Cape Town Bound

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OMG I am getting sick of this transport business here in SA….So I found an even cheaper way to get a lift around. Long distance mini bus taxis. Probably the cheapest way to get around except hitching of course. Buuuuuut maybe not the bestway to get around. I was supposed to be picked up at 10 for the 5 hour journey to Cape Town. When I got picked up at 10:40 I guess I got a free tour of a few townships as we dropped off the driver’s girlfriend and then drove around and around picking up a few peeps before stopping at the company’s garage. We finally left around noon and started the journey of picking up people in random places and dropping them off in other random places. Blurg. I was supposed to be in town by 4 at the latest and I told the driver by 6 because my friend picking me up had an important dinner to get to. After that piece of information I changed mini buses to speed up the process. Noooooooot……I had to let my friend know that I would miss a pick-up before his dinner and he suggested I go to a backpackers to wait. Some more stories that I don’t want to share right now, but I had to fight my way inside a gated area to avoid trouble seeing as it was 7:30 by the time I got to C town and too dark for my comfort being alone and with my bags. Finally couched by 10:30 I had wonderful dreams of the surf camp the next morning.














Body boarding isn’t a thing I’ve done before, so I was looking forward to getting wet and wild. I haven’t slept but a few full nights in SA and no difference this time. The difference is that I wound up skipping my supper the night before in exchange for some beer where I was able to set my bags in a safe place while waiting to be picked up. I also only had a cheese sandwich for lunch the day before. In the am we simply had a coffee….i was dying but the will is strong in this one so I gave it a go. I couldn’t even get past the initial break to get out to the fun waves. After a few too many tumbles in the slop I swallowed a big brekky of salt water and had to call it quits. Nuts. I really wanted to strut my stuff and show I could pick up this sport on the first try. Just zero energy. Couldn’t make it happen as hard as I tried. Really interesting to have the body depleted of all fuel and the mind so clear on the task at hand. Weird to be a prisoner of my own follies! But this camp was put on to get local kids out and catching waves so I was still enthused to be there and enjoyed seeing all the little ones crushing it. My friend Deon Meyer was the MC and part of the Hand Picked group of peeps with a clothing line and all kinds of surf gear. Really fun crowd and at the end I found myself on stage mic in hand giving an inspirational speech about the opportunity one can gain from sticking to an amazing sport such as body boarding. I felt a bit put on the spot but I think my message got across and hopefully at least one kid will remember some long ass dreaded fella body boarding for the first time and enjoying the absolute pounding I took! And take away the drive to get around the world via this sport. Hopefully, hopefully!!! J

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