Traveling South Africa

This afternoon we have an extra space in the jumpseat up front, so if anyone would like to sit in the cockpit with us, the view is wonderful, please let a stewardness know..."

The 20 of us sat neatly packed in alphabetical order at the back of British Airways flight 702 as we anticipated our takeoff from Harare International. Psyched to be flying again (Amanda particularly, who was first to volunteer for the jump-seat spot announced by the captain) we were taking off for another exotic trip after several days of paper writing. Though our flight would land us in Johannesburg, our destination for today is Pretoria, the capital of South Africa and the home of the University of Pretoria.

Meeting us at the airport was Albert van Jaarsveld, the director of the Environmental Studies Institute at the University. Each year Albert (who prefers to be called by his first name) brings along a host of graduate students to "study" with him and our group by taking us out into South Africa's national parks. Naturally, a trip through the national parks (never mind that most of the roads in the parks are paved) would require a fleet of 4-wheel drive vehicles, and Albert promptly shows us to the garage full of Landrovers that he had reserved for us for the upcoming two weeks.

Leaving the Johannesburg airport, we make our way overland to Pretoria. Though not the most fuel-efficient vehicles (this IS a group of environmental studies students) the rough, boxy, all-terrain feel of the Landys is not only a heck of a lot of fun, but gets us pysched for the two weeks ahead and the variety of ground we are about to cover.

The actual drive to Pretoria is relatively smooth (over a very-"American" looking highway). We book our stay in at Hotel 226 (since we asked, the name comes from the number of rooms in the hotel, maybe its South African humor, we didn't quite get it...). Naturally, on our first evening in Pretoria we want to explore some of the city, and a group of five or so of us head down the hall where our rooms are to do just that.

"Thunk."

"What's that??"

"Mmm... I think the elevator's stuck."

"Well can you open it??"

(RING! RING! RING!)

"HELLO! HELP! CAN ANYONE HEAR US!?"

(RING! RING! RING!)

"HELP!"

(pause)

"Let's play some bridge..."

(more shouting)

"HELLO!! WE'RE STUCK IN HERE!!"

(someone hears us and says he's going to go tell the manager)

"Well... we wait?"

"Stuck in an elevator..."

"In Africa"

"Hmph."

"Where's tetris?"

"Matt... try to pry the doors open."

(HEAVE... HEAVE... KATHUMP... HEAVE...)

"Stuck."

(half an hour passes...)

"RING! RING! RING!"

"Hmm... it would suck if we all died in here..."

"Yeah."

"Profound."

But just then... eeechhhweeeek! Kweek...kweek...KWEEK! The door is pried open by a Pretorian handyman equipped with the only stuck-elevator-fixit tool in all of Pretoria (he was across town when he got a call so it took him awhile to get over here. All in all we were stuck in the elevator for nearly 45 minutes). Nervous laughter is quickly followed by a stream of sincere thank-you's to said handyman as we clamber up to the nearest floor to the "click-click" of friends' cameras. Wouldn't you know that that the brand name of the elevator we were in was "Schindelar's Lifts." We do manage to get out in time to see some of the city before dinner. Pretoria has the appeal of a medium-sized cosmopolitan American city. Well-kept shops line the streets, imported cars are plentiful, and unlike in Harare, McDonald's (yes, no more Nando's but a real synthetic chicken sandwich) has made its mark. We wander the day-lit streets for a brief hour, stopping in at shops of particular interest, and take the meandering roads back to the hotel in time for dinner.

We pile in our Landrovers for a short drive to Boca-esque Ristorante Halia, where brick-oven Italian cooking provides a welcome respite from (yes Amai, we love it too) sadza and stew. The restaurant turns out to bee our first chance to get to know our guides.

(caricatures here, FSP 99ers... feel free to mail in humorous suggestions)

Outside Albert, Berndt is essentially the mastermind of the group. Medium-height and dark-haired with a penchant for "coo' drinks," Berndt is easily liked. Barend resembles Berndt in attitude and appearance, but is far taller with a prominent goatee accompanied by an ever-ready grin. Dewalt makes up the rest of the male contingent: a Brett Fauvre sized bug specialist, Dewalt is also a BIG fan of popular music and an avid off-road vehicle driver.

After dinner we wake up and groggily turn out of bed to board the Landys. The drive to Kruger National Park is nearly 10 hours but between sleeping and frequent stops for Wimpy'' (South Africa's most popular fast-food chain) we make it to our first campsite. Unlike Hwange, this campsite can hardly be called a campsite at all but more resembles a miniature village complete with beds, unlimited electricity, and even hot showers. We unravel our gear and spread out in the dining room (no kidding, with its own large building, a refrigerator, fan, lounge chairs÷ooh÷). Later that evening we sit around for our first dinner in the "bush."

Tonight is a plenary session and the appointed group keeps the topic focused on differences between the Zimbabwean and South African economic situations. Clearly South Africa is ahead of Zimbabwe in terms visible development, but South Africa is, in some cases, riddled with economic troubles even worse than its northern neighbor. The most obvious of these is the delicate issue of affirmative action.

Pre-1994 South Africa, almost completely controlled by the white elite, held all of the professional positions from banking, to law, to ministry, to professorships. After 1994, however, the new majority ruled government adopted a vigorous policy of affirmative action designed to enfranchise previously disempowered blacks. The policy thus far has accomplished much of its egalitarian goals, but has at the same time filled a large number of key economic positions with less experienced individuals.

(to be continued...)

-- Eric Bielke