A second chance at love

by Lehlogonolo Mongwe (South Africa)

A leap into the unknown South Africa

I got a text that read “let’s go to cape town together next week”. I laughed and thought how pathetic, is this one of his stunts to try and get me back? A ploy to get me excited and then, as per usual, disappoint me. I replied after a couple of hours, sassy and uninterested in the proposal. Yet I thought how cruel would he be to joke about something I have always wanted, somewhere I had never been but always yearned to? I took a leap of faith and decided to take his word and on the 29th of January I found myself at the boarding gates of 0.R Tambo. Naturally, I was a little late and ran around the airport trying to reach my flight, he had gotten on the plane before me. As I hurried to my assigned seat I saw his face light up, his eyes comforting as ever I felt an ease, an ease I hadn’t felt in a very long time. As I sat down next to him, it occurred, a trip I had wished to go on for what had seemed like my whole life was finally happening! I was on my way to Cape Town. As soon as we got off the plan I instantly felt a difference, a difference in the air, the atmosphere and my heart. Our drive was thrilling, I looked out the window in excitement like a little child visiting a theme park for the first time. The mountains peeped out, the ocean and cars, I was in astonishment. My heart was beating through my vest, everything I have wondered and witnessed in pictures was right there and looked better than I could have imagined. If I have ever thought of belonging, in a place, this was it. I belonged in Cape Town, I fit right in, like a local, who just does not know directions to anywhere. Of course I had an itinerary, you cannot travel to a new place and not have a long list of to do’s. Our first stop was the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. The building is one of the tallest in Waterfront so we saw it from a mile away and hopped with excitement to it. The entrance is astonishing. We reached the lift and with a shaking finger I pressed the third floor, which is the art exhibition. I am not exactly sure what we were expecting but that was not it, at all. All the African history seemed too satire for us, maybe we lack some sense of humour but I prefer my history on the little factual side. With everything black people have suffered, the least we deserve is for our history to not be ridiculed. My partner managed to calm down my apparent hot flushes and suggested we leave and find something to eat. We decided to visit Mojo market. As we walked in I could smell all the different flavours of food, the place is not only aesthetically pleasing, but the food was delicious. I pledged of course to only eat seafood the entire trip because hello the ocean. I have never had prawns that big nor that fresh, my tongue was dancing and my stomach was enticed. Our trip had finally began! Our next stop was an oyster bar, fresh from the sea. What have we been eating in Gauteng all along? Plans for the next day and to our surprise, a refining moment was climbing Lions head. It take over an hour to reach the top and I would advise walking with a pleasant partner, the steeps, rocks, chains and everything in between are enough to make you love or hate the person you are with, it builds both strength and character. I am not the most active person but walking up that mountain not only restored my strength, but a love I was doubtful of before. Reaching the top comes with an unexplainable feeling. It restores while at the same time sheds, we shed everything that once stood in the way of our love. At the top I found healing, love and the idea that God truly exists.