catching up - pre-polei

Jen and I left Plett Bay on the 12th and headed back to Swellendam via Outdshoorn, ostrich capital of the world (seriously). Under the advice of 2 B&B owners, we decided to take a different route than we took out, one that supposedly had spectacular views. It was a pretty ridiculous drive, and we pulled over on the side of the rode multiple times to take photos. When we arrived at the ostrich farm/tour place we were disappointed to find that the afternoon was fully booked - apparently school groups go on ostrich farms on Saturdays. Undeterred, we got back on the road to Swellendam to check in early and see the town in daylight.

On the way, we again went through an area known as the Karoo that had crazy mountain passes. Apparently passes in CO are far more dangerous/breathtaking/awesome, but since I've never been to CO, this was pretty sweet. We arrived in Swellendam around 3ish and drove around town, saw a wedding exit a nice old church and then checked in. Unlike last time when there was another couple at our B&B, this time it was just us. We had the same "upgraded" suite, and decided to take advantage of it. So we went next door and got a pizza, salad and a couple beers, and settled in to watch the US/England match. Great match (our host called it the best match of the WC so far, but I'm sure he thinks the subsequent German victory was better).

The next morning we got up bright and early to head to CPT to pick up the Polei from their 10am flight. Our host offered to pack us take-away breakfasts since we would be leaving too early for a proper breakfast, and he didn't disappoint. We each received a 5lb bag containing 2 sandwiches, orange juice, some chocolate breakfast drink (haven't tried those yet), fresh fruit and yogurt. Rothman Manor is the place to stay in Swellendam - Andreas and is wife are awesome, can't say enough great things about them and their lodging.

Arriving at CPT is much like arriving at ORD - interstate with planes flying over. As we were approaching, we saw this giant white plane land and we both thought it could be the Polei's plane. Except we knew they were flying SAA, and this plane was all white, even the tail (usually the tail has the SAfrican flag on it). We parked, went in, waited and eventually found out that was in fact their plane - a rented 747 to accommodate more people (see Sarah's post below)!

MO

One of the many rainbows in the Cape Town area



From the mountain passes on the way to Swellendam