March 12-19

Glider Ride

Having made good progress on the mural, there was time for a play day. A friend of Michelle’s knew a local glider pilot who operated out of a nearby airfield. The weather was perfect when we arrived, clear sky’s, hill’s heating up in the morning sun. The glider was a self-launch with a small motor in the front. That meant we could take off unassisted. It also gave us a huge safety net because the motor would overcome the drag in areas where there was no lift. The conditions and terrain would have made flying without the safety net really challenging.

Catching the lift off the ridge

My pilot, Martin, was happy to be flying with another pilot and gave me control of the airplane as soon as we were at a safe altitude. He tried to explain mountain flying which is unlike any other flying I have done. It took some getting used to but once I got a fell for it, I was able to maintain airspeed, navigate and find some lift and ended up flying about half of the 3-hour flight.

The pictures speak for themselves. It was an amazing three hours! Martin sent a link to a different glider ride in the same area, in case you want to see more.

View from the cockpit

Hiking trail

 

Land Rover

We had planned to hang out at the house on my last day so I could paint a few more doodles on things. I had just finished the first butterfly when Michelle’s brother called to invite us to join him and Oliver, Michelle’s nephew, on a fishing excursion. They were heading to Injisuthi Camp in the Land Rover because the road to get there is very bad. Well, couldn’t miss an opportunity to see something new! Unfortunately, I left my phone at the house and didn’t capture the road conditions. Let’s just say, i wore my seatbelt because I thought it would improve my odds if we rolled down a hill. At one point, a crew was replacing a cattle grate and directed us to drive along a narrow berm where they had temporarily dropped the fence to allow us to pass.

End of the un-road

We were driving through the same region I had flown over the previous day. The area is known for great hikes and limestone caves. The campground offered covered canvas tents, decent outhouses and water. They would be a convenient base camp for exploring for anyone with the right vehicle.

Transportation

We were having coffee with an artist friend of Michelles when she mentioned she was driving to Pretoria on the 19th. That was a day earlier than planned but I had hurt my wrist (it wasn’t broken) and decided to ride with Corina and her friend in order to have time to get an X-ray before Heather’s birthday. 

Corina took the mountain route so I would be able to see the Sterkfontein Dam along the way. South Africa has way more dams that I had anticipated. A few are used for hydroelectric generation, most are for domestic and industrial use. 

Corina and her friend, both Afrikaners, were very curious about the United States, especially regarding our current political challenges. Like people I have met everywhere, people struggle to understand how such a prosperous and resourceful country can be so messed up. Simple answer is – I really don’t know. I talk about the need for people with different points of view to find common ground and I remind people that just like everywhere, the media is a commercial enterprise, not a public service group.

 

Final Mural

After two weeks and lots of fun, the mural was complete. I added a skyline of the Drackenberg Mountains to give it some balance. I forgot to add the period at the end of the quote. Once the paints were put away, Michelle and I walked out on the dam to admire the finished mural from a distance. Part of me was very proud, part of me didn’t really think I had taken the wall from nothing to finished in two weeks. We were both pretty happy.