Yesterday was my first day of driving on the wrong side of the road. Not all went well, but nobody died which is good. I am driving a stick shift with my left hand and have ground reverse while going from 2nd to 3rd enough times to assure the next driver that the teeth on the gears are just little nubs by now. The oil must be jet black with metal filings, and will come out like toothpaste on the next oil change.


That aside, so long as there are visual cues to remind me to be on the WRONG side of the road it has been fine. Only once have I found myself driving in the wrong lane perplexed by the blaring horn of the oncoming car in MY lane. I guess it wasn't my lane.... I didn't catch the expletives that the other driver was shouting as he went by, but they continued as he disappeared in my rearview mirror.


The only real mishap was hitting the curb on my left side in my first few kilometers or so (going about 35 mph at the time) destroying one of my hubcaps, and a few dings to the rim (no flat fortunately). I wonder what that will cost me.... Of note driving a used car (2000 golf VW?) is cheap though. $15/day, and only $10 to have them drop it off at my door step.


Regarding the mishap, I should have realized that that would happen when the guy who dropped the car off ran away as quickly as he could once he handed me the keys. Oops. I can tell you now that you really need to consciously be hugging the center line on your side from the get go as it is easy to crowd the shoulder.


Anyway, yesterday, we drove to the Cape of Good Hope. A beautiful but also desolate place. The ground cover (hardy green shrubs mostly) waves like an ocean in the high winds. I guess, it is quite windy 100 days of the year, and that was the case on our visit. If you leaned over the wall looking down cliffs hundreds of feet high, the wind had to be a steady 50 mph racing up the cliffs at times. Gusts could almost knock you off of your feet on flat ground as well. The visit was a good hike, and yet another highlight for us. It is not the southern most point of Africa, but close enough for us as the drive to the southern most point would take most of a day. On the way there, we stopped by a penguin colony which was fun as well.


Last night, we rejoined the Steketee/Morscheck crew for dinner as they have arrived to Cape Town. It was a good reunion, and we will be joining them today for a downtown visit. Having a great time, and must say that South Africa has a lot to offer as a destination. JK