Impromptu African Camping Trip

As we speak, I am in the process of my official “land exit” from South Africa! When I initially told the airline check-in agent that was how I planned to leave the country I admit I didn’t actually think that’s how it would happen! I definitely planned on flying to wherever I went next, once I decided where that was… funny how that worked out. Anyways, let me back up. So, after all the annoying drama with the passport I was excited to be returning to South Africa, where there was actual currency I could use and even some places that take credit cards… it really does make things just a smidge easier. More reliable WiFi was another perk but that need paled in comparison to the currency issue. As an aside, during my #Zimbabweforlife situation I’d used my only US currency (a $20) to pay for passport photos. I was surprised to get my change in American dollars (as they are hard to come by, hence the black market currency) but was less surprised when I noticed it was a clearly fake $10 bill. Clearly fake to me at least- it wasn’t even the correct size and the texture of the paper wasn’t even close. I was going to keep it as a souvenir but found myself in a pinch later that day, needing a taxi from the embassy and the driver didn’t blink twice when I handed him my Monopoly money. I guess if you don’t see a lot of dollars (real or fake) you don’t know what they’re actually supposed to look like.

So, back in Cape Town I embarked directly on my next adventure: a five day camping trip with Jamie (my Flash Pack tour guide from the week before) and a group of her friends. Here’s the crew. I admit I was a smidge embarrassed showing up to the camping trip with my rollerboard suitcase and not a smidge of camping gear but the group kindly outfitted me with anything I might need. There was so much gear that we barely fit! And, not being the most experienced camper, even some things I didn’t know that I needed- such as the stake you put in the ground to hold your wine glass while sitting in your camping chair. What a novel idea! I learned quickly that Jamie and her friends are the consummate camping hosts – they are not fooling around. Jamie’s boyfriend Eric and his friend, Hennie, met in the Navy years ago and you can tell by the military precision they bring to the camping experience. They really think of everything! Hennie even had a kitchen gazebo that includes a solar powered refrigerator. I’ll be honest that I thought of camping food as either those freeze dried meals they sell at REI or spearing a hot dog with a stick and roasting it over a fire, so I wasn’t really sure what the kitchen would be used for. Little did I know what culinary delights my consummate camping hosts had in store for me! You may recall that on my South Africa tour we were treated to a traditional South African “braai,” which is their version of a BBQ (or ‘cook-out’ as we say in Massachusetts) and it’s also a verb for the act of grilling as well as the name of the grill device. Btw, there are no propane tanks involved in this process and the food is cooked over flame. Eric was Braai Master and was in charge of seasoning and cooking delicious meat items at every meal. I swear the chicken he made one night is the best chicken I have EVER had in my life. My mom is always up for a cooking challenge so I’m thinking of passing along the recipe to see if she can even come close. Sans braai I’m pretty sure it’s impossible, though, and I hate to set her up for failure. Here’s Braai Master in action: Eric’s skills did not stop with the chicken- we had pork, beef, sausages, crawfish (same as lobster but with no claws), BACON, and even sides such as cous cous. It occurred to me how much more of an adventurous eater my travels had made me (the Mopane worm included!) and I remembered that when I embarked on my first Flash Pack tour (last July) I listed in my profile that I didn’t eat red meat. Now the guides of my tours look confused when they see that notation on their spreadsheet as I’m gnawing on a rib right in front of them. Hennie also brought a cooking tool called a potjie, which is essentially a Dutch oven on three legs that is used as an outdoor crockpot, and made a delicious beef stew (called potjiekos) that included dumplings he’d made from scratch in the kitchen gazebo. I kid you not. Now I had also envisioned camping as taking place in the woods and was soooo pleasantly surprised that our accommodations overlooked the beautiful, rocky coastline of the Western Cape (as they call it.) It was absolutely stunning, and was punctuated by breathing in the fresh sea air and lulling to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing. So, I’m a big fan of having ambient noise in the background while sleeping and have an old fashioned “sound machine” at home that I’ve had since I was a little (don’t mock me, that’s been done already). When traveling I discovered the White Noise app on my phone and I have worked hard to find the perfectly pitched noise among the options (it’s called “brown noise,” if you’re interested). Nothing will ever compare to nature’s white noise, though.You may have noticed that I did not list fish as one of our many braai delicacies and this was not for lack of trying. Jamie and Eric have pretty official-like fishing rods and we tried our luck from the rocks, using fresh mussels as bait. Jamie caught a rockfish right away (that we threw back) …and THEN (after catching a few rocks and thinking I had snared “the big one”) I reeled in a real-live fish! Some kiddos and their dad’s (our campsite neighbors) had joined us to view the fishing at this point. We all watched in anticipation as I reeled in what would hopefully be dinner. And then we all looked (with a combination of intrigue and horror) at the most ghastly Creature of the Sea any of us have ever seen! We agreed it was actually the ugliest fish alive- some kind of bottom feeder with creepy teeth. Back to the sea you go! We’ll stick with meat, thanks very much.

Here’s some more pics from the weekend- yes, we had many laughs. My favorite part of the camping trip, though, was sitting around the fire talking with the group and new friends we met at the campground. It was fascinating to learn more about South Africa and the locals’ perspectives on their history, the current political climate and the culture in general. From what I gathered the government can be summed up in one word- corrupt. All the South Africans I met agreed that it was a very good thing that Jacob Zuma was finally forced out as President (having remained in power through countless charges of crimes including corruption and rape, and nine votes of no confidence by Parliament… it was finally his own party who drove him out.) And while people don’t seem totally psyched about the new guy (Cyril Ramaphosa) their relief is palpable that at least Zuma is gone and there is a glimmer of hope for the future. For his part, Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle the government’s corruption issues, so that’s something, in as at least it’s admitting the issues exist. And with the nation’s economy in the tanker and a 30% unemployment rate the stakes are high as the nation seeks to project stability and encourage investment dollars. Interesting times here in South Africa and a lot of questions about what the future will bring.

For me, sadly the future includes that land exit out of the country. Next stop… Namibia.