Mountains, Maritzburg, Mandela, and Many cool animals

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I am back home now from a few adventures- that have brought me into the Drakensburg Mountains, through Pietermaritzburg, to a game reserve, and now back home- in time to start classes tomorrow. So brace yourself, this will be a long post- but with lots of great stories and photos.

Before I even start I should mentioned the pictures included in this post are not mine- this is because someone in great need of my camera and all of my pictures decided that he or she had the right to take these things without my knowledge (my camera was stolen). My gracious mother is sending me her old one and so I should get it in a few months (just kidding- probably a couple of weeks). I owe credit for these pictures to Caitlin, one of my new friends here in South Africa- she is another International student- hailing from Berkley, Ca.

Rewinding back to my last post-
I have two events to write about before I go into my big adventure in the Drakensburgs. The American students had an organized trip to PheZulu Village, a "traditional" zulu village. I had mixed views on this- while I enjoyed seeing the people, their dress, and the way they lived- it was very touristy and I felt a bit like I was at a zoo, but for people. The people certainly did not seem unhappy, in fact I'm sure they were having a good time (and making a good amount of money, too). While we were there, we got a demonstration of the traditional marrige rituals which included courting, dances, seeing a sangoma (traditional healer), and giving a labolla (like paying the family for your wife- usually 13 cows).
From there we went to a reptile farm, where we got to see crocadiles getting fed and some huge snakes as well. (I had great videos of the crocs eating but, alas, now someone else has those great videos).

The other important event was a 'Cultural Evening' planned as part of the orientation program for the incoming freshman and international students (but really- it was pretty much geared for the incoming freshman). For the event, we were all asked to wear 'cultural' garb and to consider doing an act in the performance, that would be a tribute to our culture. Having left our cowboy hats and red white and blue pants at home, we (the American int'l students) decided to go anyway and see how the evening was. Many students did have cultural garb and it was really exciting to see how people came dressed. Several guys wore animal skin 'skirts' (with speedos underneath) and animal tail 'hats' (we weren't sure if the animal skins were real, it was hard to tell). Some wore large decorative hats, others wore complex beaded skirts. Three guys, who are from the DRC (democratic republic of Congo) wore army fatigues- a funny political statement about the fact that their culture has been one of rebel troops and war. Some also had traditional face paintings and several Indian woman wore Saris (I have no idea how to spell that).

The beginning of the evening was a weird- the organizers decided to start things off with an interactive panel discussion on diversity and cultural respect- this is a very serious issue- on top of race issues relating to blacks and whites, issues here also concern Indians and Coloreds (which is the common word for people of mixed race- specifically black and white)- and within the black Africans- there are many tribes that live together at the university- the two main tribes being Zulu and Xhosa (the X is one of the click sounds in some African languages)- others including Swati (from Swaziland), Besoto (Residing from Lesotho), and others. The discussion wasn't incredibly deep- but it was good hear the issues being discussed- it was interesting from our perspective because people would sometimes go in and out speaking Zulu- which everyone did not understand. That, too, became a topic of discussion- specifically whether speaking English so that everyone can understand is respecting other people's culture or betraying your own.

The rest of the evening was much lighter and it included a lot of interesting acts. Several performers used spoken word poetry- with topics including love, using condoms to avoid aids, and abstinences- south Africa has one of the highest percentages of AIDS in its population and it has been interesting to see how it is being combated- free condoms in the dorms and in our orientation packages, advertisements all over about safe sex, AIDS, and how easy it is to avoid death (death in general is treated differently here, like it is closer and less of an abstract idea to college students). Okay so that doesn’t sound lighter- but there were Zulu dancers, Indian dancers, a few people sung songs that were important to them- some in English and some not. The Scottish international students performed- one on the bagpipes and the doing a Scottish dance. Sad to say the Americans sat and watched- we were not sure what we would have done had we had time/motivation to prepare- a folk song? played baseball? invaded a country?
It was interesting to see though- and being in the crowd was fun anyway, the group was lively- lots of yelling and talking back and forth with the two MCs, who organized the event and, from the impression I got, were two popular returning students.

The next day I left on a three day excursion with three of my Cali friends- Kayla, Caitlin, and Sonya. We had decided that since we had a few days with nothing too important to do (or, nothing we couldn't just do next week)- we wanted to get off campus and explore, instead of trying to find ways to fill the time before classes started. We chose to spend the three days in the Drakensburg mountains- a large range of mountains that stretches north/south about two hours west of us. It is in between South Africa and Lesotho- which is a tiny independent country within south Africa that is very much traditional- many of the country can only be reached by foot or horse and the rest required a 4x4 vehicle because the roads are not paved. .

We had guidebooks and some general idea of what we wanted to do- our immediate goal was Underberg, a small town in the foothills of the Drakensburgs, large enough to have busses running from this area. We took a Kombi (public minibus/taxis) from campus into the center of Pietermaritzberg and asked around the Kombi drivers for the Kombi to Underberg, as things are pretty unorganized but the locals have an idea of the system. Someone offered to show us and somehow, through a confusion I think, ended up walking us to 'Up Station', which is a bunch of blocks away from the center, but another main station of Kombis. We thanked him and gave him some Rand, which I'm sure was why he walked us but his face told me it was less than he expected from Americans. We boarded the next Kombi and waited for it to be filled- not to much longer and we began our journey to Underberg.

The ride was crowded, cheap (50R = 7USD), and beautiful. I was finally starting to feel like I was in Africa- we passed small villages, with people living in large round mud huts with thatched roofs, and a lot of farm area. South Africa is very green and hilly- which makes for a great landscape. An hour and a half later we arrived. The town was small but defined- there were two crossing roads and this seemed to be the downtown- a Kombi station, a hardware store, Meat market, people selling vegetables, clothing, etc in stalls. We walked in the direction that seemed to be right and found a jackpot- a cute place for breakfast and a tourist information center. We grabbed some free maps and a great breakfast at the Lemon Tree. From our books and the maps, we planned our adventure. We chose a place called Khotso Horse Trails to stay it- it was a 'backpackers hostel' and horse trail center. We called them and they offered to pick us up from town for free.

A man named Renau pulled up in a cowboy hat in a white pick up and introduced himself to us- we hopped in the back and started on our way. After a quick stop at the hardware store, we drove a few minutes on the main roads and then got onto a dirt road leading to the hostel. As we got closer we realized that the hostel was really a house located on a farm- the house had several rooms it in that were rented out- but it was a really great place and, though a bit more pricey than we would have liked, we made ourselves at home. The house was run by a few people- Steve, who owned the farm, Renau- a farm hand and, as we discovered, a member of the South Africa peacekeeper units who worked for the African Union, Lulu- a Mexican-born woman who was traveling the globe and fell in love with south Africa, and this other guy who is Lulu's boyfriend and worked on the farm- but I can't remember his name right now. The house is really great, they serve breakfast and dinner for an additional fee (35R breakfast, 50R dinner- not the cheapest by south African standards, but for American standards it was fine). The farm had sheep and many horses, three great dogs and a fat cat. After settling in, we told them that we wanted to go hiking and they said that there was a great spot 10 minutes away with a waterfall and a great spot for jumping off into the natural pool beneath. Renau said he would drive us and leave Blue, the dog, with us- he'd swim with us and hike around the area with us, and then we could find our way home when we wanted.

The drive was a bumpy ten minutes on a broken up dirt path- which ended at a beautiful site- a medium sized stream waterfalling about 8 or 9 feet into a small pool below- which was, as we were told, a few meters deep and safe to jump. Blue went in first and decided it was best to jump first and ask questions later- Renau left and we prepped for the swim. The sun was out in full effect and clouds scattered the sky- but for now it was extremely hot and we wanted to get in quickly. I was the first to go- test the water (and the jump)- The height really looked much worse than it was, the water was plenty deep and very cold, and as soon as I got to the surface- i was greet by Blue. What Renau did not tell us about him was that he was left with us to protect us- each time one of us jumped in, Blue jumped in after and came to make sure that we popped up and could swim to sure. This was very cute and became less-so each time we jumped, as he barked nonstop and clawed us in an attempt to save us.

After we enjoyed the waterfall for a while and explored the pool, we decided to dry off and go for a hike. The hike was pretty uneventful- we saw a lone bull grazing on the adjacent hill but we left him to his own patch of grass. We found a few animal bones, many large piles of animal poop, a few interesting bugs, and then- in a clearing we came to a very rare specimen. It was difficult to recognize at first but as we near the area, we identified the very exotic African bath tub. Three of them, to be exact- grazing in the middle of the field- no clue as to why they were there or how they got there. We made our way towards the edge of a nearby forest but, because we had squeezed through a fence to get there, decided not to go into the forest. We were also persuaded by the fact that we heard an ominous machine sound coming from within it, which sounded like the jaws of death for the forest- a sound which would have saddened the Lorax for sure.

We returned to the waterfall spot and waited for a bit for the sun to come back out- once it did we swam for a bit more before it seemed like the sun was going to disappear behind the clouds for good. We dried off and discovered that Blue was gone. We screamed around for him, to no avail, and decided that we didn’t need to worry as he seemed to know the area much better than we did anyway. We hiked back which didn’t take much more 25 minutes and involved squeezing through only one barbed wire fence.

After changing we sat around in the backyard around the campfire spot, playing with the dogs- but we soon learned that a campfire was not on the menu- a storm was moving in very quickly. In a matter of 20 minutes or so, storm clouds were upon us with loud thunder and lightning not too far off in the distance. The rain didn’t come right away but we settled inside and it started eventually- and came down hard. We sat with Renau and that is when we learned that he worked for the African Union as a peacekeeper and he had been to many African countries and seen a lot of crazy stuff, including combat. We talked about this while the storm raged on and he got a call from Steve, the owner of the place whom we had not yet met. He had been in a boat when the storm hit and, luckily, saw Lulu driving by and he got in out of the rain and hail. The truck soon thereafter run off the road and into a trench and began filling with water. They got two people nearby with jeeps to pull the truck out and were on their way back. They also told Renau that the hail had most likely ruined their entire corn crop as it was not strong enough yet to withstand the force of the hail. It was a crazy night! Moreso for them than for us.

Eventually they got home and Lulu started dinner for us all, we ate a delicious dinner of rice and a baked dish with potatoes, sweet potato, zucchini and other stuff. (And chicken for the carnivores). Over dinner we got to talk to Steve and Lulu, who were both


We went to sleep pretty early as the sun had wiped us out. Just before bed, though, the sunburn on my arms, hands, neck, legs, and feet began to show and hurt. I had neglected to keep up with my suntan lotion with all the swimming. Lesson learned that night- be more careful, the sun is much stronger in the mountains.

The next morning we had breakfast and, as per our decision the before, got a ride to Sani Pass Lodge, the hostel that we would be spending the next night at. The ride was about 35 minutes, it wasn’t sure far but the road it was on (Sani Pass) is under construction, they are trying to upgrade it to being a full paved road. Sani Pass is the only road into Lesotho from this side of the country and as you get further on it, you can only use a 4x4 vehicle because it is not paved or safe for other vehicles. The lodge is not that far up the Pass though. Sani Pass Lodge was a nice hostel- more like a regular hostel, with other travelers, separate rooms, a communal area for eating and lounging, and a kitchen. We got our room, got ready, and wasted little time before setting off on a hike. The hostel had lots of information on the different hikes available- we chose a hike that was 4-5 hours long and moderately difficult.

The beginning of the hike was very hot and very uphill - but it made up for it in beauty. We were getting a great view of the real Drakensburg Mountains- green for miles and miles and the whole range is made of many hills, plateaus, valleys, and… you get the idea. The first hour or two were pretty strenuous and I began to worry that I was more out of shape that I had thought- but soon we began on the downward trail- off the plateau that we had hiked across- and into the valley. The views became more magnificent and the hike was easier because the clouds were on and off covering us and the downhill was just easier. We followed the path into an area of the valley that was straight out of a movie or painting- it was the regular green of the rest of the hills, with to occasional rock or tree or small stream- but this was filled with bright red flowers- all the way up the valley to the hill top- it was really fantastic.

We continued hiking and got to the best part of the hike- all over the valleys there were small streams falling down the hillside and even some small waterfalls but we came to a much larger stream and beautiful waterfalls. We left our bags behind a rock and climbed up the hillside along the small river- finding all sorts of magical looking spots- little pools and waterfalls- and Kyla, who climbed up ahead of us found the mother of all the waterfalls- a huge drop into this cave-like area. Kyla had already gotten a bit wet and Caitlin and I were in our underwear in minutes and- after a slight mishap between my foot and rock, which lead to bruises all over- we were screaming under the cold waterfall. We enjoyed the water for a bit and eventually decided to dry off, get our bags, and find a nearby spot for lunch. Kyla and Sonya found a nice area in between two large boulders and we had a little picnic consisting of crackers, peanut butter, locally made cheese (Old Underberg cheese), and water straight from the river (the water was not only okay to drink but much cleaner and better tasting than the tap water in New Brunswick and South Africa).

Storm clouds seemed to be rolling in, so we finished up and began hiking again- we still had a lot of hiking ahead of us. Eventually we hiked down to the bottom of the valley and found the actual river- our path was to follow this river for the remainder of the hike, including several times when we had to wade through the river- whose depth changed hourly. We found another idyllic spot and, seeing that the clouds had gone elsewhere, Kyla and Caitlin decided to swim, while Sonya and I only got our feet wet this time.

The rest of the hike was only a couple of hours- we had a little difficulty finding the path and the exact spots to cross the river- we ended up following along the side of the river until the bank was getting to steep and we had to take off our shoes and cross- luckily the river never got higher than our thighs. We hiked and crossed like this a few more times, and eventually came to a clearing and to a road. The last 2.5 kilometers of the hike were on the road, which kind of sucked actually.

We got back in time for dinner at the hostel, met a few people that were staying there- including two old guys from north Carolina, an Israeli, a guy from Boston, and a Canadian. After a game of scrabble (that I won!), we went to sleep pretty early. The next day (Friday) we took a shuttle into Underberg, grabbed breakfast at the Lemon Tree again, and took a Kombi back to Pietermaritzberg.

On the Kombi, I realized that I had not seen my camera since the night before and this was confirmed when I checked my bag at the dorm- it was gone. I called the hostel a few times over the next few days and they had nothing- it was gone. Oh well.

There is nothing that can take your mind off of something as disappointing as that quite like reading about something much much worse. I got home and was kind of bummed and decided to read. I picked up Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, that I had not yet started but had been given as a gift before I left. I started reading at 1:30 in the afternoon and could not stop. I could only put it down briefly to make food for a late lunch and then again for dinner- I skipped my evening plans and read until I went to sleep. I read 230 pages the first day.

Mandela’s story is so interesting and incredible- the story as a whole was fascinating to me. I learned things that plugged directly in to experiences I was having- he was visiting cities that I had seen, he used words that I recognized in Zulu or Afrikaans. He also happens to be a brilliant writer.

The next day the international students had a tour of Pietermaritzburg organized for us but I did not want to do anything other than read. I brought the book on the bus and read in between stops. But this ended up adding to my experience of reading the book. I was reading about Mandela being wrongfully imprisoned when I visited the jail where Mahatma Gandhi was kept for similar reasons. Mandela discusses black towns being forcefully relocated and we visited one such town and hear of inter-city fighting that I got to later in the book. I read it nonstop for the next 2 days and finished the whole 600 page book in a matter of 4 days (by Monday evening). On the front the book there is a quote by a reviewer that says “This book should be read by every person alive” and I wholeheartedly support that assertion.

The rest of the tour or Pietermaritzburg was okay, I wasn’t in the mood to be toured around and the city doesn’t have that many amazing things (no offense, PMB). That night I cooked dinner with Kyla and Caitlin (or, they cooked and I helped a little) and we made delicious Pasta with Squash.

The next day the American students had a trip to Tala Game Reserve, which is a 7,000 acre park about 1.5 hrs from PMB. We took a safari-type jeep around the park with a guide that knew a lot of useful information. He taught us about a lot of the plants, what they could be used for, etc. We saw a bunch of awesome animals including: a giraffe, 2 rhinoceroses, water buffalo, wildebeests, warthogs, zebras, antelopes, the heads of hippopotamuses but they didn’t come out of the water, a bunch of cool birds, and a rhino beetle. And we also learned a bunch of cool things about the animals- such as that a certain type antelope has three black stripes of fur on his butt, the reason is because the black attracts the sun, warming the blood in that area. This attracts the ticks and bugs to the butt, so that the animal can swat at them with his short tail.

Wheh, I think that is all. I have already started classes but I will save all that for another post. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.
~Mark

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Photos

pheZulu village
This is part of the extensive marriage process in the Zulu traditions.

Traditional Zulu hut
Thatched roof, circular mud hut. The floor is made of material from ant hills and cow dung.

In the air~
This is me on the way down into the freezing cold water

Kyla, Blue, Waterfull
This is a shot of the waterfall and pool, with Kyla and Blue (the dog) enjoying the water

Day 2: Beginning the ascent
Me, Kyla, Sonya (Caitlin is the photographer) in the beginning of our trek

Looking badass
Me, looking badass. I just conquered the world.

Wondeful water
Filling by bottle at the stream

Drakensburg Scenery
The view from our picnic spot

Nice backdrop
This is not taken in front of a fake/paradise-looking backdrop, this is taken in front of actual paradise.

Carefully...
Crossing a (pretty) safe bridge

Beautiful, again
I know, the beauty just gets boring after a while, right?

Tala Game Reserve: Safari
This is David, our guide, showing us about the Sisol plant, an invasive species from australia that was brought in because it can be made into rope. The same day that I was taught this, I read in Mandelas book how he was given Sisol mats in prison to sleep on.

Safari Ride
This is the other group in their jeep, but we were in a similar jeep (and we look like them more or less, too)

Comments

[Ben]

Sounds like you are having a great time. Thanks for transporting me from the dreary Midwest to the exotic grasslands, even if only for a few minutes. Keep on blagging, Marky.

[shira (your sister)]

what I got from your blog
wife = 13 cows black hair around the anus = attracts flies = good oh yeah, and read nelson mandela's book (which I almost stole from yoli when I visited him but i decided against it). i love you, i'll call you tomorrow. Shi

[Miriam]

love abroad!
im so glad you are loving being abroad! keep the emails coming. they are great! miss you!

[nelsiwe]

zulu's attire
I comment by the way zulu wear because some may be afraid to approach them thinking that is another type of animals,although its look good in some extent.

[lucy miller]

My daughter has come across this adventure and seems to think it is a book as well. Did you publish a book and if so how would I find a copy for my daughter?

[Mark copolo]

Sorry no book, this is just a blog I kept while traveling abroad for my friends and family to keep up with me (and of course the random internet reader!). Thanks for reading - stay tuned, I'll be in Peru in 2 weeks! -Mark