Comings and Goings

Reaching Cape Point, the most southwestern tip of the African Continent has been another seemingly unreachable goal reached. I’m not sure how many miles it took me from the shores of Kenya, past the equator, all the way down to the Cape Town but it has covered a lot. I covered 9 countries over two and a half months, and its not over yet!

Heidi’s first African adventure came to a close in the wee hours of this morning as she boarded a flight taking her away from the heat wave of the southern hemisphere’s summer to the snow capped peaks of Canada, halfway around the world. Its amazing she still agrees to travel with me after dropping her thru a tree, being too sick to be a proper host for malaria, 430am wake up calls, thousands of miles watching me drive erratically, having to constantly put antibiotic ointment on me, getting way too close to wild elephants, and putting up with my general foolishness and witty humor. On the other hand we did get to walk lions, ride elephants, stare down buffalo on foot, go on a night safari drive, swim in the Indian Ocean, watch breaching Southern Right Whales, see the mountains of Swaziland, get splashed by Victoria Falls (on both sides), enjoy sundowners at some of the most beautiful views, paddle (and hang on) 27 kilometers on the Zambezi, collect shells at J-bay, get up close and personal with Great White Sharks and African Penguins, canoe thru the Okavango Delta, camp out under the African sky, and brave 60knot winds climbing to the lighthouse at Cape Point. Hopefully all these won’t be overshadowed by her 0-1 record at cribbage here in Africa. See Heidi, you still have to deal with my scathing sarcasm when you are halfway around the world…mine as well be with me.

This marks the end of Jim and Cheryl’s African adventure as well. Another successful Baseball4Africa season, gorillas and chimps, checking out Rwanda for the first time as well as the incredible bat migration at Kasanka, Zambia, deep sea fishing off Kenya’s coast, and bouncing back big time after the inevitable loss of the ‘Turtle’ were just some of the highlights of their trip. I can’t begin to say how special it has been traveling with them and randomly meeting up and swapping stories with them across South Africa. We met at the penguin colony at Boulders Beach on he 6^th to have one final dinner together and they surprised me with a huge birthday cake and some very thoughtful gifts. This has been a 30^th birthday gift to remember.

And the treats aren’t over yet! As I write this I am at the Cape Town International Airport awaiting the arrival of my mom, Nancy Tamarack. I know she rested and excited from all the movies and food service on the plane to I have booked us a two bed room at a backpacker hostel right in the middle of part central, Cape Town. Just in case she wants to pull an all-nighter.

An in depth tour of Cape Town is to follow and then we are going to make our way back up to Kruger Park. If you only go to one park in South Africa…Kruger has to be it. I can’t wait to go back. The last time my mom traveled to a foreign country with me we met in a basement of an antique building in the labyrinthine old town of Beijing, Cape Town should be a breeze. Guess we’ll see…