Out of Africa

First of all, I can't believe that I have created a Blog - thanks to the help of that son of mine, I am becoming a bit more of a computer geek, I guess! Anyhow, below you will find a description of what Bruce and I did and saw in South Africa - the trip was amazing. So if you are interested, read on, but read from the bottom up if you want it to make sense!

Heathrow to Ottawa

It was wild at Heathrow where we arrived around 6:30 a.m. After many attempts, Bruce and I finally found how to get to the Hilton at Heathrow so that we could get a couple of hours sleep before out flight to Ottawa at 3:00 p.m. We had not slept on the Joburg to Heathrow flight. Bruce managed to get some sleep but I was to wound up to do so. We got into Ottawa at 6:30 p.m. and were picked up by Doug Arnold. We were glad to get home around 8:00 p.m. but certainly enjoyed out trip!!

Pretoria to Soweto then to Joburg

Today we visited Soweto with our guide Kenny (from Soweto) on the bus. We visited the museum which described the apartheid issue and it was quite moving. We also visited the house in which Nelson Mandela lived from the age of 28 until he was taken prisoner. The house is in terrible need of repair. Stuart had told us that we would have wonderful shopping in Soweto at the ‘warehouse’. We were a bit disappointed in the ‘warehouse’ as it did not really have everything we thought it would have. We spent over 2 hours there and then off to the airport to wait for our flight to Heathrow. We got to Heathrow on November 24^th at 6:30 a.m.

Soweto is the most populous black urban residential area in the country, with Census 2001 putting its population at 896,995. Thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country, it is also the most metropolitan township in the country – setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language. But the township was, from its genesis, a product of segregationist planning. It was back in 1904 that Klipspruit, the oldest of a cluster of townships that constitute present day Soweto, was established. The township was created to house mainly black laborers, who worked in mines and other industries in the city, away from the city centre. The inner city was later to be reserved for white occupation as the policy of segregation took root. But it was not until l963 that the acronym, Soweto, was adopted as the official name for the South Western Townships, following a four-year public competition on an appropriate name for the sprawling township. The perennial problems of Soweto have, since its inception, included poor housing, overcrowding, high unemployment and poor infrastructure. This has seen settlements of shacks made of corrugated iron sheets becoming part of the Soweto landscape. Apartheid planning did not provide much in terms of infrastructure, and it is only in recent years that the democratic government has spearheaded moves to plant trees, develop parks, and install electricity and running water to some parts o the township.

Soweto has also been a hotbed of many political campaigns that took place in the country, the most memorable of which was the 1976 student uprising. Other politically charged campaigns to have germinated in Soweto include the squatter movement of the 1940s and the defiance campaigns of the mid-to-late 1980s.

The area has also spawned many political, sporting and social luminaries, including Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu – two Nobel peace prize laureates, who once lived in the now famous Vilakazi Street in Orlando West. Other prominent figures to have come from Soweto include boxing legend, Baby Jake Matlala, singing diva Yvonne Chaka Chaka and soccer maestro, Jomo Sono. Others include mathematician Prof. Thamsanqa Kambule, medical doctor Nthasto Motlana and prominent journalist Aggrey Klaaste. The township has also produced the highest number of professional soccer teams in the country. Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows all emerged from the township, and remain among the biggest soccer teams in the Premier Soccer League. Homelessness has been a perennial feature of Soweto since its inception. With its uniform four-roomed matchbox houses, hostels and without trees, Soweto looks drab and grey. The hostels were built on the outskirts of various townships to house migrant workers who have historically lived on the fringes of Soweto communities. With its high unemployment rate, the area has also spawned many gangsters and been a seedbed of criminal activity. Since the 1930s, various gangsters, mostly territorial formations of young, barely literate males, out of school and out of work, have come and gone. The gangs come and go, fashions come and go, but the ubiquitous township continues to grow. The extensions built in the 1980s to house the emerging middle class, mostly civil servants, have added some colour to the township.

Diamond Mine – Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. Although largely a government-based city, it is also a place of culture, with theatres, museums and monuments. We traveled outside of Pretoria to visit the Cullinan Diamond Mine where the Cullinan diamond was found on January 27, 1905 by the manager of the mines, Mr. Frederick Wells, an old employee of the Kimberley mines. While making his rounds of inspection, Mr. Wells’ eye caught a gleam in some debris and, investigating, he perceived that it was undoubtedly a large diamond; placing his find in the pocket of his sack coat he took it to the company’s office and its importance was quickly realized. The stone was weighed and found to register exactly 3253 ¾ carats. Immediately the news was transmitted by telegraph and cable to all parts of the world that the world’s greatest diamond had been discovered. The stone was christened ‘The Cullinan Diamond’ after Mr. T. N. Cullinan, the chairman of the Premier (Transvaal) Diamond Company. At the insistence of Premier Botha, the Transvaal Assembly presented the great diamond to King Edward VII in recognition of his granting a constitution to the Transvaal Colony. The diamond measured four by two and one-half by one to two inches. The stone had four cleavage planes, which led experts to surmise that other pieces of the same stone are still in the mines. To someone who was not familiar with diamonds, the great diamond nearly resembled a piece of ice.

Bought a few items in the hotel. Left hotel at 9:00 a.m. and walked to the Union buildings, the seat of Government where we had a group photo taken on the steps. Very hot day again! Off to the Cullinan diamond mine where the largest diamond was found in 1905. It was sent to England where the diamonds are now in the crown jewels. Had a very nice lunch at the Whispering Oak Garden Café, and left there at 2:00 p.m. I felt a bit faint during the tour because of the heat. We were at the mine on a very historic day as the mine was changing ownership that day and would no longer be run by De Beers. We were invited to the store to buy some diamonds but the prices were out of this world. We were off again to Pretoria to continue our tour. Our first stop was at the Voortrekker Memorial which tells the story of the Boer’s struggle to establish an independent state. From there we drove to the Kruger House which is the house that Paul Kruger lived in during his presidency of the Transvaal. Beautiful pieces of antique furniture were in that house. From there we drove around Church Square then made our way through heavy traffic to our dinner engagement at the Carnivore Restaurant – quite an experience with large spears being brought to the tables on which was every meat imaginable from chicken, to kudu, to wildebeest, to crocodile. Wow! We then had our secret pal gift exchange and left around 9:30 pm., back to the hotel – it was a shame in a way not to enjoy the beautiful hotel all day!!!

Mpumalanga – Pretoria

Another very hot day today with rain in the morning. Happy Birthday to me! I was serenaded with a Happy Birthday song on the bus! Very nice! Henriette went out of her way to give me a big hug and Stuart kissed me on the cheek. We left the hotel at 8:00 a.m. There was a huge thunderstorm last night which we all heard. Because it was my birthday, Bruce and I got the front seats on the bus today! We headed south and slightly west toward Pretoria. We climbed up the East Drakensberg Mountains which provides rugged scenery, endless forests, cool streams and impressive waterfalls. It looks like BC scenery except that the pine trees are all planted, so there are nice neat rows. We also saw the devastating effects of last year’s forest fires. Our first stop was at Wonder View about 100 M up the road from God’s Window – the same view, but we avoided the steep walk. Next stop about 30 minutes down the road was Bourke’s Luck Potholes which were formed by the joining of two fast flowing rivers. We had a bit of a walk down to the viewpoint but were well rewarded with the fabulous view. Next stop was Blyde River Canyon which was a gorgeous panoramic view of this very large canyon, reported to be the third largest in the world. From there we drove through more rugged terrain to our lunch stop at Dullstroom. What a great lunch at Harrie’s Pancakes – crepes, really, we enjoyed a combination of sweet and savory crepes – wonderful! Then we were off to Pretoria where we checked into the beautiful Sheraton Pretoria – WOW! Huge Christmas tree in the lobby! At 7:00 p.m. we went down to dinner and Bruce bought a few bottles of wine so that everyone would be able to toast my birthday.

Throughout the Mpumalanga hills and mountains exist hundreds of examples of San art. These rock art sites have provided a visual window through which we have been able to gain a better understanding of the lives and culture of these hunter-gatherers who inhabited the area centuries before the arrival of the Nguni people from the north. Then came the first of the Nguni people who arrived with herds of cattle, and mined red ochre in the hills south of Malelane. Around 1400 AD the second Nguni migration arrived from the north, to settle in this region with their vast herds of cattle. The creation of the Swazi nation as we know it today commenced at the time of King Ngwane. The movements of tribal chiefs through the region had a profound effect on the formation and bonding of nations. Most notable was the influence of Zulu king Shaka, whose empire stretched from the Swaziland border to the Tugela River in the south. Shoshangane, who escaped from Zululand and settled in the Gaza Province of Mozambique, was the founder of the Shangane people, while Mzilikazi, after being forced to flee Zululand to escape the wrath of Shaka, traveled through the region on his way north to establish an empire near Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe. To the highveld, in the Steelpoort Valley, the Ndebele people settled with their herds. Historians have traced their arrival to the late 17^th century. Thereafter, their history has been woven around an almost constant state of conflict, and it is to the credit of their leaders, even to the present day, that this small but proud group have maintained their language and individual culture. After Zulu chief Mzilikazi wreaked havoc on the Ndebele when he passed through their territory, the Boer settlers came from the west to claim the land and set up a government at Ohrigstad. The arrival of white settlers led by Andries Potgieter, between 1836 and 1845 heralded a new era in the history of the region. A Boer party, under the command of Hans van Rensburg, was massacred by Shoshangane’s warriors during 1836. Later, a Portuguese settler named Joao Albasini settled near Pretoriuskop, where he established a trading station on the Albasini route, to Delagoa Bay on the Mozambique coast. Conflict between Boer, British and the Ndebele followed, and for many years a state of low intensity war existed, until the Ndebele leaders, Mabhoko and Nyabela, led the clan in a determined effort to drive the settlers back to the Vaal River. They failed

Kruger Day 2

Our wake-up call came at 4:45 a.m. today! We were all hoping to see some big cats

today. It is 38 C!! We saw more elephants, impala, kudu, dwarf mongoose, giraffes, steenbok antelope, warthog, white rhino, black rhino, marabou storks, chikma baboons, verbet monkeys, marshall eagle. Stopped at the Kruger store and got something for Isabelle and Daniel. We stopped for lunch and some of us were ready to return to the hotel because of the heat. However, we were outnumbered which, as it turned out, was a good thing as in the afternoon, we saw a leopard and some lions which had just finished mating! It was pretty amazing! Back at the hotel to cool off and another great dinner!

Kruger

On the bus at 7:30 a.m. to get through the Swaziland boarder, back into South Africa. The boarder crossing was uneventful and went very quickly. The soil in Swaziland is very red, just like PEI. We saw large number of ‘palm bananas’ – bananas grown on what looks like palm trees. Today we traveled to the world-renowned Kruger National Park with nearly 2 million hectares of life forms which fuses with historical and archaeological sights – this is real Africa. The world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience that ranks with the best in Africa. For over 200 years it has been home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. The park is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and a world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies. Man’s interaction with the Lowveld environment over many centuries – from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites like Masorini and Thulamela – is very evident in the Park. These treasures represent the cultures, personas and events that played a role in the history of the Kruger National Park and are conserved along with the park’s natural assets. We arrived at Kruger National Park at 9:30 a.m. and traveled north through the park spotting several species of park residents, including many impala (tons of impala), elephants, blue wildebeest, secretary bird, baboons, and a dung beetle. We left the park at noon at the Paul Kruger gate and drove the short distance to our hotel, the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate, where we stay two nights. Nice hotel with open concept. Bruce had to kill two extremely large beetles in our room. There are verbet monkeys everywhere! After getting our luggage, and changing, we caught a quick lunch then headed out in 3 open vehicles to tour the park. It was 38 C at Kruger – very hot. We saw more impala, elephants, giraffe, kudus and two hyenas who were nursing their young (very close to the road). We were back at the hotel in time for some to have a quick swim and then a wonderful supper then early to bed as we have to be going by 5:30 a.m. tomorrow!!!