20 Years

Dear Kagiso,

I have been thinking about how to offer some concluding thoughts and reflections on our time here in South Africa and the many conversations we have had about life, race, culture and hope. I have decided that maybe the best way to do it is in a letter to someone I have had some of those conversations with and who has given me feedback to think about. Thus you are the lucky winner!

Our time here has been amazing. We have seen so much – beaches, mountains, animals, birds, long long drives (I think we have driven over 6500 kilometers!) never ending vistas and views, all of which have been good for us. Refreshing, clearing our heads, bringing some rest and healing to our emotions. And we have met so many wonderful people who have befriended us and been so kind to us, South Africans and other travelers alike – even when we haven't agreed with everything they have said. We knew we wanted to come back here to listen and learn and I think we have accomplished that although I think we still more questions than answers.

You know that many of my questions have been about racial relations and every day life. I'm not sure why I am so interested, some could say even hung up on how it really is between black and white South Africans here today. And honestly, talking with you and Dumisani and Bernard, you made it seem like it isn't an issue. Our conversations with you were actually the beginning of many hopeful conversations – up until that point, many of our conversations were much more pessimistic. But we have also had those conversations as you know that leave us discouraged, believing that there is still a huge divide and a long way to go before true equality between skin colors. When I hear statements that there is just a different mentality among black people or even the horrific “You can take people out of the bush...” You know the rest, I'm not even going to finish it. I'm not sure what to do with that because that is such a degrading generalization. The reality is that there are stupid, senseless people of every skin color everywhere in the world.

But I also know that there are many white and black South Africans who don't think their country is in as good shape in terms of infrastructure, education and health care as before apartheid. I know there are many young white people who are leaving for Australia and Canada. You may wonder why I titled this letter (post) '20 Years'? I had the chance to have a great conversation with a well known newspaper editor in Capetown and his wife. I asked them the same question I have asked you and so many others: Do you have hope? Where do you see hope here in SA? He quickly replied “20 Years.” I thought, that's fair, others have also said it will take a decade or two before thing catch up here. And then he continued, “20 years until we are just like Zimbabwe.”

That is discouraging. Anyone who knows anything knows that is not good. And this man is smart, educated, well traveled. He can back up what he is saying. It's easy to point to some of the African track record of mismanagement and corruption all over the continent. But it's also easy to not mention European and American mismanagement and corruption currently and over the years. I wrote in my journal that night:

The only difference between Africa and the Western 'Developed' world (and its leaders) is time (and perhaps some colonization issues!!!) The west/developed world has just as many corrupt/power hungry people but as countries or societies, they have had time to put in a system of checks and balances. Go back 100 or 500 years and you will find just as many Mugabe's in what we now call developed first world countries. The west is just as guilty of ethnic cleansing and often it is our colonialism that helped to contribute to some of the issues today.

20 Years. I hope he is wrong. I must believe he is wrong. For his sake, for yours, for everyone here in SA. Against his statements I have yours and Dumisani's and others, black and white, who believe that there it hope and that it will get better. Yes there is catch up time. People shouldn't forget that SA is a baby democracy. There is work to do. But there is work to do everywhere in all countries. Ending our time here in Capetown is also encouraging as have been other cities. When I walk the waterfront I see every shade of skin represented. Every shade of skin prospering and succeeding, working and walking side by side. I hope this continues. But I also know that for everyone at the V&A Waterfront there are hundreds of others who are not moving up and who still lack much. And I also know, as you and Dumisani said, if there are racist issues that are alive and well, it is often black on black. Like I said, there is much work still to do.

By the way, thanks again for watching Crash with us. It was good to hear your thoughts – and you made us your first popcorn! It's interesting that it wasn't a well known movie here as there are so many similarities in it to what we experience in the US.

Is there a different way of governing, leading, doing things here that will be successful? An African way? I think there probably is – which is a good thing. Certainly not everything the west, especially the Unites States exports is good. If there is a way not to buy into our celebrity, consumer obsessed society that will be a good thing.

It will also take people staying both black and white. And we have met those who are staying and who want to stay, black and white, but mainly black. I hope there is a way to encourage the many white young people who are leaving to stay. Perhaps I am naive. After all what do I know after two and a half months. But again I have to believe the editor is wrong.

You know, it's interesting, we arrived here in SA the day Obama was elected and we arrive back in the US on the day he will be inaugurated and become president. These are momentous and significant times in the US. Obama has huge expectations placed on him, many of which should not be his to carry. Yet he is a huge symbol of hope for the US and for everyone around the world. I really think his election helped open a few friendly doors for us in the past couple months:-) And as you know Kenya had the national public holiday the day after he was elected! Hopefully the Obama's will inspire people around the world to continue working toward positive change. Hopefully he will not succumb to the power which is so easy to do. That is my hope and prayer for him.

So there are my thoughts – and I haven't even touched on Darfur/Sudan/Congo where straight out hate/evil is ruling the day and seems so impenetrable. I hope the editor is wrong. I hope that in 20 years I am still able to visit South Africa and meet with you freely. I hope that 30-40 percent unemployment will be a thing of the past. I hope that there will be a strong, successful government that cares for all its people all the time, not just at elections. I hope...for me, for you. We have much to hope for.

And I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all my random thoughts! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us.

Stay well and know that our door is open to you wherever we are in the future.

Duncan

January 3-17, Mossel Bay, Montagu, Cape Town, Fish Hoek

We are very aware that our days here in SA are coming to an end. After a week in Capetown with our Swiss friends, Lilian and Thomas who we met up with, we are in a lovely little town called Fishhoek situated 30 minutes south of Capetown on False Bay, a wide sweeping bay that warms up sufficiently for good swimming. We have a wonderful room/suite in the home of a local artist with a great view of the mountains and sea. We are glad to be here for four days before heading back to Capetown for two nights before our final splurge – a 'luxury' 26 hour train trip all the way from Capetown to Johannesburg and a night there before flying out late on the 19^th and arriving in Seattle on the 20th. And no our train is not the famed Blue Train or Rovos which can cost upwards of $2000 US per person for a trip – but we're hopeful it will be a nice way to end and celebrate our two and a half month South African odyssey.

Capetown is Africa's most cosmopolitan city.

Coming from the stillness and peace of Amber Lagoon in the Karoo I was expecting some culture shock entering the city – a city – but I was startled at the adjustment. (Even with two nights in Mossel Bay and one in Montagu on a farm – both nice places but mainly memorable for being kept awake by other loud guests – it was still a rapid compression.) After two and a half months we are back in a large humming metropolis with a proper downtown, a waterfront that rivals any other tourist waterfront in the world and the energy and urbanness is palpable. We stayed in a backpackers in the heart of it, minutes from the waterfront, minutes from swanky expensive stores and the rising stadium that will host the World Cup semifinals here in 500 days or so.

We are back in trendy, consumer world.

It doesn't sit well.

We are also confronted with the issues of the city – the poor, the needy – the blind man stumbling toward us with hand outstretched, the two young drug addicted boys holding out their shaking hands, the angry young male shouting threats to female passersby.

The least, the last, the lost – whether poor and needy or the rich tourist or trendy local who is also lost and needy – all looking, trying to find something that will heal the ache and fill the loneliness.

Kathleen Norris writes in The Cloister Walk that “Cities remind us that the desire to escape from the problems of other people by FLEEING (emphasis mine) to a suburb, small town or a monastery for that matter, is an unholy thing, and ultimately self-defeating. We can no more escape from other people than we can escape from ourselves.” Wherever we are we are meant to “be a part of the city of the living God, and you're challenged to make something of it. Do you reflect Benedict's belief that “the divine presence is everywhere”? Do you work as Jeremiah reminds us to do, for the welfare of the city to which God has sent you? Can you say with Isaiah, “About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not rest, until her integrity shines out like the dawn, and her salvation flames like a torch?”

It is a good reminder of why we are on this journey.

Capetown has an amazing mountain. Without this instantly recognizable piece of sandstone

(I think) it would just be another beach town. Instead it is one of the most picturesque places in the world. We spent our days in Capetown exploring with Lilian and Thomas - the District Six museum which chronicles the desolation of the District Six area in the name of apartheid and now its resurrection, other downtown areas and then further afield venturing down to Cape Point – not the most southern point in Africa but where most people go who want to experience this. It is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet and where the sea continues on for 5000 kilometers before reaching Antarctica. On the way, we stopped to see the Penguins – yes Penguins in the hot sun

on the beach in Simonstown! We found many good eats and spent hours talking together about life here and where we come from respectively. Lilian and Thomas have been a gift to us to end ourtrip with. They are generous, fun, sensitive and both have a wonderful sense of humor. We have thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with them, learning new words from each other, laughing much. We had both spent the past three plus months traveling although they had their first month in Namibia while we were in Europe. We took them to the airport yesterday for their flight back to Switzerland after enjoying one more good meal at Harrie's Pancakes.

Duncan

December 27 - Oudtshoorn Ostrich!

Across the street from Amber Lagoon is a farm and their only neighbors for miles around. Ernie (farmer senior) and Luhan his son raise about 800 ostrich, cattle, sheep, clover and somehow make a living in this wonderful but harsh land. We went out with Luhan to collect ostrich eggs one afternoon and toured the ostrich sites. As you can see by the photos both the young and the grown ostrich can be quite cute.

Ostrich facts:
Each egg is the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs.
You can actually stand on an ostrich egg
A female will lay about 43 eggs a year
Eggs take about 42 days to hatch
At this particular farm they incubate most of their eggs but allow about five breeding pairs to hatch their own.
An ostrich can run 60km an hour for up to 4 km
Their beaks are not their main weapon, but their prehistoric looking legs with one claw will do some serious damage when they kick you.
Ostrich farming is quite the process, quite intensive


Duncan














Check out the size of that egg!


















Andrea and a week old baby ostrich

December 26- January 2 - Oudtshoorn

The following was written on 12/31/08

We have come to the Karoo. We actually took a chance on the Karoo and we are so glad we did. The Karoo is a huge part of S. Africa, a 'vast semidesert stretching over miles of the great South African plateau inland from the cape coast'. If you can imagine arid and rocky Eastern Washington
surrounded by the Grand Tetons, you might come close to what it looks like, but then you would drive around the corner and be surprised by something else – a mini grand canyon perhaps. Lonely Planet writes “there's something magical about the vast arid Karoo. Maybe it's the wide open spaces that make you feel so tiny, or maybe it's the towns, which make you feel you've been suspended in time. The population is sparse, and off the main highways you can drive for hours without seeing another car.”


I wrote in my journal yesterday, “I could sit and look at this view forever. I can just sit and not even look. I can just listen to the isolated bird nearby or a myriad of birds in the trees down by the slow river. Sheep, cows, chickens, dogs and the occasional low gutteral call from an ostrich all add their voices to the stillness. Where the land is irrigated it is green – clover fields, pasture for the cows – otherwise it is barren in various shades of brown scrub. So quiet. Today the wind blows bringing cool relief while a layer of clouds protect from the typical noonday sun. It is pastoral. It is desolate, it is lifegiving, calm and restful. I know there are others here, but it feels like I could be the only one. No phones, tv, music, only the occasional car. Peace. Like I said, I could stay here forever.”


At night the stars are out of this world.


We are actually in what is called the Little Karoo, hemmed in by four mountain ranges which severely limits the rainfall, at a wonderful place called Amber Lagoon. Our hosts, Susan and Kurt came here six years ago from Germany. Susan was looking for a place that would let her stay with her dog. They ended up in Oudtshoorn, 30km up the road – the ostrich capital of S. Africa. Eventually they bought the main house at the base of a barren hill and slowly with huge amounts of effort, they are transforming this barren hill into a wonderful lodge and campsite oasis. We are staying in what they call the large stone house – all hand build by the two of them. They have cut miles and miles of cane and reed which they use as building material as well. The amount of work they have done and their artistic creativity is really quite amazing. Kurt is a master chef from Germany and can whip up anything. The house specialty though are the crepes they make.






And the Amber Lagoon? A wonderful pool down near the main house.



Duncan

Accommodation Summary

While we were stuck in East London I began writing a post comparing East London Backpackers to Nothando's our next anticipated Backpacker/B&B in Plettenberg Bay which Andrea has already commented on. In reality she was kind in what she wrote about the owners. Physically it probably was the nicest (coffee, tea, hairdryers in the rooms) cleanest and perhaps most professionally run of all the places we have stayed here, but it was also perhaps the most soul-less. Not once were we greeted by the owners. They sat and smoked like chimneys in the areas that guests were trying to use...the list goes on. It is sad to write this (just as it is sad to see what a hole EL Backpackers was – for many many reasons) as it was a beautiful, well run place but it is because the owners lived there also and the way they interacted with us and other guests that makes us say this. Had they not lived there and used the facilities that everyone else used, we would not judge them quite so critically. But you can't not interact with guests if you live on site. There are other places that we have stayed that were much larger and the owner didn't live there so we don't judge them, we judge the on-site managerial staff.


So our criteria for judging where we lay our heads at night, other than location comes down to a few categories:

Competence and Care of Owner/Manager/Staff
Safety
Cost (and what is included – most places include tea and coffee, a couple have not.)
Clean
Quiet (others may want to party until 4 in the morning – we don't! This doesn't mean we always need a monastery but at some point we hope the music is turned off or down or that the rooms are decently soundproofed etc.)

All this adds up to the general atmosphere of a place, and it is always a balance and trade off depending on what you are looking for. It's interesting to see what an owner will or won't do. One place we stayed in had no soaps (bar or soap dispenser on the wall) nothing - in any bathrooms or by any sinks. That is a must and other than this they ran a really efficient place. We didn't understand. Everyone else has had soap, ok maybe not East London. Another common issue we have discovered is that of no screens on windows. If there are bugs/mosquitoes etc that are really a problem, have some screens or mosquito nets. A couple places, as mentioned above have started charging for tea and coffee where most places offer it for free. They say that food prices just went up too much this year. We get this when it comes to breakfast – many backpackers used to offer a free breakfast (usually just toast and cereal) – most do not any more, but tea and coffee??? Just raise the room rate 5 Rand (50 cents) and throw it back in as a freebie for the guests.

None of the places we have stayed have been perfect, but there are three standouts at this point for us: Old Vic in Nelspruit, The Spot near Port Shepstone and our current location at time of writing, Amber Lagoon just outside of Oudtshoorn. Each have excelled in a combination of these areas and are places we would highly recommend – even though two of them don't provide tea and coffee. We would recommend most everyone else too but these three have looked after us so well. (Thorn Tree Lodge back in Pietermaritzburg was also fabulous – actually the best accommodation and everything hands down (except no internet) – but it was much more of a luxury lodge (at $60+ a night, a steal!!) that we haven't counted it in the backpacker cheaper places we have stayed in the rest of the time).


Duncan

Characters...

If a picture is worth a thousand words then we want to show you just a couple to introduce you to a man named Ken who we met at The Spot. We think that if you have traveled anywhere in the world you might have met him too. Our friends Lilian and Thomas had met him a month earlier.
The first picture is our car. This is how some people travel and get around. It's a pretty good deal – costs about $25 a day and though we weren't planning on renting a car for most of our time we decided in the long run it would be more helpful to us. While we were at The Spot two guys came in who were doing a trip from Port Elizabeth all the way up the coast to Mozambique in just a couple of weeks. They were driving pretty nice motorcycles pictured here. They were interesting to listen to. One was one of S. Africa's best motorcross competitors. Shortly after they arrived one afternoon, in rode Ken on his bicycle complete with Kermit the Frog riding next to him.

Look close at the bike and his bags. Ken currently is riding from Cairo to Capetown so he is close to the end point. However then he has another end point – riding up the west coast of Africa to Europe where he claims he will stop! We aren't sure we believe him. After all, Ken, who is originally from Canada has been riding his bike (not this current addition which he bought in Tajikistan or somewhere!) around the world for 25 years! Ken is 49! Take a look at the bike again. This isn't a high tech sponsored outfit. This is Ken, his bike, his stuff and pure grit and endurance. The two motorcyclists thought what they were doing in two weeks was difficult. They were literally speechless as they heard more of his story.

We talked long into the night. How could you not?! Ken thought his life was pretty great and pretty normal. When asked what countries he hadn't been in yet, he paused and thought for a while and replied, “Siberia, Iran, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and maybe a couple 'stans'!!! Though he didn't mention Antarctica, we assume that is on the list too – but literally everywhere else. We couldn't quite wrap our heads around this man. Twenty-five years. About 100 kilometers a day. And no real helmet to speak of. He has had a couple injuries along the way but has never gone to see a Doctor. One day when cycling down the Andes his tire blew out and he took a spill breaking his clavicle. He couldn't lift his arm over his shoulder for three weeks but no doc and he kept going! When needing money he has stopped and worked – English teacher, construction, dive instructor, lab analyst. His two sisters came and rode with him in Kenya earlier this year. Sometimes he will hang out at a place for a while. He said that the camping fee at The Spot he had to pay that night (around $8US) was the most expensive he had paid other than one time in Virginia a couple decades ago. If I had been the owner of The Spot, this character and legend would have spent the night on the house – in a room!

Please if someone has a connection to a publisher or a producer, Ken is someone that needs to be tracked down so his story can be told!

It is often said that one of the best things about traveling is the people you meet and for me this has never been truer than on this trip. As Andrea wrote in our Plettenberg post finding community and friends along the way has been key in the quality of this trip. So whether it has been Dave and Bella at Old Vic, Kagiso, Khenya, our friends at ACS, Ken, Ayal (our free spirited Israeli hitchhiker who came to S. Africa with only 200 dollars believing he would just fall into things – who also believes there is no hope for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) to Lilian and Thomas our new Swiss friends (who evidently like us enough to have come stayed with us for a couple nights) and many more, we are so grateful. Again, evidence of a greater love!

Duncan

December 26, Skydiving!

I've always been interested in skydiving. Back in high school my friend Lizzy and I talked about taking the plunge together but we never pursued it (it is also really expensive in the States). Three years ago when we first came to South Africa I saw a brochure for skydiving near Cape Town and thought the view would be great. So on this trip I always had it in the back of my head that I would do it. Duncan fully supported the endeavor despite not wanting to jump himself. :)

So when Thomas and Lilian told us that they were already signed up to go skydiving in Plettenberg, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The day after Christmas we showed up at the Plettenberg Bay airport and followed signs through the bush until we found 'Skydive Plett.' They were quite booked that day so we watched two sets of divers go before Thomas and Lilian went. Shortly before they touched down I was given a harness and then quick instructions of what I needed to do. While I was quite nervous when I woke up that morning the matter of factness of the business and that several groups had gone before us calmed me.

Just after Thomas touched the ground the small plane returned to pick me and my fellow jumper and our two 'guides' up. My guide and I were to be the first jumpers so we climbed in after the other two, closest to the door. After an awesome 20 minute plane ride that circled Robberg peninsula where the clear water revealed the shipwreck that gives the peninsula its name, tightening some straps and getting clipped into my guide's harness, I put on my goggles, the plane door opened and we jumped out.

WOW!!! The noise and sheer force of free falling for 35 seconds is unbelievable. The funny thing is that you don't feel like you're falling – or at least your stomach doesn't know but I do think your brain does, because I don't remember much from that 35 seconds. I think my brain shut off out of fear. :) Once our parachute opened we enjoyed the view and then did some G-force turns for fun.

On the way down my guide explained the landing to me, I was to pull up my legs as high as I could so that he could touch down first and then when he said 'stand up' I was to touch down and stand up. Well, I was a bit taller than him and for the landing he had loosened my harness which had the effect of lowering me closer to the ground so I was about 2 feet closer to the ground that he. It worked okay until he said 'Stand up.' I tried, I really did, but being taller than him and because he was already standing I couldn't and we both fell over. So while Thomas and Lilian had perfect touch downs I have some great pictures of me on my bum in the grass :)

This experience only cost about $150 USD, much cheaper than had I done it in the States. What a deal! Maybe I'll go again!

Andrea

December 22-25, Plettenberg Bay

On the 22^nd we gratefully left our dismal hostel in East London and continued our drive south, heading for Plettenberg Bay. It was another long drive day, 9 hours in total, so we stopped along the way in Jeffery's Bay a beautiful coastal town known for its great surfing. We tested the waters with our feet, stopped at tourist information to collect hundreds more brochures and had an obligatory chocolate dipped ice cream cone.

As we were getting back onto the highway we noticed a dredlocked hitchhiker putting his hands together in the prayer/pleading pose for us to pick him up. Now, there are a lot of hitchhikers in South Africa, mostly the black South Africans that have no transport of their own. Groups of people trying to hitch a ride stand on the side of roads or highways and either have signs or make hand signals to indicate their destination. Throughout this journey we had often debated if we should pick someone up, but our lack of knowledge of the area and the general consensus from all races of South Africans that it is unsafe combined with the fact that our backseat is covered with stuff has usually prevailed. The other problem with hitchhikers is that they are usually standing under 'no hitchhiking' signs and our general fear of the traffic control who we have already gotten one ticket from and who are everywhere has also made us not stop. It seems that while there are tons of hitchhikers in South Africa no one picks them up except for private minibus taxis, enterprising South Africans' answer to the lack of public transportation. This time the sheer desperation of the hitchhiker struck us and we were pretty sure that this was a fellow traveler. After some debate, one u-turn, and a stop to shove our stuff over as much as possible we picked up Eyal from Israel. It was a very tight squeeze, with Eyal and I balancing backpacks on our laps, as we had not noted his surfboard in our decision making process. He said he had been waiting for two days in that spot for a ride. He slept next to the highway and had gotten up at 6 am to start hitchhiking. We picked him up around 3pm. We talked for the next 2 hours until we deposited him at the Shell station outside Plettenberg Bay.

We found our home for the next four nights, Nothando (the word for 'love' in Xhosa) and were shown our spotless room with a nice comfy bed. Nothando's is a backpackers and a bed and breakfast located on the property of the family who owns it. While we would see the family several times a day as they hung out on their property or we bumped into them in the bar/kitchen next to their house, they were not friendly, and the business was clearly left in the hands of their hired managers. When we were at Old Vic Travelers Inn in Nelspruit we had asked the owners what they would do with their guests on Christmas and were told that while they would try and only have a few guests and not a full house they would certainly have a Christmas lunch for the guests. We had also heard similar things from the Spot in Umtentweni and while we weren't expecting a full meal from Nothando we expected some acknowledgment of the holiday.

The morning after we arrived at Nothando's I broached the subject with the manager on duty and was told, 'No, there is nothing, it is a family day.' Disappointing. . . especially as in this backpackers it was very difficult to meet people because the natural gathering places like the bar or kitchen were often dominated by the owners and their entire unfriendly family in for the holidays. Sitting in the bar you often felt like you were interrupting and were unwanted.

We have known for a long time how important community is to our quality of life. This has been confirmed over and over again in South Africa especially as South Africa as a destination was originally chosen because we could connect with acquaintances from our previous trip. When that did not materialize it was like our compass lost true north. We had no purpose and more importantly we had no one to ask our millions of questions to. We did find our bearings again but it was due in part to finding great people who were incredibly friendly and gracious about answering our questions at ACS Computers, Old Vic, New Covenant Church, and a few other hostels along the way. Being Christmas, we came with high expectations to Nothando's, hoping that we could share the day with friendly people.

The initial let-down from Nothando's was redeemed when we made some Swiss friends. I think the friendship began when I asked Lilian if she knew if anything was going on for Christmas. When she repeated my finding that, 'No, it was a family day,' our mutual disappointment showed that we were like-minded. Later that evening Thomas and Lilian and Duncan and I struck up a conversation and played with Nothando's six month old puppy. The next day Thomas and Lilian asked if we wanted to make a nice breakfast with them on Christmas to which we said, 'Definitely.'

Christmas day we got up and walked down to one of the most picturesque churches we have seen. The Anglican Church had a 7:30 choir service but when we arrived at 7:20 we were ushered into a large hall because the small church was full. When the choir only materialized in the church and not in the hall we snuck over and sat on the benches outside on the covered porch to listen to the service. By the time we got back to Nothando's Thomas and Lilian had set a beautiful table out in the warm garden sunshine along with plates of bread, scones, and cheese. We added sausage, a mango and litchi fruit salad and the bleu cheese they had bought me as a Christmas present (because I had been complaining about the lack of real cheese in some of the stores and my extreme hankering.) They cooked eggs and bacon and we sat down to a great meal with great company.

After a short respite we all went down to the beach and enjoyed the sun (a little too much sun for my still pale Seattlelite/Tacoman skin) and bodysurfed in the waves. We saw a pod of dolphins, followed by a flock of birds, chasing their Christmas meal. For dinner we split up, Thomas and Lilian headed to a restaurant and we cooked up our roast chicken and potatoes. It was a great day.

That night we all rested for our big adventure the next day – skydiving!!!

Andrea