Cape Town

Josh and I began a three week loop down to Cape Town, across the southern coast and then inland from Durban through the Drakensburg Mountains. The trip began with a 27 hour train ride from Pretoria to Stellenbosch where we stayed with a mutual friend Jenny Tracy who was studying abroad there for the semester. After doing some wine tasting and catching up we headed to Cape Town in our Volkswagon City Chico rental car. Our plan was to climb Table Mountain that morning but the weather intervened and it was completely socked in. Instead we orgainzed a trip through a township and to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept during apartheid. The prison is a spooky place and our tour guide was a former inmate who explained what they went through. We saw the lime quarry where they dug everyday and the cave within it that they famously referred to as the Congress of the New South Africa. What is funny is that many of them did hold the highest offices once apartheid ended including Mandela who became the President.

This picture above is of a medicine man in the township Langa. Josh explained to him the 100 year curse that is hanging over the Cubs and asked him if he could do anything about it. They switched hats and apparently the curse has been lifted. Now the Cubs have the best record in baseball, coincidence?
After several days of the 'Table Cloth' dominating Table Mountain there was a break in the weather and we hiked up one of the trails to the plateaued summit. There is a tram that leads to the top but we were confident with our pocket knives that we could fend off any baboons that tried to rob us of our shiny objects. The weather changes rapidly and after eating some lunch on the top overlooking Cape Town the fog appeared out of nowhere and we moved down. It can get so thick that you can lose the trail. I took the picture above on the way down. The mist rolled over the side and down the mountain incredibly fast before it evaporated at a lower elevation.

Kruger National Park

Josh and I trekked over to Kruger National Park in the north-east corner of South Africa to see these animals that everyone associates with Africa. We went in our usual style, on the spur of the moment with little to no planning. Our thinking was that we could go there, walk around a bit, camp at night, etc. When we told our plans to a National Park spokesperson she laughed in our face. Apparently, there is lots of stuff that can kill you at night and the only time you are allowed out of your car is with an armed guide (we broke the rules a bit in the above picture). We rented a car with a Dutchman who we met at the hostel just outside the park (pictured above). It was my first time driving a car with right hand drive. I was lucky that we started out at 4:45 am so there were not too many cars on the road for me to hit. It actually wasn't as hard as I feared but a little weird operating a stick with the left hand.

Right off the bat we saw animals at a distance and with the help of my spotting telescope we spent a long time looking at white rhinos and water buffalo from 300 yards away. Little did we know how close we were going to get some large animals in the next few hours. There are so many wildebeast, impala, and zebra that they seemed like flocks of pigeons in a city square. After awhile we saw so many elephants and giraffes that we didn't even slow down unless they were right next to the road. We were searching for some of the cats, which we didn't find until the end of the first day. On our way to our campsite we saw three male lions laying around like a bunch of couch potatoes. The picture above was on our second day of a lone female lion.

This is the southern most baobab tree in the world and a big one at that. Again we fudged the rules and got out to take some pictures next to it to give it some scale.

One of the many elephants that practically were reaching out to touch our rental car. Josh once got a little brave and told me to take a picture with him outside the car but the moment he opened the door to elephant turned and pointed his trunk at him just like a warning. We sped away.

All in all an amazing place. Considering how many large animals there are and that it is not a game reserve but a completely wild place it really is a natural wonder.

South Africa Arrival

Josh and I flew into Johannesburg on Tuesday the 29th of January after a non-stop 15-hour flight. Luckily we convinced the ladies at the ticket counter to put us in one of the exit rows, which was crucial. Josh’s brother Jeffrey picked us up at the airport along with his wife Rose and their five children; Bruno, Eugene, Isaac, Morgan and Esaie. We made our way to Pretoria where Jeffrey lives and works for the Peace Corps with whom we will be staying. After a few days of taking it easy and trying to get over some wicked jet lag we are planning to take a few excursions around the area. We saw the sights of Pretoria, which serves as the executive capital of South Africa. This upcoming week we are going to Kruger National Park on the border of Mozambique to see some of Africa’s "Big 5" animals.
The main purpose of this trip has been to get involved with some volunteering organizations and do our small part to help. We have been contacting different groups such as Africa Jam and Habitat for Humanity but it is still early so we’ll see what ends up surfacing. I was chatting with a guy in a music shop the other day that suggested that we look into church groups because they do a lot of philanthropy. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I am not the most gung-ho person when it comes to organized religion but this may be an inroad we end up exploring.
What has surprised me most about South Africa so far is how unique and fresh their history is and how it affects daily life. Before this I knew what I thought was the basic history but now that I am here and have read more about it I realize how much more complex it is. Apartheid ended only 14 years ago. That is like being in the United States 14 years after the civil rights movement. But now imagine that the US population is 90% black and how the power structure would have changed. The inequality that still exists here is inescapable. The wealthy suburbs, which are 99% white are separated from the city center and the surrounding townships. We are currently in one such suburb and the security here is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The crime rate is very high and there is still segregation and a tinge of racism in the way the population is separated. There are areas here that are like being in a posh Miami neighborhood and two miles away there is abject poverty. Jeffery’s house has a ten-foot tall wall around it topped with spikes and four electrified wires. Assuming anyone could get over that there are two guard dogs. After that they would need to get into a house that is completely barred up: every door and every window. Inside there is a security system that automatically calls armed guards only minutes away. The upstairs has it’s own prison style barred door that is closed every night so that no one could get to the bedrooms assuming they could get in. To me it all seems a bit overdone. I just can’t imagine anyone would even fathom of breaking into one of these houses, which I guess is the point.
Me feeding Esaie.