Break from Traveling, Capetown
05/27/10
Five months in…
All night, my breathing fell into a drugged, unbroken rhythm, drifting the exhaustion of my body away. My mind absorbed the ghastly still night in slow motion: the clockwise spinning fan, the white square boxes on our hostel’s ceiling, and the soft moonlight, waving in from the hallway’s skylight through a small, high window into our room. Under this moon glow in the gloom, a flattened low fog seemed to illuminate across the ceiling. In this setting, it was easy to fall deeply, dreamlessly asleep.
In every way, the African Heart Backpacker hostel in the Observatory neighbourhood of Capetown was just what we needed. It was located at the base of Table Mountain in a charming area near many restaurants, bars and stores, which meant everything we needed was close by. It was also full of friendly travelers and we quickly be-friended a Canadian from Montreal, a pair of German brothers, a Dutch girl, an Englishman and hostel staff.
I slept better than a Bangkok hooker after the U.S. Navy left town. The bed and blankets absorbed my body and I woke up feeling like the Marshmellow man, but without a fear of Ghostbusters…okay, maybe a little afraid.
Our room was large by hostel standards and almost homely: the floors were dark-grained wood with knots, the walls painted a pale blue, changing to cream on the left side, with a painting of black tree branches behind the bed. Our shower, located beside the entrance, opposite the toilet next to our bed, was bathed in the pale light reflected from the sun and the dim bulb overhead on the tiles, creating an intimacy from a pleasant contrast of whites and shadows.
After five months traveling and a recent 16-day overland safari mostly spent in cold tents, I was no more motivated to get up than a pothead with a box of cold pizza, a bag of chips and a stack of cartoon DVDs. Raising her arms into the air stretching, I sensed, more than saw, Boxie-boo’s widening, banana face smile. I looked over, her eyes were luminous and probing, a happiness from a full night’s rest. The rising sun had casted dark hollows beneath her cheekbones; all at once, her animal presence pierced me. She was about to suggest something, and by suggest, I mean demand. She looked at the tear drop shower head with Oprah enthusiasm, then back at me.
“Can we do nothing today?”
“Yes,” I said, my jaw set stubborn as if I demanded this. She ba-giggled like a tickled goat.
“Then sushi?” Her eyes grew moist.
I knodded and she began doing her hawaiian-style swaying happy dance.
Sometimes we needed a break from sightseeing and traveling. On this day, we pretty much accomplished nothing beyond eating, sleeping and keeping it real.
That’s all for now.
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