#LG_KevEd Comrades diary entry 2 – Ballito
Starting your morning with the sights of dolphins in the distance is bliss, especially for some average guys from Benoni (Wild Waters in Boksburg is our nearest "sea").
The graceful and playful mammals kick-started day 2 of our #Lg_KevEd journey, one that ended with us bumping into two fellow Benonians, one of whom (our good friend Kaylin) will be running her second Comrades Marathon, the daunting Back-to-Back, in the colours of Benoni Northerns Athletic Club.
In between all the sun and beautiful weather (Benoni is ridiculously freezing in winter, we’re gonna migrate to KZN in the winter from now on), we met the owner of Monkey Bay Backpackers where we are staying until we have to depart at “Sparrow’s fart” on Sunday morning to catch the Comrades runners taking off.
The owner, Mike, has been a traveller most of his life and has countless stories to share.
If you are ever in Ballitoville you have to make a date to stay at the unique location that is Monkey Bay.
One of his classic tales involves two “gentlemen” who arrived at the backpackers neatly dressed in suits from the 70s.
His instruction to his employee, Lucky, was to allow anyone who looked clean and presentable to enter the establishment, and so Lucky did.
When he arrived two or so hours later Mike felt uneasy about the presence of the two characters.
Upon further enquiry he discovered that these two fellas were, in fact, two ex-cons who had just been released from prison – wearing the same attire they entered the correctional facility about three decades before.
As he advised us: “The more you travel, the more you learn how to read people.”
Needless to say all’s well that ends well, and it is just another classic backpackers’ tale.
Following that enlightening discussion we headed out for breakfast and caught up with another interesting local Clever Kapembeza, a wire artist who has been living in the country for almost a decade.
Hear his story here:
From there we visited our sister newspaper in this neck of the woods – The North Coast Courier.
It was fun to mingle with fellow Caxtonites and see another newsroom in action.
A trip to the coast is not complete without a swim in the ocean.
Oh, and riddle me this: What is black, white and read all over?
The Benoni City Times newspaper, of course.
We’re not just restricted to the little ol’ mining town, you know – We’re taking this national, baby!
It was extremely windy up on that rock.
Anyway, Friday was pretty chilled and a lekker rest before the craziness of Comrades 2017 hits us like Corrie Sanders in the ring.
Keep your eyes on our social media platforms for tomorrow’s fun and the “Big C” on Sunday.
Peace and love.
#LG_KevEd
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READ yesterday’s diary entry:
https://benonicitytimes.co.za/296958/lg_keved-comrades-diary-entry-1-benoni-ballito/
Also READ:
Benonians dominate the Comrades down run
