traveling beyond Kaapstad

My original holiday plans fell through last minute, two of the girls decided they weren’t up for it anymore and expenses ran too high without them. We had planned to drive up into Namibia and drive far enough north to see the Namib Desert and a bit of the coast. Needless to say, I was very disappointed and the news landed me in a bit of a rut. I had three weeks until finals and not only was it was too late to plan a new trip, but everyone else already had finalized plans. Most of my roommates had already left and the house was quiet, and boring, for the first time all semester. Luckily my friend Kate was still willing to plan something last minute and we were able to salvage a shortened version of our original itinerary. The two of us rented a car and drove about 8 or so hours to the Namibian border and a few more to the town of Grünau. We spent two nights and one full day in Namibia getting a chance to go to Fish River Canyon National Park and hike around the second largest canyon in the world. Day three we woke up early and drove about 3-4 hours, crossing back into South Africa, to a city called Uppington in the Northern Cape province. Uppington is on the Orange River and is a really nice town with a well-developed tourism sector – it was a nice change from the long stretches of desert road that had defined our previous few days. We even managed to get a wine tasting in before dinner! Thursday we got an early start and headed back in the direction of Cape Town, stopping at Augrabies National Park on the way back to see the gorgeous water falls.

I would say that my trip certainly led me to rethink my idea of the term ‘rural’. There is only one main road heading directly north from Cape Town and most others branching off are not paved. Once we left the city all we saw was farms for hours with the occasional group of houses. Eventually the lush green gave way to desolate arid expanses of uninhabited land. We knew we were headed for the desert, so I don’t know what we expected. Every so often we would come across a small settlement that somewhat resembled a town, but each one was extremely isolated and from a distance looked completely abandoned. The number of other cars on the road grew slimmer and slimmer until we no longer pondered the threat of oncoming traffic when swerving onto the other side of the road to pass the occasional truck. Once the sun set and the sliver of the moon rose to just above the horizon line it was impossible to differentiate the sky from the land. We joked that we didn’t actually see Namibia until the morning since the landscape could have been rolling sand dunes or NYC high rises for all we could see. Surprisingly there was a fair amount of individuals walking along the side of the road at various points; I was tempted to pull over, just once, and ask how long the person had been walking and where he or she was headed. Closer to the towns we passed a lot of hitchhikers but otherwise it seemed that these people must be accustomed to measuring distance in terms of days on foot. My friend is a public health major and she commented on how SA’s policy is that all citizens should be within some degree of walking distance from a clinic that administers HIV/AIDS and TB treatment. Sometimes it seemed as if there were not even dirt roads leading from the main road to some of the houses that were barely visible rising out of the barren land. I cannot imagine these people had access to any sort of health clinics.

Kate and I had a great trip overall, a lot of driving but we got to see a great deal. Some of my friends are still traveling but most of the crew is back in Cape Town making the most of our last week here. One of my housemates and two of my other friends left today because they were all done with finals and have to get back home. Last night we all went out to celebrate and although we all had a good time, the night had a somber feel. We all feel as though this is our life now and it is hard to comprehend that when we leave, that will be it. I know in a week I will be going ‘home,’ but for 6 months I have had a new home, one that I have grown to love more that I ever thought I could. My friends here have become best friends and I can’t imagine not seeing them all everyday. They know me better than anyone; I have been able to be honest about everything in my life for the first time in a long time. Okay, I am going to save a long sentimental post for another day because I really need to be studying before our house potluck – I made what has come to be known as my famous apple crisp! I have two finals, Monday and Wednesday, and then I’m d-o-n-e done. That, I am definitely looking forward to.