It's interesting to think how Ben and I have spent half of our anniversaries here in South Africa. As if being in South Africa wasn't enough, we had to take it a step further and take a little "anniversary vacation" for each of these anniversaries. Last year we went on our very first safari. I would have loved to have gone on another safari this year; however, with a growing baby and shrinking checkbook, we decided to do something a little less taxing...for both our bodies and our checking account! This year we took advantage of the South African holiday weekend, "Women's Day," and took a trip to the Drakensberg Mountains. This enabled Ben to not have to use any vacation time from work; which of course was an added bonus (we have to save up all of his vacation days with our little girl's arrival quickly approaching!).
Ben was able to leave work a little earlier than usual thanks to an extra super early morning he went in to work earlier in the week. For some reason I had not packed a day or two in advance as is usually my custom. I saved my packing and organization for the day of...oops! I credit this to the fact that my maternity clothing selection is limited and if I had packed earlier...I wouldn't have had any clothing to wear in the days leading up to our vacation. Anyway, I was rushing around packing and trying to fix us a quick lunch when Ben arrived home from work, ready to go. He took a moment to calm me (procrastination stresses me out!!!) and then assisted me in the final details. I felt sad leaving Molly alone in the house...I always feel sad leaving her behind. I of course then started thinking what it will be like when Ben and I leave our daughter behind if we go anywhere (with a sitter of course!). Ben explained that will be different because we will know our daughter will be safe and having fun...for Molly, she just has to entertain herself and doesn't understand when and/or if we are coming back. After a couple more last minute tasks, Ben was finally able to usher me out the door and into our car for the 4-5 hour trip ahead of us...
Our trip kicked off with some good ol' Joburg traffic, adding about 45 minutes onto our already lengthy drive. Thankfully our Little Lady was lulled to sleep for most of the drive and we only had to stop twice for potty breaks (one was also a fuel stop, so it was required for the car, not just me!). By the time we reached the final approach to the Drakensberg Mountains, it was way too dark to make out the actual mountains. We knew we were driving up an incline...we just didn't know what it looked like. We did notice a brush fire as we went further and further up, which may have added to our limited visibility. Ben assured me I shouldn't worry about the fire, stating they surely had it under control. I decided to believe him. I had worried and stressed enough for the day, and this was our vacation after all...
By the time we checked into our hotel, it was around 6:30pm and I was ravenous. However, some genius decided that dinner shouldn't start until 7pm. Guess that genius wasn't pregnant when they designated the dinner hours. I distracted myself by "freshening up" and checking the fluffiness of the pillows. We were definitely going to need at least two more pillows to make my "sleep nest." 6:55pm. I could wait no longer and we made our way to the main building where they served the dinner buffet. I was quite thankful to see they had more than one meat choice...because choice number one was "chicken." I ended up trying lamb while Ben enjoyed his much missed chicken. I gotta say, I'm sure lamb can be tasty, but this little lamb was a little fatty for me. As we ate, I studied the other guests close to us. I took extra notice of the table of four behind me. They spoke very rudely to the waiter, rolling their eyes and acting as though they owned the world. I made a note to stay out of their way. For desert I sampled a waffle with strawberry sauce and fruit. The waffle was tasty and I was hoping they might have that waffle set up for breakfast time...but I knew that was doubtful. They eat waffles and pancakes with ice cream, fruit and sauce as desert here, not breakfast.
Dinner over, we returned to our room and decided to go ahead and get a good night's sleep for the next day. (After Ben had them bring us those two additional pillows of course!) Unfortunately, sleep was tough for me and I tossed and turned all night long...with more than a few trips to the "loo." We rose early the next morning and discovered we indeed had a lovely mountain view right outside our bedroom....
Our early rising enabled us to be among the first few to make it to the breakfast buffet in the morning! Sadly I was correct about the waffles....instead they had the usual South African breakfast fare of granola, yogurt, eggs, toast and fruit. Although their fruit selection was not to my liking. Grapefruit? Blech! Bring on the apples, strawberries and bananas! Our waiter took our drink order and I asked for water. She seemed very confused by this request... "water??" I repeated myself, "yes, water, please." "Water..." the waiter repeated. Fortunately she did return with some water. I guess they don't approve of water with the breakfast meal... They really should have consulted with me prior to planning the menu for the weekend....
After breakfast, Ben and I decided to take a "light stroll" on the pathways around the hotel. It was chilly that morning, so I paired a black tank top (which barely covered by growing baby bump), a long sleeved tee (black), and my Northface jacket (that miraculously still fits) with my horridly stretchy and uncomfortable maternity jeans. We began our stroll and came to a fork in the road. The light pathways looked a little boring, so we decided to just continue on ahead for a bit (up the mountain). I felt pretty good after all, and I shed my Northface jacket. (My dear husband carried it for me along with the camera bag.) The first hill was a bit of a doozy and I stopped halfway up to take a swig of my Nalgene. Another couple with a "baby" on Dad's back approached us. (I say "baby" because this kid was big enough to walk and not ride in a special back pouch...) They joked with Ben that in a few months, he will be the one carrying our kiddo. I laughed and said, "Oh, we're not going the entire way..."
We continued onward and soon arrived at a turn off to see the "Bushmen paintings." We looked at our map and noticed it was only another 30 minutes to the waterfall. Hmmmm, I still felt pretty good. I decided we could forge on ahead to the waterfall. But then we were for sure going to turn back. After about 15 minutes the heat started to intensify. My black long sleeves were getting toasty. We stopped and huddled underneath a very small bit of shade just as another couple came toward us (on their way down). They stopped to chat and said that it was definitely worth it to continue to the waterfall and then to the "Sphinx" which would only take another 10 minutes. The Sphinx was the top. I explained I was feeling hot and asked if there was much shade. The lady suggested I just remove another layer. Oh man...that would mean baring my baby bump....
After another swig of water, we decided to go for it. We couldn’t turn back just yet…I removed my long sleeves. And took advantage of every bit of shade we could find! Jesus also gave us a nice little breeze here and there to keep us going. Ben walked behind me to give me a boost on the bigger steps. Within minutes, we made it to the waterfall. It was a pretty measly waterfall…and I didn’t even bother to take a photo. At least it was shady and cool, providing a nice resting point….before we continued on to the Sphinx. (How could we resist!?)
The Sphinx was worth it and I found renewed energy to stand on the cliff’s edge and pose for a couple of pictures. Don’t mind my hairdo and pasty skin…I was hot and it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten some sun (it IS winter here!). Ben was a little nervous as usual and instructed me to “BE CAREFUL!” I was! You may notice that the mountains in our pictures look a little hazy. That’s because the weather here has been very dry and therefore, there have been quite a few grass fires, leaving a thick smoke haze throughout the sky. After a few more photos, we began our trek back down to the hotel. Interestingly, Ben is the one who took a couple slides going down. He says they were sympathy slides :) But we made it safely down.
So our “light stroll” ended up being a three hour hike up and down the side of a mountain. And I gotta say, I did quite well! Sure, my feet, legs and back were a little achy by the end, but whose wouldn’t be? I know now I will never UNDERestimate myself again.
Back in our room, I stripped off my hot clothing and “freshened up” for a much welcomed lunch. I was famished! Don’t worry, I redressed before we went to lunch. I may have bared my belly for part of the hike, but I wasn’t going to “bare all” for lunch! Our afternoon was nice and peaceful as we lounged poolside reading our books. The sun was still a little toasty and I decided a smoothie sounded about right. Ben set off on his mission, returning later to inform me, “the guy said he’d never made one before, but he’s going to try.” Haha…interesting… My “smoothie” was later delivered and it was more like a fruit shake with a couple of ice cubes. I was impressed and thankful at the bar tender’s attempt…even though it wasn’t quite as “smoothie” like as I had expected. At least it was healthy! As the sun began to set around 5 pm, we decided to return to our room. Two hours until dinner. We continued reading. Ben doesn’t have much time to read with his crazy work schedule and I always love to read, so this was a nice way to spend our free time.
Dinner was about the same as the night before, only I had a “crepe” instead of a waffle for desert. I again noticed the table of four behind me belittling their waiter, but tried to focus instead on the cute little baby girl across the room. Ben and I were quite amused by her “gabbing” and found ourselves talking about how our little girl will be like that in a few months! So exciting!
After another fitful night of sleep, we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit. Then we made our way to the (boring) breakfast buffet. We stood in line to have our eggs cooked to our liking and for some odd reason that table of four received their eggs before us..although we were in front of them. We didn’t let it bother us and instead waited a little longer for our food. The hostess AND waitress were again perplexed by my request for water…first bringing me a small glass and then finally bringing me the liter I requested. (I wanted to have a stash of water for the day!) Equipped with water, we continued on in pursuit of our next activity: fly fishing. As we approached the dam, we noticed a couple of “professional” looking fly fishers already at work in the larger of the two bodies of water. Ben decided to do a couple of “practice” casts in the smaller pond before heading down to the big one. After a couple of practices we realized we really didn’t have much to lose…and so we walked on down to the big one.
Maybe we looked like pros, I don’t know, but one of the “professionals” called us over right away and whispered, “look at them, they’re right there…just swimming up and down the bed of the pond…” We tried to sound and look cool as we stood next to the guy and observed the fish. Without anything to add, we moved on down a ways and set up our own fishing spot. That’s when Ben told me the only reason he stopped was so he could watch the guy cast and try and figure out the right way to do it. Ha! Ben took the first swing at it, slapping the line back and forth, occasionally catching some grass, but no fish. It was a sight to see, I’ll tell you what!
After a good while, it was my turn and I thought back to an old movie favorite of mine: “A River Runs Through It.” They fly fish in that movie and it has always been something I’ve wanted to try as a result. I put my entire body into it, swinging the line and casting it out as far as I could. It’s a tricky thing to do, my friends, and I believe it is something that will take much practice! The fish continued to tease us, swimming by our line, but never grabbing hold to our “fly” and hook. Though we didn’t catch anything, we can at least say we went fishing in South Africa and it was certainly fun! Not to mention the fact that we had a gorgeous back drop for our first fly fishing experience. And added bonus: we decided that we’d like to someday learn how to fly fish for real.
(Look closely at the picture above...)
2 comments:
When you say (look closely at the picture above) is your belly sticking out from the left side of the window? And Ben took the picture? lol. Or are you just saying it's really pretty. Cause it is an awesome picture!
haha, it's definitely my belly (your niece!) sticking out on the left side of the window! We thought it would be pretty funny!
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