Last Days

May 8, 2002-Information
(photo:-Road to Grooteschwartberge Mts.)

I have a question. Just where is the garden on the Garden Route? The guidebook says that some people rave about the drive and some say you don’t need to go out of your way to see it. I think it’s over-rated and I could have lived without it. I would have preferred more time in Cape Town. South Africa was a last minute addition when we made our final booking in the spring of 2001. At the time, it made sense to add it since we had an around-the-world ticket and it didn’t cost any more. Now, I wish we’d gone straight home from Kenya. In 2001, I didn’t have the overwhelming desire to hug and speak to a pregnant belly in Akron. David is happy we came here and, now that we’re about to leave, I am too.

Our quaint little B & B last night had a quaint electrical system. We lost the lights twice. Fortunately, I’d finished writing the email and didn’t have to frantically unplug and hope to avoid a power surge. We decided not to eat at the B & B restaurant since the menu had nothing I wanted. We did go to Jemimas and learned that Jemima is a guardian angel. I also learned that the menus in the area are heavy on steak, lamb, and ostrich. I ended up with pasta. No, David didn’t try the ostrich. Evidently there’s a Biblical prohibition that specifically mentions that bird by name, so he decided against it. We also skipped the ostrich farms and the ostrich shows featuring ostrich riding. I did go into one gift shop to look at ostrich purses, but realized I had no idea what they should cost and left. We also skipped the Angora rabbit farms with Angora rabbit shows. I don’t know what kind of a performance a rabbit can put on and I guess I never will.

Imagination

Sometimes I forget where I am. It’s easy to do that in this part of South Africa. I’ve figured out that some of the architecture reminds me of the southwest U.S. Some of it reminds me of Florida. Oudtshoorn in sunlight is a cheerful conglomeration of those styles plus sandstone Edwardian buildings all of which have gracefully made the transition and have been adapted for modern use.

The main attraction in Oudtshoorn is the Cango Caves. A man armed with a tiny lantern discovered them in 1780. He never knew the extent of the caves or their beauty since he didn’t have the benefit of the electric lights that illuminate them now. The Bushmen used the cave entrance 10,000 years ago for shelter and left cave paintings, which have disappeared due to too many tourists touching them. They never knew about the caverns since they were afraid to go into the dark where they believed their ancestors spirits lived. They eventually left the entire region because of a lack of water. We explored the caves this morning along with 30 Taiwanese tourists, their guide/translator, and the English-speaking guide. Since my Chinese is limited to three phrases, I can say that I heard the commentary twice, but only understood it once. At one point the guide pointed to a formation with his flashlight and asked if we could see it. Before it could be translated, two loud voices called out, “Yes.” Guess who? At some points he cautioned us to “mind our heads” since the ceiling got rather low. I wonder to whom that applied? We were at the rear of the group and not one of the Taiwanese had to duck.

Gazing at rock formations was better than imagining shapes when looking at clouds. These ranged from the usual drapery effects of the stalactites to more elaborate arrays resembling tobacco leaves hung out to dry. There were delicate drippings that looked like a giant spider had woven a huge web and a column that looked as if it had been sculpted out of marble. Some shapes looked like fangs and others like gorilla faces. The “bridal bed” reminded me of the ice cave in the movie Superman I. One castle-like beauty appeared to have been intricately made by wet sand that had been drizzled by a child while playing at the beach. The guide proudly pointed to a wall that held what he said looked like a Bible and a cross. Boy, did he have the wrong audience. The grand finale was when all the lights were turned out and the guide played a throbbing drum-like sound on a wall of stalactites. He said it was what darkness in Africa sounds like. It was a primally visceral sensation.

The oldest formation was dated at 10.5 million years old. Unfortunately, the stalactites and stalagmites are no longer growing. Unlike other caves we’ve toured, there’s no dripping water here. This one is dry. The green tinges on the walls were algae growth caused by the lights they now use when the cave is open. They’re trying to limit the number of tours. The guide and translator repeatedly asked the people not to touch anything, but human nature is funny. They not only rubbed and touched the rocks, but also walked and climbed on them to get a better vantage point for photos.

Trekking Back

Cape Town was 4 ½ hours away and we had to cross the Klein Karoo, a high desert, and scale Grootschwartberge, an imposing mountain. This is when David and I had one of our more inane conversations. We had lots of mountain passes ahead of us. We thought it was better than having to go around and around the mountains to get to the other side. We decided that passes are good things. Passes are our friends. We went through one tunnel. Tunnels are even better than passes. We also drove through what is billed as the longest wine route in the world. It could have been worse. We were not interested in stopping for any wine tasting. If we found anything we liked, we couldn’t take it home with us. We have no room in our bags for anything but flat items. Shipping is costly and I don’t want to carry any more. We’re trying to keep track of six bags as it is.

The scenery was broken up by the occasional picture postcard village in a valley and by signs for Ronnies Sex Shop. I guess it fills a need in the middle of nowhere. We also rode by a primary school where children were playing next to walls that were decorated with red AIDS ribbons. It’s an overwhelming problem in Africa where one in four people is infected with HIV. Perhaps Ronnie can work something out in the way of condom distribution.

We could see Table Mountain from about twenty miles away and listened to talk radio as we rolled into the Cape Town area. The commentator said there is 25-40% unemployment in South Africa. It’s a big spread, but out of the six million unemployed, two million are unemployable due to age and physical condition. Even graduates of universities and technical colleges aren’t finding jobs. The Rand has fallen drastically in the last few years and economic growth just isn’t there. It sounded pretty bleak.

We’re meeting the in-laws of people we know in Akron for dinner. We’re looking forward to the evening and will bring regards from home.

Toby