I don’t want this magic to end

Five cocktails, four beers and some snacks later, the waitress is ready with her card machine to settle our R700 bill – and then the magic happens: a tattooed arm holding an iPhone comes over my shoulder and clicks the machine. A stranger we never laid eyes on just paid our massive bill. Daughter and I are stunned. No man has ever paid for me without some singing and dancing first, which I immediately offer, of course. But he refuses. No, he doesn’t want to know our names. No drink needs to be bought and no need for your telephone…

Five cocktails, four beers and some snacks later, the waitress is ready with her card machine to settle our R700 bill – and then the magic happens: a tattooed arm holding an iPhone comes over my shoulder and clicks the machine.

A stranger we never laid eyes on just paid our massive bill. Daughter and I are stunned. No man has ever paid for me without some singing and dancing first, which I immediately offer, of course. But he refuses. No, he doesn’t want to know our names. No drink needs to be bought and no need for your telephone number, either.

“Babe, because I’m just a sailor who makes a sh*tload of money working on a yacht and don’t know how to spend it all once I land,” he tells us.

Five hugs and many tears later, we’re buying a feather pillow and two wine glasses to celebrate my first night in sunny Cape Town – and still can’t believe the kindness Our Sailor showed us.

We’ve been looking for him over our shoulders ever since and he comes, without fail, in all shapes: three rounds of shots – which neither of us drink – land on our table, no questions asked; Kingston down the road gives us two pizzas but insists one is free; the big-mouthed manager of the expensive burger joint further down insists we pop in on Tuesday for a buy-one-get-one-free.

But the real magic of my two weeks here comes from the ocean. “Let’s go walk on the promenade and see some dolphins.” We see not only 20 frolicking in the waters, but watch a seal having fun flinging his catch of the day through the air.

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And who needs to go to Hermanus? “Let’s go spot a whale,” I say on my final days of “just two more sleeps”. Hardly 20 minutes later he puffs five times, breaches the waters and gives us a wave with his tail.

Is it us manifesting Our Sailor? Putting our energy out there in the universe? I don’t know. But I do know I have never been so at peace. Whether we’re feeding squirrels in the Company Gardens, drinking cheap wine in Fish Hoek or spending a windy day on Hout Bay beach, I never want this magic to end. But it does tomorrow. Or maybe not if I fly Our Sailor home with me…