Stormy weather

We arrived at the lovely beachside town of Wilderness. The winds and
surf are wild indeed. As a consequence, there is no electricity.

This means no Wi-Fi, no CPAP, no iPhone recharge. I'll queue up posts
as long as the battery holds up, and transmit when I'm re-powered.

Storms River Gorge

Pulling up in our two huge tour busses, we did the 20 minute lunch drill:

1. Park bus, hustle the "slows" to clear the aisle.

2. Observe the masses heading to the toilets, divert to the fast food stand.

3. Select the hero instead of a burger--the long thin bun geometry eats faster than the round burger bun.

4. Eat the sandwich at the counter with water #1, leaving the "small chips" (French fries) for eating on the move.

5. Proceed to the view point (near the tallest bungee-jumping bridge on earth), while steadily eating chips.

6. Marvel at the splendor of God's creation, while steadily eating chips.

7. Snap photo while steadily eating chips.

8. Proceed to toilets, tuck bag of chips under chin, be glad that not a woman.

9. Proceed to convenience store, select dessert snacks, observe computerized cash register freezing up.

10. Abort purchase as staff begins developing a hand-writing and calculator based system while time runs out. Enjoy final chip.

11. Proceed in expedited fashion to the bus, happy to not be the last.

The storm from the western cape

The sun shone in Pt. Elizabeth as we boarded the bus for George. As we
proceeded west, the cold front and accompanying rain squall rolled
over us. If we're lucky, we'll slip through the front on the bus, and
have good weather from George onward.

We attend the Congregationalist church in Port Elizabeth

The photo is the small chapel in which we dressed and prepared for
church.

St. Marks Congregational Church ( www.stmarks.org.za ) is an enormous
community of 1,000 families. Their vast sanctuary was filled with
adults. Small children filed in to sit in the aisles during our first
two songs. Meanwhile, some 150 or so teenagers had their own service
in a nearby room.

We sang a variety of pieces, ending with a rousing version of "When
the Saints Go Marching In." As we sang, we were mindful of the news
that hurricane Gustav is projected to re-destroy New Orleans. We
requested prayers.

After worship, we enjoyed tea with the congregation, in a very very
Victorian-looking hall. Tea was somewhat truncated by the need to doff
and pack our choir robes, then hop onto the bus for the four hour ride
to George. We will rehearse and then perform with a men's choir there.
I don't suspect that the men's choir in George is like the average
(=gay) "men's chorus" in the U.S., but, you never know...

Photo: The Indian Ocean port of Port Elizabeth

Photo: Port Elizabeth: Helpful directions

Katie, adding a fresh, youthful aspect to the tour.

Her voice is really sweet, too. By the way, my iPhone doesn't have
image editing capabilities. She really looks like this. Not all the
time, of course...

We arrive in Port Elizabeth

It is warm and sunny in PE, the "friendly city," also the windiest in
SA.

The Indian Ocean influences the climate, warm and mild. Meanwhile, my
relatives in Cape Town report that the worst late winter storm in
years is underway. The forecast for here is that the Atlantic storm
will push in, lowering temperatures sharply and making things all
Seattle-like.

Veldt fires outside of Johannesburg

As we flew out of Joburg, several large grass fires were visible through the dusty haze. The veldt (praire) burns frequently, either naturally or by human cause (cigarettes mostly). The fire renews the tall grass, usually around now, at the end of the dry tropical winter. The spring rains (due soon) will turn the dry yellow and the blackened parts a lush green.

All safely aboard for Pt. Elizabeth

With all the hilarious trepidations that accompany a group of our size
and demographics, we seem to all be aboard.

Animals on the game drives

We saw (among other things):

Lions
Zebras (live and lion-killed)
Giraffes
Gnus (wildebeest)
Impala
Hippos
Wart hogs
Rhinos (both white and black)
Springbok
Stienbok
Other various antelopes
Termite mounds
Weaverbird nests
Elephants
Various birds
Blue vervet monkeys
Really scary-looking hornets

I got many photos on my freestanding camera, which has a zoom lens and
better image control than my iPhone camera. I'll post those after I'm
home, and able to offload them to my computer.

Arriving at the braai

It was a nice outdoor buffet dinner, with open fires. Fortunately,
there were no acoustic guitars, and no endless renditions of "Kumbaya."

Photo: Hippos!

Photo: Rhinos!

Photo: Zebras!

Photo: Euphorbia tree

The native peoples used to catch fish by tossing the poisonous sap
into small ponds. A few hours after sap deployment, the dead fish were
easily collected. Sounds yummy, no?

Photo: Our game drive drivers

Photo; Debi and Randy at Bakgatala

Photo: Sue at Bakgatala

Our "game drive" vehicles

We fit into three.

Photo: Safety Queen reminds you...

Photo: correct spelling of our lodge's name

It's "Bakgatala," not whatever I spelled in my previous post.

We arrive at Pilanesberg

Pilanesberg National Park is a large game reserve, with natural
"boschveldt" (I think that's the spelling) habitat for a wide variety
of animals.

Our itinerary includes three open-vehicle "game drives" to see the
animals, and a "braai" -style dinner.

The braai is like what people from outside of places (like Texas)
where the word is used properly call a "barbecue." it's a favorite
tradition in SA, with sexist overtones that we'll certainly not observe.

We're staying in the Bangkatulu Lodge, a semi-rustic place with small
"chalets" that sleep up to 7, but two to a unit. The grounds are
spacious, and just outside the park.

I go shopping

We stopped for lunch at a complex that offered locally made carvings, curios, and such. Even though my apartment is overrun with knicknacks, I managed to buy a small wooden bowl.

My main reason for coming within range of the shopkeeper was to get a sense of the value I should declare to US Customs for a wooden spoon/fork set I was given by the dear people at Kwa Thema (I ended up guessing $5).

The artisan/shopkeeper was a master of his calling, and I ended up negotiating for a small bowl. It came down to 120 Rand. I'm sure that a better negotiator could have gotten it for less, but I felt ok with it. Poor as I am by American standards, I wasn't prepared to quibble with this hard-working African over two dollars or something. I like the idea that he got the sense of triumph over the fat, silly American.

Our chariots

We traveled from Joburg to Pilanesberg in Megacoaches.

Photo: at the monument high above Praetoria

The haze in the air is actually dust, during the end of the dry
subtropical winter, just before the coming (September) spring rains.

Acoustically rich environment in the monument

...so, we sang.

Voortrekker Monument

High on a hill above Praetoria, we visited a monument to the Boers who
trekked inland and settled the interior around what is now Kimberly
and Joburg. Like all pioneers, they endured great hardship and
opposition from the people (mainly Zulu) who occupied the land before
them. But, they persisted, and established farms, free from (what they
experienced as) oppression by the British, who had made life
intolerable for the (mainly Dutch) Boers in the Cape Province.

The British had no interest in the interior, and left the Boers alone
until diamonds were discovered in Kimberly and gold in what is now
Joburg, precipitating the Anglo-Boer wars of the 19th century, and
defeat of the Boers.

Photo: another really good local group at Kwa Thema

South Africa has a great choral music tradition. In addition to mind-
blowingly powerful Zulu chant/dance pieces, this group did beautiful
renditions of classical European works.

Photo: REALLY strong local men's ensemble, St. Andrew's

Photo: local group at St. Andrew's

Late for our first concert

We arrived at the St. Andrew's Anglican Church in the township of Kwa
Thema. Because of an involuntary nap extension on the part of one or
two of us (who knew they'd just fall asleep?) we arrived about 20
minutes late. So, we arrived and had just a few minutes to struggle
into choir robes in the tiny church kitchen.

More pics from the township church to follow.

Going dark for a while

Not sure when next Wi-Fi is, so see y'all later!

Seattle Coffee Company

We don't have this company at home, so of course we had to try it.

Nelson Mandela Square

At an upscale mall where we had a hasty lunch in Joburg.

Photo: Sidumo Jacobs (again)

Photo: Sidumo Jacobs

Sidumo Jacobs rythm workshop

Maestro Sidumo Jacobs has taught African music (literally) around the
world. He is spending some hours teaching us to sing three songs in
native African languages while doing very simple dance movements.

It's kind of true that when most white folk open their mouths, their
hips lock. Add a language with no shared Germanic or Latin roots, and
it becomes rather hilarious. Fortunately, professor Jacobs has done
this many times before. His kindness, patience, consistent joy, and
plain skill lifted and carried us through learning the songs. Tonight
we'll see how much of what we learned we can resurrect in our concert
with a local choir in another (formerly all black) township.

Sign outside of the (enormous) hospital, Soweto

Photo: Nelson Mandela's original home, Soweto

The home is being restored into a museum, and was almost completely
blocked from view by the wooden barriers.

Photo: outside Pam's Creche, Kliptown, Soweto

Photo: Kliptown, Soweto

Older kids performed Zulu (I think) chants and dance that involved a
lot of rubber boot slapping.

Photo: Pam with the kids, Pam's Creche, Kliptown, Soweto

Photo: pre-school kids in "Pam's Creche," Kliptown,Soweto

We visited and donated to a preschool, where the kids looked happy, sang, and recited poems in Zulu, Afrikaans, and English for us.

Soweto: Kliptown

An "informal housing" area of Soweto.

Photo: Soweto

Photo: Soweto commercial area

Originally a strictly residential zone for black people, Soweto is
slowly growing the shopping amenities of any big city.

We visit Soweto

Soweto (an acronymic contraction of "South West Townships") was founded around the turn of the 20th century, as a place where black people could live, outside of white Johannesburg.

It is notable for an infamous event during the struggle against apartheid (which, in an earlier post I confused with the massacre at another township, Sharpeville [I think it's called]).

The SA Ministry of Education, in the mid 1970's, sought to supress black consciousness, by requiring that all education of black schoolchildren be conducted in Afrikaans--the language of the Boers. Teachers were teaching in a mixture of English and native languages. Connecting the kids with English connected them with a largely anti-apartheid outside world, and filled them with subversive ideology. Afrikaans was the language of the pro-apartheid minority, and it's news media presented no threat to the kids accepting their subordinate role. The Ministry of Education saw no real problem in there being very few Afrikaans-speaking black schoolteachers, which made compliance impossible. On June 16, 1976, thousands of children marched unarmed in Soweto, to protest the language rule.

Agitation ensued within the crowd, and among the police,sent to break up the demonstration. Stones were thrown, and the police opened up with live ammunition, firing into the crowd. Hector Pieterson, a 13 year old, was killed. A photo of him, being carried dying from the
scene by another schoolchild, shot around the world, provoking widespread outrage. In the ensuing violent uprising, 566 people were killed. Even white South Africa began to realize that apartheid was unsustainable, though it would be many increasingly violent and fearful years before Nelson Mandela was released from prison and a democratic constitution was established.

Soweto is also notable as perhaps the only city where two Nobel laureates (Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu) live on the same block.

Several posts following this one will mention details of our time in this fascinating and very large part of greater metropolitan Joburg.

Central Johannesburg

Called "Joburg" by those who live here, and "Jozie" by those who love
it, it's the large, fast-paced city that never sleeps. People from all
over Africa flock here, in hopes of making enough money in the
aboveground or underground economy to comfortably move away. Afflicted
with near-total "white flight" after the end of apartheid, Joburg has
a kind of bombed out yet bustling feel that reminds me of Detroit in
1969. Crime here is a devastating problem, with street robberies
occurring at the highest rate of any city on the planet.

The city is slowly recovering, especially as it prepares to host the
World Cup soccer games in a few years.

Note the broken-out windows on this landmark skyscraper.

The Apartheid Museum

After touring Joburg (the local people call it that, and it's so much
faster to type), we visited this museum. It documents and presents the
history of apartheid's rise and fall. Like Yad Vashem, it is rich in
imagery--film of the violence, injustice, and suffering of all the
people as South Africa labored under the morally bankrupt and
unsustainable system of minority rule.

Much of the history presented here occurred during times when I was in
college. I'm always fascinated (when traveling) to compare the kind of
understanding one can get from an on-scene, in-depth presentation to
that which comes from the "newstainment" we get at home.

A dear friend in San Diego (a US citizen who emigrated from SA during
apartheid) once told me a little about the climate of fear as SA
struggled to sustain apartheid. When prison was a place of torture and
extrajudicial executions, when everyone you meet could be an
informer. At today's museum, we saw stories of people fleeing the
violence, whose families were afraid that sheltering them would bring
the police. That's perhaps one of the most toxic effects of
totalitarianism--it destroys trust between ordinary people.

The detail at the museum was impressive. The banality of the violence,
the system of racial classification by bureaucrats using shifting and
arbitrary criteria. The impact of these classifications on the
ordinary people. The struggles of the liberation movements.

I saw an early interview of Mandela, before he went to prison. He
described his vision of a SA with full racial equality. We sort of
marvel at his willingness to seek social reconcilliation after the end
of aartheid. Yet, I learned today, this was his vision all along.

My roommate

Chuck and I will share hotel rooms for almost all of the trip.