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‹ Previous (30/06/2007) MONTH Next (2007-08-29)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› South Africa 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... 26/08/2007:
In total, we have enjoyed three marvellous weeks in Cape Town, since the passport of Alexandra has not arrived until this Friday. The first week in the city was quite technical and focused to renew the passport and to solve the problems that the car dragged, but the following days we have been able to enjoy knowing this charming city and its surroundings. And perhaps are these surroundings, exuberant of nature, that give Cape Town this fresh, calm and recreational air. We visited Hermanus, a town famous for the whale fauna; anyway, even before arriving we had seen them. A couple of whales played in a loving way near the coast showing the wings above the waves and letting out the air through the orifice on their back with a low-pitched noise similar to that of a flute. Another day we also went over the east coast, but towards south, up to the spectacular Cape of Good Hope, the most southeastern cape of Africa ( cape of Agulhas is found more south), where we could observe ostriches, zebras and baboons, and a colony of small and cute penguins in the Simon village, little before arriving to the cape. In the southwest of Cape Town, there is another town called Hout Bay with a pretty port of fishermen where we ate the typical Fish & Chips and we would have followed the way through the famous cliffs of the Chapman peak but few days ago a rock detached and fell in the middle of the road blocking it. We didn’t go up on Table Mountain either, because for quite a lot of days it has been cloudy and because further on we read in the journal that many thefts were taking place on the mountain. But yes we visit the charming nature reserve of the West Coast in the company of the Botha family, where we could observe ostriches, elands and buffalos on enormous fields absolutely covered by yellow ,white, orange flowers. Closer to Cape Town we visited the immaculate botanical gardens of Kirstenbosch and the suburbs of Guguletu, where Mandi invited us last Sunday to a dance party in the street, with food, music and people dancing (black, red and white tourists). We also went over the town centre, surrounded with skyscraper and malls but also with parks and museums. Most of the museums had free entry on Saturday, so we could visit the majority, among them the exquisite National Gallery, the impressive Museum of South Africa, the museum of the district six and the museum of Slavery. The museum of the district six is dedicated to the expropriation and demolition of the district six, populated by black and coloured during the apartheid. In the museum I read that the non white needed a passing card to be able to move, without which they would have been stopped and detained. Therefore, they always walked with fear, a similar fear to which the illegal immigrants must feel (or not) in Europe (a fear that was condemnable in South Africa but that maybe it should also be condemned in Europe). In the museum of slavery, of all the barbarities I would remember here one that a leader said during the apartheid: "which meaning has to show mathematics to a Bantu (or black) when he will never use it in practice"?. To finish, yesterday we had visited the Robben Island, the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and also many other leaders of ANC who fought against the Apartheid. Today it was the anniversary of Nina and we have met again with the Botha family. When explaining to Johan the excursion of yesterday at Robben island, he has explained me that until now he had not visited the island because according to him, the fight of ANC had not been as romantic as it is seen from outside, because ANC also committed many atrocities, to the ones that were considered collaborators of the regime. Anyway, i ended up believing that the individual history of many leaders (and of the society in general) that they sacrificed the life or the freedom to fight against an injustice could be defined as romantic. During these weeks in Cape Town, the most read newspaper in Catalonia published an article of mine about Mbie, the village in the border of Congo, and that encouraged me to prepare a report on education in South Africa, taking the conversations maintained the first week with Saarah for reference. With this goal, I visited the school of Groote Schuur High School, where Saarah was a teacher, a school in the middle of a white rich neighbourhood, but close to a suburb of huts. It was one of the first schools of afrikaaners to register non whites, but at present the white pupils are the minority and as it seems, the low educational level and bad behaviour of some pupils of colour brings down the whole level of the school. It’s been some time now that they are encountering problems of vandalism and severe lacks of respect, but the school can not expel the bad pupils, and the situation has not been straightened until now, when they had installed hidden cameras in the classes. The adviser of the school explained to me that there are pupils that their parents take them out of the suburbs, due to the bands of gangsters. But these pupils do not feel fortunate at school, because they do not have friends from their environment and feel isolated and discouraged. On the other hand, the adviser also said that the students, and in general the youth in South Africa, confronts problems similar to the ones in Europe: alcohol, drugs and sex, with the difference that the sex is not taboo because they are gotten used to living in a unique room where the sexuality of the parents is difficult to conceal and with the added problem of the AIDS, which has infected to 20% of the South Africans. Eden, a girl of colour that I could interview also opined that the discipline at school was every time worse, but not due to a problem of social class or of colour, but due to the excessive freedom and products that the parents give to their children. Eden was one of the first girls to enter in a non white school; anyway she did not feel discriminated apart from giving her forces to prove and to become strong. Anyway, she knew the issue of the schools in the suburbs, where the education is bad and without material. Linnell, an English teacher professor that had worked in different schools, had also the same opinion, explaining that the professors of the suburbs are not prepared nor motivated (with cases of absenteeism and alcoholism) and without technology (Internet, photocopying machine...). The problem is that many donations that have been done to the suburbs to invest in the school end up being lost. I also had opportunity of talking with the pupils of the class of Linnel, which opined that the cultural diversity of the school makes it more interesting and richer, and that there is no tension although they don’t make too many friends are done with the different cultures. For example, the Kosa talk between them in their language and isolate themselves from the rest. During the conversation, the pupils complained that the majority of the professors were white, because they thought that the professors of colour would understand them better. During the visit to the school I kept a sentence of Saarah that made me think: "the blacks try not to stand out among their colleagues". At first, mentally I qualified the sentence as incorrect, but afterwards, I analysed it with other conversations maintained during the journey through Africa and ended up deducing that this could be one of the main problems of the continent. I remembered the conversations in Mbie, where they explained to me that the men did not feel like working but they were resentful and jealous with those that tried to prosper. Perhaps it was an ancestral attitude, when there was only one head of the village and those that tried to stand out (or they stood out naturally) above the head were eliminated automatically. If it was like this, then this attitude could be good to survive in the antiquity, but not at present, in this capitalist and competitive world, in which if you do not stand out you are dead. -- During the stay with Johan and Maryna I interviewed them for the project of taking the pulse to the world. Johan opined that the main problem of the world is the lack of natural resources and the bad management that provokes conflicts. Maryna opined that the main problem was poverty. The solution to the second problem would be in creating more social governments that promote the education. The main problem in South Africa is also poverty and education, because South Africa is a micro cosmos of the world. The solution equally would be found in promoting the education and perhaps creating a social revolution. At personal level they could give money or time, but the most important thing to solve these problems, is to change attitudes. Johan and Maryna consider themselves happy, even if Johan is sometimes a little stressed out and with little time. Johan would be happier if he had more money to be able to relaxe. The secret of happiness is to accept life and to have humour. Franschhoek (see on map) 29/08/2007:
We went out of Cape Town, a city that we had enjoyed during three weeks, with the sensation that we return to the adventure, that we are initiating the journey towards Egypt, up on the continent. Cape Town was a destination, was the point more in the south of the continent that we thought to visit and for the vehicle had been a point of rest where we had time to put it up on a perfect condition. Also from Cape Town we had defined the rest of the route to follow in Africa. From South Africa towards Botswana, not Zimbabwe, where there is an important crisis provoked by the dictator (the current South African government is not criticising him how it should, although it is also true, that South Africa needs to stabilise and to develop in order to be able to open the market, since the rest of the developed world is too far). From Botswana we will go to Victoria Waterfalls in Zambia, where we expect to find Ben and Maria. Next we will pass then Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya (in the north it seems that the roads worsen a lot again), Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. It will probably be again a journey with many difficulties; similar to the one lived up to the moment, but the confidence of having solved this part satisfactorily fills me with optimism. We left Cape Town a bit ill, with pain of collar , that I aam sure it comes from the trip with the boat to the Robben island. It was bad luck, for that going out of Cape Town we have directed ourselves to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, at the beginning of a large wine-yielding region, and we have not been able to stop to do any wine tasting. Maybe further on... But yes that we have been able to visit both well protected towns. Stellenbosch is the second oldest town (after Cape Town) of South Africa (founded by the whites) and it really inspires such calmness, academic and European atmosphere. Franschhoek is smaller and more select, with French reminiscences. ‹ Previous (30/06/2007) MONTH Next (2007-08-29)› ‹ Previous (2007-07-21 - Namibia) COUNTRY Next (2007-09-28 - Botswana)› |
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