friday, September 16, 2022

the highest of highs and the lowest of lows

Our route today had us going to the farthest point first, then stopping at some key sights along the way back. We started first at the Three Rondavels viewpoint of the Blyde River Canyon, and I think all of us were really blown away by the scenery.

I only have a handful of pictures today that I’m very thankful I took with my iPhone… more to come on that.

Our next stop was the Bourke’s Luck Potholes, a really strange but cool-looking rock formation that formed when two rivers met and caused various swirling eddys (eddies?) that eroded the rock into a bunch of unique holes. Bourke was a guy who came apparently looking for gold, and didn’t find any, though people came along to the same spot later and were more successful. At least he got his name on a cool site.

First thing, we got ourselves harnessed up for the zip line, which takes you over the gorge and then back again on a different line.

Annnnnnd then, while we were riding that high, it came crashing right down. When we got up to the top, the few people from our group who hadn’t done the jump came rushing over to grab Jamie, because it turns out that while we were adventuring, some criminals had broken a window of one of our two vans and taken all of our stuff.

Our hearts immediately sank at the news as that reality set in – given the active things we were doing, we had left everything in the van. Aside from the day-to-day stuff, Jason’s bag had his passport, Sam’s had her journal, Amber & Dave lost their whole bag, and my entire backpack was gone as well. The police were there to file a report, but I think we all knew that our stuff was gone for good, and we stood in the parking lot calling our banks to cancel our cards and making a list of what we lost.

I could deal with my wallet, glasses, and a few other necessities being taken, but what devastated me was that my camera, three lenses, and my GoPro were in the bag – including the shots and footage from the last three days of the trip – never to be seen again. I’m genuinely usually a roll-with-the-punches, ‘it’s all an adventure’-type traveler, but I was crushed about my camera, and since I chose South Africa largely for the once-in-a-lifetime photography opportunities (and had upgraded all of my gear for this trip along with doing some situation-specific practicing with wildlife and astrophotography), I’m not sure I’ll ever be ok with that particular punch. I wish a thousand paper cuts on the losers who did this.

That said, I could not be more grateful to the rest of the group who totally helped out those of us who had stuff taken by lending us money and necessities for the rest of the trip, along with their genuine friendship and support. And – she may actually kill me for saying thank you yet again – I am forever grateful to Rachel our photographer, as she thankfully had all of her camera gear with her to capture the gorge activities rather than in our van (!), and graciously let me sit with her for the next few days on the safari part of our trip so that I could scratch my photography itch with one of her extra cameras when she wasn’t using it. I know, more than anyone, she could relate to what I was feeling. (We both agreed that I’d rather them have taken my passport!)

Quick positive update since I’ve been home, since I need to sing the praises of State Farm. I was dismayed that my travel insurance would’ve only covered a tiny fraction of the cost of what was taken, but my dad (thanks, Dad!) reminded me that my homeowners’ insurance should somehow cover the theft, even though my stuff wasn’t taken from my apartment. Once I got back home I put together a spreadsheet of everything that was taken, the cost, and a copy of the receipts, submitted the claim to State Farm, and literally that same afternoon an agent (I’ll pretend his name was Jake) called me, talked through the details of the theft, and by the end of the call I had the money back in my account minus my deductible.

I’ll never get back that photography experience, and I still need to take care of some loose ends like getting a new drivers license and health insurance cards and rekeying my front door, but I couldn’t be more relieved, and frankly shocked, that the insurance claim process was so painless. I officially will be a State Farm customer for life!