Doing the Karoo

Three friends and I (Edward, Jake, Lindsey and I) rented a car from Hertz car rental and hit the road to explore the eastern part of the Western Cape Province. We stayed in Beaufort West, a town about 458 km (284 miles) away. The next day we drove two hours to Oudtshoorn and came home on Monday. It was a lot of fun to get out of our green bubble of Stellenbosch on the coast and explore some of the South African interior and the Karoo Desert.



The Karoo Desert is the semi-arid part of the land in the middle of South Africa. It looks a lot like Arizona though the wild life and plants are a lot different than those found in the southwestern United States. We headed out for a four-hour drive to Beaufort West and the Karoo National Park. The drive up to Beaufort West was rather uneventful. Driving in South Africa is done on the left hand side of the rode. So traffic is reversed to how people drive in the US. Another interesting point is that when passing on two lane highways, such as the N1 we took from Stellenbosch to Beaufort West, the other driver usually pulls off into the shoulder to allow you to pass more easily. It makes it more convenient and safer than passing by use of the wrong side of the road.









We made it to the Karoo National Park at about 2:30 pm. Which left us about three hours till the sunset and plenty of time to see animals in the park. In the park there is a 45 km loop to drive on and you can stop and take pictures at your own leisure. We say many different animals such as kudu (a sort of small antelope) zebra, baboons and ostrich. We also saw Oryx, which are large cow-moose-deer-like animals, and springboks. As the sun began to set we saw more animals in their individual flocks. It was really amazing.















After the park we checked into our hotel in Beaufort West, which is apparently just a small truckers town. There were barely anyone around at 7:00 pm and when we ate at a local restaurant we were the only ones eating. I had a great ostrich burger followed by a shared slice of Godiva chocolate cheesecake! It was excellent! After dinner we headed back out to Karoo to see the stars. Being in a small town in the middle of the desert allows for little light pollution and excellent view of the stars. I have never seen something more beautiful in my life. Although, we couldn’t identify constellations we could clearly see the Milky Way galaxy and a few planets.

When we drove back into town we stopped at a routine stop behind traffic. What we didn’t know was that we had stopped in what is referred to a junction box, a box on the ground with a “X” through it. They are used to make sure entrances to businesses aren’t blocked by traffic. A traffic officer spotted us and flagged us down, where Edward (the driver) received a R300 fine. However, I think it is important to note the business wasn’t open and the traffic officer on duty was parked in the driveway of the business of the junction box we had “stopped” in. It was stupid. So after that fiasco we headed back to the hotel and settled into bed. We all enjoyed the use of TV and happened to catch all of The Departed with Leo DiCaprio. It was really nice to “veg-out” for an evening!

The next day we drove to Oudtshoorn, which is a town that hosts attractions such as Cango Caves, Cango Wildlife Ranch and Cango Ostrich Farm. We checked into our hostel in town where the told us that the power was out because of routine maintenance. We found out later that that it wasn’t just our hostel being affected by the outage.
We then went out to Cango Caves and explored the 250 million year old cave. The cave is about 5 km long though only 2.5 km of the cave is open to the public. They turned off the lights in the cave to demonstrate how the cave was first explored by candlelight. We also so different formations such as columns, stalactites and stalagmites as well as named formations such as the “organ pipes”, the “weeping willow”, the “devil’s head”, the “bible”, the “wedding bed” and the “champagne bottle”. It was amazing!!!











After the caves we went to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, which ended up being more expensive than we thought. It is also more like zoo than anything and we found out later that night that the crocodiles weren’t even on exhibit due to unexplained reason. So instead we headed to the Cango Ostrich Farm where we got a tour of the farm and got to ride the ostriches for less than half of what it would have cost us to see the wildlife ranch. Ostriches are some of the dumbest birds on the planet. Their brains, we learned, are smaller than their eyes. They have an extremely flexible neck that can wrap around itself and reach the ground when the bird is standing. We also learned that they are the second fastest animals in the world, after the cheetah. They can run up to 87 km/h (54 mph) for up to 3 km (1.8 miles) in a single run. They use this to escape any predators that might try to attack them in the wild. So you can imagine how exciting it was to climb on top of the bird to ride. It was exhilarating, though the farm as people run next to the bird to make sure no one falls off or gets hurt to badly after they get off the bird. It was fun and funny to ride a bird for the first time. I collected a feather, which is now serving as my ostrich driver’s license. LOL













That night we hung out at our hostel for a bit and headed out to dinner. It was only until we discovered that two restaurants were open that we realized the full extent of the power outage. Everyone was with out power and I guess so was most of the Western Cape. So we had to eat our dinner by candlelight that was kind of romantic other than it was with four friends and not a singles date. I tried a platter of Karoo 4, which was a sample of different wildlife found in the Karoo. I had ostrich, kudu, springbok and crocodile. The ostrich, as I have explain in prior posts is excellent. Kudu and springbok reminded me of deer meat. They were also very good. Crocodile was salty and tasted like fish with the consistency of chicken. I really enjoyed the meal.



After dinner we enjoyed drinks by the fire at our hostel with some new friends from Oudtshoorn, Cape Town and other international travelers from England. It was a lot of fun and again we could see the billions of stars with the lack of power in the city. The next morning we drove back to Stellenbosch by the Route 62 at the recommendation of some of the locals. We stopped at a random bar half way home called “Ronnie’s Sex Shop”. It was one of those local places that you have to hit up just to say you did. It was an interesting and random bar in the Kline Karoo. I had a lot of fun in the east Western Cape and can’t wait to go back when I travel the garden route in another week!

The Government of the Republic of South Africa

I thought this would be interesting for all of you at home. I already have a great appreciation for running water, food, clothes and my family after seeing so many people down here with very few or none of the mentioned necessities of life. But what I now have a greater appreciation for is our governmental system, even though I don’t always agree with the policies/actions of our government. South Africa’s government organization is completely different than that of the US and at times seems counter-productive to its function.

The past two days in sociology we have learned about the governmental organization of South Africa. In the US we are used to a hierarchy system that starts at the national government that sets laws that all states and local governments have to follow. Individual states can determine their own laws and even local governments have the power to set their own ordinances. The key is that they all have to comply with the higher level of government. In South Africa, however, the system is set into three main spheres: the national or state government, the provincial government and local or municipal governments. All three overlap in some aspects so some issues are deemed local and provincial issues that are not influenced by the laws of the state or national government. There is a constitution and bill of rights that sets up individual rights for people and the organization of the government.

This creates problems for individuals in the different municipalities. Some of the rights are not provided by the state government and are delegated to provincial and municipal governments. The fact that everyone has the right to basic services such as water, housing and electricity, these rights are the responsibility of the municipal governments. If the municipal governments don’t have the funds to provide these services they can ask for help from local NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) or private companies. This allows services to be provided, sometimes at a cheaper cost and involves companies in the community. Unfortunately it also allows for things such as corruption and money laundering. This would be the way the rich are allowed to get richer and the poor to remain in informal housing without basic services. It is also the main cause for countries on this continent to remain as third world nations.

We have to remember that South Africa is still a very young nation. It has only been 15 years since the horrors of Apartheid were stopped and some form of human equality was established. The South African constitution is seen as on the most progressive in the world. It explicitly emphasizes gender equality, protects the freedom of sexual orientation and talks about political, social and economic rights as well as individual rights and freedoms. The last point is controversial because it implies that people have the right to a job, and not just access to a job, but also the right to an actual job. When the unemployment rate is up you can imagine people start to get angry. No one takes their rights more seriously than South Africans and after almost a century of oppression, who can blame them?

Did I mention that South Africa was beautiful?

Today, some friends and I went and enjoyed the weather and spent the afternoon at the Hortus Botanical Gardens. The garden was established in 1923 and is supported by the University of Stellenbosch. It serves as an open-air laboratory for plants and is a center for training, science, conservation and recreation. Many people come and sit in read among the flowering plants or have a pic-nic with friends or significant others. Rare plants have been imported from all over the world and is a gem in the heart of historical Stellenbosch.

The garden is beautiful and relaxing, although it did a number on my allergies (though that could be the spring coming too). Enjoy the pics!

Shark Cage Diving!

This is probably the most anticipated post on my blog to date!

Shark cage diving was probably one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. It was phenomenal and spectacular. I know, plenty of you back home have heard how shark cage diving is harmful to the balance of the ecosystem and to surfers here in South Africa. This might be true to some extent in South Africa. Enforcement of the laws that are established to protect the Great White Sharks in the area has been minimal due to lack of federal funds and in the area has been minimal due to lack of federal funds and the shear fact that South Africa has bigger problems of social unrest to tend to.

Anyways, we went with a company called Marine Dynamics. They are one of the only companies who operate on a consistent conversational basis. They work to with the Department of Marine and Coastal Management to identify individual sharks, track their movements and assist in researching these magnificent creatures! On each trip out to Dyer Island (which is where the sharks feed on the seals that inhabit the colony on the island), they have a person who photographs the shark’s dorsal fins. Each shark has a series of notches on their dorsal fins that act as a “finger print” to identify sharks. They also tag sharks with a harmless satellite tag that tracks the shark’s movement up and down the coast of South Africa.















On our specific trip, we saw a total of 10 individual sharks. Most were female and only about three of them were really big. One I would say was about 25 feet in length. The rest ranged from 10 feet to about 15 feet. To draw the sharks attention the crew of our ship has a sludge of fish guts that attracts the sharks to the boat. The second part of the lure is a tuna head tied to a line. They toss this out into the ocean and as the sharks swim by they pull the lure back towards the cage. This allows for most of the divers in the cage to get within touching distance of the shark. Although, touching the shark is strictly prohibited for obvious reasons (no one wants to loose a hand). We were on the water for about three hours. It was a wonderful trip. I have a link to their website (http://www.sharkwatchsouthafrica.com/) if you want to check out their tours. If you ever make it Gansbaai, South Africa you should definitely take a tour with these guys!