Eastern Cape Province
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. Landing place and home of the 1820 settlers, the central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the Xhosa people. This region is the birthplace of many prominent South African politicians, such as Nelson Mandela (wiki)
I will focus first on the inland areas as I have travelled these numerous times and have my own pics. Click any pic with a hand for slide show
My wife comes from Maclear and our road trip usually follows from Aliwal North, Barkly East, Elliot, Ugie.
Aliwal North
is the border town between the Free State and the Eastern Cape. It is
best known for it Spas but sadly it is now very neglected. It was a
popular destination for caravanners and was run by the municipality but
since the new regime and probably a fall off in local tourists, the hot
springs is pretty much gone to the dogs. The new themed water parks are
where folk take their kids these days.
Indoor Spa. (The way it was)
There were three pools each a different temperature as the water was
recycled from the indoor one, to an outdoor round pool and then the main
pool which more or less looked like an Olympic pool.
Hertzog bridge over the Orange River
From my last trip to Maclear...
Catholic Church in Aliwal North
Between Aliwal and Barkly East just before the pass though the canyon
Mountains in the background is the Lesotho kingdom
Blue Mountains Hotel between Barkly East and Elliot
Dutch Reformed Church in Barkly East
Website of region and outdoor activities (nice pics)
Just outside Barlky East on the road to Elliot
Further along, rock outcrop known as the big fish
More rock outcrops
Gatberg (hole in mountain) between Elliot and Ugie
Ugie Dam
Glory days of steam. Train leaving Ugie. My FIL was a driver of these beasts and this area down to East London his route.
The whole area is well known for fly fishing (trout) with annual competitions.
In the last 15 years Mondi started forestry in the area and bought out huge amounts of farms.
Tsitsa waterfalls just outside Maclear; been here many times
My wife's cousin's farm. He is of Irish descent.
The brook on his farm never runs dry and he uses it for irrigation and fresh water.
My sister in law's husband's farm. The view is from his porch and the mountains in the background, Lesotho.
This town only got utility power about 15ish years ago. Just over the
ridge, is a ravine and a weir and they had a water wheel turbine driving
a generator for power for the farm. Most farmers still have their
generators as power outages due to weather here is pretty common.
As pretty as it is, folk here carry fire arms as there have been quite a
few murders of farmers in this region. Here they shoot first then ask
questions. The cops are pretty useless here now.
The African Hut
Depending on which part of Africa, these huts are all pretty common in
the Eastern Cape and for some reason, they all seem to favour this
turquoise colour. They have no windows and the door always faces east.
A round wood frame is constructed and then packed with a mixture of dung
and mud. The floor is also made of dung and mud and they have to wait a
long while for the stuff to dry before they can actually move in. In
the centre of the floor, there is usually a shallow hollow and a few 2"
smouldering sticks from the outside fire taken in to warm the place up
in winter. You will be surprised just how effective this is and I
suspect also has something to do with keeping the mosquitoes at bay. Of
course the hut reeks of the smoke smell but for them it is normal.
In summer, the hut is also very cool in the heat of the day despite the
lack of windows.They do not spend time indoors and is only for sleeping.
Seeing this and going inside, you get to see the traditional side of the
blacks and it is very innocent and simplistic. They are welcoming and
proud of their house even if they all look the same. They still sleep
on the floor and perhaps have a simple mattress. Worldly possessions are
minimal. Cooking is still done on fires outside and they use kaffir pots and these something they adopted from white settlers.
These days we do not use the K word as it is like the N word state side.
You can actually cook a bloody nice meal in this single pot. Something
the whites learned from the blacks and I can tell you it is delicious -
we call it a potjie or potjiekos (pot food). It is basically a stew but
the difference is you do not stir the ingredients, meat at the bottom
and veggies at the top. Only stir before serving. Some great recipes if
you care to try it. 3 or 5 briquettes is all that is needed to cook and
it takes 6+ hours, but it is worth the wait.
In another pot they will make what is called sadza (Zulu name - other
names in various cultures) which is maize (corn) meal and is cooked to a
very stiff porridge. They eat with their hands, using the sadza which
if rolled into a ball then depressed with your thumb to make an
indentation, the sauce and meat is scooped up and then eaten.
Of course the white folk use condiments, cutlery, plates and add salads
but the end result, a very satisfying meal. Maybe it is because we are
so pissed by the time we actually get to eat. There is no fast food in
African culture.
Maize is not indigenous to Africa and came with the whites. They used to
derive the porridge from roots and still do so in Ghana. Maize meal or
mielie meal as it is better known as here derived the same results and
taste.
Anyway on with the trip an back to the coast.
Magwa Falls near Port St Johns
This is known as hole in the wall. I have my own pics but cannot find them right now.
No life guards here.
This is all part of the wild coast and you do not have the yuppies with
their jet skis and boats coming here. This is as close to nature as you
can get, there are not even shark nets here. These areas are more
aligned to eco-tourism as opposed to the other coastal towns and getting
to these parts is by 4x4 SUV's. Plus the beaches here are very rocky
and not safe to swim/surf in unless you have a wet suit on.
The right of passage to manhood of the traditional Xhosa is this
tradition of painting their faces and body white, some have circumcision
but the govt has tried to encourage that they use hospitals as a few
lads have died over the years where this is done w/o aesthetic and
rudimentary blades. Not very nice.
They have to live off the land for a month and then they become men.
The Xhosa language is clicky like the bushmen and an X is pronounced with a tongue click.
This culture is dwindling as they adapt to westernisation but b/c their
areas are very remote, this is slow. Every Xhosa village has a frigging
catholic church but they do tend to cross culturize and do not prevent
traditional practices. IOW bring your offerings but keep your
traditions. That said there are mission schools but sad that their
education and enlightenment means exchanging one superstition for
another god on a stick icon. Plus the priests here are mostly black.
It is amazing the time warp you go through driving through the region.
The traditional folk are very friendly but the city dwellers pretty
hostile and arrogant. The elders complain how undisciplined the youth of
today are. Ring any bells?
Sadly I cannot speak this language, but my FIL was fluent and so too is my MIL. My wife only knows a few phrases.
Generally speaking, these folk are relatively well off living off the
land and their men go to the mines in Gauteng, and send money home. Not
unusual for the men have a 2nd wife/mistress and kids in the cities. Of
course this "tradition" does not help the AIDS problem and AIDS for a
country hut dweller is a death sentence.
Next we will be moving onto the two major cities East London and Port Elizabeth and a short drive to other coastal resorts.
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