South Africa for Cheap

2008-11-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

The country of South Africa has a number of critical problems. The program of apartheid was a terrible national stain on the country. You don’t practice a program like that, and then, when you stop, find that there are no repercussions from what has been done.
The races were divided putting the blacks, colored, and Indians into separate communities. When apartheid ended, these communities still existed and in many cases it was impossible for people to extricate themselves from the divided communities. Even though legally they could move into the major cities, they could not afford to make the move since they did not have much value in the houses that were in the settlements. Who would want to buy houses that were poor construction and in many cases did not have running water or electricity. It made for a kind of de facto segregation.
Fortunately better quality construction was accomplished in many of the cities and today there are areas where the Blacks, Indians, and Colored are moving in and finding better jobs as a result. In the city of Richards Bay where we lived this is the case. It is still startling to go to the bus terminal and see blacks by the thousands boarding the buses to go home to their settlements.
Another closely related problem is unemployment. Some of this is the result of a poorer system of education that was given to the segregated races. In some ways, the Indians must have reaped some benefits within their culture because there are many Indians who are doing better financially. Unemployment brings other problems with it. Crime is a serious factor when people can’t find jobs. They conclude that if no one cares it must be their right to go out and take what they need. Human life is not valued and many of the thieves will just kill in the process of robbing. It seemed that every family that we knew had someone close who had been robbed and killed.
Politicians have difficulty relating to major cultural problems. It is far easier to make promises that can’t be kept and hope that when it comes time to vote again, the public will forget the promises that were not kept.
It is hard to think that there could be so many problems in a country that is so beautiful. The landscapes, waterfalls, forests, mountains, and shorelines all cry out, “South Africa is a beautiful place.” At the same time, people are constantly warning others to be careful about driving or walking at night, frequenting certain places, or leaving the safe confines of the home for any reason at night.
Pressure has been put on companies to establish broader hiring policies. This means that this pressure will cause companies to lower their hiring standards which will ultimately lead to less efficiency in the manufacturing sector.
When someone loses a job to a less qualified individual, there is a tendency to blame the replacement worker rather than the inadequate system that caused the firing. There is also the problem that many people who lose jobs turn to drink and drugs to pour oil on the wounds.
The sad thing is that my observation of South Africans at work brought a favorable reaction. Sales people, Service people, and management all seemed to have good skills, fantastic outlooks, and efficient people relationships. It was a pleasure to go into retail stores, service stations, and other service places. There always was a desire to please, a willingness to help, and the energy to complete a successful transaction.
South Africa is always one administration away from a disastrous Zimbabwe like experience. It would be very sad to see that happen. Hopefully the quality of the people will keep it from coming to pass. It will take some creativity to solve the problems. It can be done and hopefully will be done. The people of South Africa deserve better than they have received from their political leaders down through the years.

PAPER

2008-10-15T05:32:00.001-07:00

We had some interesting experiences with paper while we were in South Africa.
The first one was when we went to visit one of the men from our church who managed the Mondi Paper factory in Richards Bay. It was a gigantic operation and we were really impressed. We watched the very large trucks of trees as they were delivered to the plant. They came from forest all over South Africa. According to our friend, Mondi owned more property than any other company in South Africa. They were second to the government in their land holdings.
We passed their forests in many different locations. What was interesting was that all the trees looked exactly the same. They did that to make the best use of the land and to make the harvesting of the trees much easier. The trees looked like each one had its branches in the same place and they just seemed to fit together so well. Our friend told us that they took a perfect tree and cloned it thus providing the model for all the rest of their trees.
The trees were put into a floating place where they headed towards a shredder that pulverized the trees. Inside they went through a number of different processes which purified the pulp. At the very end the pulp had become white and the last thing that was done extracted the water from the pulp and changed the pulp into flat sheets that looked somewhat like Styrofoam.
The reason that they had changed the pulp into these light sheets was to reduce the cost of shipping. Most of these sheets would be taken to the docks and shipped out primarily to Japan. Japan has a great need for paper but is lacking the necessary trees to make its own paper. The Japanese companies would received these sheets and the first thing they did was to reinsert the water into them thus enabling them to make paper out of them.
Another interesting thing that we observed at Mondi was their computer room. Most of this operation was controlled by computers and this meant that they were in a very large room. The whole side of the room was a bank of computers and almost all of the operators were Indian. Just as in India, the South African Indians are proficient in computer science.
A second experience we had about paper was up near Kruger National Game Reserve. We stopped to see a beautiful water fall. As was true at most scenic spots there were a number of kiosks on the edge of the parking lot. It was possible to buy all kinds of souvenirs there. At that particular one, there was a man who had a number of attractive paper items. Most of them had art work of some sort on them. There was a box of note cards that had very attractive pictures on them. I asked this young man (either Zulu or another people group) who had done the art work. He indicated that he had done all of it. I was impressed because it was so beautiful which meant that he had to be very talented.
I could tell the paper was different so I asked him what kind of paper it was. He indicated that it was elephant dung. That was a little shocking as you might imagine. He indicated that it was purified and was perfectly clean. We bought some of the cards to bring home with us. We also later discovered that there was a large amount of paper that was made from elephant dung and discovered that it was available at many souvenir places.
The first time that I needed to get paper for our computer printer, I found out that I did not know where to purchase it. There was one store at the mall, but it seemed like the paper was sort of expensive. We later found a store on the edge of town that was more of an office supply place and really enjoyed going there and seeing all the products they had. It was there that we bought most of our paper needs for the time we were in Richards Bay.
In this experience we discovered that it was necessary to speak up and ask when you don’t know where to get what you need. I asked one of our church people who had a computer where he purchased his paper. It is a great reminder that we don’t have to worry about sounding dumb. The people know that we are foreigners and therefore dumb to start with. They are glad to help us out of our ignorance in any way they can.

Homesick for South Africa

2008-10-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

When we came home from South Africa, Catherine was asked to speak to a number of ladies’ groups about our experience there. We put together a Power Point presentation showing pictures of the land and the church where we were. In it Catherine said that of all the places we have been it was the one place she felt “homesick” for.
It is hard to explain. We had wonderful people in our church. It was really very exciting to be there so soon after apartheid had ended and feel the oneness in a congregation which had Afrikaans, English, Zulus, Indians, and colored all worshiping together in a spirit of love and fellowship. It was not that there were no problems, but they did not seem to be as many problems as would be true in the ordinary American church.
We did not have any idea that the country was such a beautiful land. It had everything from estuaries to beautiful mountains. It had wild animals in a natural state. It had bountiful varieties of birds. It had flowers and landscapes that were lovely. It made you feel like you were in a tropical land and at the same time, you almost felt like you experienced some weather that was like a mild winter. It had thousands of miles of coastline and areas that seemed like desert.
The problems of the nation were complicated and significant. It was hard to see the pain of unemployment at unbelievable levels. Companies wrestled with what to do about the years of a white dominated work force being infiltrated by eager largely untrained personnel. There was a very high crime rate. We knew very few families who did not have tales of family members who had been shot or stabbed out in open streets. In spite of all the bad statistics, we did not observe any of those problems.
The country has had a recent unexpected change in leadership that makes people feel frustrated by the necessary changes that have taken place. We can only hope that this fairly stable government may be able to survive the puzzling changes at this time. There are a number of significant companies which do international business. A weak dollar is not a help to those businesses who do most of their business based on the exchange with the dollar. A weak dollar means that they do not get as much money for their products.
This is a wonderful country to visit. There are five or six major areas for the tourist to see. It is a shame to only see one or two of them, but it requires significant time to take in all the land. It is not a place to just drop in and fly out. It would be great to be able to dedicate five or six weeks to a South African visit and divide the time for visiting five or six major areas of the land.

Wild Animals in the Wild

2008-06-25T05:48:00.000-07:00

What is it that is different about the wild animals in Africa?
There are many game farms in the United States where we can go and see animals roaming in the fields provided. Some of them are quite large , but there is a big difference between these game parks and the reserves that are in the African countries.
In the parks we see a large number of animals, but they are not on their own. In most places they are protected and they are fed. They are fun to watch and seem very natural in many ways. In the Africa reserves they are on their own and they are not fed. They live off the land and are very much as they have been for hundreds of years. It may be that some of the species have been protected and preserved. The rhinoceros is one of those animals that has been built up to the point where there are now a large number of them in all the South African reserves. They still live in their natural habitats and they are not fed by the guards or keepers. The number of them has grown so that they do not have a market for selling them any more.
It is really exciting to ride along and have no idea what you are going to see. I can remember driving through Krueger in South Africa and seeing a family of meerkats along the side of the road. They were playing together and seemed to be having a great time. We passed a family of wild dogs which are almost extinct and watched as they crossed the road and headed for a large group of impalas, hoping to find their dinner. The impalas were a little too quick for them so they had to wait on something else to come along.
Of course the families of elephants, lions, buffalo, elan, wildebeest, and so many others are very exciting to see. It is not unusual to see some animals by the hundreds or even thousands.
Seeing these animals in large groups and roaming freely is inspirational. They are another evidence of the hand of God in creation. There is no way that a thousand impalas all with identical markings could have evolved that way. There would have been some that had partial markings or no markings or progressive markings, but they are not that way. We rode along one day and a herd of zebras came across the fields. There must have been at least five hundred and maybe many more than that. Their stripes are impressive, but here again, the group looked like each one had been cloned from the other, but that was not the case. The hand of God had painted the stripes on the zebras. I know that He did not literally paint those stripes, but He began a process that meant that would be the case.
You really need to go to South Africa and see for yourself that this exciting venue is accessible and so wonderful. South Africa is a wonderful country with many cultural sites to observe. Try it. You’ll like it.

Shopping in South Africa

2008-03-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

South Africa is a delightful place for shoppers. You can find anything from precious stones to elephant dung paper. Pictured above is a gift we received when we left the country. It is a pretty head of a rhino set upon a map of South Africa. It is one of the more impressive gifts that comes from the Zulu nation. On your right is one of the wonderful chess sets available there. This one is wood carved and pictures colorful Zulu pieces. The pieces and the board are hand made and make a very pleasant souvenir. There are also chess sets carved in stone or molded in metal. My grandson purchased a hand painted ostrich egg that is beautiful.

There are upbeat gift stores all through the country. There are native booths at almost every tourist spot. Some of the locations have a whole building dedicated to the crafts that are available. Ties, shirts, jackets, and other items of clothing are available in many of the shops. Almost every mall has a special store featuring touristy items.

Our mall in Richards Bay had a kiosk with handcrafted pottery where bowls, tea sets, and many other novelty items were available. Bringing these kind of gifts added a lot of weight to our baggage, but they made wonderful gifts. The Zulus make great baskets that can be used for a wonderful variety of things.

When it comes to gifts for friends and souvenirs to take home, it is not the time to get cheap. Take advantage of the bargains and bring home some memories that will enrich your life for years to come.

Our time in South Africa

2008-02-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

You may wonder what in the world we were doing in South Africa. We went twice and spent a little over six months each time we went. We were there the first time to fill in for a missionary family who were coming home for a six month furlough. We moved into their house, drove their car, worked on their computer, and filled in for all the activities with the Calvary Baptist Church.

The second time was because there was an emergency in the church and they needed someone to fill in again. This time we went for another six month period during which time we lived in a condo owned by someone in the church, drove an extra car of one of the church members, used a computer loaned by one of the church members, and cared for all of the activities of the church.

We were pleased that by the time we left this tour of duty, a fine South African family came to take over the pastoral responsibilities for the church . They began their ministry four and a half years ago, and have been there ever since.

We had never been to South Africa before the first time we went there. We must say that we felt at home and were well received by all the members of the church. We had a fantastic group of people made up of Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Indian, Colored, and even an Australian family who were there as contract workers.

We had to learn to drive on the left side of the road. That wasn't too bad. We learned that there were many words that we pronounced differently. We found that our Afrikaans people loved their language very much and would prefer to speak it any time they could. Our services were in English so we did not have to have a translator.

It was a special time for us. My wife has said that it is one of the only places she has been that she is homesick for now that she is not there. We loved the people, the food, the country, and the ministry. I guess you can tell that this is why we are excited about sharing news about South Africa.

The Big Fellow

2008-02-13T11:47:00.001-08:00

The big fellow is our favorite in the game reserves. The first time that we visited a game park we drove inside the front gate and seven or eight giraffes met us. We had never been close to an unhindered giraffe before. We drove up to that crowd standing in the middle of the road and they were not challenged at all. They acted as if this was their park, and that we were merely intruders into their sanctuary.
When you stand in a zoo gazing at a giraffe, he looks tall, but it is nothing like driving up to one standing in the middle of the road. Tall does not describe them. They are intimidating, but they are lovable and look like they really want you to like them.
They don’t hide because they can’t hide. They are too tall. They want to be around their favorite kind of tree, The Thorn tree. They like those leaves way up at the top of the tree. Evolutionists tall us that the giraffes neck is long because they wanted to get those leaves at the top of the Thorn tree. How did they know they wanted to get them? What’s wrong with all the other animals that they didn’t want to have those delicious leaves? They could have stretched their necks and had them too.
All of the animals are beautiful and fun to see, but our favorite is the giraffe. They are really something when six or eight of them are stretched out across the skyline

Special South African condo

2008-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

The condo in the picture was a place that we discovered just by riding into some places close to the Indian Ocean. This was a three bedroom condo with a lounge (living room in the States), a dining room, and two porches looking at the ocean. It cost us about $25.00 per night. We are not at liberty to advertise for them because they are rather tight about their clientele. I only show it to illustrate that there are bargains to be had, and it frees you to find them when you are on your own.
We could walk out of our condo where we had a nice little garden and an outside barbecue built in, and just take a few steps down to the ocean. I can’t promise that there were no sharks, but in most of the regular swimming area they had protection against the sharks.
It was pleasant even if you never entered the water. The second picture is a view that we had looking up from our Durban motel to the city's beaches.

White and Black Rhinos

2008-02-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Those two rhinos wallowing in that over sized puddle are incredible. We found them there one day when we were just riding through hluhluwe/umfolozi. We sat for about an hour and just watched them and it was difficult to believe that we were just that close to them and they did not pay any attention to us.
Being alone with giant and small animals is a great experience that everyone should enjoy. It is wonderful to see the creator’s hand so evident in everything that is around you.
Those rhinos are white rhinos. “Wait a minute,” you say, “they don’t look white to me.” You’re right. They don’t look white and they are not called white because they look white. The Afrikaans word for “wide” sounds like “white,” and that is why the animals are called “white rhinos.” The color of black rhinos doesn’t look any different from the white ones, but the single horn and the narrower mouth sets them apart.
Umfolozi established a program for raising white rhinos because they are unique to the area. They have been so successful in raising and selling these fellows that the last year we were there they didn’t sell any at their annual auction. All of the game parks had all that they needed or all they could afford. We decided against buying one and taking it home with us, but we still like to look at their pictures.

Kruger--a country of its own

2008-02-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Elephants are just One of the Big Five, but they are definitely big!

A friend said to me that Kruger was the size of New England. I could not imagine a place to go and look at wildlife that was that large. In this day of instant everything, you need to be sure that you dedicate time to visiting this amazing part of South Africa. Don't try to see it in a day. A week would not be too much time to spend there, but at least be sure to give it three or four days.

Hazyview is a great town to stay while you are visiting this fantastic place. There are plenty of spots inside and out of the park. There are interesting eating places as well.

Kruger is the kind of place in which you want to just wander. It is good to keep track of where you have been so you are able to keep seeing new and exciting areas of the park. There is no guarantee that you will see all the big five animals, but it could well happen. We were only able to be there two days and saw all five of them. We also saw a pack of wild dogs which are practically extinct, hyenas, many birds, and numerous other animals.

The area can have malaria present so it is good to check it out. The park keeps information available so the malaria risk can be checked. There are pills that can be taken, but we were advised that it is better not to take them. We were told that when you take the pills, you still can get malaria only you won't know it. It can come back with a vengeance later on. I would certainly check with a trusted physician when you go. There are sightseeing vehicles were you sit high and can see well. The driver knows where there have been sightings that day so it can be beneficial to take a trip in one of those. In one park, we took a night trip which was really interesting. We did feel a little sad when we saw a lone wildebeest, and the driver told us that meant he was just waiting to die. Otherwise he would be with a group.

Don't do anything foolish when you are in areas where there are wild animals. Stay in your vehicle or close by. It is amazing how close you can get to the animals and still stay in the car. If you are at all squeamish about doing it on your own, hire one of the tour vehicles which allow you to sit up high and get a great view of the animals.