South Africa Adventures (vol. 1)

    The past two weeks have been packed with activities as I tried to explore as much of SA as possible. The timing worked out so that I was able to visit my friend from Rosedale days, David Wolfer, as well as my brothers Sim and Aram on my way to Mozambique. I couldn't hope to recount two weeks of adventures in their entirety (and it would be rather dull to read), so I'll just hit some highlights.
The flights over were pleasantly uneventful and I got to talk at length with several former strangers. In the StL airport I met an older couple, Mary and Jerry, who are retired airforce and have traveled the world flying standby, and lived in more countries than I have visited. Anytime they had vacation time they'd just find a flight to Berlin, or Lima, or Dublin, or... And now they live in StL, he plays tennis and she hangs out with grandchildren and any other available youngsters. I had an overnight layover at the Joburg airport and joined a group of people sleeping on metal benches. I talked for two hours with José, an ethnically Portuguese south african guy in his fifties. It was fascinating to hear of the world he grew up in, where strong colonial influence, apartheid, and general racism was simply how things worked.
    I slept a few hours, found my flight, and arrived in Cape Town to sun streaming through gaps in the clouds to illuminate the mountains as we approached over the bay. My first impressions were of the contrasts: mountains and ocean, sun and storm, walled compounds with pools across the highway from sheet-metal shacks. I arrived with no means to contact or locate David, and no knowledge of the city. With six hours to kill I took a bus to city centre and walked to a coffee shop I had located with the limited airport internet. Truth Coffee roasts their own beans with the equipment in the middle of the steam-punk themed shop. A flat white livened me up significantly, but I still couldn't connect with David. So,when my half-hour of internet ran out, I set out for another Bean There, a coffee shop with chocolate confectionery. Their internet was dodgy, but I was able to find David and set out hiking across the city lugging all my earthly possessions. After nearly 48 hours of travel, an exhausted and coffee crashing me found David. We chilled for a bit then made chocolate chip cookies with all the wrong ingredients, I was accosted by his landlady, and we biked in the dark to one of the wealthiest areas of CT for small group.

Priska in cloud

  Through a similar process of public trans and wandering about cluelessly, I found Aram the next morning and went for a hike. I decided to move to CT when 30 minute took us from the beach to the mountains with views akin to Big Sur in CA. Priska (10 year old niece) and I struck off towards the mist shrouded peak, scrambling over rocks (an opportunity to teach some bouldering technique) and dodging prickle bushes. At the top there was no view, 40 mph chilling wind, and the thrill of looking down and seeing nothing but cloud. When we reunited with Aram it turned out that poor communication had resulted in him not knowing where we were, or that we were together. But all worked out.
    On the train back to town I was shepherded from an empty carriage into crowded one by a helpful guy concerned for my safety. So I learned the Afrikaans word for 'thank you'. I missed the train I was supposed to take, so I was late to meet David. And I got off three stations early, so I ran 4km in the falling dusk. David had left (me not having a phone and all) so I biked 10 km in the dark, alone, in traffic, on highways, and through alleys, in an unfamiliar city to find him. It was terrifying. And on the way my rear light fell off and broke. The trip was worth it though, and I had wine and cheese with five brilliant people from Denmark, Germany, Syria, and the US. It's wonderfully illuminating to spend time with people who are far more intelligent, well traveled, and globally aware than I.
I hiked another mountain the next morning with some of David's friends from his masters of public health program. The trail took us to a peak overlooking the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and they pulled muffins, tea, fruit, and turkish delight from their packs. So we had morning tea seated on boulders and discussed world politics, development philosophy, and surveyed the scenery.

From there David and I went to a township (low cost housing areas) where he tutors 6th grade math. We quizzed five boys for an hour, and I was again struck by the sharp contrast between the extremes of wealth and poverty present in such close proximity. We caught a train across the peninsula met up with Aram, Simeon, and their families, and cooked chicken cordon red-neck. After supper and the children were asleep, I probed Aram and Sim on their experience in development work, (15 ish years between them) and absorbed as much as I could. And thus concluded my second day in Cape Town.