Garden Route

Yesterday I wrote a really witty entry and the computer crashed. So you'll have to do with this one.

I find myself in an internet cafe in Plett, short for Plettenber Bay, about six hours east of Cape Town. I am in the middle of the famous Garden Route, but not for long: this afternoon, I leave for Port Elizabeth. There I will do Addo Elephant Park, where I hope to see the big five.

How did I get here then? Through a friend of a friend of a roommate of Gill, the person I was staying with in Cape Town. Joe, the person I drove with, had just worked a night shift, and needed someone to drive him to Plett, where he was doing a sterilisation drive with the SPCA. While he slept in the back, I spoke to the SPCA anesthesologist, a Xhosa man. He taught me the three clicks in his language. I didn't know the way I called dogs, and the way I reprimanded cats were actual sounds in an African language! Chief, the name of our anesthesologist, is a wealthy man: 17 cows, two houses, and two round huts back home in Umtata in the Transkei.

I was dropped off in Knysna, half an hour before Plett. I'd heard it was nicer than Plett, but I disagree. The man running the backpacker there was more interested in his book than his guests, and the streets were quite unsafe.
I am very interested in the racial interactions in South Africa. Since the distribution of wealth closely follows the colour of one's skin, I permit myself to quiz everyone about their views on racial tensions. And they answer happily. A black man was telling me of the time he presented a debit card to a shop. The girl at the counter looked at him suspiciously and called her manager.
A coloured girl told me she didn't like black guys. Only coloured and whites.

I left Knysna with a French girl and her mother. We tried a hike but it didn't work: the rain stopped us. Soon I was in Plett, where I lived the backpacker life: beers, wine, people ready to party, a cosy fire, a pool table, smoke filled rooms, and bunk beds. Plett has a better feel than Knysna. Less fences, dark streets, and security gates.

Yesterday, I did the world's biggest bungy jump! 216 meters, wow! Looking down I was more than a bit scared, but hey, I had to jump. I have some photos I'll try to post now.