Driving Miss Daisy to Montagu

Township art
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Almost at the end of our long journey back from Cape Town, we have moved about 200 kms (so overshot Rome) to the small town of Montagu, still on Route 62. Veryt quaint, with many Cape Dutch houses and up-market guesthouses and B&B's. We have treated ourselves to a night at the La Malherbe, with exquisite rooms, a lovely garden, a pool and the promise of a sumptuous breakfast. Tonight we eat at Jessica's, which is said to be in the top 100 restaurants in RSA.

The ostrich we had last nibght came as a bit of a disappointment, not that it wasn't good, but was not really that special.. a slab of tender red meat. The accompanying wine - Boplaas Cabernet Reserve was excellent though.

The drive today was fine, we stopped off every now and then, notably at Ronnies Sex Shop, about which we had been told by both Alison and Tiny, which turned out to be little more than a wayside bar, albeit with displays of bras, knickers and baseball hats to accompany the graffitti all over the walls. Strange.

Tomorrow, back to Cape Town, from where we will spend our last days investigating the Cape and its beaches, as well as a hike up Table Mountain, weather permitting.

For the last time... for now...

Big!
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Cheap, I know, but.....

(Photo is from the Zulu coming-of-age ceremony, back in Eshowe).

Have we had this one already Patsy, darling?

The elders
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Ummm…. We started on the Chardonnay, moved quickly over to the reds, in ascending order of fullness before finally attacking the ports, eventually the vintage ports… mmmmm….. very good. De Krans is the namely of the winery and they export all over Europe except France and Italy and mostly to UK and Germany. Well recommended.

And so we ended our afternoon, walking distance from Die Dorpshuis, where we took a plunge in the pool on arrival, to refresh us from the blistering heat (how things changed).

During the day, we took the car on an amazing journey, up the Groenfontein valley, where we stopped to identify countless numbers of birds, as we passed through a green oasis, with the odd ostrich farms, very quaint farmhand’s cottages, all with beautifully coloured gardens, past by a very very old and large tortoise on the road (fortunately on the side) and with views up to the Swartberg (Black Mountain). Then along another wider river valley before finally ascending the pass, some 2,200 metres high, with fabulous views in all directions, before descending toward the Seven Week Pass, one of the most spectacular natural formations I have ever seen. Layers of red sandstone sediments, compressed and pushed upwards and squeezed across and then snapped open to provide a very narrow winding gorge through the mountains, the light throwing shadows of the jutting out rocks. Fate was playing a cruel joke by first breaking my camera before showing us this wonderful place. Oh well!

At the bottom, we found the quaint town of Prince Albert, with its many white Cape Dutch houses, many housing cottage industries such as cheese-making, mohair wool production (beautiful multicoloured rugs available), artists galleries and good cafes. We decided on a picnic and left with some bread, cheese and soft drinks for a return journey, this time through the Meiringspoort, a smaller version of the Seven Weeks Pass. Again the colours were amazing, today in the sun, the black mountains (there was also a bit of cloud cover), the black of the burnt tree trunks, the black of the male ostrich, set against his snowy white plumes, the pink soil, the yellow flowers of the acacia trees and the lush green of the trees in the valleys, as well as all the colours we had seen yesterday. As we have noticed before in dry areas, a slight change in the water conditions can lead very quickly to the big change in the vegetation, and so it was here too.

Fred at Madonna and Child waterfall

Fred at Madonna and Child waterfall
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We zijn onze laatste week ingegaan… we kunnen het zelf niet geloven. Zes maanden!! Maar goed het is nog niet de tijd om een overzicht te gaan geven (trouwens dat soort van dingen zijn beter op een Oudejaarsavond). De laatste week gunnen we ons zelf een soort van mini vakantie in onze macro vakantie. We hebben een auto gehuurd en toeren daarmee door Zuid Afrika.
De afstanden hier zijn geweldig groot. Om een voorbeeld te geven de bustocht van Kaapstad naar Durban duurde meer dan 24 uur (1800 km!)… nu rijden we in onze eigen tempo terug richting Kaapstad.
Donderdag zijn we van Durban (tweede keer dat we deze leuke stad bezocht hebben) naar Hogsback gereden. De tocht ging door de Transkei, het gebied van Nelson Mandela. Beide lezen op dit moment zijn boek ‘The long road to Freedom’. Dus het was stoppen geblazen in het dorp Qunu waar Nelson opgegroeid is. Daarvoor een bezoek gebracht aan de regionale hoofdstad Mthatha waar een Mandela-museum is gevestigd. Dat museum maakte op grote schaal gebruik van stukken uit zijn boek en we hebbben niet alles gezien omdat we het verhaal van het boek eerst willen lezen.
Qunu is nog steeds bezig met de opbouw van een soort museum, informatie en scholingscentrum. Het project ziet er geweldig uit en men gebruikt veel locale mensen, materialen en technieken.
Na deze twee Mandela trekpleisters zijn we via een prachtige maar helaas mistige en natte bergroute naar Hogsback gereden.
Hogsback doet wat Tolkien-achtig aan. De reden is dat zijn ‘nanny’ daar vandaan kwam en haar verhalen waren een inspiratiebron voor zijn ‘Lord of the Rings’.
De backpackershostel was vol met jonge en gezellige lieden. Men veel plezier hebben we ons in het gezelschap geworpen en al etend en drinkend kennis gemaakt met tal van reizigers.
Vrijdag hebben we samen met Stefan en Martine een pracht van een wandeling gemaakt. Helaas was het bos erg slipperig en dat was dus uitkijken geblazen voor de wat oudere jongeren zoals ons. De tocht leidde naar de waterval met de prachtige naam ‘Madonna and child’. Voor die tijd gezwommen in het natuurlijke rots zwembadje. ‘s Avonds natuurlijk weer gezellig aanwezig in het restaurant annex bar met als gevolg dat zaterdag (het regende de hele dag) voor mij een totale rustdag is geworden. Charles is gaan paardrijden en kwam totaal doorregend weer thuis…
‘s Zondags vroeg vertrokken en richting ‘Gardenroute’ gereden. Helaas het weer bleef verschrikkelijk en de mist en regen begon ons redelijk te irriteren… dat wordt nog wat voor als we thuis zijn… Maar niet getreurd na regen komt zonneschijn.
Van de ‘Garden route’ overgestapt op ‘Route 62’... de beroemde wijnroute. Prachtige omgeving met een rijke scharkering aan kleuren. Het is een soort van halfwoestijn gebied maar er worden veel druiven en tabak verbouwd daarnaast zijn er tal van struisvogelgfarms.
Via deze prachtige route kwamen we in Calitzdorp. Al snel vonden we ‘Die oude Dorpshuis’ waar Tiny en Alison ons een pracht van een kamer aanboden, in combinatie met een hartelijke gastvrijheid en een super maaltijd. We hebben ‘s middags de omgeving wat verkend en ‘s avond lekker gegeten onder het genot van een goed gesprek en een goed glas wijn.
Vandaag met de auto door de spectaculaire bergen gereden. De kleuren zijn geweldig! Ons autootje heeft het gelukkig gehouden en dat was niet altijd even gemakkelijk gezien het slechte wegdek.
Na een bezoek aan Prince Albert, zijn we terug gereden en hebben we een van de beroemde locale wijnkelders, De Krans bezocht. Zalige en misschien ook wat minder zalige wijnen geproefd… en daarna nog een aantal goddelijke ports.
Kortom we genieten nog even van de laatste zomerweek van Zuid Afrika en van de lekekre wijnen. Morgen op weg naar Montague en Robertson, ook in de wijnstreek….

Red hills, ostriches and port!

Funky ostrich
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We are now in a semi-desert area, known as the Klein (or Little) Karoo, having made the 800 km trip over from Hogsback (again this distance would take us just a little bit further than Basel, on the way to Rome, or if we were continuing on our journey from Basel, we would be between Arezzo and Rome, maybe in Chiusi or Orvieto).

We set off in the early morning, with the mist still thick and the rain still pouring down. Down the valley we went and then all the way down to the coast - the Sunshine Coast - with the same weather which accompanied us all the way along the Garden Route, until we stopped for lunch at a garage in a place called George, Fred getting us into a Wimpy. The food served there was about the worst you could possibly imagine, but it did give us timke to look at where we were going - by now we were heading for Cape Town) - and we decided to cross over the coastal mountain range (the Outenaqua?) and across to the Karoo.

Being semi-desert, one might have assumed it to be dry and sunny and that was very much the hope. As it turned out we did get a bit of sun after we crossed the pass, but it soon clouded over again, but this time dry.

The colours were simply amazing.. the dark clouds over the mountains, making them look purple providing a vivid background to the visats of red earth (and white sheep), blue fijnbos (fine bush), yellow flowers of the aloe veras, the bright greens of the willow trees and the pale yellows of the grasses on the verge. It was as if I was being teased by thye powers that be, my camera now not working and so unable to pick up on these incredible colours in this particular light.

As we descended we came into ostrich farm country around Oudtshoorn. Funny to see these birds in their pens, each pen filled with ostriches of the same age, from small chicks to large adults. You can ride them too, but both of us being over 70 kg, we would not have been allowed!

As we followed the R62 (the longest wine route in the world, apparently), we passed the Red Hills, and again, I so much missed having a camera as the forms and colours and shadings were outstandingly beautiful. Maybe we go there for a walk tomorrow.

We have ended up in a place called Calitzdorp (quite by coincidence - nothing tom do with the fact that it is the Port (wine) centre of South Africa! Welook forward to tasting it with our dinner (of ostrich steak, of course!). We are staying in Het Dorpshuis and we think we will stay for 2-3 days, there being so much to do and see here, about which, more later. Great ladies running Die Dorpshuis - Alison and Tiny, both make us feel really at home.

As it happens, the ostrich cook is not here today and Tiny, the evening manager and cook - who is not SO tiny, says we can better wait for tomorrow for ostrich, so we ate Karoo lamb... delicious, polished off with glass after glass of port, on-the-house, eating our dinner in the company of some very pleasant South Africans, a change from the backpacker people we have been mixing with.

Riding the range

tn_DSC09723
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This is a photo of me on a grey horse in Uspallata, Argentina, not Hogsback, SDouth Africa. This is because yesterday teh weather was in fact too bad (misty and rainy) to take pictures and also because my camera seems to have packed up... from one minute to teh next not being able to register a picture, it seems. Much teh same happened with my previous Sony Cybershot camera. Both had had planty of use, but that's no excuse.

The ride, on another grey horse, this time part Apaloosan, and very big, together with Renee was good, despite the rain. It was on a very remote farms in the hills above Hogsback, which took ages to find, along very very bumpy roads past very large cattle ranches. The views looked like Scotland with the heathland and bogs and marshes, and then also a bit like Argentina with willows growing in the valleys. There were many birds including the very colourful Red Bishop and Yellow Weavers, as well as the spectacular Widow Bird, hovering over the reeds with its very very long tail! Also very many kestrels, the odd heron and some very loud Ibises. The animal life consisted of a herd of twenty very playful and exotic looking Black Wildebeest (with white tails).

We also managed a couple of long canters which turned into gallops, which is always fun!

Back in Hogsback, all teh hot water had gone from the showers as everybody had come in soaking wet and the clothes never dried the whole night either, while the rain kept coming all night long.

What we can learn from the bushmen

Bushman elder
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The bushmen have a culture and way of life which has existed for 30,000 years, which in my reckoning make them the most successful race on the earth at the moment. It is not the least bit coincidental that their culture has utmost respect for the earth, taking out only what can be readily supplied and never over-harvesting.

If we contrast their culture with ours, which is not only using up resources we have inherited from our forefathers but is also borrowing very large amounts from future generations in order to create a massive spending and consumption spree, whilst resources are running out, replacements, if ever to be available, have not yet been developed and while the earth's weather systems are being chnaged by greenhouse gases, the icy poles and glaciers are melting, rains and harvests are failing and people starving and so on and so on.

Shouldn't we be using the Bushmen's knowledge, techniques, culture to help us unravel our all-consuming culture, rather than thinking that we have anything to teach the bushmen?

Should we not be thinking about un-developing rather than trying to develop other more sustainable parts of the world?

Visiting the bushmen and seeing how they deal with their environment has been one of the most impressing things we have done on this trip and has made a great impact on our (well, mine at least) thinking.

This morning I visited the Eco-Shrine, where a local artist has created a shrine to mother Earth, dealing with issues such as the sustainability of life on earth, the role and the history of the bushmen, the incredible uniqueness of what we have on earth and how fragile it is, reflecting very much the issues which have bene on my mind recently.

May I recommend Bill Bryson's Short History of Almost Everything? It does not deal directly with issues of sustainability but it does show how unique the earth is and how wonderful and incomprehnsible nature, in all its forms is?

A day in Hobbiton, sorry Hogsback

Listening to history at Robben Island
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

It was a lovely sunny day yesterday, just right for relaxing on the freshly cut lawns by the flower beds, filled with roses, nasturtiums, honeysuckle, lavendar, lillies and agapanthus, reading the Nelson Mandela book, looking out across the wooded valley to the three rounded peaks of the Amatolas, whilst birds sang in the bushes and monkeys jumped around from branch to branch.

We also went for a long-ish walk down through the very wet and slippery forest to the series of waterfalls and natural swimming pools at the bottom. The water was muddy from the rain, but provided cool refreshment from the warm muggy air under the trees, as we swam amongst the little black worms.
We had met up with a couple of young Dutch people, Stefan and Martine, who were working in Port Elizabeth on various projects (Stefan on the success or otherwise of black economic empowerment projects and Martine working in schools and an HIV/AIDS project) and spent a very pleasant afternoon with them.

Back at the lodge, after having spotted a few of the very rare Cape Parrots (only about 300 left in the world) and after dinner we got chatting to a couple of young Dutch girls, Kim and Renee who were also over to work in Port Elizabeth, again on projects, and we spent a very fun evening with them, Fred especially as he did not make it back to the room until after 4.30. He is still sleeping now. It is a very sociable backpackers place indeed. It'll be strange to be back home and not be meeting new people every day... but at least we will be back with our friends, something which we are looking forward to enormously. (Only a week to go!!!)

Today, I hope to go horseriding, possibly with one of the girls, as long as it doesn't rain (it is cloudy now). Otherwise, more time to finish off the Mandela book.

Tomorrow, back on the road, down towards the coast to either Plettenburg Bay or Knysna, subject to the weather.... if it is still misty and cool, we may try to reach Cape Town and environs.

A racially divided country....

Nyala
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We are now in the beautiful Amatola Mountains, at a place called Hogsback, 250 residents (mostly white) in the forests with views across to the mountains. There are birds and flowers everywhere, the sun is shining and the air smells so clean and fresh.

Yesterday, we arrived in thick mist and drizzly rain which we had had for about the last three hours of our long long drive from Durban... again not what teh topurist brochures would have us believe. The distance in the end was about 770 kms, which is a bit further than Amsterdam to Basel, on the road to Rome, the measure I always use to measure long driving distances. We did it in about 11 hours stopping off a few times in what used to be the Transkei, to take pictures of the hillside villages and, of course the Nelson Mandela Museums in Mthata and Qunu. The one at Qunu where he grew up is not quite finished but it looks amazing. A youth training and exhibition centre, it has been built by local peple using local materials of rock, stone, mosaics, wood etc, the locals being taught also how to use these materials. Amazing to look at the hillside with isolated houses and rondavels, a few cattle and gots wandering around, no trees, the river at the bottom of the valley and think that one of teh greatest men alive today was brought up and grew up here!

The tourists brochures will talk about the South Coast (south of Durban), becoming the Hibiscus Coats, becoming then the Wild Coast, becoming then the Garden Route, it will also say that we have left KwaZulu Natal for Eastern Cape. All sounds quite harmless, until you actually make the trip, and cross the mountain pass from KawaZulu Natal with its green grazing pastures, large farms, massive forests and cross over into rocky ex-Transkei, the mountainsides full of samall dwellings where the !Xhosa people live, including the families of the 2 million people sent there against their wills by the Apartheid authorities. Amazing to see and one is really left wondering how things are ever going to change dramatically. The white farmer on his good land, completely mechanised growing food very efficiently has his place just as much as the many many subsistence farmers working the other side of the boundary.

Today we are loking forward to walks into the forests and up into the mountains, looking out for exotic birds, such as the Cape Parrot and the Knysa Turaco, whilst seeking out waterfalls to splash about in and cool down. Idyliic, it really is!

Today's rhino!

Today's rhino!
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

On South Beach, Durban.

Backpackers lodges and other matters

Hairdresser
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Since we arrived in Southern Africa, Zambia, to be precise we have mainly been staying in backpackers' lodges. For the unitiated, as we were before we started staying in them, iot might be useful to explain a little bit what they are like.
In essence they tend to be family-run places which ahve a mixture of accommodation from single and double rooms to dorms to camp sites in the garden, with prices to match the level of accommodation. Toilets and showers are usuually communal. There is often a swimming pool, a bar and some sort of eating facility as well as a kitchen where guests are allowed to prepare their own meals. We have not done this in general, as it is too much bother and the meals provided are usually very good., although we have taken to buying muesli and fruit for breakfasts in the mornings.
The guests who stay here are not usually the just-out-of-school, spoilt middle class brat types, but a range of people from people-like-us, to families and to young people, sometimes travelling in a group, sometimes alone, mostly tourists soemtimes local holidaymakers. We do not get the big tour groups of dissatisfied ready-to-murder-each-other tourists, which is good, as they tend to fill places like this out totally, pushing out everyone else.
Being family-run, they are all different individual types of places, each with their own character. Much better than any corporate hotel.
Good value too, as they tend to cost between EUR 15 for two beds in a dorm to EUR 25-40 for a double/twin room, for the both of us. Better value if we did not avail ourslves of the bar facilities, the dinners and the internet, but that is another story! We are sort-of keeping within our budget, having previously increased the budget when entering Southern Africa and there may even be some travellers cheques left over. The Rand started doing a Kwacha on us today and seemed to have risen by 5% from yesterday to this afternoon!


Just another thing... we would like to congratulate the tourism authorities of kwa-Zulu Natal for doing such a good job at promoting this part of the country, and there are leaflets and booklets and websites all over the place with magnificent photos, everywhere in sunshine and talk of the hot summer sun. Well actually, although it is a great place to be there are also lots of boring bits, liuke the motorway up north, all green rolling hills covered in sugar cane na dthen miles after miles of eucalyptus forests. Also, although we have sene the sun and it has also been very hot at times, it has been more cloudy and extermely humid, as you can tell by the marks on our shirts and T-shirts in the photos!

Tomorrow, we get up early as we have an eight hour journey west, out of kwa-Zulu Natal through what is nowe Eastern Cape, previously Transkei, wjhere we will stop to visit the Nelson Mandela Museum in Umtata and may visit the vikllage in which he was born, before getting to Hogsback in the Amatola Mountains, which is said to have influenced Tolkien when he created Middle Earth. Promises to be cooler there at least, if not devastatingly beautiful with forests, mountains and waterfalls.

Finally, as you may see if you look at the photos, we spotted another rhino today, this time on the beach in Durban, meaning that we have seen a rhino every day this year!

"Cry, the beloved Country"

Nieuwjaarsdag de hele dag met 'ons' autootje rondgereden in het nationale park in Kwazulu. Normaal ga je met een gids/chauffeur maar wij dachten dat het misschien ook wel leuk zou zijn om zelf eens op zoek te gaan naar de wilde beesten.
We werden algauw getrakteerd op onze eerste neushoorns. Ze waren wel een eindje weg maar toch... Niet veel later stonden we bijna oog in oog met een enorme olifant. Ik moet toegeven dat het wel even schrikken is en dat je ook wel een beetje angstig wordt als zo'n beest richting je auto gaat wandelen.
Na de olifant ontdekten we een groep van vijf neushoorns die druk aan het grazen waren. Ze zien er agressief uit maar toch is dat een verkeerd beeld... ze zijn lekker aan het grazen en maken zich niet druk over wat er rondom hun gebeurd.
Later op de dag moesten we een tijdje wachten op een olfant die rustig stond te drinken en daarmee de weg blokkeerde.
Verder nog tal van neushoorns gezien en natuurlijk allerlei vogels, herten, buffels en tal van bokken.
Al met al waren we niet ontevreden over onze eigen tocht.
De volgende dag richting St Lucia om daar in het park tal van vogels te gaan bewonderen. Mooi niet dus.. behalve wat valkjes, was er niets te zien. O.k. een neushoorn en tal van kudu's maar die zie je dagelijks. Het strand was prachtig maar het water was helaas te gevaarlijk om in te zwemmen. Dus we moesten ons tevreden stellen met een strandwandeling.
Gisteren weer op weg naar Durban gereden. Eerst een bezoek gebracht aan een 'cheetah-farm' waar tal van katachtigen in grote, ruime kooien zitten. Deze beesten komen veelal uit gevangenschap en kunnen eigenlijk niets meer. Ze worden dagelijks gevoed en men gaat er vanuit dat ze op een dag misschien weer terug de natuur in kunnen. Maar dat wordt voor de meeste een groot probleem.
Nu weer in het benauwde en hete Durban. Het is hier drukkend en je loopt hier danook alleen maar te zweten.
Het natuurhistorisch museum en de kunstverzameling van Durban zijn erg indrukwekkend. Met veel plezier hebben we deze twee musea aanschouwd. Verder nog een project voor lokale kunstenaars bezocht. Een van de dingen naast het maken van manden is het maken van kunstvoorwerpen uit ijzerdraad en kraaltjes. Er worden prachtige dingen gemaakt maar om het nu allemaal aan te gaan schaffen?
Vandaag eigenlijk niet zoveel uitgespookt. Een bezoek gebracht aan 'The African Art Centre' en daarna aan een soort van 'zwemparadijs' annex winkelcentrum.

De straat waar deze internetcafe aan zit, is erg berucht. De meeste winkels. trouwens dat zie je vaak zijn voorzien van hekken en traliewerk. Overal lopen bewakers rond. Een politieman vertelde ons dat we onze camera in de rugzak moesten doen en die goed onder controle moesten houden.Er is veel werkeloosheid en dus armoede. De criminaliteit is erg hoog.
We hebben ons erg verwonderd over de raciale verhoudingen in Zuid Afrika. Zoals Charles als schreef zijn de verhoudingen nog erg ongelijk. Voor vele zwarten is het erg moeilijk om aan een (goede) baan te komen. In de meeste gevallen hebben zij de laagst betaalde baantjes. Je ziet nog steeds weinig zwarte mensen in bijvoorbeeld managersbanen. De regering heeft een politiek van positieve discriminatie. Elk bedrijf is verplicht om een bepaalde hoeveelheid zwarten aan te nemen. Maar daarmee heb je nog niet de betere banen voor zwarten. Opleiding is ook nog vaak een probleem. Kortom er is nog genoeg werk aan de winkel.
Net begonnen met het lezen van Nelson Mandela's biografie 'Long walk to freedom'. Daarna misschien toch maar Cry, the Beloved Country van Alan Paton lezen.

A Day at the Races... well, an evening at least

Yes, on the way down to Durban town centre, past the excellent and very colourful Botanic Gardens, we saw what looked very much like a grandstand, a bit similar to the one at Ascot. Then behind the fence we could see a beautiful turf track being attended to by two young women with henna-ed faces, who told us they were racing today and that the first race would strat at 5.40. After some negotiation between ourselves it was decided that I could go, provided I was back at the Hippo Hide by 8, in time for happy hour at the Roman Lounge.

We spent the afternoon, mainly walking to and finding the Town Hall with its Natural Science Museum and Art Gallery (also both excellent and free!). We even saw a rhino again, making that three days in a row.. albeit that this rhino was stuffed! Then we met a chap walking down to the Bat Centre and we joined him.. he is being given a studio where he makes works out of re-cycled plastic and was just setting it up.

Fred took a taxi back up the hill, while I had a long-ish walk through not-so-safe looking areas to get back to Greyville Racecourse, under a dark sky, with flashes of lightning while my clothes were wet and dripping with sweat. The raxces were both similar and different to waht I expected - similar in that the racial divide was whites as owners and trainers, Irish as jockeys, blacks as stable boys and security men and Indians and whites as punters - no surprise there. What was a surprise was that it was free to enter, the track looked immaculate, bright green under the floodlights, under a purple sky, the paddock resembled the better parts of the Botanic Gardens with its well tended lawns and exotic trees, whilst the horses looke dabsolutley magnificent, their sweat gleaming in the floodlights.

I succumbed to just one bet, using up all the change I had in my pockets, going for Afghanistan, ridden by a jockey Shearer, he was top-weight and did well to come second... so I start another betting year in the negative (last year, 2005, was another postive one and I am still carrying around 4 twenty pound notes which I am sure I won on Take The Stand in the Gold Cup, last March - but maybe not). Also spent time chatting with a knowledgebale young man working as a security guard who told me that thuis was his penultimate race meeting before he goes off to work for the South African Defence Force.

On the way ut, I was advised by the friendly ladies at the entrance that I ought not to walk, that it was dangerous and that I should take a taxi. It wasn't far, but t was up a hill, and it was raining by now, so I took the taxi, even though the price he charged was equivalent to being robbed anyway!

Makes me mad!

Connected with the racism below.... I thought I might just write about some of the things which are said here far too frequesntly and which make me mad:

1 "South Africa is going to go the same way as Zimbabwe" - what a complete nonsense... the history and social structure and political and legal sysetms in the two countries are so far apart and anyway, what hapened in Zimbabwe after many many years was a result of Mugabe trying to divert atention away from a corruption scandal which probably would have cost him the next elections.

2 "The blacks preferred life under apartheid" - oh yes, really?, like having no rights to vote, having to carry passes around, being treated as lesser human beings? I don't think so....

3 "The ANC government has done nothing since it has been in power" - again what a lot of nonsense..... they have a programme (already in good part realised to provide water, toilets and electricity to most villages in South Africa.... amongst other things.

4 "Black economic empowerment policy (whereby companies are required to have a certain number or proportion of their employees being black) is going to ruin the economy -" - I wonder..... and anyway, such a policy will only go a tiny part of the way to putting right what went on under white rule.

One hears this sort of nonsense not just from the native Afrikaners (whose own culture I can best describe as being based on beer, braai and racism, with a mix of old-style Dutch Reformed self-righteous superiority) but also tourists who have spent too much time talking to such people.

A wonderful country, South Africa certainly is, but it has been screwed up enormously by over a century of white supremacy and latterly apartheid. It is going to take a very very long time to become normal.

Filthy rotten racists

Sorry but....

just come back from a delicious dinner at our favourite restaurant in Durban, Spiga d'Oro.....

where we were servced by a not particularly friendly waiter, who happend to be American, with a bald head, a long goatee and rings in all strange parts of his ears... yuk!

we were also helped by a charming black man, well dressed in black, who served us drinks - wine and water.

it was all a little bit expensive and the tip was quite a large amount.... we gave the black chap the money, but the change was brought back by the American who did not bother to say 'thank you'. This annoyed us not a little bit as we already expected that a black man would not be allowed to bring change back to the table and because the white American showed very bad manners.

We asked the black chap how the tips were shared and he said he had no idea... he never saw a tip... so he assumed that the owners (a family from Rome, one of whom is alos a waiter) kept all the tips.

We asked the white man and he said the tips were shared between the waiters.

Now obviously, the tips are only shared between the WHITE waiters, and not the black staff. SO racist and so unreasonable. The black chap did a far better job in terms of customer service than the white one and he got nothing... except teh tip which we shoved in his hand as we left.

Maybe we have had too much to drink but we are well p***ed off...... racism from the Afrikaners we have come to expect (and we have some other stories on that score... but from Europeans, we expect better.

2006 - the year of the rhino!

Rhino!
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Hello again, in 2006, which for us, is the year of the rhino, having seen 18 yesterday in six groups and another one today. Great, as had never seen wild rhino's so close up before and they are such wonderful animals, so peaceful; grazing grass, while their public image is of a ferocious beast charging at anyone who gets too close. They look as old as the earth, with their thick dirty skin and horns which look like they have come down staright from teh age of the dinosaurs.

New Year was seen in in good style at the fabulous Isinkwe Bush Lodge, set in typical bushveld, with a charming bar around an inviting pool. We first made acquantiance with the resident (wild) bushbaby) before getting chatting to an Italian family, two school teachers as parents and a beauiful young daughter, named Lisa. None of them spoke much English, so it was nice to practice some Italian.

After some vigourous dancing by the bar, midnight/the new year was greeted with us listening to Radio Swaziland as they played that Gimme Gimme Madonna song as sparkling wine was served and fireworks let off, the other side of the pool... not too many fircrackers, unlike the Hogeweg, for fear of scaring away the wild animals.

The next day, we had a much better start than in 2005, as neither of us had any bad effects from the night before, and after having a healthy breakfast of fresh pineaple, mangoes and bananas, we set off for the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi National Park, the first to exist in South Africa. It was great having a car and having the freedom to do what we liked, with no frustrations about teh driver/guide being in a hurry, or not stopping etc. We saw an abundance of animals in waht was a very attractive park, of grassy and wooded hillsides, many giving strategic views over other parts of teh aprk, and it was at some such vantage point where we saw our first rhinos... two blobs on a hillside about 2 kms away. We were SO thrilled and followed them for about half an hour, eventually getting to within half a kilometer away of them.

Thereafter, two very close encounters with very large bull elephants, who got Fred all scared when he though we (or they) got too close, the elephants being wild and much larger and stronger than our flimsy little Korean car.

We later saw a family group of rhinos close to the car, but a little lhiddne by grass, a BIG male, a mother and two young. We were close enough to here them move through the grass and munch away at the grass they were feeding on.

Then a little further on,a magnificent male, all by himself, drinking at a pool near the road. We spenta nother good half an hour with him, as he moved around, with teh windows open and the camera cliocking at every new angle. Strangely beautiful and ceratinly captivating.

We saw plenty of the other what I call 'dirty' animals, namely warthogs and buffalos, as well as impalas, zebra, teh very very beautiful nyala (male and females) and finally, just as we were leaving the park.. some giraffes! It was a good day in the park!

Today we have spent our time in the nearby Greater St Lucia Wetlands National Park, which includes a mighty lagoon, long stretches of beaches and forested sand dunes. Spent most of the time walking along an almost deserted beach (all the others were Afrikaners out fishing), past the rockpools, over the rocks, along sandy beaches, past extremely fast pink crabs, up to teh bat-infested caves. As we drove to the end point, we saw, in the clearing many animals including kudu (magnificent maels as well as dull females, the small but colourful steenbok, waterbuck, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo and a sole rhino, none of which was expected. WE had expected to see many sea and estuary birds, but saw none, not even a lone seagull, just some kites and finally an osprey, possibly because we did not actually get even remotely close to the estuary. Still, more than satisfied and now we have to rsuh back to Hluhluwe to have a shower before dinner at 7. Tomorrow, we return to Durban for a couple of nights before the long return journey to Cape Town.

'Geen Wim, geen Freek en al helemaal geen Youp'

Oudejaarsdag zijn we van Eshowe via St Lucia naar Isinkwe gereden. De bedoeling was om daar in het bushcamp een aantal dagen te logeren en daar Oud en Nieuw te gaan vieren. Voor dat we in ons kamp aankwamen, hadden we al het een en ander beleefd.
Onderweg kregen we een lekke band. Het verwisselen viel mee maar opdat er slecht een noodband aanwezig was, was het zaak om de andere weer zo snel mogelijk te repareren. Dat was gemakkelijker gezegd dan gedaan. De man van de garage, we zijn open tot 12 ur i.v.m Oudejaar, vertelde ons dat de band vervangen moest worden omdat er een grote scheur aan de zijkant in zat. Verder dat de Kia-banden een afwijkende maat hebben en niet in voorraad zijn. Hij heeft wat rondgebeld maar dat mocht allemaal niet baten. Oplossing twee banden die iets groter zijn achter geplaatst. Nou nu hebben we dus twee nieuwe banden aan de auto en twee oude banden in de auto. Maar goed we konden weeer rijden.
Onderweg gestopt voor een flesje wijn maar de rijen voor de drankewinkel waren zo lang dat we daar geen zin in hadden.
In St. Lucia hadden we meer geluk... een witte, een rode en een bruisende wijn kunnen scoren.
Terwijl Charles zijn foto's op een cd ging zetten, heb ik een biertje gepakt in de lokale bar annex pizzaria. Omdat ik de auto in de gaten wilde hoduen, kwam ik naast twee jonge mannen te zitten. Deze Boeren, stonden me toe dat ik aan hun tafel ging zitten. Ze waren vriendelijk en hadden al genoeg gedronken.Van het een kwam het ander. Het begon met de taal. Ik sprak toch wel Afrikaans, hopelijk. Met een opmerking als: 'Als jou nie praat Afrikaans nie ken jou beter die bek houe' (of iets dergelijks). Ondertussen tapten ze de ene racistische mop na de andere. Toen ze mij vroegen waar ik geweest was en ik in het Engels vertelde waar we waren geweest, vertelden ze me dat ik misschiebn wel de Zulu's etc had gezien maar niet het echte Boeren Zuid Afrika. Daarna kreeg ik nog een opgewild lesje Afrikaanse geschiednis en dat Jan Smuts een verrader was etc etc. Ook de achterbuurman en vrouw bemoeiden zich met het geheel en een ieder was trots om Boer te zijn. Ik was blij dat ik mijn biertje op had en af kon rekenen.
Verderop in de stad zagen we hordes Boeren. Het leek wel een Amerikaanse Redneck city. Ze stonden op de achterbak van hun pickup, te drinken natuurlijk. Terwijl de bestuurder met een biertje of iets dergelijks aan het rijden was. Muziek knalde de straat in en allemaal op weg naar de drankenhal om te zorgen dat ze die avond geen gebrek zouden krijgen.
Ons bushcamp had een zalig buffet georganiseerd. We kwamen al vroeg aan de praat met een Italiaans echtpaar en hun dochter van 12. Mijn Italiaans is erg slecht maar de dame en heer in kwestie vonden van niet en ratelden alles behalve rustig verder in een rap tempo.
Na het eten ben ik maar even naar de bar gelopen om daar wat te kletsen met Engelstaligen. Het echtpaar was te moe om Oud en Nieuw uit te zitten en gingen rond 23.30 naar bed. We hebben gedanst tot 24.00. De eigenaar had vuurwerk en champagne geregeld... werd het toch nog een gezellige en leuke avond. En neit eens misselijk van de oliebollen en niet geergerd dor Youp.. Volgend jaar maar weer?

2006!

Lieve allemaal,
We wensen jullie een prettige jaarwisseling en een Gelukkig en Gezond Nieuwjaar.
Op 15 januari rond 12.00 landen wij weer in Amsterdam en hebben dan het hele jaar om weer bij te kletsen.
Liefs, Charles en Fred

Dear all,
We wish you a wonderful New Years Eve. Have a Good and Healthy 2006.
On January the 15th, around 12 o'clock we will be back in Amsterdam. So enough time to catch up with everybody.
love, Charles and Fred

Liebe Freunde,
Wir wunschen euch alle ein guter Silvesterabend und ein Guttes und Gesundes 2006.
Ab 15. Januar sind wir wieder in Amsterdam. Dann haben wir wieder Zeit fur einander.
Liebe Grusse von Charles und Fred

Cari amici,
Sinceri auguri per un felice buon anno!
Torniamo ad Amsterdam 15 gannaio e proviamo fare il tempo per tutti.
Saluti, Fred e Charles

'zwart-wit/wit-zwart of gewoon gekleurd?'

Robben Island Museum
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We zijn nu twee weken in Zuid Afrika. Van Kaapstad zijn we per bus naar Durban gereisd. In Durban hebben we een auto gehuurd en we zijn nu in Eshowe.
'The George' is een hotel annex backpackers hostel. Het gebied doet erg Engels aan en de meeste blanken spreken hier danook Engels in plaats van Afrikaans.
Gisteravond zijn we voor het eten in de bar van 'the George' beland. We hadden afgesproken met de eigenaar dat we vandaag een toer zouden gaan maken en dat we 's avonds een dansvoorstelling zouden gaan bijwonen. Terwijl we aan de bar stonden te kletsen, kwamen we in gesprek met Gary. Deze Brit woont sinds een aantal maanden in Zuid Afrika. Hij runt hier, naar eigen zeggen een aantal hotels. Uit het gesprek werd al snel duidelijk dat hij, en helaas niet alleen hij, van mening is dat het land naar de haaien gaat. De zwarten kunnen niks en de blanken worden gediscrimineerd en infeite weggejaagd. Een goed woord voor de regering had hij niet. En de veiligheid liet hier ook zwaar te wensen over. Dat verklaard het feit dat hij een pistool in zijn broekzak had en die ongevraagd op de bar legde om mee te showen.
Na het eten naar onze dansvoorstelling gegaan. Een half uur Zuludans in een soort van 'Disneyland achtige' dorp. De dans was goed.
Na de dansvoorstelling terug naar het hotel. In de bar wat staan te kletsen met de , voornamelijk blanke 'locals'. Al snel weer het verhaal over de veiligheid en het feit dat het land naar de haaien gaat. Ja en als Boer moet je jezelf verdedigen tegen dat criminele tuig. Dus het dragen van een wapen is een noodzaak.
Vanmorgen met Victor, een Zulu gids op pad geweest. Het eerste deel van de toer bestond uit een rondleiding door de stad. Hij vertelde ons van alles over de apartheid en de beperkingen die dat opleverde. Zo mochten zwarten 's avonds na acht uur niet meer in de stad komen etc, etc. Daarnaast vertelde hij dat werkloosheid het probleem bij uitstek is en dat de regering niets doet behalve corrupt te zijn.
Na de stadswandeling zijn we naar een Zuludorp geweest dat er weinig rooskleurig uitzag. Onderweg vertelde Victor en de chauffeur dat er nu sprake was van een omgekeerde apartheid. De blanken worden weggepest ten gunste van de zwarten. De regering doet haar best om gezonde boederijen te verpesten en ze aan zwarten te geven. Merkwaardig om deze woorden uit de mond van een zwarte gids te horen. Maar misschien is het wel politiek. De ANC heeft een absolute meerderheid en andere partijen zoals de Inkahata-beweging die hier erg sterk is, hebben weinig kans.
Vanmiddag met Victor naar een ceremonie geweest. Het dorp vierde het feit dat een jonge vrouw haar volwasheid heeft bereikt. De familie van de vrouw in kwestie ontving iedereen met dans en gezang. Ondertussen komen ze dansend naar je toe en prikken een speer voor je voeten in de grond. De bedoeling is dat je de speer terug brengt en geld in het haar van de vrouw met een veiligheidspeld vastmaakt. Dit duurt een aantal uren zodat ze een redelijk kapitaal bijelkaar hebben vergaard. Ondertussen kwam de familie van haar vriendje aan. Ook zij brengen geschenken en geld en delen het traditionele bier met de gasten. Het geheel is een bonte mengeling van mensen in traditionele, met gekleurde kralen outfits en mensen in westerse kleding. Iedereen danst en zingt. Aan het eind van de ceremonie beginnen de mannen te dansen en op hun schilden te slaan. Ze tonen hun kracht, moed en hun rijkdom om een van de dames te imponeren. Kortom een rijke traditie om elkaar te leren kennen.

Na de ceremonie weer terug naar het hotel. Aan de bar wat staan te kletsen met een van de serveersters. Zij vertelde dat deveranderingen in Zuid Afrika erg langzaam gaan maar toch was zij optimistisch. Eindelijk een positief gezicht.

I like the way you move

Twins (d)Urban
Originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Do you know this song? It is used to advertise Vodacom over here - a good song and a great advert - we are not sure who sings it - maybe Body Rockers (?). (We also like the Gimme Gimme Gimme Madonna song, but not the "I am so lonely" song, which has followed us around since Lebanon!)

Well, we have been seeing some moves here.

Last night a floor show at Shakaland (sounds horrible but was in fact not-bad-at-all) and today at the Coming of Age Bring-Me-A-Present party/celebration on a grassy hillside in the sunshine.

Lots of young girls/maidens bare-breasted, old women, fierce men with sticks and shields, young guys running scared of the big girls, ceremonies, dancing, calling, singing, drumming, mock fighting.... all because a girl became 21. The main activity of this ceremony was a half-circle of maidens singing, with four bringing a spear and setting this spear at the foot of a man in the audience, who then is supposed to pin money on the girl's headdress.... the ceremony lasted a long time and much money was collected. At the end the paths were ful of young lads with their sticks and spears looking forward to some stick fighting, sharing some local beer and meeting a maiden! It was at this time that we unfortunately had to leave....

Further, looked at Zulu town life and village life in the company of Victor. He had interestinmg political views, being a Zulu, not being so keen on the ANC... but these are stories for another day.

But just briefly, we remarked on how many funeral service providers there were in the small-ish city of Eshowe... and we were told there were in fact 23, with a concentration just outside the hospital. Apparently, business is so cut-throat that nurses are bribed to send bodies to one funeral company rather than another. Not as bad as another town where it is claimed that people were being murdered on the streets at night and having their bodies removed to one funeral company or another... until the locals got fed up and stoned all the offices in town, such that they have now all been closed down, with the local council now taking over.

OK, now we are in St Lucia, on our way up to Hluhluwe, where at Isinkwe Backpackers we should find a pool, some comfortable beds and a New Year's barbecue. It is swelteringly hot here now, amazing how quickly things can change. Hope it is not TOO cold where you are and have a great New Year's celebration.

(Fred and my e-mails are not working properly for some reason these last few days.. something to do with cookies, apparently).