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Diary This is Jan's diary. If you want to receive this diary by mail, write your mail on the contact form.
‹ Previous (11/08/2007) MONTH Next (2007-10-10)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› South Africa 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. 02/10/2007:
When arriving to the Victoria waterfalls we had an unpleasant surprise that I did not expect: it was dry season and the flow of the river Zambezi was at only 5% of its maximum. Only in the part of Zimbawe the cascades maintained an important flow lifting a white mist. The advantage - if it can be called like that - is that we have been able to walk on top of the waterfalls crossing barefoot small segments of river that led to the precipice. In any case, in spite of the few water, the environment is spectacular and still to imagine the cascade with all its force it is even more. Imagine a large river of 1,7 kilometres of width that flows through a big plain. But unexpectedly, in the middle of the plain and in front of the river a crack of 108 meters of height appears and the water of the Zambezi is precipitated into the crack, continuing its tour, from there, through a narrow throat. You can also imagine the show from the words of Livingstone: "Only the angels are capable of creating places as marvellous as this". Lusaka (see on map) 03/10/2007:
Yesterday we spent the night in a road away from the road to the outskirts of Livingstone, on the way to Lusaka. At night an old man from the farm next to the road passed and he told us that we could sleep there without problem. This morning the old man came again and asked me whether i could pay him anything for the parking place, but I have explained to him that i could not pay him anything (or almost anything), since our budget in such a long journey was so low that it did not allow us not even to sleep in camping. The man has understood my explanations and without being annoyed has started to give me conversation, explaining that he has a group of 50 cows, although 3 years ago he had 200 more that died due to a plague. After returning to the road and covering a hundred km, we have stopped in some town that had a super market. I have gone out to take photos and to buy bread and it has surprised me the kindness of the people, that cheerfully asked me about my country and afterwards they cheered up even more if i photographed them. Mid-afternoon we have found a poster that indicated "fort Monze, national monument, 17 km." My guide book did not have any information about the fort, but in the roadmap it was marked. So, in spite of Alexandra, we have entered through a dirt track that crossed different small villages of houses made of mud and straw, where i asked about the direction towards the fort. The people always answered me very nicely indicating the direction, although that has not been sufficient, because we have gotten lost. Finally a man has offered to accompany us but, as I already knew that Alexandra does not want anybody to go up in the autocaravan, I have told him that we would find it alone. But we have not found the fort, although the research has been a good excuse to discover the pretty places and the calm life of deep Zambia. Returning from the excursion, I have exploded with Alexandra and have declared to her that I am tired of her lack of optimism and of interest to know new places and new people. I was decided to break the relation once arrived to Lusaka. But later, the tension has been softened and we have decided to give each other a new opportunity. 05/10/2007:
Arriving to Lusaka we saw a group of women breaking stones, I stopped to take a photo and to ask how much it costs a heap of stones - only 10 €. When I returned to the car Alexandra asked me why i had not asked them whether their husbands also worked. Good question. In the rest of countries through which we had passed those that brake stones were the men. Maybe this is one of the motifs that in Zambia the women try desperately to get married with white men to go out of poverty. In any case, this situation is also happening in other countries, but in Zambia we discovered it thanks to Mick and Isaac, two Jews that have different businesses in Zambia. Isaac, despite being white, is born in Botswana. He explained to me that his family was friend of the previous royal dynasty of Botswana and of the first president of the country and could therefore assure that Botswana is one of the few countries of Africa without corruption. On the other hand, Isaac had worked for a lot of time as professional hunter, hired by Europeans and Americans who wanted to shoot any type of animal, including lions or elephants. Although he said that he would never do the same again, he defended the controlled killing of animals in order to create an environmental balance. I did not want to argue in a too hard way with him, after all in Europe we had exterminated almost all the wild fauna. Now, Isaac has a company of extraction of material on open mines. These days he was expecting a contract to be signed for the next five years and therefore he has spent quite a lot of time with us, looking at the television or showing us the chaotic traffic of the city. When entering in the city we had loaded the autocaravan with diesel (more than one Euro per litre), but today there were many queues in few gas stations, for the fuel was being finished in all Zámbia because the government did not pay for two months the fuel that was imported across Tanzania (the official reason was that the refinery is broken) Mick originates from Israel and before arriving to Zambia has gone half the world creating businesses. Mick as well as Isaac explained to us that Africa is still a virgin land with many opportunities of business. Anyway, the Chinese are keeping most of the market. The Chinese companies arrive with their managers but also with their own workers that work for a price even lower than the Africans (1 $ per day) and are much more efficient. The Africans think that the Chinese workers are convicted, and perhaps they are. Today at night we have gone out to party with Mick and Isaac. We have met one of the girlfriends of Isaac, a very attractive and nice black girl. Mick said that tonight would not go to bed with anybody, for although he is married to a girl that lives in Uganda, in the morning will arrive one of his girlfriends from Zambia. Anyway, really, if Isaac had wanted he would have been able to take the girls that he wanted to the bed, because they were throwing themselves on them, and would also have been thrown on me if it were not because of Alexandra holding my arm tight and throwing fierce looks to any girl that dared to look at me. 07/10/2007:
It has been a very interesting weekend. On Saturday we loaded the 4x4 of Mick and Isaac and, accompanied by their girls, we directed ourselves on dirt tracks to a lodge on the edge of the large river Zambezi, the same river of the Victoria waterfalls, although in the waterfalls it seemed almost dry. We have well relaxed swimming in the pool, fishing in the river, cooking barbecues... When returning today in the afternoon, Isaac has shown his rough character with the Africans, insulting them as "monkeys" to the smallest setback that was caused. In some moments, Mick tried to soften his aggressiveness with humour, although the bitter aftertaste in the mouth was not so easy to be eliminated. It seemed impossible that Isaac could have such an affable and collaborative character sometimes and to be so repulsive in other moments. Maybe, if I had been born surrounded by blacks and with an education that encouraged in Africa my white superiority I would also probably have the same character. Anyway, it does not stop being strange that he has so much antipathy towards the blacks but he can not live out of Africa. ‹ Previous (11/08/2007) MONTH Next (2007-10-10)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› |
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