Author: Rudy

We slept in this morning. Today it was really too hot to venture out at all. Sue did a load of laundry this morning. Robert and Arlene came over for lunch. We visited in the afternoon until around 3:30 when they went back to their place. We Skyped with my parents and Facetimed with our kids. Shower and change. At 6:30 the Dycks came by and we all walked through Green Point Park on our way to The Hussar Grill in Mouille Point. We had 7 o’clock reservations. The restaurant was busy and after we got our meals we understood why — great food, great service, a great experience. At 9:30 we walked back, not through the park — the gates were now locked — but we found our way back nonetheless. We said goodnight — tomorrow is our last day in Cape Town for a while — and went back to our apartment. Wrote my journal, caught up on the news online, listened to a bit of music on my ipod, and then off to bed.

I woke up, looked at the alarm clock. It’s still dark outside. The clock says 4:20am. Hey, I bet the Super Bowl is still on! So I got up and headed into the living room. It took me a few minutes to find a live stream of the game, and a few more minutes to get rid of a couple of large popup banner ads that hid most of the screen, but I managed. What? The Broncos are ahead 16-7? How much time is left? Five minutes left in the third quarter. Well, that’s still plenty of time for the Panthers to make a comeback.

But not against this Denver defense. When it was all said-and-done, the Peyton Manning and the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 by a final score of 24-10. I’m okay with that. I didn’t see the commercials because the ESPN channel I got was from some Spanish station where the game announcers spoke English, but the commercial breaks just showed a street scene in San Fransisco and two Spanish announcers yacked away, waiting for the game to resume.

I managed to find another feed for some of the post-game ceremony and celebrations, but by then it was getting bright outside here, and the morning rush hour was starting. Sue got up and I made coffee. We had breakfast. Sue announced that it would be a ‘hot one’ today. I called the Metropolitan Golf Course and made tee times for our last five Mondays here, to the end of March. Monday is half-price (and busy) at the Met.

After breakfast the Dycks came by and the four of us struck out for today’s activity: a drive around Cape Town on the top deck of a big red double-decker bus. We bought tickets and boarded the bus at next to the Aquarium at the Waterfront. We plugged our little orange earphones into the panels next to our seats and listened as the audio described what we were seeing. It was interesting to learn that much of the ‘prime’ area in the front of the ‘city bowl’ (where we spend most of our time) was actually underwater until the 1930s when they dredged the bay and built the harbour. That is why the street BEHIND our apartment is named ‘Strand’ street — ‘strand’ means ‘beach’ in Afrikaans, and that is where the beach used to be!

The bus tour had about a dozen stops where passengers could get on or off anytime. We got off on the 5th stop, right downtown, near the Greenmarket. It was quite hot sitting up there in the bus with the sun beating down on us — time for a morning refreshment.

We walked from that stop to the next, stopping to wander through the Company Gardens along the way.

We eventually ended up on Bree Street and got a table at the Bacon cafe. Lunch stop. Always a highlight. (And as you know, ‘bacon’ makes everything better!)

Then back on the bus. Now it was much too hot to sit on the top deck. The route took us up to where the cable car rides to the top of Table Mountain begin. All four of us had already experienced that ride on previous visits to South Africa and were okay with not going up there today. But we had a 15 minute stop for photos.

The bus ride took us over the ‘shoulder’ of Table Mountain and back down to the coast, through a couple of small ‘suburbs’ of Cape Town: Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, and back to Green Point. We got off the bus at ‘our’ lighthouse and walked through the park back to our place. Pitstops at Ultra Liquors and The Butcher Man to pick up supplies for our supper. Then off to our respective homes.

We had a short FaceTime with Alex and Max. We showered and cleaned up a bit. Robert and Arlene came by for happy hour at 5:30. We visited until 7:30 when it was time to barbecue our chicken skewers. Arlene made a salad and Sue made mushroom-filled tortellini. We talked some more. We pretty-much talked about everyone and everything we could think of! By around 10 o’clock we were plum-tuckered out — all that adventure, all that sun, all that beauty, all that talking…

Sue cut up a mango, a pineapple, and some chocolate for our ‘night snack’. A little glass of port to go with it. And then we said goodnight.

Fruit and toast and by 8 o’clock the Dycks were here. We walked down to the V&A Waterfront and got in line for the 9 o’clock ferry to Robben Island. It was plenty windy, and probably even windier once we got out of the harbour. The one-hour ferry ride brought us to the island — and not everyone aboard had the same rosy complexion they started with by the time we disembarked. But WE were all okay.

We filed off the ferry and then walked along the pathway to the big sign at the entrance. We passed through and were led into the prison walls by a former ‘inmate’ of the notorious apartheid prison.

He had us all seated on benches around the perimeter of the former entrance and processing center of the prison, and then began to tell us something of his experiences as an inmate there. He gave us a lot of names of the various black protest group leaders who served time there with him, including Nelson Mandela. He also told us a bit about what life in prison was like for him in the 70s and 80s, before the end of apartheid in 1990. He spoke clearly but unfortunately his heavy accent made it hard to understand all he was saying.

The guide took our group (about 50 of us) through the various prison sections, stopping to give short talks along the way. We even got to walk past the cell where Nelson Mandela stayed for 18 of his 30 years behind bars.

The second hour of our tour was by bus. A guide explained the various points of interest as the bus drove a loop around the island.

And then it was time to get back on the ferry for the ride home. Oh no, now we’re being herded onto a much smaller ferry! And it’s AGAINST wind all the way back to Cape Town! We’d just made ourselves comfortable on the top deck of the boat when a deckhand came to warn us that we would all get very wet up there — lots of splashing water today. Down below we went, again managing to get ourselves a good spot in a ‘booth’ next to a window. We were a bit concerned about Arlene, who didn’t feel at all good about riding the big waves back to the mainland.

Well, we were just getting comfortable again when a guy comes down there and tells us sorry, but we’re all going to have to get off this boat and take the other boat back. What? Okay, we scramble out and head for the next boat. Arlene is hoping it is the same ‘bigger’ ferry that we were on for the journey here, but no, they insist we get on this smaller boat. Which we do. We all manage to find a cushioned seat up on the deck when, what do you know, a guy comes and tells us we are all gonna get wet up here, lots of splashing today. Down we go, but now we are in a window-less hold below, and there are no empty spots on the benches left. Okay, we’ll just squeeze the seated passengers in a bit tighter and FORCE ourselves onto the end of the benches. And we were LUCKY — quite a few re-seated passengers who got on after us had to sit on the floor, on the stairs, or STAND for the one-hour swell-riding trip back! Now there were quite a few MORE green faces. Barf bags are distributed. Some of us smile weakly, glad that lunch is still AHEAD of us. And for the next hour we hang on for the rolling ride back. No windows, just the loud rumble of the diesel engine and the occasional splash of sea water when it comes down the stairwell.

But we made it, appetites intact. We found a table at an outdoor cafe next to where the buskers were entertaining the Sunday crowd. Good music, good food. Before heading home we made a pitstop at a jewelry store to get a new battery for Arlene’s watch, and another stop at the butcher shop to pick up steaks for our braai tonight.

Back to our respective quarters we went for a quick lie-down before reconvening at our place for happy hour. Around 5 o’clock the Dycks came by. G&Ts and crackers and cheese. We discussed several world issues and then I hooked up the TV to my computer. We looked at a few of the memory cards of photos from Robert and Arlene’s safaris and trip to Victoria Falls.

Now it was time to barbecue the steaks and the potatoes. It didn’t take long and we had a lovely setting before us, with potatoes, steak, salad, and champagne. Delicious.

More after-dinner discussion. By 9:30 we were tired but wait! there’s ice cream! We had some good ice cream with caramel sauce before saying good-night and see you tomorrow morning.

I really wanted to stay up to watch the Superbowl game, which starts at around 3 in the morning — but i don’t think I’ll make it! Too tired too early.

Went to bed at 11:30.

I told Robert and Arlene my post today would be shorter. Maybe all I need is the title?

Sue and I had Saturday morning bacon and eggs. Robert and Arlene came by at 10 and we all headed out for a morning walk. Out to the lighthouse and then along the coastline back to the V&A. Sure are lots of people out on this weekend! With a light cloud cover and a gentle ocean breeze the conditions were about as good as we’ve had today. We went to the ticket booth and bought tickets to the ferry ride and visit to Robben Island for tomorrow at 9am. That done, we headed back home for lunch. Sue and Robert made a pitstop at Giovanni’s for bread and meat and we all had lunch at our place.

After lunch the Dycks went to back to their place for a nap and we read (I bought the Saturday paper from Benjamin, down on our street). At around 5pm we gathered again, this time for happy hour. We FaceTimed with our kids, then the Dycks did the same with theirs.

Just before 7 we headed out for supper — went to Mano’s, just down the road a bit. We got a table outside — the ‘big rush’ would come in an hour or two. We had a fine supper while watching people (and many expensive cars) go by. Main Road had lots of action today. Even a pretty good crack=up right across the road in front of us!

We’d noticed a guest wearing a ‘Mighty Ducks’ hockey jersey in the restaurant — and later in the evening he was joined by several more similarly attired ‘hockey fans’. That’s just a bit too weird — most people here know NOTHING of hockey! In fact they think of ‘field’ hockey, not ‘ice’ hockey, when we tell them that there’s no rugby, only hockey, back in Canada. So we asked these boys what’s up with the hockey sweaters? And they were happy to tell us they were not ‘hockey’ sweaters; rather, they were all former rugby players who no longer PLAYED rugby, but now remained part of the team by being MANAGERS — and they had the properly labelled jerseys to prove it. We told them we were from Canada, and hockey was our sport. They were only too pleased to pose for us and then enthusiastically encouraged us to ‘hang around’ at the restaurant, that later tonight there would be quite a party there!

Old folks like us are happy to go for a bit of an early supper and linger over our table and watch the beautiful people go by on the street — but we are not really all that interested in staying up late (9:30) just to see a bunch of drunk and rowdy ex-rugby players whoop it up on a Saturday night. Thanks, but we’ve got to ‘get up early tomorrow’. Good-night.

A lazy day at home. We needed to rest our bodies from all that walking yesterday. Plus, it was VERY hot here today. Sue did two loads of laundry. We have a great washer but we rely on a collapsible clothes rack and the African sun on our balcony to dry them. Today was a good day for that!

Then Sue went to Giovanni’s to get some sandwich meat. I took the car to the gas station for a fill-up. You don’t do self-service gassing up here; no, the gas jockey here welcomed me with a smile, filled up the car, washed all the windows, checked (and filled up) all the tires, popped the hood (bonnet?) open and checked fluids and added water for the windshield washer! That was worth at least a two-dollar tip!

When I got back Sue was busy composing another long email to friends — it’s the only way she gets emails back, and she craves those emails and the contact from home. So lunch was served closer to 12:30 than my preferred 11:30.

After lunch Sue cleaned up a bit and read her book (finished reading “They Left Us Everything” by Plum Johnson) and I worked on a website. I downloaded a couple of biographies for Sue — now she’s reading “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela.

For supper I went to pick up a ‘Safari’ pizza from “Big Route” just around the corner and we ate that out on our balcony. It was still plenty warm outside, but there was so much action going on out in the street we just had to sit and watch. I think there must be some big rugby tournaments or something like that going on here this weekend — a plane pulling a long ‘Mavericks’ banner has been flying around above the stadium all afternoon, and we’ve seen quite a few ‘teams’ of big handsome jocks marching down past our apartment on their way across the street to the stadium.

We were finished supper when we got a text: Robert and Arlene have just landed at the Cape Town Airport — they will call us when they’ve checked into their B&B, just a couple of blocks from our place.

It was around 9:30 when I met Robert and Arlene at their place. We walked back to our apartment and had drinks and heard a little about their safari adventures. We still have a lot of ‘catching up’ to do. We also talked about some options for what to do for the next few days before we leave for Namibia. At 11:30 they walked back to their apartment. Sue cleaned up the dishes while I wrote my journal.

Alarm at 6. Out of the apartment by 7. Tee time at Rondebosch for 8:05, but we were off on our first tee by 7:30. Great weather. Great conditions. That new pull cart I just bought from Basil is great! So once again it’s just Sue and me on the course. Some good shots. Some GREAT shots. And unfortunately, too often it was just plain too MANY shots. But fun. We were done by 11:30, home for lunch just before 12. I entered our scores — not our best game! But lots of fun. Can’t wait to do it again. But I hauled our clubs and my ‘new’ pull-cart upstairs and stashed them in an extra closet — Won’t be needing them again until late February when we come back here.

After a short after-dinner nap we walked (did I mention we WALKED 18 holes this morning?) down to the big fancy ‘Checkers’ grocery store down in Sea Point. Another 4km walk. My feet can’t take this! We used our bus cards to take the bus back to our place. We were just home when my phone starts ringing the FaceTime chimes. It’s a call from Max and Alex, wanting to say Good Morning! Talk about a kid that’s just ALWAYS HAPPY. My mom would say, “Immer Frölich, immer frölich, alle Tage Sonnenschein.” Yeah, I think Max probably wrote that song. Here’s a photo we got a from last weekend when he and his parents built a snowman on our back deck.

Anyway, it was great to FaceTime with them. I’d received a email from my mother, so I decided to give her a Skype call. Dad had just gone for coffee but Mom was home and happy to talk. They are doing fine. She had just heard that our friend Mary Ann’s father, C. Wilbert, had passed away. We told her we’d had TWO emails like that yesterday — the other one was from Noreen, letting us know that Ron’s father had died. In the last two weeks three of our friends’ parents have passed away.

I had just hauled out the vacuum cleaner and was doing the ‘once-over’ when my phone ringtone sounded. Phone call from Peter. We gave him a bit of a report and went over a few things about the car and the neighbourhood. Then at one point Peter tells us that whatever our plans for tonight are, we must cancel them — it’s “First Thursday” today, not just in Cape Town, but even in Toronto! Well! What’s First Thursday? On the first Thursday of every month, people in various cities around the world go out and explore art galleries and cultural attractions all evening for free. You get a map and you trot from one gallery to the next, and sometimes you even get a glass of wine and something to eat, and that too is often free. And by later in the evening it just turns into a giant street party. According to Peter, we MUST see this. So I look up to see where in Cape Town this is taking place and how to get there and soon we are up behind our house, on High Level Road, waiting for a bus to take us to Bree Street. And eventually, a bus DOES show up and takes us to the ‘happening’ area. LOTS of people out. We don’t even need a map to show us where the next gallery on our ‘tour’ is — we just look for people spilling out of a building, usually with a glass of wine or a beer in hand — that is where the next stop on our tour is.

We ran out of energy. Yeah, it was nice to walk into some of the art galleries in downtown Cape Town. And MY GOODNESS there sure are a LOT of people milling about in the streets – and there sure are a lot of VERY ATTRACTIVE YOUNG people milling about in the streets. This could be a really fun party, but right now Sue needed to eat something. So, with all the quaint little cafes and shops now completely packed, overflowing with all these beautiful people, what were our options? As we were walking back towards our apartment, away from the busy centre where all the action was, we spotted a ‘Simply Thai’ (chain) restaurant with a couple of empty tables outside. We’re eating here. We got a table and ordered a couple of spicy noodle dishes. Just what we needed.

After wandering around the streets and looking at some of the venues, we were tired and ready to head back. How? Uber? Taxi? Bus? How about we just walk? So that’s what we did. Walked all the way back to our place. My feet were ready to fall off, but not before we’d at least stopped at the Gelati place near our house for a Snickers ice cream. Back at our apartment Sue sat outside on the balcony for a while. I started to write my journal.

We were exhausted. It had been a long day, quite warm, and we had surely walked our quota of footsteps today. Sue was ready for bed; “Good-night” and off she went. I finished my journal entry and then looked for a place to make a U-Turn.

Okay, that is the SECOND ridiculous thing I’ve written tonight (I already deleted the first sentence, something about “packaging” — huh?). I don’t know where that came from! But I just ‘woke up’ and read what I’d just written — a U-turn? — that makes NO sense. It’s time for me to go to bed too. Good-night.

I got up at 7; Sue slept an extra half hour because she had a few hours at night without sleep — she blamed it on ‘that rich food’ she had for supper last night. We had scrambled eggs and the last of our nice ground coffee for breakfast. The winds were still blowing pretty good — maybe the weather man was finally reading the same forecast we were.

We spent the morning at home. We’d been looking for accommodations for us for the last week of February, after Robert and Arlene leave for home and before our final month back here in Cape Town, but nothing seemed to be working out for us. We’d phoned and emailed a number of places, but no one had availability for the dates we needed. So this morning, after some discussion, we decided to email Peter and see if we couldn’t just come back to our apartment here for the last week of February. Why not? We’ve come to like it here quite a lot and it would be so convenient for us if we could just leave some of our stuff here while we go to Namibia a week from now.

Mid-afternoon we ventured out. We ended up at the V&A Waterfront and had a nice big coffee and some mini-doughnuts at the Mug & Bean shop there. There was a big luxury yacht moored just outside — we went to take a closer look.The boat’s name was Vava II, from Georgetown, in the Cayman Islands.

There was a helicopter on top of the boat, and very fancy glass windows and staircases. Apparently it has a variable depth swimming pool too! I looked it up when we got back to the apartment — the yacht cost 160 million dollars to build!

We picked up supper fixings at ‘Woolies’ on our way home. In the mean time we’d heard back from Peter — we’re all set to stay here at his apartment for the extra week as well. That was good news — no more hunting for B&Bs for the end of February.

After supper we watched a bit of news on TV. Sue read and I worked on the computer for a bit. Well, actually I had a bit of a nap first. We went to bed by midnight — we’ve got to get up early tomorrow for our Thursday morning golf game back at Rondebosch.

We had planned to try the hike up to the top of Lion’s Head today, but Sue’s trusty iPad told her it would be much too windy. So instead, after breakfast we went out for another LONG walk — out along the promenade. We watched quite a few paragliders land in the park along the coastline. It was hot again, although the gentle sea breeze kept it manageable. On our way back home we walked through Green Park, as we usually do. We even took a little side-trip into the ‘Biodiversity Garden’, a large garden with informative signs that describe the plantings along the pathways.

Back at our apartment, we had lunch out on our balcony. A perfect day (again!). So much for trusting that iPad.

Sue read a bit in the afternoon and we took turns having a little snooze. We tried to watch a bit of American news on our AppleTV — “Good Morning America” was analyzing the results of the first 2016 Presidential primary in Iowa. The big news: Trump lost to Cruz, and Hillary and Bernie Sanders tied. Well, you can only listen to that ‘noise’ for so long. Time to open up another of my imported fancy beers and go sit out on the balcony and look out at the real world.

By supper time the wind had picked up quite a bit. (See? I TOLD you the iPad was right!) We actually both took a sweater out with us when we went for supper.

We went to Rustica, an Italian-style restaurant just down the street. The food was okay, but we decided we’d try a few others before we’d go back there. We stopped at the Woolworths to pick up some eggs (tomorrow’s breakfast) and a chocolate bar (tonight’s night snack) and a big cappuccino to go (to go with our chocolate bar).

Back at our stations I connected the TV to my MacBook and played another of my movies, “In the Heart of the Sea”. It’s a Ron Howard film that tells the story of how Herman Melville came to write his epic, “Moby Dick”. And so it is sort of the ‘real’ story of Moby Dick. Well, not really. But it’s 2 hours of a very big whale getting back at the whalers who are trying to kill it. It was okay (but we we’ll try a few others before seeing it again!).

At one point in the movie, when the sailors are stranded and starving on a deserted island thousands of miles from civilization, Sue said, “Can’t they just text somebody for help?” This, while she was texting with Alex while watching the movie. Seriously! What is this world coming to? We can’t go on a ‘real’ hike, and we can’t even enjoy a ‘virtual’ disaster without first poking and swiping that damn iPad! The only relief is that the machine has a battery that runs down — so before we go to bed we need to close the lid and plug that baby in and let it charge overnight while we too get some rest. And then in the morning, we’ll wake up all refreshed and ready to face a new day — but first, let’s check the iPad and see what we missed while we were sleeping. And let’s see what the weather forecast is for today…

Monday morning — after a quick coffee, fruit, and toast, we hop into our car and head across the highway to ‘our’ golf course, The Metropolitan. We haven’t been there for over a week. Mondays are ‘cheap golf’ days at the Met. We register and I rent a pull cart — my golf bag stand is broken. It’s only 70 Rand to rent a cart (about $6 CAD) but I ask ‘my friend’ the starter (Basil, as in the guy in Faulty Towers) if he happens to have any cheap used pull carts. “Okay, Mr Rudy, I’ll look after you.” And by the time we finished our the first 5 holes and we’re passing the clubhouse Basil has a deal for me: 200 Rand for a used pull cart. “And I’ll r-r-r-ite your name on it.” Deal.

We golfed with an elderly couple (he was 80) from the Netherlands. They are members at this course (and have been for many years), even though nowadays they come to Cape Town for only 5 weeks a year. Simon was a surgeon here for many years — he worked together with Dr Christiaan Barnard, the South African surgeon who performed the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967. And both Simon and his wife ‘Pellie’ were pretty good golfers.

This morning there was a cool mist and fog for much of our round — so foggy we often couldn’t see where our drives landed. But the temperature was much more bearable and we actually liked the change. I golfed better than I have for the last few rounds; Sue not as well. But we had fun.

We had lunch back at our apartment at around 1:30. Sue read, I worked on some files. Late afternoon I went to the liquor store at the corner and bought a bag of craft beers — and Sue and I did a little taste test when I got back. Max facetimed us — he’d just watched my video of the convertible top coming down on the car, and he wanted to tell us how much he enjoyed that.

We went to ‘Woolies’ (that’s what everyone here calls Woolworths, which is one of the more ‘upscale’ chains here) and picked up a couple of those ‘pastys’ (kind of like empanadas) I keep wanting to try. We took them back to the apartment, Sue made a salad, and we had supper on our patio. Perfect temperature, just sitting there outside, watching the world go by.

After supper we watched the last of my movie downloads, “The Danish Girl”, which is nominated for 4 Oscars. Well, actually Sue watched it. I missed all the exciting parts of the movie because I had to have a few ‘little rests’. At 11 pm Sue said she was going to bed and I should too. So we did.

Since I was completely exhausted last night and couldn’t stay awake long enough to write my journal entry, I did that first thing this morning. Sue was itching to go for a morning walk early enough to miss the heat — the forecast high for today was low to mid-30s. So after I finished my entry and my first cup of coffee, out we went. We headed to the V&A Waterfront — we wanted to find out how far ahead we’d need to book the ferry out to Robben Island, something we want to do together with Robert and Arlene when they join us here at the end of the week. Looks like a day or two before we want to go should be okay.

After wandering around the waterfront we found ourselves on the boardwalk leading back to Sea Point. The views of the waterfront, the big shopping arcades, the huge stately V&A Hotel, the big soccer stadium, and a backdrop of Table Mountain — stunning. Lots of people out for a walk, a jog, a sail, and an impressive number of cyclists and cycling groups. And of course, lots of folks enjoying Sunday brunch at the restaurants and cafes that lined Beach Road.

We made our way around the coastline until we got back to the lighthouse and then headed back home through the park. We passed the big stadium again — the parking lots around it had quite a few cars and even more busses parked there. The sound coming from the stadium sounded more like preaching than like soccer or track-and-field cheering. By the time we got home and were sitting down to our bacon-and-egg breakfast, the strains of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and“Nimm Zeit Dir Zur Andacht” (I’ve forgotten the title of the English version) were echoing up to our balcony from the stadium. All I needed now was a quick lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup, a bit of golf on the TV, and some medach-schlop.

But no, we decided to take Peter’s nice Volvo out for a spin on this Sunday afternoon. Destination? How about up to Milnerton, where there is a new golf course right alongside the ocean? It’s HOT today, not a lot of wind, and traffic won’t be too bad. Okay.

And it was a great day to drive the convertible with the top down. What an amazing car! Sue pushed a button on the console and voila! the roof of the car lifted up, divided into sections, and lowered itself into the open trunk! Das tut automatic! Passersby stopped and stared! Yeah, we’re cool! “The name’s Bond — James Bond!” (If my video didn’t take so long to upload I’d show you how the same thing happens in reverse when you press the ‘top up’ button.)

Luckily we’d put a bit of sunscreen on our schnazes. After stopping in at the golf course we continued up the coast to a place called Table View, a west coast suburb of Cape Town. You can probably guess why it’s so-named. We parked at the roadside parking lot and took a quick walk down to the beach. Yikes! the sand is hot and the sun even hotter! Quite a few families are out on the beach; surfers on the water — and we’re quite sure we also saw a couple of dolphins playfully racing with each other — jumping right out of the water.

We didn’t stay long. We drove the 30-minute drive back to our apartment. We parked the car and made a quick trip to the butcher shop to pick up some sausage (to go with our cheese and crackers for ‘coffee break’) and a couple of rib-eyes to braai for supper.

While Sue quickly finished reading her bookclub book, “Slade House”, I watched a couple of documentaries on Netflix: first “How to Live on a Dollar a Day” (a couple of Americans try to survive in Guatemala on the average daily Guatemalan income),  followed by “Cowspiracy” (all about how bad the beef industry, okay the animal agriculture industry, is for the planet and for humans). Yikes! That won’t make the steak barbecue today taste any better!

Just as I lit the barbecue I heard a crash and a guy swearing loudly — so I went out on the balcony to witness a (probably drunk) old white guy get physical with the black driver of the car the white guy had bashed into from behind. Idiot. A taxi driver and another tenant here both got involved (and the black taxi driver also got pushed around) before they dispersed.

That little Webber barbecue on our deck does a pretty good job on a piece of dead cow! We sat out on the patio and enjoyed our (last?) piece of beef. The outside temperature was now perfectly comfortable.

By 9 o’clock Sue had supper cleaned up and we were back in our seats. What should we watch tonight? I found CBS Sunday Morning online and we watched that. A short snippet from CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

At 11pm we’d completed another Sunday in Cape Town.