South Africa

The End: Back Home

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:05:00 -0800

The flight home was uneventful, but LONG. Due to rebooking our flight we had an extra flight from Washington, DC to Atlanta and then a 6 hour layover before returning to Portland. We were all so exhausted and slept the last 5 hours of our flight. We traveled a total of 21,756 miles and when we finally pulled into our driveway we were feeling every one of them.

Below is a picture of some of our treasure we brought back to remember our amazing trip. It's fun to talk to Jeff's parents who are still in Johannesburg and understand what they are talking about because we have been there and shared similar experiences.

While in Africa, Augusta started reading the book series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, about Precious Ramotswe, the "eminently sensible and cunning proprietor" of the only ladies' detective agency in Botswana. These books tell such a wonderful story about the life and culture in Botwsana and South Africa. In one book an American woman came seeking help. She summed up beautifully how we feel about our experience in South Africa:

"We had found a country where the people treated one another well, with respect, and where there were values other than the grab, grab, grab which prevails back home. I felt humbled, in a way. Everything about my own country seemed so shoddy and superficial when held up against what I saw in Africa. People suffered here, and many of them had very little, but they had this wonderful feeling for others...I was learning lessons. I had come to Africa and I was learning lessons."
~Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

To see more of our family pictures from this past year, visit our website at:
http://www.bowden.info/photos/Jeff_and_Augusta

To read more about Jeff's parent's mission in South Africa visit:
http://mission.bowden.info

Part 5: The Last Few Days

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:06:00 -0800

In Johannesburg Jeff's parents know all the great places to eat and took us to Zest, a quaint little restaurant tucked between local artisan shops up in the hills. The food was AMAZING! Chicken kabob with yogurt, cucumber, and sweet chili sauce (heaven!). Jeff had the lamb shank.

One of the treats of the trip was the soda specialties. Kola tonic and passion fruit lemonade were our favorites. They bring you a glass with one part flavored syrup and a mini can of Schweppes lemonade. We gave James the cans to keep him entertained while we ate.

When a tourist you have to do the occasional cliché touristy activity. Jeff's parents took us to Carnivore, an open-air meat specialty restaurant. They serve every type of meat imaginable, including kudu meatballs, crocodile, zebra, impala, blesbuck, and ostrich which is roasted on traditional Maasai swords (skewers) over a huge charcoal pit.

The servers come around with the meat and keep coming until you lay down the little paper South African flag on the table.

This guy was quite the character. He is pointing to the camera saying "sharp" pronounced "shop" which means cool.

We had so much fun spending time with Jeff's parents. James loved Grandpa's car. He would stand at the door of the kitchen crying until we let him to outside to play in the car. One morning he was still in his PJs so we just put his shoes on and let him out.

We got to see the Mission office and James had an "interview" with President Bowden.

We even helped decorate the Christmas tree. It didn't feel at all like Christmas-time with the weather being summer (the seasons are opposite) and the temperature a nice warm 80 degrees.

Jeff's parents commissioned an artist to carve a Nativity scene for them. They wanted the figures to look very African so the artist chose to represent each tribe in the various figures. This was our favorite piece of the set showing Mary and Joseph.

One of our favorite places we visited was the Johannesburg Temple for our church. It was so beautiful, a lush garden amidst the bustling city. The property behind the temple came up for sale a few years ago so now the area presidency offices and distribution center are housed right on the temple grounds.

Jeff's parents adopted the saying "Only in South Africa." This is what you say when you don't understand the logic (or lack of logic) behind things you see. When stop lights go out there is no rush to fix them. They just leave them blinking and people manage to take turns. In fact, the light near their house hasn't worked for the past year. One thing we noticed was all the plumbing on all the buildings was on the outside. Not the most attractive but it sure made for quiet inside with no pipes in the walls.

Everywhere we drove around town all the buildings were fenced and electrified. Some even had actual razor wire on top. We never felt unsafe while we were there but we didn't go in any questionable areas and not many places after dark. This picture is a typical view as you drive along the street.

In most parking lots (especially grocery stores) are Car Watch guards. True to their name, their job is to watch your car while you are in the store. When you come back to your car they help back you out and it's custom to tip them 2 Rand (about 30 cents). At the nicer grocery store they will even help you load your groceries and return your cart. How awesome would this be in Oregon when you are juggling bags of groceries, it's raining, and you're trying to get the baby in the car!

Shopping in a foreign country you are guaranteed to find interesting products. We were looking for another power converter because we managed to blow two of them while we were there. The funny thing about plugs in South Africa is there are European size and South African size plugs so you have to have both converters depending on what size plug your appliance comes with. While shopping we came across this package of Dumpy Crackers. We're still not sure what was dumpy about them.

We went to another African Market and did a lot of shopping. The sign hanging over the narrow stalls crammed with goods read, "This is Africa, We Bargain!" And bargain we did! We spent a few hours trying to get the best deal by negotiating prices. The sellers would all hand James toys hoping we would give in and buy them. One funny guy from Ethiopia was trying to get out of giving us change by saying, "You give me extra for Africa!" When that didn't work he wanted us to donate it for Nelson Mandela.

Jeff's dad thought the dung beetle was the funniest thing so when we saw this metal sculpture at the market he just had to buy it.

The last day we were there we took pictures in front of the mission home. What an amazing opportunity we had to see Africa and get to experience so many new and interesting things. (Augusta is wearing her new African linen skirt.)

Irene is the family housekeeper and she made our visit so lovely. She really had fun with James and wanted to keep him. She was thrilled one day when we let her stay with him while he slept and we ran to the store. She wanted to see if he would wake up and go to her with none of us around. Unfortunately we got back before he even woke up. Irene is from the Zulu tribe and has a very thick accent when she speaks English. We enjoyed talking to her about her culture and her family. She taught us to say, "Siyanithanda," which means "we love you" in Zulu.

It was time to pack and James was being so helpful. We couldn't quite get across the idea that things go in the suitcases because he wanted all the room for himself. It probably would have been a much easier flight for us to have him secured and packed away for 20 hours on the flight home but I don't think he would have liked that. Somehow we managed to find room for all our tourist treasure.

On a whim we checked the internet to make sure our flight was on time. Next to our flight was the status: CANCELED! We tried to call the airport but no one answered so we called internationally to Delta and they couldn't help us over the phone. We decided to drive to the airport to see if we could find another flight. We had the Combie all loaded and then it wouldn't start, dead battery! What luck!! We managed to squeeze all the luggage in the car and off we went. However, the trip was futile as we were met with a 3-hour long line and no help. We left our name and number with an attendant who said they'd call us. We wondered if we would ever get out of the country with how inefficient the help had been so far. However, we did get to spend another day in Johannesburg which was some consolation.

No one called us that day so we finally called the U.S. and spoke with someone at Delta who got us a flight the next night on South African Airlines. However, when we got to the airport we had to wait for an hour in line to get new tickets issued, which they hand wrote, then wait in the baggage line. We were worried about missing our flight so Jeff's dad talked to a security guard about helping us. The guard recognized the missionary name tag he wore and said he was a member of our church. He took us to the front of the line (which we noticed never really moved!) and talked to the other attendant. They spoke to each other in Zulu and we didn't understand any of it except the word "baby." We think they took pity on us because of James but for whatever reason we were grateful they let us go right to the counter. We checked our bags and got to the gate as the plane was boarding.

Side Note: After we got home Jeff wrote a letter to Delta explaining how we were treated and they responded by giving us $400 in vouchers to use anywhere the airline travels.

Part 4: Pilanesburg

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:07:00 -0800

The start of our second week we traveled north to Pilanesberg National Park, which is near Rustenburg. It is one of the largest national parks in South Africa and is encircled by four rings of hills caused by a volcano millions of years ago. Pilanesberg is a natural eco-system and none of the animals are fed by humans, this was real wildlife, unlike the other parks we visited where the predators were kept in cages.

It felt like Jurassic Park as we entered a big gate enclosed by high walls of electrified fence. We stayed at a resort inside the park called the Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge which meant "Place of the Rock." It was a touch of African paradise with fabulous rooms that had private patios overlooking the game park. We had early morning wake up calls with chattering monkeys right out our window!

We ate most of our meals at the restaurant in the resort. We ate up on a balcony overlooking the park enjoying the beautiful picturesque view. For breakfast our favorite was Africa pancakes, thin simple cakes topped with butter and cinnamon-sugar.

The resort had a watering hole right outside the fence boundary and the patio where we ate gave us a good view. There was an underground "bunker" with small slits so you can get right up close to the water to watch any animals. The way to get there was through a dark and damp cement tunnel that connected to the resort. There was also a TV channel in our rooms with live feed 24 hours a day to watch the animals come and go.

We spent three days in the park driving around in the Kombi, a large travel van with lots of windows for optimal animal viewing. It was hours of intense "I Spy" to see who could point out things of interest. James did amazingly well seeing how we had to keep him buckled in his car seat the whole time because the roads were so rough in places. Grandma even made James a pair of his very own binoculars!

Throughout the park were ponds and lakes and next to these were "hides." A hide is basically a hut with small openings to see through. You can get out of your car at your own risk to enter the electrified walkways to the hides. These tend to be good places to see animals because they come to the water to drink.

Behind Jeff is a hut with the bathrooms. Notice how they aren't enclosed in electrified fence. It really is "use at your own risk!"

There were a few historical markers throughout the park and it was once again get out at your own risk. We stopped and took this picture overlooking one of the valleys. We didn't stay out long because we kept picturing leopards or cheetahs hiding in the trees watching us!

Most interesting creature we saw: The African Dung Beetle
True to its name, this beetle feeds primarily on poo! They roll dung into spherical balls then roll it to their home to be buried. The balls of dung are then used for a food source and a place to lay eggs. The female usually attaches to the ball and is rolled along by the male. It was so amazing to see this small beetle, using it's back legs, push this 4" diameter ball across the road!

We saw the most amazing things experiencing wild Africa up close. At the end of our first day we came across a herd of elephants as we were driving out. There were at least 15 and they were everywhere among the trees just eating and wandering! We managed to get close to a mother and her baby. As we left we looked off in the distance and saw two elephants fighting! They were charging each other with tusks banging and clashing. It was amazing to see and hear branches breaking as they trampled around charging each other.

We spent the next two days looking for more elephants but they were few and far between. The park is so HUGE that it's hit or miss what you come across. We were losing hope of seeing any more elephants but the last day we saw one going down a gully to drink in a creek. We whipped the van around (as fast as turning a big van on a little dirt road can go) and cut through a different road to get closer. We sat and waited and soon it came up the hill right towards us! In fact, the elephant just walked slowly down the road and let us follow it for half an hour! We were so close we could have reached out and touched it! We were also so close that we soon realized how stinky elephants can be! (Pee-eweee!)

We saw so many giraffes and zebra and although impressive, after awhile we started to groan hoping to see something else. We were lucky to see groups of giraffes, apparently that doesn't happen too often. James was so cute because he didn't really notice any animals until we moved his car seat by the window and then he was pointing out giraffes to us.

We also saw lots of Rhinos. It was exciting the first time, but like Giraffes, they weren't as novel after a while. They are like big cows. They stay in groups of 2 or 3 and graze slowly around the same spot.

One of the funniest things we saw was this cameleon crossing the road. It was amazing that Jeff spotted it as we were bumping along looking for animals. It was doing this funny breakdance thing as it grooved across the road. Then we saw it climb into the grass and change color.

There were so many birds and we talked to quite a few tourists who had come to Africa just to watch the birds. They didn't care about seeing lions or elephants which was what we wanted to see. However, we did pause to take pictures of some of the more impressive ones. Below are weaver bird nests which are the most elaborate nests of any birds. Each species has its own form and technique, to the point where experts can identify a species from the shape of its nest. The male bird weaves the nest and uses it as a way to lure a prospective female. Poorly constructed nests fail to impress the female.

In the middle of the park was the Pilanesberg Center which had a restaurant and gift shop. We were having such a great time looking for animals that we didn't want to drive back to the resort for lunch so we stopped to grab some food.

The Pilanesberg Center burned down two years ago from a brush fire. They are still in the process of rebuilding as you can see behind James. They aren't the most efficient in Africa and we didn't see anyone working until the day it rained and then they started putting on the porch roof.

We saw lots of hippos but they were always in the water with their eyes poking out. Then they would occasionally come up for air. Every day we tried to see if we could see one out of the water but they usually only come out in the evening to graze. The last day we finally saw one across the lake and it really did resemble a pig.

There were thousands of deer-like creatures traveling in herds all over the park. We called them that because we had a hard time remembering all the different names. However, we learned the trick to identifying the waterbuck because it looks like they have a toilet seat on their rump.

We passed another car and they told us they saw a lion. We raced off to the direction they pointed but when we got there it had already moved on. However, we did see a brown hyena in the same area. Hyenas are scavengers who live off the scraps from the kills of large predators. We felt really lucky to have seen one since they are pretty rare.

The highlight of the trip came our last day in the park. We were just about to leave when we saw a group of cars stopped on a road which meant there was something good to see. We nosed our way in on the action but still couldn't figure out what was going on. Then we spotted it, a cheetah crouched in the grass just a few yards off the road!

He was stalking a herd of impala who were standing stiffly alert because they sensed something. As we watched the cheetah stood and stalked through the grass. It was just like a National Geographic documentary playing out right outside our window! This was wild Africa and a predator was seeking its kill for survival. The cheetah was very patient and us-- not so much, so after half an hour watching we moved on.

Part 3: Living in South Africa

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:08:00 -0800

The living conditions vary greatly in South Africa. Jeff's parents live in a nicer area of Johannesburg and have fences and a gate for security. (Just about every building has a fence around it, some even topped with razor wire). Then there are townships which are made up of small, simple structures of brick with one or two rooms. Right in the city you will also find what they call "informal settlements" which are basically structures made of anything people scavenge for: tin, car doors, wood scraps, old bricks, etc. These settlements have no electricity or running water and only have outhouses around the perimeter. These areas are very unsafe at night, mostly because it's so dark.

There are also those who don't live in any housing. At night we looked out the windows of the Mission home and saw spots of light where people had built fires on the hillside. One night it poured rain and we saw a spectacular lightning storm. The next day we saw lots of clothing laid out on the rocks to dry and there were even reports of people struck by lightning who were living out in the hills.

Below is a picture of a township taken by an Elder in the mission.

There are panhandlers at every stoplight and we took this picture driving through town one day.

In South Africa there is a big market for street hawkers and you find them at most intersections. These enterprising people sell everything from hats and purses to batteries and clothes hangers. You can even pick up wicker furniture and pallets of sod from the side of the road. The people are very industrious and creative. In the poorer areas the people set up "tuck" shops along the road offering things like hair cuts, car washes from buckets, and muffler shops which were basically three or four rusty mufflers on a stand and a tank for welding. This first picture is of a hair cutting shop we drove by. The next picture is a clothing shop and you would usually see people pushing wheelbarrows as a way to transport things.

On Sunday we had the opportunity to attend church in Protea Glen, a township area, which was all black people. The people at church were so kind and friendly and wanted to shake our hands. The amazing thing was the LDS church in Africa was no different than in American and they taught the same things we would have been taught in our home ward despite the drastic difference in culture.

Part 2: More Fun and Animals

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:09:00 -0800

The next day we went to the Bryanton Organic Market, an outdoor market made up of permanent wood stalls. Vendors sell everything from pottery and jewelry to iron sculptures and vegetables. While there we ate a tasty breakfast of organic muffins and youngberry juice- amazingly delicious! A youngberry is a a hybrid between a blackberry and a dewberry (kind of like a raspberry but black in color).

We did some shopping and bought souvenirs to take home including a guinea foul butter dish, calabash gourd ornaments, and a beautiful linen skirt sewn by a man from Ghana. Everywhere we went people were so friendly to James calling him "boss" and shaking his hand. Here he is with a security guard at the market.

We spent the next few days relaxing, shopping and preparing for Thanksgiving. We were having 12 guests over (including office couples and mission assistants) so we were busy helping Jane make rolls, stuffing, and pies. We brought two cans of pumpkin from the states so we could have real pumpkin pie. Even though they eat fresh pumpkin as a staple in Johannesburg, you can't get it canned like you can in America.

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious and very American. You would never guess we were 10,000 miles from home. I think the missionaries who ate with us appreciated it since they were probably a little homesick.

That weekend we ventured out to the Sandton Lion Park in the Gauteng Provence (pronounced how-tang). This was another game reserve which boasts 80 lions, including rare white lions.

What an awesome experience petting baby lions and even James got the opportunity. He kept trying to poke the cub so we had to keep reminding him to be gentle. Even though they are babies, they can still bite and scratch.

The funnest part was feeding Milo the giraffe. For 5 Rand (about 75 cents in US dollars) you could get a bag of pellets to feed him. The platform put you at eye level with the Giraffe and his long tongue felt like slimy sandpaper- ewe!

James was so funny when we let him hold a pellet. The giraffe stuck out its tongue to eat and James wouldn't let go! It's tongue kept trying to get the pellet but James held fast until the giraffe finally managed to flick it out. We were just amazed that James wasn't even scared!

We then drove through the rest of the park and saw lots of lions and even followed our friend Milo the giraffe who crossed the road in front of us. Notice how this lion's paws are on the road? Yep, our car was just a few feet away from him!

Part 1: The Beginning

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:10:00 -0800

This winter we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to South Africa with our son James. Why, you may ask, would we travel half way around the world with a 17 month old? To see Grandma and Grandpa! Jeff's parents are serving a mission for our church in Johannesburg, South Africa and have been there 2 1/2 years and have never seen James.

We traveled about 20 hours in the air (30 total) and 11,000 miles from Portland to Johannesburg with a stop in Atlanta and a brief stop in Dakar, Senegal. The stop in Dakar was just to refuel and resupply food and crew. We didn't get off the plane but we were required to stand up and claim our carry-on bags while a security crew came through the cabin. They even pulled up the seat cushions to search, although we weren't sure what they were looking for.

When we landed they came up and down the aisles spraying some sort of pesticide which they said wasn't harmful to breathe. Apparently there are many countries in the world requiring airlines entering their airports to spray aircrafts as a type of quarantine to prevent transport of insects which may cause problems or disease in humans and plants. We didn't get an actual picture but this shows pretty much what we experienced.

We finally arrived! We were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and were looking forward to changing our clothes and sleeping in a real bed. The time difference from Oregon was 10 hours so it was hard for all of us to adjust, especially James. It took three nights of James waking up at 2am wanting to play before he finally slept through the night.

Our first full day in Africa and we were off to see our first glimpse of African wildlife at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, a privately owned game reserve. The guidebook assured us we could expect to see up to 600 head of game and I'm sure we saw that many but most were zebra, impala, and other deer-like creatures. In fact, we never saw a Rhino despite the name of the park.

We drove our own car in the enclosures and made sure to read all the rules. We were advised not to open our windows more than 33% and to "ensure that [we] are not parked in and can get away speedily." I'm glad we didn't find occasion to test this rule since no animals attacked our car.

The predators (lion, cheetah, wild dog, etc.) were kept in separate enclosures as to not kill the other game. This had the added benefit of making it easy for us to find them. We found a group of lions just lying in the grass right out the car window. It was so thrilling to be so close to wild animals like this!

The animals we saw at the reserve included: Lion, wild dog, cheetah, springbok, hippopotamus, warthog, waterbuck, zebra (they pronounce zeh-bruh), cape buffalo, wildebeest, impala, blesbok, vultures, secretary bird, and ostrich.

For the first couple days we stayed near the mission home and generally tried to recover from jet lag. James explored and caused trouble as usual. We caught up with Jeff's parents, met the assistants and some of the other Elders.