After leaving Underberg where we had climbed the mountain (by car) to Lesotho, we headed for the coastal town of Port St Johns. Since we had been unable to get our GPS in Durban, we decided to drive the long way around and pick up our GPS at King Shaka International airport where one was available. That was a good move. While we didn't need the GPS too often because Anthony was an excellent navigator, it did come in handy on several occasions and we all felt better having it.
The road trip to Port St Johns was an easy shot out of Durban where we sped along on the N2, a mostly four lane highway with shoulders and passing lanes. This was followed by a rather lengthy loop that took us through the black African villages of Bizana, Flagstaff and Lusikisiki in the province of Kwazulunatal. What I came to understand after several weeks of driving through rural south Africa is that while the mornings are relatively calm, the afternoon is a time of frenetic movement in the more rural areas. Perhaps it is a confluence of factors between people completing their shopping before an early nightfall (remember we're pretty far south in winter in the southern hemisphere), kids leaving school in droves (and in well starched uniforms I might add) and those holding traditional jobs finishing work for the day. Whatever the case may be, not only was it very intense to drive through these towns but the roads out to the villages were full of people walking both directions on both sides of the rode -- shoulder-less roads I may remind you. I don't think I every really got used to it -- and I can hardly describe the intensity of it with all the descriptive words I'd like to share with you. But I can say that it was an experience I won't forget, and that I suspect most western tourists won't ever see as they enjoy their very delicate wine country tour through the towns of South Africa's very cushy wine country. We saw the real thing :)
PS In Port St. Johns, we stayed at a hostel called the Jungle Monkey. I had promised my travel companions that we would stay at a mix of places and not just 5 star lodges. Here's where I made good on my promise. Lonely Planet had described Port St Johns as a bit of a hippy town. Well, I think that was a wild exaggeration. What we discovered at the Jungle Monkey is that a bunch of hippies had developed some backpacker facilities some decades ago and likely had been living and smoking pot there ever since. But to their credit, they did have a decent place to grab a meal and a well-trained cook who had an authentic pizza oven much to our surprise and delight.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
South Africa Part II - The Road Trip Begins (July)
After our amazing safari, Shaul, Anthony and I flew to our next destination, Durban, where we would stay the night before picking up our rental car. Durban is on the coast and is also adjacent to the largely white owned sugar cane industry. While we expected Durban to be more of the city that it is, we were both pleased and a little put off by our accommodation which was the Durban Gay Guest House. Behind several layers of security, we were greeted by our friendly host, LLewellyn, who showed us into a very nicely designed, modern guest house. The only off-putting element was the extra security gate at the bedroom level AND the security alarm in each room. This was the part of south Africa that I had, thankfully, put out of my mind. On the very positive side, we spent the evening with a Dutch friend of Anthony, a physician who is working on an HIV prevention study in women, who took us out to a bustling place where the final from the world cup was on TV. Since none of us really cared (except for the straight Dutch guy) we had an emotion free evening as the World Cup finally came to an end. It was interesting to see the somewhat evenly divided crowd of fans, since the Dutch had been fairly brutal occupants of South Africa during the colonial days. There was an entire article on this in the NY Times for those interested in why the oppressed would root for their former oppressors.
Following Durban, we drove to Himesville, about 4 hours away, without the GPS I thought we had ordered from Avis. The map looked simple enough -- north and then west. And it turned out, for once that, it was, in fact, that simple. We stopped in a lovely colonial town called Howick for lunch that had a charming little town centre, a waterfalls, a quaint local museum (common in South Africa) and a good number of very reasonably priced antique stores. It was too bad that I was following my discipline of not buying antiques as I struggled to keep my weight down -- both personally and, for this purpose, the weight of my luggage.
We also ran into an interesting phenomenon that begin in Howick -- no two people in South Africa agree on how long it will take to drive from point-to-point. What started out as a simple inquiry turned into a bit of an unstructured survey. And I received at least 4 answers for the time it would take to get to our final destination of Underberg. For the curious this was: 3 1/2 hours, 45 minutes, 90 minutes and 2 hours. Turns out that 2 hours was about the right answer given that we were on two lane "tarred" roads which were beautifully scenic as we were rising in altititud but where the occasional very large truck gets in front of you. One learns to appreciate 4 lane highways but also to appreciate the a ride in the countryside does not require that you pass every vehicle in sight -- just many of them. Or you will never get there.
Anyway, we were pleased to get to our next accommodation, Moorcroft Manor, which was a combo motel and charming guest house with a roaring fire, lovely dining room AND internet access! We enjoyed several nights stay there though since we were about 1400 meters in altitude it was a bit chilly.
This stop included our visit to the mountain top visit to Lesotho which involved about 8 hours of driving on gravel roads up to the Sani Pass. For those who want to see more, please use this link: http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/sani-pass.html
And for those who want to know more about this very long day, please feel free to query me over a glass of wine. It is one of those places you will only see once in a life time. The scenery is spectacular and the people you see living in the barren land on the mountain top REALLY challenge every concept one holds but what it really takes to survive in this world.
On that note... I will post now. More of the driving tour when I return.
Following Durban, we drove to Himesville, about 4 hours away, without the GPS I thought we had ordered from Avis. The map looked simple enough -- north and then west. And it turned out, for once that, it was, in fact, that simple. We stopped in a lovely colonial town called Howick for lunch that had a charming little town centre, a waterfalls, a quaint local museum (common in South Africa) and a good number of very reasonably priced antique stores. It was too bad that I was following my discipline of not buying antiques as I struggled to keep my weight down -- both personally and, for this purpose, the weight of my luggage.
We also ran into an interesting phenomenon that begin in Howick -- no two people in South Africa agree on how long it will take to drive from point-to-point. What started out as a simple inquiry turned into a bit of an unstructured survey. And I received at least 4 answers for the time it would take to get to our final destination of Underberg. For the curious this was: 3 1/2 hours, 45 minutes, 90 minutes and 2 hours. Turns out that 2 hours was about the right answer given that we were on two lane "tarred" roads which were beautifully scenic as we were rising in altititud but where the occasional very large truck gets in front of you. One learns to appreciate 4 lane highways but also to appreciate the a ride in the countryside does not require that you pass every vehicle in sight -- just many of them. Or you will never get there.
Anyway, we were pleased to get to our next accommodation, Moorcroft Manor, which was a combo motel and charming guest house with a roaring fire, lovely dining room AND internet access! We enjoyed several nights stay there though since we were about 1400 meters in altitude it was a bit chilly.
This stop included our visit to the mountain top visit to Lesotho which involved about 8 hours of driving on gravel roads up to the Sani Pass. For those who want to see more, please use this link: http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/sani-pass.html
And for those who want to know more about this very long day, please feel free to query me over a glass of wine. It is one of those places you will only see once in a life time. The scenery is spectacular and the people you see living in the barren land on the mountain top REALLY challenge every concept one holds but what it really takes to survive in this world.
On that note... I will post now. More of the driving tour when I return.
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Beginning of South Africa -- A Memorable Safari
A journey through wondrous South Africa
After nearly three weeks traveling with my friends Anthony and Shaul, we have been fortunate to see more of South Africa than many South Africans themselves. At least that’s what we’ve been told. There were SO many adventures that I hardly know where to begin. So perhaps it’s best to proceed in chronological order.
Our wonderful Swazi guide, Sendile, picked us up at 8:30 AM at the Maguga Lodge in Swaziland for our drive across the border and into the region where the famous Kruger National Park is located. Sendile had driven numerous guests to the Kruger Park area but never to the safari lodge we were going to. He came prepared with the a map printed out from the lodge’s website – which it turns out were decent but not very complete. At some point, about an hour from our destination (we now know) the tar road ended and the rocky dirt road took over. As we passed one of the last towns denoted on the map, we were left more and more to instinct and a few odd signs. Fortunately, there were two favorable conditions: Sandile had pretty good instincts and the dirt road we were on came to an abrupt halt at the entrance to a game reserve. It just wasn’t the one we were going to. We then recalled the small sign a few kilometers (KM) back that MIGHT have been our turn and headed in that direction. About 25 km later – still on dirt roads (e.g. rocky as can be) in our standard Toyota auto – we arrived at the Aruthusa Lodge in the Sabi Sands game reserve. It was about 2:45PM and we were greeted by numerous lodge staff all in their safari gear who told us our first game drive was at 3:30. Did we want to eat or go on our drive? That was a no-brainer even for us.
So first, we went to our accommodations which were these luxury chalets of about 1000 sq feet each about 10 minutes walk away from the main lodge. No, we weren’t roughing it but we were definitely in the wild. We were strictly instructed not to walk alone at night on the paths back and forth from our rooms as animals, including lions and elephants, are known to wander through. That made some sense since there was a watering hole about 300 feet from the back of the dining area. So we always had to be escorted by a guide who carried a flashlight and checked for game that might have gotten into the camp. Exactly what the guide would have done for our safety with a flashlight is beyond me but I obeyed the orders anyway. Better to be cautious, right?
Over the next 4 days, and about 8 game drives, we had the time of our lives and without further ado, I will share with you that we saw the “Big 5” – lions, leopards, water buffalo, elephants and rhinos. Even though I had just been on safari in Tanzania, this was different. First of all the rhino sightings were my first. But more than any safari I’ve been on, this was the closest I’ve been to the animals themselves. This is attributable to the fact that we were in a private game reserve and this enables the guides and trackers to go “off road,” an experience unto itself.
But the “Big 5” wasn’t all we saw. There were giraffes, kudu, wildebeasts, antelopes, warthogs, hyenas, zebras, mongoose, hippos, jackals, guinea fowl, rodents of every kind and even a tree snake. But of course, this wasn’t a zoo so we saw many of these animals on multiple occasions on our early morning and late afternoon (into darkness) game drives. But also because this wasn’t a zoo, we actually saw the predation process live. And that came in several forms. On our first evening, we saw a rather large leopard up in the tree eating her catch. While it sounds a bit gory (and I couldn’t watch it all) there is something special about seeing what you’ve seen on TV upfront and in person. We were probably only 10 yards away as the leopard devoured her dinner. We saw this scene several times over.
And, even more true to the documentaries, we saw the ultimate of nature’s wonders: a leopard killing her prey. I will spare you the details. But I will say that often times leopards will carry their kill up to a tree in order to enjoy their meal. In this case, however, there was no tree of any size around. And after taking what seemed like forever to put the warthog out of her misery (about 15 minutes), the leopard was approached by two hyenas. Sure as shooting, the hyenas stole the warthog away from the leopard. And this may be hard to believe but many of us actually felt badly for the leopard. After all, she had done the hard work. Is there justice?
After nearly three weeks traveling with my friends Anthony and Shaul, we have been fortunate to see more of South Africa than many South Africans themselves. At least that’s what we’ve been told. There were SO many adventures that I hardly know where to begin. So perhaps it’s best to proceed in chronological order.
Our wonderful Swazi guide, Sendile, picked us up at 8:30 AM at the Maguga Lodge in Swaziland for our drive across the border and into the region where the famous Kruger National Park is located. Sendile had driven numerous guests to the Kruger Park area but never to the safari lodge we were going to. He came prepared with the a map printed out from the lodge’s website – which it turns out were decent but not very complete. At some point, about an hour from our destination (we now know) the tar road ended and the rocky dirt road took over. As we passed one of the last towns denoted on the map, we were left more and more to instinct and a few odd signs. Fortunately, there were two favorable conditions: Sandile had pretty good instincts and the dirt road we were on came to an abrupt halt at the entrance to a game reserve. It just wasn’t the one we were going to. We then recalled the small sign a few kilometers (KM) back that MIGHT have been our turn and headed in that direction. About 25 km later – still on dirt roads (e.g. rocky as can be) in our standard Toyota auto – we arrived at the Aruthusa Lodge in the Sabi Sands game reserve. It was about 2:45PM and we were greeted by numerous lodge staff all in their safari gear who told us our first game drive was at 3:30. Did we want to eat or go on our drive? That was a no-brainer even for us.
So first, we went to our accommodations which were these luxury chalets of about 1000 sq feet each about 10 minutes walk away from the main lodge. No, we weren’t roughing it but we were definitely in the wild. We were strictly instructed not to walk alone at night on the paths back and forth from our rooms as animals, including lions and elephants, are known to wander through. That made some sense since there was a watering hole about 300 feet from the back of the dining area. So we always had to be escorted by a guide who carried a flashlight and checked for game that might have gotten into the camp. Exactly what the guide would have done for our safety with a flashlight is beyond me but I obeyed the orders anyway. Better to be cautious, right?
Over the next 4 days, and about 8 game drives, we had the time of our lives and without further ado, I will share with you that we saw the “Big 5” – lions, leopards, water buffalo, elephants and rhinos. Even though I had just been on safari in Tanzania, this was different. First of all the rhino sightings were my first. But more than any safari I’ve been on, this was the closest I’ve been to the animals themselves. This is attributable to the fact that we were in a private game reserve and this enables the guides and trackers to go “off road,” an experience unto itself.
But the “Big 5” wasn’t all we saw. There were giraffes, kudu, wildebeasts, antelopes, warthogs, hyenas, zebras, mongoose, hippos, jackals, guinea fowl, rodents of every kind and even a tree snake. But of course, this wasn’t a zoo so we saw many of these animals on multiple occasions on our early morning and late afternoon (into darkness) game drives. But also because this wasn’t a zoo, we actually saw the predation process live. And that came in several forms. On our first evening, we saw a rather large leopard up in the tree eating her catch. While it sounds a bit gory (and I couldn’t watch it all) there is something special about seeing what you’ve seen on TV upfront and in person. We were probably only 10 yards away as the leopard devoured her dinner. We saw this scene several times over.
And, even more true to the documentaries, we saw the ultimate of nature’s wonders: a leopard killing her prey. I will spare you the details. But I will say that often times leopards will carry their kill up to a tree in order to enjoy their meal. In this case, however, there was no tree of any size around. And after taking what seemed like forever to put the warthog out of her misery (about 15 minutes), the leopard was approached by two hyenas. Sure as shooting, the hyenas stole the warthog away from the leopard. And this may be hard to believe but many of us actually felt badly for the leopard. After all, she had done the hard work. Is there justice?
Friday, July 16, 2010
A beautiful and small kingdom - Swaziland
I’m sitting at a lovely guesthouse at the foot of the Drakensborg mountains in the stunning region of Kawazulu Natal one of the most mountainous regions in the northeast of South Africa. Apologies to all for my delays in posting. I won’t make excuses , As the trip has progressed it’s been more challenging to keep focused on the blog. But there has also been a dramatic change in internet access during my time in Africa . While I’ve continued to get daily access to my blackberry – there are seemingly random moments when the little red light starts to flash. It doesn’t appear to have any rhythm I can detect. But that’s not important right now…
My friends Anthony and Shaul joined me on July 2 in Swaziland where I got to tick country number 88 off my list but I couldn’t drag them up there merely for that occasion. We stayed 5 nights total in Swaziland which is about 4 nights more than most people who come to gamble at one of their casinos and leave. What a mistake they make!
We spent the first three nights at Reilly’s Lodge in the Milwane Game Reserve. The Reilly family has been working to preserve wildlife in Swaziland for decades and one of the Reilly sons, now in his 80’s, is still leading the efforts both at the lodge and for the conservation efforts of the country as a whole. We had the good fortune of eating dinner around the fire with Mr. Reilly and to listen to his stories about wildlife preservations, the threats from poaching over the years and the efforts – fully supported by the King – to maintain a focus on wildlife preservation that enables the survival of the nation’s wild animals, preserves the eco-system for future animal and plant life, and enables eco-tourism – of which we were a part. Our lunch overlooking the hippo pond and our walk through the preserve that brought us within site of crocodiles, zebra, kudo, daiku and other animals too numerous to mention was a real gift from the people of Swaziland.
Speaking of the people, we were really pleased to have gotten to the know people just a little bit. Swaziland has been a peaceful country for many decades (aided by the British they fought off Dutch colonialists a century or so ago (one good thing the Brits seem to have done) and have maintained their independence every since – a landlocked nation within South Africa where they preserve their monarchical and polygamous system even today. While the country is poor by western standards, the living conditions don’t appear as desperate as what I’ve seen more recently in South Africa.
There is a certain calm, peaceful and inviting dimension to Swaziland which is very endearing. We were particularly lucky to have had the same guide and driver for the entire time we were there so by getting to know him a bit, we got to appreciate the warmth of the people. (of course we’re tourists and we understood that) but I can attest to other destinations where the people have been less open and gracious and open. We also noticed that the country had quite a few other non –Swazi citizens. In particular we met quite a few people from Mozambique and Zimbabwe who told us they were there because it was a calm, accepting and peaceful society.
My friends Anthony and Shaul joined me on July 2 in Swaziland where I got to tick country number 88 off my list but I couldn’t drag them up there merely for that occasion. We stayed 5 nights total in Swaziland which is about 4 nights more than most people who come to gamble at one of their casinos and leave. What a mistake they make!
We spent the first three nights at Reilly’s Lodge in the Milwane Game Reserve. The Reilly family has been working to preserve wildlife in Swaziland for decades and one of the Reilly sons, now in his 80’s, is still leading the efforts both at the lodge and for the conservation efforts of the country as a whole. We had the good fortune of eating dinner around the fire with Mr. Reilly and to listen to his stories about wildlife preservations, the threats from poaching over the years and the efforts – fully supported by the King – to maintain a focus on wildlife preservation that enables the survival of the nation’s wild animals, preserves the eco-system for future animal and plant life, and enables eco-tourism – of which we were a part. Our lunch overlooking the hippo pond and our walk through the preserve that brought us within site of crocodiles, zebra, kudo, daiku and other animals too numerous to mention was a real gift from the people of Swaziland.
Speaking of the people, we were really pleased to have gotten to the know people just a little bit. Swaziland has been a peaceful country for many decades (aided by the British they fought off Dutch colonialists a century or so ago (one good thing the Brits seem to have done) and have maintained their independence every since – a landlocked nation within South Africa where they preserve their monarchical and polygamous system even today. While the country is poor by western standards, the living conditions don’t appear as desperate as what I’ve seen more recently in South Africa.
There is a certain calm, peaceful and inviting dimension to Swaziland which is very endearing. We were particularly lucky to have had the same guide and driver for the entire time we were there so by getting to know him a bit, we got to appreciate the warmth of the people. (of course we’re tourists and we understood that) but I can attest to other destinations where the people have been less open and gracious and open. We also noticed that the country had quite a few other non –Swazi citizens. In particular we met quite a few people from Mozambique and Zimbabwe who told us they were there because it was a calm, accepting and peaceful society.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Fast Forward -- Trekking with the Gorillas in Rwanda
I'm a little behind on my writing but before I take off on the 20 night camping safari to from Kenya to Victoria Falls, I want to reflect upon my gorilla trek in Rwanda.
I arrived in Kigali last Sunday expecting to find a neat yet bustling town. After the 1994 genocide (for which I recommend a Google search for some of the details), Rwanda has become known as a country of progress and reconciliation -- with, as I learned, a bit of normal political tension layered on top. And that picture was mostly accurate, at least until I did a Google search for recent news articles and found that there is quite a dissident movement growing here which included a grenade attack at a central market in Kigali just last month. Glad I didn't read about that until I left :)
In any event, I had a very nice driver named Omar who drove me the 2.5 hours to Ruhungeri near the Volcano National Park which is home to about 275 gorillas that are divided into approximately 10 families. Omar told me that life in the country has progressed though things are still very challenging. In fact, the poverty is as stunning as all we have seen on TV and the life there is very, very basic and rural.
But Omar has clearly adopted the message that there is ONE Rwanda. When I inquired about his family background -- was he Hutu or Tutsi (the two main groups here) he answered, "I am Rwandan." That was a good wake up call about the sensitivity around the genocide and where the line is drawn on trying to identify people by their ethnic or group heritage.
While I was lucky to get to town by dinner time, my travel companion, Bill struggled with the typical African flight delay from Kenya of about 8 hours. I was so pleased that my flights had connected seamlessly. Later I appreciated that I was due my turn! :) (for another post)
So to the treks. I had two treks that were so different that I really appreciate how much there is to study about these gracious, almost human animals. According to the guides, the gorilla's genetic make up is about 97% the same as humans.
Our first day we went to the departure site at the national park and were divided into groups of less than 10 -- an effort by the government to preserve the habitat and to maintain some distance and safety for the animals. As we later learned this was challenging even with our group of 7.
Once driven to our drop-off location, day 1 entailed a 20 minute walk across farm land and about an equal amount of time (or slightly longer) once in the national forest. We came across our family rather quickly though the guide said it could take 20 minutes or 2 or more hours. We definitely hit the low range of time and distance taht day. What we encountered was a family who were just beginning their 9 AM nap (love that) and were cuddling and playing gently in their day nest. It was a wonderful site as the Silverback (the daddy who weighs more than 400 lbs) lay on his back with paws up in the air and with his entourage surrounding him which includes a small number of males, a larger number of females and about 4 little baby gorillas which were SO cute. When I get to Mauritius I will try to post some pictures but they look just as you would imagine: big, furry, gentle, pressed in noses, big paws and a blissful sweet appearance (unless you make them mad which seems pretty hard to do.) How do I know that? Well I was having my picture taken with my back to a nearby gorilla who had been resting peacefully. Within a second, my friend Bill whispered to me, "the gorilla is moving." Well it took several seconds to process and when I turned around, this mid-size female was ambling in my direction, very slowly and appearing quite mellow. I calmly moved to one side, and the very nice gorilla kept moving along in her desired direction and that was that.
We had about 1 hour total with the gorilla family and it went by so quickly it seemed like only 5 minutes. It was really a thrill and worth the time to visit the very beautiful, green and hilly country of Rwanda.
Stay tuned for a completely different experience and the endurance test of finding our gorilla family on Day 2.
I arrived in Kigali last Sunday expecting to find a neat yet bustling town. After the 1994 genocide (for which I recommend a Google search for some of the details), Rwanda has become known as a country of progress and reconciliation -- with, as I learned, a bit of normal political tension layered on top. And that picture was mostly accurate, at least until I did a Google search for recent news articles and found that there is quite a dissident movement growing here which included a grenade attack at a central market in Kigali just last month. Glad I didn't read about that until I left :)
In any event, I had a very nice driver named Omar who drove me the 2.5 hours to Ruhungeri near the Volcano National Park which is home to about 275 gorillas that are divided into approximately 10 families. Omar told me that life in the country has progressed though things are still very challenging. In fact, the poverty is as stunning as all we have seen on TV and the life there is very, very basic and rural.
But Omar has clearly adopted the message that there is ONE Rwanda. When I inquired about his family background -- was he Hutu or Tutsi (the two main groups here) he answered, "I am Rwandan." That was a good wake up call about the sensitivity around the genocide and where the line is drawn on trying to identify people by their ethnic or group heritage.
While I was lucky to get to town by dinner time, my travel companion, Bill struggled with the typical African flight delay from Kenya of about 8 hours. I was so pleased that my flights had connected seamlessly. Later I appreciated that I was due my turn! :) (for another post)
So to the treks. I had two treks that were so different that I really appreciate how much there is to study about these gracious, almost human animals. According to the guides, the gorilla's genetic make up is about 97% the same as humans.
Our first day we went to the departure site at the national park and were divided into groups of less than 10 -- an effort by the government to preserve the habitat and to maintain some distance and safety for the animals. As we later learned this was challenging even with our group of 7.
Once driven to our drop-off location, day 1 entailed a 20 minute walk across farm land and about an equal amount of time (or slightly longer) once in the national forest. We came across our family rather quickly though the guide said it could take 20 minutes or 2 or more hours. We definitely hit the low range of time and distance taht day. What we encountered was a family who were just beginning their 9 AM nap (love that) and were cuddling and playing gently in their day nest. It was a wonderful site as the Silverback (the daddy who weighs more than 400 lbs) lay on his back with paws up in the air and with his entourage surrounding him which includes a small number of males, a larger number of females and about 4 little baby gorillas which were SO cute. When I get to Mauritius I will try to post some pictures but they look just as you would imagine: big, furry, gentle, pressed in noses, big paws and a blissful sweet appearance (unless you make them mad which seems pretty hard to do.) How do I know that? Well I was having my picture taken with my back to a nearby gorilla who had been resting peacefully. Within a second, my friend Bill whispered to me, "the gorilla is moving." Well it took several seconds to process and when I turned around, this mid-size female was ambling in my direction, very slowly and appearing quite mellow. I calmly moved to one side, and the very nice gorilla kept moving along in her desired direction and that was that.
We had about 1 hour total with the gorilla family and it went by so quickly it seemed like only 5 minutes. It was really a thrill and worth the time to visit the very beautiful, green and hilly country of Rwanda.
Stay tuned for a completely different experience and the endurance test of finding our gorilla family on Day 2.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Jerusalem and the tale of two cities...
When I was younger and traveled to Israel, my heart was captured by the history and the beauty of Jerusalem. It is a rough kind of beauty with some spectacular sites sitting side by side with buildings that are crumbling and in need of great repair. There is always some construction project trying to create a bridge between old and new that makes this dusty town even dustier. And when the weather is hotter, there is often a warm wind blowing (as opposed to a cool breeze) that can be a bit stifling even though Jerusalem is at a higher altitude then Tel Aviv and supposed to be cooler in temperature. Perhaps that's true in winter. But this was spring and it was quite warm and a little gritty from the wind bouncing the sand off the streets and side walk. In any event, I arrived at the bus station from Tel Aviv without a map so I followed my instinct (mostly correct) which took me directly through a Hassidic neighborhood as I made my way to my favorite antique shop in Jerusalem. Since it was a Thursday afternoon I had no fear of offending the religious for improper dress (shorts) or for schlepping my bags which might be considered work on the sabbath.
Back to the Hassids. I was immediately struck that this group of Jews appears to be living in the 17th century -- which I suppose is no one's business by theirs -- but that's not really the entire story. It just so happens that these religious devotees live in modern Israel which is supposed to be a secular democracy with freedom to practice religion to whatever degree you wish. But it seems like there is a religious state within a state which, as you can imagine, comes with a lot of implications for the society as a whole.
I know this isn't news but after spending about a week in Tel Aviv where ultra hip is "in" the contrast of finding myself in the middle of a shtetl (the Yiddish term for the Jewish ghetto) was jolting. And what I was reminded of quite quickly is that it's not just religious in quaint little neighborhoods, it's almost everywhere in Jerusalem. So while Tel Aviv is about 90% secular, I'd guess that Jerusalem is probably about 60% or more religious. At least that's what it seemed like to me. I'll leave the cultural and political implications of all that to another time. Let's just say that while they have their right to practice, a right is not a mandate to command others to do likewise or to live off the rest of the society financially. And it seems like Jerusalem has tilted in that direction, especially when many families (and I'll include men and women here) don't work because they don't have time because they have to "learn" and pray. And, therefore, by the way, the state financially supports their communities more than seems rational. It's hard to believe but it seems like Israel has moved from a secular socialist state to a capitalist economy, with a huge carve out for the ultra religious who enjoy the benefits of welfare and subsidies more than one might expect. I'm sure it's not just the religious who survive on welfare but from everything I've read, and the debate that is taking place in the newspapers and among politicians, it sure seems like a lot of them have found the state to be a very convenient and permanent funding source.
Luckily as I made my way to the home of Betty Van Essen (my friend Shaul's mother) the area where I was headed was much more secular and a whole lot more comfortable. After all the neighborhood of Talpiot sits adjacent to the German Colony which was originally founded by Christians in the 19th century. (These German Christians were later found to be Nazi sympathizers and were eventually exiled to other parts of the world.) Not only is life a bit more contemporary on the opposite side of town from where I entered but it is also an easy walk to the Old City -- a stroll I took early Saturday morning when it was still cool and quite beautiful since we were in the throes of spring and everything was in bloom. I will say that it was very solitary since it was Shabbat morning and everything was quiet. It gave me a real opportunity to appreciate the surroundings, especially all the flowers, which stood in sharp contrast to the rocky, historic terrain through which I passed on my way to the Old City.
In any event, one of the purposes of my visit that weekend -- in addition to seeing Betty and Shaul's sister Guelit -- was to take a one day seminar on the future of Jerusalem which was sponsored by a group called Ir Amim. This is a civic group which is trying to educate Israelis and others to think hard about what Jerusalem means to all its inhabitants, Muslim, Jewish and Christian and how to think critically about finding a way to the future. They are not necessarily knee jerk lefists but they are definitely more left than right. After all, it's not a bunch of settlers running these tours which, by the way, was attended mostly by Israelis and not tourists. And it certainly challenges conventional wisdom when the guide announces that he's a retired officer in the national police. At least in the US you don't think of the police as a hot bed of leftist activism. In any event, for more information on what this group does, you can check out there website at http://www.ir-amim.org.il/eng/
I labeled this post the tale of two cities. It is meant really to be thought provoking about the tale of two cities comparing Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, comparing religious and secular Jerusalem and comparing Arab and Jewish Jerusalem.
Israel is a complicated and interesting place and being there stimulates all of those complicated thoughts in one's head -- so much so that it can make your head hurt. I had a chance to hear a lot of Israeli feelings about the unfair and undeserved pressure that Obama is putting on Israel. While I don't have too much sympathy for that position, it was, nonetheless, interesting to hear this view from so many people, especially on the left. The future of the Jews and Arabs is complicated and no one knows the best way forward. And, unfortunately, years of enmity breeds fear, finger pointing and anger that is difficult, perhaps impossible, to put aside. All I know is that not finding a solution is costly in every way imaginable for all the people involved. Hopefully, some group of leaders on both sides will figure that out and find a way. Unfortunately, I think it will be a long time before any real progress is made. You always want to think that it will happen "this time" but something tells me we're in for many more rounds of diplomacy ahead. And life goes on for better and for worse. Back to the bubble of Tel Aviv.
Back to the Hassids. I was immediately struck that this group of Jews appears to be living in the 17th century -- which I suppose is no one's business by theirs -- but that's not really the entire story. It just so happens that these religious devotees live in modern Israel which is supposed to be a secular democracy with freedom to practice religion to whatever degree you wish. But it seems like there is a religious state within a state which, as you can imagine, comes with a lot of implications for the society as a whole.
I know this isn't news but after spending about a week in Tel Aviv where ultra hip is "in" the contrast of finding myself in the middle of a shtetl (the Yiddish term for the Jewish ghetto) was jolting. And what I was reminded of quite quickly is that it's not just religious in quaint little neighborhoods, it's almost everywhere in Jerusalem. So while Tel Aviv is about 90% secular, I'd guess that Jerusalem is probably about 60% or more religious. At least that's what it seemed like to me. I'll leave the cultural and political implications of all that to another time. Let's just say that while they have their right to practice, a right is not a mandate to command others to do likewise or to live off the rest of the society financially. And it seems like Jerusalem has tilted in that direction, especially when many families (and I'll include men and women here) don't work because they don't have time because they have to "learn" and pray. And, therefore, by the way, the state financially supports their communities more than seems rational. It's hard to believe but it seems like Israel has moved from a secular socialist state to a capitalist economy, with a huge carve out for the ultra religious who enjoy the benefits of welfare and subsidies more than one might expect. I'm sure it's not just the religious who survive on welfare but from everything I've read, and the debate that is taking place in the newspapers and among politicians, it sure seems like a lot of them have found the state to be a very convenient and permanent funding source.
Luckily as I made my way to the home of Betty Van Essen (my friend Shaul's mother) the area where I was headed was much more secular and a whole lot more comfortable. After all the neighborhood of Talpiot sits adjacent to the German Colony which was originally founded by Christians in the 19th century. (These German Christians were later found to be Nazi sympathizers and were eventually exiled to other parts of the world.) Not only is life a bit more contemporary on the opposite side of town from where I entered but it is also an easy walk to the Old City -- a stroll I took early Saturday morning when it was still cool and quite beautiful since we were in the throes of spring and everything was in bloom. I will say that it was very solitary since it was Shabbat morning and everything was quiet. It gave me a real opportunity to appreciate the surroundings, especially all the flowers, which stood in sharp contrast to the rocky, historic terrain through which I passed on my way to the Old City.
In any event, one of the purposes of my visit that weekend -- in addition to seeing Betty and Shaul's sister Guelit -- was to take a one day seminar on the future of Jerusalem which was sponsored by a group called Ir Amim. This is a civic group which is trying to educate Israelis and others to think hard about what Jerusalem means to all its inhabitants, Muslim, Jewish and Christian and how to think critically about finding a way to the future. They are not necessarily knee jerk lefists but they are definitely more left than right. After all, it's not a bunch of settlers running these tours which, by the way, was attended mostly by Israelis and not tourists. And it certainly challenges conventional wisdom when the guide announces that he's a retired officer in the national police. At least in the US you don't think of the police as a hot bed of leftist activism. In any event, for more information on what this group does, you can check out there website at http://www.ir-amim.org.il/eng/
I labeled this post the tale of two cities. It is meant really to be thought provoking about the tale of two cities comparing Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, comparing religious and secular Jerusalem and comparing Arab and Jewish Jerusalem.
Israel is a complicated and interesting place and being there stimulates all of those complicated thoughts in one's head -- so much so that it can make your head hurt. I had a chance to hear a lot of Israeli feelings about the unfair and undeserved pressure that Obama is putting on Israel. While I don't have too much sympathy for that position, it was, nonetheless, interesting to hear this view from so many people, especially on the left. The future of the Jews and Arabs is complicated and no one knows the best way forward. And, unfortunately, years of enmity breeds fear, finger pointing and anger that is difficult, perhaps impossible, to put aside. All I know is that not finding a solution is costly in every way imaginable for all the people involved. Hopefully, some group of leaders on both sides will figure that out and find a way. Unfortunately, I think it will be a long time before any real progress is made. You always want to think that it will happen "this time" but something tells me we're in for many more rounds of diplomacy ahead. And life goes on for better and for worse. Back to the bubble of Tel Aviv.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Respite In Israel
When I arrived at the airport in Istanbul for my flight to Tel Aviv, I was quite nervous about the interview given all the interesting stamps in my passport (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and two for the UAE -- in, out and back in as I circled the Gulf). And as my heart pounded, I guess this is Jewish guilt, the security guy asked me why I was coming to Israel. I immediately replied that I was coming to Israel to rest and relax. Rest in Israel?, he said. And that was the end of the interview.
Interestingly, that is exactly how it turned out. Not to be trite, but it was fun, relaxing and fairly social including meeting some new folks that I met, visiting with Shaul's mother and sister in Jerusalem and connecting with old friends who are stationed in Tel Aviv with the US embassy.
Best of all, the weather was exceptionally beautiful. Warm --but not too warm -- clear and sunny virtually every day. And for those of you who aren't familiar with Tel Aviv, it is a totally walkable city with lots of interesting neighborhoods and little nooks and crannies that you just wouldn't find without a month's time to wander and get lost -- as lost as one can get in a really small town that's really a very manageable small city.
Emblematic of the stay was a really neat experience I had on my first day. I should backtrack to explain that I stayed at the apartment of a friend with whom I am trading days at my place in San Francisco. I should add that the apartment is in a really terrific location and is very pleasant. In fact, after staying in hotel rooms for 2 1/2 months I was quite pleased to have a kitchen and a bit more living space. And that brings me to my first story.
I arrived from Turkey on a Saturday night. To add a little twist to the drama, the owner of the apartment, who was away for most of the time, passed off the keys via his office in Istanbul so I was really on my own when I arrived. I had been there once before but it was a very dark entry hall, I was unfamiliar with all the locks and I was just a bit tired after shlepping my abundant amount of luggage up to the apartment. I finally made it into the flat and headed to the kitchen for some water where I discovered there was no table to be found. Ok, no big deal but that was part of what I expected as part of my time in Tel Aviv. To hang out in the kitchen, cook some food, write my blog, read my paper etc. And I'm so sloppy when I eat that I was paranoid that if I had every meal on the couch, it would turn some other nasty shade by the time my host arrived home in several weeks.
I pondered this important question for a few minutes and went to bed hopeful that I would have a brainstorm in the morning -- which I did. I woke up recalling from my last trip that there is an Ikea north of Tel Aviv. I could resolve this quickly and just MOVE ON. After all, I realized this was just a silly little "problem."
But I really didn't want to start figuring out the buses, take a taxi back with my purchase and I especially didn't want to assemble a table, probably one of my least favorite things to do and something I'm really bad at. Instead, I got up and went for a walk, deciding that I would figure it out later.
So, I wandered down the main boulevard of Tel Aviv which is called Diezengoff, stopping for breakfast at a kiosk not too far from home where I was waited on by two handsome gentlemen who told me I could have whatever I wanted from their abundant case of sandwiches and accompaniments -- anything that would make me happy they each said in unison. What more could I ask for? Maybe I would eat every meal at this kiosk just a few blocks from home? After a fabulous sandwich stuffed with tuna, eggplant, hummus, pickles, roasted peppers, fresh tomatoes and every imaginable vegetable, I continued my stroll, ultimately making my way to Allenby Street. Allenby is an odd combination of retail stores, restaurants, bars (gay and straight), strip joints, flop houses, felafel stands, hardware stores and a few antique shops. After wandering in a big loop up and down Allenby, I was a little spaced out and stepped into the street at one point and almost got swiped by a car. I immediately stepped back onto the curb, turned around and found myself staring at a tiny antique store as narrow as a wedge of cheese.
As it turned out, this was a gem of a store overflowing with lots of interesting things including art deco dishes, old propaganda books, pottery of various sorts, food and candy tins, old photos and who knows what. Excited by all these antiques (at bargain prices I might add) I struck up a conversation with the owner, another handsome young guy (you get the theme) who was quite friendly and solicitous of my various antique interests. I bought a something from nearly every category mentioned above and, naturally, he was appreciative and kept trying to find more things to sell. At the end of this shopping spree which totaled about $80, the table situation crossed my mind and I asked him where I could find some cheap furniture. Since there wasn't room in his store for anything but knick knacks, I figured it was no offense to ask for a referral. After he gave me directions to a little neighborhood nearby that sells furniture (there's lots of segmented selling zones in Tel Aviv), he said "where are you living anyway?" One one hand I was a little reluctant to give my address to a stranger (even a member of the tribe) but I quickly got over it and said I was living at 21 Sokolov to which he replied that he lived at #8 Sokolov and he had a folding kitchen table that I could borrow and I should call him that night. And sure as shooting, I called him at 7PM and 5 minutes later I had a table for the duration of my visit. I guess that could happen anywhere but it sure seemed like a very happy set of coincidences and, possibly, a good omen for 3 enjoyable weeks ahead. Stay tuned...
Interestingly, that is exactly how it turned out. Not to be trite, but it was fun, relaxing and fairly social including meeting some new folks that I met, visiting with Shaul's mother and sister in Jerusalem and connecting with old friends who are stationed in Tel Aviv with the US embassy.
Best of all, the weather was exceptionally beautiful. Warm --but not too warm -- clear and sunny virtually every day. And for those of you who aren't familiar with Tel Aviv, it is a totally walkable city with lots of interesting neighborhoods and little nooks and crannies that you just wouldn't find without a month's time to wander and get lost -- as lost as one can get in a really small town that's really a very manageable small city.
Emblematic of the stay was a really neat experience I had on my first day. I should backtrack to explain that I stayed at the apartment of a friend with whom I am trading days at my place in San Francisco. I should add that the apartment is in a really terrific location and is very pleasant. In fact, after staying in hotel rooms for 2 1/2 months I was quite pleased to have a kitchen and a bit more living space. And that brings me to my first story.
I arrived from Turkey on a Saturday night. To add a little twist to the drama, the owner of the apartment, who was away for most of the time, passed off the keys via his office in Istanbul so I was really on my own when I arrived. I had been there once before but it was a very dark entry hall, I was unfamiliar with all the locks and I was just a bit tired after shlepping my abundant amount of luggage up to the apartment. I finally made it into the flat and headed to the kitchen for some water where I discovered there was no table to be found. Ok, no big deal but that was part of what I expected as part of my time in Tel Aviv. To hang out in the kitchen, cook some food, write my blog, read my paper etc. And I'm so sloppy when I eat that I was paranoid that if I had every meal on the couch, it would turn some other nasty shade by the time my host arrived home in several weeks.
I pondered this important question for a few minutes and went to bed hopeful that I would have a brainstorm in the morning -- which I did. I woke up recalling from my last trip that there is an Ikea north of Tel Aviv. I could resolve this quickly and just MOVE ON. After all, I realized this was just a silly little "problem."
But I really didn't want to start figuring out the buses, take a taxi back with my purchase and I especially didn't want to assemble a table, probably one of my least favorite things to do and something I'm really bad at. Instead, I got up and went for a walk, deciding that I would figure it out later.
So, I wandered down the main boulevard of Tel Aviv which is called Diezengoff, stopping for breakfast at a kiosk not too far from home where I was waited on by two handsome gentlemen who told me I could have whatever I wanted from their abundant case of sandwiches and accompaniments -- anything that would make me happy they each said in unison. What more could I ask for? Maybe I would eat every meal at this kiosk just a few blocks from home? After a fabulous sandwich stuffed with tuna, eggplant, hummus, pickles, roasted peppers, fresh tomatoes and every imaginable vegetable, I continued my stroll, ultimately making my way to Allenby Street. Allenby is an odd combination of retail stores, restaurants, bars (gay and straight), strip joints, flop houses, felafel stands, hardware stores and a few antique shops. After wandering in a big loop up and down Allenby, I was a little spaced out and stepped into the street at one point and almost got swiped by a car. I immediately stepped back onto the curb, turned around and found myself staring at a tiny antique store as narrow as a wedge of cheese.
As it turned out, this was a gem of a store overflowing with lots of interesting things including art deco dishes, old propaganda books, pottery of various sorts, food and candy tins, old photos and who knows what. Excited by all these antiques (at bargain prices I might add) I struck up a conversation with the owner, another handsome young guy (you get the theme) who was quite friendly and solicitous of my various antique interests. I bought a something from nearly every category mentioned above and, naturally, he was appreciative and kept trying to find more things to sell. At the end of this shopping spree which totaled about $80, the table situation crossed my mind and I asked him where I could find some cheap furniture. Since there wasn't room in his store for anything but knick knacks, I figured it was no offense to ask for a referral. After he gave me directions to a little neighborhood nearby that sells furniture (there's lots of segmented selling zones in Tel Aviv), he said "where are you living anyway?" One one hand I was a little reluctant to give my address to a stranger (even a member of the tribe) but I quickly got over it and said I was living at 21 Sokolov to which he replied that he lived at #8 Sokolov and he had a folding kitchen table that I could borrow and I should call him that night. And sure as shooting, I called him at 7PM and 5 minutes later I had a table for the duration of my visit. I guess that could happen anywhere but it sure seemed like a very happy set of coincidences and, possibly, a good omen for 3 enjoyable weeks ahead. Stay tuned...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)