Friday, April 07, 2006
In South Africa now
Just a brief update on the end of my activities in Lesotho and the first few days in South Africa. Last weekend I was able to get a ride to Bethlehem, South Africa (it is on the Jordan River or at least the Jordaan and is not far from Nazareth - the Boers are really religious people and used the Bible to justify their treatment of the Blacks (and Indians and Coloureds). Ray, Carol and Penney were flying home from Jo'burg and we managed to get everything in a quite small car (the trunk had to be tied down). Luckily Bethlehem was not far. I stayed at a guest house downtown and it was luxurious - good mattress and volumes of hot water in the shower.
The difference between Lesotho and RSA (Republic of ) is astonishing. Everything in the latter is modern and advanced. Bethelhem is pretty rich - it has about 60,000 people and BMW and Mercedes (and other car) dealers. And this is with cars costing perhaps 40% more than in Canada. In a used lot a 2 year old Mini-Cooper was still around $30k.
There are still huge wealth differences between white and black people, but there are lots of blacks driving BMWs and fancy pickups. The nicer parts of towns are not just white people, except for economics. Every decent size town has a poor, black suburb (township) outside and these tend to be very dangerous, crime-ridden places. In the nicer parts of town, serious fences and gates are pretty much standard - regardless of the colour of those inside.
Anyway, when I got back to Lesotho I decided to go on a big loop that would allow me to visit both St Charles and Mamohau (and maybe Makhelefane if I thought my car - a 1400 cc VW Clio could make it). Lonely Planet said that the gravel road joining the end of the road past St Charles to the Katse Dam takes taxis about 5 hours and I certainly would be going faster than they would so I assumed it might be 4 hours. Wrong!. The first paved road deteriorated inside pothole city after I went past a big diamond mine. It was a neat road with the highest pass at 3255 m and the country's only ski resort (one lift and about 4 lodges). When I got on the gravel road things really went downhill (and uphill). Night overtook me and I missed a turn (there are no signs). I had pretty much decided to sleep in the car when a truck came along - I asked how far I was from the destination and they said a long way and suggested that I stay at a lodge that was right were I was parked (absolutely in the middle of nowhere on a side road). I have no idea why there would be a lodge there and it was not fancy, but nice to find a bed. It still took three hours+ in the morning to get to Katse for a total of something like 11 hours. In the morning I picked up an older lady who was hitchhiking to her teaching job - turns out she is the mother of Sister Alice who was one of the people responsible for the founding of Help Lesotho. It is such a small country.
The drive was very hard on the car - I got a flat and could even tell it was flat because the road was so bad (rocks sticking up everywhere). The result was that I destroyed the tire (or tyre as they say here - that cost about $90 to replace). I also damaged the exhaust system (broke the pipe of the muffler) but that welding job only cost a little over $10.
Back on the paved road, I went to see the dam - it is remarkable 185 m high and fairly narrow. It allows water to sent to RSA through a tunnel that is something like 150 km long. It is one of eventually 6 dams that will be built at a cost of something like US$18 billion. I also visited with Peter the former deputy principal at Mamohau who is now the principal of Katse HS. I think I arranged a possible partnership between him and one of the merchants in Leribe to grown and sell roses in Amsterdam (not a stupid idea, they do it in Zimbabwe and the air connections there are not as good). This is one of several economic development ideas I have and the furthest along.
Back in Leribe I got the repairs done (the exhaust guy said his shop opens at 7 but I should come at 8 when he arrives - he arrived at 845 and wanted me to consider supporting his ski resort development idea - this happens all of the time. I finally got out of Lesotho at about noon and got into RSA as quickly as possible. The route I took followed the border of Lesotho and I went quite a bit further but it is faster because the roads are quite good - you can average 100 km/hr or more. In Lesotho, the highway is also the main street and there are children and animals everywhere - if you can average 70 you are doing well.
Last night I stayed in a town of about 10,000 called Zastron. The two sons of the owner live in Lethbridge, Alberta of all places and he is thinking of moving there (he looks about 65). According to him, RSA is going in the direction of Zimbabwe - white farmers are being killed and he had an attempted robbery at his hotel with the bad guy shooting at this wife (the bullet hole is now hidden by a printed notice about something). He said the police are OK, but the judges are useless. The robber ended up with a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to attempted murder.
Today my plan was to stay in a place called Grahamstown. I was there for an hour or so trying to get a room - turns out it is the busiest weekend of the year - graduation at Rhodes University. The next town, Bathurst, is having the annual agricultural fair and it is jammed too. I ended up in Port Alfred, which is an ocean resort, although the weather is not very good - cool and wet. Tomorrow I am going to a private game reserve where I may get to see lions, elephants, etc. To say there, single, would cost about$1500 a night (some of these game reserves are more than that). I am going as a day visitor for $160. We visit a place where they rehabilitate lions from zoos and have lunch and then go into the reserve in a land rover with a guide. The various rangers talk to each other about where the animals are so your chances of seeing them is better.
All for now
The difference between Lesotho and RSA (Republic of ) is astonishing. Everything in the latter is modern and advanced. Bethelhem is pretty rich - it has about 60,000 people and BMW and Mercedes (and other car) dealers. And this is with cars costing perhaps 40% more than in Canada. In a used lot a 2 year old Mini-Cooper was still around $30k.
There are still huge wealth differences between white and black people, but there are lots of blacks driving BMWs and fancy pickups. The nicer parts of towns are not just white people, except for economics. Every decent size town has a poor, black suburb (township) outside and these tend to be very dangerous, crime-ridden places. In the nicer parts of town, serious fences and gates are pretty much standard - regardless of the colour of those inside.
Anyway, when I got back to Lesotho I decided to go on a big loop that would allow me to visit both St Charles and Mamohau (and maybe Makhelefane if I thought my car - a 1400 cc VW Clio could make it). Lonely Planet said that the gravel road joining the end of the road past St Charles to the Katse Dam takes taxis about 5 hours and I certainly would be going faster than they would so I assumed it might be 4 hours. Wrong!. The first paved road deteriorated inside pothole city after I went past a big diamond mine. It was a neat road with the highest pass at 3255 m and the country's only ski resort (one lift and about 4 lodges). When I got on the gravel road things really went downhill (and uphill). Night overtook me and I missed a turn (there are no signs). I had pretty much decided to sleep in the car when a truck came along - I asked how far I was from the destination and they said a long way and suggested that I stay at a lodge that was right were I was parked (absolutely in the middle of nowhere on a side road). I have no idea why there would be a lodge there and it was not fancy, but nice to find a bed. It still took three hours+ in the morning to get to Katse for a total of something like 11 hours. In the morning I picked up an older lady who was hitchhiking to her teaching job - turns out she is the mother of Sister Alice who was one of the people responsible for the founding of Help Lesotho. It is such a small country.
The drive was very hard on the car - I got a flat and could even tell it was flat because the road was so bad (rocks sticking up everywhere). The result was that I destroyed the tire (or tyre as they say here - that cost about $90 to replace). I also damaged the exhaust system (broke the pipe of the muffler) but that welding job only cost a little over $10.
Back on the paved road, I went to see the dam - it is remarkable 185 m high and fairly narrow. It allows water to sent to RSA through a tunnel that is something like 150 km long. It is one of eventually 6 dams that will be built at a cost of something like US$18 billion. I also visited with Peter the former deputy principal at Mamohau who is now the principal of Katse HS. I think I arranged a possible partnership between him and one of the merchants in Leribe to grown and sell roses in Amsterdam (not a stupid idea, they do it in Zimbabwe and the air connections there are not as good). This is one of several economic development ideas I have and the furthest along.
Back in Leribe I got the repairs done (the exhaust guy said his shop opens at 7 but I should come at 8 when he arrives - he arrived at 845 and wanted me to consider supporting his ski resort development idea - this happens all of the time. I finally got out of Lesotho at about noon and got into RSA as quickly as possible. The route I took followed the border of Lesotho and I went quite a bit further but it is faster because the roads are quite good - you can average 100 km/hr or more. In Lesotho, the highway is also the main street and there are children and animals everywhere - if you can average 70 you are doing well.
Last night I stayed in a town of about 10,000 called Zastron. The two sons of the owner live in Lethbridge, Alberta of all places and he is thinking of moving there (he looks about 65). According to him, RSA is going in the direction of Zimbabwe - white farmers are being killed and he had an attempted robbery at his hotel with the bad guy shooting at this wife (the bullet hole is now hidden by a printed notice about something). He said the police are OK, but the judges are useless. The robber ended up with a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to attempted murder.
Today my plan was to stay in a place called Grahamstown. I was there for an hour or so trying to get a room - turns out it is the busiest weekend of the year - graduation at Rhodes University. The next town, Bathurst, is having the annual agricultural fair and it is jammed too. I ended up in Port Alfred, which is an ocean resort, although the weather is not very good - cool and wet. Tomorrow I am going to a private game reserve where I may get to see lions, elephants, etc. To say there, single, would cost about$1500 a night (some of these game reserves are more than that). I am going as a day visitor for $160. We visit a place where they rehabilitate lions from zoos and have lunch and then go into the reserve in a land rover with a guide. The various rangers talk to each other about where the animals are so your chances of seeing them is better.
All for now
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Lesotho time almost over
Last entry from within Lesotho I think. Had an enjoyable last week at St Charles although I must say that I now know a lot more about the expression, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” I bought some chemical spray that was supposed to kill them but not sure how effective it was – in any case, I have a number of bites that look like small mosquito bites and are pretty itchy. Life here has been pretty comfortable in a camping sort of way, although there are exceptions like this and the rat(s).
I got a very nice send off from St Charles today with some nice speeches and a special song sung by their very nice choir. They seemed very sad that I was going and I will miss them too. It is a very nice school with staff that cares about their students. The kids are very good although they are so isolated that they do not have much of an idea of what the world has to offer. When I get back to Canada I will try to figure out what I can do to support this school. They have a couple of big physical plant problems to face. One is that their water system was vandalized (people stole the pipes to build soccer nets) – this job will be something like $6000. The other problem is that some of the school buildings are being torn apart by slumping of the soil on the hill on which the school is located. It looks very much like earthquake damage. In one building there are cracks that are something like 3” wide in the wall and floor and the damage is getting worse. At least three buildings need work and the cost will be in excess of $30,000 – which is a huge amount of money here.
An interesting thing here is the focus on security. Crime is a problem, but not nearly as much as people think it is and react to. The police are not armed but there are security guards in many stores who are armed with shotguns – some of which are nasty ones with pistol grips. At one store in the mountains, the shotgun was held together with packing tape. I think the safest place with that would probably right in front of the barrel when it was fired.
There are many security guards and night watchmen but locks are old skeleton key type and easily broken. The convent is surrounded by a high fence with razor wire on top but the chain and lock to close the gate are permanently together (the key is lost – which is common) and it looks locked, except that it is isn’t – one of the links of the chain has been cut and just hooks onto another part of the chain. At Mamohau, the fence was locked each night, but there was a hole in the wire in the gate was large enough to climb through with a backpack on.
Laura, the Peace Corps worker at St Charles has been told by her superiors that she must move out of the extended village of Seboche because it is not safe enough. They were supposed to have checked this first (she has been there for almost a year) but did not. She is not happy with the idea of moving and is pretty brave too boot – she is an active anti-Bush type from North Carolina after all.
I have had good luck with taxis recently – not full and the music is better on the east/west route than on the southern road to Mamohau.
Good fun with pigs this week. The fence around the pig pen at the school does not keep the pigs in very well and I had to chase little piglets this week. That was fun. There was also a guy chasing one across the soccer field by the church. The man was faster but the big had better steering and knew where he wanted to go. Of course, everyone in sight was cheering for the pig. When last seen, the chase was going in the general direction of the Indian Ocean.
One of the things that I will miss here are the stars at night – you can guess why I might be out looking at the stars at 4 am. It may be my imagination, but the difference in clarity between here and Algonquin Park is as large as the difference between Algonquin and suburban Toronto. I was looking forward to seeing the Southern Cross but it is not too exciting. Orion is much clearer than home – you can see more than just Orion’s Belt; but the neatest thing of all is the amazing clarity of the Milky Way.
I got a very nice send off from St Charles today with some nice speeches and a special song sung by their very nice choir. They seemed very sad that I was going and I will miss them too. It is a very nice school with staff that cares about their students. The kids are very good although they are so isolated that they do not have much of an idea of what the world has to offer. When I get back to Canada I will try to figure out what I can do to support this school. They have a couple of big physical plant problems to face. One is that their water system was vandalized (people stole the pipes to build soccer nets) – this job will be something like $6000. The other problem is that some of the school buildings are being torn apart by slumping of the soil on the hill on which the school is located. It looks very much like earthquake damage. In one building there are cracks that are something like 3” wide in the wall and floor and the damage is getting worse. At least three buildings need work and the cost will be in excess of $30,000 – which is a huge amount of money here.
An interesting thing here is the focus on security. Crime is a problem, but not nearly as much as people think it is and react to. The police are not armed but there are security guards in many stores who are armed with shotguns – some of which are nasty ones with pistol grips. At one store in the mountains, the shotgun was held together with packing tape. I think the safest place with that would probably right in front of the barrel when it was fired.
There are many security guards and night watchmen but locks are old skeleton key type and easily broken. The convent is surrounded by a high fence with razor wire on top but the chain and lock to close the gate are permanently together (the key is lost – which is common) and it looks locked, except that it is isn’t – one of the links of the chain has been cut and just hooks onto another part of the chain. At Mamohau, the fence was locked each night, but there was a hole in the wire in the gate was large enough to climb through with a backpack on.
Laura, the Peace Corps worker at St Charles has been told by her superiors that she must move out of the extended village of Seboche because it is not safe enough. They were supposed to have checked this first (she has been there for almost a year) but did not. She is not happy with the idea of moving and is pretty brave too boot – she is an active anti-Bush type from North Carolina after all.
I have had good luck with taxis recently – not full and the music is better on the east/west route than on the southern road to Mamohau.
Good fun with pigs this week. The fence around the pig pen at the school does not keep the pigs in very well and I had to chase little piglets this week. That was fun. There was also a guy chasing one across the soccer field by the church. The man was faster but the big had better steering and knew where he wanted to go. Of course, everyone in sight was cheering for the pig. When last seen, the chase was going in the general direction of the Indian Ocean.
One of the things that I will miss here are the stars at night – you can guess why I might be out looking at the stars at 4 am. It may be my imagination, but the difference in clarity between here and Algonquin Park is as large as the difference between Algonquin and suburban Toronto. I was looking forward to seeing the Southern Cross but it is not too exciting. Orion is much clearer than home – you can see more than just Orion’s Belt; but the neatest thing of all is the amazing clarity of the Milky Way.
