I Bless the Rains Down in Africa....

It's actually been quite beautiful these last two days in Africa but the Toto song did aptly play on the radio as we were making our drive to the city of Outdshoorn in the Klein Karoo region of the Western Cape. Our day was spent driving inland along the not-so-utilized Route 62. The main highway in South Africa is the N1, and Route 62 has suffered much the same fate as our beloved Route 66. Many of the small towns (called dorpies) have even branded themselves with large Route 62 signs that are the carbon copy of our Route 66 signs. The drive itself was quite scenic with changing landscapes of rolling hills, vineyards, and grazing cattle (even some Ostrich!!!) along the way. We stopped for lunch in the town of Montagu and enjoyed Sunday brunch in an Art Deco hotel filled with locals -- lunch included a cream of cauliflower and bleu cheese soup, spinach and mushroom quiche, rare roast beef, and finished off with some cake soaked in rum sauce.

We actually made good time for I quickly learned to yield to faster moving vehicles and how to overtake slower moving ones, though I am driving on the left...Joe helps by yelling at me that I'm drifting too far to the left and onto the soft shoulder. I've tried to hug the right but as an oncoming car approaches, it always seems I'm too close to the center line and I drift back to the left. I still spend most of my energy reminding myself to stay LEFT rather than looking around at the scenery...I'm also afraid of hitting someone who is walking alongside the road or running across the highway, not to mention roadsigns that warn of gazelle and tortoise crossing. We arrived in our hotel, The Rosehof Country House, by 5:00 pm and had a wonderful dinner that included rack of lamb and ostrich fillet. Tomorrow, we're off to see the Cango Caves (dripstone caverns), visit a working ostrich farm, and hopefully, pet some cheetahs!

--Christine