Filed under: South Africa
Day 193 – 194, Friday 27th – Saturday 28th February 2009 (Al & Cath)
Who doesn’t get excited by the term “road trip”? We certainly were, despite the baffling and inefficient service at the post office this morning (we sent home a couple of huge parcels of souvenirs and books). Putting that behind us, our group of 5 and a choice selection of our luggage piled into the tiny little hired hatchback and hit the road. Various road closures meant it took us a little longer than expected to get to our first destination – the Cape of Good Hope. Some healthy gossiping and story telling made this an enjoyable drive.
Road trip crew! Matt, Keryn, Emma, Cath & Al
The legendary Cape of Good Hope – the ‘Most South-Western Point of the African Continent’
(Cape Agulhas, not far from here, actually reaches further south and marks the dividing line between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans)
Stopping off at Boulders Beach on the way back north allowed us to see some very cute African Penguins in their natural breeding grounds. You could actually pay to walk in the water and around on the rocks with the penguins, but we were content to stand and watch from the free side of the fence.
Boulders – I guess that’s where they got the name from
Hey lil’ fella
Whoops (note the useful diagram on the left – a penguin lying under a car, with another penguin looking on helplessly)
Based on some of the unusual noises eminating from the bushes, we can conclude that it was mating season
We then headed East through the traffic and road works to a town called Hermanus. A nice dinner in town and an early night was in order, for the next morning we were up early and driving to Gaansbai – ’shark capital of the world’. Joining our guide ‘Shork Man’ (imagine a South African accent there), birth name Mike Rutzen, we ventured out with about seven others to the cage, which was attached to a buoy and already being circled by great white sharks attracted by the early morning group that dived before us.
Shork Man (with cute baby sea lion) – well known for a documentary featuring him swimming with great white sharks, cage-less, and stroking their faces to put them into a trance (demonstrating their tonic immobility reflex, really).
With cold wind and misty rain, we were ordered to hurry into our wetsuits and for half of us to get into the cage (they did mean half the people, not half of each person, although that would have created a great shark spectacle). Matt jumped in first with a group of other people whilst Shork Man used fish heads on a rope to guide the shark towards the cage – the shark was never actually given a chance to grab the bait, just tempted with it, as these companies are only allowed to operate if they don’t do anything to obviously alter normal shark behaviour. The staff shouted “down now!” when it was time for Matt to grab hold of the bar under water, and pull himself underneath to come face to face with the shark. After five or ten minutes, their group was ordered out, so that Cathy, Keryn, myself and two others could get in. On this run we only caught glimpses of grey gliding past. With the bubbles, schools of small fish and murky water, it was not great viewing. A second trip into the water when a much bigger shark was circling was much better – the nearly four-metre apex predator and its huge teeth swam past 50cm away from our faces, before banging against the side of the cage and boat as it gripped a fish head (it clearly didn’t know the rules!). Our hearts were pumping – this was what we came here for!
Two sharks circle the bait, the breaching shark being the largest we saw (something over 3.5 metres)
Jaws up close! Matt took this awesome photo from the safety of the boat. We were in the water so could not see this view, but it shortly afterwards swam past our faces and shook the boat and cage.
Kerryn, Cathy and Al after our second near-death white-water experience (note from Cath: yes, those gaps between the bars of the cage were a LOT bigger than I expected, and I was not comfortable with Al being on the edge closest to the bait!)
Overall though, being in the cage gave us a much calmer feeling than we’ve described so far. To see the sharks swimming so gracefully and silently past us, it was hard not to be in complete awe, and to feel like you were watching a documentary rather than something less than an arm’s length away. The coldness of the water was quickly forgotten. Great white sharks really are beautiful animals, and not naturally man-eating monsters, although we admit we did rely on that image just before to give our story a bit of easy and obvious drama, just like Steven Spielberg did. There is some controversy about the impact cage diving has on sharks (accidental injuries when chasing bait; associations being created between humans and food), and with the number of boats heading out to do the same thing that day, we could see why it is a topic of heated debate. Shork Man might be a bit like the Crocodile Hunter – well-intentioned, but not exactly an environmentalist’s dream. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence either way yet. But at the very least, as long as most operators are responsible, there are now lots of people learning to respect and admire sharks for reasons other than pure Hollywood-inspired fear.
It was a quieter drive back to Cape Town as we ran out of adrenaline and the lack of sleep kicked in. Whilst I enjoyed the rugby match we all went to that night (Stormers vs Blues, with other members of our tour who hadn’t yet departed) I was still imagining that moment in the cold waters off Gaansbai where I could have reached out and touched a great white.
Filed under: South Africa
Day 191 – 192, Wednesday 25th – Thursday 26th February 2009 (Al)
We awoke in the pre-dawn hours of the morning to Matt and Keryn yelling at a large, hirsute and loudly snoring man to “SHUT UP!!!” or words to that effect. He had joined our dorm room during the night and sounded horrendous – picture a chainsaw and a lawn mower having a baby – the sound of that baby crying at the top of its lungs is what this man sounded like.A pillow may have been thrown but he did not wake up…
More important this morning was leaving Stellenbosch for our FINAL drive on the truck – only 45 minutes to Cape Town. Barbara (Babs) the truck and Franco the driver had taken us over 10,000km in 56 days. It was a sunny and exciting drive, tinged with a sad feeling that an amazing life experience was drawing to a close. Driving past the vast townships that surround Cape Town added to these mixed feelings – more on them later.
Franco receiving a well-deserved round of appluase
After checking in, we decided to join Matt and Keryn on a circuit of the city in a red double-decker hop on-hop off bus. Our first hop-off stop was at Camps Bay on the far side of Table Mountain. It was a beautiful beach under clear skies and a gentle breeze. The drive on the bus continued around past other beaches and the wealthy homes surrounding them – the contrast between these areas and some of the townships we had passed less than twenty minutes out of town was almost unbelievable. The only other place we’d seen such a huge and obvious gap between rich and poor was in Rio de Janiero – but here, the wealthy parts of town seemed more ‘normal’ to us than they did in Rio, like exclusive suburbs around Sydney Harbour. And in Rio the poverty was almost impossible to ignore; here, it could be completely out of sight and out of mind. But at least there is a free press, which constantly reminds people of the work still to be done.
Camps Bay
We saw the World Cup soccer stadium in construction, the Fort (the only place where the old, Apartheid-era South African flag can legally be flown, lined up beside other historical flags), the main CBD, District Six, the waterfront precinct and its markets, and the townhall where Nelson Mandela made his famous freedom speech on the balcony:
The next day Cathy and I set off for a walk around town, first visiting the District Six museum. District Six itself lies on the fringe of the CBD. It was once a bustling, multicultural suburb where people of all colours and creeds lived and could easily walk into the city to work. During Apartheid, this district was reclassified by the government as a “Whites Only” area. Residents who had lived there for all of their lives were forcibly removed and relocated to what has become Cape Town’s many townships – many kilometres away from the city centre. The government bulldozed the entire District Six area but to this day, only a handful of houses have actually been built there. It turns out that many of the white middle and upper class people who the land was set aside for did not care to live in an area the government had previously determined was a slum area. More positively, of course not everyone agreed with the regime, so many people also refused to move in for reasons of conscience. Although various plans are now being made for this empty land, its current state does serve as evidence of the sheer stupidity of a regime making decisions based solely on race and colour.
District Six today
Outside the museum
The museum is filled with people’s photos and stories of life before Apartheid. Signs and paraphenalia from the Apartheid era – including ID cards that state the person’s race (white, malay, Cape coloured, black) – would have seemed like movie props or sick jokes, if it wasn’t for the evidence of how horribly real this way of living was for so many people and so many years.
Later in the afternoon, we headed up Table Mountain with some of the others to enjoy the views and the sunset. The “Table Cloth” – the thick layer of cloud that regularly blankets the mountain – was present but not yet covering the summit. So, with fingers crossed, we hoped for clear views.
Steep cable ride up
Amazing views with the clouds spilling over the edge of the mountain, then evaporating, the shining sun and sparkling water. A glass of champagne, a can of coke and a small pack of salt and vinegar chips capped off a beautiful, peaceful sunset.
A fun night out on Long Street with the group felt like the official end of the tour. People would start to head their separate ways. Either back home to family and work, or on to the next travel destination somewhere around the world. We had a few days left in South Africa and decided to join Matt, Keryn and Emma for a road trip!
Day 187-190, Saturday 21st – Tuesday 24th February 2009 (Al & Cath)
Another long drive day, the highlight was stopping for lunch at Africa’s largest canyon – Fish River Canyon. Not much need be said here – it is a large and very impressive canyon that looks not unlike the Grand Canyon I believe. Fantastic views from the lookout assisted by blue sky and sunshine.
We then arrived at a rather green camp site on the Orange River, which forms the border between Namibia and South Africa. My group and I prepared dinner (for the last time!) whilst others showered, swam in the river and got ready for that evening’s “Wine and Cheese Party”. The cheese was good, but some people probably drank a little too much wine, resulting in some unpleasant incidents that we won’t go into here – the outcome was that two people left the truck on a sour note. Generally though (until that point!), a fun time was had by all. Pranks were played, including hiding a few tents. I won’t name the culprits…
Very innocent looking pranksters
The next day was our final long drive day which included our final border crossing. Having the sides down to enjoy the view meant finding ways to warm up as it was colder than usual, despite the bright sun. As the weather warmed up after arriving in South Africa and having lunch, the mood improved on the truck with some 1980’s rock singalongs.
We never thought of using our sleeping bags on the truck like this until the last long drive day – cosy!
Sweet Child o’ Mine – Kiwi Matt does his best Axl Rose impersonation
Some air guitar by Jez and Mike
That night we stayed at an orange orchard, setting up our tents on nice, soft green grass followed by a quiet night watching TV and reading old Time magazines about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the last years of Apartheid. The next morning featured some thorough cleaning of the truck, and packing our tents away for the very last time! Our remaining accommodation would be in dorm rooms, so it was a bitter-sweet goodbye to our tent, St Louis. It had served us well despite being a little cramped. It was the roof over our heads and the protective wall between us and man-eating lions. We’ll miss you…
A short drive had us in Stellenbosch, a university town surrounded by wineries. While the group went on a winery tour the next day, I walked around town, updated the blog and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Not having to cook, coupled with visiting some nice restaurants for breakfast and dinner made this an enjoyable culinary stop. Not having to do the dishes is always a bonus!
Gourmet breakfast
Vineyards in a lovely hilly landscape – with dry paddocks in between the vines, it was easy to imagine you were somewhere in Australia
The last stop before the socially-lubricated group arrived back at the hostel. There some patient people waited for a couple of South African guys to cook up a proper braai (barbecue) in the backyard, while other people who couldn’t fight off their hunger long enough (e.g. us) went for a quick Italian meal down the road, then a night out on the town, feeling quite old compared to the uni students who vastly outnumbered and outlasted us.
Filed under: Namibia
Day 186, Friday 20th February 2009 (Al)
An early start today as we were heading into another sand dune desert – this one, in the Nambib-Naukluft National Park, home to the world’s largest sand dunes – in an area known as Sossusvlei. We were disappointed to be told by Mel that we would not be stopping at the climbable Dune 45 first thing (seeing it at sunrise or sunset was something we’d been looking forward to since first reading the itinerary for this trip, which said we’d climb the dune at one of those times), but instead we would be going on a guided desert hike. We were told this was to beat the heat by walking earlier, then we would get the chance to climb the dune later. However, by the time the guided hike started, it was already baking hot. When we finished and made it back to the dune, it was even hotter and we had to climb a 200 metre high dune with boiling sand underfoot.
The main reason we wanted to stop first thing to climb the dune was to be able to take dramatic photos of the dunes that really showed the contrast along the ridge line, with one side in the bright light and the other in complete shadow. We had to make do with what we could snap from the speeding truck:
The hike through the Sossusvlei clay pan was interesting. Our guide could point out signs of life in the seemingly inhospitable desert. He caught a lizard which had earlier been doing that cute thing you see on documentaries where it stands on two feet at a time to avoid burning its feet. He then found a trap door spider’s home, which are sometimes over a metre deep. By carefully peeling back the roof with two twigs, then gently pouring a little sand down the hole, he coaxed the spider to come to the surface and quickly close the lid!
Spider burrow – if you look closely you can see the owner’s legs
His final trick was showing us how plants can survive here when it rains at most a few times per year. He poured a drop or two of water on a dry, closed bud of a plant. Within 90 seconds, the bud had opened up ready to receive more water. When none came within the next few minutes, it closed back up – amazing how everything adapts to survive. We visited a clay pan (called Dead Vlei – vlei means clay pan) that looked like a graveyard for dead trees – some of them died thousands of years ago, and are still standing, scorched and dry, because there is not enough water for the wood to decompose. Getting the right photo was difficult with a group of brightly dressed Japanese tourists wandering through the trees taking cheesy peace sign snaps.
Soon after we were able to climb Dune 45 – now in the midday heat. It was tough going but spectacular – and fun to run down on the other side.
We thought that the summit was where the farthest person in this photo (the speck) is – but not so – it was another 5 or 10 minutes on from there. And there are dunes in the desert almost twice as high as this one.
Finally at the top – with hot feet!
Our truck dwarfed by the dunes, while we had lunch – note the mini-tornado towards the left of the picture
Back on the road, we even saw some green throughout the day despite spending the morning in the barren, red desert.
Once again forcing us to adapt to a different environment, this night our bush camp had few trees (which means little toilet privacy) and the ground was covered in stones that had to be shifted to get a relatively flat sleeping space. Upon packing up their tent in the morning, Nita and Nate found a scorpion under their tent – we were all glad that none of us had thought of scorpions until we were leaving, but still managed to avoid them in blissful ignorance.
Stony bush camp – our last bush camp. Would we miss staying in places with no toilets in the future? Only time would tell…
Filed under: Namibia
Day 185, Thursday 19th February 2009 (Al)
Today was a stormy day. The entire drive we either had wonderful views of distant stormy skies over mountains, or we were driving straight through the storms. At one point we had to pull over very quickly to put the sides down in the stinging rain whilst being warned to stay away from the sides in case of lightning strikes – which we could see in the area.
Self-explanatory
Moody skies – we later drove through this storm
Arrived safely at Agamba camp – 100 metres away is where the truck and our tents were pitched. It still looks gloomy.
What a difference ten minutes can make – the storm moved on, the setting sun came out and put a golden shine on to the mountains and our browning tans
Another glorious African sunset
