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‹ Previous (02/08/2007) MONTH Next (2007-10-01)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› South Africa Graaff-Reinet (see on map) 02/09/2007:
In some touristy triptychs we had read that the route R62 was the longest wine-yielding road in the world, and it’s probably like this, although the area is very arid and there are very few vineyards and producers, at least in comparison to the fertile lands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Anyway, we enjoyed the stretch, partially for the spectacular landscape and also because i was already cured of the cold and I could do wine tasting and we buy some bottles. When finishing the R62 in Oudshoorn, a villa famous for the farms of ostriches, we direct ourselves towards the coast, where we observed dolphins and whales; we crossed a pretty nature reserve and walked through the touristy town called Knysna. Today we have entered again towards the interior of the country, crossing mountains and desert plains, until we reached Graaff-Reinet, where a sister of Maryna from Cape Town lives with her husband in an isolated farm. 05/09/2007:
Hermann and Theresa have been very hospitable with us, we have spent two magnificent days in their farm, Alexandra not as much, because she has been quite sick, but it has been a good place to rest and take care of herself. The farm is situated in a very arid region (even though according to Herman, in summer it is very green) and quite isolated. Herman has different groups of goats, lambs and cows that graze alone through the mountains, although they also give quite a lot of work. During these two days, I have accompanied Herman to leave mangers of salt for the animals, to control the works of emptying the ground of a lake, to hunt a goat that had given birth in the mountain and to take it to the farm so that the lynx did not eat up the baby animal, to change the cows from one side to another... Herman has three black families working for him, with the same conditions that during the apartheid, working hard but living together (without segregation). On the other hand, the work in the field continues being very underpaid, and when they can, the labourers are going to work in the city (more similarities with the emigrants in Europe). Theresa is teacher in a primary rural school, one of the many in South Africa, since the distances from the city are big. Today we have visited the school and saw how equipped it is, thanks to different donations, among them donations of food to encourage the children to go to school. All the children that they have are black. The children of Theresa and of the other whites of the area are admitted in a school in Graff-Reinet, more expensive but with more opportunities. Theresa explained to me that the rural school also existed during the apartheid, although at present the children have more opportunities of keeping studying. Anyway, according to Theresa, many blacks only think in the present and that makes them waste many good opportunities for tomorrow. The main problem of the school is the lack of transport; both professors collect some of the children on the road, but say that if there were school transport many more children would arrive to school. Herman and Theresa invited us to dine each evening. Before dining, Herman served a glass of brandy with ice. One of these days we ate Kudú meat, very good and without any fat. Then they explained to us that the wild animals are another income for Herman and Theresa, since there are many grazing on their territory. Therefore, hunters who hunt Springboks and Kudus pay them periodically for the meat per kg. Every year about 80 animals are killed on his lands, which constitute 25% of the total of the Springboks and Kudus, they kill a percentage that allows renewing the fauna annually. I understood this practice, after all in Spain wild boars and rabbits are also killed, but it seemed to me out of what was normal to see two lions dried, together with other animals, in a shop of Graff-Reinet (where we went to put a protection for the engine). When finishing dining, we went under the stars towards the autocaravan. Herman has explained to us that in the south hemisphere the stars are much more numerous, thus the milk way is much more visible. Addo Elephan National Park (see on map) 07/09/2007:
Alexandra has at last seen elephants in wild, using her own words: "it has been an orgasmic experience", I would not say as much, but almost. From the opening of the park at 7 in the morning, up to its closing at 6pm, we have been giving turns and turns through this National Park famous for the elephants. Although we have also observed many other animals: warthog or wild boar (more numerous that the elephants), buffalos, zebras, every type of antelopes, and total of 20 different spices that Alexandra has been in charge of keeping crossing out of the listing that we have been given in the entry . Anyway, we have kept the desires to see the rhinocers, the hyenas, the leopards and the lions, although of this last one we had listened to the roar next to a lake where the elephants instantaneously took a defensive position. If there was a lion, it was hidden among the low trees that covered almost all the park. The trees covered the sight of the animals up but it was the perfect place for the elephants. As it seems, in Addo Elephan National Park there are 450 elephants (we must have seen a tenth part). Hamburg (see on map) 09/09/2007:
South Africa is a marvelous country, but it already starts to get me tired. Its six weeks now since we travel over these lands and we still have many kilometres ahead before discovering new countries. The problem is probably due to not having met too many people. Anyway, we have today decided to modify the route and to go directly towards Pretoria and not to follow the road to Durban through the coast. Because, even if the coast is charming, with the sea, the beach, the dunes, the sun... it does not stop being the same every day. This morning we have been walking on the beach of Kenton-on-Sea and this afternoon we have relaxed on another charming and desert beach, in a small village called Hamburg. On the other hand, yesterday we visit the city of Port Elisabeth, which little or a lot also looked like the other cities: townships to the outskirts made up by small colourful houses, generally fenced and with high posters that illuminate the paths without asphalt during the night (the blacks live there); and in the centre, big avenues delimited by green parks, big trades, pretty family houses, office buildings... and as a general norm, few points of interest to visit (the rich ones live there). Yes, I need a change of air and maybe more adventure (without arriving to the limits like in Congo or Angola). Bloemfontein (see on map) 12/09/2007:
I asked for adventure and perhaps we have had too much. On the other hand, Monday I became annoyed with Alexandra because she did not want to take hitch-hikers, even if they were women. But yesterday Tuesday and today I have had to be the one who has done hitchhiking. To finish completing it, the transformer of my computer does not load. But lets take it step by step. On Monday we went out late from East London, where we washed clothes and connected to Internet. We directed towards the north on N6 (the friendly route!) but I mistook the road and did about sixty kilometres more. On Tuesday we started to have the real problems. The car lasted a while until i could turn it on, but as i did it, it seemed that the battery did not charge enough. Even so we followed the road up to Queenstown, where we stoped to redraw money, but when trying to start again the engine, it did not have sufficient force. The centre of Queenstown was full of blacks but nobody seemed interested in our problem, either the police or the drivers to which i made signals to stop and help us. Finally a white man made a call to a car service and someone came with a battery . Again on the road, with the intention of stopping half way to change the belt. I wanted to stop in a descent, but after few kilometres, the car started to lose power in a rise and it stopped. The battery was totally used up. I took out the old belt that we had installed in Congo and was well covered with cardboard. From Cape Town the belt screeched and they told me few days ago that to prevent it from doing that i had to put wax. But that seemed to worsen it. I went to install the other belt that i had also bought in Congo, but i ended up realising that it was too short and that i could not install it. I did not have a choice but to hitchhike up to Queenstown to buy a new belt. A policeman who investigated cases of infantile rape, which as he explained me is a very extended offence in South-Africa, generally committed by somebody of the familiar environment, drove the first car that stopped to take me. he explained to me that during the Apartheid the people did not denounce these crimes but they now trust more with the police and all this filth is coming out to the light. According to the policeman, the few working offers provoke that some men dedicate themselves to killing the time raping children. Finally, when asking him on the situation of the country, he commented that now it is much better than during the Apartheid although the corrupt government does not comply with the promises, new homes, new schools, hospitals... When hithing back to the car two workers stopped and while driving they explained that there was little work through the area and very underpaid. They also opined that there was crime a lot and that the situation had not improved too much since the end of apartheid. I could assemble the new belt, but then there was no battery. I tried to pull the autocaravan out leaving it to fall on reverse gear but it did not work either. Finally, we could stop a 4x4 and with their battery we could start our engine. But with the new belt it seemed that the battery neither loaded sufficient, and in some moments it wasnt charging at all. I deduced that the wax that I put in the previous belt made this one slide. I tightened the belt more but the problem was the same. This morning I have dismantled the belt again, cleaned the pulleys with degreasing agent and assembled the belt well tightened (too much) again. We have started off the car with the help of another 4x4 and we have followed the route, checking if the battery loaded up normally. But few kilometres away, the new belt has broken, probably for the excessive pressure with which i had tightened it. I have done hitchhiking again to buy a new belt. The first time has stopped a Hindu Indian who worked for a construction company. He lived in Natal, home of Zulus and with a big Indian community. He follows the Hindu traditions even if he has never been in India. Finally he explained to me that during the apartheid it was bad for them, but now its time tof forgive and forget.When returning from the town with the belt a mini-bus full of passengers stopped and they didnt want any money from me. In all the cases they have stopped relatively quickly, probably because I am white and they think that I will hardly be a criminal. I have installed the new, not excessively tense belt, and sprayed it with a special liquid that I have also bought. We have started the engine with the little power of the battery and it seemed everything ok. Anyway, in the following town I have gone to a couple of service areas to make sure that everything was ok. And finally we have followed the road up to Bloemfontein. 13/09/2007: Bloemfontein is not at all interesting according to the European standards, but out we have spent the morning together with Christo and a friend of his talking about journeys although also a little about politcs. Christo and his friend work for an organisation depending on the state. They commented that during the apartheid there were only white people working. After the first free choices many whites had feared that the situation would worsen and that would be dismissed and emigrated towards Anglo-Saxon countries. On the other hand, the subsequent positive discrimination also helped to which alone a minority of the current civil servants are white. Anyway,today, less importance is given to the colour of the skin and the people are hired according to their capacities. Pretoria (see on map) 21/09/2007:
We have passed a week between Johanesburg and Pretoria, basically finishing the preliminaries for the continuation of the journey: carrying out the visa of entry for Botswana cause Alexandra needed one(the Spanish do not need it), carrying out my visa to enter Zambia (Alexandra was very happy when she found out that the Romanians did not need a visa), changing the front tyres of the car, ordering a new power supplier for my computer, and buying food(cans of everything). We have also had time to meet with different people but not too much to do, because neither Johanesburg nor Pretoria have the attractions nor the charm of Cape Town. Johanesburg is the biggest city of South Africa and according to the information that we had, one of the most dangerous. when entering, we saw a poster in the road that announced "danger ¡ high jaking hotpots for the next 7 km". When passing towards Pretoria we observed a white boy driving a motorcycle and he had a pistol in tha back of his jeans. One may understand why many conversations turn towards the problem of insecurity. We met some Argentines who sold weapons in a market in Pretoria and who lived in South Africa for 25 years. They explained that the first five years after the apartheid there was hatred towards the whites, but, the hatred diluted afterwards, only criminality and violence remaining. Antoinette, a girl from Johanesburg who we meet a couple of days, was also quite worried. In the last 10 years she was robbed 6 times in her house, emptying it of electrical appliances. luckyly, she was not home, because it is not important for the thieves if they enter and the owners are there cause they can torture them to take all the money. And this is the main problem of the criminality: South Africa is one of the countries with the most violent crimes in the world. It surprised us that in the centre of Johanesburg and Pretoria there were only blacks buying and walking. It also surprised us to observe whites carrying out little qualified works: guarding parking places, cooking food in the street... But what surprised us more was to observe destitute whites asking the blacks for charity in the centre of Johanesburg and Pretoria. Antoinette explained to us that after the apartheid the work for the blacks was favoured, with the positive discrimination, so some whites lost their jobs. On the other hand, during the Apartheid, the centre of Johanesburg and Pretoria belonged to the whites, but, these have kept moving afterwards towards rich neighbourhoods to the outskirts. In Pretoria we met on different days with another girl from Couchsurfing, Riana, that was accompanied by her friend Maski, of Etiópian origin. The first night they took us to a deumming circle. They took us to the outskirts of the city, where we expected to find a crowd of blacks playing drums in the middle of a wasteland. But we were in an enclosed space with about fifty people, where all the world was white except Maski, and everybody was playing their own drum. We also rented some drums and we added ourselves to the circle. The therapy was excellent, but when going out I asked Riana: - Why everybody is white? She was a little late to answer but she commented afterwards: - Its due to the racial segregation. Even if the apartheid has finished, the white and black culture still are too different as to share certain spaces. I suppose that it was like this. The blacks must also touch the drums, but in another way, probably screaming and dancing enraptured, not as to there that in spite of the fire and the rhythm it was a quite a cold atmosphere. Sunday we also enjoy it with Riana, Maski and her mother, doing a picnic in the botanical gardens of Pretoria. And yesterday we remained with them and other people from Couchsurfing. There was a boy of rich origin and afrikaner that explained that during the ellections in 94 (right after the apartheid) his parents had all the money transferred to Europe and had a car prepared to arrive to a private airport where and airplain waited for them. They had fear of reprisals, but the reality was very different, the blacks forgave and even now he is surprised how well are received the whites between the blacks. I thought that the different blacks that we had found in South Africa had appeared very nice and cheerful with us because we were tourists, but according to this boy, they were with all the world. One of the few touristic attractions that we visited was the Museum of the Apartheid in Johanesburg. I was surprised by the two entries that they have in the museum: "only whites" and "non white" with the originality that the whites have to enter through the door of "non whites". inside there is a lot of information and in a certain way it makes you understand the cause why at present both communities: white and black, are still so separate in a cultural way. For example, we run into a Friend of Antonette who worked for the department of sports of the television and she confirmed an observation to me: the interest for soccer in South Africa is usually black and white in the case of the rugby and críquet. Kruger National Park (see on map) 23/09/2007:
I only have 15 € in my current account. It is not a despairing situation, because soon they have to deposit the fees of some written articles and because I can increase the loan of a card, but it is not a nice situation either. South Africa is the country where we have used more money: fixing the car, buying food and enjoying the great variety of offers in products and services. Anyway, in spite of the financial situation, we have decided to visit the National Park of Kruger, since the nature reserves of South Africa are the most economic of the continent, besides, Kruger is one of the most important. On the way to Kruger, we have enjoyed some nice natural places : the canyon of the river Blyde and two impressive cascades.unluckyly, these places have received another undesired visit: the fire, probably provoked accidentally by the farmers who burn the dry grass of the fields so that the green one appears below. We have also visited the small town of Pilgrim's Rest, a former mining town at present crowded with tourists. In Pilgrim's Rest we have had the luck of observing a competition of gold searching, who mixed a bucket of sand of the area up in the water in search of gold nuggets. And they found them! Some 16, others 14... although the time of search also counted to designate the winner. 25/09/2007:
Yesterday in the morning we had luck. We found a group of cars stopped with the passengers observing a small pond apparently empty (apart from some turtles). Through the open windows, we asked what they were observing and they answered us that there was a lion among the thickets. After a good while looking we could decipher an enormous face of the lion among the branches. After little some antelopes approached to drink the water of the pond. But they were restless, sniffing the danger - maybe they did not like to feel so observed - and at the minimum they jumped scared. But little by little they kept approaching to the water and some started to drink. I thought that the lion would expect more antelopes there to be drinking, but suddenly it jumped from his hiding place and hurled against the antelopes, with the bad luck for one of them that slid in the water, losing a precious time, infinitely valuable, because with four crossings the lion thrown it self on it killing it in the middle of the foamy pond. The rest of the group of antelopes, stopped at a hundred meters, observing their fallen colleague and probably trying to remember forever not to be catched in a similar ambush (but for sure that will repeat). Observing a lion hunting and killing - and to photograph it –has been the height of our expectations, because of that the rest of the visit in the National Park of Kruger, yesterday as well as today, seemed and felt rather drowsy. Anyway, yesterday at dusk, right before arriving on the exit, we observed a cheetah looking for pray and a big rhinocer with a baby. We also observed yesterday many other animals, but not as interesting as a lion hunting and killing. Maybe the most interesting of today, a grey and rainy day, have been the hippos and a hyena that was dying next to the road. And for the last 100 kilometres, before arriving on the exit, we have not seen even antelopes. Near the exit we have found a 4x4 full of tourists and their driver and guide has stopped us to ask us. - Have you seen any animal? - No - we have answered. The guide made a worried face and the tourists of resignation. Probably, we have gotten tired of 10 daily hours of driving with the sight put on the sides of the road, but it has gone well, because part of the desires of visiting other costlier parks in other countries has been turned off. Botswana Serowe (see on map) 28/09/2007:
In Barcelona there is the saying: "Barcelona is good if there is money", and about Botswana could be said the same, although the two places can not be compared. The big touristy attractions of Botswana are the nature reserves, but we will probably not visit any, because the prices make it inaccessible. On the other hand, Botswana does not differ too much from Namibia, with good roads, at first sight, very arid landscape and plain, with fences along the roadway, and also plains and the villages’ large but little populated. The differences with Namibia are the sporadic presence of small villages of houses made of mud and roofs of straw and the numerous veterinary controls that can be found along the road. We entered Botswana avoiding Gaborone, the capital in the south, in order to save ourselves some hundred kilometres of road. So, the first stop has been Serowe, a town without any interest (as all the other ones that we have crossed), but that contains a museum with free entry. The museum, very simple, exposes different objects and photographs of the previous royal dynasty of Botswana, which had a strong British influence although it was poverty-stricken according to the European royal standards,. In the museum I met a Rasta boy with long hair, called Scobie, which confirmed me that, as every Rasta-man, he is vegetarian and smokes marihuana. Afterwards I showed interest on his country and he explained to me that Botswana has an extension superior to France but it only counts about 1.6 million inhabitants. Botswana would be a poor country if it were not through the excellent mines of diamonds (and of other minerals and metals) that has, that fortunately the government inverts for the benefit of all the population, with good roads, schools, hospitals... Anyway, the lack of work also affects Botswana, and according to Scobie, the government could do more. Afterwards Scobie explained to me that the people keep the tradition of the "kjotla", a place where the neighbours are brought together and they can express their opinions without restrictions. As it seems, the government holds contact with the "kjotles" of the different villages in order to define the policies of the future of the country. Kasane (see on map) 30/09/2007:
I thought that we would not enjoy the natural attractions of Botswana, but it has not been like this. Yesterday, following our path towards the north, we diverted towards the small people of Sowa with the intention of visiting Suda Pan, an immense plain of salt. We crossed the town and continued through a path with a big poster: "private path". At the end of the path there was a big factory of salt without access to the salt works. I asked to the guardian if there was some path to visit Suda Pan and he indicated another path with another poster of "prohibited entering" that I ignored again in spite of the complaints of Alexandra. Luckily the path took us to the plain (not completely of salt), where many gnus grazed. Today, we have reached Kasane, the people next to the border with Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It must be the only place in the world where 4 countries converge and besides there is a border crossing in which you can decide in which of the other three countries to go (at least from Botswana). Near Kasane is Chobe National Park, and with the excuse of going to the border of Namibia, we have crossed it through a road of transit. Although the road does not pass near the river Chobe where the animals are going to drink water, we have seen quite a lot of elephants and some antelopes, pigs, zebras, buffalos and baboons. Zambia Livingstone (see on map) 01/10/2007:
Even if we have enjoyed Botswana for the last 5 days, today in the morning we have crossed the border towards Zambia, trouble free but yes with many costs: 20 € to cross the river with the ferry; 30 € of rates to enter the car in Zambia; 50 € of the compulsory third party insurance; 10 € for the tolls up to Livingstone. As we reached Livingstone (without finding any toll) we have taken 1 million Kwacha (200 euros) from an ATM, we have bought a new card for the phone and we have connected to Internet. Ben and Maria had written a message in which they explained to us that they had resigned from the hostel in Zambia due to the problems with the owners. We were not lucky cause because they left the lodge we haven’t been able to visit them in the Nature Reserve where they worked because today they crossed the border towards Botswana and for sure we have passed without seeing each other on the road. The main motif to visit Livingstone it’s the fact that it’s close to the Victoria waterfalls. In 1855 David Livingstone arrived to these marvellous waterfalls and he named them Victoria in honour of the queen of England (that was sponsoring his journey and many others). David Livingstone established contact with the natives of a village called Mukundi and also our guide book recommended visiting. We have left towards the village circulating through a dirt track that they were fixing, but in a moment we have blocked because the protection that I installed in the basses of the engine was too low. Alexandra became hysterical, screaming and crying and I had to threaten her that if she does not calm down we would go immediately to Lusaka so that she can take a plane. Luckily, there have only been necessary about 15 minutes of works with the shovel (which a worker of the road has carried out) to unblock the autocaravan. Then we have followed the road of sand at a high speed not to return to block but I kept being calm with the protection (Alexandra kept sobbing that we would block again). The visit to the village has not been too different to the hikes through other villages in Africa, but it has been nice to have a guide that was explaining me that the home of the head of the village is called the house of the sleeping lion, she showed me where David Livingston met the head of the village, or the small prison of the village where the violent drunkards are confined 2 or 3 days. The village has 7000 inhabitants and when asking the guide of what they live he has explained me that basically from tourism, so, the activities and the structure of the village have to be quite different to the ones observed by David Livigstone 150 years ago. ‹ Previous (02/08/2007) MONTH Next (2007-10-01)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› |
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