A Surprise Meeting

After about 12 months on an equatorial island in the middle of the Atlantic, the desire to see wide open spaces is immense. As soon as we arrive at Johannesburg airport we pick up our car, booked over the Internet, and off we race into the boundless expanses of South Africa. It's already 3 pm, but the craving for space makes the 500 km separating us from Bloemfontein almost invisible. A few weeks earlier we arranged to meet some dear friends at a hotel chosen at random from the guidebook in Port Elizabeth; who knows whether the hotel really exists, and who knows whether our dear friends managed to make it through unscathed all the mishaps that can crop up on a journey. We'll find out tomorrow; meanwhile another 700 km lie ahead: drunk down like a glass of water. South Africa's impeccable roads, practically traffic-free, allow even that.

At 4.30 pm we reach Port Elizabeth after visiting the Mountain Zebra National Park. The appointment is for 6 pm; we look for the hotel, found it!! It really exists!! At reception we ask for news about our friends: they've arrived!! Oh, I forgot to tell you that the only one who knew about our arrival was Anna, while Cesare was completely in the dark!! At 6 pm we make ourselves found as agreed at the hotel bar; just a few minutes late and we see the little family appear. Cesare is literally stunned and motionless for a few seconds, he can't believe such a coincidence, a chance meeting about 10,000 km away: it's too much! Anyway, a huge and pleasant surprise. The next day we continue the journey together, at least as far as Cape Town, travelling the whole southern coast on the Indian Ocean.

A night in Knysna and then Hermanus, where the last whales are still in the bay and every so often come up to the rocks to scratch themselves a bit. The wind of the Cape of Good Hope is unforgettable, the farewell to our friends, and we continue north: Stellenbosch, Chamonix (it feels like being in France or Switzerland), a few slices of strudel in a little Tyrolean-style place, (but where are we?) and then a compulsory stop on the wine route with a night in Paarl. The following day we head decisively north to the Namaqualand and then the border with Namibia. The Fish River Canyon is our next Namibian destination. The close encounter with the brown hyena, now at dusk, will be the image that accompanies us in the days to come.