Safari and its a wrap

We got our safari in. The day dawned rain free in Pretoria. I checked the website for Pilanesberg Game Reserve and it said that it wasn't raining so we headed out for a day safari. Our friend Jason drove us there, almost 2 hours.

To paraphrase Garrison Keillor, it was a quiet day here in Pilanesberg. Wherever the lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and rhinos were, they weren't out in the public sphere. We did see kudu, bush bucks, impalas, dik diks, giraffes, warthogs, hippos (at least the eyes and nostrils, they stayed in the water), dung beetles and a variety of birds. Loved the dung beetles, wherever there was a pile of elephant dung there on the road there were sure to be several beetles making balls out of the pile and rolling it off to their holes in the ground. I got a short video of one, it was great! They use their back legs to move it down the road. We tried not to run over them or the dung. Hey, these little guys are doing their part to clean up the road!

Then it rained. Ah yes, the forecast did call for rain later. We managed to make it to the main building where the gift shop, rest rooms and restaurant are located before it began in earnest. It was a serious lightning and thunder storm with gales a rain sweeping across the savana. We had a lunch there before heading back to Pretoria.

We outran the rain but it caught up with us when we arrived in Pretoria. Another thunder and lightning storm. Wanda and I wanted to take our friends out for supper, a small token of our appreciation for all they did for us but getting all nice and going out on the town seemed like too much work. They suggested ordering a pizza which we did. A quick stop at a local supermarket got us ice cream and chocolate sauce and pop and it was like old times (pizza, pop, ice cream). Good but not good for us. Ah well, I am promising myself a more Lenten-like diet when I get back to Addis . . .

Finally we started our packing for our Wednesday flight. All those beautiful bottles of wine we bought at the two wineries, Nederburg and Drostdy Hof? Time to pack in bubble wrap to try to get to Addis without breaking. We did lose one bottle on the way up and basically had to wash all the clothes in Wanda's suitcase. So let's try again . . .

It is Wednesday, travel day. One last trip to the supermarket to get some cheese and the like. Time to pack for Addis. By the end of the day, Lord willing, we'll get to see our lovely little ladies, Amani, Abby and Sophia.

Weekend

After a week in the Cape Town region, what to do in Pretoria/ Johannesburg? For me the thing to do was just rest and relax in our host's home. For Wanda the thing to do is not sit around and do nothing.

On Saturday I did hang around the place just catching up on emails and relaxing while Wanda went out and did some shopping. By afternoon everyone was back and it was time to hang out around the pool. We had a wonderful supper with fresh sweet corn and stuffed chicken, baked potatoes and Greek salad. And wine. The fruit here is wonderful, right now the nectarines are ripe and we've had our share. It's just a reminder that we have something to look forward to when we get back to NA this summer!

Sunday we headed out to Soweto (SOuthWEst TOwnship suburb of Johannesburg) to a worship service at the Roman Catholic church of Regina Mundi. This church was in the middle of the Apartheid struggle, especially on the night of the youth protests when SA police entered the church and shots were fired. The bullet holes have been preserved. But what we saw was a church full of people, guessing at least 1,500 worshippers, with a choir leading some amazing singing. I love black South African music, especially in church. The 4 part harmony goes deep in my soul, it is similar yet so different from my own Mennonite 4 part harmony. Even though the whole service was in another language (Zulu? Xhosa?) I recognized 3 tunes; an 'amen' tune that I think is in our green songbook, the doxology and a familiar hymn, What a friend we have in Jesus, sung in such a rich way I wish I had recorded it. Again, we understood nothing but being in the middle of the service for 2 hours and 15 minutes was an opportunity to get a glimpse of worship in this part of the world.

We went to a Mall that allows crafts and flea market folks to set up in one of their parking garages on the weekends. All types of vendors and buskers, bustling with people. We then went to Walter Sisulu Memorial Botanical Gardens to have a picnic lunch. What I thought would be one thing (in my mind I have a certain idea about what a Botanical Garden is) turned out to be more like what we call a public park in NA. Lots of people out on the open lawn under trees doing the picnic thing. Lots of trails to go hiking on and a beautiful waterfall. And of course we came back, relaxed, napped, swam in the pool and had a wonderful dinner of boerwars (farmer sausage), sweet corn and Greek salad. And apple cider cooler.

The plan was to go to Pilanesburg Game Reserve for a safari. We agreed to get up a 4:30 a.m. in order to be on the road at 5 a.m. to get to the game park at 6:30 a.m. Seems like quite a plan for those who are on vacation (to get up that early). But the best sitings are always in the early morning, just around dawn. As we went to bed it started to rain. It thundered and lightninged and rained through the night. We got up, checked the weather reports online for Pilanesburg and saw nothing but rain all day and said, naw, we'll stay here. So our hosts went to work while Wanda and I went back to bed and then took our time getting breakfast in before walking to the nearby Brooklyn Mall where we hung out. First stop was at the Seattle Coffee Shop where we ordered mocha coffees, a healthy muffin and played Scrabble. We walked the mall, did some shopping and had lunch there, then walked back to the house. All in all a very pleasant day. What will happen tomorrow, a safari? We'll see.

From Tulbagh to Pretoria

We woke up on our last morning in Cape country at the Villa Tarantaal sorry that we would have to leave. But our plane tickets were set and we had a schedule to maintain. Today we would go to a ‘chocolatier’ outside of town and to the Drostdy Hof winery up the road before coming back, packing up, paying and going.

Our farewell breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and coffee. And, of course, mushrooms. In the course of a week we learned that the typical SA hot breakfast was all of the above plus mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Where did this tradition come from? The English? The Dutch? The Boers? At any rate it was a nice addition to breakfast.

Our hosts were Graham and Brandi and it turns out that Brandi is an American from Idaho! In the middle of the Cape winelands, Boer country. Anyways they have been in the B&B business for about 3 years now and are pretty busy. It makes me think that my dream of a B&B could be doable wherever we land in NA. Being out on the internet is huge, that's the way we found them. We used TripAdvisor as well and that was very helpful in finding good spots.

The chocolatier was indeed out of town. As we made our way towards the mountains the road went from paved to dirt. On the right was a whole village we didn't see when we were in town. It was made up of poorer housing and it became evident that it was the area where most of the black Africans lived. Apartheid is over but there is still a separateness here. It makes me think of the American south; I know it was this way 50 years ago but am not sure how much it is still that way today in small towns. People of all ethnic groups have to mix and mingle for business on the main streets in town but socially it seems like there is a long way to go. And like in America, there might be a strong church going presence across the board but on Sunday morning it may be the most segregated time in RSA, like in the USA.

Ah yes, the chocolatier. Her chocolate and the machines were all imported from Belgium. It smelled delicious and the small samples were good so we bought as gifts a bunch of chocolate. Her store is on a ranch/ farm 6 kms out in the country. I wonder how many people come out. We saw the woman only briefly, we dealt mostly with her black African staff.

We still had time to go to the winery Drostdy Hof which was up the road from the B&B. This old establishment had been around for a while but had fallen into disuse after an earthquake in 1969. But it was sold to a large corporation and completely restored. It is on the national register of historical landmarks for the RSA. The building is done in a traditional Dutch design and the inside has old creaky, wooden floors and high ceilings. They put in lots of antique furniture and items such as a room of old phonographs. Wow! But we enjoyed going down to the basement wine cellar to taste their wine. The wine bottles were sitting on old wine barrels with descriptions of the wine and the process of making that wine. You could take a glass, pour some wine in and taste. No one was down there but us. It was fun.

We ended up buying some more wine there, so now we've got to find a way to take it back to Addis Ababa. Some bottles are gifts for our hosts here and for the hosts of our girls there, a small token of our great appreciation for all those who helped make this vacation possible. Thank you!

Finally it was time to go. Back at the B&B we packed up and paid up and said good-bye to Brandi, wishing her well in her venture in South Africa. We got some gas and headed for Cape Town, a 2 hour drive.

Our last tourist thing was to visit Table Mountain. We did. It was open and busy. We took the cable car up and down (it is possible to go one way and walk down or simply hike both ways, but we wanted enough time at the top). It was an amazing trip up and walk around on the top. As we were there the clouds slowly started to roll in. They covered the eastern side of the mountain. We were able to stay up as long as we wanted. It was cool but not cold, there was plenty of sun and it was windy but not enough to close down the mountain (which they do when it gets too windy).

After the cable car ride down the mountain we headed for the airport to return the rental car, check in and have some supper. This we did. We continue to marvel at the airports in SA and how they do security. More than once I wished that the Ethiopian authorities would come for training on how to do security at an airport without being heavy handed and illogical. Alas, I don't see that happening . . .

Small Town RSA

We’ve been in small town RSA (Republic of South Africa) for the past 48 hours. From Stellenbosch to Paarl to Tulbagh to Franschoek. In some ways these small towns are very similar to their NA counterparts.

We drove to the south and east from Tulbagh back to Paarl hoping our experience of getting lost would not be duplicated. Our goal was to find Nederburg wines, but alas, it happened again. Once again we were lost, this time in the industrial section of town. Eventually we figured it out. Partly it is our fault for not remembering landmarks from the day before and partly it is the fault of poor maps and the lack of signs (or no signs at all). This is something that you wouldn’t find a problem in NA in tourist areas.

But we finally found Nederburg Winery. We walked the grounds a bit, read the history in their welcome center, visited their old wine cellar (200 years old and now only used to tell the story of Nederburg), walked into the old mansion which has been around for at least a 150 years. The story starts in 1791 with the purchase of land and the development of the vineyards. Fast forward to 1937 when a man from Bremen, Germany buys the property and begins using more scientific methods to make better wine. Nederburg starts to win prizes for their wine and becomes internationally recognized. It still is the premier winery today, I believe. And yes, we bought some wine before we left.

We headed south and east again through Paarl to Franschoek. This town has a fascinating history. The French Huguenots fled France and settled here to escape religious persecution. They found themselves among other Protestants, namely Dutch Reformed and in several generations they blended in, losing their French language. But some of French culture is retained in this village, particularly the wine making and cuisine. I thought this village reminded me a bit more of a mix of Kidron and Tavistock. The main street was more like Tavistock except for the tourists and shops which Kidron has. But both towns are still ‘working’ towns with large trucks rumbling through the center of town.

We found a restaurant to eat at and once again we hit it lucky. Wanda got a chicken wrap and I got a bacon cheeseburger. Wanda ordered a ‘chocoppuchino’ which turned out to be amazing. Made of 3 main ingredients, coffee, chocolate and ice cream and served like a milk shake, Wanda was blown away how good it was. I tasted it and decided to make it my dessert. I also tried a bottled apple cider which was very good. Although an alcoholic beverage, it wasn’t a hard cider and went well with my hamburger and fries.

After lunch I walked to the local Reformed Dutch Church which was built in the 1840’s. It was a big church and even though updated to a degree, it smelled and looked old in a familiar way, with a musty odor mix of carpet, wooden pews and hymn books. It reminded me a bit like the Mennonite churches in the Niagara peninsula before they were renovated, even what Kidron and Sonnenberg looked like before they were renovated. I stood in the pulpit front a

nd center, the original benches were straight ahead of me, the pipes from an organ were behind and above me. To the right and left were wings with benches and balconies. I wondered how many people attend each Sunday now, how many youth are attending, if they have a mission program. I picked up a brochure on the way in and sat down in a pew to read it. On the way out I noticed an older woman sitting quietly in the corner of the foyer. She had seen me pick up the brochure on the way in and now asked for 5 rand for taking it. It struck me as odd to charge people for a brochure promoting the church (albeit the history of this church) and I asked aloud if the brochure shouldn’t be considered part of the church’s mission. I think it caught her off guard and flustered. She gave me my change in silence. I regretted later that I didn’t chat with her instead to answer the questions I had in the church. If she had said they do mission but this is a tourist activity and charge tourists, I could understand that. After all mission is about the good news of Jesus, not about a brochure.

We made our way back to Tulbagh in the mid afternoon, once again driving through Bains Kloof Pass. The wind had been blowing from the time we entered Franschoek and the mountains that surrounded the region were slowly being covered with clouds, a ‘table cloth’. Were we going to be engulfed in the clouds on the winding and steep passes through the mountains? Wanda was worried but agreed to let me drive it again. The upside is that there are very few vehicles that use the pass so I could relax a bit. But there are places where the drop off from the road is sheer and you can’t make any mistakes. That is what makes Wanda panic, just thinking thoughts of death and danger. There were no clouds in the mountain pass. We made it through again.

We find ourselves eating late for all meals; breakfast from 8-9 a.m., lunch from 3-4 (or later) and supper at 8-9 p.m. Wow, like the rest of Africa. We were the only ones at the Manley Winery Estate restaurant last night. It was next door to our B&B which made it easy to visit. Our server was a very nice and attentive man who, from the outset, we could tell had to be gay, very gay. The owner, obviously British background, came out and said hi to us then left and he took our order. For Wanda the standard order, chicken breast. Each night it is at a different restaurant and they prepare it differently but the meat is the same, chicken breast. I ordered a steak and we waited. The irony is that we were the only patrons but we waited at least as long as if it were busy. We should have taken our Scrabble game and played. As it was the music was from the 70’s and 80’s, most of the songs we remembered. Talk about taking us back; Grease medley, Is she really going out with him? By Joe Jackson, Boat on the river by Styx, I will survive by Gloria Gaynor, etc. So we sang along, declaring the songs good, bad or just plain ugly.

Today we leave the Villa Tarantaal B&B, visit Drostdy Hof winery and make our way back to the Cape before leaving tonight on a flight for Johannesburg.

Summertime in the RSA

It doesn’t quite feel like summer in South Africa until one leaves the city. Then you know. By the angle of the sun. By the look of the trees. By the harvesting of the land, particularly the empty wheat fields and tractors’ wagons laden with grapes. Just as September 21 is the end of summer and the beginning of fall, so March 21 is to South Africa. It is high summer here.

So we left our B&B after another wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee and headed up to Table Mountain. We had bought our tickets online then headed out but it began to look like a mistake. The ‘table cloth’ was on the mountain; a cloud had descended on Table Mountain. I had seen it several times over the previous days. Very Biblical. It reminded me of the Old Testament story of Moses going up a mountain upon which a cloud rested.

The authorities had closed the cable car rides because of high winds. We would have to try one more time before we left for Pretoria. Instead we drove to Signal Hill and got photos from there. Still spectacular.

I found my way back downtown to the N1 and we headed north and east to wine country. We stopped in at Stellenbosch, the Boer heartland. Here is the Stellenbosch University where, last I heard, courses were still taught in Afrikaans. We heard Afrikaans in the shops, restaurants and on the city streets, much more so than in the Cape. If you know Dutch and English you might pick up the gist of the conversation. It reminds me of Pennsylvania Dutch, which is Alsatian or Swiss German with English mixed in.

At any rate we asked at a locally famous store where we shopped where a nice restaurant might be and she directed us to a very nice place by a creek. It was here that I began to hear the cicadas. The rest of the day I listened for them and noticed their familiar sound everywhere. I loved it. From the time I was a boy I remember the sound of cicadas in summer. My heart and mind associates the sound of cicadas with warm, hazy, lazy summer days.

We drove through Stellenbosch, out of town towards Paarl on a scenic route and arrived mid-afternoon. We stopped at the Information center to try to find Nederburg Winery and got directions. Didn’t matter, we got lost. I was reading the map upside down. By the time we figured it out we were much later in the day than we wanted to be (and I knew certain sections of Paarl much better than I wanted to). So we tried to find our way north and west to Tulbagh to find our B&B, Villa Tarantaal. I managed to find the road leading to Wellington and then to Bains Kloof Mountain Pass. An amazing drive through the mountains ascending and then descending on winding roads and many switchbacks. It was a fun drive for me, but Wanda was nervous imagining all the bad things that could happen as we drove. So then it wasn’t as fun a drive for me. We made it through unscathed. Lord be praised . . .

We found the village of Tulbagh and our B&B. Tulbagh reminds me of small towns in NA, something between Tavistock (bigger) and Stratford (smaller). It is a town that has lots of restaurants and hotels, lodges and B&B’s, a sure sign that this is an area that caters to tourists. There are several churches (Dutch Reformed and Anglican), a gas station (Shell, what else?), and a building supply store among other things. It also reminds me of Niagara-on-the-Lake because the foundation of its tourism is the wine industry. Indeed very similar.

After we settled in in the late afternoon we headed out for supper at one of the restaurants. We found a small restaurant called ‘Readers’. Great food we were told. Indeed the main dishes were great; Wanda had a stuffed chicken breast and I had pork chops with grated bleu cheese on it. Excellent. Our hostess interchanged places with the chef and owner at our table (and the other 2 tables). Our hostess took our wine order (and kept coming up empty when bottle after bottle we ordered wasn’t in stock) and our meal order but the chef/ owner came out to see how we were doing. We moved from inside to outside mid-dinner, a great move. It was so quiet out. This little place was across from a rugby field and after dark that, and really the whole town, was silent. Only the crickets were chirping. Ah, another sign of summer.

We decided to order dessert. Wanda order frozen chocolate mousse. I ordered ‘three kinds of ice cream’. What are the flavors? The hostess refused to tell me, a mystery. H-m-m, ok I can wait. The owner came out, what are the three flavors? That’s for me to know and you to find out, she said with a twinkle in her eyes. Alrighty then, we’ll see. The dish came out. I tried the ice cream. The first scoop, no good to my taste buds. The second scoop, again, nope. The third scoop, I couldn’t be sure, was this vanilla? It looked like it but there wasn’t a strong taste of it. The owner came out, what do you think? I told her honestly, didn’t appeal to me. So what were the three flavors? Balsamic vinegar, cucumber and mint, and olive oil. She was a good sport about it and took the dish back. I ordered a Cape cake with brandy, with vanilla ice cream on top (I think).

Today we’re off wine tasting in wine country, yea!!!

Tuesday in Cape Town

The mist started early. Soon after we got up we could see the wet pavement outside our window. The B&B staff started clearing the outdoor tables and table cloths because of the misty rain. We ate our breakfast inside.

Hindsight is 20/20 but if we could have done the tour of the peninsula on Monday in the brilliant sunshine and then the sight seeing bus on Tuesday under the cloudy weather that would have been the best. But who could know? As it was we headed out up past the roundabout that takes one to the Table Mountain or Signal Hill or the roads that lead to the coast line. Soon we were on our way.

This was to be my first major drive with the opposite everything; opposite side of the road, opposite side steering wheel, stick shift, clutch, etc. But to my relief all went well. No accidents to report (at least not by my driving).

On a clear day there could have been many places to stop to view the beautiful scenery, unfortunately with the low hanging clouds there was not much to see. So we stopped occasionally for a few photos and at a 100 year old cast iron lighthouse.

Off we drove south, down, down, down to the very end of Africa, the southern most tip. We made our way past towns until there was nothing but scrub brush, fynbos plants as they are called. The weather hadn't cleared completely but it was better.

At the 'end of the world' was the famous Cape, originally named the Cape of Storms by Vasco Da Gama when he rounded it in 1492 or so. But King John of Portugal wanted a better name for the route that would bring the Portuguese wealth through trading, he wanted it named the Cape of Good Hope. When a king changes a name it sticks. But many a vessel has been lost around the

Cape. Did you know that the phrase, women and children first, came from a shipwreck off the Cape peninsula from British naval officer whose ship hit a rock or shoal and began to sink? All the women and children's lives were saved, but the men lost their lives. And did you know that the legend of the Flying Dutchman originated right off the Cape of Good Hope? Great stories amidst all the tragedy.

The science station on the Cape declares that this is the cleanest air in the world, where the breezes of the Indian and Atlantic ocean to the south blow away the dust and pollution. Indeed it sure smelled clean to us. We saw a trail in the ocean that looked like a division between the Atlantic and the Indian, we saw off shore several kms away a place where the ocean water was spraying, rising and falling. Shipwrecks had happened there, a dangerous place.

After spending time walking the paths up to the old light house and the path to the look out point we finally made it back down the mountain back to our vehicle and off to find penguins and food. We found both eventually with the little Jackass Penguins in Simon's Town (which also happens to be the home port of the South African navy). These little guy didn't look all that imposing until they opened their mouths to call. And sure enough, they sounded like the donkeys we hear all the time in Addis Ababa! We found a restaurant that we had looked up on TripAdvisor online called The Salty Sea Dog Restaurant, great fish and chips of course! We ate until we were full (in my case past full).

Our trip back to CT was a bit harried since we hit traffic during rush hour. We had planned to stop at the oldest winery in South Africa but missed the exit, so much for that. We also thought about stopping in at the Kirstenbosch gardens, a must see we were told, missed that turn off as well. We were told there would be plenty of signage to indicate where to turn. Nope. I did see the turn off for the Cecil Rhodes Memorial on Table Mountain so we turned off there. It is a huge memorial but not much more. A large statue of a horse and rider and half a dozen large bronze lion statues and a columnaded memorial. The view was impressive as well.

I'm getting better at finding my way around CT. It is ironic, of course, that I will get to know it just as we're leaving. We found our 'home' at Tintagel quite easily in spite of the rush hour traffic. Just us and an old fashioned map. It was great. We relaxed for a while then headed out for an evening snack. I wasn't hungry at all (since we finished eating at 4 p.m.) but Wanda was. We thought of just buying fruit or a sandwich at the local supermarket (Woolworths) but in the end Wanda suggested McDonalds down the street and that is where we went. Wanda got a 'happy meal' size meal and I ordered 2 ice cream cones. That was enough.

OK, time to start this day and climb every mountain (here in CT) . . .

Cape Town - It begins

OK, everyone told us we would be amazed by the city on the cape, I was worried there might be too much hype. But then again I was hoping that all the hype would be accurate, Wanda & I were looking forward to a great vacation.

Getting in and out of South African airports has been an amazing experience in itself. We arrived on an international flight and I expected long lines and small cards to fill out. I'm used to governments wanting details of everyone and everything. Not only were there no lines but no cards to fill out. The hardest thing we did at passport control was to stand in front of a machine for 3 seconds, take off our glasses and let it scan us . . . for yellow fever or other diseases. The passport control didn't take much longer and we were over to get our luggage and out of the airport! No last scan of our luggage, questions on whether we are declaring anything (there were directions pointing us to where we would declare something). That was in J0-burg for the international flight, the domestic flight was even easier. One hour before take off we arrived at the airport and everything we needed to do was finished in 15 minutes. I couldn't remember an easier flight! Flying is almost fun again.

We found our car rental agency (that would be 'car hire' here) and soon we were out in the parking lot looking for our vehicle. White Toyota Corolla and, of course, the steering wheel on the right side. Now just remember to do everything the opposite, I kept muttering to myself. Wanda was my co-pilot at times reminding me to stay left. In spite of a GPS on board we got lost in the down town (it wasn't the fault of either the GPS or myself, they had blocked off a main thoroughfare to work on the road and both of us got confused!)

Eventually we found our B&B, Tintagel Guesthouse. Right in the heart of the city. Beautiful old dwelling with a number of bedrooms of various sizes. We got a pretty nice one, the best of the lot said our young host Ute (sorta pronounced like 'ootah'). After a rest we went walking in the neighbourhood. There are quite a number of little restaurants around and we have found out quickly, they all serve good food. At The Greens I had a ham, brie, fig and baby spinach pizza (out of the California category) and Wanda had a bacon, brie and roasted tomato sandwich. We are not in Ethiopia anymore . . .

Monday

At Ute's advice we booked tickets on the Citysightseeing bus tour, taking the red line around Cape Town and the suburbs. It was the best thing we could have done for a tour of the city. This was a double decker red bus where most of the customers sat above in the open air. The sun was brilliant, the sky was blue and I didn't have to drive. Perfect. Cape Town has a harbor, docks, a modern history dating back to 1600's, an old fortress, natural geographic formations like Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, Signal Hill and the Twelve Apostles. We simply sat, put our earphones in and listened to the history. I loved it. One could disembark at any of the 17 stops any time and then later embark and carry on. We disembarked at the harbor area where they have changed the wharf and the warehouses into an amazing array of small shops and restaurants and a mall.

We ate at Subway (to save money) and then went down the hall for a 50's style milk shake. We also stopped in at the Cape of Good Hope Fortress and the Jewel of Africa shop. Earlier in the day we walked into the St. George Anglican church where Bishop Desmond Tutu was in charge in the 80's. It was the first church to welcome all people regardless of race or color.

The sun was beating down pretty hard in the afternoon when we made our way back. In spite of slathering ourselves with sun screen we could feel the sun on our skin. We drank water but maybe not enough and we were tired. So arriving back at our B&B was a welcome relief. A cool to warm shower was just what the doctor ordered.

We ate at another local restaurant, The Fat Cactus which, not surprisingly, was passing itself off as a Tex-Mex eatery. It was a hangout for 20 somethings. The food was good. The place was a bit noisy. Lots of smoking (South Africans like to smoke). Wanda and I remarked that we must be getting old because the noise, the darkened atmosphere and the smoking was annoying (not to mention the loud swearing coming from the next table by an older man trying to impress 3 younger men).

Back at our room in Tintagel we saw the Canadian squad defeat the Kenyan squad in the World Cricket match tournament. South Africans like their sports, trouble is it is all cricket, rugby and soccer, none of the good sports! But we had fun rooting for our side before we went to bed. Tomorrow, drive to the Cape of Good Hope.

Catching up

It's only been 2 months since I wrote last, ahem . . .

During that time our girls participated in the Bingham Field Days. Every year Bingham frees the kids from classes for 2 days, the last Friday and Saturday of January for all sorts of track and field events. Parents are asked to come and help or at least come. Most do. Our girls did pretty well, bringing home some ribbons. But it was mostly the fun and sun that everyone looks forward to.

During that time Wanda and I worked hard on MCC stuff. Wanda finished up the budget and working on the computer software program to send to Akron. I worked on a situation with several MCC partners that were going through a rough patch internally. I went to evening meetings (I remember those, ugh). Maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

During this time we talked about transition. Our MCC term will finish in June and our family will return to NA. What will happen when we get there? Are there any job opportunities for us? Where will we live? Ontario or Ohio? Where will our girls go to school? To a Mennonite or public school? We also found out during this time who are replacements will be. A young couple from Winnipeg, Manitoba who will come for an interim period of 12 to 18 months. They will arrive in April for 6 weeks of language and orientation. We look forward to their arrival. Things are moving quickly.

During this time we had birthdays. We celebrated Wanda's birthday, then saluted members of both the Amstutz and Roth on their birthdays and finally my birthday on the 4th. I think someone I know put out the word that it was my 50th to my pals and voila! my email inbox was full of happy 50th birthday wishes. That has been a very pleasant surprise, to see all those emails from friends and family.

During this time we also planned our 15th wedding anniversary getaway. In the midst of all that we had to do we managed to find time to look at potential B&B's to stay at, a car rental and to connect with our friends in Pretoria who were kind enough to invite us to hang out with them for several days. I am writing this in Cape Town, South Africa in a B&B we found online and it turns out that we picked a good one! Right in the heart of the city with lots of nice restaurants within walking distance (we've already tried a couple of them). But I'll write more later.