Wed 5th Sep - Bazbus pickup at 8am. Joined by a couple of girls from Denmark, a german guy and an english girl. The weather was naff this morning. Heaving it down, so an ideal day to leave the area. Travelling east to George to then catch a shuttle bus to Oudtshoorn. Around Hermanus, the rain cleared and the sun came out. The scenery is awesome. This is a gorgeous part of the country. The bazbus service is a hop-on-hop-off arrangement. You buy a pass, in my case covering 14 days of use. Give them 48hrs notice for which journey you want to do and they pick you up and drop you off at the door of your accommodation. Joined by two girls, one from Israel, Dafna, and Beth from Melbourne, also going to the same backpacker place as me. Agreed to do some sightseeing together whilst there.
Big day today back home. My baby, katie, starts high school. Another milestone. Shame I won't be there to see her off to school. My thoughts are with her though. Miss her terribly along with the big two. Hey ho!
Got to George at 2:30 and straight onto the shuttle bus to take us to Oudtshoorn. As it was early enough we decided we all wanted to go to an ostrich farm to ride an ostrich. Went to the Chevalier farm (www.chevalier.co.za). Only 22 rand for a guided talk about ostriches and three rides. Ostriches lay about 150 eggs per year so there were nests all over. The shells are incredibly thick and strong. So strong in fact, that you can stand on one without breaking it. Got the photo to prove it! Now for the fun bit. First off you sit on the back of one in a trap to get used to it. This one was called 'speedy'. Then out of the trap to ride another one called 'no chance'. The girls get help, the guys just go for it. With a bag over its head, you sit under the wings towards the back, grab the wings, lean back, the bag is pulled off and away the bird goes at a rate of knots. It is hilarious fun. Out of three attempts, I stayed on for a max of 10 seconds. It is very difficult as they change direction with no warning. Fantastic experience!! Off to the paradise backpackers in oudtshoorn to check in. Shared a dorm with the girls and then all of us went out for dinner. Nice town only a short walk from the lodge. A few restaurants to choose from but quiet at this time of year.
Thu 6th sep - really nice breakfast at the lodge with scrambled ostrich egg! Shuttle bus to cango caves about 30km away. The caves are classed as one of the seven wonders of Africa and were discovered in 18th century by a dutch explorer with just a candle. He grossly over-estimated the size of them but it took over 200 yrs to fully explore their limits. Geologically, they go back 200 million years but only dried up 3 million years ago. There are two tours available, the standard or the adventure. I went on the adventure one that covers about 1.2km of caves.the temperature is a constant 19deg but the humidity varies from about 70% to 97%! There are many sections with great names, such as grand hall, Van Zyl's chamber, Lumbago walk, Tunnel of love, Devil's workshop, Devil's chimney & the letterbox. The last few sections are so small you have to crawl through on your belly and are only for the slim. A warning is given before the tour about these sections. On a previous tour a woman wouldn't listen to advice and was a bit too big. She got stuck for 11hours and they had to tie her up and pull her out! Got dropped off at a local tea rooms by the bus and had to say goodbye to a couple of the girls, Camilla and Dafna, who were moving on. Sat by the pool with Beth and had lunch enjoying the sunshine for a few hours before getting on the bikes we had hired for the return journey to the lodge. A comfortable 12km ride with nice scenery. Stopped en-route to buy one of the local specialities of rolled apricot & peach fruit. Gorgeous and healthy snack.
Back at the lodge I bumped into a couple I had been on tour with to Cape town. They had come a different route. Went off to get my hair cut short again - am considering shaving my head soon, but haven't got the bottle yet! So used to haggling, I bartered a posh salon down in price and got a nice cut and wash for 30 rand (2 quid). On the way back to the lodge, passed a couple of truckloads of community workers. They have the petty criminals cleaning the streets and small works. Good idea. Out for an ostrich casserole for dinner followed by a nice warm pudding of malva and custard - something like syrup sponge. The manager then treated us to a round of free sherry shots followed by free springbok shots. For those that don't know, these are peppermint and amarula. Now, ordinarily you just chuck these down your neck...but, the springbok has a quaint little dance you have to do before drinking it...pretend antlers on....hop forward to the bar...look left and right....hop forward again and repeat....grab the glass in your mouth and down it in one. A funny spectacle.....got the video!
Fri 7th Sep - Morning free to have a lie in for once and chill ahead of getting picked up at lunchtime for the journey to Port Elizabeth.
Off to town to mooch around the shops and pick up some provisions from the women's cooperative shop that sells healthy home made produce. A young marching band was parading through town that was nice to hear. Had to call india embassy in Johannesburg to confirm arrangements for next monday as the main reason for going there early is because they lied to me about getting my visa in Mombasa. Still not confident. They must get a kick out of messing people around. On the shuttle bus to George at 1 o'clock. Oudtshoorn has been nice. It is a typical german influenced S.African town with wide open roads and friendly people. Big enough to be interesting and not overpowering. Plenty of traditional craft curio stores and ostrich being a big theme in the shops and restaurants. The usual beggars on the streets asking for money as you pass, but you get used to that everywhere. On the way east, pass through some nice areas to either pick people up or drop off. Areas called 'the wilderness', 'nature's valley', 'storm river' are all really attractive areas that could warrant a few days apiece to explore. Shame I haven't the time. Wish I had done some things different but there you go, it's all part of learning about the issues surrounding travelling.
Dark at 6:30pm 'ish. The roads are a bit rough so no chance of any kip so had to watch the on-board girlie movie 'the wedding date'. Outvoted on choice as there are 9 girls on this bus and 2 guys, the other guy being with his girlfriend so he didn't get a choice anyway. Arrived in Port Elizabeth (known locally as just PE) staying at the King's beach backpackers at 9:30pm. PE isn't known as a tourist destination as it is a fairly functional city. It does have good beaches though and is where the folks from jo'burg bring their families at weekends. It's been a long day and not very exciting.
It isn't surprising that over 90% of the people I meet are post grad girls or gap year girls, who hit the road for 3 to 12mths before getting into a career. I have, funnily enough met 2 other 47yr old guys, who are travelling following issues in their lives. Mid life crisis is a real phenomenon...believe me, I know all about it! And there are plenty of us out there, suffering from the fallout effects! Sorry world, if there was a drug you could take to get you through it without ruining innocent peoples lives as a result then I would have taken it. Unfortunately, by the time you realise your mistakes, you have gone beyond the point of no return and dropped yourself in it upto the eyebrows, so you cannot see the way out. Admission is part of the healing process but doesn't turn the clock back, which is something I wish I could do. Sorry Sal. Nuff said for now.
Sat 8th Sep - A day to kill so had the first lie-in in months to 8:30. A luxury! No breakfast provided here so you have to raid the kitchen and make whatever you can find. A bit of a cloudy start to the day so decided to go for a walk and see what delights PE has to offer. The seafront was quite attractive but quiet as it is only just spring here so early in the season. South africa is taking the forthcoming soccer in 2010 seriously and doing up the country in anticipation, so there is building going on everywhere, and renovation of tatty areas. The Brookes shopping centre has been bought and will get a facelift. Onwards along the front to 'Shark rock pier'. Sounds great but a bit of a non-event. Opposite it though, is another story. The wonderful 'Boardwalk' casino and entertainment centre is a superb disneyesque site. The place stands out a mile with its white painted buildings and blue roofs. The sun had come out by this time so it looked stunning. The main feature is the casino adjacent to a turquiose lake area, which is surrounded by high quality shops and restaurants. A big pagoda houses a chinese & thai restaurant. Another building houses a make your own drum workshop, where you can build a djembe drum and then play it in a group. Cool idea. There is an amusement park attached but it was empty. Went into the casino and walked into Las Vegas. Brought back memories of the incessant jangling sounds from the slot machines when I was there. Same type of folk ploughing loads of coins in, robot fashion, and not winning anything. Not a single smile in sight! They are so serious about losing money! Needed a small mortgage for a coffee so decided to leave and find somewhere cheaper. Eneded up having lunch an Nandos. About a third the cost of the UK. 1/4 chicken, spiced rice and bun for £1.50. There is a really nice but pricey restaurant here called 34°South. Vats of oysters by the entrance, choose your fish from the tank to be cooked. Quality place. Carried on my journey along the seafront to ponder on the meaning of life and everything (the answer to the ultimate question is 47, not 42 as the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy claims. The ultimate question is, by the way, what age do you have to be to vanish up your own arse in a puff of smoke with complex formulae about life emitting from the other orifi), and after taking in the views for a while, headed back. Saw a lady sitting on her own staring out to sea so started chatting to her. Glad I did as spent the rest of the day with her. Whilst we were chatting, a wedding party arrived on the platform, which faced the indian ocean in a pretty spot and started taking there wedding photos complete with professional film crew. Very interesting. One of them called to the groom to kiss the bride..he now has me on his recording shouting..can I have a go too!
The lady turned out to be of dutch origin and had lived in PE for 2yrs working as a book keeper. Interesting name, pronounced 'Yoka' but spelt 'Joke'. Chatted for ages and agreed to meet for dinner. I ended up cooking dinner in her flat which overlooked the best part of the bay on King's beach. After dinner, off to the casino for some entertainment. A really good band '10 storys fall', playing old favourites, washed down with a 'brutal fruit' drink. Thoroughly spiffing evening had by all and will stay in touch.
Sun 9th Sep - every sunday there is a flea market on the beach front a 2min walk from lodge so went for a reccy. Usual sort of africana stretched along the path that flanks the beach. Nice and chilled with no pressure selling. The owner of the lodge dropped me at the airport at 11am, which was nice of him. He limped badly to the car but I didn't give it much thought. Freaked me out a bit when he took his right leg off and put it on the seat next to me. Sigh of relief when I noted the car was an automatic. Silent chuckle to myself! Small airport, so straight to the nationwide check-in desk and all sorted within 5min of walking in the door. Howzat for efficiency! Flight CE533 due to take off at 12:30 to Johannesburg. Arrived in good time at 14:05 to a temp of 27°C but a bit overcast. The flight had arrived at domestic arrivals and I was due to be picked up by the hostel. They hadn't told me that I had to go to international arrivals to be collected until I rang them. Then had to wait over 2hrs anyway, so killed time doing the standard airport passtime of people watching. Why are all airports designed against single travellers? You cannot go to the loo or get in shops with your luggage and a trolley. It tests your bladder sometimes, especially if you have to hang around for a while.
This nonchalant character turned up to take us to the lodge. He looked like he was having a bad day. Me plus two girls from Sydney and an older guy from Argentina who was travelling for a while too.
Got to the 'Backpackers-ritz' in the dark. Surrounded by high security fence. Gave me bad vibes. Pretty basic dorm for 90rand per night room only. I've been in better and I think it does not live up to the description. Shared kitchen complete with every germ known to mankind. Started watching the Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin as inspector clouseau. Normally like his stuff but that movie is rubbish. They will never better Peter Sellers.
Mon 10th Sep - Today's objective was mainly to get my visa for india. Got to embassy early. Taxis here are a rip-off, but supposedly necessary as crime against tourists are common. Got the forms to find ut that they wanted photocopies of all af my flight tickets into, around and out of India. Didn't have them so had to then run-off to a print shop to get the copies as they refused to do them at the embassy. Gat back all hot and bothered as it was now over 30 degrees. Did all my stuff and then re-queued to pay for it, to be told that they would now only give me a 3mth visa instead of 6mth as per the letter I had. Got annoyed as you can imagine. Asked to see the Consulate General himself so had to wait for him. He also refused and said he was doing me a favour to give me 3mths and I should go back to the UK to get my 6mth visa. Stroppy sod he was. No pleading made any difference other than he told me to get it in Mauritius. I had already talked with them and they say it will take 10days. So no visa here then. I am now reliant on getting it in Port Louis. Fingers crossed. Decided to throw caution to the wind and get a mini taxi off to Sandton. I need a new PDA battery, and that's the only place that stocks them here. These mini-taxis are like the kenyan matutus - you wave one down and jump in. Pay a standard fee, no matter how far you go and work your change out with the other passengers. 8 rand. Bargain! Was told by one of the passengers after I got off that I stood a fair chance of getting mugged if I asked for directions, so had to work the rest of my journey out blind. I like a challenge! Took ages to find the shop I was after cos this place is very 3 dimensional and posh. Gorgeous place though, full of high price boutiques. Had a light lunch as would have needed a loan for anything else then decided to not bother with a normal taxi as would have been extortionate. Mini taxi to Randberg taxi rank for 8rand and another to my lodge for 6rand. The taxi would have been ten times that at least. Admittedly, it was a risk but risks are all around and I don't want to be trapped too much. Would certainly not do it at night!
Back at the lodge and decided to cut short my stay in Johannesburg by a day and leave on thursday morning instead, so arranged my digs and pick-up to go to Pretoria early. Also booked onto a trip to Soweto for tomorrow. Picked up a leaflet about a show at a nearby theatre in Houghton called 'African Umoja' looks really good, so got together with a couple of others at the lodge and booked three tickets. Should be a cheap night out as the tickets are onlt 115 rand. So under 8 quid plus share of the taxis.
Only one PC here to share between a lot of people so got an hour to re-hash my Mauritius plans. E-mail to their embassy, had to change digs from Mahébourg to Port Louis, arrange transfer from airport etc as I won't have much internet over next few weeks. Also stuff to change for India too. Will probably hire a car as much easier to get around.
Got a great poem from an australian guy I met in Morocco on the tour I did. He was really good at putting his observations into verse. If I get around to it I will add it to my blog some time as it was clever.
Been rushing around all day and didn't put much thought into eating. A real backpacker dinner tonight of bananas on fruit bread and managed to scrounge a glass of wine off one person and a slice of pizza off someone else. Never mind, will try to eat properly tomoro! I did have a sandwich for lunch.
Tue 11th Sep (famous date 9/11) - Lazy start to day. Joined up with Matt from Halifax for breakfast down at the deli. About to join the army when he gets back to the UK. He can see Emley moor from where he lives. Small world innit!
In the afternoon went on a tour of Soweto with guide Max, a guy who was born and still lives in Soweto. The name comes from SOuth WEst TOwnship, and is famous for the June 16th 1976 uprising. It is home to around 5million people and also the biggest hospital in the world that carried out the world's first heart transplant. Also home to the Mandela family home in the Orlando west division (this is part of an ongoing dispute between Winnie and Nelson Mandela sence they got divorced). Bishop Desmond tutu also lives here, went past his house.
Townships became part of african living when the whites set up the Group areas act and also the Land areas act, which prevented them from living amongst the white population. In 1976, the white government decided to enforce education in the schools to be taught in Afrikaans and english instead of the native Bantu language. The kids were supposed to carry on their education and pass exams in languages they didn't understand. Understandable, there was resentment from the kids and parents and the public response was to object and hold marches and strikes. The government sent in police force with weapons and tea gas. A youg child Hector Peterson was shot in the head and died. This lead to mass outbreak of riots and fierce fighting between the bantu people and the whites which lead to many deaths. What happened afterwards is involved but there is a museum dedicated to Peterson that I went to see. It is a very thought provoking experience to see what they had to suffer in the hands of british colonial rule. Stephen Biko, the spokesman for the Blaxk People's Convention came out with a very succinct phrase - `the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed`!
Modern Soweto is massive and consists of 480 churches mainly christian and lots of new building and housing. The government is ploughing substantial sums of money into improving living conditions. If your income is less than 3500 rand per mth, you qualify for a free house. They are all the same size box irrespective of family size. Johannesburgh is known as Gold City for its mines. In the early days, prospectors came in their drovs to find their fortune. They were housed in dormitory style camps that still exist today in large areas of them. A thoroughly educational and moving tour
In the evening went to the Victory theatre in Houghton to see the 'Africa Umoja show' with a lovely girl from Ottawa. The taxi on the way there was driven by Simon. His dream is to be able to go on a plane to Capetown. Seems simple to us, but he can afford neither and he is 56yrs old and has never been outside of Johannesburg! The show was an awesome display of african music and dance from tribal times through to the present. Check out www.umojatheshow.com For details. Umoja is a swahili word that means 'spirit of togetherness'. It is an international show, so if you ever get the chance to see it, you really must. Stunning is a word that comes to mind. For under 8 quid, the best show I have seen in years, with infectious african rhythms. Loved every minute of it. The caste were so energetic it made me feel so unfit! Get down and boogie!
Wed Sep 12th - free day today to catch up. First thing had to ring the indian embassy in Mauritius regarding my visa. They are GMT+4hrs. Should take upto 5 days so can re-hash my plans to stay there a bit longer, so hopefully sorted and can forget about it for a bit now other than finding out about my options for changing the flight I already have booked to Bombay (mumbai) to a later date.
