After a nap, we left the hotel at 5:30am. The sun was rising as we were leaving so the drive out of Cape Town was very pretty and filled with beautiful mountains.
We stopped to refuel ourselves and the car and actually found a little Mugg & Bean in Beaufort West. The coffee was much needed and much appreciated.
I drove halfway before my dad took over. Around 3pm, we stopped in Bloemfontein for McDonald’s. After that, all of us were ready to just get home and my bed was calling my name.
The long drive left me with a lot to reflect on:
1. This year – all the highs, the lows, the happiness, the crying (90% academics, 10% other), the friends, the family, all the moments that made me feel content, the moments that made me feel inspired, the moments that made me feel energised and how I would do it all again and how thankful I am that I got to experience it.
2. What I would like to change – I love social media and taking pictures but I will not be living one moment of “content” after the other
3. How much I missed writing (and how much I love it) – I love writing travel diaries and sharing it and it makes me happy when I hear that someone has read my blog post and it helped them because that’s my intention when writing these.
4. This excerpt from Young Sheldon:
Did you know that if gravity were slightly more powerful, the universe would collapse into a ball? Also, if gravity were slightly less powerful, the universe would fly apart and there would be no stars or planets.It’s just that gravity is precisely as strong as it needs to be. And if the ratio of the electromagnetic force to the strong force wasn’t one percent, life wouldn’t exist. What are the odds that would happen all by itself?
The Garden Route is a constant reminder of Allah Ta’alah. The reminders are found in the waves as they hit the shore, the different colours of sand, the different textures of each sand, the shades of blue in the ocean, the mountains and how they fit into one another, how the ocean changes depending on the weather, even in how the animals and marine life take care of themselves. Constant reminders.
5. How grateful I am for the pandemic to be over – for a while, it seemed like it would never end but the pandemic is over and I feel alive again.
6. How much I love South Africa – despite the many problems we have, I love this country and it’s so beautiful and it has so much potential and I hope that we’re not too late to start changing things for the better.
All in all, this trip was great, the sights get more beautiful as you stop along the way, Cape Town is truly the Mother City and I would definitely do it all again. But for now, I’m ready to be home and I’m ready for this new year. Thank you for tripping with me, it’s been a pleasure.
Until next time
Radhiyyah
Step count: 6 613 (super lame)
Purple Clouds 