November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!
I was sad when I woke up this morning and I wasn’t able to be going to Grandmas for dinner to eat my favorite holiday meal! We started on the road at 8:30 to go to Coffee Bay and sadly said goodbye to Durban! We started on the road and it was rainy and crummy. I read in the backseat during the drive and got pretty far in my book! We arrived at the turn off of the N2 to get to Coffee Bay, and the road was absolutely crappy. It was covered in potholes, and driving down the road was like playing a video game by swerving to avoid the enormous potholes. I was so scared that we were going to get a flat tire. If driving and trying to avoid potholes wasn’t bad enough we also had to watch out for animals and people. There were little children that would line the road begging for money, some would try to barricade us by playing chicken with the car and standing in the road to make us stop and then try to take our money. I’m glad that Leslie was driving because she just kept driving to make them run out of the way because it is too dangerous to slow down and stop. We finally got to Coffee Bay after an hour of driving on the road and it was a crap hole! We went to the backpackers and we were told that we would be sharing a room with two other people in a dorm…well we actually were sharing it with seven other people and it was a thatched roof and the mattresses were pieces of foam on the ground. It had rained that afternoon and the mud surrounding the backpackers was so gross and there were chickens running around. We couldn’t even get to the beach because it was high tide. The bathrooms also were a sad story and right then and there we made an executive decision and decided to turn back around and go back to PE. We drove the scary road back, and I have never been so scared for my life. I just wanted to get off of the road and away from the people. No wonder that crime is such an issue in this country because these people have nothing else to do, so they line the roads and congregate there and try to scare the motorists. It was such a relief to finally be back on the N2. We drove for quite a bit and then at 8:00 we stopped in King William’s Town and filled up on gas, and called Enice at Langerry to see if she had a room for us, if not we had a few back up plans to where we could stay at other hotels, the backpackers in PE, or worst case scenario we would stay at Q’s place for the night. Enice said that she would have a room for us! We drove another 3 ½ hours through rain, storm clouds, and winding roads. When we saw the lights of PE we all cheered and were so happy to be home! When we called Gert (our security guard) to let us into the building, he came to see us and said “Welcome Home!” We were so darn happy to come home to Langerry and even better news is that we were in Flat 13! My old room! I crawled onto my bed and was so happy to be back here! That was the best decision that we made on the entire trip! Leslie and I went to McDonalds to get dinner and we circled the parking lot three times until we finally concluded that it was closed…but Steers was open 24 hours so we went there for a burger and fries…my Thanksgiving meal (well that and the trail mix that I had to snack on in the car on the drive home)! After I ate dinner, I called Grandma and Papa’s and was able to talk to quite a few people and wish the Happy Thanksgiving! It was nice talking to everyone and I can’t wait to see everyone when I am home next week!