Monday, September 27, 2010
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Well, where to begin, we will play a little catch up here in this blog. While our trip back to Tana from Morandova was long it was for the most part uneventful. The only worry was my Revenge of Africa Arse that came back with a vengeance and had me in bed for the evening unable to eat with a slight fever and ridiculous stomach cramps. Fortunately the pepto and the cipro seemed to have killed that enough over night to where I was able to ride without having to stop the whole way.
Back in Tana we caught up with Wassim the crazy Lebanese guy we met on the way in ..and guess what.. He had my ATM card! Could you believe that!?!? He found it in the back seat of his car the day after we went to dinner the first time.
Well the next morning we got Dasy back as our driver who got Pat off to the taxi Brusse station and me off to the airport, albeit 3 hours early. Next thing you know I’m in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Now I had never really planned on spending any time here but since I had to get my ATM card (Which I now have in hand), I was stuck heading into the city for a couple of days. I stayed at the Sunbury Guest House in the Mellville section of town and found it to actually be quite nice. Not the horrible compound and mall infrastructure I was told to expect. But a quite lovely 7th street area with restaurants and bars and live jazz and such.
The first night I met Jan the Finnish Film school guy and we met up with some of his students who were in town as well. Then the next day after a lovely mass at the university parish, Jan and I spent the afternoon swimming at the saltwater lap pool behind the strip mal/parking structure/car wash/spa enjoying a picnic and a nice sunny day. We followed that up by a very leisurely 3 hour late lunch of prawn risotto and a lovely bottle of south african white wine.
Would you believe that walking home the crown on my tooth comes off.. I mean really .. REALLY REALLY .. Cmon REALLY.. What else can go wrong. Fortunately its not an urgent emergency and ill have it fixed when I return home.
Later in the evening, I met my new German friend Linus from Berlin. An incredible guy with loads of great conversation and an adventurous spirit. We had drinks and a late night snack that night and made plans to hang out the next day.
In the morning we found a good deal on a bike tour of the Soweto township where Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu were from. But first I had to spend an hour and forty five minutes at the bank trying to get my $600 in USD from then for my tour payment the next day. What a process, it had to be about seven different forms to sign and three different forms of ID and proof of tour,etc.. I thought Linus was going to melt down thermonuclear like 😉
But down to Soweto we made it and off to the tour. Joining us was Adam the Aussie. We were led by “king” solomon and he had an excellent knowledge of the history and struggle of the area. We joined elders in their Shabeen (bar) and had local brewed maize and wheat beer which is called un*click*galli.. Or something like that. What a fun time that was conversing with the elder locals learning their customs and such.
After that we had lunch at a local restaurant and finished our ride at another shabeen where we played a couple games of pool with the locals. Albeit Adam and Sol were making the rules up as they went we still split the match 1-1. Later that evening Linus and I had a great pizza and bottle of wine before I had to relocate back out towards the airport for my early departure on the Nomad safari.
http://Robert
Bill,What a friggin adventure….of course with you involved, I'd expect nothing else. Too funny about the ATM card. I agree with another comment here that mine would been gone forever along with a sizeable chunck of cash. I like the Black Label beer (wonder why??) bring some home for me! :)Enjoy my friend,Robert
http://Mombossbe
Simply incredible. You seem to find the most interesting people and the most interesting places. I know you are alone, but you never seem to be alone. You have an uncanny camera eye when it comes to capturing people. I really like SUPERMAN! However, the beer warning tops the charts! I think you should blow that shot up and post it on you kitchen wall!!! Have fun. We await you next adventure.
http://Shabeen-ShouldaBeen%20Here!
Bill, Bill, Bill! You lead a charmed life! how is it possible in the REAL world that someone's ATM card would just turn up like that?! I mean, REALLY! Mine would've been gone forever with just wisps of ghostly remnants (charges for outrageous items by whomever 'found' it) Linus is a hottie! Single? LOL Tell him my last name was Sauer (you know, SauerKraut) and that my grandfather came from the MotherLand. HAHAHA. The pictures you take of the locals are great! Especially the shots of the kids! You're right about the joy in them! I'm glad to see they have done it up right at Nelson Mandela's pad! I don't think we're going to learn the half of his positive influence on our planet til long after he's gone!Hey, I got the job! Start Monday! Thanks for the prayers! I sure hope mine are reciprocated! King Sol? A crown? I think you've got a royalty theme going on here! Where's the M hat?! Sorry about the African bum! Sounds miserable! Thank God for cipro! Enjoy Johannesburg!!! Meet any of the lovely ladies yet?;)Jessica