Weekday Getaway!

Our two-day getaway was more than we ever hoped. We hadn’t left the city since we arrived over a month ago, and we were anxious to get a break from the apartment and the university. We arrived in Ramsgate, a small beach town about an hour and a half from Durban, around 2 PM. We headed for the beach where Chris swam and I listened to the waves while napping. It was absolutely relaxing. We then went on the hunt for a dinner place recommended by Lonely Planet. After about an hour of driving in the windy roads of a golf course, a couple of phone calls to the restaurant, and a surprise bonus of running into 30 vervet monkeys on the street, we finally found our destination. It was well worth the wait. It was an Italian restaurant sitting right at the opening of a beautiful estuary. The food was delicious! The next day, we decided on a whim to go to the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve; more specifically, Eland Game Reserve. We paid virtually nothing for a self-driven game drive where we saw ZEBRAs, wildebeests, and eland. Apparently, there were giraffes in there, which I was slightly obsessed in finding, but to no avail. Anyway, this park also had sights to keep you busy and moving, such as a massive fig tree, caves, and a suspension bridge with an amazing view.

When we arrived home that night, our landlords invited us over for dinner with their friend, Cindy. We had a fantastic meal (as always with them), drank some wine, and laughed a ton. In fact, our mouths hurt from laughing so hard. Chris and I looked at each other at some point and said, “Wow, we have it pretty good here – beaches, game parks, and dinner invitations – all in two days.”

Oh, on a random aside, I played in a volleyball tournament this weekend while Chris was working. When I look at the pictures from the tournament (unfortunately) of me in this strange uniform with these strange women, I wonder who is that?! It is one of those moments where I felt someone else was living my life. The weekend entailed a lot of sitting around and then extreme intensity during game time where we got yelled at by the “coach” for mistakes. I felt transported back to my high school volleyball team and wasn’t sure I enjoyed what I was feeling. I miss playing in the sunny outdoors with a view of the mountains and some relaxed pats on the butt (not literally) with ONE other teammate, usually Liz or Dennis. We shall see how long I stick this one out. I missed you more than ever today, Liz and Dennis (and Sam and Rob)!

We are headed to Pretoria and Johannesburg this week for Chris’ research meetings. It’s a seven-hour drive and we’ll travel through three provinces and a lot of open, gorgeous scenery. On our way back, we will spend a night in the Drakensburg Mountains. It feels outstanding to be seeing more of the country now.