December 20 and 21 - East London

The contrast between the backpackers we are staying at now in Plettenberg Bay and the one we just left couldn't be more stark so I thought this would be a good time to write about our accommodation experiences on this trip.

The coastal port city of East London proved very much to be like its namesake for the two nights we were there. Gray and raining. Unfortunately this drabness seemed to affect our impressions of the whole town. I tend to anthropomorphize most non living things as well as most non human living things so I don't ever want to write something off or be too negative as well, someone's (or something's) feelings will be hurt. We had a hard time with East London. Though there are some beautiful neighborhoods, (as in all cities in SA mostly habited by white South Africans), where we ended up in the central inner core right next to the waterfront seemed to be somewhat of an empty shell filled largely with holiday/vacation accommodation of all sorts ranging from hotels to cheap weekly or monthly apartment/flat rentals. It felt somewhat to me like a more sturdy Belize City combined with a depressed and blighted English seaside town. It feels a little like Tacoma, the city we have called home for the past few years. Yes there are nice physically beautiful neighborhoods and the city has done some nice thoughtful things but in spite of its best intentions there is still a grim grittiness that lingers in areas. East London may not have quite experienced the renaissance that Tacoma has in the past decade though! When we went to St. Pauls Presbyterian Church on Sunday we had a very nice older woman tell us it is a really lovely place, that you can get everything here but if felt like she was potentially trying to convince herself as well as us.

And it is a nice city – I'm just not sure we would come back here again (and wouldn't recommend it to anyone) which we have not said about anywhere else we have been on this trip. This also might have to do with the backpackers we stayed at which could be so much more than it is. It is the first, maybe the second place we have stayed where we feel the owner is just in it for the money and is not even doing the bare minimum to keep it up. More on accommodation comparisons in a later post.
We left early Monday morning for another long drive to Plettenberg Bay, our home for Christmas. Ironically (after having driven close to 6000 km at this point, we have begun to crave something other than the mix of top 40/hip-hop and sappy ballads that are the staples of most of the radio stations across the country – no Jazz, Classical, hey we would settle for Spirit 105.3 at this point, ok, maybe not) we found a Christian station that was playing some Christmas music and of course you know where it was broadcasting from...East London!

Duncan

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! It is a gift to celebrate the birth of Christ in another culture and country - it reminds me just how big the body (church) of Christ is. While we are here in sunny Plettenberg Bay we know that most of our family and friends will be having a white, snowy Christmas. Geography separates us but the spirit is shared.

"In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." John 1:4

These are two truly South African images - one a tree decorated with ostrich eggs and the other a palm tree decorated with weaver bird nests. These are our trees this year.


Andrea (and Duncan)

December 19 - Luthando, Bonginkosi and Patrick – Three Kings

Throughout our time in SA we have heard comments (most often from white South Africans, but not entirely) regarding the work ethic of black South Africans. At times it is inferred, other times it is quite blatant. “99% of black people don't care how long you wait...oh these black people, most of them are just lazy...these people just take their time...”  Are the people who say these comments racist or prejudiced? Are there cultural gaps and misunderstandings that lead to statements like this? Is there still an attitude that lingers from when whites (though a minority) ruled and dominated this country? These are all valid questions that deserve answers and contextual understanding but I mention them so there is a context for the past 24 hours and the following story.

After waking to a brilliant day, picking up some trash on the beach (hey we all need to do our part) I decided to go for a quick swim. It was still early with only three lifeguards preparing for another long day (they arrive at 7AM and don't leave until 4 or 6PM) and a handful of other early morning risers walking on the expansive beach. This is prime surfing country with great swells and breakers and it was no different yesterday. I had seen the lifeguards swimming, out testing the waters and thought I would have a quick dip before breakfast.

I'm not the strongest or fastest swimmer by any means but I am comfortable and confident in many water conditions. (Some of you know that I love jumping off bridges, piers and cliffs. I prefer warm water but Puget Sound has had more than a few DW free falls!) I quickly got through the crashing breakers out to where the higher swells were in hopes of doing a little body surfing and bobbing around. One of the lifeguards was quite close to me and we both took our turns trying to catch the perfect wave. After ten or fifteen minutes I suddenly knew I was getting a little too far out and realized that even as I tried to swim in, I wasn't getting any closer to the shore and I was really really tired. It took me about 20 seconds to decide to call to the lifeguard “Hey man, I think I am in trouble.” Instantly he was over to me, supporting me and keeping me up above the waves. Andrea had been sitting on the beach during this time and I called and waved to her but she couldn't hear me. The lifeguard also waved to his other two colleagues on the beach and in a flash they were in the water swimming out to us with their flotation devices. I grabbed onto the ring of one and he started swimming for shore where we took a bit of a beating coming through the breakers but soon I was standing on sand, every muscle aching. I thanked all three of them. The first two including the one who had been with me walked off, just another day's work, (perhaps a little earlier than usual) another swimmer who over estimated. They have seen it many times. The third lifeguard who was a little older came and shook my hand and I think he said, “Don't test us, Test God.” He might have also said, “Don't thank us, Thank God” as he said that several more times. I'm not sure, things were a bit of a blur. Either way, either phrase made sense!

I walked slowly up the stairs from the beach, muscles in pain, slowly showered, ate breakfast and pondered. I kept thinking of these comments I have heard about black South Africans being slow to respond in their jobs and all I knew was that I had been rescued by three young South Africans (Luthando who was with me is 18 and still in high school) who all happen to be black who took their jobs very seriously and did not waste any time and quite literally saved my life. I'm not sure I would be writing this if Luthando had not been out there with me already to hear my cry for help.

Humbling, convicting, haunting...Throughout the day I kept thinking about what had happened and it was what I wrote in the previous paragraph that was so powerful to me. Anyone who has faced a life threatening situation is bound to be a little introspective and I certainly was. We have had so many conversations with people of all skin tones in recent weeks about their dreams, hopes and challenges (as well as what they see in South Africa) and this experience somehow placed me at ground zero in this racial cultural discussion.

It's strange to feel truly indebted/in debt to someone. What can you say? What can you do for someone who has literally saved your life. We drove to the store and bought a bag of cold drinks which we took down to the beach at noon to give to the lifeguards (who were now a group of four.) Again I offered my gratitude saying this was just a small gift. More importantly I wanted to tell them how they had become (or perhaps it is me that had become) part of a much larger story. I told them that I will tell how three black South Africans took their job very seriously to any person who tells me that blacks do not take their jobs seriously. These four work 7AM-6PM every day of the week during high season and holiday time even on Christmas and then just on weekends the rest of the year. They are paid 100 rand (US$10) a day (equivalent to what many domestic help/servants make) which is better than what many make in a country with up to 40% unemployment. It is not what any of them want to do forever, but it is a job – a job they have to love doing otherwise the danger and hardship would not be worth it. If they were paid 100 rand every day consistently that would be better (3000 a month) but that only happens two to three months a year. Working only weekends for the rest of the year doesn't cut it.

We talked about their dreams and hopes, whether they have hope for themselves and SA. As always it comes down to employment and a living wage. They have to find work.
We talked of the United States and what it is like there – a frequent topic in all the conversations we have here – more on that in another post. We talked about their lives here in SA.

Of the three Luthando has been a lifeguard the shortest time – just a year. Bonginkosi had been working for three years and Patrick had been doing it for seven years. I was shocked they told me that no one has ever returned to say thank you after being rescued like I had! I asked them if they knew the passage in the Bible where Jesus healed the ten lepers and only one returned to say thank you?!

Luthando has dreamed of being a Pilot, but now is thinking of being a diver. Patrick realizes he must get a better job that offers consistent pay and security. He has applied for a government job and is also thinking about how he might get to Florida to work there. Bonginkosi's hope was intertwined with anger knowing how desperately he needs a job but how difficult they are to find in certain situations.

I was so impressed with their work ethic, obvious in their actions with me but also in their preparation every day, working out, staying fit, testing the waters, reading the currents and always, always keeping an eye on everyone. They often know who will get into trouble before they even get in the water. I asked Luthando if he knew that I was going to be in trouble. First he hedged, then admitted he didn't know but as we were out for a while he knew I would be tired. He never admitted sticking around just in case, but I think he did.

As I prepared to leave, I asked if they get breaks of any kind. Only for a minute or two to go to the bathroom. They eat breakfast at home before they arrive on the beach at 7 and then eat when they get home in the evening again. None of them have lunch.

Today in addition to cold drinks I brought them lunch. Some might be critical of my actions and say I'm doing it only to make myself feel good. But there's no sugar coated hope here. Spending a few dollars doesn't solve any of the large challenges they currently face and will face in their lifetime. I just want them to know I am grateful for them. I also want them to know that there is at least one white person who will sit and talk with them on the beach. I hope that gives them some hope just as they have given me hope and life. This Christmas I have been visited by my own three kings who brought me gifts of life, hope and an ongoing story of good news to tell.

Duncan

December 16, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park

We arrived at the game park at 6am in a light rain. Just minutes through the gate we came upon a mother rhino and her adolescent child. We turned onto a dirt/gravel road and were rewarded some time later with two cape buffalo very close to the road. Buffalo can be very dangerous so we stopped and watched them for quite some time to give them room. The bush here was very thick so we couldn't actually tell if there were only two buffalo or if there was a whole herd in the bush. After they sauntered off the road slightly we crawled forward and turned a corner only to come face to face with a male adolescent elephant. He watched us for a bit and then continued with his breakfast and stripping the trees. After he had put a safe distance between himself and us we slowly started up a hill. We began to round a corner when suddenly there was a large female elephant in front of us and about 10 other elephants behind her on the road, including some very tiny babies. The actual term we have heard used for the large female elephant is 'crossing guard,' and she was certainly doing her job. She was a bit alarmed to see us there and she started her warning to us of flapping her ears. Duncan immediately reversed all the way back down the hill. From the first moment to when we saw her to returning to the bottom of the hill was a mere 30 seconds. We were not interested in getting trampled by elephants. Apparently the elephants in this park have a special love for flattening VW Golfs. Fortunately they seemed to like the Japanese so we were safe in our Toyota.

We waited several minutes and then slowly started up the hill again, trying to look around corners before we rounded them. The elephants eventually made there way down into a valley and we followed along side for a few minutes. We spotted a watering hole up ahead and thought that they might be heading that direction so we drove ahead and positioned ourselves for viewing but also for quick escape if need be. The elephants never came but we were entertained by a buffalo who was covering himself with mud to the extent where he would roll over on his back and loll around with his four legs up in the air.

The rest of the day was not quite as action packed with animals around every corner, but we had some great highlights:

- A herd of a dozen giraffe
- One very amorous male giraffe who pursued his interest very intently (we think the crowd of cars interrupted the moment:))
- 10+ more rhinos
- A warthog mother and her babies
- A female rhino literally scratching every part of her body on a tree for ten minutes – it was a complete massage!!
- A HUGE secretary bird
- Two herds of buffalo, one that blocked our way out for several minutes
- A small herd of zebra
- A tortoise crossing the road
- Several other solitary male elephants
- Several fruit bats at our lunch spot

It was a great day! (Even though we still have not seen a cat of any sort other than our pregnant cat who camped with us at Sodwana Bay and Felix, a tame Wild African Cat who was part of the menagerie at Old Vic's and who spent much time with us! - DW)

Almost forgot to mention that the name Isinkwe is Zulu for Bushbaby which is one of the camps claims to fame. Every night they put out some bananas and the Bushbabies stop in for a brief snack before continuing on with their night time hunting.

The next day we drove a further four hours down the coast, stopping briefly in Durban for Bunny Chow (curry in a hollowed out half loaf of bread) for lunch before arriving at The Spot Backpackers, a secret little gem on the beach popular with surfers, that surprised us with its beauty and tranquility. (Ok first night it was filled with a group of testosterone driven South Africans, but after they left the next morning it was a great spot...thus the name...)

Andrea

December 15 – Goodbye Nelspruit, Hello Hluhluwe-Umofolzi

We had said our goodbyes to our friends at ACS computers, our hosts at Old Vic Travelers Inn, and our work-holiday friend Kagiso, but it was terribly difficult to leave our home for two weeks in Nelspruit. While our unanticipated two week pit stop came at the cost of other adventures, namely Southern Mozambique which we realized would have cost us a lot of money and effort, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. We managed to have several site-seeing adventures but much more importantly we managed to meet people who so kindly and thoughtfully answered our many questions about South Africa and also very practical questions, like where to get my hair cut! In two weeks I managed to read three large books and stacks and stacks of South African Getaway Travel magazines. We planned the next three weeks, cooked ourselves some nice meals, swam, ran errands, found a great church, went to the podiatrist, and just rested. Nelspruit will be remembered as a place of rest but it will be missed because of the friends we made.

So despite the sense of adventure ahead it was with sadness that we left. We had a long drive ahead of us to Isinkwe Bush Camp, a backpackers close to Hluhluwe-Umofolzi game park. After 6 hours we exited off of the highway to a dirt/gravel road and after a kilometer we turned off to the entrance of Isinkwe, another kilometer of heavy sand brought us to the backpackers – truly a bush camp!

After getting settled we decided to check out the activities on hand. Isinkwe offered several activities for free that we were quite excited about – one a guided night walk and the other bush baby feeding. The night walk was advertised as 'come see all the creepy crawlies and animals on the property with our guide' and having participated in a guided morning walk at Kruger Park three years ago, we knew how much information we could glean from the local guides. We signed up and met our group including four other people and our guide.

After no introductions whatsoever, Jenny, our guide (we only found out her name later that evening) walked us outside the electric fence and to the beginning of the trail. She said, 'this is our nature trail, it hasn't been serviced in some time so the bush is thick, the walk will probably take us 1.5 – 2 hours.' Huh!? The reception staff had told us the walk would be anywhere from ½ hour to an hour, dependent on what we felt. They made it sound down right leisurely.

Jenny took off at quite a clip down the trail, the other four followed and we brought up the rear. It immediately felt like an obstacle course. We ducked and dodged branches, thorns and vines and tried not to let them smack the person in the face behind us. It was a sweaty, hurried race along the path trying to keep up with Jenny and often only arriving in time to hear the last couple of words of what was probably a brilliant soliloquy on the varied plant life. Here's the sample transcript of the walk:

Andrea (to Duncan): (huffing and puffing) 'Are we in the Amazing Race? Why are we running?'
South African Woman in front of Andrea: (holds a branch for Andrea to push back) 'Be careful, it has. . .'
Andrea: 'Ouch!'
South African Woman: '. . . thorns'
Jenny: 'Hmmm, the path is blocked, wait here until I find another way.'
Duncan: 'She is so going to leave us here. . . '
Other Participants: (nervous laughter)
Jenny: 'Okay come this way, just crawl until you can stand up.'

Silence is observed for the difficulty of this task and the subsequent catching of our breaths afterwards.

Jenny: 'You see this vine (she breaks off a portion) and this milky white substance inside. This is highly poisonous. The bushmen would put some in the river to 'fish' and the fish would 'rise' to the top. Nasty stuff it burns quite badly, don't get it on your skin.'
Andrea: (shows Duncan the layer of milky white poison she has accumulated on her jacket sleeves by pushing through the bush).
Duncan: (locates a Kleenex to wipe the poison off of Andrea).

Several minutes later. . .

Jenny: (pulls out a large spotlight and shines it on a tree).
Other participants: (looking around for mammals or birds).
Jenny: 'You see this shiny film substance!?'
Other participants: (nod yes)
Jenny: 'We don't know what it is! But it looks like tiny bugs are underneath the film. It's been my research project for the last couple of months.'
Other participants: 'Oh.'

Several minutes later back on the trail, Duncan and I catch up to the stopped group in front of us to hear. . .

Jenny: (to a Dutch girl) 'You have one on you?'
Dutch Woman: 'Yes.' (looks uncomfortable)
Jenny: 'Oh, I do too (points to a large tick on her arm). Oh, isn't it lovely, so amazing how it just latches on and digs its head under you skin and then gorges itself on your blood.'
Dutch Woman: (quickly picks off the tick)
Andrea: (to Duncan) ' I think it was a good thing that we weren't in the front of the group.'
Duncan: (to Andrea) 'Just keep your feet moving all the time.'

Group continues on the walk, only to stop every five minutes to remove ticks from the participants in the front of the group – including one on the Dutch man's head.

South African Woman: 'Can these ticks give you tick fever?'
Jenny: 'No. If you get a bite just try to remove the whole tick and then wash with some sort of disinfectant. Did you ever have tick fever?'
South African Woman: 'Yes, just three weeks ago.'
Jenny: 'You know, there can be up to 20,000 ticks on a giraffe.'

Andrea and Duncan's eyes widen.

Duncan: (to Andrea) 'Just keep moving.'
Andrea: (to Duncan) 'I think that the night walk is free because we're doing trailblazing for them.'

And that was the culmination of the one hour race-walk. We were quite sweaty and dirty and a little banged up. All we saw on the nature walk were ticks and a shiny film on a tree, which was quite amazing because as we learned later our guide, Jenny, had just spent the last seven years in Zambia studying bugs. You think we would have seen something other than the ticks that saw us first. . . :)

Andrea

Diabetic Chillin' in South Africa (Keeping Medication and Supplies Cool)

Insulin, the key that opens your cells to allow them to 'eat' the sugar in your blood stream, needs to be refrigerated. Blood glucose test strips have a specific range of temperature that they are to be kept at, and the blood glucose meter itself will actually stop working if temperatures are too high or too low. All this high maintenance paraphernalia, which keeps me alive, means I don't travel particularly easily as a diabetic.

Insulin, being the most temperature sensitive has always been my main concern when traveling. Often in the past when traveling I hunt down the closest refrigerator I can find. Often times in Thailand this has meant that my insulin ends up in a refrigerator by the front desk of wherever we are staying along with the beer or soft drinks they are trying to sell. While I have had my concerns about it going missing from such a public place, I have never had a problem.

This trip produced more of a challenge because we were moving so often and are on the road for so long. In Europe I had no problem with keeping my test strips and meter within its temperature range, but finding a refrigerator for my insulin proved more difficult. My insulin is packed in a small 6x4 inch cooler case which at the beginning of this journey held 10 bottles of insulin and three small blue ice. Whenever we got the chance (mostly at friends houses) these were frozen and subsequently provided a day of cooling when traveling between places by train. The problem of refrigeration arose at hotels. Two of our hotels in Europe had a small refrigerator in the room and another had a small communal fridge for guest use. However, all others did not provide a refrigerator for guest use. Mostly this was not a huge problem, because I brought several items with me.

The first helpful item is a small medi-fridge. While it holds only 3 bottles of insulin, I found this helpful when I put my insulin the communal fridge – the thought being, if someone walks off with my insulin at least I will have some still with me. The second and third items are both Frios – a UK product that is specifically designed to keep medication cold when you have no access to a refrigerator. This product was brand new to me and while it is no where near refrigeration cold it has come in handy. The extra large Frio is essentially a small purse with an inner and outer camber. The inner camber is removed and then soaked in cold water for a few minutes to allow the gel inside of its walls to expand and hold some of the water. Once removed and dried off the pouch is then placed back inside the outer pouch which keeps the 'wetness' inside. The Frio cools by evaporation. The advertisements for the Frio claim that it will keep whatever is inside the inner pouch around 68F when outside temperatures are 100F.

While using it in Europe to try to keep my insulin cold I didn't feel much of a difference between the room temperature and the insulin temperature inside the Frio. I believe this is because the Frios real testing ground is those places where the temperature really is 100F. The Frio has been a beneficial edition to my supplies while in South Africa – not to keep my insulin cool, but my test strips.

When we first came to South Africa three years ago we went on a group tour of Kruger National Park. It was late October so summer was near but the rains had not come to cool the park down. It was HOT, really Hot. I refused to be told the actual temperature because once my brain knows it really starts complaining. If I can keep it in the dark it just has to deal. However, it was hot enough that when just sitting inside the vans, let me emphasis 'just sitting', sweat would be constantly rolling down the backs of my legs. While my body knew how to cope the real problem was my diabetes supplies. I had found and put my insulin in a fridge so it was fine, but the rest of my supplies sat all day in our canvas tent, which as you can imagine became much hotter than even the outside temperature. When we left two days later to drive back to Joburg my test strips had literally swelled from the heat and would not fit into my meter! Fortunately 7 hours later with the help of air-con they had returned to normal size and worked fine. This problem which I had never heard of before or since this episode taught me to adhere to the temperature range on the test strip bottle.

Having returned to Kruger this time and experienced 100+ degree temperatures again, the Frio was put to work cooling my test strips, as we were able to keep my insulin cool in a cooler with ice. The extra large Frio would only hold 8 bottles of test strips so I had to rotate them in and out, but where in Europe I couldn't really tell if the Frio was cooling, in South Africa it was very evident. I believe its advertising claim to be true.

The other thing of note for any diabetics traveling to South Africa is that almost all of our accommodation have had communal fridges for guest use. Most of the places we stay are 'backpackers' and provide self-catering kitchens. And in general I have always felt that my insulin is safe in there.

Andrea

Diabetes Supplies Packing List

I've attached a document on our google site (link in the upper right corner of the blog site) that is a list of the diabetes supplies I packed for the Europe and South Africa portion of the trip. While this was only about 3.5 months actual travel time I packed at least 4 months worth of supplies and some, like insulin pump sites, that have a tendency to need to be moved more often because of problem sites, I brought almost 5 months.

Most of these items will be common sense to a diabetic, so I'll just highlight the unusual that I have found valuable:

Medication Cooling Devices:
Medi-fridge (holds 3 bottles of insulin)
Extra large Frio
Insulin pump Frio

My next post will describe how I used these to keep my medication cool.

Equipment:
1 extra insulin pump

Hopefully you won't need to use this, but as you know if you've been following along, I had a insulin pump malfunction just 10 days into the trip. I got my loaner insulin pump by 'applying' to Medtronic (they actually have a loaner pump program). The pump, usually only on loan for 3 months, was kindly extended to the entire 9 months. I only had to pay a non-refundable $50 and will have to return the pump shortly after I return, or a $4000 charge for the pump will be put on my account. The only part of this that I am a little unsure about is that I seem to be completely liable if the loaner pump malfunctions or breaks, which if true could result in me having to pay for something that was not my fault. . .

Medication:
Some sort of general antibiotic in case of infection
Malaria pills

Don't mess with malaria, take your pills and precautions (bug spray, long sleeved shirt and long pants at night)). In South Africa there are only a few areas in the country that have malaria which were ironically everywhere we camped: Cape Vidal, Sodwana Bay, and Kruger. We took every precaution and amazingly only ended up with one bite between the two of us (of course it was me- mozzies LUV me :)). We took Malarone (atovaquone and proguanil HCI) which was simple enough - start pills two days before entering a malaria area, one pill everyday you're in the area, and then continue one pill a day a week after you've left.

Andrea