The next morning we went to the botanical gardens. One would have thought that spring would be the perfect time to go. Surprisingly not very much was in bloom even the time of year. So our stay was fairly short in the gardens. The climate was much warmer in Durban than in the areas that we just came from. We went from bundling up to shorts and tee shirts.
We next went to U-Shaka Marine world. Which was 100 yards around the corner from our hostel. We learned that there were restaurants outside the paid admission areas. That would have been nice to know before we took the leisurely stroll through the “No Go” area the previous day. The park had a nice aquarium the spent a lot more effort highlighting conservation than the parks in the states. The pictures of the stingray feeding and dolphins are from this site. The diver put the fish right into the stingray’s mouth. My assumption is because the stingrays can not compete with the other fish for food in the densely populated environment. They food would never make it to an area where the stingrays could eat it because of the positioning of the mouth and the lack of relative speed. The fish bumped so violently against the diver that his equipment got dislodged for a while.
As we exited the park we purchased almonds. We had gone 10,000 miles and ate almonds that most likely were grown in California. Most of the world’s almonds come from California. And most of those come from one company.
We had enough of this city and left that afternoon even though we had prepaid for that night. Arriving at St. Lucia Estuary we checked into a dump that was clearly the worse backpacker’s hostel. It was also the most expensive, which is a relative term (~$13.6). We would find out later that we had paid these prices for a lack of hot water too.
Day 12 (Wed)
We went back to St. Lucia for an afternoon of kayaking. Our guide’s name was Chris and we had another companion named Jo. Jo was from Holland, blond and studying premed. She was nice enough, just one of those people that you get a sense that you do not want a sharp object in her hands. We paddled out in individual kayaks and got within a very few feet of the crocodiles. The hippos had a reputation for coming out and playing with kayaks so we avoided them, and only observing them about 75 yards out. Hippos are not animals you want to mess with; they are extremely fast in and out of water. Jo dropped her camera in the water during the trip. As we were putting the kayaks away Chris made offered to take go the next closest town in his car and be back to St. Lucia by 10 AM the next day. It was stated it in such a way to say that was an open invitation. Being a slightly dimwitted person one might not have notice that it was directed only at Jo as a proposition for the night. Since he had phrased it in such a way that it was an open invitation that all 3 of us could hear I was so tempted to accept his offer just to mess with him. That would have been really funny. I decided not to be cruel and avoided throwing a wrench in scheme. Ah I’m such a nice guy sometimes.
We took maximized our evening by spending time buying some food for the next morning’s breakfast. We purchased an interesting looking coconut pastry, danishes, and cereal bars. While waiting at a restaurant for our dinner we started with the coconut pastry. We each consumed one and I was stunned that it was a very strong liquor pastry. Since I do not like the taste of alcohol it was quite nasty. In the US it would have had to been labeled a liquor pastry. I quickly decided that I was not going to eat any more. We devised a generous plan to give it away to the other backpackers telling them that we did no like it and they were free to have it. The Aussies were quite excited to have some since it was a special treat in Australia. The first kid wolfed it down the next started with smaller bites not delaying long enough to get the reaction from the first kid. They were also repulsed the taste and said it was not supposed to be that way and were spoiled. Noting how awful it was two other people including Jo (the blond from the kayak trip) insisted in trying some. Ah, just like the college days when some idiot would say “Ew, it’s awful try some!”
The next morning we were greeted by monkeys outside the hostel they were the trouble-making kind that would steal your glasses and such. We trade in the pastries for a whole sack of apples, 2 candy bars and juice. My host explained how irresponsible we were in that we had spent as much money on the pastries as many South African people would have for a few days worth of food.
Day 13 (Thurs)
It took the full day to reach Pretoria. That night we spent night Brie (barbecuing) with some locals at the hostel. They shared some pap with me. It is a maize dish that was completely tasteless; it looks like mashed potatoes and has a very pasty texture. So you have to eat it with a tasty sauce. This is a main staple of the culture.
Day 14 (Friday)
We got to see an active archeology site, the Sterkfontein Caves located inside the Cradle of Mankind. This has been one of the richest hominid artifact sites. It was where “Lucy” was found and they still were excavating “Littlefoot” after 10 years. The interior of the site had algae growing in by the light fixtures. This is the cost of increasing awareness. This awareness is the whole reason why we do the archeology. The tourism industry helps fund the conservation of this site. The damage from to the already excavated areas was helping to fund the research of the unexcavated (and inaccessible to the public) areas. Are the elite researchers the only ones that should be allowed to view this part of our heritage? In the museum on the surface there was information about the evolution of man. After a series of pictures with male ape-like ancestors the final picture depicted the words Homo Sapian and above it a very attractive Asian female.
We spent a couple hours at the Apartheid Museum learning the sanitized version of the history. It still had good information even though it could not capture the horrible spirit of the times. We would spend most of that night socializing with a whole bunch of Peace Corps volunteers. As a general rule most volunteers are women. My host made friends with a cat that would run with him. That night we slept in the equivalent of a comfortable wooden tool shed, not really that bad.
Day 15 (Sat)
My final day in South Africa started off by going to DeWitt Cheetahs Conservatory. We are requested not to run in the area. Cheetahs will instinctively focus on anything that runs. They are so focused that they may run into an object (like the fence) and break their very thin skulls.
We also saw them feed wild dogs pieces of chicken. The pictures depict the dogs with very high vertical leaps to catch the chicken. They would consume the chicken parts in three bites. Interesting that they tell us never to feed our domesticated dogs chicken because they may choke on the bones. A pack of wild dogs can complete consume a corpse in 15 minutes. They will run home and regurgitate the food to feed the young, old, sick and guardians.
We had lunch with a local family. The home has 3 gates. The exterior fence, the gate protecting the front entrance, and a steel gate inside the house protecting the bedrooms. Two dogs are on the property, the final line of defense were firearms inside the bedroom. This is what Americans would consider a middle class home.
As I boarded the plane it was a great feeling to know that I was going home. At the same time there was a sadness that another chapter of my life was closing. The memories were great and if given the option to go back in time to choose to take this trip or do something else, there is no question I would do it again. The time spent with my host would be cherished for the rest of my life. It was because of my host that these experiences were made possible together. Know thought that I never really could go back. As in most things in life you can never really go back. In the very unlikely chance that I show back up in South Africa, I would have changed and it will not be the same. It is like when I show up in my old schools. I am different and it will never be the same again.
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