We’re home. Our adventures are now in our dreams—visions of ocean, mountains and animals. I have a sense of unreality—being home, still somehow in transit.

When we got Covid, we thought our adventures were over. But we recovered enough to venture out on our last couple days in Cape Town. 

On the day before we left, we got up early and went for a walk from Sea Point to Camps Bay. We spent several hours, taking our time looking at the scenery. We followed a path along the coast. On one side, were ocean and beaches; on the other, a range of mountains known as the “twelve apostles” (actually, there are only nine).

It was a glorious day—full sun, cool in early morning and getting hot later. I even did a few sketches. For part of our way back, we hopped on a local little red bus.

On our last day, we took a small-group tour. Our first activity on this tour was a boat ride to “seal island”—an island which is home to hundreds of seals. It was, unfortunately, one of Cape Town’s windy days and the boat ride was rough.

Do you get seasick on rough seas?  Apparently, I do.  The seals were amazing and the scenery lovely—but I was nauseous, very nauseous.  All I wanted was to get off that boat.

Then, we drove on a mountain coastal road—incredible scenery. But I couldn’t shake the nausea.as our little vehicle swerved round and round the curvy road.

So—we did a lot of driving. It was all beautiful. We visited the Cape of Good Hope—the southern-most tip of Africa—where the Portuguese first came on their way to find the spices of the Orient.

Our last stop was Boulder’s Beach, famous as the hang-out for African penguins.  There are hundreds of small penguins standing, sitting, lying down in the sand, kissing each other… The penguins are enchanting.

It was a long day of driving—with beautiful scenery and curvy roads. As soon as we got back to our apartment, we got our luggage (we had already packed) and left for the airport.

The trip home took more than 30 hours, including time in the Cape Town airport, eleven hours between Cape Town and Amsterdam, a six-hour layover in Amsterdam, eight hours between Amsterdam and Minnesota, waiting for our bags in Minneapolis, and our Uber ride home.

So, it’s taking time to recover from the journey—I’m jetlagged. As I write this, my ears are still clogged from the ascents and descents on the airplanes. And my inner clock is all messed up—I wake up at two in the morning… But this too will pass.

I’ve had emails from folks who have read my travel blogs. Some have told me about their own travels in Africa. I feel like there’s a special fellowship of people who have been lucky enough to venture into the wild—to be with animals in their own lands, to see and to experience this open space.

Lions, leopards, cheetahs, zebras, elephants, and even penguins—they are all part of my dreams now.