| |
| Who are we | >> Diary << | Alex Diari | Photos | Project | Answers | Videos | Questionnaire | Itinerary | Sponsors | Other travellers | Collaborate | Contact |
Diary This is Jan's diary. If you want to receive this diary by mail, write your mail on the contact form.
‹ Previous (26/06/2007) MONTH Next (2007-08-25)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-16 - Angola) COUNTRY Next (2007-07-28 - South Africa)› Namibia Windhoek (see on map) 26/07/2007:
We have received the fax of the ambassador of Romania and the embassy of South Africa has also received the consent of Pretoria and the assistant has commented to the supervisor, we will tomorrow have the visa in the passport of Alexandra. At last, the main problem was solved. Now we had to solve many other secondary problems, as for example to change the oil and filters of the car that was done very nicely by a service in spite of the fact that they were working on schedule. And in the afternoon we have relaxed. We have done tourism again since last time was long ago. Alexandra went to walk for shops and department stores and i visited churches and museums. Windhoek does not seem an African city. When we entered some days ago we identified it with Copenhagen. The city is clean, tidy; with big well asphalted avenues flanked by modern buildings and green parks; with some streets for pedestrians, centres of tourist information, women selling imported African art, and many whites walking, some of which have commented that the country is much worse now than years ago (in Namibia there had also been apartheid), a thought similar to the South Africans. South Africa frontera (see on map) 28/07/2007:
Alexandra already had the 3 days visa expired, but after collecting the South African visa, the office of immigration in Windhoek allowed us to arrive to the border the day after, Saturday, in the morning. But we took a couple of touristy visits ourselves through the country and we have arrived today, on Sunday, at night. These visits have obliged me to drive many more kilometres for roads and tracks, which despite being excellent, start to weigh on my aching back of so many African races. For luck, in South Africa, we will be able to relax ourselves at last (I cross fingers). On Saturday we visited the dunes of Sossusvlei introducing us in a territory where ostriches, antelopes and órixs grazed surrounded by big mountains of sand. When we could not advance more, we did a hike among the dunes to arrive to a valley that sometimes is flooded, with the ground cracked as a puzzle and the few trees lye in the powerful heat of the sun. We also discovered the small and interesting canyon of Sesriem, but not as spectacular as the Fish River canyon that we have visited today Sunday, an impressive and deep canyon winding through the middle of an arid plain, but, there was no river and no fish. Bitterfontein (see on map) 01/08/2007:
Yes, we have at last started to relax. The races finished and we have started to drive with pleasure, few kilometres every day, enjoying the landscape and discovering pretty places. Before however, we did a small technical stop in Springbok, to buy groceries, clothes on sales, gas for the auto caravan (here it is winter - spring and starts to be cold) and to operate Alexandra. When arriving to Springbok Alex discovered a black and painless granite with a hole to the centre that seemed like a parasite under the small finger of the foot. And indeed, we went to the doctor and with a needle he took out a larva of fly, or of some older bug, because the animal in the form of white worm measuring almost one centimetre. In Springbok it started to surprise us the physiognomy of the South Africans, with Asian features (I have read afterwards that in the seventeenth century slaves of the east of Asia were brought to Cape Town). Also there are whites, which as in Namibia direct the businesses usually. We have observed some men driving 4x4, listening to country music and exhibiting cow-boy hats, a copied image of the Texan legends of the United States. Perhaps one may not find it strange if we think that the history of both countries has many similarities. The Englishmen colonised a new continent where already there were other natives living. After a time exterminating natives, the settlers wanted the independence from England and a war breaks out. The two new independent countries prosper thanks to the slaves, but a fight consolidates with time in favour of the human rights and finally the dignity imposes itself. Maybe, one of the most important differences in this history is the proportion of black and whites that has remained, where in the case of Africa South little more than 10% are white, although they continue having most of the wealth of the country. The last two days we lost ourselves through small tracks that were going to coastal villages south of Springbok, a region famous for the flowers that bloom in spring. We had arrived two weeks earlier (the two weeks that we could have been visiting Namibia), but there already started to be many flowers, illuminating some meadows with tonality, red, yellow violet, white, orange, blue... The places were excellent. The only blemish in comparison with Namibia was the great quantity of fields fenced and the consequent non-existence of wild animals crossing the road (except for a turtle). Cap town (see on map) 04/08/2007:
We have been three days circulating towards the south, to Cape Town, without haste and driving few hours per day, although not always for the shortest path. The first day, despite being grey and rainy, we went towards the mountains of Cederberg with the expectation to do some hike on the following day. But for the joy of Alexandra, exactly when going out of the auto caravan to do the excursion, it started to rain again. We followed the road towards Ceres, driving through a big valley with impressive sights - through the mountains as well as for the climate. And today we have continued with the sunny day crossing a mountain crossing where there were baboons and in the afternoon we walked through the town called Paarl. It has surprised us, that in the town centre we only saw whites. To the outskirts there were poor neighbourhoods where the blacks seemed to be living, but in the centre there was none, either through the street or in a very busy bar where we have taken a drink. It has surprised us, but the motifs seemed evident when knowing the history of the area. The west half of the province of Cape Town was declared during the apartheid "preferably white", and consequently the construction of new homes for blacks or the recruitment of blacks was forbidden if it was not proved that there were whites ready to do the job. 14/08/2007:
It’s already one week since we arrived in Cape Town and we will still be here for another week or more. We had marked Cape Town long time ago on our map as a technical stop and also Alexandra had to renew her passport. We went to her embassy, completed the necessary forms, sent them with DHL in Romania and today her brother phoned us, saying that in the police station they do not accept one of the forms because it doesn’t have the correct seal of the embassy, that is, we will have to repeat the process. On the other hand, the car needed some repairs to be able to follow the journey trouble free (or with less problems): fixing the starter; adding the end of the exhaust pipe; holding a part of the radiator that was falling; dismantling and taking the fridge out of the autocaravan so that they can repair it; and some other small repairs that we will probably leave for further on. Anyway, Cape Town would also have deserved a long stay, and between management and repair we have also had time to relax and enjoy this charming city and its people. We arrived last Sunday, a sunny day that was magnifying the panoramic view of the city of skyscrapers in front of the ocean and small houses extending up to the lap of the impressive Table Mountain. We walked in a big mall and recreational hotspot in front of the port, where there were some outdoor shows interpreted by black people (or colour people) in front of a majority of white spectators. In the afternoon we went to View Point with the car where there is a good view on the city surrounded by the ocean. When going out of the car, a man with two girls was looking at the map printed on the autocaravan and began to show interest in our journey. We answered some questions and asked him afterwards whether he knew any safe place where to park the autocaravan during the night. He suggested parking it in front of his home, a little on the outskirts and like this we did. We have spent very nice days with Johan and Maryna and their daughters Nina and Nicola Botha. During the day we have been running up and down through the city, but every night we have parked in front of their house and spent very good evenings with them maintaining some very interesting conversations. I showed interest on the apartheid, not without asking them before whether it was a taboo subject. They answered me very openly but some of the questions produced some family disagreements, between Johan and the mother of Maryna, Saarah. Johan opined that the government during the apartheid did not make anything good and that if it had not lost so much energy keeping the black and white communities separate at present South Africa would be at the level of Australia. Saarah opined however, that the government during the apartheid had made very positive things that the current government can destroy and that on the other hand the racial segregation already had been initiated by the Englishmen with posters of the type "only whites". What yes Saarah accepted is that the government during the apartheid should have promoted more the education of the non white community for which at present, the black community claims the same educational and working opportunities but they do not have the same base (45% of the South Africans are illiterate). Saarah works as music professor in a good school. When finishing the racial segregation the school opened the doors to the non white pupils, but these - according to Saarah - do not have the educational base of the whites and the level of all the class is lower. The explanations of Saarah did not surprise me, because many professors in Europe complain about similar problems with the immigrants. I thought that South Africa is going out from a dark period of racism, but Europe is maybe entering a similar dark period... They followed explaining the situation of the country after the ending of the apartheid. There are blacks that do not have preparation to occupy specific jobs but there are laws of positive discrimination and they access to good positions in front of other better prepared whites. It is the same in the university, where the note of entry for the whites is higher than for those that are not. Johan opined that despite being a drastic measure perhaps it was a good action for both communities to put a little more and to create a productive black middle class for the country. Anyway, there are many things to do still, the government (black) follows liberal policies that benefit the rich ones (generally white) and maintain to the poverty many town ships, with bad education and very deficient healthcare. These marginal town ships, the only consolation that have after the apartheid is that they have gained the freedom despite continuing in misery. The Botha family described the current South Africa as a small Europe in Africa, where you can find areas very developed (as Cape Town) close to tribal villages that are still anchored in the past, living with their traditions, rituals, introductions... This Africa and Europe are obliged to understand themselves and to evolve together, although it will not be an easy task. Before the only concern of the government was to maintain an infrastructure for 6 million whites, but, with the same money, at present they have to take care of a country of 45 millions. We have not met only with the Botha family; we have also run into other people that we had contacted through Couchsurfing. We met Mandi, a graphic arts young student. Mandi was coloured, born in Springbok and emigrated to Paarl once finished the Apartheid. In Paarl she felt a little out of place, because she lived in the middle of the white neighbourhood, but she was able to make friends in time and now she feels at ease; she does not observe racism either, for at present it is considered very bad. Mandi also explained to us what meant being coloured. According to the record of the population during the Apartheid three great racial groups were defined: "white", "red" and "native". The "red" ones were classified in different groups according to their origin, Indian, Chinese, mulatto... The "natives" were also classified in another 8 groups according to the tribe from whom they originated. In any case, the "red" ones and the "natives" they were considered an inferior class - the "natives" still more inferior than the "red" ones - and closed them automatically some doors, as for example the good education or the good working opportunities. On the other hand, they tried to keep all the social groups separate or segregated among eachother. Another girl from Couchsurfing that lived close to a beach in the south of Cape Town (from where we could observe some whales and seals) invited us to a party at her house. There I talked with Jessica, a girl from Johanesburg that explained the differences between the capital (competitive, materialist, racial conflicts) and Cape Town (relaxed, slow, and integrated). Jessica - white - also opined that during the apartheid the government had more money and that therefore the blacks ate better had home, better health... Fikiswa, a black girl that worked for an ONG in the poor neighbourhoods, confirmed me that at present there is a lot of poverty and insecurity, but that before was the same, with the difference that at least now the government does not kill you. Anyway, even if it is slow and complicated, the state is making steps and takes actions to improve the life of these people, with better schools, better medical centres... ‹ Previous (26/06/2007) MONTH Next (2007-08-25)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-16 - Angola) COUNTRY Next (2007-07-28 - South Africa)› |
|
