For some reason Google has favoured the Alternative Route sister site South African Backpackers and the traffic on the site has quadrupled in the last two weeks. Why this has happened is a mystery to me. SA Backpackers was the first site I built in 2001 and in the beginning of Alternative Route SA Backpackers provided all the website traffic.
<strong>First Impression</strong> - The bus was late!
<strong>Second Impression</strong> - Hey the view from up here is awesome... The seats relatively comfortable and the fact that I am not driving is a relief.
Yesterday I went for a drive with Sadia to Kalk Bay to pick-up the post and get my weekly Olympia cafe croissant & coffee fix.On the way there we had already spotted some whales in the bay near Muizenberg. Close into the shore they were probably as close as 100m from the rocks.
The whales spotted in the bay are mainly the Southern Right Whale. On the way back we went up Boyes drive and stopped at the shark spotter viewpoint. Have a look at the Shark Spotters website for more information.
The Shark spotters viewpoint is always a good place to stop if you want the lowdown on marine movement in the bay. It was a good day as we spotted three different groups of whales in the bay. Kenneth from Simonstown Backpackers has the fortune of watching the whales daily from the balcony at the backpackers.
All the dead animals got depressing in the end. Normally I would do this stretch over 2 days, I think the break in the trip would soften the site of so many flattened animals...
I always enjoy arriving in Lesotho. From the moment a person steps onto Lesotho soil the pace of life slows a little and the prevailing tensions and undercurrents of South Africa disappear. Traveling into South Africa's neighbouring countries gives me a chance to be a foreign tourist again instead of a South African traveling on business through my own country.
Lesotho is a poor country that sits as an island surrounded by its bigger more wealthy neighbour - South Africa. Lesotho's relative lack of natural resources has ironically spared it some of the violent history of South Africa. It can be guaranteed that had diamonds or gold been found in Lesotho 150 years ago it would have been swallowed first by the british and then by the union of South Africa. Part of what makes Lesotho unique from the perspective of its neighbour is the fact that the territory was never conquered in the same way that say the Zulu and the Xhosa territories were conquered. When Lesotho became a protectorate of Britain it was more a case of opportunism instead of conquest that drove its decision to become a protectorate. Lesotho needed a big brother to protect itself from the expansionist boers and the british provided the needed protection.
Travelers cannot help but notice the soil erosion that affects the farming areas of the countryside. Huge dongas are carved out by water as parts of Lesotho quickly lose some of its most valuable topsoil. I was always thought in school (during the days of Apartheid in an all white school) that this was due to bad farming practice and ignorance on the part of the uneducated masses. What was not mentioned in my schooling was that the Basotho lost huge tracts of arable farming land to the expansionist boers thus forcing the basotho to farm on land that is not suited to agriculture. Post 1994 there have been rumblings from Lesotho that they would like some of their stolen lands back. The South African government is intransigent on this matter. What has been happening though is that wealthy basotho farmers are starting to buy up the land bordering on Lesotho.
What I also find interesting traveling through Lesotho is the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. All the statues of Caucasian Jesus and Marie's seems a little out of place in the middle of Africa. They do however make great backdrops against the mountains.. I think someone should invent an African Jesus. Maybe even a Jewish Jesus!
My first stop was Malealea. I arrived relatively early and took the opportunity to relax a bit. There was a whole lot of kids on the property receiving shoes from a dutch charity organisation. It was great to see all the kids lined up excitedly getting their new shoes. Chatting to Di, the owner of Malealea, Di mentioned that the shoe handout is a annual ongoing program.
At sunset I moved on down to the mini amphitheatre to watch the Malealea Choir and Band. Check out my YouTube video... Any comments would be appreciated.
After a hearty meal prepared by mama Dora I settled in the bar to watch the South Africa/Sri Lanka cricket match. The match was painful and right at the crucial moment of the game the power generator went down and Malealea was plunged into darkness. The next day when I was back within cell phone reception I sms'd the office to get the final result.
In the morning I packed up early and made my way to my next stop in Lesotho - Semonkong. Along the way i stopped in for a cup of coffee at Morija Guest House. Lebaka is a great host. If you stay there try and have a look at the wonderful blanket trunks that they have in each room - they are wonderfully colourful examples of chic-kitch religious iconography (yes - try say that last phase 10 times in a row)... For a nice description of Morija town check out this address: http://www.morijaguesthouses.com/about.html
The road to semonkong is one of my favourite drives around Southern Africa. The road is a big climb that start in Maseru and goes through the university town of Roma up into the mountains and down to the town of Semonkong. The altitude at the highest point of the drive is 2800m above sea level before you drop down to 2400m at Semonkong. Have a look out for the Semonkong lodge signs along the way.. Also be on the look out for 'perky breast mountains' - you cant miss them. FLICK PICTURE of the road to Semonkong..
I pulled into town and headed straight to the Semonkong Lodge & Pony trekking Centre. I had an interesting discussion with Johanathan and Armelle the owners of Semonkong about tourists that come to Lesotho and give the kids sweets. Any where that you drive in Lesotho kids will come to the side of the road, hold out their hands and yell sweets (repeatedly). Johanathan has a good point when he mentions that in most western societies we are taught from the time we can start communicating and comprehending that we should not accept sweets from strangers. Then we grow up and teach our own kids the same thing. Why is it then that westerners that travel through Africa think that all of a sudden its all right to give sweets to African children. Of course this is indicative of the old colonial mindset that we (the white people) are trustworthy and can safely be considered the guardians of the natives.. Little thought is given to the fact that these kids that we give these western gifts to have no access to any reliable form of dental care let alone primary health care. The sugar in sweets also robs these little bodies of much needed vitamins and minerals further adding woe to the health of their lives. Another thought worth considering is to imagine that you were not in rural Africa and that you were in a westernised city. How would the general populace view a person who stands outside the school gate giving out sweets? Chances are you will at some stage be questioned about your activities with whisperings that you might be a potential pedophile. Yet tourist think its fine to give sweets to african kids.. Have a look at the Semonkong FAQ page.
Talking of kids and cultural differences..Clowns without borders were staying at Semonkong for the night. Armelle had manages to go see one of the performances they had given at a schools and was impressed with the fact that humour can be such an universal common factor between people of such different cultural upbringings. The performances went down well.
The next morning I made my back to South Africa and on to Johannesburg through the Free State.. I was sad to leave Lesotho again.
I woke up early to make a move for Lesotho. Karoo mornings are fresh - perfect for driving. I dropped in at the local truck stop and filled up with petrol and coffee... Just passed Bethuile I passed a car that had rolled some time the previous evening. The car belonged to the provincial traffic department. The driver was lucky to escape unharmed as the car had rolled at high speed for about 150m, jumped a fence and missed a few trees. Needless to say the VW Polo was a right off. I stopped and chatted to the lone policeman on the scene. He had been dropped off by the local station to 'observe' the scene. We both observed and speculated as to cause. My suspicion was that the driver fell asleep... There were practically no skid marks.
I pulled up to the border and put on my efficient guise. The Border I go through (Van Rooyens Hek) is pretty chilled and I didn't expect anything untoward. Well. What do you know? The previous time that I had been to Lesotho I had neglected to get the necessary stamp when I exited the country... Now the officials were getting difficult. They called me into the office and I knew that they were waiting for the 'offer'... I offered: "what can I do to 'fix' the problem"? We came to an arrangement and money passed hands. The missing stamp was inserted, as was the entry stamp. I left knowing that I had contributed/conspired to the age-old problem of corruption. I wasn't too distressed. R150 isn't a lot of money to ease the way in a sticky situation.
Before I left the immigration official gave me the nudge nudge wink wink say no more look and whispered that this 'matter' was between us. I didn't argue and left on my merry way.
I pulled into Colesburg and went straight to my accommodation for the night - Toverberg Backpackers and Guest House. Jurie the owner is an interesting fellow having worked for many years in Malawi and Zambia as a theological lecturer at their respective national universities. His mom lives in Colesburg and subsequently Jurie and his wife moved there to be closer to family. I have stayed at Toverberg on a few occasions and enjoy my stay there every time. Toverberg isn't your usual backpackers. Its a quiet place that serves its purpose well as a layover on the long road between everywhere...
On this occasion I stayed in one Toverberg's Guest Houses. I was impressed with the quaintness of the cobbled road and the old platteland architecture. The house has wonderful old yellowood floors and some nice pieces of Karoo furniture.
After settling I went to my usual haunt - The Plattelander restaurant. The Plattelander is a family run affair and has a nice warm friendly feel to it… Just what a lone traveller like myself enjoys. OK – lets be honest, it also helps that the daughters are pretty! There is always the allure of the fantasy of the 'untouched - untainted' innocent country girl. All fantasy of course... In the real world the daughters and friends couldn't peel themselves away from the couch and MTV. The main hostess of the restaurant is well turned out and dresses as if she were on her way to Sandton - a little out of place in the Karoo. But perhaps that's just my stereotyped perception on how a person should dress for the Karoo? I couldn't help but look at her and wonder if she longed for the big city and all its trappings. The program flickering on the box was about spoilt 16-year-old American teenagers having little flaps and fits over the prom.... If I could slap wireless I would!
I love the irony. Big city people longing to become 20th century refugees in a small town where they can again get in touch with themselves and turn their attention to making jam and milking the cow... versus small town people who feel the pull of the big city where they can expand their horizons and find a new less constrained life. Humans. Were never satisfied.
It's amazing how some obscure little towns have so many roads leading to them yet few people go there. Fraserberg is one of those towns. For about 200km on the N1 heading from Cape Town there must have been 4 turn offs going to Fraserberg. By turnoff number 4 I was tempted but alas schedules and time dictated that Colesburg it was going to be for the night.
The beginning of every trip is always accompanied by the desire to get past the city limits as soon as possible. This trip is no different and I was anxious to get past Belleville and out of Cape Town. Driving past the winelands the smell of rotting grape skins was strong. A couple of the farms I drove past one could see the piles of grape skins and stalks being loaded onto tractor trailers ready to be taken out to the fields to become compost. I have always wondered if there is no other use for the leftovers other than compost...
Slowly the road climbs until you come to face to face with Du Toitskloof mountains that separate Paarl from Worcester. In late January I was coming in the opposite direction and there was an oppressive berg wind blowing with the outside temperatures ranging in the late 30's to early 40's. Today it was mild and pleasant. I used the Huguenot Tunnel and stopped in Worcester for a cup of coffee and a snack.
Other than the frequent Fraserberg signs the rest of the leg was pretty uneventful..
Accidents (1)
Speed Traps and Speed Cameras
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