Imizamo Yethu

Sunday we drove south along the coast to Hout Bay and I had my first planned visit to a township (I confused the M44 for the R44 a few weeks ago and drove into a place that wasn't the safest). Imizamo Yethu (a.k.a. Mandela Park) was established for a few hundred people and is not home to thousands.

I struggled with whether or not to do a this while I was here because at in effect, you are going on a tour to see people in poverty.

It was eye-opening and sad. Africa (our guide) met us just outside the township and told us the history. He took us to his home, a local food store, a shebeen (bar), and my favorite part was a visit into a church. There were about 20 people inside the tin shack singing, dancing, and playing improvised instruments. Pictures do more justice than my words...

A little note about this picture: the van driving by is the transport- ation residents (through- out the Cape) use to get around. It's about $1 for a ride into Cape Town and the operators fill the vans as full as possible to earn more money. It's a very sad story - there are frequent news reports about accidents involving these buses and people dying due to lack of seat belts and the vans having too many passengers. Up on the hill, the sign posted says: Occupation of this embankment poses a threat to life and property.

fire drills, fishing, and .... a shark!

It was another picture-less week; my camera grew some legs last week and I'm hoping it walks its way back but it's doubtful. My dad's arrival was well-timed as he'll take more pictures than I'll know what to do with.

The fire drill we experienced at work demands a recap. Our team heard a rumor that a fire drill was scheduled but figured we'd ignore it and continue working. A few minutes into the light flashing and annoying beeping, a woman began giving instructions on the PA system to evacuate the building. We packed up (with plans to head to Bread, Milk, & Honey, a nearby coffee shop) and headed for the stairs that cascade through the open atrium in the center of the building. (As a side note, a part of the fire emergency protocol includes certain people putting on neon yellow vests and hardhats so they are easily identified and can help usher people out of the building.) Halfway down the first flights of stairs, we were caught by a yellow vest and were told that we are not following the proper procedure and needed to return the way we came and use the marked emergency exit. We climbed back up to the 6th floor and wander our way through the building looking for an emergency exit. Long story short, the yellow vests had difficulty finding this 'well-marked' exit for us to use...

Anyway, my dad arrived on Wednesday and we spent today (Saturday) fishing on False Bay with JP. After a dead battery and fried jumper cables (one car's battery had the ground connection in red and the live in black), the fishing didn't go as well as planned. But, while we were waiting for the nibbles on the calamari and sardine bait, I noticed a big black shadow and asked JP what it was. It was a great white! He came up to the surface about 20 meters away from our boat and was 4-5 meters long- huge! We watched him for about a minute and then he slowly faded away again. Ironically, there was actually an attack last week nearby and a surfer lost his feet. Luckily for my toes, we leave Cape Town next Saturday and I won't have time for another surf session before then...

whisky, scuba, and rain

It was a weekend of no pictures and no partner in crime. I did manage to stay busy with starting with a whiskey festival Friday evening. I was probably in the minority of those in attendance who made it out of bed Saturday morning at a decent time but I had priorities: scuba diving in Simon's Town.
A friend here works for a company that develops breathing apparatuses (including for scuba) and has all the equipment. I wore my little 4-3 wetsuit and because JP had a thicker wetsuit, he let me layer up and wear his sleeveless hoodie top (another 5 mm) under my wetsuit. It made SUCH a difference (along with the 5mm gloves and booties). The dive was just under 40 minutes and only 11 degrees C at the coldest point and I didn't even feel chilled! The best part was swimming in the kelp; it wasn't very dense but still incredible to see. There weren't as many fish about but we saw more shells, jellyfish, starfish, abalone, and some South African creatures he pointed out but I can't remember the Afrikaner words...

I went hiking near Stellenbosch on Sunday but got caught in the rain - supposedly the locals are disbelief by the wet weather we've been having - sounds painfully familiar about how cold and unseasonable the winter was that we just went through. Anyway, my dad is arriving tomorrow followed by Ted next Monday so I'm sure pictures accompanying stories will soon be plentiful.

Andrea and Stacy's Visit

I cannot believe how quickly the last 10 days have past! Andrea and Stacy left today back to the States.

Their visit included wine tasting (imagine that), hiking both Lion's Head and Table Mountain, a quick

(we're talking real quick) trip down a flight of stairs, drum lessons, the parade welcoming the Springboks and the Webb Ellis Cup to Cape Town, as well as plenty of Cape Town attractions they visited while I worked...

The winning of the World Cup initiated conversations regarding South African unity and the post-apartheid culture and progress since '94. The Springboks actually won the Rugby World Cup in '95 as well, when the finals were played in South Africa (closely following the end of many international sanctions).
(the parade was in front of city hall, where Nelson Mandela first spoke following his release in '90.)

Specifically, the media brought to light the irony that the '07 team is just as 'white' as the '95 team. In April, the head of the sports committee in the South African parliament even threatened to withhold the passports of the Springbok team because the squad did not reflect transformation sufficiently. He obviously gave in and was seen in Paris in a Springbok Jersey.

One morning, the public radio had people calling in to share their opinion on requirements to have a team that's racially representative of South Africa and whether a multiracial and a winning team were exclusive. The Afrikaans people (of Dutch descent), in general, are built big and thick and usually take the positions in the scrum. There are less positions on the team for smaller, faster players (if any, these are the positions here played by non-whites).

Another challenge the Springboks (and the country) face is that while schools were (and still are in many areas) so recently segregated, few non-Afrikaans play rugby growing up causing a limit to both talent and interest at the college. It's all fascinating to me here; the good news is that the competitive teams that feed the Springbok roster have improved beyond the all-white teams of the past.

Catch up...

So, I fell off the blogging wagon but I'm going to try to jump back on... To get caught up, here's the last 2 months in a nutshell. I was home in San Francisco for two weeks before returning to Cape Town for our next phase of work. I was in Cape Town for 3 weeks and spent the weekends wine tasting (first picture taken in Franschhoek), hiking (second picture taken of False Bay), and finally visiting Robben Island.

Robben Island was staggering – think Alcatraz for political prisoners. The ‘guides’ are ex- political prisoners or ex-warders (guards) themselves and share their personal stories. I’m reading Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and it is fascinating living in and visiting places he’s written about. It amazes to me to hear about and to read the ways of apartheid knowing it all occurred in my lifetime. The second picture reveals how even in prison the food rations were based on race. The tour was a very moving experience and better shared in person – pictures will have to suffice for now. I took this last picture looking down at Robben Island on my last flight back into Cape Town.

Then I went home again for 2 weeks (perfect timing for Fleet Week but a little heavy on the overnight flights in a short period of time).

One flight was made a little more interesting than the rest - if only passengers could still visit the cockpit enroute! I returned to Cape Town last week and should be avoiding flights for at least a few more weeks...

The weather has finally turned and it’s beautiful here. Light in the mornings before work and in the evenings after work – it’s fabulous. Last weekend, we went to Muizenberg for the annual kite festival and for a walk on the beach.

Muizenberg is where I go surfing but it was only on this trip when I learned more about the shark spotting program. This picture is taken from where the 'spotter' sits on the mountain with binoculars and is apparently able to see the sharks. The next is of the hut on the beach with the key to the different shark flags. What bothered me the most is that there is a flag that is put up after it’s been at least 2 hours since the last sighting; I think I’d almost prefer that the ‘shark spotted’ flag wave a little longer??

We then drove back into Cape Town to watch the rugby match with some folks and we had strong represent- ation of both South Africans and Brits (of course, I was wearing green). Cape Town came alive; I can only imagine when they won the '95 tournament in South Africa!

Anyway, another week down. It's great having Andrea and Stacy here. Bring on more excuses for going out and exploring the city.

Last weekend... for a while

I can't believe these 3 months have gone so quickly; I leave Cape Town this Friday for SF for 2 weeks at home.

A quick run down of my last weekend starts with tennis at sunset below the 12 Apostles (the back of Table Mountain) Friday evening. Saturday, I surfed with Garth, a local who showed me around - I'm definitely bringing my wetsuit back with me - and a drive up the west coast past Blouberg to watch the sunset and take some pictures of Table Mountain.

Sunday morning, I hiked Lion's Head at sunrise, which summits above the clouds - beautiful - followed by an afternoon of surfing. I got home just in time to watch the sunset at Clifton.

The only downside of the weekend was Monday morning's news; there were 15 muggings on Table Mountain over the weekend and 7 on Lions Head. That will be the end of my solo hiking...

Safari - Day 3 and 4

Day 3 (this reminds me of ELC writings!) kicked off with another early wake up call from our friendly ranger, Dale. Some of us felt better than the others; clearly the elephants have a little more body weight to help absorb some of the Amarula… We had another great drive with plenty of game and the highlight being watching a bull elephant push over a tree – it’s an amazing feat! The capability of an animal so big is fascinating – check out how he locks in his back legs for power! Little educational side note: elephants use their tusks to get to the food under the bark of trees or they just push the tree over and eat the roots. They can actually be destructive to the ecosystems and kill too many trees – interesting how before humans had the ability to control where the elephants roamed, nature seemed to more or less take care of itself – now there are efforts to ‘protect areas’ from the elephants. We also saw the same pride of 7 lions (including our blue-eyed friend) again, and they were lying less than 100 yards from where we had taken our morning walk on the previous day. Realizing how close we may have been is more than a little unnerving…

After the morning drive, we went for a morning hike in search of zebras as we hadn’t seen any yet – but all we found were fresh tracks, giraffe bones, elephant watering holes, and hair from a hyena that had been carried up a tree by a cheetah. We packed our things and after writing our notes in their gigantic guest book (largest book I have seen in my life), we left Lukimbi for Idube, the sister lodge. We had been told it would take us 2-3 hours to drive through Kruger and then another 20 minutes outside the park to Idube, which is within Sabi Sands. We had hoped to spend all 3 nights at Lukimbi but due to availability, we (Herman) booked us at Idube. In retrospect and such as life, it all worked out. The drive through Kruger is not to be missed. It is fun to take on the responsibility of finding the animals on your own. Along the drive, we saw impala (of course), elephants, giraffes, rhinos, wildebeests, warthogs, monkeys, and …zebras! After 5 hours, we found ourselves in the same boat as we had been in two days ago and rushing along dicey roads in order to make it in time for the evening game drive (ah, the beauty of rental cars). We called ahead and they said that we’d be sorted when we got there. Quite the relief because at one point, we came around a corner and a HUGE rhino was in the road and we had to wait until it got far enough from the road to prevent provoking it into turning our car into a top for afternoon entertainment.

Idube’s location within Sabi Sand makes it an entirely different than Lukimbi, which is on a concession within Kruger National Park. The different game parks in Sabi Sand have an alliance and share information regarding the movement of the animals and various sightings. On that evening’s drive, the highlights were a herd of water buffalo, sleepy lions (they had a successful hippo kill the previous day and were roly poly with bellies full of hippo), and finally a cheetah. By the time we found the cheetah, it was past dusk and he was walking along a dry creek bed. It was as if he didn’t know we were there – even with our spotlight on him. There were 2 of our Land Rovers there and we were actually driving alongside of him. His gait was beautiful and majestic. At one point, he said down and we stopped alongside him; there were literally only a few feet between him and our vehicle. He definitely could have walked into the woods on either side of the creek bed (which he eventually did) to escape our staring eyes, but I felt as if we were intruding. Lukimbi in Kruger Park is more my style; it’s hard to put in words and I’m glad I experienced both styles of safaris.

Following the drive, it was time for dinner. Dinner at Idube is outdoors and there are tables set up circling a campfire. Every chair had a blanket and I wrapped myself up and enjoyed a fabulous dinner of kingclip. Exhausted from the long day and in anticipation of the early wake-up call, we returned to our beautiful rooms for our last night in the bush.

Monday morning’s game drive was our final drive and featured a herd of 20+ elephants and a giraffe kill. The entire trip, I had been fascinated with the idea of seeing a kill. Now, I’m struggling with sharing it. Upon returning to Cape Town, it wasn’t something that I included in my recap with friends. While we were watching the elephants (and at one time getting too close a bull elephant trumpeted and stomped towards us a few meters until our ranger revved the engine and then backed away – again, I felt as though we were antagonizing), our ranger received word that a baby giraffe had been attacked by hyenas. We drove for 20 minutes (seeing Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson’s impressive lodge en route) and came upon the noticeably distressed mom giraffe in the road. The baby had been attacked and was lying in the grass 15 yards away. 4 heynas were circling but wouldn’t go near the baby with her still in the vicinity as a giraffe kick could bring their laughs to a quick end. The entire trip, I had wanted to see a giraffe drinking water as they look quite goofy reaching for the ground. Unfortunately, I saw this stance as the mom would stretch down to muzzle her injured baby. The baby would go into shakes and the mom would stomp her foot – not on the baby but sometimes she’d get its leg. I don’t know if this was a recognition that the baby was suffering? Then she would walk away and look to the baby; in my head, it looked like she was ready to leave but wanted her little one to get up and leave with her. As she increased the distance between her and her baby (up to 20 yards, the hyenas would get closer to the baby. Then she would circle back and the hyenas would recede. You have no idea how much I wanted the mom to give a good kick to the hyenas when they would laugh. Finally, the mom distanced herself enough for the hyenas to begin their feast – remembering the sounds makes my stomach turn.

I left Idube with a broadened perception of ‘circle of life’. Both in seeing the hyenas and giraffe and seeing impalas and other animals in proximity to lions and wild dogs. In my head (without ever really thinking it through I guess), I imagined that the impalas that survived had never crossed the path of an animal higher on the food chain. I learned that they aren’t quite the sitting ducks as I had previously believed.

We packed up at Idube and made our way back to the Nelspruit airport for our flight to Cape Town via Johannesburg. Candice and Susanne left us in Johannesburg for their excursion to a diamond mine while Patricia and I headed back to Cape Town. It was definitely a weekend of a lifetime.

Safari - Day 2

The second day at Lukimbi started with our 5:45am wake up call from Dale. We bundled up and walked from our hut (if you can call them that – see the picture of the bedroom and bathroom – we also had our very own patio and a private outdoor shower…) to the main lodge where coffee was waiting. We loaded into the Land Rover and set off. Words do not do the animals justice so I’ll keep it brief – or at least try!

Our first sighting was the rare black rhino; they differ from their cousin (the white rhino) in the shape of their mouth – it has nothing to do with their coloring, just a confused translation (we’re told the word wide was mistranslated to white).

Next was a family of 5 giraffes when Dale heard from another ranger (from Lukimbi on the radio) that a pack of wild dogs (aka spotted wolves) had been found – another very rare animal in Kruger. Our friends here are surprised when they see our pictures because many people who have taken multiple safari trips have never seen wild dogs. The morning drive also included white rhino, numerous impala, kudu, elephants, and a puff header - an extremely venomous snake. Unfortunately for him, he became intimate with the tires before Dale could stop.

After the drive, we ate breakfast (think 5 star hotel quality) and then went on a walk in the bush. Walks are meant to allow for guests to learn more about the vegetation, smaller game, and of course about the different footprints and droppings. We got lucky and walked up on 2 white rhinos. White rhinos are nearly blind and depend on their sense of smell and hearing. It was quite windy and we were pretty close before they heard us and trotted off. Next we saw a couple giraffes in the distance – and then 3 bull elephants. They started making our way towards us so we turned around and headed the other direction to keep a safe distance. We ended up finding again and were sandwiched the white rhinos between the two while trying to keep safety cushions. Eventually the rhinos heard us and trotted away again. Dale and his sidekick, Roger (? funny I don’t remember his name as well) showed us the way to spit some dropping – supposedly it’s big competition in the bush but we resisted the urge to participate.

Back at Lukimbi, our afternoon was rounded out with lunch and massages. Before we knew it was time for our evening game drive. The Italian family of 3 had left that day and we now had Dale and our spotter, Doc, to ourselves. It made for interesting conversation along the way. That drive helped add two new animals to our list: a crocodile and a cheetah. Counting the glimpse of a water buffalo as we were racing to the wild dogs that morning, we had seen ‘the big five’.

That evening, we had a candlelit dinner outdoors with plenty of game to choose from: crocodile, kudu, and ostrich to name a few. Dale joined us for dinner and then entertained us with his bartending skills, introducing us to the ‘nutty elephant’ which is made with Amarula. Amarula is a liquor made from a tree known to locals as the elephant tree because the elephants like its berries so much – smart elephants. Then Dale escorted us on our walk home - here's a picture of the walk back to the huts during the daylight. And finally, a picture of dusk - with some impala scattered near the tree.