Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dunes and Beach
Another side trip on the way home was to East London. The dunes must be 80-100 feet high. In the second picture, for perspective, there is guy in a blue shirt half way up the dune. The sand beach stretched for miles with patches of rocks and moss covered rocks for a little variety.
Addo Elephant Park
Before heading home I spent a day at the Addo Elephant Park. Wart hogs, elephants, lions and lots more. Only one elephant challenged my driving on his road.
Sani Pass
It wasn't all work. One weekend three other volunteers and myself climbed up to Lesotho via the Sani Pass. The last 8K of the road is closed to cars and was a little more work than I expected for our day off. In the second picture we are almost to the top and looking down at the switchbacks we had just climbed. After pictures at the sign there was time for a reward at the top. 
Mandela Hospital Complex
It was good to get back and see some familiar sites. The roller to repair the roads hadn't moved since my visit in April 2009.
The view from the African Medical Mission house, my home for 2 weeks, looked out over the valley and the northern parts of town.
Before going to the hospital I had to visit a larger than life Nelson Mandela.
Some things are universal, such as waiting for the surgeon.
Thank you SEA (Society for Education in Anesthesiology) for sending Dr. Deal to give some of the lectures to the fourth year medical students, interns and medical officers.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Transition Zone
On Tuesday I spent too much time in Port Alfred and ended up entering East London during rush hour. From my time in Mthatha I didn't think there ever was a rush hour here. I drove past what I thought was the biggest Mercedes Benz dealership in the world, but it turned out it to be a MB factory. 100,000 Mercedes have been shipped to the US from here. East London needs more bridges. Traffic was backed up for 2-3 miles each side of the rivers. Which wasn't too bad for a tourist in no particular rush.
Yesterday was a beach day. I went for a 4-5 mile walk to Danger Point and back. The waves were pretty good and there were no sharks around, but with the water at 70 degrees and winds at 20-25 mph I gave up on the idea of trying surfing. It turns out that the South African surfing team is in Peru this week for the world championships and none of the local surfers were in the water either.
Last night I went to the mall at 6 PM for some supplies, but it was closed. Drove around looking for a restaurant that was open, but only found KFC and Guido's Pizza. Italian won, though I normally don't eat Italian food when I am more than 50 miles from Utica.
East London is very civilized and today I found a phone book with most of it's pages intact. Two listings for a laundromat. One very close to the museum and art gallery and apparently open early. How exciting to do laundry in a machine and not in the bathtub. It turns out that it was a laundry with a couple coin operated machines. I got to see how the professionals clean, dry and iron. I think my folding technique rivals real ironing and with a lot less work.
After laundry I drove through town and managed to find the museum. Breakfast at the attached cafe offered a Canadian breakfast with waffles, bacon and maple syrup. As part of my transition to Northern NY there was no other choice. The syrup even tasted like it may have had some real maple in it.
The museum was a great exhibits on natural and local history, with emphasis on shipping, the border wars and the Xhosa. Dioramas of stuffed native animals were my favorite. I think I saw the last remaining Dodo egg in existence. The signage was confusing and I wasn't sure if it was a casting, or the real thing. The museum also has castings of the oldest human footprints ever found. 200,000 years old.
Today is my last full day in South Africa, and I'm told (at least by the brochures)that I have to have a Friesland Milkshake before I leave. But first the museum.
Yesterday was a beach day. I went for a 4-5 mile walk to Danger Point and back. The waves were pretty good and there were no sharks around, but with the water at 70 degrees and winds at 20-25 mph I gave up on the idea of trying surfing. It turns out that the South African surfing team is in Peru this week for the world championships and none of the local surfers were in the water either.
Last night I went to the mall at 6 PM for some supplies, but it was closed. Drove around looking for a restaurant that was open, but only found KFC and Guido's Pizza. Italian won, though I normally don't eat Italian food when I am more than 50 miles from Utica.
East London is very civilized and today I found a phone book with most of it's pages intact. Two listings for a laundromat. One very close to the museum and art gallery and apparently open early. How exciting to do laundry in a machine and not in the bathtub. It turns out that it was a laundry with a couple coin operated machines. I got to see how the professionals clean, dry and iron. I think my folding technique rivals real ironing and with a lot less work.
After laundry I drove through town and managed to find the museum. Breakfast at the attached cafe offered a Canadian breakfast with waffles, bacon and maple syrup. As part of my transition to Northern NY there was no other choice. The syrup even tasted like it may have had some real maple in it.
The museum was a great exhibits on natural and local history, with emphasis on shipping, the border wars and the Xhosa. Dioramas of stuffed native animals were my favorite. I think I saw the last remaining Dodo egg in existence. The signage was confusing and I wasn't sure if it was a casting, or the real thing. The museum also has castings of the oldest human footprints ever found. 200,000 years old.
Today is my last full day in South Africa, and I'm told (at least by the brochures)that I have to have a Friesland Milkshake before I leave. But first the museum.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sun Coast
My work at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital and Walter Sisulu U. ended on Friday. The volunteers, the executive secretary of the African Medical Mission and the chief of orthopedics and his wife got together at Mthatha's finest restaurant, Ebony, for dinner. A fine way to end my time in the Transkei.
Saturday found me driving 6 hours to Addo Elephant Park, with a side trip to Grahamstown for lunch and sightseeing. By the time I got to the park I was too tired to view any game, so instead rested up for the next day.
The park is huge. 38K from one end to the other on mostly a dirt road. And that's just one section of the park. I spent Sunday morning driving around by myself and saw ostrich, cape buffalo, kudu, tortoises and about 60 elephants at a watering hole. Spent a lot of time watching how sociable they were. By lunch I had made it to the main camp and checked out the store, restaurant, accomodations, and signed up for the sundown game drive. Glad I did, since I finally got to see some lions up close. Since I was the only solo person on the trip I rode shotgun next to the driver. At first I wished I had had a gun, but it was still pretty hot and the lions looked a little sluggish when we got close.
This morning, Monday, I went to the Woody Cape section of the park near the ocean. Looked for right whales and great white sharks, but couldn't see anything from shore. Now I am headed along the Sunny Coast on my way to East London for a couple of beach days.
Maybe I'll try again with the pictures. I'm suprised how close I got to some of the animals at the Park. My rental car looked a little like a baby elephant and a couple elephants did come over to investigate. A picture will tell the story better.
Saturday found me driving 6 hours to Addo Elephant Park, with a side trip to Grahamstown for lunch and sightseeing. By the time I got to the park I was too tired to view any game, so instead rested up for the next day.
The park is huge. 38K from one end to the other on mostly a dirt road. And that's just one section of the park. I spent Sunday morning driving around by myself and saw ostrich, cape buffalo, kudu, tortoises and about 60 elephants at a watering hole. Spent a lot of time watching how sociable they were. By lunch I had made it to the main camp and checked out the store, restaurant, accomodations, and signed up for the sundown game drive. Glad I did, since I finally got to see some lions up close. Since I was the only solo person on the trip I rode shotgun next to the driver. At first I wished I had had a gun, but it was still pretty hot and the lions looked a little sluggish when we got close.
This morning, Monday, I went to the Woody Cape section of the park near the ocean. Looked for right whales and great white sharks, but couldn't see anything from shore. Now I am headed along the Sunny Coast on my way to East London for a couple of beach days.
Maybe I'll try again with the pictures. I'm suprised how close I got to some of the animals at the Park. My rental car looked a little like a baby elephant and a couple elephants did come over to investigate. A picture will tell the story better.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Pictures
Sorry that no pictures have shown up. I've spent way to much time trying to get them attached. Four different competers at 3 different sites and I still can't get it to work. Pictures will have to wait till I get home next week.
Three of the other volunteers and myself went to the Drakensberg Mountains over the weekend. We drove 15 Km on a dirt road to the South African border post where the road was only open for 4 wheel drive. We crossed the border before an 8 Km walk up to Sani Pass. For those 8 Km we were in no man's land since the Lesotho border post was at the top of the pass at 9800 ft. It was more excercise than any of us had had in a while. Fortunately the highest pub in Africa was nearby and we could get some lunch and a beer. The pictures that I will post later tell a better story.
Last night all the volunteers had dinner at Jennie McConnachie's. She and her husband helped found the African Medical Mission almost 30 years ago. Besides providing housing for volunteer medical workers, the AMM also runs a health clinic, pre-school, and a craft workshop at Itipini, a shanty town built in an abandoned dump. If you google "Itipini" there is a wealth of information. Anyway, since it was my last week here I received a beautiful green AMM shirt. It's hard to believe I have been here almost two weeks.
Tonight one of the doctors at the Bedford Hospital, an orthopedic surgeon from Cuba, has invited us to dinner. Spicy Caribbean food, South African wine and good company should make for a good evening.
On Saturday I leave for Addo elephant park. Maybe I'll have better luck with photos by then.
Three of the other volunteers and myself went to the Drakensberg Mountains over the weekend. We drove 15 Km on a dirt road to the South African border post where the road was only open for 4 wheel drive. We crossed the border before an 8 Km walk up to Sani Pass. For those 8 Km we were in no man's land since the Lesotho border post was at the top of the pass at 9800 ft. It was more excercise than any of us had had in a while. Fortunately the highest pub in Africa was nearby and we could get some lunch and a beer. The pictures that I will post later tell a better story.
Last night all the volunteers had dinner at Jennie McConnachie's. She and her husband helped found the African Medical Mission almost 30 years ago. Besides providing housing for volunteer medical workers, the AMM also runs a health clinic, pre-school, and a craft workshop at Itipini, a shanty town built in an abandoned dump. If you google "Itipini" there is a wealth of information. Anyway, since it was my last week here I received a beautiful green AMM shirt. It's hard to believe I have been here almost two weeks.
Tonight one of the doctors at the Bedford Hospital, an orthopedic surgeon from Cuba, has invited us to dinner. Spicy Caribbean food, South African wine and good company should make for a good evening.
On Saturday I leave for Addo elephant park. Maybe I'll have better luck with photos by then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
