Those of you who are local to the Collingwood area will recognize the Name Three Stage as it refers to a set of Mountain Biking Trails on the Niagara Escarpment. These trails are challenging and afford a beautiful view of the area. I thought they would be a good allegory to our trip to South Africa.
First of all our trip was in three stages: There was the 12 Day Gate 1 Classic Tour of South Africa, the time we spent independently exploring Durban and Cape Town and the Bokbus 4 Day Garden Route Tour. Each stage had its merits and gave us an opportunity to explore South Africa further.
South Africa is blessed with a wide variety of spectacular scenery; much more so than either of us had anticipated. The country also continues to have its challenges. Just because apartheid is over does not mean things are all better. Economic hardhship is widespread and the divide between the haves and have nots is enormous. Corruption is still prevalent and there are many high crime areas. Although I enjoyed the trip and the people we met, I did feel relieved when I returned to Canada and did not have to worry about safety issues (when on our own and after dark).
Images of South Africa
From the Mountains

On the Panorama Route
To The Oceans

The Cape Peninsula Atlantic Ocean
To The Animals

Zebras on Safari
To The People

Eswatini Choir
Secondly, our journey home was in three stages: Cape Town to London (11 and a half hour flight) followed by a four hour layover in London) London to Toronto (about 7 hours) and then the trip from Toronto to Collingwood (about two hours). We were very fortunate that our son Jeremy and his wife were returning to Collingwood from Florida the same day that we arrived back in Toronto. There was only 20 minutes difference between our flight arrival times so we were able to get a ride back to Collingwood with them and catch up on all our news at the same time. How lucky was that!
Thirdly, every trip Terry and I take is an opportunity to learn more about the World and ourselves and to better refine how we like to travel and with whom.
Would we return to South Africa? Probably not because it is so far away and many other places beckon. Are we glad we went? Most definitely; it was somewhere we had wanted to go for some time and we were happy to have accomplished that goal. Now about that next trip…..