South Africa in 40 Shots

I didn’t write almost anything about South Africa so far for two reasons. One was the lack of internet and two, I felt that South Africa was a complicated country, more so than others. I constantly felt that I needed more time to get the whole picture or whatever blurred picture an outsider can get for a month and a half. This all sounds convincing, but actually the main reason was pure procrastination. It was nice to take a break from documenting or processing experiences with the thought of how to document them. In South Africa we also left the camera behind in an attempt to keep it from joining Kuba’s cellphone, in the hands of a new owner. Quickly we got out of habit of taking photos and so we don’t have many to share but if you want to just look at whatever photos we have, here is the skinny on the text ~ I absolutely loved South Africa!

And to be honest, it didn’t start that way. When we entered the country I was irritated by how developed it appeared. Coming from empty Namibia though any place would appear too populated except for Greenland, Mongolia and a few lonely islands scattered out there in the vast oceans. At first the Western Cape was too much – agriculture lands instead of natural habitats, interstates buzzing with cars, fancy rest areas, malls surrounded by parking lots, endless suburbs. But then, there was Cape Town and we were starved to death for a decent city.

I fell for Cape Town’s charms pretty much on day one after stepping into a food store. And here comes Namibia again. The food there was, let’s say… basic and expensive. The comparison rendered Cape Town into the cornucopia of our dreams. Imagine Earth Fare back home (fancy organic store), but everything way cheaper. From oatmeal with honey our breakfasts started featuring strawberries with double cream yogurt and granola. Sushi train for lunch instead of instant soups. Home cooking for dinner at the house we were so graciously offered by our friend Neil. We were in heaven.

Besides the deliciousness of it, Cape Town is vibrant, prosperous, chic, colorful, interesting, cool. The fashion is fresh and edgy, the culture rich, the museums are first class and the whole city buzzing with life. Cape Town and its surrounds is the main tourist attraction of the country after all. The area is a biodiversity hot spot with several plant species endemic to it. Table Mountain and Lion’s Head provide the iconic backdrop and both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are right there to add the finishing touches to what is already a great natural setting. In a nutshell Cape Town is the kind of place that might seduce you to forget yourself and stay forever.

   

   

 

Cape Town has all the ingredients of a perfect city ~ great parks, rich history, exciting architecture both new and old, friendly locals and nature paradise in all directions … except … and here it gets difficult to explain, because the issues of the country ARE the ones that keep on bugging me but are also the ones that make South Africa such an interesting and inspiring place to visit or call home. Judging by the fancy side of Cape Town it is impossible to grasp that South Africa is both first and third world all in one. There is so much wealth and glitter in the city and if you are a tourist you will most likely miss the slums and the grim lower class suburbs surrounding Cape Town. By not seeing them it might be harder to notice that the division between whites and blacks is still surprisingly sharp. Nowadays it is not driven by the skin color, but by how much money one has. The economic apartheid of today that is part of our reality in so many places on Earth is somewhat in your face all the time in South Africa. Sadly today South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world.

Yet, there are a few countries in the world that have gone through such an amazing transformation for the better as South Africa has. The dark years of the apartheid finished in 1994, just mere 20 years ago and since then lots has changed. The racist legislation has been abolished. The new constitution is liberal and inspiring. Many more have access to clean water and electricity. Blacks have been given all the rights and privileges only whites used to enjoy, but still there are plenty of challenges ahead.

Behind the facade of a modern country South Africa grapples with third world problems. It has more people with HIV/AIDS than any other county in the world. Millions live in abject poverty and fight daily for survival. High unemployment, crime, corrupted leadership and a widening gap between rich and poor are just a few of the issues plaguing the country. And here comes the optimist in me. I was constantly inspired by South Africa’s incredible potential for improvement and change. There is so much one can do to help, so many causes worth fighting, so many opportunities for growth!

But the divide between the haves and have nots is also the thing that constricts the everyday existence in fear and further separation. Electric fences protect houses, there are bars on every window and every door, security firm stickers on each property and parking guards on every street corner.

We arrived without the knowledge of how to survive in the city and broke all the unwritten safety rules. Naively we boarded the metro train from one of the most dangerous station in town. Later that day the train clerk refused to sell us tickets back to the same station. ‘Too dangerous. They are animals!’ he said. The animals he was referring to are still a mystery we are no longer trying to solve. We also walked in dark streets not knowing that this is no-no. We got yelled at by people from cars warning us to clear as the area was not safe. We took the combi taxis wondering why were we the only whites doing that. !OMG! Our new friend Allison exclaimed. I have never ever been in one!!! Dangerous! Crowded! Hot! She also hasn’t been in 3rd class in the train. !Never! Ever! Not many white people have. For the the 10 days we rode the trains we were the only ones. That was where we got pick pocketed and where we listened to the most passionate sermon for 40 minutes. Strangely, we also made friends. The same people who maned the cash registers at the strawberry, yogurt and granola store in downtown. !OMG! You are so brave! I can still hear Allison’s voice in my head.

This naturally leads us to the question:

Is South Africa safe?

My answer is yes and no. You have to take precautions that you probably won’t take in many other places. Here is a sample:

Stay only in places that have some kind of security, especially if you have a car. Leaving the car parked on the street is not safe. Don’t leave any objects visible in it when parked, even during the day. Always lock all car doors when driving in the city. Avoid driving at night. If you see people approaching you on a red light while waiting just drive away. Don’t pick hitchhikers and don’t stop when someone is needing help on the road. I know this is a hard one, but better safe than sorry. Don’t walk at night in streets that have no pedestrian traffic and are not well lit. Just don’t walk at night. Period. Don’t carry a camera and don’t check your phone in the middle of the sidewalk. Don’t carry anything valuable. Avoid carrying stuff in your pockets. Follow the advice of locals and pay attention all the time in bigger cities. Smaller ones are way safer.

This list is enough to freak anyone out I bet but it is important to remember that if you follow all the rules it is likely that nothing bad will happen. How do South Africans live with so much potential danger you might ask. They just turn their back on it and get on with their lives. For us it was quite exhausting to always pay attention and be vigilant about people and situations, but we got better at it with time.

After leaving Cape Town we had no idea where to go and what to see. Our first stop was Tsitsikamma National Park – a slice of stunning wilderness along the Indian ocean. There we got coaxed into buying the Wild Card so we can avoid paying the park’s huge foreigner conservation fees (the Wild Card gives unlimited access to all of South Africa’s National Parks). All of a sudden we had a plan of action – to visit as many parks as we could so the darn card was not a rip off but a thought out benefit.

Tsitsikamma National Park~

was our introduction to what camping fanatics South African’s were. Almost all had brought their whole house to the beach with them, bikes and cooking equipment included. South Africans are crazy about their braai (barbecue, but supposedly better). ‘No meat, no happiness’ should probably be embroidered on the South African flag. We were constantly jealous as we had nothing in our possession besides the tiny tent, the tiny cook top and the tiny pot. If it wasn’t for the cute family on the left and their giant shade we would have died slow death by roasting as there was not an inch of shade on the campsite. The kids befriended a few boys with extra bicycles and never ending supply of cold drinks and we barely saw their faces. This was a big one for South Africa – making friends was a breeze. If you arrive in the country not knowing anyone by the time you leave you will probably have friends in every place you stayed for more than 4 days.

   

Addo National Park~

was our second stop. It started with 11 elephants in 1931 and today it counts more than 600. The park also has lions, buffaloes, black rhinos, spotted hyenas, leopards, a variety of antelope and zebra species, as well as the unique Addo flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively there. (Sadly we ran over a dung beetle with the car as they are hard to see on the road:( We are still getting over it). Anyways, after Namibia we thought we have seen plenty of elephants but Addo surprised us. We were blessed to see elephants not just drinking water from a water hole but making love. Just a few feet away from us. It was unbelievable! Don’t worry, I am not going to post photos of that. Beside the lovey-dovey we also stared at elephants flirting, lovingly rubbing foreheads and exhibiting startling affection for each other. On a more practical level we saw them rolling grass balls with one foot and then picking the balls up with their trunks. Over and over again. And then moving to the shrubs and pulling thorny branches, tearing them off and stuffing them in their mouths.

In Addo I discovered that I could watch elephants for hours.

 

Camdeboo National Park and Mountain Zebra National Park were next

Both are worth a visit as they are part of the Karoo, a semi-desert natural region of South Africa and my favorite landscape of the country. Mountain Zebra NP was originally proclaimed in 1937 to save the dwindling Cape mountain zebra population. Now, at over 28.000 hectares, the park boasts a conservation success story, protecting over 700 zebra as well as wildlife such as endangered black rhino and cheetah. The park is intimate and very beautiful.

Below is a shot of Graff-Reinet, a beautiful historic city which lies at the foot of Camdeboo National Park.

The Drakensberg

This part of South Africa is beyond beautiful. We had trouble leaving. It didn’t help that we camped at the campsite of my dreams. Every morning we would wake up with the intention of moving on, but the moment we unzipped our tent and saw the view we would change our mind. We stayed in the Drakensberg for a week. This is where we celebrated the New Year at a musical festival that gave us an insight into the culture of South African twenty somethings. We didn’t sleep for three days straight but then there were the mountains to run away to during the day. And those were spectacular. See for yourself:)

 

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

Together with Ithala Game Reserve this was the most beautiful game park in South Africa. Here I got scared of elephants and made sure never to get too close to them again. In the last moment we hit the breaks right next to a mother and a calf hidden behind a bush. The mother elephant didn’t like that one bit. She stopped eating and broke through the vegetation towards our car. It was good that Kuba was quick to reverse. After this episode we kept a good distance from any elephants and twice had to turn back to where we were coming from as the road was blocked by herds of them munching on bushes.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is famous for its white rhino conservation efforts. Here the last 50 Southern white rhinos were kept protected from poachers. This was crucial in helping the species recover to around 20.000 individuals worldwide today. Over the past few decades rhinos have been relocated from the park to restock other reserves throughout Africa, as well as many zoos overseas, but even with close protection Hluhluwe-Imfolozi keeps loosing rhinos to poachers every year:( We saw plenty of this funny animal lazing in the heat or grazing on grass. Pretty awesome sight given that they are almost impossible to see in many other parks.

Kruger National Park

The park is huge. How big exactly? 360 km long and 60 km wide. It is like a country of its own. We spent 5 days there and by the time we left we had forgotten halfway about the world outside.

Kruger is a first-world park and it is organized with comfort in mind. The camp shops are stocked with pretty much anything you could wish for. Each camp has a pool and common kitchens with instantaneous hot water. Travel in Kruger was easy and that felt good. When we started the trip I thought that the harder travel was the more rewarding it would be, but Kruger proved me wrong. It felt amazing to be able to buy fresh tomatoes, cukes, feta and brown bread in the middle of the bush. Not to mention the 20 types of ice creams:) The only regret I have is that we didn’t spot a leopard, but that might have been our fault as we always left for safari in the heat of the day. For consolation we saw tons of hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, giraffes, elephants, lions and what not.

  

Johannesburg

The city was surprisingly green! By now I am out of juice so I will just add that we fell in love with Johannesburg in four days thanks to our amazing hosts. Seeing a place through the eyes of locals was the best as the affection for their city colored even the grittiest neighborhoods with optimism. The potential for revitalization in Joburg is amazing! I would love to visit again in 10 years to witness the change.

Please, lets go back about talking about FOOD. My appreciation of how fresh, delicious and affordable the food in South Africa was has deepened greatly in the past week. Now that we are in Argentina and I can’t find a decent lettuce in the supermarket, not to mention yogurt or feta I remember wistfully South Africa and its lines of perfect vegetables sold at bargain prices.

Sorry Argentina, you might be better at tango but food wise South Africa is the bomb.

~M.