Life On The High Way
The Travels and Adventures of the High Family
Traveling to Cape Town
From the time we heard we were moving to Luanda people told us we will spend long weekends in Cape Town. It wasn’t a suggestion, but merely a statement. I didn’t really understand until we arrived in Luanda, but now we get it. Since things are so expensive in Luanda and, let’s be honest, some things are really hard, traveling to a place where you can buy items that aren’t triple what you would pay in America AND have the ability to simply use your credit card seems luxurious.
We left our house yesterday morning at 6 am and arrived at the airport at 6:30. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9. I thought Jordan was being an anxious traveler for getting us there so early, but as it turns out… we got there just in time. I think we waited in a total of seven lines before we boarded the plane. Passports, Covid tests, yellow fever cards… there was so much documentation to have and to keep track of as well. The plane looked old me, but I was told that’s only because they don’t update the interior of the planes like they do in America.
We were all settled in and were about to take off. And when I say we were about to take off I mean the pilot accelerated quickly and then immediately stopped. We were then told there was a mechanical issue and headed back to the gate. After sitting on a VERY hot plane for twenty minutes, they told us all to get off. We waited inside for maybe 45 minutes before allowing us to get back on the plane. I didn’t realize how much I was looking forward to this trip until there was a chance it might not happen. I was so incredibly disappointed. We all were. When we sat down in our original seats Lucy exclaimed “They put us back on the same plane?!?” I told her that it wasn’t in the airlines interest to fly a large group of people if they were certain the plane was fixed and that seemed to alleviate her fears.
The flight was about 3.5 hours. They served us lunch. I tried to nap and read a book. The kids and Jordan played games on their iPads. Arriving in Cape Town was so easy. I was prepared for the seven lines we had in Luanda, but we simply had to fill out a health declaration, show our passports to customs and then go pick up our rental car.
The rental car! Jordan keeps saying he is driving on the “wrong” side of the road. I’m trying to say we are driving on the “other” side of the road because it’s not right or wrong… just different. The other interesting thing is that our rental car is a manual transmission. Neither of us have driven a manual transmission in quite some time. Add in the hills in Cape Town and it was an experience getting to our AirBnB. Jordan did great though. I think the most disconcerting part of the drive was seeing cars coming at you on the other side of the road. My instinct was telling me they were in our lane, but obviously that isn’t true.
Our Airbnb has a lot of character. Keith, the owner, met us and walked us through the house explaining keys, alarms, wifi, etc. I think he was British and I told Jordan it felt like Hugh Grant’s cousin was giving us the tour. He was funny in a charming way. The house is large – probably too large for us. When I was looking for airbnbs I had to be mindful of cancellation policies. Most would only let me cancel within 48 hours of booking. Given that we had to test for COVID and travel restrictions are always changing I needed a house that would let us cancel closer to our arrival date just in case. The location is amazing and the hosts are so sweet. There was a personalized welcome note along with a cake and lollipops for the kids. They also put some basics in the fridge like milk, eggs, fruit, yogurt, bread and a bottle of wine.
We were all so hungry that as soon as Keith left we headed out the door to eat. It was a short walk (like two minutes!) to beachfront where there are tons of restaurants. We ended up at Surf Shack. Hudson was incredibly hangry. He wasn’t all that impressed with his airplane lunch and when I thought about it he hadn’t had a snack all afternoon. We ordered calamari as soon as we sat down. Note to self – make Hudson eat while traveling. The kids had pizza. I’ve mentioned the meat in Luanda isn’t the best. Apparently the kids have noticed and missed it because they ordered a bacon and pepperoni pizza. I had grilled fish and Jordan had an ahi tuna burger. The food was good, but we were so hungry that I’m sure anything at that point would have been great. The sunset was gorgeous and I sat there thankful the trip actually happened.
This morning we were going to head to Table Mountain, but it looks a bit cloudy. It might clear off later today. We are adjusting our plans a bit. It’s funny. You would think after living through a pandemic and moving to a foreign country I would have learned to not hold to my plans so tightly, but I’m having a hard time this morning letting go of the itinerary I created for our time here. I had a specific way I thought we were going to explore Cape Town, but the weather is telling me otherwise. I know it will all work out. I mean, we are in CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA! I can just enjoy being here!
The kids are stirring and we are going to figure out our next step for today.
Until next time…
Sarah
Life On The High Way 
What a beautiful sunset! Cape Town is our favourite city to visit (as it is only 120km from where we live) and I never get tired of the beaches (and of course Table Mountain). I hope you had a great stay!
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