South Africa - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 335

and met Captain Samuelson with the crew but he gave me some bad news. He said there
was no room on board. He said that regulations stipulated that all personnel must have a
cabin, that two apprentices were boarding in Durban, that the price of eggs in Cape Town
weretoohigh, etc., etc. Basicallythebottomlinewasformetogetofftheship.Ithenwent
straight to Nedlloyd's office and was told that there was room on board to go to Durban
only.
IreturnedtothehousewithDavid. Juneandtherestofthefamilyweredelightedto
see me, however, I felt so empty. If there was a reason why I didn't make that sea voyage,
God only knew.
Iresumedscheduling mytalkstoschoolsforthefollowingweek.Atleast Iwasdo-
ing something positive until another option became available. I was invited by the mayor
to go for a walk along the contour path of Table Mountain. I met his entourage of five in-
cluding a Lady Britten from the UK and the funny thing was that no one brought water or
snacks except for me. So, being a good person, I shared my supplies with them. I couldn't
help but think if this was the reason I was not permitted on the ship: to spare these people
a horrible death from hunger and thirst. We concluded our walk in Kirstenbosh Botanical
Gardens and the mayor bought me some hot chocolate, pie and ice cream and thanked me
for saving their lives (OK…the last part I made up.)
My first weekend after the ship captain's rejection, I found it too quiet and started
to think of ways to occupy my time. First, I entered a 5-K charity run for The Donor Clinic
of South Africa. There were about 4,000 runners and I ran with David and Lynn. It was
harder than I imagined for my legs were conditioned for cycling not for running. Second,
I continued to do the gardening, trimming the lawn and cleaning beneath the trees. Third,
any opportunity to go for a hike I would say yes. David and I went to Chapman's Peak
Drive with the dog and we hiked up Blackburn Ravine and Noordhoek Peak.
A United South Africa: Two Minutes of Silence
The country had planned to observe two minutes of silence for peace. So, while I
was doing the gardening, I listened to the radio and at noon, the silence began. The radio
remained silent as I stopped what I was doing. A passing motorist stopped her car near the
house, switched off the engine and waited in silence with me for the two minutes. It was
quite a profound experience for me.
For the second time, I neglected my daily journal entries. My last two weeks in
SouthAfricawerewritteninonego.Therewasn'tanythingmonumentalthatoccurreddur-
ingthistimeandthedaysjustflewby.Ispentmyremainingtimespeakingatschoolswhich
includedGoodHopeSeminaryandSansSouciGirlsSchool,whereIhadaninterestingex-
perience.