Misty Hills

I have arrived in South Africa and am safely established in our home for the next week- Misty Hills Country Hotel. My trip from London to Johannesburg was LONG but uneventful. 12 hours in a plane gets old real quick. I did not sleep as well last night as I did the night before – for unexplained reasons. When we landed this morning I felt like a brick had hit me. I successfully navigated customs and immigration and then waited in line at the currency exchange – “African speed” is not very impressive when it comes to people. Perhaps the animals in Namibia will demonstrate a better style. Then I found the shuttle transfer where I was told that we were required to wait for a woman who was coming from Paris and her plane had been delayed. So, hurry up and wait again- always with the very real possibility that I would fall asleep while standing there.
The shuttle eventually transported us around the city to the Misty Hills Hotel. I only saw the expressway view of the city- and quite frankly it looked like any city. Lovely hills surround it – but beside that there are lots of houses and lots of cars. Misty Hills is a beautiful old hotel. The grounds are simply stunning- very tropical- old resort. Our room is also amazing. It is very cool here- and the space heater in the room feels good.
I got in the room and promptly fell asleep – until the phone rang, telling me that Phil and our friend Stefan had arrived. Stefan originally worked as a student with Phil back in the 1980’s and we have been friends forever. He now lives in Perth, Australia and works as a professor at University of Western Australia. He and his wife have a son Lucas who is about 6 years old. Lucas speaks German to his father, Portuguese to his mother (who is Brazilian) and English in school. Apparently he has no trouble switching to whatever is required in each situation. We caught up on our families over lunch and then Phil and Stefan took their rental car and headed back to the airport. Phil will turn in the car, Stefan will board a plan for Frankfurt, and then Phil will return on the same shuttle I arrived on. I don’t anticipate seeing him in the next few hours- but it was awfully nice to see him and Stefan while they were here. We laughed when we realized that our last visit was in Halifax 4 or 6 years ago- and that visit was also very brief. Hopefully the next visit will be back in Perth.