The more I learn about the South
African culture, the more I learn about myself, who I am and what I believe in.
The Eastern Cape is culturally rich and blanketed in history and so a long
weekend travelling East along the Wild Coast was the perfect chance to
experience the tastes, sounds and vibrant energy of the Xhosa people.
Driving along the winding roads
between the mountains it was impossible to deny the sheer unspoilt beauty of
the countryside. Beyond every hill and corner came the repeated line ‘look at
that view!’ Despite our continuous arguments over language and pronunciation
both we and the Americans agreed that there was truly something unique about
the area.
Despite our Sat Nav bringing us to a
dead end in a housing estate even though it had exact coordinates we eventually
got back on track with some directions using landmarks which greatly reminded
me of home. Little did we know that the rocky road to our backpackers in
Chintsa would give us a taste of what was to come but it was certainly worth
the bumpy ride. Overlooking breath taking crystal clear waters from our dorm we
soon met other travellers from South Africa, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Chatting with them and sharing experiences gave me a realisation of how
fortunate I am to be able to spend four months here and gave me an ever growing
passion to discover other parts of the world for myself. The cold dripping
shower in the morning didn’t dampen our spirits and we started our day with a
canoeing trip down the river. With the girls in one canoe and Ryan and I in
another it really became an adventure when the canoes began to fill with water.
Thankfully neither sank and it just meant that we had to row a little extra
hard. On Friday night we were joined by four more friends and on Saturday
morning we set off for our journey to a place called Bulungula.
If you ever want to experience ‘real
Africa’ Bulungula is most definitely the place to go. With rocky dirt roads
barely fit for farm machinery I found myself driving through a field for a
while to avoid a river flowing over the road. This area was scattered with
thousands of traditional Xhosa mud huts all of which made the area all the more
fascinating. We had the chance to stay in one of these huts at our backpackers
where we were casually woken the next morning by a goat pushing through the
door and some donkeys and cows seeking shelter under the straw roof. Living
amongst the Xhosa people was the ideal time to taste some of the local food and
on Saturday night the ‘mamas’ at our backpackers cooked some delicious
traditional dishes all of which would put some of the fines European cuisines
to the test.
I was interested to see quite a few
young guys from the area hanging out at the backpackers around the campfire. As
it turned out, while they called themselves locals they were in actual fact
from two hours away and had come there to talk with English speaking people to
try and improve their own English. I was really taken back when I heard this
and I have a great amount of respect for the effort they make to try and
educate themselves. It made me wonder how much effort I make in learning
foreign languages. I think it’s often easy to expect everyone else to speak
English without making an effort. Talking to the guys gave me a real feel for
the Xhosa culture. They taught me about the traditional role of men and women
in their culture, how a woman’s headdress determines her social and marital
status, the role of the chief in their community and even a few Xhosa words
using a strange clicking noise with your tongue.
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If the weekend has taught me
anything, it has reinforced a saying someone told me a long time ago ‘work to
live, not live to work’. The simplistic and happy life and culture of the Xhosa
people is an example of how material things are not always the most important
things in life. I think my experiences while here will most definitely shape
and influence my future. Sadly due to a storm we had to cut our time in
Bulungula short to avoid getting trapped by flooded roads.
As the Americans say it’s a week
before ‘Springbreak’ which means our friends Ian, John and Emily will soon be
here to share our travels. Lynsey and I are both excited to give them a tour of
our adopted home and introduce them to the good friends we have made here.
Glenn
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