South Africa
Welcome to our adventure in South Africa!
Several years ago, my mother-in-law shared that she would like to take her grandchildren on a safari. Obviously we were thrilled to make this YOLO (You Only Live Once) dream come true. So here we are - off an adventure in South Africa! Please feel free to follow along as we share some of our favorite experiences as we travel far and wide in this amazing world.
Getting There
I’m not going to lie - this was not fun!
When deciding on what flights to purchase, we narrowed it down to two options 1) flying from Boston to Heathrow (6-ish hours) and then to Cape Town (11-ish hours) or 2) fly from Boston to Newark then to Cape Town (15-ish hours).
There were pros and cons to each and at the time, the disaster which is Newark Airport was yet to be dislcosed. So we went #2. When we started to see news reports of the “difficulties” Newark was having we opted to cancel our Boston to Newark flight and rented a one way rental car to drive to Newark. This eleviated stress in making our connection, but did mean we needed to drive 4 hours.
Fortunately we made good time and were able to find a great playground for Jack to explore before making it to the airport.
So onto the 15 hour flight.
The anxiety leading up to the flight was expotentially worse than the fligth itself. Someday I hope pre-flight anxiety starts to lessen but for now … the time leading up to the flights is always - the worst!
Once we got onto the plane, gave Jack his newly aquaired Nintendo Switch - things went great. After 3 hours of Mario Kart, Jack fell asleep for most of the flight. Sean slept more than usual and I switched between sleeping, listening to the Elephant Whisperer, and reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography - Long March to Freedom.
So if I change my perspective, reading, listening to audiobooks, and napping (with a glass of wine - or two) is a pretty relaxing Saturday so - Flight wasn’t THAT bad.
We finally landed, found our driver, and made our way to our hotel where we were fortunately to get a pretty sweet room upgrade. After dinner at the lobby restaurant - we went to sleep much easier than expected seeing how it was really 4:00 pm “our time.” I’m not gonna lie - this is the best 15 hour flight experience we could have. Things could have been much worse.
Cape Town
It’s no surprise that we didn’t set alarm and woke up when we did - which was later than expected! Fortunately we had blue skies and mid-50’s degree weather to enjoy.
After getting advice from our hotel consierge to uber rather than walk 20 min., we made our way to Green Market Square which is a popular tourist destination and an easy place to direct an uber. We then made our way down a lovely pedestrian way full of shops, cafes and restaurants to St. George’s Cathedral, which is where I wanted to start our trip to South Africa.
I was in college during the late 90s and early-00’s. I was fortunate to learn, about Desmond Tutu during that time. Since then he has captured my attention and greatly influenced the way I view the world. During Nelson Mandela’s Presidency, he appointed Archbishop Desmond Tutu to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His writings speak to my heart and inspire me. To start our trip at the church where he served was important to me.
As we walked in, a beautiful welcome greated us as well as many of his poignent quotes. It was a beautiful church to take a moment and reflect on the history of this space.
After spending time in St. George’s we made our way along a garden (Company’s Garden) that borders many of the Parliament buildings. The pigeons, squirrels, and (lone) rat were even more friendly than those at home in the Boston Commons - including an albino squirrel (which I had never seen).
Jack’s patience with this needed to be rewarded so we checked out Honest Chocolate, which we found because of the Netlix show - Somebody Feed Phil. This place was amazing! After a milkshake, hot chocolate, ice cream filled banana bread, some truffles, fudge and a brownie to go, we left happy!
Our next stop was the District Six Museum. If you can’t tell, seeing sites siginficant to the South African time of apartaid are of importance to me. This time period has fascinated me, but most importantly - humbled me that I need to learn more.
This museum tells the important story of a predominantly black neighborhood which was determined by the government to become a “white” neighborhood. The District Six Museum weeks to remember and memoralize the lives, people, and culture of the previous neighborhood.
After some time at the District Six Museum, Jack asked to go back to our hotel and since he was a trooper during this day, we obliged. At the hotel, we relaxed a bit, read some, and Jack played some more Mario Kart.
Traveling with a six year old and having the intention of learning about aparthaid is a tension, but when Jack says he wants a playground - we do everything possible to make that happen. So thanks to some great crowd sourcing recommendations, we made our way to a neighborhood that is along the water. There was a great playground, wonderful pedestrian walk, and a fantastic restaurant we found with a view for everyone (included construction vehicles).
We are in love with Cape Town. It is a wonderful city. And we are grateful to be experiencing it together.
