Ho-Ho-Holy Cow This is Overdue!

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned: It’s been ___ months since my last blog entry!  It’s hard to know where to begin because so much has happened.

First, some quick updates:

• The daycare center construction is mostly complete. We are on track to open the center in January 2013.  The women who will work there will receive an initial overview of daycare procedures this month, and a full training in childcare in Q1 of 2013.
• We are waiting to hear back from a local Lion’s Club about whether or not they are interested in funding the rehabilitation of Rica’s football (soccer) field.  Keep your fingers crossed.
• The community development association of Rica (Stichting Planters van Ricanaumoffo en Omgeving) will receive a USD $3,000 grant from the Crystal City Rotary Club. This amount will fund over half of a $5,000 project to build a playground for the children of the village.  The remaining funds ($2,000) will be sought though individual donations. To contribute, please see the project website at (https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-568-002). All donations are tax deductible (in the U.S.). The Crystal City Rotary Club is a three-time project partner in Rica, having also funded a water catchment system for clean drinking water and the construction of the daycare center.
• A handful of Rica’s residents are seeking financial assistance through the Low-Income Shelter Housing program (LISP) in order to repair their existing homes or to build a new one.  We are working together with members of government ministries and local authorities to ensure that their efforts are successful.

As many people know, I recently went to South Africa for my friend’s wedding.  It’s hard to explain just how beautiful the country was, but I’ve included a couple highlights from the trip below!

Victoria Wharf (mall & waterfront)

One could do some serious damage to the ‘ole pocket book here!  The mall is fabulous and contained a seemingly unending supply of upscale clothing chains, coffee shops and specialty food markets (chocolate, biscotti, pesto, cheese, etc.), as well as a few department stores, a pharmacy and a grocery store.  The wharf itself, though admittedly very touristy, is lined with a large assortment of restaurants and cafes, in addition to boutiques, very nice tourist shops with regional handicrafts and local artists playing live music. 

Also, Victoria Wharf is where you catch the ferry to Robben Island, the former political prison where Nelson Mandela, among others, was jailed for many years.  The ferry ride provides a beautiful view of Cape Town but was quite chilly with the wind and sea spray.  At Robben Island, our guide (and I assume all of the others) was a former prisoner. He was very diplomatic in his description of the prison during his time there and optimistic about the country’s future. I, however, was absolutely baffled by his explanation of the different treatment ofprisoners based on their race.  For example, blacks were not provided shoes or long pants, while “coloreds” (i.e. mixed race persons) and Indians were. Their former’s food rations were considerably lesser than the latter’s, both in terms of quantity and diversity. Keep in mind that Robben Island was a functioning prison into the 1990s.  It seems almost surreal that such backward racial discrimination could have been in practice so recently and so publically.

A Note on the Racial Situation

It’s hard to talk about South Africa without discussing issues of race and class.  Cape Town is indescribably beautiful and ostentatiously wealthy.  Its impeccable roads would be the envy of all of my friends and family in Michigan (not kidding, guys). One sees luxury vehicles like BMWs and Mercedes everywhere, as well as Maseratis and Aston Martons.  Huge mansions with well-manicured lawns line the roads. There isn’t a scrap of garbage anywhere to be seen downtown.  But something doesn’t seem to click: There are white people. EVERYWHERE.

How is it that a racial group that makes up less than 10% of the South African population seems to own all of Cape Town?  Where are the blacks, the coloreds, the Indians?  The only place I saw persons of the non-Caucasian persuasion was in service positions—waiters, drivers, bus stop attendants, street cleaners, and checkout clerks.  Every store appeared to be white-owned.  Wherever there was a group of black construction workers on the highway, there was a white supervisor nearby overseeing their work. 

In stark contrast to the spacious homes of the city itself were the shantytowns along the highway. These “townships” are essentially black ghettos, free of running water or sewage treatment.  Though discreetly hidden behind six-foot high fences, one could still catch a glimpse of the overcrowded homes cobbled together with scrap metal. The condition of Cape Town’s “other half” (or majority, as it were) is astonishing.  The old social laws were evident even with deliverymen—whites entered through storefronts, while blacks came through the back.  Apartheid and its inconceivable pass system may be officially a thing of the past, but its legacy is ever present.

I think that’s it’s worth mentioning, too, the more subtle evidence of South Africa’s turbulent racial history as experienced through my conversations with two individuals.  The first conversation was with the man who drove Anna, Joel and I to our safari in Kruger Park.  He was a light-skinned, middle-aged black man.  Among many other questions, we asked him if the tribal languages of South Africa were similar.  Speaking nine of the eleven official languages of the country, he assessed that, apart from two, they were very different.  We asked him which sport was more popular in South Africa: soccer or rugby.  He replied that soccer is definitely the favorite among most of the population because rugby was considered a white man’s sport.  Later in the conversation, when we asked very pointed questions about the country’s racial tensions, he suggested that there is still a lot of resentment toward the Afrikaans-speaking population and that, among the former, older persons still treat non-whites as second-class citizens.  On the flip side, he noted that among his children’s friends, a mixed race group, he does not observe any difference in the way the kids treat each other.

Later in the trip we asked the same questions of our white guide at the Kruger. Speaking English, Afrikaanse and a little Zulu, he assessed that the tribal languages were very similar stating that, “if you understand one, you can more-or-less understand them all.” When we inquired about the preferred national sport he replied “rugby,” without hesitation. When I challenged that a black man to whom we asked the same question posed that rugby was a white man’s game, our guide became very defensive. He said that if there aren’t blacks and coloreds on a rugby team it isn’t because they aren’t allowed to play but because they didn’t play well enough to make the team. It was purely a matter of merit, in his view.  While that may have correct to an extent, it also revealed his own insulation and blindness to the preferences of non-whites with regard to sport (and potentially other issues). 

On our first evening at the park we went on a night safari.  We used spotlights to identify the eyes of animals since it would have been very difficult to see them otherwise.  When discussing this with our guide over dinner (after the fact), he pointed out that it would be better if the guides who operated the night tours put a red screen/filter over the spotlights.  For the life of me I cannot remember the reason for this—I think because many of the animals cannot see red and thus would not be frightened. No matter the reason, it was the comment that followed this remark, not the remark itself, that gave a shocking representation of the subconscious discrimination that is still prevalent among some white South Africans.  Our guide said that he would suggest the red filter to the other (black) guides but hasn’t because, “what’s the point in trying to teach someone who’s too ignorant to want to learn.” 

I do not think that our guide, a very young, educated man who seemed to get on well with his colleagues, is consciously racist or against an integrated society. He is, on the other hand, a good example of just how long it takes to purge deeply rooted social prejudices that we may not even understand ourselves to possess.

Table Mountain

The most famous landmark in Cape Town, Table Mountain looms behind the city often shrouded in white clouds that look like fingers as they descend its front face.  One day when the wind was not too strong (cable car rides to the top are frequently suspended due to high winds and rough weather), a group of us decided to take the trip up Table Mountain. Within our group there was a contingent that would have preferred to hike it, as opposed to taking the cable car but, being outnumbered and restricted by our timetable, the decision was made to take the funicular.

In addition to breath-taking views of Cape Town, the mountain landscape and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the summit also boast a lovely café and tourist shop.  I’ve been all over the world and service is not equal in all destinations. I must say that South Africans understand tourism and what it means to give tourists a positive experience.  Every staff member in the shop greeted visitors, asked them about their trip and if they needed assistance finding anything. I was genuinely impressed.

While enjoying our refreshments in the café we bumped into another group of our friends, also in Cape Town for the wedding.  At this point the “pro-hiking” group, persuaded by the winding rock paths and comforted that we would no longer have to abandon the “pro-cable car” contingent, decided to split off from the others and make the trek down.

All of this was fine and dandy except that, since we had not planned to do any extensive walking on the mountain, Sanna and I were wearing flip-flops and sandals, respectively.  In the interest of adventure, we took them off and opted to walk down the mountain barefoot. This was not the smartest decision either of us has made, but we managed not to see a single snake on the trip down and avoided injury.  In total, the walk took us about an hour and a half. The trail wasn’t too strenuous and alternates between rocky inclines and relatively flat gravel patches. I highly recommend walking at least one way to anyone prospective tourists.

For good views of Table Mountain from a different perspective, I would also suggest the quick jaunt to Table View. A few of us rented bikes and rode along the coast to the tourist town for lunch and a couple snapshots.  Table View has an impressive collection of restaurants (Italian, Cuban, American, Seafood, etc.) and bars. Just over its dunes you can also watch a hundred-or-so kite surfers catching some wind.

The Vineyards

Stellenbosch is an area just outside of Cape Town marked with rolling hills and massive oak trees.  It’s here that many of the country’s famous vineyard call home.  Although famous for its white wines, South Africa also produces a wide range of reds, including the Pinotage variety with which I was not previously familiar. Both the bachelorette party and the wedding were held at vineyards 

(Neethlingshof and Noitgedacht, respectively) dating back a couple hundred years.  Though our group traveled by taxi and bus, I think it would be excellent to due a cycling tour of the region in order to have the time to fully appreciate the scenery.

Shark Cage Diving

Since I’ll only live once, I pushed my paralyzing fear of fish somewhere into the back of my brain in order to take a swim with Jaws and friends.  A handful of companies offer shark diving tours in and around Gansbaai, about two to three hours from Cape Town.  We selected a company called White Shark Adventures because they have continuous airflow (i.e. oxygen supply) in the cage.  That means that you don’t have to hold your breath when you go underwater and can take more time to observe the sharks. 

On the day of our dive, which began at 4:30 AM with a sleepy ride out to Gansbaai, it was unfortunately cool and overcast.  The clouds made quite a glare on the surface of the water so it was tough to see sharks before they came to the surface near the boat.  In all we saw three or four sharks, between 3.5 and 5 meters in length, which is very few, according to the boatmen.  Likewise, they said that the sharks we did see were quite small but I can assure you that they didn’t seem in anyway little when they were less than arm’s length away in the cage! The trip was really an awesome experience, no matter if it was an “off” day and I would love to go back and do it again.

Geared up in wet-suits and snorkel masks, we entered the cage in groups of six.  I think it goes without saying that the purpose of the cage is to protect you from the sharks and visa versa.  The water was so cold at first that my stomach dropped and I lost my breath. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without the wetsuit, floating idly in the water for 20-30 minutes at a time. 

While in the cage the boatmen throw chum, dead fish parts, blood and oil, in the water just outside the cage.  They also float a tuna head on a line a few feet out. Once the sharks appear, they lure it toward the cage with the tuna head. At one point I could have touched a shark it was so close to the cage and fought every inclination to do so with some difficulty. 

The sharks are much less scary than one would imagine. They are beautiful animals and fantastically graceful in the water. Of those that we saw, none were in anyway aggressive. Once they unfastened the tuna head from the line, they were on their merry way.  Much more frightening, for me, were the HUNDREDS of other fish—the scaly, gross kind, of different colors and sizes that swam right next to and sometimes into the cage.  Horrific!

Hermanus

This seaside town is home to the groom’s father and is also where, once a year, pregnant whales come to delivery their calves.  We stopped in Hermanus on the way back from Gaansbai and for a post-wedding brunch and saw several whales on both occasions. It’s a cute spot for lunch and a wander.

Safari

A few days after the wedding the guests split off to various destinations. Anna, Joel and I hopped on a flight to Johannesburg where we departed for a safari at Kruger Park.  Because my return flight to Suriname was out of Cape Town, I didn’t have the opportunity to see Johannesburg proper, or Sowetto (its most famous township), like the others, but the safari was well worth it.

Our trio opted for a three day, two night trip with Outlook Safari company. It was a perfect amount of time in the park—we managed to see all of the “big five,” and the drive out and back was equally enjoyable. Included in the package were transportation to and from the airport, accommodation at the company’s tourist lodge outside Johannesburg the night prior to departure, travel to and from the Kruger and lodging and meals while in the park.  A variety of accommodation options are available, but we chose to stay in tents in Kruger Park. 

The weather at the Kruger was hot, quite the contrast from mild, breezy Cape Town and temperate Johannesburg.  It was much more of the “Africa” that I had envisioned prior to the trip.  I was overwhelmed by just how many animals we saw in the park. Having lived in Suriname for almost two years now, I’ve only ever seen about ten or fifteen different kinds of wildlife. At the Kruger, we saw more than ten different kinds of animals on the first day alone: impala, kudu, water buffalo, zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions, hyenas, chameleons, rhinos, yellow-billed southern hornbills, etc. Each evening we had a three-course meal and as much wine as we could drink at the camp.  The food was great, too: Fresh bread, salads, kebabs, poached pears, barbequed ostrich, toffee pudding. Highlights from our stay in the park included getting stuck in a water buffalo traffic jam, getting charged by a young male elephant and seeing a leopard on our last full day.

On the way back to Jo-burg we stopped at God’s View, Lisbon Falls, the Three Rondavels and a little chalet town in Mpumalanga whose name I can't remember (Dullstrom or Nelspruit maybe) just before Belfast.  We missed the view at God’s View because the mountains were completely enveloped in clouds. All that was forgotten, though, after a very satisfying breakfast of pancakes, eggs and rooibos lattes.  Lisbon Falls was a few kilometers further down the road.  A picturesque waterfall dropping into a cool, moss covered gorge. I would have liked to hike down to the river, but time didn’t allow.  Between Lisbon Falls and the little chalet town, our lunch destination, we drove through rolling green hills dotted with sheep and grey boulders. If you had told me we were in Ireland, I would have believed you. Even in late spring it was very cool. 

The town, whose name I cannot remember, was chalked full of restaurants and shops. For the Michiganders among you, it reminded me of a combination of Gaylord (Michigan) and Chamonix (France).  We had lunch at a combination restaurant and general store with a front room full of every kind of sweet treat you can imagine. Mid-meal we had to come indoors because a cloud consumed the mountain and the temperature dropped about ten degrees.  We were caught in the ensuing storm for the remainder of the drive back. Our driver smartly navigated the way through a barrage of hail and blinding rain.

The Wedding

Since this was a personal affair, I won’t go into the details. Suffice it to say that the venue was perfect, the bride was stunning, the groom was dashing and the food and music left nothing to the imagination. Ringa and Andrew have set the bar far too high for the rest of us.  Best wishes to them as a married couple and many thanks for the opportunity to be a part of it :)

Almost Done

At long last my brain dump nears a close. I hope the anecdotes weren’t too mundane.  I have seven months left in my Peace Corps service and a three-week holiday in America with my loving family and friends to look forward to. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next entry! Photos forthcoming--I don't have time to upload them at the moment.