Africa, Unite

May 16, 2015

Practicing in black and white (Photo credit: Africa, Unite yoga class).

April brought darkness in South Africa. 

Let me give a bit of background before I explain further.

While I've mentioned in previous posts that there are not a lot of expats living in South Africa, what I didn't really explain is that there actually are a lot of non-South Africans living in South Africa. What I mean is that while there may not be the influx of foreign professionals working here that exist in other countries (aka, expats), many, many people from other African countries have come to South Africa. Those looking to find work, or escape a possibly volatile environment in their home country, make their way to South Africa. Many of these individuals are the working force of South Africa; the house keepers, the cleaners, the gardeners, and the shop keepers. Historically, these immigrants were not met with open arms in South Africa (both pre and post apartheid). This dislike has been termed "xenophobia"- which Wikipedia defines as "the dislike of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange". In 2008 there were outbreaks of xenophobia attacks in South Africa, which cumulated in riots that resulted in 62 deaths. 

Then, in April 2015, it started again. The country saw a spike in xenophobia attacks from Durban to Johannesburg, and some places in between. It filled the news everyday, there were rallies and murders, and it was disgusting. 

In an effort to bring people together, rather than tear them apart, a beautiful soul named Mandisa hosted a yoga class (you can see the video here). The aim was to raise funds for xenophobia victims, but also to create something to celebrate in a dismal time. This was part of a larger initiative known as Africa, Unite.

And so, we found ourselves in the middle of Johannesburg's central business district sitting on yoga mats on a dusty concrete floor in an old warehouse-turned-market, at 8am on a Saturday, ready to practice. I suppose it's quite fitting, really, as yoga means unity, after all.

*Note from the Editor: Xenephobia attacks were noted to subside in late May 2015. The death tolls in 2015 did not reach the levels tallied back in 2008, thankfully, but the mere fact this happened is still incredibly tragic. 

The "studio".

Mandisa read this quote during the class:"When one experiences truth, the madness of finding fault with others disappears" (Photo credit: Africa, Unite yoga class).

I think this must have been before B and I did "back-to-back" postures that resulted in somersaulting over the concrete as we both came crashing down...I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard (Photo credit: Africa, Unite yoga class).

 I was impressed with the number of men, and the mix of people overall, that attended the class.

 Namaste.

Morning Yogis.

From Drought to Cascades: Augrabies Falls

May 2, 2015

Augrabies Falls.

It might not be Niagara or Victoria Falls, but as the world's six tallest waterfall, Augrabies Falls is arguably worth a visit. It's in a tough-to-get-to, not-on-the-way-to-anywhere spot, in the armpit of the Northern Cape, which makes it even more appealing to visit when given the chance.  

The falls are formed from the Orange River, a river that snakes its way westward through a large part of South Africa (it is apparently the longest river in the country), before eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean. The gorge of the falls is over 18 kilometres long, with cliffs over 200 metres high. All this to say, it's not small.

M loves waterfalls, so this cascade was a natural stop for us following our week in the dry and dusty Kgalagadi. We spent the night inside the Augrabies Falls National Park (it's part of SANParks) and did a small hike in the late afternoon to stretch our legs after days and days of safari-sitting.

M leading the way on the Dassie Trail.

Afternoon sun on the rocks.

On a mission: trying to do a three-hour hike in an hour and a half in order to make it back before the sunset.

The main falls (well, mostly the mist of the main falls).

The run-off of the main falls.

It was a quiet day at Augrabies...nice to have the falls (mostly) to ourselves.

The park has recently built upgraded paths and viewing decks after flooding destroyed large portions of the pedestrian access to the falls.

Dassie!

M&I at the falls (that tiny bit of water on my left-hand shoulder is all we could manage to get in the photo).

Setting sun at the falls.

As with most parts of South Africa, where there's water, there are grapes. The Orange River banks are becoming an increasingly popular wine grown/wine tasting region, so it only made sense that we'd taste-test a little along the way...

May is fall (autumn) in South Africa, and the leaves seemed to be changing colour for the occasion.

I'm not sure if these are different types of grapes (or some other fruit all together...let's be honest, my agriculture skills probably require some honing).

The Orange.

Land of the Thirst: Kgalagadi Transfontier Park

April 24, 2015

!Xaus Lodge.

The word Kgalagadi literally means "the great thirst" in Setswana. The name is extremely fitting for the Kgalagadi Transfontier Park, which contains salt pans rather than lakes, and rocky, dry riverbeds as opposed to flowing rivers. Despite its desolation, the park is home to many animal species, and has reportedly one of the highest concentrations of predators compared to other parks on the continent.

A colleague at work suggested we visit the Kgalagadi Transfontier Park, but warned that we needed sufficient time to do it justice. It is a 13-hour drive from Joburg, so it is the kind of place where you need more than a weekend in order to experience it properly. I started looking at accommodation options in August 2014, and quickly realized that what few options were available in the park book up very quickly. We managed to piece together a few options that would allow us a week to explore the park. Part of my plan was to stay in the wilderness camps- they are small with only a few huts per camp, and they are unfenced, so you are completely immersed in the surroundings. Also, there is a gorgeous community-run lodge in the Kgalagadi that I wanted to stay at, !Xaus. We spent a combined total of seven nights in the park: four at !Xaus lodge, two at two different wilderness camps (Kalahari Tented Camp and Kieliekrankie), and one at the rest camp just inside the park gates (Twee Rivieren).

The animals in the Kgalagadi need to be hearty and able to survive long periods of time without water, so the park hosts a bit of a different mix of animals than what we've seen in other game parks. Instead of impala we saw springbok, and instead of kudu we saw oryx. We did have several big cat sightings, but typically they were quite shy and kept their distance. We saw a cheetah tail fleetingly as she disappeared over a ridge, we glimpsed another cheetah perched high on the rocks before she tucked herself back into hiding, and we waited, unsuccessfully, for the cheetah and cubs that were reportedly "just over there" to come out of hiding. We did manage to see a black-maned lion mating, tons of black-backed jackals, and we had an incredible after-dark sighting of a rare brown hyena.

Covering nearly 40,000 square kilometres, this transfontier park is huge (random fact: it's one of Africa's largest protected wilderness areas). We were able to cover the lower/west section of the park, from the South Africa's Tween Rivieren gate to Namibia's Mata-Mata gate. While a 4x4 is not necessarily required to get around the main roads of the park, our Getz might tell a different story after spending a week bouncing along on the badly corrugated roads.

This isn't the place to go if you're looking for quick gratification and modern conveniences. It is the place to go though if you're looking to press the pause button on everything for a little while. There are no tour buses or wifi, just barren landscapes, massive skies, and quiet nothingness.

 The long road from Upington to the entrance of the Kgalagadi.

Our first night in the park we did a game drive with SANParks. We saw more black-backed jackals than we could count, and had an incredible sighting of a brown hyena. Yours truly spotted the hyena after the sun went down with the help of a spotlight. Unfortunately I was too focused on my duties as spotlight holder to take a photo.

Herd of Oryx.

 Looking out over the nothingness.

 This is a rare nocturnal tree mouse. You know there is a absence of high-profile sightings when people are telling you about a tree mouse.

Napping during the day...

...And getting busy at dusk. When we first witnessed this in Kenya, we thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of sighting...apparently not.

Having a rest. Note the black mane on the male. This is the best shot I could get of these rare creatures.

 After a long and dusty drive that attempted to claim the bottom of our car, we thought it warranted a celebration with a bit of bubbly.

Our desert tent at the Kalahari Tented Camp. 

 Roasting marshmallows. This happened after a jackal came for a visit to the very same braai...M threw rocks and said "GO JACKAL, GO!" Aside from being mildly terrifying, it was hilarious.

 Good morning!

Red Hartebeest.

 Are they kissing, or both trying to suck water out of the sand?

 Cheetah just sitting under a tree, checking out the surroundings.

 Getting ready to lay down for a little cat-nap.

Verreaux's Eagle Owl. We saw quite a few of these guys (and many other birds of prey that I have no idea what they were) in the Kgalagadi. We even saw two of these owls together having a rest in a tree. I didn't know owls made friends. 

 Giraffes on the move.

Giraffe body-guard standing watch while his buddy has a drink. All of the watering holes in the Kgalagadi are man-made. In this arid landscape there would otherwise be no water, and the animals would be forced to leave the protected area of the park in search of water. 

What you see is the 4x4 road into !Xaus, and a whole lotta sour grass. M discovered he's highly allergic to this special substance. Lucky for us, one of the other guests at the lodge just so happened to be a doctor. An allergy doctor. Thank you, universe.

 We were in the porcupine room.

 Red sands of the Kgalagadi.

 Morning bush walk. We learned about the trees and the smaller birds and insects of the area.

Team blue-hat.

 Looking up at the lodge from the salt pan.

Visiting the Khomani San (Bushmen) of !Xaus.

 Handicrafts made by the Khomani San.

Love the juxtaposition of this photo: tourist and "local" bushman, with the "tips" sign between them.

 View across the salt pan (if you look very closely you can see the !Xaus lodges built into the ridge above the salt pan).

 Evening drive through the dunes to see the other salt pans in the area.

 Sundowners.

 Contemplating life.

Happy in the dunes. Photo credit: our new German friends.

 Meerkats!

 African skies.

Red Hartebeest on the plains.

A full day game drive resulted in this sighting. A tortoise.

 Springbok on the run.

Our hut at Kieliekrankie. The front had floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out at a watering hole (pictured below), and I got up several times in the night to check if anyone was paying the spot a visit. There was even a log book in our room to record sightings. Apparently there is a leopard in the area that favours this spot, but I never saw her. 

Two black-backed jackals coming for a drink at the watering hole. Similar to the giraffes, one kept watch while the other took a drink. 

Desert life.

Braai on the deck at Kieliekrankie.

 Goodnight, Kgalagadi.