'Ello from South Africa! Tonight Lance and I are just 200 km shy of the Mozambique border in the rolling hills of Nelspriet, SA. Today was 9 hours of driving but tonight we rest easy in the totally cute Utopia in Africa B&B. We almost didn’t make it though as early this morning Lance discovered we had car registration issues with the new FAO vehicle. This would have been a deal breaker going into Mozambique as officials there look for any excuse to get money from travelers. But Lance got it worked out and we left just a hour or so behind schedule.
Of course we forgot to bring any of the local currency which is a problem as we were driving toll roads the whole way. Then the first ATM we found was out of order because it was blown up by thieves the previous year and hadn’t been replaced yet. Gotta love South Africa.
On the way down we listened to the Poultry 2008 episode of This American Life. (All praise Chicken for anyone who heard it), two excellent episodes of Wait, Wait, Don’t tell me and an Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I think Lance is a little NPRed out but I was in podcast heaven. I held back on playing On the Media for fear he would crash the car while yelling at the announcers. There are times when safety needs to take precedence over great radio.
The B&B is lovely and we are pooped. Time for bed.
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
At the foot of the Sani Pass
Once again, South Africa is beautiful y’all and we are loving it!
I'm writing from a B&B just at the foot of the Sani Pass and WOW! What’s funny is we weren’t even planning on staying here. It took longer getting out of Durban than we planned so are a few hours behind schedule. We made it to Hillsburough at 3 yesterday, looked at the mountain, looked at the setting sun and decided to crash for the evening.
Taking the advice of the local bookstore owner we found the Seaforth Country Lodge. I am soooooo regretting that second day in Durban now because it would be so awesome to take advantage of some of the hiking around here!!! As it stands we need to get to at least the capital of Lesotho tomorrow night, ideally hustle over to Bloemfontein back in South Africa.
We see amazing sites like on a vacation, eat great food like a vacation, take a few pictures and buy a few souvenirs like a vacation… but we are not on vacation.
So it's time to hit the road which in today’s case will be gravel and at a steep incline. A local asked Lance if he had experience driving a 4x4 up mountains. He didn’t miss a beat and says he had. Later on he tells me he does have a lot of experience with 4x4s. Of course they were government issued Humvees…
Eep.
See you on the other side of the mountain. In the meanwhile here are some snapshots of our time here.
In the meanwhile, someone please remind me to get a tripod...
I'm writing from a B&B just at the foot of the Sani Pass and WOW! What’s funny is we weren’t even planning on staying here. It took longer getting out of Durban than we planned so are a few hours behind schedule. We made it to Hillsburough at 3 yesterday, looked at the mountain, looked at the setting sun and decided to crash for the evening.Taking the advice of the local bookstore owner we found the Seaforth Country Lodge. I am soooooo regretting that second day in Durban now because it would be so awesome to take advantage of some of the hiking around here!!! As it stands we need to get to at least the capital of Lesotho tomorrow night, ideally hustle over to Bloemfontein back in South Africa.
We see amazing sites like on a vacation, eat great food like a vacation, take a few pictures and buy a few souvenirs like a vacation… but we are not on vacation.
So it's time to hit the road which in today’s case will be gravel and at a steep incline. A local asked Lance if he had experience driving a 4x4 up mountains. He didn’t miss a beat and says he had. Later on he tells me he does have a lot of experience with 4x4s. Of course they were government issued Humvees…
Eep.
See you on the other side of the mountain. In the meanwhile here are some snapshots of our time here.
In the meanwhile, someone please remind me to get a tripod...
Done Durban - now we never have to go back.
What to say about Durban?
You know what Durban looks like? It looks, and feels, like this.
We spent two nights here at the Royal Hotel in the city center. 4 star hotel and there were stains on the floor and you had to pay for internet. Ugg.
Durban is a coastal town, known for it’s Port, old Sugar Storage Buildings and the vibrant communities that have grown from former doc workers.
We took a 3 hour whirlwind tour just after arriving and saw some of the city’s high points (the ports, the mosque, low income high rises and neighborhood redevelopment). 
We also saw the Indian Market (well meaning tourist trap) and had a grand adventure trying to find store with sari fabric. We did. It looked like the stuff in Gabs but cost 2xs as much. Just goes to prove Gabs is great!
At the end of the tour we spent a little time at the the botanical gardens.
zoom in on the one above, Dad, it's called a cannonball tree.
All the while the tour guide is filling us in on local politics (very interesting!) and his experiences working in the tourism industry for the last 20 years. He was yet another person that swore to us that crime isn’t as bad here as everyone says, then two minutes later he warns us not to leave our hotel after dark and proudly explained how the convention center can be locked down for conferences. Then he talked about his most recent mugging and how a friend of his was killed.
Another Durban fun fact: they are in the process changing the names of all the streets. You would think, ok this is cool way to acknolege heros of the anti aparthide era right? There why are there Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro roads? Why also is there a road named after a guy who set off a bomb killing 5 people at a shopping center in that very neighborhod? Seriously now.
To cap our Durban experience the next day, on our way out of town, we saw some street kids having a knife/rock fight. Yes, really. Very Lord of the Flies.
Lance just read over my shoulder and said, “They were trying to kill each other.” This might be true as once of them had a huge kitchen knife and there was a lot of big rock throwing. It looked more to me like one kid was encroaching in on another groups area and they were chasing him out. Of course the chasing went into traffic at a busy intersection. No one looked older than 9 and the smallest kid (6 maybe?) was the one with the knife. OK, sure, kids have turf wars everywhere. But this was in the suburbs in broad daylight! What goes on after dark?
We did have a great view from the hotel though and seeing the tide go in and out was impressive.
We also had some great meals. The first night was at the Ilundi Indian restraint. Samosas now rival cheese as my favorite food. On the second night it was the Royal Grill. It was very posh with a live pianist and chandeliers. Like dinners in New Jersey but without the veal. (Some of you know I'm not kidding!) Lance had the fillet and I had prawns.
At this point I must say thank you to the South African mining companies for artificially devaluing the Rand so they could get more government subsidies and so we can afford all this. Total dinner cost in what might have been the nicest place in town was about $40 US. Not bad.
Along the way we continued to talk with and listen to anyone who would talk with us about life in South Africa and what people think about the changes in the past 10 years, the impact of missionaries, splits within policial parties...
Frankly I'm ready for some good news and so ready to get out of the city.
You know what Durban looks like? It looks, and feels, like this.
We spent two nights here at the Royal Hotel in the city center. 4 star hotel and there were stains on the floor and you had to pay for internet. Ugg.Durban is a coastal town, known for it’s Port, old Sugar Storage Buildings and the vibrant communities that have grown from former doc workers.
We took a 3 hour whirlwind tour just after arriving and saw some of the city’s high points (the ports, the mosque, low income high rises and neighborhood redevelopment). 
We also saw the Indian Market (well meaning tourist trap) and had a grand adventure trying to find store with sari fabric. We did. It looked like the stuff in Gabs but cost 2xs as much. Just goes to prove Gabs is great!At the end of the tour we spent a little time at the the botanical gardens.
zoom in on the one above, Dad, it's called a cannonball tree.
All the while the tour guide is filling us in on local politics (very interesting!) and his experiences working in the tourism industry for the last 20 years. He was yet another person that swore to us that crime isn’t as bad here as everyone says, then two minutes later he warns us not to leave our hotel after dark and proudly explained how the convention center can be locked down for conferences. Then he talked about his most recent mugging and how a friend of his was killed.Another Durban fun fact: they are in the process changing the names of all the streets. You would think, ok this is cool way to acknolege heros of the anti aparthide era right? There why are there Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro roads? Why also is there a road named after a guy who set off a bomb killing 5 people at a shopping center in that very neighborhod? Seriously now.
To cap our Durban experience the next day, on our way out of town, we saw some street kids having a knife/rock fight. Yes, really. Very Lord of the Flies.Lance just read over my shoulder and said, “They were trying to kill each other.” This might be true as once of them had a huge kitchen knife and there was a lot of big rock throwing. It looked more to me like one kid was encroaching in on another groups area and they were chasing him out. Of course the chasing went into traffic at a busy intersection. No one looked older than 9 and the smallest kid (6 maybe?) was the one with the knife. OK, sure, kids have turf wars everywhere. But this was in the suburbs in broad daylight! What goes on after dark?
We did have a great view from the hotel though and seeing the tide go in and out was impressive.
We also had some great meals. The first night was at the Ilundi Indian restraint. Samosas now rival cheese as my favorite food. On the second night it was the Royal Grill. It was very posh with a live pianist and chandeliers. Like dinners in New Jersey but without the veal. (Some of you know I'm not kidding!) Lance had the fillet and I had prawns.At this point I must say thank you to the South African mining companies for artificially devaluing the Rand so they could get more government subsidies and so we can afford all this. Total dinner cost in what might have been the nicest place in town was about $40 US. Not bad.
Along the way we continued to talk with and listen to anyone who would talk with us about life in South Africa and what people think about the changes in the past 10 years, the impact of missionaries, splits within policial parties...
Frankly I'm ready for some good news and so ready to get out of the city.
Roorke's Drift Battlefield
So today Lance got his history on and we explored a battlefield or two with the help of a local guide. Here they are talking strategy and the proper way to hang a map on a 4x4.
Here we are at one of the monuments:
More pics:
And then we went to Durban.
Here we are at one of the monuments:
And here are cows:
You can never have enough cows.
More pics:
And then we went to Durban.
Swaziland Crafts
I’m starting to get a better sense of the role fiber arts is playing in Southern Africa today. Whereas I expected indigenous fabrics to be the big story, what I’m really surprised by is the way fiber products are being successfully being created for the tourists. I was conflicted about this at first because something woven out of imported wool in a western style didn’t seem sufficiently “Authentic Africa” to me. This was short sighted on my part because I’m now learning about all the communities where women were taught how to weave or sew these little touristy things and are making a living with the profits. The places where these things are sold are pure tourist trap… but it really is for a good cause in this case.
Plus I get to stock up and both Lance listens to anyone who would tell him their story. Maybe tourist traps aren’t so bad in some contexts.
So here are two of the best places we've stopped at. First was Tintsaba at the Peak Fine Craft Center. They work with locally grown sisal to create baskets, place mats/coasters and the most gorgeous sisal jewelry. Here’s their story.
Also in the same area is a wool weaving group. It was Sunday so they weren’t around but I did get some pics of the store. In the upper right of the second photo you can see the women who started this whole place a few years back. If you build it, and stock it with pretty things, tourists will come. And it works.
In a neighboring store I picked up a traditional Swazi maiden wrap modeled by the store clerk here. I dunno. I haven't actually seen anyone wearing these things anywhere but the tourist guides. It is still pretty cool fabric though. 
I did my part to support the local economy and we were back on the road. Next stop this insanity.
You have never seen such a tourist trappy tourist trap in your life. Unless of course you have been to South Of The Border in which case ... you have.
I did not buy any fabric here. It just had a different vibe to it and the people selling couldn’t give me any background info. Plus I recognized some of it as basic African themed cotton prints available in Botswana. And the US. And probably China.
But behind all the stalls is a diamond in the rough and another example of fiber arts being used to support local charities. Check out Baobob Batiks.
This stuff is the real deal you could smell the wax from outside. 
Inside two very patient women answered all my questions and had the biggest smile when I said, “Say.. crazy American tourist!” 
I bought a few batik napkins which I may actually just use as napkins. I know! Not cutting up fabric to sew together to make fabric. Scandal!
We ate lunch at the trippiest place I have ever been in my entire life.
Exhibition 1:
And 2:
Sitting among the trees (and oddly painted bugs) we relaxed and lost track of time a little. Lance looked at his watch, said "Uh we gotta go like now" and we were literally running for the border. Okay, driving is more like it but you see the border we were planning to cross closed at 4:30 that day and the next one north closed at 6:00 but it would have mean driving on dirt roads, through the woods, probably in the dark. YIKES.
So driving as fast as we could down this road
We just made it to our first choice border in time. Phew! I mean just in time. We had like 5 minutes. The guards didn't seem to mind though. On the Swaziland side they were happily watching a WWE wrestling match on television.
We all had a good time filling out paperwork and talking about how Shawn Michaels is totally awesome. There was no tv or smiles on the South Africa side but the important thing is that we made it in time.
Next the battlefields of Roorke's Drift.
Plus I get to stock up and both Lance listens to anyone who would tell him their story. Maybe tourist traps aren’t so bad in some contexts.
So here are two of the best places we've stopped at. First was Tintsaba at the Peak Fine Craft Center. They work with locally grown sisal to create baskets, place mats/coasters and the most gorgeous sisal jewelry. Here’s their story.
Also in the same area is a wool weaving group. It was Sunday so they weren’t around but I did get some pics of the store. In the upper right of the second photo you can see the women who started this whole place a few years back. If you build it, and stock it with pretty things, tourists will come. And it works.
In a neighboring store I picked up a traditional Swazi maiden wrap modeled by the store clerk here. I dunno. I haven't actually seen anyone wearing these things anywhere but the tourist guides. It is still pretty cool fabric though. 
I did my part to support the local economy and we were back on the road. Next stop this insanity.
You have never seen such a tourist trappy tourist trap in your life. Unless of course you have been to South Of The Border in which case ... you have.I did not buy any fabric here. It just had a different vibe to it and the people selling couldn’t give me any background info. Plus I recognized some of it as basic African themed cotton prints available in Botswana. And the US. And probably China.
But behind all the stalls is a diamond in the rough and another example of fiber arts being used to support local charities. Check out Baobob Batiks.
This stuff is the real deal you could smell the wax from outside. 
Inside two very patient women answered all my questions and had the biggest smile when I said, “Say.. crazy American tourist!” 
I bought a few batik napkins which I may actually just use as napkins. I know! Not cutting up fabric to sew together to make fabric. Scandal!We ate lunch at the trippiest place I have ever been in my entire life.
Exhibition 1:
And 2:
Sitting among the trees (and oddly painted bugs) we relaxed and lost track of time a little. Lance looked at his watch, said "Uh we gotta go like now" and we were literally running for the border. Okay, driving is more like it but you see the border we were planning to cross closed at 4:30 that day and the next one north closed at 6:00 but it would have mean driving on dirt roads, through the woods, probably in the dark. YIKES.
So driving as fast as we could down this road
We just made it to our first choice border in time. Phew! I mean just in time. We had like 5 minutes. The guards didn't seem to mind though. On the Swaziland side they were happily watching a WWE wrestling match on television.We all had a good time filling out paperwork and talking about how Shawn Michaels is totally awesome. There was no tv or smiles on the South Africa side but the important thing is that we made it in time.
Next the battlefields of Roorke's Drift.
Swaziland is beautiful y'all...
But you will just have to trust me on this because I can't find any of the photos. I'll keep looking. You will just have to be satisfied with my midnight hotel ramblings. : )
Much of the north east of the country is timber territory with perfect rows of trees covering the hills. Did you know there are monkeys that live in the pine trees along the roads of Swaziland? Neither did I. Did you know there are pine trees in Africa? This place constantly surprises me. We checked out the local logging processing plant and did some exploring until it started to get dark.
So over the river and through the woods to the bed and breakfast we go. On the advice of the owner we head out to the dam hoping to find the restaurant open but it was closed to all non-guests for a wedding. We did get a few nice pictures though.
Didn’t see any hippos.
Or crocodiles
But I did get a picture of the rare and fascinating Jaywalking Lance.
Back on the road into "town" and up to a bar/restaurant/dive which actually was mostly a bar. After confirming that they did actually serve food the waitress escorted us to a room in the back I ordered the beef stir fry, Lance the ox tale with rice and we traded mid way through.
Okay, we thought we were getting our FAO on with the last dish. I mean "ox tail" right? We have since discovered it wasn’t all that specific to the region but I say we get points for trying. Tasted pretty good. And very importantly neither one of us got sick. : )
Much of the north east of the country is timber territory with perfect rows of trees covering the hills. Did you know there are monkeys that live in the pine trees along the roads of Swaziland? Neither did I. Did you know there are pine trees in Africa? This place constantly surprises me. We checked out the local logging processing plant and did some exploring until it started to get dark.
So over the river and through the woods to the bed and breakfast we go. On the advice of the owner we head out to the dam hoping to find the restaurant open but it was closed to all non-guests for a wedding. We did get a few nice pictures though.
Didn’t see any hippos.
Or crocodiles
But I did get a picture of the rare and fascinating Jaywalking Lance.
Back on the road into "town" and up to a bar/restaurant/dive which actually was mostly a bar. After confirming that they did actually serve food the waitress escorted us to a room in the back I ordered the beef stir fry, Lance the ox tale with rice and we traded mid way through.
Okay, we thought we were getting our FAO on with the last dish. I mean "ox tail" right? We have since discovered it wasn’t all that specific to the region but I say we get points for trying. Tasted pretty good. And very importantly neither one of us got sick. : )
In the hotel was this pretty cool batik behind the bed. 
Nice huh? The next day we got to see where it was made.
Nice huh? The next day we got to see where it was made. Soweto Township Tour
One of the best things we did while in Johannesburg was to go on a guided tour through Soweto Township. Having just experienced the Apartheid Museum it really gave a historical context to what we were seeing. Our guide was the amazing… a woman about our age who lived in Soweto until recently.
What to say about that tour? Well, as I’m writing this several days (and many towns later) I can say the poverty and housing situations are not limited to the bigger cities in the North East area of the country but they seem to have more of it. I also want to make it clear that I only photographed the novel/interesting stuff. The grocery stores, lower middle class looking neighborhoods (where Archbishop Desmond Tutu still lives omg) I didn't photograph. But there are there and in full use. Soweto was a crappy place to live, now tourism may be turning it around.
So let's see some touristy things....
The row houses you see in this picture are former miners houses from earlier in the 1900s.
Now you see the inspiration for the quilt to the right. : )
Men from neighboring countries would come in on the train and work the mines all over South Africa so you see these houses outside of many former mining towns. They aren’t too different from the houses near our house in Gaborone but, lined up as they are, it’s clear they were meant to be temporary dorms rather than neighborhoods. Since the 90s many of those houses have been turned over to the occupants after it was discovered that the cumulative rent paid is many more times what the land is worth now. So that's good.
And now KIDS!!! We went into the neighborhood you see in the pic above and visited an orphanage. They sang for us and smiled for our pictures
Orphanages and day care facilities are important in townships because honestly suffice to say, it sucks being a kid in Africa and these facilities keep them safe during the day. At night time they stay with people in the community who are paid to take care of them. We gave the women running it a few Rand and were again on our way.
**After re-reading our tour guide’s bio, I think her tours are a major source of funding for the facility. It was cheerful, the kids were runny nosed, inquisitive and adorable. There was at least one sneaky on though. According to one of the other tour members, one of them stole her water bottle out of her bag. Who knows. We were fine. Speaking of bags, I didn’t sneak any kids into my backpack though was mighty tempted. They were super cute.**
From there we drove by the water towers, one now painted to reflect the area's history.
Rumor has it there is a company the offers bungee jumping in them now. The tv show, The Amazing Race set up a tightrope walk between them in a recent season. We did neither of these things because, theory or law, we respect gravity.
Next a look at one of one of the more run down neighborhoods.
Notice the miner’s houses in the background beyond the field.
We went into this neighborhood and were led around by a 18ish y/o girl who lives there. I’m sorry I didn’t take any pictures. I’m still not comfortable taking people’s pictures and was trying not to act the awkward tourist buy snapping photo’s of people’s homes. Maybe in a trip or two. Lance on the other hand...
So the girl took us to her home. Metal sheeting walls and a dirt floor but it was tidy. Her older sister and father were also there and we talked with him about sending the older sister to college and her hopes for the future. A few more Rand to our subcontracted tour guide and we were on the road again.
At this point, I’m realizing that our tour guide is really helping a lot of people back in Soweto. It was she who continually insisted that we not just take photo’s from afar but meet the people and get to know what their lives are like. "This is not a game drive" she would say. Of course the people we are visiting get donations for their time and openness so everyone wins.
Rather tough to visit was the Hector Pieterson Memorial and museum.
It was here that our tour guide told us that she was a also student at the rally Hector was killed at and was friends with his sister. Giving these tours started out as sort of a therapy for her. She said in her job she meets people who were on all sides of apartheid's history and enjoys when she can help someone get a little more closure on the issue. She talked about a retired cop who came to her in tears and told here where he had buried the body of a child 20+ years ago so she could tell the family so a proper burial could be arranged. It was sobering to say the least.
So that was Soweto. Since then we have seen similar townships around many of the cities we have seen in South Africa. They seem to be the biggest in the northeast but that could just be due to more new immigrants settling there rather then continuing south. Lance is reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and said when Nelson was young he moved to Johannesburg to make a living. Heck, the name translates to Place of Gold in many African languages. Who could resist?
What to say about that tour? Well, as I’m writing this several days (and many towns later) I can say the poverty and housing situations are not limited to the bigger cities in the North East area of the country but they seem to have more of it. I also want to make it clear that I only photographed the novel/interesting stuff. The grocery stores, lower middle class looking neighborhoods (where Archbishop Desmond Tutu still lives omg) I didn't photograph. But there are there and in full use. Soweto was a crappy place to live, now tourism may be turning it around.
So let's see some touristy things....
The row houses you see in this picture are former miners houses from earlier in the 1900s.
Now you see the inspiration for the quilt to the right. : )
Men from neighboring countries would come in on the train and work the mines all over South Africa so you see these houses outside of many former mining towns. They aren’t too different from the houses near our house in Gaborone but, lined up as they are, it’s clear they were meant to be temporary dorms rather than neighborhoods. Since the 90s many of those houses have been turned over to the occupants after it was discovered that the cumulative rent paid is many more times what the land is worth now. So that's good.
And now KIDS!!! We went into the neighborhood you see in the pic above and visited an orphanage. They sang for us and smiled for our pictures
Orphanages and day care facilities are important in townships because honestly suffice to say, it sucks being a kid in Africa and these facilities keep them safe during the day. At night time they stay with people in the community who are paid to take care of them. We gave the women running it a few Rand and were again on our way.**After re-reading our tour guide’s bio, I think her tours are a major source of funding for the facility. It was cheerful, the kids were runny nosed, inquisitive and adorable. There was at least one sneaky on though. According to one of the other tour members, one of them stole her water bottle out of her bag. Who knows. We were fine. Speaking of bags, I didn’t sneak any kids into my backpack though was mighty tempted. They were super cute.**
From there we drove by the water towers, one now painted to reflect the area's history.
Rumor has it there is a company the offers bungee jumping in them now. The tv show, The Amazing Race set up a tightrope walk between them in a recent season. We did neither of these things because, theory or law, we respect gravity.Next a look at one of one of the more run down neighborhoods.
Notice the miner’s houses in the background beyond the field.We went into this neighborhood and were led around by a 18ish y/o girl who lives there. I’m sorry I didn’t take any pictures. I’m still not comfortable taking people’s pictures and was trying not to act the awkward tourist buy snapping photo’s of people’s homes. Maybe in a trip or two. Lance on the other hand...
So the girl took us to her home. Metal sheeting walls and a dirt floor but it was tidy. Her older sister and father were also there and we talked with him about sending the older sister to college and her hopes for the future. A few more Rand to our subcontracted tour guide and we were on the road again.
At this point, I’m realizing that our tour guide is really helping a lot of people back in Soweto. It was she who continually insisted that we not just take photo’s from afar but meet the people and get to know what their lives are like. "This is not a game drive" she would say. Of course the people we are visiting get donations for their time and openness so everyone wins.
Rather tough to visit was the Hector Pieterson Memorial and museum.
It was here that our tour guide told us that she was a also student at the rally Hector was killed at and was friends with his sister. Giving these tours started out as sort of a therapy for her. She said in her job she meets people who were on all sides of apartheid's history and enjoys when she can help someone get a little more closure on the issue. She talked about a retired cop who came to her in tears and told here where he had buried the body of a child 20+ years ago so she could tell the family so a proper burial could be arranged. It was sobering to say the least.So that was Soweto. Since then we have seen similar townships around many of the cities we have seen in South Africa. They seem to be the biggest in the northeast but that could just be due to more new immigrants settling there rather then continuing south. Lance is reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and said when Nelson was young he moved to Johannesburg to make a living. Heck, the name translates to Place of Gold in many African languages. Who could resist?
Viva El Taco!
Let's Do The Time Warp Again...
So, assuming I haven't lost you all with my highly edited but still opinionated mini rants, Ready! Set! Go! now rewards you with the lost entries of South Africa.
Has sort of an Allan Quartermain feel to it doesn't it?
OK, lets all hop in our blog powered time machines and go back to a simpler time. A time when lunch often consisted of dry cereal and soda. A time when we had to watch out for monkeys/donkeys/cattle/chickens/roosters/goats walking in the middle of the road.
A time roughly a month and a half ago.
Most of this was written while on the road, late a night in hotel rooms with no internet. (see how much I love you? say you'll forgive me for the last week's posts.)
So now we travel back.... back... back.... to Johannesburg, South Africa.
_______________________________
OK, I can go back to Botswana... I'VE BEEN TO A SOUTH AFRICAN QUILT SHOW!!!!!
Happy dance! Happy dance!
Oh and we went to a military history museum where we learned tons and Lance got his "History Guy" thing on. See, here's a picture:
BUT THEN WE WENT TO A QUILT SHOW!!!!
South African quilters got it going on. The theme was "Shosholoza" which is a Zulu word meaning to "go forward" or "make way for the next man." Many of the quilts had a we are on the right track or South African pride feeling to them. As you can see below. I'll be posting all the pictures I took here:
Here is a link to the whole album if you would like to take your time... I had just over 2 hours to do the whole show which is why some of the photos are a wee bit blurry and off center.
Much to my dismay you were not allowed to take pictures of the Tri-Nations quilts (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) or Japanese quilts. I was actually given stern talking to by one of the ladies doing white glove duty for "accidentally" taking a photo in the Tri-Nations area. A word to the non quilting community: don't tick us off... we deal with rotary cutters on a daily basis.
Notable things at the show:
1) A Dear Jane display by one of the local guilds. Wow! Gorgeous! And what a great way to take advantage of all the different German Prints or ShweShwe as it was originally called by the locals.
2) I learned a little more back story about the ShweShwe: The name comes from the sound the new fabric would make as you walked.
Shwe.
Shwe.
Shwe.
Like corduroy.
When European settlers and missionaries came to what would become South Africa they were taken aback by the ... ahem... limited clothing worn by the women. Specifically they seemed to only be modest about the bottom half of their bodies. Telegrams were sent back to England asking for affordable cloth thus you have the introduction of ShweShwe to Africa.
3) Japanese quilts are breathtaking. I am in awe. I am humbled. I am motivated to get sewing!
4) I was on the lookout for a uniquely South African take on quilting. I'm looking for a perspective that is as unique as say Japanese quilts compared to Amish or Gees Bend or traditional stars and squares. Definitely they draw from a much warmer pallet which makes sense given the landscape. I hope my photos give you a sense of this.
5) One thing is certain, South African quilters take a great deal of pride in simply in the their existence. It was hard to take up quilting in the 1980s when there wasn't much fabric coming into the country. As pretty much everyone I spoke with pointed out, they have done a lot with a few hundred quilters whereas the US has thousands and easier access to resources. My feathers ruffled a little bit at that (not that it's false) but I really enjoyed their work and thrill at South Africa's desire to grow as a quilting community.
5) My favorite quilt. Photos don't do this one justice. Real pattern paper is layered with fabric, lace and buttons to for the girls. It's called "Some Are Born Old." Sad inspiration. Amazing quilt.
Now you can't end on that somber of a note so I present to you two very happy vendors. 
Why are they happy? Because I have just spent a lotta rand on their hand dyed fabric. It was the only thing in the whole vendors area that wasn't imported and therefore really expensive. Actually it was pretty darn cheep. With currency conversion and all it ended up being a little over $1.25 a fat quarter. Oh yeah. I did some shopping here. He is actually a former chemist (very handy knowledge when you are creating dyes) and she is a former social worker. She had some really interesting stories and perspectives on what has worked and what hasn't when it comes to aid programs. Lance took mental notes. I took home two bags of fabric.
Has sort of an Allan Quartermain feel to it doesn't it?
OK, lets all hop in our blog powered time machines and go back to a simpler time. A time when lunch often consisted of dry cereal and soda. A time when we had to watch out for monkeys/donkeys/cattle/chickens/roosters/goats walking in the middle of the road.
A time roughly a month and a half ago.
Most of this was written while on the road, late a night in hotel rooms with no internet. (see how much I love you? say you'll forgive me for the last week's posts.)
So now we travel back.... back... back.... to Johannesburg, South Africa.
_______________________________
OK, I can go back to Botswana... I'VE BEEN TO A SOUTH AFRICAN QUILT SHOW!!!!!
Happy dance! Happy dance!
Oh and we went to a military history museum where we learned tons and Lance got his "History Guy" thing on. See, here's a picture:
BUT THEN WE WENT TO A QUILT SHOW!!!!
South African quilters got it going on. The theme was "Shosholoza" which is a Zulu word meaning to "go forward" or "make way for the next man." Many of the quilts had a we are on the right track or South African pride feeling to them. As you can see below. I'll be posting all the pictures I took here:
Here is a link to the whole album if you would like to take your time... I had just over 2 hours to do the whole show which is why some of the photos are a wee bit blurry and off center.
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| South Africa Quilt Show 2008 |
Much to my dismay you were not allowed to take pictures of the Tri-Nations quilts (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) or Japanese quilts. I was actually given stern talking to by one of the ladies doing white glove duty for "accidentally" taking a photo in the Tri-Nations area. A word to the non quilting community: don't tick us off... we deal with rotary cutters on a daily basis.
Notable things at the show:
1) A Dear Jane display by one of the local guilds. Wow! Gorgeous! And what a great way to take advantage of all the different German Prints or ShweShwe as it was originally called by the locals.
2) I learned a little more back story about the ShweShwe: The name comes from the sound the new fabric would make as you walked.Shwe.
Shwe.
Shwe.
Like corduroy.
When European settlers and missionaries came to what would become South Africa they were taken aback by the ... ahem... limited clothing worn by the women. Specifically they seemed to only be modest about the bottom half of their bodies. Telegrams were sent back to England asking for affordable cloth thus you have the introduction of ShweShwe to Africa.
3) Japanese quilts are breathtaking. I am in awe. I am humbled. I am motivated to get sewing!
4) I was on the lookout for a uniquely South African take on quilting. I'm looking for a perspective that is as unique as say Japanese quilts compared to Amish or Gees Bend or traditional stars and squares. Definitely they draw from a much warmer pallet which makes sense given the landscape. I hope my photos give you a sense of this.
5) One thing is certain, South African quilters take a great deal of pride in simply in the their existence. It was hard to take up quilting in the 1980s when there wasn't much fabric coming into the country. As pretty much everyone I spoke with pointed out, they have done a lot with a few hundred quilters whereas the US has thousands and easier access to resources. My feathers ruffled a little bit at that (not that it's false) but I really enjoyed their work and thrill at South Africa's desire to grow as a quilting community.
5) My favorite quilt. Photos don't do this one justice. Real pattern paper is layered with fabric, lace and buttons to for the girls. It's called "Some Are Born Old." Sad inspiration. Amazing quilt.
Now you can't end on that somber of a note so I present to you two very happy vendors. 
Why are they happy? Because I have just spent a lotta rand on their hand dyed fabric. It was the only thing in the whole vendors area that wasn't imported and therefore really expensive. Actually it was pretty darn cheep. With currency conversion and all it ended up being a little over $1.25 a fat quarter. Oh yeah. I did some shopping here. He is actually a former chemist (very handy knowledge when you are creating dyes) and she is a former social worker. She had some really interesting stories and perspectives on what has worked and what hasn't when it comes to aid programs. Lance took mental notes. I took home two bags of fabric.
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