Wireless

It's weird being back in the US and being able to use my phone anywhere. 

Return trip

We're heading to the CT airport soon. From there, to JB, ATL, then Bos. And back to the real world. 

I probably won't post any more on the trip posts. 

So, how was the trip?

This is a post for folks who want to know, in general, how the South Africa trip was. I'll review the 4 parts of the trip individually, and then throw out some general commentary.

All my pictures from the trip, with explanatory captions: https://plus.google.com/photos/105909573807230408134/albums/6134298289176854721?authkey=CJDB3Z-sx7fjdQ

Gabe's (plus a few of Matt's mixed in for continuity): https://plus.google.com/photos/105909573807230408134/albums/6137994156123013665/6138792207093585138?banner=pwa&sort=1&pid=6138792207093585138&oid=105909573807230408134

Matt's blog: http://mmian-travel.blogspot.com

Drakensberg

This hike was physically and technically demanding, but rewarded with views of nature that are nearly undisturbed by humans. The guide we used tailored the hikes to our fitness (purported) and experience (alleged) levels. It was breathtaking to be hiking in the middle of nowhere, getting treated to mountainous landscapes around every turn. 

If you like hikes, you'll love the Drakensberg. 

Kruger National Park

I think I can recommend this visit to anyone. It's as casual or hardcore as you want it to be. I'd recommend self-driving in the day and taking additional guided drives or walks in the evening. The beauty of self-driving is that each animal sighting you make is yours, earned by whatever route you pick on the roads and however well you can spot movement/shapes in the brush.

We saw so many animals in their habitat, up close or at least from an easy viewing distance. It's more real than any nature documentary, though maybe not as loaded with facts.

Living in the various camps' bungalows and eating out of the camp shops has a mildly safariesque feel to it. 

Garden Route

Driving down the Garden Route will reveal what South Africa's climate and geography is really like. The coastal towns and parks are something else. The cities tend to be more developed and tourism-oriented than what we saw driving from Skukuza back into Johannesburg. 

Do this if you like driving, like stopping at beaches, and want to see some penguins. You'll probably want to bring your own music, as the radio stations play a pretty limited variety.

Cape Town

A distinct looking and feeling city. The geography is just as beautiful as other places you could go in South Africa, but it's also a real place with real people living in it. You could get the bulk of what you'd want to see by going to Table Mountain one day and visiting the wineries in Stellenbosch another. 

Final notes

South Africa is a country whose socioeconomic classes are so obviously divided by race. The vast majority of the tourism you might consider is part of the white, fully-Westernized South Africa. You'll be doing things that are offered to those with privilege. 

Everywhere you go, though, there'll be reminders that poor and less-Westernized people make up a very real part of the South African nation. There were signs all around this trip for 20 Years of Freedom. 

I remember when I was at the Delaire Graff winery, I wanted to tip the lady ushering people to the bathrooms. I didn't have small bills on me, so I gave her a R20 bill, which is probably more than her hourly wage (I had to check some charts on minimum wage). The very appreciative curtsy she made upon seeing the tip made me really sad. Wherever we went, random people were hustling us for tips, asking us if we needed help with anything just in hopes of getting some cash. It's an ever-present reminder of the gulf between rich and poor, of these social classes in constant contact but pretty much never merging or integrating. 

In this context, I have some guilt that the bulk of my vacation money fueled only the Western half of the country. Obviously, SA's social problems are not something I can solve as an individual or a visiting tourist. But I did wish I had acquired a more complete understanding of how the country is evolving 20 years after apartheid. 

After a couple weeks of travel, I have bags of clean and unclean clothes in my backpack. When I get home, both bags are going in the laundry basket. For a while, I had this patch of rhino dung dried up in the tread of my boots. As I stomp out of the airport in Boston, even that vestige of the trip has fallen out. 

Things I've seen on South African TV

- one person speaking Zulu while the other replies in English

- a woman coming into someone's home to deliver a message at gunpoint:

- an edutainment show about sexual health and safety called Intersexions

- an accounting lecture

- a slew of bad American TV shows that probably have never seen the light of day in the US

- a lot of rugby and soccer

- a grown orphan visiting his mother's hometown to talk to his long lost relatives

- just one channel in Afrikaans 

It seemed like there was a healthy amount of content geared to the black middle class. I can't presume to know what poor blacks in South Africa would watch the most on TV. 

CT day 3

Our last day in CT and the last day of our trip. Tomorrow, we fly back to JB and back to the US. 

Breakfast was at a hipster coffee shop, The Power and The Glory. I got a pretzel dog with cornichons. It was good. 

We then made a longish walk down to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and looked all around. 

There were some lounging fur seals:

In the big food court, there were all sorts of familiar (tarts, cookies, smoothies) and exotic (game kebabs, fresh biltong, African) eats. Here's some local stew next to samosas:

We walked back to the hotel. Matt and Gabe tried out the Turkish bath while

I lounged in the room. We tried out a fancy place for dinner called 95 Keerom. Its chef had apparently won the 2013 World Pasta Championship. As part of my dinner, I got the winning dish, a broccoli orichiette:

It was maybe too subtle for my tastes. The rest of the dinner was good, but not quite as good as a couple of the other places we've been to. In all, it was a bit underwhelming. 

CT day 2

Woke up at 3:30 to catch a long ride out to Gansbaai, which is back up east on the Garden Route. There wasn't a better way to plan the logistics of that if we wanted more days in Cape Town. 

After some standard training, the 20 of us shark tourists got herded into a 12m ship and chopped out over the waves to the sharkiest part of the bay. The water was chummed; the cage was lowered. People took shifts waiting in the cage. Gabe and Matt went first; I went in last.

I don't have any pictures because I left all my valuables on shore. 

The sharks were most inquisitive and active in that first wave. I was viewing from the top deck of the boat, which was  the best vantage point. But the extra height compounds the rolling waves' rocking effect. Picture trying to lean over and peer into the water while the boat is pitching back and forth. It's a bit unsettling to think that a hard wave might send you into the water, or at least into the railing. 

One shark took the bait and thrashed against the cage. The folks inside couldn't see the ferocity as well as they could feel it. It was a bit longer than the cage, which can seat 6 people. Another shark came straight from below and came straight out of the water to its fins. 

I thought the view from the top was better than in the water. You could probably see 15 ft out horizontally and 10 ft down. I couldn't wear my glasses inside my goggles, but I don't think they'd have helped much. 

Being in the cage was an interesting experience, but it was nothing as tense and exciting as driving beside the animals at Kruger.

After we drove back, there was a long nap. We got up and hit up a garden established by the Dutch East India Trading Company, followed by more walking about town. 

Some of the defacings on the bamboo go back to 1991. 

It must be nice to always living in the shadow of so scenic a mountain. 

As usual, there was the ever-present juxtaposition of rich and poor. On Kloof St., there were galleries showing with rich people chatting and drinking white wine out front. Right next to them were kiosks of trinkets being hawked by local craftspeople. It's hard to get away from the virtually compartmentalized society. 

Here's a bad picture of a school next to a sandlot:

People walk through the sandlot all the time, and in the back of it is a dump site that is picked through by people living in the shantytown behind the lot. The trailer housing that makes up the school is on the extreme cheap end of the scale. 

For dinner, we went out to a Cape Malay place. The restaurant overlooks the city, which makes for a cool nightime view. The buffet had a few very Indian-like dishes, but there was a standout fish stew that was spicy and had very soft onions. 

 

Differences between SA and the US

In SA, you can get hot or cold milk for your coffee. The hot milk is sometimes foamed. 

The refrigeration temp for sodas is not as cold.

Expected restaurant tip is 10%. There's a lot of attendant-type jobs that you're supposed to tip, like car guards and gas station employees. 

Powerful cars are very rare, so the hills feel infinitely steeper when you're climbing up at 50mph and losing steam. 

Every food/drink spot has toothpicks. Toothpicks are frequently handed out with your bill. It's great. 

South Africa is in love with skeleton keys for home doors:

I don't get the tradition. 

It's good for burgers to be saucy, not juicy. 

South Africa seems obsessed with puns. A selection:

- Appletizer, a soda

- Ocean Basket's slogan: your sole provider

- an umbrella decorated with "if you're under cover, are you in disguise?"

- High Tea Tighty shop

- Mex It Up

- John Lemon tea

- Out of CurioCity curio shop 

- Nando's promotion Living on the Egg

 

CT day 1

We got up later and rushed down to Table Mountain. The hike up was pretty brutal, with the last half almost all steps.

Some cool views at the top:

We went down via cable car, which was a mercy to my ankle. 

For lunch, we went to Hout's Bay, which itself was a bust. The area around it was a bit unplaceble. Less South African looking than the other parts of South Africa, I guess. Though I suppose lots of Cape Town is unique looking. 

That was the view from the lunch Thai place. 

Then we visited the penguins again at Boulders Beach. The African penguin used to be called the jackass penguin because of its braying call. I didn't get any of the pitch perfect donkey brays on video, but I got this:

https://vine.co/v/OLYia6l3PEj

We had major traffic getting back into town because of the One Direction concert, of all things. My rental reservation was also screwed up, where I signed up to return it at a time when the local branch was closed, which somehow was approved by the system. 

Dinner was on a touristy strip of Long Street, a short walk from our hotel. I had something called a Gatsby's, some kind of sub:

It's a chicken tikka with tomato sauce, which afaict is tomato slices and ketchup. 

Tomorrow, we swim with the Great Whites. From the safety of cages.