In a world where everything that is even a little interesting or funny is recorded for all of social media to see, I believe that when something happens and is not being recorded, the experience is so much better. That being said however, I would like to share one of the funniest experiences I had in South Africa.
We throw open our uber’s doors, saying a quick thank you, stepping out into the hot, South African sun. We are already extremely hot and sweaty, due to the fact that we had already visited Table Mountain earlier in the day. However, Table Mountain is not is not the subject of this story.
We exit the car and walk up to the ticket booth to buy entrance tickets to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. We buy our tickets as well as a map of the gardens, and the sun continues to beat down on as we enter the gardens. Since the sun is so bright, we decide to stick to the shadier trails. We start our walk by going to the most recommended trail, a “sky bridge” (it’s just a wooden bridge) that goes through the tree canopy. The birds in the park are very loud, and no matter where you go, you can probably hear them. We continue to walk along this bridge until it ends and goes into a gravel trail. The trail is surrounded by hundreds of various flowers and bushes, I’ve never seen so many different plants in one place.
We notice that it is a little past noon, so now we can finally take a break from walking and have some lunch. It takes about five minutes for us to walk along the trail to the tea house that sits near the back entrance of the gardens, and when we get there they immediately seat us at a shady table. By the time we sit down, we’re all hot, sweaty, and really hungry. I know the moment that I sit down that I am pretty sunburned, and that those will definitely hurt tomorrow. I’m sure that the servers think that I look like a tomato, though I know they’ll never say it (petition to servers at outdoor restaurants to tell customers when they look like tomatoes).
The moment we sit down, we immediately realize how thirsty we are. While we did have water bottles, the water had become hot, not room temperature, but hot. Because of this, I hadn’t really drank enough water (I am indeed one of those Americans who doesn’t drink as much water when it’s not cold, trust me I am not proud of it), and was desperate for some ice water. We order ice water for all of us, as well as a pitcher of mint-infused lemonade and our server goes back to the kitchen to get them for us.
Since this restaurant is technically a tea room, one of the things on the menu was a “tea experience”. This experience came with tea of your choice, scones, biscuits (american biscuits), two little cakes of your choice, and other various baked goods. All this said, the table that was directly across from us had ordered this “tea experience” and right after we ordered our drink, another server brought out a tiered tea tray with all of their baked goods on it and set it on their table.
Soon enough, our drinks are brought out and our server takes our lunch order. It is at this moment that I first notice the pheasant that has hopped over the low fence separating the gardens from the tea room. It is lurking around tables, eating the crumbs from peoples meals. This pheasant is not the only bird loitering, but it is by far the biggest one there. I watch as it slowly walks around the restaurant, hoping for some more food to be dropped.
One of the servers notices the pheasant and shoos it away, only for it to just stand on top of the fence. I can tell that it is at this exact moment that the pheasant notices the table across from us’s conglomeration of baked goods. Some of the other birds have also begun to notice the tier tray of goodies and are now standing around this couple’s table, invading their personal space.
In the blink of an eye, the pheasant that was perched on the fence flies up and attacks the tray of bakery items, causing the tray to fall over, covering one of the people in whipped cream. The other birds that were hanging out around the couple fly up and take their choice of the food on the table. They all grab as much food as their grubby little talons can possibly hold and fly off over the fence. The pheasant, however, just stays on the table eating like he had paid for this meal.
Having heard the commotion, a server comes out of the kitchen wielding a broom like a baseball bat. She swipes at the bird, who then takes one of the scones and flies off towards the rest of his friends. For a few seconds, everyone in the restaurant is silent, in awe of what just happened. But not long after the pheasant leaves, almost everyone (except the person covered in whipped cream) bursts out laughing. The server says that the pheasant and the other birds hang out here a lot, but have never actually done something like that before.
They move the couple to a different table and bring them some replacement food. The man covered in whipped cream disappears into the bathroom, presumably to come to terms with what just happened and to wipe off the cream (he comes back after a few minutes). A group of servers come out of the kitchen area and begin to clean up the mess the birds made. Thankfully, the birds didn’t break any of the glass cups that were on the table, making the terrible job of cleaning that table up just a little easier.
Soon after this whole ordeal is over, our server comes back with our lunch order, looking like she would be happy to go home and forget the pheasant who had made her day a lot harder. We eat our grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, still laughing about the Little Nuisance who attacked a tray of baked goods with the rest of his bird army.
Bethany Webb is a young writer with a love for exploring the world. She has previously been published in The Behemoth’s debut online magazine, and has won a poetry contest held by Creative Communications.
