The highlights of this week were a hike at Robberg Nature Reserve (day 272), a day trip to Buffalo Bay Beach (day 275), and expIoring the waterfront in Knysna South Africa. Around that I focused a lot on language learning, mostly Spanish but also some Portuguese phrases.

The week gets off to a morbid beginning on day 270 when we arrive at Coney Glen Beach just in time for the authorities to haul a dead body out of there. That was preceded by a roach infestation in our condo the night before. I was waiting for the third shoe to drop, but nothing else happened.

Travel Log: Day 269 (3/23), South Africa

Just the usual morning routine with school and gym. I got in a lot of Duo and Dreaming Spanish through the day, probably three hours between them. I also did some of my phrase quiz app for both Portuguese and Spanish.

AC and I took a bro nap. In the evening I felt like I had to do anything besides Spanish, so I did the Sri Lanka recap post I had been putting off. We watched the end of Beast Games as well.

Travel Log: Day 270 (3/24), South Africa

Late Last Night

This day got off to a start that had an ominous feeling, before the day even actually started. After we went to bed last night, JC wondered out loud if roaches make a noise. We heard a chirping sound and didn’t know what it was. I figured I’d use my phone flashlight and take a peek in the kitchen just in case. Not expecting anything since we had literally just gone to bed, I was surprised to see three shadowy figures on the counter by the fridge.

I walked over to get the bug killer spray we found earlier under the sink. The roaches were still there when I got back. This variety of roach was unfamiliar to me, and I wasn’t sure if they were capable of flying. I gave them a blast of the spray and they scattered. Luckily they didn’t fly and they all went where I could get second shots on them. One on the wall between the counter and the fridge, one under a large rolling closet, and the other across the brick wall behind the oven. It took a bit for them to begin reacting. The two we kept track of died, and the third one is certainly dead somewhere behind the counter.

We slept kind of badly because of that commotion. I was awake at 2am and checked again but found nothing.

Weird Day

Those events set the stage for a weird day, and I think we were feeling more than roach stuff. We followed our normal schedule, but something just felt off. I didn’t even want to go to the gym but I forced myself. The whole time I was there I couldn’t wait to leave, and I didn’t even do the bonus exercises I normally do. I felt uneasy and didn’t want to talk to anyone.

In the afternoon we went to Coney Glen Beach for the third time since we’ve been here. We were just looking to get some steps and be outside. When we arrived we noticed a cop car in the parking lot. We started down the stairs to the beach and one man passed us going up, and then a cop passed us as well. The cop looked really intense and bothered. My guess was that the first guy was causing issues and the cop was ensuring he left.

As we were down on the beach, the cop came back with another man in a wetsuit, both of them looking intense. They climbed over the first rock barrier going toward the east head. Shortly after that, additional law enforcement and some law-adjacent people began to show up. They were all looking toward the east head wall.

We figured someone got stranded by the tide, but eventually they brought a body bag out from the area they went to. Someone had most likely drowned in that violent water. It could have been a jumper I suppose, but it sounds like most deaths in the Coney Glenn Beach area are due to the violent water. We ushered the kids over to the far side of the beach, and BC was being a dick about it, not wanting to leave the thing he was building. JC had to tell him flat out that they were hauling out a body to get him to shut up and accept what we asked him to do. One nice guy came over and gave us a heads up they were hauling the body out, but at that point we already had hunkered down.

It seemed like our odd feelings through the day were foreshadowing this somehow, but it also feels to me like something else is coming. I hope that’s not the case, and that we just go to bed and feel normal in the morning.

Academics

On a positive academic note, BC finished his 5th grade math course in Khan. It’s a big accomplishment that he finished that early considering where he started. At the beginning of the year he struggled to handle a 4th grade math review, and even half way through the year he was borderline off pace to complete the 5th grade course.

Passing the course challenge with a 96% is a huge move in the right direction. I’m really glad we had this year to work with him. In public school he was getting lost in between the kids with bad behavior and the kids with really poor performance. There was nobody to hold him to a standard and challenge him to grow. I just hope he chooses to hold the same standard within himself after going back into the public school system.

Travel Log: Day 271 (3/25), South Africa

We did very little today, and I didn’t even go to the gym. In the afternoon we went over to the nature walk by our condo, since it now said open. The gate was unlocked so we went in and stood by the booth to pay, and nobody showed up. Even after we went back to the gate and rang the bell, nobody came. We decided to just leave and we’ll try again tomorrow.

Following that we walked over to the mall so AC could look at swimsuits. BC and I went and bought another tub of protein, and just walked around.

JC and I did quite a bit of pacing in the parking lot through the day. We went to the grocery store for dinner. Everyone but me got sushi, and I got two small meat pies and a box of cheeses for us to try. The food wasn’t very good and one of the blocks of cheese was moldy, so we won’t be doing that again. We also got snacks for tomorrow since we plan to go for a long hike at Robberg Nature Reserve.

Travel Log: Day 272 (3/26), South Africa

We took the day off from school today and went hiking at Robberg Nature Reserve, which is near Plettenburg Bay. It was about a 45 minute drive from Knysna, and it cost 260R for all four of us to enter (~$15). When we got to the parking lot, it was full. JC asked a guy working there where we were supposed to park, and he said people just start lining the road coming in. We were just the second car to park along the road, just outside of the parking lot. By the time we got back to our car, the entire road leading in was lined with cars.

There are three loop options for the hike. An easy route that’s around 3K, a medium route that’s around 5K, and the longer route which we chose is 9K. Really we went beyond 9K because we took a couple little side excursions. The scenery was really beautiful with ocean views and seals in the water the whole way. We ranged in elevation from sea level to a couple hundred feet above with views straight down.

The full outer loop took us four hours to complete, and we were very tired when it was over. JC and I managed to get a bit of a sunburn even wearing sunscreen.

After the hike we went back to our condo and ate lunch. I did Duo, Dreaming, and Portuguese in my app all afternoon. In the evening I worked on finding documentaries about South Africa for school tomorrow.

Travel Log: Day 273 (3/27), South Africa

Typical school and gym routine today, except that we had planned on watching a Nelson Mandela documentary for part of school. The internet wouldn’t cooperate though so we just did the normal subjects.

Throughout the day I worked on a good amount of Spanish/language between Duo, Dreaming, and using spanish-trainer for Portuguese. I just about have the phrases for greetings and pleasantries memorized.

In the evening JC and I had drinks, and it was BC’s pick for movie night. He chose one of the Spiderman movies.

Travel Log: Day 274 (3/28), South Africa

Last night I slept the worst I have since Tokyo. I really only slept from 10pm-2am, and very badly. I was basically awake the entire time from 2am until 6:30 am, and then got one additional hour from 6:30-7:30am. My sleep score was a 54. It was definitely alcohol and salt related, and I took in even more salt than a typical Friday night.

I felt mostly normal through the day and didn’t even take a nap. I studied Portuguese and have memorized all of the greetings and pleasantries. As far as Duo and Dreaming, I did an acceptable amount of those.

We went to the waterfront just before lunch, and walked across the bridge to see where that went. It goes to this very nice area called Thesen Island that has shops and restaurants. It’s also just large enough that you can get a decent walk by circling it a few times. We will be making more trips over there, if for no other reason than to get steps. While there we ate at a restaurant called Tapas and Oysters. My food was delicious, avocado chicken salad and “samoosas” (samosas, not sure why they spell it like that). The samoosas had beef in them and came with a dipping sauce.

JC and I had some light drinks, just two beers for me. We had pizza for dinner and then JC and I watched a documentary about the manosphere on Netflix.

Travel Log: Day 275 (3/29), South Africa

This morning I spent time translating my journal to Spanish, which I think is turning out to be a useful exercise. It really lays bare how far I have to go, as I rarely can translate an entire sentence without looking up words.

Around late morning we went to Buffalo Bay again. JC and I mostly walked, and the kids did the sand hill and dug a hole. We went to the beach restaurant for lunch and it was so good. We all ended up sharing most of the dishes. BC and I purposely got a large seafood platter to share. JC and AC ordered pizza, fries, and a salad. We all took parts of everything but the salad.

After we returned, I did some Duo and tried to do Dreaming but the internet was especially slow. I needed a break from languages anyway, so I just goofed around online.

In the evening BC and AC watched the Spiderman movie that AC rented last night. I did a little more language stuff.

Later in the night we found a scorpion in our sink.