June 21

ERIN:
Greetings from the backseat of the Land Rover. Right now it’s only 5:00 in the evening, but I’m writing for today under the assumption that nothing spectacular will happen between now and when we go to bed. Actually, the chances of something remarkable happening after dark may be better than during the day, for the reasons Nicole just mentioned about hidden potholes, wandering donkeys, etc. The goal is to make it to Durban tonight, and we’ve been driving for the past 5 hours or so and have a few more before we reach our destination. Although who can say—based on prior experience, it may be more than we expect, especially because we just realized we were actually on a different road than we thought and had to pull out the maps again and backtrack until we found our all-too-familiar N2 highway. We’re all getting slightly restless by now. The most physical activity I’ve had since before lunch was to crawl from the bench seats in the back of the truck into the regular backseat. I should write a little about this morning’s activities to bring back memories of the outside world. After waking up at our hostel on the South African coast and spending the customary several hours packing all our things into the vehicle, we hiked along the beach to see Coffee Bay and nearby Hole in the Wall, where we watched greenish-blue waves crash through a big hole in a natural wall of rock in the Indian Ocean. The scenery along the coast this whole trip has been gorgeous, and much different from the stereotypical images of Africa that you tend to think of. Since then, we’ve been driving, or sitting in the vehicle while various people have gotten out for groceries, ATMs, and bathrooms. Once, while Roger went into a store to buy fuses and the rest of us assembled sandwiches in a parking lot, an African woman walked up to our open window and asked us where we were moving. From her perspective, the only explanation for the sheer quantity of stuff we have packed into the trunk and loaded onto the roof of this Land Rover was that we were picking up and moving to a new home with all of our worldly possessions. I am constantly reminded of my status as a wealthy white U.S. American tourist, which makes me extremely uncomfortable but provides good food for thought during these hours on the road. Other than that, we have kept ourselves entertained by reading books, solving Sudoku puzzles, listening to music, having pillow fights, taking pictures of unsuspecting fellow passengers, and, of course, providing the drivers with constant yells of “Watch out!”, “Slow down!”, “Bump!”, “People!”, “Goat!”, etc. All in all, I’d say it’s been a good day. Ooooohhh, I spoke too soon. Roger and Travis just discovered that we once again are on the wrong road, so we’re turning around once again. Well, whoever writes tomorrow can fill you in on how this adventure ends. Until next time.
Erin