Meredith Was Where?

Lara and I departed Joberg on a 9 hour treck toward Kruger.  The “motorways” are first class, as are the rest stops with built in tourist “frames” for photo opportunities!  Once we departed the motorway for the Panorama Route, things got foggy.  We missed a few of the viewpoints, but by the time we reached the spectacular Blyde River Canyon, the skies had cleared.  It is like trying to photograph the Grand Canyon.  Impossible to do justice.  Lara got her first, and apparently last “lesson” in driving a 6 speed manual….and is determined to return home to buy a car with a stick shift.  Can you say “Maria Andretti?”   Having never driven a stick shift before, she was not plagued by the left vs right that took me a day to get used to.   We drive through some amazing countryside, finally arriving at our destination for the night…Ngama Tented Safari Camp.  Simply lovely.  I have never enjoyed a bath so much…in my big colonial clawfoot, in my “lantern lit” tent.  The food was good, the wine excellent, and the monkeys hung around just enough.  Lara and I played Canasta in the camp area til late.   Kim and Devon were great hosts and we got set up for our 5 am departure for our am game drive….  Again, finding myself in one of the most romantic places on earth….with one of  my kids  :-).  Life is good.

where we were treated wonderfully, had a  good meal, great wine, and 12 hours sleep….   Ok, that’s if we were smart.  Instead, we were treated wonderfully, chatted like crazy with the flight attendants, had too much wine, watched 4 movies, and got no sleep…    🙂  Great Flight!!!

Likewise, flew through immigration in Joberg, not even having to leave the building to pick up our rental car.  Easiest process EVER!   So my first car was a stick and I have lots of practice driving on the “wrong” side of the road, however, I have NEVER driven a 6-speed stick on the wrong side of the road.  Good thing its Lara in the seat to my left.  I keep grabbing the wrong everything!!!!  And every blinker is preceded by a spray and wiper swish!  Actually, I’m having a ball and thrilled to be flying across the African landscape, with Lara at my side, music blaring, and under Africa “rules.”   Faircity Quartermain Hotel as advertised!  Highly recommend this charming hotel with all the amenities and quiet comforts.  It is second home to a myriad of interesting business and leisure travelers, has a bar and lounge that feel like your living room, and is minutes in the free shuttle to Sandton center.  Made friends our first night in, and was invited out to dinner for our second.

First day ventures included visits to the excavation site and exploration center at the Cradle of Mankind center and then, Soweto.  The Cradle of Mankind visitor center and caves is about an hour out of town.  It was amazing and a top notch educational site for any age.  If you are short of time, drop the cave visit in lieu of more time at the educational center.  The caves are interesting for their archeological value, though fairly average as caves go.  Soweto was interesting, though not certain a “tour” is required beyond visits to some of the historic sites if there is a particular interest.  Sandton is simply lovely, and dinner at the Hotel Michaelangelo Chophouse was spectacular!  One of those very special nights where the wine, conversation and laughter just flow!

It’s difficult to decide what’s more fun:  drinking hot toddies under the stars while being entertained by Herb Alpert, Earl Klugh, BWB (Brown, Whalum and Braun), Lee Ritenhour, Ray Parker, Jr., and Vanessa Williams, or hanging out in the lobby and bar and ballrooms, taking in an amazing 3 hour jam by Earl Klugh’s band and Ray Parker, Jr., being stunned by the talent of Vincent Ingala, or the soulful originality of Jamison Ross.   The headliners are, well, headliners for a reason, but here at Kiawah, the side acts and pop-up events are often the great treasures !!  This weekend seems annually blessed with amazing coastal weather for November, and the relaxed elegance and warmth of The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island.  Pilates by the sea, themed wine tastings, world-class golf and cuisine…there are far more resort activities and events that time with which to enjoy them.  So this was my third, and like most folks who know the secret, I’m already booked for next year.  Combine a 2 or 3 night package with a couple of nights sampling the renown cuisine and architecture of Charleston, and one has built the perfect week away!!   Earl Klugh’s Weekend of Jazz at Kiawah Island NEVER disappoints!!

23 June.
I am writing this now, an early blog entry, knowing I won’t post it till after I have a U.S. passport in hand and am assured safe passage home—don’t want to jinx anything.
So I have heard of people who have been stranded without anything: no passport, no id, no credit cards, no cash, in effect, no identity. For the first time in my life, yesterday, I became this person. Thankfully, my island is not deserted and I have technology somewhat on my side. To make a long, long story short as possible, somewhere between buying a coffee and meeting my friend at the café at Meeting Point 4 in the Mallorca Airport, and walking to the car in the parking lot, (15 minutes, 2 floors and not more than 200 yards total), my beautiful new wallet, with everything I owned, disappeared from my purse.
So how did a seasoned traveler like myself, let this happen?? I have been extraordinarily careful and lucky in my travels. I have always separated one ID and one credit card and put them in a different spot, but this new wallet was organizational perfection. It cried out to me in the language that any organizationally obsessed person would completely understand. It still makes me smile just thinking about it. Black leather, three sections, decreasing in size and with different colored zippers. In the largest my airport necessities fit perfectly: passports, ticket info, Global Entry card, and airport lounge club cards. In the middle section went my U.S. dollars and in the small card holder subsection, my ATM cards (1 and a spare), credit cards (AmEx and a spare MC), my driver’s license as a second photo ID, and my military ID. Finally, in the smallest section went my local currency…$30 Euros left over from the last trip. It was the perfect manageable size as well, fitting nicely into my purse, which lies securely on my hip, strap running over my shoulder and across my chest. I could not wait to set it up, so I threw all my past years of caution, of separating back up ID’s and credit cards, to the wind. And why not?? In decades of traveling world-wide, often to dodgy places and usually alone, I have been extraordinarily lucky and clearly, paranoid. Ha! Yesterday, I was pick-pocketed by a pro.
After I got over the shock, the main issue became clear immediately: I have no photo ID, and without that, no identity. I cannot receive Western Union funds in Spain, or a DHL package, which means American Express cannot help me. The U.S. Consulate in Mallorca was very nice. They could help me if I was injured or dead, but not with a passport or an ID, or a way to get to Madrid to get a passport. I cannot board a plane without a photo ID to get from Mallorca to Madrid, even though my ticket is already purchased. It is a long swim, and boats, well, those take time and money.

 

28 June
So I am in Madrid, on my way home, with a temporary passport, an American Express card, and my friends reimbursed in Mallorca. I want to tell the story, without getting the people who bent rules for me in hot water, or messing it up for the next guy. So, the abridged version goes like this: I phoned my office as I had left the hardcopy of my travel abroad request which had my passport info on it on my desk.  My compadre at work gave me the number of my stolen passport, which I hoped would help me at the Embassy. It also resulted in my boss calling me…offering to send money. 😊 Thank you guys, for everything…really hoping you wouldn’t ALL find out about this.  My friends, of course, fronted me cash and drove me everywhere I needed, like the police station to file the obligatory report, which, with my stolen passport number on it, would be the only official piece of paper I had that implied I exist.
Fortunately, I had left my only other photo ID, my official passport, at home! Lara took photos of the relevant pages and e-mailed them to me. The lady at the shop printed them out on hard white glossy paper in a fashion that made it appear far more official than it was. The call to my daughter also resulted in a text from her father, who, actually, DID send money to me through my friend. On a side note, not to be too widely publicized; it is reassuring to know that both my boss and my ex-husband were willing to pay to get me home 😊.
For those of you who found out through the grapevine and reached out to offer help, thank you. Sincerely. Because my draft text looked something like this: “Had passport, money, credit cards stolen, stranded in paradise, please send cash now to some Spanish name you can’t spell, Mallorca, Spain.” Like any of you would have fallen for that scam! Note: if you are sending Western Union to a latin country, be sure to include the matriarchal name as well, ie, both surnames.

So, finally, I had cash, a plane ticket, a police report, and essentially a Xerox of an “photo-id.” All I had to do was talk my way onto an airplane. The Embassy was clear that it was completely up to the carrier, that no one was under any obligation to accept me without an official ID. I visited the Iberian Air desk on Sunday. Everyone was very nice, but said that in the end, it would totally be up to the people working all the checkpoints and desks on Tuesday. So, thankfully, and thanks to many, I am in this amazing city, Madrid!
Next, I had to talk my way into a hotel in Europe without a passport. Here I had a stroke of luck, in two ways. I rarely book ahead, but because I only had 2 days scheduled in Madrid and wanted to visit but not trouble my friends there, so to keep them from insisting I stay with them, I had booked a hotel. Super lucky as not only did I have a hotel that was expecting me, but American Express agreed to send a replacement card to the hotel. I had pre-paid for the hotel with my American Express, so they informed the hotel of my situation, allowing me to check in without an ID! So I am in Madrid, in a hotel with $ and a credit card. 😊 My last hurdle is the US Embassy, and I am hopeful now, that I have enough time and ways to identify myself that the embassy will issue me an emergency passport.
Finally, I am home. The Embassy was very helpful and for the sum of $135, was happy to issue me a same day emergency passport. Bottom line, I cannot wait to go back to Spain and Mallorca! I have been robbed before, twice in Washington D.C. And no, that is not political commentary. 😊 As far as robberies go, it was nothing more than a serious inconvenience. Despite the looming worry over my trip home being significantly delayed, I had a wonderful time! My experience in the Mallorca police station deserves an entry of it’s own, but I will say that it was a wonderful, surprising, uplifting multi-cultural experience. Seriously. I also had inadvertently planned my stay in Madrid over World Pride Day. It was really an amazing thing, to be in the middle of one of the great cities of the world, holding an international festival, the moto of which is “Whoever you love, Madrid loves you.” Not normally my thing, but art, music, street performers and dancers, and thousands of people were everywhere, and the feeling on the street was one of relaxed fun, solidarity, and yes, pride in the city itself.
There are so many people I cannot thank enough, and I can’t wait to go back.

 

Tomorrow,  22 June,  in the spirit of “go, go, go”, and because rust never sleeps, I am off to Mallorca, Spain on a First Ever!  Fortunately for me, on this First Ever I will be meeting up with a Forever (friend of that sort), to join another Forever in Mallorca.   Though I have visited Spain, this will be my first time in the Balearic Islands, off the east coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.  The islands of the archipelago, Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, etc. cannot exactly be considered ripe for exploration, or adventure travel–as they are already fabulously famous for their beautiful beaches, coastlines, mountains, Brits and Germans.  So it is a different sort of trip for me, and brings together the overflow joys of past travel…friends from previous travels, previous lives, who have never let go of the thread…Forever Friends. They are the friends you may only see every half decade, or decade, but the moment you lay eyes upon each other, the conversation and feeling picks up exactly where you left it.  So the purpose of this specific travel is only to reunite, to reacquaint, to bring back the past, without concern for the destination.  The destination will be enjoyed, but as an afterthought.   It was travel that bore these Forever friendships, and it is these friendships that continue to forge travel.   As I grow older, it feels right that my adventure travel should make room for a little more comfort travel.

So, starting my first blog to bring together the reflections on the elements of my life:  pursuit of great travel, service to a variety of endeavors, love of my fellow wanderers, and a hopeful and helpful curiosity for our world.

Godspeed.