail before without even being afraid. If that were me it would be time to change my Jockeys!

We saw the leopard’s kill from the night before hanging in a tall tree with the leopard at the base of the tree to fend off any unwanted interlopers. Again, we were within 15 feet of the animal and it was breathtaking to experience. Susan was grossed out by the half eaten carcass, but as the song in the “Lion King” says, “Akunamatata” and that is the circle of life.

The only animals that don’t seem to think a Land Rover with people in it is one animal are the elephants. They don’t like anything getting to close to them, and we got amazingly close to them as well. What is bizarre is that they can be just a few feet away and the huge animals are virtually invisible! With their big padded feet you don’t even hear them… but if you get too close, they flap their huge ears forward and charge at you to warn you away. If you don’t move then, they charge at you to kill you. Obviously, the guides and trackers are well aware of their habits so they back off quickly.

After the morning game drive we returned to the lodge for breakfast…. again an amazing treat. As for me, I finally came around when I had my coffee!!! I was finally ready to greet the world and enjoy the day. It doesn’t take much, but without it I just don’t function that early. Then, shortly after breakfast we went out on foot on a game walk. The rangers took us and had us in single file with a guide in the front and rear carrying rifles for protection. We got about a mile or so away when we ran into a herd of buffalo, and the Cape Buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals in the bush, so we skirted wide around them and returned to the lodge in about an hour. Along the way our guides stopped to show us different plants and smaller animals, so it was wonderful!

We had a couple of hours of free time to relax or nap before lunch in the lodge. It was also buffet style and wonderful and we all sat together during that time. We did notice that there were Spaniards, Brazilians, French, Japanese, Chinese and other nationalities of English speaking countries, so there was always someone interesting to talk with during these down times. They had internet but it was slower than dial up, so we gave up on that.

The evening game drive as a repeat of the night before, only longer… from 3:30 PM to 7 PM. We saw many elephants, rhinos, and hippos, but the treat of the night was a baby white rhino with its mother. The baby was so cute and little and uncoordinated that you just wanted to pet it. It was intrigued by our Land Rover, but when it got too close Mommy Rhino stepped in and turned him around. She had two horns, but the larger one (furthest out on the snout) was about 4 feet long and it was just about the height of my knee in the Land Rover, so despite the cuteness of the baby, I was relieved to back away. You cannot imagine how privileged we feel to have such an intimate experience with an almost extinct animal!

The final treat of our drive was spotting a male and female pair of hippos. During the daylight hours the hippos keep to the water to remain cool and protect their skin which has some delicate skin pigmentation. At night they forage up to 20 kilometers away (based on how plentiful food is for them). We learned never to come between a hippo and it’s pool of choice as they are very territorial and will kill humans in an instant if they happen to cross their paths in the morning when the hippos are heading back to their territory. More people are killed by hippos each year than any other animal in Africa.

Day 10 – Sabi Sabi Game Reserve

We had another leisurely breakfast and even had time to pack before the Thompsons folks came by to pick us up to take us back to the Durban airport. We had a flight about 1 pm, but arrived at the airport around 11:30. It seemed like we would have plenty of time to check in, but not so. Things were crazy and we just barely made our flight to Nelspruit. I used to fly there often when we lived in Johannesburg, but the airport had changed a lot. It was much bigger with lots of amenities for the 2010 World Cup fans. Like so many other places, the airport was torn up as it was under reconstruction for the games next year.

We went into Hazyview to get some money from the ATM before heading out to Sabi Sabi. All told it took us about 1:30 to get to the park and the last 20 kms or so were on dirt roads. On the way we saw elephants, rhinos and Cape buffalo. Everyone was excited by the time we got to the private game lodge where we were met by Jenna at the entrance. She was our hostess and organized everything for us while there. She was a girl of 25 from Durban who had worked there for 3 ½ years. She was cute and had loads of personality and both the younger boys (men, I should say) were intrigued.

We each had our own bungalow with living room, bathroom with both an indoor and outdoor shower, bedroom with mosquito netting over it, and a private veranda from which to view the wild game. All food and alcohol was included in the rate, so we lived the high life while there. However, we just had time to drop our things in the room and head out to the Land Rover for our first evening game drive. Instead of starting at 3:30 PM as the others did, we didn’t get off until about 5 PM. Dusk came quickly and then we viewed things with our tracker who used a spotlight. The exciting event of the evening was following a leopard stalk a duiker (small African deer about as big as a dog). Following close on the leopard’s heels was a hyena waiting to get the table scraps. It was an awesome and intimate experience for us all.

Upon return to the lodge we were all freezing! It gets really cold when the sun goes down. The Land Rover has blankets, but it was still cold. By the time we got back to the lodge I was freezing and they had a big fire in the fireplace at the lodge bar, so in I went and did not move for half an hour when they called us to dinner by blowing a Kudu horn. Dinner was buffet style in a boma (outdoors under the stars with the only lighting being kerosene lamps). There was plenty of wild game, but also beef, pork and chicken if you preferred. It was awesome and we had our own table with our own personal guide, Jonas, at the head of the table. An English couple were in our Land Rover with us, so they also joined us for dinner. All told, it was an excellent experience and we really felt like we were in Africa for the first time. The rest of South Africa was so much like the USA in so many ways that it didn’t sink in that we were in Africa until we saw the animals in the wild and ate out of doors under the stars.

We could not walk to our own bungalows after dark as there was no fence around Sabi Sabi. There were fears of leopards and lions as well as Cape buffalo or baboons while we were there, and in the summers the snakes come out and warm themselves on the stone paths to keep warm, so a guide is always necessary. That just added to the excitement! Sleep came swiftly after the exciting day we had.

Day 9 in Durban

Breakfast is always a treat in Africa. The buffets each seem to top the last with choices and quantity. All of us have gained weight on this trip, as it has been an eating extravaganza. The iZulu Hotel is wonderful and we found the eggs Benedict to be unsurpassed. Greg has had them every day since landing and he says these are the best. I cannot argue as they are superb.

Today is an easy day for us to do our own things. I finalized my grading as there was free WIFI in the hotel and I could download all my students’ work, grade it and upload it again. I made my deadline but only just due to sporadic internet access over the past days. Clay and Erin sunbathed while Greg and Reese explored a bit. The boys went out for a little private brother party this evening after dinner to a club on the beach and had a fun time bonding. I love to see them hang out together. I was worried about how they were going to do at Christmas when they grew up as they always slept together on Christmas Eve, but we discovered that they just brought their wives along to join in on the tradition. However, getting everyone home for Christmas is going to be stretch from now on, so seeing them do this was wonderful.

We had dinner in a local chain of restaurants known as Spurs. They have an American Indian theme and specialize in steaks, burgers and some Mexican food. That was fun and the food was pretty cheap. A steak dinner was about $12 USD each. It was a different experience for us to see our own culture through someone else’s eyes and it brightened everyone’s outlook in general. However, the elephant in the room was that everyone was waiting for our trip to the bush to see wild game in their natural habitat, and that comes tomorrow.

Day 8 in Durban and it is July 4th!

Today we had a city tour organized by Thompsons once again. It was a wonderful tour of the city with visits to all the historical and interesting places in this city with huge East Indian influence. Among the highlights was a visit to the Indian Market where the girls went wild and bought all kinds of stuff. In the spice section they actually had KFC special recipe spices! Can you believe it? Coronel Sanders would turn over in his grave if he knew his secret recipe of herbs and spices was being sold to the world in the Durban Indian Market! But, I did manage to make one purchase for the whole family, an elephant hair bracelet for everyone (really, elephants have these long wiry hairs on and around their tails which are removed and used to make simple bracelets. It has always been a favorite of mine and I wanted the whole family to have one.

Following the city tour and the Indian market we headed to a famous Indian restaurant where we all ate an Indian lunch called “bunny curry.” This is a hollowed out loaf of white break filled with the curry of your choice with potatoes and carrots included. It was the typical meal served to Indian laborers who were brought to Durban to work the sugar cane fields well over 100 years ago. It was a real treat and very very hot. We all loved it!

Our next tour was of the township of Phoenix, formerly used as an Indian township during apartheid. Only Indians could live and work here, and one of the most famous residents was a man called Mohandes Gandhi, or, to most known simply as Gandhi or Mohatma Gandhi. He began his legal career here after obtaining his law degree in England. He quickly began to defend Indians in the local courts and won some historic cases, but his largest contribution to the world came from the philosophy of passive resistance developed while living here and dealing with the racial issues of the day. He lived here from 1893 until 1903 before returning to India armed with his new method for fomenting change, Passive Resistance. We were able to visit his house and school as well as the homes of many other freedom fighters for South African civil rights. I could not think of a better way of honoring our 4^th of July than by being reminded of the struggles others have had in the name of freedom and independence.

Day 7 leaving Stellenbosch and flying to Durban

We had to be ready to check out by 10 AM so that the Thompson shuttle could take us to the Cape Town Airport for our departure to Durban. Our flight was at 1:30 PM and it was a domestic flight of 1 ½ hours, but the airport was in chaos. There is construction and reconstruction everywhere in Cape Town in preparation for the World Cup 2010 here, so the airport was going through a major overhaul. We had to unload our bags and march about a mile (mild hyperbole here) to the check in counter where we met a check in desk manager with a burr under her saddle (Okie speak for chip on her shoulder). It took us nearly an hour and a half just to do check in and it was made as painful as possible. Luckily, the Thompson folks were calm and handled the whole thing for us, which set Erin and Susan free to do what they do best, shop the curio shops!

The flight was uneventful and the friendly Thompson’s guide met us at Durban airport. We were whisked through baggage claim and off in another Thompson’s van to the iZulu hotel in Ballito, a small resort town north of Durban. It is a five star boutique style hotel nestled on a hill overlooking the Indian Ocean and our suite had a two large bedrooms downstairs for the kids and one huge suite upstairs with a big wet bar, dining table, lounge area and big screen television, and a large bedroom. Most importantly, it had free internet service!!!!! Oh yeah, and it had one hot tub downstairs for the kids (meaning “our kids” who are 22+, 28+, and 31. In fact, it was Clay’s 31^st birthday (July 3^rd), and Clay and Erin’s 3^rd wedding anniversary (I married them in a nice ceremony back in 2006 in Big Sky, Montana), so I had organized a bit of a surprise for them.

Linda Pampallis, my travel agent when we lived here in 1979, 80, and 81, is now the CEO of Thompsons Africa, the largest travel agency in South Africa, if not Africa in total. She really set us up on a super trip, but she outdid herself on this one. She organized a special private show in our hotel courtyard with a Zulu dance troupe. They did some amazing dancing for us in honor of Clay and Erin. This was preceded by a champagne and hors deuvers paid for and presented by Linda herself! What a treat! The next stage of the fabulous evening was 8 course dinner served in a private glassed in dining room IN THE RESTAURANT KITCHEN by the restaurant manager and the chef! This was really a special treat celebrating some huge things occurring in Clay and Erin’s lives. When they get back to the States they move into a new home in the Issaquah Highlands, Clay gets to start his new job full time, and they are expecting Cody Ellis Ishmael on October 11^th. Talk about some life changing circumstances! But, if anyone can handle it they can. They are an awesome couple!

Day 5 in Stellenbosch

Today was an easy day where we could all relax and do our own thing. It was a beautiful day and the setting is stunning. Stellenbosch is surrounded by mountains and is just beautiful. Since the area has a similar climate to Napa, the place is just a touch arid, but the mountains are green and lush. The only shortcoming to our hotel/spa is that it is a bit out of town and we don't have a car. There are precious few taxis in this part of the world, so you either use the hotel van or walk. We chose to walk into town and experience it up close and personal.

In many ways, Stellenbosch is like a typical American or Canadian neighborhood. People live in either individual homes, condo buildings, or attached townhouses. The University pretty much dominates the downtown section of the city, but here are some really quaint shopping and restaurant streets in the old Cape Dutch style. It is going to be very pleasant studying here with all this wonderful ambience! They even have McDonalds and KFC here!!!

The rest of the day was dedicated to more grading. Does this sound like a constant theme here? Darned! The internet is not cooperating and school papers are due from my students, so the process is almost painful to complete. I did send Susan and Clay off for an adventure to get my cell phone unlocked so I could use the local cell phone service. ATT locks the network on all its phones, so getting it network unlocked is some mysterious process that cell stores do here using software from the internet. You then buy a SIM card for a couple of bucks (which is your cell identity with your phone number), and then buy minutes by the card. It is like a GO phone at home, but you have to buy the phones for their full price. The simplest phone here is about $50 USD, but an iPhone is over $600 USD. It is incentive to get them unlocked! They accomplished all that and I am now up and running with a local phone number. All I have to do is switch back to my ATT Sim card when I get home and all will be back to normal.

At 6:00 pm we had our good friends from 30 years ago, the Coxwells, join us for dinner. We knew them when Chris was the Managing Director (think President/General Manager) of my dealership up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Chris and Carol became very good friends and their kids are the same ages as Clay and Greg. Robert, their son, went to University of Cape Town and now works as a producer for the BBC in London. Jane is an executive chef on a yacht for a wealthy American named Hall from the San Francisco area. She goes all over the world on the yacht preparing haute cuisine for the guests, so neither were there to meet.

We had an excellent evening in a private dining section of the restaurant reliving wonderful times. Chris has actually been back to the States with me and I have even had him over to my folk's place in Oklahoma City where we played golf with my dad. I knew his parents as well, and it just reminds you how special good friends are. Carol is a honky tonk piano player and we have had some wonderful evenings singing all the great songs in the distant past. They had a beautiful piano in the dining room which she was tempted to play, but it would have bit over the top for the stuffy crowd that evening!

Day 4 - Wine Country

We arose early for another stellar day and a really wonderful breakfast. Each day I have learned to tone it down at breakfast... wanting to taste all the flavors the first morning and scale it back each day to just the things I really enjoy. The bacon here is more like Canadian bacon than our bacon, so it is not crisp but is delicious. I love that stuff! The guava juice is also a winner.

Our guide, Michael Raa from Thompsons Africa, met us with his van and we all climbed in. The kids think Michael is a "stud", and Reese thinks he is a walking encyclopedia. We headed West of Cape Town on the N1 (a full multi lane freeway) to Paarl. The first thing we did was see a monument on the top of a hill that was erected to honor the Afrikaans language (predominant in this part of the world). It was very impressive with lots of symbolism that reflected the various influences on Afrikaans. I knew is was mostly 400 year old Dutch (think olde English) was surprised to know that it heavily influenced by Portuguese, English, native languages and Malay. Most people don't know that the Dutch brought the Malay (Javanese) to these lands several hundred years ago to work as skilled carpenters, cooks, blacksmiths, etc. as a way to resupply the ships that had rounded the Cape of Good Hope (the weather was quite damaging to the ships back then). They also planted vegetable gardens and along with brought their own influence. There are many mosques and a heavy influence in the foods here in the Cape.

After the monument we headed to a wine estate. It is just amazing to find these places that were started in the 1600s. The wine in South Africa is my favorite of anywhere, but I especially like the whites. They have created their own grape for a special red called Pinotage. It is a wonderful wine, although they have all kinds of reds here. The most popular is a Shiraz.

From there we headed over to Franzhoek, a sleeply quaint village with lots of old Cape Dutch architecture and outdoor cafes. This whole wine growing area is very similar to Napa Valley in California with a certain "international" flair. We had some amazing light food before heading over to Stellenbosch.

As we entered Stellie (local nickname for it), we passed by the University of Stellenbosch where I will be studying. It is very similar to Stanford, although much larger. It has a student body of about 23,000 students and has as many graduate colleges as UW or WSU or OU. We stopped at the Student Union (called Nellie) and it is just like any Student Union anywhere. We then went out ot the Lanzerac, our home for next few days. It is an old wine estate that is authentic Cape Dutch architecture with beautifully landscaped lawns and vineyards. Our rooms are huge with their own swimming pools and lots of lounging room. The only complaint we have is that they kept contacting us every few hours to see if their was something else they could do for us. The rest of the crew went on a tour of Stellie while I settled into the room to grade more homework.

We had a lovely dinner in the Governor's Room before turning in. The funny thing is that this part of South Africa is pretty formal and the other diners were dressed up much more than we were. Although it is winter here, the weather is like Seattle in June. We had short sleeves on while the rest of the room was dressed in their winter woolies and sweaters or jackets.

Day 3 in Cape Town

We started off with breakfast once again. The buffet had just about everything anyone could want for breakfast from bacon, sausages and Canadian bacon to omelets, fruits of every variety, potatoes, yogurts, 4 types of fruit juices (Guava was the favorite with the group), toasts, cold cereals and hot porridge (oatmeal). Greg is amazing at how much he can eat, but I guess his food choices are quite limited in Burkina-Faso so he is making up for all those tastes he missed back in the States.

Speaking of which, Greg can’t believe we are in Africa. He said it is very similar to the US at its best. I can’t help agree with him now that the Apartheid regime is long gone and a full populist democracy is in power. The more the masses have been empowered with jobs and money, the faster the economy grows. There is a lot of money in Cape Town with a huge Lamborghini and Maserati dealership, as well as any other type of upscale vehicle. Inasmuch as this was a free day, I visited the BMW car and motorcycle dealership to get details on things. The BMW motorrad community (think motorcycle) is quite small and they knew a friend of mine who runs a motorcycle touring agency out of the US, Ron Ayers. As a result, they gave me first class treatment both in the dealership and in the motorcycle rental agency for future reference.

The next hassle was getting a cell phone service that worked. When I was in Brazil in early June for 3 days my iPhone was on roaming and it was outrageously expensive. For 3 days the cost was over $1,700 USD. I was livid when I got the bill and they knocked off about $1,000 USD but it still ended up costing me $700 for 3 days. Hence, I am not using my cell phone here and wanted to get a local provider for it. There is no problem except that Apple and ATT lock the network provider in US phones and you have to get it unlocked in order to switch providers. Apparently, that is quite a hassle and I phone ATT in the US attempting to get it sorted out. At the end of the 1 ½ hour conversation they realized that only Apple can unlock it and they are not likely to do so. However, there are local retail cell companies that will do it for a price. The cost of Internet and cell service is not great, so once I get it unlocked it should work like a charm.

Most of the group sun tanned around the pool or took a walk along the “strand” (think beach boardwalk) or shopped in the afternoon while I went back to grade papers for my Issues in Management class and watch a bit of Wimbledon. Dinner was in the hotel and we all turned in early, as we had to get up at 6 for our tour on Wednesday.

Day 2 in Cape Town

We arose early and had breakfast again just before our tour guide from Thompsons Africa met us in the lobby. Michael Raa was an exceptional tour guide and he hurried us off in the shiny new Thompson’s van for a tour of the coastal area.

Our first stop was Hout Bay, a center for commercial fishing, primarily of Yellow Fin Tuna. We loved this area when we lived here before, so it was great to come back. We took a boat ride out to a seal colony on an island and took pictures before returning. I couldn’t find Susan so I asked Michael if he had seen her. His comment was that the last he saw her she was walking into the jewelry store. Needless to say, I ran to the store to get her out before he put something expensive on the American Express card! Luckily, she had only gone in to use the restroom. Whew! However, Clay and Erin, Greg and Reese all shopped and made purchases while we waited.

Next was a trip down to Cape Point, the furthest Southwesterly point in Africa. I had been here multiple times before, but the spectacular beauty of this place is beyond compare. We also saw some Elands (largest antelope species in the world that are the size of American elk), baboons, and wild ostriches coming and going.

After that we went up the other side of the peninsula to Simonstown. We had a beautiful lunch by the sea and afterwards went down to a penguin colony there. They are just the most adorable things on earth and hilarious to watch! They call them jackass penguins because they bray like a donkey. After that we saw False Bay where you have seen all those photos of great white sharks breaching the water to grab seals in their mouths and eat them. Remind me not to ever go swimming anywhere near there!

By the time we returned we had seen all that beautiful scenery the Cape has to offer. We were exhausted and so we lazed around before heading out to dinner in Camps Bay. We had a wonderful dinner on the waterfront with lots of fun along the way. Clay was hilarious and kept the entire restaurant in stitches (think ugly American who is loud and boisterous). We didn’t leave until midnight, but the weirdest thing of all is to see a restaurant in Africa will all white people inside. We lived here during Apartheid, but the new South Africa is much more like Brazil with all kinds of colors and hues of people who get along quite well. For Greg it was a shock because he is used to living in Burkina Faso, which is much more undeveloped and he is in the minority by far. With our Native American heritage and my Grandfather growing up in Reservation schools, we detest any sort of discrimination be it racial or ethnic or religious.

Day 1 in Cape Town, South Africa

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast at 09:30, which was weird because back home my Sunday is playing tennis from 06:30 to 9:00, then going home and cleaning up for church at Cedar Park. We all ate well and then headed out to the Waterfront Wharf, a really nice collection of shopping mall, restaurants, curio shops, specialty shops and tours. We browsed, got some money at the ATM, ate some traditional English fish and chips, then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. It was heavenly!

For dinner we went back to the Waterfront to a Greek restaurant in a private room with a flat screen TV where we watched the finals of the tournament here in South Africa for soccer. The irony was that it was being played where we lived from 1979-1981 (Johannesburg), and the match up was the USA (where we are citizens and live) vs. Brazil (where we lived from 1999-2001). It was really fun, and even though the USA did not win, losing to the Brazilians is never a reason for shame! Although the final score was 2-3, it should have been 2-4 as one bad call by the referee took away a goal for the Brazilians.

By the time the game was over and the great dinner was consumed, we headed back to bed and collapsed!

The Flight Down

The Super Shuttle picked us up at 04:40 AM for our 07:30 flight. Believe it or not, we were all ready and packed and waiting! We had reserved one for ourselves as we had 8 pieces of large checked baggage and 6 carry-on luggage between us. Reese may be moving off to Asia to teach English from here in August and I am staying for at least six months to complete the initial research phase for my Ph.D. dissertation, so I had a lot of cloths and things as well.

Our flight was just over 5 hours from Seattle to Washington D.C., and I can assure you that we all slept most of the way there. Not only were we exhausted by early rising, but we had all been furiously preparing for our trip for the past couple of weeks. Our layover in Washington Dulles was pleasant, uneventful, and only two hours. We had time to grab a bit of dinner before our flight. As it turned out, our flight to Dakar, Senegal was only about 7 hours or so. We all slept except for Clay, and the lay over there was just about an hour. From there we had an 8 or 9 hour flight to Johannesburg where we were met by the Thompsons representative before passport control. He quickly hurried us through passport control and on the other side where another Thompsons guy took control of our luggage and passed us onto our flight to Cape Town.

As soon as we got out of customs there was our long lost son, Greg. He has just completed a half marathon at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, then went on a 5 day climb to the summit (over 19,000 feet above sea level). He has a certificate for reaching the highest peak, and a trophy for coming in #1 in his age group. Greg is a consummate athlete and played mostly soccer and tennis through high school, and then played all four years of varsity tennis at college. His goal is to run a marathon on every continent (they have one in Antartica, believe it or not!), and he will probably try to climb more mountains. He has reached the summit of Mount Fuji while living in Japan.

So, we took the 2 ½ hour flight to Cape Town together sitting across the airplane in row 19. We were all very happy to be together and see each other again that we talked all the way there. Upon arrival we were met, again, by the Thompsons people who greeted us and got us off to our hotel.

We checked in and all immediately fell asleep in our separate rooms. It has been a long couple of days traveling, and we were all exhausted! We’re back in South Africa again!!!!!

And , we're off!

Final Day in the States

Today has been another whirlwind of a day... running around like a madman attempting to get everything set for the big trip that departs at 04:40 tomorrow morning. Today was an early rise, took my coffee intravenously (kidding of course) to get my heart kick-started and into gear. There is much to organize that can only be done today, so I did some of that and basic packing (which, of course, I have done and redone to get everything to fit). Then it was off to my last Issaquah Chamber Board Meeting.

We met, as usual, at Lombardi's (owned by Diane Symms and Kerri Lonegran) for our monthly meeting. It is always an enjoyable affair as I truly enjoy everyone there. Today we were voting on my leave of absence so I wanted to be sure and be there. I am so pleased with the work of Matt Bott, the new CEO of the Chamber! He has really added a big boost to our Chamber and is doing some great things. It's too bad we didn't have him a year ago, but such is life. At least we have him now. I slipped by with my leave of absence in a highly contested vote (well, Leon Koss voted "no", but he always does because he is ex-officio and his vote doesn't count). I got to say my farewells to the group and move on to fill up the car at COSTCO so my brother-in-law and sister-in-law will have something to drive when they get here this weekend. Then it was off to REI to pick up yet another pair of shoes for Greg, then to Walgreen's for some toiletries, and then to the bank.

Upon my return it was cold meatloaf sandwiches and stale chips. It seems Susan has made all of our edibles off limits so Joy and Jerry can have the best when they get here. Speaking of which, she breezed through her packing a couple of days ago and has been cleaning the house non-stop to get ready for her sister's arrival. Today was an all out cleaning that would make the Maid Brigade proud. Too bad she didn't have time to prepare my last dinner... but she is pretty excited about the prospect of having "Sissy" come to stay. She did take some time out to get her nails done, take the dog to the kennel, and then go to the club for a massage. Massage? I NEED A MASSAGE!!!!!!!

So, it's back to the salt mines of packing and rearranging yet again. My packing is a little more complicated because I will be gone at least 6 months and I will need all my office stuff to go with as well as all my dissertation research to date (which is about 2 feet high and weighs about 35 pounds). And there are the priorities like tennis racquets and shoes to come along with me.

Tomorrow morning at 04:00 will come mighty soon, so I am hoping to catch about 4 or 5 hours of shut-eye before the 41 hour marathon journey to the promised land!

Wild and Wooly Wednesday

As you can tell from my photo circa 1980 on the blog homepage, I fancy myself an adventurer and always have. Heck, my surname, Ishmael, means either "social outcast" or "wild donkey of a man who wanders from here to there." Hence, I was destined to be a wanderer. HOWEVER, preparing for MY BIG AFRICAN ADVENTURE takes a lot of organizing and thousands of minute details. As our departure looms, I am starting to freak out!

A perfect example was loading my my motorcycle with all my gear and then riding it to the BMW dealership in Tacoma where it will be prepped and crated for shipment to South Africa. I had to find a crate that worked and then a shipper, etc. This should have happened two weeks ago, but getting the time to do it all just took longer than anticipated. So, I dropped it off and am one stage closer to having it as my main mode of transportation in Africa.

I also took my Subaru to the dealership to get my 21,000 mile service. It used to be a pleasant place to sit and wait for your car to get repaired with free coffee and soda, wireless, etc. However, the old dealer went bankrupt and the new one is not concerned about such creature comforts, so I did the Customs Declaration for exporting my bike to Africa (funny since it was imported from Germany in the first place that we have to get an export permit!). With that accomplished it was time to head to Costco.

I also had to organize malaria medicine for our trek into the bush while on safari at Sabi Sabi. That created some hoops because we all see a different doctor. I then had to sit at Costco while all the prescriptions were filled and, naturally, had to buy some supplies for the trip. As I write Susan is preparing goodie-bags for each of us on our journey to Cape Town. Apparently, the SAA flight has accessibility to over 35 movies and periodic announcements to get people to stand up and walk around to keep from getting blood clots in their extremities. This is going to be a LONG journey! I also organized for the Super Shuttle to pick us up and take us to the airport on Friday. Our flight is at 7:30 and they pick us up at 4:40 AM! When you consider we don't get into Cape Town until almost 10 PM on Saturday and take out 9 hours for time zones, the whole trip will be 41 hours of sitting in airports and on airplanes!

This afternoon I was working with Joan Probala, City Council candidate for the Issaquah City Council, along with David Irons and her campaign manager, Jen Jedda, on getting her organized for the upcoming elections. Joan is going to win this one because she is very well known, well respected, and more rational than her opponent. I only wish I were going to be here to see Joan and Nate Perea win their seats on the Issaquah City Council in November!

Well, it is back to the salt mines... much to pack and I desperately need sleep after our dog jumped up on the bed about 25 times last night and just panted over our heads. I think we took him out 3 or 4 times thinking he had to relieve himself, but it turns out that he is just neurotic and knows something is up (he heads to the kennel tomorrow afternoon for 3 weeks). How is it that they know something big is about to happen that involves them? Pray for a pleasant night of sleep for all of us tonight!

My Last Tuesday in Seattle

Today started in the usual manner.... playing tennis at 6:15 am until 8 with Robert Williams, Allen Gear, and Dick Shimer. This is mostly bang-bang tennis and it is a good workout. This past Sunday I managed to win all 3 sets with partner, Tim Kosnoff, but today Allen and I lost the first set by 8-6 and were tied in the second 5-5 when we ran out of time. It was a lot of fun and I do enjoy playing with those guys. They're really good friends, very competitive but very good sports and gentlemen. I'm going to miss them a lot.

The rest of my day was continued grading and preparation for my last class in Issues in Management for this period. Tonight the class had their big class presentations and they did a stellar job! I have seen MBA presentations that did not measure up to these adult learners, and I mean that. They had to develop a unique strategy for Starbucks using specific management techniques (BHAGs, Hedge Hogs, and SWOT) and each team took it in a different direction but each was thoroughly thought out and outstanding in its own right. I hope my future classes are this smart, committed and creative. They are from Italy, Romania, Ethiopia, India, and other places so it was multi-cultural as well, which added to its interesting nature.

The final presentations were made and we wrapped up just before 10 pm. These folks really deserved the good grades they earned and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching them. Somehow they found out yesterday was my birthday so they brought two chocolate cakes and some brownies and sang Happy Birthday to me... all very touching. I told them the first class that I could be bribed with food, so they came through in style. The new building we are in as of this last class is very nice with all the latest technology for teaching... overhead digital projectors, document camera, DVD player, computer, internet, etc. Very cool and very nice modern building.

I got home about 10:30 and am now starting to crash. There is much to do tomorrow, including shipping my BMW K1200LT in a crate to South Africa, sending some boxes of my school supplies to myself down there, and getting some things out of storage (mainly suitcases). It is now a full on sprint to the flight at 07:25 am Friday morning to Africa via Washington D.C.!