South Africa in 30,1 kg

It is simply not possible to fit 7 month into backpacks and suitcases!

Even considering the sea of overweight hand luggage items, which made the whereabouts of my trip the conversation topic of one third of Emirates Economy class -impossible!

Even counting in the additional loose plastic bags filled with wine bottles, my laptop and camera, hats and sweaters - most unlikely!

I am sitting in my friends' apartment in Cape Town. Clothing, books and bags scattered all around me literally. Me sitting on this floor sorting it out. Giving away to people in the township of Kayelitsha as much as I can bear to leave behind. The living room of my friends place looked like I am going through a divorce.

South Africa and me are splitting up!

"This is mine, this I will leave here for you! Dare you take my belongings without me noticing in the last days!" "Why do I have to leave? Can we not try to make it work for longer?" "South Africa, you know still love you. Although I have to leave you, can we at least stay friends?"

Not even Table Mountain wants to show up to observe the calm before the storm of the final break-up. Covered in clouds as if photoshopped very sporadically with a basic white brush tool.

Being realistic, Cape Town must see this all the time. Nothing new - people leaving, people arriving all at the foot of Table Mountain - daily even. You must develop immunity at some point if you are the one always staying behind. I totally get why Table Mountain showed up 0nly at the last moment for a very quick goodbye! The one that is leaving is obviously disagreeing. Arguing like people often do at the end of an intense relationship - "It was special and irreplaceable. No really, it is different for me than for all those other people that Cape Town was with. It was real, we had a special connection!" Good thing I realized throughout the travelling in Africa that this would be emotionally-driven false reasoning. South Africa is big enough for sharing anyways ;)

Besides the many stamps in my passport, memorable photographs, my travel diaries and other documentations, it is the people that shaped my South Africa experience. All those other people that have this special connection with South Africa, people who I shared the experiences and memories with are living prove that the past 7 month actually happened. "Sharing is caring", something we frequently said on our trip is indeed a very true statement. Definitely do I care for the ones I shared my time, wine, travelling and experiences with! A connection that is lasting as it is securely locked in heads and hearts!

People say it is great to travel light but honestly, the heaviness of an intense 7 month is a weight which is worth carrying!


So bring on more bags and boxes.
We've got something to take away, something to carry back home to Germany!

This is it, we living. Happy.

Postcard from Africa

Dear reader,

It has been quite a while since I have been reporting last on what is going on here in the South of Africa. Although the thought of posting a new entry has been rather present somewhere in the back of my mind, I find it incredibly hard to put my experiences into words! In fact, to shorten all impressions, collected since we are on the road, to a couple of words seems impossible. It is already predetermined to fail in giving justice to the great people and places we experienced. I am sure every traveller knows this feeling. You move from place to place and constantly you are soaked into a new realm of impressions, colours, tastes and encounters. Looking back, it is even hard to remember what you had for dinner the last days or what you were up to just this morning.

Although time is rather short, I learned that it is the attitude with which we travel and one’s openness which allows experiences to stick and feel valuable. This is why, it feels so good to take a break in between and not rush from one place to the next… to process what I saw and felt. After all it is not just the major touristic thrill-challenges or to see as much as possible, which leave traces on you. For me, it is the non-interchangeable, the authentic. Things which just happen because they happen. Things that even go wrong. Events, we cannot necessarily influence. Surprises. Discussions. A light backpack or one which is too heavy. An unexpected good conversation with a stranger. Completed goals. Failing to complete goals. Natural challenges. Hidden messages. Feels to a place. It’s is those impressions and moments - those tiny bits and pieces of memory of sometimes the most ordinary things which make each travel such an intense experience - when we experience the ordinary as extraordinary!

Sitting in a safari tent in Swaziland with the sound of birds and monkeys, jumping in the trees around us, lots of incomplete bits and pieces come to my mind…

The first memory is leaving Stellenbosch not ready to leave as time was short for packing. Accomodation had to be cancelled, visas arranged and the many goodbyes didn’t make for a happy mood. My impression of the Garden Route as a retirement paradise comes next. Fast changing weather and similar looking places - empty. First BazBus travel companions! Yet, great to see no fences and barware anymore. Outshoorn and Wilderness stick out, something different! Driving through the Little Karoo in the rain. Learning Braai secrets, and the best Ostrich meat in Outshoorn. Harvest in Wilderness. Since our stay at the Wild Farm I am thinking about eco-friendliness (randomly, some weeks later I found a copy of the “Rough Guide: Ethical Living” in another hostel’s book exchange). Waterfall hikes. Photography…

… Secret trails, dolphin spotting and braai sessions in Plett. Meeting a person from Dinslaken, my hometown. Wasted money on canopy tour in Tsitsikamma. Storms River – great atmosphere in the name. Elvis-style dinner in the middle of nowhere. Ben Howard music when sitting around a fire with a group of other travellers we met. Sunshine Coast! J’Bay – best pasta and surf store outlets. Elsje, our new travel companion. Parties at the Island Vibe – finally many people around. Loads of surf videos. Live music …

… Student city Grahamstown. Old jail and tree swing. Rats and Parrots (no worries, it is a bar). Hogsback, Tolkien’s inspiration. Forest. Giving our tent to clay workers, sitting next to a fire warming themselves. Cleanest air, bathtub with a view, massage from a South African gypsy women in her hut. Relaxing. Photography. Tree house, monkeys and a shuttle car entirely wet from the rain water…

… Sunshine!!! Arriving in the Transkei. Rural and real. Madiba’s House. Longer stay in Coffee Bay. Puppy dogs. Hike, hike, hike! Hole in the wall and ocean dipping. Roasted sandwiches from the braai. Nice people, fire, playing pool, cocktails, best breakfast. River crossings to our hut. 7:30 – Surf! Mud, rain and the stormy sea. 4 people, 4 boards. Getting my first wave - happiness!

… Lutubeni, waiting for hours to be picked up. We as the only white people around. Curiosity. Rough ride and hours in a packed car. Boxes and boxes. Bulungula. Beautiful nature. Donkeys, seaside, palm trees. Huts. Smell of paraffin. The Xhosa people of Bulungulu. Guided by a local women, we carried water on our heads. Made Pap with spinach we harvested. Bricks made out with cow dung. 2 baby boys, chickens and dogs living in the hut. Lemongrass smell. LUCK! Circumcision ceremony in the village!! Stick fights, Xhosa beer made in plastic buckets, the new men arrive from 3 month in the bush. Drunk people. Again we as the only external people. Only whites, only foreigners.

… major city! Blood diamonds, the movie, on our way. Durban. City lights, Hollywood swing. Big difference to the Transkei experiences! Small Stellenbosch reunion. Indian food for breakfast and lunch and dinner. Indian market. Bunny Chow. Bargaining. Taxi deals. Casino. Two worlds of Africa! Northern Drakensberge! Thanksgiving. Finally laundry. Mountains, hills, valleys and tales of Zulu warriers. Sunshine and Pilates for breakfast. Landscapes, as if painted. Lesotho – the Mountain Kingdom! School children making bracelets out of grass. Hike. Caves, cavemen and cave paintings. Lowest income, highest poverty. Pigs and Aries. Huts and fieldwork. Children, confused as they never saw a foreigner.

… Yebo! J’burg. Interesting, tense atmosphere. Most horrific hostel stay! Most unsave area as we found out only afterwards. Great hostel afterwards – Kensington! Greener than expected. Empty streets and day and night. Mall evacuation. Greek pita and Zaziki. Western feeling yet Africa safety. Packing and repacking and storing. Early overland bus.

… Mozambique border crossing! MALARIA PILLS! Masses of people walking to the gates in the early morning. Street vendors. Fires and animals walking around. Maputo!! Humid, hot and exactly what we needs! First Portuguese conversation. Tuk-tuks and palm trees. Southern charm, feelings save! Feelings of regained freedom! Municipal market, old buildings. Ferry and waiting for the minibuses to fill up. Fish market, selecting tiger prawns and Best shower, colour slowly fading on the walls. Craft market. Train station. Old fort. 100000 mozzie bites. South America in Southern Africa! Patience, loads! Mosquitoes, loads! Chappa - southwards. With 16 people in a car for 8. Fresh air lacking, yet interested people and the typical minibus music. Bumpy ride - car stuck in the sand! Walking to our hostel. Ponta D’Ouro – beach, waves and sunshine. Seafood each day! Market, local bakery – best bread, warm and fresh! personal support project for Paul the beach vendor. South African people, rugby matches, wave diving! Tan lines over tan lines. Sunshine and cashew nuts! More border crossings, bumpy rides, Maputo, Swaziland. Kingdom! Braaing for Sinterklaas and Nikolaus. Monkeys roaming around. Green, palms, tropical atmosphere. Safari tents …

Now I arrive back where I am sitting right now. An incomplete yet overwhelming list! This is what I could think of at this moment. Tomorrow it might be a different list, longer or other than this one.. who knows!

In a little café in Ponta D’Ouro, at the Southern tip of Mozambique, a little sugar package was served with my Cappuccino stating:

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination!”

Maybe this is my conclusion to Southern Africa! Whatever you find here is not perfect. Like anywhere else in the world. It is special and authentic and unique still. Unexpected things happen, planning can work out. Life is not more or less extraordinary than back at home. It is the perspective with which we look at it. The traveller eye through which the ordinary is extraordinary! A way of looking at the world and all that happens to us, trying to find meaning and understanding. We realize beauty and focus on detail … even the annoyances are worth a good laugh after all.

Something I definitively want to take home in January!

Greetings from Africa,

Jule

… und nach Deutschland,
frohen Nikolaustag aus dem warmen Swaziland!