My mom and I are full swing into the
itinerary that I’ve poured over for weeks now. Despite having a rocky time
traveling, she’s adjusted well to the time change and is soldiering on with the
busy days. Monday morning, I took her bright and early to the aquarium so that
she could see what I do at my internship. She went absolutely nuts over the
penguins and squealed like a little girl as they walked through the hallway and
up the stairs to their kelp forest exhibit. I explained to her the ways of
cleaning tanks and feeding animals. She also absolutely loved my coworkers. It
does help that they’re the coolest people on the planet.
Later in the day, we went to Sticks
McGhee to sit with Marita (and her crew) and enjoyed live jazz, good food and
great company. Simon and I headed out early, since we had to be up at 5:30am
for work, but my mom stayed and ended up going to Marita’s after-party and
jamming until about 2am. An uber wasn’t available to bring her back, so she had
a slumber party and headed back to her flat in Newlands in the morning.
Tuesday, we headed to Greenmarket
Square to do some shopping and later in the evening went to Mama Africa’s for
dinner. I introduced my mom to ostrich steak, and of course she loved it. My
family falls more to the carnivorous side.
Wednesday, my mom headed to the
community township tour with Vernon and was educated on the history of the
areas. After she was dropped back off, we went to Carla Brown to get our nails
done and afterwards headed out to Fat Cactus for dinner and drinks with Abby
and my coworkers.
Thursday was quite a busy day as
well. We began our day at Constantia Glen and I sipped on a white wine tasting,
while my mom tried red. I introduced her to biltong and peppadue spread (the
later one she actually enjoyed). Afterwards, we entered the Kirstenbosch
Gardens and explored the grounds before heading to Hope Street Market for
dinner and then Kanala with the group.
Friday, I went on two of my four sea
dives in Simon’s Town to complete my PADI international diving license. The
weather was stunning and the life under the water was even more amazing. My
dive master and I saw octopi, a skate (close to a stingray), lobsters, sand
gobi (fish), and starfish.
Saturday began early, as we made our
way down the Garden Route. We drove for about four hours until we reached
Botlierskip Private Game Reserve. We unloaded our bags, ate lunch and then went
on a gorgeous afternoon game drive. My mom was absolutely thrilled with it. We
saw lions, giraffes, rhinos, blue wildebeests and many more animals. The
setting sun looked amazing against the backdrop of the mountains. We enjoyed a
four course dinner and sampled impala fillet, ostrich fillet, zebra loin and
crocodile tail as our main dish. The tent we stayed in was lavish and the stars
from the balcony blew our minds. The entire Milky Way was present since there
was no light pollution.
Sunday morning began with a
shoulder, neck and back massage and then we hit the road back to Cape Town. My
mom, Abby and I took a short trip to Bo Kaap and walked through the beautifully
colored streets and then shopped for dinner. We went to Simon’s house and had
an excellent meal of my mom’s infamous pasta with vodka sauce, and I prepped my
sides of orange salad and a regular leafed salad. After the meal, Simon’s dad,
Gregor, taught us the way of dweeping. One ties a plastic bag in knots and
hangs it from a tree, then lights the tip on fire, to let it drip. The falling
flames make the noise of a “dweep” and they look awesome.
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