MuseumAfrica

On Saturday, Elaine and I went down to Newtown to walk around a little and to see MuseumAfrica.  When we arrived we walked through a little market.  Elaine bought some incense and frames and I was very very tempted to buy a necklace with a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio circa The Man in the Iron Mask on it (oh and of course "Leo DiCaprio" written on it as well), but I didn't.  I only slightly regret it. We then headed over to the museum but a stage was being set up in the square in front of the museum.  The guys guarding the gate didn't really know what it was for, but they told us the museum was closed.  So we continued walking around by the Market Theatre when a man from the museum ran up to get us and told us the museum was actually open!  It was very nice of him, especially considering the museum doesn't even charge an entrance fee.  So, nice people exist in downtown Joburg after all!  (Please note: This was only my second time downtown.  I've been with Elaine both times because I'm a bit nervous about going by myself.  I haven't had any bad experiences but I've heard about a few so I'm cautious).

The museum was interesting.  It wasn't completely full and sometimes looked like they didn't know what to do with all the things in their collection.  However, there were some very nice exhibits as well.  The most powerful exhibit there was the replication of shacks from an informal settlement.  The size and the darkness inside the shacks was so sad.  I drive by them every day but you don't always think about how people actually live there and call those shacks their home.  It makes you appreciate how lucky you really are.  Another exhibit I liked was the perspectives of eight homosexual and transgender people in Joburg and their experiences here.  As Elaine and I were talking about, South Africa was one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage yet there are still many people in the country who don't approve of same-sex relationships whatsoever.  It's a very strange situation here.  Another great thing at the museum was a temporary exhibit of ceramic art on display and for sale.  There were some really beautiful pieces.  Overall, another successful visit downtown.

Informal settlement (from Google Images)

Two months left

Since I only have two months left, I've been thinking a lot about leaving Joburg.  The weather here is getting colder and soon it will be colder here than in Canada and Michigan.  It's also getting drier (despite the 24 hour downpour yesterday) and the winter fires have started.

I'm going to miss so many things here.  Particularly the friends I've made and the children I work with.  I can't imagine what it will be like not seeing them every day and seeing them progressing and learning new things.  I'll also miss the weather.  Most days are sunny and beautiful and if they're not, there's a huge thunderstorm.  I'll also miss going to nature reserves and seeing zebra, giraffes, and wildebeest.  The wildlife and the views are spectacular.  I'll miss the accents and all the different languages as well, even though I still sometimes have trouble understanding people, even when they're speaking English.  I'm also going to miss the food.  The fruit here is amazing and so diverse.  I'll also miss milk tart, vetkoek, boerewors, springbok, and probably a few other things I've tried.

Even though this has been an amazing experience and I love this country, there are some things I won't miss.  I won't really miss having to limit myself based on security.  There are many things I can't do (well shouldn't do) because I am a woman alone who is unfamiliar with this country.  I don't want to go downtown by myself, or go to Soweto by myself, etc.  I already go hiking alone and that is not recommended.  A couple people I've met while hiking have been surprised that I'm alone.  That's really the only thing that I don't like about this country.  Well in addition to the occasional racism.  Obviously racism exists in Canada and America as well but I haven't had much contact with it before, whether it's because of the people I hang out with, the places I go, whatever.  I haven't experienced anything awful here, but just some passing comments that would never be said in North America.  Their view of race is just different here as well.  I filled out a form yesterday that asked about my ethnicity.  The choices were white, black, coloured (mixed), Indian, and other.  That would never be on a form in North America.  When I arrived though, I realized that they pretty much have to use the term "black" here.  They aren't African Americans because they're not American.  They aren't just Africans because the white people are as well.  So, quite simply, they're black, like I am white.  As for coloured, that is a perfectly accepted term here and specifically refers to people of mixed race.  I did find it interesting though that the only other option was Indian.  There are a lot of people from India here but there are also a lot of people from other places, such as China and Southeast Asia, often all referred to as "Chinamen" here, which I suppose they can't write on the form.

Overall, I've had a great time here and I'm going to miss it.  Now, I just want to enjoy these last two months to the fullest, spend time with my friends and my kids, and drink tons of wonderful South African wine!

 

Drakensberg

After leaving Sarah and Jessica at the airport on Friday, Dan and I left for our trip to the Drakensberg Mountains.  We were expecting about a four hour drive, maybe four and a half with stops.  It ended up being about 6 hours because of a really bad road: single lane and full of potholes.  Not cool when you're driving in the dark.  Anyway, we eventually made it to our lodge at 10pm that night.  The night guy brought us to our rondavel (little hut).

The next day we woke up surrounded by green mountains.  I guess the one advantage of driving somewhere at night is that when the sun comes up, everything is a surprise.  It was very beautiful.  We went to talk to the owner at about 11 am.  He seemed only slightly judgy that we slept in so much and gave us great advice about which hike to do that afternoon.  The hike was beautiful and we got to see two waterfalls along the way.

That night, we had dinner at the lodge.  Apparently the owner is a vegetarian so we had butternut soup, bread, three kinds of salad, and some sort of fruit crumble for dessert.  Everything was delicious, and the owner didn't lie that we would not go hungry. 

On our way back the next day we stopped by the Royal Natal National Park to see "The Amphitheatre".  We had no idea what we were looking for so we didn't quite get it until we were driving away.  Basically, it's a big mountain range that looks like an amphitheatre.  We did get to see some more baboons though in the park.  We continued on our drive back and arrived home in time to make some ostrich burgers for Dan's last dinner in South Africa.

Our rondavel

View of Champagne Castle from our lodge

Jean LeCastor with the Sterkspruit Falls

Jean LeCastor with the Nandi Falls

Baboons on the road in the Royal Natal National Park

The Amphitheatre

Cape Town and Gansbaai

The day after the safari ended we caught our flights to Cape Town.  Before that though, we all went to the Apartheid Museum.  It was a great museum with nice exhibits and lots of information.  When you first enter the museum, you have to use separate entrances based on what race you have been classified by your ticket.  We didn't have enough time to see everything, but still very moving.

When we all arrived in Cape Town, we checked into our lovely suite.  It was right by the bar street (Long Street) and had three bedrooms, kitchen, washer, dryer, dining area, living area, and two balconies.  We then went for dinner.  We had gourmet burgers, craft beer, and milkshakes.  You could have sworn we were in America.  The milkshakes included alcohol though, definitely a more South African thing.  We went to bed early that night since we were getting picked up at 5:20am for our trip to Gansbaai (pronounced Hans-by) and shark cage diving. 

We all slept for most of the ride there and arrived in Gansbaai around 7:30 am.  We had some breakfast and then went on the water at about 8:30 am. There were about 15 of us on the boat.  Five could fit in the cage at one time.  Once we got out to our dive spot, the crew started chumming and we got our wet suits on.  Definitely not as easy as it looks.  As we were just finishing, the crew started shouting that we had our first shark!  Quite a surprise since they said it could take as long as an hour to see one.  They had three people in the cage but they were shouting for more.  Sarah and I decided to get in.  There was no time for fear or explanations about how to get out once it was over, just jump in and figure it out!  It was very cold in the water.  The cage was just at surface level so our heads were out of the water most of the time and the men on the boat would shout "down down down down" if they saw a shark.  We would take a big breath and go under and look around.  It was awesome.  There were three sets of people to go in the cage and we all got to go twice.  Everyone got to see sharks both times.  We were told there were four different sharks, the longest was 3.5 metres, but I only saw one at a time (not sure if anyone else saw more).  The second time I was in the cage, the shark got hold of the piece of fish on a string they were using as bait. He was thrashing around against the cage and as he swam away, the crewman pulled up the empty string.  Another piece of string floated by me in the cage and scared me as it touched my arm.  Thankfully we all made it out alive and in one piece!  Sarah and I had a bit of trouble controlling our stomachs though.  Once we got on land we felt a lot better and the whole thing was worth it.  Our driver back to Cape Town was really awesome.  He took us on the scenic route and even allowed us to get out and take pictures at one point.

When we arrived back in Cape Town we relaxed and showered.  We had some drinks and then headed out to a Peruvian place for dinner.  It was delicious.  On our way back to Long Street we stopped by a free jazz concert.  The Cape Town jazz festival was happening that weekend but they had free concerts on Wednesday for some strange reason.  After that finished, we headed to the bars.  We went to three different bars.  The first one was too small, the second was too hot/smoky, but the third was just right.  We were the only white people there, but they were welcoming and played awesome music.  We had a good time and danced to the wee hours of the morning. 

The next day, we had a bit of a late start.  Dan, Jessica, and I walked to Charly's Bakery while Sarah and David slept.  Charly's Bakery is famous in Cape Town and has its own show on the South African food network.  We bought five cupcakes and ate them later that night.  They were beautifully decorated but didn't taste better than other specialty cupcakes I've had.  When we got back to the suite, Sarah, Jessica, and I had breakfast but the boys were not feeling so great.  We left them to sleep and walked to the waterfront.  It was very pretty and had a great market (with free samples!).  For our last night together we went to Mama Africa for dinner.  We had a crocodile appetizer (tastes like gator) and various South African meals.  Sarah and I both had the kudu and springbok potjie. 

The next day Dan, Sarah, Jessica, and I traveled back to Joburg, leaving David to view the winelands by Cape Town.  The four of us went to lunch and the African Craft Market at Rosebank so they could all pick up some souvenirs.  Dan and I dropped off Sarah and Jessica back at the airport and then headed on our way to the Drakensberg.

Jessica, David, and Dan in the cage

View from our balcony

The five of us after we survived shark cage diving

Sarah, me, and Dan at the free jazz festival

Jean LeCastor on the smaller balcony

Me, Jessica, and Sarah at the waterfront

Giraffrica

Early Saturday morning the five of us (Dan, Sarah, Jessica, David, and I) were picked up from my apartment to start our long journey to the Kruger Park.  The trip can be done in 4-5 hours I believe, however our trip took about 8 hours.  It was two hours before we even left Joburg since we were the first to be picked up and had to make a few stops along the way.  On our way, we picked up two guys traveling alone (Sean from England and David from Denmark), both here on business.  We got to know them on the ride there and hung out together for the rest of the safari. 

We arrived at Tremisana Lodge in the Balule Private Game Reserve attached to the Kruger Park around 4:30pm.  From there we went on our sunset game drive.  It was great!  We saw tons of impala (antelope, extremely common in the Kruger Park), water buffalo, wildebeest, monkeys, a giraffe, jackals, and three lionesses with six cubs!  It was awesome.  They were so close!  One of the lionesses had just killed a zebra (well the night before I think).  We could just see some of the zebra under a bush and could hear the bones cracking as mom crunched away while the cubs came to drink milk.  The pictures aren't great unfortunately because we were losing the light and the guide couldn't shine the light on them due to the cubs' developing eyes.  It was an excellent memory though.  After the drive, we had dinner at the Tremisana Lodge (chicken, rice, butternut soup, salad, and bobotie, a ground beef dish with an egg and cheese topping).  After dinner we were taken to our treehouse lodge.  Unfortunately we weren't really staying in treehouses.  My disappoint though was slightly softened by the fact that we had an ensuite bathroom as opposed to having to climb downstairs to use the toilet in the middle of the night.

The next morning we left for the Orpen Gate of the Kruger Park for our full day game drive.  We started off with a bit of drama between some South Africans on the drive and the driver.  Nothing too intense, just arguing about when wildebeest (I think it was wildebeest) have babies.  That day we saw two of our missing "Big 5", elephant and rhino.  Unfortunately we didn't see any leopards but they are the most elusive.  We also saw plenty of zebra, giraffes, hippos, and surprise surprise, more impala.  That night we had more butternut soup, chicken stew, and gem squash (delicious!).  The lodge had plenty of drinks for sale so we hung out by the fire and continued having "just one more drink" with Sean and David until about 12 am.  Quite late considering we had a morning bush walk starting at 6 am the following morning. 

Most of us woke up in time for the bush walk the next day (Sean didn't make it).  We learned about what branches to use as a toothbrush and which leaves to use as toilet paper.  We also learned the difference between poisonous and venomous.  For example, the spiders around the treehouse camp were poisonous so we were only in danger if we decided they looked tasty.  We got back for breakfast and then got back into our van for the long ride home.  Fortunately we got to stop at the Three Rondavels view point to take some awesome pictures before continuing on to Joburg. 

Lioness and cubs

Zebra crossing

Monkeys!

Elephant family

Elephant sunset

Giraffrica

Christian rock band album cover at the Three Rondavels

Beginning of Holiday

My holiday started Wednesday March 27 at 12:30.  I rushed from work to pick up my boyfriend Dan from the Sandton Gautrain station.  He agreed to take the Gautrain (a light rail system making stops in Joburg and Pretoria from the airport, most easily pronounced by English speakers as "How-train").  From the station we went to meet Johan Manefeldt, an artist, at his home studio in the south of Johannesburg.  We decided on two paintings, one of a windmill in the Karoo and one of the colouful buildings of District 6 in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background.  That night we made ostrich burgers for dinner, yummm!

On Thursday, we left early to pick up my old roommate's cousin (David) from the airport.  Since it was just me and the boys, I thought a rugby game might be a good idea.  We went to see Innocent play at St. Stithians for the Easter festival.  Apparently the Easter festival is quite a big deal.  There was even a beer tent!  Not quite good enough beer for us though so after the rugby game we headed to Gilroy's, a brewery and beer garden in the west of Joburg.  While we were there, the owner Gilroy came out to give a toast and chug a beer.  We headed home for more ostrich burgers and then went to pick up Sarah (former roommate and BATS cohort member) and Jessica (another fellow BATS member) from the airport.

The following day we slept in quite a bit since everyone else had just recently spent about 30 hours traveling.  We were planning on going to the Apartheid Museum that day, but I realized the day before that they might be closed for Good Friday, which they were.  We decided instead on Bush Babies Monkey Sanctuary.  We had a good time there, even though there were some South African hicks on our tour (or "common people" as they would be called here).  They refused to leave their bags in the lockers as they were asked to and as a result one of the monkeys ("little thieves") stole gum and cigarettes.  Thankfully Apie (the monkey) also spent some time with members of our group even though we didn't have gum and cigarettes to share.  That night we went to a restaurant close to my apartment for dinner and drinks and went to bed relatively early to prepare for our early departure on safari the following morning!

One of the paintings Dan and I bought

Dan and Apie crossing the "Bridge of Courage"

Lunch time at the monkey sanctuary