Never did we imagine it would be so much fun, when we started with Traveling Tribe Season 1.
Zuko was pregnant.
Maddi was born.
And amidst all of it we discovered beautiful places.
We met stunning people.
We shared awesome experiences.
And we were able to give it away.
If I think back, other than the time spent with my Tribe & the memories made, being able to get so many families traveling, with R150 000 in family travel experiences given away, was probably the greatest experience of it all.
So we look forward to Season 2.
We hope to venture into more remote parts of the Eastern Cape this year.
To discover hidden gems.
To meet diamonds of beautiful souls.
To share it all with you.
We’re hoping to start with a bang: a 10-day trip from the 19th to the 28th of July. Off course we’re bringing back prizes. And we’ll follow that experience with regular weekend trips from August through to December.
Let’s see how much family traveling we can cram into the rest of 2013.
Let’s make 2013 the Year of Family Travel & Adventure in the Eastern Cape.
CONGRATULATIONS to Natalia Venter on winning a two nights stay for a family of four (2 adults + 2 children), including accommodation, a game drive and guided walk, to the total value of R3 400.00 at the Mountain Zebra National Park.
Location: 305 kilometers from Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay & 12 kilometers from Cradock on the road between Cradock & Graaff Reinette, in the beautiful Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Date Visited: 16 – 18 November 2012 (Summer)
What we Drove: The Jeep Cherokee, complements of Maritime Motors .
Where we Stayed: The main camp, in a two bedroom chalet. Mountain Zebra National Park also offers camping & mountain cottages, as well as a luxury six sleeper guest-house.
What we did: We took the opportunity to just be together as we cooked, walked, watched game, swam in the Park’s beautiful swimming pool and saw magnificent game.
Recommendation: This is an amazing and very affordable weekend for a family who wants to do something wonderfull. Instead of going on a guided game drive and walk, as much fun could be had as you self-drive through the park. The roads are in exceptional condition. The restaurant & shop stocks whatever you forget to take along.
This was our twenty-second one in less than ten months.
‘The year seems full & meaningful, despite what challenges may have presented themselves’, Zuko speaks the thoughts filling her mind and heart as we hit the open road, driving past the Port of Nqura.
The Jeep Cherokee’s 2.8 liter diesel engine is inaudible.
The climate control keeps the summer afternoon’s heat outside.
The kids laugh & talk, filled to the brim with excitement.
‘We’ve seen so much. Done so much. It feels like we’ve had two years since Christmas.’
Zuko smiles.
I can see how her mind looks at pictures of the places we’ve been & the things we’ve done.
Holding up a snapshot of our family at Tsitsikamma in front of the guesthouse at The Garden Route National Park.
Little wrinkles forming at the corners of her mouth as she looks at us horse riding at Addo Elephant National Park and sliding down the waterfal at Bergrivier.
‘What was your favorite trip?’ she asks the kids, including them & me in her reliving of our experiences.
‘No, picking those humungous apples’, she changes her mind. ‘Where was that?’
‘Grootnek in the Langkloof,’ I help her find the name.
‘Grootnek! That was fun.’
‘It was. Taking the Jeep Wrangler up into the mountains was exciting.’ Theunsie remembers.
‘Sophia? Which was your favorite trip,’ Zuko opens the door for one more experience to flood back into our hearts.
‘I’m thinking. I loved them all,’ she quips. ‘My favorite was Die Lapa, with the horses & the little cowboy village. Yes. If I must choose that was definitely my favorite.’
We talk about our ten day trip exploring the Blue Crane Route.
The stunning walk to the waterfall.
The snow.
‘O, going snow hunting was fantastic!’ Wilhelmina laughs.
Then we talk about Somerset East.
The friends who joined us as we shared the ‘Biltong Festival’ and decided to find snow on the spur of the moment.
And then we are at the entrance to the Mountain Zebra National Park.
Originally started, in order to conserve the Mountain Zebra.
Now home to a variety of game on 28 000 hectares of conservation land.
Every time we get to spend time at one of our South African National Parks, I am impressed by the ammount of time & energy & resources we invest in conservation.
And how possible it is for South Africans & International tourists alike, to enjoy the beauty of Africa.
Friday night we settle into our very comfortable chalet.
We light a fire.
The conversation keeps on drifting back to our year’s travels.
Fond memories were made.
This we cherish as more memories take shape.
Saturday morning we meet Richard.
He is our ranger.
We go out on an early morning game drive.
We see lots of game.
A short walk to an ancient cave with Koi-San Paintings.
Their way of claiming this ancient land as their own, long after they’ve been driven into a lonely existence.
Lunch is followed by an afternoon at the swimming pool.
As the sun sets a fire comes to life again.
Black Backed Jackal the musicians who entertain is late into the night.
As I drift off to sleep with little Maddi lying on my chest, I hide some new memories in the crevices of my being.
I love it when we cook together.
We should do more trips where we cook our own food, I think, as dreams of beauty & wonder overwhelm me.
Sunday morning we head out on foot.
Richard is with us again.
This time he shows us the plants.
Excitedly talking about their medicinal value.
The old wives’ tales believed.
He shows us the little five.
Hidden amongst leaves & branches.
He’ll tell you about it as well, when you go and visit.
When the sun is high, our walk ends at the Park’s cool blue swimming pool.
We play.
We laugh.
We cook together.
And then we’re off.
The Jeep Cherokee comfortably taking our luggage and our dreams on a slow cruise through breathtaking Karoo.
The Cherokee is quiet.
As we each touch a last bit.
We’ll travel again, we agree, as we unload travel bags.
Congratulations to Penny Morris! She won a two nights & three days stay, enjoying Lalibela’s beauty, valued at R9000.00
enabling her to take 2 adults & 2 children on an awesome adventure.
Location: 90 kilometers from Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay on the N2 towards Grahamstown.
Date Visited: 12 – 14 October 2012 (Summer)
What we Drove: The Chrysler Grand Voyager, complements of Maritime Motors .
Where we Stayed: Mark’s Camp, one of the three four-star lodges in the Game Reserve, this one specifically designed with families and children in mind.
What we did: We had scrumptious food, awesome game viewing from open vehicles with knowledgeable guides & fantastic African entertainment alongside great conversation and time together. This time round we had the opportunity to meet the team behind the scenes & get a better feel of what motivates them, even getting some golden nuggets about life & business.
Recommendation: This is an amazing African weekend for a family who wants to do something very special. The proximity to Nelson Mandela Bay and the malaria free environment makes it especially wonderful when traveling with children. Lalibela comes highly recommended.
This time we experienced all of that along with the opportunity to get to know some of the people who created this & keeps it growing.
This time we made our way to Lalibela in the extremely comfortable Chrysler Grand Voyager.
As you get into this vehicle it is very evident that the interior was designed by Boeing.
Attention to detail, comfort & space is overwhelming.
It is a family vehicle.
The Tribe with our luggage & all of Maddi’s paraphernalia fitted into this vehicle with space to spare.
The media system, climate control & safety features are something we’ve not experienced.
The intuitive cruise control makes the 90 kilometer drive seem like a moment.
At reception we are welcomed by Marimba players & Xhosa singers serving high tea.
At Mark’s Camp, Lalibela’s Lodge, specifically geared towards families beautifully appointed rooms & personal service await.
Lalibela can accommodate 120 guests between its three lodges.
They employ 60 staff members.
You can imagine how personal & exceptional the service is.
Friday night we cook with Nomakaya & Evelyn.
Evelyn has just joined the team at Lalibela.
Nomakaya has been there for eight years.
While the kids peel vegetables & stir various dishes slowly frying in butter, Nomakaya tells us of her journey.
How she left for University after completing school.
How she did not have enough money to complete her studies.
How she found employment close to home.
Starting in the kitchen, washing dishes.
Soon making salads & learning the skill of preparing exceptional food.
The past four years she has been running the kitchen at Mark’s Camp.
Filling orders.
Creating menus.
Impressed with her own development at the hand of Linda, Lalibela’s Food & Beverage Manager.
Saturday evening we’re in for a surprise.
We’re out on a game drive.
The vehicle makes a stop at a huge ‘bush’ of indigenous trees.
Ranger Dave walks us into a fairy tale land.
Lanterns lighting our way to huge fires and magnificent food.
There we get to spend time with Linda.
She tells us of how she came from Port Elizabeth, where she was a lecturer, to Lalibela, where she discovered the joy of working with a team of ladies, collectively discovering the joy of creating tasty meals for travelers from every part of the world.
Lalibela is an exporter in many ways.
Without processing or packaging this game reserve takes South Africa to the world as foreign tourists come to be on safari.
Bringing valuable foreign currency to our shores.
And positive reputation.
At the ‘Bush Boma’, in the light of friendly lanterns we talk to a couple from England.
It is their first time at Lalibela.
They are blown away.
By the experience.
By South Africa.
They are resolved to come again.
A couple from Germany joins the conversation.
They’ve been to Africa before.
They’ve never tasted Africa as they’re tasting it tonight.
It is an experience about which they will talk for decades to come.
They take pictures as the Xhosa dancers entertain us.
Over supper an Irish couple speak of the troop of elephant they encountered.
About the pride of Lion they watched.
About the hippopotamuses & the giraffe.
They cannot believe how close they came to the animals.
How much of them they could experience.
Every single expectation has been exceeded.
‘Conservation is about much more than the animals,’ explained Vernon Wait, one of the owners, on Saturday afternoon as we spent some time at one of the swimming pools.
‘Conservation is about conserving & creating a livelihood. It is about conserving a way of life. It is about affecting our world. Positively.’
Lalibela was recently the victim of Rhino poachers.
‘You must understand, we tend these animals. We look after them. We know when they are ill or expecting. When one of them is hurt, we are hurt. It is like losing a child.’ Vernon explains .
Yet they continue.
Undeterred.
Evil will always be there.
In this world.
Trying to prevent us.
Discourage us.
Steal our hope.
The best way to defeat it is by forging ahead.
Always hopeful that our efforts would be more.
Earlier I went out Cheetah-tracking with Kelly, Lalibela’s Head Ranger.
A girl in a man’s world.
Heading up a team of male rangers.
Planning the wildlife management.
Patrol routes.
Care for patrons.
We track a female Cheetah who is new to the reserve.
She’s recently had cubs.
Kelly wants to check & make sure the cubs are healthy & well.
This is what a reserve like Lalibela does.
They make sure the conditions are optimal for wildlife to flourish.
As naturally as possible.
In a world in which urban areas expand relentlessly.
‘Tourism is our best product,’ explains Rick van Zyl, the founder of Lalibela over Sunday morning coffee.
We drove to Tree Tops, another exceptional camp to meet with Rick.
We wanted to hear his story.
Of how they came from the Merryman Hotel to Lalibela.
Of this place for which the bees have foretold greatness.
I am reminded that no business appears in a moment.
It takes years, decades even, to build a successful business.
Rick & his family worked since the early 1908’s before they had enough to purchase a piece of land which would be the seed of Lalibela.
Then they worked some more.
Often seeing it through, even if it seems it just cannot continue.
‘You need people around you,’ Rick explains. ‘I had built a network of relationships over thirty years. And you need a bit of luck. Someone who would believe in you. That is the only way. And persistence. And resilience. And the willingness to work and work and work some more.’
So often we listen to the stories of successful entrepreneurs & we think it was a stroke of luck or a moment of genius & they had they cake they could eat.
That is a lie.
It takes time.
Work.
Effort.
Energy.
Resilience.
To build a successful business.
It takes sacrifice as well.
‘We were fortunate in that there were quality boarding schools where our children could go,’ Rick says with a bit of reminiscence in his voice. ‘That freed us up to work every minute of every day.’
I sip my coffee and wonder how much I will be willing to sacrifice.
For that illusive success.
Perhaps we need to decide on that before we embark on the journey.
‘The journey is everything,’ Rick remembers.
‘The journey is exciting & enjoyable. You should savour it. It is new & fresh & exhilarating. The destination isn’t what life is about. It is about how you got there. Through all the challenges & obstacles & hope.’
The journey.
I am on it.
For that I am grateful.
Perhaps we should not fret so much?
Perhaps each road has its own destination & all we can do is travel?
Perhaps how we travel is what counts?
And so we load the Chrysler Voyager at Lalibela, saying goodbye to foreign tourists & dedicated tourism operators, and head home on a different route.
Via Salem & Kenton-on-Sea.
In Salem we see the graves of many children at the Methodist Church built in the mid 1800’s by optimistic British Settlers.
WHAT WE DID: We visited the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, the Prince Alfred’s Guard Drill Hall, The Campanile, No 7 Castle Hill, Settler’s Park & The Red Location Museum. We also attended the Afri-Save Marathon & The Bird Street Bash on Trinder Square.
WHERE WE STAYED: The little house on the not so little hill
RECOMENDATION: Nelson Mandela Bay is the ultimate family destination. There is a whole lot of history to be discovered. This was our fifth weekend exploring our city – a tourist could easily spend a whole week experiencing new & interesting trips. Come visit Nelson Mandela Bay!
Congratulations to Robynne Bosch & Siziwe Mnukwa! You each win a set of five x day passes (valued at R1000), complements of Kingfisher FM & Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism .
There’s otwo more sets up for grabs, those we’ll give away next week. 😀
The day pass gives you access to a whole range of activities & discounts. It is a fun & affordable way to travel Nelson Mandela Bay.
WHAT WE DID: This was an exciting weekend. We visited the South African Airforce Museum, Bayworld, The Donkin Reserve, Ron Belling Art Museum, St Georges Park & St Croix Motor Museum. Monday the 24th was a public holiday & we took part in an exciting Travel Quest, a race against time from clue to clue.
WHERE WE STAYED: The little house on the not so little hill
RECOMENDATION: Nelson Mandela Bay is the ultimate family destination. There is a whole lot of history to be discovered. This was our fourth weekend exploring our city – a tourist could easily spend a whole week experiencing new & interesting trips. Come visit Nelson Mandela Bay!
This past weekend, as we experienced re-invented urban spaces & vintage museums, it dawned on us: Nelson Mandela Bay is utterly unique.
Johannesburg is the New York or London of our continent.
Cape Town our Paris.
Nelson Mandela Bay has no twin.
Nothing to compare it with.
It was in this city that the South African Airways was born.
It was here that motor manufacturing started on our continent.
This we learnt as we spent time at the South African Airforce Museum & St Croix Motor Museum.
Our city’s Bayworld is nothing like Florida’s Marineland.
It does offer an intimacy nowhere else to be found.
And perhaps, as tomorrow comes, this intimacy will be retained, even if it grows into a large-scale ocenarium.
Anyone interested in Africa’s past, would do well to spend time at the Donkin Reserve.
Here you’ll discover one of Africa’s oldest lighthouses.
A love-story of an officer who became a gentleman while longing for the partner who died too soon.
You’ll experience the story of freedom, creatively depicted in art & sculpture, walkways & picnic spots.
It is a positive space.
A meeting place.
Loaded with emotion.
Opportunity.
Remembrance.
Hope.
Perhaps none of the tourist brochures & websites speak of Nelson Mandela Bay & art in the same breath?
They’ve not been to the Donkin Reserve or the many other spaces with public art scattered everywhere.
They’ve not spent an afternoon at the Ron Belling Art Gallery.
Or the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum.
Or the Epsac Art Gallery.
They’ve not taken in a show at the oldest Opera House on the African Continent.
Or the Ford Little Theatre.
Or Manville Open Air Theatre.
They’ve not been mesmerized by the sounds of talented musicians busking in surprising places, un-affected by the commercialization of an industry too easily consumed by money & fame.
Culturally savvy.
More than you could ever imagine.
Have you walked St Georges Park?
Sheltered by trees planted lifetimes ago.
This city has a Campenile, which commemorates the arrival of the British Settlers, comfortably co-existing with three Mosques in close proximity to each other.
It has a Red Location Museum, which remembers the injustice of apartheid, comfortably co-existing with two Concentration Camp Commemorative sites, which remembers the injustices of the South African War (1899 -1902).
This city is more than just more beaches.
It is the heart of African optimism.
The rhythm of a new way gradually infecting new souls.
It is a good place to live.
A good place to visit.
A must experience for any traveler who wants to taste more than the plastic of piña colada‘s on overcrowded brochure-beaches.
CONGRATULATIONS to Wilene Venter & Mekylo Ram! They each win a sets of five x day passes (valued at R1000), complements of Kingfisher FM & Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism.
The day pass gives you access to a whole range of activities & discounts. It is a fun & affordable way to travel Nelson Mandela Bay.
WHAT WE DID: We spent time at the Cuyler Manor Museum, The VW Autopavilion, The Uitenhage Concentration Camp Memorial Site & Memory Factory, as well as Wild Cats World, Spotted Cats Conservation, Daniell Cheetah Project.
WHERE WE STAYED: The little house on the not so little hill
RECOMENDATION: Nelson Mandela Bay is the ultimate family destination. Often Uitenhage would be left off the itinerary, but you cannot miss the VW Autopavilion or Wild Cats World. For the VW Autopavilion you need to plan at least an entire morning or afternoon. For the Cuyler Manor Museum, you should make arrangements if you want to visit it on a weekend.
The VW Autopavilion is open on weekdays & every first Saturday of the month.
The Cuyler Manor Museum is open on weekdays.
On Saturday Craig from Mosaic Tourism find us activities available on weekends.
We make our way to the war-memorial site of the Uitenhage Concentration camp.
It was erected in the 70’s when a previous government made history its servant.
Making heroes of woman, children & old men who died in captivity during another senseless war.
War is always senseless.
On all the pages of recorded history I’ve not encountered one which served more than it destroyed.
Or set free.
Completely.
The English War (1899 – 1902) could’ve been avoided.
Some wish to call this war the ‘South African War’, playing on the fact that it affected all people in South Africa.
I find this interesting, for there was no ‘South Africa’ in the sense of today’s South Africa, at the time & the name is just confusing.
I prefer the term ‘English War’ for, if we hope to be honest, we should admit that it was a war waged by Britain.
British expansionist ideas (notably propagated by Cecil Rhodes) as well as disputes over uitlander political and economic rights resulted in the failed Jameson Raid of 1895.
As tensions escalated, political manoeuvrings and negotiations attempted to reach compromise on the issues of the rights of the uitlanders within the South African Republic, control of the gold mining industry, and the British desire to incorporate the Transvaal and the Orange Free State into a federation under British control. Given the British origins of the majority of uitlanders and the ongoing influx of new uitlanders into Johannesburg, the Boers recognised that granting full voting rights to the uitlanders would eventually result in the loss of ethnic Boer control in the South African Republic.
To Lord Milner’s satisfaction, the June 1899 negotiations in Bloemfontein failed, and in September 1899 British Colonial SecretaryJoseph Chamberlain demanded full voting-rights and representation for the uitlanders residing in the Transvaal. Paul Kruger, the President of the South African Republic, issued an ultimatum on 9 October 1899, giving the British government 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from the borders of both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, failing which the Transvaal, allied to the Orange Free State, would declare war on the British government. The British government rejected the South African Republic’s ultimatum, resulting in the South African Republic and Orange Free State declaring war on Britain.
If the leaders of the Boer Republics were willing to talk, negotiate & find a compromise, it could’ve been different.
There are no heroes.
Even if we wished there were.
We’ve stumbled upon some of this history in Bloemfontein.
And in the Red Location-precinct, just a week ago.
During the English War Guerilla Warfare was utilized for the very first time in the modern history of man-kind.
Changing the way things were.
Civilians.
In small groups.
Waging war.
The English answer to this was a burnt-earth.
Farms destroyed.
Women & children incarcerated in designated restricted access areas.
The thinking: you take away their resources, they will give up.
Which eventually happened.
After thousands died.
Almost a century later our country had more of the same.
Civilians.
In small groups.
Waging war.
They were already living in designated restricted access areas.
Some spent decades in jail.
Others fled.
Technology changed.
Information flowing.
Faster.
And Nelson Mandela negotiated.
And no more died.
The link between the English War (1899 -1902) and the Freedom Struggle lies deeper than that.
The Uitenhage Concentration Camp was the only of its kind on which prisoners were not housed in tents, but in corrugated iron buildings.
Emily Hobhouse had made a bit of a stink about Kitcheners’ methods.
Illusions had to be maintained.
A flagship project was created.
For all to see.
For journalists to visit.
For pictures to be taken.
Here, the food was abundant.
The housing more comfortable.
The water clean.
The sanitation proper.
And then the war ended.
And the victors moved the red corrugated iron buildings of the Uitenhage Concentration Camp to the New Brighton Location.
And they rusted.
Red in the sun.
And Red Location was born.
More of the same.
For so often Governments do not govern to the benefit of all the people of the land.
A civilized lot we are.
We’ve convinced ourselves.
It was Hoby the Clown who related all of this to us.
This story of Uitenhage’s Concentration Camp & its connection to the Red Location.
He is married to Popsi.
They have a son & a daughter.
Toby.
And Popsicle.
We’ve been to many war memorial sites.
Never before have we been met by Clowns.
Hoby & Popsi & their children run the Memory Factory.
A touch farm.
Activities.
Children’s parties.
They’re eager to talk about the past.
The present.
The future.
About hope.
Disappointment.
Faith.
And ‘stupidly’ following your heart.
Against all odds.
Living a life less ordinary.
I admire them, I think as we get into the Alfa Romeo Giulietta to make our way to Wild Cats World for lunch and an extraordinary experience with spotted cats.
The drive is easy.
Open road, quickly eaten by the Italian Automobile’s appetite.
Lunch is simple.
Then Maxie takes us through this project’s visitor area.
We meet Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Lynx and Genet & Tierboskat.
They conserve.
Breed.
Eventually release.
And along the way, in order to pay vet’s bills & feed bills & staff salaries, we get the opportunity to see them.
Meet them.
Touch them.
We are delighted that a project such as this exist.
We are saddened that our world has come to this.
A place so harsh for so many.
The drive home in the late afternoon is fast.
The Giulietta a red dash on black tar.
We’ve seen some of what the Uitenhage-area offer us.
There is still a science centre.
Beautiful seventeenth & eighteenth century architecture.
The Despatch Chimney.
Despatch Museum.
Victoria Tower.
As we twist on forgotten country roads to our little wooden house, we talk of our story.
CONGRATULATIONS to Navadia Marnay & Lungile Mnukwa. They each won a set of five x day passes (valued at R1000), complements of Kingfisher FM & Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism.
The day pass gives you access to a whole range of activities & discounts. It is a fun & affordable way to travel Nelson Mandela Bay.
The next winners will be announced on Friday 21/09/2012 on Kingfisher FM’s Big Breakfast.
WHAT WE DID: We went on a Township Tour on Friday afternoon & evening exploring the Red Location Precinct, Njoli Sqaure & Township life in general, meeting beautiful people along the way. On Saturday we did the South End Museum Tour & then relaxed at The Willows Resort, enjoying their fabulous amenities for the rest of the weekend.
RECOMENDATION: Nelson Mandela Bay is the ultimate family destination. This weekend was immensely interesting & with out a doubt I would recommend anyone to try and fit both activities into their itinerary. For the township tour I would suggest utilizing an experienced guide who know the people & area.
The leather seats, climate control & cruise control with its ‘beyond imagination’-awareness, really being awe-inspiring.
We were staying at The Willows Beach Resort.
Right on the ocean.
The waves lulling you to sleep.
Becoming the rhythm as you wake up & drink coffee, surrounded by green lawns & well kept amenities.
More than comfortable family accommodation.
Private.
Inside the heart-beat of nature.
Open.
Staff always ready to answer your needs.
Fellow-guests friendly & happy.
Families.
Children enjoying the super-tube water-slide.
The putt-putt mini-golf.
The game center.
Relaxed lounging breakfasts at the warm restaurant.
Vervet Monkeys curiously watching from large green trees.
We were exploring history.
The drive to the tourism office, from where we took a bus to Port Elizabeth’s Main Train Station, was quick & comfortable.
The Willows is truly only a few minutes from the city.
An ideal spot, no matter what part of Nelson Mandela Bay you want to explore.
Then we took the train to New Brighton station.
New Brighton is our city’s oldest existing township.
Townships are part of our countries spacial history.
Predominantly inhabited by black people.
Supported by failing old infrastructure.
Set aside.
From the rest.
A reserve of sorts.
Where people have come to live & make a living & be.
Become, even.
Saturday we saw a glimpse of our country’s ‘relocation’-history.
Through the South End Museum.
Families ripped to pieces.
Away from friends.
Some times even away from relatives.
From community.
Losing.
All the way.
Not only them.
Everyone.
As we lose community.
Connection.
Coming to believe that we are different.
Which we aren’t.
For we all value the same things.
Relationship.
Hope.
Peace.
Growth.
Progress.
As we crossed the pedestrian bridge from the New Brighton Station to the Red Location precinct, our guide shoved white people to one side.
Blacks to another.
You must be separate.
And we walk on the one side of a barrier.
The white side.
As it was.
Before 1994.
Apartheid is a sad part of our history.
Even sadder than the concentration camps of the English War (1899 – 1902).
For the ones who were set aside.
Set aside.
Like a son who saw his father beating his mother.
To grow up.
To beat his wife.
So that his son & grandson could do it again.
That is probably the greatest grace & gift of Tata Nelson Mandela & the African National Congress.
Grace.
To be more.
To be different.
To embrace.
Include.
To a new future.
A new future is, however, not created in a moment.
18 years.
Since 1994.
A moment.
In comparison to almost a century.
Preceded by centuries.
On Friday evening we stop at Lafa & Mifa’s.
Its a butchery.
With a dining area & open fires.
You buy your meat at the butchery.
Then come to the dining area & cook it on the open fire.
A ‘braai’ (almost like ‘buy’, just with an ‘r’ in there) we call it.
All of us.
A large sign declares: ‘anytime is braai time’.
We are the same.
South Africans.
We love cooking outside on an open fire.
We love being together.
And so we talk.
To locals who come there regularly.
To families who love the community.
To people walking the streets.
Hoping the effort of fathers & grandfathers weren’t in vain.
And as we drive back in the luxury of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, to the comfort of The Willows Beach Resort, I wonder how this spacial heritage could be overcome.
For amidst the hardship of relocation a vibrant, energetic culture has come to life.
Perhaps it has always been there.
Perhaps it just did not die.
Despite everything.
Wasn’t quenched.
A beautiful resilience.
Hairdressers on the side of the street.
Mamma’s baking roosterkoek (bread baked on the open fire) for those who pass by on the way to work or home.
Children playing.
Herbs & chicken for sale.
Little bags of sweets.
Mini-bus taxi’s flying up and down the street.
Large municipal buses making their way in the late afternoon to homes, where people live.
Still set aside.
Its been decades.
The poverty of loss, more visible than ever.
As we savor that first morning coffee on Sunday morning, at The Willows, our weekend-neighbor walks over.
Sidwell.
He lives in Motherwell.
With his family.
His father’s family relocated there.
Decades ago.
We talk of life.
His children.
Mine.
We talk of a new future.
A hope.
Our children play.
Run off together to the water-slide.
Unaware that once we were separated.
We hope.
And as we say our goodbyes we agree that we need to intentionally move beyond the invisible boundaries created by a dark meaningless past.
On our behalf.
Without our consent.
And we agree that we are the same.
We desire freedom.
Equality.
Opportunity.
For our children.
Peace.
And I admit that I will need to intentionally redress the works of a previous generations hands.
WHAT WE DID: We had lunch at Pine Lodge & The Boma. We enjoyed a donkey-cart ride, visited a marine rescue centre, a reptile centre, a farmyard and a predator park. We also climbed one of the highest dunes in our bit of world, discovered the Sacramento Trail & Grysbok Nature Reserve.
RECOMENDATION: Nelson Mandela Bay is the ultimate family destination. If you’re traveling with children, you’ll want to travel this part of South Africa. It’s not only accessable, it is perfectly geared for families, from accommodation to restaurants & activities. It is as crime-free as it comes & the beauty of this bit of world is immense.
A stunning log-construction establishment set amongst Pine Trees, right on the ocean.
It is perfectly kept.
Three star rated with 4-star delivery.
The children play in Pine Lodge’s Pirates Cove while the Donkey Cart is being readied.
Then we take the Donkey Cart ride to SAMREC in the Cape Recife Nature Reserve.
The reserve offers beautiful unspoilt beaches, natural dune vegetation, rocky outcrops, a lighthouse built-in 1851, an old military observation post, as well as a bird hide, Craig explains.
Some of the contributors competing to rid the earth of one more species.
Eddie is an environmental veteran.
He grew up on a nature reserve.
Left the world of conservation to become a civil engineer.
Couldn’t resist the pull of the world which stole his childhood heart.
Working tirelessly to save a population taken for granted.
Eddie has purpose.
He speaks of how he finds enjoyment in the work with which he fills his days.
Craig spoke of it as well.
Somewhere between SAMREC and Grysbok Nature Reserve & Sacramento Trail.
Enjoyment.
How do we end up filling our days with work we do not enjoy?
Work that does not excite us?
Is it fear?
Or desperation?
Or fate?
Grysbok Nature Reserve is hidden amongst the drifting sands on the campus of this city’s University. It protects one of the most endangered habitats on the continent.
A habitat made up of a mosaic of Coastal fynbos and the Eastern Cape’s Sub-tropical thickets.
I’m impressed by the intentional conservation efforts of so many.
This is my city.
Craig explains that the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is the only University in South Africa which is set right in the middle of a Nature Reserve.
It speaks to the uniqueness of this institution.
Often hidden.
Mostly missed.
Perhaps because we do not know.
I did not know.
I’ve lived here a lifetime.
Before Saturday gives way to night we head to the Sacramento Trail.
Where a Portuguese ship wrecked on rocky shores.
From where a crew made their way to Mozambique.
On foot.
Too obstinate to seek assistance from Dutch.
Dying along the way.
Only a handful making it.
That night more than a handful congregate at our home for a celebration of life.
A fire is lit.
Zuko & the girls peel & slice organic vegetables supplied by Organic Footprints.
Theunsie helps to knead and create artisan bread from fresh stone ground flour.
We talk, laugh, remember.
It is in relationship that we live.
Long after the clock strikes twelve the last guests say goodnight.
We rest.
Life a little lighter.
Sunday morning we meet Craig at Maitlands.
Where we climb to the top of one of the highest dunes in our little bit of world.
Craig explains that this area was once known for its mines.
If you walk along the well-marked path you’ll come upon the old mines.
Ruins of old miners’ homes.
Today Craig’s family joins us.
We like it when other families travel alongside us.
It enriches the experience.
At Homeleigh Farmyard Danielle welcomes us with a scrumptious breakfast in their tea garden.
The children play with their new friends in the large play-area.
Then Danielle takes us to meet all the farm animals.
She is another person who loves what she does.
She’s been with Homeleigh Farm for decades.
She came here as a little girl.
Insistent.
This is where she should be.
And when the owners needed to retire, her family was ready to continue a legacy.
Steadily growing & improving this wonderful family affair.
Many children remember celebrating a birthday here.
PJ & Lynette and Hockley Cottages, Cranemere & the Palmers. Marianne, the first internationally acclaimed author we’d meet. PJ, the first exporter. All on day 1.
Just as the first light greeted us through our bedroom’s window, our children rushed into our room, filled with excitement.
We’re nearing the end of our ten-day explore of the Blue Crane Route.
It’s the perfect ending.
We’re at ‘Die Lapa‘, an adventure farm hidden in the mountains, just south of Somerset East.
It is beautiful.
A little village coming to life, far from the rush & noise of city life.
Wilna has hot coffee & warm breakfast ready.
Jannie, her husband was born on this land.
His grandfather walked in the river bed.
His father played amongst the trees & succulents.
What they do is share the amazing joy of farm life with anyone wiling to make the journey.
Since its inception schools & companies have come here to explore themselves as they explore nature.
I see a twinkle in Jannie’s eyes.
The games he played as a child & the ones he dreamt of, all of them are here to share & taste & experience.
His manner with our children speak of a gentle soul.
A soul hungry to heal & make whole.
The city-slickers from Gauteng are off to neighboring land where they’re developing a lodge.
What Jannie has created is not just another lodge.
It is a little bit of life in the heart of the Karoo.
Friends from Somerset East arrive.
Our number bolster.
We have teams to play paintball.
Jannie joins in.
Pippin & Theunsie fight like hardened soldiers.
We take the hits.
We give our share of hits.
We laugh exuberantly.
It fills the morning.
Over lunch we talk of the people who make their way to ‘Die Lapa’.
Beautiful people received by beautiful people.
Warm.
All of us discovering more as we push ourselves beyond our own limits – or what we thought was limits.
Pippin & Soffie & Theunsie, even Zuko, brave the high swing.
‘Hemelhoog’
Touching the blue Karoo heavens before swinging wildly through the sky.
Soffie overcomes a fear.
Theunsie & Pippin too, although they show a braver front.
As we do when we grow up.
Hiding our fear.
Keeping quiet about it, instead of being honest & facing it.
Talking about it without worrying what others would say.
If only we could do that.
Be honest.
In our relationships.
About who we are.
About what we fear.
About what we hope & dream & reach for.
I dream of a life filled with my Zuko & children.
Into eternity.
Filled with wonderful people who make me & us more, as we make them more.
Encouraging each other.
Filling cracks & crevices.
Healing even, as we see each other’s beauty.
And reflect it.
Jannie & Wilma’s children join us.
They’re little Wilmarie take Theunsie & Sophia & Wilhelmina horse-riding.
Later we do the obstacle course.
The weather changes.
Large cold drops splatter in the soft Karoo soil.
Jannie helps each child along.
Explaining the value of choosing adventure.
Of moving outside of your comfortable space.
‘It is good to ask for help’, he says.
‘Nothing wrong with that, but ask exactly what you need, so others may know exactly how to come alongside you.’
‘There is no shame in asking.’
‘No one makes it without the help of others.’
How did we become so independent?
How did we come to believe that if I did not make it on my own I did not make it with dignity?
What is ‘making it’, after all?
Is it obscene wealth?
So that you can splash & splurge & spend as if there is no end.
Or is it deep relationship?
Becoming?
Who you were created to be?
All along?
Is it really connecting?
That is something else which have been brewing below the surface the past few days.
So many men’s inability to be authentic & honest.
Always hiding behind a bravado.
Robbing their wives & children of a life in intimacy.
I’m glad to see Jannie embrace his Wilna.
It is real.
No show.
No show!
How do we get there?
To that place?
Perhaps a place like ‘Die Lapa‘ will help us along?
Perhaps stepping outside the comfort of city life & doing together, something which we’d never consider doing – perhaps that takes us to this new place.
Of honesty.
And along with that a new new-found bravery.
I think that is the gift of Jannie & Wilna with ‘Die Lapa’.
An opportunity to school boys & girls, to prefects & teachers, to families & friends & businesses, to get to that place.
It is a good place.
As we come into the village-hall at the centre of this little village, the warm fire is cooking supper.
The children head for the pool table.
The visitors from Gauteng are here as well.
Laughter is easy.
We talk.
Disagree.
Smile.
Laugh.
Zuko boldly explains our eccentric life.
Homeschooling at the little wooden house on the not so little hill.
Traveling the Eastern Cape.
It doesn’t sound like much in comparison to the lives of the rich & famous.
To us it is everything.
We connect for a moment, through the people.
We smile.
For it is good.
And we hope, as Jannie & Wilna share Jannie’s boy-hood experiences, we may also share the joy of family life.
Of raising children, not to ‘leave’ for distant worlds, but to keep on sharing.
Never did we imagine it would be so much fun, when we started with Traveling Tribe Season 1.
Traveling Tribe 