FLASHBACK #62: Wild In South Africa (Days 8-11)

Day 8 – February 19th – Kloof

I woke up at a more sociable hour of 8am with a full programme for the day in the local area. About 10.30, Wia and Kalie went to the supermarket to buy some food for a barbecue that we were going to attend later in the afternoon with some of the boermusic folk.

Jo was at work (he’s a gardener) so, in the meantime, Patsi and I would visit the Kloof Gorge and the Pot & Kettle Coffee Shop, famous for its views. As we set off, Patsi showed me Filton School for the Deaf where she works as a part-time volunteer. We stopped for a newspaper and then continued on our journey to the Pot & Kettle Coffee Shop.

We ordered tea and carrot cake which turned out to be one of the most generous and tasty portions I have ever tasted while we chatted candidly about life, deafness and our families etc. I really enjoyed her company. Time flew so we made tracks to the Kloof Conservation Area which had a gorge.

As we drove through a patch of woodland, we emerged at a clearing with a very steep drop below. On the other side of the gorge, gorgeous mansions with landscaped gardens could be seen. Eagles soared overhead and I quickly took some photos before we headed back to Mojeni Park, the secure complex where Patsi and Jo’s home is located.

We waited for Jo to return from work and, in the meantime, I settled down with a drink and a copy of the local paper. The headline on the front page screamed: “NO ONE DIES OF AIDS”. Shocked, I read on; it gave a good insight into the non-acknowledgement of AIDS in South Africa. Amazingly ignorant statement, I thought to myself.

Just after 1pm, Patsi, Jo and I met Kalie & Wia at the Boermusik Brai. The home of one of the Kalie’s associates was lovely, set in a well landscaped garden with a bridge suspended over a man-made lake stocked with Japanese Carp. Our host's wife, Linda, was the perfect hostess as we listened intently to the 3-piece boermusik group consisting of concertina, guitar and banjo. For a moment, I thought George Formby might pop in for a visit!

Later, a barbecue was in full swing. Patsi’s friend of fifty years from school came along and I got talking to Jack, a 19 year-old friend of our host's son. Jack had a lot to say about South Africa and here’s a summary: “I have never been abroad and never intend to since SA’s just great”, “There will be a civil war – the whites will put the blacks in their place”, “AIDS is a black thing!”, “Football is for blacks”. He also told about the government’s Affirmative Action policy which governs the equal rights of black people. He went on to say that South Africa has atomic power and that he, personally, would gladly fight in a civil war. It amazed me that, at the of just 19 and living in the 21st Century, this boy was shockingly racist and believed that SA was the motherland of the white people. The boy was just full of anger.

Our conversation was conveniently cut short with another load of live boermusik. I got chatting to our host's wife. She explained that Shark, their son, wanted to study in New Zealand and since the future looked bleak for Linda in SA, they were considering moving to New Zealand altogether. The neighbours, she explained, are British and they were moving back to the UK in April. “They’ve had enough,” she said. Oh, dear! Lots of discontent people around here, isn’t there?

The event rounded up about 5pm and we headed back to Patsi and Jo’s place. The rest of the evening was spent preparing for our drive to Port Elizabeth, some 750kms away. I cleaned my sandals, gave Patsi an Iittalla candle as a thank you for her hospitality, and we had sandwiches and coca cola as an evening snack.

I had a shower and read the paper in bed before turning in at 10pm. Well, we had to get up at 3.30am, you know! Oh, bugger!

Day 9 – February 20th – Kloof to Port Elizabeth

Kalie gave my bed a kick which woke me with a start; I had slept really badly during the night. I had a quick wash, brushed my teeth, loaded the car and we were on our way by 3.45am. In completely darkness along the deserted roads, I napped. Two hours later, I woke up and we had already reached Port Edward – I got out the map and realised that we had gone too far; we should have joined the N2 just after Port Shepstone.

From Port Edward, we travelled along Route 61 and were about to embark on what would be the most isolated, desolate and underprivileged part of South Africa I would have the opportunity to see. About 6am, we drove along one stretch of road where two children no more than 7 or 8 years of age were playing by the roadside; they wore no shoes and were not supervised along the highway. Not long after, we passed a small building very close to the roadside which constituted a local bar. And it was full of rowdy black men. At 6am in the morning!

Along the meandering journey, we took in the black-only towns of Bizana and Ludeke. At Bizana, the car came to a stop; I noticed a stray horse grazing by the roadside as Kalie explained that we were running low on petrol. Kalie asked a local police officer how far it was to the nearest town, explaining that we needed petrol. The policeman quickly ran off to a nearby chap and they discussed the matter in one of the many African languages. The police officer returned, saying that it would be safe to buy petrol from a gentleman nearby who was selling petrol in plastic one litre bottles! Oh, my god!, I thought. They're selling petrol while unlicensed in plastic bottles on the roadside? Oh, please! It turned out, however, that the guy saved our skin. It was many miles to the next town and when we arrived there, the scene scared me to bits. We were the ONLY white people in town. The town was mobbed and the petrol station turned out to be especially busy.

As we travelled further, we meandered higher into the mountains and, between naps, it ranged between being either foggy or misty or rainy. I had fun trying to pronounce the town of ‘Lusikisiki’! You try it – it’s not easy! The town was dusty, crowded with people and it seemed that every town had its own Kentucky Fried Chicken! Not long after Lusikisiki, we arrived in the remote town of Port St. Johns. This idyllic little town sits at the mouth of the Imzimvubu River, and is as close as you will come to rural South Africa – the town is predominantly black. The town is named after the São João, a ship that wrecked here in June 1552. Only eight of the original 440 crew made it to Mozamique Island 1600kms away.

Anyways, I counted that I napped five times during this particular day. Just before joining Route N2 at Umtata, Wia took over the driving from Kalie. In my tiredness, I really didn’t pay much attention to the journey. Kalie slept in the back while Wia drove in silence. I listened to music on my MP3 player and read the newspaper.

We glided passed towns with names like East London, King William’s Town and Grahamstown and there really wasn’t anything impressive to see. As we got closer to Port Elizabeth, I got more anxious – the thought of spending 3 nights in the same place sounded like luxury what with the constant moving on. Soon, we pulled into a petrol station and waited to be escorted to Hallack Manor, the place where we would be staying.

About twenty minutes later, our escort arrived just outside town and we trailed him. The sky was so blue – you could tell that it was going to be a lovely evening. We entered the city via the highway and waves crashed onto the shore on our left. We soon pulled into the driveway of Hallack Manor and it was lovely. We were greeted by the owner, who offered us coffee and company in the rustic living room complete with white leather sofas. From the back of the living room, you could get to the garden and swimming pool. Drinking the coffee took Kalie forever as he launched into yet another boermusik discussion.

We finally got into our rooms about 7pm and I was well impressed. Our rooms were lovely. Kalie and Wia had a back room with a view of the pool while I had the view looking onto the front lawns and what remained of Hallack Road. The rest of the evening was spent taking a nice long shower, eating biscuits with Bacardi and Coke and watching Sex & The City on DVD. I was fast asleep by 11pm.

Day 10 – February 21st – Port Elizabeth

I woke up at 8.30am in my lovely room! I grabbed a shower and met Kalie and Wia downstairs for a full English breakfast and cereal. A young bushy-haired girl who works at Hallack Manor introduced herself. A fun and very competent concertina player, she had organised our accommodation for us.

She joined us, as we finished our breakfast, and told me that she was planning to go to London in October for work experience. She is 20 years old and was great company. She looks very much like one of my cousins.

After breakfast, we drove around town and visited the Port Elizabeth Boardwalk and Casino. The Boardwalk was very disney-like in appearance and I wasn’t overly impressed by it’s outlets. However, after stopping in a café for coffee, we went to the Casino. I spent R40 on poker games and enjoyed the experience.

After that, I was dropped off at Greenacres Shopping Mall while Kalie and Wia visited Wia’s in-laws. The mall was of considerable size, but there was no major difference in prices to persuade me to part with my money. I found an internet café, sent some email, then went for a pizza in an Italian restaurant. While my lunch was cooking, I wrote some postcards back home.

Kalie and Wia collected me at 5.30pm and we returned once again to Hallack Manor. I went for a walk with the young girl who worked at Hallack Manor and the owners' daughter. We walked for about 45 minutes and, when I returned, I grabbed a shower.

In the meantime, Kalie’s boermusik pals were downstairs. We had dinner about 7.30pm, a traditional South African meal consisting of roast beef, rice, roast potatoes, peas, mash, pumpkin and mashed green beans with onions.

Over coffee in Wia and Kalie's room, we agreed to visit the Addo Elephant Park. By 8.30pm, I was in my own room, updating this diary and watched TV for a while before turning in at 11pm.

Day 11 – February 22nd – Addo

After waking at 7.30am, I grabbed a shower and met up with the young girl who worked at Hallack Manor, the owner and his wife on the veranda for a coffee. We chatted about nothing special – they were pleasant company, especially the young girl, who was on the second day of her new life to a slimmer self.

About 8.30am, Kalie and Wia joined us. We ate breakfast and, compared to yesterday, the main difference was that the eggs were scrambled and not fried. Yummy!

We left about 10am along the N2 to Motherwell; my father, incidentally, was born in Motherwell, but the one in Scotland! We then took the 335 towards Addo where we would visit the Addo National Elephant Park. Apparently, twin elephants had been born there last Autumn.

We arrived there just before 11am and the next four hours were spent driving along the game trails – we saw giant tortoises, huge dung beetles wading across the road followed by ostrich, kudu, zebra, warthogs, elephant, buffalo, eland and a lone jackal. There was talk of lions on one of the routes, but we missed them.












On our visit, we were fortunate enough to see five elephants really close up. On our way back to Port Elizabeth, I actually fell asleep and was woken up by a text message from my friend, Bruce, from Australia. His father is Zimbabwean and he was checking up on me to see how my trip in SA was going. Bloody fantastic, I replied!

We drove back to Hallack Manor and the young girl came to my room about 5.30pm; I had promised to show her some photos of Finland on my laptop. She was in awe of all the snow, a rare sight in South Africa!

At 6pm, we headed downstairs for a dinner of lasagne, carrots, sweet potato and spinach followed by ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce. Mmm!

After dinner, I had a coffee in Wia & Kalie’s room before taking a swim in the pool. Wonderful! After a brief swim, I sat by the poolside, updating my diary. Wia came and joined me and we chatted about the trip so far. She said it’s not over yet, there’s still lots to see! After reading my John Grisham novel for a while, I hit the sack about 11pm.