Granny plays tour guide

Hello All.

I was just about to start this post when I received an e-mail from a friend of mine.
I feel ill.
Decisions,decisions.
Do I post it now?
Or carry on with a light hearted post?
Nope…I think I share BOTH with you.
Good and evil.
Let’s get the evil out of the way first.

Going out of the hospital building for a smoke, I found myself near a Somali couple. A woman attending to a man swathed in bandages all over his head and arms and chest. The wounds appeared really awful, and being the person that I am, I was curious, so asked them what had happened. The man had a street stall from which he traded in various small goods – sweets, cigarettes and so on. Three nights ago, he was attacked as he was packing up his things – by a group of young black men (bear in mind, Jeri and Peggy, that Somalis are also black). They hit him in the head with an axe and gouged out one eye. But that did not kill him – obviously – so they wrapped his hands heavily in plastic shopping bags, which they then set alight, causing unbelievable damage as the melted plastic clung to the burning tissue making it virtually impossible to put out the fire. The man’s hands (I would imagine – as I obviously couldn’t see the wounds through the

bandages) are now rendered completely useless and such deep burns never really heal up properly again. The pain must be unbearable. I cannot believe that human beings can do such things. I could not talk to them for long, as my shame at being a South African was just too much for me. As I am sitting here now, I can barely hold back my revulsion and the tears just flow. Oh my beloved country, what are we allowing ourselves to become!
 I feel ill.

And now…so do I.

OK…back to yesterday.
The tour happened.
We were meant to leave at two o’clock but,eventually, only set off at 4:15.
First stop was my beach.
The American pulled out his Nikon camera with a huge lens.
I looked through it.
I swear I could see people sitting in the lounges.
Across the bay.
I went green.
I have never been one to covet material things.
But I WANTED that camera.
Until this morning.
He forgot to change the settings when he put the big lens on.
His pictures were nearly all duds.
I would ALWAYS be doing something like that.
Then the evil side of me took over.
I put the shots I had taken onto my memory stick.
Gave them to him to put on his laptop.
Hehehehe.

We drove around the far south until we reached the stalls at Cape Point.

Annie browsed for about twenty minutes.
She never bought anything.
I was relieved.
That stuff is not South African.
The people selling it are not South Africans.
It is wildly overpriced.
And mostly junk!

A few kms on and we met the baboons.
Same place where we saw them with the Frenchman.
They were better behaved.
I only took one picture.
Sorry.
Mike took a couple but his camera uses so many pixel thingies I can’t put it on my blog.

You can’t even see his face but I love the mountains in the background.

On the way back we decided to go for fish and chips in the Kalk Bay harbour.
You all know one of my favourite places.
It is such a dive.
Full of local colour.
And you keep your handbag securely on your lap.
If you are a woman.
Their portions are huge.
And delicious.

Note the plastic table cloth.
And plastic knives and forks.
Fancy it isn’t !

I could show you more pics but I think this is enough for today.

After supper we had a slight moment of panic when we realised that none of us knew which hotel they were at.
Using a bit of logic I went in the general direction of the wine farms and they recognised the gateway.
Phew.
I got home just before eight.
A day with a difference.
Good for the soul.

Catch you all tomorrow.