The Garden Route of SA

I arrived at the Knysna Island Vibe, actually owned by the same guy who ones the one I stayed at in Jeffreys Bay, and took a township tour with Oren, a tall, lanky, white SA guy with a raspy voice, and Sacramenta, a girl who works here at the backpackers. She said she lived in the township so I was confused as to why she was joining us.Township is the name given to the areas of SA where mostly blacks live, as opposed to the colored or whites. It was just the three of us and Oren, our guide, was extremely knowledgable about their lives. Once someone is granted a piece of land by the government council, you build yourself a shack - and I mean a shack. Then you apply for government housing which can take up to 7 years. It depends on your monthy salary what they will build you, but if you make under $150 (in US dollars) a month you get the whole house which is a 20 x 20 cinder block structure. Sacramenta took us to her parents home and then to the home she just received by the government which she waited 7 years to get. It is basically two rooms and a bathroom. It has electricity and running water, but you have to buy your appliances and fixtures so she didn't even have a toilet, sink, stove, yet. It was unbelievable how they live and they are soooo proud of what they have. Sacramenta showed us her new house and her parents welcomed us into their home. She is getting married in December and the grooms family actually has to give her parents a dowry of about 3-5 cows. I told her to wait a year and hold out for 15 cows, she is worth it. She laughed.

Oren also took us to the rastafarian community. The guy who showed us around had a pair of pants drapped over his head. I figured it was hot and it kept the sun off his head, but when he took them off, he had the longest dredlock I had ever seen. Just one long piece of hair that went down past his butt. They say Bob Marley had 28 species of bugs in his hair when he died, well Bob had nothing on this guy. Even Sacramenta was laughing. The rastas consider themselves Ethiopian decendents. They don't smoke, drink or eat meat or fish, but they do smoke lots of weed. No problem.

We went to the high school -1300 students and 41 teacher - but it has come a long way. Education is mandatory from 7 - 16 years old and then the parents have to foot the bill if you decide to go further. The preschool in this town had 76 students ages 2-6 and two teachers. The two rooms were sooo small. I was fortunate to have volunteered where I did. We also visited Celina, a natural healer who runs a soup kitchen, preschool and is a certified healer. She has such a hard life but a wonderful attitude and does so much for the community. It is unimaginable how most live. There is such a contrast here, it is either very poor or well off.

I took the BazBus to Oudtstroon, the ostrich capital of the world. Of course, I visited the ostrich farms and know more about them then I really need to. The guy at the backpackers made a braai (barbecue) of ostrich steak and sausage. It was really good. For breakfast it was ostrich egg. I say egg because one ostrich egg is equal to 24 chichen eggs. I also went to the Canga caves and another reserve where I got to pet 10 month old tigers. That was a highlight.

I made my way to Cape Town on the Baz Bus and took the peninsula tour today. This was a great way to get aquainted with Cape Town. This could be any city in Europe except you look down a street and their towering above the buildings are these amazing mountains. We followed the coast on our tour and it seems you can't stop taking pictures. We took a ferry to see the seals, literally thousands of them basking in the sun or swimming. We took a bikeride through some of the Cape Town National Park and hiked up to the lighthouse at Cape Point. We stood on the Cape of Good Hope, the southern-western most point in Afica and the spot where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet. We went to Boulders and saw a colony of thousands of African penguins. We saw many whales along the coast, ostich, springbok, and baboons. The guide told us to close the windows when we saw the baboons because they steal food or anything shiny (like the trolls) anyway, there was a couple ahead of us who got out of the car and were taking pictures like stupid tourists and this baboon just goes in the car and takes this bag. It was the funniest thing. The zebra and giraffe along the way are like seeing cats and dogs by now.

Tomorrow I am going to Stellenbosh and a few other wineries and then I am heading home on Saturday.
Excuse the spelling and gramatics, but I only had a set time to do this.

See you in the USA!