It started on Friday Afternoon, as I had to pay up on my promise for filling out the ICASS survey. Homemade Ice Cream for everyone, and then an auction to raise funds for the Community Liaison Officer. (A good cause since they don't have a budget, and because Lovely English Lass is the CLO.) Finally ending with someone bidding R650 to hit me in the face with a whipped cream pie.
Shortly after going home to rinse spray cream out of my hair (and you never get that smell out of your nose once it's there) we packed the car and headed to Clarens, Free State. But not before Lovely Little Girl got car sick about 45 minutes into the trip. So now we're headed down poorly paved roads where they put up signs warning of pot holes, but don't actually fix the pot holes. (The sign is cheaper is my guess.)
And man was it dark. Probably the darkest night I've ever seen. No moon, but THOUSANDS of stars. I've never seen so many stars. And it's Southern Hemishphere, so I have no idea which stars they were. But on we drove, finally arriving at 9 pm to the house we'd rented for the weekend. But nothing was really open, so no dinner for anyone.
Woke up the next morning and Dad and I walked around town trying to find milk and something for the family to eat prior to going out for breakfast. NOTHING was open at 7 am. This is a major tourist town, as evidenced by the number of motorcycles leaving early that morning, and nothing was open. We finally found a small market that opens at 7 and bought some cereal and milk, which saved the day.
At 8:30, we all walked outside to get a better view of Clarens and have breakfast. It was beautiful. This is a little art enclave right next to Golden Gate Highlands National Park. The view is amazing, and the stores are quaint and lovely. We walked around in the sunshine walking from art studio to art studio, and seeing all sorts of great stuff. LEL bought some new boots, and I bought a new wallet. We found two paintings we liked and bought one of them. (My parents bought the other one as an early birthday gift for LEL.) We found two lovely small home-made easels for putting up art work, and had some great food while there. The kids liked being in the sunshine, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
After putting the kids to bed LEL and I went out for a drink. It was fantastic to be able to walk around the town after dark and not be worried about crime. We had a nice drink (although the smoking in the bar was a bit of a surprise) and walked back at around 10. We looked at the stars through our telescope, and went to sleep.
The next day we had an early breakfast, cleaned the house, and left for the National Park. LEL stated that she didn't believe we'd see any of the animals known to be a part of the Park, but that the view was going to be amazing. I saw a picnic area, and pulled over so she could take photos. Of course in the picnic area was a troop of baboons. (Yes, that's the correct name for a group of baboons.) From there we drove onward and suddenly ran across the largest herd of Spring Bok nd Antelope I've ever seen. There they were, stretched for at least a kilometer, with wildebeast mixed in for good measure. It was amazing. They were crossing the road right in front of us, not even paying attention. I've never seen anything quite like it, and LEL got some great photos.
My parents loved the trip, and I have to admit I really liked Clarens as well. It seems like the sort of place you could go for about a week and have a great relaxing vacation. Maybe we'll go back before leaving South Africa. All I know is we have some great memories, some cool art, and some great photos (which I'll post later) of an amazing place.
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