Wednesday through Saturday (Day 24 - 27): Joburg to Windhoek

Wednesday (Day 24): Our last night in Joburg

We’ve had such an incredible time with Gwen, Terry and the ‘girls’ (and yes, darling Bryne, it just wasn’t the same without you!). We spent our last night playing Warlords and Scumbags – a card game us Douglas girls spent hours playing with the Joynerwood girls every chance we got – and I’m proud to say Kirsty and I are the reigning Warlords!

After a morning of [re]packing, and a few hours spent one-on-one with Gwennie (what an awesome God-ordained time her and I had together), we kissed and hugged and moved onto our final home-away-from-home in Joburg. Tonight we will sleep in the 10th bed of our vacation, at the Gebhardt’s home.

We enjoyed a fabulous evening with Jeannie (my dad’s little sister) and her hubby, Anthony (or Ant, as we fondly know him), catching up and indulging in a truly South African dish, Bobotie, with Tipsy Tart, chocolate and coffee for dessert. We have been so incredibly blessed on this trip: the love, generosity and hospitality we have experienced have been unprecedented.

The tail-end of this ‘bug’ I’ve been fighting left me with incredible nausea and dizziness – it was almost a little scary, not being able to get up and actually stand up without hitting the wall, but by midafternoon on Thursday I was a-okay!


Thursday (Day 25): Namibia, here we come!

We had a relaxing morning waiting for Ant to return from a meeting and wisk us off to the airport. My dad had jokingly suggested I remind Ant of the time he missed a plane while chatting to him, mindlessly in the kitchen one morning. I’m proud to say we were at the airport in perfect timing (phew) – thanks, Ant!

We arrived in hot, dusty Namibia at around 2 in the afternoon. Joe now understands what I described as Namibia’s stark, arid landscape. We picked up our little Toyota Tazz outside the airport and headed into Windhoek. Joe found in very amusing being in a completely foreign country, and having his wife say, “turn right, okay drive a little further, turn left, turn right, etc”. It was wonderfully being back in Windhoek, and even though it has changed drastically in the past 5 years, being able to navigate our way around without breaking out the ol’ map. Christine (a dear friend who actually visited us in Michigan 2 years ago) met us in a parking lot and we followed her home to our final home-away-from-home (and our 11th bed). We were welcomed by a sweet little note and some of my favorite chocolates in our room…we’re so spoiled!
After catching up a little there was a knock at the door and a very excited Bernhard was there to welcome us home (he said he just couldn’t wait until Monday when him and his wife were planning to see us). This is the wonderful friend of ours who personally walked my passport into home affairs and got it back to us so quickly – so in a way, it is because of him that this trip was even possible! We joined Chrissy and Bernhard at their church home group (the church I grew up in) then went to a look-out point where we could see all the city lights at night. Hmmm, beautiful.


Friday (Day 26): A drive down memory lane

We slept in this morning…aaah…and after a leisurely morning hit the road. We visited one of our old homes, my old primary school where we had a lovely chat to my 1st grade teacher (who is now principle), and my old swimming and ceramics teacher – oh, what a treat! Some things never change. We then moved onto the girls hostel/high school where my dad was superintendent and where we lived for our first 5 years in Namibia (when we moved from South Africa in ’83). Oh, the memories!! What is so unbelievable to me is how small everything is. At the schools and at our old home, I recall everything as being so big and stretched out, and yet everything is so much smaller now. Amazing how when you’re little your perspective is that everything bigger than you is just enormous, and yet now that I’m all grown up…it all seems so small. We moved onto my old high school and then a few other places that were my ‘stomping ground’ as a kid.

After picking up a few groceries, we picked up Christine and headed off to a braai at the Recholtz’s home where we spent the evening catching up with them, the Backhauses and Margie Hoffman. Time flew and before we knew it was late and we were all full with food, laughter and memories – it was a stunning night!


Saturday (Day 27): Food, glorious food!

As a thank you to Christine for taking us in, we whisked her off the The Dunes restaurant for a sumptuous breakfast – a treasured place our family indulged in on very, very special occasions (amazing what paying in American dollars can afford you here). We then meandered through the Saturday morning craft markets, one after the other. Between the heat and the shopping my precious man got weary fast, so after one final stop at the Namibian Craft Market, we went home for a nap (Siesta!). I now sit here at the kitchen table, catching you up on the past few days of our travels, while my amazing hubby cooks dinner – what a guy! It has been so wonderful introducing my beloved family and friends to this man I have the honor of calling husband and best-friend – he seems to click instantly with people and so has made these numerous introductions effortless. But, he will be the first to tell you that he is getting a little road-weary and looks forward to resting amidst the ‘known’. We plan on having a relaxing dinner while watching The Whale Rider (1 of Chrissy’s 3 DVDs, which happens to be one we haven’t seen). And then, goodnight world…