south africa - capetown, kimberely & mafikeng

Cape Town is a little...different...than Johannesburg.  Its one of the most highly visited cities in the entire continent in Africa.  Its a beautiful city, with stunning ocean views and landscapes.  Its also full of tourists and lots of high end shopping, accommodations and restaurants.  I'm sure if one had lots of money, this would be a fabulous destination.  There is a large mix of ethnicities represented here, including heritage from:  Europe, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Saint Helena and Southern Africa.  While the local population comprised of a wonderful medley,  I had a hard time not sneering at the gobs of rich white teenagers with their hoity-toity parents sauntering down the streets, as if they owned them.  I guess we all have our prejudices we have to work through, my own included.

Despite my irritations on the walkways, we did enjoy some of the local attractions.  Our first day we visited The Castle of Good Hope (a historic military station), Iziko Slave Lodge (an ancient slave house and modern day museum detailing the history of slavery in Cape Town), some lovely gardens and a walk down Long Street (where lots of the action takes place).

The following day we visited the Waterfront, which was absolutely beautiful and quite reminiscent of California's coastline.  While walking around we tried to catch a glimpse of Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, but couldn't see it, and the tour to visit it was a bit pricey.  We did catch a glimpse of the new stadium constructed for the 2010 World Cup, from a distance. 

Next we climbed "Lion's Head," a small mountain on the perimeter of the of the city.  We were hoping for spectacular views of the city and coastline, but instead were surrounded by an abundance of fog and cool mist!  There were beautiful flowers and plants along our walk, though, and it felt as if we weren't really in Africa, more like Maine or Ireland! 

From Cape Town, it was time to head northbound, slowly making our way to Nairobi, Kenya, in time to reach our flight by the beginning of February.  We landed in the city of Kimberely, South Africa, for a five day stay.  Kimberely is a much smaller town than Cape Town or Johannesburg, and bases most of its tourism on their history and diamond mining.  We went to visit "The Big Hole" a huge (now water-filled) hole that was created by 50,000 miners digging for diamonds over about 40 years (bringing forth some 2,700 kg of diamonds).  This is also where the company De Beers was formed, which to this day today still retains a monopoly over the world's diamond market.  There was also a museum, and what I thought was a rather odd mini-town, with old storefronts, displays, and lots of creepy mannequins.

Other than Big Hole, our time in Kimberely was mostly spent at our hotel, where we tried to stay cool in the sweltering heat of high 90's everyday.  (I guess we did play a game of mini-golfing, where I was the reigning champion.)  We were staying in (well, next to) a lovely historic home with a huge kitchen and great amenities, which we were able to enjoy.  Our sleeping quarters, however, we not as lovely, as we were staying the dorm room full of bunks, and only one small window, which let in lots of hungry mosquitoes at night.  Who doesn't love deciding whether to have heat stroke or be eaten alive?!  We were able to utilize the kitchen to assemble our impromptu Thanksgiving meal of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and cupcakes for dessert.  It was good, but left me missing cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and most importantly, my family.  I was grateful, however, that Guy and I were able to share a lovely meal together in South Africa!

From Kimberley we found out our only option to cross the border into Botswana was to take a combi, (minibus).  So has begun one of what I believe will be many combi rides.  Gone are the days of the luxuriously huge buses of South America.  Combis are packed full with about 15 passengers, when really, they would be "comfortable" (and I say that word loosely) with about 10.  And combis don't leave at a specific time.  You wait until they are full, and then you leave.  We showed up at 9:30 am, and left about 1:30 pm.  And if you're taller than 5ft, you won't have sufficient leg room either.  Four hours later, we arrived at our final stop in South Africa,  Mafikeng, just at the border before crossing into Botswana.  While Guy was hopeful that we were going to discover something good in this town, I wasn't crossing my fingers.  Even though there was nothing noteworthy there, it was a nice place to rest for a day before heading onto our next destination...Gaborone, Botswana!

south africa - johannesburg

Oh sweet Africa.

From our wonderful stay in Buenos Aires, we took a nine hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Although it is really hard to avoid culture shock when going somewhere completely new, I feel as though the transition here has been very easy for me, much easier than when we landed in Lima!  We went right to our hostel in Kensington, just east of downtown Johannesburg.  We slept for awhile, since neither of us got any sleep on our overnight plane ride, and we were already thrust five hours ahead of schedule.

The next day we ventured out from our lovely hostel complex by walking a couple of miles to downtown Johannesburg.  We went to the Carlton Tower (the tallest building in Africa at 50 stories) to see the "Top of Africa," a rather nice 360 degree view of the entire city of Johannesburg.  We also just kind of wandered around the city, just to take it all in, and ate at Nando's, a South African eatery with lots of delicious spicy chicken and Portugese flavor.

Saturday was our biggest day in Johannesburg.  We took a day long tour through our hostel, that was REALLY good.  And I can even say that even when I was sick all day!  We started by heading to the Apartheid Museum.  The country of South Africa has a history deeply entrenched in racism, much like that of the United States.  The system of apartheid was enforced for nearly 50 fifty years, with policies to keep races separate, favoring the white population (to put it gently).  Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years before being released, leading the country into a new post-apartheid era, and elected in the first democratic election as President. As much as I would love to go on and on about the history of the country and of Mandala, you can click on this link to read more if you'd like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid  The museum was very state of the art and provided excellent information.

From there we headed to the well-known area of Soweto.  Within Soweto there are about 30 townships, some fairly wealthy to extremely poor.  Our tour guide took us to both extremes.  During that time, we drove by Archbishop Desmond Tutu's former home, visited Nelson Mandela's former home, visited the Hector Pieterson Musuem, and made a stop at the Soweto Kliptown Youth Center (SKY).  This place was amazing.  We got an official "tour" from one of the children living there, who showed us where the other children live, eat, learn, and play.  The kids were so friendly and in really good spirits.  The center is located right in the Kliptown township, which is full of shacks and very poor.  We met the founder of SKY, Bob, who sat down to chat with us for awhile and tell us about the organization.  We found out that he was featured on CNN's "Heroes" http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/interactive/gallery.heroes/content.1.1f.html and its really no surprise why.  He was an orphaned child himself growing up in Kliptown, and he has spent the last few decades of his life dedicated to bettering the lives of Kliptown children.  He was incredibly wise and inspirational as he sat and shared his story with us, as well as his views on life, poverty and reconciliation.  He definitely has such a powerful positive message of hope, and tears came into my eyes as he talked. 

After recovering from a tough day and horrible night of sickness (with the scare of a fever), we laid low and I recouped before we went to stay with a couple through "couchsurfing" in downtown Johannesburg.  They were amazing, not only letting us stay with them in their home, but making us wonderful food, teaching us about the culture, and showing us around.  Tiffany is actually originally from Minneapolis, and she recently married a man from South Africa.  She showed us around downtown, including Farady Market, where you can purchase herbs, unidentified hooves, and other strange items.  We also walked by street markets selling beautiful African art, jewerly and crafts.  Our lovely hosts also made us "braai" which is the South African equivalent of BBQ, including boerewors, a spicy sausage.  They also introduced us to biltong (strips of dried meat similar to beef jerky) which is a national obsession.  While he grilled the food on their highrise rooftop, we enjoyed incredible views of the city.

Our final day in Johannesburg included visiting Museum Africa, sampling the typical food of meat pies from Woolworth's (wait, didn't my grandma shop there?) and going to dinner with Tiffany and Chris at an amazing Indian restaurant. 

I think that Johannesburg is an AMAZING city.  It is full of struggle and overcoming struggle.  The crime rate is very high (everything downtown closes at 5:00), the AIDS epidemic is very real here (South Africa has the highest number of people infected with HIV in the world), poverty is rampant, and though apartheid has ended, inequality is still very present.  At times I felt very down in Johannesburg, learning more and more about the horrible history and oppression.  But there are amazing people living here with incredible spirit and I find this city to be one of the most fascinating and inspirational places I have visited yet.

all things argentina

So I guess this is really going to be more of "all things buenos aires," since we stayed in B.A. longer than anywhere else, and experienced the culture here more than the other places we visited.  Argentina is a HUGE country, and really, we only got a taste of what the country has to offer.  B.A. houses about a third of the total country´s population, but it certainly has its own unique culture (apart from the rest of the country).  One could write an entire book observing B.A. (and there are several), but I will just write a few things here for you to sample...

*  Everything in Buenos Aires starts LATE.  Most places don´t start serving dinner until 8:00, but most people don´t go until 9 or 10.  With their children.  And parties on the weekends don´t start until midnight, but most people don´t show up until later, and the parties go til the sun comes up.  Don´t these people need any sleep?!

*  The city (and whole country really) is much more "cosmopolitan" than the other countries we visited, offering incredible shopping opportunities, obvious style, and stunning architecture.

*  The porteños (locals) here are very passionate people.  It kind of feels like a junior high dance everywhere you go...you´re certain to see a couple making out at any given place (especially the park).

*  The traditional way to greet and part ways here is a kiss on the cheek, even if you are complete strangers, and even between two men.

*  That being said, the culture is full of machismo...with men calling to women with "compliments" and full of bravado.  Along with machismo, however, there is a chivalrous attitude, such as holding doors and other gentlemanly behavior.

*  B.A. is more ethnically diverse than other South American areas we have visited, with a variety of European countries blending their way into the culture.

*  Both men and women are very into appearance...looking good is highly important.  You can tell by the way many women carry themselves that they want you to look at them and admire them.  Going down any given street you are bombarded by images of "perfect" looking women plastered on billboardsThe pressure to look good is also the cause of a soaring rate of eating disorders and the reason a large number of people get plastic surgery.  Not a culture I would be able to handle in that respect.  I hardly felt adequate in my frumpy travel clothes and hiking boots!!  (Chelsea was very nice to lend me an outfit to "go out" in.) 

*  Its a cruel thing that everyone is so obsessed with watching their perfect figures because this place has the best food and drinks...hands down.  The coffee, wine and food are DELICIOUS.  I haven´t had a bad meal here.  The "fast food" pizza was even good.  And the food court at the mall??  No soggy burgers or cold fries!  Delicious pastas, grilled meats and fresh salads are on the menu.  The food here is really as good as people say it is.

*  Why didn´t someone tell me that the best ice cream in the world is in Buenos Aires?!!  I had no idea.  It is so creamy and delicious, and every heladaria (ice cream shop) has an extensive list of flavors, including several varieties of my favorites...chocolate and dulce de leche.

*  Since I´m on such a food kick, I´ll keep going.  I mentioned in another blog that parrilla is everywhere here.  It consists of barbequed meats, and lots of it.  Many families get together weekly to indulge together.  Another common tradition is that of yerba mate.  We got to experience this at Chelsea and Ale´s place.  One person takes the mate gourd and fills it almost full of dried yerba leaves and covers it with very hot water.  One person then drinks it through a metal straw until the cup needs to be filled again.  Everyone drinks from the same gourd, and apparently there are many rules and guidelines to this common "ritual."

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano."  Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.

*  Not as many stray dogs in B.A. (comparatively) but lots of dog walkers (with several dogs) can be spotted throughout the city.

*  The city is fairly polluted with the high amount of traffic fumes going into the air and garbage lines the streets.  Poor cartoneros (garbage collectors) sort through the garbage bags looking for recyclables to sell, leaving the streets even more of a mess!

* In B.A., they have their own version of Spanish called "castellano." Pronounciation of some spanish words and vocabulary varies some from "traditional" español.
* Within the last decade, there was economic collapse, and more than half of the population was in poverty. With Kirshner in office (the president who just died), the country is slowly becoming more stable. None of this seems to influence the shopping habits of many locals!

* Argentina is more expensive than other South American countries we have visited, but still about four pesos to the American dollar.

That is my brief short attempt at Argentine culture, hope I got it right Chelsea!  Correct me if I am wrong!

argentina - buenos aires

We´ve had the chance to stay in the city of Buenos Aires for two weeks with our friends Chelsea and Ale.  They have a cute apartment in the Caballito neighborhood, where they´ve graciously allowed us to invade their lives and treated us wonderfully during our stay.  Here´s what we´ve done during our time here:

Walked through the Microcenter to visit the historic Plaza de Mayo, where much of Argentina´s history has occured  and where the Casa Rosada (Pink House) resides -- former Presidential Palace, current Presidential offices.  We also saw the Palacio del Congreso where we took a tour (it looks a bit like the U.S. capitol) and strolled through the Plaza del Congreso.  The moment we arrived in Buenos Aires, we heard that the current President´s husband, Nestor Kirchner (and recent President himself) had died, which is clearly a big deal.  There were lots of messages and memorials hanging in the Plaza del Congreso in honor of Nestor.

* Purchased very cheap costumes and celebrated Halloween Buenos Aires style...starting at 1:00 a.m. at a friend´s party and ending at 7:00 a.m. at a dance club.

*  Sipped divine cappuchinos in several cafes and a submarino (hot chocolate) at the famous Cafe Tortoni.

* Wandered the streets of San Telmo, window shopping in the many antique shops.

* Ate at Ale´s fabulous cafe he recently took over with his sister and enjoyed a delicious lunch.

*  Visited the neighborhood of Recoleta where we went to the Cemetario de la Recoleta, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and strolled through a market.  The cemetary was really spectacular, housing B.A.´s famous and weathly in extravagent mausoleums, including Evita´s.

*  Attended a dance show of one of Chelsea and Ale´s friends as well as an incredible performance called "Fuerza Bruta."  It was a rather interactive music/dance sensory experience where at one point we had a large tarp fashioned as a swimming pool with "swimming dancers" inches from our heads!  Look it up on youtube to see clips of it.

*  Strolled down the cobbled waterfrond walkways of Puerto Madero and enjoyed some libations with our friends.

* Sampled delicious ice cream and wonderful foods around the city.

* Used public transport, including the subway, where Guy got pickpocketed! Luckily we didn´t lose more than $25, but his check card had to be cancelled, and I think his pride was more hurt than anything!

*  Took a two-hour bus ride to the city of San Antonio de Areco to experience gaucho (cowboy) culture.  While it was a peaceful and charming little town, we didn´t get to experience much "gaucho" and realized the big yearly festival...was the very next day!

*  Along with Chelsea, Ale and their friend Christian, we took a quick train ride to the riverside suburb of Tigre to look through their huge market.  Chelsea said its a place many folks from B.A. go for a weekend getaway, much like "up north" for Minnesotans. 

*  Visited some green spaces in the Palermo area at the Rosedal (Rose Garden) where we saw the most beautiful roses I´ve ever seen. 

We have one more day before leaving the continent of South America, and I can´t believe its already time to go to Africa!  The last several days have been a bit tough for me sick I´ve been battling an illness and had to take it easy.  I´m hopeful that I will be feeling better soon so I will be up to site seeing when we arrive in South Africa.  During our last day I hope to get in some of the best ice cream in town...Freddo´s...and enjoy one more meal with Chelsea and Ale before we head out.  Its been a blast!