10.6.09
We woke up early again this morning for out last game drive with John. We added 2 more passengers, Jim, who I am going shark diving with tomorrow, and Tony, who always has so much product in his hair that I just want to mess it up. It was a bit chilly this morning so Leigh-Anne and I put on the sweet ponchos that John brought for us. They were pretty hot.
The game drive this morning was not that exciting. We didn’t really see all that much. We saw more impala, kudu, elephants, giraffes, wildebeest and a rhino. I didn’t take any pictures of the wildebeest because I am still mad at them for killing Mufasa. The rhino was pretty cool because we got to see him flop in a mud puddle. He basically made it about 3x the size it originally was. Leigh-Anne and I had a goal of asking John a question that he didn’t know the answer to, but neither of us were very talkative so that didn’t go very well. Wee never saw a zebra or a leopard, but I guess that gives me a reason to come back.
When we got back to the lodge, we went back to the room and grabbed our bags and waited for the bus to the airport. I got split up from Leigh and Becky and rode in the van with Alex and Dr. Duran and his wife, who celebrated their anniversary while we were on safari. We got to talking and of course Disney came up. Dr. Duran apparently just got back from a conference with ABC and Disney and personally knows the head of their Internship and Marketing. We definitely need to do lunch. That is pretty exciting.
We got to the airport and got a burger at Whimpy’s while we watched rugby on TV. We tried to figure out the rules, but eventually we all just gave up. We just hung out there until it was time to board. We went through security as we were boarding. This woman behind me zipped up part of my backpack for me. Well that action caused us to start talking and she asked us what we were doing. It turns out she did SAS on the same voyage as Leigh-Anne’s mom in the spring of 1978! I can’t remember her first name, but her last name was Handy, but it is so crazy. She and her husband were on vacation in South Africa. Again, just goes to show how small the world is.
We boarded our baby plane and headed back to Cape Town. The flight wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really comfortable either. I was very grateful when we landed. We got delayed a little bit going back to the ship because Becky left her purse on the plane. Luckily, she was able to get it back. Then we also had some issues trying to find the bus.
We made it back to the ship and grabbed some dinner and showered. I was gratefully reunited with my camera. Once we were ready, we went out to Mitchell’s in the waterfront. They were having karaoke night. We staked out a place and Mackenzie went and put her name in for karaoke. While she waited for her turn, Becky got drinks. We met some guys in the British military. They are also sailing and are headed for Australia next. They were highly intoxicated, but very fun. One was called ski because he had a Polish last name that ended in –ski and there was another one that acted as my dance partner, but I was never quite able to grab his name.
Soon it was Mackenzie’s turn and she belted our Proud Mary and it was fabulous. I freaking love her. She has absolutely no stage fright. Of course we were all screaming and yelling for her. Afterward, we went to the middle of the dance floor, which really wasn’t a dance floor, it was just the largest space between tables. We were joined by our British friends and at one point Becky and Katie found themselves being picked up by one of them. That was really awkward, but really funny at the same time.
We eventually left Mitchell’s and wound up meeting a pirate named Pedro. He allowed us on his pirate ship. Pedro was even kind enough to lend us some pirate costumes and we played dress-up haha. Mackenzie was able to fulfill her life-long dream of becoming a pirate. She took everything so seriously. We learned a little sword fighting and Mackenzie and Becky took Katie and I prisoner and locked me in the stocks. I guess they took pity on me and eventually let me out. After we had all the swashbuckling we could stand, we headed back to the ship and crashed.