Heinrich Vos - South Africa

 

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Hiking and Cranky Hostel Owners

We went to the Drakensburg Mountains in South Africa, which are known for their hiking. We had a couple ideas of what we wanted to do, and we looked up the hostels in our guide book and settled on one that said was "closest to the Amphitheater", which is a place we wanted to hike. We arrived in the evening and met the owner, who was a bit snarky. He explained all the tours to us, places we could pay about 70 USD per head to go and he would be the guide for the hike. He also said, and I quote, "there are other ways to get there but I can't tell you how".

Okay, so let me just be clear on one thing. Aside from guidebooks, we RELY on hostel owners and employees to give us the lowdown on the surrounding area. Usually they do this with gusto and pride. They are a very important wealth of information to us. This guy was not a wealth of anything. So, we decided to just set off on our own and maybe ask someone else along the way.

The first day we had no problem finding the base for the Amphitheater hike. There was a bit of a dirt road (we have a TINY Hyundai with NO power), but we had no problems driving it, finding the trail head or any problems keeping to the trail along the way. We got back to the hostel that night and met a couple who had just arrived and were disappointed because they had wanted to go to the Amphitheater but the owner had told them that, "it was very hard to find, it was essential to have a 4 wheel drive for the road up there and the trail was not well marked". Which, as I explained before, is total BS.

Our plan for the next day was do another, more difficult hike, one that this hostel offered as a guided tour for about 130 dollars. We knew we didn't want to pay that much and clearly we could not ask the owner for advice, so the next day we set off on our own to tackle the mountain. We arrived at the gate, paid our fee, and were delighted when the gate attendant asked us if we wanted a map. Little did we know, all this was was a map to find....the trailhead. NO map of the mountain or the trail. We set out anyway.

Now, this hike was said to have taken 9 hours, so we figured we would go about 4 and then turn around if we hadn't made it to the top. We reached a split in the road right around hour two, and since our peak was to the left, we took the path to the left. And walked and walked and walked. Around hour 3.7 we realized we were not getting anywhere, we were definitely not going up, and this was a hike to the peak of the mountain, so we turned around sadly. But then we started thinking, maybe we should have taken the split to the right. So when we got to it, we still had a little extra time and we decided to try it. It was the correct path. It went up a hill, along a ridge, then up another hill, which was almost as high as the peak. From there it went left (towards the peak) on a flat path. So basically we did all the climbing without the payoff.

I don't mind not making it to the top, but it is SOOO frustrating to not be able to get proper maps or information. As I was walking down the hill, I was so peeved at the hostel owner, who was so into making money that he didn't make it comfortable for his guests. He had a gorgeous hostel with a pool table, jacuzzi and chill out room, but he had the bar open to everyone and everyone was there. They all stayed up until 4 and 5 in the morning (the locals) shouting and screaming, playing loud music in their cars in the parking lot right near the camping area, and tooting their horn. And everyone who comes here comes to hike, and has to get up early to do so!

I had a great time hiking anyway. The Drakes are beautiful and I would recommend them to anyone, but it does bother me that they don't make it easy to take a hike on your own. There were no signs or markings and no information to be had. I would not recommend the Amphitheater hostel unless you are going to the Drakes for a party and don't plan on going to bed early. Then it is just the place for you.

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South Africa Rules (and Lists)

Some words you may hear that are a little weird:
1. Lekker - this means "cool"
2. Izzit (Is it?) - this doesn't really mean Is It, it kind of means "oh really?", so if you say, "today I am flying to India." they will say, "izzit?"
3. Howzit (how is it) - the same as above, this doesn't always mean "how is it". It means "hi" or "how you doing" or like we would say "whats up".
4. Bekkie - this is a pickup truck, like a toyota 4 runner.
5. Braii - this is a BBQ. They have a curly sausage they call Braiiwoerst.
6. "too much" - they use this in place of "too many" or just "too". For example, "its too much sunny" or "too much slow" or "too much elephants". 

Traffic rules and oddities:
1. Everyone gets over to the breakdown lane to let you pass. So essentially, all roads are two lane with a mini breakdown lane, so are used as if they are three or four lanes.
2. If someone let's you pass, you flash your hazards at them to say thanks. Sometimes you get a headlight flash as a "you're welcome".
3. Robot - this is what they call a traffic light.
4. If the coast is clear for passing, a big rig will signal with his blinker. I have seen this in the US once in a while, but it is so helpful when you cant see around them.
5. When you drive on the left, your windshield wipers and blinkers are opposite. You end  up wiping the windows a lot before turning.
6. The Car Guard - when you park your car a man "guards" it for you. You have to tip him for this service. If you don't pay him, it feels like he may just accidentally "not" guard your car. Kind of a catch 22.

...to be continued...

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On Top of The Table

We hiked Table Mountain yesterday. It was gorgeous. Luckily, we decided to do it yesterday instead of the day before, as it rained the day before, but was absolutely gorgeous yesterday. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top, which is about 3000 feet up. It was a hard slog, as it is all stone steps which are uneven, bumpy and slippery. Some are about 2 inches apart; others are a foot and a half. My legs were wobbly!

We got to the top, where you can see pretty much all of Cape Town. There is a walk around that you can take that takes about an hour and gives you pretty much a 365 view of the city. It is a very beautiful city; it is surrounded by water on three sides and has Table Mountain as well as a few other mountains right in the middle of the peninsula, so it is quite pleasing to the eye. Not only that, but it is winter here right now and it must have been about 65 degrees yesterday. Not too shabby.

Here are a couple of photos from the hike.  I found that weird looking bearded guy on the side of the road and befriended him. You can find more here.

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Free at Last. Hallelujah!

So, we have been camping for the last...um...2 or 3 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind camping. In fact, I don't mind it at all. However, after camping for 3 weeks, sleeping on the ground, freezing, waking up at 445 am because the neighbors are going fishing, cooking top ramen every day for dinner and getting into stupid arguments with big K because there is no space for us to be away from each other, let me just say, I am GLAD we decided to stay in the Westin in Cape Town for a couple of days.

We have our OWN bathroom. Score. WITH a HOT shower. Bonus.

We also have....a bed. Oh man is it nice. I totally took it for granted before but beleive me, it is the best thing in the world these days.

We have food. Okay, well we have free breakfast and free happy hour snacks and drinks...but its free. And it's food. And its NOT top ramen.

Anyway, I got pretty spoiled when I was working in New Olreans, staying in a nice hotel or apartment, getting a stipend for food every day. Now I pinch pennies because every extra dollar I save means I can stay one more day on the road. But sometimes it is hard. Big K and I get into the STUPIDEST arguments because I want to save two dollars and he wants to just have hot food for a change, or I want to camp and he wants to splurge on a hotel, or I want to take the bus and he wants to rent a car..... Yup, I am the cheap one and he is the extravagant one.

But, we are having fun. Right now we are in Cape Town, and let me tell you, it is absolutely freaking BEAUTIFUL! I mean...BEAUTIFUL. On a bay with mountains...what more can you ask for? It's great. AND for the first time in a little while, we have the chance to go to the post office, buy replacement camping items, camera items etc and just relax in our awesome hotel.

The other day we went to Simon's town and saw the African Penguins (ps I love penguins!!) We also went to Cape Point (see photo above) which is the end of the Cape Town peninsula. It was gorgeous.

Tomorrow we plan to hike Table Mountain, which is one of the peaks in the middle of the city. It is about 3000 feet tall. After that, it is off on a hell bent for leather trip up the east coast, as we have to be back in Mozambique for our flight to India on the 8th of September, which is getting nearer and nearer!!!

So, where to next, you ask. Well, let me enlighten you. Our plans today include India, Nepal, China, most of South East Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia and then a tiny trip to Australia before heading home for good. How long will this last, you ask. I do not know. Our flight right now is scheduled to be home on Dec 22, but we are seriously considering an extension. So plans may change. I will update you all as I know what is going on. And I usually don't know.

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Safari

We went on a safari to Etosha National Park in Namibia and we saw so many animals! It is cool there because you can drive yourself and there are tons of watering holes so you can drive around and see animals then sit at the watering holes and see more animals. We even stayed the night in the park and you can sit at the watering hole, which they have flood lights on, and see the animals at night. The coolest thing was the lions. We got right up next to them and they are so big!

Now we are in South Africa, after about 2 whole days of driving, and we are staying in the mountains in a place called Cedarberg. We went hiking yesterday; the terrain is totally different from what I am used to. There are mountains, but they are soapstone so they are worn away in strange patters instead of being granite or serpentine, which is more jagged, which is what I am used to. There are barely any trees; there are lots of scrubby bushes, which make the mountain look green from far away, but are really kind of bristly from up close. Nothing compared to the pines and cedars at home. For a place called Cedarberg, I have seen few cedars!

Next we will travel to the west coast of S Africa, which is called the "Western Cape" where it is said that the cliffs go right to the sea. I am imagining Big Sur type cliffs, but we shall see what we run into. South Africa is very civilized; there are real grocery stores with stocked shelves!! It is almost like home, except there is still a large black/white separation.

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Zimbabwe Travel - Devil's Swimming Pool Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, Africa, you will find the magnificent Victoria Falls, at a height of 128m.

The location is known as the "Devil's Swimming Pool". During the months of September and December, people can swim as close as possible to the edge of the falls without falling over.

These falls are becoming well known amongst the "radical tourist" industry, when more and more people search for the ultimate experience.

Would you dare?

here we go....

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