Change In Plans

Greetings from Cape Town.  This short post is about a story I heard over lunch, which has made India and me think more about what we want to do with our lives.

After our morning routine (India runs a long way, Zola and I do school, Tallulah draws pictures, we pick up India on the road) we went down to Muizenberg to surf.  Conditions were good today: it was a tough high-tide paddle out to the back, but the waves were big and slow-breaking, and I had some awesome long rides back in. Zola took a lesson (www.surfshack.co.za), and India and Tallulah played on the beach.

The four of us sat at a beachside cafe for lunch, and India and I were counting all of the things in South Africa that have gotten noticeably better in the 15 years since apartheid ended.  Unexpectedly, Joel Alsfine, one of my friends from business school and from McKinsey, walked past us on the sidewalk.  Joel is South African, so it wasn’t a complete surprise, but he lives in New York, and we had not seen each other in the last few years.

Joel sat with us for about half an hour, which was great.  During the course of the conversation he related a story about one of his elderly relatives, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  

Apparently, in his dementia, Joel’s relative believes that he is perpetually on the Blue Train.  The Blue Train is a hyper-luxurious train from the 1920s, which travels the 24-hour route between Cape Town and Pretoria. (www.bluetrain.co.za) It is a big South African tourist attraction.  My mother and step-father took it once, when they were visiting us, and thought it was absolutely amazing.

At a recent family dinner, Joel’s elderly relative exclaimed: “That was a delicious dinner.  The food on this train just gets better and better all the time.  I should go and compliment the chef.”  

His daughter said, “Pop, don’t be ridiculous.  You know that Mommy cooked this dinner.”

The elderly relative said, “Amazing.  She cooked dinner for the whole train?”

A funny story, and well told by Joel.  It may even be true.

The conversation shifted to a hypothetical “where would you want your dementia to place you in perpetuity,” if that ever came to pass.  Joel and his wife have talked about Groot Constantia, a beautiful wine estate in Cape Town (and a long way from White Plains, New York).  India and I agreed that being perpetually on the beach in Llandudno and Muizenberg would be a great hypothetical dementia outcome.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Greetings from Cape Town.  This short post is about the first few days of the year. 

Favorite visual juxtaposition from the last few days: a young Muslim man walking on the street with a fully burqa-and-veil clad woman.  It wasn’t clear whether the woman was his wife, mother, sister or daughter.  The man was wearing a black t-shirt, with big white letters reading “SH*T HAPPENS WHEN YOU PARTY NAKED.” I guess the long arm of the Wahabbists hasn’t quite reached the Cape Town Muslim community.

On Thursday morning, India was determined to continue her January 1st tradition of running from Llandudno to the top of Chapman’s Peak.  Her planned companion cancelled, so I volunteered (unwisely) to join India on the 12-mile early morning run.  As expected, she was absolutely fine, and I suffered like an out-of-shape dog.  

Chapman’s Peak Drive is closed to cars these days, because huge boulders keep rolling down off the mountain and onto the road.  This spectacular stretch of road is left to the cyclists and runners and walkers. It was fun for India and me to talk about the times that we ran the Two Oceans Marathon, along that same route, and for us to just enjoy each other’s company.  The highlight, though, was finding a little waterfall next to the road.   With the South Atlantic splayed 500 feet below us, we drank from the mountain-stream and reveled in the glory of it all.

While we were gone, Su and Dave took all of the kids to the base of Table Mountain, for their third attempt at getting to the top.  For some reason, unlike December 31st, there were no crowds at all.  Within 20 minutes of arriving, they had parked, gotten tickets, and taken the cable car to the top.  India and I found them drinking cappuccino outside the cafe on the top of the mountain, after they had been hiking around for about an hour.  We were thrilled that they all were able to visit Cape Town’s most beautiful spot before they headed home.

“A-TRAIN” or “LITTLE A”     surfing nicknames              ”Z-BIRD” or “Z-MONEY”

That afternoon we got a final boogie boarding session in on Llandudno beach, and then (sadly), the Langdons had to leave us to start the long trip back to Maine.  We had a very fun week with them.

On Friday morning, we started to get back into the “on our own in Cape Town” routine.  India left for a long solo run, and Zola and I did schoolwork.  We picked India up on the road and went off to do errands.  

In the early afternoon we had a long and awesome surfing session down at Muizenberg.  It was one of the best surfing days I have ever had.  The highlight, though, was seeing Zola ride a wave all the way to the beach from about 100 meters out, and then step off of the board as casually as if he were getting off an escalator at the mall.  It was like watching him sit a horse for the first time, or ice skate, or sing in front of his school: a moment of great paternal pride.

DAD TRYING TO HANG TEN

On the way back from surfing, we went to Kirstenbosch Gardens.  This is South Africa’s huge national botanical garden, nestled into the lower slopes on the back side of Table Mountain.  

It is difficult to describe how beautiful the setting is, and how peaceful and utopian the gardens themselves are.  We hiked up the paths and across the soft, grassy slopes, with Tallulah leading the way.  This is where Zola learned to walk, and where we have had countless picnics and attended many outdoor concerts.  Before we had children, India and I ran through the upper gardens and into Cecilia Bos forest at least a hundred times.  Yesterday we followed the “visually impaired” nature trail rope through the woods, and stopped in the fragrance garden to smell the smells.  Zola and I talked about the Western Cape plant kingdom, with the unique and otherworldly fynbos.  We talked about the bitter-almond hedge that Jan van Riebeeck planted in the 1650s, to keep the rest of Africa out of his colony.  A big segment of the hedge is still preserved in Kirstenbosch, and yes, the almonds taste very bitter.

Eventually, India and I sat on the grass to talk in the sunshine, while Zola and Tallulah chased guinea fowls and looked for tadpoles in the stream.  Like so many other places in Cape Town, Kirstenbosch seems to get better with each passing year.

TALLULAH THE EXCITABLE TOUR GUIDE

We are laying low a little bit, enjoying our last few days before we start traveling again.  On Wednesday we leave for the Northern Cape, to go on safari for a few days.  From there, we will drive to Namibia for about two weeks, before we return to Cape Town.  This is a different, and very relaxing, type of family travel experience.

ZOLA AND DAD READING ABOUT JACKIE ROBINSON