Sunday, June 22, 2025
We got up early so that we could both shower. Everyone else wanted to go to breakfast as soon as it opened at 7. I was going to have coffee in our room, but the cord was frayed on the electric kettle so I didn’t. We had a hair dryer in our room, but the plug on the end didn’t match any of the outlets in the room, which was strange.
We went down to breakfast. They had a cold breakfast buffet with yogurt, cereal, and coffee. We thought that was all, but then we realized that a woman was coming to the table to take our orders. There were 10 of us all wanting slightly different things so we tried to make it easier by all having scrambled eggs and bacon and toast. She also brought cheese grillers, which are like sausages (no cheese involved). As we were eating, Ruth (the doctor) told us that Mark (another of Tammy’s cousins) had called her the night before because he had been bitten by a dog in Comoros and needed to know if he should be worried about rabies.
We left after breakfast to start driving to Newcastle. We drove for several hours before stopping for lunch. As we drove, Tammy’s dad told us about Livingston’s life based on a book he read about him. It was pertinent information because we are going many of the places where he was. Tammy’s mom told us about the Boer Wars and the significance of LongTom Pass. We stopped and saw the monument where the last LongTom cannon was used.
There was a funny shack there that was falling over.
We saw some beautiful scenery. We drove through lots of mountains and saw many local houses/villages.
sleep.
It was a game lodge and there were ostriches, springbok, and other buck (deer) on the grounds. The fenced area around the rooms had rabbits hopping around loose. Our neighbor was listening to loud rap music filled with cuss words.
There was a playground, a trampoline, a zip line, and one of those jumping pillows. We unloaded our luggage and went to walk around. All the fun things had signs that said “kids only, no adults” except for the jumping pillow which was for everyone. The only thing was that the gate was locked. Everyone decided to use the plastic chairs next to the gate to climb over and jump on it. It was pretty deflated (which is probably why it wasn’t open). We all ran around on it. We put Lila and Cora, Tammy’s second cousins, at one end and the rest of us ran toward them so they could jump. It was fun.
We then got ready to go to dinner. We tried to get gas and check our tires on the way, but the gas station was closed. We drove to the restaurant that someone had picked out, but it was a full five course meal for a set price and we weren’t hungry enough for that. We found a Spur steakhouse. Tammy and I both got a veggie wrap that included a warm veggie burger, avocado, and other veggies. There were multiple birthdays and anniversaries while we were there. Each time they would play a song over the loudspeaker and deliver a dessert.
We left and went to a gas station to check our tires and get gas. Tammy’s sister called and I got to listen to Tammy’s conversation with her niece. It was cute.
We got back to the lodge, Tammy realized she didn’t have her phone. She was worried she had somehow left it at the restaurant, but when she went to check the van, it was thankfully there. If she had left it, it would have been highly unlikely that she would have gotten it back. Thankfully our neighbor was quiet. We got ready for bed. I decided it was too cold to shower. Tammy turned off the light and our van alarm started. We laughed at the coincidence. It went off two more times soon after. In the morning, Tammy’s dad told us that he finally disabled it because it kept going off. We read and went to sleep.
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