There were so many emotional highs in South Africa with every moment of safari and Victoria Falls, paragliding, Robben Island, the Cape Town Street Parade, etc. But there are more!
Aerial yoga: As I wrote a few months ago, a “high” for Lisbon, Portugal, was the chance to regularly visit a small, local yoga studio. A “high” for Cape Town, was the discovery of a small, local yoga studio WITH SILK HAMMOCKS! I fell in love with the place as soon as I saw the second floor space – with cathedral rafter ceiling, wood floors, large windows, and lots of paper butterflies. They only offered aerial yoga twice a week, and the holidays and my schedule limited me to three chances for the month. But you bet I went all three times! The instructor gave a warning that the fabric can feel uncomfortable sometimes when your body isn’t used to it yet – and that was true for me but just for a couple of the positions. By the end of my first class, I had learned to hang completely upside down, like a bat, and it felt so good!! It had the energy of a headstand without the constant (at least for me) fighting of keeping balance versus falling over. The instructor’s other warning, was that in aerial yoga, one will naturally hold inversions longer and to respect that one will need time afterwards to rest. Not a problem. Always happy to rest in a hammock. I appreciated that the feeling of wellness lasted for multiple days after a class. I have no allusions of joining Cirque de Soleil! But I do further appreciate their artistry, and am grateful for the opportunities to try it.
Tea: On this trip, I have already written about realizing how much having a cup of simple black tea with honey, is a genuine comfort and joy for me. In South Africa, I found myself drinking tea in some pretty awesome places besides my own apartment:
– On the Bushtracks Express luxury steam train, sitting in a wood paneled train car, with the feel of an Agatha Christie novel, and tremendous views of the Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River gorge, drinking tea from a silver tea service.
– On a platform safari boat, sitting in captain’s chairs, early in the morning, gliding along the river looking for wildlife, while drinking tea from a classic tin camping cup.
– In the Manyeleti Game Reserve, standing next to a game drive Jeep, having a short break on safari, drinking tea with a splash of something like a local amaretto.
– In the Lord Nelson Hotel, sitting at a terrace table with linens, surrounded by gorgeous greenery and flowers, drinking a wide choice of teas, presented in personal pots and timed for perfect steeping, accompanied by scones, sandwiches, and a huge buffet of sweets. This was a High Tea that definitely qualified as a ‘high’.
Restaurants: I don’t think of myself as a ‘foodie’, but I do enjoy a really nice meal sometimes, and in Cape Town, we discovered two places in particular that rose above the rest. Maybe because they both customized our flatware to match what we had ordered, down to the right fish knife or pasta spoon?!
Sea Breeze is unassuming. Both times (yes we went twice) we sat at a long communal outdoor table with tall stools. We were basically on the sidewalk, enjoying twilight. I didn’t know that I love squid ink tagliatelle with shrimp until I ate it there (yes, I ordered it on the return visit as well.) And the homemade chocolate ganache cake was fantastic too!
The local restaurant that is ‘impossible’ to get into, is called The Test Kitchen, and no, that’s not where we went – it’s impossible to get a reservation within a month. But, the same chef has a portfolio of restaurants, and the Short Market Club did have openings for lunch reservations, including a deposit, and that’s what we did. Where Sea Breeze has a strong street presence, the Short Market Club barely has a sign at the door, that leads to a stair case to the second floor, and a high ceiling dining room, and lots of linens and aproned servers. The people at the table next to us shared that it was one of their favourite restaurants where they treat themselves for special occasions – which reinforced that we picked a good spot! The food was delicious, and served on patterned china – the specials of the day being on a different china pattern. The wine…..well….I couldn’t decide, and so I opened myself to the adventure of having my new friend, our engaging server, make a recommendation of something uniquely South African, that would pair with my meal, and be fabulous. He was quite excited to have me taste it, and even other servers commented as they passed by, that it was a ‘really special glass of wine!’ And indeed, as I think of myself even less of a wine aficionado than a foodie, I was surprised to find myself truly enjoying it. I didn’t take a photo of the label, or make a note, as I didn’t consider buying a bottle or asking for it directly by name in the future – rather, I imagine returning some day, and being open to another fabulous wine recommendation, in an elegant dining room, with good company.
Talking with Strangers: I’ve met some fascinating people every month, and can probably say that these connections are always a “high”. In South Africa, I was lucky to chat with:
– a fellow Smith College alum, who met for sundowners, and pointed me toward the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia which became the adventure I wrote about in a previous blog;
– two travelers from England, who shared their bench outside the Unframed ice cream shop (highly recommend), and pointed me toward the Luke Dale Roberts portfolio of restaurants which became the amazing lunch at the Short Market Club;
– three travelers from Germany, who shared their high top at our first wine tasting stop, and pointed us to which winery had the best food, which became a very entertaining lunch together;
– my fairy godmother, who took us under her wing at the Cape Town Street Parade, and wound up introducing me to the Mayor;
– a traveler from New Zealand, who was on the same safari in Chobe National Park, and sparked the idea of Auckland as a potential stop over between Kuala Lumpur and Santiago.
And the “lows”….
Load Shedding: I am sure there is a lot of background and subtle politics about electricity in South Africa but I simply gathered the basics that a) the country has one electricity provider (named Eskom), and b) there are multiple scenarios of demand that the system couldn’t handle and thus would risk the country having a total blackout. So there is a strategy in place, to schedule rolling power outages. Yes, if Eskom determines that they need to activate ‘load shedding’, then a section of the country will get their power cut off for a couple hours (at least), followed by another section, and another section. The schedule tries to mix up and distribute the impacts in the morning versus evening versus overnight. While I was told of this policy in theory, it became quite real when my apartment lost power for two hours one Sunday morning. After that surprise, I downloaded the Eskom app to both get notifications of load shedding and to see the schedule for my location. Knowledge is power – or at least knowledge helps in preparing for no power – ha! – fitting in a hot shower, planning laundry times, loading power banks, cooking etc. without being caught by surprise again! I hope the strategy indeed helps Eskom perform the maintenance it needs to achieve a truly sustainable grid. Meanwhile, I recommend if you visit South Africa, to get up to speed about load shedding and sign-up for notifications.
Malarone pills: One downside of going on safari, is that I was inevitably in a malaria zone. This meant wearing lots of bug repellent, especially if outside in the evenings. And at the hotel in Zimbabwe I slept within beautifully draped mosquito netting. I also took a daily antimalarial pill called Malarone – two days before entering the zone, every day in the zone, and an additional seven days afterwards. For my trip, this meant sixteen (16) pills. It was on day 14 that I noticed that I had been increasingly irritable for a few days. My patience was very thin, my energy was low, and I was basically cranky. It occurred to me that the change may be due to the pills. I gave a closer look at the potential side effects of Malarone. By far the most common seems to be diarrhea. Well down the list though is – depression. Hmmm. I continued to feel grumpy and out-of-sorts even after the sixteenth pill. It wasn’t until the fifth ‘pill-free’ day that I noticed I was having a great time and felt really good – felt ‘normal’. And I’ve felt good since. So, I am attributing my rough patch to the drugs. And I will think very hard about going to another malaria zone, because I really don’t want to take those pills again.
That’s a wrap on Cape Town, South Africa, and the fourth month of Remote Year. It was a fascinating place with many wonderful adventures. Totsiens!