The Agenda

It seemed so simple when we started planning our trip to Cape Town. We had done a favor for a colleague and that  led to an opportunity to meet the people we had assisted and then we added a little side trip to Cape Town as the grand finale of Ben’s trip to South Africa. A few days away to learn a little more about the history and culture of the country in a beautiful area seemed like a great idea at the time so I proceeded to plan.




After checking the prices on Kulula Air, a modestly priced, no frills airline, I decided that leaving early on Saturday morning for the Cape would save us some money without missing out on the time to explore. The times worked out for Dave and Renee Smit, our hosts, even though they were going to be busy with a Saturday training session at their church, two Sunday services, and their daughter Nikki’s 22nd birthday. I booked the airline tickets, getting us back home on Monday in time to avoid the 5:00 rush hour traffic. Then I booked a red bus city tour so we could spend all day Saturday touring the area and visiting some museums, the aquarium, and Table Mountain while reserving Sunday for church and Robben Island. Then we could all take our time on Monday to sleep in, go our for breakfast, and then catch the flight home. The agenda was set!


When I learned that the Soweto Gospel Choir was performing in the area, I decided that would be too good to miss so I also bought tickets for Dave and Renee and Renee prepared a light picnic supper for us all to enjoy while listening to the choir at the park. What a great plan, especially since Ben had lived in Soweto for a week and a half.



Friday night before we were to leave, my colleague Linda invited Ben and me to meet her and her family at a local shopping center for supper and a movie for her son and daughter, her daughter’s friend, and Ben. We found the place with only a momentary pause when Ben and I stopped at the wrong mall. We had a lively visit over some wine, good food, and the beginning of the weekend. Just as we were leaving, a storm began and Ben and I managed to get home with no wrong turns and just a few scary moments when I really couldn’t quite see which lane was which. Arriving home after 10:00 was definitely past my bedtime, but we got our packing finished up and started the search for passports. Ben’s was exactly where I put it when he returned from Lusaka. Mine was NOT in my pocketbook where I was sure I had left it. Instead of going to bed at an almost reasonable hour, I tore the apartment apart twice looking for that passport. With no sign of the critical document, I gave up and decided I must have left it in the office. We decided to get up early, shower, stop off at the office to search, and then head to the airport in J’burg, an hour away from Pretoria. Only a slight deviation from our agenda, so only minimal worries.



At 3:30 Saturday morning, the alarm went off and I headed to the shower. Ben was up at 4:00 and we were out the door by 4:30. Arriving at the office just before 4:45, we checked in with the guards at the gate who informed us that they could not let us into Aldoel, my building, because the doors to all the buildings were controlled by  the university’s security and those folks would not be around until 6 since it was the weekend. It was dawning on me that we would miss our 7:00 flight so we headed home. Ben went to sleep while I tried to take care of the flight via phone calls, only reaching a pleasant answering message that let me know that they were closed for the evening. It was clear there would be a significant change in starting our agenda on time.



At 6:00 Ben and I arrived at the office once again. The guards called the security person and by 6:30 he unlocked the building for us. The mad search began with the passport no where in sight. I started going through the books on my shelf when it finally fell out of a research book. We ran out of the building to the car, hit the road, and headed to the airport. We managed to get onto the R21 that would take us directly to the airport. Of course, it wasn’t long until the car began it’s signature morphing into a rabbit and we just held on as we hopped along.



Having made it to the airport by 7:45, we headed to the Kulula desk to rebook the ticket – an experience something akin to buying another ticket. I wasn’t taking any chances that we wouldn’t get on the 12:00 flight as standby so I paid for the new ticket that would get us out of town by 10:45. Ben and I had breakfast at his favorite Two Oceans Restaurant, roamed around a while, then went through security to wait. Note to self: Shopping on the domestic side is incredibly limited. It’s definitely much better on the international side! Our flight was on time and we landed close to 1:00 in Cape Town. I began to reorganize the agenda.



Dave, a Presbyterian minister, was an absolute delight. He was so friendly and outgoing and made us feel at ease immediately. He took us by his church, then ran us over to the Waterfront clock tower to begin an afternoon of shopping and getting our bearings. Since we had the tickets for the choir, he said he’d pick us up at 4:15 so Ben and I made the best use of our time by checking out the shops, getting lunch, purchasing our Robben Island tickets, and then going by the Visitor’s Bureau. Ben was immediately attracted to the adventure opportunities and before I knew it, we were booking a trip on Monday to see sharks. Of course, that meant another change in our flight plans, but how many times do you get to come to Cape Town? We have now modified the beginning and ending of our agenda. This is getting more expensive as we go!



The concert at the park was lovely. There was a band that opened for the Soweto choir and they were certainly perfect for the younger crowd. We were sitting near a group of American students who loved the music, but as more sophisticated adults, we just sat back and enjoyed it all. When the Soweto Choir came on, we were all enthralled. Music certainly communicates across languages and cultures and everyone enjoyed the performance. I think this was even more special after Ben had lived in Soweto for a while and then we had seen several of the choir members in the airport prior to our flight out of J’burg. We returned later in the evening to the Smit’s home to learn from Gareth, the photo journalist in the family, that there had been a big earthquake in Chile. Between trying to catch the international news and get to know our new friends, we had a lovely evening. Carrying some amazing photo equipment to a young photographer turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to meet an amazing family who became new friends.



Sunday morning, with a new agenda in place, Dave dropped us off at the Waterfront so that we could spend our day on the top of a double decker bus touring the beautiful Cape Town. We headed straight for Table Mountain, the cable car, and my first chance to see the area from the top of this mountain. Ben and I walked all over the top, gazing into every direction to see what this landmark had to offer. After a lovely start to the day, we boarded the bus to drive through the area and return to the Waterfront for lunch. What we thought would be a quick lunch of club sandwiches turned out to take over an hour so that we were unable to return to the bus tour to see the museums we had planned to visit. Instead, we walked around a bit and then headed over to the Robben Island departure point so that we could make that trip. The tour was fascinating and our guide was the same former prisoner who had led my students when we were there in July. At the end of the day, we headed back to the Waterfront, had a light supper, and then met up with Dave and Renee. After a cup of tea and some conversation, we turned in early since we had a pre-5 a.m. pick up for shark viewing. The modified agenda was working out, even though there was a significantly early start to our last day.



It’s amazing how quickly the time flies when you’re asleep! The alarm went off at 4 for me and I made Ben get up a little before 4:30. By 4:45 our van was outside the house waiting for us (10 minutes early) so we headed out and slept for most of the 2-hour ride to our location for shark diving. We had spent quite a bit of time on Sunday searching for some swim trunks for Ben because we had no plans for swimming when we left Pretoria (See how limiting an agenda can become?). As you might imagine, the end of the summer season is not the best time to search for swimwear and what’s left tends to be on the high price end at the specialty shops. We did luck out at long last, by finding one set of board shorts that actually fit and were on sale so we got ahead of the US summer season! After a buffet breakfast, a bit of a video, and some basic information, we and all the other folks we had traveled with headed down to the dock to board the boat that would take us out into the bay. Thank goodness, jackets were provided because the wind proved to be quite chilly and the water temperature was a chilly 9 degrees Centigrade.



We rode out into the bay, set anchor, and the first group donned their wet suits and got into the cage. The shark cage is really for underwater viewing of the sharks and remains attached to the boat. The first group was quite lucky and we all spotted our first shark within the first 5 minutes out. Ben watched the “divers” and I watched the sharks. They are quite amazing animals. I stayed on board the ship, noting that even with wet suits, divers were freezing in the water. I learned that actually the water is warmer in the winter (June and July) and the boat anchors closer to the seal island so that makes this trip a real possibility for next summer’s group of students.



Ben was in the third group of people to get into the cage. He spent more time waiting than viewing, but did actually see the sharks several different times. The women who entered the cage with him got so cold that they came out a little early, but Ben, hands shaking from the cold the whole time, stayed in the water in the hopes of more up close viewing. By the time he got out of the water, he was blue. We nibbled on chips, sandwiches, and fruit, took a ride to see the seals and their babies, and then headed back for tea and cookies, watch our video, and buy a t-shirt before heading home.



The trip home was quiet and we had a short nap along the way, getting back in time to have a brief visit with our hosts before making our way to the airport for some supper, a 30-minute delayed flight, and a 10 p.m. arrival in Pretoria (complete with car pretending to be rabbit experience). One would think that our arrival home would be routine, but as you can probably tell, there’s no such thing as routine or planned agenda. When we drove up to our flat, the remote that opens the gate refused to work. We back the car up, we drove around the block, we aimed the remote in every direction we could imagine. Finally I simply stopped the car in front of the gate and a security guard opened the gate for us! Who knew?  Does the agenda ever end the way you think it should?



With Monday morning and my final week with Ben beginning, I headed out early to get caught up with emails and work so that I could relax for the final week. I backed out of my parking spot, aimed the remote, and nothing happened! Thirty minutes after a frantic call to Jaco for the number of campus security, an attempt by another resident to open the gate with his remote, and the announcement of the cleaning ladies that the gate had been broken and attempts to repair it were obviously unsuccessful, a security guard came with a massive set of keys to make the gate open manually until the system was repaired.



Lessons Learned:

1. Agendas are a good idea to create some structure for what you want to do.

2. Flexibility is imperative to deal with all the curve balls that come your way.

3. Enjoying the good company of the people you are with makes the whole experience worth living through.