First Look at sv Harmony
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Knysna Lagoon |
The food is excellent. One restaurant had Zebra on the menu but otherwise it's mostly what you'd find in Europe. American brands are expensive but Coke and Oreos are the same. We're on the shore so there's lots of fresh seafood. Within walking distance there's an amazing fish market/restaurant, a chic bar with gourmet flatbreads and half price sushi specials, and a wonderful bakery with fresh bread and Rooibos cappuccinos. We definitely won't starve here.
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Our Hood |
The one thing that has made the biggest impression on us so far are the people. The people here are wonderful, very welcoming and kind. There are so many examples and anecdotes we could share to prove this point. During our first week here we were shopping for a wet/dry vacuum (who does that their first week in Africa? - I told you we aren't typical tourists!) The store only had one and it wasn't quite what we were looking for so we asked the saleswoman if she could recommend another store. She could clearly tell that we weren't familiar with the store she named and said "follow me". She proceeded to walk us across the parking lot and down the street a bit to the store she recommended. Can you imagine a Best Buy employee doing the same? All retail employees we have encountered are super helpful and friendly. When you ask for a product, the answer is always, "follow me", never a dismissive "aisle 3".
In all, we really have accomplished a lot in three weeks. David is now conditioned to get in the right side of the car and to drive on the left. We are old pros at the grocery, always getting our produce tagged and weighed before going to the cashier. We found the laundry and discovered that ordering things online from Cape Town can be just as fast or sometimes even faster than Amazon Prime in the States. We are getting faster at translating from Rand to Dollars and from Celsius to Fahrenheit (although the same can not be said for translating from Afrikaans to English.) But most importantly, even though we are just at the beginning of this great adventure and we have no idea where it might lead, we have already made new friends and lasting memories.
Glad that you are doing well. It looks like a great time and wonderful place to be. Good luck with the renovations on the boat. Keep up the posting so that we can follow.
ReplyDeleteSteve Polaski
Thanks Steve! The encouragement here and on Facebook is helping us get over our writing phobia. It's a wonderful country. We expected the natural beauty but weren't prepared for such incredible people. Everyone we meet is warm and welcoming, each rich with history and open to sharing whatever he has with us. We're learning so much from them. We already feel like we have family here and will be very sad to leave.
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