Unexpected Hike

This is Nicolas, Lorraine & Jannie's 10 yr old grandson. He stays with them a lot while his Mom is trying to find the right direction for her life since the death of her husband. He is a delightful boy--smart,funny, and handsome. I'd love to steal him!! 

These are pix of Lorraine's house--upper left & middle are at the front, upper rt is the back porch. This is not flower season as it is late winter, but there are several blooming plants in the yard. Lower lt is my room, kitchen at lower rt. In the center below is a hot water Geyser Jannie has invented to save water & electricity. It controls the hot water for the sink and the shower.

 Today's plan was to drive through forested hills to the old mining village of "Cape Hope" to have pancakes. They are crepes filled with butter, sugar, cinnamon, & banana, then rolled, and topped with whipped cream. After admiring the brilliantly colored wind chimes at the art glass shop (below), the owner suggested that we go a little further down the road to the sign for the nature trail.

The well-marked path led  through boulders strewn haphazardly across a gently inclined hillside--it resembled a desolate moonscape. The boulders were oddly shaped and balanced precariously on each other with narrow paths between them. It took us about an hour to reach the summit with frequent stops to rest on conveniently placed "seat" rocks. The climb was worth every bit of effort when we reached the top and suddenly the entire valley at the base of the escarpment came into view!

In the picture at lower left, you can just barely see a small white building and a ?cell? tower to the left side of the shot. From beside that, we had a great view of the valley & the distant hills.

The downward trek required only slightly less time, but we deviated from the path to get a good view of the wild horses that roam this area.

By the time we got back to the little settlement, we were definitely ready for lunch!

When Lorraine came back from the "loo" in the restaurant/dive/pool hall, she told me to

take my camera and check out the women's room. The sign on the wall was a one-of-a-kind!!!    BTW, a stompie is a cigarette butt.

At rt is the escarpment from the valley. The cell tower & white building are at the far left end of the cliff.

Now in Nelspruit (NE South Africa)

On the 21st (Sunday), I said Goodbye to the staff of Brenwin House (at left)and flew to Nelspruit to spend the next 20 days with my friend, Lorraine, and her family.

Seeing Lorraine at the airport was marvelous and  we shared 47 years worth of hugs (that's how long it has been since she lived in my home in high school!) Then I met her husband, Jannie, who drove us home from the airport, and we hit it off right away. BTW, his name is pronounced like Yawnie.

Today, we met for tea and muffins at a place called Mugg & Bean with Lorraine's daughter, Cedar (on left at rt) and her mother-in-law. AND of course, the star of the show was Cedar's daughter, Nina, who is 4 months old and adorable!

 

 Now, because I have to take weird pictures, I had to film the design on the cappucino and the HUGE muffin.

 The next posts will have more photos, but these first 2 days have given us time to become reacquainted and to make some plans about how to organize the local trips and tours for my stay here in  Mpumalanga Province. TTFN

Lazy day

I have very little to write about today. The weather is gorgeous and would be perfect for the all day trip to Hermanus for whale-watching, but I didn't think of making a reservation yesterday.  So....I used the day for repacking everything and rebagging clothes.

 Had an early dinner at a fun little eatery/sports bar and saw my first game of rugby. (Well, I saw the beginning of it!) Talk about a contact sport!

I took these on my way back "home". All 3 windows on the second floor (below the tile roof) are in my room, the one on the left is the big bathroom.

 The taxi will be here at 0830 (after breakfast) to get me to the airport for a 10AM flight. I can hardly wait to see Lorraine and meet her family.

LET PHASE TWO BEGIN!!!!!!!!



Weather comes--weather goes!!

This morning reminded me of Scotland, in that the weather changes every half hour or less. It was pouring before breakfast and sunny when I finished eating. Since I am always behind the camera, I made a self-portrait of a fresh, raring-to-go me. After faxing a form for our Victoria Falls trip in the office, I asked Nazeema for a suggestion of an activity for the day. She told me about "The Tea Bag Company" near Hout Bay (where we took the boat to seal island). I changed my Switch Flops for Shape-Ups and hiked to the Waterfront to get the Blue Route Bus. Yeah, I know it looks red but it has a Blue Route sign on it! I took the steps to the top but sat in the covered part.

very rainy for a while

 The shop was started as a way to help artisans in the shacks and shanties of Hout Bay to earn some money for their families, as well as earning self respect.
                                        Used teabags are dried, emptied, and ironed flat.     
Each artist then paints a design of her own and the bags are dried further, sanded, and laquered. If they are to be used as trivets, they are coated with resin. There are coasters (rt), cards (lower lt), wall hangings (ctr), crosses, trinket boxes, notebooks, small serving trays, and many other products.

 The drying process is pictured below.

                                 Those of you who know about my interest in doors that
 tell stories will have noticed the absence, but here is a
 lion's head door knocker at the shop. That is appropriate for an African shop, don't you think? Knowing that all profits would go to this community made it a little easier to purchase souvenirs here. And it began pouring when we were ready to catch the next Blue Bus, so we had to spend a little more time (and $) waiting for clear skies!

Driving through Hout Bay, we began to see the end of Table Mtn where the Upper Cable Station is (at upper right of the picture at right). Confused yet?

Got off the bus again at Camps Bay, a very popular beach town. I enjoyed an early (4:30) dinner of fish, spinach, and potatoes. And,Yes, I got some funny looks when I took a picture of my food! Every building in Camps Bay is stark white, which contrasts beautifully with the mountains and the (currently) blue Sky.

                      

I had to walk thru the craft shops to get back to my B&B and was enthralled with this man's wooden inlays of Afr. animals.Here he is burning the grass & rock shadows into the design. Beautiful work and less expensive than you might think!

In the main mall, I passed a Croc store with the largest collection of Crocs I have ever seen in one place! A riot of color!
As I trudged wearily home, Table Mountain now wore its "tablecloth" of thick, white cloud with gorgeous blue sky above it. I asked the owner of the B&B to take this picture of an exhausted me to compare with the fresh shot in the morning. After all of this walking I have been doing so far, if my buns and calves are not toned up, I will turn in my Skechers "Shape-Ups for a refund!!!!!