30th
May Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park
My only intention to go to St. Lucia was to see the
Hluhluwe Umfolozi National Park. Many fellow travellers
had told me that it was much better then Krueger NP
and since I was short in time I decided to skip Krueger
NP. Hluhluwe Umfolozi is a Malaria area, just like the
Krueger NP, but since it was Winter in South Africa
there were no Mosquitoes and the risk of getting an
infection was pretty low. And as we speak - I wasn't
bitten once during the entire three weeks in South Africa.
To get to Hluhluwe Umfolozi was an arctic nightmare,
not only getting up at 3:30 am in the morning, but
also sitting on an open truck and fully exposed to
the wind with just a thin blanket to protect you,
was a real pain in the a**. The freezing morning aside,
the day in the park was breathtaking, with lots of
elephants, water buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes, warthog,
well, pretty much everything South Africa has to offer
expect lions and leopards, which didn't show up at
all expect on postcards.
31th May, Sanddunes
and Crokodiles
What
is a crazy bunch of people doing on a wonderful morning
on the beach? Watching dolphins pass by, go snorkelling
and catch crayfish, hell yeah. And - as I would call
it, downhill-sanddune-running! It was on our way back
to the hostel, when someone suggested that we should
climb up the dunes and run down again. The dunes where
quite high, maybe 60 to 80 meters and very steep.
It took about 10 minutes to climb up and then you
would just let go and start running downhill. Fortunately
no bones were broken and we had plenty of fun.
In the afternoon we visited a crocodile farm, to
see those nasty animals, which where only waiting
for some stupid tourists to put an arm or leg within
biting distance. There was a very funny and informative
tour with a Steve Irwin look and behave alike, who
would constantly use "as far as this species
concerned, to explain things to the visitors.
1st of June, Ballito Bay
After a final visit at the beach and many "good
bye's" it was time to leave St. Lucia, and get
on the Baz-Bus for the last time. This time I was
heading backwards, to get back to Durban. But I didn't
want to stay in Durban and decided to stay at Ballito
Bay instead. The hostel was realy small, situated
right at the beach and even had its own shipwreck.
The view out of my window on the first floor was breathtaking
and at night I visited the "Gateway" which
is the biggest mall in the southern hemisphere.
2nd June, Flight Cape Town
Alltogether it took me about 29 hours on the bus to
get from Cape Town to Durban, not including the trip
to St. Lucia. To get back to Cape Town by plane only
took me 4 hours, with a short stop-over in Port Elisabeth.
For my last days in Cape Town and South Africa I had
chosen the "Ashanti Lodge", which advertises
itself as the best hostel in Africa. I did not see
all the other hostels, but I have to admit that this
one was quite good. It is probably also the only hostel
in South Africa where you have to enter a pin-code
at the main entrance to get inside. The "no drugs
on this premises" was nothing more then a joke.
When I first walked into the TV-room I saw a guy who
was rockin' the ganj, and that's about all I would
see him doing for the rest of my stay. He never left
the room, slept on the floor, even when I walked into
the room at 7 am in the morning he would already be
lying on the couch and "puff the magic dragon".
That's what I call a flying vacation.
3rd June, Stellenbosch
I love wine, and Stellenbosch is an infamous wine
region, so there was no way I was going to miss the
opportunity to taste some South African wine. "Groovy
Grape Tours" seemed to be the right operator,
with such recommendations as "we sang our way
back to the hostel" it was deemed to be funny.
I ended up tasting around 20 different wine and even
had some Champagnes, oop's - I mean Kaapse Vonkel,
the South African version of Champaign. By the way,
I did not sang my way back to the hostel, but I was
indeed very pissed.
Stellenbosch is also home of some great Universities
and has a six female to one male student rate. Perfect
conditions if you are male, single, and looking for
an gorgeous time, of course, that is, only if you
are not too drunk.…
4th June, Victoria Waterfront,
Lions Head
The Rand had lost more then 20 % of its value compared
to the Euro since I arrived, which was very good in
case of shopping. So I spent half the day at the Victoria
and Albert Waterfront, a shopping mall in the centre
of the city.
In
the late afternoon I was joined by Liz and Jim, two
English travellers who I met on the wine tour the
other day, to hike up Lions head. This time I made
it up the top and was rewarded with a breath taking
few. The only bad thing was a very cold and strong
wind which forced us to climb very carefully.
5th
June, Township-Tour
My last day had finally come, and I wanted to end
my trip with something special, so I decided to do
a Township tour. The first stop was at the so called
District 6, once a flourishing multicultural area,
where all cultures and religious, black and white,
would peacefully live together. But then came "Apartheid",
and all races had to be "divided" and where
moved to other areas, like Cape Flats for black and
coloured people, 25 kilometres outside of Cape Town.
The whole district, expect some churches and mosques
was then bulldozed, with new street signs and new
buildings, and white people who moved into that area.
But
with the end of Apartheid there is a new history written
for district 6. The government is allowing and funding
former citizens to move back and District 6 is reconstructed,
even the old streetnames. We also visited the museum
of District 6, which offered lots of pictures and
information. The history of District 6 reminded me
of the history of the German people called "Sudetendeutsche"
who where forced to leave the Czech republic after
the second world war.
We
then went to the Township, a very impressive place.
And surprisingly strong organised. Every "street"
has its own council and they decide for example f
new people can move in and build a house. Our guide
also told us a story about three guys who raped a
little girl, the police wouldn't charge them because
of little proof, so the local people brought them
down to justice in their own way, by punishing them
with whiplashes made with long wooden sticks.
Our
first stop was a privately funded school. A local
woman had taken education in her own hands and organised
teaching for more then 600 kids, because government
operated schools where to crowded. She showed us around
the classes, it was amazing to see 40 to 80 kids in
those little rooms. When ever she entered a classroom
all of the kids would jump up and scream "Good
morning teacher, how are you teacher?!" which
was very funny. At the end of our tour, two classes
even sang a few songs for us, including the South
African anthem and a song about Nelson Mandela.
We
also visited a hostel right in the middle of the township
run by another woman and a kitchen to feed the kids
who would life on the street, also run by a woman.
I think the new South Africa is born in the streets
of these townships, and it is built by strong woman.
After
we finished the tour, my guide dropped me of at the
airport where I said "Good bye" to this
wonderful and interesting country.
South
Africa, you will see me again!
