The 12 days before Christmas....

Our internet connection has been a MASSIVE limitation to keeping up with the blog and emails, etc...So, I issue apologies to any die-hards looking for daily updates... It's been a very full week plus - let's call it the twelve days before Christmas - and I will endeavor to write about it. These pictures are not our best- those reside on Dave's LAME laptop and it's all I can do to not heave that item directly out into the Atlantic Ocean - where the water is cold and there are great white sharks. I am using Molly's laptop and she has a few pics of her own which I have borrowed gratefully so this blog can meet the needs of the photo seekers out there.

Seal Island is a cool place near Hout Bay and we went with our 4 year old friend and local seal expert, Mungo Schmidt. He is Amanda von Weise's nephew. They live in a spectaular spot in Hout Bay and Mungo's mum, Kate, has been invaluable in helping us get settled.

We headed up the Garden Route last week to meet my sister Blair and her family who came west and south from Durban. It was a 9 hr drive from Cape Town so we broke the trip up and stayed half-way one night in Plettenberg Bay. On the way there, we stopped at the Kynsna Elephant Park and had an incredible opportunity  - Molly and Lyle fed AND rode elephants. It was a highlight for sure.

The next day, we had hoped to sea kayak with dolphins (a Plettenberg Bay highlight) BUT as we got to the beach, the wind was not cooperating and the surf was too rough so we decided to hang at the beach instead of risk life and limb AND see no dolphins....It was a busy beach with lots of summer beach-goers. I noticed tons of people around a big tent with lots of hot pink signage so I went over to see what everyone was doing and it turned out to be the sign up for a FREE surfing class, sponsored by Neutrogena (skin care) and Billabong (surfing and clothing gear). This clinic was for girls only so Molly and Lyle jumped right in. It was a windy day so the surf was tough and a bit chilly but the kids had a GREAT time and we happened to catch another of their free clinics when it came to Cape Town a few days later. That time I surfed and we were all decked out in wetsuits as the Atlantic Ocean is chillier than the Indian Ocean (Plettenberg Bay!) The Atlantic was cold but beautiful, Table Mountain as my backdrop and yes, I call it surfing, even when I fell smack off the board time and time again. It was a GREAT time and I can't wait to do it again.

Anyway, back to our Garden Route trip.  We drove through some cute beach towns and miles of straight road lined with what appeared to be reforestation projects. These areas are teeming with Chacma Baboons so we had to be careful when driving. Off the major highway, near a town called Humansdorp - sounds like an IKEA sofa for the homospaiens species - we headed north on very dirt and unkept roads. While we were only about 30km from the main East-West highway, we felt like we were off the grid. Well, we were. We went to Terra Pi, a very cool, totally off the grid place where we slept in tee-pees for 2 nights and took some cool hikes and generally had a great time. We brought in all our food and managed to eat pretty well. Try being off the grid for a day or two. It's harder than you think and a great reminder of how awesome and peaceful life can be. Molly and Lyle had a superb time with their cousins,  searching for caterpillars, bok, reptiles, and climbing tree stumps. I searched high and low for the Cape Cobra and the puff Adder but alas, came up dry. I did see a warthog at dawn's first light. It snorted and made itself scarce when I came out of the tee pee around 5:15 am.

Terra Pi is a very special spot and we would have NEVER gone there, much less known about it, if it hadn't been for my very green, eco-oriented brother-in-law, Peter Chandler. While at Terra Pi, I raided their organic garden and cooked myself up a fantastic onion, beet and squash medley inside of our tee-pee on a open fire. It was pretty cool - and very tasty.  While at Terra Pi, we saw the Shangalolo caterpiller and many species of bok. My nephews  Levi, Aiden and Ty can identify pretty much everything you might see - animals, birds, trees, tracks, it's amazing. Their knowledge and vocabulary is mind boggling. On our second night at Terra Pi, we had a huge bonfire and we all just watched it burn.

I met three people who live there - G - yup- that's his name, Rain - I suppose it could be short for Lorraine, but all I knew her as was Rain and then there is Harry - the real head honcho who gave me some honeybush tea leaves from the Terra Pi farm and our individual conversations were meaningful and lasting each in their own way. I also really enjoyed sharing this experience with my very green, eco, organic, all natural oriented sister and her family. Our kids had nothing but each other and had a fantastic time. I will be adding G, Rain and Harry to the ranks of the exalted. They offered me a LOT in a really short time.

We left Terra Pi and headed back to civilization and spent the day at the beach with Blair and her crew. We then drove towards Cape Town, stayed a night in Mossel Bay, where we did some more surfing the next morning. I met someone in the kitchen at the backpackers lodge where we stayed whose real story will resurface on this blog after Christmas. For the moment, remember Gary from Miami. We drove back to Cape Town via the Bontebok National Park where we had the great treat of seeing one of these boks up close. We also saw the Cape Mountain Zebra. It was amazing - absolutely mind boggling. Zebra have the most beautiful stripes. We returned to our great home and vowed to stay out of the car for a few days.

Blair's family arrived in Cape Town today and this afternoon at the beach, the five cousins all buried their eldest cousin Levi in lots of South African sand. Lots of laughter was had as they sculpted female body parts onto 14 year old male Levi. Blair and I got a great beach walk where we had the chance to revisit previous Christmases and think of the power of our own upbringing as we strive to make choices in parenting and making Christmas far away from our respective homes as special for our families as possible.  Dave and Pete hang out a lot as every chance we get, Blair and I take off on a power walk and usually return inspired and supported by each other. I am inspired by her  - and always have been.

We had a great Christmas eve dinner at our place this evening and had the pleasure of skyping with Dad, Wally and Sandy. Think we're now out of internet time for the next decade. Hopefully, it will restart on the first of January! We're headed to the beach tomorrow and the Chandler boys will, we predict, be VERY excited when they find out we are going to meet Gary from Miami. You see, Gary is a professional baseball player - has just signed with a South African Majors team and he pitches for them. I met him in the kitchen in the backpackers last week and he said he would be happy to throw baseballs on the beach with my three baseball crazed nephews. Talk about the perfect present! My holiday shopping was done while grilling ostrich fillets! We'll photo that one for sure...(the baseball, that is...)

May Christmas Day be filled with copious amounts of laughter and love and for my kids, their cousins. After all,  I remember Christmases being filled with these time tested ingredients.


HoHoHope