This year was a down run, measured at 89.006 kilometers, or 55.3 miles. I finished in 10:42, 18 minutes faster than last year.
How I prepared for the race
This year will be a down run. Training began in September, building mileage. October brought a mild knee injury, and November was spent recovering from that with easy mileage.
The plan this year is to train at the 2000 Las Vegas Marathon (3:45) level (VDOT=41) for the 2001 Las Vegas Marathon. Then training intensity will be determined on the results of that race. Mileage in January through May will generally follow Noakes' recommendation.
I gradually resumed training in December to the 55 MPW level, and then encountered difficulty. I began training again, only to find the left knee had been re-injured. I managed a 50-mile week early in January, the last of which was the 12 mile course on packed snow through Heiberg Forest. That run was difficult the entire way due to the pain and swelling of the left knee. At that point, a 3:45 marathon on 04 February seemed in doubt. A 4:45 marathon (required for Comrades qualification) did seem possible.
Update 11 February 2001 - Well, I had a shot in my knee in November, and another one in January. Some physical therapy showed an imbalance causing stress in the left knee, so some exercises were started to correct it. Then I got sick (pneumonia?) on a business trip to Houston 25 January, and stayed sick through the Las Vegas Marathon last Sunday, 04 February. I ran a very ugly time there, 4:30:34, but did manage to qualify.
Yesterday, Tom and I planned to get together to watch the 2000 Comrades video that the hotel people recorded for Tom while we ran. We hadn't watched it in 7 months. Julia and Bob joined us. In the morning, I got e-mail from Tiekie, the South African that ran a long way with me last year, inquiring if I was running again this year. A freaky coincidence. I took 3 days off before the LV Marathon, and 3 after. I am not injured in any noticeable way at the present time, and plan to go out for 12 or more today. My current plan is to run somewhere in the 28-48 MPW range for February, after getting about 32 MPW in January. Then, following Noakes' advice, bump it up to 34-59 for March and April, and then taper in May with something like 36-70 miles for the entire month.
Tom has made our hotel reservations for Durban, and we have talked about another 4 night venture prior to Durban at Kruger, probably farther north this year. We have also discussed probably going to Capetown for a few days afterwards this year, or we may return to the Drakensburgs.
Update 04 March 2001- Three good weeks to end February - 49, 44 and 50 miles. No sign of injury (or any increase in speed either.) Just plugging away at the miles. On Sunday the 25th I went to Pittsburgh for a week of work training, and ran in shorts and tee shirt in the 72 degrees they were having that day. Today it was 6 degrees in Fayetteville when I went out for today's run. It's that time of year. You just have to love it.
Update 01 April 2001 - March was a good training month. Actually it was terrible, weather wise, but I did good training in March. I ran consistently, and put in some good long runs. The longest was 31.2 miles earlier today, capping off a 65+ mile week. The March weekly mileages were 46, 51, 64 and 65. The weather has been terrible, way below average temperature, always windy on Sunday, usually snowing. But I feel pretty good about training so far. I have been consistent, and have no injuries. I don't even have the nagging plantar fasciitis that bothered me so much last year at this time. Time to make travel reservations. I may run the Cleveland Marathon April 29 to get a better seed, so I'll hold off registering for the Comrades until then.
Update 16 May 2001 - April was not as consistent as March, with weekly mileages of 44, 29, 38, 40 and 45. It seems that the 2 back to back 65 mile weeks may have been too much too soon. And the long runs (by myself) seemed to make going out for an even longer solo run too daunting. I put bottles out a couple of times, but never even started a very long run. However, I am keeping a positive outlook. I have trained too long to lack self-confidence, and I will go to Africa expecting to enjoy myself.
Update 3 June 2001 - May polished off the training with weekly mileages of 34, 57, 30 and 28. I did try one hill workout and felt okay although not speedy. Exactly 4 weeks before the Comrades, I ran 3 whole laps at the Highland 1-2-3 and felt very strong and comfortable. This restored my long run confidence, and gave me some practice running and getting food. And with 4 weeks to recover from the pounding, was just about right. A very comfortable run through Heiberg Forest with 13 days to go convinced me that recovery would be complete by the 16th of June with no worries. All travel reservations have been made, and we leave in 6 days!
The graph illustrates the training in terms of average daily mileage, by month. The range for each month is taken from The Lore of Running by Dr. Tim Noakes. This mileage is prescribed based on the optimum training for the Comrades in the 5 months preceding the race of 156 hours of training. I actually trained (running) 152 hours. The daily mileage is based on my training speed, which is based on a table indexed by my marathon time. So I ran 4.7 miles per day in January on the average, 5.8, 7.2, 6.3 and 5.4 for February through May. In general, I tried to under train instead of over train, but notice I overdid it in May. That, however, is because Noakes' book was written based on the race being run the last week of May, and since that time, the race has moved into the middle of June.
The trip over, our rest at Kruger National Park and getting ready in Durban
Flying over : 9-10 June 2001
We flew to South Africa on Saturday, June 9, leaving Syracuse early (6:50 a.m.) on Delta for Atlanta. There we transferred to South African Airlines, and flew a 747-400 to Johannesburg, by way of Capetown. Mark Plaatjes, former world champion marathoner, was on the plane with us. The trip was better this year than last. I slept some, read some, and wasn't too stir-crazy by the time we got to Capetown. We weren't allowed off the jet, but walked around a little while they re-fueled, etc. My row-mates got off in Capetown, and were headed off to Zimbabwe to view the eclipse (June 21). In Johannesburg, we had several hours, and we spent them drinking beer in the hotel across the driveway from the airport, after buying some Rand and postage stamps. Then it was onto a little commuter plane for the hour flight to Phalaborwa, toward the north end of the west side of Kruger National Park.
Arriving at Kruger National Park - 10 June
We got there about 5:15 p.m., got our rental car, and headed for the Phalaborwa gate to Kruger. Tom had arranged ahead of time for them to let us in after closing, since they close the gates before sundown. The gates were closed when we got there, and it was dark. The guards didn't know anything about our arrangements. Tom showed them the letters we had confirming our permission to enter, and they called a supervisor. The supervisor came and said that we could not be escorted from this gate. He read our letters, and made some more phone calls. He finally allowed to us drive to our rest camp by ourselves, and cautioned us to be very careful, since if anything happened (accident, animal encounter, etc.) they would be around to find us the next day. It was 51 kilometers to our rest camp, Letaba.
We started out down the tarred road named H-9 on the map, mostly due East. We saws lots (at least a dozen) of Spotted Eagle Owls, sitting in the road. They would let us drive right up within a few feet before flying out of the way. We also saw a few either Crowned Plover or Water Dikkop, it was hard to tell in the dark. We also saw one "non-bird" which I thought was a civet, but now I think was a genet. I guess it could have been either.
We were both really sleepy by now, but I was keeping the car on the road. You could only see as far as the lights lit ahead of you, since there were no other lights (other than the stars). We kept thinking we were seeing things, as the high-beams would throw shadows of the trees we passed, and the shadows moved as the car went down the road. All of a sudden, about 50 yards ahead, in the edge of the head light, a huge elephant in the road. No, really. I stopped and the elephant turned, but then he kept going down the road away from us. I stayed where I was until he moved out of the light, and realized that there could be a herd of elephant within a yard of the car behind us and I wouldn't be able to see them. We crept forward until we saw the elephant again, and he turned again, then moved on again. This time, when I crept forward, he was gone, off the road, and no where to be seen. Was it really an elephant, or just a fatigue-induced vision?
At Letaba, the guard let us in and had the paperwork for our huts. We found them after some trouble, and went in search of the restaurant. The dining room was still open, and we had a fine dinner with a nice bottle of wine, and retired for the night. The total cost of the 5 course dinner (split pea soup, baked hake, barbecued chicken, roast ox-tail, rice, carrots, potatoes and dessert) including the wine and tip was R100 each, or about $12.50.
Letaba & Olifants 11-13 June
On Monday morning we slept in, then settled our affairs in Letaba Reception and headed southeast about 35 kilometers to Olifants rest camp. We took the dirt roads and took our time. Our cabins faced the Olifants River, northeast, beyond which, not too far, lay the Lebombo Mountains and Mozambique. We took a drive around another loop before gate closing at 5:30. After dinner, we had a couple beers and looked at the stars. I've never seen the Milky Way so bright. But of course, I don't know any of the stars in the southern hemisphere.
Tuesday we took a drive in the late morning and saw hippos, giraffe, elephants and lots of impala. We drove across a bridge over the Olifants River where I don't think we were really supposed to go, then we turned around and went back across to the road without getting into any trouble.
In the afternoon we signed up for the 3-hour night drive and just rested. On the night drive, we saw a "breeding herd" of female and young elephants right after leaving the camp, before it got dark, and some warthogs. After dark we saw genets (both large-spotted and small-spotted), black-backed jackals, blue wildebeests, an African wild cat, a mother hyaena with a baby hyena, zebra, scrub hare, brown snake eagles, and spotted eagle owls. After the night drive we had dinner in the restaurant.
On Wednesday morning I got up before sunrise and walked up to the lookout area on the bluff above the Olifants River. I was looking for game moving down to the river early, but I didn't see much. At first light, a fog blew up the valley and occluded visibility. Then I went back to bed and slept some more. Later in the morning we packed up and drove slowly back to Letaba. Our cabins there for the night were right across the street from the convenience store, the "Winkel Shop." We went for another ride in the afternoon, heading for the Matambeni bird hide (lots of crocodile and hippos) and the Engelhard Dam and lookout. On the way Tom spotted a couple lions about 100 yards out in a field. We stayed for a while, but they were just laying around. At the Engelhard lookout, we were quite close to Mozambique. There was a track heading off that way, I imagine that it was previously a road to the border.
To Durban, 14 June
In the morning we got out early and saw an elephant walking toward us within a mile of the rest camp. He backed us down the road over a half mile before he went off into the field. We went on, taking our time, heading generally for Mopani Rest Camp to the north. We didn't intend to go that far, but were planning to take the H14 tar road southwest back to the Phalaborwa gate. When we got there, the road was closed. So we headed back to Letaba, and took the due west road, H-9, out. This was the road we had driven in on Sunday night, but of course it had been dark then, so we were seeing this part of the country for the first time. We saw a huge herd of buffalo, and two large groups of elephants at a water hole.
We caught our plane on time, and got to Johannesburg early enough to catch an earlier plane to Durban. I noticed a blonde lady in the waiting area wearing running shoes, and figured she was a runner. The plane was pretty full, and I got a center seat, and Tom was somewhere behind me. At Durban, we collected our luggage and boarded the shuttle for our hotel. The blonde lady also got on, and started talking with Tom. She was running, and so we talked about that, Tom asking her about training, etc. She mentioned several things (being invited to various races, racing for the national team, etc.) that made us think she was probably a good runner. When she said something about her name being Rae, Tom realized it was Rae Bisschoff, who had won the up run in 1998, Tom's first year. She had run 6:38, and was looking to run for a silver medal this year (sub 7:30). Pretty neat.
At Durban before the race
At the hotel, the staff was waiting for us. They remembered Tom from his previous years there. We checked in, showered and headed for the exposition at the International Convention Centre (ICC) about a mile from the hotel. We got our numbers, bus tickets, and I was able to get into the Reebok Shop and get some souvenir shirts. Back to the hotel for a gourmet dinner on the terrace facing the Indian Ocean.
On Friday, we had breakfast on the terrace, and I headed over to the expo to check my chip and take care of some forgotten errands. Then Tom and I walked downtown and shopped for souvenirs at the African Art Centre, changed money at American Express, and bought some snacks. Then we relaxed in our rooms, getting our stuff ready for the race, and dinner was again on the terrace. We arranged for the staff to tape part of the race coverage for us, placed our wake-up call request, and headed to our rooms. The hotel sent a good luck letter to each runner, with some gifts, a hat, some sports drink, and some nuts. I talked with Tiekie on the phone.
With the help of a sleeping pill, I did manage about 5 hours sleep before 2 a.m. Then I did my stretching routine, joined Tom at 3 for breakfast (the hotel put it on early for us) and headed over the 2 blocks for the bus at 3:45.
2001 Down Run Pietermartizburg to Durban, 16 June 2001
Saturday, June 16 2001
I got in my corral (H) a few minutes before the gun, and heard the theme music from "Chariots of Fire" and then the tape of the cock crowing. Then the gun (I heard it this year,) and then some good Zulu music. After about 6 minutes I was across the starting line and chip mats, but still walking. The crowd was pretty thick until I got to about 85K to go.
I went off in the bushes once, and was trying to keep in contact with somebody running with yellow balloons and a sign that said "sub-11:00 pace." Well, I should hope so. I was actually trying to be on 10:00 pace. I had a pace card for 10:43, and I was trying to get 5 minutes ahead of it for each 10K. I had agreed to try to meet up with Tiekie at the 80K to go marker. She was planning to be there at 65 minutes, and we'd look for each other. I got there at 67 minutes, and stood and waited until 70 minutes, but I figured she was ahead of me.
I wasn't trying to push it, but I was trying to keep moving efficiently and try to gain on the 10:00 pace. I was staying 5-10 minutes ahead of the 10:43 pace card, but I couldn't close on 10:00. I went off in the bushes one more time, and then was on the road all the way to the end. I enjoyed running up the back side of Polly Shortts, as the hill wasn't very steep in this direction. I enjoyed going through Lion Park and Camperdown, and I liked the idea that by the time I got half way, most of the climbing would be behind me.
As I ran down Inchanga into Drummond, I started feeling the metatarsal cushions in my shoes getting hot. So I stopped and sat on a little bridge abutment and took them out, and got going again. I was very happy to run across the halfway mark in 5:05 (6:52 / K pace - but I didn't know that at the time). That would make my pace 10:10, which wasn't 10:00, but it was closer to 10:00 than it was to 10:43. So I was very satisfied with how things were going so far.
I marked the time at 30K to go, 6:46. I had been looking forward to only 30K to go, since that was 18.6 miles, and I thought I could run that far. The pace for that 14.5K was also 6:52, but of course I didn't know that at the time. A problem that began about here was leg cramps. I started getting them in my calf muscles. In the past, these have been devastating, bringing me to a complete stop. This day, I ran through them. I refused to let them overpower me. I tried to visualize making my body burn some of my body fat and breaking it down and sending the nutrients to those muscles to make them stop cramping. Probably didn't work, but it kept my mind off the cramps.
I then started looking forward to 20K to go. 20K is only 12.4 miles. About a normal Sunday run. It was a real goal, and when I passed it at 7:57 I was very happy. I knew I was slowing (last 10K at 7:05 pace) but I was still within finishing territory. I decided I could afford to walk 5 minutes at the beginning of each 5K block, and I took my first un-forced walk here. Forced walks were now occurring on the steeper up hills. I started looking forward to up hills, so I could walk for a few minutes.
In the emotional letdown that followed reaching my 20K to go goal, I forgot to set my next goal. The result was that when I went by the 18K to go mark, I was certain I would not finish, that I could not possibly make it, and that I would quit here. I couldn't even figure out how many miles 18K is, or what mile pace I would have to make to reach the finish. I was devastated. I walked without an excuse or a plan. I only knew to keep moving. I was trying to do the arithmetic and see if I could walk to the finish, but I couldn't be sure. I must have recovered a little and tried running some more, and eventually I got to 15K to go. I realized that was a Boilermaker, only 9.3 miles, and I had over two hours to get there. But it was still too close to just keep walking, I had to run to make it. I ran as hard as I could on the down hills, which were often and steep now. It really hurt a lot to start running after each walk, but I forced myself. After I'd run a little way the pain either lessened or I got numb to it.
Inside 15K to go, I was getting despondent again. I hit on a gimmick to distract myself. Each kilometer, I would think about a person I know, and by thinking about that person, recollecting things we had done together in the past, I would distract my mind from having to keep going. I would say this saved the day for me. I could concentrate on one person I knew for a full kilometer if I worked at it. Then I wouldn't have to think about how long each kilometer was, and look for the sign for the next one.
I hit 10K to go (only 6.2 miles, a normal lunchtime run) at 9:15, which left 1:45 to finish. I started thinking I could make it. My pace for the last 10K had slipped to 7:47 per K. I knew I was slowing badly, but I also knew I was getting closer.
For some reason, I don't remember passing 5K to go. I think I was delirious, and was back in the state of being sure I would quit. I thought I had time to make it, but I wasn't sure I could go that far. I wanted badly to reassure myself that I could finish, but I was reluctant to do so, for fear of jinxing myself. What if I broke my leg, or pulled something, or just fell over? I couldn't be sure yet. I didn't even mark the 5K to go split. At 4K to go, it was 10:09, and I had run the previous 6K in 53:53, a terrible pace of only 8:58 per K. This was terrible, but only 4K to go.
I ran the 4th K from the finish in 8:20, a slight improvement, because it was all downhill and I was running as hard as I could. The 3rd K to go took only 7:56, a blistering pace, well, no blisters, but some really painful quad muscles. At 2K to go I let myself think that I really could finish the race. I walked, looking for the next sign. I ran after a little while, still looking for the 1K to go. I turned the corner and kept going, thinking I could walk a little way at 1K to go. Next thing I knew, I saw a sign that said 600M to go. At first I thought this was a cruel joke - 600K to go. Then I realized it was 600M - 0.6 K, and I was inside the 1K to go. I don't know what happened to it, but I was inside it. I walked. I decided I could walk to the stadium tunnel, and that I'd run the entire rest of the way. Must have been at least 250 meters. I could run that. I did run that. It was on soft grass, and I had been warned about all the faux finish banners - there were lots of overhead banners that looked like finish banners, but they weren't. I kept running until I was across both chip mats.
Then some very nice people handed me a time card, a badge, and a medal, and directed me to the International Runner's finish area. Tom was yelling for me and I found my way to him. He got me a chair, and I sat down, and immediately felt like blacking out. I had to lie down on the grass with the chair over my head so no one stepped on me to keep from passing out. This lasted a good 20 minutes. A boy brought my bag and I changed shirts, and we finally headed out of the stadium. Someone brushed against me accidentally going down some steps and I nearly tumbled. I had no control left. It was nearly 2 miles to our hotel and seemed to take forever, but we made it.
I was too sick to think about it, but I was happy with my results. I wasn't sure I could even do the run this year, for some reason. I had improved my time by 18 minutes, in a longer and more painful race. I am satisfied with this effort.
There were 11,076 finishers out of 15,361 entrants. I finished in 8,657th place.
Secret Weapons:
I ran much better this year, I think. I learned some things last year, from running, and from other runners. I tried some different things in training and applied them to advantage this year. This is really important stuff to me. You will probably wonder why I'm writing this. Only so I can refer to it for next year.
Socks
I remembered to turn my socks inside out. Tiekie had told me this secret to keep the seams over the toes from causing extra heat on the toenails and making them even blacker than usual.
Metatarsal Pads
I used metatarsal pads in both shoes from the start. Julia had suggested this when I complained that the balls of my feet always ached after longer training runs. My orthopedist, Dr. Greenky had also recommended this treatment for what I thought could be a stress fracture in my forefoot, but which he diagnosed as Freidrich's Infarction, where the pounding and swelling eventually eliminates blood flow to the tarsals in the forefoot and they effectively have the same thing as a heart attack, only in the toe bones. So I used the metatarsal pads, and then, when they started irritating me at halfway, removed them. This was like wearing two different pairs of shoes during the race, since the change affected the support of the foot.
Shorts
I used a new pair of shorts, which are the RaceReady ultra shorts. They have little elastic pockets all around the waist for keeping light articles you may need over the course of 10-11 hours. One pocket had my tog bag claim ticket and my Amabeadibeadi (charity beads). I tried wearing the beads during a point in the race for inspiration, but they were a little too tight on my thick neck (needed to support thick head) so I just kept them in a pocket.
Another pocket was just the size to hold a small squeeze tube of Vaseline. This was used before and during the race to entirely eliminate all chafing. I used it repeatedly during the race, so I didn't have to look for lube at the many aid stations, I just applied the amount as necessary before anything I felt turned into a problem.
I had 10 individually wrapped Lifesavers in a pocket. These last for quite a while while running, and give you something to think about (what color they are, how they taste, should I chew or let it melt, etc.) and provide a little bit of energy as well. Next year I should take 20. I was rationing them out at one per hour and I could use a few more than that.
I took a Balance Bar. This was really useful in the first part of the race, before food was offered. I think it was good that I "ate" then, since by the time food was offered at aid stations, I was too nauseous to think about eating. So I took a bite of my Balance bar every 30 minutes or so. This lasted about 3 hours, and I probably should have kept it up longer. So next year, 2 Balance Bars.
I took 2 800 mg Ibuprofen in a baggie. I only used one, about halfway through the race.
Another pocket had my little plastic-coated pace chart, provided at the race expo, and a baggie, with 4 paper towels (I only used 1 so I should cut this to 2 next year) and a piece of an old washcloth. I used the washcloth repeatedly in the 2nd half of the race to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and forehead, without getting it in my eyes making them irritated. This helped a lot.
There was also room in the pockets for the metatarsal pads when I took them out of my shoes.
Headgear
This year I wore a RaceReady hat with a drape that kept the sun off my neck and ears. This prevented sunburn and the need to apply sunscreen to my head, where it would eventually run into my eyes, which is more painful than sweat in the eyes. I also used a pair of EMS sunglasses off and on, resting them on the brim of the hat when I didn't need them on my face.
Preparation
In addition, I applied Bullfrog sunscreen my Dad uses in Arizona to my legs and arms before the race. I didn't have a small container to take along, so I left the bottle in my tog bag. I was afraid this wouldn't be enough protection, but it was. Worked perfectly, and I had no sunburn at all.
I had a pair of old Sporthill tights and two old long-sleeve tee shirts on that I removed and threw into the crowd as I warmed up.
After the race in Durban, Umhlozi, Capetown, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Somerset West and returning to USA
After falling asleep in a hot bath, I fell asleep again on my bed. After a few hours, I thought I might try to eat a little. I did eat a little, but not even half my dinner, and I was not feeling too well again. I was able to get to sleep without the cramps bothering too much, and slept pretty good, waking up a few times to de-hydrate. Once I nearly fell over trying to stand up out of bed. After that I remembered to use my arms to get up, not my legs.
Sunday, Tiekie called and offered to collect us for breakfast and the beach. I was very ill and didn't feel like eating at all, so we agreed that they would pick us up at our hotel at 5:30 and we'd join them for dinner. After quite a while, we tried breakfast. I was still not feeling good, so I ate very little. And it didn't stay in me very long. In the afternoon we walked down the beach to Thirstie's. The walk may have made me feel better, but I was hungry, so we had some Windhoek and fried calamari and chips. Then we walked back to our hotel along the beach.
On the beach when we walked to Thirstie's there was a lot of commotion near the water. We thought someone was in trouble, as the lifeguards kept padding in and out on their boards. Then we were told by some passers-by that there was a school of Mackerel, which is the darkish spot in the water above the surfboards. Notice the big ships on the horizon. They are lined up waiting entry to the Port of Durban, the busiest port on the continent of Africa.
Then on to the show at Thirsy's: a ship steams out of the harbor channel, piloted by a licensed pilot from the Port of Durban. The Port's helicopter follows the ship out and lowers a ring for the pilot to climb into.
Then the pilot climbs into the ring, and the helicopter raises him or her up into the helicopter. As soon as the pilot has been lifted off the deck, the helicopter flies back into port or takes the pilot out to another ship waiting to enter the harbor. And then we go back to drinking our nice, cold, Windhoek lager.
Tiekie and her boyfriend Gavin picked us up at our hotel and we had a drink on the terrace, then we piled into Gavin's Isuzu and he drove us up the coast to their flats at Umhlozi, a resort NW of Durban about 20 minutes. There we met their other club mates for dinner: Uwe had run another silver medal, and his wife Diana, Alex had run 8:20, his wife Pauline and their son Leon, who was home on break from his studies at Northern Illinois University where he is a swimmer. Glen (had ruptured his Achilles tendon during the race) and his wife Lauren. We had a great time, food and conversation. Our new friends changed chairs partway through dinner so we all got to talk with different people, which was kind of neat. They would not let us pay for dinner, or even chip in. We adjourned upstairs (quite slowly, in an amusing fashion) for drinks at the bar. We had a pretty goof time, and none of us were feeling any pain, until we tried to come back down the stairs. Before Gavin and Tiekie took us back to our hotel, we were given bright pink Florida Running Club tee shirts ("The Drinking Club With a Running Problem") and some biltong. What a terrific evening.
Early the next morning we caught a shuttle bus from the Balmoral to the airport, and flew to Capetown. There we rented a car and drove into Capetown. We parked in the city and walked around for a while, seeing some of the historic sights and the government gardens. Then we attempted to drive around the cape peninsula. We had been warned that the road was closed for renovations but we tried anyway.
We drove across the peninsula and found ourselves in the wine district. We tried to get rooms at a highly recommended hotel, but it was closed for 3 months (remember this is winter there, and not the tourist season). So we tried another place that was in a pamphlet that Tom had from a few years ago, called Deimersfontein, in Wellington. There was a new manager and he wasn't sure if they were open, but he checked, and we were shown to wonderful accommodations. We inquired if we could get dinner, and he checked with the chef. Yes, they would be able to whip something up. At 7:30 we showed up as requested at the main house, and were shown into a wood-paneled dining room, with a wood fire (most probably eucalyptus) in the fireplace, a large room and table, set for two. We had a really good, what I would call, gourmet, dinner. Partway through, our host informed us that the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Sonenberg, would like to join us for dinner. They did, and I was pretty impressed that the owners would be bothered to entertain us personally. They were British, and we had a great time. After dessert, we repaired with them to the living room, another fireplace, where coffee, tea and port were served. The bed was really soft that night.
In the morning, we were served another wonderful breakfast, checked out, and headed for the wine country. Mr. Sonenberg interrupted his schedule to eat with us and give us driving instructions on how to get to the places he recommended. We first went to Franschoek to visit the Huguenot Museum and cemetery. After that, we drove back through Paarl to Stellenbosch, and finished up at Somerset West and the Vergelegen Estate. Vergelegen is a word that is pronounced without using any "V" or "G" sounds, something like furfeleffen. Anyway, it was a fine place, and we ordered some wine, but had to leave in a hurry for the airport.
