Golden Gate

On our way to the Golden Gate Park we passed some road construction sites again. To my surprise one time the truck was actually driving on the side that was under construction (it was Sunday so no workers were present). Apparently the side of the road that had been stripped from the asphalt was more suitable for driving than the non-stripped side. It must definitely give the construction workers an sense of pride and accomplishment to fix something like that. I also assume that this part of the country is either more densely populated or more frequently visited by tourists, as this was the first time that merchants were trying to sell souvenirs to people in the cars waiting to pass. To my surprise I’ve even seen multiple people sell whips (not the bedroom ones, big ones that could probably slice you in half).

Golden Gate National Park was not established because of the fauna, but apparently the grass there is so special that it deserves a park . Anyway, the lack of dangerous wild life allowed us again to take a hike in the mountains surrounding our lodge. Willem and I ran into Annie en Yvonne so we walked together, and I would just like to state for the record that this time I was able to keep up with Annie.

That evening the crew again prepared a very nice dinner for us (while again being supported in various area’s) and we had some drinks around the barbeque that doubled as a camp fire. The latter was necessary as it was freezing (literally sub-zero temperatures during the night). Initially this was also going to be the first place that Willem and I had to share a bed (which may have been called a double bed, in Holland it would at best be considered a ‘twijfelaar’). Mieke however offered to switch rooms with us, as she was alone in a room with two single beds. During the night I however started to doubt or decision to take that offer. During the evening while everybody was gathering around the fire I had been fine even away from the fire, but once I was in bed I was just cold and it kept me awake till at least 3.40, while body heat from Willem was separated from me by a 1 meter cold gap. My brain was affected so much by the cold that it did not even come to my mind to switch on the electrical blanket (the usefulness of which we had been doubting when we noticed it during the day).