When asked how long it will take us to reach Dragensburg, we were given anywhere from 4.5 - 6.5 hours, which is not that bad. 11 hours later we finally arrived !! The information here is superb! We were so exhausted driving and there were no places to stop to grab something to eat. The sun was setting down in the direction in which we were driving, and we couldn't see anything on the road, not oncoming traffic, not people walking on the shoulder until they were way to close, but luckily we arrived without any incidences. So many times there were "potholes" signs on the road, and we managed to avoid them in the last second. Only later, I read a newspaper, and there was a whole page dedicated to people who had died when they hit a pothole, usually these were minibuses though that flipped off the road.
When we arrived at the hostel at 2am, the guy at the reception was either drunk or high or both. He kept talking and talking, and I was begging him to show us the room. Then we started walking, and he would explain again, this is the bar, this is, at that time, there you'll find ... aaaaahhhhhhhhh !!! where is the room???? 10 minutes later, he pointed a finger saying there, and I just kept walking to it, meanwhile he left talking to himself in the distance.
Next day the girls went to the village to find out how to go on a hike on our own. Dragensburg is a hiking area, there are 100 of trails, and the hostel has only 2 options costing $100 each!! And they got mad at us for not taking a tour with them. They also said if we don't have a 4X4, we would never get to the beginning of the trail, it's just impassable... We'll take our chances! The road at the end was bad, but not so bad that we couldn't drive through it. Once we got a bit stuck and had to reverse to find a new route, but it was nothing too extraordinary. Overall for the entrance and food, we paid $10. There is one trail, and I have no idea how can you get lost on it. The weather wasn't too good either, it was misty, we couldn't see anything. From about 5 hours hiking, it was clear for 2 hours, which is not that bad. I even took a picture of the "loser" team who went with the hostel :) But I was feeling sorry for them, to pay so much money so you could see the back of the person walking in front of you. Chris was talking and talking all the way, and you could see the group separating as to not get a headache from information overflow :) At the end to reach a waterfall, we had to climb some ladder up. That was scary, because he ladder moved from side to side, and it was pretty high up. At the top we could see a waterfall for about 5 minutes until it completely fogged up, and we weren't able to see anything till the end of the hike. The girls and Chris decided to hike up some more, but I didn't see any point in it at all, so I and Hans headed back to the car, and fell asleep while waiting for them to return :)
This Chris is a strange character. After talking to him for a while, I got the impression that everybody hates him. He would always talk about it "I don't know what I did wrong, but she/he hates me", "the time I got punched in the nose" on and on and on. I even asked him how many times did he get punched in the nose. He said he couldn't count. I learned that if something happens to you once, it could be a mistake but if the same thing happens to you again and again, then you're definitely causing it! What goes around comes around. And guess what, one night, he set up a tent in the camping area, told the reception that he will be sleeping in the tent (and that costs half as much), and still slept in the dorm. What can I say Chris, like attracts like!
Overall, this hike was not too bad. I was dreading it for 2 days, remembering all my hikes in South America. I hate it, I don't want to do it, I can't see all the beauty when I can barely move and breath, the only reason I do it is for sports. But this being my second hike in South Africa, I understood that the word "hike" has a different meaning on both continents. In South America is "go on an army like exhaustive torture climbing thing", and in South Africa is "go on a bit longer than usual walk". :)
It took 2 hours to get back to the hostel, and Hans and the 2 girls were talking German for all that time! All of them know perfect English, so I don't understand what the big deal is?? In South America it was the French, and in South Africa it's the German. They like gang up! And it's ok if we're somewhere outside, then usually I just leave them be, but in an enclosed space, for 2 hours, that's just unheard of, and a very rude behavior (from where I come from)! That I will ever, EVER again end up in such a situation again! Never!! No more than 2 German speaking people will ever be in a car with me, I will never put myself in such a situation again!
In the evening, we made up for all the cold and dampness with a nice 4 hour jacuzzi :) It was way too hot, so we were jumping from jacuzzi to pool, then jacuzzi and pool. What a great evening! :)) Next day, they even put bubbles in it :)
In the morning everybody went for another hike, meanwhile I really didn't see the point. I looked at the mountains from the hostel, and could see none, so I went back to sleep, and just relaxed the whole day. When they got back, they said that it was even rainier than the last day, plus there was a lot of mud and view, when there were some, were identical. So I was happy :)
The next day it was time to leave to Durban. Everybody I talked to who's not a backpacker told me to stay the hell away from the minibus taxis, only blacks take them, and it's not safe. Well, I had no other way to get there, so here we go! Hans walked me to the road, and we waited for an hour until one showed up. I was trying hard to squeeze in with all my luggage, while Hans was telling me to write him a message as soon as I get to Durban that I arrived there safely. I was so scared at first, but sitting there for half an hour between the locals, I realized, that there isn't really anything sketchy going on, everybody looks completely normal, they can't do anything, since there are 15 people sitting in it, and everybody gets off pretty much at the same spot. So I'm always between people, and there is safety in numbers. In the town midway, I waited for 2 more hours for a taxi to Durban to fill up, since they leave only when full, and I have no idea who came up with the logic, that when you want to go somewhere, you go and sit in the taxi until it leaves. So even if it's 3 or 4 hours, you're not to walk around, stretch your legs, you just supposed to sit and wait for it to fill up! Strange! The ride was good, but it was so uncomfortable, there is no space at all, and my backpack took up all the free space that there was. I couldn't move for 3 hours, and everything just went numb. They usually play very extremely loud music in these buses, and while some people were even closing their ears, nobody would complain. There were also 2 mothers with babies, and I thought to myself, "Oh no that would be a fun ride". But the babies not even peeped. They were either sleeping, or feeding, or just sitting there looking around. It's so hot in these taxis, the locals even close the windows, so it feels like a sauna, the babies would be wet from all the sweating, and still, not a peep! I've noticed it every time now that I went somewhere. On the street, the small kids never complain, never throw a tantrum, just walking hand in hand with their mother. Maybe we could learn something after all from different cultures.
Durban is a big city, and when I got out of the minibus, I thought that I will be pretty lost if I won't ask for help. So I asked the driver how do I get to the city center, and better yet, where do I catch a normal taxi. They talked between each other, and assigned me a guide to walk with me :) He actually had no idea where he was going, and all the time we were looking for a regular taxi, none showed up. He told me that it's better to catch the minibus taxi again, because the regular one charges per kilometer, and it's a far way till the center. I asked how far, and he said 15 kms. Common! It's the first time I'm in this place, and I know it's not 15 kms. All the terminals are usually very close to the center, and it's definitely not as big as Toronto say for distances to be that big. I asked him where we are on the map, he pointed it out, and it was more or less 2kms to the hostel. It's so sad that in here, they don't have an idea of how far things are. Those what seem pretty easy things to me are completely foreign to them. Anyway, after asking and asking, we finally got the right taxi. There was no space to put my backpack, so poor guy who collects money, had to take it out of the taxi every time it made a stop. Luckily there was a guy sitting right beside me, who was actually getting off exactly where I needed to get off, so I got to the hostel quickly and with no problems :)
When I arrived, it turned out that they didn't have any more space :( But luckily there was a couple who I knew who stayed there, and they said as a joke that they could share a bed, and together we were able to convince the reception to let me in. Actually that couple was thinking about saving money that way, so I'll give my money to them, but the reception still charged me R75. Anyway, we'll figure it out at the end.
In the evening a bunch of us went to a night club. I wore the prettiest cloths that I have, and that was nothing compared to what people were wearing ... full out ! I don't even have space for extra stuff like that! But I figured that they were vacationers, and for vacation, top class cloths are a must :) I felt like I was in the middle of a fashion show, but the music was not great, so I didn't enjoy it too much.
The next day I went to walk around in the center, I've had enough of hiding in the hostels. I asked the taxi if it goes to the city hall, which is where I needed to be. He said no, but it's close enough. Hm... well, ok, I got in anyway. It stopped and showed me where it is. I asked him "Is that the building across the road and that little square?" ... just to make sure... apparently it was. I guess distance and time are very relative terms :)
Went to a very interesting natural history museum, there, there was a gigantic king crab. It wouldn't be apparent without the size comparison, so I asked a guy who was nearby to take a picture of me. Since then he started to follow me around, asking a bunch of questions. He asked me why am I in the museum, and I said because it's interesting. He asked why is it interesting, I said because those things are unknown to me, and I'm interested in things that I don't know. He told me that I don't know him :) From that point on I started making up imaginary friends who are outside, and a boyfriend who waits for me in the hostel. He still didn't give up and said that I should spend an evening with him, since I have all that time to spend with my boyfriend, but with him I won't have a chance :) Then he said that he studies micro biology in university, but it's boring. I told him why won't you study what interests you, and he said a thing that interests him cannot be learned in the university :) Since then, I made a quick run of the rest of the things I didn't see, and came outside to get lost in the crowds.
On the way back I got in the minibus taxi where the driver asked me how many cows I'm worth, and if I want to marry him ... Why would anybody in their right mind think that? But then I talked to a girl who travelled quite a bit in Africa, and she said she's been proposed to every day, 5 times a day! I wonder if the locals actually agree to that!?!
Then I had a lunch in an Indian restaurant. I order curry which was supposed to be mild, I could barely finish it without gulping glasses and glasses of water. The spices were tickling my throat and I was sitting there laughing to myself :) The waiter and some people sitting nearby noticed that I'm on my own and were very curious by it, why do people travel on their own in Africa and especially women! In South America it's quite a norm, but in here right away I noticed that it's not.
Next day Jaimy and Emily (the couple) and me went for a stadium tour. I don't understand what's the big deal of going to a stadium, we learned what it’s made out of and where it was imported from, what's the capacity, and that's it, pretty much just the technical details. But the stadium was beautiful, it was specially built for the FIFA world cup. The seats are colored from blue to orange, like a sunset, and it helps the stadium look full when it's not.
Afterwards we went to the amazing aquarium. It's built like in some lost underwater city or ship, all rusty (on purpose :) ), with beautiful and rare sea creatures. I've seen shark feeding, which wasn't that impressive, they just slowly took the food from the rod, nothing aggressive. Some food they even missed, or chewed for a bit and spit it out :) What was cool though is that in the same aquarium there was this big fish, and it was target fed. Because otherwise that fish and the shark could fight for food, and we know who's gonna win in that fight, so unless the diver puts a card with a special symbol out for that particular fish, it’s not allowed to come even close to it.
Then I watched again the not so impressive dolphin show, and then went to a water park. That was cool because there were barely any people in it, so I slid on all slides 3 times, and that's in 1 hour! :)
When we checked out of the hostel, the time came for figuring out the room charges. It was written in the notes that I owe R75 (when the normal price is R125), I paid that, but the guys didn't receive anything. They came to argue, and the woman said, ok, so if she paid 75, then you'll pay 75 each (I don't know how she came about that logic, but we didn't argue :) ) 75X3 = 225 which is even less that 2 people pay (125X2 = 250). After that kind of math, I don't think the hostel will keep doing any more favours :))
https://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/DragensburgDurban#
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Chintsa & Coffee Bay
Arrived in Chintsa which is a very cute little town. The hostel sits on the hill overlooking a green lagoon. Went down to walk on the beach, but it was very wavy and swimming was not possible. Again a place where there is not much to do, but luckily the hostel offered free activities and that day there was free volleyball with free wine. That was a lot of fun; we really got united with all the players, except 1. He was black South African, and I had no idea what was he doing at the hostel. He didn't know how to play, but it's ok, not everybody knows everything, but he wouldn't even try! Only if the ball was flying directly at him, he would hit it back. He wouldn't move 1 meter from where he was standing, just saying that it's not his ball. Then when the ball was out of the field, he would casually walk to pick it up, while everybody was standing there waiting for him, and on top of it all, he wouldn't know whose turn it is, like it's so hard to figure out!!! I swear, my blood was boiling, and I was about to explode!
During the Volleyball and the party afterwards, I met and made friends with Benjamin, a 23 year old pilot, whose hobby is guitar, and he and his band opened for pink. I was so impressed that I just had to include it here :)B
enjamin gave me a ride to Coffee bay, one of my favorite South African destinations. On the way we stopped at some town to buy food, that was scary! We were scared to go together to the store so the car won't be left alone. The store didn't have anything anyway. We locked the doors the minute we sat in the car. Everybody was observing us, I was scared to take money from ATM (and I didn't), just a very weird feel to the place.
The road to Coffee bay is a blog in itself! It takes 2 hours to get there on the most nerve racking road ever! There are so many potholes, it's incredible. People are driving everywhere to avoid them. On the "shoulder", the opposite side of the road, somewhere in a ditch. We'd have cars going directly towards us at high speed, only to turn right before our nose. There are chickens, sheep, cows, broken beer bottles, so many turns, we would try to avoid something and go on a shoulder on a turn, but there would be people walking there! I was thinking that it would make a very good computer game, instead of all the hail and snow and ice on the roads, just make it a South African road. We were jumping and squeaking in a car, very tense experience, it was better just to close my eyes, and hope for it to end. Then we got thinking about it, there is no reason for so many potholes to be there. So we figured out that it was probably a trap.
Since I was skipping all the places and getting bored of them within a day, I decided that I should spend some time somewhere, and Coffee Bay was just the spot for it. Every day they had cheap activities, and their surfing lessons I think are the cheapest in the world of only $6 for 2 hours (and that's with a board and a wet suit provided). They also had yummy dinners, and every day I found myself waiting for dinner time :) The only problem with the hostel is that the beach was 15 minutes away, and with a surf board, it's quite a walk.
In the evening there was a game of killer pool. You have 2 lives, and have to sink any ball in ... and guess what?? I won !!! So I got the next day’s activity for free which was a beach day. The bar has a buffalo rule, which means if you hold a drink with left hand, or put a drink on the pool table, then you have to drink it all at once. The whole bar would come alive when somebody screams like crazy "BUUFFAALLOOOOOOOOOOO", and everybody joins in :) I don't usually drink, but even if I got a drink, I would take it straight out of the bar :)
Benjamin got a little drunk that night from having too many buffalos, and when the place relaxed a bit, and we were sitting outside chatting, he was holding a drink in his left hand, and I jokingly told him "buffalo". He looked at his hand, and screamed so loud BAFFALLLOOOOO, and drank the whole drink :)) I was laughing, but then he got to drunk for me to have a conversation, so I left him be :)
Next day was a great surfing day. I got this big, pretty, comfortable soft board on which I stood up 100% of the time :) I could catch any wave that I wanted to, and even closed my eyes to wipe the water and the hair off my face while riding the board ... yahhoooooo :)) Then the instructor saw me, and gave me smaller board which was much more unstable, so my rate of success fell to 70%, but still pretty good, I was happy :)
What was very annoying were the ladies who tried to sell you beads. They would approach, all so friendly, oh hi, how are you? what's your name, where are you from? Try to teach you Xhose, and then, "I sell beads". I say no thank you, I'm not even wearing any jewelry, it's not my style, and I don't have any money with me. They would go on, what about this one? No thank you. This one for your neck? No, thank you. This one for the leg? No thank you, no thank you, no thank you. They just don't get it. After 10 times that I said "No, thank you", I finally got up to leave, when she held me by the hand and quite aggressively pulled me down and told me to sit !! I pulled my hand even harder and left. So annoying !!!
In the evening we drove to the hole in the wall, a local attraction. It's a wall, with a hole in it :))) The site itself wasn't that impressive, maybe the ocean wasn't fierce enough for the waves to really explode once they went through the hole, but anyway, it was something to do. When we were close to arriving there all the local kids started to run alongside the car, we didn't understand what they were doing, but when we got out of the car, it was evident. They were fighting among each other to walk us to the hole, and to look after the car, and all of that for money money money. They wanted $3 to look after the car !! Unbelievable!! Probably most tourists feel sorry for them, or they just make that amount up, but for a kid, $.5 of a dollar would be more than enough. We said we're not paying anything and left, not sure if it was a smart decision, because they would just scratch the car and throw stones at it out of anger. It was a pity to look at all of that, because while being in that village and looking around, you'd notice that people don't really do anything. They just lie on the ground beside their houses, and that's pretty much it, they barely grow anything either, while their kids are fighting each other over $1 of tourists' money.
I went surfing 2 more times, but once there was a storm, waves were coming in from all directions and disappearing right under me once I finally caught one, and they were breaking very close to shore, so there is not much distance to ride them, not that it made any difference since I couldn't get up at all. In the middle of the lesson, I got out of the water, frustrated, and didn't have any desire to get back in. But after few minutes I decided that I can't just give up and lie there on the beach, any effort is better than no effort at all, so I got back in.
In the hostel met a local white South African who was 19 who wanted to move and live in Coffee Bay. He said it's the most relaxed place in the whole South Africa, people just do 1 thing a day, and that's enough for them, there is no stress, there are no bills. He wants to be self sufficient, and grow weed with the seeds that his mom bought him!
With the hostel went for 2 day trips. One was again to the hole in the wall, this time walking. It was long, although the scenery was nice, but it was just too hot, too long, and with 3 hills on the way. The 2nd walk was so much better. It was shorter, but there were many cliffs which we had to climb. A few times it was quite dangerous, with only 10 centimeters to walk on with a mountain on one side and a cliff on the other, then there would be 1 little rock on which to put a foot on and then jump. In Canada, that would never be allowed! Then we did some cliff jumps, river cliff jumps, had to walk along the water side between the waves before they came crushing on us. In short, it was a lot of fun :)
While one day seating on the beach, taking a break from surfing, a traditional ceremony started to take place right in front of my eyes. There were about 4 people all dressed traditionally with drapes wrapped around them, feathers, and beads. To the drum beat, a woman took a man into the sea, put him on his knees and started with force dumping him into the waves. He'd get up, and she'd push him again, rolling him around in the water. Then while he was sitting on his knees, she took a chicken, and started cutting its throat above the men, with what it looked like a dull knife. Poor chicken, I felt really bad for it, it was sliced up alive. All the blood then flowed on the man's head and back, she then rubbed it all on him, pushed him into the water a few more times, and took out another chicken. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was mans inauguration to become village's traditional healer.
We also went to a local shabeen, which is like a bar. I've heard some stories about it, like for ex. even if the alcohol is left unattended on the street, nobody will take it, because the locals believe that shabeen is protected by spirits that will punish them. I was expecting some dark place with very drunk locals sitting in it, dull lights with smoke surrounding the room. Well, no! It's an empty place, with no seats, not even a standing bar, a bunch of alcohol on shelves behind bars, with a small opening to exchange money and goods. It's strange why they need the bars. Maybe the local believe in evil spirits if they steal the alcohol from the street, but not from the store??? Funny thing was that on one of the bottles (made out of carton) was written "Don't drink and walk on the road, you may be killed". Normal saying would go, don't drink and drive, but I guess it was changed to comply with cultural differences, since locals don't really have cars.
Since I stayed for a while in Coffee bay, it gave plenty of time to catch up to me ... guess who? Of course Hans, that's the 4th time that we bump into each other.
One evening we went to have a traditional Xhosa dinner in a traditional Xhosa village with traditional Xhosa people. The villages of Xhosa are scattered around, with only the families living beside each other. We went to the chief’s house, so you would assume that they're doing quite well. I'm not sure exactly how "well" is defined, but their kids were running around with ripped and dirty cloths, there was no furniture in the houses, somebody was sick lying on a mattress on the floor with chicken running around him, and something cooking on a gas stove, which filled all the room with gas. They have no electricity, and have no walk hell knows where to get water. Woman do everything around the house, clean it, paint it, cook, gather firewood, shop, laundry, while men work. A lot of the men go to cities to make money, because these opportunities are not available in the villages. Women get married pretty young for a "labola" which is a payment. In that part of the country, it is 10 cows, and 15 cows for chief’s daughter. Each cow is worth USD $1000, so they're treated here with a lot of respect. They also wonder around freely and nobody's concerned about them being stolen. All the people act as villages police, and if somebody is caught stealing, the chief of the village will come up with some kind of punishment like going from house to house and saying, “beware of me, I steal cows". Women as soon as they get married change their clothing style, and go from shorts to long skirts, and a head cover I think with some cushiony thing because they're really good at carrying stuff on their heads. To be fat is a sign of wealth, meaning that the husband does a good job at providing for his family, so most of the married women what are called "the big mamas". In this culture to become a man, he goes through circumcision, and goes into the bush for about a month to live by himself. His mom will bring him food, but he's not supposed to talk to anyone or see anyone. Before it was 3 months, but now with work and school requirements, they're slowly moving into a modern era :) When a couple is getting married, the union is not only between them, but between the families. They're encouraged to discuss their problems when the whole family is present, so divorce is very rare. If a man borrows his dad’s cows for labola, it's like a promise to take care of him until the end, because essentially he robbed him of his retirement. But I don't understand this lebola thing. It looks to me that the cows are just moving from one family to another, but if both families live together, was that really a move? Did they lose or gain anything?
After asking a bunch of questions we had dinner with tasteless something with slimy something else for appetizer, and then even heavier maize with beans for the second course. Oh man that was filling. Then they showed up some traditional dancing, with pretty much the same moves and sounds, and we joined them in this celebration. Overall, an evening to remember!
Back in the hostel when it was a day to leave, 2 girls and Chris went surfing for the last time. Apparently Chris didn't really know how to surf, but still went in for the big waves. Well, he fell off the board, and when he surfaced, it went right on top of him, and cut his head with the fins. He came back to the hostel, and covered his head while talking to me. I thought he was ok, but when he took the bandage off, I almost lost consciousness. Thank god the girls are doctors and had sawing equipment with them. They sat him on the bench, gave him anesthesia. While poking his head with the needle, because of the pressure all the blood started coming out and dripping on his face and cloths, omg, I was more hyperventilating then him, he looked peaceful, when I had to turn around from time to time and breath very very deeply. All the passer biers gave some of their comments or sounds or facial expressions while the doctors debated if he needs another stitch or if the hair that's in the way gonna cause any infection. After major pain killers, surprisingly he was fine and not delusional, and we set off to our next destination.
https://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/ChintsaCoffeeBay#
During the Volleyball and the party afterwards, I met and made friends with Benjamin, a 23 year old pilot, whose hobby is guitar, and he and his band opened for pink. I was so impressed that I just had to include it here :)B
enjamin gave me a ride to Coffee bay, one of my favorite South African destinations. On the way we stopped at some town to buy food, that was scary! We were scared to go together to the store so the car won't be left alone. The store didn't have anything anyway. We locked the doors the minute we sat in the car. Everybody was observing us, I was scared to take money from ATM (and I didn't), just a very weird feel to the place.
The road to Coffee bay is a blog in itself! It takes 2 hours to get there on the most nerve racking road ever! There are so many potholes, it's incredible. People are driving everywhere to avoid them. On the "shoulder", the opposite side of the road, somewhere in a ditch. We'd have cars going directly towards us at high speed, only to turn right before our nose. There are chickens, sheep, cows, broken beer bottles, so many turns, we would try to avoid something and go on a shoulder on a turn, but there would be people walking there! I was thinking that it would make a very good computer game, instead of all the hail and snow and ice on the roads, just make it a South African road. We were jumping and squeaking in a car, very tense experience, it was better just to close my eyes, and hope for it to end. Then we got thinking about it, there is no reason for so many potholes to be there. So we figured out that it was probably a trap.
Since I was skipping all the places and getting bored of them within a day, I decided that I should spend some time somewhere, and Coffee Bay was just the spot for it. Every day they had cheap activities, and their surfing lessons I think are the cheapest in the world of only $6 for 2 hours (and that's with a board and a wet suit provided). They also had yummy dinners, and every day I found myself waiting for dinner time :) The only problem with the hostel is that the beach was 15 minutes away, and with a surf board, it's quite a walk.
In the evening there was a game of killer pool. You have 2 lives, and have to sink any ball in ... and guess what?? I won !!! So I got the next day’s activity for free which was a beach day. The bar has a buffalo rule, which means if you hold a drink with left hand, or put a drink on the pool table, then you have to drink it all at once. The whole bar would come alive when somebody screams like crazy "BUUFFAALLOOOOOOOOOOO", and everybody joins in :) I don't usually drink, but even if I got a drink, I would take it straight out of the bar :)
Benjamin got a little drunk that night from having too many buffalos, and when the place relaxed a bit, and we were sitting outside chatting, he was holding a drink in his left hand, and I jokingly told him "buffalo". He looked at his hand, and screamed so loud BAFFALLLOOOOO, and drank the whole drink :)) I was laughing, but then he got to drunk for me to have a conversation, so I left him be :)
Next day was a great surfing day. I got this big, pretty, comfortable soft board on which I stood up 100% of the time :) I could catch any wave that I wanted to, and even closed my eyes to wipe the water and the hair off my face while riding the board ... yahhoooooo :)) Then the instructor saw me, and gave me smaller board which was much more unstable, so my rate of success fell to 70%, but still pretty good, I was happy :)
What was very annoying were the ladies who tried to sell you beads. They would approach, all so friendly, oh hi, how are you? what's your name, where are you from? Try to teach you Xhose, and then, "I sell beads". I say no thank you, I'm not even wearing any jewelry, it's not my style, and I don't have any money with me. They would go on, what about this one? No thank you. This one for your neck? No, thank you. This one for the leg? No thank you, no thank you, no thank you. They just don't get it. After 10 times that I said "No, thank you", I finally got up to leave, when she held me by the hand and quite aggressively pulled me down and told me to sit !! I pulled my hand even harder and left. So annoying !!!
In the evening we drove to the hole in the wall, a local attraction. It's a wall, with a hole in it :))) The site itself wasn't that impressive, maybe the ocean wasn't fierce enough for the waves to really explode once they went through the hole, but anyway, it was something to do. When we were close to arriving there all the local kids started to run alongside the car, we didn't understand what they were doing, but when we got out of the car, it was evident. They were fighting among each other to walk us to the hole, and to look after the car, and all of that for money money money. They wanted $3 to look after the car !! Unbelievable!! Probably most tourists feel sorry for them, or they just make that amount up, but for a kid, $.5 of a dollar would be more than enough. We said we're not paying anything and left, not sure if it was a smart decision, because they would just scratch the car and throw stones at it out of anger. It was a pity to look at all of that, because while being in that village and looking around, you'd notice that people don't really do anything. They just lie on the ground beside their houses, and that's pretty much it, they barely grow anything either, while their kids are fighting each other over $1 of tourists' money.
I went surfing 2 more times, but once there was a storm, waves were coming in from all directions and disappearing right under me once I finally caught one, and they were breaking very close to shore, so there is not much distance to ride them, not that it made any difference since I couldn't get up at all. In the middle of the lesson, I got out of the water, frustrated, and didn't have any desire to get back in. But after few minutes I decided that I can't just give up and lie there on the beach, any effort is better than no effort at all, so I got back in.
In the hostel met a local white South African who was 19 who wanted to move and live in Coffee Bay. He said it's the most relaxed place in the whole South Africa, people just do 1 thing a day, and that's enough for them, there is no stress, there are no bills. He wants to be self sufficient, and grow weed with the seeds that his mom bought him!
With the hostel went for 2 day trips. One was again to the hole in the wall, this time walking. It was long, although the scenery was nice, but it was just too hot, too long, and with 3 hills on the way. The 2nd walk was so much better. It was shorter, but there were many cliffs which we had to climb. A few times it was quite dangerous, with only 10 centimeters to walk on with a mountain on one side and a cliff on the other, then there would be 1 little rock on which to put a foot on and then jump. In Canada, that would never be allowed! Then we did some cliff jumps, river cliff jumps, had to walk along the water side between the waves before they came crushing on us. In short, it was a lot of fun :)
While one day seating on the beach, taking a break from surfing, a traditional ceremony started to take place right in front of my eyes. There were about 4 people all dressed traditionally with drapes wrapped around them, feathers, and beads. To the drum beat, a woman took a man into the sea, put him on his knees and started with force dumping him into the waves. He'd get up, and she'd push him again, rolling him around in the water. Then while he was sitting on his knees, she took a chicken, and started cutting its throat above the men, with what it looked like a dull knife. Poor chicken, I felt really bad for it, it was sliced up alive. All the blood then flowed on the man's head and back, she then rubbed it all on him, pushed him into the water a few more times, and took out another chicken. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was mans inauguration to become village's traditional healer.
We also went to a local shabeen, which is like a bar. I've heard some stories about it, like for ex. even if the alcohol is left unattended on the street, nobody will take it, because the locals believe that shabeen is protected by spirits that will punish them. I was expecting some dark place with very drunk locals sitting in it, dull lights with smoke surrounding the room. Well, no! It's an empty place, with no seats, not even a standing bar, a bunch of alcohol on shelves behind bars, with a small opening to exchange money and goods. It's strange why they need the bars. Maybe the local believe in evil spirits if they steal the alcohol from the street, but not from the store??? Funny thing was that on one of the bottles (made out of carton) was written "Don't drink and walk on the road, you may be killed". Normal saying would go, don't drink and drive, but I guess it was changed to comply with cultural differences, since locals don't really have cars.
Since I stayed for a while in Coffee bay, it gave plenty of time to catch up to me ... guess who? Of course Hans, that's the 4th time that we bump into each other.
One evening we went to have a traditional Xhosa dinner in a traditional Xhosa village with traditional Xhosa people. The villages of Xhosa are scattered around, with only the families living beside each other. We went to the chief’s house, so you would assume that they're doing quite well. I'm not sure exactly how "well" is defined, but their kids were running around with ripped and dirty cloths, there was no furniture in the houses, somebody was sick lying on a mattress on the floor with chicken running around him, and something cooking on a gas stove, which filled all the room with gas. They have no electricity, and have no walk hell knows where to get water. Woman do everything around the house, clean it, paint it, cook, gather firewood, shop, laundry, while men work. A lot of the men go to cities to make money, because these opportunities are not available in the villages. Women get married pretty young for a "labola" which is a payment. In that part of the country, it is 10 cows, and 15 cows for chief’s daughter. Each cow is worth USD $1000, so they're treated here with a lot of respect. They also wonder around freely and nobody's concerned about them being stolen. All the people act as villages police, and if somebody is caught stealing, the chief of the village will come up with some kind of punishment like going from house to house and saying, “beware of me, I steal cows". Women as soon as they get married change their clothing style, and go from shorts to long skirts, and a head cover I think with some cushiony thing because they're really good at carrying stuff on their heads. To be fat is a sign of wealth, meaning that the husband does a good job at providing for his family, so most of the married women what are called "the big mamas". In this culture to become a man, he goes through circumcision, and goes into the bush for about a month to live by himself. His mom will bring him food, but he's not supposed to talk to anyone or see anyone. Before it was 3 months, but now with work and school requirements, they're slowly moving into a modern era :) When a couple is getting married, the union is not only between them, but between the families. They're encouraged to discuss their problems when the whole family is present, so divorce is very rare. If a man borrows his dad’s cows for labola, it's like a promise to take care of him until the end, because essentially he robbed him of his retirement. But I don't understand this lebola thing. It looks to me that the cows are just moving from one family to another, but if both families live together, was that really a move? Did they lose or gain anything?
After asking a bunch of questions we had dinner with tasteless something with slimy something else for appetizer, and then even heavier maize with beans for the second course. Oh man that was filling. Then they showed up some traditional dancing, with pretty much the same moves and sounds, and we joined them in this celebration. Overall, an evening to remember!
Back in the hostel when it was a day to leave, 2 girls and Chris went surfing for the last time. Apparently Chris didn't really know how to surf, but still went in for the big waves. Well, he fell off the board, and when he surfaced, it went right on top of him, and cut his head with the fins. He came back to the hostel, and covered his head while talking to me. I thought he was ok, but when he took the bandage off, I almost lost consciousness. Thank god the girls are doctors and had sawing equipment with them. They sat him on the bench, gave him anesthesia. While poking his head with the needle, because of the pressure all the blood started coming out and dripping on his face and cloths, omg, I was more hyperventilating then him, he looked peaceful, when I had to turn around from time to time and breath very very deeply. All the passer biers gave some of their comments or sounds or facial expressions while the doctors debated if he needs another stitch or if the hair that's in the way gonna cause any infection. After major pain killers, surprisingly he was fine and not delusional, and we set off to our next destination.
https://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/ChintsaCoffeeBay#
Monday, March 7, 2011
Jeffreys bay
Stupidly enough I went to "Storms river" to do tubing, completely ignoring the information everywhere that South Africa goes through the worst drought period ever, to watch water, to report leaks, "Platenbourg has only 20 days of water left" ... and here I am going tubing ! Hopefully I'll be smarter next time and actually read and process the signs. The river was completely empty, all the rapids we had to walk through because there are just rocks sticking from the water, and besides the guides flipping everybody out of their tubes, there wasn't much else happening. I was a little bit mad because I don't think that the company should run trips in such conditions, and also because the trip was expensive, and I chose it over the highest bungee jump in the world of 216 meters!! :(( The staff at the reception was the worst ever! They didn't explain anything, didn't do anything. I had to ask all the questions. Usually if you ask a question about a trip, you get an answer with all the information you need. And here it was:
"Do you do tubing trips?"
yes
"Do you have a trip tomorrow?"
yes
"&%(*%$ what time does it start, for how many hours is it? What do I need to bring? "
Oh man, I almost told her something, but somehow held it in. She said that she'll book me in, well guess what, in the morning there was no booking. Figures!
When I checked in around 8pm, and got in the room, there was water running in the shower. I thought it was a bit weird because it run for a while, and all people know to take short showers, the "save water" signs are everywhere. Then 2 hours later when I went to sleep, the water was running. Again I thought it was weird, too many people are taking showers. I lied down in bed and couldn't fall asleep cause the water was running. Half an hour later, I got up and went to check things out. There was nobody in the shower! I have no idea for how long that water was running for, and why nobody else noticed or do anything about it?
Hans arrived in the hostel, and we just chatted and read books all day, because there wasn't much else to do.
Next stop was Jeffreys bay. Before it was a small dope smoking town until somebody discovered the perfect waves, so now it turned into a dope smoking surfing town :) (that's what it says on the wall... seriously!), and has the spot in the top 3 worldwide surfing destinations. And we all turned into dope smoking surfing bums :))) naah, not really, we just teased each other saying that when we were lying dead on the couch after hard core surfing. The town is filled with billabong, roxy, rip curl stores and guys :) Most of the surfing guys are built, blond and with dreadlocks, pretty much all look alikes :)
Early in the morning went surfing. This was my worst surfing ever :( The waves were very strong, the board was extremely uncomfortable, I hurt my feet every time I slid on it, I couldn't get balance and fell before caught the wave .... oooohhhhh, very frustrating! So I just ended up splashing around in the waves for an hour, but on the other hand I got some exercise :)
Me and Hans went for a "hike" which was in the map of the city. Along the way saw a washed out star fish, and a bunch of giant and wet grass hoppers, so it was my "save the world" day. I collected all the grasshoppers on the way, there were like 5 sitting on me at one point, and then put them safely in the grass to dry off :)
That map was clearly outdated. When we finally found the hiking trail, it was closed with a tall gate. We asked one of the people living in the house nearby why is the gate closed and how to get inside. He basically said that the gate was built because there was a lot of robbery in the area, and the thieves would run into that reserve and hide that way. So we climbed over that gate and got in. That gate must have been there for a while, since it was not hiking but more like crawling through all the over grown tree branches. 15 minutes later when there was not even a glimpse of where to go next, we decided to turn back. I was very careful cause I left only with very minor scratches, and surprisingly my shirt did not rip :) Then we did a huge loop back into the town. I was exhausted! In the hostel went to play pool. I sunk all the balls in except 1 which I must have hit like 20 times! And then! We all discovered the foosball table! It was so much fun! We had an all night competition going on :) I remember seeing this game since I was a kid, and why only now have I decided to try playing in it? When I'll be stationary and have a house with a huge basement, I'm buying a foosball table !! :)) At night there was a party, again! All the drunk teenagers running around, drinking, drinking all the bottle at once through a funnel, people were partying 1 meter from the dorm room, I ended up going to sleep at 4:30am. 8am woke up, and went surfing again. Same luck, different day. Then went to a restaurant, and had a latte. If you go to a restaurant once a month, anything you order tastes 100 times better than usual :)
So after surfing, hiking, partying, and surfing again, the surfing bum was out :) I fell asleep on the couch in the main area only to be woken up by loud banging. The kids from some local dance school came to perform in the hostel. They had a lot of energy, but they weren't really good. At the end they were collecting money so they could buy cloths, drums, and go to competitions. They are far away from competitions, or at least winning them, but we all chipped in. They were so aggressive, almost growling and shoving each other. But I've seen it before, so maybe it's just the culture thing.
In Port Elizabeth, I stayed in the nicest hostel ever, too bad only over night. It was just like a hotel, beautiful furniture and design, huge swimming pool, everything is in perfect condition, nothing's broken or scratched, curtains, plants, marble bathroom, excellent! The sky was beautiful that night, and when I got out of the Baz Bus I was walking to the hostel with my head up. The smart ass driver asked me if I could point out the southern cross (which is the easiest thing to find, not that I know anything else either), anyway, I pointed it right away, and he said how surprised he was, since not a lot of people can read stars, especially girls. Oh, I wish I knew another constellation to ask him where that was!
In the morning, there was me and another girl waiting for the Bas Bus, the driver got in and said how come there are 2 girls in here and he has to make his own coffee. I know he was joking, but common!
As you already know, there are 11 official languages in SA, Xhosa is one of them, they have a lot of clicks when they talk. Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_l7ty_MH_Y&feature=related
https://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/JeffreysBay#
"Do you do tubing trips?"
yes
"Do you have a trip tomorrow?"
yes
"&%(*%$ what time does it start, for how many hours is it? What do I need to bring? "
Oh man, I almost told her something, but somehow held it in. She said that she'll book me in, well guess what, in the morning there was no booking. Figures!
When I checked in around 8pm, and got in the room, there was water running in the shower. I thought it was a bit weird because it run for a while, and all people know to take short showers, the "save water" signs are everywhere. Then 2 hours later when I went to sleep, the water was running. Again I thought it was weird, too many people are taking showers. I lied down in bed and couldn't fall asleep cause the water was running. Half an hour later, I got up and went to check things out. There was nobody in the shower! I have no idea for how long that water was running for, and why nobody else noticed or do anything about it?
Hans arrived in the hostel, and we just chatted and read books all day, because there wasn't much else to do.
Next stop was Jeffreys bay. Before it was a small dope smoking town until somebody discovered the perfect waves, so now it turned into a dope smoking surfing town :) (that's what it says on the wall... seriously!), and has the spot in the top 3 worldwide surfing destinations. And we all turned into dope smoking surfing bums :))) naah, not really, we just teased each other saying that when we were lying dead on the couch after hard core surfing. The town is filled with billabong, roxy, rip curl stores and guys :) Most of the surfing guys are built, blond and with dreadlocks, pretty much all look alikes :)
Early in the morning went surfing. This was my worst surfing ever :( The waves were very strong, the board was extremely uncomfortable, I hurt my feet every time I slid on it, I couldn't get balance and fell before caught the wave .... oooohhhhh, very frustrating! So I just ended up splashing around in the waves for an hour, but on the other hand I got some exercise :)
Me and Hans went for a "hike" which was in the map of the city. Along the way saw a washed out star fish, and a bunch of giant and wet grass hoppers, so it was my "save the world" day. I collected all the grasshoppers on the way, there were like 5 sitting on me at one point, and then put them safely in the grass to dry off :)
That map was clearly outdated. When we finally found the hiking trail, it was closed with a tall gate. We asked one of the people living in the house nearby why is the gate closed and how to get inside. He basically said that the gate was built because there was a lot of robbery in the area, and the thieves would run into that reserve and hide that way. So we climbed over that gate and got in. That gate must have been there for a while, since it was not hiking but more like crawling through all the over grown tree branches. 15 minutes later when there was not even a glimpse of where to go next, we decided to turn back. I was very careful cause I left only with very minor scratches, and surprisingly my shirt did not rip :) Then we did a huge loop back into the town. I was exhausted! In the hostel went to play pool. I sunk all the balls in except 1 which I must have hit like 20 times! And then! We all discovered the foosball table! It was so much fun! We had an all night competition going on :) I remember seeing this game since I was a kid, and why only now have I decided to try playing in it? When I'll be stationary and have a house with a huge basement, I'm buying a foosball table !! :)) At night there was a party, again! All the drunk teenagers running around, drinking, drinking all the bottle at once through a funnel, people were partying 1 meter from the dorm room, I ended up going to sleep at 4:30am. 8am woke up, and went surfing again. Same luck, different day. Then went to a restaurant, and had a latte. If you go to a restaurant once a month, anything you order tastes 100 times better than usual :)
So after surfing, hiking, partying, and surfing again, the surfing bum was out :) I fell asleep on the couch in the main area only to be woken up by loud banging. The kids from some local dance school came to perform in the hostel. They had a lot of energy, but they weren't really good. At the end they were collecting money so they could buy cloths, drums, and go to competitions. They are far away from competitions, or at least winning them, but we all chipped in. They were so aggressive, almost growling and shoving each other. But I've seen it before, so maybe it's just the culture thing.
In Port Elizabeth, I stayed in the nicest hostel ever, too bad only over night. It was just like a hotel, beautiful furniture and design, huge swimming pool, everything is in perfect condition, nothing's broken or scratched, curtains, plants, marble bathroom, excellent! The sky was beautiful that night, and when I got out of the Baz Bus I was walking to the hostel with my head up. The smart ass driver asked me if I could point out the southern cross (which is the easiest thing to find, not that I know anything else either), anyway, I pointed it right away, and he said how surprised he was, since not a lot of people can read stars, especially girls. Oh, I wish I knew another constellation to ask him where that was!
In the morning, there was me and another girl waiting for the Bas Bus, the driver got in and said how come there are 2 girls in here and he has to make his own coffee. I know he was joking, but common!
As you already know, there are 11 official languages in SA, Xhosa is one of them, they have a lot of clicks when they talk. Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_l7ty_MH_Y&feature=related
https://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/JeffreysBay#
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