I have learned so much. Today I drove to Mitchell's Plain and back. The return trip without my South African or a GPS as a guide, which is about a 45 minute excursion. I have a sense of direction. I drive on the right hand side of the car, on the left hand side of the road, without panicking. Somewhat confidently, even. I have made massive leaps and bounds toward living here. Becoming part of team South Africa. Scrubbing myself clean of my polished American exterior. I have been practicing a lot of driving, spending my nights winding around the farm roads of Stellenbosch to the dangerous lanes of Khayelitsha, the infamous ghetto Manenberg to surfer's paradise Muizenberg. The whole while listening to stories and anecdotes from my South African in the passenger's seat, heckling me to watch the road and stay on my side, nervous whenever I let the Jeep coast down the steep edges of the mountain. He narrates his whole city for me each night.
Yesterday Mandy and I visited a visa/residency/immigration lawyer service. We were dished out lots of paperwork, and after a bit of a strange start, we made massive progress to making ourselves more permanent fixtures on the Cape.
Today the three of us piled in the Jeep with Buddha and we finally were able to make the trip over Chapman's Peak drive - my previous 3 attempts were foiled by bad weather, road closures, and no lights. Today though, it was perfect. The view is unbelievable as the sun sets behind massive mountainous peaks that drop straight into the ocean below, the winding road carved out of the cliff face, one side a solid rock wall, the other a vertical drop to the waves below. Not for the faint of heart. I'm surprised Mandy didn't cry, honestly.
On the other side we wandered over to Cape Point and Boulders Beach, which is famous for it's colony of African Penguins, now an endangered species. As we arrived just after the sun had set, the park was empty and we quickly jumped out to say hi to several of the awkward birds sitting right at the edge of the parking lot. Ignoring the no dogs allowed sign, Buddha hopped up on top of the wall and stuck his nose out toward the strange creatures. They cocked their heads back and forth and were overall a bit menacing, though neither party made any move toward the other. From two completely different worlds, they were both too confused on their meeting. We all thought it was very cute.
Eventually, after accidentally driving through a local football (read: soccer) game in a park, avoiding baboons and scouring the coastal roads for signs of our porcupine friend we had met on a previous night, we headed home. The days here are full of adventure. All we do is explore. Everything is novel. Everything is part of the journey.
100 days here and I still have so much to see.
- Rh
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