Flying home

I am sitting at Wimpy's at the airport (they have wi-fi) and reflecting on my two weeks in S. Africa.  Impressions that rise up are many:  the severely disabled children (mostly suffering from cerebral palsy) at Silgobile in their stand up high chairs, laughing and enjoying the story told and sung with gusto by their black caregiver.  The caring for these children with so many needs deeply touched my heart.  The laughing face of Eric the ranger at Chapungu (Thorny Bush) as he talked with Aubrey the spotter  and as he teased me comes to mind.  I am impressed by his excellence of knowledge and by how much he cared for all the wildlife, but especially the rhinos (when we briefly saw the biggest male rhino, he wrote the coordinates on his hand so he could pass on the specific location ).   The extreme contrast between the luxury I experienced as a white visitor and the extreme poverty of the black people living in Kahyelisha is very hard to hold in my head.  It made me feel better that the exhibitions at the Cape Town Art Museum on the last 20 years showed the difficulty of this contrast (whew, I'm not the only one that finds this contrast difficult).  The incredible hospitality shown visitors, white and I hope and think black too by Cape Town residents and tourists industry sticks in my head.  The teenager interpreting the microscope exhibition at the Aquarium sticks in my head because of his passion for the beautiful little life forms he was showing us.  The incredible natural beauty of Cape Town (Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula that looked so much like Point Reyes National Park near us at home, the Winelands, Kirstenbosch with the blooming Proteas) and the amazing beauty and wildlife up north at Thorny Bush (sitting in the middle of a herd of elephants, the lions, all the wildlife really were amazing because we got so close to all of them).  I found very refreshing that both blacks and whites could joke and talk about race openly.  S. Africa is way ahead of America in terms of race relations.  I found people speak about forgiveness and understand its freedom in a way that few inn America do.  All the cars are little and white.  The cappucchinos are great.  I don't know if I'm called to come here, but I am very glad I came on this two week trip.  It has shaken me up, shown me I can adapt and I am very interested in this different culture.  I missed going to Rondebosch Church and Robben Island on the first day of the tour, and today my tour to Robben Island was cancelled because of bad weather.  Maybe I'll have to come back and complete the circle, go to Rondebosch Church (I had coffee with their pastor Robert Steiner today and like everyone was impressed by his openness and joy) and go to Robben Island.

Mandela's birthday

Today, July 18, is Nelson Mandela's birthday and the country celebrates this holiday by doing community service.  Everyone is encouraged to go out and do something to make this country of Mandela a better place.  It doesn't matter what you do, just something to help the community.  I'll be interested to ask at breakfast to see if the people that run this hostel disguising as a B and B are doing. Mandela's casts a strong shadow still here, he is revered by everyone.    It is blustery and windy and rainy today here in Cape Town.  Marilyn Votaw, founder and head of Tremendous Hearts, met me at the B and B and drove me out to see the projects I missed when I was stuck in Amsterdam.  First we went to Khayelitsha Township again to see Sibongile Project.  This seems to be their most successful project.  It is a series of 4 homes for severely disabled children, most with cerebral palsy and a creche (day care center) for the severely disabled children.  The day care has about 15 children.  We visited it first and it was heart wrenching to see the children, even as they were in good positions, some propped up in homemade standing chairs, some propped with sand bags on pads on the ground, and half lying on pads on the ground.  The place was clean, full of bright art work on the walls and as we arrived, one teacher was singing a wonderful African song.  The children seemed happy and aware and while their plight tore up heart, I was happy they were being cared for so well.  Tremendous Hearts volunteer Becky, a physical therapist, has worked here for two years.  That she is trusted and respected by the caregivers and children was very clear.  She has helped develop the procedures that have helped the children so much, yet the African women who work here clearly know they are in charge.  It was a success of the Tremendous Hearts model for development.  We went through two of their four care houses,where 15 or so children live, cared for 24/7.  I had never seen children so severely disabled and was very touched by their interaction with us.  Too bad we didn't have candy for them, that was what they wanted.  Bright smiles from them are like smiles from God.
After having a bite of eat at the Learning to Earn restuarant, we headed out the opposite direction to Paarl, near Steinbosch in the shadow of the Drachenberg muntains.  We headed to Mbekweni, to see the famous go go soup kitchen.  There was only one of the ive go goes there.  Marthat had come to meet me.  It was a big day because they just had gotten a new propane stove much bigger than what they had.  They talked about their dreams (Marilyn, Joye (her mother the volunteer there and Martha) of moving to the Catholic Devleopment site nearby and have two containers.  The soup kitchen that feeds 150 children per day is in a container, like those used on container ships.  I'll never look at a container the same way again.  I was happy to see the site, but without the go gos there and the children, it was just a turquoise blue contaner.  I am deeply touched by these projects, but can't see what I could dod to help there.  So much of the volunteer work involves social welfare skills or fund raising skills.  Marilkyn and I spoke about what drew me, what I could do and she arranged a meeting for me with Robert Steiner, pastor of the Rodebosch church.  I look forward to meeting him tomorrow afternoon and then I head home.  I am tired and ready to be home.

In the middle of a herd of elephants

Each morning at Chapungu (the name of our tent camp and the African name of the short tailed eagle) we are awakened by a knock on our door at 5:30 am.   We gather at the beautiful outdoor lounge for coffee and homemade biscoti and then leave for the morning safari around 6:15 am.  It's a little scary if I thought about it to walk there in the dark wild animals roam freely through the camp.  Dressed in all my many layers from head to toe, literally, I get into the big Land Rover.  Even climbing in the thing is a challenge.  And then we head out to see what we can see.  This morning wasn't so extremely cold, which brought out more animals and made all of us much happier.  We came upon (I'm sure the guide knew this den) a family of hyenas.  One big cub was crunching a hip bone with a broken femur attached.  Even though the cub looked adorable, the crunching reminded me of their place in the savannah ecosystem.  Then we cruised with the 4 wheel drive on down a sandy riverbed and turned off into the bush (always a sign there are some animals nearby).  This time, it was a herd of elephants.  

We found ourselves right in the middle of the group.  Some of the elephants looked at us, not startled but curious.  They continued their feeding, breaking and tearing the trees apart.  Some of them walked really close to us, so close I could see their eyelashes.  It was incredible to be sitting right in the middle of the herd in an open car.  Up close, you can't miss how very big they are.  They moved in a slow sauntering rhythmic walk until one didn't.  It didn't like us there, raised up it's head, put its trunk up and raised its ears out and started charging the truck.  We quickly moved away and the elephant watched us and let us go.  The power of their wildness erased any romantic or poetic images I had conjured up.  Next after driving along (really more like careening through the bush) bumping and banging up and down, skidding around the corners, we came upon another Land Rover and there was a male lion just walking down the road.  He is truly the King and he walked slowly and unhurried by us and continued even as we pulled up like in a parade behind him.  Perhaps he walked a 1/2 kilometer with us following along.  He was pure power and it was clear he could move really really fast if he wanted to.  Finally he turned off, jogging into the bush.  On the way back to the camp, we passed many impalas, a group of zebras and I just soaked in the amazing beauty of this place, this morning and feel so fortunate to have had this experience.  We arrived at camp at 9 am, and my driver to take me to the airport was there.  Quickly, I passed out the tips, settled my bill and got into the car to leave this paradise.  The plane was 3 hours late, so I arrived in Cape Town after dark.  My B and B is more like an old fashioned 1930.s rooming house run by Indians.  I am tired.  It is raining and I hope my dreams are filled with images of the beautiful animals and colorful birds of Thornybush.

Lions

The animal of today is the lion.

 This morning we went out on our morning safari drive at 6:15 am.  The sky was just begin to show the light and as we drove off, the sky turned a marvelous rose pink on the horizon, while the top of the sky was a beautiful powder blue.  Together they met in a golden glow and it all reminded me of watercolors flowing over the sky.   Eric, our guide, drove in apparent circles.  At one point he took the rifle and went with Aubrey, the spotter, down a track, looking for tracks of the lions.  I imagined, as I sat alone in the Land Rover that the lion would come and sit beside me (I was the only passenger during the morning safari).  Finally we looked down a road and there was a female lion walking down the road towards us.  We followed her, she ignored us, and soon the male lion came along on the walk too.  We followed them for quite a while.  They seem to be able to totally ignore the vehicle.  Eventually they plopped down together and just chilled.   We were no more than 4 or 5 feet away from them.  It was totally thrilling with an edge of scariness.  They truly are kings of the land, the most powerful ones and they know it.  We found another pair later and watched them as well.

Returning to camp, I took a two hour power nap and woke up feelng very happy.  Then I took a bubble bath in my outdoor giant bathtub.  No giraffes or impalas walked by to see me, but then my tent in on the edge of a steep embankment so it was unlikely for any to come by.  I felt totally spoiled but I managed to enjoy the luxurious accommodations.  Then at 2 it was lunch time and I enjoyed my delicious lunch.  At 3:30pm we met to go out on our afternoon safari, this time I wasn't alone, a lovely family of 4 and two of the wokers from Chapunga were in the vehicle.  We saw many more varied animals on the afternoon trip:  bushbucks, a hippopatamus family with a baby, a hyena family with 5 energetic pups, a huge herd of Cape buffalo, more lions,  zebras, African wildcats, a mongoose and many more.  The day was a great delight for me, enjoying the luxury and the amazing wildlife here.  I enjoyed a sparky conversation with the family on the Land Rover this afternoon--the mother teaches social justice at University of Capetown and the daughter volunteers in Khaleyisha---small world  

The Big Five

The big five are the five big animals that won't stop charging you, even if you shoot them (elephant, rhino, leopard, buffalo, and lion)  These are the animals our guide had it in his head that we needed to see.  We saw all of them today.  It was cold this morning, really cold on the safari drive.  We drove for 2 hours straight, heading south, and saw nothing.  The animals are hiding, said Eric, our guide.  It tried the patience of all of us and made the elephants we found all the sweeter.  Animals are not just called up on demand. they move about as they will.  On cold mornings, they are less active, until the sun warms up the earth.   The elephants were just feeding, tearing down trees, and munching the bark.  I am amazed when I think how big they are and how they eat such unnutritious food as tree bark.  Of course, they spend all their time eating.  I loved watching the delicate way they step, like there are eggshells they don't want to break and the precision and sensitive way they used their trunk and lips.  It is truly amazing to be in the presence of these large wonderful wild animals.  Later we saw a leopard but only briefly as she rushed down the tree as soon as we arrived.  There was a mother and three cubs and a dead impala hanging in the tree for the family to feed on.  Returning to camp around 10 am, we had a lovely cooked breakfast, perfect poached eggs and delicious homemade granola with fresh fruit.  Then I headed off to the Thornybush Lodge for a massage.  I asked the woman who gave me my massage what, for her, the soul of Africa was (that was the name of the massage) and she said it was basically a Swedish massage with a fancy name.  I was hoping for a more philosophical answer.  I surely got sucked in by the name imagining all sorts of souls of Africa.  For me, the land itself has a deep soul of Africa, the amazing diversity of wonderful plants and animals, so primeval, so diverse, so wonderful.  I guess it is what one thinks it to be, that soul of Africa.  The afternoon safari drive was also sparse in terms of animals.  There were multitudes of wildebeasts, kudu (which I am eating for dinner), baby leopards (the highlight) and a sleeping lion.  As I reflect on the experience here, I am in awe of all the wonderful wildlife and the diversity of what we see.  All of the clients are white, and the staff majority is black.  One of the gifts of South Africa to me is to see the relaxed way the black and white races interact and can actually talk and tease each other.  For example I wanted a photo taken with Eric my black guide and Natalie, the white administrator here, took the photo.  She  said Eric move into the sunshine, if I take a photo of you in the shadow, all I'll see is your teeth.

Saying goodbye

Today was the last day of the Tremendous Hearts tour.  At breakfast the waitress knows what I eat now and just brought it to me (2 poached eggs soft and wheat toast).  We don't have such attention and service at home.  Then the group headed south for a Cape Peninsula tour.  It was raining lightly as we drove down the coast past very wealthy communities.  We got to the Cape of Good Hope National Park and took the funicular up to the lighthouse.  The park had beautiful stone walkways (like our WPA work) giving views out to the ocean and dramatic mountainous coast.   Then we headed up the east coast of the Peninsula to lunch and then a visit to penguin colony.  4000 penguins nest on a beach reserve with a beautiful walkway for observation.  There were adults, teenagers and babies --penguins that is, not people.  After we'd got our fill, we boarded the bus  but not before I finally succumbed to commerce and bought two brightly painted African wooden birds.  I did bargain the tall skinny fellow down a bit but probably paid double the price a native would pay.  Our next stop was Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.  This time I was entranced by Mandela's golden bird of paradise (yellow instead of orange petals) bred specially at Kirstenbosch.
We had a lovely farewell dinner - tapas, fish tacos and panne cota with lots of red wine.  It was sad to think this experience is ending and we all have to say goodbye to our new friends.  Each family group was gifted with a copy of Melanie Verwoerd's new book, coming out next week on Mandela.  I can't wait to read it.  But even as it is sad, we are all packing and most of us heading off for safaris in Kruger Park.  I know that I will be processing all that I have experienced here for a long time.

Fabulous Meals

Each day we have been having the most amazingly big and delicious meals.  South Africans really like to eat!!!!  Yesterday on our full day tour of the Winelands near Cape Town, we had lunch at the Roca Restaurant at the winery of the same name.  We always have choice.  For the appetizer, I chose (taking a chance) the thinly sliced smoked antelope (kudu) arranged like petals on a flower on the plate, topped with perfectly dressed baby arugala.  Delicious!  For a main course I had half a roasted chicken, deboned and served over fresh sauted vegetables covered with a spicy pepper sauce.  Others chose the 1/2 pound grilled sirloin steak or mushroom fettuchini.  And THEN, dessert, a perfect panne cota.  Once a day we have had a meal like this.  And at each meal we've had interesting speakers.  Friday night a Rick's Cafe Americain, Xolela Magcu spoke.  He is a Professor of Sociology from University of Capttown and was a good friend of Steve Biko and an expert on the black consciousness movement.  He explained to us the differences between Mandela (raised to be deferential to whites) and Biko (confrontational, he was brutally murdered by the Apartheid regime). What impressed me about Xolela was his commitment to change in the society through educating the young people.   In my humble experience, high school and college is a great time to challenge the youth with new ideas.  Xolela also writes columns in the newspaper.  I thought it was funny when he got into analyzing Chicago politics and Barack Obama.  Yesterday at the lunch I described John Mattison was our guest speaker.  He was an interesting contrast to the previous speaker, Xolela and took time to explain to us why he is so important (NPR correspondent,   He is writing a book now called *God, Spies, and Lies".  He took a philosophical approach to explain what is happening in the country.  They currently have an unemployment rate of 25-35%, with it being from 50 -70% for youth.  This explains the high level of violence he said.  He said they have created in South Africa a black middle class equal in numbers to the white middle class and that is a huge accomplishment.  He and Melanie (former Parliament member and Executive Director of Tremendous Hearts) had a respectful disagreement about the ANC and what is happening there.  For me it was great to see how vital and alive the political discussion is in this country.