I tried to get up through the night last night. I mean, I tried, and then fell back on to the bed. My legs didn’t respond very well….


It’s evening now, and thanks to ibuprofen, the cold Indian Ocean, compression gear, a long walk, and the passage of time, I can tie my own shoes without too much pain. What a reward!

Speaking of a reward, I was supposed to get a massage today to help me recover. I went in to the spa this morning – the first opening was at 11:45, so I would leave Shaun and Jess at the beach and come back for my massage. I left the ladies around 11:20, and when I returned around noon, Jess asked if I was feeling better. Um...I was supposed to get an hour-long massage.... Hmmm. I guess snoozing on the beach with headphones on isn’t the best way to keep track of time. :) Or, in Shaun’s case, not snoozing:

You see, when I returned to the spa, I found that contractors were busily tearing up flooring to put down carpet. Drilling through tile, cutting metal, hammering (no-one seemed to mind me walking through this in my sandals, strangely. I guess worksite safety really only applies to the workers…). The original woman at the front desk was not around. Fitting, as the front desk also wasn’t there; it had been moved to let the contractors do their thing. I found the manager who, between pauses for the shriek of a drill on tile, explained that she couldn’t let me have a massage today because the contractors were making so much noise. Apparently the contractors were two hours late; though I’m not sure that was the key issue as the earliest appointment she could offer me was for tomorrow. Sadly I’m leaving Durban tomorrow. Well…not really SADLY, tomorrow we go to a game reserve!!

To keep a long story from getting too much longer, I lazed on the beach, soaked in the ocean, and took that aforementioned walk before we returned to the Elephant Guest House for another night. There’s something pretty cool about coming to a hotel (for all intents and purposes), and having the staff say “I hear you finished in under 8 hours. Congratulations!” To be fair, Marleen’s excitement was a little comical. She introduced me to another guest here as someone who had done something amazing – the Comrades Marathon. He replied “Oh, what is that?” (What do New Yorkers know, anyway?!?)

This is rather intersting.  The lifeguards use these kinds of things to fish.  They lost track of this one and it caught me and Shaun....happily not with the hook...
 

 One other amusing little anecdote from today.  We went to a Morrocan place for dinner, where the advertising pamphlet read: "Bring your next corporate event to Yossi's - no-one can like Morrocan - for catering."  What?  Is that supposed to be comforting?  Jess realised that what they meant, of course, was "No-one can, like Morro-CAN, for catering", but their proofing was a little absent...