A stop at Witsands

Thursday, April 6

Finally, a rainy day, but not too rainy.  Pack up out of our Plett apartment and head into the city centre.  After the boys see where we would like them to have their haircuts, they ask for this to be delayed until they get to Australia.  Cindy and I thought it would be neat for them to have their hair cut in a tin shack, but they do not agree.  Travelling out, we realize that this is not going to be a nice day.  Head for Witsand, which is famous as being the Southern Right Whale nursery.  The whales return to Witsand around August / September to have their calves, and last year over 60 calves where born there.  Cute little town, but the wind is always blowing.  Boys are happy as the house has both table tennis and movies.  Our first non camping day due to the weather.  And is was raining lots during the night and morning.

The beach life

Monday, April 3

Went to the sand dunes by our PE house prior to heading for Plett.  Lots of sand to run up and down.  We start seeing the emails from home that school is closed due to flooding.  This raises anxiety levels in us all, because if Carman is flooding, it must be bad.  Wishing we were at home to help, but know that if we were home, we would wish we could be somewhere else. 

Dunes at Port Elizabeth

PE accommodation is probably our favorite in SA.  They have a book called Awesome South Africa by Derryn Campbell with all kinds of interesting information, both good and bad, on South Africa.  One of personal interest is that South Africa is a major medical tourist destination, with many Europeans coming here for good and cheap medical care.

Tuesday, April 4

Day at the beach.  Great waves and we practice our skills at boogie boarding.

Wednesday, April 5

Suppose to rain, but it is nice out and ends up being a great day at the beach again.  As we pack us and head back to the apartment, the winds pick up and we end up with some rain.  Perfect timing.  If we had to live in South Africa, based on our travels, Plettenburg Bay would be a preferred place.  We are staying in a great little community, but as with the disparity in living conditions, there is a shanty town right across the highway from us. 

The difference between a good and bad haircut is voltage.

April 2, 2017

Another rough night for Levi, so glad we were in the house. 

This morning I gave myself my monthly haircut.  Brought an old pair of clippers with me.  What have I learned from this haircut in a foreign land. 

1.        Clippers do work in the plugin adaptors we have, but there is a reason for the special plugins in the washrooms for shavers. 

2.       Clippers in the plugin adaptors have a reduced lifespan, approximately the length of time it takes to cut three quarters of a man’s head. 

3.       The three popping sounds followed by smoke is a strong indicator of something has gone wrong with the clippers.

4.       Kids think it is really funny when their dad has a ¾ completed haircut, and I believe some admiration of the rattail that was remaining.

5.       Cindy does a bang up job salvaging an incomplete haircut with the swiss army knife scissors. She has however asked that I pay for the next haircut.

I loved those clippers, but they will remain in Port Elizabeth. 

During the haircut fiasco, the hospital called for us to come in to pay, the amount will be 840.  We had been guessing the amount, and thought between four and five hundred dollars, but with them doing urine and blood tests, might be more.  The 840 must be US dollars.  We recalled years ago in the States, Luke had an ear infection and that was 800 US dollars, and that had no urine or blood analysis.  Arriving at the hospital, we asked what the currency they were charging us.  Rand!  The hospital care cost less than a $100 Canadian, amazing.  Medication was just over thirty Canadian.  Great care.  With this affordable of care, we are now hoping for a quick attack of appendicitis.  Day ended with some excitement when alarms started going off in the house.  After a couple of minutes of us racing around trying to figure out if it was us, and if so why, Cindy called the landlord and he quickly came over for an inspection.  Not us, so all is well and we are off to Plettenburg Bay for a few days of surf.

Is it malaria?

April 1, 2017

After a forth night of Levi having high fevers, a call to the local doctor encouraged us to move onto Port Elizabeth to seek medical attention in case he has malaria.  Cindy booked a house through AirBnB for two nights and we were off.  We found out that the 2 Phyllis Road we were booked at is very different from the 2 Phyllis Street we ended up going to first.  As we pulled up, the kids and adults in the van were a bit in shock.  If this was our neighborhood, we might have survived, but the van more than likely would not have.  The 2 Phyllis Road was much better, as this one is very spacious with the pool in the back.  Once settled, off to the hospital with Levi.  After very efficient service in the hospital that was American like, within an hour Levi had been entered, seen by the registered triage nurse, seen by the doctor, and had given blood.  Looking at either malaria or appendicitis.  I asked what would we rather have, the doctor said neither.  We were there asked to return in 90 minutes for the results.  As we walked into the emergency room 90 minutes later, Cindy’s phone rang to inform us that the results were ready.  Fifteen minutes later we were talking to the doctor, no malaria and his appendix are not the issue, just a virus.  On the way out, we were asked if we could return tomorrow to pay as their system was down.  Back at the house, Luke had prepared pizza on the massive wood braii next to the pool.

Zebras are different!

March 31, 2017

Shorter drive today, with Mountain Zebra National Park as our final destination.  After about three hours, we arrived.  The karoo is beautiful in its own way, with vast areas of flatness, with attempts at buttes popping up all over.  A game drive around the park found the cool looking Mountain Zebra, with the braided tail quarters.  Fairly uneventful, until our way back when a fellow driver told us there was four cheetahs eating an impala they had caught earlier.  Our drive to the location found the four relaxing after their meal. 

The boring part of travel, the actual travel - 1100 km later

March 29, 2017

A long day of driving, as we departed from Hazyview and ended up in Parys, south of Johannesburg.  First campsite we checked out was very secluded, but then we found a great little resort place on the river.

The Karoo

March 30, 2017

Another big day of travel, with us finally ending up in Colesburg.  The camping looked tough, as there was a lot of gravel, but for a few extra dollars we got a little two room apartment, full of hand knit little doolies.  The host is preparing the traditional South African dish of Pap en Sous for a school group travelling through.  He gives us a plate and it is a hit. 

Visiting God's Window

March 27, 2017

Packed up and headed out for Hazyview.  Our drive out of Kruger was fairly uneventful, but we did manage to view a lioness sleeping on a rock.  Now the kids are game parked out when the sight of elephant, zebra, giraffes, eland, and lion hardly have them turning their heads.  Arriving in Hazyview has us in a much bigger town than we imagined.  The mall is huge, and loud.  Believe there might have been some gun fire prior to our arrival to the mall, but all seemed back on track.  A pleasant eventing at the Hotel Numbi.

March 28, 2017

Head out for a tour of the Blyde River Canyon.  Our first stop on a very pot holed drive is at Glaskop.  On our entrance to town in the “big swing” which we stop at to have a view.  Levi decides he would like to try the zip line over the 110 meter drop.  After being harnessed up and standing at the edge for about 10 minutes, he finally takes the leap of faith.  Told later by the lady at the Hotel Numbi that it was a leap of faith as their safety record is not the best.  Oh well, Levi is still with us.  We then went for pancakes at Harrie’s Pancake house, world famous no less.  Pretty good stuff.  Then off to God’s Window to throw a coke bottle over the edge, and they further up to the Blyde River Canyon.  A beautiful drive.