This post was more difficult than most to get online. Anyways, keep the updates on your lives coming. Even if I’m a bit (or a lot) late to respond, I will get back to you in the coming days.
Michelle's description of Coffee Bay, even for that one day, was pretty much spot on. I could have stayed there for much longer. Let me also say that I am absolutely thrilled that Michelle, Abhay, and I met up. We didn't have too long together, but at the end of day, it was nice to be enjoying these moments with friends. The company also turned some of the complete botches (see Amar and Abhay's experimentation with herbal medicine; also see Michelle's hibernation at the club) into great memories.
A bit on Durban, which is awesome. Durban is an amazing mix of Zulu and Indian culture. The city hosts the largest population of Indians outside of India, and has developed such a unique culture that most Indian South Africans have not even been to India. We got to see quite a bit of each of these elements on a township tour, led by a guy who lived in a local township and just walked us through the city at our own leisure. We spoke with an Indian herbal expert, bought some Zulu beaded jewellery in Victoria St. Market, brought some candy to the kids in the guide's township, and finally went to his house to meet his family. I have never felt the pulse of a city as strongly as I did on this tour.
Durban also has some really nice beaches along the Indian Ocean, and Abhay and I took a dip in some of the warmest water I have ever seen. Waves were not too bad and there were plenty of surfers, but this was before our time with Rayno, so unfortunately we were not among them.
I can't say that Durban's nightlife is more vibrant than Cape Town, but we definitely saw a lot more of it (JED-props for warning me to bring dress shoes, ask me about this later). Abhay's party spirit took over, and we went out three out of four nights, so that Coffee Bay seemed like relaxation by comparison. The 4 AM food unique to Durban is an Indian South African creation called Bunny Chow, a hollowed out loaf of bread with mutton or chicken curry inside. Delicious. Watching the Euro has also been a great way to meet people, they almost seemed shocked that Americans could be knowledgeable about or interested in something so international. We watched the quarterfinals in Cape Town (Spain-Italy was pretty damn awesome), the semifinals in Durban/Coffee Bay, and the finals in Maputo (Mozambique).
Michelle and I split from Abhay in Durban after one final night on the town. This twenty-four hour experience was downright epic. I knew it was going to be a tough morning when Abhay and I were hanging out in the hostel kitchen after coming back from the club, and another guy came in and started making some tea. We had completely skipped attempts to sleep and were now back to attempts to wake up. An hour later (7 AM), Michelle and I were at a loud minibus stand in the middle of the city. It seemed that we had found the correct minibus without a hitch, but when we got there, the following conversation ensued:
Me: will you stop at the border so that we can pay for our visas?
Ticket Collector: No, it will be fine though. Let me see passports.
Me: uh, ok?
Michelle: Are we going to be illegal immigrants in Mozambique? How are we going to leave?
The coach bus transportation from Durban to Maputo was sold out for the day we were to leave, so our best option was minibus. Minibuses are probably one of the best ways to see a typical person's life in South Africa and are also the cheapest ways to travel long distances. So why don't tourists travel like this so often? A few reasons. One, the minibus will wait as long as necessary to fill up--we got to the minibus stand at 7:30 AM to find the right minibus and waited about three hours before we left. Two, “full” means different things to different people, so that a sixteen person vehicle might end up holding thirty-two people, chickens, goats, etc (based on a true story). Third, if you aren't careful, you can be left at a border or have your bag stolen. Fortunately, there were no chickens, my bags were not jacked, and the only thing I lost was feeling below my waist.
Our time in Mozambique, was nice, but radically, radically different from South Africa. For one, noone speaks English. The immigration guys at the border thought I was giving them fake money because one of my ten dollar bills looked different than the other—I'm not sure that any of them knew what American money looked like. We spent two full days at Tofo Beach, which Michelle aptly described as a “small beach outside of a small village outside of a small town about 8 hours from Maputo”. It's a pretty popular destination for partygoers, divers, and tourists of all types, but it is still so small that we had to take a bus for about forty minutes (to the small town of Inhamabane) to withdraw money from an ATM. Michelle and I mostly just ate awesome seafood and bought some really cool stuff at the markets. We didn't get to spend a tremendous amount of time in Maputo, which I've heard is a nice city to explore, but we did manage to come across the inconvenient and even the absurd. As far as inconvenience, we were stopped by cops, asked for our passports, and hit up for money. After messing with their horrible English for a bit, I decided that my life and passport was more important than this amusement. As far as the absurd, we sat next to a table of two at one restaurant that was subsequently turned upside down because a woman found her husband drinking with a younger woman. Perhaps I'll make it back to Maputo for some Mozambican jazz, but I'm glad I at least got to see some in Cape Town.
After a fairly taxing journey involving three eight-hour bus rides, a plane ride, one free hike, and one stressful taxi ride (through Jo-berg at 4 am), I'm back for the last leg of my trip, three weeks with my sister at her village in Namibia.. I am loving it, but it’s a different experience. More on this later.
Btw, I take Dean R. and Le-anh's posts about propriety of posts to heart, but I hope people continue posting in small portions or just send private email updates (like the good old days). It's nice to read up on everyone, even you working folk.
Amar
P.S. Reading List update: Currently reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I read Divisadero quite slowly, and found it somewhere between depressing and beautiful. Definitely worth reading.
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Wholeheartedly agreed. We all know who we are, so there's no reason to use full names, and we can still exchange information.
ReplyDeleteBel Canto may be one of my favorite books of all time. As a music and latin american studies kid, the blend kind of worked for me.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but it's (loosely) based on the Peruvian hostage crisis at the Japanese Embassy.
-M.
I'm just catching up to reading this. I'm afraid this is going to be my life for awhile--always about 10 days behind where I want to be. :) BUT I have to say that your description of minibuses is exactly like in Romania, which I find kind of funny. Totally different continent; totally different culture; same crazy modes of transportation. In addition to farm animals and lack of seats, the other scary thing about minibuses in Romania was that they didn't necessarily have set stops; you kind of had to scream out when you wanted the bus to pull over, which it might just do on the side of the highway. I was once in the back of a crowded bus--standing, of course--trying to reach some friends in a village several hours away. I didn't have a cell phone, I hadn't completely confirmed with them where we were meeting, and I was really terrified the whole ride that the driver wasn't going to hear me scream, or that I would mess up the pronunciation of the village and thereby be doomed. Thankfully, someone else was getting off at the same village so I was saved, and miraculously my friends were there waiting for me. I think I always assume that life just could not go on without all the scheduling I depend on, but apparently it can work rather well.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, if you were getting back 3 days sooner I would have tried to crash with you while I'm in Richmond for a wedding. Alas, you are not, but I'll say hi to Richmond for you!