South Africa 2012 - Day Six

Day 6 - Table’s Can Be Tougher Than You Think

Today was a day for the physically fit, well at least for some of us. Two car loads of the Brittons (including Matt) headed for Table Mountain early in the morning. In the physically fit group we had Julian, Cleo, Rory, Guy, Elliot, Max, Matt, Hunter, Barbara and me. As we arrived at the bottom of our route up which was Planterklip’s Gorge we were all excited about the climb which was estimated to take us about 2 and a half hours. The path looked a little daunting but we were ready for the challenge. After about two minutes of basically rock climbing the men had been separated from the boys. Julian and I were sucking wind while the youngsters bounded up the path.

Having done a lot of climbing in my time I knew that the climb would have its steep parts but then have its flat bits as

well. Well apparently in South Africa they don’t follow the same protocol and all this route had was straight up. What Julian, Barbara and I realized is that when you get to our age you learn to appreciate the beauty that surrounds you and so stopped regularly i.e. every 15 yards to take in the breath-taking views, well that was when we could pick our heads up out from between our knees. The younger crowd made it up the mountain in about 90 mins, followed by Guy and the two youngest about 15 mins later and then the nature appreciating trio came up 45 minutes after that.

As for the rest of the Britton group they decided to take the cable car up to the top of the mountain. That took a 45 minute wait and they were all tired from waiting when they got to the top. For some reason the climbers really had no sympathy. The views from the top were really incredible as we had a completely clear day with great views over Cape Town, out towards the Stellenbosch

Mountains and then out over both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. After lunch on top of the mountain we all took the cable car back down and headed back to the Lodge to swim and relax. I think over the next couple of days there will be a few sore muscles around the family.

One thing that became evermore apparent today taking my

car part way up a mountain is how small it is and how much power it doesn’t have. In the picture my car is in the middle and it just about comes up to the back door of the car next to it. There were times today where I had my foot pinning the accelerator to the floor and I wasn’t quite sure we would make it. I think if I was ever pulled over by the police for speeding in this car I would either bust out laughing or celebrate. The Chrysler company really have done a nice job with the body work around the lawn mower engine.

In the evening we headed down to the Waterfront in Cape Town for dinner and I was somewhat surprised how modern it was. The shopping area and restaurants could have

easily been in any coastal US city. After the meal I think there was a definite need to get back to the Lodge and get some sleep. I for one am feeling the muscles in my legs and feeling a little tired.

Tomorrow we head north for an hour where 6 of our group will jump out of a perfectly good plane for their tandem sky dive.

Psalm 90:2 - “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

South Africa 2012 - Day Five

Day 5 - Penguins and Pizza

I finally got to sleep until a normalish time and woke up at 7 a.m. I went down stairs, read my bible and had a cup of coffee. Over the next couple of hours there was a slow trickle of people emerging from their rooms. After breakfast a caravan of 5 cars left for Simon’s Town and then onto Boulders to see the penguins. The drive took us over Chapman’s

Pass which was truly a beautiful drive. There are a ton of cyclists over here and usually they are not a problem but when they start to pick up speed down the large hills they become a problem. They are not going fast enough to sit behind but they are going too slow not to try and pass. But tied into this is the fact that they never look quite stable enough to overtake. We had one guy who, every time he peddled, looked like he was about to go head over the handle bars and I could see myself running over him.

After about an hour’s drive we arrived at Boulders and walked down the beach front accompanied by a load of penguins. I don’t know why but I never associated Africa with penguins. When I asked I found out these are African penguins - well I guess

that explains it. Hunter thought he would go over close to one and was summarily

reprimanded by the guard. Funnily enough as you work further down the beach front the penguins are right there by the path and then the path goes down into the penguins so I am not sure why they are so strict by the car park. We came up on a small beach that was pretty secluded and most of us ventured into the water only if up to our knees. Even though this was the warmer Indian Ocean it was still pretty cold. Unfortunately the penguins didn’t join us for the swim, in fact they just kind of looked at you like you were some kind of annoying disturbance to their otherwise peaceful existence. Miles had at least seen the penguins he wanted to see on the safari.

From the penguins it was back into Simon’s Town for lunch at Bertha’s. We also spent a while haggling with the local merchants for the little trinkets they make. We really felt good about the price we got for a giraffe made of wood. As we walked away feeling chuffed about our haggling ability we then realized we had bought a 4 foot tall giraffe that somehow we had to get back to the US. With my luck of packing things in suitcases I think this is going to have to be carried onto the plane. Just another

complication for our 4-flight journey home.

We also ventured into the stores in Simon’s Town and I noticed one strange phenomenon. I was wearing a T-Shirt with Philippians 4:8 on it and as we looked to buy a couple of things the music was changed from secular to Christian. I am not sure about the psychology of it all but I ended up buying 3 things.

Today was Valentine’s Day and with all of the Britton boys being true romantics we decided to treat our wives for dinner. The pizza was very tasty and didn’t take long to order. We also did let anyone, if they didn’t want pizza, to cook their own meal. It is hard to imagine how much romanticism can exist in one family. After dinner, which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best time, we had the weigh in for sky diving. Mark was surprisingly heavy for how he looked coming in at 15 and a half stone, Julian and Guy were both surprisingly light for how they looked both coming in around the 16 stone mark. I had obviously eaten way too much pizza (and noodles and french fries etc.) and managed to slip in at about 17 stone. I am not convinced that weight was completely accurate as the needle on the scale seemed to get stuck on the high end. Not sure sky diving will work for me unless my tandem partner is a small child.

I do have one more chance which is to carry the scales up to the top of Table Mountain which we will climb tomorrow. Hopefully at the high altitude I will be lighter.

Philippians 4:8 - “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

South Africa 2012 - Day One (and Two)

Day 1 and 2 - Getting to Cape Town

You know it’s going to be a long day when you get up at 3:30 a.m. having gone to bed at 1 a.m. the night before. Actually it was going to be a long 2 days. We left the house at 5 a.m. with the proposition of 20 hours in the air and another 10 hours of layovers. However, when we left in the morning the family weren’t really aware of what lay ahead. I had decided to break them in easy telling them that is was just one long flight of about 12 hours with two shorter flights either side. On the way to the airport I revealed that the long flight was a little over 13 hours but it wasn’t long before they found out from the airline people that it was in fact four flights altogether:

• Flight 1 - Houston to Washington Dulles - 3 hours
• Flight 2 - Washington to Dakar in Senegal - 7 hours
• Flight 3 - Dakar to Johannesburg - 8 hours
• Flight 4 - Johannesburg to Cape Town - 2 hours

Needless to say no-one was enthused.

In Houston Barbara saw a pilot with an Eastern Airlines sticker on his bag. That was one of the first companies she had worked for and immediately they struck up a conversation reminiscing about the building where they worked and the people they worked with. I think she forgot that Houston is a pretty big airport and the likelihood of this being our pilot was pretty slim but she decided to continue to walk with him. It wouldn’t have been too much of a problem but he wasn’t our pilot and his plane was completely in the opposite direction. Hunter, Savannah and I just stood and watched as she walked further and further away down the terminal but when she started to turn the corner I thought I should send one of the kids after her. I tell you these youngsters just get carried away with excitement some times.

The trip to Washington was pretty much routine and we then had over 5 hours in the airport to think about the two long flights. When we boarded the plane we got ourselves settled. Barbara was going to hold on to her purse for the flight until we convinced her that no-one would steal it because essentially they couldn’t get away. As always the challenge on a 7 hour, red-eye flight in coach is whether you just watch movies the whole time or try and find a comfortable position so that you can sleep. Hunter wasn’t feeling good so he decided to sleep as best he could. Savannah and Barbara wanted to watch movies but then decided it was time to sleep. They had three seats between the two of them and spent the next few hours trying every conceivable position so that they both could lie down. I had never seen Twister on a plane before but it kept me entertained for hours. And that was just as well because as seems to be common practice now I got the seat where the entertainment unit was broken. I did try and sleep but the contortions of Barbara and Savannah and the occasional head butt to the gut made it difficult.

One of the interesting requirements for South African Airlines is that for every take-off and landing all pillows and blankets have to be stowed. Barbara had a blanket over her legs for our landing into Senegal and she was asked to fold it neatly and stow it under her seat. Meanwhile I would sit there with a computer or an iPad and nothing was said at all. I am pretty certain I would rather have a pillow or blanket flying around the plane if we hit turbulence rather than a computer.

In Senegal we actually did not get off the plane but sat on the plane for an hour while some people got off and others got on. I was then transported back to my time working in the Caribbean and flying on Liat. Prior to taking off on all Liat flights they spray the plane and ask you to close your eyes if they are sensitive. Despite the uncomfortable feeling of figuring out why they had to sanitize the plane with a spray it generally was not too bad. Just before taking off for our 8 hour trip down to Johannesburg they announced they were going to spray. And that was an understatement. Two flight attendants each with 2 cans with the sprayer broken off so they were just constantly releasing the disinfectant, walked the length of the plane. I have never seen so many people grab for their blankets and cover their faces. I, for one, still think I smell like a newly cleaned public toilet.

In Johannesburg airport we had another longer layover and so decided to grab something to eat. By this time I had had several plane meals and an airport meal in Washington. I really had no clue what meal I should be eating. Breakfast sounded good but apparently it was 5 p.m. As such we got adventurous and tried something authentically South African - Subway. I am glad we got this out of the way early because the sandwiches were terrible. This was also the first time I had spent money and was not quite ready for the bill being 119.00. Luckily this was Rand which works out to about $12 which for three sandwiches, two packets of crisps (chips) and 2 waters was actually a great deal.

The final leg of day 1 or 2 or whatever day it was, resulted in a drive from Cape Town airport to the Lodge where we were staying which was thankfully only 20 minutes away. Unfortunately it was dark when we left Johannesburg and arrived in Cape Town and so we didn’t get to see much of anything.

As I reflect back on this traveling experience I realize how blessed I am to have my wife and two kids. At some point during the trip one of us wasn’t feeling well, I know we were all tired and I definitely know we all just wanted to be there but at no point was anyone complaining. They just dealt with everything and got to laugh at a lot. Can’t wait to see Cape Town in the daylight.

Philippians 3:13 - ...but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.