June 16th
The sun is shinning and feels warm upon my shin. Not enough to ease the pain of the freezing breeze that follows soon after. I feel the party from last night creeping up on me. After many cocktails, a lounge, and a reggae bar, I am so desperately craving a carbohydrate. Sifiso tells me that breakfast is a small drive, but promises me that it is worth the wait. Probably not the best idea for me to wear a tiny little dress and drink whiskey all night in the middle of winter. This is not going to end well I can feel it, but at this point nothing can get me down. We are on our way to Boulders Bay to see the penguins. Yes penguins!! I never saw that coming from Africa so I have to see this for myself.
I vaguely recall my conversations at the bar last night. All the local black men wanted to talk about was politics and sex. Why do those two things always go hand in hand? Well I guess in the end, either way you get screwed. I learned a lot more about how they felt about what is going on here. It is a burden they all hold on their shoulders, but they do not let it define the boundaries of their lives, though I do think some of them may use it to their advantage. I was accepted with open arms, as long as I listened, which I was more than happy to do, but I did not get much talking in. Their opinion seemed to be the only one that mattered. They would ask me questions, but then begin talking before I had a chance to answer them. So I just listened.
The drive is so beautiful. I am in love with this place. On the way we pass by the Beverly Hills of Cape Town, modern mansions with huge gardens and chandeliers hanging in the entry room window. It is hard to believe that this is a developing country from everything that I have seen. I know the illusion will end once I leave Cape Town.
When I arrived at the airport in Cape Town there was a mural on the wall of all these beautiful rainbow houses on the beach. I have been asking where to find these houses and no one seemed to know where they were. I was beginning to think they did not exist. Not a moment later we pull around a bend and there they are. Just as cute as I though they would be. Every color of the rainbow all wooden huts lined up next to each other right on the water. It is a dream. So beautiful. I want one. Sifiso gladly pulled over so that I could take a picture
About ten meters up the road we pulled over again, the famous breakfast stop that was worth the wait. It was small and all black and white, very quaint. All the tables were perfectly placed though very close to each other. It reminds me of something I would find in Venice Beach, California. It was a bakery with a small menu, but that was all they needed. I ordered the same thing as Sifiso. As I waited I could not help but to notice the amazing black and white photos on the wall behind me. They are of the Zulu tribes adorned in ritual and costume. They are so beautiful. The concept of their accessories is duly noted for my future designs.
Within minuets the breakfast came and it was the most amazing meal I have had in months. Eggs with cheese and a fresh baked croissant, baked mushrooms and bacon, I could eat three of these. It was well worth the wait and them some, everything my body needs and more. I am beginning to feel better. We are sitting at the counter at the front of the bakery facing the water. Crowds of hippies and barefoot travelers with their dogs pass by. Men selling hand crafted items made of glass and soda cans also fill the streets. The small towns feel laid pack nature makes this place so desirable, the perfect pit stop on the way to Boulder Beach. This is it. This is the place I could really live. Salsa would love it here, Kulk Bay, Cape Town.
Boulder beach looks exactly like Virgin Gorda Baths in The B.V.I. The water is crystal clear and so inviting, but I am not to be fooled by the temperature. The penguins run around as though in a constant state of play and curiosity. Each one seems to be joined at the hip of another. They are creatures of love and seem to travel in pairs. I cannot tell the sex of the penguins but I assume they are traveling as male and female. They fill the beaches and the long brick pathway that lines the water. It is truly amazing to see them here. This is one of my most favorite places I have ever been, I actually wonder what it would take for me to live here, how much I would have to alter my life. This is the only place I have ever said that about. It is so absolutely beautiful. I can’t even imagine how amazing it would be in the summer time. Despite all of its problems, I could one day call this place home. That is assuming my parents would one day find a love for travel.
June 16th The Feast
After what can only be described as the most perfect day, minus the extreme hangover, Sifiso tells us he has more in store for us. It is a holiday here, a day to remember a group of rebel teenagers were brutally murdered during a protest. So in honor of the day off, we eat. There is a special kind of feast where they cook from a Potjiekos. This is a small pot that is hooked up to a gas canister. Only I had no idea what kind of feast we were going to have. In the U.S. we would have a B.B.Q with hot dogs and hamburgers. I can’t wait to see what their traditions are here.
After a twenty-minuet drive back towards town we stop at a cute little cottage style apartment. A beautiful blonde girl answers the door and greats us with a smile, a hug, and glass wine. I love her already. A few of Sifiso’s co-workers were spending the holiday together and invited us to join them. The house has a very warm feeling, it is raw and artistic. Beautiful black and white photos of their trip to Venice and Florence hang on the wall in the entryway. As I want through the kitchen I see a man full of smiles sitting on a small stool stirring a small pot attached to a gas unit. I recognize him as the man in the photographs. He has been working on this dish since seven this morning and now it is about 5:30 p.m. He smiles and tells me to have a seat in the family room and help myself to some snacks.
The room is full of conversation and laughter. I stand near the couch admiring the empty picture frames on the wall, all in different colors and textures. Introductions go around the room, too many for me to remember. The energy is warm and everyone is so welcoming. What an amazing group of people. I smile remembering all of these amazing nights with my friends. An hour of socializing and drinking goes by then the announcement is made. “Take your seats everyone. The feast is finally ready,” after about ten hours of cooking.
I grab my plate and head to the kitchen filled with excitement. He puts a strange looking pile of food on my late; the famous dish looks more than appealing. I help myself to many other strange dishes I have never tried before and sit down to dine.
“What is it?” I asked, as my mouth was full and a smile on my face. The dish is filled with pasta noodles, vegetables, and some kind of jerky that they made themselves. I had three servings…….
These are my last few days with Sifiso. I will miss him so much. The time I have spent with him I will cherish forever. See, this is the downfall of traveling. Always having to say good-bye.
Knysna
It hits me like a ton of bricks. It might as well be raining pins and needles. Hands shaking, sweating, miserable, I am sick. It is not your run of the mill cold; I am down for the count. The tiny black dress in Cape Town, I knew this was coming.
I am standing at the corner of the main street in Knysna, South Africa, a small artsy town about six hours up the coast from Cape Town. I am freezing and sick. I need home. I need my mother, any mother.
“Alex, Courtney.” A skinny blonde man asks us. I am so happy to hear someone’s voice that will take us out of the cold. It is our host on couch surfing. He walks us about six blocks, the longest six blocks of my life, to his apartment complex. Of course the elevator is broken so we drag our bags up three flights of stairs, I am dying up the stairs. Not the best first impression. He swings open the apartment doors. I peer into the room only to find it empty with nothing but a small desk and computer facing the window and a mattress next to it on the floor. Tough there are two bedrooms, the mattress remains in the family room. He escorts us to the nearest bedroom and I fling open my bag, tear out my sleeping bag and excuse myself to bed.
I wake to find myself still freezing and still on my deathbed. The windows are covered in dew from the cold weather and my breath is visible even in the bedroom. There is no heat of course. No one in South Africa seems to have heat. It is crazy because they have a very dramatic winter. I am not sure how they survive like this.
Alex sees the pain written all over my face and offers to walk me to the local pharmacy. I get every drug they sell for cold and flew and take myself back to bed. I only have three days here and I am going to miss them all. This is a terrible way to try and make friends with our couch host bus he doesn’t seem to mind; he is at his computer working on music for the next music festival. He is a DJ and his concentration on his music is perfectly distracting for all us.
I wake the next morning to find myself still on my deathbed. I cannot waste another day. I agree to go on a canoe safari down the river. I just hope it does not rain, that is all I ask.
The canoe trip is nothing less than peaceful. The air is filled with pure silence, other than the coughing and sneezing on my end. Birds fly in all directions, dogs swim in the river, men are fishing off the side land, I gently float downstream. I can’t help but to think of my family and what they are all doing right now. I miss them so much and it is days like these that I wish we had to share together. I wish they could see this. We pull over an hour later to the side bank and have lunch. It is just Alex and I and the guide and one other kid who happened to also be on our bus coming here. The four of us settle in and take in the view.
We head back upstream to the car. Now we are going against the current and I have to actually work, and lone behold it begins to rain…………
