It’s good not to know what the future holds for us … otherwise I would have cancelled January 2023 and moved on to the next month!

The Bad:

When we returned from our holiday on the West Coast of South Africa, Berto became very ill. We had to get in the car twice in the middle of the night to go to the Emergency Center. And twice he was hospitalised. The second admission to the hospital resulted in two visits to the operating theatre.

I witnessed beautiful sunsets (and thunderstorms) while Berto was in hospital

The short version: Berto’s left lung was almost completely filled with excess fluid, making breathing extremely difficult. Literally hundreds of blood tests, x-rays and ECG’s were done. His infection count was 480 (it should be around 5 for a healthy person) and a chest tube was placed between his ribs and into his lung to drain the fluid (twice in theater). Most of the liquid has drained, but there is still a small amount of liquid that did not drain.

Another beautiful sunset when Berto was discharged

After more than a week in hospital, Berto was discharged. He is much better, but recovery will probably take a long time. The worrying fact is that the doctors could not give his condition a name or what the cause was. We have a few more visits lined up for more tests and doctor visits. But for now, we are thankful that he is better and at home.

The Good:

My mom travelled with us when we came back from our holiday for a visit (it was only supposed to be for a few weeks but ended up being a month with Berto being sick and in hospital).

When Berto bought her plane ticket in October last year, we could not have foreseen how much we would need her here with us during January!

I just realised once again how much my mom means to us. While I travelled between our house and the hospital several times a day, visiting doctors and waiting for Berto to come out of theater, my mother made sure everything was in order back home. She cleaned, did laundry and prepared meals. Whenever I came back from hospital, she would make me a cup of tea and just sit with me … I appreciate her so much more now after everything we’ve been through!

And she even made sure that when Berto got home, his favourite rusks and bottled salad would be waiting for him!

Homemade buttermilk rusks
Bottled ‘sousboontjies’ (bean salad) made from real ‘Heerboontjies’

One day I mentioned to her that I would like to have my own rosemary plant because we like to use this herb fresh in our food. She then bought a small rosemary plant and transplanted it into a pot … that way I will always think of her when I use rosemary in our food!

Rosemary plant (the colourful tortoise was given by a dear friend)

While Berto was in the hospital, I took my mother around to show her more of our new city. It was nice to be out and about – my mom loves to see new places and I was able to relax a bit after each hospital visit.

Let’s take you on a quick tour. Some of the places you have already seen in previous posts and I will tell you more about the others in later posts.

East London Museum (Take 1):

On our first visit to the East London Museum, we experienced load shedding (this is a South African term for power outages to save electricity … unfortunately part of our daily life). The museum does not have a generator and was therefore closed. We wandered around the outside and then enjoyed a cappuccino in the lovely garden of the restaurant.

Mom standing in front of one of the lifeboats that saved passengers from the Oceanos, a Greek cruise liner that sank close to East London in 1991

Enjoying cappuccino in the restaurant’s inside garden
Colourful flowers in the garden

Gonubie Boardwalk:

In a previous post, we introduced you to this lovely boardwalk. My mom loved walking here, even though it was a cloudy day it was very warm and we enjoyed walking on the beach with our feet in the water.

On the Gonubie boardwalk

The beach at Gonubie and interesting sand art

Gonubie boardwalk and beach in the distance

After our walk along the sea, we went over to the Heavenly Pancake House where we enjoyed milkshakes and delicious filled pancakes. I really like this place!

A lovely view while enjoying milkshakes at Heavenly Pancake House
Our delicious filled pancakes

East London Museum (Take 2):

We planned our second visit to the East London Museum better (when there was no load shedding) and enjoyed wandering from one exhibit to the next for almost two hours. It is a great place to go back in history and to learn more about the fauna and flora in this area. We will do a separate post on this museum soon.

Exhibits on the animals living in and around East London

More animals (they are of course not real …)

The Coelacanth – a fish that was thought to be extinct, but rediscovered close to East London in 1938

Mom with one of the museum’s biggest attractions, the Coelacanth

After our museum visit we were ready for lunch and walked over to the restaurant where we had cappuccinos the last time. This time we enjoyed a refreshing Prego Chicken Salad.

Prego Chicken Salad

Pinecreek Restaurant and Farmstall:

There aren’t many farmstalls around East London – like we’re used to on the West Coast. But we found a gem here near our home. Pinecreek Restaurant and Farmstall, built in the Cape Dutch style, nestles comfortably in the gently sloping green hills on one of East London’s leading tourist routes.

Pinecreek Restaurant and Farmstall

Pinecreek offers entertainment to the whole family, such as farm-style shopping, a restaurant and very nice play area for the kids.

Kids heaven … for some reason, I think my mom would have enjoyed a ride on the train!

The Lion Park:

The Lion Park is just around the corner from us and offers visitors the opportunity to view some of Africa’s most powerful predators at an arm length away. There are other animals such as Alpacas, Ostriches, Meerkat, Patagonian Mara and a large variety of bird life.

At the entrance of The Lion Park

Mom sitting at a statue of a cheetah (the real one was somewhere in the thick bushes)

Young male lion

Spectacular views over the rolling hills at The Lion Park

The Dassie Trail:

Our last excursion was a short walk through the Nahoon Estuary Nature Reserve. The Dassie Trail (which means hyraxes) is about 4km and winds through the forest to an open, muddy area surrounded by beautiful mangrove trees, but most of this easy trail is on a boardwalk.

On the boardwalk at the Dassie Trail

The Nahoon River flows into the Indian Ocean here

Walk through the shallow waters of the river

The Nahoon River and Indian Ocean further on

It was definitely a good time having my mom here with us! She was like an anchor in a difficult time for me (and Berto). We miss her now that she has flown back home.

We shared one last sunset before my mom returned home

(I’m still catching up on some of your blog posts after this hectic month and will check in with you guys soon).