May 27, 2010
My days left in Botswana are numbered and I wish I had weeks - maybe months - more here. I have not seen even a small portion of the country and I am already deeply in love with it.
Since the donkey day I’ve been busy on the farm doing labor, which ironically I really enjoy. I can remember so many days that I sat in my office with aircon watching the construction guys outside and thinking about how much harder they work than us office monkeys. It’s true, they do - and yet they are paid so much less. I understand they’re lacking education, but when I try to do any labor I realize how uneducated I am at building things, so in a lot of ways it’s the same, isn’t it? Yesterday I mixed concrete and mounted the posts for what will eventually be the gates to keep Murphy inside. Right now, every time we get in the truck to leave the camp we have to try to outrun Murphy. We go crazy fast on dirt roads to try to lose him and he always catches up. When he does we turn around and go full force towards him until he jumps into the bush and then has to try to keep up with us driving the other way. We usually lose him at this point, but we also lose about 20 minutes - just trying to get out of the farm! Hence our need for a fence.
After a morning of heavy work we went up to the art collective in D’Kar (which is pronounced with a click - then CAR. “click”-Car). They have about 10 artists that do amazing works of art right there in the studio. Some of it, admittedly, looks like kindergarden drawings, but they are meant to recrate the traditional art that’s found on ancient rocks. But a lot of it is amazing and representative of the nature and lifestyle in Botswana. I bought a few small pieces and love them.
Today we spent hours working on the farm setting up motion detection cameras. We’re doing a study to look at the holes that animals, like aardvark and warthog, dig under game fences. This is a typical way a cheetah can ‘break into’ a farmers corral - by using these pre-dug holes. The objective is to find ways to mask the holes from predators but keep them usable to the other animals. The first step is understanding what is using the holes and how frequently. The motion detection cameras are set facing the holes and take photos when it detects movement. It was a lot of hard work digging holes and erecting poles to hold the cameras. It’s such interesting work. Again I have to admit - I love the labor! I think I missed my calling! :)
Tomorrow is my last day of work with the Cheetah Conservation and I plan to take time tonight to reflect on the decision I made to come here and how much I’ve learned. I am so glad to have had this opportunity and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
rough day
we had to get a donkey to feed the cheetahs so this morning we went to a nearby farm and bought a live donkey, killed it with an ax, skinned it and butchered it with kitchen knives. i mostly sat in the car with my ipod crying. i don't even know what to say, it was horrible.
last night was much better though. we went to our nearest neighbor's game farm (it takes 40 mins to get to our nearest neighbor btw) and went out to see the rhinos that have recently been visiting their water hole. we saw 5 of them and i even snuck through the bush to get a close view. they were huge and scary but beautiful and one had a gorgeous little baby.
i got great pix and promise to get them up soon.
missing that little donkey lots tonight.
last night was much better though. we went to our nearest neighbor's game farm (it takes 40 mins to get to our nearest neighbor btw) and went out to see the rhinos that have recently been visiting their water hole. we saw 5 of them and i even snuck through the bush to get a close view. they were huge and scary but beautiful and one had a gorgeous little baby.
i got great pix and promise to get them up soon.
missing that little donkey lots tonight.
Monday, May 24, 2010
May 24, 2010
I’ve spent the last week ‘off’ hanging out in and around Maun and I’m totally in love with it and with the Old Bridge Backpackers. I honestly feel like I could stay there for a full year and never be bored or unhappy. Being (lap)top-less was liberating but having experienced so much in such little time I’m afraid much of it will be lost in the cobwebs of my mind.
Last week, Monday through Wednesday, I took a four hour boat excursion up to the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. There were 5 of us on the trip… Hugh and Rachel, and Mariel and Carl – all from England. The group was awesome and we all had a great dynamic between us, which made the trip that much better. The boat trip was on a speedboat through very narrow channels of high grasses where we didn’t see another boat or person the whole way up. We saw tons of gorgeous, colorful birds and a giraffe but mostly I sat back and enjoyed being able to see a vast openness of untouched wilderness for hours and the magnificent never-ending blue sky. There is something magical about being in a place where the population of people is a fraction of the population of the wild animals. After living in cities for years this was a total treat for me, and one I wish I could have extended for weeks.
They took us to a pop-up campsite on Chief’s Island where they had mesh tents pitched for us and a little mess station next to a fire. There were 3 staff members who cooked for us and guided us through the bush explaining everything we were seeing and – most importantly – how not to be killed by hippos or elephants. We took the boat to the most remote, untouched area we could find, which required some serious manpower to get us through the tall grasses in order to create our own channel to solid ground. 3 men and a large stick (more like a small tree), shoving it in the water and pushing us off the delta floor through 4-ft thick grass, until we found where the bush floor met the delta floor… and we were off for a walk through the bush, creating our own path in the desolate, untouched wilderness. The walk was about 3 km and hot. I was at the back of the group and as usual wandering slowly, trying to take it all in. When just then I turned a corner and came face-to-face with a huge elephant with generous tusks, just 15 feet or so in front of me. The one rule they told us: When you come face-to-face with any animal DON’T RUN. Just freeze until told what to do. Which is why I, of course, jumped and ran away as fast as I could. I honestly thought I’d be able to follow that one rule but when faced with something that large, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Fear and impulse kick in such faster than memory. Anyway, I’m alive and all is fine so no harm done. But I suppose I’m lucky… that I didn’t shit my pants.
We found a huge lagoon where there were about 10 hippos swimming around and sat and watched them for a while. They’re also ridiculously large animals that, although they’re vegetarians, are nasty mother fuckers who are known to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, just for the hell of it. They’re beautiful, though, and make the best sounds. They sound like a big man with a very low voice, laughing “Haaaaahhhhh Hahhhhh Hahhhhhhh!” It’s hysterical, unless your mesh tent is 5 feet from water where you hear such hippo splashing around and laughing. “Haaaahhhhh Hahhhhh HHHaaaaaahhhh.” My first night in the tent I was so scared. Between the hippo and the baboons screaming I couldn’t stop thinking there was literally only a piece of mesh surrounding me and ‘protecting’ me, and why the hell should that stop anything from ambushing me? I was alone. I didn’t even have a pocketknife. I did eventually fall asleep, and the following night found the fear wore off much more quickly until I actually overcame it and really, thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the sounds of nature and wild beasts, right outside my tent.
Despite being safe and sound from the wild I will never be safe from myself. I got a minor concussion. I walked into a tree. Sober. Straight into it. The dizziness, headache and throwing up reminded me I’m my worst enemy. PS, I’m just fine and the bump is gone. It feels as far away as that island does.
During the 4 hours back to Maun on the boat I found myself deeply contemplating the life I’ve lead, and what a small little piece of this universe we all are. It’s hard to even remember working at my desk and talking about page views when so much of the ‘real world’ is surrounding me. The locals row by on their mokoros and look much happier than the NYers on the subway, who are living the ‘American Dream.’ I feel more at peace with myself than I ever did when I thought the security of my job was the most important thing in life. In the end I could have been one of those people on a mokoro and had only known that life, and despite being able to ‘have’ more than them – in this life – in terms of education and material things, I can’t say I wouldn’t have been more happy with such a simple life. Humph, maybe it’s just the concussion talking, but this is just a piece of the flooding thoughts I’m having about that.
I continue to be so happy to have done this and feel so fortunate. And this is just the beginning. It’s good to be in love with life again… it’s been way too long.
And I think to myself… What A Wonderful World.
I’ve spent the last week ‘off’ hanging out in and around Maun and I’m totally in love with it and with the Old Bridge Backpackers. I honestly feel like I could stay there for a full year and never be bored or unhappy. Being (lap)top-less was liberating but having experienced so much in such little time I’m afraid much of it will be lost in the cobwebs of my mind.
Last week, Monday through Wednesday, I took a four hour boat excursion up to the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve. There were 5 of us on the trip… Hugh and Rachel, and Mariel and Carl – all from England. The group was awesome and we all had a great dynamic between us, which made the trip that much better. The boat trip was on a speedboat through very narrow channels of high grasses where we didn’t see another boat or person the whole way up. We saw tons of gorgeous, colorful birds and a giraffe but mostly I sat back and enjoyed being able to see a vast openness of untouched wilderness for hours and the magnificent never-ending blue sky. There is something magical about being in a place where the population of people is a fraction of the population of the wild animals. After living in cities for years this was a total treat for me, and one I wish I could have extended for weeks.
They took us to a pop-up campsite on Chief’s Island where they had mesh tents pitched for us and a little mess station next to a fire. There were 3 staff members who cooked for us and guided us through the bush explaining everything we were seeing and – most importantly – how not to be killed by hippos or elephants. We took the boat to the most remote, untouched area we could find, which required some serious manpower to get us through the tall grasses in order to create our own channel to solid ground. 3 men and a large stick (more like a small tree), shoving it in the water and pushing us off the delta floor through 4-ft thick grass, until we found where the bush floor met the delta floor… and we were off for a walk through the bush, creating our own path in the desolate, untouched wilderness. The walk was about 3 km and hot. I was at the back of the group and as usual wandering slowly, trying to take it all in. When just then I turned a corner and came face-to-face with a huge elephant with generous tusks, just 15 feet or so in front of me. The one rule they told us: When you come face-to-face with any animal DON’T RUN. Just freeze until told what to do. Which is why I, of course, jumped and ran away as fast as I could. I honestly thought I’d be able to follow that one rule but when faced with something that large, it’s not as easy as it sounds! Fear and impulse kick in such faster than memory. Anyway, I’m alive and all is fine so no harm done. But I suppose I’m lucky… that I didn’t shit my pants.
We found a huge lagoon where there were about 10 hippos swimming around and sat and watched them for a while. They’re also ridiculously large animals that, although they’re vegetarians, are nasty mother fuckers who are known to kill more people in Africa than any other animal, just for the hell of it. They’re beautiful, though, and make the best sounds. They sound like a big man with a very low voice, laughing “Haaaaahhhhh Hahhhhh Hahhhhhhh!” It’s hysterical, unless your mesh tent is 5 feet from water where you hear such hippo splashing around and laughing. “Haaaahhhhh Hahhhhh HHHaaaaaahhhh.” My first night in the tent I was so scared. Between the hippo and the baboons screaming I couldn’t stop thinking there was literally only a piece of mesh surrounding me and ‘protecting’ me, and why the hell should that stop anything from ambushing me? I was alone. I didn’t even have a pocketknife. I did eventually fall asleep, and the following night found the fear wore off much more quickly until I actually overcame it and really, thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by the sounds of nature and wild beasts, right outside my tent.
Despite being safe and sound from the wild I will never be safe from myself. I got a minor concussion. I walked into a tree. Sober. Straight into it. The dizziness, headache and throwing up reminded me I’m my worst enemy. PS, I’m just fine and the bump is gone. It feels as far away as that island does.
During the 4 hours back to Maun on the boat I found myself deeply contemplating the life I’ve lead, and what a small little piece of this universe we all are. It’s hard to even remember working at my desk and talking about page views when so much of the ‘real world’ is surrounding me. The locals row by on their mokoros and look much happier than the NYers on the subway, who are living the ‘American Dream.’ I feel more at peace with myself than I ever did when I thought the security of my job was the most important thing in life. In the end I could have been one of those people on a mokoro and had only known that life, and despite being able to ‘have’ more than them – in this life – in terms of education and material things, I can’t say I wouldn’t have been more happy with such a simple life. Humph, maybe it’s just the concussion talking, but this is just a piece of the flooding thoughts I’m having about that.
I continue to be so happy to have done this and feel so fortunate. And this is just the beginning. It’s good to be in love with life again… it’s been way too long.
And I think to myself… What A Wonderful World.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
May 11, 2010
I’ve started working on a project in the office, which is using my skills – so I enjoy it – but it’s not as fun to blog about. I’m tasked with helping them find a software to use to send out their e-newsletters and to write the next one. I also want to help them get more visibility on social network sites. Even though it’s office work the doors and windows are open and the pets are at our feet so it is much nicer than the offices I’m used to.
Friday night we went to a nearby farm where they have a lodge that has a bunch of traditional San huts for the guests to sleep in and a Bushman walk, followed by traditional dancing. This was one of the things I was most looking forward to because the Bushman use different roots and leaves for medicinal purposes and I am into homeopathic medicine. Their methods and means were way different than mine though. Like the first stop this really old San woman dug up the roots of a wild plant and the guide told us it’s for ‘women who have problems’ (that problem turned out being infertility). You have to have an elderly person dig it up for you and you boil the roots and then drink the tea. In one month you will be pregnant. I’m incredible skeptical since so many of my friends have spent thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant, but the traditional part of this is pretty cool. We continued along learning how they use other plants but since we were with a tour bus (yes – in the middle of the bush in Africa they still have those annoying things) the tourists were annoying and rude and made it really hard for me to hear or see anything.
Following the walk the owner cooked us the best meal I’ve had thus far in Africa – a beautiful salad and a vegi Shepherds Pie which was yummy! We then watched the traditional dancing which was interesting but repetitive, and my distaste for my fellow tourists just grew and grew until I wasn’t interested at all. It felt like we were in the Polynesian village at Disney World and all authenticity went out the window.
On the way home that night I found out the farm next door found a dead cheetah and Max was going to pick it up. The plan was to autopsy it the next morning. Despite the great experience it would have been for me to partake I found myself very sad to have lost one when I hadn’t even seen one in the wild yet. So the next morning I hid in my room until after noon while they went up to the clinic and did it. It was the oldest and largest cat they’d seen around here and since the stomach was completely empty and the area around the cat showed the cats paws were flailing around before it died they believe it was poisoned. My heart aches.
On a better note we all went out dancing at Ghanzi’s only dance club Saturday night and it was… interesting. It was like a big hall, one that you’d find a VFW in or something. Wood panel walls, linoleum floors and one disco ball in the middle. There were about 10 men to every woman and they kept coming up to me telling me to marry them. One guy even introduced me his sister. It was cute and not threatening at all, but now I have some idea what it feels like to be a celebrity and have paparazzi complimenting you and following you around. Okay, maybe the paparazzi comparison is a little ridiculous but hey, I miss the E! channel.
I finally did some shopping! This really cool girl Sarah is based in Maun and came and stayed with us Sunday night. She runs a not-for-profit that supports women who care for HIV/AIDS orphans. In Ghanzi – as in other towns around Botswana – she has a group of women who meet regularly as a support group and the organization helps each woman get started on jewelry making. Each time she comes into town she meets with them and looks at the jewelry they’ve made and she buys the good pieces off of them. From there she tags them with info about the project and the woman’s name and sells them to the lodges for their shops. The money goes right back into getting materials for the women. I was so inspired by this. The jewelry is specifically ‘paper beads,’ in which they get large posters and use pieces of the posters to make ‘beads’ by rolling them and setting them. They are all so colorful and look really professionally done. I was able to buy them right off the women in the group so I stocked up on gifts for everyone back home. And myself. ;)
We also went to Ghanzi Craft, a well-known craft store that only sells the jewelry made by the local women and the proceeds go right back to them. While in the store I peaked out the back window and there were about 10 women with their babies and small children, gathered in the shade making the jewelry for the shop. I am a sucker for this kind of thing and stocked up on the typical local jewelry, which are strands of small beads made of ostrich eggs.
This week we are starting a new study which will require lots of time out digging on the farm and for the first time I’m ill. The stomach/intestinal bug that I’ve been expecting has arrived. So I will be taking it easy and probably just letting my body heal itself. As the poster on the wall of my travel doctor in NY says, ‘Travel will open the mind... and loosen the stools.’
I’ve started working on a project in the office, which is using my skills – so I enjoy it – but it’s not as fun to blog about. I’m tasked with helping them find a software to use to send out their e-newsletters and to write the next one. I also want to help them get more visibility on social network sites. Even though it’s office work the doors and windows are open and the pets are at our feet so it is much nicer than the offices I’m used to.
Friday night we went to a nearby farm where they have a lodge that has a bunch of traditional San huts for the guests to sleep in and a Bushman walk, followed by traditional dancing. This was one of the things I was most looking forward to because the Bushman use different roots and leaves for medicinal purposes and I am into homeopathic medicine. Their methods and means were way different than mine though. Like the first stop this really old San woman dug up the roots of a wild plant and the guide told us it’s for ‘women who have problems’ (that problem turned out being infertility). You have to have an elderly person dig it up for you and you boil the roots and then drink the tea. In one month you will be pregnant. I’m incredible skeptical since so many of my friends have spent thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant, but the traditional part of this is pretty cool. We continued along learning how they use other plants but since we were with a tour bus (yes – in the middle of the bush in Africa they still have those annoying things) the tourists were annoying and rude and made it really hard for me to hear or see anything.
Following the walk the owner cooked us the best meal I’ve had thus far in Africa – a beautiful salad and a vegi Shepherds Pie which was yummy! We then watched the traditional dancing which was interesting but repetitive, and my distaste for my fellow tourists just grew and grew until I wasn’t interested at all. It felt like we were in the Polynesian village at Disney World and all authenticity went out the window.
On the way home that night I found out the farm next door found a dead cheetah and Max was going to pick it up. The plan was to autopsy it the next morning. Despite the great experience it would have been for me to partake I found myself very sad to have lost one when I hadn’t even seen one in the wild yet. So the next morning I hid in my room until after noon while they went up to the clinic and did it. It was the oldest and largest cat they’d seen around here and since the stomach was completely empty and the area around the cat showed the cats paws were flailing around before it died they believe it was poisoned. My heart aches.
On a better note we all went out dancing at Ghanzi’s only dance club Saturday night and it was… interesting. It was like a big hall, one that you’d find a VFW in or something. Wood panel walls, linoleum floors and one disco ball in the middle. There were about 10 men to every woman and they kept coming up to me telling me to marry them. One guy even introduced me his sister. It was cute and not threatening at all, but now I have some idea what it feels like to be a celebrity and have paparazzi complimenting you and following you around. Okay, maybe the paparazzi comparison is a little ridiculous but hey, I miss the E! channel.
I finally did some shopping! This really cool girl Sarah is based in Maun and came and stayed with us Sunday night. She runs a not-for-profit that supports women who care for HIV/AIDS orphans. In Ghanzi – as in other towns around Botswana – she has a group of women who meet regularly as a support group and the organization helps each woman get started on jewelry making. Each time she comes into town she meets with them and looks at the jewelry they’ve made and she buys the good pieces off of them. From there she tags them with info about the project and the woman’s name and sells them to the lodges for their shops. The money goes right back into getting materials for the women. I was so inspired by this. The jewelry is specifically ‘paper beads,’ in which they get large posters and use pieces of the posters to make ‘beads’ by rolling them and setting them. They are all so colorful and look really professionally done. I was able to buy them right off the women in the group so I stocked up on gifts for everyone back home. And myself. ;)
We also went to Ghanzi Craft, a well-known craft store that only sells the jewelry made by the local women and the proceeds go right back to them. While in the store I peaked out the back window and there were about 10 women with their babies and small children, gathered in the shade making the jewelry for the shop. I am a sucker for this kind of thing and stocked up on the typical local jewelry, which are strands of small beads made of ostrich eggs.
This week we are starting a new study which will require lots of time out digging on the farm and for the first time I’m ill. The stomach/intestinal bug that I’ve been expecting has arrived. So I will be taking it easy and probably just letting my body heal itself. As the poster on the wall of my travel doctor in NY says, ‘Travel will open the mind... and loosen the stools.’
Friday, May 07, 2010
May 6, 2010
I never thought I’d say this, but I love farm life. To drive the perimeter of our farm it takes nearly an hour. We need to feed ‘the boys’ (the Cheetahs on-site) a natural prey for them so they can start learning to hunt. Two weeks ago they caught a warthog, which was not the preferential prey but available, and released it in the pen and it wound up chasing the Cheetah instead of them chasing, killing and eating it. It had to be removed. So this week we’ve set up 2 traps along the perimeter fence to try to catch something they can ‘hunt’ before going to the larger transitional pen up north. We’re trying to get a small Duiker or Steenbok. With large traps, shovels and bush-cutters we set out in the pick-up truck and set them up on different sides of the farm. It’s the kind of trap that once you enter and step on a plate the sides drop and trap you (them) in. There are so many small details we needed to focus on, like the actual pressure on the plate designates settings on the doors. And we had to cover the trap with Acacia so it would be disguised. Chopping down the Acacia in the hot sun was hard and hot and we got thorns in our arms, but to be honest I consider them battle scars and I love them.
Today I learned spore tracking, which is being able to tell which animals passed through a site based on their paw prints. We only focused on feline and canine predator tracks and I learned how to tell the difference between lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, hyena, domestic and wild dog, jackal and porcupine. It’s complicated and hard to differentiate in the sand. We walked around the farm around our campsite and found a lot of porcupine, domestic dog (MURHPHY!), hyena, jackal and aardvark. To be honest I find it really difficult so I’m trying really hard to be able to spot and call them, but it’s hard for me and that really makes me pissed off and impatient. But I’m trying!
Today I also was really challenged with scat tracking, which is basically going through a bunch of samples of cheetah poo they’ve collected to figure out what it’s eating. It was a stinky job and I was like a kindergartener giggling and ewwwwing, but I will say the science lab portion of it was awesome. So how do you analyze poo? You take a dried sample and scrape it apart (with tools, I aint touchin’ that shit). Interestingly enough cheetah poo is for the most part just hair from whatever it ate. So then you take these hairs, insert them into a beeker-type thing, set it with wax, cut small cross-sections and set them on a microscope. Every species has a different hair under the microscope so you know what it ate. How cool is that!? Today we just prepared the slides, but when I know the results I will post them.
In other news, farm life is making me a beautiful glowing tan color… on my face and arms. I officially have a farmers tan, and that is only a week in. Having to trek through the bush every day I can’t wear shorts so it looks like this will continue to build with my pretty tanned face and arms, and pasty body elsewhere.
We went on a game walk yesterday and saw a bunch of cool animals, but the truth is unless you’re in a fully-stocked farm (which someone has to artificially stock) most animals hide and run. We still saw lots of different kids of colorful birds and game. I wish I was a bird lover, because there are so many I’m learning about but I really don’t care so much.
Camp life is good. I haven’t lived with a bunch of people in a long time, so sharing bathrooms, kitchens and living areas is very new for me. I really like the people I’m here with, which makes it pretty easy. It’s not as communal as something like Burningman but we are able to be together yet have our own spaces. So far, it works. For instance tonight I cooked a spicy vegi stir-fry next to Max, who cooked goat and some African porridge thing, next to Harry who cooked some bacon for her salad, etc etc. We watched Africaan TV and had no idea what they were saying, but we were all joking and playing with the pets. Elena, the Italian, doesn’t speak a lot of English so I have to make sure the way I say things she and Max understand. Max says I ‘don’t have a delicious language’ because I say fuck a lot. I told him to fuck off. :)
I never thought I’d say this, but I love farm life. To drive the perimeter of our farm it takes nearly an hour. We need to feed ‘the boys’ (the Cheetahs on-site) a natural prey for them so they can start learning to hunt. Two weeks ago they caught a warthog, which was not the preferential prey but available, and released it in the pen and it wound up chasing the Cheetah instead of them chasing, killing and eating it. It had to be removed. So this week we’ve set up 2 traps along the perimeter fence to try to catch something they can ‘hunt’ before going to the larger transitional pen up north. We’re trying to get a small Duiker or Steenbok. With large traps, shovels and bush-cutters we set out in the pick-up truck and set them up on different sides of the farm. It’s the kind of trap that once you enter and step on a plate the sides drop and trap you (them) in. There are so many small details we needed to focus on, like the actual pressure on the plate designates settings on the doors. And we had to cover the trap with Acacia so it would be disguised. Chopping down the Acacia in the hot sun was hard and hot and we got thorns in our arms, but to be honest I consider them battle scars and I love them.
Today I learned spore tracking, which is being able to tell which animals passed through a site based on their paw prints. We only focused on feline and canine predator tracks and I learned how to tell the difference between lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, hyena, domestic and wild dog, jackal and porcupine. It’s complicated and hard to differentiate in the sand. We walked around the farm around our campsite and found a lot of porcupine, domestic dog (MURHPHY!), hyena, jackal and aardvark. To be honest I find it really difficult so I’m trying really hard to be able to spot and call them, but it’s hard for me and that really makes me pissed off and impatient. But I’m trying!
Today I also was really challenged with scat tracking, which is basically going through a bunch of samples of cheetah poo they’ve collected to figure out what it’s eating. It was a stinky job and I was like a kindergartener giggling and ewwwwing, but I will say the science lab portion of it was awesome. So how do you analyze poo? You take a dried sample and scrape it apart (with tools, I aint touchin’ that shit). Interestingly enough cheetah poo is for the most part just hair from whatever it ate. So then you take these hairs, insert them into a beeker-type thing, set it with wax, cut small cross-sections and set them on a microscope. Every species has a different hair under the microscope so you know what it ate. How cool is that!? Today we just prepared the slides, but when I know the results I will post them.
In other news, farm life is making me a beautiful glowing tan color… on my face and arms. I officially have a farmers tan, and that is only a week in. Having to trek through the bush every day I can’t wear shorts so it looks like this will continue to build with my pretty tanned face and arms, and pasty body elsewhere.
We went on a game walk yesterday and saw a bunch of cool animals, but the truth is unless you’re in a fully-stocked farm (which someone has to artificially stock) most animals hide and run. We still saw lots of different kids of colorful birds and game. I wish I was a bird lover, because there are so many I’m learning about but I really don’t care so much.
Camp life is good. I haven’t lived with a bunch of people in a long time, so sharing bathrooms, kitchens and living areas is very new for me. I really like the people I’m here with, which makes it pretty easy. It’s not as communal as something like Burningman but we are able to be together yet have our own spaces. So far, it works. For instance tonight I cooked a spicy vegi stir-fry next to Max, who cooked goat and some African porridge thing, next to Harry who cooked some bacon for her salad, etc etc. We watched Africaan TV and had no idea what they were saying, but we were all joking and playing with the pets. Elena, the Italian, doesn’t speak a lot of English so I have to make sure the way I say things she and Max understand. Max says I ‘don’t have a delicious language’ because I say fuck a lot. I told him to fuck off. :)
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
May 3, 2010
Yesterday was my first full day at camp and although it was a Sunday we worked. The farm we live on is huge and we just basically rent a plot on the land. A bit up the road on our farm there’s a campsite where some local kids go when they have weeks off of school. This weekend we were hosting a group of about 35 orphans for an environmental education weekend where we focused on cheetahs and other predators, and helped them learn about the predators and despite the human-predator conflict, the reasons they are important to the ecology as a whole. It was cool because I hadn’t even been trained on all of it yet so I learned quite a bit myself. Like, for instance, you can tell leopards and cheetahs apart by their spots. The cheetah’s spots are solid black and the leopard has brown in the middle. Who knew?
When I heard we were doing this I groaned. I didn’t sign up to work with orphans here. I turned out having a great time. The kids were funny and sweet and really showed interest in learning. When I got there they were in a large circle singing and one by one they were getting in the middle and dancing. It was so freaking cute. They were 11-17 year olds and some of them were sick dancers, others just hysterical performers. From there we went on the ropes course where I supervised them helping each other complete the course. They were as crazy as any kids but what I did notice is if you tell them to do something directly, they do it. They are totally respectful of older people. After they all went they convinced me to and about 8 of them stayed by my sides supporting me from every angle. It was so sweet.
The funniest part was when we introduced the kids to a great livestock guard dog, the Anatolian Shepherd. He’s also our camp dog, Murphy. Murphy is only 7 months old and the size of a small horse. He’s a total sweetheart but you know he’s still a puppy because he’s playful and pretty dumb. A small horse trying to paw at you is cute but can knock you down. Anyways, when we brought Murphy out of the car and towards the classroom, which was outdoor and surrounded by a 2 ½ foot wall, he spotted the random goat that had been hanging out right outside the walls. He bolted for it and his leash broke, and after he chased the goat around the back they both came barreling through the classroom – over the walls, on top of the tables, jumping over the other wall. First the awkward jumping goat and then the uncoordinated small horse – all between the screaming kids. We caught Murph and the goat got away and I sat there… totally inappropriately laughing my ass off with my head in my hands very unsuccessfully hiding my laughter.
At sundown last night the group of girls here at the camp drove to a nearby waterhole to have a sundown cocktail and watch the sunset while Murphy, our camp dog, chased birds and bolted in circles around and in the water. The sunsets are gorgeous. You can see so far and the colors are breathtaking.
There are a total of 6 of us at the camp. 4 permanent staff members, 2 from UK, one from Australia who used to work at Brisbane zoo and 1 Motswana guy (people from Botswana are called Motswana). The volunteers are myself and an Italian woman who’s a photographer. It’s a really interesting multi-cultural mix. It’s funny to compare what we call things and what the values are in our respective countries, and to also have a local to help us understand the language and culture here. I’m never sure what will be considered offensive so I love that I have him here to ask. He’s like our big brother and a sweetheart.
Today we woke up and did some immersion training, learning a lot about the region we’re in, the predators here, the poisonous snakes and how to deal with them and the camp rules in general. We are about 30km (20miles) west of Ghanzi in the Kalahari desert. This area is the largest farming area of Botswana so the main source of income here is farming and livestock. Today we visited a farm where a cheetah killed 2 of their goats this week. It was way the eff out on a dirt road and they are working towards having a completely sustainable farm where they raise chickens to feed their dogs who guard their sheep who produce their milk, etc etc. Having always lived in cities I’ve heard so much about sustainable farming but never saw it first-hand. This farm does a great job in protecting their farm properly from predators but the warthogs have been digging holes to get under their fence, which has provided perfect opportunities for cheetahs and other predators to get at their live stock. My colleagues assessed the farm and made a few suggestions on how to better protect the farm – including filling those holes in daily – and also educated them about cheetahs as predators. They can’t climb fences, so as long as they are properly fenced in a cheetah can’t get in. They also suggest lining the surrounding areas with Acacia, which is a tree with thorns that look like toothpicks. From there we went to the nearest neighbor farm and talked to them to find out if this is a bigger problem in the area or if it’s an isolated incident. The neighbors haven’t had any problems, which is good. When there is a ‘problem cat’ – that strikes many times in the same area – they will attempt to trap it and release it in an area where there aren’t as many people and farms. This is really a last-resource option because when you remove a cheetah from its territory another one will move in and take over that territory within weeks, so you still have the same problem. So the organization focuses more on helping the farmers protect their farms better.
On our farm we are also housing 2 rescued cheetahs who are about 1 ½ yrs old. They were chased for a long distance by a car until they became too weak to do anything. Their mom ‘disappeared.’ The org took them in (as they couldn’t have cared for themselves at that age) and have kept them in a pen until they are fully grown. They are very careful in not exposing them to people except during feeding and also keeping their environment as close to natural as possible. We went down to feed them this evening – you should see how they hissed at us and attacked the poor donkey meat they were fed. This is an exciting month to be here because we will be driving them 11 hours north to a larger pen where they will be introduced to wild impala so they can learn to properly hunt before being set back into the wild.
This afternoon while the sun was still up I decided to wander the farm and see what surrounds us. About 15 minutes into it I came across a huge Corn Cricket that frightened the hell out of me. I knelt down and checked him out as he stood on his hind legs effectively making me leave him alone. At this point I was a little jumpy but I continued on through the thick grass enjoying the hot sun. I had my ipod on and was singing “Love is My Religion” by Ziggy Marley and smiling at how fortunate I was feeling. Until a large animal charged into the back of my left calf. As soon as I felt the fur I screamed and did a little ditty of a dance quickly stepping back and forth. When I finally looked back, it was Murphy. Damn dog.
Yesterday was my first full day at camp and although it was a Sunday we worked. The farm we live on is huge and we just basically rent a plot on the land. A bit up the road on our farm there’s a campsite where some local kids go when they have weeks off of school. This weekend we were hosting a group of about 35 orphans for an environmental education weekend where we focused on cheetahs and other predators, and helped them learn about the predators and despite the human-predator conflict, the reasons they are important to the ecology as a whole. It was cool because I hadn’t even been trained on all of it yet so I learned quite a bit myself. Like, for instance, you can tell leopards and cheetahs apart by their spots. The cheetah’s spots are solid black and the leopard has brown in the middle. Who knew?
When I heard we were doing this I groaned. I didn’t sign up to work with orphans here. I turned out having a great time. The kids were funny and sweet and really showed interest in learning. When I got there they were in a large circle singing and one by one they were getting in the middle and dancing. It was so freaking cute. They were 11-17 year olds and some of them were sick dancers, others just hysterical performers. From there we went on the ropes course where I supervised them helping each other complete the course. They were as crazy as any kids but what I did notice is if you tell them to do something directly, they do it. They are totally respectful of older people. After they all went they convinced me to and about 8 of them stayed by my sides supporting me from every angle. It was so sweet.
The funniest part was when we introduced the kids to a great livestock guard dog, the Anatolian Shepherd. He’s also our camp dog, Murphy. Murphy is only 7 months old and the size of a small horse. He’s a total sweetheart but you know he’s still a puppy because he’s playful and pretty dumb. A small horse trying to paw at you is cute but can knock you down. Anyways, when we brought Murphy out of the car and towards the classroom, which was outdoor and surrounded by a 2 ½ foot wall, he spotted the random goat that had been hanging out right outside the walls. He bolted for it and his leash broke, and after he chased the goat around the back they both came barreling through the classroom – over the walls, on top of the tables, jumping over the other wall. First the awkward jumping goat and then the uncoordinated small horse – all between the screaming kids. We caught Murph and the goat got away and I sat there… totally inappropriately laughing my ass off with my head in my hands very unsuccessfully hiding my laughter.
At sundown last night the group of girls here at the camp drove to a nearby waterhole to have a sundown cocktail and watch the sunset while Murphy, our camp dog, chased birds and bolted in circles around and in the water. The sunsets are gorgeous. You can see so far and the colors are breathtaking.
There are a total of 6 of us at the camp. 4 permanent staff members, 2 from UK, one from Australia who used to work at Brisbane zoo and 1 Motswana guy (people from Botswana are called Motswana). The volunteers are myself and an Italian woman who’s a photographer. It’s a really interesting multi-cultural mix. It’s funny to compare what we call things and what the values are in our respective countries, and to also have a local to help us understand the language and culture here. I’m never sure what will be considered offensive so I love that I have him here to ask. He’s like our big brother and a sweetheart.
Today we woke up and did some immersion training, learning a lot about the region we’re in, the predators here, the poisonous snakes and how to deal with them and the camp rules in general. We are about 30km (20miles) west of Ghanzi in the Kalahari desert. This area is the largest farming area of Botswana so the main source of income here is farming and livestock. Today we visited a farm where a cheetah killed 2 of their goats this week. It was way the eff out on a dirt road and they are working towards having a completely sustainable farm where they raise chickens to feed their dogs who guard their sheep who produce their milk, etc etc. Having always lived in cities I’ve heard so much about sustainable farming but never saw it first-hand. This farm does a great job in protecting their farm properly from predators but the warthogs have been digging holes to get under their fence, which has provided perfect opportunities for cheetahs and other predators to get at their live stock. My colleagues assessed the farm and made a few suggestions on how to better protect the farm – including filling those holes in daily – and also educated them about cheetahs as predators. They can’t climb fences, so as long as they are properly fenced in a cheetah can’t get in. They also suggest lining the surrounding areas with Acacia, which is a tree with thorns that look like toothpicks. From there we went to the nearest neighbor farm and talked to them to find out if this is a bigger problem in the area or if it’s an isolated incident. The neighbors haven’t had any problems, which is good. When there is a ‘problem cat’ – that strikes many times in the same area – they will attempt to trap it and release it in an area where there aren’t as many people and farms. This is really a last-resource option because when you remove a cheetah from its territory another one will move in and take over that territory within weeks, so you still have the same problem. So the organization focuses more on helping the farmers protect their farms better.
On our farm we are also housing 2 rescued cheetahs who are about 1 ½ yrs old. They were chased for a long distance by a car until they became too weak to do anything. Their mom ‘disappeared.’ The org took them in (as they couldn’t have cared for themselves at that age) and have kept them in a pen until they are fully grown. They are very careful in not exposing them to people except during feeding and also keeping their environment as close to natural as possible. We went down to feed them this evening – you should see how they hissed at us and attacked the poor donkey meat they were fed. This is an exciting month to be here because we will be driving them 11 hours north to a larger pen where they will be introduced to wild impala so they can learn to properly hunt before being set back into the wild.
This afternoon while the sun was still up I decided to wander the farm and see what surrounds us. About 15 minutes into it I came across a huge Corn Cricket that frightened the hell out of me. I knelt down and checked him out as he stood on his hind legs effectively making me leave him alone. At this point I was a little jumpy but I continued on through the thick grass enjoying the hot sun. I had my ipod on and was singing “Love is My Religion” by Ziggy Marley and smiling at how fortunate I was feeling. Until a large animal charged into the back of my left calf. As soon as I felt the fur I screamed and did a little ditty of a dance quickly stepping back and forth. When I finally looked back, it was Murphy. Damn dog.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
First day at camp in Botswana
May 1, 2010
I arrived in Botswana yesterday and was met at the airport by Harry, one of the other volunteers who I have heard referred to now as “The Cheetah Girls.” She drove me to the Old Bridge Backpackers where I had rented a safari tent for the night. It was a very cool place. My safari tent had 2 beds in it and overlooked the river. I loved it. There were a bunch of Peace Corps people staying there and they were very kind in helping me get acquainted with the money (Pulas) and the local beers. We took a sunset cruise down the river and I felt like I was on my parent’s boat in Florida. It literally looked and felt the exact same way, with the exception of a gorgeous giraffe hanging out riverside. I turned in on the early side after a white Botswanan pissed me off talking shit about Americans.
Today I slept in since I knew it would be the last chance I could for a long time. Harry picked me up and we went to the airport to grab Elena, the other Research Assistant, and then drove 3 hours to Ghanzi. The road was pretty empty of other cars but it was FULL of cows, donkeys and horses. We were constantly stopping to let them cross or to drive around them. I loved it.
Our camp is about 20 minutes past Ghanzi on a gravel road. By the time we got to Ghanzi it was dark and it was getting hard to drive in the dark and watch out for the animals. Harry’s a pro, though. Unfortunately about 10 minutes into the drive on gravel we got a flat tire. So here we are, in the middle of the desert in the pitch black night changing a tire. She knew what she was doing so I took the time to look at the sky and sit there in shock looking at the millions of stars. You can see the Milky Way crystal clear. The boss at the camp, Lorainne, came and helped out and I watched these 2 awesome women changing a tire like champs and felt some serious girl power. All I kept thinking is how I wanted to be more like these women.
I drove the rest of the way with Lorainne who proceeded to tell me they found and killed a cobra in one of the bedrooms on the camp today. Apparently the camp has had some snake problems lately. Awesome. I requested that room go to the other volunteer, and she’s in there now with the camp cat protecting her.
My room is cute. It’s in sort of a small cabin and there are 2 rooms, one being mine and Harry’s in the other. It’s got a bed, dresser, small table, fan and clothing rack. It’s actually better than I was expecting, as long as the snakes stay away…
After I had some chips and bree for dinner I returned to my room, unpacked, checked my bed for scorpions and am getting ready for my first night on the camp. They told me I’ll hear hyenas and jackals during the night and not to let it frighten me. Just like NYC!
I arrived in Botswana yesterday and was met at the airport by Harry, one of the other volunteers who I have heard referred to now as “The Cheetah Girls.” She drove me to the Old Bridge Backpackers where I had rented a safari tent for the night. It was a very cool place. My safari tent had 2 beds in it and overlooked the river. I loved it. There were a bunch of Peace Corps people staying there and they were very kind in helping me get acquainted with the money (Pulas) and the local beers. We took a sunset cruise down the river and I felt like I was on my parent’s boat in Florida. It literally looked and felt the exact same way, with the exception of a gorgeous giraffe hanging out riverside. I turned in on the early side after a white Botswanan pissed me off talking shit about Americans.
Today I slept in since I knew it would be the last chance I could for a long time. Harry picked me up and we went to the airport to grab Elena, the other Research Assistant, and then drove 3 hours to Ghanzi. The road was pretty empty of other cars but it was FULL of cows, donkeys and horses. We were constantly stopping to let them cross or to drive around them. I loved it.
Our camp is about 20 minutes past Ghanzi on a gravel road. By the time we got to Ghanzi it was dark and it was getting hard to drive in the dark and watch out for the animals. Harry’s a pro, though. Unfortunately about 10 minutes into the drive on gravel we got a flat tire. So here we are, in the middle of the desert in the pitch black night changing a tire. She knew what she was doing so I took the time to look at the sky and sit there in shock looking at the millions of stars. You can see the Milky Way crystal clear. The boss at the camp, Lorainne, came and helped out and I watched these 2 awesome women changing a tire like champs and felt some serious girl power. All I kept thinking is how I wanted to be more like these women.
I drove the rest of the way with Lorainne who proceeded to tell me they found and killed a cobra in one of the bedrooms on the camp today. Apparently the camp has had some snake problems lately. Awesome. I requested that room go to the other volunteer, and she’s in there now with the camp cat protecting her.
My room is cute. It’s in sort of a small cabin and there are 2 rooms, one being mine and Harry’s in the other. It’s got a bed, dresser, small table, fan and clothing rack. It’s actually better than I was expecting, as long as the snakes stay away…
After I had some chips and bree for dinner I returned to my room, unpacked, checked my bed for scorpions and am getting ready for my first night on the camp. They told me I’ll hear hyenas and jackals during the night and not to let it frighten me. Just like NYC!
Cape Town Round-Up
April 30, 2010
Well less than a week into my trip and I’ve already procrastinated updating my blog. The good news is I was way too busy enjoying Cape Town and finally being able to sleep through the night to get on my computer.
Cape Town and the surrounding area are incredibly diverse. The city itself – the downtown area – is home to a handful of tall buildings but mostly smaller streets and squares. As a visitor I didn’t spend much time there because it seemed impossible to find anything I was looking for (from the guide book). Instead we found ourselves in a café drinking intense espresso and even more intense German liquor that tasted like liquorish, looked like motor oil and made me feel like I was tripping my face off.
The Waterfront is the main tourist area, which surrounds the docks and has lots of outdoor restaurants and shops. It’s a bit of a tourist trap really. It was fun for a beer on the deck in the sunshine, but the service there (and really in most places in Cape Town) was horrible, as was the fried fish I got. Everyone was raving about the food in Cape Town and I have to say I was very disappointed in it myself. Perhaps it’s because I don’t eat meat. The seafood is supposed to be some of the freshest you can get, but their preparation is just not to my liking. I kept trying but my fish was consistently too chewy or not cooked well enough. It could just be me I guess! By the end of the week we did find 2 great restaurants, both French :).
My favorite parts of the city were definitely the gardens and parks. While Cape Town is very cosmopolitan there are great little pockets of protected nature that were perfect for sitting in the sun and picnicking. My photos really will tell more about the gardens then I ever could put into words, but Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is truly one of the nicest places I’ve ever been. They sell you a picnic in a bag and wine (all local and sustainable) and the views in every direction are to die for. It reminds me a lot of Marin County in California. You find yourself taking in deep breaths, smelling an amazing mixture of trees, plants and fresh, clean ocean-sprayed air.
The other outdoorsy wonder is Table Mountain National Park. It’s ridiculous!! The mountain itself is the backdrop to the city and massive. The National Park actually runs south to the very end of the Cape, ending at the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern point of Africa. It takes a little under an hour to drive to the southern point from Cape Town, curving cliff-side on the west side of the peninsula and coasting through little beach towns on the eastern side. There are a bunch of trails and we took one out of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which we expected to be about 2 hrs and moderate. We were useless and really didn’t plan well at all. In the end it took us 4 ½ hours and we hiked all the way up the mountain and across the top. Ten minutes into the hike I realized my cardiovascular health is pathetic and that climbing rocks and stairs and ladders were much harder than I would have expected (well, HAD I expected that… which I certainly didn’t). This continued the next hour and a half. It was the most strenuous hike I’ve ever done and at times I beat myself up so much for not having the energy I wanted. That could be due to our lack of eating breakfast or lunch and only bringing 2 liters of water. It was exhausting and exhilarating and something I will never forget. Once at the top the views were breathtaking, the air was immaculate and I was feeling a pride I haven’t felt in years. We treated ourselves to some cold cider and relaxed, basking in our accomplishment and the incredible views of the beaches and city below.
Driving south to Cape of Good Hope is spectacular. The further south you get the closer to nature you are, and the highlight of the whole trip was heading to The Boulders, a beach on the eastern side, and hanging out with the cutest freaking PENGUINS! They are not scared of people and hang out with you. You can even swim with them if you can bear the cold water. There are 3,000 living there and we probably saw a hundred. Their little waddles and hops are so cute we went back a second day to spend more time with them. We felt like we experienced something that very few people ever have the opportunity to and I am incredible grateful for that experience.
Heading south we encountered wild BABOONS. They were at first just at the side of the road – one at a time – but then one after one they spilled onto the street from the cliff above and we found ourselves in the middle of 15 baboons! They surrounded us and picked bugs off each other and climbed on one another and made me scream and bounce around the car like a child. They marked my second-best experience in S Africa. Hands Down.
Only an hour outside of the city is Stellenbosch, the wine region of South Africa. Over the past few years I’ve been hearing great things about S African wine and I was excited to add it to the global wine regions I’ve visited (California, Rioja Spain, New Zealand, Australia, San Emillion France…). It pains me to say this, but the wine flat-out sucked. The popular regional grapes are Chien Blanc and Pinotage. The wines are pretty sweet and just taste off. That said, $10 will get you the most expensive bottle in mid-range restaurants. The wine region was lovely though and strangely… Dutch. Nothing was in English and all the streets were in Dutch. I have nothing against the Dutch but I can tell a Mustenburg from a Freidenchlaz. Or whatever. In the end we did find a great Cabernet from Rustenburg vineyard so it is possible to find a good one out there, you really have to look though.
I loved Cape Town. I wished I had weeks more to explore it. There is a really difficult ‘other side’ to it, though, that made me really uncomfortable… the racial divide. Only 20 years ago Nelson Mandela was released and the blacks were able to be ‘equal’ and vote. Today the racial divide is still very obvious. On the coasts of the cape there are huge, modern, mulit-level stucco homes adorned with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and the newest and most immaculate architectural gems. I’m not saying only white people live in those homes, but I do think it’s mostly white. And outside of these cliff-side mansions are these Townships of 4-walled simple, tiny homes piled on top of each other where it appears many of the blacks/’workers’ live. Some companies host tours of the Township and I could never do that. How weird, to have the white tourists come through and see how you live in your poor township… I just found it wrong to even photograph it from afar. I did, but kept my photos very limited and only enough to show this without stripping the dignity from the community.
Cape Town, I learned, is the S Africa equivalent to the French Rivera. This helps me understand all the new construction and the increasingly high-class living in a place that is still at the bottom of the global cosmopolitan food-chain. My memories will always include the nature and mountains, the beaches and the Miami-like condos that adorn it, the dramatic modern architecture that is sprinkled amongst the hills overlooking the sea, and the ability to come into close contact with some of the most basic animals of the earth.
Well less than a week into my trip and I’ve already procrastinated updating my blog. The good news is I was way too busy enjoying Cape Town and finally being able to sleep through the night to get on my computer.
Cape Town and the surrounding area are incredibly diverse. The city itself – the downtown area – is home to a handful of tall buildings but mostly smaller streets and squares. As a visitor I didn’t spend much time there because it seemed impossible to find anything I was looking for (from the guide book). Instead we found ourselves in a café drinking intense espresso and even more intense German liquor that tasted like liquorish, looked like motor oil and made me feel like I was tripping my face off.
The Waterfront is the main tourist area, which surrounds the docks and has lots of outdoor restaurants and shops. It’s a bit of a tourist trap really. It was fun for a beer on the deck in the sunshine, but the service there (and really in most places in Cape Town) was horrible, as was the fried fish I got. Everyone was raving about the food in Cape Town and I have to say I was very disappointed in it myself. Perhaps it’s because I don’t eat meat. The seafood is supposed to be some of the freshest you can get, but their preparation is just not to my liking. I kept trying but my fish was consistently too chewy or not cooked well enough. It could just be me I guess! By the end of the week we did find 2 great restaurants, both French :).
My favorite parts of the city were definitely the gardens and parks. While Cape Town is very cosmopolitan there are great little pockets of protected nature that were perfect for sitting in the sun and picnicking. My photos really will tell more about the gardens then I ever could put into words, but Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is truly one of the nicest places I’ve ever been. They sell you a picnic in a bag and wine (all local and sustainable) and the views in every direction are to die for. It reminds me a lot of Marin County in California. You find yourself taking in deep breaths, smelling an amazing mixture of trees, plants and fresh, clean ocean-sprayed air.
The other outdoorsy wonder is Table Mountain National Park. It’s ridiculous!! The mountain itself is the backdrop to the city and massive. The National Park actually runs south to the very end of the Cape, ending at the Cape of Good Hope, the most southern point of Africa. It takes a little under an hour to drive to the southern point from Cape Town, curving cliff-side on the west side of the peninsula and coasting through little beach towns on the eastern side. There are a bunch of trails and we took one out of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which we expected to be about 2 hrs and moderate. We were useless and really didn’t plan well at all. In the end it took us 4 ½ hours and we hiked all the way up the mountain and across the top. Ten minutes into the hike I realized my cardiovascular health is pathetic and that climbing rocks and stairs and ladders were much harder than I would have expected (well, HAD I expected that… which I certainly didn’t). This continued the next hour and a half. It was the most strenuous hike I’ve ever done and at times I beat myself up so much for not having the energy I wanted. That could be due to our lack of eating breakfast or lunch and only bringing 2 liters of water. It was exhausting and exhilarating and something I will never forget. Once at the top the views were breathtaking, the air was immaculate and I was feeling a pride I haven’t felt in years. We treated ourselves to some cold cider and relaxed, basking in our accomplishment and the incredible views of the beaches and city below.
Driving south to Cape of Good Hope is spectacular. The further south you get the closer to nature you are, and the highlight of the whole trip was heading to The Boulders, a beach on the eastern side, and hanging out with the cutest freaking PENGUINS! They are not scared of people and hang out with you. You can even swim with them if you can bear the cold water. There are 3,000 living there and we probably saw a hundred. Their little waddles and hops are so cute we went back a second day to spend more time with them. We felt like we experienced something that very few people ever have the opportunity to and I am incredible grateful for that experience.
Heading south we encountered wild BABOONS. They were at first just at the side of the road – one at a time – but then one after one they spilled onto the street from the cliff above and we found ourselves in the middle of 15 baboons! They surrounded us and picked bugs off each other and climbed on one another and made me scream and bounce around the car like a child. They marked my second-best experience in S Africa. Hands Down.
Only an hour outside of the city is Stellenbosch, the wine region of South Africa. Over the past few years I’ve been hearing great things about S African wine and I was excited to add it to the global wine regions I’ve visited (California, Rioja Spain, New Zealand, Australia, San Emillion France…). It pains me to say this, but the wine flat-out sucked. The popular regional grapes are Chien Blanc and Pinotage. The wines are pretty sweet and just taste off. That said, $10 will get you the most expensive bottle in mid-range restaurants. The wine region was lovely though and strangely… Dutch. Nothing was in English and all the streets were in Dutch. I have nothing against the Dutch but I can tell a Mustenburg from a Freidenchlaz. Or whatever. In the end we did find a great Cabernet from Rustenburg vineyard so it is possible to find a good one out there, you really have to look though.
I loved Cape Town. I wished I had weeks more to explore it. There is a really difficult ‘other side’ to it, though, that made me really uncomfortable… the racial divide. Only 20 years ago Nelson Mandela was released and the blacks were able to be ‘equal’ and vote. Today the racial divide is still very obvious. On the coasts of the cape there are huge, modern, mulit-level stucco homes adorned with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and the newest and most immaculate architectural gems. I’m not saying only white people live in those homes, but I do think it’s mostly white. And outside of these cliff-side mansions are these Townships of 4-walled simple, tiny homes piled on top of each other where it appears many of the blacks/’workers’ live. Some companies host tours of the Township and I could never do that. How weird, to have the white tourists come through and see how you live in your poor township… I just found it wrong to even photograph it from afar. I did, but kept my photos very limited and only enough to show this without stripping the dignity from the community.
Cape Town, I learned, is the S Africa equivalent to the French Rivera. This helps me understand all the new construction and the increasingly high-class living in a place that is still at the bottom of the global cosmopolitan food-chain. My memories will always include the nature and mountains, the beaches and the Miami-like condos that adorn it, the dramatic modern architecture that is sprinkled amongst the hills overlooking the sea, and the ability to come into close contact with some of the most basic animals of the earth.
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