Preamble

I was meant to be on my way to Antarctica.  I’d been planning for a while, and because getting there required a trip half way around the globe, that trip could be done in any direction.  I decided therefore that I’d travel through South Africa, affording me a chance to quickly pop in and say hi.  As time passed, however, it became clear that getting to the frozen continent could not be achieved in 2019 and had to be delayed by a year.  I’d already bought the necessary flights, so I cancelled those beyond my home country and kept the one to South Africa.  This is how I came to visit there in January 2019, though it was to be a very short trip.

Kaap de Goede Hoop

I arrived in Cape Town on Sunday around midday.  My sister was visiting from Switzerland, and she joined my brother Andre and his wife Lerene to meet me at the airport.  I picked up a car at Avis, and then Suzi and I made for my Airbnb.  

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Once I’d cleansed, we went grocery shopping nearby, and then I prepared a meal.  Andre and Lerene joined us, and we had a great time reliving the past and catching up on the intervening years. Suzi doesn't allow pictures of her to be uploaded online, and as she is in all the pictures taken with Andre and Lerene, I won't post any here.

I’d planned to visit the Home Affairs office on Monday to apply for my new smart ID, which is a credit card style ID that has replaced the old ID book in use when I became an adult.  To that end, I drove into Cape Town centre, parked and headed in.  The queue reached outside the building, and there were notices about appointments, pictures, cash payments, etc.  I was soon defeated, turned and departed.  I’d thought also to renew my driver’s license, which would be expiring the following year.  This, too, was shelved when I was told about similar exhausting queues.  I decided, with only five days in Cape Town on this trip, I’d not be wasting any time on official matters.  Instead, I headed out for a drive.  Making a few wrong turns, I doubled back twice before finally ignoring Google’s navigatrix and following my gut.  Within a few minutes, I was on the slopes of Table Mountain, overlooking the Foreshore, the V&A Waterfront and Table Bay.  

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Then I took myself to the same waterfront, enjoyed a meal and a wander.

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At this point in my tale, I forget the order of events, as I discarded the paper upon which I kept my notes, and I left way too much time after returning to Taiwan before putting down my thoughts.  At any rate, this holiday turned out to be a mad rush to catch up with everyone within five days.  So instead of presenting it in chronological order, I’ll simply mention all the activities as they pop back into my mind. 

I had arranged from Taiwan to meet some friends at Artscape Theatre for a production of Sarafina.  This must have been a high school production as the tickets were rather cheap, and I was thrilled that around twelve of my friends wanted to see it with me.  (Four had to pull out in the end, and one of their tickets was taken by another.)  Juliet and her daughter Eryn, who long ago lived in Taiwan, came to watch.  Richard and Rachel, with whom I’d established a friendship during my London days, were also there.  Also present were Beth and Franz, who have been friends since I lived in Cape Town.  Sue Davis joined us – she’d been my boss before I left South Africa.  My sister also joined.  We nearly didn’t make it because I got stuck in the Waterfront parking with a faulty ticket, and then took some wrong turns.  I had all the tickets!  I did get there, though, and we sat before the show started. 

Sarafina is a show about the struggle of black people against the apartheid government of South Africa.  It is somewhat dated now, angry and confrontational.  Since the struggle was already won two decades earlier, I could not thoroughly give myself to the performance.  On the other hand, the music was great, and the acting was believable.  By the end, I was on my feet with the rest of the audience, dancing and clapping.

Over the course of the week, I spent a little time in Cavendish Square shopping centre, where I bought some books.  Most are by South African authors, while one is by a Nigerian.  I took a drive down to Muizenberg with Andre. Here I had plans to see first the mother of one of my friends in Taiwan, and then Ben and Simeon with their two kids.  

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I caught up with all my friends (though I failed to take pictures with all of them), with the exception of one who couldn’t make it into the city from his country home, and another who is currently living in Europe.  Many of these friends commented on the heat, especially in the first half of the week, when the mercury reached 36ºC.  I laughed it off as play-play heat - that temperature is coupled with 100% humidity in Taiwan.

Nelson Mandela Bay & Beyond

On Saturday I hopped on a plane to Port Elizabeth.  My brother Kevin and his daughter Jayde met me at the airport and brought me to their home.  In the evening, we supped at Nandos.  (I’d been awarded four Nandos burgers by Avis for good driving.  They had an app, and a device in my car sent them information.  I’d also have to pay for repairs to the same car as it somehow got dented when I was nowhere near it.  How incongruous!)

On Sunday we ate lunch at the beachfront.  Here, when I was a student at the University of Port Elizabeth, I had a part-time job in the car park of a roadhouse called Something Good.  That had disappeared since I left PE.  However, it was now back, not as a roadhouse, but as a restaurant.  This is where we took lunch.  

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Afterwards, we paid a visit to friends of Kevin’s family.  Sue, Hannah and Ricky had a swimming pool, and we lounged around it, snacking, and later having dinner together.  I found their home rather photogenic.  

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At some point, I went to the airport to pick up the car I’d booked for tomorrow.......

On Monday morning, Jayde and I hopped in that car.  We were headed to Addo Elephant Park, which I’d passed on my trip in 2015 and decided I should visit.  I’d invited the whole family, but alas, Kevin and Wayonette had to work.  Jayde and I had a good day spotting wildlife and getting caught up without her parents.  

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Kevin did come to the park after work, and the three of us enjoyed dinner at the Cattle Baron, and then spent the night in the forest cabins I’d booked before leaving Taiwan.

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The Financial Hub

On Tuesday morning, Jayde went home with her father, while I headed directly to the airport, dropped the rental and hopped on a plane to Johannesburg.  Landing, I picked up a car and cruised to my hotel in Midrand.  Dropping my things, I first visited Ziona, whom you might have met in A Walk on the Wild Side, the story of my trip in 2015.  In the evening, I was to meet up with someone I hadn’t seen in over fifteen years.  Tanya Smythe was briefly a colleague at my first job in Taiwan.  When I left Taiwan after two years, I sold my motorbike to her.  I returned after a few months, and she was getting ready to leave.  I bought my motorcycle back from her, and indeed, I still have on the key ring the wire gecko she attached to it (although I’ve been through three bikes since that one).  Tanya moved to England, where she lived for a long time, and I made plans to meet her in Norway on my Ends of the Earth adventure.  However, she was then just moving back to South Africa and had to cancel.  Now, eventually, she, her boyfriend Wayne and I were to have dinner together in South Africa’s richest city.

On Wednesday morning, Monique joined me for breakfast at my hotel, and then she and I hopped in my rental.  We were headed to Hartbeespoort, a town on the banks of the eponymous dam.  We did a little shopping, and I found a new piece of art to hang at home.  

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Then we took lunch.  I’d wanted to go to Nandos to spend the last of my Avis vouchers.  However, that was in the next town, and we opted to eat at a lovely place called French Toast that Monique suggested. 

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In the evening, Monique and I met up with Quintin, who cooked dinner for us.  Then we hurried to Tanya’s.  Tonight we were all headed to Joburg Theatre, in the once terrifying heart of the city, to see Aunty Merle the Musical.  Actor and playwright Marc Lottering penned the hilarious play, and he portrayed Aunty Merle.  “Lottering has written a wonderful, warm-hearted show peppered with hilarious one-liners. It’s a brilliant combination of silly and saucy, rippling with naughty but nice innuendos and plenty of comic patter about our latest political shenanigans.” (Lesley Stones for www.dailymaverick.co.za)
That was the end of the trip.  On Thursday, all that remained was to get to the airport, drop the car and stretch my wings toward the Fareast.