Tuesday July 21 to Sunday July 26 - South Africa Week 1

As there is in some ways less of a variety of things that go on now I am breaking my blogs up more into a weekly read than a day by day accounting. Every day we did something different in Botswana so it made more sense but it was also a bit difficult to keep up with. Internet access in South Africa can also be painfully slow and reminds me of the days of dial up. That could just be the free stuff at the cafes but perhaps you have already noticed I am behind as when I am posting this I am well into the 2^nd week.

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It is a little hard to think that already one week has gone by and that I am inside of three weeks left. I am actually only here for 3 ½ weeks due to traveling time and I can tell it is going to go by very quickly. The vibe is very different than Botswana and Cape Town is also “Party Town” for Projects Abroad volunteers. There are a lot of volunteers here in Cape Town, I am guessing around 400, and they are mostly 16 to 24 and go out to the bars most every night. I’m a little old for this and feel like a dad if I do so call me lame but I am not as into the party scene as they are. As I may have mentioned before, I don’t think they look at me that way, I’ve noticed from coaching at U Chicago that 20 somethings don’t tend to think about age as much. It is really the older folks go do this so it is true that it is all in my head. But my head tells me that I am a bit too old to be partying every night.

My first day in Cape Town was what is called “Induction.” This is where I go into the office, get shown a Power Point on what to do and what not to, they ask me some questions, show me around a bit and give an overall lay of the land. Mishak picked me up early and took me to the train that I will be using on a daily basis and I bought a one week train pass, which I proceeded to loose within 24 hours, so I got to pay double for it this week. I also went out and got a cheap phone to use. Cheap is the key word as it was 250 Rand, around $22 and it totally sucks. The phone keys constantly get pushed in my pocket and when I went to use it I could not because the minutes were not activated and they did not give me the paper to do so. So I have not even used the phone yet and all my minutes are gone. So over the weekend I went and got another phone and this time made sure it worked before leaving. Everything here is done via social network on Facebook so I sprung for a more expensive one that I can get on the Internet with. I should also be able to use this phone in Peru and Europe by changing the SIM card so it is probably a good buy at 600 Rand / $52 dollars.

The surfing project is run by a guy named Chrisjan and I took a liking to this guy right off the bat. I am guessing he is in his late 20’s and he took over the project for PA about 4 months ago and is currently working on a PhD in Psychology. I’m not sure who found the place we work out of but before they were working out of a trailer off the beach and now we have a café about 2 blocks from the beach that the project is run from. Chrisjan brings in multiple groups from Monday through Thursday to go out surfing and in addition to teaching how to do it, the program is used as an outreach as well. I only started on Wednesday but he typically has on average a morning and afternoon group that comes in. The kids are in school in the morning so the groups are adults that are in drug rehabilitation or kids who are in a detention center. In the afternoon he brings in kids from the local high school a couple times a week and some elementary kids from the local township.

Thus far I have just met the high school and elementary kids as well as a few of the guys in the adult rehab program. The high school kids are easy and already know how to surf. Additionally they have a fitness trainer/coach that comes with them so there is not much to do other than to supervise and practice surfing, they pretty much take care of themselves. The adult rehab program seems to be the same but due to a flu outbreak there were only two guys this week, both in their mid or late 20’s. The little kids take more supervision and I am told they can be a bit “naughty”. But they were apparently a bit chilled the one day I have worked with them thus far and other than to count heads and help them catch a wave and work with them in the surf, it was not that hard.

There was a shark attack on a professional surfer, Mick Fanning, during a competition in Jeffries Bay the Monday I arrived and the adults and kids this week were all worried about sharks. It was a great white and the video was kind of scary, I am not sure how much of it made the news in the States but it got a lot of buzz here. The guy was fine and all that happened was his leash was bit in half and the shark got a punch to the head, but otherwise no injuries or even equipment damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3MsEMKrrZk

I’ve not really been worried about it however, don’t ask me why perhaps it is just ignorance on my part. But the guy who got hit was out in deeper water than me and our beach has a shark spotting program in place, so there are always eyes on the hill looking out into the water to call in any activity. Also there is a lot of speculation it was not a real attack but the shark was swimming along and the board leash got into it's mouth and it bit down. Attacks usually happen from underneath and this one was all on the surface.

To date I have been surfing three times now. I seem to be able to get the balance of laying on the board OK but standing up has proven to be very difficult and I have a hard time getting my front foot around and planted where I can stand. It is called the pop up but thus far all I have done is pop off when I try. I have managed to ride the board on my chest or knees for a bit a few times so I think I will get there. It is totally cool and I am excited to have another three weeks of doing this and hope to stand at least once by next week. Friday is our day off so I went over to Strand Beach with a couple of the volunteers to surf over there.

Strand means beach in Afrikaans, so we were literally at “Beach” Beach. The area looks a lot like a modern 80’s version of Miami. So no art deco but a lot of the same pastel colors. I think most of it was built in the 90’s as Chrisjan told us this area of the coast used to be a buffer zone between the National Guard base that sits just to the east and the town of Strand, inland a bit. During the time of Apartide, this base was the chemical warfare area and run by a guy nick named “Dr. Death.” The area of the coast was grassland full of cows, the idea being if they saw a bunch of cows dropping dead they knew they had a leak and needed to evacuate the nearby town. I don’t know how often this happen but it was crazy to think that was only around 25-30 years ago. I don’t know a lot about Apartide but Chrisjan said that South Africa was teetering on full blown civil war and not far from what Syria has been the past few years. They pulled back at the last second and avoided it but some of that legacy can still be seen today.

Physically surfing is not as hard as I thought it would be but my body is getting a bit banged up. Not sure why but both my feet are swollen and at least one toe on each foot is black and blue from banging it on the board. The arthritis in my shoulders also aches with the cold water and more the cold air. Winter surfing here is about being wet and cold so probably not the best think for that. It has rained here on Thur and Fri too so it seems like I have been wet for around 48 hours strait.

The weekend was more relaxed although the other volunteers pack in a lot and it makes me feel like I have not been taking advantage of Cape Town so far. I just went shopping on Saturday to buy another pair of pants, long shirt and sox, try to fix my watch band that broke in Botswana (only worked for 12 hours so it looks like a new watch is in order) and replace the junk phone. It seemed like that took the better part of the day but I’m not sure why exactly. In the evening I went into Cape Town to Long Street with Rahul, my roommate from Amsterdam who arrived about midweek. Long Street is a bar district that is very reminiscent of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, except a bit more seedy perhaps.

Sunday we went to a Brai or BBQ at a place called Mzoli’s, which is in one of the local townships. The place was a bit of a trip, essentially a shack where they grill up meat and serve it to you in a huge stainless steel bowl. The township is all around and the place is a bee hive of activity with cars backed up in all directions. It was a great place to people watch but the music is so loud one cannot hear themselves think. And that is not just me being old as other volunteers said the same thing. It was also an all day affair too, leaving at 9:30 and only getting home around 5:00.

It was generally easy to pick out the other PA volunteers, they were usually white, well dressed and looked a bit pretty and soft. The white South Africans were also dressed a bit preppy but had scraggy beards or at least a week or two of not shaving and they looked like they would kick your ass if you pissed them off. People from the township were often dressed in old pants and t-shirts and often had some of the sterio-type accessories you would see in movies. One guy had on a ship’s captain hat, big necklaces, oversized Ray Ban sunglasses and usually scraggly stubble. Black people from outside the township usually were bigger, in some cases very muscular, and better dressed. Mind you I did not go up and ask anybody where they were from to confirm all this as it probably would have been a good way to get my ass kicked, so you would just have to take my unscientific word for it. In any case it was a very interesting place to people watch.

 

The view from my train station in the evening.

 

July 19, 2015 - Sunday, Leaving Botswana Days 13 & 14

I end up on cooking duty on Sunday for both lunch and dinner. I did not have to but they asked if I wanted to do that instead of the morning project, road repair, and so I did but a part of me regrets not going out on the one last work detail. But at the same time I think my body is just as happy I did not. I have come to the realization that I am now old and I don’t much like it.

Sunday afternoon is largely spent hanging out. We play some volleyball, drink coffee with Philipp, Théo pops a whole apple into his mouth to try and eat it whole, the girls and Léon pull mattresses out into the sun and take a nap. It is nice and while my body is not so ready to do the labor tasks any more, I am going to miss being around the others in the camp. Since about the middle of the week I have grown comfortable hanging out with everyone and as Philipp and Théo have started calling me an old man or grandpa, so I take that as they too have gown comfortable with me. In this respect two weeks is not nearly enough time which makes me glad that I am spending longer in both Cape Town and Peru.

There is a simple rhythm here that I am going to miss.

On Monday we pull out very early, 7:30, for the airport and in some ways I think this is good. I am not exactly sure why we are leaving this early as we don’t fly out until 3:00 pm, but it leave less time for goodbyes to drag out and become uncomfortable. As I don’t much like long goodbyes it is good. But I still find it sad driving out of camp in the truck, passing the landmarks that I have become accustomed to over the previous two weeks, knowing that it will almost surely be the last time I will see them again.

Not much else to report other than the restaurant in the Polokwane Airport is a total 1975 African shag pad. Mirrors on the ceiling, gold and silver everywhere, all kinds of crazy furniture and even a BMW 5 series, or half of one anyway, with the plate Millionaires on it I half expect lines of coke to be delivered with the food. Total pimp.

 

July 18 & 18 - South Africa Days 11 & 12

Today we are taking a “cultural tour” of the area. If I am being honest I was not so sure I wanted to do this as it takes up the better part of the day and I was somewhat looking forward to just relaxing at the lodge. However, part of this is to go out and see the world and in Botswana we don’t really meet any of the locals, other than the camp staff, and I am not going to see any more of it by sitting in the lodge all day. I have to remind myself that this is not about a vacation sometimes and think about a friend of mine, Steve Daley, who is always the first one to jump into a new experience.

The tour is organized and run by the owners of the lodge and one of their goals is to support local artists. In doing this they offer cultural tours that will take you around the area and bring you to several of the artist workshops. As such we stopped by two wood carvers, a pottery and a seamstress, all of which make their own crafts by hand. I’ve just started my trip and not really keen on hauling around a bunch of stuff for the next three months but the prices were so inexpensive and some of the items so nice I could not resist picking up a few things. I’m guessing that this will not be available in Cape Town, and if it is I am sure it will cost twice as much or more. I bought small items but now what to do with the stuff?!

We visit two wood carvers, the first of which is Thomas Kubayi uses handmade tools to create his benches and musical instruments. The other carver is Lucky Ntimani uses more traditional tools but works with kids and when we are there he has about a dozen 8 to 12-year-old kids learning wood carving. The other thing he does with them is teaches them to play music and while we are there they perform for us a couple of songs. One of the other things the boys do while we are there is start a grass fire that quickly starts to spread onto the neighboring property. Nobody seems all that worried about it however and Lucky and a couple of the boys take to jumping around it, beating it with sticks until it eventually goes out. You can actually see it starting in the picture below.

 

There is also a pottery and seamstress that we visit. At the pottery shop they provide a demonstration of how the build pots by hand and in about 10 minutes a woman turns a big lump of clay into a 12” round pot. All by hand and without a pottery wheel, she just molds it by feel.

 

We also visit some of the local shops in Elim that I would compare more to a street bazar or what I suspect the old Maxwell Street flea market in Chicago was like before Univ. of Illinois Chicago bought it up and shut it all down. Largely a series of poorly erected tin shacks where you can buy vegetables and fruit; live chickens; get your hair cut and braded; the brakes on your car fixed; have lunch at a temporary restaurant out of a big black pot; buy clothing; and so on.

 

It is about 4 pm by the time we get back to the lodge and generally hang out until dinner, which was again awesome! The chef comes out at the end to check on how things were and then proceeds to sing us three songs. He did this the night before and I have to say it is a bit odd for me and reminds me of the mariachi players at the Mexican restaurants in San Antonio on the River Walk. I find them annoying and wish they would go away and this has a bit of the same awkwardness to it. However, unlike the mariachi bands playing for money from the tourists, this guy is quite proud of his work and is not looking for anything. So it is kind of hard to be annoyed with it and I feel a bit guilty.

The following day we return to Botswana with a vehicle full of groceries for the camp. We get back around 2:00 pm and mostly lounge around the camp the rest of the day playing Uno or Cambio and doing laundry.

A Little About My Group & Staff In Botswana

Including me there are seven volunteers in my group. There are a few others at the camp but these are the folks I tend to interact with on a daily basis.

Philipp (3rd from left) – 19 and from Germany. He is studying physics in college and is very good with numbers. In addition to being very good at math, I also learn he can more or less count cards and is rather sneaky to play against. Also it turns out his dad had a hand in designing my VW CC that I love to hate the electronics.

Théo (8th from left back row) – 16 and from France. It took me up until the last day to realize that he pronounces his name (T-o). He is still in high school and a little bit of a goof who is very good at spotting and catching crickets for the camp bird – Mutters. He usually has a few in his pants pocket or in the old coffee can he often carries around to stash them in.

Brenda (8th from left front row) – 20 from France. Seems fairly clever and in some ways the most mature of the group with the exception of me. Always in a good mood and perhaps the hardest working one in the bunch next to Elodie. Funny how girls will work harder than boys, I noticed this some at the University of Chicago too.

Elodie (6th from left) – Not sure but guessing about 18 and also from France. She is picked on for being the shortest at the camp but is a firecracker and is often underestimated and perhaps the first to throw it right back, both verbally and physically.

Hugo (2nd from left) – Not sure exactly but guessing around 19 and from France. He does not speak a lot of English but tries very hard to socialize with the group, which must be hard because everything is done in English and it is not always translated back to him. Like me, he has an old car too, a 60’s era Jaguar.

Léon (5th from left) – At 21 and from Germany, he is a cross between a volunteer and staff. This is his second year in Botswana and after last summer they asked him if he wanted to come back and help this year. I don’t think he is being paid but it sounds like his time in Botswana has been comped. During the work projects he pretty much goes 110% and this guy can put away more food than anybody I’ve seen before.

Sophie (taking the picture) – Early or mid-30’s and from Switzerland and our group leader or supervisor, not sure of the title. She is very knowledgeable about the animals in the area and regularly quizzes us on projects and rewarding with candy for the right answer. She is the girlfriend of Gens and the one I have the hardest time understanding her accent.

Gens (1st left) – Early or mid-30’s from Germany. Gens takes care of all the equipment and is the go to guy to fix stuff, which there is always something that needs fixing. Gens does not usually go out with us on a project, likely because he is fixing the hot water heater, one of the Toyota’s 4x4, building cabinets for the volunteer tents, and so on.

Jo (4th from left) – 54-years-old and from Botswana. Jo is the one that usually supervises us on the work projects and takes us on the census and other adventure projects in the bush. When you are with Jo he works you and constantly warns us about doing stupid stuff “you mustn’t kill yourself.” On the more labor intensive work projects he has a tendency to call out the names of everyone in the group as part of the work rhythm.

Jane (7th from left) – Unknown age but guessing around 38 or 40 and also from Botswana. Jane is the camp cook and takes care of all of our weekly meals so you can always find her in the kitchen.

July 15 & 16 - Botswana/South Africa

July 15, 2015 – Botswana Wednesday Day 9

Better day today, perhaps I had a better night’s sleep as this is the first time I recall dreaming during the night. Or maybe it is that we are heading to the Madi a Thavha Mountain Lodge on Thursday and Friday and I know there will be no manual labor involved. Either way I woke up in a better mode and even did not mind the task of picking up or moving heavy rocks all morning.

Kopje climbing at sunset.

The morning project was to collect rocks so that they can lay them into a watering hole being built, the same one we were digging the trench for when I arrived. I’m keeping my fingers crossed but hopefully this is the last of the bad work projects I need to be on before heading to Cape Town. We don’t return to the camp until Saturday and I think we have a makeup project on Sunday, but I’m guessing it won’t be a really bad one.

In the afternoon we drove around taking a baobab tree census. These are very cool trees so I was more into this than some of the other census’ we have done. It largely entailed hiking out to the trees in the bush, taking a GPS coordinate, marking down any elephant damage to the trunk, and taking various measurements.

Baobab trees are very cool and are unlike any other tree. First of all they are fibrous, so if you cut one down there are no tree rings to mark the years, as such you can only really estimate how old one is. They are somewhat like giant stalks of celery and the fibers can peal and hold water in much the same way. The elephants know this and will dig into the tree to get water. The tree can survive this to a point but too much damage and ultimately the tree will die. When it does, after a while there is nothing left to show it was there. The roots, trunk, limbs, everything dry up like hay and ultimately blow away, leaving just a hole until it fills in. Of the four trees we looked at, half had bad elephant damage to them and one is close to dying off. There are somewhere around 100 of these trees in the area.

 

One thing that really strikes me about this place is how clean the air is. It has a clean and fragrant smell and tastes different than air in the U.S. I am sure it is from a lot less pollution in the air and it is nice. I’ve seen many of the animals here before in Tanzania, and it was much easier to actually see them as they did not run away. So in that respect the animal watching is not the biggest thing for me. Being outdoors and in the open air here, however, is a very nice change. But as I said before, this is not a lifestyle for me and I am pretty much ready to move on to Cape Town.

One thing I am pretty sure I will not be doing when I return to the U.S. is going out and living off the land. It is nice for a week or two but you will not find me on any of the reality TV shows on A&E or Discovery Channel, living out in some remote area and living off the land with a nickname like “Chicago Smitty.” Visiting for a week or two and returning to city, or at least urban life is more my style.

 

July 16, 2015 – Botswana/South Africa Thursday Day 10

We headed out for the Madi a Thavha Mountain Lodge in the Limpopo region of South Africa at 8:00 am today and it is a 3.5 hour drive in an open car, so very windy and noisy. Not exactly the most comfortable ride but it is what’s available and I am OK with a few hours of discomfort sitting in an open car vs. swinging a pick-axe. It is sort of like riding a motorcycle from Chicago to Green Bay.

First stop is the border crossing, about an hour away, where we get stamped out of Botswana and into South Africa. It is somewhat funny as everybody finds the U.S. passport very interesting. I got a new one just before coming and it has a different picture on every page as well as a quote from something in history. I had not really thought about it before but it is rather cool to have that.

Two and a half hours later and we finally get to the lodge, drop our stuff and head out to a shopping mall to get lunch, so some people can get some cash, and so Sophie and Gens can do some shopping for the camp. The mall itself is not unlike the U.S. just not quite so nice but full of the same types of stores. Except for the Wapons and Camping store. Wapons being Weapons in American English. They have all sorts of camping gear and guns and ammo in the back. I’ve seen this kind of thing before, and there is a big store just like this right over the border from Chicago in Indiana. But for the others they don’t see this type of thing in Europe and it is very much a novelty. Especially the pink shot gun, sort of a Barbie style weapon for little girls to get their feet wet on killing things. The one thing I did find interesting was all the Jeep branded clothing in the store. I did not know that Jeep had a line of clothes. They are actually rather nice, somewhat like the type of clothing you would find at Eddie Bauer.

It was around 1:00 when we got to the shopping mall and had lunch and around 4:30 by the time we had finished everything and made it back to the lodge where I was finally able to try and call the U.S. 5:00 in South Africa is 10:00 in Chicago so I knew my family would be up but was not so sure they would be by the phone. It is also the first time I used Skype outside of the U.S. to make a call and it does work, however it was not working very well. Lots of static and a delay when I called my folks and the line dropped three times so other than to let them know I got in OK, I was not able to talk about much else. However, I was able to get through to my aunt and talk with her a bit and she relayed the info on to my parents so all is good at least until I get into Cape Town and hopefully find a better wi-fi signal to make a Skype call from.

I get the good fortune of sleeping in the same room as the other three male volunteers, of which it is Teo at 16; Philip at 19; and Hugo at 20. I have no kids but I would imagine it would be like rooming with them but it was not so bad. Three years of coaching novice men at the University of Chicago has well prepared me for this so I get along well. Don’t know if they think the same but I’ve learned younger people don’t think too much about the age difference being a big deal, it is the older people who think about that.
 

The lodge itself is beautiful, there is a bar where I can get a beer, we have an awesome dinner that evening and a real bed to sleep in! And it is not totally dusty here, I am in heaven!

 

 

July 13 - Trappings of My Not So Old Life

I’m finding myself thinking a lot about home today and I have not shaken the trappings of just a few weeks ago. Several time I find myself wondering how my parents are doing. My mom has a spot on her lung that was being checked out this past weekend and I’ve not been able to communicate with them on the phone since the 4^th. I’ve sent a few short e-mails but not received anything back before I stepped behind the dark side of the moon in Botswana. Even if I could talk to them right now they would not know anything but I can’t help but think about it multiple times today. I got the news from them the weekend before leaving so it has been in the back of my mind since. Once I am in South Africa and Peru I should be able to communicate more but in the meantime I am in a total blackout until I can get a wireless signal.

I’ve also wondered about work and home today. It is Monday and the start of the 2^nd week since I left and I find myself going through things that needed to be done and wondering if they have anybody to take my job yet and if anybody is sitting at my old desk or if it is still empty. I wonder about my condo and how that is going with Quinn, the guy taking care of it for me while I am gone, my car sitting in my brothers garage, hoping that a tree falls on it and smashes it flat. Sorry my VW is nothing but problems. And the old car sitting in storage in Rockford, riding my bike along the lakefront, going to Starbucks, eating Chipoltle, and so on. I’ve not shed the rhythms of my old life just yet. Added note; Even though it has been a while since I have been involved in it, I dreamt about home and rowing during the night too.

I definitely think about sleeping in my bed and miss that. As well as being able to take a hot shower and not having to worry about using too much water. Thirteen more weeks on the road before heading back to Chicago, I am guessing I will have broken the rhythm by then and will have to start all over again setting new ones.

July 13 & 14 - Botswana

July 13, 2015 – Botswana Monday Day 7

Last night I broke my sleeping bag zipper. This should teach me to buy cheap stuff but I was planning on abandoning the bag in Botswana and really did not want to take my nice one or spend more than the $60 I did on this one. The fabric on the bag kept catching on the zipper and last night as I was trying to close it in the dark, once again it caught. In the process of trying to free it I managed to unzip the teeth on the opposite side of the zipper so it would not go up or down. This morning when I was trying to get it to go back so I could re-seal it properly, the stupid sipper pull broke right off and now it goes nowhere.

REI is really good about taking this stuff back when it breaks but it would be somewhat hard for me to exchange it out here. We are planning a trip to a local lodge on Thur and Fri so I really only need to get through five more nights with this thing and I can dump it. Perhaps they will be able to fix it and let a future volunteer use it. If not I will dump it in Polokwane so they don’t need to deal with the trash.

Back to the manual labor and today we are working on erosion control. This largely involved digging holes into areas where there is no grass using, my favorite tool, the pick-axe. We dig down about 6”-10”, piling the dirt on the downward slope of the hole in an arc that dams the water and slows it down as it runs through the area. Then we cut stakes about 2’-3’ long, sharpen the ends and drive them into the ground on the back side of the dirt mound about 2.5’ apart. Each hole gets anywhere from 5-8 stakes. From there we cut long branches off the scrub trees in the area and weave them into the stakes like a basket. The idea is to build up a wall with the branches that will withstand a heavy wash after the rain. Then we dig some more, piling the dirt up onto the branches we weaved between the stakes. In total the hole gets to be about 15” to 18” deep with a mound of dirt on the opposite side about the same height. Now when it rains the water will flow through and pool here, hopefully with grass seed. If it works grass will start to grow on the spot and the erosion will slowly reverse.

After two hours of this my shoulders are sore and I think the arthritis does not like the pick-axe any more than I do. But it is not so bad and I have plenty of Advil with me, which is good as I am taking more the past week than normal in 6 months. If I were in Botswana more than the two weeks I don’t know how well I would come out the other side but for two weeks I can take it.

That afternoon we do what is called an adventure walk. This is essentially walking around in the bush to see what you can see and it turns into kopie climbs. Which is cool as you get a good view but I’m torn up from the morning and not as into it as I should be. All I really want to do tonight is have a hot shower and even that becomes difficult as we get back late and only have 10 minutes to dinner. But finally after dinner I get my shower and feel relaxed.

 

July 14, 2015 – Botswana Tuesday Day 8

Today was a trash cleanup day over in an area where they want to build a new water hole. So we walked around clearing wire and stray trash that was lying about. The idea was to walk in a search line but that pretty quickly broke apart, like 20 feet into it. Our supervisors were calling for us to stay into a line but I noticed that they did not really keep to this themselves and overall I have to say this was pretty disorganized. First we cleared south to north and back but then we started clearing east to west in the bushes and people were essentially everywhere. Then we concentrated on a spot where there was a lot of trash and people pretty much went wherever then. My personality is somewhat methodical and this was anything but, which just irked me. After about 1.5 hours we moved on to the Limpopo River where we were going to do a crocodile census after lunch. We walked about 1.5 miles up the river and back and saw several monstrous sized crocs, but the majority of the time we could not even see the water. Which again irked me as how are we supposed to do a croc census if you can’t see the water. My feet hurt and we seemed to go out of our way to walk over the most difficult terrain possible. So I was getting a bit old man irritable over this as none of it seemed very well organized today or making much sense. But we did have the side benefit of getting back to camp about 2 hours earlier than normal so there was down time and a shower which helped my mood tremendously. At least until they announced we are building water holes on Wednesday, again with the pick axe. I’m getting ready for Cape Town more and more and can’t imagine the volunteers who are spending 6-12 weeks out here.

A couple of the crocodiles we saw were enormous. The teeth on these things are nightmarish looking and I am quite sure they could bite a person in half with little problem. Surprising to me they were quite skittish of people and would take off at the slightest sign we were there. I am not really sure why but overall the animals here in Botswana are much more likely to take off quickly than when I went to Tanzania in 2006. So animal watching here is much more of a challenge.

Captain is also in the area still as we ran into him on the road not too far from camp. He essentially stood in the road looking at us like “what the hell is your problem” and took his time doing what he wanted until he moved off to the side. But even then he put on a show with us. If we just sat there he kept an eye on us but more or less went on his way eating. But when we would start the engine he would screech at us and put on a show as if to say “I am not done with you yet.” After about 15 minutes I think he had his fill with us and moved on.

 

 

July 11 & 12 - Botswana

July 11, 2015 – Botswana Saturday Day 5

Half of the volunteers leave today so we are going to be a much smaller group until just before I leave when more arrive. After seeing them off this morning we had some down time and around 10:30 left for a picnic out by a local dam that provides water for the town. Again it was very cold this morning but quickly warmed up in the sun to where it was quite hot. This has been the M.O. of the weather each day with it getting down into the mid 30’s at night and up into the upper 70’s or low 80’s during the day when the sun comes out.

The picnic was about an hour away from camp and to get there we had to get off onto a dirt road and onto a paved road that was essentially abandoned. There was growth right up to the side of the road and trees growing out into the road at spots where it would have been impossible to get two cars across. After lunch we lounged around a bit, all the time with the ding, ding of cow bells in the distance. That was until I found out they were goat bells when they crossed right behind us, munching away at the grass as they circled the dammed lake.

A fairly uneventful and relaxed day but just as we got back to camp we had a visitor. Captain was sitting just outside the camp area, seemingly waiting for us to get back. Once he knew we were here he sauntered right through camp and moved off into the underbrush where we lost him. But not before he wandered through the volleyball area and tried to knock down one of the posts. We heard a twang of something but the posts appear to still be standing. Gens, the camp maintenance guy, has a drone which he launched to see if we could figure out where he went but he was already gone. I am not sure how a two ton elephant disappears that quickly but as I said before, has a reputation of being a sneaky elephant. There is a strong expectation that Captain will return later tonight once the sun goes down.

As for the sun going down, every night we have been treated to an amazing night sky. You can easily see the Milky Way and there are too many starts to count. Additionally the Southern Cross is easy to pick out and every night Saturn and Venus burn brightly over the commissary building. It has been a very long time since I have been able to see this many stars out at night. Got a picture of the night sky over the fire pit area, the Southern Cross is visible just above and to the left of the branches extending from the roof line.

 

July 12, 2015 – Botswana Sunday Day 6

Captain did not come back during the night. Or if he did I was unaware of it. This is just an off day and not much to speak about. We mostly just lounge around camp, play card games and eat. I do a little bit more laundry in the morning and work my way through about 60 pages in my book.

Europeans and Catsup

So I used to think that Europeans has a refined sense of food but I am re-thinking that as I watch their use of catsup.

A quick background is that I am the only American in Botswana right now, the rest of the volunteers are from Germany or France and the supervisors are from Germany, Switzerland and France as well.

Now I tend to think of catsup as rather a lowly condiment that you reserve for things like hamburgers, hotdog's and french fries. Note I do not put catsup on my hotdogs in the true Chicago tradition but a lot of people do. What I find is Europeans, or at least the ones here, put catsup on everything. Chicken, rice, pasta salad, stew, I saw one put into vegetable soup, green beans, and so on.

I'll add that most of the volunteers here are around 19/20-years-old so perhaps this can be chalked up to just undeveloped taste. I saw one guy eating boiled shrimp with a chocolate and coconut muffin too. But everybody seems to think this use of catsup is normal including the volunteer supervisors and guides who are older.

So the next time somebody says that Americans have bad taste in food I am going to tell them to take their catsup and go eat some soup and rice.

July 10 - Botswana

July 10, 2015 – Botswana Friday Day 4

A little bit easier start to today as we were going on a spoor census. I may not be spelling it right but spoor means animal tracks, and I don’t know if this is a typical term for looking at animal tracks but I will say I was relieved to know we were not going out and checking out poo. We did it all on foot and this was pretty cool as when I went to Tanzania we were not able to walk through the bush like this. But there are no lions in the area so other than pissing off an elephant, we are good here. But there are lots of elephants in this area and it was not more than 45-50 minutes into our hike when we came across a family with calves and we had to high-tail it over to a kopie and climb up. We were down wind of them but if they knew we were around they would have been totally pissed at us. Since elephants are the number two killer of people in Africa, probably a good idea we kept our distance when on foot. Hippos are number one. We hung out on top of the kopie watching them and seeing where they were going and when Joe, our guide felt it was safe, we climbed down the other side and “kopie hopped” about a ½ mile away before turning back for camp.

This afternoon I did my first laundry after lunch, which was interesting as I have never washed my clothes in a wash basin before. But they don’t stink so I think I did OK. I also learned about “Captain” the creepy elephant from Jan (the guy who does the camp maintenance) He said that Captain is a 15-year-old male with two broken tusks that sometimes hangs around camp and steals people’s laundry. Last time he took some guys bath towel off the line, flung it around for a while then took a dump on it for good measure. I also hear he likes to just hang out in the middle of camp sometimes and disrupt things. Supposedly he does not get upset with anybody, he just stands in the middle of camp making it unsafe to get to and from tents so they shuttle people around Captain using the trucks. Captain has not been seen for a few weeks but usually is not all that far away.

In the afternoon we went out mending fences that separate the local town from the reserve as any animal that gets through is fair game to be killed by the people living here. After that we had a BBQ under the stars. I was feeling kind of old, given that everybody here is under 25 except the supervisors, but when I got back to my tent I read the notes I got form work and they brought a smile to my face and made me feel better. I intended on reading these on the plane but the flight schedule has always been in the late evening and I have wound up sleeping much of the time. But the timing was good to read them and I’ll hold them around for the next time I am feeling a little too old to be doing this.

July 8 & 9 - Botswana

July 8, 2015 – Botswana Wednesday Day 2

I got up early and dug a ditch today. Yep and 3 hours of this dam near killed me by the time we got back to camp. My hands were so sore I could not write or grip things very well and earned a nice blister right on the palm of my right hand. And I got filthy in the process, which given the fact that I have a limited amount of clothes is a bit of a problem I need to work out. There is laundry but I’m thinking that the brown dirt is not going to easily come out of my clothes. If I had known driving a pick ax into hard, rock filled dirt would be a part of this as I could have snagged a bunch of safety glasses from work. More than once rock chips few up into my face so I am rather glad I need glasses to be able to see. By the time it was finished for the day I must have been covered in reddish dirt.

 

The ditch we were digging was an overflow at a watering hole that the owner, Helena and Jane, wants to add a pump to that will bring water up and help out in the dry season. It sounds like they had a lot of baby elephants that died a year ago because of a lack of water so this is to help cover those times. However, while very noble, this seems to be a bit at odds with the rules of leave the animals alone and don’t mess with them but let nature take its course. Again not going to argue.

We got back to camp from ditch digging around 11:30 and after lunch I crashed with a two hour nap before we left again to do a bird census in the afternoon. The census entails driving around, identifying birds, and recording the location. Twenty minutes of this and I was done, let’s just say I am not into looking at birds and whatever I do, it won’t involve this.

July 9, 2015 – Botswana Thursday Day 3

Today job is fence removal. The area is a patch work of livestock pens with old electric fences that are in various states of falling down due to the elephants. The owner has bought up a large amount of the area and along with some of her neighbors, they are returning the area to the wild. So one of the jobs we have is to go out and pull the wire fences apart and open up the area so animals can move more freely.

Each fence is made of wire with electric lines and has around 15-20 wires strung on them. And each one needs to have the five current wires removed then the 15-20 wires need to have the tie unwound from each of the posts so the wires can be rolled up and hauled away. Each post is about 10 feet apart and there is about 3 miles of fence in the one line we are working on. Once the wire is pulled out, the fence posts are tossed into a pile on the side to be picked up later. All and all I will take this any day over digging a ditch.

Doing this is important because the animals walking over the downed fences can get their legs caught up into them and injure themselves, sometimes quite gruesomely. Something I quickly discovered myself walking over a section and finding my foot tangled up in the lines. We pulled about 50 feet of fence out and removed the electrical current wires from about another 200 feet in the three hours we were working on this.

Hamburger lunch and at 2:30 we headed back out to run a mammal census. More interesting than the bird census but it amounts to the same thing. We drive around and count zebra, elephant, impala, and so on, say where we say them, how many males vs. female, babies, etc. As a part of this we also climbed up another set of kopies where we got a great view of the area. There were also several Baobab trees in this area, one of which is enormous and goes by the name “Big Momma”. I asked our Group leader, Sophie, how long it would take for one to get that big and she said it was estimated at 1,000 years old and the largest they know of in the area. The girth of the thing is the size of a house and pictures really don’t do it justice.

The Baobab trees are another part of our work in protecting them as the elephants like to dig into them for water, which disfigures the trees and can ultimately kill them. The ones on the rocks like the 1,000 year old tree are better protected because the elephants don’t like to climb up to get them so they are more out of the way. But others are just mangled. A younger one we passed on the way out to this area had a ring of stones around it that Project Abroad put in place to keep the elephants from getting near it and killing it.

Elephants themselves are really destructive. I know they are majestic animals but if they were humans they would be looked on as horrible people. They run around, scare off the other animals, tear down the smaller trees, dig up the watering holes, smash the fences, and like I said, kill the Baobab trees. I in no way suggest they should be killed but I get why the farmers and ranchers in Africa hate them because they run around wrecking everything.

At the end of the census we climbed another kopie formation and watched the sunset over the bush. It was a really beautiful evening and one that made me think that only a week ago I was in an office and now I am sitting on top of an ancient set of stones guarded by a 1,000 year old tree watching the sun go down over the Botswana horizon. Thus far I think this has been one of the highlights of my Botswana trip.

At least until we got back down on the ground and had an impala poo spitting contest. I am more than a little too old to be doing something like this but it is hard not to when everybody else is. I tied for first place with an 16-year-old French kid.

Got in a little hunting this evening. While waiting for dinner, Jane the camp cook, began yelling in the kitchen and chasing a mouse out. I was the only other person there and we chased it around the commissary until it hid behind a book case. After several minutes of trying to get it out and into a net, the mouse managed to escape out of the commissary and into the bush. Not sure what we would have done with it if we had managed to catch it but Jane told me of a story later on how a mouse earlier in the year they cornered jumped up and landed into her apron! So she was keen not to repeat that.

 

July 6 & 7 - Arriving South Africa, Botswana Day 1

July 6, 2015 – Arriving

Having arrived in Polokwane, which is the largest little watering hole in South Africa a few hours from the border with Botswana, I collected my bags and began looking for my ride. After about 10 minutes everybody on my plane had left and there was nobody around, outside of a few airport staff members. Another 30 and still no ride and I figured it was time to figure out how call somebody, given I have no phone because US phones don’t work outside of the US.

A friend asked me what would happen if you got there and nobody was there to meet you (thanks Willa.) I was not worried about it but here I was, arrived half way across the planet and nobody was there to pick me up and I have no phone. I did grab the Project Abroad Cape Town number, which I assume is like making a local call in the US so somebody may let me borrow a phone. They did, for 20 Rand. But that was fine, I got through to the office and Flora got the driver and sent him over to pick me up. For some reason they had no idea I was arriving.

While waiting, I made a new friend at the airport, Rachel, who was quite interested in my life in Chicago, how many cars I own, am I married, have any kids, what is there to do in Chicago, Polokwane is so boring, and so forth. She gave me here e-mail and phone number and said I needed to call her and she wanted to visit me in Chicago. I got the distinct feeling she was husband hunting as well. She reminded me of a small one horse town girl trying to get out by hooking up with anybody heading out. If my ride had not shown up I was pretty sure I had a place to stay in a pinch. So I played along, who knew how long it would take for my ride to show.

My driver, Sydney, did show up about 25 minutes after I called and I was on my way and bidding farewell to Rachel. There were a couple of other passengers in the car who were not going to the camp and rode with me the entire 2.5 hours to the Botswana border. I am not really sure what they were doing there. But whatever.

Sydney reminded me of Ernest Borgnine, in both his appearance and mannerisms. He also loves the US because we do everything right here and bigger. Including “lethal injection” which he seemed very fond of. Who knew I would run into a Tea Party Republican presidential candidate all the way over in South Africa?! Also for somebody who did not want to drive too fast, Sydney passed most everything on the road and drove down the dirt roads at a really high speed. Dude beats the shit out of his Land Cruiser and it would not have taken much for us to break an axil or roll that sucker over in the soft sand on the curves. But I made it safe or would not be typing this.

Side note, a few days later I asked and he goes through a suspension on his truck once per year.

At the Botswana/South Africa border I had to switch vehicles and go through Botswana customs, who asked if I had any cocaine in my luggage. I was pretty sure they were joking but not 100%. Get my new driver, Joe, and we are off we go in his Land Rover pick up on more dirt roads.

We got to the camp around 5:45 that evening and I met the other volunteers for the first time. All very much younger than I and just about all from France or Germany. But everybody was quite nice and I expected that I would be older. The group I had been assigned to was heading out right after dinner to spend the night in a blind and I thought about going but declined and instead went to bed early that night.

July 7, 2015 – Botswana Tuesday Day 1

Today was pretty easy and low key, in the morning I went through an orientation with Sophie, our group leader. I remembered almost none of it by the afternoon, but I got to meet the staff, try to learn names, and get the general layout of the camp. Late in the morning we also took a quick game ride, stopping to walk a bit and climb to the top of one of the kopie rock formations that dot the landscape. That was fun and you could see quite a ways from the top. We took a group photo and in the back of my mind I was thinking of how easy it would be for us to fall off backwards. The photo was bad because sometime on the plane into Johannesburg something triggered my sinuses to go nuts. And now out in the dust of Botswana the right sinus kept acting up to the point my right eye was hard to keep open due to the sinus pressure and constant watering.

I am not sure how kopies got here and when I asked nobody else, they were not really sure either but the prevailing thought is they are the hard rocks that got left behind as the softer rock and sand eroded away. The rocks that make up the kopies are very ancient looking and in some cases really look like somebody dribbled them down from the sky the way they piled up on one another. In some cases there are old trees growing right out of the side of them and I don’t quite get how the whole thing holds together.

That afternoon the owner of the place (the project is on private land) Helen was going to have a conservation debate/conversation with us. Helen is probably in her 60’s and whereas Sydney is a Tea Party Republican, Helen is more of the left wing liberal and could have easily played a part in the disaster movie The Day After, where the world goes haywire. That may be a bit over the top but she most certainly can be called a tree hugger and stated that the downfall of humans will start about 30 years from now if we don’t start to slow the disaster right now.

Some highlights, the planet has too many people and we need 3 Earths to support what is here now; we need to convince people to have less babies; we are too commercial; the rich call the shots and the poor nations will be sacrificed by them; etc.

Mind you she is not all extreme the sky is falling and has some opinions that I agree with. Like water bottles are a huge waste of resources when you can drink perfectly good tap water. 1,000 years from now you can dig them up from a landfill and still use them. Knowing how many just a few people I know use every day I can see where we will be drowning in the things very soon. She is also very much against having exotic animals as pets. I too think this is absurd and don’t get why anybody wants a lion, tiger or monkey for a pet. I don’t even get how it is legal. Water access will be the next big area of conflict and I can see where this could be the case. She feels that the rich will be able to buy all they want and think they are entitled to have whatever they want, letting the poor people suffer. One just needs to look at California right now to see that is totally true. Despite all the issues the rich people in California still soak their lawns and then complain that they are being picked on and that they have money and have the right to use as much water for anything they want because they are rich. Kind of disgusting and I have to wonder if they realize how self-centered and selfish they sound. Folks you are among the first the mob is going after and you will deserve it in my opinion.

 

After thinking about it more, however, I really have to wonder how the conservation area is all that different than the rich people Helena seems to think are the route of a lot of the planet's problems. I think it is good to conserve the area but it is doing nothing to help out the poor people who live in the area. They are not welcome to come by at any time like a national park and they do not benefit from having it near by. If anything it makes their lives more difficult because they loose land to farm or raise livestock. By comparison, Helena is very rich and makes money off having a lodge on site where she gives safari tours. So in some ways I think she is the pot calling the kettle black.

I also don’t quite hold the same pessimistic view of the next 30 years and think the planet is better at healing itself than it is given credit for. In any case I did not want to argue with her, something I know would shock some of my friends. It is her place and I am the guest so I am not going to be rude.

Quick Peek From Dark Side Of The Moon

My time in Botswana is essentially a black hole of communications which is why I have been very quiet for the past few weeks. There has been no access to wireless for me to be able to post anything or check messages since July 5th. An unexpected trip to a South African mountain lodge has provided me with some Wi-Fi access, otherwise it would still be several more days before I would be back into the city and even have a shot at getting a wireless signal.

However I know the world has not come to an end as all the European volunteers here have working phones. Which I have to say is a bit of a disappointment, when I act surprised that there is cell service way out and tell them that I have a hard time in my house and the only good spot is the kitchen they look at me like I am crazy. America, the land of the best of everything has totally crappy cell service compared to even 3^rd world countries! So much for capitalism.

I'm not going to share each individual post right now so if you want to read them all you will need to work through them on the main landing page. I do have them dated to make it easier.

July 6 - Arrive in South Africa

Finally I'm in South Africa! Although not time to celebrate yet as I still have a 1 hour flight to Polokwani and then a 3.5 hour drive into the bush from there. But I've got my bags checked and the worst leg of travel is over.

First impression, holy shit I am in South Africa and I need to brush my teath! Second impression, the airport here looks just like any other airport so how would I know other than the people have an accent.

Changed over $100 and got back $1,032 in South African Rand! That seems like a lot to me until I went and got a coffee, water and yoghurt and spent $62 Rand on it. And the water is sparkling, forgot this is what most other places seem to drink for water.

The customs folks seemed pretty surly. Did not say a word to me just took my passport, hit a stamp on it and gave it back. But outside of there everybody seems very friendly, more than what you would get at O'Hare. I'm the foreigner now so maybe that is part of it and I was a bit skeptical when a porter offered to carry my bags and help me check in for my flight to Polokwani. I read you should be careful on who you work with as there are scam artists but he had a uniform on and helped me out. Not knowing how much to tip him he suggested $100 Rand, and yes, I know when the porter tells you how much to tip that is probably to their benefit. But he was actually pretty helpful and when I do the reverse math that is just under $10 USD, which does not seem so out of line. Based on the airport prices at the cafe I essentially tipped him lunch.

Next stop Botswana, which is essentially a black hole of communications as there is no electricity where I am going. The only internet access is "in town" which is 1.5 hours from our camp.

So I'll be going off line soon for a while but will spam it all back out once I get back to Cape Town.

July 5 - Long Travel Day

Technically it is days as it began on the 4^th and won’t end until the 6^th after crossing the border into Botswana. Holding up well thus 10:30 pm somewhere in the sky over Algeria which puts it around 4:30 back in Chicago and the long holiday weekend is beginning to draw to a close.

The 8-hour flight from Chicago to London was good and I lucked out with an aisle seat in front of a divider wall that gave a lot of leg room. Next to me was a guy from Ohio named Jorge who was on his way to India and is originally from Peru of all places. So we talked about my trip, work, etc. Nice guy and he gave me a few tips on things to do when I get down there. Slept part of the way and puts around on the plane the rest, no Wi-Fi access, which was somewhat of a surprise as it was a new plane. For those wondering, yes I did see a few fireworks as we took off from Chicago but not many. And by the time we crossed Lake Michigan they were all over on that side of the lake.

London was good, it was a little cool when we landed but not that bad. The plane got in around 10:00 am and my flight out to Johannesburg did not leave until 7:00 pm so I went into town to visit Stephen, a rowing friend from the past. Somehow my trips to London seem to coincide with big rowing events as the last time I was over here the Head of the River and the Boat Race were both going on that week. This week it was Royal Henley. There is a dress code at Royal Henley, which I was not prepared for, but that is OK, we stopped by Stephen’s rowing club and watched it in their bar for a bit. His club, the Thames Rowing Club, won the Thames Cup for the first time in 50 years in the eight so they are probably doing quite a bit of drinking right now.

The 11 hour flight to Johannesburg fortunately for me was not full and somehow I again scored a aisle seat with lots of leg room, so luck seems to be following me. Although once again this flight has no Wi-Fi so I am beginning to wonder if British Airways has it. Heathrow Airport did and even the Express Train into London had Wi-Fi available. It would be nice to catch up on stuff but I’m going to try and sleep for a while anyway so it does not matter too much I guess. Hopefully there is some in Johannesburg on my 4 hour layover as once I get into Polokwani I’m guessing there won’t be any. And I know the 3 hour drive to a camp with no electricity means it will be a while before I get back on. Or got back on depending when this gets posted.

Just shy of 24-hours travel time so far with 8-9 more hours flying time and at least a 3 hour drive. And this is not the longest stretch of travel I am going to do, that is reserved for Cape Town to Peru.

July 4 - Lock The Door Behind You

It took a long time and felt like it would not ever get here but today I begin my trip. Independence Day. What better way to begin my journey than enjoying a holiday weekend of grilling outside, riding my bike along the lakefront, watching fireworks, and enjoying what have been some of the nicest days of the year so far. I did see the fireworks while visiting with my brother and sister in law on the 3^rd but that was it. The rest of the time has been a mad scramble to get everything done.

1. Haircut – check that off
2. Safe deposit box to drop stuff off, cash out the change I’ve collected, and get money from the ATM – check but had to do it twice since I forgot the money the first time around
3. Pack my clothes and stuff for the trip – this one kind of has to be a check but it was a big one and I more or less gave up on figuring it out at the end. So I have too many shirts packed and probably not enough pants. I also did not come close to just having the one bag pictured earlier.
4. Meet with the guy staying in my place – check
5. Grill the pork chops I defrosted on Thursday – Fail, still sitting in the fridge for the renter guy
6. Move the car into storage – check
7. Wash the car, fill the tank up and put gas stabilizer in first – check
8. Get a couple of bricks to chalk the tire as my electronic parking brake (I drive a stick) decided to stop working properly – Check, which should make my brother and his wife happy since it now won’t roll around in their garage
9. Move my voicemails to go to my e-mail – completed I think. A message saying my free transcription service was about to expire. Did not know I had one and not sure what that means exactly.
10. Reset my voice mail on my phone to say I am out of the country – Nope blew that one
11. Watch my movie and return it to Netflix – Did not happen either, enjoy renter guy
12. Cancel the cable and wifi – done and I rather enjoyed this one
13. Return the cable and wifi boxes to RCN facility by the river – done and easier than I expected
14. Transfer money from savings to checking – complete
15. Pay my credit card bills – done
16. Pay the property tax bill that showed up on the 3^rd – curve ball since it came right after I shut off my wifi access but done too. I did this at Starbucks so hopefully nobody was skimming and now has my savings account info.
17. Clean the bathrooms – mostly done
18. Clean the bedroom – did not get around to vacuuming but clean otherwise
19. Clean the kitchen – not such a good job here and mom would not approve
20. Clean the rest of my condo – mostly picked up and dusted but did not clean the floors
21. Take out the trash – done, twice
22. Take out the recycling – forgot this one
23. Move the clothes left behind out so renter guy has a place to keep his – done
24. Laundry – done
25. Get batteries for flashlight in Botswana – done
26. Back up computer – check
27. Pack up computer and scanner for storage at brothers – check
28. Go for one last bike ride on the lakefront – nope

It was kind of dumb of me but I figured since I would have all day on Friday and half of today to take care of this I would be fine. After all I often would pack for a work trip the morning of before going into the office. Of course those trips are typically 3-4 days, it is a little different when you have to pack for 3-1/2 months. If I had been smart about this I would have taken a few more days between work and going to get ready and enjoy the last few days before heading out. But I’m not typically accused of being smart so instead, it has been a lot of work with only a very little bit of play before going. I actually started to get relieved as the time grew closer to go as it simply meant I had to stop worrying about cleaning stuff and getting things ready.