South Africa has opened its gates, and T and I, mighty excited, are already waving our plane tickets in the air.
To up our chances that the tickets wouldn't cancel this time, instead of buying a flight to Israel, I'll be joining T in London. From there, we'll travel to Israel together. We'll have to quarantine, of course, but isolation in a canal boat in Canary Wharf doesn't sound like a particularly bad experience.
Although we enjoyed our enforced stay in South Africa, it's enough for now.
We lived three months in Cape Town at a beach house in Clifton; then we lived for six weeks in Prince Albert in the desert. We visited Oudtshoorn and Dordrecht and lived amidst the Drakensberg mountains for a month. We travelled through Coffee Bay, Mdumbi, King William's Town and Jeffrey's Bay; saw Nelson Mandela's birthplace and farmhouse and lived in Plettenberg Bay for a month. Next week, we'll return to Cape Town for our final few days to say goodbye to the family and hop on the plane. Seven months worth of experiences.
I got to meet T's warm and beautiful family, a generous Dutchman, a racist Whitey, a great Christian who loves Judaism and looks like James Hetfield, a sweet couple with the most adorable kid, the youngest grandma, the quirkiest horse whisperer and the chattiest cleaner in the world.
I got to have a drink with friendly strangers, with a crazy gangster Dutch chatterbox and with a bunch of random drug dealers.
I enjoyed breathtaking views of oceans, mountains and deserts. We rode horses, kayaked rivers, hiked mountain peaks, cycled dirt roads, hung out with monkeys and exotic birds and penguins, swam in waterfalls at Wilderness and sat and waited for hours on the beach to see whales that never arrived.
I finished the first sketch of my novel, managed to learn metalsmithing and moved forward with the new business. I fulfilled my American dream in Africa; a small taste in preparation for the long-awaited van trip.
You'd expect that after all this, I'd like to fall back into the lap of my Israel and rest. So yes, I'd love that. I miss the friends and family I left behind, but returning to London also excites me. I have a feeling that despite the cold and greyness, her lap will be just as warm.
