First of all, I VOTED ALREADY! And second, today is the first debate and no, I will not be awake at 3 am to watch it. I’m quite sure I will be able to see it ad nauseum tomorrow when it is replayed repeatedly.

Today, after much reflection and pondering, I opened a bank account here. It’s 20 years since I had an account in this country and I wondered how difficult it was going to be. I am tired of paying foreign transaction fees every time I need cash.

But I was amazed at how easy it was and how technologically advanced the banking industry is here.

I knew I would need my ID book, which is also 20 years old (they have ID cards now) and some cash to open the account. I’d made some queries about which bank to use and chose Capitec, which apparently is relatively new and up and coming. The closest branch for me is in Hillcrest, just 10 minutes away. The one check against this bank is that wherever there is one of their ATM machines, there is always a long queue. But the fees and all that are relatively light.

The branch is quite new and it’s very modern, clean and well-staffed. The guard at the door scanned my ID before I could enter, and I was given a number and directed to a seat with big X’s marked on adjoining seats. I only waited for about 10 minutes before meeting with a consultant, a young Indian woman, dressed in her black bank uniform, wearing a mask and clear full visor. I told her what I wanted to do and she went to work. First of all, she also scanned my ID then proceeded to electronically fingerprint me. We went through the entire process, right down to downloading the bank app on my phone and logging in without my signing a single thing!

This felt quite odd but in this country where a disproportionate number of people aren’t able to read or write, this system is magic. After taking the full set of prints, any place on a form that required a signature, I simply put any finger on the scanner and it verified me.

The whole process took probably 15 minutes and I walked out with a debit card, signed (oh wait no signature required) and ready to go. Very sophisticated! Now I will make the clunky transfers to my new account from California and hope the process is as smooth.

We still don’t have information about which countries will allow us in or, more importantly, which countries will South Africa allow in. So no word yet whether Ryan will be able to visit. Holding thumbs!

Meanwhile…

Just an hour from here is a small nature reserve called Cumberland Nature Reserve. My friend Gael invited me to a picnic there last week. It was her birthday a couple of days ago, so this was an early birthday gathering with several of her friends. Driving through the sugar cane fields, I felt as if I should be driving a 4x4 instead of my little rental putt putt which felt every rut in the road and was coated with dust as I followed Gael to the reserve. Up in the cut cane fields, monkeys were making a feast of the left over sugar canes.

Cumberland Nature Reserve is a 560 hectare private reserve and it was such a thrill to drive in through the gates and see zebra and then a whole tower of giraffes, including some youngsters foraging under the acacia trees. With the temperature rising rapidly and not a lot of shade anywhere for a picnic, we headed up to the hut where Gael and her friend Shirley planned to spend a couple of days. We found shade and settled in with mimosas and a huge variety of food everyone had brought.

Late afternoon, we walked along the rim of the krantz (cliff) me walking way far back from the edge! But oh, what a spectacular view and place.

The reserve used to be open to day visitors and campers. But as is so often the case, the day visitors were rowdy and destructive, defacing the rocks and littering, so now it is only open to people booked in to the camps or - gotta love this - on Thursdays, it’s open to Senior Citizens! Ha! get that, you obnoxious youngsters. So the place was pristine and quiet.

Such a treat, but it was extremely hot and I became quite dehydrated but as soon as I got back into the air conditioned car and drank about a gallon of water, I was fine.

Sunday was a double adventure. It was a very cloudy, sort of blah day but I’d heard on the local WhatsApp group about an Open Garden which I thought would be fun. And it was!

Tanya Visser is a well-known South African with a gardening show, books etc and this was billed as Tanya’s Spring Garden. I love to photograph flowers and the garden was absolutely bursting into bloom. Beautifully manicured beds and different areas with indigenous plantings and others with old perennials we all know and love.

From there I went to Andrew Walford’s pottery studio. Andrew is also an extremely well-know potter and more importantly (sorry Andrew) my friend Sue’s brother. His studio and home are spectacular, what I would call “old Natal”. Rustic, thatched buildings rambling over a hilltop, with views as they say, to die for. When he has open studios, he also has the local weavers set up shop and it was fascinating watching the women making pots and mats.

And now, as I mentioned at the beginning of this, it’s debate night so I am going to bed and hope the ranting and raving won’t seep into my dreams.