FEB20 LIVING LIKE THE LOCALS - AND LOCAL RIOTS

Not exactly early, but we are off to the Old Nick Market near Plett for the weekly small gathering of bakers, craftspeople and one market garden vegetable stall. I buy ore Portuguese custard tarts adn coconut tarts. UPmarket craft stores sell high en clothing and AFricanese, and next door is the Mungo weaving factory where they weave beautiful cotton fabrics. I buy an African wrap for my trip a ka koi ($35) to sleep/wrap/dry with. Ted and Trish sample the samosas from one stall and we head to town to get groceries.
  We are stopped in our tracks as a demonstration is underway - the high road to town is closed as is the main supermarket, booze shop and all the shops around. We later find the schools closed and the kids are demonstrating too. They set fire to an electric power station (rebelling against something to do with their electricity rates!) and burn a car or two. This seems so weird in this affluent city but again is typical of what can happen at the drop of a hat.
  We return to the lovely dairy and farm shop at the top of our local road and repair to the shade for milk shakes and scones with jam/cream (just like Jolly olde...) The long lashed Jersey cows walk single file back from pasture to their milking sheds, each tagged on the ear with their name! WE buy ice cream, milk and cream before we leave, yum! To hell with the arteries.
  I spend some time on the internet and book our flights to Joburg for our bush camp/safari trip in early March. In also booking a hotel the night we get back to Joburg, I find I have not booked the hotel I thought I had and quickly regroup so I have the right info for our pickup and drop fro the safari.
  At 6m we are off to Plett with a neighbor in tow to see a famous satirist at a nice little local theatre, all to raise funds for a second teacher for the local school where there are currently 72 in the class with one teacher! Much of the patter is in Afrikaans so it goes over our head, partly. I understand about 2/3 - Ted less. But taking the piss out of politicians is always funny in any language or country. They offer some nice snacks before the performance too - gazpacho, caprese salad and cheese plate.

FEB 19 NATURES VALLEY. HOW APPROPRIATE

The house here is tucked away among huge trees in a national forest area of Tsitsikamma. The area covers the dramatic foamy surges of rocky coast, deep river gorges and ancient hardwood forests.
The road here drops about 1,00ft to the ocean so we go to sleep and wake to the waves rolling in on the shore. Not as many birds as I had expected but there is good cover for them all. A small deer greets us as we unpack. Most exotic of all, there is a troop, several, of baboons, who are regarded as a pest but I can’t wait to see them in the garden all the same.  Or the monkeys which are all around, silent as they are. Oh and the fruit bats - Nancy don’t read on!
  Our neighbors have kindly offered their home to us when we return (as Trish will have more UK visitors coming this weekend for almost 3 weeks.) So we invite them to join us for dinner and Ted gets the hang of a charcoal fired braai again! Trish supplies the brined sundried tomato chicken on skewers (delicious) and Charles and Anne bring a typical SA farmer sausage, one big link of tasty meat and herbs.
  Of course, before that we are off to the beach. It is stinking hot on the sand and we have a nice dip, but not swim, there is a huge surf and undertow here. And a mile of the purest fine sand. And hardly a soul in sight. But no whales or dolphins right now.
  To top off our day, there is a full moon but it’s a bit cloudy/hazy and we can’t see all the stars as we should.
  Trish is the most wonderful host. She has a laid back attitude to everything (except driving over her precious titanium specs earlier this week!!) and nothing fazes her. Or maybe the fact that a cloud of bats has taken over at night and poo all over the deck by morning. They are eating the blue berries in one of the big tees and processing that on the decks too! Sticky and messy, Trish & Ted go at it every morning before we trek it into the house.
  One afternoon a baboon came by to eat the banana we left out there, but normally you don’t feed them or encourage them in any way. He was too fast for me to capture on camera! 

Feb 18 ALONG THE EAST CAPE

It’s a gorgeous drive today from Knysna to Nature’s Valley - our major destination in SA. We sadly say goodbye to our wonderful hosts Don & Jill and head off east to new adventures.
  We stop at vacation capital Plettenberg Bay (called Plett) and easily find the fish store and deli to buy supplies. Another town on a gorgeous bay area with lots of good shopping. We stop at a supermarket, stock up and as I call Trish to tell here where we are, my Vodacom phone time runs out! Beep beep beep - gone. Fortunately Vodacom is right next door so I buy more time, don’t need data as we have really good wifi everywhere here. I’ve only used 20% of my 1G so far.
  Again we drive through some more burned out areas. This drought has caused no end of losses all along the Garden Route.
  We are into the beautiful small village of Natures Valley by 1.30pm  (400 homes, only about 60 permanent) where Trish & Arthur’s family cottage turns out to be a sizable house with a plethora of beds everywhere. She has entertained two of her children, their spouses and 5 kids over Xmas, some for 3 weeks, so she is well set up for this.
  We have some lunch, cool off and have a nap then at 6:15 walk down to see the famous mile-long deserted beach. It is cool now so I need pants, my merino hoodie and sunhat. Our first view of this magnificent beach is breathtaking, but I forgot to bring my camera! Plenty of time for more photos later.
  Back to cook up gunnard for dinner. I’ve seen these ugly fish in Indonesia but never knew you eat them! All good. 

Feb 15 FIRST DIP INTO THE INDIAN OCEAN

It’s exciting to dip our toes into the Indian Ocean for the first time. It is great to get the definitive tour of Knysna, learn about the history, economics, culture of this region. There are many lovely retirement communities here and you can see why. This climate, and the easy way of life are very appealing at our age. What are we doing living in Calgary? It was -3 when we left and we came to almost +30 here!
  We stop off for ice cream - 99s remembered from our childhood (for the non-Brits, a soft ice cream cone with a Cadbury chocolate flake poked in the top - yum!) Then to a lovely resort dining room on th edge of the ocean for another wonderful seafood linguini (shared by Jill & I) and fish just out of the ocean for the guys.
  Coming back hot and tired, we rest up, enjoy a nice light supper and share memories on PowerPoint on their big TV of D&J’s past trip with Trish and Arthur, who passed away two years ago and is still with us in our hearts. It’s a full moon to wind up a perfect day here at this warm and welcoming home and we sleep like logs, woken only by the birds.

Feb 16 TO KNYSNA (YOU SAY NYSNA) & GARDEN ROUTE

We have been fortunate to be invited to visit friends of friends, people we knew 48 years ago in Toronto, who live in this gorgeous city half way along the Garden Route. Don & Jill Woods returned to SA soon after we knew them in Toronto, but have remained firm friends of Trish & Arthur here in SA. They have been feeding us great info to plan this trip and have invited us to their massive (10,000sqft) house with a 360 view on top of a hill north of this affluent vacation and retirement centre. They are the most gracious hosts and we enjoy two days of soaking up information about the many national parks and have booked a stay in a bush camp on the border of Botswana later at their encouraging.
  Spared by sheer miracle from devastation in the huge forest fires 2 years ago, they survived intact unlike many of th houses around them which were totally destroyed. It has also change the fabric of the neighborhood that many of the older residents are now moving out, as they will do shortly to downsize to a senior complex above the golf course half way down their hill.
  As we leave the city, we see the immense shanty towns of which we have heard but never experienced such terrible poverty. However, there are electricity lines strung out above the tin shacks. We learn 30% of the population is on state welfare and unemployment is very high among young people.
  The drive tn the Garden Route passes through several climatic and economic zones, the breadbasket of SA in places with miles of wheat fields. Then we pass through vast fruit orchards, apples and grapes (many for wine), corn. There are good picnic sites and gas stations along the way and the N2 is a really good road throughout. We began with mist and cloud at the coast but it is 26 and sunny most of the journey. Coming down we follow the beautiful coastline of the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. At the waterfront a huge waterpolo competition is in full swing. We have a tour of the various different parts of Knysna and return to our first SA braai, BBQ, and lively conversation with our hosts.

FEB15 CITY STUFF

The Dutch East India Company is a huge part of the history here. So it’s appropriate that we take a walk down through a pedestrian bazaar area to the Company’s Gardens. I bargain for a hat, first $20 each, I settle for a $7 porkpie that will do for the time being til I get a proper safari number!
  Here when sailors were stopping en route to the orient, ships needed to refuel. Small vegetable gardens were set up, tended by slaves originally then eventually granted to free burgers, from whom it bought fresh produce.. The drought now has rendered the gardens dry and unimpressive but they have been restored to show what was once a very valuable asset to the Company.
  The National Gallery borders the gardens so we enjoy a tour of the mostly modern African art collection.
  A cab across town is about $7 for 10 minutes back to the waterfront and another feast of oysters from Namibia! And a nice rose for me and a beer for Ted at the sit-up oyster bar. We then stroll along to a much more tony place with white tablecloths right on the waterfront by the tour boat touts - and enjoy people watching with some sushi (not great tasting but looking beautiful) and a nice Chenin Blanc.
  Food here is relatively cheap, especially restaurant meals. The sushi place was half price from 12-5 every day, maybe just for now which is out of the main tourist season. 

FEB 14 VALENTINES AND ALL THAT

  En route in Germany I have bought a heart shaped box of dark chocolate covered marzipan hearts and send Ted an ecard so I am off the VDay hook!
I start the day by reaching my sister Liz on Facetime to learn that Clive is turning the corner but still in ICU. That’s much better news. UK is only 2 hours ahead of us here, Spain 1 hour.
  Today we take a serious drive south along the Cape to Simonstown through very busy traffic jams at times even tho this is ot tourist season, rush hour or weekend! It’s a gorgeous day for the drive down the coastline, blue ocean, huge waves and scenic rocky points.
  We stop at the national wildlife area to see the penguins but it’s disappointing to see it has  developed into a zoo, the poor few penguins inundated with selfie-seeking humans. We backtrack to Kalk Bay, a lovely fishing/crabbing town with lots of colorful boats, people and good fish restos. Stopping at the funky but well recommended Olympia CAfe & Deli, we have a great slow lunch of seafood linguini (maybe the best I ever ate) mussels and beers. We pick up croissants and custard tarts at the bakery for later.
  To my surprise and delight, friends in England Helen & Andy Code (DAve French’s daughter) will come to CT in April and we will meet with them here then! Their daughter Annelise is mad about cheetahs so they will have to visit the cheetah reserve near CT when they are here.
   We are still having sleepless nights with the jet lag difference but we tend to go back into a deep sleep and come to about 9 when the sun is really up!

FEB 13 BEAUTIFUL GARDENS AT KIRSTENBOSCH

Not Friday it it’s bad start to the 13th. My brother in law Clive is seriously ill in hospital with pneumonia and septicemia and our wonderful young artist friend Jason Bowyer from London has collapsed and died on a bike ride in Suffolk. We will all treasure his wonderful pieces of art in our homes all the more in future.
  Today I learn to be co-pilot and Ted gets comfortable with driving. The roads are very good and the is fine driving the other side. Unlike the locals, he is heeding the speed limit carefully.
 It’s only about a half hour drive south around Table Mountain to the old established Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It’s a huge beautiful park on the flanks of impressive Table Mountain. E enjoy strolling though plantations of trees, proteas, Erica’s and some flowers even though it is now fall here. A light lunch of soup, veggies and mussels sees us through until we return home, then walk to Food Lovers great food store for flaky sausage rolls, salad and more custard tarts for a late supper on our deck.
  We connect on WhatsApp with Ali & Rob in Ronda, Spain and yak for half an hour. The world is getting smaller!

FEB 12 AMAZING AQUARIUM

We are not usually drawn to performing fish or such in aquariums but CT’s on the waterfront is worth the exception. Shoals of school kids are here so it’s busy, loud and jumping but easy to visit the 2 story building with a great walkthrough tunnel surrounded by huge rays (closer than we’ve ever been able to dive), turtles and lovely fish. Separate tanks specialize in tropical and jellyfish. Some of the kids are entranced when I teach them to say the name of the triggerfish - humuhumunukunukuapuaa! We snorkeled with them just a couple of months ago in Maui! A diver feeds the rays and we learn lots about things we have taken for granted in the ocean all these years. The top floor has a penguin display, and as usual the rockhoppers just make you smile with their higglypiggly hairdos. Better still, we get the SA seniors rate!
  Hot and stifling outside, we retire to Mitchells for more local beers, Ted tries a Malay lamb curry and I have squid tentacles with remoulade and squid strips. The grocery store at the waterfront is great - not what you would expect in the middle of a tourist trap area, and we pick up a cool bag for future picnics. Also a great bakery for Portuguese custard tarts and croissants for morning coffee.

DRIVING IN THE BIG CITY

We are ready to pick up our rental car today. Insurance coverage is limited to 48 days so we have broken our rental into two parts - before and after our safari to the border of Botswana in early March.
  Ted wakes up very sore but we find walking at a steady pace the 1.5k to the car rental place is good. His hands are really bothering him, the arthritis aggravated by the high humidity here at the edge of the ocean.
  The first few days were perfectly clear here and although the sun is out, Table Mountain has been topped by mist for a couple of days now. We will take the trip up there one of these clear days.
  We walk through the busy and impressive downtown business district and find lovely food/cafe stores with great food and salad bar, sushi bar, ready meals - all the stuff of downtown workers.
  Our car is from Hertz, a Clio with GPS included - about $800 for the month. We are warned to absolutely leave nothing visible in the car. You drive up to the lights, people pretend to beg but check out what’s in your car. As the lights change, they bash in your window and steal your backpack, phone, whatever. Not a very cheery thought. Its bad in the city but not so much elsewhere. I guess we are going to being using gated parking where we can.
  After a sleepless night - awake at 3 - read til 5 - back to sleep - we are ready to have an easy afternoon enjoying late lunch on the deck and dozing on the chaise afterwards.
  It finally gave me time to set up my blog!

SUNDAY IN THE CITY

We just make it up in time to go to one of the little grocery cafes on the canal for a grease-fix breakfast. It includes two sorts of spicy sausage which I can’t possible eat, and samosas.
  We stroll around the area to check out other hotels here. We are coming back here for 10 days at the end of our trip and wondering where to stay. Nothing jumps out at us.
  Back at the apartment, I decide I am taking a break and Ted heads out to do some more recon. A few hours later he returns bloodied and bruised from a fall! He has injured his hand - fortunately not the right one just recovering from all that surgery! But he has fallen on his chest and we hope not broken a rib. He looks terrible so I ply him with strong sweet tea. Fortunately he could tell the cab driver where he was staying and had written down the address on the map. He spends the rest of the day sleeping and recovering. Glad I have 3 first aid kits with me!
  I order in Italian. Ravioli soup, Lasagne, Ravioli and a pizza. I hope some of it is worth eating. The soup and pizza pass. We give the rest to the cleaning staff next day. We skip any more alcohol - enough damage for one day!

FIRST WEEKEND, ALL THE ACTION

We are too late to go for local breakfast but we have coffee, cereal, fruit and yogurt in our fridge. Ted reminds me I have marked the weekend Orange Market in the guidebook so off to we to find this little gem. It’s the equivalent of Calgary Farmers Maraket where prices are high for the usual select stuff and all their beautiful people are there meeeting one another darling. Sounds like England. WE stroll back along the boardwalk to the V&A waterfront which is even busier with lots of families and expel strutting their stuff. A people watchers paradise.
  I brought my own straw hat which got a bit mashed on the way. So I’ve found duct tape to fix the brim til it falls apart or I find some neat SA safari hat to replace it.
  We hole up at old established Morrison’s for good drafts, squid tentacles/remoulade sauce (loverly) and sticky delicious ribs. Get a bit lost taking a different route back.
  Tomorrow many roads will be closed for a big marathon race. There is also a big regatta this weekend and the high end hotels are full with limbos and rollers parked all over. Walking from our apartment to the waterfront, we pass all the high end car dealers with show-stopping colors parked along the canalway.
  I’ve bought yellowtail so I cook it with rice, cheese breads, salad and a heavenly Portuguese custard tart that I found at one of the many lovely bakeries here. Also fresh figs! And lychees!
  I get WhatsApp working so we can now talk to our friends here in SA and also Ali&Rob in Spain. Amazing they are only an hour behind us now.

Setting up for the long term

Day Two is devoted to getting set up for the next two months here. You would not believe the plugs here. We thought England was bad enough with those clumpy 3 pin plugs. Here there is a version even clumpier and again you plug in but it doesn’t start working til you flip the switch too! Talk about safety concerns. The staff lent me a converter but I need my own to recharge my devices.
  We find the drugstore with everything from soup to nuts, and find my travel plug, my SIM card (50cents) and buy Vodacom voice/1G data for about $45.
  The PickandPay grocery store is right in the fancy mall, as is Woolworths which has a great grocery section too.
  We retire to a rooftop bar for beers and watching the action, then back to our little strip mall for Line Fish and chips this time. Nice white fish, no bones. Think we’ve done FnC now. We are learning to order for one and share.
  Back home, Ted passed our in front of the TV. I held out to 11pm and we slept right through.

This be different...

We’ve booked into Canal Quays serviced apartments and find checkin doesn’t occur until 2pm so, weary and grubby, we sit in the pleasant reception for an hour or so til our unit is ready. It’s a lovely groundfloor 1-bedroom apartment ($180 a night) well looked after by 24 hour desk staff, 24/7 management office staff, a dedicated underground parking spot for the apartment and lovely friendly staff everywhere. It’s huge and airy with a private balcony the length of our backyard.
  We’ve all read about the water shortage in CT so are surprised their wee pool is open but notices everywhere remind us not to use water unnecessarily, 2 minute showers, reuse your towels, etc. and we are OK with that.
  I’m relieved we will spend this winter in a country that speaks English. But it’s a different version of the one we know! We have to listen carefully at times to the sing-song accents and intonations of the many different tribal tongues here.
  After showering and settling in a bit, we don shorts and Ts to take a walk along the canals to the V&A Waterfront which is a huge entertainment district. We find the supermarket and overshop for basics since it’s a 25 minute walk back along the canals. This whole port area has been given a facelift. There is absolutely no security issue here but our canal path back to our apartment is gate closed at 7pm before sundown.
  WE stop off in one of the many shopping areas for local draft beer and a dozen lovely oysters. Surprisingly, they are not the famed Knyzna (pronounced Nysna) oysters but come from Namibia! Then FishNChips at another booth which we eat sitting watching the mini London Eye and all the entertainment action with a backdrop of Table Mountain!
  We get home at drop into the huge bed with cloudlike comforter and pillows and pass out for about 10 hours.

OFF TO AFRICA Feb 5

It’s -30 in Calgary and time to split for winter. It’s about +30 in South Africa and following a visit from Trish Torr (old friend from London, originally South Africaa) we take up her suggestions of winter 2019 here.
  The prospect of two back-to-back overnights on planes is not attractive but it’s the way to get here. Traveling premium economy will make it slightly less difficult. It’s a very low volume flight on AirCanada’s Dreamliner to Frankfurt then a tedious 11 hour layover there. We forego the idea of sightseeing in the city, which is very close to the airport, and book a comfortable day room for a shower and 3 hour sleep right at our next departure gate. Very smart move. We can hang out there over coffee, sandwich and a view of planes for a bit before and after too. We’ll do that on our return for the 8 hour layover and get a discount for staying again. As airports go, it is pleasant enough, with interesting shops and views to while away the time.
  We’ve both been president of the German Wine Society in Calgary over the years but it’s the first time we’ve touched German soil! No inclination to get into the German wines this time. WE don’t even have to show our passport to enter Europe.
  At 11pm Lufthansa lifts off on time. It’s a full flight and they get busy serving a full meal before we go off to sleep! My body is telling me not to eat anything but I enjoy the veal stew all the same. And a Baileys to get off to sleep.
  The Lufthansa set-up for prem economy on the Airbus is better than AC’s Dreamliner, I watch a movie than hunker down for about 5 hours of on-and-off sleep. Ted stoically stays awake for most of the flights, except maybe an hour of sleep he reckons.
  We pull into the Cape Town area at 10am next morning to glorious views of the coast, the magnificent harbor backed by Table Mountain. But we are informed we may not be able to land there at all! A small plane has blown a tire on the runway. Maybe they are worried about fire. We circle around Robben Island a few times and get different angles of the city then are told we can land after all.
  It seems like a small airport and by the time we clear customs/immigration, our priority bags are there. Outside we are met promptly by the service sent by the hotel for the short 20 minute drive into the V&A waterfront area, our home for the next 10 days.