Darren Abroad: In a Pretoria Mall

After our restive weekend down the country, we’ve had an insanely busy week in Dublin. Between meeting with (and working for) existing clients, talking to potential new clients, socializing with friends and visiting our favourite Dublin haunts, it’s been madness. The holiday didn’t really start until we climbed off the plane after a surprisingly-tolerable eleven-hour flight from London to Johannesburg.

On the really long hauls, you get personal TV sets, even in economy. These are connected to some kind of fancy media server, so that you can view movies, TV shows, play games, etc in the (relative) comfort of your own seat. This is a serious air travel improvement, and is not one I’ve enjoyed before. After playing a ton of video poker, I sheepishly watched the Dead Poets Society clone Mona Lisa Smile. The mediocrity of the film aside, all those attractive women helped wile away a couple of hours.

I’ve only been in South Africa for about six hours, so I don’t have too many impressions. We immediately left Johannesburg for Pretoria, where we’re spending the night at my step-grandmother’s house. Highways are pretty much the same from one country to another. The flora and geography in this region reminds me of the Costa Brava region of Spain–rich red earth, rolling hills and plenty of golden foliage.

Like every other house in the neighbourhood, the house we’re staying in has high, spiked walls and a series of gates that protect particular regions of the house and yard. What a peculiar way to live. It’s very surreal, actually. It feels all very colonial, sipping tea on the veranda in the afternoon sun while an African prunes a palm tree in the adjoining yard.

Speaking of the surreal, I’m typing this entry from a large mall near my step-grandmother’s house. In the middle of it, there’s an ice rink. A full-sized freakin’ hockey rink with blue lines and ice marshalls and everything you’d see in a Canadian rink. Including, oddly, no black people on the ice. I guess I can’t blame them–they’re wearing toques and sweaters while I’m walking around in a T-shirt. Clearly, our internal temperature guages are set differently.

Tomorrow at four (four!) AM we’re heading off for five days on safari in Kruger Park. I’m not optimistic about Internet connectivity (let alone Wifi). Thereafter it’s on to Londolozi Private Game Reserve–again, access is dubious. So, I’ll probably update in about a week in Cape Town.