Porcupine Ravine

One of the things that captivated me about Cape Town when I first visited 2 years ago was the spectacular topography. The city is situated at the northern end of a chain of mountains that runs for about 60 km from the Cape of Good Hope in the south to Table Bay in the north. The most obvious feature is Table Mountain (1,085 m at its highest point), at the northern end of the chain, with its characteristic flat top.

There are stunning mountains and land forms all the way along the Cape and it is a fascinating place to explore. Yesterday was a public holiday here and a group of us made the most of the beautiful weather to hike up Porcupine Ravine, which is in the part of the range just south of Table Mountain called the 12 Apostles, behind Camps Bay on the Atlantic Ocean side of Cape Town. Once on top, we walked along the flats for a bit and then headed down again via another valley. 

It was a tough hike - going up the ravine was very hard work, especially as I really needed two fully functioning hands to haul myself up over boulders. Thankfully the guys in the party were on hand to pull me up when I needed help! I also felt a bit of vertigo as the track was very steep and the sides of the ravine steep also - I am really pleased we didn't descend that way as I don't know that I would have made it. But it was worth the climb and the views were spectacular. 

The vegetation in the mountains is a type of fynbos (which means "fine bush" as it refers to the small, fine leaves of the shrubs) which is the dominant vegetation type in much of the Cape area, both on the mountains and lowlands. Fynbos is made up of small shrubs (most are about half a metre or so tall) with some succulents, grasses and bulbs etc. There is a huge diversity of species, including lots of different proteas and ericas, for example, and it really is a very fascinating botanical entity.

I hope the photos below give you some idea of the dramatic beauty of this part of the world (rock-climber's heaven!), and the sheer craziness of attempting any hike up a ravine here! 

Porcupine Ravine is the light brown track just left of centre, in the green vegetation between the two rock faces

And the view looking down the ravine to Camps Bay and the Atlantic Ocean!!

Looking north to Table Mountain

Tracey, Fiona, Sian and Paul, much refreshed by lunch

The topography and vegetation

Tom and I at the top of ravine, with Lion's Head in the background

The flat tops made for much easier hiking!

The Footprint Has Moved....

Now in Cape Town

I arrived here in late June and am planning to stay until I return to Melbourne, in March 2013. I visited Cape Town (CT) for a few weeks 2 years ago and really loved the city and met some great people, so always was keen to come back.

The first couple of weeks I was here I stayed at Tracey’s place, by the beach in the southern suburb of Muizenberg. I had met Tracey on my previous trip, and this time round we have been hanging out together a lot – she is great value. She is from the UK originally but has been in CT for 12 years, doing her PhD in botanical genetics here, so she is another plant person. She has a couple of lively dogs and I was sole carer of Rusk and Bandit for a week while both she and her house-mate were away. It was good to take them for long walks on the beach – Rusk insists that you throw shells for him to chase, which can get a bit tiresome, while Bandit amuses himself exploring all the debris that gets washed up on the beach, including the dead seals!

How many Capetonians does it take to change a light bulb?!

 

Tracey and Pete

Then about a month ago, I moved into my own flat which is also in Muizenberg at the western end of the beach, about 5 min drive from Tracey’s. The flat is part of a complicated house that has been sub-divided at some stage into 4 separate living areas. My landlord lives in the biggest part, while I live next door, sharing a wall with him. In front of me is Flat 3 and new tenants moved in there at the weekend. The fourth flat is on the other side of the courtyard and isn’t let at the moment, it is currently used for storing stuff.

My landlord is a friend of mine, Peter, and I stayed with him (on his side of the wall!) when I came to CT first time round. He does restoration ecology, particularly of mining areas, so it is always great to discuss his work. He is also a keen spear-fisherman and I have been the very grateful recipient of a couple of his recent catches!

My Place

My flat is very spacious, especially for one person! As well as the kitchen (basic but serviceable), bathroom and small dining room, there are two large rooms either of which could be a lounge or a bedroom. At first, I set up my bed in the sunnier of the two while the other room contained the desk, but that didn’t work so well as the sunny room doesn’t have any doors (there aren’t a lot of internal doors in the house!) and the draught blowing through made it too cold. So now I am sleeping in the other room, where the desk is, which does have doors. It is plenty big enough and more efficient, as I only have to heat one room. In additional, there is another small room, commonly referred to as the dungeon, as it is down a few steps and very cold! It could easily be a second bedroom, but I am using it as a storeroom for suitcases and summer clothes.

Lounge

Bedroom cum study

My little kitchen

The flat faces north, so it does get a reasonable amount of sun, when it’s around! The whole house was probably built in the 1920’s and has very thick walls, some lovely wooden doors and windows and little features like arches in interesting places, so it is a lovely place. But like most places here it is not centrally heated, and is very cold. There was an oil column heater here when I arrived and I have since bought a fan heater as well, to try and make it tolerable. But on the cold, bleak days, I have been wearing layers of clothes, and wrapped myself in a blanket in order to try and stay warm!

There was some basic furniture here already and I have borrowed various things like crockery and cutlery and bedding etc from folks, and have bought a few things myself. A couple of weekends ago I got myself a second-hand lounge suite and a couple of floor rugs, so it is now pretty well set up. I only really need to get a microwave and I will be set. But I am missing not having a TV to watch any of the Olympics – might have to see if I can go next door to watch the men’s 1,500m final tonight.

The suburb of Muizenberg itself is great – I am 5 min walk from the beach, 2 min from the supermarket and a few other shops, and there are at least 3 good bakeries close-by and lots of cafes etc. There are some beautiful character homes in the area, so it is a really attractive place to live. And as well as the beach, there are the mountains just behind us to the west. The train line goes past my bedroom window, and the station is 2 min away so I can into the central city easily (about 20 km away) or out along the bay further. I don’t hear the trains when I am asleep, and don’t really notice them much during the day either.

The other great thing about Muizenberg is that it has quite a lively vibe - there are a lot of environmental/ecology types and artists and other creative/professionals living here, plus a very strong surfing community as it is one of the best places to learn to surf in CT. So it is quite funky. And I have already met a lot of people here in different social contexts – everyone seems to know everyone and all live locally. The woman who used to live in my flat, Emilie, who I had met previously, now lives up the road with a couple of guys, so she pops round sometimes. It certainly makes it easier to socialise when everyone is close-by.

View to the west from Peter's garden (my flat to right)

View to the west from my garden (Peter's place to left)

My garden - the train line is just beyond the back fence

  

Avocados

Not everything here has been going smoothly though. Stupidly, on the evening I moved in to the flat, I cut myself quite badly. I was trying to take a stone out of an avocado and the knife slipped and went into my left hand. Thankfully Pete was home next door and he bound up the wound. I went to the doctor the next day and they cleaned it out and put in 3 stitches. I have severed one of the nerves in my left index finger, that runs up the inside of the finger. Apparently we have 4 nerves in each finger, and so after discussing it with the doctor I decided to not go to hospital to see a plastic surgeon about micro-surgery to re-attach the nerve ends. The nerve may heal itself anyway. 

However, the doctor was very insistent that I keep a really good eye on it all and take the prescribed anti-biotics as hand injuries can easily get infected and cause major problems. I was being diligent about this, but after a few days I became concerned about the level of swelling, and as it was the weekend, went to a private emergency clinic so they could check it was ok. They decided to be very cautious, even though I didn’t have any infection, and put me on an intra-venous drip of anti-biotics, which meant an overnight stay in hospital. I ended up seeing the plastic surgeon after all, who was quite happy with the healing progress and said he wouldn’t have operated on the nerve as it is on the inside of the finger so not critical. 

Four weeks on and the stitches are out and I have a reasonable range of movement in the two affected fingers, although my index finger is still a bit swollen so doesn’t bend fully. The nerves in both fingers are still not right and putting pressure on the actual wound itself is painful, so I am still doing things awkwardly, with one and a half hands! But it is getting better slowly. 

Moral of the story – don’t use a knife to take out an avocado stone!! 

Beach boxes on Muizenberg Beach

Looking west down Muizenberg Beach

Religion and Politics, Transportation and Other Misc Stuff

This will be my last post about my time in Malawi as I have now moved to Cape Town where I plan to stay until March 2013. But there are a few odds and ends about Malawi life that I wanted to share. And the photos interspersed were taken on a recent trip to Liwonde National Park, about 3 hours south of Lilongwe, where I stayed at Bushman’s Baobab.

Religion

The concept of someone being an atheist is difficult for a Malawian to comprehend. The majority of the population are active Christians across a wide range of denominations (including Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian etc), while about 15% or so of the population are Muslims. There are mosques in many of the towns I have visited and a number of businesses close on Friday afternoon for Friday prayers. In the part of town where I lived, the Baptists are on one corner, the Seventh Day Adventists on another, the Jehovah’s Witnesses just up the road and the Assembly of God just down the road, while the Baha’i chapel is on the neighbouring street with a Jewish school around the corner! With so many options within walking distance, who could possibly not find a faith to suit?

Baobab tree in Liwonde NP

And folks really seemed to embrace their faiths, attending church each week as well as mid-week study groups etc. I don’t think I have ever lived anywhere where such a high proportion the community practised an active faith. My landlady did tell me that in the villages, there was a degree of pragmatic flexibility regarding which faith one was currently practising – if the mosque was offering the right inducements, one might convert to Islam for a time, but one could revert to a Christian tradition should the local church offer a better deal later down the track! I have no idea how true that is, but it makes a good story anyway!! The reality of life in Malawi is that Christian and Muslim live in harmony with one another with no apparent tensions or resentments, which is a good state of affairs I think.

Baobab and huts at Bushman's Baobab camp

             The spiritual and supernatural realms are very real and present in much of today’s Malawi culture, as well as in their history. I enjoyed listening to a very passionate debate (in English) between two of my commuter buddies in the staff minibus one evening, as they argued over whether it was possible to rationally believe in God but not believe in witchcraft. I think the conclusion was that they agreed to differ!

Politics

My understanding of the history of Malawi prior to the 1891 colonisation by Great Britain, at which time the country was named Nyasaland, is that it was made up of a series of tribes with kings who exercised their power through spiritual authority rather than warfare. A quote from a book which provided a brief synopsis of history over the past few centuries gives an insight into the power structures:

‘New ruler’s regalia included beads, shells, ivory bangles to signify status and entitlement to collect tributes. Symbols of the royalty included an iron stool and a ritual dagger used for rain-making…

New rulers also received a bundle of charms and a fly-whisk that endowed him with mystical powers to protect the community from war or other dangers such as witchcraft and predatory crocodiles and lions. Lacking a standing army, such mystical powers were the primary means through which Malawi rulers maintained authority. Eventually this strategy led to the collapse of the Malawi kingdom as distant rulers sought to become independent and rule their own kingdoms.’

I know it’s not very respectful, but my mental image of 2 rulers opposing one another in a duel with fly-whisks at dawn is one that conjures up amusement, not shock and awe! No wonder outside tribes and then the British had little trouble conquering the Malawian tribes. Maybe we should revive the tradition and insist all modern armies be only armed with fly-whisks, no guns allowed!

Elephant in Liwonde National Park

However, I do think that this lack of a strong warrior mentality amongst much of the population, even today, has stood the country in good stead as it has enjoyed a relatively peaceful transition from colony to independence in 1964 when the benign dictator Kamuzu Banda took over as President. His 30 years at the helm was characterised by a continuation of colonial style policies and he was fairly autocratic, by all accounts. However he was wise enough to relinquish power in 1994 when the population demanded multi-party democratic rule. Since then there have been various general elections and presidents.

When I first arrived, the incumbent President was Bingu wa Mutharika, whose first term had been very successful, but by now he was 2 years into his second term and it wasn’t looking so good. Unexpectedly, he died about a week after I arrived, the day before Easter. I was fairly concerned about being in a leader-less African country, not knowing what would happen next, whether there would be a military coup or political uprising or some other serious unrest. Not really the sort of situation I wanted to find myself in. And as it turned out there was an attempt by the late President’s supporters to subvert the Constitution that stated that the Vice-President takes on the role of President for the remainder of the five year presidential term. They didn’t like the VP and delayed the announcement of Bingu’s death for 2 days until they figured out what they could do. Thankfully for the country, the Constitution was followed and now the President is Joyce Banda, the first female president anywhere in southern Africa. She seems to be doing a good job on most fronts, especially economic, as far I can tell, so I sincerely wish her every success in the challenge of governing Malawi.

To me, it is a testament to the character of the people that such a peaceful transition of power could occur in a country which has only known real democracy for 18 years. It is a credit to them.

People are very engaged in politics and endlessly discuss and analyse what is going on and who is doing what. The population seems much more politically aware than I am used to, with many folks enjoying robust debates around every issue. I suspect that this is at least partly due to the fact that the impact of politics is very strongly felt in everyday life. Good and bad decisions can have a significant direct effect on people’s welfare to a much greater extent than in Australia and NZ, where most policies can seem very remote from the everyday.

And it is not just politics that spark passionate debates – many of the people I have met seem to enjoy animated conversations on a wide range of topics. As elsewhere, sport is a perennial favourite with the European and UK football (soccer) leagues avidly followed by many. So I have swapped the passionate discourse about AFL during my car-pooling commute to work in Melbourne for endless debates about football here! Despite the intensity of the discussions, they always seem to me to be very good-natured and good humoured, with a lot of teasing and laughing, and no acrimony.

Transportation

Very few people in Malawi own cars, but many families have a bicycle, so this is the main form of wheeled transport and there are more bikes on the roads than cars, even out of the city. Bikes are used to get people from place to place, as you might expect. What you might not expect is just how many people can fit on one bike at one time – on several occasions I have seen 4! The rider up front, pedaling for dear life, doubling a passenger behind on a seat on the carrier, who has a child strapped to their back with another child squashed in between rider and passenger – very efficient!

In fact, bike taxis with passenger seats on the carrier are very common and very cheap. The riders make a modest living transporting folks around the place. I used one to get me about 7 km from the bus drop off point to my accommodation at Liwonde National Park, and the seats are surprisingly comfortable. It is actually quite a relaxing way to travel as you have time to soak in the surroundings.

Kudu in Liwonde NP

However, it is not just people that bikes transport, but goods. All manner of goods – live chickens, goats and pigs; huge stacks of firewood carefully slotted into a frame that curves up high behind the rider; sacks of maize; large bags of charcoal; baskets of cassava, vegetables or whatever. You name it, it can fit on a bike and off you go!

For those unable to power a two-wheeled bike due to disability (not uncommon here, sadly), there are trikes with a chain that operates through hand-powered pedals, which are an effective way to give such people reasonable mobility.

And if one doesn’t have a bike, then you walk. So many pedestrians! Everywhere! Some unencumbered, others with loads large and small, many women with children strapped to their backs.

The vehicle fleet that does ply the roads is neither new nor well-maintained. The diesel fumes belched from many vehicles contributes to a serious smog problem. The most ubiquitous vehicles are the minibuses which act as the public transport system within and between towns. These are designed to carry about 16 passengers, but through the addition of a couple of extra flip-down seats and judicious squashing, can carry many more people – the most I experienced in one of my rides was 22 people!

Many of the public minibuses are in very poor shape with doors that don’t close properly and appalling rust and no suspension etc. Even the staff minibus which took me to and from work would not have passed a road-worthy test anywhere as the rust was so bad that I could see the road through the holes in the floor in places!

Impala in Liwonde NP

Then you add the crazy drivers into the mix, whose regard for the speed limits and traffic rules is completely non-existent, and I am amazed that I didn’t see any accidents during my times on the roads! I am sure accidents do occur and the injuries would be much more serious than they need to be because no-one wears seat belts, even when they are installed in the vehicle! Maybe folks are relying on their god to keep them safe? I took an intercity coach from Lilongwe to get to Liwonde, which was supposed to leave at 8am but in fact didn’t leave until it was full – all seats and standing room occupied, so we were about 70 people or so. Just before we finally left, about 9.30am, one passenger got up and began to preach at full volume (in Chichewa, so I was unsure of content of the sermon). I was unimpressed by being yelled at in a confined public space for 20 minutes or more, but my fellow travelers took it in their stride and responded to his exhortations with appropriate responses and even joined in singing a hymn or two. Oh well, it was all part of the experience for me!

I am going to finish my ramblings about life in Malawi by sharing some of the wonderful ‘Africanisms’ I have been collecting from roadside signs. Some are effusive names for businesses and organisations, others just appealed to my sense of humour. I hope you enjoy them and I will see you in Cape Town…

Churches:

Life Changers International Church: Graceland

The Christ Embassy

Winner’s Chapel International, where Unlimited Breakthroughs Happen

Businesses:

Heaven Bound Funeral Home

Hopeful Discount Retail Wholesale Shop

One Belief AgriShop

God is Good Minimart

God is Wonderful Plumbing and Electrical

Witsend Internet café (I know how they feel some days!)

Emergency Happiness Shop (they do cell phone repairs)

And from signs on the side of the road:

Chicken parts for sale (does this imply spare legs or wings or???)

Building products: Skerting boards, corninces and facial boards