Back home, a four-day weekend would call for sleep, relaxation, maybe a get-together with friends or family, but here, in Lagos, it calls for a "mini-trip". For us, this long weekend had South Africa written all over it. Obviously, four days are not enough to really see and experience South Africa, but we made the most of our time, focusing our attention on Capetown and the surrounding winelands.
The fun began as soon as we landed in Johannesburg where we were supposed to catch our connecting flight to Capetown. Of course, the customs line was outrageously long and slow-moving, so by the time we got through the line, our connecting flight was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. Now, we WERE traveling with 5 other ladies from our school, but as their seats were closer to the front of the plane, they were way ahead of us in the customs line, and by the time we made it through, they were long gone, not bothering to wait for the rest of their group! Britte' and I high-tailed it through the airport, stopping to ask personnel for directions to security (we did not check any bags) and were then escorted to the security gates while having to sprint through the throngs of people and carrying our bags (I assure you, this is no easy task!). We begged security personnel to whisk us to the front of the line so that we could make our flight, which, surprisingly, they did:) We sprinted once again to the gate and were literally the last passengers to make the flight. It was at this point that one of our colleagues asked us "Where are the other two?", to which I replied with a confused look on my face, "Who are the other two?". Apparently, we had outdone our friends and made it to the gate before they did! To their disappointment (and quite frankly, to our relief) those other two missed the flight! So, the next few hours were spent perusing the shops at the Capetown airport while we waited for our friends to arrive on their newly scheduled flight.
Lunch in the courtyard at the Manor. |
Dutch Manor at the vineyard where we stayed. |
DAY TWO
Those are baboons!! |
The gang. |
DAY THREE
The next morning, we found out that our friends who saw a movie the previous night, had had quite the adventurous evening! Apparently, their cab had dropped them off in front of our hotel, but as they gabbed away, they mistakenly went through the wrong gate, and found themselves locked-in! Not wanting to wake the soundly sleeping guests at the wrong hotel, one of the ladies (our superintendent's wife - who is in her mid to late fifties) climbed the fence, only to find that she was now stuck in the gated and locked alley way between the two hotels. This is when they lost their composure and began yelling for help, which drew the attention of the security guard at our hotel, who was able to get them out of the locked areas and into our own facility and safely to their room. We definitely had a laugh over breakfast hearing that one!
Scrum-diddly-umptious!! Tea treats! |
So, on our last day in Capetown, Britte' and I decided to buy a ticket for one of those double-decker, sight-seeing buses that they have in many touristy areas. It was well worth the 20 bucks. We had fun jumping off (not literally) to shop or rather peruse the goods, and made it after a few hours to our agreed upon meeting place of The Grand Nelson. This is one of those old-timey famously grand hotels that all the elite Europeans stay at. They offer a "high-tea" like in England, which one of our group-members really wanted to experience, so we all partook. It was wonderful! The tea was fantastic, the buffet of sweets & savories was delightful, and the ambiance was serene. This was one of the highlights of the trip - very unique and totally not what I had anticipated doing in SA.
A view of Table Mountain from our double-decker bus. |
The coast of CapeTown. |
You know how in movies, when someone is on their way to the airport in a hurry, inevitably, they end up with a flat tire and miss their flight? Well, that almost happened to us! We no sooner had gotten on the freeway to head to the airport, when our taxi started making a sound like we had a flat tire! Our driver pulled over and got out to look, didn't see a flat, so started driving again, but the sound continued, so he called for a back-up vehicle. We made it to the airport with with just enough time to get through security and grab a coconut mocha (absolutely delicious by the way - Starbucks doesn't even make them this good!) from the local coffee shop. Everyone made it on board and safely back to Lagos:)
So now we're home - at least "home" for another year and five months! And we can't wait to go back to SA! Next time, we hope to have a little more time to see the sights - like Robbin Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, or Cape Point, the southernmost part of Africa, and the penguins that live there. Til then...:)