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Hout Bay- 2 March 2024

Peter 3

On Thursday afternoon we all took mother-in-law Annie to her son Michael in Gordon’s Bay, about 70 km to the east. The navigation sent us via the scenic route or right through the back neighborhood, but luckily Tom looks like Jesus these days so everything went fine. After drinking some coffee there and talking about the foundation problems of their home, we went to Gino’s in Stellenbosch to eat. I talked a lot with Michael about his work in the Saudi Arabian Air Force and his plans for the future. It was just a very nice evening.

Tomorrow Michael and Vanessa will take Annie to Dysseldorp and they will visit some old friends themselves. We said goodbye

The way back to Houtbaai once again made it clear to me that I was really in Africa. Unlit largely due to loadshedding, stripes that were not or hardly there due to maintenance and many cars that drove without or with poor light. Pretty exciting!

Today, Friday, I took Tamara and Lisa to Cape Town for some shopping. They take the bus back they said so it will take a while. This morning I saw a good series on YouTube of ‘the Icarus Project’ about Russia and why this country is not an economic powerhouse where all residents are well of. The moral of the story was that the elite was completely happy with the status quo and that this had always been the case over the centuries. This elite has everything they want and sees no reason to make a change to give the rest of the population some well-being. It reminded me a lot of South Africa, which has just about everything to become a very wealthy country, but here too the top is quite satisfied with their beautiful houses, beautiful cars, excellent eateries and cheap labor. They hide in their own world which is beautiful and buy protection and luxury. In Houtbaai every morning I see pretty women in their convertibles driving to their favorite business for a cafe latte and then disappearing behind their ‘gated communities’. There is no ‘drive’ to change this, just like in Russia.

It was Tom and Tamara’s last night in South Africa and so they drove to Camps Bay for sunset. They also got a huge desire for fries from Steers, the local fast food store, at 8 o’clock in the evening. The nearest Steers was in Cape Town so they drove for an hour for a bag of fries and they could finally eat at 10 o’clock. They have now been checked in and have reserved their seats. Hopefully Tom has  a better neighbor compared to the inbound flight this time.

It is now Saturday morning March 2nd and this is the last day for Tom and Tamara here. Tonight around half past ten I’ll take them to the airport so they can fly home at half past one tomorrow morning. They will arrive in the Netherlands around 11 in the morning. Both have to work again Monday

What are we going to do today? No idea. In any case, we have to pack some suitcases because we are also leaving here tomorrow morning.

I have decided to continue the holidays, for now. Lisa is also done with all the hassle here and she is going to do everything so we have time for each other. So we’re going to do that in the near future and then we’ll see.

In any case, we are going north towards the border with Namibia. On Monday evening I have to be near a good 4G connection for a Teams meeting with my business partners (homes for people with autistic disorder, https://gewoonwonen-alphenaandenrijn.nl) but after that my accessibility will decrease.

  1. Rita Rogge Rita Rogge

    Goede reis en wat een prachtige, fijne en lekkere tocht en braai ! Geniet elke keer van je verhaal

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