July 5

Both Alex and myself are getting over head colds, so we took the opportunity to sleep in on this quiet morning.

Needing several items for out trip up to Zimbabwe and then for the overland camping trip back we decided to take the bus the Sandton City to shop.

It was our first time taking the bus from Elna’s to the mall so we were not quite sure how it would work out. There are no bus schedules posted for the different stops, so all we knew is that it came every half hour. Luckily right as we walked out to the stop in front of Elna’s a bus was coming around the corner. It ended up taking us up to Randburg and then back by Elna’s and then up to Sandton, but if we had crossed to the other side of the street and caught it going straight to Sandton we would have ended up waiting for the bus to come back from Randburg anyway.

For the first time there was someone else riding the bus! A black man in a suit and tie with a suitcase was on the bus when we got on. It was exciting to not be the only people. Maybe the word is finally getting out to the middle and upper class that riding the Gautrain and bus is convenient and good for the environment.

Our first stop on our check list of things to do was breakfast and internet at Mugg & Bean.

After a delicious brunch we went to Cape Union to take a look at there large backpacks. We had browsed their selection in another store in Rustenburg, but I wasn’t entirely serious about getting one. I have come to discover that the roll duffles are great for when we are staying in one place for awhile but not when you really need to move like getting out of a bad area in town or needing to catch a ride to a bus in Vilancolous. I tried several on and liked one of them, but wasn’t quite ready to say YES!

After stopping in several sports shops to see if they had any end of the World Cup deals  we decided to go see what movies were playing. Toy Story 3 in 3D was starting in five minutes so I said let’s go. I don’t think Alex cared to see it as much as I did, but he figured he wouldn’t see a 3D movie so cheap anywhere else in the world so why not. I thought the movie was an enjoyable Pixar creation and a great end to the story. It made me very nostalgic.

When the movie was over we went back to Cape Union to make my purchase. I am now a proud owner of a big blue backpack with a perfect amount of straps and pockets to bring all sorts of wonderful things home from my adventures. It’s weird it kind of felt like a coming of age experience, like backpacking through Europe or bar hopping on your 21 birthday. I could now at 22 carry everything i would need for several months of travel/living on my back whenever I decided to take off somewhere. We purchased a few other items including a pillow for Alex and a dry bag for our cameras in the Delta. In addition we bought mosquito bands that have repellent in them so you just put them on your wrist or ankle to keep the bugs away. Not entirely sold on the concept, but we thought we would try them to avoid putting a ton of Deet on our skin.

Our last stop was Woolworths where we got some biltong, peanuts and chocolate for our journey. Packed our purchases into the new backpack and made our way home.

Tomorrow we are packing for our trip.