Ta-Ta Tiida

We finished the Garden Route with a grueling drive to Port Elizabeth, through rainy conditions, major road construction, a long detour, and a delay caused by a herd of cows crossing the road. MOOO! We pulled into P.E. in gale-force winds and heavy rains. It was not a charming place.

Tuesday morning we finally had to turn over the keys of our trusty Nissan Tiida to the agent at Alamo. After clocking up almost 2000 km on her, we had gotten quite attached. The prospect of driving on the left and in South Africa (the carjacking capital of the world) was a bit intimidating, but we had no serious problems. One of the funniest aspects of driving in South Africa is that all gas stations are full service. You pull in and about five guys descend on the car like a NASCAR pit crew, filling up the tank, cleaning the windows and mirrors, checking the tire pressure, etc. It was wild.

Another funny thing about driving here is that you would look at an oncoming car in what we normally think of as the driver's seat and see a small child, or someone reading a map, or someone asleep. It was hard not to panic and remember they were only passengers!

Sarah only had to shout "LEFT LEFT LEFT" one time and we never got seriously lost, so we considered it a successful road trip! Once we left the Tiida, our travels up to northern South Africa were a litany of weather-related delays, service incompetence with the rent-a-phone people, and a page on the airport PA (which we never answered as we sprinted to board our flight) saying: "Passenger Hall, report to the SAA ticket counter urgently!" We made it all in one piece, and even had two meals (!?!) on our two short-hop domestic flights. Now on to the animals...


Thomas and the trusty Tiida


The shadow of the Tiida on the road.


Thomas kisses the Tiida goodbye.