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Published: January 4th 2010
Goiemore (Good morning in Afrikaans)
Once again we managed to land on our feet for the start of our African adventure. Back in April when we were in China, we exchanged email addresses with a couple (Delicia and Christian) who were living in South Africa. we contacted them whilst still in New Zealand with a view to meeting up. Not only did they want to meet up but they also offered to collect us from the airport and offered us to stay with them in their Johannesburg pent house apartment! We have to admit that this was a real relief for us as we had already heard all the horror stories regarding safety in Joburg.
Our flight from New Zealand to Joburg was pretty long to say the least as we had to fly via Sydney. After some 23 hours of travelling we finally arrived having lost 10 hours in the sky. After meeting Delicia in the airport we made the 40 minute drive to their place in Sandton which is the business district of Joburg and is considered a well off area and fairly safe compared to down town. After settling into our own room with private ensuite we
got ready to go out as it was actually Delicia's birthday! they had arranged a meal out with friends at an African themed restaurant called Moyo, especially picked with us in mind so we could get a taste of real African food and entertainment! Despite being very jetlagged we thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The highlights were the customary hand washing before the meal which was done by an African lady who sang softly to you whilst pouring warm water over your hands into bowl which had been brought to our table. we also had our face painted with white dots and flowers, again another tradition....and lets not forget the amazing food! Africa sure does love its meat and they know how to cook it!
We stayed in Joburg for 1 week and lucky for us Delicia was free to show us around. We were always busy doing something, including visiting local markets where we saw African dancer and checked out all the local handicrafts! We visited the Apartheid museum to learn a bit about the history of South Africa. We felt it was important to try and learn abit more about it as it was plain to see that
So cute!
Already they had a little roar on them!separation is still a big part of African life. It was a big shock for us to hear local people talking so openly labelling others as 'Black' 'Coloured' or 'White'. This is just the way it is here in Africa, it stems back years and although it is slowly changing the country has got a long way to go yet.
What we understood from Apartheid museum was that years ago the separation started when apartheid rules segregated races into black, coloured and whites to live in different areas. A process occurred where questions were asked into your heritage background, this determined your colour. If this resulted in you being labelled as white, you had total freedom to live and work where you wanted. If you were coloured or black you were sent to live in townships. These townships were not meant to be permanent, however even today they still exist. Although people can leave if they want to, but most choose to stay as its what they know.
Townships vary, some are very run down and have makeshift huts as houses and others are like any modern housing estate....and most combine the two.
Delicia is a coloured South African and
Face painting in Moyo
Easy to smudge - we soon found out! Christian is from the Philippines, Africans presume that anyone from Asia is Chinese therefore Christian is classed as Chinese even though he doesn't look Chinese in the slightest.
Whilst in Joberg one of Delicia's friends agreed to show us around the township in which he lived called Mamelodi (its a black township). so on Sunday afternoon, we met him and his friends inside the township and were shown around. It was a real experience, which involved a tsemyama (we have no idea how this is spelt) basically you buy meat from a butcher and go outside and cook it on the Braai (south African word for BBQ) as you can imagine being the only 2 whites in the village we created a bit of a stir. Women don't usually cook on the Braai as its considered a mans job but we got straight to it under the watchful eye of all of the locals. Everyone wanted to chat to us and also greeted us by shaking our hand in a strange gangster style, which we ended up quite liking! With the tsemyama you also get given free 'pap' (a strange white food made of maize meal and used instead of
Salsa dancing
I was so bad! rice.) the food was tasty and we had alot of fun cooking it! Next we were taken to the local bar within the township called 'Jack Buddha' where soul music was playing and we got to check out some black booty dancing!
Other activities we did during our time in Joburg included a family and friends braai around the pool at the apartment where we overloaded on meat and good food in general. Each person brought a home made food item to contribute to the braai and we got stuck in making potato salad!
Delicia is a keen salsa dancer and often performs at venues and this particular occasion we got to be watch. All staff members just presumed that we were part of the entertainment so we got given free food and a free bar, which we weren't going to turn down! This was all great until we were expected to perform!
We also visited lion park which is about 40 minutes out of Joburg, a completely different experience to seeing animals in the zoo as they are free to roam around and you drive around the park trying to spot them!
Finally, we got to meet Delicia's family
African dancers
They could move! who live in Pretoria (a coloured area). Her parents are really lovely, her mum even brought us a new top each and her dad makes a mean chicken curry! We even made plans to stay with her parents over Christmas in their holiday home on the coast.
After one week it was sad to move on as we had made good friends and felt like part of the family, but we had the whole of South Africa left to explore which leads us onto our bazbus trip to Swaziland.
The Baz bus is a hop on hop off bus designed for backpackers which we had actually pre-booked from England before our trip began as we knew at this point funds would be very low! We thought it would take about 5 hours to reach Swaziland but in reality it took 11 hours because its a separate country and you have to exit south Africa and enter Swaziland getting all the necessary stamps in your passport. this takes time, as we found out, which was unfortunate as we thought we would have the day to explore before moving on the next day. This is one problem we have found with
Finished product!
Wrapped and ready to eat! the baz bus as they don't run each route every day so we either had to travel the next day or four days later and we just didn't have the time if we wanted to get to the holiday home for Christmas. So the next day it was and we re-entered South Africa on the way to Mtubatuba, a small town with very little tourism. Here we stayed in a homely hostel for 3 nights. One of the days we organised to go on a safari game drive into the nearby game reserve called Hluhluwe-Imfolozi (try saying that with your mouth full) we were collected at 4.30am and were in the park by 5am our first sighting was almost immediately....a couple of Giraffe's!!!! The game drive was an unforgettable experience and just like we both imagined. we saw white and black Rhino, (black being very rare to spot) buffalo, zebra, spotted hyena, warthog, baboon, vervet monkey, blue wildebeest, bontebok, reedbuck, impala, kudu, springbok, and steenbok!!!! many of the above had young with them, which was an added bonus and of course very cute! My favourite had to be the Giraffe, i admire his long neck! Ami's favourite was the warthog
or Pumba as she likes to call them ALL!
One of our other days was spent visiting the nearby tourist destination of St. Lucia, famous for its hippopotamus filled estuary (there was also lots of dangerous creatures including crocs and apparently sharks....there was a boy killed 2 weeks previous to us being there as there is no barriers and few warning signs). Whilst watching the hippo's we got talking to a South African couple who were on holiday from Joburg, we got on really well and even shared their picnic! they also offered to take us on a game drive with them to the local reserve in their vehicle! we oblige, and it turned out to be a great day and very unexpected! we just want to add at this point, that we promise we don't ask or hint in any way shape or form for these kind things that happen to us! It is as unbelievable to us as it may seem to you!
Next up on the coast was Durban, a large city where we ended up staying in a nice hostel but in a dodgy area. All notices in the hostel said 'When leaving the hostel,
Zebra
Such a cool animal! only turn left' we have since found out that the right turn would lead you to the red light district! In Durban we spent a day by the beach which had lots of surf and was pretty busy! another day we took a bus to the victoria markets, the Indian district of Durban. Here we tried 'Bunny chow' which is a quarter loaf of bread, hollowed out and filled with curry the inside of the bread is placed on top of the curry. This dish is eaten with your hands of course, and we think its a great concept, one which we plan to bring home! we also spent what seemed like an eternity trying to sort out and book our accommodation for the remaining time in South Africa as we learnt the hard way that you must book over the festive season! Couch surfing is available in South Africa but unfortunately most people are also too busy or have family plans!
We then spent one night in a place called Umzumbe, not much to report from here as its just another quiet seaside town with a surf beach which was very crowded!
Before we knew it Christmas
eve had arrived!!!! We were collected by Delicia's parents (Yvette and Thomas) in Umtentweni and driven back to their holiday home in palm beach where Muma (Grandma to Delicia) lives permantly. On the way we drove through the picturesque surrounding area including the tourist towns of Margate and Ramsgate. Delicia and Christian were visiting his family for Christmas therefore we became their adopted children for Christmas!
On our first day we were given a cooking lesson by Muma into the art of making her famous chicken and mushroom pie. It tastes so good but we are sworn to secrecy!!!!
Thomas took us around the area and we got introduced to the entire family! That evening was spent around one of the sister's houses, they had made tripe and Zulu beer for us to try but unfortunately we couldn't take a liking to either! It was a very different Christmas eve for us, a sober one at that!
Christmas morning was again very different, ....we had only gone and forgotten to tell Santa were we would be spending Christmas so no presents for us...or anyone for that matter! There was not even a Christmas tree up or any decorations, it
Rhino
This is a white Rhino - believe it or not! dawn on us just how differently people celebrate Christmas in other countries. After a breakfast of eggs and Sausages in a spicy tomato gravy we got ready for the day, slipping into our brand new tops which we had saved for the occasion. Thomas then drove us 20 minutes to the nearest town so we could call home, it was great to speak to our families on Christmas morning, and for both of us today was the day that we missed them the most!
Afterwards we were taken to a coffee plantation which unfortunately was closed but we still got to see the coffee beans growing on the trees, then it was back home for lunch!!!
Thomas is normally the cook of the house but he had gone on strike over Christmas so it was left to Yvette to make Christmas dinner, which turned out very well! Again different to our usual, we had chicken stew, rice and pumpkin mash - feeling very full we were then taken round one of the families houses for a cup of tea......well that what we were told anyway, but when we arrived we saw a massive buffet and was told to get stuck
Bunny Chow
We love this dish! in! After explaining we had already eaten we were simply given a plate and told to go and fill our 'white bums!' Food is such a big thing for families, and it what brings them all together. We got a real sense of family life during this day, which was great to see, its not about 'what you got' - infact during the whole day we didn't see one present exchanged or hear anyone taking about what they got - very refreshing! Everyone was having a great time, we had singing and dancing and everyone was very kind to us, making us feel very at home. One more stop at one of the brothers houses on the way home meant more tea and a slice of cake - we were ready to burst!!!
Boxing day morning we said our goodbye's and were driven to the Baz bus stop to take our next ride to a place called Coffee bay. We really enjoyed our Christmas and can't thank the Barretts enough, but are looking forward to next Christmas with our own families for a good old bit of English tradition!
As you may have already figured out, only one
All about the Family
Christmas day - full of food! more travel blog to go as our final destination is drawing closer.... Love to all as usual...and see you soon!!!!!
xxx
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Emma
non-member comment
Glad you had a lovely xmas, cant believe how long both of yous hair has got!!! Cant believe your adventure is nearly over, but as one ends another one starts! Stay safe, x x x