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Published: July 19th 2013
It all took about 30 hours. I was in Bangkok thinking about my next destination, with a high chance of it being Egypt. But then I took a look at the map again and realized that doing a detour in South Africa wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. 30 hours later I had my flight ticket and I left 3 days after. South Africa is a country I had been wanting to visit since about 5 years.
In those 3 days I managed to gather information from several different sources.
I've got a good friend back home, Claudio fuentes, whose mom is South African and she sent me some info. Another person who helped was Meltem, a German girl who I met diving in NZ. She was recently in SA and also contributed with some more info.
Then, I contacted Tessa Van Der Merwe, a former classmate of mine that I hadn't seen in 20 years (from the 2 years I lived in Israel). She lives in Pretoria and is a full time musician. She plays in an all-girl rock band called Cortina Whiplash, but participates in other side projects as well. Here's a
link to her band: (
http://www.reverbnation.com/cortinawhiplash).
Just before booking the flight to SA I was talking with Ben, a Canadian friend and also a dive instructor.
He told me about the "sardine run" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardine_run), a phenomenon that doesn't happen every year, but when it does it's generally around May, June and July. It's one of the biggest sea migrations in the world and the sardines atract all kinds of predators, making it an excellent time of the year to go diving (if you don't mind the cold). Here's a good article I found about it
http://www.apexpredators.com/the-sardine-run/the-sardine-run-2013.html.
This particular piece of information reassured my decision to go to South Africa.
And last but not least, my father put me in touch with Johan Viljoen (a former SA Navy officer) and his wife Erna. My father met Johan briefly in Israel, about 20 years ago and they had gotten in touch a few months before my arrival. Talk about good timing.
Johan and Erna kindly offered to host me in their house in Pretoria and I ended up staying with them for about 10 days.
So, first of all in this post, I really want to thank Johan and Erna and their daughter Nicolet and son Stefan for having hosted me for so long.
When I was still in Bangkok I had asked Tess if her band was playing anytime soon. She said they had a gig on July 5th, just over a week after my arrival. So I decided to stick in Pretoria until her band played.
I really like going to live music gigs, concerts or anything of the sort and have been to several over the years, so it was something to look for. Especially considering that it was a band in which Tess was playing and the last time I had seen her was in 6th grade. Talk about different walks of life. Also, this was definitely something I don't get to do often while backpacking.
On a Thursday I went to the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. I had a flight in Ethiopian Airlines with a stop in Ethiopia. Both flights were alright and I thought the airline was pretty good. I was surprised by how good looking the stewardess were.
At my arrival in Tambo Airport in Johannesburg Johan was waiting for
Catching a break
Auriel, Tess, Ziggy, Warren and myselfme and we drove to his house in Centurion, Pretoria.
At the house I settled in "my room" and as I said, spent several days there. Some days I stayed in the house and some I went out and did a few things. The main problem is public transportation there. You're rather limited if you don't have a car, so I had to be driven around everywhere.
One of those days I was taken by Janet, a good friend of Erna and Johan, to a shopping center; I needed to get a sim card for a phone they had lent me and which proved to be very handy.
Saturday morning Johan took me to meet his godson François. He's a keen diver and gave a few tips about scuba diving centers and popular spots. Diving was one of the main things I wanted to do in South Africa.
On Sunday, Johan offered to take me for a tour to some places in Pretoria. The first stop was the "Voortrekker monument" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voortrekker_Monument). The "Voortrekkers" can be translated more or less as "forward pioneers". This is a monument to commemorate
the pioneer history of SA and the Afrikaner (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaner) history . It was erected specifically in commemoration of the "Blood River Battle". This battle was retaliation from Afrikaners against the Zulus, after the Zulus had massacred a group of Afrikaners during the signing of a peace treaty.
The monument is an impressive building and at the top it's possible to get good views of Pretoria. By coincidence, Barak Obama was visiting SA at the time and from the top of the monument we saw the US President's plane "Air Force 1" in the distance, which was in a SAF base.
On top of a hill in front of the monument there's also a fort (Schanskop Fort) that was built in 1897 to prevent attacks on Pretoria from the south. It's now a museum of the Anglo-Boer war that was held between 1899 and 1902 (
http://www.voortrekkermon.org.za/fort.php).
From then we went to Pretoria to see a few of the government buildings, but some of the streets were closed because of Obama's visit. While on the highway we saw a convoy of 2 Chinook and 3 black hawk helicopters fly by.
The last
stop of the afternoon was the Air Force museum that was nearby. We got there about 30 minutes before they closed it, but it gave us enough time to walk around.
That evening the Viljoens invited me for dinner at an Italian restaurant. There were Johan, Erna, Nicolet, Janet and her son Gary. It was a really good place and we had a good time there. We ended having dessert in an ice cream store nearby.
On Sunday I was picked up by Tess and we drove to the house where she works at. It's a house that belongs to her father, although her sister Melissa is the only one that lives there.
In the house they built a recording studio over a couple of years (
https://www.facebook.com/arcangelmusicsa). Now, besides using it to play with their band, they also rent it to local bands that need a place to rehearse.
The upcoming weekend (Saturday) they were going to have recording session with 4 bands. This was the first time they were going to try this format: each band could record 2 songs and in the meantime people could hang around in the house,
watch the bands playing, etc. They also found a sponsor for the event: a rum called "Kraken" (
http://www.krakenrum.com/).
Although the studio already has a name, the idea is to turn the place into a venue that does these recording sessions regularly during weekends. It's also a possibility for emerging bands to show their music. The name thought up for these events is "Village Sessions".
Anyway, we arrived at the house and there was still a lot of work to be done in preparation for the next weekend. That day they were working in the garden, clearing it, mostly to create a wider space. I met a few more of Tessa's friends: Auriel (also in the band), Ziggy and Warren. I helped around as well and besides the gardening, we had hot dogs and beer and time to relax in between.
That day was Melissa's birthday (Tessa's sister) and we were all invited to stay for dinner. It was very good fun and I stayed there until past 9pm. Then I was driven back to the Viljoen's house.
On Tuesday I did part of the "Hop On Hop Off" tour in Johannesburg (
http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/joburg.php).
This is the typical red bus that can be seen in several cities around the world. It goes through the center of the city, stopping in the most renowned places. While on the bus, people can plug in headphones and listen to a recording about the streets and buildings as the bus rides around. The link I put shows the different stops. There are several things to do and places to visit and with the bus ticket there are a few discounts. It can easily make up for 2 or 3 days of sightseeing.
Johan dropped me off at the "Centurion" Gautrain Station (the Gautrain is the train that goes between Pretoria and Johannesburg) and from there I went to Park Station in Johannesburg to take this bus.
I skipped the first 5 stops and I arrived in number 6, which is "Gold Reef City". There's a hotel and a theme park there. The theme park is about the gold rush that happened in this area. I went to the theme park, but not to get on the rides. What I wanted to see was an abandoned gold mine in the middle of the park.
The tours
to the mine are done every 30 minutes and they last about 20. I was lowered down the mine in an elevator and then got to walk around with a guide. It's a brief but interesting thing to do and it gives a glimpse of the mine and working conditions that the miners had.
From the theme park it was a short walk to the Appartheid Museum. Of course this is a big topic in SA and part of its recent history. The museum gives a good idea on how life was during the Appartheid and then it goes on about the struggle of the ANC (African National Congress) and other political parties to gain equal rights.
There's a whole section dedicated to Mandela, who is revered equally by people from all races in SA. I think the museum is definitely worth a visit, but it has to be seen with a broad mind. I think it focuses too much on one side of the story and it'd be interesting to see the effects on the other side of "the ends justify the means" kind of approach that the ANC took starting in the 60's.
Talking with Johan previous to going to the Appartheid Museum, he told me a bit about the reconciliaton period after 1993-94. People that had openly participated in terrorist attacks (freedom fighters) and people from the State that had commited crimes such as killings and torture, etc. were allowed a period in which they could confess what they had done and they would recieve a pardon in most cases. Now this counted for both sides. It was a process of confession and forgiveness. A way to come to terms with tragic events that affected both sides. Now if the person didn't confess, they would be held responsible and tried for their acts as criminals. I think it was an interesting and fair way of comming to terms between sides and turn the page.
From the Appartheid Museum I took the bus again and headed towards the Central Business District (CBD) to see an area where the old gold mine offices were. Now it's full of modern buildings, but some façades are still standing.
I walked around for a while and then headed to the SAB (South African Breweries) to do the "Beer World Tour". It's
similar to the "Heineken Experience" that I did in Amsterdam in 2006.
I had to wait for about 30 minutes for the upcoming tour, so I went to have something to eat (I was starving by that time) at the restaurant that they have.
30 minutes later I did the tour which combines the history of beer in general (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Europe, etc.) and also the particular brewing history of SA. It was interesting, I had a very cheerful guide and had a few beers to sample. Good stuff.
After that I did a final stop in Braamfontein. Apparently it didn't use to be such a good neighborhood back in the day, but now it' sort of a hipster, bohemian area. There's a food market held during the weekends with gourmet food stands that apparently is quite good.
I had a coffee there, while I waited for the last bus that would take me to Park Station to get back to Pretoria.
On the bus, heading to the station, I saw a spectacular sunset.
On Thursday, at around 1pm I went to Tessa's house again and helped a bit with
painting one of the walls outside. I was rewarded again with beers and hot dogs. Not a bad combination. I met more of Tessa's friends then.
I had to send some papers to Australia to get some of my superannuation money back (pension money that I can reclaim after leaving that country). So on Friday I asked Jane if she could take me to took me to police station to certify a copy of my passport and then to a post office.
When we got to the police station I realized I had forgotten my passport, so we had to drive back to the house to get it and back to the station. It was embarrasing. Then off to the post office and after that, in a store nearby, I bought gloves and a beanie. SA at this time of year can get quite cold and I wasn't really prepared for winter.
That same day in the afternoon, Johan invited me to have a few beers with friends of his. It's a group of retired Navy Officers that get together once a month. I was very pleased to join them and had a
good laugh at the stories they told. A few of them very funny and not many being Navy related, as I would've expected. I had a great time with them.
After the beers, Johan dropped me off at the Gautrain Station and I got off in the station in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Tess was going to pick me up there to take me to the place where she was playing with her band that night (I think "Bohemian" was the place of the place).
We got to the place which was pretty much a bar with a stage and there was a good crowd of people gathered. Very indie-rock, underground scene. There were a few other bands playing that night: Black Lung from Cape Town, Fruits and Veggies from Durban (
http://www.reverbnation.com/fruitsveggies?page_view_source=facebook_ap), Cortina Whiplash and The Stellas (
http://thestellasrocknroll.com/), who are "managed" by Cortina Whiplash.
It was a great night, got to see some familiar faces of people I had seen during the week, had good drinks (some of them for free) and got to see good live music.
The Black Lungs opened and I've got to say they weren't my favorite band. They weren't
bad, but didn't really like their style.
Next it was Cortina Whiplash. Their show I really enjoyed. It was a more cleaner sound than the previous band and they're really talented. Pure rock and a very energetic kind of vibe. They stole the show with the last song they played; a Black Sabbath classic: Paranoid. Simply awesome seeing it played and sung by three girls.
Then it was the turn of Fruits and Veggies. Very energetic show as well and I liked their music. They definitely have their own style and a lot of different influences can be seen there. As apparently is in most of their shows, they were pretty wasted, which contributed to the rock n' roll atmosphere.
Last was the turn of the Stellas. I really liked their music as well, sort of old school rock - Iggy Pop style kind of thing. It was a good way to end the night.
After it was all over, we drove back to Pretoria and I ended up crashing in a matress in the living room of Tessa's house.
All the guys from Fruits and Veggies slept scattered
in different places in the house as well.
After getting to the house we lit fires in some metal barrels in the garden and had a few last drinks.
In the morning I woke up at around 11am and people were getting ready to start jammin' in the studio. I needed to get something to eat so I walked a few hundred meters to a place called "Lucky Rodrigo". There I had lunch. The place was great. Awesome food and I really liked the style of the place.
Back at the house I just enjoyed the rest of the afternoon alternating between watching the band playing (same ones as the night before), having Kraken rum & coke (it was an excellent rum by the way) and chillin' outside. Like I said before, nothing like the usual things I get to do while backpacking.
Thanks Tess! I went back to the house in the evening and a few hours later I was picked up by Nicolete to go out with some friends of hers to a few bars.
We met her friends Vien and Nicky in a pool place and
The village sessions
With the Cortina Whiplash girls: Auriel, Tess and Loandi after having a beer there we went to a place called "Black Martin". There we caught the last part of a rugby match between the local team (Pretoria Bulls) versus the Durban Sharks (I think). This is part of the annual "Super 15 Rugby" match (
http://www.superxv.com/). We ended the night in a typical Afrikaner pub which was quite good.
On Sunday I went with Johan to the "Military History" museum, which has a good collection of was items from all armed forces and goes through the different epochs of SA history. The rest of the day I got a few more contacts and tips about diving, etc. for my upcoming plans.
This was my last day before getting on a bus to Nelspruit to go see the Kruger Park.
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