Musicality and Poverty

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Not much has happened in the past couple of days. I've jumped on the Baz Bus to Knysna. I was supposed to stay here two nights, but the weather is not co-operating so I'm leaving for warmer climates this evening.

I did manage to have a productive day in Knysna though... I went on a tour of the town. Knysna is know for the "Knysna Heads" - two land heads that form a lagoon. Very beautiful area that is supposed to be stunning and overflowing with tourists in the summer. On the tour we visited an oyster cultivator, a craft market and finished off with a visit to a shebeen in the townships. A Shebeen is a local pub, from what I understand they used to be outlawed. Not so anymore. 10 Rand will get you 750ml of beer... that's a little under 2 dollars!!

Townships in Soutgh Africa are stunning places. I asked our tor guide what defines a Township and he said that back when the dutch arrived the blacks did not follow the christian faith and so considered heathens - not fiot to live amongst the christians. They were then shipped out of the towns - close by so that they could still be used as cheap labour - and thus came he name Townships. Don't know if this is true or not, but you can think of a township as a poor area where the majority of the population is black. Not coloured (mix of black and white) but black. The poverty is astonishing. People live in shacks not biger that my living room with garbage bags for roofs. The process is that the people register with the governement, they are given a small plot of land and they build their own ouse/huts. They then get put on a list and 3-7 years later the goverment builds them a permanent concrete house. The temp houses are built out of whatever they can get cheaply - usually left over wood and garbage bags for roofs. The poverty is quite astonishing. I went to the craft market and felt guilty about barganing - really, what is an extra 1-2 $$ for me?!?! Ironically Knysa's townships probably have the best view of the heads. Knysna is one of the safest placest in SA with a very low crime rate. I was actually able to walk around here on my own after sundown - a nice change after Cape Town.

Another observation I've made about the black people in South Africa is that they are incredibly musical. Groups of men and women will gather on corners and sing and dance. They sing beautiful african melodies, I can stand around for ages just watching and listening.

I'm off to Port Elizabeth for 2 nights... hoping the weather will get better, although I do here that they're going through a drought there so maybe they can use the rain.

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Photos

Knysna Heads
Knysna heads

Knysna townships
View from the shebeen in the Township of Knysna