Volcanoes and Knysna

Sunday 18th April 2010

A couple of days ago, volcanic activity in Iceland directed high altitude ash towards the U.K, grounding all flights. Three days later and the majority of European airspace is almost completely closed. I therefore do not know whether I will be able to come home on Friday.

My sleep was disturbed twice in the small hours by the sound of footsteps on the wooden flooring outside my room, the second time a key was tried in the lock on my door.

In the morning I went with Rob and an Australian girl back to the bungee so that Rob could jump. After a long wait I saw him jump before the BazBus picked me up. The weather was better and I was able to take this shot of the bridge:



We drove over the bridge and continued into the Western Cape along the N2.

We presently arrived in Knysna and the Island Vibe Hostel, where we bumped into Kelly from the previous hostel. We went into the town together and ate, shopped and had some drinks before returning to the hostel to drink and chat. Island Vibe is another warm hostel run by a supremely helpful lady called Wendy.

Wooden elephants and thieving monkeys

Saturday 17th April 2010

Oh dear, another wet and gloomy day...the last thing you need when you're sleeping in a wooden box. We walked to a local village and I purchased 2 wooden elephants which I don't really need. I now have 14 of them, along with the stone soap dish, which was traded more out of self preservation than attraction to the item.

In the afternoon we were driven to Monkeyland, a monkey sanctuary in the Tsitsikamma Reserve. This was a lot of fun and we walked over Africa'a longest suspension bridge, which has been used in many movies including Indiana Jones:





The floor of the bridge is made of small branches which bend as you walk over them, but I was informed that these are very strong.

At the end, as I was walking out of Monkeyland, a monkey above me caught my attention. I tried to photograph it before it was very close, however he and an accomplice ganged up, swung down and attempted to snatch my camera:



Staying with the theme of monkeys, on our journey back to the hostel these baboons were lazing around between the carriageway and the hard shoulder:



We stayed at the hostel again in the evening. After drinking and chatting to a New Yorker called Rob, I got talked into returning to Bloukrans Bridge in the morning to provide moral support for more jumpers.

Storms River Village - Tube n' Axe hostel

Friday 16th April 2010

After an early night we jumped back on the BazBus for the short trip west to Storms River Village and the Tube n' Axe hostel. I was immediately drawn to this hostel when we arrived. It was stylish and homely as hostels should be!



Most importantly I found a left handed guitar...a sight for sore eyes:



We caught a shuttle car to Bloukrans River Bridge with two girls we'd met (Alice and Georgia), home to the worlds highest bungee jump at 226m. It was grey and cold again so my picture of the bridge wasn't great. You won't be surprised to learn that I didn't jump. I have no inclination to throw myself off a bridge. We came back to the hostel for the afternoon and I utilised the newly-found musical instrument.

Our room forms part of an outbuilding which is cramped, damp and much like a shed:



The bathroom building is attractive though, with cubicles and shower rooms within a circular building. Here is the view from our shed, the shower room on the left:



In the evening we drank with the girls and sat around the fire. Luckily my guitaring inabilities were not called upon!

Port Elizabeth - sea, shops and gun rooms

Thursday 15th April 2010

Today was another quiet day. We walked along the southern beach in Port Elizabeth and saw the Broadwalk Shopping Centre, which is built around a central lake:



The weather was cold and grey, so my idea of reading on the beach wasn't really on. I took a picture or two of Port Elizabeth beach but as you can see it wasn't exactly a hive of activity:





When leaving Durban, which has a large Indian community, our bus driver spoke about a takeaway dish called a bunny chow. It is a curry in a bread roll and according to the driver I had missed out by not getting one in Durban. I was delighted therefore to find them at a takeaway here. It was like an Indian version of the gatsby but with potato instead of chips. It was also full of chicken bones and more suitable for my sister's dog!

Port Elizabeth is quiet, relaxed and as a result feels relatively safe. I felt like I could be at an English seaside town, and the bad weather added to this feeling. However, just before you forget where in the world you are, reminders pop up. For instance, walking past a casino I spotted a gun cloakroom, where your firearms must be stored before entry:

Goodbye Bulungula, hello Port Elizabeth

Wednesday 14th April 2010

At 6am we wandered along the beach to a sand dune and watched a lovely sunrise:











After much waiting we were fed banana pancakes. In the mean time I constructed a big sandcastle with a German guy called Keijo "don't listen to her, she's Dutch!"





After, the group wandered along the beach back to the lodge:



Here are my final pictures of Bulungula:





We were picked up by the shuttle bus back to Mthatha. 8 of us crammed into a 4x4 car and a second bus connected us to Mthatha half way through. My job on the 4x4 was to open the various gates for the driver as he had a bad toe, bless. Most of the gates were actually just pieces of wood connected by wire. We arrived in Mthatha again to find the BazBus waiting and set off for Port Elizabeth. We passed Qunu and saw Mandela's relatively new house...he wasn't in!



We then left the Transkei and travelled into the remainder of the Eastern Cape.

I have enjoyed my brief time in the Transkei. Bulungula was spectacularly beautiful and I found the Xhosa people to be happy, friendly and peaceful. The kids wave at you in your car and many of the adults call "molo" as they walk past you (meaning "hello").Their language also interested me.'K' sounds are made with a 'click' sound produced by putting your tongue against your teeth and sucking. I can't do it but it occurs commonly when Xhosa is spoken. In fact, the very word 'Xhosa' sounds like 'kosa' phonetically, with a click at the start of the word. Standing at the busy Mthatha petrol station two days ago I could hear clicking all around me.

After a long drive we arrived at Langile Lodge in Port Elizabeth at 10:30pm. The lodge seems to be more impersonal than others I've stayed at but is built within at attractive A-frame structure.

In my dreams

I keep having dreams about those lions. Last night I was lying under a raised wooden platform. The lions had surrounded me but couldn't reach so were just waiting for me to come out so they could gobble me up. Aragorn from Lord of the Rings was there with me but he couldn't help. I think he was there because we had been talking about a place called Hogsback yesterday. Tolkien visited there as a boy and is thought to have inspired his books.

Women's power and beach walking

Tuesday 13th April 2010

After a long day travelling I slept well and woke to the sound of the sea. Opening our door to the hut I saw this:





Our hut is the second from the right:



The view inside the hut:



I used the paraffin showers...note to self: Do not mistake the clear paraffin container for the clear 'water for brushing teeth' container.

At 9:30 we walked with a local lady to her village to show us the life of women here while the men are away at the Gauteng mines. The walk over was very beautiful:









Here are some mud bricks drying in the sun:



Here is our guide in her hut:



And another lady. I'm not sure who she was:



We had our faces painted for decoration and protection from the sun and collected wood and water from a well:







Here is the water well:



I also collected some spinach and sugar beet from the vegetable patch in order to help to cook our lunch. We ground maize and mixed this with the spinach to form a pap on the fire:





The resulting pap:



Whilst collecting water, a group of women were also collecting. My sense of chivalry made me want to help, but I was put off by the fact that women do all the hard work and I did not wish to offend (not through laziness I hasten to add). We walked with our collected water and firewood on our heads (which is very difficult to do) and the whole experience was a lot of fun. It was interesting to look at Xhosa life in such an interactive way.

There were a couple of modern twists, however. Inside the hut was a windowsill full of mobile phones:



A tin-walled local shop sells mobile phone air time where you can buy pay-as-you-go codes written on a piece of paper. Our guide also had a T.V. for the World Cup.

I spent the afternoon walking on the beach and reading. The beach went on for miles and was totally deserted. I collected shells for people back home and had my feet in the water the whole time, feeling like the only man alive:











It was amazing and I am falling in love with Bulungula. It is such a peaceful and tranquil place. I could easily spend a week here. The rooms and living areas are so bohemian, Morcheeba plays on the stereo and it seems to attract very friendly and relaxed people. Here are some shots of the living room and chill out area:





There were also interesting decorations hanging from the ceiling:



The Xhosa people are also friendly although most of them do not speak English. In the evening I took more pictures that I think show the tranquility of this place: