Day 135 – an impromptu Zulu birthday celebration
Today was a lazy day at the hotel, a bit of breakfast, a bit of pool and a bit of admin. J ordered lunch in. It was a pretty mediocre salad and smoothie. We decided to go to a nearby Greek restaurant, Mykonos, for dinner. It was cheap and cheerful and very good. We both had souvlakis with chips and they were surprisingly what we had hoped for.
We headed back to the hotel for the last part of aperitivo hour(s) and chatted with Mansur and Ashley. The chef had made a platter of chicken liver parfait canapés for S.
Just as we were beginning to wind up, one of the Johannesburg guests dropped by. It turns out that he was celebrating his birthday this weekend. He and his wife had gone wine tasting. As he was the designated driver, she had indulged more than he had and went to bed early. He was still ready to party and was carrying around a glass of sparkling wine. After a short while, he went back to his room and grabbed the bottle of sparkling wine to share with us. His name is Malusi (the “i” is silent) and he is a Zulu. He owns or runs a coal mining company and a few other ventures. He grew up in a township with two blind parents and is self-made. We continued on well after aperitivo hour(s) ended and at some point, the staff came by to tell us they were heading out and gave us some instructions on how to head back to our room at this hour.
Before long, we finished Malusi’s bottle and J offered to go get another bottle from our room. Our mini bar had conveniently been replenished by Calvin. She also grabbed some Amarula bottles for herself and made popcorn for everyone. Interestingly, Malusi did not eat any of the popcorn until S asked him if he wanted some. He explained that per African culture he needed to be invited before he could start eating. S apologised profusely and held off on eating the popcorn so Malusi could catch up.
At some point, Malusi dozed off on the couch and the bottle of sparkling wine ran out, so we all decided to call it a night. We exchanged contact details and S scored an invite to Malusi’s house, but we’re not entirely sure how much of this will actually come to pass. It was an unexpectedly fun night, however and we learned a lot about South African history from Malusi. Even S, who has always been interested in the Zulus and South African colonial history, learned a few new facts.
