8/17/10

Today we drove about 10 hours from Durban to East London where we are staying in an inexpensive hostel (they call them Backpacker’s). Here is some footage of a common small town in South Africa.

FOOTAGE Coming- small town

This morning before leaving on our day of driving, we were educated and entertained by the Steven at the Natal Shark’s Board in Umhalanga Rocks just north of Durban. He gave the most engaging presentation I have ever heard. Annika (wearing one blue and one green flip flop) had the opportunity to hold the liver during the dissection of a Zambezi shark (known elsewhere as the Bull shark). See footage here:

FOOTAGE Coming- Annika

Deb

8-16-10 uShaka Marine World, Fishing with the locals

We spent the morning at uShaka Marine World where we saw most of the sea life that lives in the Indian Ocean near Durban. The staff were highly informative and we shared the space with only a few school groups. Durban has the highest population of Indian people in the country and I must say the children are absolutely beautiful.

In the afternoon we happened upon a group of locals netting sardines right off the beach near our hotel. The sardines, which are about 10 inches long, migrate from the Cape; we are at the tail end of their season. It was fascinating learning about the process and the highlight of my day. Mark and Annika even helped pull in the net. People swarmed to buy them right from the crate on the beach (1 dozen for 10 Rand; or a whole crate, about 360 fish, for 60 Rand; 7 Rand = $1). Later we learned people will buy them by the crate and take them home to freeze them to use for fishing throughout the year. Some people, of course, also eat them. A good net will catch up to 40,000 fish!

Mark’s highlight came later when a man from a local fishing club taught us about fishing for shad and shark which both follow the sardine’s migration. The tackle, knots and technique were all so interesting. When used for bait, the sardine’s head is cut off and its body is split open. Then a large, barbless hook is place inside the body and string is wrapped around the fish. A man (there were no women) then casts the bait over the waves with a 14-foot rod right from the shore. Within about 15 seconds a 12-15 inch fish has been caught. A local gentleman caught a skate and the captain of the fishing club hooked into a shark while we were milling around. I’d tell you the kind of shark but I can’t always understand the accent of the people. These sharks take up to 5 hours to land but this one broke the line just after an hour. These guys invited us to a beach up the shore tomorrow morning where they will catch fish about 3-4 feet long.

It was a great day.

Deb

Durban 8-15-201

We made our way out of the mountains this morning and drove about 3 hours to Durban, a big city on the Golden Mile of beaches on the Indian Ocean. We took a tour of Kings Park soccer stadium (also called Moses Mabhida stadium). It was pretty cool to see it first hand after watching World Cup games on TV. Remember during the Spain v Germany game where the fan got onto the field? Well, the tour guide said that happened because the man entered the stadium in a wheelchair and got to sit in a field accessible seat. He claimed Jesus allowed him to walk again after the security guards tackled him!

Hans and I had an interesting experience trying to buy a phone card so we could call the guy we were renting an apartment from for the night. I’ll write another time about how “white” we feel…. The apartment did not work out as the beds were dishelved with dirty linen and dishes were stacked in the sink. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We landed in a nice hotel along the beachfront. Dinner at a hopping pub(it was Party Night…ahem) right on the beach and a soccer game on TV round out our night.

Deb

Drakensburg Mountains - 8-14-2010

We hiked for about 5 hours in the Drakensburgs today.  The exercise was welcomed.  Climbing “The Crack” and seeing baboons were highlights.  Baboons make a very loud, human-like sound.  It was surprising as we thought someone was yelling at us.

Deb

Mark’s first experience driving on the left side Africa - 8-13-2010

At 9:30 we departed for the Drakensberg Mountains.  This was our first drive through the mountains that surround the farm and five minutes into the trip we saw our first baboon along the side of the road.  More baboons and numerous antelope were interspersed throughout the day as a 6.5 hour drive became an 8 hour drive due to construction along the way and a 10 minute mistake near Harrismith.

Lest one think we have hit the tropical jungles of Africa there were far more cows along the way than baboons and antelope.  At most any time the views were as similar to a trip through eastern Montana as to any jungle view.  However, we also saw the third-world part of Pieter’s earlier statement. Any town city we went through had a significant section of shacks and shanties that are the antithesis of what we might think of as a viable living condition, yet they were clearly people’s homes.  Intersections were filled with people looking to hitch a ride and sell their wares, oranges, cigarettes etc.

Our day’s trip finally ended as the sun descended over the Drackensbergs and we climbed a single lane gravel road to the Berg House and cottages.  A spectacular view awaits us tomorrow. A surprise visitor walked past our cottage.  Mark heard a noise and a silhouette of a large animal and proclaimed a cow was walking past in front of us.  The rest of the family now laughs as the cow emerged from the dark as an Eland - a large member of the antelope family. 

Mark

8-12-2010

The need for sleep forced a late start today.  We headed in to Nelspruit to get some groceries, balance the van’s tires and check out the Desmond Tutu Center for Leadership (C4L). 

Pieter had told us that South Africa was a third world country with first world services.  Our quick experiences in Nelspruit showed us just one side of the equation.  The shop we went to balance our tires was of the cleanest, sharpest auto shop I have been in.  Following that we went grocery shopping in a grocery store that was no different than any we have come to be comfortable with at home.

We spent about an hour at C4L talking with Ben-Christo and Ngaba discussing how Mark and perhaps all of us can be of service to them.  We discussed some sports initiatives that they are hoping to begin as well as some American English conversational learning they are working on through leaders who are working in kids clubs in the area.

Mark

8-11-2010

We arrived safely in Johannesburg about an hour later than anticipated. Thankfully, Liezel and Laurie Theron picked us up with our recently purchased Toyota van so that we didn't have to negotiate the roads out of a large city while driving on the opposite side of the road. As it was Liezel took a wrong road and about a half hour later we were on our way toward their "farm" south of Nelspruit. We finally arrived at about 11:00 PM South Africa time, finishing twenty-nine ours of travel time from St. Peter.


The "farm" is actually a tree plantation on 18,000 hectares that Pieter Theron manages. Pieter and Liezel are the parents of Laurie (14 year-old boy) Franzel(12 year-old girl) and Francois (9 year-old boy) that make up the family that has invited us into their home for the next four months. Liezel is the FIRST Lego League robotics coordinator in the Nelspruit area.



Mark