A little more about driving in South Africa. We had a great rental car. Well, the first one that Ronda rented in Johannesburg was not so great -- it had some mechanical problems. It also became clear to all three of us that we needed air conditioning in the car. We visited her in the "rainy season," which is summer, and almost every day was dreadfully hot. Thanks to a very nice rental agent, she was able to trade up. We got a bigger and nicer car with "air-con."
All the cars have the steering wheel on the right, and people drive on the left. It was quite confusing at first. Actually, it was still confusing when we left. I've just spent too many years driving on the right in cars that have steering wheels on the left. An accident is a scary thought, and Brian almost learned the lesson the hard way. I was in the back seat and didn't think anything of his left turn until I heard Ronda scream, "Move over! Move over!" I looked up and saw several things happening at once: Ronda's frantic arm movements that accompanied her vocal directions, Brian's quick spinning of the steering wheel, and a white pickup headed toward us. There was no accident at that time and place, but it wasn't because Brian didn't try. The next time he offered to drive, Ronda said, "Not unless you give me a lot of sedation and throw me in the back seat."
He redeemed himself later, when we got caught on bad mountain roads in a heavy rainstorm.
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