Halfway Round the World - Blog 10

South Africa in Review

I’ve discovered the problem with blogging while we travel.  I start with the best intentions of keeping friends and family up to date on the sights and insights of travel, and as the trip progresses, and the pace continues,  I get further and further behind.  First there’s the issue of internet access, which is always iffy and in this trip’s destination countries of Southern and Eastern Africa downright hard to come by.  Then there’s the issue of writing the darn thing.  With only one computer between us, it becomes a bit of a wrangle over who has the rights to the computer.  Usually I just give it up and play a few rounds of backgammon on my cell phone turned game boy since our plans to get SIM cards for the cell phones fell flat on its face when they didn’t work in South Africa.  Then I fall asleep from a combination of sensory overload and malaria meds as Larry keeps right on journaling into the night.

So here I am at the end of the second safari – The Best of Kenya and Tanzania and I haven’t yet blogged the first one.  I guess I’ll just plod along, and finish my blogs sometime after we get home. But I hope I’ll have then shared a bit of this wonderful odyssey and our insights into the countries we’ve visited.

 Before I continue, however, I want to share some of our favorite pictures of South Africa…. They might not have made it into the blog before because I tried to choose one photo for a topic, but they are still worthy of sharing.

See you all on the other side….

oops! Not all the pics uploaded.  Here's installment one.  More hopefully when we get to Istanbul ...

Washing clothes, a grocery store in Soweto and Queen of the Shebeen drinking local beer.

Early Cave Drawings

Early resistance to White Colonization

Voortrekker Pioneer Memorial

Each cairn represents an English soldier
who died at Islandwana

One of the many B and B's we visited -

White Rhino at St. Lucia

Wildlife at St. Lucia Estuary

Sani Pass

Children in Lesotho

Lesothan Woman

Blood River Memorial

Voortrekker Historical Sites

Halfway 'Round the World - Blog 9

Cape Town

Regretfully we left Stellenbosch for Cape Town.  We could have spent a week there but then how would we get all that wine home? On the way, we did stop at the Stein Winery, but not for the wine.  They had a bird sanctuary - mostly owls, that they had rescued and nursed back to health. It was interesting to see the birds up close, and the stop carried us in the early afternoon before we finally got back onto the highway and pointed in  the direction of Cape Town. Like virtually all towns in South Africa, Cape Town has shanty towns as well as low income housing on its outskirts where poor blacks live.  This country is truly a white man’s world built on the labor of the native population.

This stop’s lodging – the Braeside B&B was old with high ceilings (15 feet if they were an inch) and coal fireplaces in the bedrooms.  According to Michael, the host and owner of the B&B, the structure was built in 1903 and was one third of the Harbor Master’s immense house.  While not in peak shape, it has character, a history and a great location, with some peek-a-boo views of the bay.  Staying in B&B's has definitely enhanced our trip.  We've stayed in some wonderful places and it has also allowed us to learn a lot about the country we might not have otherwise been able to do.  I truly recommend it if you choose to visit this beautiful country.

Checked in, and with inclement weather predicted, we decided to take what might be our only chance to visit the top of Table Mountain.  We dumped our bags, moved our wine under the trunk’s “bonnet” and took off in search of the cable car.

Larry and Patrice on Table Mountain

The cable car to the top of Table Mountain holds up to 64 passengers and rotates 360° on the way to the top.  It’s a great opportunity for everyone to get the photo they want, just wait until it rotates to that vista.  As we had hoped, the views at the top were unimpeded and visibility was great.  It was a great place to spend a couple of hours. 

A View From Table Mountain

The next morning we ate a leisurely breakfast and talked at length with Michael over a wide range of topics.  He said that the national government was corrupt but local politics have turned deadly.  Housing has been a major issue for years, as we have seen in our drives, and the national government has allocated money to fix the problem by 2015.  He thought that was a mere pipe dream as the local governments are in charge of implementing the program, and if possible were even more corrupt.  Operating a bit like the mafia, the locals allocate housing to one person but then solicit bribes from others for the same residence; once their palms have been greased, they deed the house to the paying party and the original person is literally left out in the cold.  Whistle blowers seldom come forward, however, because, like the mafia, the local politicians have a code of silence. Those who break it are quietly and summarily eliminated.  I asked if it was really that bad; Michael just shook his head sadly in the affirmative.

Sobered by our breakfast conversation, we headed out for our tour of Robben Island. (This is the prison island Nelson Mandela was held at for so long and where he wrote Long Walk To Freedom.) It was still misting as we pulled out of the harbor, but by the time we docked at the island, it was a nearly all blue sky, only a beard of clouds on the far horizon and Table Mountain remained shrouded in clouds. We have been very lucky with the weather!  

Nelson Mandela's Cell

Our tour started by bus - taking us around the island to see the fortifications, buildings and stone quarries. For most of its sordid past, Robben Island was a place of incarceration.  Early on it became a prison, but this was supplanted when the island became a Leper colony. For a time after the lepers were removed, a group of Scotch settlers moved onto the island leaving a mark of churches and buildings, many of which still remain.  During WWII the island was fortified and became a bastion against tyranny although the large guns were not installed until 1946 and none were ever fired in anger.  It was not until 1951 that the first political prisoners arrived.  This brought us out of our tour buses and to the second phase of the tour – a tour of the prison with one of the previous inmates as our tour guide.  Having been to Soweto, his mention of being arrested and brought to the prison resonated with us.  His description of conditions was uncomfortably blunt even as he attempted to keep the mood light with smiles and welcoming gestures to keep the group close.  However, it was at the last stop where his deep voice, much like James Earl Jones, rose to passion, almost the fire of a preacher, and his presentation became more of a sermon on freedom and tolerance than the summation of a dispassionate tour guide.  His enthusiasm for Mandela’s words on the way apartheid should end – with “reconciliation, peace and hope,” resounded in his conclusion and a slight spin on Mandela’s words – “we are free and we are a nation of hope.” 

We've had a good time in South Africa and have seen and experienced many things.  We continue to be perplexed by the legacy of apartheid, the drift from Mandela’s “hope” expressed in the 1994 end to apartheid and the rapid decline into corruption that we have heard from many, especially in the white community.  Another interesting thing is the diversity of reaction to the blacks since the demise of apartheid; there is a wide swing from “they would like to murder us all” to a noblesse oblige view that the country is still in its development stages and its best promise lies it the youth.  After twenty-one days I feel that we’re a little closer to understanding the country than when we came.  It’s a country with huge problems – kids wandering the streets rather than attending school, shanty towns without a modicum of public services, vast gaps in wealth between the white and the black communities, and we have been told of rampant corruption.  If these things aren’t addressed and answers found, I think the hope Mandela preached will end up collapsing into civil unrest.  

On the brighter side, however, I am impressed with the apparent optimism in the black community; it seems that despite the issues, they retain the hope that the country will come out from under the cloud of apartheid and everyone will be on an equal footing at last.

Halfway 'Round the World - Blog 8

Stellenbosch

Leaving Sutherland after a spectacular night at the SAAO, we made the run from the sheep country in the remote reaches of the Karoo to the world renowned wine district of Stellenbosch.  Trailing along the single railroad track used by the British to support the Boer War effort in splitting the Afrikaaner forces and nation, we inched south where the landscape began to green and patches of fruit trees and vineyards dotted the side of the road.  We eventually climbed a winding pass and dropped precipitously down the other side into a valley fully dedicated to wine production.  As we passed through, razor thin black men risked life and limb to coax drivers to buy clusters of red or green grapes that were appropriated in some manner from the adjacent fields.  While most of the vines were in deep shades of rust, orange and crimson and clearly at the end of the season, there were still a few crews at work harvesting the last from the hardiest of the grape vines.  It was appalling to see the price paid for these wines by the black farm workers who lived in squalid little shanty towns away from the grand estate house of the patrones and huddled along the road.

Shanty town for black workers

 

We had no detailed map of Stellenbosch and only a vague idea of where our B and B was, so I resorted to my usual technique - ask a college student on the street. The University of Stellenbosch students constitute more than half the population of the city and can be found all over town walking to or from class or some other event. Sure enough, the one I asked consulted his Blackberry for directions and hopped into the backseat of our car to be sure we arrived safely at "The Beautiful South" – turns out we were only one long block up and a half block away.

Katarina Stigsson was just pulling groceries out of her car when we pulled up alongside her.  She welcomed us warmly and led us into the B&B where she turned us over to her husband, Peter.  Peter, an ex-champion Swedish bicyclist who was recruited by the Seven-Eleven Cycling Team, had retired and decided to forsake the long cold, dark winters of Sweden for the subtropics of the Cape.  Interestingly, when queried about leaving Sweden, he waffled in calling South Africa home; he said that they retained their home in Sweden just in case things degenerated here.

Eager to make our stay memorable, Peter asked what brought us here and what we might want to do.  We said – “we're here for the wine, of course.”  He suggested two older wineries – the Delheim and its sister the Muratie.     

The Delheim winery was founded by a German family that chose to escape Nazi Germany in the 30’s before the rush of events led the country down its path to war and destruction. They were winemakers and the transition to a premium winemaker in South Africa was, while not an easy task, it was manageable.  Nora was a granddaughter of first Delheim immigrants and for whatever reason became our personal hostess.  While others were limited to six wine tastings, she continued bringing a full lineup, and when we found one we liked, she would pour a second sample "on the house."  Nine or ten samples in, we lost count somewhere along the line, we suggested that we had hoped to have a meal at their restaurant.  She personally ushered us over there like we were foreign dignitaries and gave instructions to the manager – a young black man – to serve us and give a personal history of her family, her tribal roots and how she came to be here.  She was from the East Cape and a member of the Xhosa tribe (the “X” is a sound like popping bubble gum, using your tongue against the roof of your mouth and sort of snapping it down – easier said than done); she had been college educated and this position was well down on her resume of previous jobs.  She clearly looked to be an ambitious person, but we had to admit that manager of this small operation seemed an under utilization of a promising college talent from the Black community.  We had to wonder if this might not be the new sub rosa for discrimination – an illusion of advancement while limiting advancement and remaining under direct supervision of a white overseer.  

By the time we had completed the wine tasting and enjoyed a mouthwatering lunch (did I mention So. African food is fabulous?) we all but closed the gates to the Delheim and had no time nor inclination to visit the other winery. With a light buzz and filled to near bloating, we headed back to our B and B for a quiet evening.

The next morning started as a grey and uninviting day with low clouds shrouding the jagged peaks around Stellenbosch.  We went to breakfast and hoped for the best.  Joining us for breakfast was a very tall couple from Amsterdam. They were very friendly and we had a great discussion over the Dutch being the “Californians of Europe” – fun loving and more liberal than many of their neighbors.  

Not willing to spend ALL of our time tasting wine, we asked Peter for a suggested route along the southern shore, and thus we ended up on a  63km long ocean shore drive past Bettys Bay.  It was the South African equivalent to California’s Highway 1 drive between San Simeon and Cambria.  But unlike the Highway 1 drive with the vast Pacific extending endlessly to the horizon, here Table Mountain and Cape Town are in the distance across the immense False Bay.  I have no idea why they called it False Bay, its only flaw that I could see is that it is so large that it might have provided early mariners with a false sense of security when the Indian Rollers came roaring in from the east; the bay’s open side.   Or perhaps more logically, it fooled the uninitiated captain bound for Europe from Asia to think this was the Cape Town Bay.

As the old saying goes, “It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good.”  Along with a near jaw dropping coastline and intermittent rain squalls, the drive provided us with the opportunity to watch two endangered species in the wild at Stony Point – the African Penguin (also known as Jackass penguin) & a small colony of Cape Cormorants.  We were the only visitors, so we had them all to ourselves.  We took many pictures and only gave up when a rain squall chased us back to our car. 

We hadn't TOTALLY given up on the wine tasting, after all Stellenbosch is world famous for its wineries. And Peter had also recommended two wineries to try on our return trip– so we found ourselves with 5 more bottles as we left Uva Mira Winery with the door lock clicking just behind us yet again.  It was a great day of touring!

Halfway 'Round the World - Blog 7

The Flower Coast and the South African Astronomical Telescope

The Flower Coast

Even though it was 80km back the way we had come in the day before, we headed back to Storm’s River Bridge, then down to Tsitsikamma National Park.  It turned out to be a great decision.  We got to see monkeys performing along the road and the deep knife cut of a canyon with Storm River at the bottom.  We took pictures but the sun/shadow contrast played havoc with our cameras – none of our shots did the site justice.  To capture an image of the long bridge spanning the river we wandered back through the gas/food/information complex to a corridor that lead to a scenic overlook where it was Steer’s intent that you buy a burger and drinks while you gaped at the canyon and the bridge.  It worked; we bought a pair of beers and enjoyed a quiet interlude while we sipped at them.

Cabins at Tsitsikamma

Done with the bridge, it was time to explore the Storm River Mouth that was 10km off the main highway.  The entrance to Tsitsikamma National Park seemed steep at 106 rand, but we paid it anyway and drove in.  It was worth every penny, the craggy beaches caught huge rollers that sent spray 20-30 feet into the air.  After we had seen the cabins we had elected to pass up for our lodge, we questioned our sanity; they set just above the rugged coastline and the crashing waves – it was simply stunning.  Since we had come to see the river’s mouth, we took off on a 900 meter hike through a lush mangrove forest.

This stretch of coastline is inundated with a creature resembling guinea pig, the Cape Hyrax. There were no fewer than a dozen of these cuddly little guys occupying the grassy area around the gift shop.  And no gift store is safe when the Stevens’ are involved; we are inveterate shoppers, and the shop at the mouth was no exception.  Inside we ran into our first Americans since we arrived, a group of students on a study tour of South Africa. We were jealous that they got such a wonderful experience so early in life and they were jealous because we had so much time to spend just wandering around.  Done visiting and shopping, we emerged with pillow covers, tee shirts and even an African symbol necklace representing “intelligence.”  

Dark was approaching so we ended a wonderful day by heading back to our B & B in Knysna and then on for some scrumptious Italian food on the bay.

Sutherland and the South African Astronomical Observatory

Wandering through The Karoo

We made a wild dash from Knysna for the tiny, isolated town of Sutherland in the middle of the Karoo to visit the South African Astronomical Observatory. This was one of the must sees on our list and with weather in the offing and sky parties offered only 3 nights a week it seemed like now or never.

It was perhaps a little more wild than we intended when I went astray and took us on a “white” road (the lowest category on our atlas.) As suspected, white represented a dirt or gravel road.  We were not quite sure where we went wrong other than according to the map our paved road was to branch off north of Ladismith.  We zigged and zagged through Ladismith and the road felt right to both of us – at least until the pavement ended.  However, without a doubt we missed the right turn that would have taken us on the longer but paved surface into the heart of the Karoo.  So instead of merely driving through the Karoo, we had the distinct opportunity to “experience’ the Karoo over 69 km of dirt road.  To be fair, this was perhaps the best maintained dirt road I have ever been on; with the exception of some steep grades, sharp turns and the occasional cattle gate, we flew over the road, averaging somewhere around 50 mph for the distance.  In the entire run we met but three vehicles and I can almost recite their thoughts: “What the hell are those crazy tourists doing out here?”  The advantage of this road was that it was about 30km shorter than the paved route; I think we actually picked up some time as a result of this inadvertent miscue. We were on track for our first early arrival at a destination for the entire tour of South Africa – a milestone.  Even with a few stops to capture the wild nature of the Karoo and some of its flora and fauna, we still pulled into Sutherland just minutes after four – a relatively on time arrival.

In fact, after checking in with our hosts for the night and showing interest in the aged family pictures on the wall, we found out that we would spend the night in a tiny house built around a hundred years ago.  Fabulous!  If only the walls could talk.

Saturn through Larry's lens

We arrived at the observatory at the appointed hour for our "star party" and while Larry wandered through the exhibits, I was "star struck" by a beautiful quilt in the entry way.  It wasn't for sale, so I took a few pics to remember it by. We were determined to find the Southern Cross, something our star guide featured on her agenda for the night.  The night sky was moonless, clear of clouds and the stars were so clear and bright you felt as the ancients must have done when they gazed at the heavens and assigned names to formations – Orion, Scorpio, Leo to mention but a few, and the Milky Way, spectacular!  Our telescope spun around the heavens, raising and lowering as needed to reveal to us many stars and three planets in the Southern sky over the course of a 90 minute presentation. And amazingly at the end of the show, Larry was able to capture a viable image of Saturn and its rings with his camera through the telescope; cool, very cool.  We were extremely grateful that we layered our clothes, as we needed everything we had brought. This is a land owned by the sun, once it sets, the temperatures plummet – and that night the low was projected to be a very chilly 28°.

We were very grateful for the car’s heater on the way back to town, where we ate dinner at a restaurant our B&B host had made reservations. Sutherland is a very small town, and prohibited from growing or adding lights due to the observatory, so unless they know you're at the star party and coming after it, every restaurant closes at 8 pm.  The food was sublime – the bean soup, although unusual, was very good, the steaks were broiled to perfection and the beets, spiced peaches and lightly salted French fries were excellent.  The wine, a pinotage, was equal to the meal, and the coffee was the best we have had in days.   Tired from the drive and bellies stuffed, we headed for our pioneer house and a nightcap before calling it a day.

Halfway Round the World Blog 7

Blog  6- Sani Pass and the Road to the Garden Coast 

(I have internet access for 10 minutes so I'm uploading this - pix will follow soon, I hope.)

Can I just say…. You MUST travel by Bed and Breakfast through South Africa.  You can’t be in a rush, mind you, the hospitality is wonderful, and the full breakfasts with host/hostesses and guests to share it with are very leisurely.  We seldom left a place before 10, so we soon learned to tailor our plans accordingly, but still seldom made It to our next destination before dark.  But the innkeepers would greet us warmly show us to the honor bar and our rooms and offer all kinds of information about their area, where to go, where not to, and seemed thrilled to have Americans travelling alone as guests.

KarMichael  Farm was no exception.  It was once a working farm, but now converted to a lovely B and B.  Larry decided he could stay here and write a book.  Nola, the manager was friendly, and handed us one of the three most valuable pieces of information we’ve received so far.  A book of B and B’s approved by the South African Travel Association which was our bible for the rest of the trip.  The farm dogs adopted us and met us at the door each time we left. Larry fell in love with the Jack Russells and swears he’s going to adopt one when we return home.

The trip to Sani Pass was what can only be called a harrowing ride.  The road was more of a goat trail, one vehicle wide, and thankfully we met only a few vehicles coming down.  It’s such a terrible road that South Africa put it’s border post at the bottom and Lesotho put it’s post at the top….. neither wanted to have to go up or down the mountain each day to man their stations.  At the top is the Sani Pass Lodge where we toasted one and all with beer at the highest bar in the world.

We also visited a traditional Lesothan community and were invited inside a  rondal – a round stone hut with a thatch roof, a door and no windows by one of the villagers.  It was basic housing with few amenities – dirt floor, a fire pit in the center, a Dutch oven, a rack of cheap enameled metal plates and bowls, a single bed and wood seating against the opposite wall; and that was about all.  A young child slept on the bed while we were offered bread and were given a small taste of the Lesothan way of life.

Another restful night at the KarMichael Farm and we regretfully left the peace and quiet for another leg of our voyage --  the trip to the Garden Coast.

The Road to the Garden Coast

Leaving Underberg and skirting along the Drakensburg mountains, we headed for the Garden Coast – the South Coast of South Africa.  The route we took was suggested by one of our fellow B and B guests at breakfast and took us through rural areas and many African townships on our way south.  I have said before that South Africa has a real divide between the rich and the poor, the whites and the blacks and this drive certainly brought the fact close to home.  Black townships were mostly a collection of hovels, most only 1 room or maybe 2, built out of scrap material and looking like very little protection from the environment.  I’m sure most of the homes did not have running water, although some of the more prosperous did seem to have solar panels.  The towns, when there was one, were much like those you would come across in the poorest parts of Appalachia with a church, a grocery store, a gas station and usually a KFC at the crossroads and/or next to a gas station.  We stopped at one of these and paid cash for our gas as credit cards were not something they dealt with.  Most of their residents didn’t have jobs, so credit was not something they catered to.

If there was a large town on the road, you’d drive through the black township first then all of a sudden you’d come to the white community where the churches were mostly of Dutch Reformed architecture and the houses were large with gardeners to be seen outside and most likely black help inside to do the heavy lifting.

We decided to stop part way to the Knysna – our next destination, as the roads were not fast and we’d gotten our usual late start out of the gate at Underberg.  So we chose Fort Beaufort, an early British Outpost for the Frontier Wars and now a university town and discovered we were staying in a building that had first been built by Piet Retief of early Boer War fame.  Another reason to stay in B and B’s instead of hotels.

A Historical Note: Piet Retief led the first Boers into Zulu country and made a deal with Shaka, the famous Zulu king for farmland for he and his followers in return for finding and returning some rustled cattle.  Despite warnings from the missionary residents and his own people, Piet believed Shaka would deal fairly and returned the cattle, signed the papers and in the following Zulu celebration he and his men were slaughtered by Zulu warriors. The Boers would continue to fight with the Zulus until the Battle of Blood River when they finally defeated the Zulus and were able to settle the land.