Road Trip

Pleasure and Pain in South Africa: Road Trip

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ROAD TRIP!
The first phase of our road trip was, in a sense, aboard bicycles. Roal, Jean and their son Richard outfitted us with all the gear to do the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, the world's largest timed bicycle race, with 40,000 participants. Start times for the 109 km loop around the Cape of Good Hope were staggered by skill level, as measured in previous timed races, with the fastest going first (and some, just to show off, repeating the loop with the slower people who start 3 hours later). As international entrants we were placed near the middle. The gorgeous route includes the road to Muizenberg almost to Cape Point, then turns past Misty Cliffs (our favorite) and up along the Chapman's Peak road -- the longest and steepest hill, carved into the mountain and recently rebuilt from major collapse in rockslides a few years ago. The worst hill is Suikerbossie, only moderately long and steep but coming late in the race when it is hot and you are tired from Chapman's Peak. My mountain bike was slow in the downhills even with slicks and Diana wished she had a third chainring on her road bike for the uphills, but we were proud of ourselves for our 4 h 19 minute finish. This was ~16,000th place! If we lived in Cape Town we would do the race annually -- in a place where there is really only one season, endless summer, the Argus is a way of marking the years. Maybe in 10 or 20 years there will be many black participants -- this race was almost entirely white, and at times there was a bit of an awkward feeling as we realized we were part of a parade of white people riding on expensive bicycles past black spectators in a race where the entrance fee (400 rand or $65) is 15 days pay for many blacks working at minimum wage. Plenty of police were watching the race, not just out of curiosity...			Argus route
Argus Expo - stock up now!	Neither as good looking as Greg Lemond nor as fast	Crowded start	Uphill for 10-15 km to start
Simons Town	Our favorite part -- Misty Cliffs	Rolling hills	Rounding the Atlantic side
Approaching Chapmans Peak	Suikerbossie, final hill which nearly killed us both	Very organized bike parking lot at the end	Finished and frazzled!
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During our elective we had a short road trip when Roal and Jean very kindly invited us to their "Jabulani" (celebration) vacation home at Betty's Bay, a 2 hour drive along a twisty cliffside road on the way to Hermanus. Their modest home is extremely well designed for more guests than you might think, and they own the adjacent property so no one can spoil their view. Plus you can walk along the beach to see the penguins!
Well you're pretty funny-looking too!	Penguins mate for life and stand together as couples	Surprisingly loud and throaty sounds	Speedwalkers
Slipping on wet rocks	Bettys Bay	Bettys Bay	View from Jabulani retreat
Off to give surfing a try	Beautiful beach	Roal enjoys his helicopter	Thanks Roal and Jean!
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When our month in Cape Town ended we hit the road in a 1.4 L Ford Fiesta for a 5000 km journey across South Africa. This started in the spectacular wine country just 1 hour east of Cape Town, and we lunched at Franzhoek before settling in for two nights at a very relaxing spot in Swellendam, a small town at the foot of a dramatic mountain range on the western tip of the "Garden Route" scenic drive. Lovely hiking and delicious bobotie (savory mincemeat with toppings including tomato, onion, banana and sweet chutney), and some of my favorite peaceful times on the trip. Although as a married couple we now generally book double rooms with ensuite bathrooms, we are still budget travelers, as we were reminded each time we visited the moldy bathroom at this little place, with its defective toilet and plugged shower. Otherwise, paradise!
La Petite Ferme, Franzhoek	Winery	Beautiful mountains and plains	Swellendam
Patio of our Swellendam cottage	Hiking in the fynbos, which smells as beautiful as it looks	We couldn't find anyone to offer horse rides	The cancer of suburbia has spread even to Swellendam
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The Garden Route is some of South Africa's lushest terrain, with trees and grass just as green as in the BC coast. Lots of overdeveloped tourist traps, like Knysna, but also some beautiful little resorts like Plettenberg Bay where we stayed 3 nights for surfing, views and delicious dinners. Very prosperous, clean and safe-feeling.			Steep mountain roads
Knysna "lakeside property" = swamp and mud out front!	Hot times at Plettenberg Bay beach	Diana surfing
Beautiful place to retire	Or to surf!	The whole baboon family is out -- baby clinging to mom's back
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The Tsitsikamma coastline has dramatic cliffs and gorges, where you can camp and hike -- particularly at Storms River Mouth.	Tsitsikamma	Tsitsikamma Gorge	Tsitsikamma Gorge
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The surfing paradise of Jeffrey's Bay is not nearly as beautiful as "Plett" and has become a bit overdeveloped, with discount surf-clothing outlet shopping and so many seaside homes that one part of the beach should be named "Poop Beach", with mountains of fused excrement washing up on shore as if someone's septic tank exploded. But other parts of the beach are clean and many beautiful shells can be found. Our hostel was in a particularly gorgeous location "on the point."
Our patio at Jeffreys Bay.	Amazing views from our room	Only skilled surfers need apply.	Mosquito net or bridal veil?
Awww....	Staying fit	Jeffreys Bay	Frolicking on the beach
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Further east, the vast "Transkei" area, previously a large black "homeland", is a different place entirely. Hills are covered with small black-owned farms, and for hundreds of kilometers the road is filled with pedestrians and stray animals, the worst being the completely unpredictable goats. You would think it would make economic sense for even the poorest farmer to put up simple fences to keep his stock from becoming roadkill or moving to other people's farms. It would certainly be safer for drivers! The terrain is rugged, with the N2 highway climbing and descending multiple dramatic mountain passes. Packed minibus taxis passing overloaded trucks uphill on blind corners adds to the excitement. This was like visiting another country, more like Thailand, India or Vietnam than the rest of South Africa in terms of wealth and development. Just as rapeseed oil was cleverly renamed canola oil to improve sales, this area has been re-branded as the "Wild Coast" for tourism and you won't find the dreaded "Transkei" name on any modern map. Even the hostels are more rustic and wild out here -- at Cintsa we stayed in a gorgeous spot called Buccaneer's Backpackers, which has been in operation since 1983, ie., during apartheid. Great place except the state of hygiene is among the worst of anywhere we ever stayed, ants filling the sugarbowls (it's not the ants that bother me, it's the thought of scooping their feces into my tea) and 4-5 mm beetle-like insects roaming the beds, giving Diana the worst case of 'bedbugs' we can remember. The beachside horseback riding, including expert training in how to trot and canter, was fantastic though, and our stay was relaxing despite the itches.
Buccaneers Backpackers beachfront	Flowers at our door	View from our room	Pure relaxation
Horseback riding	The bedbugs got her but she got them back with "Doom" insecticide	Dutch teachers working in a township for 6 months	Diana got up despite less than ideal surf conditions
Horseback riding on the beach - super fun	Diana	Diana	Yes, I rode too...
Transkei homeland -- everyone owns their own little piece of nowhere	Rivers cut red gashes through the hills as if bleeding	"One-Stop" - the only safe place for whites to fuel up
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Our favorite spot on the coast was south of Durban, with warm water and a gorgeous little cabin in the town of Umtentweni just off the beach, perfect for long romantic walks and, if you are competition-ready, surfing in the powerful swell. The waves and beach were particularly dramatic since heavy tides two weeks ago destroyed most oceanside ports, shark nets and docks all the way along the Durban coast -- part of unusual weather throughout South Africa including strange Cape Town heat waves and torrential late March rains in the usually dry northeast. Global warming at work?
Full moon over the Indian Ocean	Moonlight view from our cabin	Dawn near Durban	Typing my memoirs on the beach
"Von Trapp Family" of surf/kayak superkids	Bedbug delayed reaction -- worse and worse	Saffron dinner, highly recommended	My favorite walk along the beach
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Due to dawdling along the coast we had to rush to our safari, driving 1000 km in one day north from the Durban coast to Kruger National Park in the northeast. The fact that this was possible in 11 hours driving shows how modern the roads in South Africa are (outside the Transkei). It was a beautiful journey across desert, plains and, surprisingly at the end, high mountain forests. We stayed in the town of Sabie, which resembles Revelstoke, BC -- at 1100 m elevation, a lumber town with damp climate and cool nights.			We didn't need to take this.
Modern freeway	Massive industrial complexes occasionally seen	Typical highway view	Diana missed a lot of the scenery
Sabie -- or Revelstoke?	A mosquito net is surprisingly romantic	Drakensberg	Drakensberg
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Then we began our four-day safari at two bush lodges, which put heavy demands on my two cameras as we (mostly Diana) took up to 400 photos daily. Also a pleasant time with mid-day siestas, plenty of time outdoors on the back of comfortable Land Rovers, delicious food, and total absence of cellphones and email. We would love to do another safari -- but we will need to save up, as these are expensive trips!
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