I had yet another enjoyable visit to the Africa Café with Jeff, Lisa Glenn and Jon David Conolley. Lisa had a term break, and she flew down to visit Jon David (another Rotary scholar from Birmingham) and to see more of Cape Town. I think everyone who visits Cape Town should visit the Africa Café, so I invited them to join Jeff and me one night while we were down there.
We had (in no particular order):
Egyptian koshery – brown rice, lentils and noodles with tomato gravy
Chilli chicken, peanut and fresh coriander salad
Mango chicken
Xhosa imifino patties – spinach and mealie meal patties
East African mchicha wa nazi – spinach, groundnuts and coconut milk
Umbhako – Xhosa pot bread
Malawi mbatata, cheese and sim sim balls
Ehtiopian sik sik wat – lamb cooked in a traditional berbere-paprika sauce
Dhania dip – tomato, coriander and chilli dip
Spiced chickpea patties
Ethiopian iab – white curd cheese with fresh herbs
Basmatic rice
Zambian bean pies
Sweet puff pastry for dessert
09 April 2007
08 April 2007
Pools of Liquid Gold
On Saturday, Jeff and I drove down to Cape Point, which is part of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Cape Point is the second southern-most tip of Africa; Cape Agulhas, to the east, is the farthest point south. Many people don’t realize that there are actually two points on this peninsula – Cape Point, and Cape of Good Hope, which is just a touch to the north and west of Cape Point.
We drove down the east side of the peninsula, which looks out over False Bay, and passed Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, Simon’s Town, ending with a drive through the reserve to reach Cape Point. Since we’d just spent the better part of two days in the car, we decided against taking the funicular up the hill and walked instead. The walk takes you up to the old lighthouse, from which there are beautiful views of the rugged coastline.
Then we decided to walk further out the point to the new lighthouse on Dias Point. The walk hugs the side of the mountain, and verges on being harrowing. But it was still a nice walk. The new lighthouse was built because the old one was a little too high and tended to become overly shrouded in fog. The new one (built in 1919) is closer to the level of ships at sea.
We hopped back in the car and drove around to the Cape of Good Hope, where we opened a bottle of wine, and watched the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a brilliant sunset, and as the sun reached the water and sank lower and lower, it looked like a pool of liquid gold on the water. Gorgeous.
The next evening, after a day of sightseeing and shopping, we drove to Camps Bay, a trendy little beach on the Atlantic Ocean side. We got there early enough in the late afternoon to snag a table at an ocean-facing restaurant, drank some cold beers, and watched another stunning sunset. We enjoyed a nice meal, walked on the beach in the dark for a few minutes (I stuck my feet in the cold, cold Atlantic water, but only briefly), and then drove back to our backpackers’ hostel in Cape Town.
Again, I’ll post photos when I get some from Jeff. I still can’t believe I left my camera in Jozi…
We drove down the east side of the peninsula, which looks out over False Bay, and passed Muizenberg, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, Simon’s Town, ending with a drive through the reserve to reach Cape Point. Since we’d just spent the better part of two days in the car, we decided against taking the funicular up the hill and walked instead. The walk takes you up to the old lighthouse, from which there are beautiful views of the rugged coastline.
Then we decided to walk further out the point to the new lighthouse on Dias Point. The walk hugs the side of the mountain, and verges on being harrowing. But it was still a nice walk. The new lighthouse was built because the old one was a little too high and tended to become overly shrouded in fog. The new one (built in 1919) is closer to the level of ships at sea.
We hopped back in the car and drove around to the Cape of Good Hope, where we opened a bottle of wine, and watched the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a brilliant sunset, and as the sun reached the water and sank lower and lower, it looked like a pool of liquid gold on the water. Gorgeous.
The next evening, after a day of sightseeing and shopping, we drove to Camps Bay, a trendy little beach on the Atlantic Ocean side. We got there early enough in the late afternoon to snag a table at an ocean-facing restaurant, drank some cold beers, and watched another stunning sunset. We enjoyed a nice meal, walked on the beach in the dark for a few minutes (I stuck my feet in the cold, cold Atlantic water, but only briefly), and then drove back to our backpackers’ hostel in Cape Town.
Again, I’ll post photos when I get some from Jeff. I still can’t believe I left my camera in Jozi…
06 April 2007
The Karoo
The Great Karoo (or die Groot Karoo) stretches endlessly, or so it seems, through parts of the Free State, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape provinces. According to Jeff’s Lonely Planet: South Africa, karoo is an Afrikaans word that means something like “great thirst land.” Its boundaries in the south and west are spectacular coastal mountain ranges. The east and north boundaries are the Orange River. The Karoo covers almost ONE THIRD of South Africa’s total area. It is a vast – and really, that seems the most appropriate word – expanse of mostly flat, dry land, covered with brown, scrubby bushes, very little brown grass, and even fewer trees. It is a land of windmills and sheep. The windmills are needed to bring up water from below, and the sheep are about the only things that will grow there. In the Karoo, you can find places like the Valley of Desolation (Eastern Cape), and Die Hell (die=the) (Western Cape). Driving through it takes a long time, but it has its own unique beauty. The stars at night in the Karoo are absolutely breathtaking.
More information can be found at: http://www.routes.co.za/nature/ecoregions/namakaroo.html
I’ll post a couple of Jeff’s photos when I get them.
More information can be found at: http://www.routes.co.za/nature/ecoregions/namakaroo.html
I’ll post a couple of Jeff’s photos when I get them.
Bribing a Traffic Cop
On Thursday, I engaged in a quintessential African experience – I bribed a traffic cop. But first, I have to explain a driving custom that occurs here. If you’re on a two lane road that has a good, broad shoulder, and someone wants to pass, you pull into the shoulder to allow the faster driver to pass. It’s very polite thing, and something that I like quite a lot.
So on Thursday of last week, my Birmingham friend, Jeff deGraffenried, and I were driving to Cape Town. We were smack in the middle of the Free State (formerly the Orange Free State), which is a vast expanse of flat plains or very broad rolling hills, with a few mesas and hills thrown in here and there. This province is very agricultural, and all we could see for miles and miles – or kilometres and kilometres --- was field after field after field of maize, or wheat, or sorghum, or sunflowers, with a few cattle or sheep thrown in here and there. We’d passed Bloemfontein (population 390,000, and maybe the 5th or 6th largest city in the country), and were on our way to Philippolis, a not quite mid-way point between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Philippolis (pronounced fee-la-PO-lis) was founded in 1823 and is the oldest settlement in the Free State. According to Jeff’s Lonely Planet, there are 75 buildings within the town that have been declared national monuments. One of those is the library! We arrived there about 4.30 pm and had time to drive, and then walk around town a bit. It’s a strange sort of place. You can see that the town was once pretty prosperous (my guess would be from 1880-1940), but now it has a bit of a ghost town feel. The streets are very neatly laid out, and some of the houses were (or still are) quite lovely, but the place was empty empty on a Thursday afternoon. Famous author Laurens van der Post lived in Philippolis (perhaps was born there, I haven’t verified that), and apparently some of the South African intelligentsia gathered here in the 1920s-1940s. But the death knell for the town came when the N1 was put in (1972), and all the Jo’burg to Cape Town traffic that used to come through was diverted away from town.
The bed and breakfast we stayed in is owned by two retired teachers, Jens and Naomi Friis. They live on a quiet dust road on the edge of town. They serve breakfast (and dinner, if you book in advance) in the dining room of the house in which they live, but the guest rooms are in two houses two doors down from their own. They bought these 2 old houses, restored them, and put in beautiful gardens. Our garden had cosmos, marigolds, roses, other flowers I didn’t know, an orange tree, and several fig trees that were loaded with not-quite-ripe figs. Drat! I love fresh figs! I wish I could go back there in another month, when I think the figs will be ready.
But back to the bribery. We were maybe an hour or more from Philippolis, and there was a big 18 wheel truck in front of us. He pulled over into the shoulder so that I could pass, which I proceeded to attempt. As I was passing, I saw that there was traffic coming from the other direction, so I speeded up in order to make it in time. Whew, done, no problem.
And then, just head, we see a traffic cop jump up into the road from her hidden vantage point under an overpass, point at us and then point towards the shoulder, clearly indicating that we should pull over. I really thought she was getting me for speeding whilst going past the big truck, but it turns out that what I’d done was cross over a “barrier line” while passing the truck. I was so busy passing the truck that I had not seen the barrier line.
I won’t go into all the details of the conversation that ensued, but let me say that I might have been willing to take my lumps (and ticket) and pay without arguing, except that when I pulled out my international driving license, her tune changed and she said that I must follow her to the local police station to pay a “spot fine”. I’ve heard some unpleasant stories about people following cops to the station – nothing scary, mind you, just that it took a lot of time and money – so I decided that I would attempt my first bribe. So, I asked her what we could do to make this go away. I could tell right away that she was interested, and that helped boost my confidence. Jeff picked up on what I was trying to do, and he asked her if we could pay for a “warning”. I don’t think they have official warnings here, as in the U.S., so this was a good approach. She said that would cost R500. At first I was indignant, because the one speeding ticket I’ve had here was only R200, but Jeff reminded me that she’d said the ticket at the police station would be R2,000, so I finally gave in and handed her the money.
I called Colleen later to find out if that cop had ripped me off, and she said she thought it was okay, given that the actual fine might have been R2,000. She was also angry that the cop took a bribe, and she thinks I should report her, and pretend that I didn’t realize it was a bribe until someone told me afterward. I think I won’t do that. :)
However, I think I am going to look into getting a South African driving license!
So on Thursday of last week, my Birmingham friend, Jeff deGraffenried, and I were driving to Cape Town. We were smack in the middle of the Free State (formerly the Orange Free State), which is a vast expanse of flat plains or very broad rolling hills, with a few mesas and hills thrown in here and there. This province is very agricultural, and all we could see for miles and miles – or kilometres and kilometres --- was field after field after field of maize, or wheat, or sorghum, or sunflowers, with a few cattle or sheep thrown in here and there. We’d passed Bloemfontein (population 390,000, and maybe the 5th or 6th largest city in the country), and were on our way to Philippolis, a not quite mid-way point between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Philippolis (pronounced fee-la-PO-lis) was founded in 1823 and is the oldest settlement in the Free State. According to Jeff’s Lonely Planet, there are 75 buildings within the town that have been declared national monuments. One of those is the library! We arrived there about 4.30 pm and had time to drive, and then walk around town a bit. It’s a strange sort of place. You can see that the town was once pretty prosperous (my guess would be from 1880-1940), but now it has a bit of a ghost town feel. The streets are very neatly laid out, and some of the houses were (or still are) quite lovely, but the place was empty empty on a Thursday afternoon. Famous author Laurens van der Post lived in Philippolis (perhaps was born there, I haven’t verified that), and apparently some of the South African intelligentsia gathered here in the 1920s-1940s. But the death knell for the town came when the N1 was put in (1972), and all the Jo’burg to Cape Town traffic that used to come through was diverted away from town.
The bed and breakfast we stayed in is owned by two retired teachers, Jens and Naomi Friis. They live on a quiet dust road on the edge of town. They serve breakfast (and dinner, if you book in advance) in the dining room of the house in which they live, but the guest rooms are in two houses two doors down from their own. They bought these 2 old houses, restored them, and put in beautiful gardens. Our garden had cosmos, marigolds, roses, other flowers I didn’t know, an orange tree, and several fig trees that were loaded with not-quite-ripe figs. Drat! I love fresh figs! I wish I could go back there in another month, when I think the figs will be ready.
But back to the bribery. We were maybe an hour or more from Philippolis, and there was a big 18 wheel truck in front of us. He pulled over into the shoulder so that I could pass, which I proceeded to attempt. As I was passing, I saw that there was traffic coming from the other direction, so I speeded up in order to make it in time. Whew, done, no problem.
And then, just head, we see a traffic cop jump up into the road from her hidden vantage point under an overpass, point at us and then point towards the shoulder, clearly indicating that we should pull over. I really thought she was getting me for speeding whilst going past the big truck, but it turns out that what I’d done was cross over a “barrier line” while passing the truck. I was so busy passing the truck that I had not seen the barrier line.
I won’t go into all the details of the conversation that ensued, but let me say that I might have been willing to take my lumps (and ticket) and pay without arguing, except that when I pulled out my international driving license, her tune changed and she said that I must follow her to the local police station to pay a “spot fine”. I’ve heard some unpleasant stories about people following cops to the station – nothing scary, mind you, just that it took a lot of time and money – so I decided that I would attempt my first bribe. So, I asked her what we could do to make this go away. I could tell right away that she was interested, and that helped boost my confidence. Jeff picked up on what I was trying to do, and he asked her if we could pay for a “warning”. I don’t think they have official warnings here, as in the U.S., so this was a good approach. She said that would cost R500. At first I was indignant, because the one speeding ticket I’ve had here was only R200, but Jeff reminded me that she’d said the ticket at the police station would be R2,000, so I finally gave in and handed her the money.
I called Colleen later to find out if that cop had ripped me off, and she said she thought it was okay, given that the actual fine might have been R2,000. She was also angry that the cop took a bribe, and she thinks I should report her, and pretend that I didn’t realize it was a bribe until someone told me afterward. I think I won’t do that. :)
However, I think I am going to look into getting a South African driving license!
05 April 2007
Driving to Cape Town
Jeff deGraffenried is a friend from Birmingham. He has just spent 6 months in Nairobi, Kenya, doing research for his dissertation. He spent a few days here in late September/early October on his way to Nairobi, and is spending 2 weeks on his way back to the U.S.
I have been wanting to drive down to Cape Town so that I can see more of this beautiful country. But it’s a very long drive (15 hours) and not so safe to do alone. So, I took the opportunity of Jeff being here to make the trip.
In a very early post, I mentioned that South Africa is not quite twice as big as Texas. So, for those of you who may have joined me late – or for those who didn’t remember! – keep in mind that this is a big country!
I’m going to write a few short posts about our trip. Sadly, I forgot to bring a camera! But Jeff had his. With hope, he will share them with me and I’ll upload some later.
We left on Thursday morning, April 5th. On the trip down, we took the N1 the whole way, stopping overnight in Philippolis (in the Free State province). It was about 7 hours the first day and 8 the second. We arrived in Cape Town before dark on Friday.
We took a different route on the way back. We went east along a coastal road from Cape Town as far as Hermanus (known for whale watching), then cut inland and north to pick up the N2 going east. At Riversdale, we again went north to pick up scenic Route 62, which we followed east until we came to the N12. Then we were basically on the N12 (through Kimberley) all the way back to Johannesburg. We stopped overnight on Tuesday, April 10th, outside of a tiny Karoo town called Britstown, and then drove the rest of the way on Wednesday.
Having spent six months in Kenya, Jeff was constantly amazed at the state of the roads in South Africa. And they really are quite good. Even the small, backcountry roads are decently tarred and signposted.
See http://www.sa-venues.com/maps/south-africa-national-roads.htm for a map of the major roads.
More details to come!
I have been wanting to drive down to Cape Town so that I can see more of this beautiful country. But it’s a very long drive (15 hours) and not so safe to do alone. So, I took the opportunity of Jeff being here to make the trip.
In a very early post, I mentioned that South Africa is not quite twice as big as Texas. So, for those of you who may have joined me late – or for those who didn’t remember! – keep in mind that this is a big country!
I’m going to write a few short posts about our trip. Sadly, I forgot to bring a camera! But Jeff had his. With hope, he will share them with me and I’ll upload some later.
We left on Thursday morning, April 5th. On the trip down, we took the N1 the whole way, stopping overnight in Philippolis (in the Free State province). It was about 7 hours the first day and 8 the second. We arrived in Cape Town before dark on Friday.
We took a different route on the way back. We went east along a coastal road from Cape Town as far as Hermanus (known for whale watching), then cut inland and north to pick up the N2 going east. At Riversdale, we again went north to pick up scenic Route 62, which we followed east until we came to the N12. Then we were basically on the N12 (through Kimberley) all the way back to Johannesburg. We stopped overnight on Tuesday, April 10th, outside of a tiny Karoo town called Britstown, and then drove the rest of the way on Wednesday.
Having spent six months in Kenya, Jeff was constantly amazed at the state of the roads in South Africa. And they really are quite good. Even the small, backcountry roads are decently tarred and signposted.
See http://www.sa-venues.com/maps/south-africa-national-roads.htm for a map of the major roads.
More details to come!
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