awakens us on Thursday morning in a room that is barely showing the light of day. Scott stirs as he must get up for his BRiX class. I remain in my slumber, although my excitement is swimming around in my head. Eventually an hour later the door opens and I am aware that we really are leaving for our trip today. No words are spoken, but mental check lists are going on until we confirm we are ready to go.
At the airport, after security lines and a pensive breakfast, we are boarding the plane. I give the plane several pats upon entering it as I have come to do for all flights breathing in my last breath of fresh – well, outdoor air, for at least 14 hours. Once comfortable with our seats and after takeoff, we are like kids deciding which movies to watch, games to play. We have nothing but time. I chose to watch 4 movies with breaks of sleep, food, drink and reading. Scott with his nerves building found it hard to find a respite.
We started to see land and sunrise as we cautiously peaked out of the window. It was as if seeing landscape for the first time. We landed in Johannesburg knowing we would have to connect to Durban. After re-examining our schedule, we realized we could try and get on an earlier flight to get in earlier. Letting Scott do the talking, he secured us on the next flight and we both breathed a silent sigh of relief. At this point we are observing everyone in our gate as the Comrades Ultra Marathon is drawing an international field, many from the US. We seek out obvious running sneakers and conversations naturally strike. Although tired passengers we are, there is a need to try and find out as much as we can about this endurance event and seek camaraderie in others.
The Hilton in Durban greeted us pleasantly with the cool, easy South African accent and we melted into our beds for a much needed afternoon nap. Several hours later, somewhat refreshed, we met for dinner at a local place with some friends that were in South Africa for this race. Scott, having just met them some 28 days prior in Utah for the St. George Ironman, was happy to see more familiar faces. Our first meal of linefish, (which was a new word for my culinary vocabulary) salads, and regional homemade bread was easily devoured. The conversation flowed like the delicious South African wine and we realized we had finally arrived.
Good morning, this is your wake up call. A few minutes passed as we adjusted our brains to realize where we were. I wiggled my legs and realized that I physically felt so much better. We eagerly got ready and headed to breakfast so we could go to the Comrades expo waiting for us across the street at the ICC. Our first South African breakfast introduces me to spicy South African favorites and spices obviously from the East Indian trade routes. I’m thrilled that my studies have actually remained all these years. I curiously scoop out the grilled mushrooms and tomatoes and have my eyes set on a made-to-order omelette.
We head out to the expo and bypass the long line to the much more reasonable “International registration” where Scott worked to get his number after a small misunderstanding. In the interim we explored the many booths showcasing their current or up and coming products. Nike, Pain Gone, Reebok and dozens of others were out for their annual showing. We eyed the massage areas, but seeing the lines, we opted to a strategy of returning when the crowd died down. It was time for relaxation at the pool. We were able to catch some of the afternoon sun as we chatted about Scott’s big day tomorrow. We had done some digging and it turns out the course is hard to follow unless you have a car and know your way, so it was decided that I would stay at the stadium with the others. When we returned to the expo later that afternoon it was much more manageable and Scott was treated to a nice pre-race massage. We figured every little bit could help. That night we gathered for dinner at the buffet restaurant where they had catered to the future heroes with various choices of pasta. We sat with some other Americans and there existed this consistent murmur of laughter, nervousness and plans in motion. Everyone had planned to make tonight an early night, because it would only be hours before the front desk would be busy with their wakeup calls.
Scott started to drift off around 8:00 PM Saturday night, but unfortunately awoke only hours later, while I continued to sleep. I joined him in acute consciousness near midnight where the mental countdown began. There was no going back to bed, so when our wake up call failed to come at 1:30 AM we hardly even noticed. I did some last minute digging into the goody bag and squealed as I found what I thought to be a treasure. How had we not seen this? There was a tyvek shirt in there that would be perfect for him as he stands at the start. Down in the lobby the cacophony of morning voices, groggy yet nervous and excited, was growing. There was an assortment of coffee and various pastries for the comrades to fuel up on prior to their 1 hour bus ride to Pietermaritzburg. I walked Bob, Melissa, and Scott to the bus after a quick trip to see the hotel bar that was still very much alive with night owls. I sent him off with a kiss and a hug and already couldn’t wait to see him again at the finish line as I lazily returned to my room.
I got back into bed and stared at the television for a short time before drifting back to sleep. I awoke again closer to a more human wake up time and went off to a birthday breakfast by myself. I was excited as I calculated how long everyone had been running and went down to the lobby to check Scott’s tracking. Of course, there is always time for a quick facebook check-in as well as email to see my birthday wishes. I headed over to the stadium with another woman who was a spectator. We entered a large stadium that was starting to come alive as the screen projected the leaders in the race. They had been going for almost 5 hours. There was a man from Zimbabwe in the lead who had surpassed one of the previous leaders I had been watching from my hotel room just a few hours prior. It was a gorgeous day and I was taking in the magic that was happening all around me. Music started playing as I wandered in the International tent and my eyes were fixated on the screen and I was instantly motivated. As the minutes started to tick by, the cheers were becoming louder. My introduction to the vuvuzella was during those moments as Stephen headed towards the arena as the definite winner. I had my camera fixated on him as he entered my site on the home stretch — the feeling was unbelievable. As they trailed in one by one, through the women’s top ten, it made me realize that we human beings are truly capable of doing some amazing things. The name of the race was very evident, right there, on that day, in that stadium and all the way back to where they started.
My mission continued throughout the day with one small break for a late lunch. I was on a mission to track Scott. He seemed to be doing well through the half marathon and at the next check in point. However, the statistics were confusing in kilometers per minute, but at least I knew he was coming home. As some of the people that I recognized started to trail in, I had more people to share my newly found love of spectating with. I also got to hear the one word remarks of those happy finishers. Some echoed “amazing”, “incredible”, but none said anything negative or that they had regretted doing it. Some runners streamed down the grass lined last straightaway with signs of how many years they had been doing this, who they were running for, and even one marriage proposal. There were various times where I felt such warmth for the whole thing and combined with coming face to face with a big birthday and with my age, realized that this marked one memorable day. During the last hour after my last check in for Scott, I found a chair on the rail and staked out my spot — no one would distract me from my job of capturing, or at the very least, SEEING my boyfriend finish the 85th running of the Comrades ultra marathon. Scanning the runners like a spy, I finally spotted the orange shirt over the tan body that I have come to know like the back of my hand. After nearly 45 or so minutes of turning off and on my camera, I could barely press record and steady the camera. All of a sudden, I was immobile and just wanted to scream for him — which I did. I was rewarded by the sweet smile of recognition and I felt a huge sigh of relief. I managed to capture that moment both in my camera and forever in my mind.
I abandoned my chair in a leap and dashed to the finish area where I again spotted the familiar colors of orange and tan. I held him and helped steady is exhausted and starved body. He was overcome with all these emotions and it was all we could do to walk back to the exhibitor’s tent to sit down for a moment. We sat and I orchestrated our little group and just enjoyed having our group back together. As the sun started to say its farewell, the hours of Comrades drew to a close. When the last few minutes approached and the clock’s ticks were counting down, we threw in some last shouts of inspiration to those to try and hurry everyone in before the human gates came down. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 and then there was this moment. One where you see those runners who are stopped dead in their tracks, feet heavy, and perhaps hearts the heaviest. You wanted to, and did cry for those who did not make the cut off, but quickly resumed the cheering that they too, were comrades and that EVERYONE on this day was a hero.
We decided to walk back as Scott grew shaky and I became concerned. We managed to hobble to the medical tent, which looked like something out of a war camp. Stretchers everywhere and filled beds made my stomach turn as I let Scott off to join them. Perhaps it was organized chaos, but I found it hard to rejoin him after looking all over, paging him, and then finally resolving to stay at the hotel until he returned. He finally walked through the door, got into the room, took a much needed shower and just tried to adjust to his badly hurting body.
I changed to go down and meet the others in a post race celebration, and – to have my birthday drink. The night went on brilliantly with stories, food, drinks and new found friends. I magically won the bottle of Jack Daniels that was in a “treasure chest” after announcing to the bartenders that it was my birthday. I won’t divulge any secrets for that.
When we hit the pillows that night, Scott had a different type of respect for this race, these people and this accomplishment. I just hit the pillows wondering if I too, would be capable of something like this.
As they say, no rest for the weary and we were up again for our flight to Capetown to get a head start on our true “vacation”. Our driver to the airport was most insightful, but having just witnessed the unity the previous two days, it was saddening to learn that there existed much unrest in certain areas. Our plane seat neighbor was another friendly South African who gave us some tidbits in Capetown for our three night stay. The flight was beautiful and we entered the Capetown Diamond Hotel and changed our room to the top floor. Although Scott’s legs were not as functional, the New Yorker in him was much alive. We had the top floor and a nice terrace to sit outside on. We went to a somewhat late lunch outside a few blocks from the hotel and Scott had an Ostrich burger, while I had some vegetarian version. Red wine and relaxation helped us adapt to this renowned city. We decided to do Table Mountain tomorrow as it was already late in the day and we were not in condition to walk around the top of a mountain. Scott was doing his best and we were seeing this coastal city one step at a time.
After a familiar breakfast of grilled mushrooms and some other assortments we were off to Long Street where we would seek out the hop-on, hop-off bus that was rumored to take us to Table Mountain. It was an unseasonably beautiful and mild day. We boarded the top level of the bus, listened to the history and saw most of the city. I occasionally tried to repeat tidbits of history I had learned, which is something I have grown to love in all my travels. Once we reached our destination, we took the cable car to the top and saw the city in full, with no cloud obstructions. We explored the top of the mountain to the edges where the paths did not exist and the quiet of the mountain was almost deafening. It seemed obvious why people would want to hike up here and meditate. Up here there was only nature and scattered tourists who were mostly in their own thoughts. We saw some lizards and a UFO as well. We saw this unidentified furry object, which turned out to be a dossie. They were very cute and just interested in sunning and food. We spoke with some people who did adventure tours and the idea of paragliding off Lion’s head became a great idea. We didn’t really have the time to donate an entire day to shark diving and this seemed like something we could both do and come out the least sick or hurt.
We hopped back on our bus and headed to Camp’s Bay, were Scott would finally get to see the beach. We found a restaurant right on the beach and had a delicious lunch of fish and wine and some tasty appetizers. I quickly compared this area to a smaller Miami until we walked to the beach and I spotted an entire sign devoted to preventing Shark attacks. We took a silly picture next to the sign, but inside I was petrified and was grateful to feel that the water was too cold to swim or even wade in. Fatigue of the day settled in and we returned back to the hotel for a nap.
We returned to our now familiar, Long Street where we decided on Mama Africa for dinner. We decided to have a quick drink at Mojito, where we both appropriately ordered the namesake drink. We were discussing our plans for jumping off a cliff tomorrow and how Scott’s legs were going to hold up, when screams ensued. I was too curious to turn away so I ventured towards the sounds. Apparently a rat had surreptitiously entered this watering hole and created quite a scene. Seconds later I was standing on our table outside as the waiter who killed this intruder came within inches of us and disappeared to the back. Check please.
Luckily Mama Africa, after careful inspection, seemed clean and free of squatters. We returned to our appetites and ordered delicious authentic cuisine while we listened to the melodies of the live music. We had a chat with our friendly waitress who turned out to be an expat living right there in Capetown. She had come to study, fell in love with it, and decided to stay. She gave us some great names for shopping and more tidbits to put in our collection. I had my clip outs and magazines that I so carefully brought with me and read so I would have wealth of knowledge upon arrival; however nothing compares to local advice.
And take her advice, we did. The next morning we headed to a small market, Pan African Market, where crafts and gifts were everywhere on the three stories. We were greeted with pleasant smiles and open invitations to browse. Armed with our negotiating and bargaining skills we left happily with beautiful and memorable pieces and happy merchants as we were the first sales of the day. Now it was time for us to sail as we headed back with our treasures to change and prepare for our appointment to meet our guide at the top of the mountain. It didn’t take long to get up to the mountain where what appeared to be a young twenty something named Suki greeted us with a handshake and a mellow voice. He seemed to be simultaneously assessing the weather as well as trying to communicate what he was thinking to us. Within what it took the cab to leave us and go to the top to turnaround, it was understood that the winds had changed and it was no longer safe. The safety factor didn’t resonate with me, as I was fixated on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to have my adventure of paragliding. Scott seemed pretty ok with it, and suggested we head to the waterfront. We bid adieu to Suki, who seemed like he would stay up there for a while feeling out the wind. I longingly looked in the back window as I said goodbye to my adventure.
Being a positive person, I grew excited as we entered the waterfront area and I saw all the shops. Sure, it seemed a bit like a giant mall, or perhaps closer to a South Seaport vibe, but I was excited, as I had seen pictures in magazines like this. We explored the areas and I picked up some things for people in the states. We cruised the waterfront and scoped out dinner cruise yachts, took pictures, enjoyed some impromptu street music and just enjoyed our time. We decided for our last night in to dine al fresco at Mint, which we learned was part of the Taj hotel. Fish was both of our choices, and we enjoyed the music across the street as we dined with only a few other patrons. It was a perfect night as we said goodbye.
Another early wake up call of which I was strangely adapting to. This couldn’t be good, but I knew we just had to get to the airport, and then we could sleep a bit. Then a funny thing happened as we checked in our stuff. We heard the words “Scott?” “Scott from New York?”. I sarcastically stated, “of course you run into someone”. This has been an ongoing joke since I’ve known him. He seems to run into people wherever he is. This was no exception. We chatted with his former client as we somehow managed to drag ourselves on flight number four. We had also seen more Comrades heroes along the other flights and it was as if they had reconnected with their brothers and there was no hesitation in starting conversations.
One more flight later and we had landed in Hoedspruit airport, population unclear. As we were greeted by our driver we settled into the true Africa I had been the most excited about. This was the Bush land and we had reached the last leg of our trip. As we drove along the road out of the airport we already saw Cape buffalo (check off list – Big Five number 1), giraffe, and some other animals I’ve never seen. The remainder of the drive was spent adjusting to the bumpiness that we would encounter for the duration of our safari. We checked into our amazing suite, Earth, and could not believe how beautiful everything was. We had a beautiful indoor shower, claw foot tub, and outdoor shower. The sitting area was equipped with fruit, a mini bar and complementary sherry. After a very short rest, we headed over for our first game drive. As we climbed into the Land Rover wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a cover-up for the later hours, we were quickly warned that once the sun set, the temperature dropped so much that the previous day, people were freezing. I ran back to the room to put on my leggings, which was the only thing that I had. Scott made the decision to stay in his shorts, which would haunt him several hours later. As the sun set in the next few hours, they were right and it was colder than either Scott or I had expected. We had a great first experience seeing elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs and various other forms of wildlife. Being our first drive, we were confused when our tracker Ru, abandoned the car and started off into the woods saying “goodnight” to us. Sam, the other tracker took the wheel and off we went again. It turned out that Ru was truly tracking to see if he could find rhinos or lions, or leopards. Our debut ride was amazing, although Scott was wrapped up in the blanket that they provided counting the time until we could get back and he could put on warmer clothes. As we returned, our Pondoro lodge had several employees waiting for us with a warm washcloth and a shot of sherry. It went down well and warmed us. The first dinner was beautiful with the stars overhead and a delicious dinner followed by the sound of the Mongoose purring under the deck upon which we were eating.
We opted to sleep in (past 5am) and when the wake up call came, I played mental options in my head until I decided that I was tired and we would have several other drives. Several hours later, feeling rested, warm and excited to hear how the others drive was we headed to breakfast where we kept hearing the hippos on the Olifants River. In the middle of our breakfast we finally saw them. Three big, gray hippos in the water. The next hour was spent admiring and photographing them. The other people in our little group returned and joined in. They told us they had been in the center near a pride of lions. I hoped that maybe we would see them on the evening drive. We decided to take a walk with Sam, which turned out to be a learning walk. He showed us the leaves and trees that are used in the Bush by the people. The jackelberry tree, Leadwood tree, Amarillo and various other natural items (including elephant dung) were all able to be used. After lunch that day, Scott and I sat finishing our wine by the deck sitting comfortably getting sun; I looked over and was startled. There were several Mongoose making themselves at home on the furniture, on another guest’s lap and two had started to climb onto Scott’s back. He was startled at first, but then we soon began playing with them and petting them. They were so cute and quite playful animals with a large shoe obsession. At one point Scott tried to get his shoe back and they gave him a small love bite to ward him off.
We were better prepared that night for the evening drive. There was our normal group of a mother and her daughter who lived in separate states, a couple from San Francisco, and a newlywed English couple. We got along and found humor in almost everything.
Saturday morning we joined the morning drive, which will remain as the best drive for us. Pictures don’t describe emotions, but this drive was magical. The sun rise warmed us up and the animals were awaking as we rode our trusty Land Rover. Ru had an obvious love and devotion to what he did and he was hot on the trail of a Big Five… the Leopard. He communicated with Sam and all of a sudden we saw him on one of the roads. We hightailed it to him and he took us to the bush. Then he quietly pointed. He was only there for less than 30 seconds, but seeing a Leopard in real life out in the open was truly amazing. We didn’t think anything could surpass this event, but our amazing trackers were also able to find a rhino. When we returned to the lodge for breakfast we were laughing and retelling our morning adventures.
We really enjoyed the next 24 hours to the fullest and it was hard to believe that our trip was winding down. Our farewell drive was a bit quieter and on our return to the lodge we saw three velvet monkeys up in the trees. We had watched two more rhinos grazing that morning as well. It was a nice ending to what was an incredible trip.
After what seemed like an eternity (we had been traveling for about 28 hours) we were back in the US and World Cup fever was just starting. As I sit here and retell our adventures, I’m watching the USA play in the World Cup and the sound of vuvuzellas is a background murmur.