Being the early planner as always, I planned our trip to South Africa nine months before the departure date in mid November. After a handful of people dropping out and a few others replacing those who dropped out, the final number of participants taking this voyage was eight. These eight courageous individuals were Dede, Olga, Irene, Ein, Alison, Dave, Peter and myself. Our itinerary included a 3-day safari visit to Kruger National Park and 6 days of rest and relaxation in Cape Town. For months we were prepping ourselves for the trip. We took shots and/or medications. We bought disposable toilet kit for those who could not control themselves upon the sight of wild animals. Some of us even drafted up detailed wills for our family members and closed ones just in case we ended up as the lions' special of the day.
The South African Airways' flight over to Johannesburg was largely uneventful, save the camera theft incident I unfortunately got to experience when the airplane stopped in Dakar, Senegal for a brief refueling and cleaning. Passengers did not have to leave the airplane, but they were allowed to move around in the plane. I left my two books and a camera in the side compartment of my seat and went to the lavatory. I came back to my seat three minutes later and the camera was gone. According to the passenger next to me (who happens to work in the same company as I do -- what a small world), one of the cleaners came to my seat and played with my headset (which was plugged on top of the side compartment where my camera was placed). I notified the pursor immediately and a thorough search was conducted. Needless to say, my camera was no where to be found. It probably had made its way to the border of Guinea when the authority was conducting a bodysearch on all the cleaners. Somewhere in East Africa now, people are admiring the pictures of two Asian men posing infront of bonzai plants taken during a bonzai exhibition in New York City this summer. Readers, be careful when taking South African Airways since theft is a pretty common activity on their flights and airports!!! Upon arrival in Johannesburg we checked into an airport hotel nearby for a good night's rest. A 5- hour drive to the Nambi gate of the Kruger National Park was awaiting us the next morning.
Our driver Tabo picked us up the next morning at the crack of dawn. He was a friendly and pleasant black guy who told Olga that he married his current wife because he did not want to cook his own meals or do his own laundry. Seeing that he was manning the wheel of a 10-seater van and that our safety was at his mercy, Olga bit her lips hard and reserved her comments. Tabo also asked me the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese. Apparently he was not the only one who asked this question. One of our tour guides in Cape Town posed the same question to me, and the lady who worked at the SAA reservation desk also asked Alison the same question. Normally I would have thrown out a few punches if I were asked this question in New York, but this was South Africa, and there were not many Asians here, save the businessmen and the few immigrants who ran restaurants in the major cities. So I explained to Tabo patiently that a Japanese greets people by saying "haro" and a Chinese greets people by saying "halo" (poor gullible Tabo bought it). Oh yeah, they also have different last names. Lame answers but I was not ready to take him through thousand years of history on my vacation.
We had our first safari drive upon arrival at Kruger National Park and did not see a lot of animals. Our luck started to pick up with the morning drive in the second day. We saw impalas (too many of them in fact!), kudus, elephants, zebras, lions, water buffalos, rhinos, hyenas, wild boars, leopards (from far) and other animals too insignificant to remember. We even saw two cheetahs that were quite uncommon to spot. You can tell that there were very few animal lovers among us when the questions posed to our lovely safari guides (Godfrey and Lucky) included the following:
"Are ivory chopsticks inexpensive here?" (when we spotted elephants)
"Do they make buttons out of these animals?" (when we spotted kudus)
"I heard they make great make-up brushes!" (when we spotted a rare kind of badger)
"Oh this would make lovely furniture fabrics!" (when we spotted zebras)
Aside from seeing these incredible animals, there were some anecdotal moments during our three-day stay at Kruger. Peter and I were chased by a monkey when we pointed at it and made fun of it. Ein was too busy shopping and nearly missed one of our drives. Dave and I contemplated urinating into an empty bottled water during our night drive since it was over three hours long and offered no bathroom breaks. After three days of spotting animals and eating bad camp food, all of us, except for Irene and Dave who extended their stay at a private game reserve, decided it was time to leave. On the day of our departure, I had never seen Peter and Dede so excited before. Tabo drove us to the airport so that we could catch our flight to Cape Town.
A friendly guy named Jaco greeted us upon our arrival at Cape Town. Cape Town reminds me a whole lot of San Francisco. Home to approximately 4 million people, Cape Town is one of the world's prettiest cities. There is not a whole lot to see in the city but some of the sights you have to visit include Table Mountain, Robben Island and The Malay Quarter (Bo Kaap). The best way to see the city is to take the 'Topless Bus' which costs R100 per adult and the rate comes with multiple hop on and off privileges. Despite its name, the bus does not require you to take off your shirt to be on it. I tried and the tour guide threatened to throw me off the bus. For Robben Island, visitors have to make the reservation in person and the wait for the next availability is at least 3-4 days.
We were supposed to stay in a lovely B&B called '79 on Orange' but the renovation was not done in time so the owners Marc and Ivan put us up in a luxury condo in Camps Bay. Our units had the view of the ocean. We were also very spoiled since Marc and Ivan arranged for their help, Pumala and Clifton to make us breakfast every morning. They were such nice and warm people. Pumala was so motherly that Peter and I just wanted to give her a tight hug. Unfortunately, the task of doing so seemed highly challenging and daunting (to us gay men at least) as there were physical obstacles in our way. Even though we could not stay at 79 on Orange, Peter and I did make a visit there and we had a drink with Marc and Ivan. The home was beautiful and the location was good. I suggest that you stay there if you are in Cape Town next (http://www.79onorange.co.za/). If you do please send my warmest regards to Pumala and give her a big hug for me.
There are many great restaurants located in the VA Waterfront area and along Victoria Road in Camps Bay. They offer a variety of food and are very affordable if you are spending US Dollars (especially with the wines). Some of the restaurants I recommend in Cape Town include:
1. Nando's (a chain with multiple locations - http://www.nandos.co.za/)
2. Blue (great seafood restaurant in Camps Bay - www.blues.co.za)
3. Summerville (another great seafood restaurant in Camps Bay - www.summervillerestaurant.co.za )
4. Taiwan City (Chinese restaurant offering authentic Chinese cuisines - located in the biggest mall in Cape Town known as 'Canal Walk'. You can never go wrong with this place since they cater to the Mainland Chinese tourists that arrive in droves every night)
5. Africa Cafe (only if you want to try African food in a touristy setting - http://www.africacafe.co.za/)
Many travel guides say that Cape Town is home to a thriving gay scene. Peter and I beg to differ. There are only three gay bars here (two of which were named "Manhattan" and "The Bronx" incidentally). There are more gay bars located on 8th avenue between 14th and 23rd street in Chelsea than the entire Cape Town combined. I guess it is all relative.
We signed up for several day tours when we were in Cape Town including a visit to the Stellenbosch wineries, Cape Point and Hermanus Bay. South African wines are becoming increasingly popular in the US, and we visited three wineries on a bright sunny day and purchased a few bottles of good wine. The sceneries in Cape Point were breathtaking. The tour included a quick stop at the ostrich farm and a stop at The Penguin Colony to see those cute little furry animals. Peter and I were busy spotting our "sistas" but there were too many to tell which one was gay. We also went to Hermanus Bay for whale watching (and I don't mean looking at myself in the mirror as I take a bath in my bathtub). Even though It was the tale end of whale watching season we wanted to try our luck. We spotted a few whales from the shore. Olga, Dede and I also took a boat trip and we saw more whales -- in fact they were really close to the boat and one actually swam under the boat. We really lucked out. Bet you did not know that Hermanus is the only town in the world with an official 'Whale Crier' who wanders the street with a sandwich board and a kelp horn. He blows his horn whenever he spots a whale. I think the 'Whale Crier' I encountered blew his horn when I walked past him.
South Africa is a very interesting country. Even though the apartheid system has been abolished, segregation is still commonly practiced among the races. They don't mingle with each other that much. In Cape Town, we barely saw any black people. The areas that tourist go are mainly inhabited by Caucasians. Unless you make a visit to the townships, you will not see a lot of black people. I laughed so hard when Ein asked me while we were dining on Victoria Road in Camps Bay if it was safe to walk back to our condo since there were a few black kids hanging out across the street from us. I laughed because this was South Africa and of course there were black people here. Then I realized we had not seen a lot of them in Cape Town and that was why Ein had made that comment. It was nevertheless a stereotypical remark. We as tourists did not sense the day to day frustration of living in South Africa. What we saw were what the country wanted tourists to see. However, from my conversations with some local residents, I realized that there was a growing level of frustration among the South Africans. The unemployment rate in this country is in the 40% range. HIV infection rate is very high in this country too -- approximately 40% of sexually active population is estimated to be HIV+. One of our tour guides told us that the Minister of Health in South Africa, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, recently urged the HIV+ patients to eat more fruits and vegetables as these food groups can help kill the virus. Can someone please tell me how this woman got the job!? Overall, South Africa is still a country with a lot of social and health problems to overcome. But as a tourist who want to expand his or her horizons, this is definitely the country to visit. It offers you a unique experience (good or bad) that only a few other countries can offer.
Save the minor dramas here and there, all of us had a wonderful time on this trip, and I am proud to have organized it. It gives me the confidence to be a tour guide if my day job does not work out as planned.
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