The Wild Coast!!

Yesterday we were in Coffee Bay and we woke up to Rain, with a capital R - a tropical storm. We had arrived in Coffee Bay after dark, which we hate doing, on a road that tried to swallow our car whole in the potholes. It was like playing some sort of 3D video game where the obstacles were holes in the road, speed bumps that appeared out of nowhere, people walking in the middle of the road (or sitting with their children, as we once saw), dogs, goats, and fog. We were trying to get ourselves and our car to somewhere to spend the night without any damages along the way. The scenery getting there was beautiful. Green mountains dotted with small rondavels in pastel colours, with chickens and children running amok among them. It felt more like the "Africa" we all think of as typical, although I'm starting to realize (if I hadn't already) that there is no one typical Africa, at least not here in SA. We had left Chintsa, which we adored for it's amazing white sand beach and hostel that felt more like a resort (despite the rain!) and driven to Umtata. We had been planning to go to a remote backpackers in Bulungula which can only be reached by a 4x4 - we called there from Umtata and they said they only did pickups at 5 pm from Coffee Bay. As we were too late to be there by 5, we figured we'd call them the next morning and arrange it for yesterday.

So we stayed a while in Umtata, which was a town with no other Caucasians (wait - I saw one in the mall) and visited their Nelson Mandela museum, which our begrudging wallets were glad to see was free. Such an amazing man who really did a lot to change apartheid, along with others in SA. It seems he's a bit of an idol, or maybe an icon, to the people here. Incredible person. So, officially, apartheid is over in this country, but separation still seems to be the norm, if not the law. Very seldom do we see mixing of races, other than the blacks working menial jobs in white-dominated towns. Perhaps in Cape Town, there was a bit more racial variety. However, in most of the towns we've stopped in along the way, we are the only whites. I think, recognized as foreigners, we are welcomed, and people are very friendly for the most part.

Yesterday we were taken in by the most precocious little peddler - a 14 year old named Emily. She saw us in our car and made this face of shock or horror or, apparently, recognition. I was thinking perhaps something was wrong with the car or something like that. We rolled to a stop at the bottom of the driveway we'd been pulling out of and she says "I've seen you before" to Maria and me, but she hadn't. I think it was a ploy to get us to stop, and it worked. So she showed up her beaded wares - anklets, necklaces, bracelets. Nothing exciting, just plain beads. But because she was so cute adn had made an effort and was trying to support herself (pay school fees, she said), Julie and I bought a couple of thingss. Then she wanted a ride, so we gave her one down the road. Poor Maria in the back had to squash in nice and close with Emily and all our bags (the boot holds our groceries). Emily proclaimed Maria as her "granny" and we got an adorable picture of the two of them. The interaction with her was fun and Port St. John's has been more enjoyable, overall, than Coffee Bay, where we woke up with pouring rain yesterday morning.

It's funny, some people (other travelers) we meet along the way have such great recommendations for things and often we realize they are not to be trusted. We're learning to look at the person giving the advice and what sort of lifestyle and activities tehy prefer before jumping into their recommendations. Their were 2 guys in Chintsa who loved the Coffee Shack, a hostel in Coffee Bay. We arrived there (after dark, you recall) to ear-drum breaking music and a very dirty kitchen. Oh, we bely our age and priorities when we say that a clean kitchen and quiet dorm are more important then the bar or party life. We've been in a few places with neither and we tend to vacate the premises asap. So we went across the street (potholed mud-path?) to Bomvu Backpackers, which was a little better, but still dirty, dirty, dirty kitchen. I suppose if we weren't cooking all our own food, it wouldn't matter so much, although it probably indicates the state of their cafe kitchen as well. Sometimes having a biology degree and working in public health is too much knowledge. I need to trust my immune system!!

Bomvu has local pubescent girls perform every week - "traditional dances" - we watched a bit, but somehow were left with a yucky feeling - these girls arrived in western style clothing, then took off their tops and put on teeny skirts to perform their dances and singing. They were lovely girls, but some seemed self-conscious about being shirtless and the leering men at the bar seemed to appreciate it a little too much. I don't know - when they passed around their donation plate at the end, it seemed a little exploitive and I hoped the girls weren't learning to sell their bodies...then there was a drumming session which was fantastic, but just on the other side of a bamboo wall from our dorm. So I fell asleep to african rhythms feeling like they were changing the beat of my heart, and woke up to rain like I've never seen. Quite fun, actually.

I've been waking early, around 6:30, and spending some time by myself before the others are up. So I woke and showered and went up to find some quiet place - Bomvu didn't have much for hang-out spots - I ended up in their "restaurant" area at a wooden table. There was one other fellow who started up a conversation. Well, I didn't get much quiet time and actually, an hour and a half later, I felt quiet saddened by the guy - we seemed the most bitter, hopeless and despondant person. Actually, i think he was mentally disturbed. Very shortly into our conversation, he started telling me about his ancestors who descended from Norse warriors and Satan worshippers and soon thereafter told me he was a drifter with no purpose in life. I started to ask him about that and he snapped "and don't starting telling me any of that Bible b.s." which surprised me, actually, as I had not indicated my beliefs at all. So I just sat there praying for wisdom as he raved about his hatred of men, his drug and whore habits, his dislike of authority and lack of need for relationships. I felt so sad for him. I managed to extract myself from his grasping words after an hour or so when everytime I opened my mouth he cut me off...

By this time it had stopped pouring so Jules and I took the bumblebee and ladybug umbrellas that Maria bought at PEP and decided to explore a bit. 2 of the hostel dogs came along. We wore our flip flops (slip slops here) and waded and unstuck our way through puddles and mud down to the beach, which was rocky and dirty and disappointing under the cloudy skies. We met a South African couple who looked like they were hobbits or something of that ilk. Toothless, with a long bushy beard, wild hair and galoshes, the man gave us advice about traveling to Durban and commiserated with us about the weather. We stopped in at a jewellery shop run by a guy who lived in a tent adn made stuff out of shells and sea glass. His work area was surrounded by windcatchers and mobiles made of the same. We then stopped in at a little screen-printed t-shirt shop, filled with clothes covered in images of Rastafarian heroes. And we were starting to realize that this little town was a haven for hippies and dope-smokers - perhaps this is why the hostels were is such a state - maybe people just didn't care enough.

So now, we're in PSJ's, which I remember from 4 years ago - it's strange to be back in the same kitchen where Leah, Ashley and I made french toast over the gas stove (remember, girls?) and walked down the beach paradise with monkeys, geckos, and parrots. I was hoping this visit would be warmer, as we are here in summer, but it's still chilly and wet, but getting better. We've had rain and clouds almost every day since arriving in S.A. - our tans are in a sad state for having been here 3 weeks!...more to come when I've got more time!

a little more on the ostrich

Here is a little continuation of Ang's post this morning, providing you with some interesting tidbits on the ostrich, an animal I have become very fond of over the last week. :)
I will copy from my journal notes.

This morning Ang and I had a "tour" of sorts with a local ostrich farmer. We got to ride in the back of the truck (reminded me of my childhood in Indonesia). He showed us some ostrich out in the field male (black and white with the red forelegs and beaks in mating season) and female (grey). There they live for about 8 months of the year. The females will lay an egg every other day, each is the equivalent of about 20-24 chicken eggs. Apparently they are higher in cholesterol than chicken eggs, a contrast in health to their lean red meat which we experienced a couple days ago.
There are 3 different kinds of ostrich farmed, these are the smallest about about 120-130 kgs. About 1/4 of their weight becomes sellable meat. Ostrich hides are also valuable (sold mostly to U.S. and Mexico for cowboy boots etc?) and the feathers (mostly to Brazil). Initially the ostrich was only farmed for the male white feathers, they were worth their weight in gold at that time. Now most people raise them for the meat, which is primarily exported to Europe.
There are apparently ~350 ostrich farms around this area.
The ostrich were very cute, with big eyes and eyelashes. They look hilarious with their long legs and necks, and even more funny when they run. Apparently they can run ~80 km/hr, maintain ~60 km/hr for about 4 kms. Their beaks are harmless but they will kick and injure with their toenails. In any case, it's probably not a good idea to try to outrun them.

We also saw a nest that the male makes for the females who come to his territory and mate with him. Then we saw some 3/12 olds who are getting just old enough to care for themselves. They looked just a little smaller than the adults, I guess they grow a ton for the first little while but then are not ready to reproduce until about 2 years of age for the females, 3 years for the males.
The last stop was seeing the little ones who were about 1/12 old. Apparently a female will have about 12-18 eggs, laying one every other day. Once she has laid them all she will sit on them, and they all hatch within about 3 days of each other... and you can't even tell the ones that were laid first from the ones that were laid last even though they could have 30+days difference between them. Fascinating.
The ostrich brain is about the size of one of their eyeballs, they're apparently not too bright.
But they sure are cute.
I'd like to take one home with me.

-Julie

Finally!

It's been so long since we posted much of anything. Internet is usually expensive and our short time allows us answers to emails and banking-type stuff and not much else. So now we have access to free internet at the Wild Spirit Lodge where we are staying on the east coast of S.A. and I'm not sure whether I should go back and write about things that we've done or simply start from here. I think we may do a bit of both if we have the time. So some entries may not really be in chronological order, but you won't know the difference, right? I thought to save on thinking time, I'd just transpose my journal entry from the day before yesterday...we were in the Klein Karoo, which is a desert-y area partway up the coast.

"I'm sitting at the top of a hill surrounded by rocks and small bushes and cacti - I can hear flies buzzing and birds chirping and dogs barking and cows mooing. We stayed last night at the "Amber Lagoon." It's in the middle of nowhere, 30-some km from Oudtshoorn - in the Karoo. It's remote and rugged and peaceful. In an hour Julie and I are supposed to do a "genuine" tour of an ostrich farm. The farmer lives next door and he's picking us up at 9 to show us his farm. The lady who runs the hostel (more on her later) said that we must do his little tour, not the commercialized one (which I did last time I was in S.A.). We're hoping to score an ostrich egg off him because wouldn't it be cool to have an ostrich egg omelet? This hostel is very rustic - we slept in a straw and bamboo loft above the house - this was the "dorm" - 8 mattresses on the floor in a bit of an attic, but for $10 a night, we can't really complain. In fact, we wouldn't want to - it's actually lovely, other than the mosquitoes and the pigeons sliding off the tin roof above us (not the mosquitoes sliding, just buzzing!) And a few lizards wandering around. No sleeping in here with the birds and roosters and dogs and cows and tractors.

I can see ostrich from my spot on the hill. There is a beautiful pool area, and as it is finally sunny where we are, I think we may just chill today - be lazy and hang out here - stay another night tonight. Suzanne (hostel lady) owns the place and is originally from Germany and has been here for 7 years. Her partner, she says, spends extended amounts of time in Germany with his family and so she is often here alone. She says she is never lonely and doesn't need people around, just her 3 dogs. Maria (who we are traveling with) thinks she is running or hiding from something out here in the wilderness. We took her a bit by surprise as we hadn't phoned ahead. She came to the gate in a rather dishevelled state and seemed very surprised to see us. I get the feeling they don't get a lot of guests here. It's definitely not on the partying route as some of the hostels in Cape Town tend to be. But it is lovely and peaceful out here.

I love how each night in a backpackers is a completely different experience. We had such a great time in Cape Town - got to know other people, really enjoyed the staff, but it had more of a party feel. Last night in Hermanus (where we had an amazing experience whale-watching), it had more of a hippy/commune feel with a big community kitchen and staff with dreads and pets wandering around. Lots of brightly painted walls. And the power went out and we played cards by candlelight. Julie declares how she loves the "nook-y" feel of the place and Maria and I just cracked up at this. Last night, at this place, feels again so different. No other guests here - feels like wilderness. Ate our supper of rice with lentil stew, white wine, and chocolate outside under the amazingly brilliant and numerous stars."

The ostrich tour was a lot of fun - we learned so many interesting things about ostriches and were a bit in love with them by the time our time there was over. So cute. And they taste good :) - we had some ostrich the other day - so yummy. Plus, the egg turned out fantastically. We made 2 fritattas and ate them both last night. We weren't sure how to get into the egg as they are rather thick and to just try to crack it would make a bit of a mess. So Julie drilled into it with a knife and we made another hole in the bottom and everything just came out. The farmer said this one was a "small" one - the equilavent of about 20 chicken eggs. Tasted the same to me. We're trying to eat lots of interesting things here. Maria is hilarious. She's a Canadian lady of Portuguese descent who is in here late 50's - we met up in Cape Town at the hostel and realized we have some things in common and so have ended up taking her with us up the coast. She used to be a vegetarian but has given it up and on this trip is making up for it with a vengeance! Every animal we see, we joke about it ending up in her stewpot. So we've had zebra pate (with a can of crocodile to try to) which we found at the local supermarket, kudu biltong yesterday, ostrich and ostrich egg...we'll see what else we end up with.

Ok...I think Julie is going to post about the wonders of ostriches a bit later today, but in the meanwhile, I'm off to make myself some rooibos tea. Cheers!

Ang

Capetown

We arrived in Capetown this last week Tuesday to heat and sun! As it turns out, that ended up being the nicest day weather-wise that we have had so far. Since then we've had a lot of rain and wind. We continue to lengthen our time in hopes that one of these days we will make it up Table Mountain.
In the mean time we have made some friends at the hostel we are staying at, visited a couple of museums, and gone shopping. When the weather has been less wet we have visited Cape of Good Hope, a township at Cape Flats, and Simon's Town (where the penguins are). I just love the coast, it is gorgeous. I could live here! :)
I am trying to rush this blog but will try to write something a little more exciting the next time I am on. We will see what kind of blog the creative genius Ang will produce... :)

Chocolate!!!

Hey all - we've been hoping to post something new for days...they are just flying by and yet it feels like we've been gone forever! How do I even start to tell about all the fun we've had so far? We're staying with lovely friends Lucy and Hannah who I met at TLC during my year there. We're in Birmingham, England. We spent today at Cadbury World, which is the CHOCOLATE WONDERLAND of Bournville. Imagine Charlie and the smell of chocolate wafting through the factor. Samples of Dairy Milk and pots of liquid chocolate and little cocoa beans dancing around. I think we bought out the "World's Largest Cadbury Shop" and will be sending lucky family members samples of yummy chocolate. We went out for Balti food last night in the Indian area of town and wandered past amazingly intricate saris and exotic candy shops. Tomorrow I head to visit my friend Naomi and her family (including newish baby!) for the weekend while Julie heads back to London to visit a bit more with her friend Peckham. Then it's off to Cape Town on Monday evening! We've enjoyed our time in the UK so much but are also itching for some sun!
I also want to write about our time in Northern Ireland, but perhaps that will wait for another day!
Ang

Worth a Thousand Words?

In no particular order... Ang, Rachel and Julie at Greenwich park/hill/observatory with a view of London behind us.

With our new Canadian friend Jimmy on board a floating pub (yup, that's Big Ben in the background).

Our first hosts, the Marfleets, set an unbeatable standard of hospitality and we felt so welcome at their home in Paddock Wood.

Julie looks unimpressed with Uncle David's tour guiding...but he did a great job explaining to us the history of Kent and pointing out the hops fields in front of us.

We relaxed in Trafalgar Square for a good part of the afternoon and had good fun tourist watching (and mocking).

Buckingham Palace (can't you tell?)

One girl, one pack...no world yet (in Mom's living room).

One of the many cemetery pictures...so mysterious and old...some of them dated back to the 1700's.

That's it for now...maybe next time will be more coherent :) Love you all!

What would You have for me?

This entry is just to give you a quick glimpse of the road I (Julie) have walked leading into this trip. My hope is that it may give you better insight into my perspective and expectations for what is coming. I would also like you to notice that it helps with regards to number of blog entries I submit (if we're keeping track now).
My health has been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years. At this point I have come to terms with the realization that I may be living with something called chronic fatigue syndrome. The last month and a half or so before this trip I had what I think may have been a relapse. I was practically glued to bed and couch for weeks, or so it seemed! I am doing better now but still in recovery mode.
I admit it has been difficult for me to come to this place. I have always led a very active lifestyle. In fact, I promote movement/exercise as an occupation.
So what am I doing taking off out of country in this state of health? I may not be able to do as much exploring as I originally hoped, but I am excited for the chance to meet people, get away from my regular routine of life and refocus. I may not know what's in store, but I do know the Lord's faithfulness in my life and I trust He's got it taken care of.
"God, what would You have for me?"