Cape Town to Hermanus

We left Cape Town two mornings ago after a six night stay; probably 1-2 too many nights but there it is. That said, we very much enjoyed the hotel and connecting with Ursula the owner - a lively and positive spirit. She has seen a lot over her 70 years; the last 20 as a widow. Nancy asked about the circumstances of her husband’s passing and it was quite shocking to learn that he had shot himself. She said she didn’t feel guilt or remorse about anything she did or might have done to prevent this tragedy. She explained that he suffered hearing loss, felt isolated as a result and, in turn, had the black dog of depression as a constant companion. This scared the bejesus out of me so I will have hearing tested as soon as I get home.

The road to Hermanus was a good quality mostly 2 lane track. Road grade going over a pass was quite steep versus what we are used to. I can say that the driving is going better than expected. Back home, I’m used to looking at my lane from a certain perspective so here have to guard against a tendency to drift to the left in an effort to restore what I’m used to seeing. (Hope this makes sense.)

Have used offline Google maps thus far. Best to enter a specific destination versus simply putting in a town name. In the latter case, Google lady will bring you to the centre of town and then declare her work done. I was left driving around in circles in Stellenbosch.

Hermanus was once prominent as a fishing village but now more of a vacation spot, as I understand. Whale and shark watching, hiking and golf are the main activities. We managed a golf game yesterday and enjoyed the company of Gina and Michael, a couple that spends six months here and six at home in the U.K. Golf experience was very much like home although scenery here quite dramatic wedged as we are between mountains and sea. 30 or so Springbok frolic on the course so unusual sight. (Apparently they have to cull them periodically as no predators in the area.)

Gina has lived all her adult life in South Africa and their marriage is Michael’s second following the passing of his first wife. There’s a sizeable expat community of U.K. snow birds here and, like our snow birds, have to watch dates for tax reasons and to avoid being cut off by the National Health Service.  We had refreshments with them afterwards and I found Gina just a tad contemptuous of African servers. “They’re dumb as stumps.”, she offered although acknowledged blacks are very poorly served by the education system. They’ve been members at Hermanus Golf Club for some years so when a server addressed her as Gina a while back, he was suitably admonished. She was to be addressed as “Mam”, “Ms. Gina”, etc.

Today we are back on the road and will stop tonight in Swellendam, another old Dutch community.