Apartheid-era bench Whenever you travel somewhere, you tend to pick up on the social norms/mores of the people and the extent to which you do, of course, has to do with the amount of time you've spent there and the quantity and quality of the time you've spent with the local people. South Africa is a confounding country, and I wanted to write this post merely as a way for me to catalogue the impressions that bore upon me of this land and its very complex treatment of race. Th

At the Amphitheater Escarpment I was well and truly ready for a day of rest on the bus as my body was spent from two days of hill climbing and I was well and truly hacking up a storm. We headed back up in the shuttle to Mthata where we managed to scramble a quick lunch before piling on the Baz Bus for my penultimate stop in South Africa - The Amphitheater Lodge in the Northern Drakensburg mountains. Drakensburg literally means "Mountains of Dragons" and they are one of the ol

The Wild Coast It took most of the next day to get to my destination of Bulungula on the Wild Coast. Happily I wasn't alone either - Jake was planning on spending a few night's at the same community-ran, 100% solar powered traditional hostel as well. Our Baz Bus driver that day proved to be an absolutel legend. As we entered the province of the "Transkei" (a formerly independent part of South Africa that white people mostly fled after apartheid ended, populated predominantly

Heading out on the Salt River Hike My next stop along the Garden Route was to be at a place called The Crags - close to Knysna, Storms River, and other small towns along The Garden Route and close to Tsitsikamma National Park. The hostel had been recommended to me because of its beautiful location - though I was warned that it was slightly "hippy" in atmosphere. Sure enough, there were drumming circles, copious instructions on composting/recycling, dreadlocked folk strumming

Heading out on our bike tour of Stellenbosch My lovely tent mate, Maud, and I headed out from Cape Town and met up in Stellenbosch for some girl time with wine. I had purchased a Baz Bus ticket that allowed me 14 days of unlimited hop on and off transport between Cape Town and Johannesburg. I had a rough itinerary already planned out ( I know, you're shocked by that!) but was open and willing to make changes along the way should the mood strike or I received a significant per

Gorgeous Cape Town's Skyline I visited Cape Town in the December of 2001 with Semester at Sea. It had made quite the impression on me then and I had counted it in the top three cities in the world, for me. I was so looking forward to returning and doing the activities that I hadn't had the time to on my visit fourteen years prior! Entering the city on our rented bus, I was sorry to hear Pete (who'd come instead of Tabby because she can't get a SA visa with a Kenyan passport

From somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean (well, actually 24`58.0` S Latitude and 015`44.8 W Longitude) (well, actually 24`58.0` S Latitude and 015`44.8 W Longitude) It has been too long since my last update, and it is time to fill you in on the happenings of my five days in South Africa. I have very mixed feelings about this port; on the one hand, it filled me with wonder and excitement, and on the other, with horror and dismay. Whilst I have witnessed much poverty and destit