Sunday in Africa

Hello Everyone,

 

The day started out at 6:00 AM in Cape Town.  My hotel had an excellent view of Table Mountain which apparently is quite the attraction here in Cape Town.  Wayne Lindsay and I met our Southern Africa Regional Manager, Greig Rodgers, and a Canadian expatriate driller named Sheldon for breakfast and then a 700 kilo (approximately seven hour) drive to a drill site near Gamesburg, South Africa.  We spent the day talking about the politics of Africa and the LDS church.  It appears that I am the first member of The Church that most of these guys have ever met.  Even though the drive was long and cramped we arrived safely and I enjoyed the conversation.  We arrived just in time to meet the crews heading back towards our camp.  The guys on this project live in a camp that Major Drilling built three years ago.  I was picturing a camp that Indiana Jones would have stayed in but the camp is actually fairly nice.  It has concrete floors, tin sides and roof, beds for about 80 guys, and a grill that cooked a great t-bone steak for dinner.  I had to buy a coat since the weather in the camp is around 50 degrees during the day and close to freezing at night.  I am currently wearing my t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, my fleece jacket, and my only other long sleeve shirt.  I cannot believe that right now I am freezing and in a few days I will be sweating to death in Tanzania. 

 

We are going out to the rigs early in the morning and then leaving by noon to drive the seven hours back to Cape Town.  The experience of staying on site in the camp and traveling these great distances makes me appreciate the ability to sleep in a warm bed and get a snack whenever I am hungry.  I am almost half way through the trip and will be home before you know it.  I hope everyone had fun at the birthday party for Guy, Mike, and Nate.  I love you all and will look forward to talking to you tomorrow on the phone. 

 

Love,

 

Ben