South Africa: A Sugarcane Patchwork Quilt

The many shades of the green Durban countryside loomed in the plane’s window as the South African pilot began his descent. We couldn’t decide what the green crop actually was for it was so perfectly sculpted  that it resembled a large, finely-tuned golf course or an intricate, antique, patchwork quilt. Finally, our neighbor in Seat 29H, probably tired of listening to our somewhat contentious debate (we had been flying off and on for 24 hours), informed us the green crop was sugarcane ready to be harvested. I wanted to say it aloud, but kept quiet instead for some people don’t understand my love of puns: sweet!

The green sugarcane fields beckoned us to this “beloved” land! (I admire Alan Paton’s writing, so look out next year AP students! Oh, and I also thrive on Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Conrad's Heart of Darkness!  Ironically, as the BHS Class of '12 graduated, a class I had inundated with literary masterpieces set in Africa, I was cheering them on, not exactly from the heart of Africa, but from south of it anyway! That digression was for the sake of any AP seniors reading my blog! Oh, I just have to say it one more time:  “Mr. Kurtz. He dead.”) But let me tell you, this land is ALIVE!  

I must warn you that these posts from Africa will NOT be edited, so look out! Rambling is my specialty, and boy do I want to ramble tonight as I look back over the notes I made throughout the day, our first day in this exotic land that I’ve dreamed of visiting ever since Reid started traveling here regularly on business for Ker & Downey. I’d help edit their travel magazine Bespoke!, and I’d lose myself in the vivid imagery of the writing, imagining what this mystical land was like. And dream of going one day.   

I kept thinking about Neil Armstrong. (Remember – I said rambling!) But how overwhelmed he must have been when he stepped on the moon. “One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” I mean, what a moment that was! On the moon! And here I am in South Africa, and I feel the same (well, maybe not quite; that has to be a hyperbole), but still awed that I’m here. “Thank you, Lord, for pilots, for planes, for the ability to think and figure things out and make them work. For the opportunity to visit a land on the other side of my world. Never let me take for granted how awesome opportunities like these are!”

One small step off the plane and green continued to command my attention for there were green apples and green signs and green hills and green trees of every color from lime-green to avocado-shades to the deepest dark. I asked Reid if that was normal and he said yes. And finally, I saw for myself what an acacia tree was, so elegantly spread out like a bird’s wings, yet taller than I thought  it would be. I’d edited many a travel article about acacia trees, and now to see them! Love them! And mixed with echoes of home, there are mimosas and palms and banana trees, too.

And then as we drove down Durban’s scenic coastal road in our red, rented VW, a road dominated by a plethora of green trees, the indigo-shaded Indian Ocean waved the green out of my sight and left me with another vivid image.  Another first!  All these firsts! First time in South Africa, first time seeing acacia trees, firs time seeing the Indian Ocean. First time riding as a passenger while my oldest son aggressively drove down the wrong side of the road in this foreign country! If I was teaching my creative writing class today, I’d encourage my students to write about all the firsts in their lives that they could remember. The first time they climbed a tree. The first vacation they remembered. The first time they were kissed. Well, maybe not that one!  But firsts, firsts, firsts. I’m going to have lots of firsts these next few weeks. Thank you, Lord, for firsts! (Oh, and especially for your first and only Son!) And fill me to overflowing with awe and appreciation for your world.

Many times over the past few weeks, friends asked me if I was going on a mission trip, and I almost shamefully felt the need to apologize and say that it was just pleasure. But not anymore! For I’m on an appreciation trip, an appreciation trip of what our Creator created! And that’s a great mission to be on, too!

And then there’s the red soil also described  in Alan Paton’s book. And from that red soil must have come the red-clay tile roofs on the houses…

South Africa is a colorful country resembling my grandmother’s antique, patchwork quilt, not just from the air, but from the ground as well; a country we’re discovering through its people, the land, and the culture, all which make it unique.  

Our trip has just begun, and oh how sweet it is!