Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Re-Settling In

Jess writes:

As most of you know, Adam and I have spent the last few weeks in a “semi-homeless” limbo – between sites – but, it did give us a great opportunity to see some of our awesome fellow-PCVs, some incredible local sites, and, of course, the World Cup finals!! Nevertheless, “Site Change” hung over our heads… Where will be go? Where will we work? With whom will we live? Will there be water??? And while we loved our Mpumalanga travels, we were anxious (and antsy!) to get to this new site!

And then the call came…

We bundled our weeks-worn clothes and dirty shoes into the packs and waited by the backpacker road for the white, Peace Corps bakkie to roll in. The bakkie arrived, with driver and APCD in tow, and without much ado, we were off to our new site!! And so, after two months of training, three months of community integration at the first site, a few weeks of chaotic site change plans, and a fortnight of backpacking, we finally arrived in our new, African home…

Welcome to Schoemansdal!

Schoemansdal is a large community of almost 10,000 people – a size that is slightly too large to be considered a Village, but slightly too small to be considered a Township, so some have cleverly dubbed it a “Villageship”. This Villageship is located in the Nkomazi region, nestled between the plains of Kruger National Park (40 kilometers north), the beaches of Mozambique (50 kilometers east), and closest of all, the border mountains of Swaziland (10 kilometers south). Thus, Schoemansdal is a truly beautiful place – with rolling green hills, meandoring rivers, and fields of sugarcane for as far as the eye can see! The people too are uniquely beautiful – culturally Swazi and extremely warm, generous, and welcoming to their white “brothers” and “sisters”! (I should illustrate this point: the second day that we were in community, I was a greeted by a semi-toothless gogo who introduced herself as “The town gogo”. She then proceeded to give me an enormous bear hug and shout excitedly in SiSwati “And now I am your gogo!!” How great!)

And did I mention that we get to speak SiSwati again (our original, target language)!! And… there’s WATER!!! What a luxury!

We will be living on the north side of Schoemansdal, on a family compound consisting of three main buildings – a large family home, a small guest building, and a very clean (so clean!) double latrine. The large family home houses, well, the family!! The Shongwe family has hosted volunteers on two previous occasions and they are well-versed in the PCV lifestyle – including all the ups and downs of the two-year service! And to make us feel at home right away, they visited us after our first night’s sleep and announced that they had decided on our SiSwati names (most volunteers are given local names as a welcome to their new communities). Adam was given the name “Themba”, which means “Hope”, and I was named “Nobuhle”, which means “Pretty” (I wonder if they didn’t call my parents for suggestions, because it is a heartwarming coincidence that my new SiSwati name is my parents’ long-used endearment.)

But to the specifics: our host parents, Mr. Petros Shongwe and his beautiful wife Sithabile, are both SiSwati teachers at local schools (very convenient for our recently re-captured, but floundering SiSwati!) Their four wonderful children (and one adopted nephew) range from age 21 to just 2 and are as follows: Thapelo (first-born son), Lwazi (the adopted nephew), Sethu (second-born son), Lindelwa (the only girl!), and Siyanda (the baby boy!). (As a side note, “Siyanda” literally translates to “The children are enough”, which I think is hysterical!!!) The children are all extremely friendly, very helpful when we are in any need, but are also amazingly considerate of our time and space – that is, unlike most children in South Africa, they will always knock before entering the home, only sit and chat if invited to do so, and will happily take leave if you mention your pending house chores. Most entertaining of all our family interactions is with the youngest, Siyanda, with whom we have very humorous, daily interactions. For example, the little guy is old enough to remember the previous PCV that stayed in the guesthouse – her SiSwati name was Ketiwe – but is still too young to make mental differentiations between non-familial adults. Thus, I often exit the house to a little voice yelling, “Sawubona maKetiwe” (“Hello my Ketiwe”) and short arms reaching up for holding! So my ‘Behavior Change’ strategy has been to pick him up, put him eye to eye, and ask slowly, “Ungubani ligama lami?” (“What is my name?”). He usually tilts his head to the side, ponders a while, and responds “Ummmm, Ketiwe.” To which I smile, and respond, “Cha, ligama lami nguNobuhle.” (“No, my name is Nobuhle.”). We do this for a while until he exclaims “Nobuhle!” and I bounce him up and down while saying “Yebo bhuti! Yebo!” (“Yes brother! Yes!”) Then I set him down and he runs away yelling, “Bye bye Ketiwe!” Ha! Oh well… I still have two years to work on that with him!

The smaller guesthouse – a two room outbuilding constructed entirely of concrete and topped with a tin roof – will house ourselves. (PS – We had our first experience with “rain on a tin roof” last week and while the sentiment may be romantic, I would describe it as more “deafening” than any other descriptor!) Needless to say, this house is a bit of a change from our very large, three bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom and garage at the first site. But, unsurprising to us, we are actually far happier in our bedroom-that-is-also-a-bathroom-and-office and kitchen-that-is-also-our-dining-room-and-living-room!! It’s quite cozy and, while we have had some difficulty finding storage space for all of our newly-purchased home items, we have gotten quite creative with utilizing chairs that double as bookshelves and plushy blankets that double as beanbag seats! And though we miss our roommate, Leonard, and his friendly visitors, there is certainly something to be said for having a home that is entirely ours – no sharing, no extraneous cleaning – just the pure, selfish, exotic concept of “our space”. Ahhh…

The family compound is conveniently located only a half kilometer from the Schoemansdal taxi rank, which, if you’re feeling lazy, you can get a free ride to by any of the passerby coombies (a nice service they offer to the local community members)! Across from the taxi rank is “The Plaza”, a compact shopping center with a Boxer (for bulk or long-life groceries), a Vodacom shop (for all our cellular mishaps), several “China Shops” (random home-goods stores), a large Total Gas Station (for snacks and, for those with a car, of course gas!), and most important – a KFC!! But, since The Plaza might not meet all of our food-ly needs, we can also take a R15 coombie ride to Melalane, our largest shopping town, just 45 minutes away at the edge of Kruger National Park. There we have an enormous selection of shopping complexes, including a SuperSpar... Now, before I go on, I must take a moment to illuminate the amazing-ness of this SuperSpar – with its unbelievable selection of fresh meats, cheeses, bakery goods, fruits and veg, and even a small international food section (with black beans!!!)! Our first venture to SuperSpar could be described as not only overwhelming, but also other-wordly, as we walked around, open-mouthed, at the sheer enormity of diversity and selection! It may be possible to spend our entire monthly stipend in just a few aisles of that one store… dangerous!

But not everything about this new site is beautiful and contented… if it were, we probably would not be needed there. In fact, the Nkomazi region is riddled with issues related to poverty and illness, with one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in all of South Africa. Due to its proximity to Swaziland and Mozambique, the area experiences extensive, illegal immigration, which strains employment opportunities, financial resources, and most dangerously – medical services. In fact, local hospital statistics suggest that the regional HIV+ rate might be nearing forty percent, with ninety percent of all hospital beds being used by HIV+ patients suffering from opportunistic infections. Worse still, in the sugarcane fields, where many of the undocumented immigrants find their paid work, the HIV+ rate is nearly fifty percent (Yes, 50%!!!), the highest anywhere in the entire southern African region! These overarching issues of undocumented status, unemployment, and illnesses-of-pandemic-proportions cause a trickle-down effect that stagnates development with other, very serious issues: human trafficking, cultural/racial violence, gender-based violence (Nkomazi has one of the highest rates of sexual assault and rape in all of South Africa), an increasing population of OVCs (Orphans & Vulnerable Children), a decreasing number of matriculating students, and growing concerns about food security and access to potable water. So have no fears, there is plenty of work to be done!

And work we will…

(Adam’s jumping in here to tell you about his future work):

The organization that I have been assigned to is called Jeppe’s Reef Home Based Care and is located in Jeppe’s Reef, the town directly south of Schoemensdal. The organization is roughly six kilometers from our house so I will be getting a bicycle to use for the commute. The organization is a small home based care boasting three administrators and seventeen care workers. They have been in operation since 1999. The care workers are wonderful ladies and are very friendly. They don’t speak a lot of English so I will get plenty of work on my SiSwati! My supervisor is named Margaret and she too is wonderful. I am the second Peace Corps Volunteer at the organization and I will start by picking up where she left off. She helped to secure some funding and computers in her time with the organization. So I will start with computer skills training and helping with their monthly reporting. Due to both the distance and the size of the organization, I will be splitting my time between my organization and Jess’ organization.

(Okay, I’m back now, to tell you about my/our future work):

I have been assigned to a very large and extremely developed, international organization, called Thembalethu (which means “Our Hope”… think Adam’s SiSwati name!). Thembalethu has had three “officially assigned” PCVs and several other “unofficially assigned” PCVs (just because they found great projects to work with there), so they too are accustomed to the Peace Corps deal. And as for the organization itself, there is so much I could tell!! But I will summarize and simply recommend that everyone visit them online at www.thembalethu.org to get a real feel for the big picture. The basics go something like this: Thembalethu was started in 1999 by three women who wanted to combat the growing problem of HIV/AIDS (and TB) in their communities. Today, Thembalethu’s home based care program has assisted more than 250,000 patients, in over twenty villages, located in three countries (South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland), with the help of hundreds of home based care workers! Additionally, over the last decade, Thembalethu has expanded its focus to a variety of programs addressing their communities’ needs, including: Drop In Centers and OVC Assistance programs in all three countries that help over 5,000 orphans, vulnerable children, and orphan-headed households; an on-site Pre-School and Crèche program; a small, on-site Clinic & Med-room that can also perform HIV rapid-testing and supply nutritional supplements; a Mobile VCT Program that travels to the most rural areas (commonly the sugarcane farms) to do HIV testing and counseling; on and off-site bursary, tertiary education programs for matriculated OVCs; the “GOLD Program” that works with peer-leaders in local high-schools to raise awareness about teen health issues and educational opportunities; the “Youth in Action Program”, which encourages HIV/AIDS awareness in age-appropriate youth and provides skills-transfer trainings and employment opportunities for 18-30 year old artisans and entrepreneurs from all three countries; the on-site “Wildly African Treeshop” (currently not operational) which serves as an income-generation program for the on-site artisans and other Thembalethu programs; an on-site Drama Team that performs dramas at local clinics and schools focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and treatment; an off-site partnership with the African Children’s Choir to encourage musical advancement on the African continent; an on-site, Sustainable Gardening Program that encourages a focus on local food security projects; an onsite, community newsletter called “The Nkomazi Voice”, which utilizes local writers to report on both the good and bad of the Nkomazi region; as well as on and off-site partnerships to execute issue-specific campaigns and programs. Eish! Told you it was huge… and developed!!

And what might I (and Adam) decide to take on as a primary project, you ask? Well, based on some of our common interests and some of our similar, previous work experiences, we have elected to combine our passions and take on the huge, currently non-operational, “Wildly African Project”! Oh boy. The project (as mentioned briefly above) incorporates a store, employment of the on-site artisans, a partnership with the Youth in Action program, and a focus on income-generation. The project is hoping to receive some funding in the near future, with the intent of expanding the program to include a greater inclusion of Thembalethu program participants and an even broader incorporation into the local tourism industry. The vision is this: A wood-oven-pizza restaurant (with an African twist, of course… think “Biltong Pizza”) and an artisan-run curio shop united in the “Wildly African Café & Curios Shop” (the building already exists, luckily, but just needs quite a bit of work). The appeal of such an IGA-branch is the significant amount of tourism groups operating in the area – between Mozambique, Swaziland and the Kruger National Park sites. With a functioning “one stop” spot, tour groups would be able bring visitors to eat, shop, enjoy some local entertainment, and engage in a grassroots, community development endeavor. Thus, the project plan is as follows: the retail side, which has been operational in the past, will be reopened with new crafts and wares supplied by our on-site artisans and run by our senior craftsmen; and the café, which is an entirely new concept, will utilize the on-site Thembalethu kitchen staff, with the assistance of local cooks. Adam and I will split some of the supervisory obligations in order to get the place up-and-going, with me taking on the bulk of the retail supervision and Adam taking on the bulk of the café supervision. We will also bring in local, community members to train in managerial and administrative affairs for the entire program, so that the project maintains strong ties to its host community. In addition, we will increase our partnership with the Youth in Action Program and seek ways in which the participants can be employed as front-of-the-house servers in the café or as sales associates in the retail shop. Finally, we hope to utilize the on-site Drama Team for entertainment during meal service and, possibly, as impromptu tour guides of the Thembalethu compound. Ultimately, the goal of the “Wildly African Café & Curios Shop” will be to develop a diversified artisan program, with employment opportunities for community members and other Thembalethu program participants, in order to create sustainable income generation for not only the artists and “staff”, but also for underfunded Thembalethu programs and organizational administration. Even though the Thembalethu organization already functions at such a high capacity, they still have a great need for self-generating funds (especially in today’s economy) in order to continue their invaluable service to Nkomazi’s needy communities. We hope the Wildly African Project can meet (and one day exceed) that need!

To keep track of our progress, be sure to check out our “Wildly African” photo album on Facebook and, once the Thembalethu site has been updated, we will be sure to highlight the rebirth of the Wildly African Project! Of course, I have a million-and-one other ideas that I would love to help implement with the café and shop itself, so there should be plenty of exciting things to follow as our efforts continue! PS – we also have new Facebook photos up of our new home in Schoemansdal, the area, and (soon) our host family, so be sure to check those out as well! It’s beautiful!!

Whew! Did I cover it all?? What a long post…

Adam and I are currently at IST (In Service Training) with the rest of our SA21 PCVs and we will be visiting our PST Homestays at the end of the weekend to see MamaChristine & Johannas!! We will be sure to post again with details of the week when we are back to site and have had some time to recuperate from our “social” evenings! He he!

As always, we miss and love you all tons! And to our friends and family that have helped us get through the last couple months of Site Change drama, thank you very much. While our resilience for such things seems to grow on an almost daily basis, we could never have done any of this without your support!

Salani kahle!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The 2010 World Cup: In Review

Jess writes:

The 2010 World Cup ended on Sunday, July 11th, with Spain taking its first World Cup victory!! I was personally rooting for Netherlands, but Adam felt strongly that Spain would be the ultimate victor. Of course, there is a lot of Dutch history here in South Africa, so the Spanish victory was a bit disheartening for many in the country, not only myself!

We watched the final game here in Graskop, as our stay has been extended several times while we await site change. We gathered together a small group of partially homeless and partially house PCVs, as well as our new biker friends from Rider’s Rest, and headed to the Canimambo Cocktail Lounge for the big-screen game. All in all, despite the Dutch loss, the night was filled with plenty of fun with our very makeshift, very international, very enthusiastic group!!

But now there is a bit of a void where Ayoba fever once was… shame. So in honor of everything 2010 World Cup, we’ve included here an epic summary of images* to put a worthy close on our World Cup posts. Enjoy!

*All images from Fifa.com and Google Images


Introduction to the 2010 World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Logo

The 2010 FIFA World Cup "Ayoba" Mascot


The Group Teams

The 2010 South African Stadiums

The Makaraba (headgear)

The "Vuvu" vs. the "Kudu"

The "Jabulani" World Cup Ball (It means "Happiness")

The FINAL Bracket!!!!


2010 World Cup Imagery
















The Best of 2010 World Cup in Photos

Mandela at the Opening Ceremonies


South African National Anthem

Mini Fans


Blow your Vuvuzelas!!

Spain scores in the Final


Dutch Sorrow


...And to the victors goes the spoils!
"Hey South Africa, thanks for making it Ayoba!!"

Travelogue: Pilgrim’s Rest

Jess writes:

After our Blyde River Canyon day trip and a quick bout of stomach flu (ick!!), Adam and I were making plans for some more local travels during our Peace Corps-imposed mini-vacation. Based on advice from our many new Graskop friends, we planned an afternoon for Pilgrim’s Rest, and what a great choice!

Pilgrim’s Rest is a convenient 45-minute coombie trip from downtown Graskop, over the hills on one of the most amazing roads we’ve yet seen in South Africa! The road curves up into the clouds and then meanders in a California-Route-One-type-of-way back down along the river. And while Pilgrim’s Rest is only a short 10 kilometres from Graskop, the trip takes almost four times that in driving due to the road itself, but it’s worth the time!

Pilgrim’s Rest was founded in the late 1800’s when prospectors flocked to the area with their goldpans and waders in hopes of striking it big! So all of Pilgrim’s Rest now stands as an open-air museum, with all original homes and stores that have now been converted to beautiful little cafes and curio shops. The town is divided into two sections, “Downtown” and “Uptown”, conveniently named so because “Downtown” is located on the lower end of the hill and “Uptown” is on the upper end of the hill. The hill itself sits directly between the two town sections, with an old cemetery on the very top, also conveniently named, “Old Cemetary”. No one said the people of Pilgrim’s Rest were very creative…

We started in Downtown and walked the entire length of the town section, about half a kilometer (ha!), and thoroughly enjoyed the pioneer-meets-colonial feel of the great little town. After getting our bearings, we stopped for brunch at an adorable café and feasted on eggs, bacon and – in Adam’s case – a traditional steak and kidney pie (yum?). Armed with some local directions from a picture-perfect local, we hiked up from Downtown to the Old Cemetary on the hill and began our search for the “Robber’s Grave”. We had been told that only one grave in the entire cemetery faced the wrong direction (as in, not facing North-South, but rather East-West). The grave in question is that of a stagecoach robber who, when he finally died in one of his many robbery attempts, was willfully buried with his town’s people in the Old Cemetary… but in a manner that ensured a never-restful afterlife! How creative! It didn’t take long to find the Robber’s Grave, starkly fixed in its awkward position in contrast to all the other graves. Pretty nifty!

We then hiked our way back down the hill to Uptown – the town’s “booming” center! This section of town is dotted with period-type mechanical shops, blacksmiths, leather furnishers, and of course, plenty of cafes, bars and a Royal Hotel. Experiencing this part of town, in particular, is like stepping back in time, with its picturesque storefronts and beautiful mountain scapes in the background! We found our way through candy shops, antique dealers and the historic buildings before taking the main road between the hills back down to Downtown. The sun was close to setting, but we couldn’t leave Pilgrim’s Rest without first indulging in the town’s most traditional pastime – gold panning!

Corina, a local bartender from Graskop, picked us up at the Downtown pub and drove us out to the historic gold panning banks along the Blyde River. There, with goldpan in hand, we were given our introduction in the cold river waters. We learned the techniques of dipping, swirling and swishing and after some tutorial sessions, I bent on one of the low river rocks and dipped the goldpan in for a real try… and EUREKA!! We struck gold!!! Not an enormous nugget (unfortunately!) but little flecks of “gold dust” (like shavings off a larger piece) in the bottom of the pan!! Beginners luck? Possibly! But I think we’ll be back for a second try at some point! Corina was so impressed with our panning abilities, that she gifted us her own goldpan and provided us with a small glass vile in which to keep our first gold finds! How fun!!

As the sun was setting over the hills, we drove back to the Royal Hotel for a drink at the attached Church Bar, before heading back to Graskop for the night. The Church Bar is, of course, also conveniently named because it was incorrectly built as a church and, when the realization came that it would never suffice as a church, it became home to the next best thing – a bar! ;-) What a perfect final stop to fully experience all that is Pilgrim’s Rest!

Another 45-minute drive on windy roads and we were back in Graskop… the two hundred year old town nestled in the dark hills behind us…

But what an incredible day back in time!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Travelogue: Blyde River Canyon

Jess writes:

Adam and I arrived in Graskop yesterday, amidst fog-covered hills and a very cool breeze. This being our first real trip to the Highveld, we didn’t know quite what to expect – except the anticipation of cold weather and magnificent views… and we were not disappointed! To be sure, it’s colder up here in the tail-end of the Escarpment, but if you can bundle up warm enough, it’s worth the chill to see the sun setting over the green and brown-speckled mountains. And yet, as everyone was keen to point out, “This is nothing compared to the Canyon.”

So off to Blyde River Canyon we go…

We left mid-morning, around 9:00a, with our very friendly backpacker manager and self-made trekking and touring guide, Andre. We plopped comfortably in his car and took off! His driving was unmistakably like his very own personality – rather quick and somewhat erratic (ha!), but thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining! As we sped along the curvy roads, we climbed quickly in altitude: 1,000 meters, 1,200 meters, and finally 1,600 meters above sea level!! Along the way, we travelled through the outlying regions of the Blyde River Nature Preserve and marveled at the seas of pine and gum trees lining the way. (Did you know that Blyde River is the largest man-made forest in the world? Very impressive!) We listened to Andre telling us the origins of the Blyde River Canyon, with its Voortrekker history, as the Escarpment views came to life around us! The further we drove, and the higher we climbed, all of South Africa seemed to fall into view below us! But now to the sights:

Andre was careful to arrange his tour in such a way that we continued to marvel at greater and ever greater extremes at each new sight – planning our stops from the simply “incredible” to the truly “glorious”!! Our first stop, thus, was Pinnacle Rock – a 30 meter high, free-standing quartzite rock formation in the middle of one of the many canyon’s outlying ravines. Shaped by thousands (perhaps millions?) of years of the rushing Blyde River, Pinnacle Rock continues to erode and will one day crumble to the river bottom. But in the meantime, it stands perilously still, dotted with bright red-budding aloe vera plants and crawling ivy. It is also home to several Bird of Prey that make their nests cautiously on the ever-changing rock sides… and hope for the best! It may sound bizarre, but Pinnacle Rock is a somewhat sad sight, like a lone animal separated from its herd; but, it endures.

Our second stop was to God’s Window, a nook-of-a-lookout, nestled cozily between trees and brush at 1,500 meters above sea level! The view creates the feeling of peering down on the world from high above – hence, its name – and thus, it is truly an eye-opening vantage point. And yet, you’re not quite on the top of the world when standing at God’s Window, as there is a 300-step path leading still further up the mountain to the most unique and mind-boggling micro-climate: A RAINFOREST! Seriously, atop the God’s Window mountain is a wholly separate and miniature eco-system, caused by the encircling cloud formations that occur at that altitude (about 1,650 meters, with over 3,000mm of rainfall a year). The result is a true-to-life rainforest, with jungle vines and ivy, gigantic palm leaves, incredibly exotic floral scapes, and even “Forrest Crabs”, little humid-loving creatures that scavenge the ground for tasty, fallen tid-bits. We walked through the wet rainforest on wooden-planked walkways and over mossy rocks to enjoy the views from the top. And then, just as quickly as we had entered this crazy little South African rainforest, we walked back out to the bush – a whole different world just meters behind us! So bizarre!

Our third stop was to Berlin Falls (or Berlyn Falls, depending on which signs you follow…) – a great 45 meter high waterfall escaping off the Blyde River. Berlin Falls creates a beautiful gully below that just begs for swimmers (even in the winter) and though we resisted the temptation, we stayed a while to enjoy the sounds of the water plunging deep into to the big, cool pool below. Best of all, Andre perched himself on a high rock to get a picture of us above the entire waterfall – isn’t it always great to have a know-how photographer along the way?!

Our next stop, The Three Rondavals, was perhaps the most breathtaking of the entire day! We arrived to the lookout, atop a boulder-strewn plateau, and hiked only several meters before we arrived at the edge – quite literally, the very edge! Although it was scattered with signs warning, “Do Not Go Beyond This Point”, there was no fence or real barricades to speak of at the actual edge… only these silly, little signs. And walking to that rocky edge, peering just over the 3,000 foot drop, to an entire panorama of the world below was… well, truly indescribable! (You have to see the photos online!!!!) The rock formations for which the area is named are three large, circular, pillars which were once three of the many venting stacks for an enormous volcano. (To picture such a volcano, piercing into the sky, high above those three rondavals, is virtually unimaginable!) And flanking these three rocks, for as far as the eye can see, are the limestone cliffs and grass-and-rock plateaus of the Escarpment, cascading down a million years worth of layers to the Blyde River below… amazing!! We hiked along the edge to take in all the views, from every possible spot, before heading back to the car once again.

We began our descent, back down to the world below, to make our fifth stop at the ever-famous Bourke’s Luck Potholes. At this spot, the Blyde River and Truer River converge to form incredible rock formations along the river’s banks. (On a side note: “Blyde” and “Truer” mean “Happy” and “Sad”, respectively, in Afrikaans. They are named so because the Voortrekkers that crossed this terrain were split into two groups in order to find a habitable location. They were suppose to meet eachother again at one of these rivers after their long search, but when the first group arrived at the “Truer River”, their companions were nowhere to be found – hence, “Sad River”. But finally, many months later, after a long and very cold winter, the two groups met up again at the “Blyde River” to make their home – hence, “Happy River”. Interesting, hey?) But back to the potholes… The swirling convergence of the Blyde and Truer Rivers has created great crevices in the rocks, called “potholes”, some that tunnel down over six meters deep! (Okay, another side note: the name “Bourke’s Luck Potholes” comes from a story – perhaps a myth – that a man named Bourke decided to inhabit the potholes’ region during the South African Gold Rush, certain that these “lucky” potholes would produce great quantities of the sought-after metal. And while not much is known about his outcome, the locals say that Bourke never discovered any gold in the area and died a very poor man among the mountains.) But back again… To view the potholes, we trekked across long, arched bridges across the rocks’ deep crevices, with the rushing rivers below. Several waterfalls fell down into deep pools where the large potholes interrupted the water’s path. The circular patterns make for an artistic flare – red and brown and grey limestone swirling deep into the ravines, like an impressionist painting below! What a beautiful sight!!

Departing the potholes, we made our sixth and final stop at Lisbon Falls – a great waterfall that was split in two by dynamite during the aforementioned gold panning days. (Another side note: when gold was discovered here in 1874, over 60 prospectors came to "try their luck" and apparently only half of them ever found any gold!) Now, the Blyde River falls gently over the Escarpment before plunging, in pair, down the 95-meter falls. Andre told us that hidden between the two falls, almost two-thirds up the side, was a look-out cave covered by the thick ivy and brush. To get to it, however, you have to swim underneath the smaller of the two falls and climb the wet rocks before traversing the side to clamber in! Perhaps on our next trip…! Lisbon Falls was a perfect last stop for our trip and we lingered for a while to enjoy the sound of rushing water and the mist hanging in the air. How refreshing!

As the day reached mid-afternoon, we made our way back through the gigantic forests, through the white-washed shops of Graskop, to our mountain-side perch at Valley View Backpackers. Andre headed into town to stock up on massive amounts of meat for the night’s braai (BBQ) and Adam and I found some comfy chairs on the patio to read, relax, and watch the sun set beyond the mountains. And as a new set of guests arrived and marveled at the evening scene, I understood why one could say “But this is nothing compared to the Canyon.” It made me smile…

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Travelogue: Kruger National Park

Jess writes:

For those who may not know, Adam and I are on somewhat of a Peace Corps-imposed, mini-vacation during this site change period – that is, all our stuff is packed in the Huntington house, ready to be moved to the new house (location still not disclosed to us), but we are on the move… travelling for the next week and calling the many colorful backpackers of South Africa our temporary “homes”. Needless to say, we are doing our best to keep ourselves duly entertained, and with World Cup finals buzzing in the air, just about anywhere in South Africa is pretty entertaining! But, of course, we’re not stopping at World Cup! We have some great tours and trips planned for the next few days, with the first stop in our very own backyard… Kruger National Park!!

After living in Huntington for over three months and driving past the gates of Kruger on an almost daily basis, we finally got a taste of the other side… and it was AMAZING!!

We awoke at 4:30am this morning, in the chilly dorm room at Gecko Bushpackers, in Hazyview. Francis, the friendly Dutch owner of this great little backpacker, had booked us an early-morning departure for a full-day Kruger Game Drive (aka, “safari”), so as to take advantage of the park’s early risers. Once we were dressed for our outing, we bundled up under big blankets in the front seats of the open-air safari bakkie. Floyd, our wonderful safari driver, chatted happily with us as we took the oh-so-chilly drive to pick up the other safari riders (six total, including ourselves) and make our way to Phabeni Gate.

We entered the park just as the sun was rising over the acacia trees and the fog was lit up in the gullies – a truly beautiful introduction to the remarkable park! And though our toes were numb and our hands could barely escape from under covers to point out the sites, we were quickly greeted by our first Kruger park native – an enormous white rhino, nestled in tall African grasses, plodding heavily away from the ever-approaching cars! Our first sighting and it’s one of the BIG 5!! How incredible!!

Within only minutes, we spotted game animal number two – a half-hidden, female African elephant, staring silently through the trees with its deep, patient eyes. Her ears flapped noiselessly and in the slowest possible fashion, she lifted her trunk from grass to mouth and chewed, chewed, chewed. Another of the BIG 5 family!!!!

Around another bend, just as the sun was peeking over the boulder-covered mountains in the distance, another African elephant – this one a gigantic, 30 year old male – meandered causally across the road, only meters from the front of the bakkie! What a sight!!

And sightings number three and four of the BIG 5 family were only moments away…

Causing a safari traffic jam on the ridge of a hill before us was a small family of Cape Buffalo – their all-muscle bodies standing stubbornly in the thoroughfare, with great curved tusks faced threateningly at the vehicles’ tires. Without much fuss, however, they eventually continued their trek, disappearing into the bush… number three of the BIG 5 family!!

Then came the most exciting find of the day – BIG 5 member number four, and considered by most to be the most elusive of the entire pack… Floyd’s radio started cracking with rapid Tsonga and before we knew what was happening, we were making a detour down a dirt road and speeding up a different main road, not on our initial morning route. We pulled up to a ravine, flanked on both sides by several safari bakkies and a handful of private cars. All the engines were turned off, and an exciting silence hung in the air. With some help from our guide and fellow spotters, we were soon peering beyond the water to a large Leopard, asleep in fallen branches! Even though he was well-shaded, you could easily discern his rosette-speckled hide and the outline of a large – very large – paw, covering the animal’s boxy head! Though we missed his very recent climb down from the branches (we would have loved to see that!), we still enjoyed watching his great belly, rising and falling calmly against the leaves. What a magnificent creature – only a stone’s throw away, but entirely unfettered by his many spectators!!! Incredible!

And did I mention, this was all before 8:00am!!!

Time for breakfast… we were in need of a little sighting break already! Floyd drove us leisurely to Skukuza Rest Camp, where we indulged in delicious breakfast sandwiches and coffee (real coffee!). After taking in the views from the Skukuza overlook, we were back on the road and thoroughly enjoying the sun that was finally warming our seats!

For the next three hours, we travelled through truly incredible terrain: neverending, Serengeti-like plains, speckled with leafless, thorny sicle trees; lush, misty banks along the Sabie River, sprouting eight-foot cattail; and muddy, wide-open water holes, dotted with large, flat sun-rocks! And before lunchtime even arrived, we had witnessed myriad Kruger inhabitants come alive in the cool morning…

For half a kilometer we followed a leaping pack of Impala, criss-crossing the tar road and dashing between trees – their trade-mark “M”s marking their rumps, giving them the nickname of “The McDonalds of Kruger”, or as Floyd put it, “Fast Food for Lions”!

We were greeted road-side by one of Kruger’s “Ugly 5”: a pack of straggly-haired warthogs, rooting for weeds on the banks – their truly frightening tusks brushing away small rocks and twigs.

In a still pool, far off in the distance, we located two shiny-backed hippos – gigantic mouths breathing open above the water, tiny little ears flicking back and forth.

Lying lazily on sun-rocks, Floyd picked out a family of three Crocodiles in the midst of the quietly rushing river. Just alongside the jagged reptiles was an enormous Monitor Lizard with his stumpy, gray legs flopped haphazardly in every direction and his thick tail dipping down towards the water.

Above the ground, we spotted a variety of Kruger’s winged animals: a miniature owl, red-helmetted guinea fowl, cranes, white-backed vultures (ick!), and the most beautiful variety of other birds – black & white striped, yellow speckled, and one that was bright blue from beak to tail!!

Perhaps best of all on our morning outing were the numerous African Elephants that we found around every turn! We benefited greatly from a veterinarian that was a part of our tour, her specialty in, of course, elephants!! (Did you know that you can estimate an elephant’s age by the lines around their ear hole and determine whether they are right or left handed by comparing the length of their two tusks?? Awesome!) The most impressive sighting of the gigantic mammals involved a three-generation family of a dozen members, wading knee-deep in marshes, following in line and then dispersing to graze… I could have watched that group for the rest of the day!

And yet, there was an even more impressive herd to see before the afternoon arrived – over a hundred Cape Buffalo gathered at a waterhole, swatting flies and moving like a big black wave of skin and tusk!! Unbelievable!

Another stop at Skukuza for lunchtime snacks and some window-shopping at the Park Store and we were off for the second half of our safari drive…

Before heading to the higher altitudes of the park, we stopped briefly to muse at small family of Vervid Monkies, the father of which posed kindly for photos in a sturdy bush – how kind of him!

On our way into the rocky, upper plains, we saw plenty more African Elephants – one herd which crossed our path had more than four youngsters following (or rather wobbling) behind!

And not to be missed, between the mountain-high piles of boulders, we saw sporadic zebra with their starkly painted hides and funny little mohawks!

We ended our sightings with several large packs of Kudus and, just as we were heading back down to the gate, we spotted an elder Kudu – he had the most impressive, curled horns and a long, gray beard that Adam can only envy!!

And just as the late afternoon began to feel a little too similar to our chilly morning arrival, we were lowering the canopy sides, bundling under blankets once again, and heading out the Numbi Gate... many, many kilometers from where we had started almost twelve hours earlier. With tired eyes, wind-burned faces, and cramped shutter fingers (well, at least mine!), we drove through the local Shangaan villages and found our way back to Hazyview.

After saying our goodbyes to Floyd and our fellow travelers, we hauled our tired bodies into the Gecko common room, grabbed a drink, and plopped ourselves down on overstuffed beanbags for some well-timed World Cup quarter finals! Whew…!!!

And after that detailed recount… all I have left to say is:

“Dear Kruger, thanks for an experience and of course, the new memories! Sala kahle!”