Nelspruit

This past weekend I got to visit another part of the country, primarily a town called Nelspruit and the Panorama Route nearby.  Nelspruit is about a 4 to 5 hour drive east of Johannesburg, close to the Kruger Park.  I went with my colleagues and friends Catherine and Eliza since they went to high school there and have friends there.

We left Friday after work and had a good, uneventful drive there.  I drove all the way on the left hand side!  Unfortunately we arrived in the dark so I couldn't see the beautiful scenery, but that made it all the more beautiful in the morning.  After checking into our guest lodge (the norm here, hotels are the more expensive option) Friday night, we went out with Cath and Liza's friends.  We went to a couple bars, but my favourite was the last where I got to see some traditional Afrikaans dancing.  It's basically just a man and woman holding hands on one side and holding waist/shoulder on the other and dancing around the floor really quickly.  Not so weird I guess, but they were playing club/pop music that people would be grinding to in America.

On Saturday we drove to Mac Mac Pools.  We were also planning to go to a view site nearby called God's Window but apparently it is under construction.  So we just went to the pools, again with a group of friends.  Liza and I decided to go for a walk to see the Mac Mac Falls, apparently just a two kilometre walk from the pools.  We had a great walk, saw lots of bugs, valleys, mountains, and eventually made it to the falls.  Unfortunately one of my flip flops (called slops here) broke on the way so I had to finish the walk there plus do the walk back with only one sandal.  It was quite uncomfortable but it was worth it.  Liza and I have vowed to be prepared next time with running shoes (called tekkies here), water, and sunscreen.  After arriving back at the pools we had some lunch (a boerewors roll, a popular South African sausage) and then headed back to Nelspruit.  That evening we just hung out, watched some rugby, and had some pizza.

On Sunday we decided to drive to the Three Rondavels since we missed God's Window on Saturday.  I asked my friends, and for those of you who don't know (like me), a rondavel is a small round hut with a thatch roof.  Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy so we didn't get perfect pictures, but the mist covering the mountains and then revealing them again was amazing.  I took a movie but won't be able to post it until I get home for Christmas because of the slow internet here. 

It was an excellent weekend and can't wait to go on another weekend trip to see more of this beautiful country!

On the walk from Mac Mac Pools to Mac Mac Falls

Mac Mac Falls

Jean LeCastor at the Three Rondavels

Catherine, Liza, and I at the Three Rondavels

"Underneath the African sky"

Plugs and Bugs

I didn't really do anything very South African this weekend, so this blog will just be about some things in South Africa that I've found interesting or slightly creepy!

First off, plugs.  Before coming here, I spent quite a while trying to search for South African plug converters.  Apparently it is one of very few countries that use this type of plug.  Also, another confusing thing is that they actually have two types of plugs, plus occasionally also use European and American plugs (for things only produced in those countries I suppose).  So, inevitably, my outlet areas always look very messy.  One thing I love about their outlets though is that they have switches for them, so if you want to save power, you can easily just flip the switch.  However, it is strange that even though it's easier to save power, it is much harder to recycle here.  No one ever comes to pick up recycling at any residential buildings.  If you would like to recycle, you need to bring your recycling to a gas (petrol) station or grocery store and separate it there in to plastic, glass, paper, and tin (no bottle or can return unfortunately). 

Notice the three different plug types in the power bar, my American plug converter, and the switches

And now onto the bugs.  While walking to my car the other morning, I noticed a dying bug near my neighbour's door.  I took a picture because I had some suspicions that it might be a Parktown prawn, and on closer inspection, I believe that it was.  Strange thing is that last night, I saw a live prawn in the exact same spot.  They're pretty cool looking bugs, but I'm really really hoping I never see one in my apartment... or anywhere near where I have to be for an extended period of time.  What makes this bug extra cool though is that the aliens ("prawns") in District 9 are actually based on this prawn and the reason why they are named as such. 

Dying prawn

African Craft Market

Sorry for the delay of posting.  If you haven't noticed, I will usually post by the end of the weekend.  Unfortunately, I've been trying to attach some really cool videos that just won't work.  So here's the post, sans videos.  
 
On Sunday I went to the African Craft Market at Rosebank Mall.  It's extra big on Sundays as they take over the roof of one of the parking garages in addition to the permanent craft market.  I was just window shopping this time to see what kind of stuff was available, but I'm sure I'll be visiting again before returning to Canada for Christmas.

The main floor of the permanent craft market consisted of mainly similar stalls containing wooden masks, stone sculptures, fabric paintings, musical instruments, and jewelry.  Every stall had the owner (or employee, not positive I guess), calling me over saying "Welcome! To look is free! Come in".  After I started looking, the first question was usually "Where are you from?", I answered Canada and of course the response was "I love Canadians! Best price for Canadians! Toronto?".... "No, Ottawa"... "ohhh" (they had no clue).  It was a bit intimidating, but I stood my ground and didn't buy anything (mainly because I had barely any money).  The second floor of the permanent market was really just a regular store that happened to sell crafts.  They had a cash register, credit card machine, price tags, and everything!

The rooftop market had absolutely everything from art to jewelry to antiques to food to clothes and accessories (plus more!).  I had a great time wandering around and I think I spent about 3 hours there.  Plus there was a lot of live music to listen to while browsing.  As I said, I've tried very very hard to attach videos here but I can't figure it out.  I have a picture, but I wish the videos would work because they were great and so fun to watch!

Soweto Marimba Youth League

Zoo Lake and Klipriversberg Nature Reserve

Yesterday I went to the Zoo Lake park to check out the Artists Under the Sun, a free art exhibit in the park the first weekend of every month.  Even though the website said they started at 8:30, they were still setting up when I arrived after 9.  Some artists were set up though, and one was kind enough to show me all his work and tell me about it as well.  Unfortunately, I can't afford any art right now, so I was just looking, but there was some very nice stuff there. 

Since I parked at the wrong end of the park, I walked all the way around the lake while I was there.  Definitely not the cleanest lake, but there was a big sign explaining that that was because of all the birds that roost on the small island in the middle of the lake, safe from humans and predators.  There were some super cute ducklings that I took a few pictures of, but I really pissed off Mama Duck.  She was hissing at me like crazy.  I ran away for fear of embarrassment of being attacked by a duck.

Today, I returned to the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve to try to find the excellent views of the city promised by my guidebook.  When I first went to this nature reserve, I chose the wrong path and didn't get any views of the city, but did get to see some hartebeest and a bontebok (I think).  This time, I studied the map a bit more carefully (and figured out where north was) and decided on the Beacon Trail.

As I was hiking, I came to a fork in the trail.  I decided to go left.  After about 200 meters in that direction, the trail came to another fork, but the trail marker only pointed back down.  I didn't know what was going on, so I decided to go back down the way I came, and choose the original right fork instead.  I am very, very glad I decided to do this.  As I was climbing up the hill in that direction, I saw some sort of small, quick antelope jumping through the grass.  It was too fast for me to get my camera out, but as it disappeared, I noticed some zebras in the same field.  I got some pictures of them, but didn't want to get too close in case I scared them.  I kept climbing, feeling pretty good about my decision to choose this path, even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't get my city views.  Just as I had given up, I climbed my last hill up to what I can only suppose was the "beacon" (a small cement pole) and bam! there was Joburg!  After taking some pictures, I continued on my way back down the hill.  I saw a bontebok, maybe the same one I saw last time, and eventually joined up with the path I didn't take.  I'm glad though that I turned around because this way, the view of the city was sudden.  If I had gone the other way, it would have been gradual: possible, then probable, then definite, but definitely not as exciting. 

Zoo Lake

Can't even tell the city is just on the other side of the hill

Zebras!

More zebras!

Jean LeCastor in the nature reserve with the city to the north