On Saturday, our day of departure, we had one more item on our agenda. We were told that a visit to Cape Town is not complete without seeing the whales at Hermanus, which populate the shallow waters around this time of year. We decided that since our drive to Springbok is only around six hours, we would have time to go to Hermanus and then head up country. Supposedly, Hermanus is an hour drive from Cape Town. With traffic and a couple wrong turns, it took us at least two hours. We finally made it to the spot where everyone gathers to see the whales. We looked out at the gorgeous blue water and waited. And waited. And waited. By this time, we were realizing that our mess of a morning was about to be a giant flop. Finally, way out in the distance, we saw some movement. A few minutes later a small tail surfaced. And that was it. A single tail. Not quite the satisfaction we were anticipating.

By now it was already after 1pm and we knew we couldn't stay any longer, whales or not. We quickly grabbed some lunch, had someone give us directions to get across the mountains and back on track, and we were off. Miraculously, we navigated the next hour and a half with few problems and finally made it to N7, our road to Springbok. God blessed us with an incredible sunset, filling the sky with hot pink clouds and coloring the mountains with rich shades of oranges and reds. A bright and full moon hung from the sky. Too bad I was driving or I would have gotten some great photos.

Night fell and we realized we were up against the clock to make it for the 10pm deadline for check-in. With about 150km to spare, we also realized that we were getting dangerously low on gas. If you can imagine a long, dark highway with towns hours apart from each other, in a country where most stores close at nightfall, you can understand our concern as to whether we would reach a town in time (and one that actually had an open service station). We were praying and trusting God to provide, knowing that He was our only hope in this situation. I tried not to let scenarios run through my head of what might happen if we got stranded at night on this dark highway. All the while God was asking me, "Do you trust me?" I answered yes and as we rounded the next bend I saw the lights of a small town. Although we saw no sign of a gas station we exited anyway, hoping someone could help us. As we approached the town we saw the dim sign of a service station. We got closer and closer until we could read "Open 24 Hours". Thank you, Lord! We filled up and headed for Springbok. It was 9:07pm, 107km to go!

The speed limit was 120km/hr, but unfortunately the steep mountains often kept us from maintaining that speed. Again we were praying, and I was stressing trying to drive fast but safe. At 9:56pm we finally pulled up at Sprinbok Lodge. I can do nothing but attribute the entire crazy, but safe journey to God's grace and provision. One detail I left out... Friday night I had only 3.5 hours of sleep. I was awake all day Saturday in the car either helping Cindy navigate or driving myself. If you have ever traveled with me you know how tired I get. I can easily sleep the whole of an 8-hour journey. I can say nothing other than God gave me a supernatural energy that day to stay awake and alert to arrive safely in Springbok.