Friday, October 29, 2010
Currently, as I type, we are driving down to Cape Town! This exciting trip down to the Cape, along the Garden Route, and then back up the western coast of South Africa has been a long time in the making. Brad has sincerely researched, planned, and hooked us up with a great itinerary. We will keep you updated with all the adventures we encounter. Thankfully, Eric’s investment in a white Toyota Camry Gracia has made it possible for us to have a car for all our traveling. The car works great and it has a large boot (trunk), and we figured out how to stuff it full!
I have been truly excited about this foray into South Africa for a few reasons. First of all, I am so excited to see more of this beautiful country about which we have heard so much. Also, I am very excited about a change of pace. Though I am enjoying teaching and our lives are not very stressful in Swaziland, I am feeling the pangs of homesickness more and more and this will be a very welcome distraction.
I don’t know if you are interested in mundane details, but here goes. We left yesterday (Thursday the 28th) at 2:00 pm after Eric finished surgery. We made it to the border quickly and encountered some unfortunate news. Despite all our efforts to find out what we needed to get an extension for our visa and despite all our informants stating that we had to do nothing and would have no problem, we were only given a 7 day extension for our South African visa. We tried to talk with the border guard explaining our situation and that we would certainly be leaving their country in 1 ½ months. Though we were very calm and respectful we decided it was time for us to move on when the guard stated that we were asking her to do something illegal, her eyes started to bug out, and she started quoting immigration law (“Let me explain this very clearly, statute 94.7.01 in subsection B states that ….blah, blah, blah”). We thought we would just take the 7 days. Basically, this means that we have 7 days to either return to Swaziland or go to a South African Home Affairs office, pay R425 per person (about $60-$70), and apply for a visa extension. Obviously only having 7 days to return makes our 3 week stay in South Africa kind of tricky. So, we’re going with option #2 and hoping they’ll grant our extension!
Well, we made it into South Africa safely after only one joking comment from the guard patrolman saying that we were hiding 3 people in our trunk. We drove all evening and arrived at our Bed and Breakfast around 10:00 pm (in African time 10:00 pm feels more like 1:00am). It was a quaint and lovely place with extremely comfortable beds. Unfortunately, we only enjoyed them for less 5 ½ hours as we awoke at 3:30 am so that we could be on the road by 4:00 am for our 14-15 hour drive. The trunk was literally stuffed, so we had left our luggage in the car. We all slept in our clothes and had a quick morning departure. Thankfully, the B&B had some tea and homemade rusks (dry, dense scone-like food that you dip in hot tea—sounds unappetizing, but they are really quite delicious—Thanks to Vicki and Francois for introducing us to the delights!) that we enjoyed for our early morning pre-breakfast before leaving at 4:00 am.
This morning we were able to enjoy a stunning sunrise for the first leg of the trip. When we stopped for cereal at a rest stop at 7:30 am, it felt very satisfying to have already been on the road for 3 ½ hours. Now we have been traveling in beautiful country down through the Free State and the Karoo National Park. Here there are vast miles of undeveloped prairie and mountainous land. The blue skies combined with the golden land and green scrub make it feel very much like the American West, and it has been lovely. Except for some annoying construction stops and the hyper-vigilant border guard, our trip has been pleasingly uneventful. Well, enough for the mundane….I’ll fill you in when something interesting happens!
-Grace
Thanks for the update! Keep them coming.
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