11. What Goes Up...

It’s been a few weeks since we returned home. Occasionally, I find myself mentally escaping the icy weather in Paarl and visiting sunny Krui. I guess that's the beauty of traveling - you can hold on to those memories for a lifetime.

While we were there, I didn’t write that much. I don’t know about you, but when I’m in a new environment, I find it hard to sit down and try and capture an experience. It’s almost like I’m a little too close to something, and I need to stand a little further away to see it clearly. 

So, if you are okay with it, I will write a few more blogs to update you on what we experienced.

As mentioned in my previous blogs, Vicus was the driver during our adventures in Krui. I was very content to hold on to him on the scooter. Some of our best times were climbing on the scooter and driving, picking a road we didn’t know, and seeing where it would take us. Some of the roads led to nowhere, and some were absolute gems! 

One of the times we took the road less traveled, it took us to the most beautiful viewpoint. It looked out on the beautiful jungle below us and Krui further down. The incline we took to get up there with the scooter was so high that I told Vicus I would rather walk down, and then he could drive the scooter down alone!

Well, my husband did it. And we both came back in one piece, so all’s well that ends well.

After one of our joyrides, Vicus pulled over the scooter one day and said: “Okay, now it’s your turn! You drive”. At first, I thought he made a joke, but then I realised he was serious.

I had two thoughts running through my head: “Are you crazy!?” And “Wow! You believe in me and think I can do this!?”

Not wanting to let the opportunity go by and Vicus’s belief in me (real or fake - you’ll have to ask him) fuelling me, I took hold of the steering wheel. The scooter was much heavier than I expected. At first, my grip was a little too intense, but as I relaxed a little more, I realised I had more control over it when I didn’t tense up too much.

Can you tell that the recurring theme in my blogs is surrender?!

Thank goodness Vicus was sitting behind me with his hands over mine because just as I thought I was getting the hang of it, a cow crossed the road. Vicus swerved us out of the way like it was nothing.

So, here’s my life lesson: who is part of your support system? Will they keep their hands over yours, not steering and forcing you on a certain path, but there, ready to help swerve out of the way when they see an obstacle in the road and prevent a collision?

“Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you.”