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Our SA Trip – Week 2

We arrived Sunday afternoon at Jules (Dee’s sister) + hubby Alan at Richards Bay (north of Durban) – of course loaded to the hilt with some or their parents stuff that they had been sorting -, and went through the usual “my how you have grown” routine with each others children, before being side-tracked by a few monkeys that had arrived and were hoping for some food. William and Jason were suitably impressed but a bit afraid and unsure of themselves, as well. The weather was good during our stay – they are heading into their summer, but it had not hotted up yet and the humidity was low (it gets as high or higher than Dallas)

The plan was for Al take Monday and Friday off to take us somewhere, and on Monday we went to the Umfolozi Game Reserve. It was an enjoyable day, good weather for game viewing, saw some up close and the most entertaining were a couple of amorous giraffe and a few ding beetles rolling their impossibly bit balls of dung down the road. There was a very pleasant restaurant at the top of one of the hills overlooking the reserve and a map showing where game had been seen. The curio shop attracted Dee as Al was not keen to stop at the ones on the side of the road for safety reasons, and I jokingly did not want to stop as it would cost money… Although the favourable exchange rate once more came into play… Alan has a 4X4 double cab “bakkie” (truck) which seats five inside and as the back has a canopy on it the boys were able to have a sleep and do their own viewing from the back.

On Tuesday we spent the day at their house with Jules, we went to the odd shop – the chainstores were definitely familiar! We looked up Sharon Mance (nee Spriggs) who was the one who introduced Dee and I in Pinetown in 1987, she just about fell over backwards when we walked in. I was first in, she was working as a teller in a bank, and she looked up and kind of nodded “Hi!” as you would seeing a familiar face. Then the penny dropped and she looked up again with her mouth open – not having seen us in a good few years! She is also married with a daughter and son. The afternoon we took the boys to their cousin Dereks’ school to watch him practice cricket – a game foreign to them! As was the rugby on TV with the “Currie Cup Finals” (sorta SuperBowl).

On Wednesday we once more did a bit of shopping and Derek and I tried fishing off a pier in the harbour. Jason came with and later Derek demonstrated how you can still slip on the rocks as a teenager, sufficiently impressing Jason. Thursday was also spent on the beach and taking it easy – plus a bit of schoolwork for the boys, and Thursday night we went to a “braai” (barbecue) with Sharon and her husband and he cooked a “Texas” steak. It was about 2 ft long by 18” wide – bigger than any steak we have seen in Texas! (and a whole lot cheaper, no doubt!) It was a good evening all round, lots of reminiscing and the kids had a good time, too.

On Friday the kids took off school to come with to Cape Vidal – a coastal game reserve about 2 hours north of Richards Bay. It was a perfect day, the weather was good, the beach was white, the sea was blue, the wind did not blow (unusual for the coast!), what more can I say? We had a great time playing in the rock pools, and snorkeling in the clear water around a reef. Shonnie insisted in lying in the sun with “baby oil” on to gain a fashionable tan – despite motherly concern – and so earned the title “lobster” with little motherly sympathy for the days thereafter!

On Saturday this was an issue as we went to the Prawn (Shrimp) festival, where Shonnie and her troupe were dancing as part of the entertainment. They did some well rehearsed numbers but there were a few factors against them. The stage was awfully small for a dozen dancing belles (no, no bellies, but they had that, too!) and when they all moved in unison to one side – the stage did too! They had a small tent to change in, and no lights! The wind came up and blew the lights on top of the stage off track which then had to be removed. The night air cooled considerably making the huddled watchers more uncomfortable. I don’t think anyone reading this will fully comprehend the primitive nature of the whole proceedings except South Africans who have “been there, done that” and now appreciate the lavish (costly) displays that are the norm over here. Did I mention a beauty contest going on in all this as well???

On Sunday we went to their church where Shonnie plays the piano, Derek does the overhead projector and Jules sings in the praise team. Al is adamant that he won’t start preaching anytime soon! We then loaded up the car (a bit lighter, but not much), and headed for a night at Umhlanga (pronounced “Oomshlanga”) Sands Hotel (it is on time-share and well worth the trip!)  To be continued…