Thursday, June 26, 2025

We got up around 7 and got ready and packed our stuff. It was easy because we had been leaving everything in our suitcases and backpacks in case the monkeys got into our rondavel. Did I mention that our rondavel smelled like animal pee? We are assuming it was monkey pee. Tammy saw a big spider on the bathroom wall and when I came to see it, I saw two more. They were hiding in the cracks in the wall. The body was at least the size of a quarter and with the legs it was 2-3 inches in diameter. Tammy looked it up later and they were Common Wall Spiders which are “completely harmless” unless you are Tammy and spiders give you a heart attack.

We went down the hill and had coffee. Tammy’s mom was making scrambled eggs and I had some and a piece of toast. I had barely started eating when Devon arrived in the Land Rover to pick us up. He was over a half hour early. I quickly ate and ran up the hill to brush my teeth before bringing my luggage to meet the Land Rover when it arrived at the top. We loaded up and then drove down to say goodbye to the rest of the relatives.

The ride back to Emaweni took almost exactly an hour. It wasn’t quite as cold as before. Tammy’s dad shared the unfortunate news that Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned) is closed for renovations for the next couple of months. That’s such a bummer because I’ve been looking forward to going there since we started planning the trip. When he told us, we all exclaimed, “Oh, no!” and Devon stopped the vehicle because he thought something fell off!

When we got back to Emaweni, we used the restroom and loaded the van. We headed toward Cathedral Peak. We drove for a couple of hours on bumpy roads that went through some small towns and villages.

We stopped for lunch and I had a grilled cheese sandwich. Some people had scones with cream, jam, and shredded cheese. The waitress brought huge amounts of cheese! Something interesting is that in South Africa, they use the word “waitron” as a gender neutral term for a waiter/waitress. We had never heard that before.

After we ate, we got back in the car for a little over an hour. The road up to Cathedral Peak wasn’t the best, but the views were incredible! I kept taking pictures out the window even though I got better pictures later on.

We arrived and checked in and a woman helped take our luggage to our room. We were all staying the same building, just a few rooms down from each other. We were so appreciative of the nice hotel with real walls and no spiders. And our room had a heater!

Tammy showered and then I washed my quick-drying clothes in the bathtub. We got our laundry ready and dropped it off at the front desk before we went to afternoon tea on the patio. We had rooibos tea, banana bread, a shortbread cookie, and a ginger cookie. Everything was delicious! Tammy and I went to play bowls with Tammy’s dad (Colin) and Kelvin. We found the bowling green and they explained the rules. One person throws a small white ball called the kitty at least 2/3 of the way across the bowling green. Then people take turns rolling the “woods” (which are wooden balls) and trying to get them the closest to the kitty. The part that makes it extra interesting is that the woods are weighted and they will roll to one side. There is a small circle marking on one side and a larger circle on the opposite side so you know which way it will curve. We had fun, but it got pretty cold. A bush buck and her baby came onto the bowling green and smelled the woods!

Colin and I won, but we actually all won because we got to go inside to get warm! Our fingers were freezing!

We met the others for dinner. They had been talking about the amazing buffet and it did not disappoint. I had lots of different foods including a make-your-own stir fry. I split multiple desserts with Tammy so that we could try more. I liked the milk tart.

Colin, Tammy, and I went to the activity for that evening which was playing Pictionary. It was a bit of a disappointment. The guy leading the game wasn’t really into it and although he was the scorekeeper, he sped keeping score halfway through the game. We were on one team and there were two teams of New Zealanders (all one family). It was not competitive or challenging at all because you got to choose any word on either side of the card. It was very slow with one team drawing for a minute and just their teammates guessing. We played for an hour and were glad when the game ended.

We went back to our room and I decided it was too cold to wash my hair. We got ready for bed and enjoyed using the internet before going to sleep.