SOUTH AFRICA Continued
From the KwaZulu-Natal
Battlegrounds to The Drakensberg Mountains
Sunday,
May 20, 2001
Woke up (early) in the Dundee B&B and ate a very nice breakfast.
The woman who ran the place was looking to sell it, and she gave
us her views on the world. It was all dim and depressing, and
that´s where we first heard the phrase, "You can take
the kaffir out of the bush, but you can´t take the bush
out of the kaffir." For those who don't know, 'kaffir' is
a very nasty term for blacks equivalent to the 'n' word in the
USA and this is really an awful thing to say. From an academic
point of view, what she was saying was that culturally, there
are vast differences between us all. We smiled politely and then
left. But on a positive note, she was the first person we had
met in South Africa still stuck in the past.
We
then drove to Rourke´s Drift, a battle site where cultural
differences had killed a lot of people. We saw the reconstructed
battle site with models of British soldiers breaking holes in
the walls and fleeing from the Zulu army. Amazing. The monument
was very well put together and we learned a lot. We saw the descendants
of the Zulu armies walking to church, and later we heard them
singing. All rather stirring, with thoughts of war and cultural
conflict spinning around in our heads. Walked around the site,
saw the reconstructed walls, and looked in the museum. We stopped
at community weaving shop and bought two Zulu carpets, which
was amazing because we had gone through India and Turkey and
never once thought of buying a carpet. I fell in love with them
and Laura loved them as well, so we decided to get them. We drove
on to Isandlwanda famous because it is the site where the Brits
lost and the Zulus won a battle. Walked around and saw a few
markers of where Brits were killed. Less touristed and less organized
than the Rourke´s Drift monument. We visited the museum
then went to Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. Driving around
in the back country of KwaZulu-Natal, we got sense of the disparity
between the rich and the poor, the first and the third world,
that live together in South Africa. Our Dundee B&B were worlds
removed from the shacks that the people around the battle sites
were living in. After getting groceries in Dundee, we headed
up to the Royal Natal National Park, a beautiful park right in
the middle of the Drakensberg Mountains. It was pretty, and even
better, once we set up camp, no Lower Sabie Cabbage, but leftovers
from the KFC. Now, we felt like we were camping.
Monday, May 21, 2001
Rest day at the Royal Natal and we woke up refreshed after sleeping
on our Zulu carpets. Since we didn't have airmatresses we were
even more happy we bought the carpets. Too bad we didn´t
have them back in Malolotja. We took a short walk to the Cascade
waterfalls (with our big backpacks on, of course) and we met
a group of teachers and their middle school students. We chatted,
and yes, middle school students are the same the world around.
They got each other wet, screamed, yelled and ran far too fast
on the slippry rocks. Back at the camp, we started up our small
camp stove but thought it would be nice to have a small fire
with the firewood we bought at the camp store. However, the wood
was all large pieces and we had no kindling. We ended up borrowing
a hatchet from our neighbors, and so began our relationship with
the Stegens & the Phippses, our South African relatives.
Tuesday,
May 22, 2001
Wheetbix and peanut butter for breakfast, but then, Sonja and
Emil Stegen, our neighbors who lent us the hatchet, let us know
they were going to hike the Gorge that day, and we decided we´d
hike there too! Had a great hike through the gorge, and we met
up with Sonja and Emil along their way back. We had a wonderful
chat with Sonja and Emil about the USA & South Africa. They
had no water with them, but said that the rivers were safe to
drink. They had only a cup, and Emil said, "I never carry
water in the ´berg." I don´t know, but that
phrase stuck with me and I would often repeat it. We ended up
drinking from the streams as well, and yes, the water was clean
and delicious. Can´t do that back in the States. We left
Emil and Sonja to finish our walk. Laura nearly stepped on a
slow moving Puff Adder, but at that point, we didn´t know
what one looked like, or how poisonous they were.
What had been a nice, easy trail, soon turned into a monkey trail. We clambered up the side of a cliff using a chain, then threaded our way through thick brush up a mountain and down the other side. A South African family overtook us on the walk, and they were as surprised as we were with the trail. Sonja and Emil said that they walked back through a narrow chasm, but they warned us that we might get wet. Well, suddenly we had our own version of Survivor, once more. Last season it was Borneo, this season it was the Gorge, in the Royal Natal. We didn´t want to tackle the monkey trail back around and down the chain, but when Sonja and Emil said that we might get wet in the chasm, they weren´t kidding. At the top of the narrow gorge, there was a pool of water, and I was the hero by going first. I slid down the rock and into the pool, then carried Laura across. It was very exciting. We got through the tunnel and back on the path, and returned back to camp, exhausted. We did the 11 mile hike, all with our big packs on, through the chasm and everything. After we showered, Emil came by and invited us to their camp. We ended up staying late by their fire, chatting, eating their food, and having a great time. Sonja & Emil were there with their daughter & her husband, Debra & Clinton Phipps, and their adorable 1 year old daughter Robyn. Sonja & Emil came camping to this park every year with their two daughters when they were young. Now both grown, one is living in Las Vegas, Nevada with her American husband. We were adopted and became honorary Phipps´ for the next couple of days and loved every minute of it!
Wednesday,
May 23, 2001
When we asked the Phipps´ what hike we should do, Debra
and Clinton decided to hike as well and showed us the trail "Crack
and the Mudslide". After the Gorge, we were ready for anything.
It was a lot of fun, to hang out with another couple, and the
views were awesome. We ate lunch at a hidden pool and Debra and
I went swimming in the freezing water. No, really, the water
was butt cold. Had a great day chatting and walking. We ate again
with our new family that night, but did contribute some chicken
we had bought and cooked up in a curry. I washed clothes and
then we stayed up late chatting and having fun. This is when
they invited us to visit them in Durban we came up with the idea
of visiting them after our trip to Victoria Falls.
The shop where we bought our Zulu carpets.
Very nice ladies there.
A Zulu village in the battlefield area. It was a very remote and rural area.
Laura in front of the magestic Drakensberg Mountains in Royal Natal National Park
Laura & Aaron at the top of the Crack & Mudslide trail
Crack and the Mudslide trail with Debra. Clinton is taking the picture
Us and our new found South African relatives
