Our trip to the Kalahari was made even better by the amazing
guides we had. “Uncle” Ed, the main
guide, was a quiet and really nice man with a lot of knowledge of the area and
of game sighting. Hermann, our other
guide, became known among us as “Determined
Hermann” because he was so dedicated to helping us see and experience
everything we wanted to see. Both of
these men are what here are called “North Cape,” which is a kind of shorthand
for mixed race. This was an area that
was forcibly resettled during apartheid with a number of mixed race people, and
their descendants dominate the area still today. Hermann is actually both North Cape and from
Cape Town, which is another place many mixed race people were settled. Just like our amazing guides in the
Transvaal, these two shaped our experiences in such wonderful ways.
When we drove out of the Kalahari yesterday, we bunked down
back in Upington, which is the small dusty and industrial city that is sort of
the gateway to the Kalahari. This whole
region was originally colonized by the Afrikaners, so it is divided into large
farms that exist to today, and huge pieces of land are still privately
owned. In fact in the 200 km drive to
the Transfrontier Park from Upington, all of the land along the way is fenced
and privately owned. When you stop to
think about it, it’s really kind of a powerful example of how land reform is
key to changing the future of some parts of South Africa.
This morning, we had one group that was up early, and went
with Hermann into the downtown looking for the booths that sell goods on the
street. They weren’t set up yet, so we
drove around the town, with all the long low buildings that looked like they
were built mid-century and for purposes that valued efficiency over all
else. It’s not a pretty place, which is
strange, because the incredibly gorgeous Oranje River runs right through
town. But all the buildings seem to turn
their backs on the river, which is a real shame.
The poverty here is evident.
Hermann drove us to the Pabalelo township just outside the city, and we
drove through the old part, with small one or two room houses and some shops
and churches. It’s a Sunday morning here
so we saw a lot of people, mainly women, dressed in their finest clothes and
wearing big hats. Here and there, we saw
small groups of women dressed in white dresses, which is a sign that they
attend the apostolic church (which is quite prominent here in South
Africa). As we left the old township, we
drove through the new township, which is mainly tin shacks. We noted that some of them have nice yards, with
gardens and chickens, while others have cars, even really nice cars parked in
the sandy yards. That’s because the government
is trying to put in basic services like water and electricity before they allow
people to build more permanent homes in the new areas. The land has been granted, but people have
been living in these temporary shacks for several years, waiting and waiting
for the government to move ahead.
We also had a chance to see a memorial to the Upington 26,
who were convicted by the government for being part of a crowd that was
protesting Apartheid when a police officer was killed. Only one of the 26 actually killed the
officer, and the others were widely seen as unfairly sentenced to death or long
prison terms for political actions. The ANC government now has built nice homes
in the area for their families, and the memorial has a photo of each of
them. There’s also a memorial to the
police officer around the side.
Unemployment is high in this area, and while the area is
highly westernized, it’s also quite poor.
At one point, as we were driving through the downtown, we saw three
skinny barefoot kids sitting on the curb, and one was sniffing glue fumes
through a plastic bag. Alcoholism is a
terrible problem here, with a particularly widespread grip on the young adult
generation who are caught between the old and the new. At the same time, we also met people who were
full of positive energy for the future of the area, including both Ed and
Hermann. It’s interesting how in some
cases poverty takes away hope, but in other cases, poverty gives people dreams
about what the possibilities could be.
The end of apartheid gave a giant boost of positive energy for so many
people and so much progress has been made.
Schools are being built, clinics are being started, electricity and
water are coming to areas that have never had it, social workers are creating
better care policies, state discrimination has been dismantled, and the
Transfrontier park has been opened (and the road there has been paved!). Eco-farming and sustainability initiatives are
growing in the area, and a whole new massive solar park has been built outside
of Upington. This mix of challenge,
natural beauty, amazing people, and hopefulness is sort of at the heart of what
South Africa is today.
We arrived in Cape Town in mid-afternoon. We are free until tomorrow morning.
