As the subject says, today was our last full day in South Africa. It has been a really relaxing couple of weeks. We had originally planned on visiting Kruger National Park and Mozambique, but threw those plans out after feeling worn out by Kenya and Tanzania. We’ve just wanted some chill and recharge time, and that’s exactly what we’ve had. At dinner tonight, Nick asked “do you think we’ve planned everything just right or do you think our brains calibrate when we know we’re leaving a place?” Every time it’s time to change locations, we feel ready to close the chapter and start another.

We basked in the relaxation all day and barely left the house. We did some digital housekeeping and downloaded movies and books for the long flight tomorrow. We did more laundry and went through every single item we have packed to find places to downsize. The minimalism is extreme and liberating. I’m seriously debating going down to one pair of pants and one pair of shorts.

Millie listened to stories, played cards, and worked on her second book (“Peaches goes to the museum”). She is finally able to somewhat entertain herself without our constant involvement.

Nick decided to return the rental car a day early so we don’t need to deal with it tomorrow. When he got back we headed out to mail some things home that we didn’t want to carry but couldn’t throw away: Millie’s book, her flattened souvenir coin collection, and her unicorn wings. DHL wanted to charge us $80 for it which we couldn’t stomach, so I ran to the local post office to try there before they closed at 4:30. I was able to send everything off at a much more reasonable price.

Filling out the insurance form made me laugh. Contents: book by 4-year-old and unicorn wings. Value: priceless. Looking at this receipt now makes me nervous that the lady took one look at me kand thought “this bitch is definitely German”. We took photos of every page just in case it doesn’t survive the journey to Austin.

From there we went to an early dinner at Kloof Street House. Nick and I had a memorable meal here when we visited in 2019 and thought it would be fun to bring Millie back.

We ran into Bertus and his family! I said “Bertus!!!” and I’m not sure they recognized us at first. It was kind of an awkward exchange. Millie drew him a love note that I regret not taking a photo of.

She did lots of great drawing that she frustratingly crumpled up when she realized she’d made tiny mistakes. She spelled “FORZEN” from memory and we were like “wow you knew all the letters and only got one out of order!” which sent her into a spiral. Once again I would like to know how to discourage perfectionism in a kid.

Since it was our last night we celebrated with a rare non-Friday cone on our walk home.