A weekend of note in our lives: Emptying our storage in Johannesburg in the middle of breath stopping xenophobic violence and being amazed by how much worse things are in your head than in reality.
We imagined ourselves (and our trailer packed with a piano, treadmill, rocking chair and all our photographs, scrapbooks and memorabilia) a sitting target for protesters burning rubbish in the middle of London Road in Alexandra. While we packed we could hear police sirens and women shouting out loud in anger. Smoke billowed into the air and cars approaching this quick link to Sandton were turned around. While we were packing the car and trailer we debated the various routes out of the area and spoke to passing locals for information.
Our choices were clear – leave the trailer in storage overnight and make our way out in the car, which was much more maneuverable than the double axel trailer, or take the plunge and just leave. The thought of loosing a precious day with our grandsons won out and we hitched the trailer and left. A HUGE anticlimax as we drove through quiet back roads and got to the highway without incident. With sighs of relief and huge smiles we started the 6 hr road trip from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit.
Within two hours our skies had closed in and the rain came down in buckets. We battled intermittent storms all the way to Hoedspruit and arrived wrung out with dread that all our things had been destroyed by the torrential rain. We parked the trailer in a borrowed garage and left it to its own devices uninspected. It is what it is. How special it is to hear your grandson say ‘Gogo, I love you so much. Thank you for coming’. All was right with the world again.
Fast forward; a wonderful weekend of love and laughter. A few scattered showers but mostly hot sunshiny weather. How quickly time flies. Soon the road beckoned and we were on our way home. Intermittent showers and blue skies formed a patchwork of tumbling rivers and fields groaning under bumper crops. So good to see after the ‘seven years of famine’ we have endured.
As we approached the reserve we noticed a storm cloud in the distance and discussed the likelihood of a storm waiting for us at Ngata.
A moment of dread. A dog that refused to leave the car. Rebuilding and putting to right took 90 minutes with much love and laughter – we are home!
Itchy Feet! 