It was a tough journey to get here, but I finally arrived in Cape Town last night, exhausted, filthy (no change of clothes from last Saturday until this morning: Wednesday) due to various ariling foulups (thanks, United!).
I am staying with old friends, Martim (botanist) and Rita (evolutionary ornithologist) in a beautiful cottage by the ocean; I’m told that whales sometimes show up below with their calves. Here’s the view from the balcony outside my bedroom. The Cape of Good Hope—the southern tip of South Africa, is the left tip of the peninsula in the background.
I was supposed to fly out of Dulles Airport in Washinton last Saturday, but after we arrived, there were thunderstorms in the area, and although the sky eventually cleared completely, they still canceled my direct flight to Cape Town. That was at 10 pm. and 100 people, including me, had to rebook (I was second in line but it still took me 1½ hours). Not only that, but we couldn’t get our luggage, which was loaded into the belly of the plane, for at least six hours (it took two days for me to recover my bag, which they had forced me to check even though it’s way smaller than a roller bag!). Why an airplane can’t unload its bags and put them on the carousel is still a mystery to me. I rebooked for a flight to Capetown (direct) supposedly leaving tomorrow.
Fortunately, thanks to the grace of Ceiling Cat, my sister and her husband live only 20 minutes from Dulles Airport, and they provided me help and a refuge, especially given that I was basically abandoned by United Airlines and had no place to stay (they don’t give you vouchers for weather-related delays). I spent two nights with Susan and Bob, and it was great to catch up with them, as I haven’t seen either of them in several years though we talk on the phone occasionally.
They drove me to the airport on Monday to retrieve my bags: but no dice. I was told they were somewhere in the airport but not yet “out,” but I should come back on the next day. I had no spare clothes, but did have my toiletries and malaria pills and could wash up a bit. On Tuesday I learned that on the day I was scheduled to fly out (two days later), thunderstorms were predicted AGAIN in Washington. That made me determined to get out of Dodge as fast as possible. I decided to hie myself to the airport on Tuesday, and if my bag was there, to rebook to Capetown on the spot.
Mirabile dictu, my bag had finally arrived after two days of languishing somewhere in Dulles, and I grabbed it and ran to ticketing, waiting two hours in line to be rebooked. Fortunately, there was an indirect flight to Cape Town that day, involving three legs:
a.) flying to Newark that evening
b.) catching a plane from Newark to Johannesburg (15 hours) after a 1.5-hour layover
c.) Flying from Joberg to Capetown late on Tuesday evening to meet my friends Marim and Rita (both biologists).
It was a nailbiter as EVERY flight was late, and I often had to run to make my connections, making me even sweatier and dirtier. BUT I MADE IT TO CAPETOWN LAST NIGHT, and South African Airlines even upgraded me to premium class as the plane was full. I arrived last night, totally exhausted, dehydrated, and fell into a deep sleep immediately, waking up much refreshed after 7½ hours.
Now I’m writing this before I take a luxurious shower, shave, wash my hair, and put on clean clothes. What a luxury!
UPDATE: Now I’m rested, showered, shaved, scrubbed, and breakfasted, and I feel like a new man.
And as soon as I’m ready, Martim and Rita taking me around the scenic Cederburg Mountains area of SW South Africa (see also here) for a four-day sightseeing and field trip. We will finally see the famous fynbos local vegetation, as well as ancient rock art of the San People (formerly called Bushmen).
As I said previously, the fynbos, now a World Heritage Site, is by far the smallest of the six”floral kingdoms” in the world, with a huge number of exotic and endemic plants seen nowhere else. And the mountains are supposed to be lovely.
Here’s a quick summary of what Martim sent me about our trip. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I arrived Friday, but now it’s feasible. Here’s the itinerary from Martim:
I opted to not be overambitious regarding trip distances – so the aim is to both get to see a bit of the Karoo landscape (the semi-arid habitat that occupies almost 2/3 of South Africa) and of the mountain landscape of the Cederberg – those mountains I am deeply attached to. The mountains have both Karoo and fynbos (Mediterranean) vegetation.Day 1, we will head to the Karoo, and have something to eat at a ‘padstal’ (= farm stall) in the Karoo (Tankwa padstal). We will sleep at a farm nearby – Hartnekskloof.Day 2, we will head to the Cerderberg, passing by San paintings (Stadsaal and Truitjieskraal), and will stay in Driehoek for two nights (my base in the area). They have a small but very good wine production (their vines are those grown at the highest elevation in South Africa).Day 3 – we can hike straight away from where we are.Day 4 – return to Cape Town.
There is also a new species of penguin for me to see, the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), which has a colony near where I’m staying. It’s endemic to southern South Africa. And there’s also Table Mountain, which rises high to the north of Cape Town, affording a terrific view.
Because I was late arriving, I extended my stay here for about a week so that I could see more of this lovely town, and then another local botanist, Jeremy, has offered to show me more plants and also take me out to eat and sample the wines of this area, which are famous.
I’m flying up to the Kruger area on Aug. 13, there to see the animals (and Ozy the warthog) and meet my friend Rosemary, who has kindly helped me arrange the northern part of my trip). I’ll stay a few days in a fancy safari lodge (my one nod to luxury), take a two-day trip to the Blyde River Canyon, and then spend several days driving around Kruger Park with Rosemary and a guide, staying in local huts and looking at wildlife, including the famous Southern ground hornbill, Bucorvus leadbeateri.
I return to Cape Town on Aug. 31 and will spend another week here, and to soak up more of the area.
I see from the news that Kamala Harris has picked a VP that is not Shapiro: Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, and I have no idea whether that’s a canny choice. But I feel very far away from politics and the mishigas that is America now, and I’m grateful for that.
I will be back in Cape Town, hopefully with some good photos, in a few days, and I may be able to post them on the way. But have no fear, there will be pictures.
Stay sane!
Wow! – the view from your bedroom.
Oy! What a schlep!
Yes, after an experience with a tight connection years ago, if I have to check my bag, I always keep my toilet kit in my carry-on.
I do that, too, including sleeping pills and malaria pills for this trip. So, when they took my bag away and kept it, I still could brush my teeth, floss, and take medication. My computer is in it, too, along with other necessities.
What an awful trip! Now that that’s behind you, I’m expecting that you’ll have a great time and bring back lots of stories and photographs. Let the adventure begin!
Happy to know you are finally there, enjoying such wonderful views! Looking forward to your pictures, too.
Enjoy!
The flight screw-ups most unfortunate, but not uncommon.
The view from the cottage is lovely. Sounds like it will be a great trip.
That you for keeping us posted and the information on your wonderful travels. What a view from your window! Sorry it started out so difficult but sounds like it’s quite a trip now. I’m looking forward to more.
Glad you are away from the political tsuris here.
This is entertaining! First I saw the photo of the view out the window, and thought how spectacular! Beauty, tranquility, serenity! Assuming this photo would be followed by such emotions, it was funny to then read about the horror story of the attempt to get out of town. Not suggesting your travails were funny, but the contrast was striking. You seem to always make an adventure out of a stinky situation.
I just saw a TV show on the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project north of Joberg (https://ground-hornbill.org.za/). The hornbills are 1m tall, live to be 70, don’t breed until 10+, have ‘helpers at the nest’ and ranges of 100+ sq. km. They are faunivorous (insects, herps, small birds & mammals) on the ground. Apparently one of the difficulties this bird faces is lack of big old trees with suitable nesting cavities, so the project searches out large trees and puts up artificial nest boxes (some fancy custom built, some as basic as old plastic water drums with an appropriate hole in the side) with trail cameras to monitor them. The hornbills use a fair number of these and lay two eggs, five days apart. The second egg is insurance and normally the first chick kills the second, so they collect the second chicks and hand rear them for release in suitable areas. This is identical to the Scarlet Macaw project I saw years ago in Tambopata, Peru with one exception; the hornbills have bare skin around their face, so instead of colored leg bands for individual ID (not ideal because of their very long lives), they tattoo a number on the bare cheek skin prior to release in addition to a standard metal leg band. Impressive birds!
I’m curious about the water situation in Capetown. A few years ago we were hearing that it was desperate, but since you are taking a shower, it must have improved.
“The Cape of Good Hope—the southern tip of South Africa, is the left tip of the peninsula in the background.”
Breathtaking – this is going to be great!
Correction: The southern tip of Africa is Cape Agulhas, which is 170 km from Cape Town.
I have Hodophobia (fear of travelling) .Isaac Asimov also had it . He is also my idol. Maybe his example reinforced my habit. But now I have a better role model to follow. Reading about this plane journey made me more determined to enjoy the journeys I make , in spite of obstacles (including our life journey ). I would really love to read Jerry Coyne’s autobiography when it comes out. It would be inspiring to negative persons like me.
Asimov enjoyed travelling, but had a fear of flying.
Which is known to be particularly odd, given that he wrote stories with spaceships plying the galaxy. His real spaceship, of course, was a typewriter.
The last two times I flew (also on United, incidentally), I was also stranded and had to race around the airport, desperate to reach my destination. In my case, a family member was on his deathbed and I was horrified at the prospect of not reaching him in time. Fortunately, he was still alive when I finally arrived and “with it” enough to still recognize me. Something about being stuck in an airport is particularly agonizing. Especially when the stakes are high. Happy you are there now. As Norman said, let the adventure begin!