Roadtip to Upington!

Saturday April 25th was the wedding of Jody and Bianca. They’re from Grabouw, but much of their family lives in Upington, in the Northern Cape, near the Kalahari desert, so that is where they had their wedding. Bianca is Fransie’s sister and Karlien’s cousin, so Fransie was a groomsman and Kay-lynne was a flower girl (Kay-lynne's on the right).
All of Fergusson and Karlien’s kids went along (2 biological kids and 4 Agape kids), so I went along for the ride as the American nanny. The drive could probably be done in about 9 hours, but we tacked on 5 hours for leisurely stops at petrol stations along the way. The whole caravan of family coming from the Cape Town area would convene at places along the way and eat snacks, drink coffee and “cool drink” (soda), chat, stretch their legs, and watch the kids play. The first time we stopped (it was about midnight since we started the drive around 10PM), I waited in the car for about 10 minutes before I realized that this was not just a brief rest stop. We mingled in the parking lot for another 45 minutes.

Since Karlien was with Kay-lynne at the church early and Fergusson was running errands, it was my job to get the other 5 kids ready for the wedding. Here’s Rezhaan, Ranel, and Gwennie showing off my lip gloss.
The drive reminded me a bit like driving from Houston or Dallas to El Paso. The change in landscape is dramatic, but after hours and hours and begins to all look the same. Here is a shot of Gwennie and me and the pass that separates the Northern Cape from the Western Cape.