When I visited South Africa I was working for a geophysical company, who were engaged in the search for oil. Now this particular group of people had as a party chief, or the person in charge, someone who was actually the son of the CEO of the company. Now these guys, had a reputation for partying hard. So now, imagine the situation, a 12 bedroom detached house, just outside of Johannesburg with a fantastic vista view, set in its own grounds and with a very large swimming pool of its own.
The party started when I first arrived. I only have a chance to get my suitcases into the hotel, before being whisked away to work for a couple of hours. Then back to the house, where the field crew were all staying. That night the party just kept on going. I remember falling asleep on the floor, with everyone else. Next day it was back to work in the office, then back to the house where the party was still going on, it was mental!
So now it’s about 05:00 in the morning. I decided that I must get back to my hotel, which I had not seen for the last two days. Someone said ‘oh here are the keys to your car, you can use it for the rest of your stay’. I said where is my hotel? and was given a map, with X marking the spot. So I walked out of the house, somewhat still asleep, and drove off down the road. A couple of miles later, after getting totally lost, I decide to look at the map. Only to find it was in Afrikaans!
So at this point I found myself sitting in a car at 05:00 in the morning completely lost, in a foreign country, four thousand miles away from home, with a map that I could not read. At that point I just started laughing like a drain. I also promised myself that I would remember this moment in time for the rest of my life, and I have. Luckily I did get back to my Hotel, where I have to wake the owner up to get in. He looked at me and thought ‘who are you’.
The House & that Party Video