Blogs from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa - page 55

Hallo meine Lieben Meine letzten Stunden in Suedafrika sind angebrochen. Ich kann mir noch gar nicht vorstellen, dass ich in weniger als 24 Stunden wieder daheim bin. Puh. Und wenn ich die Mails von allen der Gruppe lese, die jetzt schon seit ein paar Tagen zurueck sind, es wird nicht einfach. Wobei, die letzte Woche ohne all die Leute von der Tour war halt nicht mehr ganz so toll wie der Rest, deshalb faellts mir wohl ein bisschen einfacher, dieses tolle Land zu verlassen. Also, auf einer Skala von 1 bis 10 finde ich es jetzt nur noch 10-schlimm, heim zu fliegen. Letzte Woche waere es noch 20 gewesen... Ausserdem, ich sitze hier im Gefaengnis. Das ist Johannesburg. Wir sind in einer schoenen Lodge etwas ausserhalb untergebracht, sehr sichere Gegend und so. Trotzdem sind meterhohe Zaeune, ... read more

Today we made another trip to Pretoria to check on the accreditations I need for my work permit. Before a person can accept a job in South Africa, that person’s credentials must be certified by SAQA (South African Qualifications Administration). This is another organization that has efficiency issues. After visiting SAQA, we had lunch at a small café called Café d’Oro. A very soft-spoken and attractive young woman named Midah waited on us and misunderstood me when I asked for a glass of tap water. Instead, she brought me a can of Tab and a glass. She apologized and we kidded her a little and asked how old she was. She indicated that she was 21, and I said, “Ah, I have a son that’s 21.” We told her that we had a lot of unmarried ... read more

24 hours prior I had been sitting at home in the US where civil rights for the African-American population had been put into place some 40 years ago. Although racism is still alive and well in the US, there seems to be a stronger sense of equality presently compared to what I have seen here in South Africa. I'll talk more about that later. I began my day by waking up at around 3AM, still adjusting to the 8 hour time difference. As I awoke I began to hear strange sounds that I had never heard. A rooster? Isn't that thing supposed to start making noise at sunrise? Well it was still pitch black and the rooster among many other animals were busy at work keeping me awake. I tried falling asleep but there was no ... read more

English version a little further down... Bonjour a tous, Je suis toujours a Johannesburg, cela fait 4 jours que je me repose, me prelasse a la piscine et profite du monde civilise avant de repartir dans la brousse demain. Le safari qui debute en Zambie demain est un safari camping, tous les soirs nous allons monter nos tentes...je m'attend donc a un autre niveau de confort! Ce matin je voulais vous raconter un peu comment j'avais voyage et avec qui j'avais voyage lors du premier safari en Afrique du Sud, Swaziland et Mozambique. Nous etions donc 6 voyageurs et 2 guides Sud Africains, Greg et Gareth. Nous avons parcouru 3,500 kms en tout! Nous nous sommes deplaces dans un minibus assez confortable. Chaque jour nous changions de place, on avait 3 rangees et celle du milieu ... read more

First thing this morning I got in touch with insurance to use the roadside assistance plan for towing the car. Then I called the Toyota dealership. It all went pretty smoothly, despite delay from the poor tow truck driver going to the wrong address at first. Last night the alarm wouldn’t turn on; this morning it wouldn’t turn off. The car screamed all the way to the Toyota place, just like a kid who doesn’t want Mom to remove the splinter that is causing the pain. The dealership gave us a ride back to the Centre, and we settled into feeling stranded. The cellphone has terrible reception here. There is one place in the parking lot where I can usually maintain calls, and today it is raining. The internet has been down more often than up, ... read more