April 10, Thursday.  Yesterday, we did two wine tastings.  Our schedule said three, but we only did two.  Went to a beautiful winery in the morning, tasted 6 wines with cheese, marmalade, etc.  Francois did a wonderful job telling us stories about all the wines, taking us on a cellar tour, talking about the oak barrels they use, and how they can only use a barrel four times before they have to replace it.  All the barrels are obtained from New England because the oak trees in South Africa grow so fast that the wood is porous. 

We were back on the 20 person van yesterday, but Gretchen elected to sit in the back where there was a little more room, so it was just me, Stella and Beverly in the front seat.  We had enough room that we could actually have raised our arms to vote on things but there was nothing to vote on.  I forgot to tell you that on Tuesday, Stella and I entertained ourselves trying to take a "selfie" with her smartphone to show just how jammed in there we were.  Beverly was not amused and if any of the pictures turn out, you can only see the back of her head.  I had to lean over so far to get in the picture that my chin is on Stella's shoulder.  If any of the pictures turn out at all, my face might (emphasis on might) be only half in it.  She hasn't figured out how to download anything from her phone over here so those pictures may not show up for awhile. 

After a lunch stop, we ventured off to the second winery.  Beautiful setting, on a hill that looked out over the valley.  The mountains surrounding this area are truly amazing.  Rocky and steep.  Even after seeing the Sawtooths and Tetons, I am in awe of these.  We had 4 wines to taste at this stop and there was a chocolate pairing with each one.   Everyone agreed that the Venezuela chocolate was he best, and all the chocolate contained 70 percent cacao so it was all dark and no milk chocolate. 

When we were driving to the wineries, our guide, Conrad, pointed out the largest mall in the southern hemisphere, along the freeway.  It rivals the Mall of the Americas in Minneapolis, had the roller coaster, too.

We have had great luck with the weather, although it was almost 100 degrees F here yesterday.  It does cool off at night which is good.  All our rooms have air conditioning.

Last night, 8 of us walked down to a fish and chips place a couple of blocks away.  It wasn't the best, the fish was hake and mushy. 

I had an experience last evening that I would never ever have in the US.  I've been fighting a cold/allergy thing since last Wednesday.  As the day wore on, my right ear started to feel weird and by the time we got back, it had progressed down the side of my throat.  Felt like the lymph glands were swollen and kind of achy.  I decided that I needed to have it checked out before we disappear into the wilds of Botswana on Friday (tomorrow), so I asked our guide if he could help me find a doctor or clinic to go to.  Reid said I should ask at the hotel desk so I explained my problem to the man working there and he told me that I would have to have a doctor write a prescription for antibiotics but that I should go to the "pharmacie" across the street and down a block and talk to the pharmacist first.  So I walked to the pharmacie and explained my symptoms.  He said that antibiotics would probably be the best idea.  I said "I need a doctor for the prescription, don't I?"  He kind of shrugged a little bit and then said "I can do it."  He quizzed me about whether or not I am allergic to penicillin or any other medication, asking three times.  When I said no, he went over to a shelf, got a box of Amoxocyllin, explained the usage to me, charged me 190 rand, which is $19 US and sent me on my way saying "if you had gone to a doctor, they would have charged you $35 just to write the prescription."  No one in the US would ever sell antibiotics without a written prescription.  I was amazed.  So I took one last night, and one this morning, with food, as he stressed, and will for the next five days.  I kind of feel like it's getting better today.  Yesterday morning, after tasting 6 wines, it felt just fine for awhile.  :) 

Today was our "free" day from the tour, but 16 of us opted to take a boat trip out to Robben Island to tour the prison that Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of  his 27 years in prison at.  It took an hour to get out to it, we saw seals swimming in the bay while we putted along, and about a zillion cormorants.  I have never seen so many.  Thousands lined up on the jetty walls and on every rocky outcropping.  We did a short bus tour through the prison compound area, and then walked through some of the cell blocks to see Mandela's cell.  It was kind of like doing the Alcatraz tour.  But the tour guide was a former inmate and he was very interesting talking about how he was arrested for political reasons, had a five month trial, then spent a long time in prison with all the other political miscreants, including Nelson Mandela.  Conditions were not good.  Torture by the security police was frequent until he was actually imprisoned.  They used hunger strikes to get better living conditions, some of the strikes lasting 4-5 weeks.  After another hour ride back to the harbor, we had lunch and came back to the hotel. 

Earlier this evening, one of the women in the group organized a room tour here at the hotel so we all trooped through everyone's room to see how the others were decorated.  All the rooms have themes, ranging from "Sailor Jerry", who was a tattoo artist years ago and now has rum named after him, to a room with all four walls covered with 3"x3" photographs of different people, to a room with all four walls covered with 8x10 pictures of sunrises and sunsets and mirrors on the ceiling.  Our guide, Reid, has the "501" room.  501 as in Levi's jeans.  There are actual back pockets from jeans hanging on the walls for use as places to put things.  Only a few, not covering all four walls.  But the kicker in that room is, when he lowers the window shade, it's a scene from "Brokeback Mountain."  And the toilet seat is inlaid with buttons from 501 jeans.

The man running the boat today was very weatherbeaten from spending all his time in the sun, I'm sure.  His name was Mark but Stella thought  he should be called "Captain Jack Sparrow".  His crew of two were barefoot and spent their time walking around the edges to make sure no one was going to fall overboard trying to take pictures.  And there are a lot of pictures being taken, with everything from cameras with very long lenses to Iphones and Ipads. 

As I'm writing this, the others are out on the balcony doing a wine happy hour.  I had to come down to the lobby today to get wifi connection.  It's been pretty spotty. 

Tomorrow, Friday, we leave for Botswana, flying first to Johannesburg and then on to Maun, Botswana, where we meet our guide and do a mikoro (not sure that's spelled right, kind of a flatboat that will be poled along by guides) ride through part of the Okavango Delta.  Then we will arrive at our camp for the next three nights.  After that, we go to Chobe National Park for a couple of nights.  To make a long story short, we will not have internet access for five days, so you will not be hearing from us until mid-next week. 

We had to start our malaria medication today in preparation for being out in the bush.  And we have to be ready to get in the van to go to the airport by 5 am tomorrow.  Ugh. 

More next week.