Last Tuesday we entered into Lesotho, but not through the fabled Gates of Paradise, a spectacular vista in the southern part of the country, that we had hoped to see. We were actually diverted while still in South Africa. The border town of Wepener was halfway underwater when we arrived late morning, but people were still trying to cross the flowing meter-high floodwaters that had come as recently as an hour before. We briefly contemplated the idea of crossing, but common sense prevailed and we instead drove 120 kilometers north to the Maseru Bridge border post. It was still raining.
We had not been in an African city like Maseru for a long time, a far cry from the sanitized capitols of Windhoek and Gaborone. It felt a little chaotic, but not particularly unsafe. People crowding the middle of the streets, total disregard for traffic laws, and the obvious poverty however made us feel a little tense as the smell of burning trash filled the air. We navigated the one-way streets, looking for affordable accommodation. After being turned away at two places, we were recommended to the Lesotho Durham Link, a hostel-like organization co-built by a group in the UK that seemed to handle lots of local church groups, much like the Kukuri Centre in Okahandja, Namibia. Good news was that we had a backpacker’s room to ourselves, the beds were very comfortable, and we were the first in the showers. Not-so-great news was that there were hoards of flies everywhere, the kitchen was a bit sketchy, and we shared the facilities with about twenty other people which made for less than stellar kitchen and bathroom sanitation (not the number of people, but more how they used the facilities which was the problem).It continued to rain until the late afternoon when a triple rainbow appeared in the sky. It was magical.
On Wednesday morning, the sun came out and we quickly made our way out of the city (there was nothing to do there anyway, we were told). We drove east on fairly good tarred roads until we reached Roma, where the University of Lesotho is based. Come to find out, it was an outpost of South African freedom fighters during the 1970s and 80s. Desmond Tutu was the parish priest and Thabo Mbeki was at the University, among others. We stayed at a gem of a place – The Trading Post – which had been since 1905 and still is an actual trading post. It was absolutely lovely with English-style gardens and buildings, in an “Out-of-Africa” sort of way. We soaked up what to us seemed so opulent, and lounged around for a good part of the day. Russ handwashed the clothes, which he is really good at and I am eternally grateful.
When we did venture out to try and find the gravesite of King Moshoeshoe I, reality hit us with a roadblock. We have come across half a dozen roadblocks in the past few months; only one officer had previously noticed that Russ’ drivers’ license had expired. We noticed this back in October while in Gabs, but nothing could be done (Botswana license took too long to get, International license impossible). The traffic officer noticed the date immediately and started with a show of “we have to take you to prison, take you to Maseru, R1500 fine”, and so on. We asked if we could pay the “fine” on the spot, which was probably the intention. He asked for R600, but Russ only had R200 (USD 35) which was accepted immediately. I think we got off easy, but it means I will be driving the rest of the way through Lesotho and much of the other countries. I don’t mind driving and we have shared the responsibility in the past, but it makes for longer days to do all the driving all the time. I guess we will probably look at shorter routes. We watched the sappy Four Weddings and a Funeral in the evening and slept well. This place felt like home. We are completely into traveling mode now and our schedules have adjusted to sleeping in and eating our meals later than we would normally.
With another five days of sun predicted, on Thursday we headed into the mountains toward Ramabanta, the second trading post owned by the Thorn family. This is when the road situation changed dramatically. Not only did we start tremendous climbs of four to five thousand feet, the roads were narrow and full of potholes. And these were not even the marked four-wheel-drive roads which we did not attempt. The adrenalin rush for the day was crossing a causeway with a foot of fast-moving water with a six foot drop. Normally, we would never consider it but smaller two-wheel-drive vehicles and large top-heavy trucks were making it without problem, so Russ got up the courage to get us across. The Rav4 did not disappoint, although we both nearly pee’d our pants in the process. And then we made it across again a few days later on our return. The unbelievably spectacular landscapes while driving these tough roads made the driving totally worthwhile. It is no wonder Lesotho is called the Roof of Africa. Being on the Roof has its advantages – we were able to tune into BBC World Service which was an unexpected treat.
Ramabanta Trading Post was as beautiful as her sister in Roma, and the scenery was truly breathtaking as small thatched stone huts and scores of sheep, goats, ponies, and cattle dotted the mountainous terrain. The grounds were equally as lovely with manicured lawns and flowers. Again, we had the place mostly to ourselves – it seems as though January is the off-season and with the unusual rain, we absolutely believe that. On Friday, we set out for a day trip to Semonkong, the place of smoke, where the highest waterfall in southern Africa - Maletsuyane - is found. It was the worst road we had ever been on ever; rarely did we get out of low gear as we ascended and descended over 6000 feet. It took seven hours for the 100 kilometer roundtrip but it was also one of those rare places in the world not many people see because of the difficulty in getting there. Russ did all the driving (no chance of roadblocks), and I think he enjoyed the challenge.
The stars in Ramabanta were tremendously bright. No one has electricity out here, although the lodge did run the generator for a few hours every evening. When we woke up, as we usually do at 3:00 am, to go outside for awhile and marvel at the night sky with numerous constellations took my breath away. Also because of the altitude, the air was quite clear and cool.
Yesterday was our day to just stay put, to not be in the car, to wander around, to read and relax. We did walk into town and had a beer with another guy staying here – a Brit lecturing at the University in Roma. It was a good vibe. Amazing how inexpensive the beer was, given the distance it needs to travel to get here. Every single thing you buy in Lesotho, absolutely everything, is imported from South Africa, and that remains a startling fact. Another thing that surprised us - in the middle of nowhere, you guessed it – a China shop. According to our lecturer friend who has been here over twenty years, the Chinese have really infiltrated the country (Having never been to China, we thought the landscape resembled parts of rural China with its terraced slopes).
Thankfully, we picked up some vegetables while still in South Africa last week as there were very few here (potatoes and onions do not count). As we have found on past travels, our cooking on the road gets pretty creative. Last night we had lamb biryani flavored textured vegetable protein with lentils and cauliflower. It was pretty tasty, I must admit. Tuna pesto is also a well-worn favorite. The key is to find foods that do not need refrigeration which was not available in Ramabanta, which sadly also means the boxed milk to which I have resigned myself. Milk should really always be cold and with a short shelf life. An aha moment - I found that combining salted peanuts and sweetened cranberries (sent over with our shipping) together tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mmmm…
We managed to leave behind yet another item - a headlamp - so we are really on a roll with not keeping track of our stuff, just eleven days into the trip.
Today we headed back through Roma to the lowlands and Masero where we spent the night. We found an internet cafe open for a half hour more and so are sending the stories we wrote over the past week. We will start our trek to the Drakensburg mountains tomorrow. Life is good!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Busy in Bloem
I think I am suffering from Vitamin D deficiency. It's day five of traveling in consistently heavy rain and over a month of damp weather. I just need a little sun.
We moved in with the Pienaars yesterday, and while it is a bit like camping without the plumbing, it is very comfortable camping (and we are not outside in the rain). The toilet works, and in the big scheme of things, that is something to be thankful for. Last night Russ and I went over to the old house to shower, except that we could not get the lock to open. I felt desperate to wash my hair and so we found a guesthouse in the neighborhood which allowed us to take showers. When we asked the owner, we told her we had a strange request, to which she replied that much weirder things had happened; our request was nothing new. The hot water felt incredibly refreshing. Zack and Elaine bathed at a friends' house.
We sent back our contracts to Kuwait this morning with a bit of sticker shock. Courier companies charge an unbelievable amount of money to send a few pieces of paper. Talk about a scam.
Things have settled down here since Saturday when there was so much moving around, and we are enjoying our time with Zack, Elaine, and their kids. John and Nina are at the University but live at home, and twelve year old Fide is the delight of her parents. The more we spend time with them and their friends, the more we are reminded of our time in Namibia. If one has not lived in South Africa, its a bit complicated to describe the "Coloured" culture - what that has meant in the past and what it means today. It's a separate ethnic group essentially of any mixed race heritages. However, they were seen as having special privileges during the apartheid era because they weren't black (and yet not white either). Now, because they aren't black, they are also kept at arms length from political empowerment. It is always fascinating to talk with them about their stories of struggle growing up in "The Old South Africa" where they would never think of living in Bloemfontein, the former stronghold of the Afrikaaner republic (they find it quite ironic now, but are encouraged about how much the city has changed). They speak Afrikaans as a home language but also quite comfortable in English. The food brings it all back - cornflakes or weetbix with warm milk for breakfast, snoek (a bony fish) and chips, curries, cheese rolls, gravies, macaroni of all kinds, sugary cool drinks, pancakes (crepes), koeksusters and melk tarts. Here in Bloemfontein, there is something new - "cherry bacon" which are grilled vienna sausages wrapped in bacon and eaten with marachino cherries. Interesting and surprisingly good -in a "don't eat this too often" kind of way.
Zack is the pastor of a growing congregation in Hoedendal, the Coloured location (both words are not nice, but is how people refer to it; mixed-race township might be better?) We went there yesterday morning and received an extremely warm welcome from genuinely friendly people. As I remembered from many years ago, the people in his church love to sing and sing well. It was an uplifting experience. Zack is in the middle of a fundraising campaign to build a community centre near the church; the building is already halfway done. He had built a multipurpose "Life Change Centre" in Windhoek and it is still very successful.
Glad to be here, but in the rainy afternoons we have been looking at maps and wondering where to go next. I think tomorrow we will trek east into the hilltown of Malealea, Lesotho and see if the rain follows us.
We moved in with the Pienaars yesterday, and while it is a bit like camping without the plumbing, it is very comfortable camping (and we are not outside in the rain). The toilet works, and in the big scheme of things, that is something to be thankful for. Last night Russ and I went over to the old house to shower, except that we could not get the lock to open. I felt desperate to wash my hair and so we found a guesthouse in the neighborhood which allowed us to take showers. When we asked the owner, we told her we had a strange request, to which she replied that much weirder things had happened; our request was nothing new. The hot water felt incredibly refreshing. Zack and Elaine bathed at a friends' house.
We sent back our contracts to Kuwait this morning with a bit of sticker shock. Courier companies charge an unbelievable amount of money to send a few pieces of paper. Talk about a scam.
Things have settled down here since Saturday when there was so much moving around, and we are enjoying our time with Zack, Elaine, and their kids. John and Nina are at the University but live at home, and twelve year old Fide is the delight of her parents. The more we spend time with them and their friends, the more we are reminded of our time in Namibia. If one has not lived in South Africa, its a bit complicated to describe the "Coloured" culture - what that has meant in the past and what it means today. It's a separate ethnic group essentially of any mixed race heritages. However, they were seen as having special privileges during the apartheid era because they weren't black (and yet not white either). Now, because they aren't black, they are also kept at arms length from political empowerment. It is always fascinating to talk with them about their stories of struggle growing up in "The Old South Africa" where they would never think of living in Bloemfontein, the former stronghold of the Afrikaaner republic (they find it quite ironic now, but are encouraged about how much the city has changed). They speak Afrikaans as a home language but also quite comfortable in English. The food brings it all back - cornflakes or weetbix with warm milk for breakfast, snoek (a bony fish) and chips, curries, cheese rolls, gravies, macaroni of all kinds, sugary cool drinks, pancakes (crepes), koeksusters and melk tarts. Here in Bloemfontein, there is something new - "cherry bacon" which are grilled vienna sausages wrapped in bacon and eaten with marachino cherries. Interesting and surprisingly good -in a "don't eat this too often" kind of way.
Zack is the pastor of a growing congregation in Hoedendal, the Coloured location (both words are not nice, but is how people refer to it; mixed-race township might be better?) We went there yesterday morning and received an extremely warm welcome from genuinely friendly people. As I remembered from many years ago, the people in his church love to sing and sing well. It was an uplifting experience. Zack is in the middle of a fundraising campaign to build a community centre near the church; the building is already halfway done. He had built a multipurpose "Life Change Centre" in Windhoek and it is still very successful.
Glad to be here, but in the rainy afternoons we have been looking at maps and wondering where to go next. I think tomorrow we will trek east into the hilltown of Malealea, Lesotho and see if the rain follows us.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
And the rains came, and the floodwaters rose
Weather like this needs a Biblical reference. Here we are on day three of our journey, and it is the third day of substantial downpours. Never in any of our travels has it rained as much as it is now. Not even southeast Asia. There is serious flooding. Already, we have been diverted twice on the roads because either a bridge has been wiped out or it is unpassable. Ok, we are not in a rush nor on a schedule, so we have been taking our time.
First stop was Kimberly, where Cecil Rhodes started his diamond empire and DeBeers still rules. I am not impressed. There is nothing romantic about a history of pillaging the land and slaving the locals for sparkling stones. The Big Hole was truly amazing to see though, as the largest manmade hole in the world. We actually did not pay the R75 to go in legally through the museum. We went through the schmancy hotel next door and looked out over their garden view point.
We did not overnight at the schmancy hotel, rather at the Gumtree Lodge located outside of town. It is a renovated former prison, the notorious "place of last return" for workers suspected of swallowing diamonds. They were fed a pretty nasty laxative cocktail in order to retrieve the stones, and many people died in the process. Nice history. We booked into the bunkroom, in which we slept surprisingly well. There was just one other couple in there. Good enough place to stay.
Gabs seems a long time ago. Russ and I shed a few tears after saying goodbye to our friends Helen, Zane, Rosemary, and Rafa. Bill left on Wednesday as well. We talked about possibly hooking up in Namibia during the next holiday, but we'll see. There are many variables and I hope it works out.
We are now in Bloemfontein, the heart of the Orange Free State, the birthplace of the African National Congress (99 years ago this month), and the home of Elaine and Zack. These are friends of mine from Mariental and Zack married us in Luderitz. We probably caught them at the worst possible time. Deurmekaar does not describe it. They are in the middle of moving: one house does not have water; the other has no furniture or food. So we are staying with a friend of theirs for the overnights, which is fine if not a bit awkward. Zack is the pastor of a viabrant church, which means that he is very very busy. They have had meetings every night and we have not seen too much of them. However this morning, they brought us to perhaps the best farmers market (boermark, as this is a strong Afrikaans speaking area) I have ever been to. Amazing fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, nursery plants, cooked foods, jarred preserves, biltong, handcrafts, and other delights. We ate well and found a few things.
So far in our short time on the road, we have managed to leave one towel and a flashlight behind. We are still trying to get comfortable in our traveling skins and keep the car organized. I think we will be ready to move on soon.
First stop was Kimberly, where Cecil Rhodes started his diamond empire and DeBeers still rules. I am not impressed. There is nothing romantic about a history of pillaging the land and slaving the locals for sparkling stones. The Big Hole was truly amazing to see though, as the largest manmade hole in the world. We actually did not pay the R75 to go in legally through the museum. We went through the schmancy hotel next door and looked out over their garden view point.
We did not overnight at the schmancy hotel, rather at the Gumtree Lodge located outside of town. It is a renovated former prison, the notorious "place of last return" for workers suspected of swallowing diamonds. They were fed a pretty nasty laxative cocktail in order to retrieve the stones, and many people died in the process. Nice history. We booked into the bunkroom, in which we slept surprisingly well. There was just one other couple in there. Good enough place to stay.
Gabs seems a long time ago. Russ and I shed a few tears after saying goodbye to our friends Helen, Zane, Rosemary, and Rafa. Bill left on Wednesday as well. We talked about possibly hooking up in Namibia during the next holiday, but we'll see. There are many variables and I hope it works out.
We are now in Bloemfontein, the heart of the Orange Free State, the birthplace of the African National Congress (99 years ago this month), and the home of Elaine and Zack. These are friends of mine from Mariental and Zack married us in Luderitz. We probably caught them at the worst possible time. Deurmekaar does not describe it. They are in the middle of moving: one house does not have water; the other has no furniture or food. So we are staying with a friend of theirs for the overnights, which is fine if not a bit awkward. Zack is the pastor of a viabrant church, which means that he is very very busy. They have had meetings every night and we have not seen too much of them. However this morning, they brought us to perhaps the best farmers market (boermark, as this is a strong Afrikaans speaking area) I have ever been to. Amazing fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, nursery plants, cooked foods, jarred preserves, biltong, handcrafts, and other delights. We ate well and found a few things.
So far in our short time on the road, we have managed to leave one towel and a flashlight behind. We are still trying to get comfortable in our traveling skins and keep the car organized. I think we will be ready to move on soon.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
On the road again
It is hard to believe that this is our last day in Gabs. The anticipation is building. To be honest, we are a little bored and ready to start traveling. Everyone is back at school during the day, and then in the evenings, it has been a whirlwind of visiting friends and eaating lots of good food. Maybe we will go on a four month diet (ha!), but fortunately I like food too much and there are certain things I am looking forward to...the legendary prawns in Mozambique, Tony's chocolate cake hidden in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, high tea at the grand Victoria Falls Hotel, Namibian braais, just to name a few.
A lot of people have been asking what our route looks like. We are trying to keep it open in terms of places we might go and time we'll spend at each place, but it will be a general circle starting in Kimberly, South Africa tomorrow heading through the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the Drakensburg mountains, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, through the Caprivi strip of Namibia and down the entire country and then back through Botswana.
Stay tuned! We will have our computer and while the internet access may not be regular, we hope to log on a few days each week. We love to hear from people too while traveling, even though we may not always have the opportunity to respond.
A lot of people have been asking what our route looks like. We are trying to keep it open in terms of places we might go and time we'll spend at each place, but it will be a general circle starting in Kimberly, South Africa tomorrow heading through the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the Drakensburg mountains, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, through the Caprivi strip of Namibia and down the entire country and then back through Botswana.
Stay tuned! We will have our computer and while the internet access may not be regular, we hope to log on a few days each week. We love to hear from people too while traveling, even though we may not always have the opportunity to respond.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The top ten
The ten things I have learned (or relearned) about living in Africa
10. Dirt is not always dirty and rain is not always clean.
9. Hard water can really do a number on your clothes…and hair. But I'll survive.
8. The best thing you can do in a day is to greet someone and spend time talking with him/her. There is always enough time and everyone has a story.
7. Dry heat is fine, but it really helps to have water nearby (like a pool or the
beach)
6. Ice cream, cold beer and coke light cannot be underestimated in terms of their ability to cool and calm us.
5. Physical belongings can sometimes be a burden. To live simply is an ongoing life goal.
4. Going outside of our comfort zone was almost always worth it. We had some amazing experiences and I expect that we will continue to.
3. Cane sugar as a food additive is far beyond in taste to high fructose corn syrup (Which is thankfully not available here. I think all the corn grown here is made into pap, a porridge staple that everyone eats.)
2. No one really cares about US politics or the NFL here, and that is ok. Oh, but I do miss NPR and the playoffs.
1. Getting here: thousands of dollars. Living in Botswana: priceless.
10. Dirt is not always dirty and rain is not always clean.
9. Hard water can really do a number on your clothes…and hair. But I'll survive.
8. The best thing you can do in a day is to greet someone and spend time talking with him/her. There is always enough time and everyone has a story.
7. Dry heat is fine, but it really helps to have water nearby (like a pool or the
beach)
6. Ice cream, cold beer and coke light cannot be underestimated in terms of their ability to cool and calm us.
5. Physical belongings can sometimes be a burden. To live simply is an ongoing life goal.
4. Going outside of our comfort zone was almost always worth it. We had some amazing experiences and I expect that we will continue to.
3. Cane sugar as a food additive is far beyond in taste to high fructose corn syrup (Which is thankfully not available here. I think all the corn grown here is made into pap, a porridge staple that everyone eats.)
2. No one really cares about US politics or the NFL here, and that is ok. Oh, but I do miss NPR and the playoffs.
1. Getting here: thousands of dollars. Living in Botswana: priceless.
Friday, January 14, 2011
At peace now
This week has been a whirlwind of activity, which finally, thankfully wound down this morning. We have sorted through all the boxes, and sold most everything. We probably made $750, a fraction of the worth, but all of it going to good homes and we are happy to share it with the lovely people we know here. It's good karma. And we are now living more simplified and less cluttered lives.
The money paid for some significant car repairs we needed this week, so that is also a blessing. Everything turns right side up, given enough patience and time.
We are in a good place, and it will be nice to spend the next five to six days with very few real errands to do, instead enjoying what we have grown to love about living in Gab.
Last night, we had dinner at Khalid and Alla's house, joined by some other friends. This is perhaps the most amazing meal I have had here. We arrived at 7:30, and maybe only started to eat at 8:30, instead lounging on the sofas on their pool side patio. It has a very Middle Eastern feel, but that is of course where they are from. Alla served a veritable Iraqi feast, starting with a platter of hummus, beans, and avocado, followed by marinated lamb on a bed of saffron rice with raisin and cashews. There were stuffed cabbages, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. The eggplant and chicken dish in a tomato sauce was perhaps my favorite. And a green salad, just to fill in the cracks. We were all encouraged to have seconds and we did. Then after dinner we were served Iraqi tea in the most exquisite tea glasses. Dessert was a meal in itself. From trifle to flan to baklava to caramel ice cream, it was utterly delightful. Then to top things off around 10:30, we had Turkish coffee. Needless to say, I was still full this morning. Is this something to look forward to in our new home? Let's hope so.
The money paid for some significant car repairs we needed this week, so that is also a blessing. Everything turns right side up, given enough patience and time.
We are in a good place, and it will be nice to spend the next five to six days with very few real errands to do, instead enjoying what we have grown to love about living in Gab.
Last night, we had dinner at Khalid and Alla's house, joined by some other friends. This is perhaps the most amazing meal I have had here. We arrived at 7:30, and maybe only started to eat at 8:30, instead lounging on the sofas on their pool side patio. It has a very Middle Eastern feel, but that is of course where they are from. Alla served a veritable Iraqi feast, starting with a platter of hummus, beans, and avocado, followed by marinated lamb on a bed of saffron rice with raisin and cashews. There were stuffed cabbages, onions, tomatoes, and peppers. The eggplant and chicken dish in a tomato sauce was perhaps my favorite. And a green salad, just to fill in the cracks. We were all encouraged to have seconds and we did. Then after dinner we were served Iraqi tea in the most exquisite tea glasses. Dessert was a meal in itself. From trifle to flan to baklava to caramel ice cream, it was utterly delightful. Then to top things off around 10:30, we had Turkish coffee. Needless to say, I was still full this morning. Is this something to look forward to in our new home? Let's hope so.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Decisions, decisions
So we got the BIG decisions out of the way - we are leaving Botswana, going on a big road trip, and then moving to Kuwait. But in the past week, I cannot remember a time when we have had to figure so many things out.
First, the car needed a new steering rack as it had been leaking power steering fluid. Not a cheap or easy job but when you are about to go on a road trip, what else are you going to do? We bit the USD 500 bullet. Check.
Our shipping arrived last month, and the original plan was to just ship half of it back to the US. So, I have been sorting things out and got it down to less than half of the fourteen boxes than arrived just four weeks ago. We talked to Fred and Liz earlier in the week, and Liz asked the question - "isn't it difficult to sort out everything that you wanted to bring to Africa"? I felt quite confident in my organizing and replied with some bravado that we were simplifying our lives and that this was some sort of a cleansing catharsis we were working through.
Which of course is B.S. We found out on Monday that to send half of our belongings back would cost twice as much as it did in October. This would seriously hamper our travel plans, and so we stayed up much of that night trying to figure out what were our options. In the meantime, we had moved out of our flat and into Rafa and Rosemary's, since they are still away on holiday. The head of school stopped by the next day to insist that we could and should stay in our own flat until we leave next week, and so everything went back yesterday but we still have stuff in two places.
The only word that comes to mind in describing this scene is an Afrikaans one that does not have a sufficient English translation: deurmekaar which kind of means upside down and chaotic.
We've decided to leave everything here - the house furnishings, the camping equipment, Russ' mountain bike, books, and virtually all the winter and summer clothes we own. Russ said he wanted to get all new clothes when we got back anyway and I will probably do the same. But what has been difficult is that there are some items that we cannot leave behind, and I am still in the middle of figuring out what can definitely stay and what cannot.
Lest this all sounds too extreme, we will pay for excess shipping on our flight home, which entitles us each to one more fifty pound bag. So we will not be arriving on American soil completely empty handed.
It is a little stressful. But we laugh, talk, rub each other's backs, and go for ice cream every day, and it goes a little easier. The little tag sale that was planned has mushroomed into a huge event. Yesterday we sold $100 worth of clothes at $1 a piece. For those of you who think that 100 pieces of clothes is a lot, there is much more to go. I am a clothes and shoes hound, I admit, albeit gained through second-hand stores (does that somehow justify my closet?)
The positive mantra we keep spinning is "what is most important is the two of us, the rest is just stuff". We are indeed simplifying, more so than I ever have in my life. Between everything that we sold in Dalton in August and now, we have pared down our earthly belongings significantly. Once we get through this (hopefully today), I know it will be a huge relief.
We are also deciding our flight back because the prices are so reasonable at the moment. It basically just came down to picking a random date in the second week of May. Thankfully, we found a travel agent who could navigate some of the excess baggage language.
In any case, we are eating well this week with friends as we start to say goodbye. We have been twice out to our favorite place in Gabane - a great bar that also allows you to braai marinated meat that you buy, along with the requisite pap, all of which you eat with your hands. We found an Indian restaurant that we had never been to, and tonight we are going over to some friends' home for an Iraqi feast.
We are looking forward to being on the road next week. The decision to start our journey in Bloemfontein, South Africa has been made!
First, the car needed a new steering rack as it had been leaking power steering fluid. Not a cheap or easy job but when you are about to go on a road trip, what else are you going to do? We bit the USD 500 bullet. Check.
Our shipping arrived last month, and the original plan was to just ship half of it back to the US. So, I have been sorting things out and got it down to less than half of the fourteen boxes than arrived just four weeks ago. We talked to Fred and Liz earlier in the week, and Liz asked the question - "isn't it difficult to sort out everything that you wanted to bring to Africa"? I felt quite confident in my organizing and replied with some bravado that we were simplifying our lives and that this was some sort of a cleansing catharsis we were working through.
Which of course is B.S. We found out on Monday that to send half of our belongings back would cost twice as much as it did in October. This would seriously hamper our travel plans, and so we stayed up much of that night trying to figure out what were our options. In the meantime, we had moved out of our flat and into Rafa and Rosemary's, since they are still away on holiday. The head of school stopped by the next day to insist that we could and should stay in our own flat until we leave next week, and so everything went back yesterday but we still have stuff in two places.
The only word that comes to mind in describing this scene is an Afrikaans one that does not have a sufficient English translation: deurmekaar which kind of means upside down and chaotic.
We've decided to leave everything here - the house furnishings, the camping equipment, Russ' mountain bike, books, and virtually all the winter and summer clothes we own. Russ said he wanted to get all new clothes when we got back anyway and I will probably do the same. But what has been difficult is that there are some items that we cannot leave behind, and I am still in the middle of figuring out what can definitely stay and what cannot.
Lest this all sounds too extreme, we will pay for excess shipping on our flight home, which entitles us each to one more fifty pound bag. So we will not be arriving on American soil completely empty handed.
It is a little stressful. But we laugh, talk, rub each other's backs, and go for ice cream every day, and it goes a little easier. The little tag sale that was planned has mushroomed into a huge event. Yesterday we sold $100 worth of clothes at $1 a piece. For those of you who think that 100 pieces of clothes is a lot, there is much more to go. I am a clothes and shoes hound, I admit, albeit gained through second-hand stores (does that somehow justify my closet?)
The positive mantra we keep spinning is "what is most important is the two of us, the rest is just stuff". We are indeed simplifying, more so than I ever have in my life. Between everything that we sold in Dalton in August and now, we have pared down our earthly belongings significantly. Once we get through this (hopefully today), I know it will be a huge relief.
We are also deciding our flight back because the prices are so reasonable at the moment. It basically just came down to picking a random date in the second week of May. Thankfully, we found a travel agent who could navigate some of the excess baggage language.
In any case, we are eating well this week with friends as we start to say goodbye. We have been twice out to our favorite place in Gabane - a great bar that also allows you to braai marinated meat that you buy, along with the requisite pap, all of which you eat with your hands. We found an Indian restaurant that we had never been to, and tonight we are going over to some friends' home for an Iraqi feast.
We are looking forward to being on the road next week. The decision to start our journey in Bloemfontein, South Africa has been made!
Monday, January 10, 2011
The news in four parts
1) It's official now and what a relief. We went into the school on the first morning everyone is back to announce that Russ will not be renewing his contract (it was a four month contract renewable for two years). We tried in so many ways for this to work, but what it came down to was not whether he COULD continue for two more years, but whether he WANTED to. We have learned a lot about this process, and from other teachers who have been in the international school scene for many years. There are great schools out there and not so great. Things don't have to be this difficult. The cons outweighed the pros, although the pros have been numerous. We loved our life here, just not the work part. The administration did not seem surprised at all as Russ had talked with them previously about the troublesome issues. In fact, everyone there has been quite understanding.
2) Our plan is to hit the road next week and travel through southern Africa for the next four months visiting friends and going back to the places we love, particularly Mozambique and Namibia. We also hope to get to some places that we have not been to before, like Lesotho and Swaziland. We feel we have been given a gift to travel without a schedule and hope to take full advantage of that. The laptop is coming with us and I will continue to blog all of our adventures. Just wish I could figure out the photo thing.
3) We will be back in the US in mid-May and look forward to spending the summer there with family and friends.
4) We will leave in early August for our new jobs at the American School in Kuwait (http://www.ask.edu.kw/ASK/index.html). We think this will be a much better fit for us and this was confirmed in talking to the superintendent. I will be the high school counselor at a high performing school with more students than I ever have worked with before. It will be a challenge but I feel that I am ready for it. Russ will be teaching Physics ONLY at three different levels, and he is also looking forward to the challenge. We never thought we would be in the Middle East and are excited about living in a different part of the world.
Things are busy this week. Once again, we are downsizing our belongings and simplifying our lives. Two tag sales in six months is heady. We both feel really good about it all though. A cleansing start to the new year. Speaking of cleansing, we finished a papaya for breakfast that we bought in South Africa and it was delicious!
Ok, that's enough to write for now!
2) Our plan is to hit the road next week and travel through southern Africa for the next four months visiting friends and going back to the places we love, particularly Mozambique and Namibia. We also hope to get to some places that we have not been to before, like Lesotho and Swaziland. We feel we have been given a gift to travel without a schedule and hope to take full advantage of that. The laptop is coming with us and I will continue to blog all of our adventures. Just wish I could figure out the photo thing.
3) We will be back in the US in mid-May and look forward to spending the summer there with family and friends.
4) We will leave in early August for our new jobs at the American School in Kuwait (http://www.ask.edu.kw/ASK/index.html). We think this will be a much better fit for us and this was confirmed in talking to the superintendent. I will be the high school counselor at a high performing school with more students than I ever have worked with before. It will be a challenge but I feel that I am ready for it. Russ will be teaching Physics ONLY at three different levels, and he is also looking forward to the challenge. We never thought we would be in the Middle East and are excited about living in a different part of the world.
Things are busy this week. Once again, we are downsizing our belongings and simplifying our lives. Two tag sales in six months is heady. We both feel really good about it all though. A cleansing start to the new year. Speaking of cleansing, we finished a papaya for breakfast that we bought in South Africa and it was delicious!
Ok, that's enough to write for now!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Big Five Country
Driving from Graskop into the valley below felt like we were descending right from the clouds themselves. We began the new year by entering Kruger, South Africa's oldest and flagship national park. By 7:00 am, we were already inside the Phabeni gate in the southwest corner of the park and ambled over to the main camp at Skukusa before arriving at Lower Sabie later that morning. I am convinced that Kruger is the best place in southern Africa to see wildlife, and we were not disappointed.
What was a disappointment however was the campsite at Sabie. With South Africans still on school holiday, the camping area was absolutely packed and what was available was not attractive. We literally squeezed our tent onto the corner of a lot, with room for just two chairs and a tent.
South African, and more specifically Afrikaaner, camping takes the outdoor activity to a whole new level. While there were some caravans, what dominated the campgrounds were compounds comprised of multi-room tents, elaborate outdoor kitchens, and comfortable seating areas with entertainment. It was not uncommon to see a portable satellite dish with flat screen tv (there was of course the five day test between the South African and Indian cricket teams). Very impressive. Most of the people we talked to had been there for a couple of weeks; theirs was not a setup to take down after one or two days. It was a nice community - very quiet and collectively around 7 pm, the smell of meat cooking over wood fires filled the camp. That is one of the best smells.
Not to say that there weren't non-white people camping either. Black South Africans pitched tents, along with several uitlanders(foreigners). The Afrikaans I had learned in Namibia came back fairly quickly. In fact, on a few occasions, people spoke to us in Afrikaans, and understanding them, we replied.
We noticed that there were not so many mosquitoes, although we did start taking our malarone tablets since this is a high-risk malaria area (thankfully without side effects unlike mefloquine of days gone by). What did annoy the hell out of us were the bees and flies.
Every section of the park has its own unique terrain and so there are specific animals that will prefer one area over another, and some who seem to roam the entire park. The Lower Sabie camp is right on the river, which seemed to come alive in the mornings and late afternoons with hippos, crocodiles, and elephants.
I'll describe more of the highlights later.
Despite the crowded nature of the camp, we enjoyed our game drives. Our routine for the week was to get up around 4 am, leave the camp at 4:30, drive for a few hours, come back to take a nap and eat breakfast, walk or sit and read, eat lunch, maybe go for a swim, and then another drive mid afternoon, before coming back for dinner, followed by a walk and shower.
It rained the first night, but we were relatively unscathed since we stayed there another night and could dry out. However when we moved to Satara camp, further north where we had camped eleven years ago, there was a particularly heavy storm that set everything off. That storm drenched everything we had hanging on the clothesline, and left the tent muddy and soaked on the outside (we stayed dry inside). But to have to leave the next morning and pack everything out was a little stressful.
We arrived at the last camp - Letaba - which was as far north as we had ever been in the park, and still only half way up. It was by far the loveliest campsite, but when we arrived it was still drizzling. The tent was already wet and muddy, so Russ set about washing it and we hung it to dry when the rain stopped. Then we decided the best thing to do at 10 in the morning when we were feeling so discouraged was to drink beer and have a braai. We bought some meat, lit a fire, and made braai bread. We spent the next three hours, sitting, talking, just chilling and then eating a delicious lunch. During this break in the day is when our a-ha moment came.
There is no way we can camp straight out for the next four months. We are not long-term car campers, and especially not in the African rainy season. We are seasoned backpackers, who happen to have a car, and who will occasionally camp when the situation calls for it. Huge relief when we made peace with that.
We did enjoy Letaba the best, and because of a Sanparks reservation error, we have 900 rand credit. That is a spectacular place to which we would go back. They also had a wonderful elephant museum which played educational wildlife videos throughout the day, which is exactly what we did when it started to rain again. This was big tusker country, and it was amazing how many large elephants we saw. We spent two nights in Letaba, and were all dried out until late on the last night, when it rained incessantly. Again, we had to throw everything in the car and take off. Not nice, but we know now that we don't have to do this forever.
Because animals are the reason people go to Kruger, here is the lowdown of what we saw:
Black backed jackal - elusive and solitary
Blue wildebeest - numerous, liked to hang with the zebras
Bushbuck - just a couple
Cape buffalo - more than I had ever seen, large herds, a few in very close range. Very impressive animals.
Chacma baboon - numerous, once one troop completely blocked the road. Because they are so unpredictable, we gave them space and just sat and watched them for awhile.
Duiker - a very small deer, like a lawn ornament.
Elephant - one of my favorites, saw several large herds and a couple big tuskers. One gave us a mock charge. Massive amounts of dung. Saw quite a few babies.
Giraffe - again, we saw several. It is really something to see them run. A few babies.
Hippo - I had never seen them active outside of the water. In and out of water, they were really moving. One highlight was to see two males battling it out for territorial rights. Boy, the can run. Saw a few babies.
Impala - an unique antelope with no close relatives. Felt like we saw most of the park's 100,000 herd.
Kudu - incredibly large animal with impressive curled horns (male). Saw several.
Leopard - hard to ever spot one of these so it was a highlight to see two, one of which was a very good sighting in the early morning.
Lion - a small pride sat in front of our car for awhile, laying around as we've seen most lions. But their sheer size a few feet away was amazing.
Nyala - similar to the kudu but smaller. Had never seen one before.
Serval - a small cat we found in the early morning. Never seen one before as they are quite elusive. A big find.
Slender mongoose - they're everywhere.
Spotted hyena - came across a whole pack in the early morning, playing around in a river bed. That was really something to see as they are nocturnal.
Steenbok - much smaller than an impala, but look similar. Lawn ornament variety.
Vervet monkey - very playful. Saw many babies.
Warthog - the little ones were endearing.
Waterbuck - a rather shy creature that we saw quite often. They have a large white circle on their butts.
White rhino - another lucky sighting, we saw three of them.
Zebra - plentiful. We saw one zebra chasing a lone hyena.
We also saw lots of birds, most notably the Lilac-breasted Roller, African Fish Eagle, Burchell's Starling, Cape Glossy Starling, Giant Kingfisher, Marabou Stork, and the Pearl-spotted Owlet among numerous others.
We took the long scenic way home, hoping to avoid the toll road, which we did. However, it took us on some treacherous mud roads which were only safely navigated by Russ' driving (he likened it to driving in heavy snow on ice, but like nothing he had ever done before) and our trusty Rav4. It was really lovely on the back roads, driving through banana, mango, papaya, and avocado orchards, making it seem more tropical than anything else.
It feels great to be back in Gabs!
What was a disappointment however was the campsite at Sabie. With South Africans still on school holiday, the camping area was absolutely packed and what was available was not attractive. We literally squeezed our tent onto the corner of a lot, with room for just two chairs and a tent.
South African, and more specifically Afrikaaner, camping takes the outdoor activity to a whole new level. While there were some caravans, what dominated the campgrounds were compounds comprised of multi-room tents, elaborate outdoor kitchens, and comfortable seating areas with entertainment. It was not uncommon to see a portable satellite dish with flat screen tv (there was of course the five day test between the South African and Indian cricket teams). Very impressive. Most of the people we talked to had been there for a couple of weeks; theirs was not a setup to take down after one or two days. It was a nice community - very quiet and collectively around 7 pm, the smell of meat cooking over wood fires filled the camp. That is one of the best smells.
Not to say that there weren't non-white people camping either. Black South Africans pitched tents, along with several uitlanders(foreigners). The Afrikaans I had learned in Namibia came back fairly quickly. In fact, on a few occasions, people spoke to us in Afrikaans, and understanding them, we replied.
We noticed that there were not so many mosquitoes, although we did start taking our malarone tablets since this is a high-risk malaria area (thankfully without side effects unlike mefloquine of days gone by). What did annoy the hell out of us were the bees and flies.
Every section of the park has its own unique terrain and so there are specific animals that will prefer one area over another, and some who seem to roam the entire park. The Lower Sabie camp is right on the river, which seemed to come alive in the mornings and late afternoons with hippos, crocodiles, and elephants.
I'll describe more of the highlights later.
Despite the crowded nature of the camp, we enjoyed our game drives. Our routine for the week was to get up around 4 am, leave the camp at 4:30, drive for a few hours, come back to take a nap and eat breakfast, walk or sit and read, eat lunch, maybe go for a swim, and then another drive mid afternoon, before coming back for dinner, followed by a walk and shower.
It rained the first night, but we were relatively unscathed since we stayed there another night and could dry out. However when we moved to Satara camp, further north where we had camped eleven years ago, there was a particularly heavy storm that set everything off. That storm drenched everything we had hanging on the clothesline, and left the tent muddy and soaked on the outside (we stayed dry inside). But to have to leave the next morning and pack everything out was a little stressful.
We arrived at the last camp - Letaba - which was as far north as we had ever been in the park, and still only half way up. It was by far the loveliest campsite, but when we arrived it was still drizzling. The tent was already wet and muddy, so Russ set about washing it and we hung it to dry when the rain stopped. Then we decided the best thing to do at 10 in the morning when we were feeling so discouraged was to drink beer and have a braai. We bought some meat, lit a fire, and made braai bread. We spent the next three hours, sitting, talking, just chilling and then eating a delicious lunch. During this break in the day is when our a-ha moment came.
There is no way we can camp straight out for the next four months. We are not long-term car campers, and especially not in the African rainy season. We are seasoned backpackers, who happen to have a car, and who will occasionally camp when the situation calls for it. Huge relief when we made peace with that.
We did enjoy Letaba the best, and because of a Sanparks reservation error, we have 900 rand credit. That is a spectacular place to which we would go back. They also had a wonderful elephant museum which played educational wildlife videos throughout the day, which is exactly what we did when it started to rain again. This was big tusker country, and it was amazing how many large elephants we saw. We spent two nights in Letaba, and were all dried out until late on the last night, when it rained incessantly. Again, we had to throw everything in the car and take off. Not nice, but we know now that we don't have to do this forever.
Because animals are the reason people go to Kruger, here is the lowdown of what we saw:
Black backed jackal - elusive and solitary
Blue wildebeest - numerous, liked to hang with the zebras
Bushbuck - just a couple
Cape buffalo - more than I had ever seen, large herds, a few in very close range. Very impressive animals.
Chacma baboon - numerous, once one troop completely blocked the road. Because they are so unpredictable, we gave them space and just sat and watched them for awhile.
Duiker - a very small deer, like a lawn ornament.
Elephant - one of my favorites, saw several large herds and a couple big tuskers. One gave us a mock charge. Massive amounts of dung. Saw quite a few babies.
Giraffe - again, we saw several. It is really something to see them run. A few babies.
Hippo - I had never seen them active outside of the water. In and out of water, they were really moving. One highlight was to see two males battling it out for territorial rights. Boy, the can run. Saw a few babies.
Impala - an unique antelope with no close relatives. Felt like we saw most of the park's 100,000 herd.
Kudu - incredibly large animal with impressive curled horns (male). Saw several.
Leopard - hard to ever spot one of these so it was a highlight to see two, one of which was a very good sighting in the early morning.
Lion - a small pride sat in front of our car for awhile, laying around as we've seen most lions. But their sheer size a few feet away was amazing.
Nyala - similar to the kudu but smaller. Had never seen one before.
Serval - a small cat we found in the early morning. Never seen one before as they are quite elusive. A big find.
Slender mongoose - they're everywhere.
Spotted hyena - came across a whole pack in the early morning, playing around in a river bed. That was really something to see as they are nocturnal.
Steenbok - much smaller than an impala, but look similar. Lawn ornament variety.
Vervet monkey - very playful. Saw many babies.
Warthog - the little ones were endearing.
Waterbuck - a rather shy creature that we saw quite often. They have a large white circle on their butts.
White rhino - another lucky sighting, we saw three of them.
Zebra - plentiful. We saw one zebra chasing a lone hyena.
We also saw lots of birds, most notably the Lilac-breasted Roller, African Fish Eagle, Burchell's Starling, Cape Glossy Starling, Giant Kingfisher, Marabou Stork, and the Pearl-spotted Owlet among numerous others.
We took the long scenic way home, hoping to avoid the toll road, which we did. However, it took us on some treacherous mud roads which were only safely navigated by Russ' driving (he likened it to driving in heavy snow on ice, but like nothing he had ever done before) and our trusty Rav4. It was really lovely on the back roads, driving through banana, mango, papaya, and avocado orchards, making it seem more tropical than anything else.
It feels great to be back in Gabs!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sitting on the edge of God's window
We're back after ten days in South Africa, a pretest of sorts before we hit the road for a few months. There were ups and downs, most of which I hope to go into, but all in all it was a fantastic trip. We purposely left the computer behind, and while it was nice to unplug, we also missed having connections with people and the outside world. Easy internet access is possible just about anywhere here in Africa, something we have not always found in recent journeys abroad.
In a way, we were almost re-creating part of a journey we did together in December 1999. On that trip, we went into Mozambique searching for warm water and white beaches. We found it, and those memories will not be easily duplicated when we do return in the future. Then we caught a bus to Kruger National Park, rented a car and drove around before heading west through the Blyde River Canyon and back to Joburg before parting to go to Massachusetts and California, each for a short Christmas visit. That was then.
This is now. Eleven years down the road, one thing that's different now is that we have our own car. We love this Rav4, so much so that we may even defect to Toyota when we get back the the U.S. (Subaru sacrilege!) We had the car all packed up. Russ took out the back seats and created a shelf so that our camping gear would fit in more easily. We filled it, not just with what we needed for the ten day trip, but what we would take for four months, just to see how it would work. The reality is that whether you pack for two weeks or two months, it's all the same stuff, and as we would come to realize, it was too much stuff.
Having our visas properly in order, we breezed through the Tklokwane borderpost a few days after Christmas. Being back in South Africa was an all-too-familiar reminder of the racial inequality that we do not have in Botswana. Driving past townships and locations with the smell of burning trash and seeing floodlights for the main source of nighttime light and houses constructed of tin and cardboard is still shocking, even though I have seen it a thousand times before.
We entered the Northwest Province and another reminder is that this is boer country. Large commercial farms reminding us of the American Midwest joined towns together with Afrikaans-named towns. There is a movement to change to the names; on maps we found names of Xhosa and Zulu towns replacing the Afrikaans ones. Not without some resistance as you might imagine when we saw signs advertising a farm festival or when people gave us directions using the previous name. Yet it is a step in the right direction.
Driving down the N-4, the country's main east-west artery, we also saw three nuclear power plants, a platinum mine, and two coal mines, all within 200 kilometers. Without a doubt, South Africa has resources, not to mention the gold and diamond digging that goes largely unseen. The N-4 is a toll road, and an outrageously expensive one at that. However, most of the road is not even a divided highway, leaving us to wonder where the money is going.
Our first night of this big camping expedition was spent inside at the Pretoria backpacker's lodge. We needed to do a few things and there is understandably not much camping in the city. It was one of the nicest backpacker's places we had ever been in and in a particularly pleasant neighborhood. Just one block from Loftus stadium (where World Cup soccer and regional rugby matches are played),a few more from the University of Pretoria, and a thirty-minute walk from the Union Buildings (Parliament), this part of the city was an architectural delight. Old houses (built with old money)and wide, shady, jacaranda-lined streets made for a relaxing walk after a day of driving.
It is inevitable when traveling that we meet Peace Corps volunteers, and it was no different here. One guy was from Kenya, here in Pretoria on medical leave. Peace Corps really spares no expense when it comes to the health of its volunteers. It was definitely the best medical care I had ever had. Anyway, we enjoyed sharing stories with him. Also glad that we went to Kenya when we did ten years ago, because it sounds like a scarily dangerous place now, and when a volunteer tells you that, it's serious.
We needed to go to the Menlyn Park shopping centre nearby to take care of some AAA business (AA here). Without a doubt, this was the nicest, biggest mall I have ever seen and we were both completely overwhelmed. The thing of it is, this is not an anomaly. South Africa is full of these megamalls, for better or worse. Anyway, we took care of the car insurance, had an ice cream in the massive upscale food park, and then spent over twenty minutes just getting out of the parking lot.
On that note, we found that oddly enough, items in South Africa cost a lot more than in Botswana, which we thought was expensive. Except the beer. The beer was significantly cheaper. We've had to recalculate a bit. To top it off, the dollar is suffering something fierce.
We set out early the next day, and the constant drizzle should have been a foreshadowing of things to come. Our destination was the northern range of the Drakensburg Mountains, near the Blyde River Canyon. Driving northeast and getting off of the N-4, we were greeted with the largest man-made forest in the world. It is really spectacular. Stretching hundreds of square kilometres, thousands of pine trees cover the landscape. It seemed to be a well-managed operation. Of course, closeby was the largest paper mill either of us had ever seen either.
We landed on the top of a hill in the town of Graskop which has a view of the surrounding mountains that took our breath away. We stayed outside of town at another backpackers's place, this time pitching our tent on their back lawn. Clean, quiet, and the view made it an amazing place to stay for the next three nights. There were plenty of opportunities to walk and the next day we hiked through the forest to the aptly named Forest Falls. It felt like we were in the Rocky Mountains as we swam and sunned ourselves on the boulders overlooking the valley.
It was good to get some sun because that night it rained torrentially. For an area that receives over 2000mm of rainfall annually, it's to be expected, except that it was not something we thought would happen while we camped. Oh, the naivety. If you are in the same place for a week and it rains with a good tent, you are fine. The problem is when you have to move a wet tent in the rain and set it up again which I will talk more about later. In this instance, we were able to dry out the tent and then move it under a canopy for our last night, seeing as though we wanted to leave pre-dawn to get into Kruger for an early game drive.
On the drying-out day, we took a drive on the panoramic route to some of the most beautiful mountain vistas I have ever seen. The Pinnacle, Three Rondavels, and God's Window were more spectacular than I remembered and more than our camera could capture. as the mist lifted and sun poured in. If I ever find out how to post photos to this blog, these will certainly make the cut.
New Year's Eve was quiet. We made dinner, got on the internet briefly using another volunteer's computer, and then talked for awhile with another couple we met who are from Holland. They were recently married and have been traveling in Africa for the past few months, so we got some good information on some places we might go. Really nice people who we unexpectedly met up with later in Kruger!
The new year started with Kruger National Park and I will save that part of our trip for another blog. Must do another load of camping laundry!
In a way, we were almost re-creating part of a journey we did together in December 1999. On that trip, we went into Mozambique searching for warm water and white beaches. We found it, and those memories will not be easily duplicated when we do return in the future. Then we caught a bus to Kruger National Park, rented a car and drove around before heading west through the Blyde River Canyon and back to Joburg before parting to go to Massachusetts and California, each for a short Christmas visit. That was then.
This is now. Eleven years down the road, one thing that's different now is that we have our own car. We love this Rav4, so much so that we may even defect to Toyota when we get back the the U.S. (Subaru sacrilege!) We had the car all packed up. Russ took out the back seats and created a shelf so that our camping gear would fit in more easily. We filled it, not just with what we needed for the ten day trip, but what we would take for four months, just to see how it would work. The reality is that whether you pack for two weeks or two months, it's all the same stuff, and as we would come to realize, it was too much stuff.
Having our visas properly in order, we breezed through the Tklokwane borderpost a few days after Christmas. Being back in South Africa was an all-too-familiar reminder of the racial inequality that we do not have in Botswana. Driving past townships and locations with the smell of burning trash and seeing floodlights for the main source of nighttime light and houses constructed of tin and cardboard is still shocking, even though I have seen it a thousand times before.
We entered the Northwest Province and another reminder is that this is boer country. Large commercial farms reminding us of the American Midwest joined towns together with Afrikaans-named towns. There is a movement to change to the names; on maps we found names of Xhosa and Zulu towns replacing the Afrikaans ones. Not without some resistance as you might imagine when we saw signs advertising a farm festival or when people gave us directions using the previous name. Yet it is a step in the right direction.
Driving down the N-4, the country's main east-west artery, we also saw three nuclear power plants, a platinum mine, and two coal mines, all within 200 kilometers. Without a doubt, South Africa has resources, not to mention the gold and diamond digging that goes largely unseen. The N-4 is a toll road, and an outrageously expensive one at that. However, most of the road is not even a divided highway, leaving us to wonder where the money is going.
Our first night of this big camping expedition was spent inside at the Pretoria backpacker's lodge. We needed to do a few things and there is understandably not much camping in the city. It was one of the nicest backpacker's places we had ever been in and in a particularly pleasant neighborhood. Just one block from Loftus stadium (where World Cup soccer and regional rugby matches are played),a few more from the University of Pretoria, and a thirty-minute walk from the Union Buildings (Parliament), this part of the city was an architectural delight. Old houses (built with old money)and wide, shady, jacaranda-lined streets made for a relaxing walk after a day of driving.
It is inevitable when traveling that we meet Peace Corps volunteers, and it was no different here. One guy was from Kenya, here in Pretoria on medical leave. Peace Corps really spares no expense when it comes to the health of its volunteers. It was definitely the best medical care I had ever had. Anyway, we enjoyed sharing stories with him. Also glad that we went to Kenya when we did ten years ago, because it sounds like a scarily dangerous place now, and when a volunteer tells you that, it's serious.
We needed to go to the Menlyn Park shopping centre nearby to take care of some AAA business (AA here). Without a doubt, this was the nicest, biggest mall I have ever seen and we were both completely overwhelmed. The thing of it is, this is not an anomaly. South Africa is full of these megamalls, for better or worse. Anyway, we took care of the car insurance, had an ice cream in the massive upscale food park, and then spent over twenty minutes just getting out of the parking lot.
On that note, we found that oddly enough, items in South Africa cost a lot more than in Botswana, which we thought was expensive. Except the beer. The beer was significantly cheaper. We've had to recalculate a bit. To top it off, the dollar is suffering something fierce.
We set out early the next day, and the constant drizzle should have been a foreshadowing of things to come. Our destination was the northern range of the Drakensburg Mountains, near the Blyde River Canyon. Driving northeast and getting off of the N-4, we were greeted with the largest man-made forest in the world. It is really spectacular. Stretching hundreds of square kilometres, thousands of pine trees cover the landscape. It seemed to be a well-managed operation. Of course, closeby was the largest paper mill either of us had ever seen either.
We landed on the top of a hill in the town of Graskop which has a view of the surrounding mountains that took our breath away. We stayed outside of town at another backpackers's place, this time pitching our tent on their back lawn. Clean, quiet, and the view made it an amazing place to stay for the next three nights. There were plenty of opportunities to walk and the next day we hiked through the forest to the aptly named Forest Falls. It felt like we were in the Rocky Mountains as we swam and sunned ourselves on the boulders overlooking the valley.
It was good to get some sun because that night it rained torrentially. For an area that receives over 2000mm of rainfall annually, it's to be expected, except that it was not something we thought would happen while we camped. Oh, the naivety. If you are in the same place for a week and it rains with a good tent, you are fine. The problem is when you have to move a wet tent in the rain and set it up again which I will talk more about later. In this instance, we were able to dry out the tent and then move it under a canopy for our last night, seeing as though we wanted to leave pre-dawn to get into Kruger for an early game drive.
On the drying-out day, we took a drive on the panoramic route to some of the most beautiful mountain vistas I have ever seen. The Pinnacle, Three Rondavels, and God's Window were more spectacular than I remembered and more than our camera could capture. as the mist lifted and sun poured in. If I ever find out how to post photos to this blog, these will certainly make the cut.
New Year's Eve was quiet. We made dinner, got on the internet briefly using another volunteer's computer, and then talked for awhile with another couple we met who are from Holland. They were recently married and have been traveling in Africa for the past few months, so we got some good information on some places we might go. Really nice people who we unexpectedly met up with later in Kruger!
The new year started with Kruger National Park and I will save that part of our trip for another blog. Must do another load of camping laundry!
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