Road Trip 2007 Garden Route

What a way to experience a country by getting in the smallest car offered (Kia Picanto) and shoving three people and all their baggage into it driving a total of 3,215 kilometers. Boy, I felt bad for Rowdy, our third roadtripee, who stands at about 6'2" and is one of the most lanky people I've ever met. He took on the formation of gumby to squeeze himself into the back of our unbelievably spacious car.
Lacking the fear of driving on the left hand side of the road and not getting lost while walking around put me as the primary for the driver seat. Eventually, Christina tried it out and found that driving on the left isn't so bad so she was able to help quite a bit with the driving.
Of course, it makes it easier to make u-turns when a car doesn't have power steering. I'm quite buff now. =0)

The Garden Route is the highway describing the road that follows along the coast and a little inland all the way from Capetown up to Port Elizabeth. It's a beautiful drive that zig zags from the coast to partially inland areas that are surrounded by beautiful mountains.
My first experience with driving and getting out of Capetown took me through mountainous roads in fog, two of my least favorite conditions to drive in, even in the United States.
The coastline is absolutely breathtaking with waters that go on for miles with not even a boat in sight. Inland can consist of mountains to rolling hills to completely flat areas. It's different every hour that you drive. Watch out for people, baboons, goats, pigs, cows, horses and of course crazy drivers passing with barely any shoulder of a road to move onto and other cars coming toward you.

We reached Port Elizabeth quite quickly after stopping in Mossel Bay, Knysna, spending the night in Plettenberg Bay, and making a pit stop in Jeffrey's Bay. We decided to continue past Port Elizabeth and went all the way up to Coffee Bay as our most northern point.
From Port Elizabeth to Coffee Bay, we stopped in Cintsa for a night and then navigated through a road made of holes and a dirt road to reach one of the most beautiful and laid back hostels and communities I have ever experienced.

Coffee Bay is a hidden area far from the main roads that attracts only those who really want to go. Coffee Bay is inhabited mostly by those belonging to the Xhosa tribe. To us non-South Africans looking at the word Xhosa might create a predicament on how to start to even pronounce the name. For English speakers, the X is pronounced like a K and thus, it would look like: Khosa. To those who are of the Xhosa tribe, the X signifies a point to click with their tongue. There are various clicking sounds that are all distinct of one another and they mostly represent an X, C and Q. For those trying to actually click with their tongue, it is nearly impossible to have the correct pronunciation unless he/she grows up clicking. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult (though probably not impossible) to retrain a tongue to move in such a fashion. Xhosa is one of the last, if not the last surviving clicking language. It's extremely beautiful to hear spoken and is the second most common language spoken in all of South Africa.

For a man to marry a woman, he must pay her family with 15 cows. This is quite a feat. Silas was a guide at Bomvu, our hostel, and his family only has 5 cows. So, if he wants to marry someone within his tribe, he needs to somehow get 10 more cows.
If he decides to marry someone outside of his tribe, then first, they do the woman's wedding ceremony and tradition and then they would do his. The Xhosa celebration would consist of singing, dancing and drumming. (I had the honor to learn how to drum from a local master whose music is quite captivating). Houses are round shaped and have straw for roofs. The houses are painted different colors depending on what class the family belongs to. The colors we saw were white, pink, peach, light green and teal. Each smaller tribe has a chief and then there is a chief of all the tribes. The tribe in Coffee Bay has around 2,000 people and they all take care of each other. At 18, as a rite of passage, men are circumcized and sent to a hut where he must stay for at least a month. He is painted in white and must avoid most contact with women, especially women who have recently been sexually active. To go outside the hut, the boy must wear a cloak and take paths that do not run into women. It used to be that the boy/man would hunt for his own but hunting is no longer practised so his family brings him food. After his time in the hut, he is considered to be a man. The ritual for women consists of putting them in a hut where they are not permitted to see light for at least a month. They are not allowed to leave the hut during the day and rarely are allowed out at night. Once they complete this, they are considered a woman.

On Fridays, the owner of Bomvu, Carl, opens up his bar and facilities to the townspeople and everyone comes to celebrate, party and hang out. The women dance for everyone and sing traditional songs.
They dance on a platform facing a firepit where everyone crowds around to dance and clap along. It was quite impressive to watch the power one of the women felt from banging the drum. So magnificent! The chief of their tribe comes every Friday to show his support. Clad in his suit, he partakes of the homemade beer the women make and claps along to the drumming. Once the women are done dancing, the crowd moves inside to where some of the men drum. A group was put together by Carl the owner and the drum master, Willie. They have an excellent album. They drum freestyle, meaning that one starts a beat and the others follow in with whatever beat they feel goes along with the first. What a talent! Everyone continues to dance and when the drumming stops, people disperse and the relaxed environment sets in once again.

Every night at Bomvu there are different dancers or parties (not raging parties like what might be thought of in the US) but these are not for the benefit of the tourists. It is merely a statement to the lifestyle in Coffee Bay and the relaxed atmosphere that sucks you in the moment you get out of the car.

With a sad departure from Coffee Bay, we crammed back into our boat of a car and headed back down toward Capetown. We headed back to Jeffrey's Bay (very long day of driving), stopping in East London to go to the grocer...that was quite an experience. The grocer was full of people, lines down the aisles, Rowdy towering over everyone.
It took us nearly an hour to buy 5 items. From Jeffrey's Bay we took a hike in Wilderness and stayed at Buffalo Bay Backpackers in Buffalo Bay. Apparently, it is the best backpackers in all of South Africa.
It was small and comfy and I can see why it is considered the best (if you walk out the side door you are at the water) but I would not call it my favorite. From Buffalo Bay we headed to Gansbaai and eventually made our way to Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Point is considered to be the most south-western point in all of Africa. It is unofficially considered the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. The Atlantic Ocean side was quite active while the Indian Ocean side was very calm.
We made our way back to Capetown and have only a day and a half before we take off for Kenya! We have no idea what kind of accommodation we will be receiving in Kenya, but the anticipation warrants much excitement.

Capetown, South Africa

I have completely fallen in love with Capetown and could instantly move here (don't worry Mom, I will still be home in time for Christmas as planned). Capetown is absolutely beautiful and captivating. Seventy-five percent of it is surrounded by beautiful waters with Table Mountain towering from behind. It is definitely a picturesque city with various adventures and an enrapturing historical background.

There are 11 official languages here in South Africa. English and Afrikaans are the most common. Afrikaans comes from five different languages: Dutch, German, English, Malay and French. Everything is printed in English and Afrikaans and most people speak English and another of the 10 languages. There are cases of people speaking one of the 10 languages without knowing English as is the case of one of the cleaning women in our hostel. She politely nodded anytime we tried to say hello in English. It is an interesting concept to think about in how to get around and function without knowing English which is the unifying language here. We did fumble a bit when we first got here by replying in Spanish or saying Hola when we went into restaurants but a few weird looks quickly quashed that habit.

Though Apartheid is no longer legally allowed, it is still quite prevalent. Not recognizing if this is as common in the United States, we have noticed that establishments are frequently owned by white people and those working are black. Suburbs are still primarily black from the townships established but integration is occurring more everyday. Islam is very prevalent here and it is quite common for women to at least be veiled. Most women outside that we have seen have had the full chador. Mosques are scattered around the city and sometimes those in prayer can be heard. Shops usually close quite early and by 5pm hardly any places are open. A few clubs and restaurants remain open until the early hours (we have the luxury of staying right across the street from a couple so it makes bedtime wonderful).

We have been staying at Inn Long Street. They charge about 80R a night for a mixed dorm and although they can seem to have many people staying there it is never overwhelmingly hectic. Nikki is there Monday through Friday during the day and she is absolutely fabulous. She has excellent advice, knows all about the area and the best ways to get around. She will also help in getting the best deals and will do whatever she can to help. (Our shark diving was cancelled and she was able to help us rearrange getting a car and setting up a new day to go diving within minutes).

Company's Gardens is a lovely walk with a few monuments along the way but nothing overbearing. No crazy squirrels begging for food, just a few pigeons waddling. The architecture of the neighboring buildings along the walk are colonial and hold some of the historical aspects of the city. The national gallery has an eclectic feel from the British and Dutch portraits and artists to local artists. There are artists from the 18th century up to the present. There are some contemporary exhibits and even film clips. Statues and carvings decorate the center of large rooms while the paintings and photographs align the walls.
The aquarium is a few blocks from the Waterfront. The Waterfront has two malls, lots of shops and restaurants all around. The aquarium would be more impressive if it wasn't so expensive. It's about 70R and it took us about 40 minutes to walk around (and yes, we read the information as we go). The most impressive was the information on sharks and how many are needlessly killed when they really are not the predators they are made out to be. There are initiatives currently in place to protect sharks. Castle of Good Hope is quite small but does offer some information concerning how it was started by the Dutch as protection against the Brits and local invasion. There are a few rooms on display to depict the set up of the Castle, but not much more than that. The Slave Lodge is definitely a must see. A video informs of how slavery was started here and the lifestyle of slaves. One half of the museum is on slavery and the other half shows Dutch artifacts. There is an exhibit on United States slavery and how far we have come.
Though it is quite informative, we did find it odd that there was not much information on current or recent Apartheid here in South Africa.

Vineyards around here are amazing. We were lucky enough to go to the Stellenbosch region to Valliera and Tokara vineyards. (We went to two more but unfortunately, the names have escaped me). The wine was delicious as were the cheese tastings and our gourmet lunch. South Africa is known for its Pinotage. Although thought to also be known for its whites, there is actually a balance of white and red wine from the area that provides a good variety for meals. I am not sure what company we went through but Robbie was an excellent guide with decent jokes and plenty of knowledge (not just the same information we get in the States).

And what a scam we have witnessed here! Our first day, we were in a music shop and I was approached by a red-headed man, about 5'11", freckles, thin, wears loose clothing and walks around quite frazzled. He first asked if I was South African and if I could help him. Apparently, he said he got off one of the small buses here (much like a combi in Peru) and they took his passport and documents. He said he was trying to get to the consulate in a city I didn't recognize (I have info on the consulates and what he named was not part of what I had) and no South Africans would help him. He asked for some money and I said I couldn't help him. I felt horrible, but his information on the consulates seemed a little fishy. Later, I saw him walking on the street in the same frantic way and I thought maybe I had been wrong, but alas,
I was right and it is a scam. Four days later, we were in another music shop in another part of town and the same guy walked up to us except this time he had on a hat! He walked right to us and asked me if I was South African. We recognized him right away and as he asked us if we had a car, Christina was about to say "uh, huh, yeah, we know who you are," but she got through the "uh, huh, no" part and he knew he was made. He said "thanks" and walked out. So be aware! The music we bought was great, though.

We are hoping to see the District Museum, which is highly recommended, Robbin Island and Cape of Good Hope within our road trip this week. Shark diving is also still in the works but will probably be next week.

Buenos Aires

Flashback to the early 80s in the United States with the bright blue roos, mullets and leggings tucked in bunched up boots and you have a snippet of Buenos Aires. Fashion is different but more in the hairstyles and color combinations than anything else. Men are just as fashionable as women and it is common to see everyone in suits during the workday. Everyone seems to have a dog here, but as a pet not as a stray. Dog walkers are common to see. I thought multi-tasking was easy until I came here. It's a little difficult to walk and see the sights while also watching my step to make sure I don't step in the dog poop scattered on the sidewalks.
We saw one woman nicely pick up her dog's poop with a piece of paper and then throw it into the street. Cars still have the right of way, but it is not too hard to get around since most streets are oneway. Each neighborhood has one or two things it's known for but each one seems to have its own personality making it an adventure. Although there is a decent subway and bus system (or what most people would call public transportation), it is not difficult to walk around the city and can actually be quite enjoyable.
There are plenty of plazas and statues to admire along the way as well as the various architectural designs. We did have the luxury of trying the wonderful, famous steak and wine here. Melbac was suggested to us by an Argentine we met in Lake Titicaca and certainly, it is a nice wine.

Due to sickness, our time here in Buenos Aires has been quite mellow but we were able to enjoy a Boca futbol game. Christina was able to go to a Tango dinner show but I was quite ill so I can only speak of the futbol game as a highlight.

There are some fans that are paid by politicians to be super fans. Not only are they fans for a certain team, but they also increase the rivalry between the teams and can start riots.
Originally, we bought tickets to see River play Newell. We paid extra money to have a guide escort us for safety reasons because things can become intense. The River game was cancelled because one of these paid fans was shot outside of the stadium after a game, last week. Fortunately, they were able to switch our tickets for the Boca Jrs vs. Argentino game. At first, we sat in the Argentino section of Argentino's stadium (each team has their own stadium) and our direct group had 17 people but in total we were 150 tourists.
Police align all the stadium seating and were in force. SWAT aligns the streets outside of the stadium with their armored trucks on high alert. We watched a bit of the Boca Reserve vs. Argentino Reserve game and when someone in our large group cheered for a Boca goal, the police officers suggested we be moved to the Boca side. So, all 150 of us had to move...where the other 133 ended up, I am not sure. We were all in the same area, at first, on the Boca side as well, but because we stuck out so much, they moved the other group. Oh the madness.

Banners are hung in each teams color. Flags are waved. Fans are decked out in their teams colors. Profanities are shouted constantly. Songs and cheers are repeated at the highest decibel in order to outdo the other fans. The quietest it gets, is during halftime when people take a breather to sit. During play, men get up on the railings to sing and lead the crowd. Some even get up on the fences and shake them, never daring to go too high because of the barbed wire coiled and spiked around the top. I could see only about half the field and since there are no scoreboards or big screens I always hoped the action would come back in my direction. The crowd is dominated by males...maybe 95%. Women can be trampled, quite easily, as I almost witnessed. Two men decided they liked my spot so they just stood on my step, directly where I was backing me up against the people behind me. Our guide had to wedge me out from between the two of them.

Although alcohol is prohibitied, it doesn't stop fans from drinking beforehand. The air oscillates between marijuana, cigarettes and a faint odor of men's cologne. If fans weren't loud enough or singing enough, the men leading the singing would get angry and start shouting. The band, or drums mostly, kept the beat going so the fans wouldn't get off key (well most of them at least).

Once the game was over (unfortunately, Boca lost to Argentino 2-3), we had to wait for the rest of the crowd to dissipate but, at first, it didn't. Not like it would in the US. Even though Boca lost, the fans didn't stop cheering and singing. We hung around until the Boca fans left and then pretty much had a police escort out of the stadium.
SWAT was now lining the field and the outside of the stadium. Fans were directed in opposite directions away from the stadium to eliminate the chance of fights or death. Once the police led us out of the stadium, we waited with them until the crowds were gone so we could continue to our taxis. Out of everything we've done so far, that seemed to be the most dangerous! It was definitely a worthwhile experience and I would very much enjoy returning here.

Goodbye Peru!

As most of you may know, I am already in Buenos Aires and am actually about to leave here but I figured I would write a few last things about Peru...

Awaiting Angels is a great program but there is a lot of miscommunication and incorrect information between the organization itself and the programs throughout Cuzco. Alipio and Marta Leon Torres are great people to contact for volunteering. Marta works for Awaiting Angels but also does various outreach around the community and knows of plenty of opportunities to help where the money actually goes toward the people not the organization. If there is any interest, contact me, and I can put you in touch with them.

Fairplay is the organization through which I took my Spanish classes. This is a great one. A small percentage of the fee goes to the actual organization for books. The rest of the money, the student pays directly to the teacher. The teachers are single mothers who spend 7 months training to teach Spanish. They know some English (it depends on the teacher), and the money goes directly to the mother and her child/children. It is a fairly new organization, but one worthwhile to use.

There are some great book exchanges in Cuzco. There are a couple of cafes/restaurants in the San Blas area that have a great variety of books. Los Perros is off of the Plaza de Armas but they will charge 3 soles to exchange a book...not worth it given their small selection.

There are many clubs in Cuzco, but my favorite was Uptown. It's designated as an Israeli club (there are many Israelis who go to Peru, especially Cuzco) but many locals go there as well. There is good dancing and a good mix of music. There is some American hiphop but it does not dominate the whole night. Mamafrica is another club, but that is more for an American experience with an overwhelming amount of techno and people crammed into every corner. Mythology is another place, more for locals, but has a higher concentration of American 80s and 90s music with older hiphop and R&B. Overall, there is a good variety of different clubs, depending on what you are looking for.

Plaza de Armas is very touristy although walk 2 blocks away and there is hardly a tourist in sight. People will approach from all angles wondering if you want your shoes shined, postcards, paintings or any other trinkets. Some of these can develop into a snatch and grab situation where one person will occupy your attention and another will sneak around and grab your stuff. Fortunately for us, this never happened. People working in restaurants will solicit you with their menu. I would suggest not going to any of these places, if they are directly around the plaza, because you will be charged much more than if you were to walk a few more blocks.

I believe that is all I have. Just some tidbits incase anyone decides to venture down to Cuzco. Any questions on Lake Titicaca, Arequipa or the Amazon and I will try and offer as much of an answer as possible.

The Amazon

Since I don't feel that I was able to fully depict an accurate picture of what Lake Titicaca was like, I decided that instead of doing a play by play of each day in the Amazon, I would just pick one or two things and focus on those. That would be the animals and the various Reserves we went to.
We went to two private reserves where one had a variety of animals that we held: sloths, a monkey, a bird, a boa, an anaconda and an alligator. The other private reserve had Paiche (a type of fish) and alligators. In addition to these two, we went to Monkey Island, which as you can guess has monkeys. While most of these animals are wild, they still have some domestic characteristics since they are being taken care of by humans.
I bring up the animals not only because they can be cute and cuddly (except for the alligator that didn't like me very much) but also because in the Amazon, animals are an extremely important issue. Unfortunately, as I have discovered on this particular computer I am using, I cannot rotate photos, so I cannot display some of my best ones.

Poaching is illegal in Peru but unfortunately, there is not much done to enforce this. Hunters will kill the various animals for their skin or meat, yet if they are caught by the police, nothing is done to them. Instead, those enforcing the laws, take the animals for themselves. The government is not much help because the jungle and the animals are not a top priority. I am not exactly sure what a top priority would be for the government here, other than maybe making their pockets deeper and deeper, which seems to be working well for them. Because of this, there are lots of reserves.
Alligators, I believe the White Alligators, are nearly extinct if not already. Even boas and anacondas are at risk, though they are not the most dangerous in the Amazon. We actually had the luxury of seeing a Fuerdeland, not sure if that's the correct spelling, just 10 minutes after it had been killed.
It is very common to see people walking around the paths in the jungle with machetes to chop off the heads of the snakes. Sloths are a hot item for their claws, I believe.
Some of the snakes will drop from the trees or will be under leaves so it's good to be aware of where you're walking.

Alas, I digress. Foreigners are at the top of the list for hunting, as is common in many places. For instance, in South Africa, they have opened a hunting ground where lions are raised just for foreigners to hunt in order to keep the natural wild population thriving. I think we are blessed in the United States in that our laws concerning hunting and poaching are enforced far better than anywhere else I've been or heard about. In a country where tourism is 60% of the economy, I would think that there might be more initiatives to preserve their natural attractions.
Then again, while the strikes were going on Peru over the last 2 months, concerns were only raised when nearly 15,000 tourists cancelled their trips to Peru for safety issues...not because their children were not being educated.



There are many people who are opening more reserves in hopes to preserve some of the Jungle in it's natural state. The state of the Amazon River, itself, is a whole other issue due to the pollution
but that can be for another time. With all the negativity from the government, it is touching to see how smaller communities are coming together and taking their own initiative. Maybe at some point, if enough people come together the government might wake up, but I certainly won't be holding my breath for that one.

Lake Titicaca

A Quechuan word meaning "stone of the Puma," Lake Titicaca reminds me of the Aegean Sea with it's vastness and the islands scattered around. We departed from Puno and headed for the first of the 3 islands we would see. Our journey was a short 25 minutes, on a small (maybe 38ft boat) with a top part for some people to sit, to San Pedro which is part of the Uros Islands. The Uros Islands are all floating islands. There are blocks of reeds from the plant that grows (only in this area of the lake) that rise up due to water movement.
These blocks are about 3 meters deep, or so. They are tied together and then reeds are thrown down over them on which to walk. The islands are then anchored so they don´t move too much. When an island is being built, each month more reeds are thrown on top to secure ways to walk around. Houses are constructed out of reeds as well. There were about 8 homes directly where we were. There was an extension of San Pedro that held more homes but in a more private area. The area we visited was mostly for tourists. They use solar panels to get electricity so some families do have televisions, dvd players, telephones and computers. One of the Uros Islands has a telephone for national and international phone calls.


From the Uros Islands we headed another 3 hours out into the bigger part of the lake (although we were always on the Peruvian side--60% of the lake versus Bolivia's 40%)toward Amantani.
This is the island where we were to stay for the night. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by women in traditional dress. This consisted of brightly colored skirts just below the knee that poofed out to give the illusion of 10 layers. The skirts were accompanies with white cotton shirts with embroidery and black sandals. If their legs were cold, they wore, knit tights that were more leggings than tights. In groups of 2-3 we were placed with a family. Christina and I met an Irish girl, Sarah, and the 3 of us decided to be placed together. We met Flora. Flora has 2 daughters who were probably around 6 or 7 and a baby. She lives with her parents. Flora spoke little Spanish and mostly Quechua. Her parents both spoke more Spanish and so did her children because on Amantani, children are taught in Spanish.

Our room had 4 beds and a table in the middle. Although there was wiring for electricity, we had a candle for our light. The bathroom was an outhouse just a few meters from the house. There was a cow who watched our every move every time we headed for the outhouse.
At one point, the cow actually looked at me and mooed! After getting settled, we met the rest of the group in the plaza to head up to the top of the island to watch the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful! We could see part of Bolivia and some mountains that were still part of Peru. The clouds, the moon and the sunset were breathtaking. After the hike, we were to meet Flora for dinner before a dance party they were hosting for us.

Dinner was quite an adventure. We ate in their kitchen. It was a small room with dirt floors and a small fire in a stone area. We sat on a small bench eating soup and then some rice and potatoes. While we were eating, we heard squeaking noises. I thought maybe it was mice or rats. Christina and Sarah didn´t like that idea at all (neither did I, but what could we do?).
Eventually, the squeaking got really loud and we looked at Flora´s parents as a plea to tell us what was going on. It was their cuyes!!! Guinea pigs!! They had 8 adults and 4 babies and as Flora´s father was explaining this, one ran right between Christina and me across the kitchen floor!I watched it´s furry little butt wiggle as it went. Shortly thereafter, we finished eating and it was time to get ready for the party.

We were told we would be wearing traditional dress but weren´t sure what exactly that meant. We each were given a poofy skirt: green, purple, red. We were given embroidered shirts and a black shawl for our heads.
We wore the skirts over our jeans and although we looked ridiculous, headed toward the Plaza for the party. There was a band of boys, the oldest nearly 12 and we danced, mostly lead by the little girls. There´s a lot of running around in circles with a group of at least 20 people crammed into a small room with the little girls yanking our arms back and forth. It was fun. Eventually, the party moved outside temporarily and Flora asked us if we were ready to head home, so we obliged.

The next morning, we waved goodbye to our families and headed off for our last island, Taquile. Such a tranquil place with amazing views. We headed up to the top of the island, right off the boat.
We congregated in the plaza, about an hour after embarking to find a ceremony going on. Peru´s Independence Day was on July 28th so there is a week long party that goes on, on Taquile. Women wore their traditional clothes while dancing and the men played their music.
They did this for the officers of the 8 communities on Taquile. During lunch, we were shown how the dress of the men differs depending on whether or not they are married. What changes for the women is the colors they wear. It was quite interesting.

After lunch, we walked down exactly 540 steps, no not 541 or 539 but exactly 540 (they make a point of telling us) down to the boat for our 3 hour ride back to Puno. I sat on the top of the boat and had a wonderful time. There really is nothing like Lake Titicaca and unfortunately, I do not believe my description has done any justice.