Plane Insanity

These are just abstracts meant to look different. They were taken out of the plane window while fooling with camera settings. I have to say they do look better larger.

Pin It Now!

Stuck in Paris

January 13th What to do, what to do, with only 13 hours to kill? Well the logical solution would be to go into the city and spend the day, BUT when you have 70 kilos of luggage to haul around, it is not the option that most people opt for. There is no where to store luggage at airports like there is at train stations. No one leaves bombs in their luggage at a train station. We spent 4 1/2 hours at De Gaulle reading, writing, and now we are official tour guides for every bathroom, restaurant, and place to smoke in this airport. We took the Air France bus to Orly for 16 Euro each. Very convenient. Orly is much larger than we expected and you can smoke inside, an added plus when you are ready to unravel your sweater for entertainment. 7:20 PM time to go through Passport Control and Security. Passport Control is speedy, no line. Why is there a man blocking our way to security? Unusually friendly Frenchman -Are you going to Budapest? Distraught wannabe travelers - Yes, we are. Frenchman turning ugly before us - You have to wait then. Beleaguered really wannabe travelers - Feeling like little children sent to the principal's office we drag ourselves for another sit down of waiting. This is someone else's nightmare that we have traveled into. We will now live permanently at the airport and never see home again.

Forty minutes later, we are allowed to go through security. Technically, our plane left empty 30 minutes ago. Fortunately, the crew was astute enough to realize that no one had boarded yet and waited for all of us.

Two hours later, we arrived in Budapest. Hooray! We are home.

11:00 pm, we finally walk into the door of home. We have no water. The house sitter had to turn it off since it was leaking into the downstairs neighbor's bathroom and his ceiling was going to cave in. For the next three days, we had a plumber here.

Pin It Now!

Heading Home Again

Heading Home Again Our flight leaving Jo'burg was not until 8:40 pm, but I had misread the ticket and thought it was for 7:00 pm. Ron wanted to see if the crafts in Pretoria were different, so we traveled on by foot looking for the places they told us about at the hostel. We walked quite a distance, but could not find the place since there are few street signs. We finally found the government building where there were supposed to be craft booths, but as we approached the stepped gardens to climb to the top, all hell broke loose in the sky again and the rain came flooding. We had umbrellas, but the heaviness of the water soaked right on through. Even our waterproof boots that have been in seemingly worse situations were leaking. As we went from one level of the garden to the next, we asked guards about the craft sales. Yes, yes, at the top was what we were told. When we reached the pinnacle, there was nothing, not even a trace of vendors who may have come and gone. The police officer in the buidling could not understand our English, so we had to repeat ourselves three different ways. He kept trying to send us off to the downtown area, but finally he had an epiphany realizing what we were after. The booths that are normally there have not been due to the rain. Since we were soaked anyway, we went downtown fighting the rain with our umbrellas like Don Quixote fought the windmills. We wanted to leave for the airport at 3:00 pm to maximize our time at the Diners Club Lounge again. The Domestic terminal had a luxurious lounge with Internet connections. We had not checked mail since Jan. 5th, so this was opportune. I had convinced the woman at the DC Lounge at Cape Town Domestic and Jo'burg Domestic to let me in without my card, but Jo'burg International was a hard sell. I offered to call Diners Club for her, but she did not know how to make a collect call. I was getting testy and said, I pay my membership dues for this privilege and I am not paying for an international call in addition to it. She finally realized that she was not going to win this fight and waved me in. They only had 2 computers with the slowest Internet connection I have used in 20 years. The Domestic Lounge must have clout. Their Internet was fast as a cheetah. The little voice in the back of my head told me to check our flight from Paris to Budapest. I waited 10 minutes for the page to load and then it would not do a thing after that. I went for a smoke and thought about trying again later. I did an hour later to realize that our flight did not exist any longer. In a minor panic, I called Wizz Airlines in Hungary. Wizz - "Oh yes, we cancelled your flight last week. We could not reach you, but we did send you an e-mail" Disgruntled consumer - "Really, when was this sent? I have been checking my e-mails up to Jan. 5th and there has been nothing from Wizz." Wizz - "Let me see, it was sent out on Jan. 2nd" Hot tempered consumer - "It seems to me that if you sent it on the 2nd and I checked my mail on the 5th, I should have received it unless your Internet system is as inept as the Magyar Postal system." Wizz - "Yes, well all we can do is rebook you. The 15th is the soonest available flight." Raging consumer - "The 15th is two more nights in Paris. We need to be home tonight." Wizz - "That is the best we can do." On the verge of a stroke consumer - "Fine book us for that flight, but we will see if there are alternatives." Options, well we could stay the two nights with the B and B guy we stayed with prior leaving for S. A. Problem, we no longer have his phone number. Possible solution - go through the booking service and then apoligize that he has to pay the commission again. No solution - His place is not showing as available. Step 2 - Try the other places were we ourselves advertise. Problem - The ones available either do not answer the phone or are over 100 Euros a night. Step 2 additional problem - Our flight starts to board in 45 minutes. Alternate possible solution - Change airlines. SkyEurope has a flight tomorrow night from Orly to Budapest. Cost 252 Euros for both of us. Pondering, pondering, pondering... two nights accommodations in Paris, add in meals, add in transportation, add in museum entrance fees for whiling away the time, add in any extra shopping that we may be too impulsive to resist = a hell of a lot more than 252 Euros. Book that flight!!! Step 3 - Run for the plane. Opps! Ron was sucked into the souvenir store like light in a black hole. Try to retrieve him before we spend more nights in Jo'Burg. Okay, great...slept a couple of hours on the plane and we made it to Paris De Gaulle Airport at 7:00 am; however, our flight for Budapest does not leave until 8:10 PM.

Pin It Now!

Back to Pretoria

Back to Pretoria Ronald the manager said he would take us for a bush walk at 6:15 am, this morning. He was not ready until 6:30 and acted like he had forgotten all about it. Somehow, the French couple was up and ready too, though they were not scheduled for a bush walk. Ronald was a bit put out that they seemed to think they could go, but we did not understand why it mattered. It would only have been Ron and I anyway. Ronald did a fast walk, hardly pointing out a thing. Unless Ron and I pointed out something and asked about it, he just walked on by. He seemed to be out of sorts that the couple was with us or that he was left doing the walk. It was a major change from our walk with Mark. Regardless, the Frenchman seemed to be having a great time and we did see a buffalo. The woman trailed behind. We had the distinct impression that this whole thing was not her idea of a vacation, but was appeasing her husband. Back by 7:00, we were told to hurry and get breakfast as our ride was due at 7:30. There was no breakfast out yet, so we had to wait anyway. Then we rushed through breakfast and this woman from Viva came to bring us to the bus stop. She confirmed with the driver that our fare was paid by Viva Tours and wished us well. I asked how we were to get from the bus station in Pretoria to our hostel since the service was to be door to door. She called Trevor and he asked her to give us 100 Rand each for a taxi when we got there. The bus held 85 people and there were only 7 of us white folks. This was a real interesting experience in itself. If the bus were not so overcrowded without any knee room, it would have been an excellent cultural experience. The seats were newly upholstered or cleaned, but the head and arm rests were covered in ripped leather. The driver only made three stops for bathroom breaks and they were only 10 minutes. There were other stops for picking up and letting off people, but we were not allowed to get off. Since the majority on the bus was women, I felt for them, with the lines at their bathroom curling around the gas station. I hate riding in cars or buses for more than 2 hours at a time, so I had to hypnotize myself to sleep in order to get through it. It was raining again, making the humidity as high as a giraffe's horns. There was no air conditioning running. No one would open a window. The very young man sitting next to me would open the window at each stop and we filled our lungs with fresh cool air like we were about to take a dive into the ocean, but within minutes the woman in front of him yelled at him to close it. People were actually sitting with down coats and wool hats on like we had taken a wrong turn to the Artic Circle. There is nothing more precious for hypnosis than hot, stale, recycled air. Wham, I am in the dead zone. When I was awake, I tried talking to the young man next to me. He was very polite and only about 12 years old. He was traveling alone and not once did he leave the bus. Behind us was an older man who was disheveled and really hefty. Each time we stopped, he would push his girth down the aisle chanting “I need a smoke.” The driver sent him back a couple of times. My chant was “Give me some fresh air.” Seven and a half hours later, we were in Pretoria. The taxi ride to the hostel was 40 Rand, so we were able to pocket 160 Rand for discomfort and lack of a tour back, not really equitable. Back at the hostel, our room was changed to their second house, a half block down the street, where we had an ensuite room. The room was huge with a double bed and a bunk bed. The bathroom had a tub plus a stall shower. Again, we had a hot water pot with all of the fixings for tea or coffee. We returned to Eastwoods for dinner. This was my last chance for steak. They do not have the cuts of steaks as we know them in Hungary, so I needed to get my fill as I did with pumpkin and sweet potatoes in Cape Town. I had a T-bone with pap. Pap is corn that is ground, then soaked in something and then cooked. It looks like mashed potatoes, but is also similar to polenta. Ron had chicken kebabs and we each had a large beer. The servings are more than satisfying. The bill with the tip came to $22.00 for both of us (I checked it on my Visa statement). Our flight the next day was not until 8:40 pm, but we wanted to get there early to check in and go to the Diners Club lounge to check e-mails for possible bookings for our B and B. We arranged for our ride to the airport for 3:00 pm at a cost of 160 Rand.

Pin It Now!

Safari Second Day

Safari Second Day We received a call from Trevor, the owner of Viva Tours. I thought for sure there was a problem with the voucher and we would owe more money. Unfortunately, since the mobile service is so poor, he could not hear me though I could hear him. He said he would have to try later, so this put me on edge for the day. I still was uncertain why we had paid 5,820 Rand to Ashanti for the two of us, but what Klaus wanted to collect from us the first day, was 4, 280 Rand. This was a great experience, but not worth 10,100 Rand for the two of us. As it turned out, what Trevor had wanted was for us to stay an extra day. We were to leave on the 11th for Pretoria, but his driver called in sick and he did not have anyone to drive us back. We explained that as much as we would like to, we had to be at the airport in Jo’burg on the 12th at 3:00 pm and would not make it back in time. He said he would have to work something out and get back to us. So it was not about the money, then I started thinking we had paid 1,540 Rand more than they had wanted to collect. Was this Ashanti’s commission for booking it? I still do not know. We were scheduled for another full day in Kruger. The Brits left to go home, the Germans left for a farm-work experience somewhere in the country, but we picked up a woman from Sweden, a man from The Netherlands, and a French couple. The French couple did not speak a word of English. It rained continually the entire day, but the 4x4 had a roof, so we were somewhat protected. It was colder than yesterday and with the rain, it bore into our bones. We started out at 8:00 am and by our 1:00 lunch stop, we had not seen one animal. The four of us from yesterday were disappointed, but the new group and Kirsten were devastated. She whined like someone could coax the animals out of hiding. At the lunch stop, there is a large bush that is loaded with weaver bird nests. These are beautiful yellow birds with black markings. The male constructs a nest, but the female has to approve of it. If she does not, then he starts all over again. We watched the males building as well as the females inspecting and seemingly rejecting. There were a multitude of nests in various stages of development, like a bird condominium. Mark had told us over and over that seeing animals was the luck of the draw. Where some were spotted at one moment, could change within the hour. He kept reminding us that there was more to the experience than spotting animals. The must have been the charm. Our luck seemed to change after lunch. We saw dozens of giraffes, zebras, Cape buffalo, blue wildebeests, impala by the dozens again, elephants, zebras, wart hogs, hippos in the river that refused to leave, and lots of other animals and birds. The only one of the BIG 5 that we did not see was the rhino. At one point, Ron spotted a bull elephant off amongst the trees feeding. Mark stopped the truck and we watched him. The elephant then started toward us and we were overjoyed with our luck. As he got closer, Mark said that this bull was going through the male version of estrus. He was ready to mate, which meant he was being overloaded with hormones to the point of leaking out 30-40 liters of fluid a day. As he was talking, the elephant was coming faster and faster. Then the ears started flapping, while he thrashed his trunk through the air like a fencing champion. With a calm loud whisper, Mark informed us that this elephant was going to charge us. He was not a happy camper and our presence was not welcomed. The elephant made it to the road and then charged. Mark drove about 40 miles an hour in a backward direction. Since we were all facing the elephant still, we were being rushed with endorphins and snapping pictures like crazy. If the elephant reached us and tried to overturn the truck, then we would be worried, but until that point, it was a great adventure. By 6:30 when we returned to camp, we were all exhausted from the rain, the cold, the rush of excitement, and the fullness of the day. The Dutch man and the Swedish woman were returning to the lodge we had stayed at the first night. The French couple was at our lodge. We coerced Ronald for a hot pot and teabags, but with the large number of exchange students, the staff was overwhelmed. We were promised that after dinner, there would be some. At the end of the day, Mark had received a call from the owner of Viva Tours. His solution for the lack of a driver was to put us on a public bus at 7:30 am. Normally, this might not be such a bad thing, but we missed the tour on the way back as they were to take a different route, plus the van was much more comfortable for a seven hour ride. Margosia and Kirsten were staying a day longer, so they were scheduled for a three hour bush walk in the morning if it did not rain. The chances of that were not promising according to the weather forecast. We were told that they have had a drought for the last four years and this rain was welcomed by them, if not by us. We had dinner at 7:30 and then we were given our tea on the patio. When we headed for our rooms, Margosia and Kirsten wanted to see our room. They both fell in love with it and wanted to move in after we left. Ronald the manager is a nice person, but does not handle change well. His management skills are lacking. The leader of the exchange students, who is from Cape Town, told us she has her degree is Hospitality and Tourism. She is a trained chef. She was saying that many people take jobs as cooks or maids in the resorts since they cannot find other work, but they dislike their jobs and therefore have no skills in being part of a service industry. Margosia was telling us the primary reason she left the country was due to the deteriorating educational system. She is an elementary teacher, so had first hand knowledge. There is a social promotion system for the people of color, but white students have to pass exams to be promoted. Blacks and coloreds are admitted to the universities with different entrance requirements than white students. Whites have to pass exams to get in, while the others are admitted on a quota system. Being an educator, I found this interesting, but did not have a chance to verify it with others. It was due to this that she migrated to New Zealand nine years ago.

Pin It Now!

First Safari Day

First Safari Day The excitement of our first bush walk outweighed the need to get up at 5:00 am to be ready by 6:00. Kirsten slept in, so it was only Margosia, Ron, and I with Mark guiding us. The fact that he was carrying a rifle brought back memories of all those years of watching Tarzan movies and jungle shows as a kid. I was thankful he had it, but hopeful it would not be used. He told us to stay close to him and to keep as quiet as possible. He identified spoor from elephants, giraffes, and impala. He explained why the make-up of each was important as he picked up pieces from each and crumbled them to identify contents. The elephant does not digest their food well, so much of their remnants contain a lot of seeds. These mixed with the manure give back to the earth what the elephant has taken from it. We came across a dung beetle working away on a large piece of elephant dung. We all felt like we were transported into a National Geographic special. It was amazing to watch this beetle work. He pushed the ball he had created while the female just went along for the ride. After a short time, he found where he wanted to be and started digging a hole to bury the ball. The female sat on top waiting. Just incredible! After the walk, we had breakfast and then packed our things again to move over to the other camp. On the way, we stopped at a cheetah sanctuary where we saw one of the cheetahs that was rescued and raised by humans. Her name is Savannah and her mother had been killed when she was a newborn. They are training her for life in the wild. We had not had a chance to see our accommodations yet as we had to leave our things in the lodge. We had three Brits and 2 Germans join us, before we set out for a whole day in Kruger National Park. The Brits were a mother, father, and adult married daughter. Mother and daughter were like best friends, but dad seemed like he had had a stroke in the past and had not fully recovered. The two Germans, though young, did not speak much English, so communication was limited. We were in an open 4x4 that seated 8 people with one sitting up front with Mark. Mark had instructed us to assist him in scanning the landscape for animals and to tell him when we spotted something so he could stop. He reminded us that he will scan too, but he had to keep an eye on the road also. He was amazing at identifying birds and animals and giving a background on each as we spotted them. Almost immediately after entering the park, we spotted impala by the dozens, duikers, giraffes, baboons, monkeys, zebras, waterbucks, and lionesses at a distance. Eventually, a male lion walked out on the road in front of us. He was a bit scruffy looking. We were all counting off the BIG 5 and hoping to check them off of our list. We had the cheetah in the sanctuary and a lion so far. It was a full day in the park, not leaving Kruger until 6:00 pm. They close the gates at 7:00 pm. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted with excitement and being exposed to the cold air all day. As Mark Twain supposedly said “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.", well I have to paraphrase it for South Africa. We were all wearing jackets and were still shivering. Upon our return to the lodge, we were each taken to our ‘room’. Ours was literally a tree house and exactly how I had hoped it would be. After all, every little boy regardless of their age has a dream of a tree house. We climbed up log stairs to get to our room. Inside the room, there were trees growing through the ceiling. It had two beds with mosquito nets, nightstands, lamps, a fan, a small built in wardrobe, an enamel potty for nighttime use, and a back door leading to a balcony. The balcony overlooked the river. Outside our front door and about 100 steps away was our shower room and next to it a toilet with a sink. The whole thing was built from tree branches. It was perfect! We went to visit some of the others, which were nice too, but built on stilts and not really tree houses. Kirsten had an ensuite room. Ron had remembered that he had left Don Pinnock’s autographed copy of African Safaris in the bedside stand of last nights room. He had asked Ronald to call Mark to bring it, but their mobile phone service is not reliable. Ronald tried calling five times and could not get through. Finally, we used our phone with the Vodacom and we were able to reach Mark. We knew if it were there, Mark would come through. Dinner was at 7:30 pm. Ronald the manager, was quite a talker and told us stories of his Zulu upbringing. Once he started, it was difficult to get a word in, but he was interesting. That evening a large group of South American exchange students arrived. They were finishing their ten months of high school studying in various parts of South Africa. They were having their last adventures before returning home again. Some of them told us that they could not speak a word of English before arriving, but their language skills were impressive now. They had studied English writing and grammar, but never had the opportunity to practice communication orally. They had incredible stories about how the ten months have transformed them. It was a long day, but definitely fulfilling. All of us are loving Mark's skills, humor, and caring about the animals as well as the people he is in charge of. If you happen to read this and want more pictures, e-mail me at ryan@budabab.com and I will send a link to my Kodak Gallery.

Pin It Now!

On to the Safari

On to the Safari Today we leave for our safari adventure. Viva Safaris and Tours (http://www.vivasafaris.com/index.html) were to pick us up at 8:00 am. The hostel had a place for us to leave our extra luggage since we would return there for one night before going home. Klaus was right on time to collect us in a comfortable van. What is it with Pretoria? Everyone wants money immediately. Klaus said "Hello, my name is Klaus, I need to collect 4,620 Rand." Wow, Klaus that is a long last name you have. He looked like a reasonable guy, so gave him our voucher showing we had prepaid the trip at the Ashanti Travel Center. Our voucher was for 5,820 Rand. My mind started spinning over the conversation at the travel center and that other little voice clearly remembered the phrase "paid in full". So what is this strange number that is flowing from Klaus's mouth? He looked the voucher over and over again like he had just discovered paper. If I were not so concerned about having to pay another 4,000 plus Rand, I would have found his reaction endearing. He did not know what to do with the voucher, but our honest faces gave him enough confidence to start the van and pull out of the driveway. Klaus said he would turn the voucher into the office and see what they want to do with it. From the way he said it, the voucher could have been a moon rock that was turned over to him for safe keeping. I had the feeling that if the office gave him any grief over the voucher, he would hunt us down like wild game with rabies and make us suffer for his being vulnerable. We went directly to the airport to pick up two ladies who were just arriving and then we were on our way. Kirsten is from Cape Town and is an au pair. Margosia was originally from Cape Town, born to Polish immigrants. When all of her family continued to immigrate to Canada or the States, she left nine years ago to New Zealand. She and Kirsten’s mother are good friends and she just happened to be in Cape Town for six weeks of holiday when the trip came up and she decided to go along. The places we passed were: the mine dumps, the gold mines, the dams of Benoni, the town of Witbank, and then Belfast. As the name implies, it was named by an Irish immigrant and boasts the highest railroad station (2025 meters) on the Eastern line. Next were Dullstroom, Lydenburg, and Pilgrim’s Rest. We were supposed to stop briefly at all of these places, but the weather did not cooperate. It was raining in buckets. We did have bathroom breaks and a short shopping stop. At Pilgrim’s Rest, we did stop for lunch and this is where we said good-bye to Klaus and hello to our next driver Alex. Alex pointed out Graskop as we passed through, but we did stop at God’s Window. The timing was excellent, it had stopped raining and we were able to go see the view. God’s Window has a drop of 1000 meters with a view across the Blyde River Canyon to the north, the Kruger Park to the east, and forest covered mountains to the west. We also stopped at Blyde River Canyon advertised as “a spectacle surpassed only by the Grand Canyon”. It runs for 50 km. There were other places we would have stopped, but the weather had started getting temperamental again. We arrived at the lodge at 6:30 pm, where we met Mark our safari guide. He took us to our rooms, showed us where dinner would be served and asked that we be there by 7:30 pm. The lodge was great, but all four of us were disappointed since we had booked the tree house experience. This was a lovely lodge and the rooms were fine ensuite rooms, but not up in a tree. When we met up with Mark, he started explaining the night’s agenda, so none of us remembered to ask. Dinner was served and at 9:00, we gathered for our first night safari drive on a private reserve. Mark gave us a talk about enjoying the experience even if we do not see any animals. He said the weather had been strange, so this could change their behaviors. We had our cameras at the ready and climbed into an open 4x4 with our seats elevated and Mark below driving. The vehicle had no windshield, windows or roof, perfect for viewing. We set out and Mark pointed out tracks of different animals. We did see some duikars here and there. Mark explained that their solitary behavior was a self-preservation instinct since alone they were too small prey for lions to bother with. We did see some owls and other birds. We were enjoying the drive, which was to last a couple of hours, when suddenly, without any warning, a downpour started. It was a warm night and none of us had jackets with us, but within five minutes, it was like we were under Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, or Iguazu Falls, whatever you are familiar with. We were soaked to the skin, each of us trying to protect our cameras under clothing that was useless protection from the rain. It rained with such fury, we could not open our eyes, but we felt the truck lurch forward and speed back to camp as we bounced along like we were on an amusement park ride. It took over 30 minutes to return and there was no hope that our clothes would dry overnight. When we reached the covered parking lot, Mark admitted that he basically drove from memory. He was not able to shield his eyes to see and shift the truck at the same time. It was great fun. Mark was an amazing guide and person. Before we said good-night, he told us if it were not raining in the morning, we would have a bush walk at 6:00 am and then breakfast at 7:30.

Pin It Now!

Pretoria

Pretoria Pretoria Backpackers Lodge’s name is a misnomer (http://www.pretoriabackpackers.com/) . This is accommodation is better than some hotels we have stayed in and at budget rates. For 280 Rand a night for both of us, we had a spacious bedroom with a double and single bed. The room had an extension outlet for European plugs, a hot water pot with a jar of tea bags, instant coffee, powdered creamer, and sugar. There are four large bathrooms around the house, but the closest was right next to our room. We never had to wait for anyone to get in. The front yard is filled with tropical plants and fountains. They have a travel center on site to help arrange tours, and breakfast is included. I would certainly stay here again and recommend it to others. Best of all, it was quiet. Fifteen minutes before our full day Apartheid Soweto tour guide arrived for us, the guardian angel of lost luggage showed up at the gate. We once had guests from NYC come to our B and B, when Air France had lost their luggage for 7 days. Their week of horror kept running through my mind, so it was a sweet reunion when they showed up. The tour guide was a black man named Freddy and we were a group of six. He kept telling us how safe we were going to be in these rough neighborhoods since we were with him. He was funny in both a comical sense as well as in a used car salesman sense. He kept talking about African hospitality and used a word we remember as something like 'Abundi', but every time he spoke to any stranger near our group, he would end it off with "Now what are you going to give me for the knowledge I imparted on you?" I was told it is "oooh-boon-too" (ooh as in "oooh ahhh"). The meaning is "I am because you are ", the direct translation is "Being a person". Our first stop was the Apartheid Museum we had 2 ½ hours on our own. Admission was not included in the tour and was 25 Rand each. You are issued a plastic card that has WHITE or NON-WHITE on it, but they are given randomly. Depending on what is on your card determines which door you enter. The museum is heart-breaking, powerful, interesting, unbelievable, yet real. We left with the feeling that we wish there was no need for this building at all. At 1:00, we met up with Freddie who was giving the history of a tree in the front of the museum, to van driver sitting there waiting for his group to return. As we left, Freddie had his hand out to the driver and asked if he was going to reward him for the knowledge he imparted. Freddie does not read body language too well. We went to Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s house and coincidentally, Desmond Tutu lived on the same block, so we saw that too. Freddie kept telling us how safe we were as long as we were with him. I was not sure if that was a hint to slip him some ‘protection’ money or not. It felt like a mafia member telling us how well protected we were while they were emptying our pockets. Paradoxically, he would say that we could walk up to any house and be welcomed in since this was the African way. For lunch, we stopped at a little local restaurant that looked like someone’s garage with no doors or back wall on it. It was right next to a house, so it must have been a converted garage. The food was tasty, but the service was slow. Freddy kept apologizing about the service. Close by was Winnie Mandela’s house, so we did a drive by there too. Then we went to Johannesburg. What a contrast. The new area was desolate. There was neither a soul nor a car on the street. In the old section, it was like a major sporting stadium had just let out. There were mobs of people everywhere. Freddy told us that only 3% of these people were from South Africa. The vast majority were immigrants from other African countries trying to find a better life. I was grateful we were staying in Pretoria. Everyone in Cape Town warned us that the crime rate in Johannesburg was the worst in the country. We were going to go to Eastwoods again for dinner, but it was closed for some remodeling. Since there was nothing else close by, we opted for Mr. Delivery. You call one number and they can deliver from over 15 different restaurants.

Pin It Now!

Leaving Cape Town

Leaving on a Jet Plane... We were up at 3:00 am for a quick breakfast and our last shower outdoors or so I thought at the time. The shuttle was due at 4:30 am and our flight was scheduled for 7:00 am to go to Johannesburg. Patricia was up and went out to wait with us. She hugged both of us twice and we all started getting teary-eyed. The shuttle came on the dot and off we went waving good-bye to Patricia until we were out of sight. Twenty minutes later, we were at the airport, but not thinking, we only had 100 Rand notes. We were the drivers first run that morning and he could not give us change. Ron had to run in the airport asking everyone to break a 100 Rand bill. The driver was getting nervous about the time and I was getting anxious that Ron had boarded the plane. Finally, he reappeared and we gave the driver a bigger tip for the stress. This should have been an omen that some of our luck was going to leave as we left Cape Town. So, I need to regress for one minute, so please bear with me. Before we left home, a friend sent us a magnet that says "It is not the destination, but the journey." I held this thought as we traveled to test its validity. Some trips it is the truth, yet others leave you wondering why you bothered to leave your bedroom. As we left your home and our home away from home, I had endearing thoughts about the statement. Arriving at the Cape Town airport in those wee hours of the morning, we proceeded to check in for our Johannesburg flight; however, we were informed that our flight no longer existed. It was a South African Express flight that had been pulled from the sky a couple of weeks prior. Panic did not set in; the agent was so soothing about it, giving me this false sense of security. Our task was to be rebooked, their task was to send us away from their desk to become someone else’s problem. We were sent over to another desk with a lovely Indian woman typed our flight into the computer only so she could look up at me and go “Tsk, tsk, your flight has been cancelled.” Well, duh! Let’s move on to phase two here. Normally, this would not have been an ordeal except all flights were full until 2:30 in the afternoon. We were re-ticketed and given boarding passes: we now had a lay-over in Port Elizabeth. We were told to go to the Stand-by desk. The little voice in the back of my head said "DANGER, DANGER", but how often do people listen to the little voices unless they are in need of strong medication and/or under psychiatric care? The woman at the Stand-by desk was doing what you would expect: she was standing-by waiting for us to approach with some plea. In that well rehearsed soothing tone, she again told us there was nothing available, all earlier flights were overbooked. She did however tell us to check our luggage there. At the moment it seemed like a hospitable thing to do, she could not offer us a flight, but she wanted to make it up to us by taking the baggage off of our hands. This had the pleasurable feeling of African graciousness. But darn, that little voice was still screaming in my head. Perhaps I need to be medicated, but we handed over our luggage. Being Diners Club members, we had enjoyed the lounge in Johannesburg on our way down, so this was the perfect way to spend the time waiting from 7:40 am to 2:30 pm. We were able to spend productive time in heir lounge, smoking and drinking coffee by the gallons. However, the receptionist did not want to let me. I sinned by not having my card with me. Why be led into temptation with more than one card? I did have my account number, which she could have verified with Diners Club. She said, with a smug look, it was too early to call them noting the current hour and the time difference with the States. When I said that was nonsense, they have a 24 hour number, she let me in. It seems that making a phone call must not have been in her job description. She looked at the phone like it was a snake ready to lunge at her and waved me through. For one wild minute, I felt guilty not having my card, but that little voice reminded me that I pay dues yearly for privileges like this. We were booked at a hostel in Pretoria who was sending a driver for us at the airport for the original flight. I had no idea how long the drive would be to drive from Pretoria to Johannesburg, I called the hostel three times to let them know that we would be arriving late. At 6:00 am there was no answer. At 7:00 am, I spoke with a woman and explained what happened. She did not sound too confident with her English, so I suggested I could call again after someone else was there. She said fine, call after 8:00. When I made the 8:00 call, they had already let the driver know and they had other work for him to do that morning. This was really cutting into my coffee drinking and smoking time, but one must make sacrifices here and there, plus I was using my mobile and never left the smoker’s lounge to call. By noon, I could have flown without the airlines, but heck I had the ticket. Why waste it? Port Elizabeth is a small airport, but they also have a Diners Club lounge. Fortunately, I had not remembered until we were boarding our flight to Jo’burg. After all, how many airline lounge receptionists can I wrestle to the ground in one day. We arrived in Jo'burg finally at 5:00 pm; our luggage missed the flight. We stood at the luggage carousel chanting the late luggage mantra, but we must have missed an ooh or ahh somewhere, because it did not work. The fact that there were no other people waiting in front of the lost luggage counter gave me a spark of confidence. No people must mean few problems with lost luggage. It was either positive thinking or self pity trying to convert to positive thinking. We were told that the reason the luggage had not arrived with us was that it was too late to be put on the plane. The look on the woman's face seriously made me feel like I had missed calling my mother on her birthday for the last five years. I was fighting this urge to drop to one knee and ask for her forgiveness, but the distraction of the little voice screaming "I told you so, I told you so" had me a bit confused. I just stood there like a scolded child instead. It was the easy way out. To show there were no hard feelings, they promised that our bags would be on the next flight. As a bonus due to my humble behavior, they would be delivered to our Pretoria hostel that evening. By the time we were able to meet up with the driver for our ride, I said to him "IamRyannicetomeetyouIhavetogotothebathroom". I am not sure if it was the body language or the speed with which I said it, but he was under the impression I was fluent in some African language. Finally it dawned on him that I was making a straight shot to the Men’s Room. His charm wore thin when he immediately asked for his payment to transport us. We explained it was to be a courtesy pick up as arranged with Ashanti in Cape Town. We haggled for 10 minutes and then he agreed hesitantly to take us after I hovered over his head and gave him my best glare. When we arrived at the hostel, the owner was there and confirmed that the transport was indeed free since Ashanti booked it. Now it was my turn to have a smug look. Those opportunities are rare, so I savored the moment. Then I felt guilty afterward. The driver had been waiting at the airport for us since our original arrival time at 9:00 am, so he was really put out or thrilled to get out of work for almost the whole day, so he had to act put out for the boss. The desk clerk said to ignore him since he was told three times our flight had been changed and he took off anyway. Selective hearing? He must have had a long breakfast break. Eagerly, we were waiting for the luggage as if they were stolen pets waiting to be returned. The hostel owner suggested we go to dinner and the luggage would probably be there when we returned. They did not arrive by 7:00 pm as promised. Ten minutes after, I called SAA to negotiate the ransom since they were who was holding the pieces of luggage hostage. Their lost luggage desk closed at 7:00 pm. The next morning, we had booked a full day Soweto Tour. The situation was not looking pretty and neither would we without a change of clothes. There is a restaurant a block away from the hostel called Eastwoods. The food is excellent and very reasonable.

Pin It Now!

It's My Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To

Happy Birthday to me! They flew all of the flags in my honor at the waterfront. That was so kind of them. This was a great day. We were both up early and Ron made breakfast of eggs and toast. We took a Rikki to the V and A to see the new Harry Potter film Goblet of Fire. We were early so we walked around and I filmed a band playing music. We bought some popcorn and we were both surprised that they have different toppings that you add to it yourself. There is salt, cheese, BBQ, sour cream, and Amat, but I don’t know what that is. The movie was great. From here, we went to Lord Nelson’s for High Tea. There were a variety of finger sandwiches, quiches, and dozens of different desserts to choose from. We stayed the whole three hours, eating, relaxing, and eating some more. We had our books to read a bit and then went home to pack. Our waiter was a refugee from the Congo, really nice guy. We leave here tomorrow for Pretoria. When we got home, Don asked if we wanted to go for a ride later. They would show us the city lights from a vantage point. We left at 9:00 pm and the view was incredibly beautiful. Don had just gotten through saying he could not stop since it was dangerous, when the car conked out. Ron, Patricia, and I had to get out and push so he could pop the clutch. A little city light play with the camera. We said our good-byes when we got home, each of us sorry to have to say them. We felt like we found real friends during our 11 days here. We arranged to drop our keys in the mailbox, but Patricia insisted she needed to get up to say good-bye again. We were leaving at 4:30 am for the airport and had arranged for the Day Hopper to pick us up for 140 Rand for both of us.

Pin It Now!

Howl

HOWL!! We had hopes of going up the mountain today, but yet again the wind is howling horrendously. The clouds are almost completely covering the mountain top. It is amazing to watch the clouds fall over the sides cascading downward. Plan B was to go to the South African Art Gallery, so we did. We are getting used to these long walks into town from the house. When the weather is nice, it is a pleasant experience. The gallery is only one floor, but has ten rooms. There are very few pieces from famous artists that I knew, but many of the pieces were splendid. I took a lot of pictures. The gift shop was also memorable. The items there were unlike anywhere else. It is surprising how the gift shops all have different things and they are different from the downtown markets. I bought a little bowl for Elvira and another one for our dresser for Ron to keep his change in. I bought a giraffe keychain for Balazs. We walked to the Catwalk to check e-mails, but nothing of importance. We were at a loss as to what to do next, but Ron wanted one more trip the Pan African market. I sent him up alone; it is too tempting for me and knowing they can take Visa is an issue. The problem is getting it home from Paris on Wizz. They have tight weight restrictions, which are lower than the full price airlines. Ron found a little bead thing for the kitchen wall, our wall of memories. We stopped at Lord Nelson Hotel to find out the times of high tea: 2:30 to 5:30 pm. The cost is 120 Rand per person. I would like to go there tomorrow for my birthday. We walked to Ashanti to double check on our reservations in Pretoria for the 6th, but Landy was on lunch break for over 2 hours. The other agent gave us the information after calling them to verify it. We are taking Patricia and Don out for dinner for Italian food at the restaurant around the corner for my secret birthday celebration. As it turned out the Italian restaurant was closed, so we went to another. It was a great birthday dinner with special people. When we returned to the house, we asked that they autograph the books they authored that we purchased. Don has this idea for a story for the magazine. He wants to come to Budapest and write an article on Getting Out of South Africa on 10,000 Rand per person. They want to stay with us and write about our B and B. He has to pitch it to his editor. Ron had to hold a pole when the winds really came up.

Pin It Now!

Laundry and Photos

Laundry and Photos I was up by 7:00 am, showered outside, and woke Ron by 8:00. We were going to bring our laundry to the laundry service and needed to be there early for same day pick-up. All of our dirty clothes were gathered and this included all but what we were wearing. The service goes by weight so ours came to 35.50 Rand ($5.50). It would be ready by 1:00 pm. We went to the Sidewalk Café, which had just opened, but the food was only warm and not as good as the first time. After a quick stop at Spar for groceries, we headed home again. I had to take a nap. I had hardly taken any and with my poor sleeping habits, I was overdue. Ron had filled his camera’s memory card. Don was going to download it for him, but he did not have the right connection to do it. We walked down to the Gardens Shopping Center to have it done at a photography store. It took us some time to find the place; it was not listed on the directory. We went into a copy center to ask and they said they perform that service, so we left the card and went to the restaurant for a coffee and a piece of cheesecake. When we returned, it was done, but the guy had not deleted the photos from the card. He wanted Ron to see the photos were on the CD before he deleted them. It only cost 35 Rand for this since we had our own CD Rom. I asked the guy about the tool he used for downloading and he showed me a 12 in 1 photo reader. He said I would be able to get one at the Kodak store in the mall there. After a lot of hunting, we found the Kodak store and I bought one to bring back. This will save lots of time and hassle downloading the pictures from both of our cameras. It was 249 Rand, but will be worth every Rand in the future. I started keeping all of my receipts separate so we can claim VAT back at the airport. There is a little store in the Gardens similar to a consortium gift shop with unusual items. We found some more little gifts for just a couple of dollars. There is also a Pick and Pay grocery store there, so we picked up some things and then called a Rikki. We had the Rikki take us to the Laundromat and picked up our clothes and then walked back to the house from there. Our plan was to go to Table Mountain at 6:30 pm and stay for sundown. However, the wind picked up yet again and the tablecloth appeared. We could not see the cable car running, so tossed that idea. Our chances are becoming iffy as to whether or not we will make it up there. We bought steaks again for dinner. Ron had wanted fish, but we found out that grocery stores do not sell fish. You have to go to a fish shop for fish alone. We decided to see “The Constant Gardner” and asked the Pinnocks if they would like to go also. Don had returned to work today, so we were not sure if they would, but they said yes. We went to the Labia Theater. What a name. No Ovaltine with Horlix tonight, it was too late on a work night for Don.

Pin It Now!

Minstrel Parade

Minstrel Parade I woke up at 7:00 am and woke Ron. He had wanted to leave by 9:00 am to ensure his seat at St. George’s Cathedral for the Minstrel paraded. We decided to walk, though it would be along walk, the Rikkis were not running and the morning air was clear and calm. When we did arrive by 9:00, it was already crowded. Many people bring folding chairs and even portable barbeques with ice chests to make a day of it. We found seats on the steps of St. George’s just like we were advised to do by Karen, the tour guide for the walking tour. We were definitely in the minority, the majority was colored people. The minstrels have a colorful parade each year as a historical event. In the days of slavery, January 2nd was their only day off for the year. They dressed in colorful costumes, carried parasols, painted their faces, and played music as they danced down the street. The tradition has continued long past slavery. There were so many children running around and each was more beautiful than the next. I was impressed with how the older ones took care of the younger ones even when ‘older’ meant six years old. Our spot was shady, but it kept getting more and more crowded. I held the thought that the people of color deserved to have a better view than I did since it was their history. We waited three hours for the parade to start. It was scheduled for 10:00 am, but it did not get to us until after 12:00. They were giving away free yellow hats so we had to get ours to be part of the crowd. When it started, everyone closer to the street stood up, effectively blocking our view completely. Ron found that if he squeezed around a tree, there was a piece of standing area for him to take pictures. We took turns doing this, so one of us could keep our step space. After an hour, we decided to call it quits. One troupe would pass and then it took another 20 minutes before the next one appeared. We walked toward Catwalk, but watched some more of the parade as we went stopping to take pictures and fight through the moving crowd. The shops on St. George’s mall, the pedestrian walkway were open and we looked for some interesting material to bring home for the bedroom wall, but we could not agree on any that we saw. We decided this was a good day to go to the Two Oceans Aquarium (Atlantic and Indian). We had coupons for a discount from our Hop On bus. The aquarium is small considering there are two oceans to draw from. The Indian Ocean displays were so negligible we had not realized we had seen them and had to go back again. After having been to the aquariums in Monterey, New Jersey, and most recently Lisbon, this was a major disappointment. While we were there, we decided to check out the craft stores there at the Waterfront that we had not checked out yet. We did find a pillow cover that we really liked and decided it could easily make a small wall hanging. We had a beer at the microbrewery and then bought a bottle of wine. We had been invited to Patricia and Don’s for dinner again with some friends who were interested in language acquisition. There were plenty of taxis, but so many of the roads were still closed at 5:30 due to the parade, it was tough going getting back to the house. This was our most expensive taxi bill of 100 Rand ($15.60) with a tip. When we finally made it back, we napped until dinner. The guests were Vernon and his girlfriend or wife, I am not sure. There was also a stag woman, so 7 people total. Vernon was extremely impressive with his knowledge of Lozanov and Suggestopedia. He had read a book on Super Learning and continued to investigate it from there. He is an architect and studies languages as a hobby, currently it is French. The conversation, food, and company were fantastic. It was a wonderful end to the day.

Pin It Now!

Happy New Year

January 1, 2006 Happy New Year! We walked down to the Hop On Hop Off bus, this time to take the Blue route (90 Rand per person, unlimited transportation all day). This seemed to be a good way to pass the day since everything was closed for the holiday. We were across from the tourist center, but due to the holiday, everything was closed. The bus stop is in front of a German – English bookstore and there was a poster of Cape Town in the window that caught our eye. Ron set his hat on security railing of a door while he bent over to take a picture of the poster. At that minute, the Blue bus arrived and we jumped on. It was minutes later that he realized his hat was still on the railing. It was a Tilley hat and cost about $50.00 when he bought it, so he really wanted it back. He told the guide on the bus and she told him to kiss it good-bye. He asked if she could call the Red bus guide who had the same stop and have them check it out. She said she would, but did not make any moves to do so. The blue route overlaps the red with a few stops, but there are many more stops than are shown in their brochure, so both routes are worth doing if one has the time. There are some wonderful beaches on the blue route that were not covered on any of our other trips. Our first hop off was the Botanical Garden. This is beautifully laid out, but surprisingly being summer, there was not a lot in bloom. The garden is huge though and could be a full day event. Each section is clearly marked with signs like “Scented Garden” and “Medicinal Plants”. There are hills, dales, and ponds, and fountains in addition to a statue garden. We only stayed for two hours to maximize our bus ticket. Before we left, we had a coffee in the restaurant and I had my first carrot cake of the trip. When we got back on the bus with the same guide, she never mentioned the hat and when we asked, she said it was not found. My thought was that she had never bothered to check. As we were about to leave the gardens, two more people wanted to get on. They were refused since the bus was full. No on is allowed to stand. We were going to get off at Hout Bay, but then thought better of it. Since it was a holiday, they were only running their smaller buses. At each stop, people were refused entry due to lack of seats. We were afraid that if we got off, we would not get back to town. At one point, a group stated that they had been waiting for over 4 hours. They argued with the guide until she finally called the office and the office agreed to issue them a refund on their tickets. We got stuck in traffic and it took more than an hour for the next scheduled stop. The beaches were wall to wall or sand to sand and covered with umbrellas. It was amazing to think this was New Years. When we finally returned to the tourist office stop, I looked at the grate where Ron had left his hat, but it was empty. Then I happened to look up and saw a young black man crossing the street with it. I shouted there is the hat and I jumped off of the bus. The bus driver started blowing the horn to get the guy’s attention. I yelled to him too. He started to come back to me when another guy came out of no where and grabbed the hat out of the young man’s hand and brought it over to me. He asked if the hat was mine. When I said it was, he said he had been meeting buses all day looking for the owner. I gave him 20 Rand and he was happy, until the first guy grabbed the 20 and said “You owed me twenty, now we are even.” We went to the Catwalk and checked e-mails. Finally, we walked to Old Town Hall and called a taxi from there. Rikki does not run on holidays. When we got home, Ron fixed the chicken we had bought a few days ago. We read and showered outside in the dark. Don and Patricia asked if we wanted to join them for a movie, but we were not up to it. I finished The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille and started Flowers for Algernon. At first, it was like reading students' papers with all of the mistakes, but in the book they are intentional. At 3:30 am, I received an SMS from a student wishing me a Happy New Year.

Pin It Now!