| Here is Andrea and my journal from our month long trip around South Africa. It's rather long, so you can read this over a few days and spread out the procrastination at work!
Kruger and Beyond:
Saturday, June 12, 2004
We hit the road this morning with Herdes and Klaas, German students who are hitching a ride to Jo-burg with us. Although we packed as light as we could, our stuff took up almost the entire trunk, leaving little room for the other two’s belongings. As a result we had to fill the car up with bags, making it a very tight squeeze. I don’t know how five people are going to fit in this car for a week long trip to Addo! Andrea said her last goodbye’s to the Craffords and little Bella cat (who didn’t give a fond farewell since she was stalking some prey in her jungle – the backyard). We were both relieved to hear that while the Craffords are in Turkey for three weeks, they won’t take Pipi to a kennel. This poor little frail dog wouldn’t have survived, so we’re glad he’ll be waiting at our door to great us upon our return.
On the road we saw a number of things that were very stereotypically South African: people hanging out by the road in the middle of nowhere; others at the side of the road selling grapes (does anyone ever buy them?); baboons; little towns that have little other than the main strip; the Karoo, with it’s beautiful mountain backdrops, and nothing but shrubs to the mountains; signs for trees near the road; sheep, goats, and ostriches; old windmills pumping water; and rivets in the road to ‘wake drivers up’. About an hour outside of Stellenbosch, we passed through some vineyards that were breathtaking. The autumn leaves were brilliant shades of bright red, yellow, orange and green nestled in front of small, rocky mountains. Definitely a view to remember.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
After a night at the Gum Tree Lodge with partying rugby fans in the room next to us, we were a little tired but set out for the “Big Hole.” Kimberley was the first town where diamonds were discovered in South Africa, and they spurred the industrial revolution of the late 1800’s. The Big Hole is the largest hole dug by pick and axe in the world, and is about 215 meters deep. Although the mine is no longer in operation, there was a nice museum set up in the form of replicated and authentic buildings depicting what the city looked like 100 years ago. It was complete with Pullman train cars, a bar with a fake bartender, and all kinds of shops selling all kinds of fineries that newly wealthy (white) diamond miners could buy. It was fascinating to see that the corrugated iron shacks that presently abound in so many townships were also used over a hundred years ago. Outside of the museum, the town was in a bit of a decline, and it was surprising to realize that such a wealthy company like De Beers is still based in this run-down town. All in all, it was pretty interesting to see, and the fun fact of the day was that to sort diamonds, a greased conveyer belt is used because the diamonds ‘stick’ to the grease and everything else can be rinsed away.
We then drove 5 hours to Rustenberg. It was fairly uneventful, but watching the landscape change from long, dry grasses mixed with short and stubby trees into mountains again was very beautiful. The roads were nearly deserted except for some stray monkeys, cows or people walking in the highway. We also drove through a number of small towns, realizing more and more that they all look the same. Even larger towns like Outdshoorn are essentially the same, albeit very different sizes. We got to Steve’s house, a fellow classmate of Asa’s, and met his wife and 3-year old son, Daniel, and 3-month old daughter, Claire. They have a beautiful guest house and we all feel spoiled! Tomorrow we’re off to tour a platinum mine bright and early at 8 am. Yippee skippee.
Monday, June 14
We woke up early to go to an Anglo Platinum mine. There were 15 Univ. of Cape Town Honours students on the tour as well, and after getting a brief overview of the geology of the mine, we changed into a mining suit complete with overalls, belts, hardhats and neon orange vests. It took us nearly 20 minutes on chair lifts to get 400 meters below ground. It was really interesting seeing the mine, but I can’t say that I would have liked staying down there for more than the 2 hours that we did. We came back up for lunch with Steve, who told us of the sustainable development initiatives that the Rustenburg plant has been implementing. It’s good to see so much environmental work being done, but it is still not enough. The plant recently reduced SO2 emissions from 240 tons per day down to 30 through a new technology they patented, however they still have another 10 tpd to go until they reach the 20 required by law. But since they reduced emissions so much, the government is happy enough. One of the amazing things about working for such a large corporation is the consultants that they can hire. They recently had Mark Swilling give a talk, and Amory Lovins give an energy audit! When we asked Steve about Amory, he was non-chalant about RMI, until we told him who Amory was. I think that he will take the energy audit much more seriously now, which is nice.
We spent the late afternoon going to a game reserve nearby which was really nice. We saw all manner of antelope and numerous zebras. It really makes us excited for Kruger. We also took a long walk along the mountainous edge of the park, looking down over both the reserve and the fires and polluting smokestacks of Rustenburg. There was so much pollution coming from cars and industry that it really got to us, physically and emotionally. We then had a lovely braai with the Bullocks, and stayed up talking to Steve until almost midnight.
Tuesday, June 15
We spent the day in Sun City, a Vegas style casino area on the border of a game reserve. It was a bit tacky, but we knew what we were getting into and enjoyed gawking at all the over-the-top decorations. The best hotel was called The Palace in the Lost City. It must have been built by the same company as the Atlantis in the Bahamas, because it had some of the same features. Beautiful waterfall gardens, large swimming pools – one with a restaurant in the middle of it – and all kinds of glitzy adornments everywhere we looked. After we had our fill, we went back to the Bullocks for some play time with their 3 yr. old. The kid must have run 5 miles chasing after balls with us.
Once another student was picked up from the trainstation, we were on our way to Paul’s (another classmate) eco-village on the other side of town. We arrived just in time for sunset and watched it from inside an old Tswana kraal. Kraals are the traditional structures African tribes used to keep cattle in and lions out, and they’re walls made from thousands of rocks then usually surrounded by thorny acacia plants. After the sunset we sat around a bonfire talking and enjoying each other’s company. About 12 of us all came together and had some delicious food cooked over the fire. It was great to hear everyone’s different stories and paths they’ve chosen in life. There were actually 2 other Americans here doing different work, and lots of little kids from the homes in the village.
Wednesday, June 16
We spent a good part of the day at Tlholego (Te-ley-ho). It was such a peaceful place. We felt incredibly rejuvenated by both the atmosphere and being around such wonderful people who hold a common view. We were all able to open up to each other much more fully than we can to others that don’t understand that sustainable development is not merely a class or a job, but a belief system and a way of living. We had a leisurely brunch, and then went for a nice long hike, often trailblazing through the bush. It was such a beautiful piece of the world.
We left in the mid-afternoon and sprinted to Jo-burg, where we dropped off Herdes and Klaas. Although we felt good for driving them, and exposing them to a completely different world than they are used to (being political scientists), it felt good to be by ourselves since they were very quiet and stern, and kinda cramped our style. We then went to Jen and Abe McLaughlins for a quick dinner. Abe works for an American newspaper as the African correspondent, and Jen is a lovely woman who spun off a business from the Natural Conservancy. There’s not much to say except that it was very nice to meet them. It’s amazing how many incredible people we met today. We then left to stay with Barry and Lindsay. They were both at the eco-village, and Barry is in the Master’s program and worked in one of Andrea’s group projects. They were preparing for a 5 day hike along the Otter Trail on the Tsitsikama coast. They have done so many amazing walks around the country and world. We were so grateful they opened their home to us, and we were floored by how nice it was. It was beautifully decorated in a simple Asian inspired theme. They even had a nice garden surrounding their home. Like everyone else today, they were lovely beyond words.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Lindsay and Barry are now some of our favorite people, and we truly hope to see them again in the near future. We woke up a little late (8ish) and went for a quick run. It was difficult because the pollution here is so bad (it has nothing to do with the fact that we are out of shape). If we thought that the gates in Cape Town were bad, the walls with electric fences on top are at least 8 feet high. After a leisurely morning, we headed off to the Aparthied museum. We took a very indirect way, and saw much of the city, although inadvertently since we were mostly lost! Joburg appears to be a combination of many of the aspects of Atlanta and Los Angelos that we don’t like. Namely sprawl, shopping malls, and very wealthy business areas in the North far away from the rest of the city. Most of all, highways crossing every which way.
The apartheid museum was amazing. It was incredibly powerful. We were there for almost 4 hours! It was a lot of reading, but we learned a lot about both the history leading up to apartheid, and post-apartheid and looking to the future of South Africa. We then tried to find a few other sections of the city that were supposed to be quite nice, but had great difficulty in finding them. We drove around for over an hour exploring the city (as opposed to being lost). When we got back to the Schalk’s and looked at a map, we realized we were close to our destination, but never quite made it. We were pulled over at a police checkpoint, or speed trap, or whatever it was. (Basically, they were just trying to write a ticket for anything they could find wrong we think). He was just standing at the side of the road and pointed at us. After checking Asa’s driver’s license, he looked into the car at us trying to find anything to fine us for. This is a summary of the dialogue between Asa and the cop.
Cop: Did you know that wearing you are not wearing your seatbelt?
Asa: Yeah.
Cop: Why weren’t you wearing your seatbelt?
Asa: Because I just got in the car, and I’m totally lost.
Cop: Why is she wearing her seatbelt? (gesturing at Andrea)
Asa: She always wears her safety belt.
Cop: Not wearing a seat belt is illegal, did you know that?
Asa: no
Cop: Not wearing a seat belt is a fine.
Asa: Oh (pause).
Cop: Did you know that it is a fine?
Asa: No. (pause)
Cop: Well it is.
Asa: ok. (pause)
Cop: Yeah, not wearing your seatbelt is a fine.
Asa: ok (pause)
Cop: (looking flustered) ok, you can go, but wear your seltbelt.
Asa: Alright.
After that slightly humorous adventure, and more driving, we went back and had dinner with the Schalks. We spent the night talking, and Barry and Asa talked about forming a consultancy firm with a branch in the States and one in SA. That would look really professional, and even more classmates could join in as well from other locations. It’s worth a serious thought at least. We could start it totally part time, and if it takes off, it would be fun to take it full time.
Friday, June 18
We drove today from Barry’s in Joburg to the edge of Kruger. Before leaving, we went to Lindsay’s work to check e-mail, and ran into a co-worker who was looking for ideas for socially and environmentally responsible corporate retreats. We talked to him for a bit, and found just one more really amazing project going on in the sustainability field. We even got offered jobs, though that was before he realized we were Americans. Oh well, hopefully it will be this easy to get employed at home!
On the drive to the Panorama route (area west of Kruger), we stopped in Dullstrum which is the trout fishing capital of South Africa. It is a Jo-burger day trip stop filled with lots of little shops and restaurants. It had a very European feeling, which was enjoyable.
Our other stop was in Sabie at the Sabie Falls. The waterfall here was 62 m, and really beautiful. We spent the night in Hazyview at a crappy backpackers with no hot water, burned out light bulbs, a resident alcoholic, and dogs that barked all through the night. This was our first disappointing backpacker’s experience, but we won’t hold it against the rest of them which have been nothing short of wonderful for budget travelers. What a relief to leave for Kruger!
Saturday, June 19
Upon entering Kruger, we stopped and spent a long while gawking over the baboons and impala. Little did we know that there seem to be a million baboons and impalas, and at least one every kilometer. Oh well, rookie mistake, at least no other cars saw us! We saw our first giraffes, elephants, grass fires, and antelope. Asa’s highlight of the day came when we drove alongside three galloping warthogs for at least 200 meters. It was hilarious. Andrea’s highlight came when four majestic giraffes walked directly in front of the car into the sunset before disappearing into the bush.). We also spent quite a lot of time at the Sunset Dam where at least 50 hippos lay submerged and heron, alligators, deer and baboons all stopped in for a drink. We spent the night in a ‘Safari tent’ which we had a lot of doubt about before we arrived. It turned out to be great! The best pillows in South Africa, nice beds, electricity, a fridge and a place to braii some gem squash and corn. The bathrooms were even fully tiled and very clean, we were super impressed. We really think that this idea should come into the State’s state parks.
Sunday, June 20
Andrea: “You don’t care about my batteries. You don’t care about me!”
We went for an early morning drive, really early. We left at 5:30 am! After returning, we left our Skukuza camp and headed for Letaba. We saw many more giraffes and elephants. Two giraffes were getting all lovey with each other by rubbing there necks up and down, or maybe they were fighting, either way we got it on camera! We were witness to: a huge pack of buffalo pass all around our car; two spotted hyena cubs come right up to us; a baby giraffe, elephant, buffalo and zebra; a large clearing full of zebra, impala, warthogs, and wildebeest; as well as impish bushbuck, waterbuck, and nyala. Still no lions, cheetahs, leopards, or rhinos. Hopefully tomorrow! We spend the next two nights in a lovely rondaval. Score. The landscape is incredibly beautiful here, and the wildlife makes it even better. What’s amazing is how much the landscape changes over short distances.
Monday, June 21
We were scheduled for an early morning walk and got up before the sun at 4:45 am. Since this was our second day dragging our bodies out of bed so early, we were surprisingly awake. We went to wait for our guide, and 10, 15 then 25 minutes passed. We realized the lady who checked us in the day before must not have registered our trip and since no one else was signed up, the guide didn’t come. After much grumbling, we got in the car to go on a lion search. We headed north towards the Mopani camp and were delighted that other people had spotted 3 lions in the area that very morning. We drove slowly through areas of tall grass, and Andrea was even sitting on the car ledge trying to spot a lion. Nothing. We did catch some amazing elephants though within a few feet of the car. We returned to Letaba disappointed, but decided to relax for the afternoon before our sunset drive. Such a good decision! After some yummy eggs and a much needed nap, we went on a beautiful sunset drive on ‘restricted roads.’ They were most likely restricted because our car NEVER would have been able to make it, but in the converted truck we were in, it was no problem. The landscape was gorgeous, but the big cats continued to evade us. We did, however, meet another American couple out visiting South Africa before going to Zimbabwe for a few months. They filled us in on all the latest news and we heard about the 27 military officials and diplomats appointed by either Bush Senior or Reagan, warning Americans not to vote for Bush because he’s ruined the U.S.A’s ties with virtually every other country in the world. Hopefully voters will head this warning.
P.S. mom – be thankful I came to South Africa and not Zimbabwe, they have MANY more problems…SA is United States of Africa, the most stable and most desirable place to live, lots of immigrants trying to cross the border (so much so, a lot of people from Zimbabwe and Mozambique are crossing the fences into Kruger, and the lions have become dependent on people as a food source – even scarier, a number of lions have contracted AIDS now and no one really knows what to do about the problem)
Tuesday, June 22
Lions and Leopards and buffalo, oh my!
4:45 we were up and at ‘em again (up and Adam, according to Andrea), and this time our guide came and we were heading out for a walk in the bush. The two guides with us both had guns and three packs of the largest bullets either of us had ever seen (at least 4” long and ½” thick!). However, we were told coming near any animals was unlikely because they run away quickly from humans, and can spot us much easier (especially since both of us had on white, oops!) The walk was really interesting though, and felt like what’s depicted of African safari’s 100 years ago. We did see rhino footprints and dung, and we learned about the different vegetation and why certain animals will be found in different areas of Kruger because of the food source. Our guide was incredible, he spotted buffalo from at least 1 mile away in the distance, and could distinguish lion growls far away. We were impressed.
After the walk, we packed up again and headed out for another drive. We wanted to check out the Olifants camp that is known to be one of the nicer places to stay. Just outside the camp gates, a car stopped us and pointed in the woods. A leopard!! It had just crossed in front of their car and was making its way into the trees. While we only saw it for a minute, we were both excited. At Olifants we went to their viewing area and saw many hippos playing in the river below, even a baby. When we left, about 15 more kilometers down the road a lot of cars were stopped, and alas, lions! Three lionesses were resting in the grass about 25 feet from the road. It was great to watch them, and funny to see the people all jockeying for position to get a glimpse.
We reached our 3rd camp, a tent camp, and had another nice safari tent…though the bathroom was a bit further away. We had a yummy dinner, complete with s’mores and even saw more buffalo chomping grass across the river from our tent.
Wednesday, June 23
Our last day in Kruger, and of course we couldn’t sleep in after so many early mornings so we went on a sunrise drive looking for some cheetah people had reported seeing the day before. We didn’t see them, but did spot some wildebeest and more giraffes. Even though we had seen so many giraffes, it’s still amazing to drive down the road and see these beautiful, tall creatures quietly eating away. They always travel in at least a pair, usually 4, so it’s great to watch them all together. We left Kruger and headed for the north side of the Panorama route. We traversed some beautiful passes, and went to the “Three Rondavels” lookout, which is rock formations that look like the traditional huts (Rondavels) of African tribes. We made our way into Pilgrim’s Rest, a town depicting life in a gold-mining era, that is just one long street that doesn’t even have addresses since everything is either up-town or down-town on this street. It was cute, but mostly touristy and we just wanted to hike in the nature reserve north of the town. What was supposed to be a relaxing hike turned into a stressful drive on terrible dirt roads, some that we’d be afraid to take in a Jeep. The little Corolla made it though, and the walk was quite beautiful through 2 different waterfalls and indigenous trees. It was a nice forest in contrast to the million + acres of pine trees growing in the area by logging companies, the largest manmade forest in the world. A year ago, 20% of the forests were burned down by arsonists over a 1% pay discrepancy, a reminder South Africa still has a lot of problems to work out.
Thursday, June 24
We traveled to Swaziland today. We took the most direct route into the country, being recommended by the Backpackers. However, getting into, and then substantially into the incredibly small country took the ENTIRE morning. It took us over 5 hours to go less than 200 kilometers over the mountainous terrain. Once inside the country, the feeling of racial tension found throughout SA immediately lifted. This was because there was no apartheid here, and there are few white people anywhere in the country. Driving through the country was beautiful. Mountains covered the Northwest, flattening into rolling hills in the center, and flat bush in the remaining countryside. All in all, it wasn’t that different from SA: there were people walking on the roadside, or just sitting there; the buildings looked similar, although they were in slightly better shape (the poor don’t seem to be quite as poor). However, they all obey a king, who isn’t such a nice guy, but they don’t seem to mind. We made one stop, which was to the National History Museum, which was really interesting. The Swazi culture is similar to other tribes that broke away from the Bantu (namely the Zulu) with ceremonies that honor the king and various ways for appeasing dead ancestors. They have a strong value for their elders and each family homestead (consisting of around 7 one room buildings) has the grandparent’s home in the center. From the Museum we sprinted through the rest of the country, to St. Lucia.
Friday, June 25
The St. Lucia Wetland Park was our first stop for the day. This park was very calm and peaceful, and reminded us a great deal of North Carolina. We went for a morning walk through a forest, and then along False Bay, which is only a few hundred meters from the Indian Ocean and is part of the Greater St. Lucia wetlands which form the world’s largest estuary. The St Lucia wetlands in one of the few UNESCO sites in South Africa, and for good reason. We then drove to the other side of the park, spending lunch at the beach. We were surrounded by the world’s second largest vegetated dunes. They were beautiful, but who really cares about the world’s second largest, fastest, or oldest, etc. anything? We decided to act like total tourists, which we try to avoid doing as much as possible, and took a sunset boat ride along the lake to learn about its importance, and to spot some hippos and crocs. We got right up in the face of a few crocs, and saw some really active hippos. One of the highlights, besides the witty and funny captain, was spotting a Goliath Heron. Oh, and there was also an American guy who is apparently on some show Boomtown. Needless to say, the hippos were more fascinating.
Saturday, June 26
More game viewing was the plan for the day, so we left the backpackers before sunrise at 6 am and headed with an Australian ecologist to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi game parks, which are said to be the second best in South Africa, behind Kruger of course! They are single handedly responsible for the white rhino becoming the first animal to be taken off the endangered species list. We didn’t spot too many animals compared to Kruger, other than hoards of impala, but we did see some amazing Nyala and Kudu, which are two large antelope. We saw more giraffes, which are always nice to see, a poor zebra with huge gashes in his stomach, we guessed from a wild dog attack, who wasn’t going to survive another 24 hours. The highlight, besides spotting a couple white rhino, which we never saw in Kruger, was encountering a Black rhino mother and youngster. Being the stupid tourists that we were, the three of us weren’t satisfied being 50 feet from the pair. So we slowly ventured 20 feet closer, which was really dangerous because rhinos can get very angry, and run very fast. Luckily, they also have very limited eyesight. We got some great pictures, but we were watching for when it would start spinning in circles since we were told a few days earlier this is how they locate where the danger is coming from before attacking. After sneaking a little closer, the wind changed a bit, and the mother rhino got a whiff of us, and started circling. As soon as we saw this, the three of us sprinted to the ‘safety of the car,’ which would have done nothing to prevent her 4 foot horn from tearing into us, and sped away. However, her child and she went parallel to us, so we followed them, giddy as school girls, until they veered away a minute later.
Sunday, June 27
We woke up early again, and drove 5 hours to the Drakensburg Mountains, which border the eastern side of Lesotho and the western side of the KwaZulu-Natal province. This mountain range, like St Lucia, is on the UNESCO list, and for good reason. It is one of only 20 or so that have both natural and cultural significance because of the 35,000 + San rock paintings found throughout the park. It is by far the most beautiful mountain range we’ve ever seen. We made it to the Central Burg by lunch, giving us enough time to take a 13 kilometer hike. Words don’t describe the beauty that we witnessed. We only wish we had more than two days to hike, and can understand why many people spend weeks here soaking up the beauty.
Monday, June 28
After another early rise, we headed off to the Northern Burg to do another 15 kilometer hike, Telulah Gorge. We were greeted by more terrific views of enormous mountains although it was overcast most of the time. After a few hours of walking, we reached the gorge. A river over the millennia created some incredible rock formations that we took in for awhile before heading back. We missed the trail from the rocky river bed that we were walking on, and were forced after a few slow kilometers of rock hopping to climb a steep slope to get back onto the trail. Oops. After finishing the hike we headed on our way to Coffee Bay, a small beach town (if you can call a few buildings a town) in the former Transkei. We landed a few hours short and had to hole up in a nasty little place in Kokstad. However, we had a beautiful drive though KwaZulu-Natal. The highlight, besides the Drakensburg, was passing through some enormous golden hills lit gloriously by the setting sun. Towards the end of the day, we passed into the Eastern Cape, by far the poorest province in the country. The Transkei, which is the former homeland area during apartheid of the Xhosa people, covers much of the province. During apartheid years it was used as a dumping ground for the unwanted, and hence was not developed on purpose. Some 80% of the people of South Africa were given only 13% of the land to live on. Once we neared the Eastern Cape, the towns we passed through seemed more ‘African’ to us. They were more informal and filled with street vendors selling mostly fruit, clothing or mattresses (strangely enough) and crowds of people just standing around. These are of course just observations, since every town here is equally African, some just had less European influence than others.
Tuesday, June 29
We drove the rest of the way to Coffee Bay. We were traveling at break-neck speed from the Drakensburg on, until we realized just now that we had an extra day before the Grahamstown festival. We decided to stop in Umtata to check out the Nelson Mandela museum. Unfortunately, we didn’t feel safe leaving the car filled with our stuff without a car watchman, so we were forced to abandon our plan. We got to Coffee Bay by noon and spent the afternoon at the beach and exploring the surroundings. Coffee Bay is set amongst rural villages, save the few summer cottages, hotels and backpackers. This was the first non-tourist place that we have been, and it was rather refreshing. It also means that we were constantly harassed by young locals begging for spare change to those selling everything from beads to drugs. It’s hard to feel comfortable anywhere sometimes because in ‘nicer’ towns, we feel guilty knowing about all the poverty in the rest of the country and when in the rural areas, we feel like people only look at us for our money. These inconveniences are a small price to pay for the incredible setting of golden mountains covered in traditional Rondavels running into the ocean. A catastrophe occurred when Asa’s voltage converter went up in smoke. Now all of the electronics we have are useless until a new one is found, and converters are hella expensive too.
Wednesday, June 30
We went on an amazing walk today. We went from the backpackers on the beach about 8 kilometers along the coast to a place called hole in the wall where there is a large hole in an enormous rock just off the coast with waves crashing through. The trail ran literally along the gorgeous coast, often on the edge of some serious drop-offs. It was more a goat trail than anything else, and the path we came back on was most certainly different from the one we took because it just meandered in every direction. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. After a small break, we went on a tour of the local Xhosa village. The guide was a 16 year old boy who works at the backpackers (as does a seemingly endless amount of locals) teaching drumming lessons. He first went to a sacred pool, where the sick come to get healed. The suffering person is accompanied by a healer and others who chant, and after a few rituals, a goat is bled. If the goat cries, the person will be healed. This healing ritual is usually performed more than once a week. We then toured the rest of the village, if one could call it that. It was merely a set of buildings, very loosely spread over the landscape. At some point, this particular village ended and another started, but the boundary was imperceptible to the untrained eye. The village was overrun with children playing, as well as dogs, sheep, goats, cows and donkeys, and even a few horses. We also went into a local sheeben, where we met five old women who sat in silence trying to ignore us except for an occasional glance. It sounds like kids go to school for only eight years, and that an average couple (more accurately, woman) has between six and eight children! We then went back to the backpackers and found six friends from Stellenbosch who just happened to be there too, including the two German’s whom we gave a rid to Jo-burg. It’s such a small world!
Thursday, July 1 to Saturday, July 3
We spent these three days at the Grahamstown festival, which is the second largest cultural festival in the world behind one in Scotland. Over these three days we saw twelve shows, including comedy, movies, jazz, lectures, a ballet, an opera, and some traditional dancing from the many different cultures within the Eastern Cape. The Eastern Cape shows were really interesting; with different groups showing various traditional dances for boys and girls, healers and warriors. The clothes were amazing, bright colors and thousands of beads were the norm, emphasizing the similarities between the indigenous cultures in Africa and in the Americas.
The two comedy shows that we saw were performed by the same duo, a white and a black man who performed stories aimed at children about South Africa’s society. They focused on overcoming differences and getting over the past, and brought a diverse crowd of different races, sexes, and ages together and all laughing.
At the opposite spectra of these types of shows that we saw were Giselle and Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. Giselle was relatively unimpressive, although the Canadian man they brought in for the lead was amazing. The lowlight came during the first act when eight continuous solos or duets were performed by the same two dancers, who just happened to be two of the only three black performers appearing on stage. They were aweful, and it seemed clear to us that they were soloists because they weren’t white. We can appreciate the need for diversification, but not in this case since the quality of the show was jeopardized. The Pearl Fishers on the other hand was amazing. When the curtain first rose the audience awed at the beautiful scenery, an older woman sitting next to Andrea leaned over and said “doesn’t this just make you proud to be a South African!” The singers, which were primarily from Cape Town, most being coloured, were all fantastic. The young lead singers all have the potential to become world class performers.
The city was absolutely packed with vendors and festival goers, making it a truly energetic place to be. The three days passed in the blink of an eye, and we were both sad to leave.
Sunday, July 5
We were quickly consoled when we arrived in Jeffrey’s Bay, a little beach town home to Supertubes beach, the third best surfing beach in the world. We came at the right time, as the water was filled with surfers. After watching some amazing rides on the 10-15 foot tall waves made of perfect glass, we ran into a young American surfer. He told us that there was the J-Bay Billabong surfing competition starting in a few days which draws all the world’s best surfers, many of which were in the water at that very moment! This caused us to watch even more attentively, and we saw some incredible waves. What was also cool was that a few days earlier the American ran into a good friend of mine from Norway. Again, what a small world! We then drove the remaining few hours to Plettenburgbaai on the Garden Route, where one of Asa’s classmates has a beach home. When we arrived, we were amazed by the little home. It was right in the middle of the bustling little town overlooking the ocean. Wow! What a change from the aweful backpackers that we had been staying at the previous few nights. We spent the last few days relaxing in Plett. Nothing terribly exciting happened here, which was rather nice. Cheers! |
