South Africa

February 18-22, 2009 South Africa

Ah, South Africa: Cape Town in transition, Kariega Game Reserve, and Khayelisha! Cape Town is in a bowl like Anchorage, with Table Mountain and Signal Hill as a backdrop. They are preparing for the 2010 World Cup, so construction of a stadium and infrastructure work are in progress. On our first day, we explored the Alfred and Victoria Waterfront area near the ship, upscale shopping and dining. We tried boerewors rolls, a spicy hot dog with chutney and chips. There’s music everywhere, marimba, flute, Dixie bands. Matthew’s class had a concert in the Amphitheatre, so those present heard a different kind of music. In the evening, Matthew, Wendy and I went to Long Street to sample some foods and drinks. We tried African pancake, African bread filled with goat cheese & spinach, stuffed butternut squash, and crocodile with peanut sauce. Drinks were “hard tack” or “soft tack,” and we had both. Places say “Right of admission reserved.” It was a little “shabine” (sketchy/dodgy) at night, so we left early.
Our safari to Kariega Game Reserve left early the next morning. We had 38 in the group. We flew to Port Elizabeth and then took a bus to Kariega in the Eastern Cape area. The game drives bounced us along tracks where we got close to lions, blue wildebeest, buffalo, Burchells zebras, giraffes, white rhinos, elephants, water bucks and impala, duikers, kudus, bush bucks, elands, and nyalas. We saw warthogs run with tails up and lions take chase. At night we saw a hippo out foraging. Vervet monkeys were in the thorn trees by our cabin, and black backed jackals pounced on prey. We took a riverboat ride and heard birds welcome the day. Secretary birds high-stepped. Ostrich and fish eagles, hoopoes, ibis, and kingfisher flew nearby. One of the male lions has a big black front, looks like a bib of fur.
Today I took a trip out to a black neighborhood called Khayelitsha while Les did a harbor tour. Matthew, Wendy and Barrett went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. My time in Khayelitsha was special. There are 4.5 million people on the fringes of Cape Town in these places they still call Townships. They all have to ride van-taxis into town for work, although many are still unemployed. We did not go into the poorest areas, but into parts where people have little businesses and some new concrete-block houses are under construction. Still, many homes are created out of scraps of corrugated tin and wood. The water is obtained from community spigots, and there are rows of outhouses. It was wash day today, and sparkling clean clothes were hanging everywhere. We visited two B&Bs owned by beautiful traditionally built African women. We went to a building with locally made crafts spread on tables for sale. Across the street was the Saint Michael and All Angels Harare Church. I stayed in there for about 30 minutes of their service spoken mostly in Khosa with some English. Many ladies wore purple at that church. There was a large wooded cross with a big figure of a black Jesus in front of it. A woman took notes on a large pad of paper as the preacher spoke, I suppose so the people could see important points as well as hear them. Singing of the Nicene Creed filled the room and spilled into the neighborhood. At the end of our visit, we took a walk around the neighborhood. Everybody was hurrying to a political rally for ANC candidate Zuma. We walked by the stadium where it was to be held, and the energy and high spirits reminded me somewhat of the Obama rally in Springfield, MO. Recently there has been a breakaway group from the ANC, and the strong one-party system may be challenged. A young man asked me how many political parties we have in the USA, wondering how it works for us. Then we drove back to the city proper, away from Honey House Take Away, God Is Great Hair Salon, and Vicky’s B&B South Africa’s Smallest Hotel. We left behind a place with no garbage collection, where people make flowers out of pop cans, where smiles and greetings are given out freely.