The Roadtrip

July 29th… Our roadtrip to South Africa officially begins! We still had to make it through a long stretch of Namibia, but we all thoroughly enjoyed the scenery that passed us. What splendid sights to soak up. Scott stopped several times to find geocaches of course. Which was cool because we all got to stretch and appreciate the area. We stopped at the Tropic of Capricorn, checked out a monument near an old church in Mariental, and even drove out to do a hike up to an extinct volcano. Geocaching really does lead one to embark on a lot of adventures and experience things that one would not normally do. Haha… one must be careful not to become too addicted to this though…*cough cough like Scott cough cough.* I had so much fun and took a tonne of pictures of the beautiful landscapes. These on-the-side geocaching endeavors were so worth the time and effort! Heehee… I guess I’m a geocacher too now, by association. ;-p

Because we spent most of the day going on geocache hunts, we had to stay another night in Namibia. It was getting dark and we didn’t want to drive then, so we settled into a hotel called Bird’s Mansion in Keetmanshoop. The place was decent and comfortable. But the décor was very tacky. Haha… Bird’s Mansion… go figure. We went to The Centre Hotel for dinner, which was down the road from us. Don’t ask why, we’re weird like that. Besides the dishes having interesting names and the service taking long, the food was good. After dinner, it was back to our abode for a round of Bonanza before we all hit the sack to rest up for the next day’s excursions.

July 30th… We made it into SA today!! It was remarkable how the topography drastically changed after driving across the river after the border. The views were amazing! There was so much GREEN! I love GREEN! There isn’t too much green in Namibia during this time of the year, that’s for sure. But you could tell that SA has been getting its healthy dose of rain. It was so awesome to see fluorescent colored wild flowers in the fields as we drove past. I’ve never seen such colors in flowers before. Highlighter colors, I thought. We stopped at one spot to do a quick geocache and admire the flowers from a closer viewpoint. Then we drove on and stopped in a cute little town called, Springbok, for lunch at Nando’s. Scott and I both bought ourselves a SA SIM card so we could make calls while we’re here. It was REALLY cheap! Only 10 rand each! Woot… like less than 2 bucks Canadian. We sure don’t get that pricing back in Canada! FYI, my current number is +27715201620 for those who’d like to send me an SMS here and there. =) Once I return to Namibia though, I’ll use my regular African cell number again.

Aight… so the lunch stop was over. Moving on. We really didn’t have much more to go before hitting Capetown. We called Marijke, the choir director of Siyacula, one of Kokopelli’s other sister choirs from Somerset West. We wanted to fill her in on our whereabouts and progress. She told us that we’d probably make it into Somerset West (neighbouring city to Capetown) by midnight. Haha… little did she know with Scott’s driving, we ended up at her place by 10:30pm! AHH… it felt SO NICE to breathe in a different kind of air. So fresh and moist. There seriously is a lot of green and lush vegetation in this area, thanks to the rain. That’s why South Africa is known for its wonderfully delicious fruits and vegetables, which I am looking forward to consuming more of while I’m here.

The reunion was jovial and warm (though it wasn’t too warm outside… brrr)! We all huddled together in the Roos’ living room and caught up for a little bit. It was quite the reunion… Marijke, Tessa, Marianne (Tessa’s older sister who’s visiting from Canada for 3 weeks), Nathalie Dugo, Francois (the housemate whom we all call Blomy), and the latest addition Kaitlyn Boomer!!! We were especially surprised to see Kaitlyn because we totally didn’t expect to see her in South Africa! Haha… plus she had just arrived today too. Wow… what a clan of Canadians we have here now! How exciting!

Anyway, everyone was pretty exhausted from the day so we decided retire early. Marijke had graciously arranged for the four of us to stay at Tessa’s dad’s house while we’re here. So nice to not have to worry about accommodation! BUT before calling it a night, Marijke reported to us about an inopportune incident that happened at the house in the wee hours of the previous morning. THE HOUSE GOT BROKEN INTO FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME! Nothing major was stolen and no huge damage was done… we just noticed some of the glass plates on the windows loosened. Marijke felt terrible about the whole thing, because it seriously had never happened before we arrived. Anyway, we spent a good hour or so booby trapping the area around the break-in spot. And we all volunteered Joel to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room, where the break-in happened. Poor Joel had to sleep with Tessa’s 3m range pepper spray and a sledge hammer nearby. That’s what it takes to be the MasKoko Exchange Member! Sorry Joel, it’s a tough job but you’re doing grrreat! I’m so proud of you. =)