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January 22 thru January 28, 2006 - From Bloemfontein to Cape Town


Photos

Shiffy and Benny have many photos for this report, but unfortunately, the photos did not arrive yet due to inadequate Internet connection in this region.

Sunday, January 22

From Bloemfontein to Kimberly, 160km of flat dry land on the R8. The most interesting feature of the drive was the sky. It rained on and off as we were racing against the dark clouds, trying to stay on the sunny side. Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State. Kimberly is the capital of Northern Cape. The surrounding area is rich in Anglo-Boer war history and many signs on the road direct you to the various battlefields and monuments. Benny does not like to stay in big cities. Too much crime and you always have to watch behind your back. Smaller villages and towns are much safer. We settled on two cities: Bloemfontein and Kimberly because of their historical importance.

Kimberly is the place where the first diamond was discovered and where Cecil John Rhodes and Earnest Oppenheimer made their fortune. They named their company De Beer after the farmer who owned the farm where the first diamond was discovered. We were welcomed into the city by large squatters’ camps on both sides of the road.

We planned to spend the night at the Big Hole Caravan Park, named after the large diamond mine. When we started assembling our tent, an older gentleman, who introduced himself as Tom Davis approached us. He was camping with his wife Betty in a caravan. He said, “The gentleman who was camping here last night was robbed. They got into his tent, removed his trousers, got hold of his car key and cleaned out his car.” He continued telling us that another man was held up at gunpoint and $8000 was stolen from him. Tom continued to tell us that he was robbed here last year through the window of his caravan.

Even though we already paid for the night and the park attendant had left, Benny suggested that we leave and look for a safer place. However, Tom continued: “They do not come two nights in a row, because now they know we are looking for them.” And he suggested that we pitch our tent next to his caravan.
“We will watch out for each other, you will be safe here”, Tom and his wife assured us. A black man was wandering around the Caravan Park; Tom confronted him and told him to leave. Tom said, “He is looking for food in the rubbish”. Betty added “Sure, the food that comes out of the battle.”

Tom and Betty invited us to join them for a ride through a private game reserve that belongs to De Beer. They have a membership to the park. We all got into Tom’s 4x4 car and headed toward the reserve, passing De Beer offices, a diamond sorting plant and mines. Tom is telling us that De Beer is closing all the mines in South Africa because there are not enough diamonds in the mines. They have mines in other countries.

Tom is 71 and in spite of being a chain smoker, is in great shape. Betty is 70, and you can tell that she used to be beautiful in her younger years. They have three children and seven grandchildren in Cape Town. They sold their home, bought a caravan and they spend their time traveling in Africa where Tom works as a consultant. Tom is a retired civil engineer and Betty is a retired nurse. Tom used to be in charge of the roads in Northern Cape. Now he is working as a consultant, teaching black people how to build roads and canals.

Betty admits that she is a racist and would like to go back to Apartheid. “It was such a lovely country. They demolished everything. We are going backward quickly and the young people are going overseas. It breaks my heart to see what’s happening. During Apartheid we were safe, we could park our caravan everywhere along the road. You should see what’s going in the hospitals. We taught those girls nursing, they learned all about hygiene, but the hospitals are dirty. Everything just went downhill. Corruption is the main problem. Our police force does not do anything about crime. The locals are selling stolen car batteries in the street. The administration just hired 3000 policemen who cannot read or write, but they have potential. The new administration made a lot of promises but they cannot deliver. Blacks are forced to belong to ANC, otherwise they cannot get a job. They must show their ANC card in order to get a job. Democracy in this country means that you can do whatever you want. Teenagers make babies for pocket money and they take the babies to school with them. When they have twins it is bad, so they only feed one baby, and let the other go. Where have you seen a six-month-old baby being raped? I saw it in the hospital. Do you know that 60% of our truck drivers are HIV positive, 50% of our army, 40% of our teachers and 30% of our police force are HIV positive? They refuse to use condoms. How do you change attitude?” Betty lets her tongue roll freely and some of the things that she said are very hurtful, but this is another voice that we hear in this rainbow nation.

Regarding Tom’s work as a consultant to the blacks, Betty said: “He is wasting his time, but they pay him well. You cannot teach a black man. They all finish school and some go to universities, but they cannot read a measuring tape. They buy their diploma. Our president said that 50% must pass the exam, so 50% pass, no matter how they perform. You teach them and after the white man leave, they do whatever they want. Even the practical work you cannot teach them.”

I asked Tom: “You mean to say that none of them are capable of learning?” and Tom replied that maybe one out of twenty is willing to learn. He said that the rest of them do not even try. Tom said that they are lazy and just want to get the salary. They do not want to work and it is impossible to fire anyone for poor performance. Even after you give numerous warnings and the case comes to a hearing committee; you will be forced to hire that person back. While the person is on suspension, you must pay him a full salary. A black town manager got two years salary while he was on suspension. After he was finally fired, he got six months severance payment. “When a black man gets into a position of authority, it goes into their heads. You cannot become a manager if you do not know how the business runs,” Betty added.

The new administration fired all the white engineers or forced them into early retirement and replaced them with black engineers. The new engineers cannot do the work, so now they hire some of the white engineers as consultants to teach the black engineers. The consultants are being paid three times more than what they used to get as engineers. Tom told us that the department of transportation just hired a young black engineer who is only two years out of school, paying him 416,000R per year. They claim that they want to attract talent. However, the young engineer does not know anything and Tom was hired to teach him.
“Have you heard about squatters rights?” Betty asked me. Betty said that one of the reasons that they sold their home is because she did not want to return to find out that somebody is camping on their property. Anyone can put a shack on your property. If your renters do not pay rent, you cannot evacuate them until you find them other accommodations.”

Tom told us that they know of a farmer who had one squatter put a shack on him farm. He went to the police, but they did not do anything. Now he has 1000 squatters living on his property, slaughtering his sheep, stealing his crops and he cannot do anything. It is very expensive to hire a lawyer and court takes forever.

We passed a black man who is holding his hand up for a ride. Betty said, “They forced us to become racists. We used to pick them up, now you are afraid that they will highjack you. They make us ugly. Now we do not stop to help at accidents anymore.”

Betty said, “I am racist, I do not like the human race, I like animals.” Well, we saw many animals in the De Beer game reserve and I was ready to listen to something positive. There were herds of Elands, the only antelope with spiral horns, springbok, gemsbok, tsessebbe, Kudo. We saw waterbok, ostriches, and ground squirrels. We also saw many birds, guinea fowl, hoopoe and long tailed widow. We stopped at a communal nest of the Sociable Weavers. The nest is so large; it can break a branch of a tree. Flocks of swallows were following our car.

There were many reddish termites’ hills around. The termite mound is hard like a rock. Each one houses millions of termites, who build their homes by mixing the dirt with saliva. Some of the termite mounds have holes made by aardvarks. The aardvarks use their powerful front legs with massive claws to rip open the termite homes. The aardvarks have a long tubular snout, oversized ears and a heavy, kangaroo like tail. There is no other mammal like them. They are rarely seen because they usually emerge from their deep burrows very late at night. The aardvarks tackle the termites with their long ribbon-like tongue and its coat of sticky saliva. Tom pointed at many termite mounds that were repaired, like patchwork.

The De Beer game reserve also offers accommodations for members. At one of the places there was a display of heads with horns. Tom could identify them all. Being a South African, you must know the difference between the horns of Kudo, eland springbok or the wildebeest.

Tom skillfully drove the car through the dirt roads, full of mud and puddles. We saw lightening in the mountains and heard the thunder.

Back in the camp we had dinner together. A light rain was sprinkling and the evening sun was out. A beautiful rainbow was painted on the sky.

A local couple drove into the park. They took their five parakeets out to the park. The parakeets are taking turns sitting on their shoulders, kissing their “mom”. Betty is complaining to the parakeet’s mom about the safety in the park. Broken fences, no security. The parakeet’s dad said: ”If you put fences they will steal them.” The parakeet’s mom added sarcastically: ”This is the new South Africa, you must enjoy it.”
At 7:30pm we heard the muezzin call to prayer. Tom said that he hears it five times each day.

Our tent was between two caravans. Before we went to sleep, Benny tied a rope around the tent for extra protection, and made sure that everything was locked in the trunk of the car. We tied the inside zippers of the tent and went to sleep.

Before midnight, Benny heard the tent zipper being opened and thought that I was getting out of the tent. But when he saw that I was fast asleep he started shouting, got out of the tent and chased three black men away. Tom chased them with his car, but they disappeared into the night. They managed to steel my hiking shoes and favorite pair of socks. They also stole some stuff from another caravan through the window. Tom called the police, but they never came.

Everyone was out talking. We did not get much sleep that night. When I finally fell asleep, I had a dream. I was walking through the streets of Kimberly where the street vendors sit along the sidewalks, spotting my shoes and my socks and claiming them back.

We usually stay at backpackers’ camps that are well secured. All the caravan parks that we visited so far were privately owned and very well secured. The Big Hole Caravan Park is run by the city of Kimberly. Tom told me that four people work in the park, they sit in the office and talk all day and get nice salaries. Tom told us that he was going to speak to the city manager.

Monday, January 23

In the morning, we reported the accident to the park supervisor. He just looked at us and said that he cannot do anything and sent us to the city manager.

We went to see the Big Hole, the reason for our stop in this city. The Big Hole is the largest hole in the world dug entirely by manual labor. It is 800 meters deep. 28 million tons of earth and rock were removed to produce just three tons of diamonds.

We visited some restored buildings from the early days of Kimberly, around 1867: diamond buyer place, dance hall, bar and restaurant, tobacco shop, auction house and some old homes.

The plan was to drive north to Upington and see the Augrabies Falls. Tom said that it is very hot now in this area. Over 40 degrees Celsius. So we are changing direction and heading south, toward Lambert Bay, Citrusdal and the Baths. Don’t know where we will stop tonight, but it will be a safe place.

We are driving down the R8. After about 300km, Benny is tired. We did not get much sleep last night. We arrived to Victoria West, a small town at the intersection of the N12 and the R63 where we have to continue west. Large squatters camp spot the outskirts of the town. We decided to stop at a local coffee shop. The owner, a beautiful blond, blue eyed with a sweet smile wearing a big cross on her chest, invited us to sit in the back where she has a nice spacious restaurant. My mind was thinking: “what is a pretty girl like her doing in a place like this?”

She told us that she is originally from Jo’burg, where she would not let her children go next door by themselves. They moved to Victoria West because that’s where her in-laws live. Her kids go everyplace by themselves and are very happy here. She feels very safe here. She said that there is hardly any crime in this town. People in Victoria West get along. There are three communities; each has its own schools and churches. The blacks (5000), the colored (5000) and the whites (3000). The blacks closed their school and decided to join the white school, so now there are two schools: the mixed and the colored.
I am still puzzled, how can you tell the difference between the blacks and the colored?
“I listen to how they speak, to the dialect and the accent. The colored speak Afrikaans, the black speak the black languages”, she explained.

“What about the squatters camp that I saw coming to town?”, I asked.
“Most of them are waiting for houses. At the end of February they will get homes.”
“Do they work?” I asked.
“People do not work. They get funding. Disability funding, pensions, minor funding. Many people get disability funding, but I don’t know what’s wrong with them. They look very healthy.”
“Do your kids have any black friends?” I asked. “Not really” she responded.
“How is your social life?” I asked. “Excellent” She responded. “The white community is a very close community. Very good social life, much better than they have in Jo’burg.”
Her husband owns the medicine shop next door. He is not a pharmacist, but sells over the counter medications and herbs.

The main industry in Victoria West is farming. Mostly sheep. The whites are the owners of the farms and colored people work in the farms. Blacks do not farm.
She told us that there was a well-funded project to teach the blacks to farm and raise pigs and sheep. However, the animal rights group got involved. Claimed animal cruelty. The animals were dying and the project went down the drain. It is one of those things that everyone knows, but nobody talks about.
She said that the change had to happen, and if it happened years ago, they would not have the corruption that they experiencing now.
We told her what happened to us last night and she invited us to pith our tent in her backyard!
“Are you a journalist?” She asked me.
“No, I just like to write,” I responded.

From the N12 to the R63 the road is very straight and we are the only ones on the road. Benny said, “You can land airplanes here,” and I look at the car speedometer and we are driving 160 km/hr. The landscape is dry, flat and even the sky is boring. Not a cloud to break the heat. Every few kilometers there is a farmhouse surrounded by few trees, like an oasis in the desert. Occasionally we see sheep grazing among the dry low plants and few water holes. We pass some prickly pears (sabres) loaded with ripe red fruit. We passed small towns, Loxton, Carnarvan, Willistone. I noticed nice clean towns, no squatters’ camps. After 800km,we finally arrived to Calvinia, where we will spend the night. I needed something very positive today, and I found it in the small town of Calvinia!

No squatters camp, nice buildings, clean streets. There were no fences or armed gates. We passed two schools where I observed kids and parents involved in sport activities. Kids were walking in the streets, riding bikes. The Caravan Park’s manager, Ina, struggled with her English. They all speak Afrikaans here. Even the street signs are in Afrikaans. Her husband owns a sheep farm and she manages the Caravan Park. She has four children. Her older boys attend university in Stellenbach, where they were both robbed. “It would not happen here”, she said. She told us that Calvinia is a good place to live and raise children. There is no crime here. The municipality is multi-racial and every one gets along well here. The town has two colored women who clean the streets. The main industry is sheep. Once a year there is a sheep festival in the city. Farmers have 1800-4000 sheep per farm. They sell meat and wool.
“What is the population in this town?” I asked. “Whites and colored, very few blacks” She answered.

We got a walking-tour map of the city and we found out that the city museum is housed in an old synagogue! Hebrew was written on the entrance and the Ten Commandments inside. Jews do not live here anymore, but as you walk through the town, you pass Jacob Berelowitz pharmacy, Rosenblatt family stores, Carmel Villa the home of Sara and Leon Helfet. Leon Helfet hired two Russian Jews in 1897, to build his home that resembled his childhood home in Russia.

Tuesday, January 24

“Klein Bende” Pre School is across the street from the caravan park and the sound of the kids playing was a refreshing way to start our day. We continued the “walking tour” of the town. You can tell that the people of Calvinia are very proud of their town and many of the old buildings are now national monuments that were converted to B & Bs. We stopped at Caramel House that had a big Jewish Star on the front and at Sher House.

Back on the road, we continued down the R27, passing pleasant small towns. After we passed Nieuwoudtville, we saw a sign “Welcome to Western Cape”. We are leaving the Northern Cape and entering the Western Cape Province. The landscape is very dry but now we pass impressive mountains. In the town of Vanrhnsdorp, we turned south to the N7 all the way to Clanswilliam, were we saw a large dam. This is the Cederberg region of the Western Cape, the only place in the world where the Rooibos bush is grown naturally. This is the home of Rooibos tea industry. Rooibos means “red bush”. The drink contains no caffeine and much less tannin than regular tea.

We noticed that all the towns we passed in this dry region are clean, nice homes, no fences, no barbed wire, restored older buildings, and no squatters’ camps. There are very helpful employees at the information centers. We are driving toward the West Coast to Lambert Bay where we treated ourselves to grilled sole at Isabella restaurant on the water. The city is known for its fishing industry, and fishing packing company. Along the water there were fishing boats and many birds shared the fish with the fishermen.

Waiting for our meal, I read the phrases on the sugar packets: “Very little is needed to make a happy life, it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking”. Another sugar phrase read: “No one can be happy without a friend, not be sure of his friend till he is unhappy”.

Back on the road, we are now entering the wine country. Vineyards and wineries line the road. As we approached Citrusdal, we are passing citrus orchards. We continue on a narrow road toward the Baths, where we will spend the night.

The Baths is a spa, with natural hot springs, situated in a citrus farm in the Olifants River Valley. The Dutch East Indian Company established it in 1739. In 1903 James McGregor bought it in an auction in Clanwilliam. It is still run by his great grandchildren. The spa offers very fancy accommodations for 700R per night, but also pleasant campsites for 40R per person! We put our tent under a large tree next to the river. Each tree looks like it was made of twenty trees, all interwinded with each other. The water in the river was warm, perfect for laundry and washing dishes. To get to the ablutions, you must cross the river over a wooden bridge. High mountains tower over the place. Hiking trails start at the campsite.
The place has two large pools. One is very warm, 43’c and the other is cold pool. It also offers private baths and large private Jacuzzis.

After dinner, we swam in the cold pool and soaked in the hot one. I had a great conversation with two young men at the pool.

One lives in Cape Town and works for Lufthansa Airlines. His parents live is Swaziland, where his father owns a construction company. His brother owns a construction company too and he lives in Namibia.
The other young man moved with his parents from Chicago to Sidney Australia and is working for the Tobacco industry. He told me that life is healthier in Australia, everything moves at a slow pace. His parents are both retired. “How do they keep themselves busy?” I had to ask. “My mother belongs to the Red Hat Club”. He explained to me that it is a club for mature women, who dress in purple clothes and red hats and make a lot of noise and like to be noticed. He also told me that she was a very disciplinary mom and he missed out on his childhood. “How does being a strong disciplinarian fit with the Red Hat Club?”
“ I think that it is her outlet” he responded.
“And what does your father do?” I had to ask.
“Nothing, he makes sure that he knows where mom is…” The hot mineral pool is too hot, back at our tent, I fell asleep to the sound of the water flowing down the river.

Wednesday, January 25

I practiced yoga on the grassy area next to the pool, chasing away the ants, which preferred my blue yoga mat to the green grass. We drove to Citrusdal to visit the winery and Rooibos Distribution Company. Citrusdal is another clean city without fences.

Our first stop was the Citrusdal Cellars, where we tasted red wine and white wine and enjoyed the cool air. We brought a nice package to bring back to our hosts in Cape Town, Merilyn and Morris.

Our next stop was at Brakfontein Estate, where they grow citrus and Roobios bushes. It is the only region in the world where Rooibos is grown naturally. We entered an impressive gate that led to a large mansion with manicured gardens. Roobios Tea distribution offices were on the grounds. We bought a package of organic roobios tea. The staff in the office was very kind and let me check our email. When I commented on the kindness of the local people that we meet along our trip, the woman in the office said: “we want everyone to come back, we want people to come and live here.”

In the evening we went into one of the private hot baths, Benny soaked in the water, but at 43’c it was too hot for me.

Thursday, January 26

I usually can estimate the time in the morning by the calling of the birds. Not today. The river is too loud and I cannot hear the birds.

Yoga with the ants, delicious papaya-yogurt-rooibos tea breakfast, we fold our tent and on we go.

Going south on the N7, passing dry wheat fields. Passing the beautiful towns of Piketberg, Mooreesburg and Malmesburg where people were playing golf on the very dry fields.

We are approaching Cape Town, were we plan to spend few days at the Oude Molen Eco Village, at the Riverlodge Backpackers. Until 1994, this area was a mental hospital with the Black River dividing the area between colored and white patients. The hospital closed down in 1994 for lack of funding.

Private and government joined together in a pilot project to develop this urban Eco sustainable village, turning abandoned public lands into sustainable communities. The village is home to Waldorf School, horse ranch, organic garden, community gardens, recycling programs, social initiative, educative venues, light industry, crafters and artists, swimming pool, ceramic workshop, two backpackers, rock-creation artists, drum artist and private homes.

Benny and I walk around the village. We peeked into Belinda’s ceramic studio and got an invitation for an art opening in the city. The artists are Sylvie and her husband, also residents of the Village. There was a big fire on Table Mountain and we saw helicopters picking up water at the dam and dumping it on the fire. The sun is a red ball through the heavy smoke as we follow Belinda’s car to the Alliance Hall in the city. We were welcomed at the door with a “Bon soir”. Sylvie is French. Sylvie does batik and her husband sculpts in glass and metal. It was interesting to watch the crowd and to taste the watermelon cocktail.

Friday, January 27

The Botanical Garden in Cape Town is situated on the slopes of the Table Mountain and gives a clear beautiful view of the city. From here you can take two hours hike to the top of Table Mountain, but today would not be a good day because of the heavy smoke from the fire. Cape Town is even more charming the second time around. The gardens are beautiful, but what made the day very special for us was Heidi, a retired teacher who is working as a volunteer at the gardens. She accompanied us for two hours at the garden, gave us the historical background of the park and pointed to many trees, bushes and flowers. The garden has a rich history that started with the Dutch East Indian Company and later was owned By Cecil John Rhodes, the diamond king who later became the president of the Western Cape. He purchased the land to make sure that it would not be developed. After his death in 1903, the city developed it into the beautiful garden, where 90% of the plants are indigenous.

In the evening, Fiona joined me for a walk around the Oudo Eco Village, stopping at few art studios. Fiona is a work of art herself. She is from Uganda and she studies fashion design in Cape Town. She is also staying at the Riverlodge Backpackers. She has different look everyday. I love how she uses colors: her hair attachments, earrings, bracelets, belts, clothes, sandals, it all comes together in a pleasant harmony. Black and white kids play together in the village, in the pool, on the bikes, on the horses or work in the farm.

Fiona is very attractive and she is as dark as dark can be. Young men try to approach her as we walk together, but she does not understand their language. She is from Uganda.

At the Rock-Creation studio the owner told us that he is so busy because due to the water shortage, many people remove their grass and turn their gardens into rock gardens. We stopped at Sylvia’s studio. Most of their work was at the show, but there were plenty of interesting things around. They created the fence, gate, light fixtures, and furniture and painted the house a loud color. Nothing is ordinary. We stopped at Belinda’s house that is a very large space with no divisions. There are bookshelves, beds, colorful couches, a piano, ceramic studio, laundry hanging, toys and kitchen corner. There is plenty of space and plenty of stuff. Lots of colors. A happy place to raise two adorable girls.

Benny is talking to the two young women, one from Denmark the other from Belgium. They both volunteer for Doctors without Borders in Angola. One is a nurse who works in the field, the other is in administration. The nurse is working in a clinic that treats Malaria and TB. They do not test for HIV in Angola, because they do not have the capacity to treat the disease. “If I test and I tell someone that they are HIV positive, it’s like giving them a death sentence and I cannot do anything for him, so our policy is not to test.” She said. (For my personal bank of knowledge, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissow were Portuguese colonies).

Shabbat, January 28, 2006

Morning sounds are the cars and trucks. It is going to be a quiet day of writing, reading and talking to PJ and Rene, the owners of Riverlodge Backpackers, and to Rigit, the German tour guide who is staying here between tours. PJ is a multi-talented person. He was a catcher in a circus, he was a professional diver, and for the last eight years he is working as an artists and is involved with the Eco Village along with running his backpacker.

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