Friendship Force Trip To South Africa - October 1998 - by Fred Hadley
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Hello - I am Fred Hadley and here is my web page of the Friendship Force trip to South Africa - October 1998.
This web page is devoted to my view of South Africa - In no way do I pretend that all the log is historically accurate, and the spelling of places is limited to my spell checker’s ability. It is my way of solidifying my memories for review of South Africa and to perhaps to entice others to travel to this beautiful place - and enjoy this far off land. Having said that.........
It takes over 13 hours to get to Cape Town from Miami in a Boeing 747 and an hour on the ground and two more to get to Johannesburg, South Africa. I am in South Africa as an Ambassador of The Friendship Force - an organization whose members travel to other countries and live with families for a few days to experience their culture and life styles and most of all to make new friends the world over - as Prez Jimmy Carter said “A world of Friends is a world of Peace.”
But before our “home stay” in Cape Town we (20 FF members from all over the US) are going to visit some interesting places in the north part on South
Africa. A Rennies Travel guide, Beverly Grossayn, takes us to the Holiday Inn Garden Court in Sandton City - a four star hotel with all the amenities one would want and better than some to experience as the days go forward. Jack Bruns, my FF partner from Garden City, Kansas, and I, join Ann Vincent and Sandy Reynolds, two lady FF members from Wichita, Kansas for beer and dinner in the Holiday Inn’s attractive dinning area. Then off to bed - Jack and I in ours and they in theirs - no “hanky-panky” on the trip - we are too old to play that game, and certainly too tired to be interested. Besides, my wife Yvonnie, and Jacks wife, Donna, back home are not too broad minded.
Sunday October 12, 1998 (the 11th got lost in the travel time to Africa)
Jack sleeps with mask over his nose connected by a hose to a machine that provides forced air in and quells his snoring - without the device I could not sleep in the same room with him and neither could Donna. Breakfast at the hotel consisted of the usual fare; bran flakes, scrambled eggs, fruit, etc.. Then on the bus to Petoria - South Africa’s largest city with 6 or 8 million - they aren't sure exactly - and President Mandela’s office is located.
There were guards at every entrance to the building where his offices were and we were not allowed inside. Across the street there were flower gardens of large size with all kinds of flowers growing and sending their pleasant scents to us some 100 yards across the busy four lane highway. Pretoria appears to be a city with sound infrastructure with modern buildings and streets and highways you might expect in any western city. Mandela was out of the country trying to secure a peace settlement between two waring African countries north of his South Africa.
Next we were off to Lesedi - a place - from my point of view - was maintained for the tourists that thought that Africa was still all as Hollywood had conditioned us to think of it - and there may well be some places in deepest darkest Africa similar to this simulated village. Anyway it was interesting see a Zulu village (with special huts for the tourists - with showers - and bathroom facilities that would put to shame some of our hosts facilities down in Cape Town) and in a large grass roofed room (large enough for about four busloads of tourists) “Zulu” dancers performed dancing around a log fire whose smoke was supposed to all go out a small opening at the top of the grass thatched roof. It didn’t, and some of us had to leave the dancing early to wipe watery eyes and blow stuffy noses. If this sounds cynical, it is meant to be. It seemed to me to be their version of Hollywood’s version of Africa in the 20’s or 30’s.
To continue - hot dish plates for our food - lamb with peas and potatoes with gravy, sausages, rice, and what I think was grits - not made with just the insides of a kernel of corn, but rather the whole grain which made it like cold mush. The green Lima beans were hard - not cooked enough - or that's the way the Zulu's liked them? After nibbling the offering I found a banana and an apple, and pealed both for my lunch. Drinks were extra - for 2 Rand (about 40c US) you could get a short can of diet coke. Jack thought the food was excellent - Ann nibbled - Sandy was hungry. Back to the bus and the Holiday Inn, dinner, and in bed by 9:30 PM - the jet lag was beginning to catch up.
Tuesday October 13, 1998
After five hours sleep - 2:30 AM - I am wide awake and don’t want to disturb Jack, so I go down to the lobby to read. It is empty except for me - and soon a tall “willowy” black girl (or was she "Colored"), on three inch platform shoes, wonders in to my area sucking on what looks like a lime pop-sickle. She sits down about 2 meters (that's about seven feet) from me and I, being of a suspicious nature, wonder what her motives are. I couldn't concentrate on my “Internet For Dummies” book because I could feel her eyes on me. So I gave her a “Nice Day,” to which she mumbled, “Thank You,” I think. Next, the usual stuff - she was 22 and her name was Winnie Gloria and was at the hotel to attend a computer class. Her mother and father were dead. Two more of her girl friends came over eating out of a machine dispensed bag of chips. They gave Winnie some and she offered some to me. Since she was going to computer school and some day may have access to a computer, I gave her my e-mail address - she gave me her home address - which I shall probably never use.
Back to bed at 6 and up at 7 AM, breakfast, and on the bus for a five hour ride to Kruger National Park. The park is in the extreme north-east corner of South Africa - it is about 210 miles long form north to south - and about 36 miles wide. “One of the main objectives of the park management is to maintain the ecosystem in its natural state for the enjoyment and enrichment of the visitor.” The main road runs north and south through the park, in about the center, with about 3 or 4 east-west entry points. We entered at the western side at entry gate Numbi, near the southern end of the park. The park has a number of camps with varying degrees of services provided. Such services as; electricity, air conditioning, a restaurant and ladies bar (I was never sure what that meant), self-service and take-out always at the cafeteria, petrol, laundromat and irons, a swimming pool, a shop, and barbecue facilities.
The names of some of the camps were: Letaba, Crocodile Bridge, Lower Sabie, Malelane, Olifants, Orpen, Satara, and four or five others. Our first stop was at Lower Sabie, on the Sabie river which is just a few miles from the border of the country of Mocambique. Jack and I were in a thatched roof hut with a cement floor, shower, air conditioner - no TV (not that we wanted one - but how were we supposed to keep up with what Bill Clinton was up to?).
We spotted animals from the bus on the way to our first camp - I think the first one was an elephant - the cameras clicked and the flashes went off - even though the Elephant was out of range of the flash. Saw a Kudu which I had never even heard of before.
Safari Car 
After settling in and having an early dinner we climbed aboard an open safari type vehicle while the skies were threatening to let down some wet stuff. Our lady driver and guide, had a rifle in the front seat with her. As we slowly (about 8 or 9 miles an hour) went down restricted roads (to normal tourists) we viewed many animals including; Kudus, Lions (a male and two females - resting), a lot of Elephants - small and king size - using his trunk to strip off the leaves from a branch of a short tree - or pushing down a tree so he could reach the leaves - (we never saw the tree being pushed down but the guide said that was how the many pushed over trees we saw got that way).
Many Zebras, Buffalo - not the hump back type of the US western plains, Wildebeast, Baboons, Vervet monkeys, Spotted Hyena, the Black-backed Jackal, a pack of Wild Dogs whose whereabouts are kept track of by satellite, Klipspringer, Waterbuck, Giraffe - we saw one scratching his ear with a branch from a tall tree, and an Elephant rubbing against a tree scratching himself, Sables, Warthogs - they were on the menu this evening, Bushbuck, Hippopotamus, Black Rhino and a White Rhino, and a lot of Impalas (I always thought an Impala was a car), the Ground Hornbill, and a small black, poisonous snake which started with the letter M (Mamba?). In addition we saw the remains of the bones of a Giraffe which had been killed by a Lion or was it a Leopard? These were the animals we saw during the four days in the park - on night safaris - or early morning safaris. We did not see any Leopards or Cheetahs. Our guide, Beverly Grossayn, said we were extremely lucky to have gotten to see all the ones we saw (I wonder if she tells that to all her tour people).
Wednesday October 14, 1998
Up at 5 AM so we could go on an early morning safari - seems the animals are out early looking for food. While leaving the camp we saw four Baboons scamper over the fence of the park and go to the rear of the restaurant and raid the garbage cans for food. The cabins also had trash cans by each one - but on these the lids were secured on with straps which were Baboon proof - I guess.
Zebra
Hyena Nursing Pups
On the early morning safari (before breakfast), we saw more Hyenas, a family of Giraffes, a Dung Beetle crossing the road, rolling his marble sized ball of Elephant Dung, to a safe place to lay his (her) eggs in, Hippos, some Alligators, and a shiny dark purple bird with a red ring around its eyes, some Turtle Doves, and the remains of an Impala (we think) hanging from a tree where a Lion or one of the cats had put it out of reach of other predators. On the evening safari our girl park ranger and driver took us to some areas of the park not often visited by the average drive-through tourist - in fact these roads were posted as “no entry” roads. At one point she invited us to leave the vehicle for a short walk in the veldt. She carried with her a .458 rifle. She told us that a Kruger Park guide had been killed recently while out of his vehicle showing tourists around. She told this to us after we were out looking around! The guide picked up a piece of dried Elephant dung and we passed it around - to experience the feel - I think.
Stopped at Olifants camp for a rest stop. It appeared to be one of the camps to have the most up-scale facilities. The Olifants river passed just behind the camp. It was very wide - about 200 yards - and Jack spotted some Elephants on a bank up the river. On to Letaba for lunch (since Olifants was too busy to feed our bus load). Then on to Mopani camp site for the night. On our night safari the guide passed out several spot lights to us 20 or so in the safari carrier, and whenever someone spotted some eyes we stopped to determine the kind of animal it was behind the eyes. Elephants thrashing around us, crossing the road in front of us, was exciting for some and fearful for some (some ladies).
Thursday October 15, 1998
We were scheduled to have another early morning safari to view the animals in another direction - but since we had seen almost all the different animals in the park - except for a leopard and a tiger (if there are any in the park) - we elected to take an unscheduled trip to the town of Soweto (at the suggestion of the tour guide - and an extra $27 each). This town is often in the news - so we had to see it. It is a dangerous area to be in - it is an enclave of four million blacks, two million of whom are unemployed. There were many miles of just shacks made out of tin, boxes, cloth and boards of many shapes - there were “johns” along the edges of these areas which sat on the banks of small streams - they looked relatively new - maybe some of the tax money Mandela has raised is being used here to up-grade living conditions for these poor people.
Go with FF and go in style at the Kruger Park Lodge at Hazyview, South Africa
Back to the park and for a rest stop at the campsite of Satara. Enroute we saw a Black Back Jackel poised over a small hole about 50 yards from the bus - we only had to wait for about three minutes till we saw a mole emerge from the hole and was immediately snatched by the Jackal for a meal. We had our meal at Satara - the campsite with some very interesting trees - they were all green - even the trunks and all the branches - the guide said they were “Fever” trees.
Spent the night at Kruger Park Lodge, a very up-scale facility, just outside the Kruger Park area at a town with the name of Hazyview. I could see why - it was hazy! But the lodge was definitely first class - with an 18 hole golf course - and cabins that slept four with a kitchen, washing machine, sitting room with TV and you name it - it was there. The cabins were located around the golf course and vans would come and pick you up at meal times to take you to the eating facility. We could see one of the golf holes from our cabin with a small pound by the green - and was that a “gator” in the pond? The dinner was buffet style with beef, pork, fish, oysters on the half shell, salad bar, cake coffee, and I bought an African made liquor for our table that tasted a lot like “Baileys” - Amarula Wild Fruit Cream. Delicious!Friday October 16, 1998
Off early to Johannesburg National Airport for flight to Cape Town to meet our hosts for our “Home Stay.” The Cape Town FF contact for the home stay was the reverend Andrew B. Lewin of the Bethel Memorial A. M. E. Church. We met in the church and had a mini church service with the “Senior” chior raising their strong voices in praise of God. A lay person gave a short sermon (scripture lesson) and then we were welcomed by Brenda Hull, one of the church people sort of in charge of us. All the host families were there and we were introduced to them. My host, Paul Hartman and his wife Denise (colored) collected me and after a bite to eat at the church we (Jack and I) were loaded into their five year old Toyota and headed to their home.
Paul worked at the engineering firm of ENGEN, a gasoline refining company operating many service stations in South Africa. Denise was a supervisor at a clothing concern. They had three daughters and one son - ages 19 through 25. The 25 year old, Karen, had just been married and was about 7 months pregnant and whose husband was in the South African Navy in the submarine service.
Paul built his home himself - contracting out some of the work - it was a two story, cinder block home with an attached two car garage. He had been here 18 years and had lived in the ground floor portion for ten years before he got the upstairs completed. Denise had a well equipped kitchen. Jack and I shared a bed room with twin beds - but no closet space to hang our clothes. Also on the ground floor was a living room, a small dining area and a bathroom with a tub but no shower and the cold water would not come on in the tub. We shared the bathroom with the six other adults (and sometimes the sailor) and also shared the one towel available.
A different towel appeared every other day. I don’t use a washcloth but I counted seven washcloths in the bathroom all in some stage of dryness draped, over the sides of the tub.
Daughters Nicolette and Rene were college students, and one of them works part time in a bank. Karen stayed home and the son, Paul Jr., is a high school student.
Saturday October 17, 1998
Denise got our breakfast the first morning, since it was Saturday and she was off. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice and coffee. Paul took us for a short view of Soweto - he would not go too far into the enclave for fear someone might try to take his car or take a shot at him since he was a “colored” person and we were in “black” country. He showed us the spot where “Amie Beal,” a well known, young white social worker, from Europe, was murdered.
There are distinct groups of people in South Africa: the whites called “Afrikaners, who are the farmers who were known as the “Boors.” The “Colored,” which Paul is, are a mixture of Indian, black, white, and other races which have migrated to South Africa. Paul called himself a “South African.” Then there is the majority race, the “Blacks.” Mandela is a black and is now president. The coloreds don’t like him because since he came to power he has taken the tax money and given a big portion of it to help lift the life style of the blacks.
The Hartman home in Cape Town, South Africa
Paul bar-be-qued lamb, chicken, and pork in the back yard. He invited a lot of relatives and friends to come over to meet us and for the feast. They seem to be a “close nit” family: Paul says they do this almost every weekend. He served Jack and I white wine and he had beer (Castle). In addition we had potato salad, pasta, tomatoes, and orange juice. Jack and I heard his views on Clinton and Manuela till about 11 PM.
Sunday October 18, 1998
Today we are off to Robben Island where Mandela was a prisoner for 27 years (the last three ashore in a hospital). The cell was 10 by 15 and we were not allowed to take pictures in the prison. We had a guide who had been a prisoner there for 4 years - but he spoke so fast and soft I only heard about 5% of what he said. This evening, my host, Paul and Denise, took us to see the lights of Cape Town. On the way home Paul stopped for gas - I paid for it (30 Rand). Paul also stopped at a 7-11 store and bought an “electricity card.” When we got home he stuck it in a box on his kitchen wall and it showed how much electrical power he now had. He told us that in some of the poorer homes where they don’t have electrical power they use their car battery for power to run their TV.
We all met at the church and the bus took us to Cape Point - a beautiful spot for viewing both the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Then to The Cape Of Good Hope - the southern most point of Africa. Then it was off to a drive around Chapman’s Peak with lunch at Mariner’s Wharf in Hout Bay. Then a boat trip to Seal Island to view the thousands of seals sunning themselves on the rocks. On the way, I was at the bow of the small boat (about a 90 footer), I saw a whale coming across the path of the bow only a few feet away. I turned and waved and hollered at the captain, who obviously did not see the animal.
Monday October 19, 1998
We took a rotating cable car to the top of Table Top Mountain. What a magnificent view from up there - a 4,000 foot rise from the bottom. Then to the Cape Town S. A. Museum - “where nature and culture meet” - a very worthwhile visit. Bought Yvonnie necklace in their gift shop. Then to Victoria Wharf - a very large up-scale shopping center. Words cannot describe this place. Every kind of shop and restaurants were here. I was impressed. Here Jack found material to take home for Donna to make a dress. Jack and I stopped at the “Hard rock Cafe,” in the center to have lunch and a beer while overlooking the harbor of Cape Town. The “Motif” of the cafe was pure Elvis with his picture everywhere and the music was hard rock! This evening Jack and I took our host family out to eat, which is the norm for FF guests to do. They all went except pregnant Karen. We went to a place called "Cherokee Spur” which had leather-type place mats with the head of an American Indian imprinted on them - this surprised me, American Indians in South Africa? At home Jack and I watched some soccer with Paul in the family TV room.
Coffee on the mountain
Tuesday October 20, 1998
To Van Ryn brandy vineyard - to learn how they make the stuff. We were given sips of their product and I had to have a bottle of their 10 year old stuff - with visions of making some “Brandy Ice” drinks back in Wichita. Then to another vineyard where their product was sampled and we had lunch in their “Function Room” - my term - they were brand new and we were the first tourists to visit the place in that context. From the owner’s lips we learned
that South Africa has the same claimant as the Napa Valley in California and in addition grow more wine making grapes than does California - and you could believe that after seeing the thousands of acres of grape vines we passed on out bus trips.
Back to the church in Cape Town - where those who brought books for the church ( as we were ask to do by the exchange director - Pat Royalty), presented them to the reverend. At “home” we had left over lamb and chicken and potatoes and the rest of Jacks ribs he had brought home from our meal last night. At the table was Jack and I and Paul and Denise. Jack and I gave them the gifts we had brought for them and they gave us coffee cups with the South African flag on it. I had brought them Boeing watches and post cards showing Kansas in the early days. Each of them got a postcard and I gave “Paulie” my small flashlight since he had borrowed it the night before to look at a problem with the water on their roof - I knew he would like it. Jack gave them each a ball cap with a Kansas logo plus some other small items. Paul had retrieved their computer which he had taken to have Windows 95” installed and the children were engaged in figuring out how the system worked. Watched TV news on CNN with Paul till 8:30 when he had said he usually goes to bed about that time each night. As usual Jack took his bath in the evening and I in the morning to ease the congestion in the bathroom.
Wednesday October 21, 1998
Nicolette fixed us breakfast, as usual, since both Paul and Denise work and are gone early. We usually had corn flakes and warm milk - till we told her we would prefer cold milk. Nicolette said they prefer the warm milk because it makes the post toasties less crunchy - and indeed it did! We also had toast, coffee, OJ, and fruit. This was out last morning at our hosts home. Nicolette took us and our luggage to the church parking lot where we boarded the Rennies Travel Agency’s bus - this travel agency will be our guide for the next three days. The bus was first class - but the guide could not compare with Beverly - it was hard to understand him and by the time his voice got to the back of the bus it was mush.
Rennies took us along the “Garden Route,” which is along the southern and eastern coast of South Africa so that we could really see some of the most beautiful scenery in Africa! We ended up in Oudtshoorn at the Safari Ostrich Show Farm.
We lunched on ostrich and I must say it tasted like baby beef to me - but much more tender. Thirty of us were also served scrambled eggs and we were told that they were from only one ostrich egg! We were able to get our pictures taken holding the ostrich eggs and an invitation to ride one! None of us did even after the farm guide showed us how.
Next stop - for the next two nights was at Wilderness - at the Karos Wilderness Hotel. And what a beautiful - first class hotel it was.
Thrusday October 22, 1998
We were bused to the narrow gauge train station to board the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, a steam train for a 20 mile ride through the greenery of South Africa. A lot of soot from the train floated in the windows and got all over you - but who cared? - we all enjoyed the ride. The train took us to Knysna where we boarded a boat for a cruise to the Featherbed Nature Reserve and lunch under the Milkwood trees.
Lunch under the milkwood trees with Sandy, Ann, Beverly, Jack and me
Friday October 23, 1998
Bused to the town of George. We had three hours there before we were bused to the airport for our flight to Cape Town. The ladies shopped - Jack looked for and found some more material for wife Donna - I went to a place where you could get coffee and send e-mail but it was closed - so no e-mail to friends back home from George. Jack and I had lunch at a Cherokee Spur restaurant with several other FF people.
From George to Cape Town the pilot took us off the normal route so we could view the whales just off the shore, in the Indian Ocean. He made several low passes so we could see 6 or 8 large whales a half mile or so off the coast.
After a four hour wait in Cape Town we boarded SAA’s Boeing 747 for the 15 hour trip to Miami. One of our FF members has some fruit in some carry on luggage which was detected by a sniffing dog at the Miami airport - a $50 fine.
It was nice to be home - safe and sound and a kiss from Yvonnie!
Friendship Force Exchange Leader Pat Royalty
Friendship Force Group to South Africa - October, 1998
For a look at my life story, go to: http://lifeandtimesoffredhadley.blogspot.com
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