There is another American living in my little apartment, Luke, a Fulbright scholar, and he is preparing to go back to the states on Monday.  He wanted to drive about 4 hours north to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary this past Tuesday to camp for the night, but it took twice as long as expected to get the motor in his driver’s side window fixed so we couldn’t make the trek before the sun set and the park closed.  However, Luke, myself and three other ACMers decided to go camp for the night at Mokolodi instead, which is located just 10 miles outside of town.  We got there a little before sunset and just made our way to our campsite on the rough dirt roads.  I should point out that the campsites are hardly rough—they have running water, flushing toilets, and hot showers.  We made a campfire and listened to a Brit do his best sleeping impression of a freight train before we went to bed. 

Wednesday morning we woke up and spent most of the morning driving around the park in Luke’s Suzuki, spotting countless antelope, kudu, hartebeests, ostriches and the like.  We climbed up to the conference center on the side of a hill, which has a wonderful view of the park and allowed us to spot a giraffe having lunch.  We drove back down into the park and were able to sit about 10 yards away from the giraffe and watch it chow down as it stared back at us.  We made it back to Gabs in time for lunch.  This weekend I am actually going to Serowe and Khama with a few friends, this time by bus.

This past weekend I embarked on a trip to Durban with three other students—Sean, Erin, and Caitlin.  We left around noon on Friday for the Gabs bus station and were on the road to Jo’burg by 2:30.  We got in to Jo’burg around 8:30.  On a Friday night.  Needless to say, the Jo’burg bus station is a seedy part of a seedy town.  Getting off the bus we were greeted by a swarm of locals that positively reeked of alcohol.  We were in a group and went inside immediately and were find, but it was certainly not the place you would want to visit alone. We ended up on one of the less reputable bus companies and discovered that their reputation is well deserved—we left half an hour late, the first bus we were on broke down around the corner at the bus station, and the second bus broke down just past the halfway point.  The second break down elicited a rather unsavory response from some of our fellow passengers, but that is a story for another time. 

We ended up arriving n Durban only three hours late (9 instead of 6 am).  It is a very pretty city.  It is much bigger than Gabs, located on the ocean, and not in a desert, which all add up to a very welcoming climate.  We spent most of Saturday morning and early afternoon exploring the city centre, which has a number of very beautiful old colonial buildings, a nice market, and an interesting local museum on colonialism.  The hostel we were planning on staying at was at the far side of the harbor and well outside hiking distance so we had to negotiate the public buses to get there.  The buses run very infrequently and are not fast so we ended up waiting at the station for a while before we started talking to a bus driver who just volunteered to change the route he was supposed to be taking in order to accommodate us.  It’s a wonder why the public transportation system is seen as inefficient. 

We finally made it to our hostel (located 30 yards from the beach for 8$pp a night) and our first visit to the beach and it was wonderful.  Sunny, warm, breezy.  We got in the water a little (and it was incredibly refreshing), but choppy waves and a pounding shore break insure that you can’t venture out far.  Well, that and the local shark population.  We spent most of the rest of the day wandering the beach and eventually had a nighttime bonfire on the beach, complete with a couple of local fascist Afrikaners. 

Sunday morning we actually woke up for sunrise (!!!) before napping some more and getting up at a humane hour.  We made the trek back over to the city centre and went to the largest mosque in the southern hemisphere in time for afternoon prayers before we had a delicious Indian lunch (Durban has a huge Indian population).  We moved onto the official boardwalk net to the city centre.  As far as boardwalks go, it was very well done.  They clearly zoned the areas to force hotels off the beach, which means there is a 100 yard or so stretch between the beach and the hotels which was filled with parks and green things and little shops.  After a nap (or two) on the beach, we packed up and headed for the bus station.  The bus trip back was thankfully uneventful and we were back in Gabs by midday Monday.  Overall it was a great trip and a wonderful place to visit for the weekend.  This weekend I will be staying in Gabs and exploring/hanging out (we found the karaoke bar). 

This past weekend, the program I am here with (ACM) loaded up the bus and took all 22 of us to Johannesburg for the weekend.  We made it to Soweto Friday evening and stayed in  a very nice backpackers place there.  Saturday we went on a four hour bike trip through Soweto.  The concept of a bike tour through a place like Soweto was initially off putting, but it turned out very well.  The guides were knowledgeable and the tour was well done.  We were able to cover a lot of ground in Soweto and saw areas ranging from the most destitute to middle class.  We also saw the site of the 1976 Soweto uprising, and Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu’s houses, as well as sampling local Soweto beer and grilled cow face, which is apparently a thing.  Most of the day after the tour was spent sitting around comparing sunburns. 

Sunday we went to the Apartheid Museum, conveniently located in the same compound as a casino and amusement park.  I’m sure Mandela is thrilled about that.  The museum was well done and interesting and clearly designed so that you really had to confront how the system of racial segregation impacted daily life.  However, the museum was also clearly a product of the ANC, who were praised above all and rarely criticized.  The section on Mandela was remarkably rosy and barely glazed over any flaws he might have made in his 50 years in the public eye.  It was very strange being in a country that so clearly worships one individual above all others.  I’m very glad he was dismissed from the hospital while we were there.  Had he died, I’m really not sure what would have happened. 

On the trip back we drove along the outer edge of a game park and got to see our first elephant.  Exciting.