Category: Wanderings

I see most of the United States is under either a blanket of snow or an unusually cold, icy deep-freeze.  Gross, I say.  I’m not just missing it, like a Facebook friend pointed out (as in – look at what you’re missing), I’m intentionally avoiding it until the end of days. I do not like winter.  I like an occasional ski trip in a beautiful location, but outside of that, no thank you.

So while you’re all freezing I am at the beach!

One of the perks of working for the US Government is we get all US holidays as well as all South African holidays off.  An embarrassment of riches, I say, in that we never have a month without at least one long weekend.  Combine a Monday holiday with the fact that a few years ago I decided Valentines day would be a great reason to make myself feel special, I booked in a cheap flight to one of the most beautiful places in the world – Cape Town, and stayed an amazing long weekend at one of the best surfing beaches in the world – Muizenberg.

The water was not as cold as I was expecting, and really, you do get used to the wetsuit after awhile. That being said, I still prefer the warm waters of Costa Rica!  There are sharks in this part of the world, as well as trained shark-spotters on duty.  I got to experience the shark sirens on Friday, when I had been out of the water about a half an hour, their shrill sound bringing all surfers out for about twenty minutes. I used to think I couldn’t surf in a place that might have sharks, but when I consider it logically, I’m far, far more likely to be injured or killed driving to the grocery store or the airport than I am to get injured or killed by a shark; driving is statistically one of the most dangerous things we can do at any given time, and yet, it doesn’t keep me from getting in the car. I’m not reckless, I’m not going to surf during an active shark warning, like I wouldn’t drive during an earthquake or if I knew there was an active shooter out on my road.  The siren didn’t sound any more over the whole weekend, and I had a really enjoyable time out in the waves!

Outside of that, there was a lot of relaxing, walking, caught up with a friend I haven’t seen in years, reading, and writing.  Overall, a really lovely weekend, and I definitely would come back to Muizenberg for a surf weekend again if the opportunity presented itself!

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I wrote this yesterday before flying back home to my Jay, and didn’t manage to get it posted. I’m home now, feeling good, looking forward to my next surfy, sunny weekend.

So 2020 was a #trainwreckdumpsterfire for the vast majority of us, with lockdowns, cancelled plans, loneliness, fear, grief, illness, and the myriad of other experiences wrapped up in the global pandemic.  If I never hear the word unprecedented ever again I’ll be happy.  However, as I look back on 2020 I must say, it had some really great bookends. 

In January 2020 some of my family came to visit, and it was the first time I’ve gotten to meet someone at the airport, instead of the other way around. It was such a wonderful time, going on safari and to the beach, and it’s a special thing when someone else can finally understand what my life is really like instead of just hearing stories. I’m generally the one who does the traveling, which I love, but South Africa is a special place and it was an incredibly special experience to have them here.  We are all hoping we can do it again before it’s time for me to leave this country!

And then on the other side, I spent most of December in Costa Rica! I think the awful-ness of most of 2020 made it feel all the more special.  I’ve been there before but this time stayed in different places, and it was just as magical as I remember; actually, even more so because I got to share it with a friend who hadn’t been there before, instead of exploring alone.  

We surfed, swam, wandered, ziplined, explored hot springs, a coffee plantation, the rainforest, rappelled down waterfalls, saw sloths and macaws and toucans and other amazing creatures, and in general squeezed every drop of goodness possible out of every single moment. It was magical.

Just a note on travel – we spent extra money, and worked incredibly hard to be able to stay safe and healthy, and it was worth it. I recognize my incredible privilege that made it possible.  I tested (twice) before leaving SA; we both quarantined before and after, we were incredibly careful while there, and tested again to make sure.  We spent extra$ to fly delta as they are the only airline still blocking middle seats and consistently getting the best ‘grades’ when it comes to passenger safety.  Costa Rica was an ideal location, as everything is already outside – all the restaurants, activities, beaches, etc.  and the people there were very good about masking, hand washing stations everywhere, hand sanitizer, and staying spread apart.  It was really wonderful and we both made it through without getting sick.  I absolutely DON’T recommend traveling right now, but if you’re going to do it, do it in the most safe way possible, and it is possible. 

I wrote a blog post last week from the beach, and I’ve received many questions about what it’s like to road trip in Africa. I’ve posted in previous blogs what it’s like to drive in other countries; land rovers buried up to their axles in mud, terrible roads, horrible traffic. I think many people (rightfully so) assume it’s the same here in South Africa but it can’t be further from reality. So when I was driving home last weekend, I managed to snap some photos so you can join me in the journey! Note, some of the photos are not great, but my priority was driving safely, not getting good photos!! So, all that said, welcome to my road trip! The whole trip is about 7 hours plus time for fueling and bathroom stops.

We start on the Dolphin Coast, or North Coast, the space of coast between Durban and Jeffrey’s Bay. First you have to drive about an hour in a southwesterly direction towards Durban, where you then catch the main highway to Johannesburg/Pretoria.

This area is very humid, lush, green, mostly rolling hills of sugar cane broken up by orchards of what I would guess is some kind of citrus.

As you can see the road is in good shape but there is some road construction in some areas. In this particular spot they are replacing a bridge on the other side of the highway.

This is the view around Durban, as you can see it’s pretty much just like an interstate highway in the United States. The speed limit is mostly 120km/hr, with a chunk in the middle of 100/hr – there are are about a dozen speed cameras along the way which WILL nail you if you’re speeding.

There are a few toll plazas along the way. Pro tip – pay attention so you don’t end up in the credit card only line, as they only take RSA credit cards, not US credit cards. And stay away from this lane, the one right next to the credit card only lane, because when someone gets into that lane by accident, they actually have to back everyone out to let that person move to another lane and they all end up in this lane, the one I was sitting in when I snapped this photo. And also of note, yes, the vast majority of cars in SA are white. Mine is red, of course.

The first time I drove down here (this is the second) Jay was a bit anxious, kind of whiney, never really relaxed in the car, but wasn’t sick or anything. But by the second drive, he relaxed, and now he basically sleeps the whole way.

Once you’re on the N3 heading northwest towards Johannesburg/Pretoria, you go through an area that feels more like a tropical forest.

I don’t know if you can tell in the photo above, but it’s a stretch of road bordered with rows and rows of some kind of tree that is farmed for harvesting.

Oh, I forgot to mention – Pretoria sits at 4,339 feet above sea level, high enough to need high altitude baking adjustments – and of course the coast is at sea level. So most of the drive to Pretoria is uphill. Your gas mileage is much better going the opposite direction.

Anyway, you’re driving through these fields of trees, and then suddenly they’re all gone.

A bit further along and you can start to see the foothills of the Drakensberg mountain range. If it was a clearer day you’d see more peaks in the distance. This is a really beautiful part of the drive. And the sun is more prevalent here as we put more distance between us and the sea.

As we get closer to Johannesburg, the rolling green hills give way to relatively flat farmland.

Johannesburg became a city because of gold mining – much of the city and it’s surrounds are built on or around the piles of earth that were moved for mining.

Finally you can see the skyline of Johannesburg in the distance, and you know you’re almost home!

From there it’s mostly like driving interstate through any big city and the suburbs around it. The freeway gets up to six lanes wide in some places and is very well maintained.

The space between Johannesburg and Pretoria is hilly and brown in the winter, green in the summer. After almost eight hours on the road, I’m so happy to be almost home!

The final exit from the freeway into Pretoria is called Fountains and it’s a pretty one.

And then we got home! I hope you enjoyed roadtripping with me!

So yesterday it was so windy the howling woke me out of a dead sleep and it didn’t relent the entire day. I spent most of the day being extra lazy, moving from my bed only long enough to feed and relieve myself, until mid-afternoon when I finally extricated myself from the bedroom and wandered down to the beach.

My strenuous efforts were rewarded with huge chunks of coral, sponge, beautiful big shells, and other beachy-storm-detritus-treasure that only reveals itself after it’s been a rough day/night. I’ve been pondering that today, that beauty that is only revealed after a storm, but I’m sure millions and billions of people have already written on the topic and in fact, I just don’t want to. 

So here’s a peek into the treasures revealed after the storm. I’m sure if any of my crafty-oriented friends and family were here they’d have plenty of ideas, but I left all that was there to be eaten up once again by the sea.

One of the things I really love about Pretoria is the abundance of hiking opportunity within a reasonable distance. There’s a few places right in the city I feel safe enough to go alone, and a few of them are even doggy friendly!

Anytime I have taken Jay, until today, we haven’t gone more than about 5k. When I’m running in my neighborhood he tends to slow down quite a bit by then and need encouragement to keep going, so when I run longer than 5k I’ll usually drop him back at the house halfway. He does have short little legs, so I don’t fault him.

But today I decided we’d try a longer hike, because he seems to enjoy hiking SO much (and so do I), and it was a cool, overcast morning. After about 8k he noticeably slowed and by 10k I was having to encourage him to keep moving. When we got home, he fell asleep and hasn’t moved much all day.

He doesn’t generally like water all that much, but today he just plopped right down in the river. He’s a very good boy.

In the short time I was gone, down on the Dolphin Coast, springtime came to Pretoria. And what a glorious beauty she is. Suddenly there are leaves on the trees, the bees are buzzing, and there’s a smell of cherry blossoms (or some other lovely smelling blossom!) wafting around us. After what feels like a long, dreary winter, made a million times worse due to the pandemic… the shot of hope and new life is truly welcome.

South Africa went into lockdown on March 25, with one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. We weren’t even allowed to go for a walk with our dogs.  Gradually, the rules have been relaxed, bit by bit, and a few weeks ago they relaxed the prohibition on inter-provincial travel.  Finally.  I booked a pet-friendly Air B&B, packed up enough stuff for a week and Jay and I headed down to the coast.

This part of South Africa is called the Dolphin Coast, and it’s definitely the right name; four times in the days I was there I watched in awe as a huge pod of dolphins jumped and played in the surf. I didn’t manage to get any photos, because I couldn’t do anything but stand there with a huge grin on my face. It is also whale migration season, so pretty much anytime you looked out after just a few minutes you’d see whales jumping, or rather, the splash they left behind.

Jay loved the beach, and it was almost completely empty.  I was able to let him off the leash and he barked at the waves, rolled in dead fish, sniffed everything. He’s not much of a swimmer but he did splash around a little, especially in the rocky areas where there were tide pools and puddles.

There’s something magical about water; just looking at it brings a sense of calm over me.  I say I can feel my blood pressure going down and the stresses of the week or month or year just melt away.  I’ve lived on water my entire life; I grew up on Lake Superior and we spent our summers at a lake cabin in central Minnesota. After that, I lived in Seattle for almost a decade, where Puget Sound and Lake Washington and Lake Stevens and Lake Union were constantly waving to me through my car windows.  Then I lived in Benin as a Peace Corps Volunteer, the only two years of my life I wasn’t within a few minutes of a large body of water. Then I lived in Freetown, Conakry, Pointe Noire, Toamasina, Cotonou, Boston, and Monrovia. What do all these cities have in common? The coast.

So living in Pretoria is certainly different; it’s high altitude and very dry, and quite a distance from any body of water.  But, it’s a short flight to the coast, and not expensive, so I managed to get there often enough that I didn’t really miss it.  Until lockdown.  Suddenly, I am stuck in a tiny province known only for it’s metro areas, and I can’t leave. After a few months I was filled with the deep longing and no way to fulfil it. 

So that’s why, as soon as it was allowed, I made plans to visit the sea.  Jay did great, no car sickness at all during the seven-hour drive, and the only challenge we had was his poor little paws were rubbed raw by the sand as we walked on the first day.  But he healed up quickly and his paws became used to it and we ran and we played and we loved the wind, the waves, the salty air and the sand in all it’s beauty and glory.

Never underestimate the power of a change of scenery.  Before we left I was truly in the depths of despair; the winter had been long, the loneliness of lockdown was heaver than I realized.  Work was feeling crazy and I found myself hating this dream job I love and knew something needed to change.  By the time I drove back I was looking forward to coming home, the house that had felt like a jail was suddenly a place of comfort; having gotten on top of some outstanding work things made me feel better in control and able to handle whatever was thrown at me next.  And I’ll head back to the beach in a few weeks’ time; something to look forward to is critical and such a relief, after so many months with nothing good on the horizon.