Christmas in South Africa

With my exams out the way it was time for another trip to South Africa. Owen, Brendon & I had last been there 8 months ago in March/April. It was not a secret that I was dreading the flight there and back. Owen has become so active I could just imagine him kicking the peoples chair in front of him, lifting the tray table up and down for the umpteenth time, wanting to touch everything that could move...............

We spent our night (as per standard) before our flight in the hotel close to Schiphol. It was event-less and we got a decent nights sleep. At check-in we were pleasantly surprised by our up-grade to business class seats (not services only seats). We had absolutely no problem with this. The Lord was definitely looking after us on this trip as we had the same up-grade on the way home. Apparently this was unheard of. Only by this time Owen was used to travelling in a bigger chair and he preferred sleeping alone on the chair, pushing me off at every available chance. Our flight went smoothly and during Owens wake time Brendon and I would take turns to look after him and the other one would watch a movie. Owen was content to play with his toys for about 3 minutes before something more exciting caught his attention. He played peek-a-boo with the curtains, tried to open the airplane door handle, constantly sat in the isle so no one could pass.


Our time in SA was spent mostly in Eshowe and a few days in Durban. The weather was perfect bar 2 days where it was really too hot to go out. Our days were spent relaxing, swimming, eating, eating some more and venturing out into our surroundings. Christmas was a special time for all of us. Owen was delighted with the present opening. He got such great gifts. We gave him a fabric castle (where he and grandpa Roly played in), Granny Lynne and Grandpa Roly gave him clothes and a big truck. Other presents included a drum, stacking containers, plastic links, wooden cars, squeaky frogs and bath toys. What a blessed little boy.


Brendon was fantastic. He was POD at night and I was POD in the wee hours of the morning. It is much more pleasant to be up in Africa at 5am compared to Europe. It is warmer, lighter and we could go outside and wonder around. Owen looked at the fish, listened to the birds and chickens. The dogs were probably very happy to see the back end of Owen as he was always picking up their feet, poking them in their eyes and giving them a general examination whenever they were within his reach.

Granny Lynne had special "Owen time" each morning. Cuddling on their bed and zurbiting his tummy . Owen learned how to go down the 3 stairs in Eshowe. First forward on his tummy and then step by step standing up. He loved investigating all the nooks and crannies and managed to trash a lamp within 5 minutes of arriving. Needless to say he left a trail of broken bits and pieces when we eventually departed 10 days later.

Owen developed a nasty cough whilst in Eshowe. We took him to the doctor there and was given a concoction of antihistamine and panado. It still did not clear up totally so we took him to Garth, Brendon's uncle in Durban. He prescribed a cough mixture (for an allergy)that after asking at the 4th chemist, was apparently unavailable nationwide. Funny that sounds like the same story as the elusive "Supernova" Adidas running shoes that I was looking for. Makes me think there are a lot of allergic runners out there.

The last few days we spent with Brendon's sisters and Owen's cousins in Durban. He had a great time with them. Sharing toys/things seemed to be a difficult thing for Rachel and Owen. Rachel saying "baba mine" and Owen trying to take Evangelines dummy out her mouth. Evangeline did not object but in time I think she will not be very happy about that. The last day we had a photo shoot with all and sundry and got some excellent pictures of the little urchins in action. What a precious bunch of little people.


After stocking up on our usual SA supplies to take home we loaded the car with our "refugee look" and headed to the airport. Another very enjoyable trip to South Africa!