The Morris' Arrive

Just when we start to feel a bit lonely or homesick, we have family coming to visit. This time, it was Chris’ parents, Dan and Nancy, and we were very excited to pick them up from the airport. Luckily, our reliable little Atos had just enough space for all of our luggage. In fact, when we rented a car in Cape Town, they gave us a different, supposedly larger Hyundai for the “economy” car and the luggage would not fit in the “boot” (trunk). For the same price, however, we could rent an Atos and fit everything in perfectly.

After letting them get a good night’s sleep, we took Dan and Nancy to our favorite spots in Durban, including the Botanic Gardens, the beachfront, and a couple of yummy restaurants. We also wanted to take the opportunity to see and experience something new in the Durban area. We toured the “Valley of a Thousand Hills” which is an area just outside of Durban with beautiful rolling hills and a rich Zulu cultural history. We learned about Zulu history in KwaZulu-Natal, their traditional housing, matrimony rituals, and dancing. The dancing entails some pretty high kicks, which we attempted to imitate with little success (see picture; thankfully, not of us).

After our time in Durban, we headed north to see animals and a more arid, “safari” landscape. We arrived in St. Lucia, ate lunch on the beach and went on a boat tour of the estuary to see hippos (like we did with Jodi’s family). This time, we saw this massive crocodile just hanging out on a bank, less than ten feet away. The croc never moved—not even a blink—and even the guide was taking pictures, which made us really feel like we were seeing something exciting. It was a little intimidating as we learned crocs can run 98 km/hour. If it had decided to attack, it would take it only a split second to do so. Thankfully, it seemed like it couldn’t be bothered to move out of its sunny spot on the shore. The next day, we went on a game drive in Imfolozi Nature Reserve and saw a lot of different animals, from zebras, giraffes, rhinos, warthogs, élan, to red deer, buffaloes, vervet monkeys and more. Wow, it felt like we were on a Disney ride and they were hitting the remote control for another animal to appear. One of the tourists, a guy from Arizona, was super excited to see mud holes and took loads of pictures of the empty game trails, so he was pretty easy to please. After the game drive, we drove to False Bay and enjoyed a sunset walk along the serene beach of the lake at low tide. We tried to avoid the many warthogs loitering around (at that point we weren’t sure how threatening these big, ornery beasts are – we now know they are only dangerous when provoked). The next morning, we went on a recommended walk with signs posted “beware of hippos, leopards, and crocodiles.” Ummm, we weren’t sure if we should continue on the trail; and yet, we figured it must be safe enough if locals were recommending it to us (or maybe they just don’t like tourists!). Within five minutes, we saw warthogs, élan, and zebras! Needless to say, it was a spectacular way to leave the St. Lucia area. The animals were just incredible.

We returned to Durban to get prepared for our flight to Cape Town. We had a painfully early departure time and we drove in the pitch dark to King Shaka Airport. There was little time to rest though, as upon our arrival in Cape Town, we rented our little Atos and set off for the Garden Route. We began the road trip by driving along the coast to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhus, the southernmost tip of the continent and the spot that officially divides the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In contrast with Cape Agulhus, the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve was teeming with tourists. Despite this, there were some quiet little trails from one of the info centers that had spectacular scenes of the rugged landscape and the ocean. And unlike Agulhus, we felt really rushed at the Cape of Good Hope—we practically raced to the top to the lighthouse to catch our breaths and the stunning views before running back down. It is fortunate, however, that so much can be seen from the car as one drives out of Cape Town and along the coast. The quaint little towns, such as Muizenburg, historic lighthouses, ocean waves, and farmlands (sometimes, peppered with grazing ostriches) reminded us of Maine at times. Our destination for the evening was Hermanus, a cute, small harbor town known as a prime location for whale watching. Since we are transitioning from fall to winter here, the guesthouse was really cold! Jodi attempted to drag around the B&B’s space heater everywhere she went and the owners provided us with water jugs to fill with boiling, hot water and put in our frigid beds. The water bottles became ubiquitous on our trip, luckily, and we were strong believers of this simple remedy for the cold by the end of our trip. After Hermanus, we drove through lots of rolling green hills and farmland to arrive in the city of Knysna. We stayed in a charming farmhouse outside of town that, while also unbelievably cold at first, ended up warm and cozy with the help of a fireplace. We know Knysna pretty well from our trip there with Jodi’s family, and there are some must-sees that we wanted Chris’ parents to experience, including Monkeyland, Birds of Eden, Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre (with wild cats), lunch at a winery, and a sunset boat tour of Knysna harbor. The following day it was time to hit the road again, and we drove some seven hours in the pouring rain to arrive in the winelands and our rented apartment, Pinotage, in Franschhoek (meaning “French Corner” in Dutch). Franschhoek is a really charming town that was established by French “Huguenot” refugees who brought grapevines with them in the early 1600’s. This small group of Huguenots consisted of gifted artisans and they established a settlement that eventually supplied ships passing through Cape Town harbor with quality wine. The town is now known for expensive real estate and fine dining, in addition to the fine wine, of course.

Starting off the day in Franschhoek, we visited a chocolate shop and learned about the history of chocolate, how it is made, etc. And wow, they were not stingy with the chocolate samples on this tour. By 11 AM, we had slight stomachaches from all that we had consumed. We visited two wineries, Dieu Donne and Mont Rochelle, which nicely contrasted one another. At the refined Dieu Donne, we ordered a fantastic cheese platter and stared at the gorgeous scenery surrounding the vineyard. We also laughed at each other as we struggled to pronounce the winery’s name. Go ahead—try it! The second winery, Mont Rochelle, is the first black-owned winery in South Africa and had a more country feel to it. We visited the wine cellar and learned about the history of the vineyard—we found the master wine makers and their daily work to be particularly interesting to learn about. Because none of us are huge wine drinkers, two wineries seemed just right. At this point (say, 5 PM), our bellies were full of chocolate, cheese, and wine. That may sound nice at first glance, but we definitely needed more sustenance. So that night we treated ourselves to a fancy gourmet dinner at a restaurant with a fireplace (perfect with the rain outside) called Dutch East.

Chris was able to start his 33rd birthday in Franschoek with a stunning walk around the town and countryside. It is late fall here, so the vine leaves had beautiful orange, yellow, and red colors, the grass was bright green, and the mountains stood tall and rugged in the background. We managed to find some brownies at a chocolate restaurant and topped it with a fancy, extremely dangerous, star (also fire) shooting candle which Jodi forgot about when lighting in the car. Ooops. Chris also chose to eat at his favorite Indian restaurant in Cape Town where he ordered dosas of all kinds, like chicken and chocolate (for dessert). Oh, and we ended the day with a competitive match of Phase 10. So, a pretty memorable, albeit tame, 33rd birthday celebration.

We stayed in the heart of Cape Town in a well-known marbled building called Mutual Heights, which was the tallest building in South Africa when it was completed in 1940. The first day in Cape Town, we did the central hotspots on foot – V&A Waterfront, Greenmarket Square, and Kirstenbosch Gardens. We spotted an albino squirrel in the gardens! The next day, we took the red bus line, a tourist transportation system that stops at various locations in the city – and you can get on and off – and has audio tour with background information on the city. For example, we drove through the historic District Six area (particularly famous because, once filled with black housing, the area was leveled by the apartheid government… an act that lead to outrage across the world), museums, and the Cape of Hope Castle. We stopped at Table Mountain (named for its flat, table-like top which often has clouds—referred to as the “table cloth”—hanging over it) and took the cable car to the top. We went for an nice hike and enjoyed the scenery, eating our picnic lunch on the rocks. Then, we took the bus to Camp’s Bay beach, strolled around the walkway and grabbed dessert at a restaurant.

As we all reflected on our trip together, we were happy to have been able to explore such incredible landscapes and see such diverse animals, and plants. And, above all, we were able to enjoy these with the best company we can imagine! Dan and Nancy are truly nature lovers who exuded enormous curiosity and excitement the entire trip. It was sad to make the last airport run; however, time is going by quickly and soon we will be in the states again, near our family and friends. We have really appreciated our families visiting us – it has made our experience here so much more meaningful and memorable.