B.W. COOK -- The Crowd

My personal summertime society travel expert Hazel Dyer of Costa Mesa

recently shared the adventures of Newport Mesa citizens in Cuba, which I

covered last month in my Daily Pilot column. Dyer stopped by my office to

share her plans for her next jaunt to South Africa, set for Oct. 11-22 of

this year.

Dyer and her husband, Charles, are both South African immigrants to

the United States, moving here less than a decade ago and leaving behind

a life that was very different from the world they experience here in

Orange County. Charles Dyer recalls: “As a young man I left my home in

England traveling to the former Rhodesia in search of my fortune.” The

fair-skinned, blue-eyed Englishman continued, sharing a bit of his life’s

story with his own brand of the famous dry English humor: “Instead of

finding my fortune, I lost one. Eventually I ended up in South Africa,

more than 30 years ago. I put down my roots in South Africa, we raised

our children there. It is a bit of a challenge to start over in a new

country at this stage of life.”

Hazel Dyer quickly added: “We came to America leaving almost

everything we owned, including the majority of our savings and

investments behind. South African law does not permit you to remove

substantial sums of money from the country.”

The family did not leave South Africa due to the change in power

following the end of apartheid, she said.

“We left before the fall of the apartheid system,” she recalled.

“Actually we left because of it, not because of growing pressure on white

society. Our children would not live in a discriminatory society, and did

not want to raise their children in such a world. So in their early 20s

they left South Africa and came to America to start their lives in a

democratic nation. We followed our children. We wanted to be near them.

If we had known that a peaceful transition of power would have taken

place in South Africa, I don’t think any of us would have ever left.”

Hazel Dyer spun philosophic, looking back at the major changes in her

recent lifetime. “Please don’t get me wrong. We love Orange County. What

better place could anyone live in the entire world? We love America. But

we do miss the life we had in South Africa. We miss the people. We miss

the scenery. We miss the parts of the life that we had built over three

decades.”

Charles Dyer added with a grin: “If you really want to know I miss my

house and yard. You don’t exactly get the same kind of space for the same

kind of money here in Orange County. But such is life.”

The Dyers, in association with African Travel Inc. and the Jewish

Community Center of Orange County, based in Costa Mesa, are planning a

journey back to the world and to the life they once shared. The 11-day

trip begins with a stop in Johannesburg, followed by a wildlife safari

that will include a visit to Kruger National Park, South Africa’s best

known reserve and prime wild life viewing area. Then it’s off to Sun City

for a stay in the world’s only six-star hotel. The adventure ends in Cape

Town as travelers tour South Africa’s mother city.

The journey will be a first-class excursion that includes most meals,

all accommodations, travel, sightseeing, porterage and special amenities.

Helen Dyer added: “We’ve made time for cultural sightseeing, wildlife

experiences, shopping, dining, sports, as well as quiet time to take in a

very different culture in a very different part of the world.”

Other highlights of the journey will include visits to the South

African Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Bo-Kaap Museum, which is

furnished as a 19th Century Muslim home, the Jewish Museum, built in 1863

by Cape Town’s pioneer Jewish settlers and the new Holocaust Museum,

considered one of the most important in the world.

If you care to join this world-class excursion from the Newport-Mesa

community, please contact Hazel Dyer at The Jewish Community Center,

(714) 755-0340 Ext. 135.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.

CAPTIONS

crowd 1

Charles and Hazel Dyer of Costa Mesa with a young South African child.

crowd 2

Gloria Friedman of Newport Beach poses with Zulu tribal members

outside of Cape Town.