Final Thoughts on South Africa

In a few days I'll be heading off to Namibia and all those other places on my overland trip, and I feel it is a good time for me to leave South Africa. Cape Town has been really cloudy and rainy, which makes it less exciting to visit. I have made the most of it by eating and lazing at the many restaurants and cafes. If you've been following my blog, you can tell I've had a great time, but I'm also really looking forward to seeing more of Africa. Since I've spent a quarter of my trip here, I thought I needed a solid final SA post, and therefore have come up with my top ten likes and dislikes.

Let's start with the negative (in no particular order):
- constant fear of/discussion of crime
- European-style two spout faucets that give you a choice of only scalding hot or freezing cold water
- insane disparity of wealth
- total lack of public transit in cities
- load shedding (random power cuts, which I mistakenly called load sharing once before)
- crappy coffee, particularly instant Nescafe
- people allowed to smoke everywhere
- spotty, slow, shoddy internet everywhere except Cape Town (and even here I couldn't upload my damn pics!)
- crazy drivers and crazy minibus taxis
- missing people back home! :)

And, to end on a positive note, my top ten favorite things about South Africa (again, in no particular order):
- Appletiser, 100% pure sparkling apple juice
- Parmalat brand yogurt, especially chocolate chip flavor
- multiculturalism
- stunning landscapes, especially the Drakensberg
- Big Five and wildlife (elephants are my current favorite)
- the friendly people of Durban, who, in my opinion, comprise the friendliest in the country and therefore deserve recognition, even though I wasn't a huge fan of the city itself
- drinkable tap water
- the Baz Bus (hostel-to-hostel traveler minibus, which was great for meeting people and a good way for the solo traveler to get around safely)
- cheap yummy food in Cape Town
- cool backpackers (both the people and the hostels)

No Photos Uploading, Again :(

Once again I have spent massive amounts of time trying to upload pictures to share. I have no luck. I am officially giving up! You will all have to wait to see my gazillion photos when I get home. I did upload a few more safari pictures, but I have seen and done so much since then, so I find it rather disappointing that I could not share more!

I am currently in Cape Town and not really feeling like being a super-tourist. It has been cloudy and blech outside. Tomorrow I have a ticket to Robben Island, so I am really hoping for decent weather - recalling the times I was sea sick in New Zealand and Fiji makes me wary of boat trips! I think I'm ready to go see some other countries and am getting antsy for my overland trip to begin (Monday).

Mass Thank You!

Hey everyone,

I've been away from the internet for a few days, and logged back in to find many wonderful bday greetings waiting for me. Thank you!!! It was great to feel the love from home while here in SA.

Though I was without you all, I managed to somehow have a very enjoyable birthday. I met a lovely Dutch woman in the Drakensberg, Hendrika, who has been traveling generally along the same route as me, so we met up again in Wilderness, a beautiful and RICH beach town surrounded by a national park. We decided a tandem paraglide was a good way to ring in year 31 for me, and year 26 for her (her bday was just last Wed.). I thought paragliding would be more of an adrenaline type activity, but it was really relaxing and cool. The scene at the launch zone was quite relaxed and friendly, which made for a nice atmosphere. There was actually only a small window of time during which the wind was right for paragliding, and so we were very lucky to have a go at it. The view from above included forests, lakes, rivers, and the Indian Ocean. The rest of the day was relaxing, and then we cooked dinner of ostrich kabobs, veggies, and a "Devonshire" cake (the cake was store bought). Good day.

Today, I went for a nice little canoe trip with Hendrika, and then the bus to Stellenbosch, where I will go wine tasting tomorrow. I just got a lovely shot to celebrate my bday from the bartender, who also sang to me in Afrikans... So adios for now. Thanks again friends. Miss you much!

m

Playing Tarzan and Jane in Tsitsikamma Forest

I just finished a treetop canopy tour in the Tsitsikamma Forest in Storms River. It was really fun zipping from tree to tree via cables on a little pulley! The guides tell you a bit about the forest and birds, but really all I can remember is that I was traveling between South African yellowood trees (that have another name as well), because I was more interested in the cable system and platforms that were put together without any nails in the trees. Quite a thrilling ride too. :)

Before arriving in Storms River today, I was in the Eastern Cape/Transkei/Wild Coast, and spent a few days in Coffee Bay. Stunning coastline, nice beaches, but if anyone wants to know what kind of beach person I am they should ask Laura about our trip to Croatia, and how, upon returning, what's-his-name-volunteer said I didn't look like I had been near a beach at all I was still so pale. Plus, since I'm still nursing the wounds on my feet, I didn't think salt water would be so much fun. Thus, I did a nice hike along the coast and that was that. There was decent coffee in Coffee Bay, which has been a constant issue for me. Nescafe instant "coffee" is NOT acceptable. Blech. Anyway, the Transkei is often refered to as "real Africa" which I find annoying, since last time I checked I was in South Africa on the continent of Africa, so if somewhere I've been so far is fake Africa, I'd really like to get some money back.

Other SA randomness: Did you know that in SA, all hostels are also called backpackers? But not all backpackers are hostels... Cookouts and bbqs are called braiis, and the SA beef jerky (though not always beef) is called biltong, which would only be more amusing if it were pronounced "Bill Tongue" (alas, it is not...). I picked up a few Zulu words two weeks back, but of course since I'm no longer in a Zulu area, they are not so useful. People are nice when they are not trying to scam you at the ATM (and failing miserably - don't mess with the herd of backpackers), and the landscapes are awesome as I think I've noted but should reiterate again. Tomorrow I'm going to check out more of the forest on bike and relax. Because traveling and doing whatever I want every single day is somehow tiring at times.

Happy Birthday to my Dad today too.

Jenee and The Gorge

Jenee is the name of the blistered wound on my left heel, and The Gorge is what I call the matching area where skin once lay on my right heel. Jenee also happens to be the name of the speed demon South African woman with whom I did The Gorge hike in Royal Natal National Park, and during which hike I acquired said blisters!

So I spent the last five days exploring the Drakensburg mountain region of South Africa, and despite the very VERY bad blisters I got by doing a hike at high speed (it was longer than we had time for) with my feet unprepared (originally the plan was to do a short hike), I LOVED the mountains. So very beautiful and peaceful. I have many, many pictures of the dramatic amphitheatre escarpment from many angles. The highlight was a hike up to 3100 meters in the northern part of the mountain that involved a fun scramble up a gully, a visit to the second highest waterfall in the world - Tuluga Falls - and a mildly intimidating trip down some chain ladders. Tiring, and not a way to heal my blistered feed, but absolutely worth every minute.

Yesterday I did some hiking in another part of the region, because I simply couldn't resist despite the foot pain. That's what band aids are for, right? (And duct tape - thanks Lindsay for that tip!) Finally, I'm ready to rest and regrow some skin, as this week I'm headed down the coast for what I'm told will also provide spectacular scenery.

Flickr sucks!

Some photos have been posted instead on google picasa.... sorry about the randoms, I was trying to back up all my photos. After two hours most still wouldn't upload. I've gotten up through my first day of safari. Here you can see a hyena and her pup! (assuming this whole post works as planned too...)

Editing to add... I'm a little cranky today. The weather in Durban is rainy and damp. I've spent too much time and money on things I really didn't want to - like sending a broken pair of sandals home because I want my money back for the damn things and buying cheap flip flops here to replace them. Or, because the internet is slow, and I am desperate to back up my pics online, I spent heaps on internet. Then, certain places seem to have problems with my credit card. Of course, this type of thing should be expected, right? It's still annoying! And since I'm no stranger to complaining, you can all share in my irritation. But tomorrow I will be heading to the mountains and peace and quiet. I think I may not be uploading too many photos along the way, unfortunately. I'm not trying again until Cape Town, unless I see a giant welcoming sign that says, "upload your photos fast and easy and cheap here!"

Small Snippets of South Africa

Greetings from the Happy Hippo backpackers in Durban, South Africa! There's so much I want to tell you all... so I thought I'd throw out a few amusing anecdotes and snippets to hopefully give you a sense of what I'm doing and seeing and learning about while I'm here!

Let's start with the convo I had this evening with an Afrikaner in the hostel bar. He was an attorney in SA during apartheid, and having received gov't funding for his studies, actually prosecuted for the state until he had a crisis of conscience and left his job and paid back the penalites on his student debt. He had some crazy stories, including one of a magistrate who he thought was going to stop some police officers from beating a defendant who had fled during trial. No, the magistrate was going to beat the defendant too. Of course, the police officers and the magistrate got off with just a warning. After that, he became a banker and now likes to dive and fish a lot...actually, it sounds like he avoids civilization most of the time!

Polygamy seems to be quite the status symbol. If you have the 11 or 12 cattle necessary to purchase the additional wives, of course. Actually, for the young barman at the last backpacker I stayed at in the middle of Zulu area, it is stressful enough trying to earn the money to buy the 11 cattle for the first wife. It is hard to be "culturally sensitive" when people are talking about paying for their wives.

I went on another game drive in Hluhluwe Game Reserve (this is of course pronounced the only way possible - "schluh-schloo-weh"), and saw some more amazing elephants ("stormed by elephants" as one co-safari-er described it, though that might be an exaggeration), lazy rhinos, funny baboons, and stunning scenery. At the backpacker bushcamp itself there were funny colored lizards and lots of bushbabys and monkeys. It was great being out in the middle of nowhere.

Lane markers here are really more of a guideline or a suggestion. The shoulder is apparently where you move to when someone wants to pass you. It is also where pedestrians frequently hail rides, sell fruits and veg, or just hang out. According to Sascha the German backpacker, however, he heard rumors that jumping out in front of cars from these shoulders is a common method of suicide. I'm glad I'm not driving is all I can say about that.

There may actually be an opportunity for me to post photos tomorrow. I'll give notice on the blog if this is so. Next, I'm heading to the Drakensberg Mountains and hopefully into Lesotho. Til then... email me updates from home. I'd love to read them!

To Do in Africa: See the "Big Five"

Well, I can check that one off my list! I had a SWEET first day of safari in Kruger Park, and saw all five of the "Big Five" hardest animals to hunt and/or kill.

First, the amazing elephant. They are pretty easy to spot, and very cool to watch. They are quite deliberate in their movements, and if they wanted could topple any of the vehicles that pass through.

Next, we came across lions and a cub crossing the road. The little cub gave out the teeniest tiny "rawr" as it ran past. (And in case anyone is wondering how this affected my fear of cats, well, the lions look a bit more like a cross between a bear and a dog if you ask me. Later in the day, when we saw a leopard (another of the Big Five) tearing apart an impala it had killed earlier in the day I was a little grossed out. Leopards are definitely creepy cats.

We also saw a HUGE herd of buffalo. As my fabulous guide Pasta said, "When the buffalo looks at you, he look at you like you just stole his money." Hilarious in its accuracy. I have a TON of photos of all these animals, but uploading them seems next to impossible, and the expense of the internet is preventing me from trying to solve this problem. I am not making this up though.

Finally, on our night drive, after seeing impala after impala after impala, suddenly right on the side of the road our spotlights found two white rhino! Rhinoceros are notoriously shy, so this was a very cool sighting. I took video as they chomped grass only about 20-30 feet away from us.

In addition to seeing the Big Five, I also got to see zebra, wildebeest, steenbok (which mate for life), giraffe (their coats are really beautiful), kudu, hyena (and one with little pups), jackal (another animal which mates for life), hare, many many bird species, hippos (from a long distance away), crocodiles, turtle, baboons, lizards, civit, bushbaby, waterbuck (they have a funny white ring on their bottoms that look like toilet seats), warthog, vervet monkeys, monitor lizards, dung beetle.

Some day I will prove this all to you with pictures. :)

Can't Wait to Leave Joburg!

Joburg is a city I kind of wanted to leave as soon as I got here. It's an ugly city, and everyone talks a lot about the crime - where it is safe to go, where it isn't, the safe way to get there, etc. Luckily tomorrow I'm out of here and heading to my first safari in Kruger Park.

So what did I see around here? Yesterday I did a "tour" (run by my not-so-sweet hostel, and tour is a stretch) that started in downtown Joburg and headed to the Carlton Tower. This 50 story building is allegedly the tallest in Africa. Our guide talked about all the places in downtown that are going to be ready by the World Cup in 2010. I didn't see any scaffolding anywhere. Good luck with that Joburg. I took some pictures of the stadium from the tower, but since I'm staring at a big sign warning me not to download anything, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Next, we went to Soweto, the biggest township in the area. It was, well, uncomfortable. Standing on a block surrounding by metal shacks, being told about how they finally have long drop toilets, while small children beg for change... and then our guide asking for money. It is shocking how a city so developed can't manage to get toilets to these people.

Then I went to a couple museums, including the Apartheid Museum. This was interesting. Not really time to tell you about all the details, I'll summarize with a few things I learned.

• The interrogation of death of Steve Biko, which was a very informative look into the brutality of Apartheid.
• This political party exists: SOCCER (Sports Organizations for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights)
• Load sharing. This means the power went out in the middle of my wanderings through the museum, as power is becoming in short supply. Thus, to conserve, the government simply shuts down power to certain areas at various points in the day. Who loses power when changes every couple weeks, so no one ever really knows when they will be in the dark.

I also learned that South Africans call traffic lights "robots", which I find hilarious.

Today I went shopping, and had some adventures, but my Internet time is short, so you will just have to keep checking the Pink Hippopotamus for more updates soon! After my safari for sure!