A different Life

I went to South Africa a few weeks ago for a month, to get some therapy for my daughter who has Aspergers.We stayed in cape town, I have travelled quite a bit and still continue to do so but cape town is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.We rented a flat on the beach front. I would wake up with questions and apprehensions about my daughters care but once I caught a view of the beach or the mountains that surrounded us I felt such a sense of calmness and well being.I would take her for walks on the beach every day after therapy and every day the sea would present us with a different gift it could be a preserved sea horse amazingly coloured. Shells,bits of coral and so many different kinds of seaweed that my daughter suggested we take them home and cook them this is one kid that loves her vegetables.
Never have I felt so comfortable in a country I have never wanted to visit, always put off by the history of apartheid. My first trip out by myself to the mall I noticed that I blended in with the crowd completely as eighty percent of the people looked like me now you might think what is she talking about ? But this was an amazingly rare experience because as a mixed race person you tend to stand out a little.This was a kind of nirvana for me because when people looked at me they saw themselves and looked at me accordingly with a knowing acceptance,well what they thought they knew if you catch my drift.I went to the salon for a hair cut and one of the ladys asked me how long I had been away as she assumed I was a South African coloured with an english accent.I know SA has been getting a lot of bad press recently and some of it deservedly so but I have never met a friendlier more relaxed bunch of people blacks,whites and coloreds alike. The cost of living seemed to be lower than living in Lagos,the quality of life is amazing all this just five and a half hours away from Nigeria.

When I got back I wanted to relocate and had a bit of a cry as nepa took light once again and the local security teams started banging their iron bars as they do every night just as you are getting into a nice sleep presumably to scare off armed robbers.I had been used to the sound of the ocean putting me to sleep and I thought how much more comfortable my children would be in the Cape totally be able to blend in and have a healthy out door life on the beach,surfing,sailing........but hey there's no place like home is there ?