Rainy Days in East London

After a long morning on a bus, I arrived in East London only an hour and a half behind schedule, which is not so bad for Africa. I was picked up at the station by Bob Clayton, who I’d met on couch surfing. He and his wife, Lesley, were my hosts for two nights in East London.

After a few errands, Bob and I went to their home. I spent the late afternoon on the beach, where I waded in tide pools and finished reading Cutting for Stone. We then went out to a bar, then another bar, and then home for a late dinner and drinking by the fire pit. I tried my first Biltong, which is everything beef jerky wished it was.

The next morning, while Bob was at a day long meditation retreat, Leslie and I went for a late breakfast (or early lunch) at a very cool farmer’s market. Given the bad weather, we spent the afternoon at home, where I watched TV and used the internet. That evening, we went to a friend’s to Braai (barbeque) and watch the South African Springboks play England, one of their biggest rivals, in Rugby.

It was a great game (SA won), great food, and great company.

We spent the next day driving around town, with sightseeing and a visit to a Koi fish show intermixed with errands. We went to a restaurant with an amazing view and delicious fish and chips. Later that evening Bob and Leslie drove me 40 minutes away to Buccaneer’s backpackers in Chintsa, where I would spend the next two nights.

J Bay

After a series of buses and taxis that started at 5:30am, I arrived in Jeffery’s Bay just before sundown. I came to J Bay partially because my 13-year-old self used look at the of famous surfers there in magazines, and he wouldn’t be too pleased to hear that I passed by without giving it a go. I went into the Quicksilver store and asked about a place to stay, and they pointed me just behind the block to a backpackers.

Jeffrey’s Bay Backpackers was recently bought by the owners of Island Vibes, another nearby backpackers, and I arrived just as renovations were getting underway. There were a few employees and local friends sitting around a table, drunkenly lamenting the change of management and the new no-locals-allowed policy that would come with it. The backpackers wasn’t supposed to take in new guests due to the renovations, but since the sun was nearly set and I had no car, they let me take a room for the night.

I had a look at the beach in what sunlight remained, went to a Spurs for dinner (a tacky Cowboys-and-Indians themed restaurant chain here), and then hung out around the hostel for a few hours. Before bed, I made plans with a couple of guys, a local and an employee, to go surfing in the morning.

The next day we rented wetsuits and boards from the Rip Curl store and paddled out to Kitchens, one of the two big surf breaks. The break is pretty far out and there were no other surfers out when we arrived, so I did not realize how big the waves were until we paddled out. They were all overhead, with some that were easily double overhead coming in. They were all clean and beautiful. I am no fantastic surfer to begin with, and I’m fairly out of practice, and I was pretty scared to drop in on a wave. Nonetheless, after a few false starts, I took the plunge and caught two very big waves. After we had been in the water an hour, some people paddled out who knew what they were doing. I had a good time, but watching the real surfers made me want to become a better surfer.

I spent the rest of the day hanging out at the backpackers, walking around the town and beach, and purchasing a bus ticket. I woke at 4am the next morning and walked a kilometer to a gas station, where I was met by a Greyhound bus that would take me to East London, my next stop.

Cape Town!

I landed in Cape Town in the afternoon and took a bus from the airport to the city center. Cape Town is a large and beautiful city on the Atlantic Ocean. The view from the city is dominated by Table Mountain and the two peaks- Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak- that flank it. I loved watching the mountain change colors through the evening as the sun set.

I met up with Tyler, a friend from NC State who abandoned school for a year in order to live and travel in southern Africa. He is currently living in Cape Town. I stayed with Tyler for a couple of nights and then spent three more on the couch of Steven, another NC State friend. Steven was just finishing up a semester at the University of Cape Town and was living in a house of eight foreign students. The living room where I slept was a busy place with people coming in and out, but I managed to sleep well.

The first night, Tyler, his girlfriend Candida, and I went to Steven’s for a Braai, or grill out.  We ate tons of meat. We had a great time.

The next day, I went with Tyler, another expatriate American named  Johnny, and a South African Jack for some  rock climbing.  We drove out to a suburb, parked on the side of the highway, and climbed up a cliff to a crag. I was concerned I was unprepared when, on the way up, I was the only person out of breath. There was a beautiful view of Musenburg and the coast from where we were climbing.  Johnny lead climbed, meaning he clipped in carabineers with the rope through them as he went up. After Tyler and Jack climbed I had a go at it. I was surprised with how high I was able to get, although I didn’t get to the top.

After the other guys did a more difficult climb we headed home, stopping at a great place for dinner on the way. Later that night we went for “hipster pool and dancing”, as a friend described it, at a club called Evol.  It was a cool place with all kinds of characters, and Candida and I didn’t get a cab home until past 4am.

The next day, I went alone to the waterfront and had a quiet meal overlooking the yachts in the harbor. Sitting there, I thought about how, if I took a photo and showed it to the average American, they would surely think I was in Miami or Nassau. The picture of Africa so many Americans have may not be completely inaccurate, but it is completely inadequate. This is a vast, diverse continent.

I went to the aquarium, the nicest I’ve seen. My favorite exhibit, besides the sharks and manta rays, was the penguins.

The next day held even more penguins. I took the metro train out of Cape Town through a series of hamlets on the most beautiful coastline I have seen, ending at the last station in Simon’s Town. I got lunch here before walking 45 minutes to Boulder Beach, playground for the African penguin. I walked down a wooden boardwalk surrounded by the little birds. On my return journey, I stopped at Kalk Bay and ate Ice Cream at the harbor with my new German friend Rebecca. That night I had planned to climb to the Lion’s Head peak, supposedly an amazing hike in the full moon, but got back too late. Instead, I went to a Mexican restaurant with my friend Steven and his roommates.

The next day was cold and rainy. I went with my friends Tyler and Jess to a camera store. I then met up with Niklas, who I had met on CouchSurfing. He took me to a fantastic restaurant with curries and then showed me around the city. We tried to get to the roof of his old apartment building but were locked out. The windows on the top floor afforded a very nice view anyway. After walking through the company gardens and exploring an old cathedral, Niklas showed me his artwork at his home. I then left for Tyler’s. After going out to dinner and then to a pool hall, I had a quick sleep. At five, I awoke to make my way to the bus station. Next stop, Jeffrey’s Bay.

Oscar: Become Part of the Story

Last month, I met a blind man living in an Guatemalan charity with a fascinating story.  Please read Oscar’s story and consider recording a message of encouragement for him or sending in any audiobooks on CDs.  He dearly misses reading stories of travel and adventure, and I think some audiobooks would make his days more enjoyable.

In the end, this project is about human commonality and compassion.  Read the story.

A Week in the Ecuadorian Coast

In my last travel-related entry I left off after our first full day in Puerto Lopez, during which we visited the beautiful Isla de la Plata and saw scores of humpback whales en route.  The next morning was our first day of classes.  My instructor, Yober, was two years older than I was. He was very friendly, but we spent a lot of time conjugating verbs in the present tense, something I’ve known how to do for quite some time.  I told him I understood this subject, but we kept going over it.  We also reviewed other things that were more helpful, and just speaking in Spanish was helpful on its own.  After four hours of instructions, we went with the Sotos, our host family, my brother, his instructor Diana, and some neighbors to Manchalilla, a nearby town. Manchalilla was very similar to Puerto Lopez.  It too consisted of about 20 blogs, all very walk-able, and abutted a harbor filled with small, wooden fishing vessels.  However, on this Tuesday Manchalilla was in the second day of a major three-day celebration, La Fiesta de San Pablo y San Pedro.  Near the beach was an area with many tables covered in green cake, many people sitting about, clapping or dancing, and a stage where scantily-clad women sang and danced seductively, undoubtedly making the saints they were honoring very proud.  We stood amid the noise, watching the dancers, for about half an hour.  Then, we headed to a nearby soccer field.  There, we discovered that most of the young guys who had ridden with us from Puerto Lopez were actually apart of the Puerto Lopez soccer team, including my instructor Yober.  After changing into their clean, white uniforms and cleats, they took to the field against another team that soon arrived in a bus from a nearby town.  Davis and I had not yet eaten lunch, so after watching the first couple minutes of the game, we wandered back toward the fiesta in search of food, which I found in the form of a delicious rotisserie chicken and rice on the beach. My vegetarian brother was less successful, and had to suffice with a packet of Ritz crackers.  We returned to the soccer field in time to watch the final minutes of Puerto Lopez’s crowning victory, and were able to take a picture with the trophy.  

The rest of the week, our routine included breakfast around 8:15, went on an excursion in the morning, had lessons from 2 to 6, and went to eat dinner and lounge about in hammocks on the beach until around 11 with our friend Shannon.  I will write about our specific excursions in a later entry.

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