Cape Town to Cairo!

And we're off!


Today marks the start of my 16 week overland trip from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt! 16 weeks of traveling on a truck, pitching a tent, and camping every night. (!!!)


We loaded the truck and then set off from Cape Town at 8am this morning. First stop: Stellenbosch. I had been to Stellenbosch before, but I don't remember it being this amazingly beautiful!


We visited wineries in Franschhoek and Paarl and I ended up buying 9 bottles of wine. I couldn't say no! I spent $43 in total and they were very nice wines! (I wanted to send some home, but the wineries we visited either didn't ship to the U.S. or I was warned that shipments never made it...)

So here I go! We have a four hour drive in South Africa tomorrow and then we'll cross into Namibia where I think I'll end up celebrating my 25th birthday!

Ostrich Encounters

It was a long, long journey from Drakensberg to Oudtshoorn, but I made it! I had to take a two-hour shuttle from Drakensberg to Pietermaritzburg, a nine-hour Greyhound bus from Pietermaritzburg to Bloemfontein, and then another nine-hour Greyhound bus from Bloemfontein to Oudtshoorn. It was mostly okay except that last bus had a lot of old and gassy people on it. Not only did it smell, but the gentleman behind me had very long legs so it felt like his knees were poking into my back the entire time! (It was a fairly traumatic experience…) I Did meet a nice girl on the bus and I ended up staying with her at a hostel owned by her friend/father. (She told me he was her friend; He told me he was her father...) I was going to stay at a bigger/more commercial hostel, but I got my own room here, and at a dorm price (~$15)!
First day in Oudtshoorn was dedicated to the Cango Caves and an ostrich farm.


The caves were very cool and supposedly house the biggest stalagmite and stalactite formations in the world. I did the "adventure tour" which basically means you get to crawl/wriggle through some very tiny crevices. The ostrich farm afterwards was a lot of fun, and mostly because these birds are super scary.


Right before I rode one, they told us how an ostrich can kill you and slice you open from head to toe with its big toe! Mom, Theo, and Stacy seem to have enjoyed the video of me riding an ostrich so if you are interested: http://www.sendspace.com/file/06jxmq . This is a link where you can watch a video of me terrified and screaming my head off =) I got revenge that night and ate the ostrich’s brother for dinner: Ostrich kebabs and ostrich sausage. It was really good! Ostrich is just a nice, lean meat that does not taste game-y at all!

**The tour guide suggested that the lion might be gay because he hasn't made a move on the lioness in weeks :)

I also visited a wildlife ranch and ate some really amazing Uncle Barry’s ice cream in Oudtshoorn. But apart from the main touristy things to do, the town itself wasn’t terribly exciting. I would probably skip it in the future unless you have a burning desire to let an ostrich scare you.

Kimberley is Annoying

When I met the Archbishop Desmond Tutu four years ago, I introduced myself and the first thing he said to me was this: "Kimberley...that's where the diamonds are from." A couple years later, I found out Kimberley had a big hole and I became determined to visit this city. Kimberley, however, is annoyingly and even impossibly hard to get to depending on the day so I am skipping it! Hmpfh!

A Little Lesotho

We went up the Sani Pass, got stamps at the South African and Lesotho borders, and then drove to Black Mountain. Even though it was very cold and windy, we had lunch on top with a view of the mountains below us. While we were eating, two shepherds came up to the group and one of them, with a makeshift guitar, started playing and singing for us. He seemed so happy to be playing - I liked it very much. Some people shared their lunch with him but I had eaten mine already.


After Black Mountain, we visited a Basotho village. (The people of Lesotho are called Basotho (plural) and Mosotho (singular).


A Mosotho woman invited us into her hut and shared bread and homemade beer with us. To gain entry into a hut, you say "koo-koo" --kind of like you'd say "knock-knock"--because there are no doorbells or hard surfaces to knock on. There is no running water or electricity and wood is very expensive, so cow dung is used for heating.


She gave us some fresh-baked bread that was cooked in a pot over cow dung. Incidentally, the pot also had cow dung on top of it - to heat the top of the bread like coals would, I think. Thankfully the bread had no traces of cow dung and was actually really good. We tried her homemade beer; it was okay. It was the color of milk, grainy in consistency, and tasted a bit sour.

Next stop was the "highest pub in Africa" where I tried a Maluti - local beer made in Lesotho. It was hoppier than I would have liked and it made me wish I'd gotten gluwein instead. Apparently, the highest pub in Africa, at 3800+ meters, specializes in gluwein. How random =)


And that was my experience of Lesotho (pronounced Leh-soo-too in Southern Africa). After the pub, we got our exit/entry stamps again and then went back down the Sani Pass past/through those gorgeous mountains.

Dragon Mountain

(Draken = Dragon; Berg = Mountain.) So I'm separating this post from Lesotho only because there are a bunch of pictures I wanted to post! I took a trip up the Sani Pass in Drakensberg which weaves through some amazing scenery: Rolling green hills, mountains, waterfalls, etc. The Sani Pass is the only way to get into Lesotho from Natal in South Africa. The roads are rough and often get washed out because of the rain/snow; a 4x4 is a must. If you pass the South African border in a regular vehicle, they will make you turn around. Interestingly enough, if you get to the Lesotho border, they'll let you pass in a regular vehicle (just so that they don't have to be responsible for you). (The South African and Lesotho borders have 8km of rough, un-paved no-mans land between them.)

I started the trip a bit grumpy because the Sani Lodge (where I was staying) basically sucked. It took me 30 minutes to buy milk and butter from their general store; I was in a 15-bed dorm that had lots of spiders and other creepy bugs; there was one bathroom/shower combo for the 15 of us; I had to switch rooms in the middle of my stay... the hits just kept on coming! We had two 4x4s going up the Sani Pass and we were an hour delayed the morning of the trip because one of the trucks had engine trouble. Even though I got to the truck early to stake out a seat by the window, I was asked to move to the other truck. I got stuck in the front between the driver and another person, and with the gear shift between my legs. We were going slow, the roads were rough, and we were stopping a lot = lots of shifting and discomfort. :/ We were also driving behind the other truck (with the windows open) and thus breathing in all the exhaust and fumes from both our cars.

(the 13 apostles)

But after a quick attitude check, I let the beauty of the Drakensberg mountains and the Sani Pass come over me. It was really quite breathtaking and amazing to see. I saw Southern Drakensberg and in the future, I would love to come back to see Central and Northern Drakensberg - apparently it gets even prettier!

(spot the 4x4 for some perspective...)

Durbs

Mom was asking me about having to take the "unsafe" option from Swaziland to Durban. This is what happened with that: So I was originally waiting in Swaziland for the shuttle that would take me from the Southern Cross Lodge to the next hostel in Durban because I was warned that otherwise, I could get dropped off on the street without any conception of wear to go or what to do next. That’s pretty much exactly what happened…. That morning, I took a taxi to Manzini (Swaziland), waited for a kombi to fill up with people wanting to go to Durban, obtained exit and entry stamps, and finally got dropped off on a random street in Durban. I was told it was the main bus terminal but it certainly didn’t look like it. There were people selling stuff on the street and lots of kombis stopping to pick up passengers; it wasn’t a normal “bus station” like I’m used to. I needed to make a phone call to arrange a pickup but, as I had been warned, there were no pay phones in sight. A woman on the kombi from Swaziland was concerned about me and helped me find a phone. Unexpectedly, some of the people selling stuff on the street had phones on their tables… not for sale like one might think at first glance, but actually there so that people can pay to make calls. How interesting!

I contacted Smith’s Cottage and was told to wait in front of the main entrance – someone would be by to pick me up in a white kombi in about ten minutes. Sounds good! The nice Swazi girl left and I stood there waiting. I was standing there with my big backpack looking at every white kombi, and definitely “sticking out like a sore thumb.” I was mostly okay, but some guys were obnoxious – one in particular kept asking for my phone number and wouldn’t go away even though I told him I didn’t have a phone! Half an hour later, I’m getting worried and a bit frustrated so I called the cottage again. The woman on the other end tells me that Keith came to pick me up and didn’t see me. She tells me to wait by the phone for Keith to call. We talk and I tell him exactly where I am. He then says to me, “You’re not at the main bus terminal. It’s not a safe area.” (Great, thanks!) A little more apprehensive now, I waited for Keith to find me. (He eventually did and everything was fine!)

Apart from the rough start (that I’ve sort of become accustomed to…), I really enjoyed my time in Durban. I planned, initially, to only stay a day to visit the U.S. consulate and eat some bunny chow; I ended up staying five days! (Bunny chow, btw, is pretty unique to Durban: It’s basically a big hunk of bread where the middle part is torn out and replaced with chicken, beef, fish, or lamb curry. It's good!)


My first (full) day in Durban was one of the best days ever! I got pages added to my passport with only minimal waiting. And, Keith waited with me so that he could take my passport back to the cottage for safekeeping. So nice! The rest of the day: I got a view of the city from the Royal Hotel… I tried an awesome bunny chow… I shopped at the market and bought a ring made from elephant hair… I walked a few kilometers on super soft sand along the beach… I visited the uShaka Marine World… I ate at a really amazing buffet with a stir-fry that tastes like Teppan(!)… I played blackjack and doubled and a halfed my money (!)… and then I watched the best movie I’ve seen in a long time, and for $3! (Judy! Aster! Everyone!! Go watch Water for Elephants!) I finished the day skype-ing with Mom and Theo <3 It really was a perfect day where it felt like everything was going my way =)


Keith took me diving the next day at Aliwal Shoal – supposedly one of the top dive spots in the world. I was a bit intimidated at first because everyone seemed like a pro, but once we were all in the water I was just fine. You take a zodiac from shore to the dive spot and we spent about 30 minutes navigating through the waves that were close to shore. Apparently, a lot of boats get tossed over in this area so you have to weave back and forth through the waves until you can actually speed up and get to the reef. I was gripping the ropes very tightly--a bit terrified actually--because ever since I got capsized three times on a sailboat, I have become very afraid of falling into the water. (Thanks Jojo!) Visibility wasn’t the best the day I dove, but we got to see two sea turtles, a dolphin, a huge potato bass, stingrays, and tons of fish (pineapple fish, angelfish, wrasse, etc…). You can do a dive where they chum the water so the sharks come… something I definitely want to do in the future =)


*Okay, I admit this was taken at the aquarium, but I swear this is exactly what it looked like!

Random: Food in Durban is awesome! I had Indian food five times! And, young guys weren’t as obnoxious as they were in Swaziland. I still got called out to, but no more than in Berkeley or Oakland. People were generally friendly and very nice. I think what really made it a great few days though was my stay at Smith’s Cottage. Stay there if you go to Durban! Keith and Pat are a couple in their sixties and they run the cottage. Their son, his wife, and their two kids live there as well. They made me feel like I was part of the family for the few days I was there. As an example, I had lunch one afternoon with Keith, Pat, and their granddaughter at the beach club they are members of. Parts of it felt like I was watching a British sitcom because the way they all interacted with each other was just so fun (and funny) to watch. =)They were very nice people who were really good to me and I was definitely a little sad to leave when Pat and Keith hugged me goodbye…

Next up: Drakensberg, the Sani Pass, and Lesotho!
Follow up: Finally have decent Internet and I've added a few pictures to the Swaziland post =)

Bananas

When leaving Swaziland, the kombi pulled up to a border stop so that everyone could get their Swazi exit stamps. From there, we walked past a gate, down a road, and into another building to get our South African entry stamps. Next, we went through another gate to wait by the side of the road for the kombi to clear customs. It was taking a while and so a woman said to me, “You had the big bag right? Maybe they want to search your bag.” So I walk back to the customs point and the guard says to me, “Are they your bananas?” I say no. He says “The owner of the bananas must claim them and eat them.” I go back to the group and tell a Swazi girl what the customs official tells me. She tells everyone else and then half the group starts walking back to the customs point. I join them. One woman claims a plastic bag with bananas in it. She and her partner start eating them. But there’s another offending bag of bananas in the van! Another woman comes up and claims them. The agricultural inspector says to her “You must not waste food; you must eat them.” She hands out bananas to some of the people standing around. We are not allowed to leave the customs point until the bananas are finished! lol I only wish I had a picture of the group of us standing around at customs, eating bananas.

This, btw, is a kombi and the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban:

Joburg

15 Observations/Mini-Stories:

- MoAfrika lodge is awesome! If you visit Joburg, definitely stay there... great tours, great people, great beds, great food, and great big glasses of wine!

- Food is cheap! You can get some really amazing meals for under $10. I had a big portion of fish and chips from the mall for $4!

- Traveling by yourself, however, is not cheap! If another person had not signed up to go, I would not have been able to do a tour to Pretoria because of the cost. It was basically twice as much on my own!

- Gauteng Radio station YFM 99.2 does this really cool 2-minute "Who's Who" spread that gives you the good and bad about certain people. I got some really cool information about Jacob Zuma.

- Pretoria is the official capital; it is well-kept and quite lovely. However, Johannesburg is considered by many to be the actual capital; it's where the wealth of the country is concentrated, but also a city that has trash everywhere and so Not a city you want to hang out in.

- Speaking of wealth, I haven't seen so many audis and beamers since I moved out of Silicon Valley...

- I was scared of every bathroom I went into. (see below)

- I felt safer in Soweto than I did in Johannesburg city. Supposedly, people don't commit crimes in their own town for fear of "township justice," and instead commit the crimes in neighboring Johannesburg, which is part of what makes it so unsafe.

- Typical township food is shebeen, basically a barbecue with typical accompaniments. We got to try it at Mdu's (our guide's) favorite neighborhood spot in Soweto and had really delicious chicken and boerewors (beef sausage) with pap and chakalaka. Yum! Thankfully, we didn't have to choke down any Bantu Beer - traditional African beer that is the color of coffee with cream. Yuck! (I had had it in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town... it's so bad that it would make Bud Light taste amazing even to beer snobs :))

- Apartheid is over, but racism still exists... so too do divisions between black, white, and coloured. Soweto, for example, consists of a majority of black townships, three coloured townships, one indian township, and no white residents.

- I asked Mdu how Asian people were classified in the White-Coloured-Black spectrum: He considered them as Black during Apartheid (and maybe even now...).

- Now, it is fashionable to engage in interracial dating in South Africa.

- In downtown Joburg, I played "spot the white person" because there are just no white people walking around the streets! Our guide said it was something like 1 white in 100 blacks. White people may have to work in the city, but they live in the suburbs outside of it.

- A house in the expensive area of Soweto starts at 650,000 Rand (<$100,000). A house in the middle class area--of formerly government housing--sells starting around 140,000 Rand. Houses are available in the rich area, and very difficult to obtain in the middle-class area. Mdu rents a room in the middle-class area for 500 Rand a month.

- The Apartheid Museum randomly designates each entrant as "white" or "non-white" and makes people go through separate entrances based on their designation. The museum is very moving and definitely a must-visit in Joburg.

So I had a very nice and relaxing time in Joburg and am happy to report that I spent the last four days there without incident. Still, Johannesburg scares me, like really really scares me. I think I've been scared of it since I first came to South Africa in 2007, when I had heard from multiple people that you are almost guaranteed to get robbed or attacked there. I can't shake the disquietude I feel associated with the city and researching Joburg before i got there definitely made it worse. When you look at the Wikitravel page for Johannesburg, it tells you that South Africa is the rape capital of the world. Talking to people, you hear horrible stories about women getting attacked at knife point in restrooms or how women are not required to stop at traffic lights at night because of the likelihood of getting attacked.

I really hate it. I hate it when people scare you about a place to the point where all you think about is the ways in which you are vulnerable. I hate being reminded of the fact that I am especially vulnerable as a woman traveling by herself! I can't shake some of the fear that's just been building up - its with me even now in Swaziland, supposedly a very safe country. So I am being careful, of course. You will be happy to know that, though I hate how unsettled I feel or this wary-of-everything mentality, the fearmongering has made me choose safer/more luxury (and therefore more expensive) accommodation and transportation. As such, I am "stuck" in Swaziland for more days than I had originally planned because the "safe" option from here to Durban is via a once-weekly minibus.

Apart from that little rant, I am actually really looking forward to experiencing some of the Swazi way of life! The protests in Manzini have ended, so no worries there, and maybe the extra time in Swaziland means more chances to spot the King or one of his 13 wives.... So Crazy!

Hello from Africa!

I have arrived safely in Johannesburg and have spent a few lovely days at the Mo Afrika Lodge. I feel safe at the lodge and I've had a chance to rest and recover a bit from a crazy last week in South America. I've visited the nations capital - Pretoria is beautiful (!), been freaked out by bathrooms based on scare-stories, played spot-the-white-person in downtown Johannesburg, ate an amazing Shebeen lunch in Soweto, and felt really moved by some of the things I saw at the Apartheid Museum. I leave Johannesburg tomorrow for Mbabane, Swaziland... I plan to pop into Africa's only remaining monarch for a day or two and then head to Durban. Good times! :)