Wilderness

Spent the last couple days in a small town called Wilderness. Our first night was spent on an old farm up in the hills. We had a beautiful 360 degree view of the Outeniqua mountains in behind and the Indian Ocean in front of us (yes! We are back to the warmer Indian waters).
Next day we went on a canoe/hike up the river. At the end of the trail were a couple of small waterfalls and pools that we could cool off in.
Wilderness is a popular holiday spot for families. There were tents and trailers set up all along the river, with their owners tending to blazing braiis in the shade of the trees. Braiis are basically South African bbqs. There's an entire braii section at the grocery store. Braii meats, braii spice, braii tools, braii this, braii that. It's a big part of Afrikaaner culture.
Our second day in Wilderness was spent on the beach. We had switched hostels to a place aptly called the beach house. From there it was a short walk down to the white sand beach. The water was quite rough but that didn't stop us from jumping in and playing in the waves. We had fun letting them toss us around for a while, but after losing our bathing suits for the 20th time, we decided it was time to call it quits.
Next stop is Knysna!
It's nice how all the towns are so close together along the garden route. Each bus ride is only 20 or 30 minutes. Until next time....

Outdshoorn

On the road again.

Well I had a 1 week rest but now it's time to get moving again. On Wednesday night a few of us got together for a goodbye drink in camps bay (the "west van" of Cape Town), and by 8am the next morning we were on the garden route. We decided to spend our first night in Outdshoorn, the ostrich capital of the world. It's a small farming community just north of the coast and beyond a set of beautiful mountains the reminded me of BC. Our hostel was full so the owners put us up in a lodge. We had the entire house to ourselves! It was complete with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a jacuzzi, a huge kitchen, another outdoor kitchen, and a large patio overlooking a pond and the mountains. Only $15 a night!
We cooked up a stir fry for dinner and enjoyed it on our private patio.
The next morning we woke up early (what else is new) to make our way to the Cango Caves- some of the oldest caves in Africa. After some nervous deliberation, we all decided to do the "adventure tour" which would require crawling, slithering, and climbing. For a bunch of claustrophobics, that was a hard decision!
The caves were chock full of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and water pools. I was so fascinated by everything that I forgot I was even in a confined space. The smallest spaces we had to crawl through were called "the devils chimney", "the tunnel of love" (because it squeezes you from both sides), "the letterbox", and "the coffin". The chimney was probably the hardest, and the first time we saw it's tiny opening, Lindsay looked back in despair and said "this is not possible".
Alas, we all made it safe and sound, with plenty of laughs along the way.
Our guide told us of one very large woman who insisted on doing the caves, and accused the park of discriminating against her size for advising against it. She got wedged in the tunnel of love and trapped herself and several others inside for 11 hours.
Can you say "I told you so"?

Next stop was an ostrich farm! We learned about the ostriches and even got to hop on for a ride. I love ostriches, but touching them is freaky... Especially their necks. It was like hanging out with a dinosaur.
Our hostel gave out free eggs for breakfast but we never tried one. Did you know that One ostrich egg is equivalent to 24 chicken eggs!

We also got to cycle around the farm land. Really pretty ride... Summer sure is kind to South Africa! We spent 45 minutes moving through the rolling countryside until we finally made it back to town.

The end for now. Next stop, Wilderness! A little beach town with lots of hiking opportunities.

- Our kitchen!
- A nice stir fry enjoyed on te patio.
- the enormous chamber inside the cave
- various caving pictures
- ostrich riding, ostrich hug, ostrich massage
- the cute old farm we stopped at for a drink
- cycling through the countryside

The other side of Cape Town

We have been out of cape town for a few days now... Clearly I procrastinate even when it comes to simple blog posts. So here's an update on what we did in the last couple days.

A few days back, me and the girls decided to take a deeper look at Cape Town... We wanted to see beyond the facade of beautiful mountains, ocean, and European streets and shops. First stop was Robben island. Robben is Afrikaans for seal, as it used to harbor a large seal population. More recently it has gained notoriety for its history of harboring khoisan leaders, lepers, convicts, and political prisoners. Unfortunately the tour itself was shockingly boring. Once we got on the island we were all herded onto giant coach busses and driven around the island. However, the things we saw were all interesting in themselves. We saw the rock quarry where prisoners labored 10 hours a day, the house where Pan African president, Robert Subikwe lived in solitary confinement for several years, and of course the maximum security cell where Nelson Mandela stayed for 18 years. It would have been nice if we were able to just walk around on our own rather than be rushed around by a tour guide. All the guides are ex-prisoners, which was a nice touch. But unfortunately our guide droned on for half an hour at a time.
The ferry ride back to the mainland was the best part... It was like riding a roller coaster!
Back in Cape Town our next stop was the district 6 museum. We learned more about the forcible removal of non-whites from the "district 6 area" as well as the pass-laws that were used up until the end of apartheid in 1994.
There were no townships before district 6 forcibly removed people from their homes. However there were labour camps, which have since grown to become the townships that we see today. The townships have been growing exponentially because more and more people are moving in from the rural areas. They move because there is better access to water and health care.
If they set up an illegal squatter shack and manage to live for 48 hours, the government cannot legal remove them. In fact, the government must provide them with sanitation and electricity. Because of this, you see outhouses and water taps established throughout the squatter areas. After a while, the government builds small houses for the people, similar to the small mining houses you see across Canada. Despite the small size, they look pretty nice.

The areas keep growing and growing. People go home to the countryside for holidays and bring even more family back to live in town. Our guide told us that In 2006 the largest township had half a million residents. In 2007 there were over a million.
Because the government spends money on housing, electricity, and sanitation, people are finding that their amenities are beginning to cost more and more. I'm interested to learn more about the tax system in South Africa, and how people respond to it.

People in the shacks are usually working manual labour: Security guards, cleaners, or construction. They make less than 300- 400 dollars per month.

The townships were a really interesting place and I'm glad we got to see them (albeit on a cushy tour). There was quite a diversity in housing styles. One minute we'd be looking a nice, gated, middle class home, but then just around the corner there were tin shacks or crumbling houses. Our guide told us that the nice houses are referred to as "Beverly hills homes", and that the people who live in them are usually public servants (ie nurses, lawyers, teachers). They choose to live in the townships because that's where their roots and families are.
On the tour we visited a few hostels (families live in one room and share an open kitchen/living space), a small apartment, and a pub shack where we tried the very aromatic local brew. It was thick, creamy, and tasted like the smell of cow manure.
Despite our long day, I wasn't up to choking down a pint of that!
A couple days after that, we had our last night out in cape town and welcomed the next leg of the journey with open arms.

Pictures:
- Nelson Mandelas cell
- A mans passbook from the apartheid era. He was required to carry this with him at all times in order to move in and out of Cape Town for his job. His employer would sign it to prove that he had a job in town that required his mobility.
- trying the local Brew
- A couple examples of housing styles in the township. One block is a row of to. Sheds, then the next are nice middle class homes.
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First few days in Cape Town

Cape Town

After 2 months of volunteering and 1 month or solid overlanding, I've made it to Cape Town!
Everybody was so relieved to feel the sudden drop in temperature as we approached this beautiful city. And with the sudden change in temperature came the incredible view of table mountain in the distance. Im not sure how to describe the feeling I got when I caught my first glimpse. It's an absolutely gorgeous mountain, and i think it served as a pretty big visual milestone. This leg of my journey is over! Only a month and a half left.

The first night we all got together for a farewell dinner at a place called mama Africa. I indulged in a nice fresh salad and then hit the dance floor (not before spraying red wine all over 3 of my travel mates and 1 other patron...Oops).
Day 2 I walked around town a bit with Lindsey and Yvonne while Alicia went diving with the sharks. Later that evening we went for a beautiful but hilariously windy sunset cruise. Quite a few of us got soaked by the wild waves.
Day 3 we woke up bright and early to get started with our wine tour. By 10 am we were sipping wine on one of South Africa's oldest family owned wine farms. At the 3rd farm we tried the pinotage burger and almost fell asleep at the bar. The thought of going to 2 more wineries was a daunting task. But after a quick power nap on the van ride in between we were ready for round 4 and 5.
The last place had cheese too! Tasty garlicy goat cheese, Camembert, feta, apricot cheese and more. I had to be peeled away from the garlic one.

Day 4- did laundry... With a MACHINE! Sweet merciful Jesus, my clothes have never smelled so delicious.

Days 5 & 6 - dancing, beaching, and Table mountaining.
This city sure does have a lot to offer!

Zuid Afrika

Crossed the border into South Africa on January 15. Never been so hot in my life. Never would have thought that South Africa would be the hottest country on my travels. The only thing worse than driving and having hot air blown in my face is being haulted for road work and sitting with no air movement at all.
The day started with a shit spitting contest. Yep. You read that right. Apparently kids in South Africa do this all the time. They take the little antelope pellets, put them in their mouth, and see who can spit them the furthest.
Never thought I'd put shit in my mouth.
Never thought I'd say that I won a shit spitting contest.

Our first night in South Africa was spent on the orange river, the longest river in Africa.
As soon as the truck was parked at the camp site I yanked out my suitcase and swimming suit. I ran whimpering down to the river dock, anxious to hop in and cool off. It was a beautiful moment when I hit the water.
Unfortunately that evening we had to say farewell to pumba, our loyal truck that had gotten us through 34 days of driving. He was just having too many problems, and we didn't want to face more obstacles on our 10 our drive down to Cape Town (especially in this horrible heat). We count ourselves lucky as having him as long as we did, because the newer trucks have no front viewing windows, less foot room, and smaller storage facilities down below.
So it was our last night camping and as usual the the boys had something special planned. They cooked up a feast of pumpkin soup, sausages, steak, potatoes, fire baked bread, and salad. Emily and I were given the task of desert, so with our limited ingredients we created Erinem pudding, a horribly sweet concoction of caramelized banana, melted marshmallows, melted chocolate, and crumbled biscuits on top.
We spent the night at the campsite bar, mingling with another G adventure group that has just began their journey north to Nairobi. There are a couple guys on that trip that will be traveling for 2 years in total. Jealous!
After a late night skinny dip, a few of us laid our heads on the grass and once again fell asleep under the clear star speckled sky. This time, the only thing going bump in the night was Sam, the campsites golden lab. What a perfect way to end the camping trip.

Pictures:
Broken down truck
Shit spitting contest
Erinem pudding In the making
The beautiful orange river
Much needed Popsicles in the heat

So long Namibia

A few days ago we stayed at a desert campsite in the middle of no where. It's a farm that the owner, Buesman (bushman) bought for less than 1000 rand. The land was cheap because there is really no use for it. It's too hot and dry for agriculture, impossible for livestock, and the lamb farming was shut down due to animal cruelty protests.
Buesman got his nickname because of his love for and knowledge about the bushmen. They are the same as the San people that I wrote about earlier. They are hunter gatherers, and only about 30,000 of them remain today... Mostly in north eastern Namibia and Botswana. Years back, they inhabited and adapted to living in the desert, but colonial influence ended in their culling. Up until 1918 they were still being hunted like wild animals.
Buesman told us about the bushmen, how they lived and survived, how they hunted, and how they could survive off very little water. Bushmen were only 1.5 M tall but could eat up to 10 kg at a time. Buesman also told us about the desert itself, and how the sand from the orange river in South Africa is blown northwards to shape the dunes. It's impossible for a dune to have a slope of more than 35 degrees or reach a height of over 350 meters. The dunes in Namibia are the highest in the world. The name of the biggest? Big Daddy.

We camped in sossu, and tried visiting sossuavlei and deadvlei but the 4X4 drivers weren't there to take us. We opted to use our time wisely and climb dune 45 instead. Dune 45 is famous for its sunrises, but we wanted to use the next morning to get into the vleis again. Dune 45 is so named because it is 45 km from the closest town. Its famous because of its classic "dune" shape, and because its right next to the road and not THAT challenging to climb. We got to the top in good time... I'd say about 30 minutes. We all waited an hour or so at the top for the sunset. It was spectacular... The desert is truly an amazing place. And it's massive... It's mind boggling how big our world is.

Next morning we got up at the awful hour of 4:15 am. Took off in the truck just before 5 am in hopes of getting to see the vleis. We were in luck!
Sossusvlei is made up of 2 words. A svlei is a marsh. In the desert a marsh looks a little different than what you would expect. The river bed is visible but almost never has water On the surface. instead, the water is below. you can tell where the river is because there is a tree line that follows it. Acacia trees have roots that can reach down 80 meters into the underground river beds.
Sossus means "end" or "dead", which I've heard means one of two things. It's the end of the river/marsh. But I've also been told that it means "no return", since the bushmen hid there from their hunters, and when the hunters went looking for them, they never returned.
I'm really glad we got to see deadvlei too. It's the one you've probably seen in photographs and on post cards. It is a dead marsh where trees stand dead due to water cut off. They are unable to decompose because the land they sit on is salt and inhospitable for bacteria or other small organisms. Buesman told us that a banana peel could stay there, undecomposed for 50 years.
That was one of the sights I was most looking forward to on this trip, so I'm glad the boys made it happen even though it threw our schedule off a bit.
After the deadvlei we climbed back on the bus and drove south to fish river canyon. 2 hours in our engine cut out. A few of us got out the cricket soccer ball to keep occupied, but we were up and running again in no time. A little while later we were back on the side of the gravel road in the middle of absolutely nowhere... this time for a couple hours. Good thing our driver knows a thing or two about mechanics.
I was Lucky that I had a good book to keep me occupied, as it was way too stinkin hot to get outside again. Alicia lent me "A million little pieces". Heavy. But really really good.

Despite our break down, we made it to Fish River canyon just in time for sunset. The boys surprised us by pulling out cheese platters, champagne, and biltong (African jerkey). The canyon was really cool. Unlike anything I've seen with my own eyes. It's the second largest canyon, next to the Grand Canyon in the states. Can't wait to see that one day too!
Many of us opted to sleep outside that night. The reason being threefold: too lazy to set up tent, too lazy to take down tent, and it was one of our last opportunities to sleep under the stars. This time I was on the outside edge of the group, so I was plagued by nightmares of snakes and scorpions. I also lay awake for about 30 mins in the middle of the night, listening to rustling bushes and the not-so-distant cackle of a hyena. In order to get back to sleep, I somehow managed to convince myself that a) It wasn't a hyena.. Just a bird... Right? B) if it was a hyena, it was probably a brown hyena, which is a lone scavenger, not a hunter. C) if it was a spotted hyena, it would for the smaller sleep groups, not our group of 6.
The next mornin Vernon told me he heard the hyena too. So it wasn't a bird. Also learned that there are baboons at the camp spite... But they sleep at night so they wouldn't have been a threat anyway.

Pictures:
An aloe tree adapted to live in the desert
Deadvlei... Me cartwheeling! (For my mom)
Hyena prints
The Buesmans beautiful desert farm
A typical lunch stop... Doing our best to find shade
Watching the sunset on Dune 45