On Friday night Benedikt and I took Andrée out for dinner at Taramind which is a 5 star luxury restaurant in town. Andrée is in charge of insurance for Bayer for the African countries. She is French but lives in Germany. And she had to speak English for my sake. Hr accent was divine! The meal we had was sublime and the service was excellent and it was a very expensive evening. Thanks for that Bayer! Check our desert plates:
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I was a bit apprehensive to go there as I was saving it for my sister... she is Out of Africa befok afterall... but Andrée wanted to go there and we were her hosts, so that was that.It was really interesting seeing how Karen Blixen lived, and seeing what her house was like and strolling around her huge garden. I promised myself though, that I will read her book before I go there again so I have a better feel for the place.
After that we went to the Giraffe centre which was really quite naf. The giraffes are so used to humans and are so tame and unperturbed. They eat right out of your hand and let you feel and stroke them. (Everyone stands on a balcony which is giraffe head height) I didn’t mind the lameness because I LOVE giraffes. They are so prehistoric looking and just so big and silent and bizarre. Like Nicola said when we were at the Nairobi national park – one feels like you are looking at a picture when looking at a giraffe... they are just so unreal.
After the giraffe centre we went to the Karen Blixen restaurant for a late lunch via a little unplanned trip through a forest, over a river and through a bustling village... like I’ve mentioned before things aren’t signposted very well here and its easy to take a wrong turn! Its never a scary thing though... we cycle through villages all the time... so driving through one is even better as you can look around even more. Its always VERY interesting. They are very organised little places... and usually quite neat.
In SA I would never choose to drive through a township. Let alone cycle through one. And if I got lost and landed up in one I’d be convinced that was the end of the road for me.
I LOVE how safe we feel here. SA is a scary place man! Its hardcore to live in Johannesburg. I think all of you that are reading this should seriously plan to get out of there. Even if its just to move elsewhere in SA. Get out while you are alive!!
The restaurant was worth the effort though as it was such a great setting – like an English tea garden. It had an indoor restaurant too and a very festive bar where the SA and all blacks game was being followed by some enthusiastic saffers.
We chilled there with ‘Mum’, as our waiter called Andrée, until it was time to take her to the airport for her flight to SA. We then got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam which definitely would have made Andrée miss her flight... so we did a u turn on the ‘highway’ and headed off down a dirt road... luckily Benedikt had travelled that way once before when his right hand man at work had taken him to customs. The road was abominable.... dongas that swallowed the car and ruts that shook us more than when we are on our mountain bikes. And just like the earlier detour, Andrée loved it! I think those were her favourite parts of the day.
I will be seeing Andrée again when I am in Koln in Germany.... Benedikt will be busy at his conference so I will go for lunch or dinner with her. She is such a nice lady.
Then on Sunday after our ride we picked up Rosie (the girl we met last week for dinner) and her friend Celia and Loopy... Loopy was here for another layover. So lucky Benedikt had 4 girls in the car with him for the afternoon!
We went to Kiambethu Tea plantation where the lady there does tours of her tea farm and tells you all about it. And serves you tea of course. It was all very very interesting and very very pretty. Like I’ve said before tea is the prettiest crop to farm... wait until you all come for your visit here and we will show you!
Next up was the Great Rift valley view point where unfortunately visibility was quite poor - there was a haze over the valley. Usually one can see forever and its quite spectacular. So instead we had some fun testing out the dodgy wobbly view point structures and trying on sheepskin hats. With random strangers. (Well I didn’t do that... YUK)
Dinner at our house afterwards was yummy and was followed by a game of 30 seconds. Of course. It was a tight game with Benedikt, Rosie and Celia beating Loopy and I by a whisker. Grrrr
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