Sidetrip to Namibia - to Monica and the kids from "Home of Good Hope" in Katutura

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Even if I had achieved travel-technically my big aim, when I reached the southernmost tip of Africa - there was still something I desperately wanted to do: to visit Monica and the kids of "Home of Good Hope" in Katutura near Windhoek, Namibia. Actually, I have promised it and for sure, I wanted to go there. So, I put myself in a bus and have gone in 22 hours to Windhoek. It is 1500 kilometers, so, it takes quite a while!

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Four years ago, I spent two months in Namibia and half of this time I have spent in Windhoek. Again, I stayed at Chameleon Backpackers. The staff was still the same, and dog Blackie apparently still knew me. I got a place the same dormitory and on top the same bed like 2009....
The friends of that time for sure were not there anymore. Chameleon Backpackers still is, however, a drop-in center for young pilots in search for employment to get the necessary flying hours.

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Monica, Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

However, I had 1 1/2 hours to take a shower, to have breakfast and to get ready. All that after 22 hours in the bus. Then Monica arrived - she is the lady running "Home of Good Hope". Here, lots of underprivileged children from township Katutura near Windhoek get a warm meal! In 2009, I helped out for some weeks! It was great to meet Monica again! For sure, we went right away to see the kids.  In 2009, around 200 children came each day to the soup kitchen - today, it´s up to 580!

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

For sure, not all of them find immediately a place to sit down and eat. In the morning, there are the small kids and the ones, which attend school in the afternoon. From 12.30 pm, the soup kitchen becomes very busy, when school children flow out of all directions into the small hut. The queue sometimes is all the way to the street.

Long queus, Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

It was a great week with Monica and the kids. Singing, clapping, dancing, distributing food - all that with loads of children on the arm. Playing with the kids, making puzzles, being a doctor for the ones with cuts and burns, hugging and talking. One day, we wrote and painted nicely colored African checks for the donors as a thank you. Lots of things to take photos and videos. Each day was filled with all sorts of activities and each day, I was completely finished, when I came back to Chameleon around 4pm.




Monica’s son Peacemaker gave me a tour through the township. By myself, this would not be a good idea, also not with a camera and taking photos. But with Peacemaker joining me, it was no problem.

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Home of Good Hope, Katutura, Namibia

Katutura, Namibia

Capetown, waterkant and table mountain

Waterkant, Capetown, South Africa

Capetown, South Africa

Capetown - yes, it is a great town. Facing the blue sea, the white houses and behind the big table mountain. Great, definitively. But the nicest town of the world? No idea. A lot of things are done especially for tourists. The waterfront seems like a big adventure playground for adults and children. With restaurants, shopping malls, a big Ferris wheel, dive with sharks and paragliding. Famous Long Street in downtown area has a few really nice old houses - and a lot of shopping. (Nothing for me - I am not a shopping person).

Long Street, Capetown, South Africa

Really fascinating was Table Mountain. All day, the mountain was covered in the fog. Still, I went there by cable car and walked around in thick fog. I thought if I am waiting long enough, maybe the fog will maybe disappear. And exactly that happened. First, the mountain side came out of mist and fog, then on the Capetown side! Great!
With all that, I forgot completely about the cold wind there. It was too fascinating. Back in the cable car, I finally realized my ice cold white fingers...

View from Table Mountain, South Africa

View from Table Mountain, South Africa

Monkey, golfers and pinguins, South Africa

Pinguins, Simon´s Town, South Africa

Pinguins, Simon´s Town, South Africa

On the way to Capetown, there is Simon's Town. The town itself is far from spectacular, but there is a big penguin's colony. On top a beautiful and funny collection of street signs. In about 300 meters, drivers are warned about monkey thieves, then about dangerous golfers next to the street and, finally, about crossing penguins.... alone for the signs it was worth to stop here! For the penguins anyway! They are just great!
And one thing is for sure - where penguins like to swim, the water is definitely too cold for humans!

Simon´s Town, South Africa

Simon´s Town, South Africa

 

Simon´s Town, South Africa

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

However, the weather god was on my side when visiting Cape of Good Hope. Perfect weather with blue sky, dark clouds, gigantic waves, white foam and light grey rocks. And all that at Cape of Good Hope. At least. It was very cold, but not wet. This makes a huge difference. And I got a photo with the sign of Cape of Good Hope with sunshine!

Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Rain and storm in Cape Agulhas, South Africa

Countryside, close to Mossel Bay, South Africa

When doing a trip from Cairo to Capetown, the big aim is not only to reach Capetown. The thing behind it is a rip from north to south. It is logical, that I wanted to reach the most southern point of Africa.
This is against many opinions NOT the Cape of Good Hope, but Cape Agulhas, which is a lot more south than Cape of good hope. On a beautiful sunny day, I started to get these last few kilometers done. This festive mood of mine did not last for a long time. Pitch-black clouds rolled in. It became more and more windy, and then there was a storm. This storm more than once nearly blew me off the street. Then, the rain arrived! This rain was not pouring from up to down, but from the right to the left or from the front to the back however one wants to see...

The southern most point of Africa, Cape Agulhas, South Africa

Cape Agulhas is a tiny settlement of a few colored houses with white fences, two cafes, three pubs, a souvenir store and a lighthouse. And a lot of wind and rain. As it was clear, that the weather will not become any better, I got out of my car and walked the last 250 meters up to the point where the Atlantic meets the Pacific. The southernmost tip of Africa. With me, there was also a couple for South Africa with a huge, completely soaked dog. This was very good, as we could take photos of each other - completely wet and cold, as we were. So, it was done - rather unspectacular with wind and weather I have reached the end of my trip. I had travelled from the north of Africa till the most southern point of Africa.
I have reached it without any major problems, a lot of great experiences, even more lovely people, who helped me to make my trip that easy, interesting, safe and worthwhile as it was. The beautiful landscapes and the exciting experiences with all the wild animals.
For sure, my trip was not finished after reaching Cape Agulhas! My next aim was Hermanus. The weather was windy, cold and wet, but apparently whales like that kind of cold stormy days. In Hermanus bay, there were two whales, which played with each other for hours in the bay.

Coast, close to Hermanus, South Africa

Coast, close to Hermanus, South Africa

Garden Route - is the really in Africa?

The "Heads", Knysna, South Africa

Rather glorified by many tourists and more or less a great marketing gag and therefore extremely touristic is the so called Garden Route along the coast from Plettenberg Bay to Mossel Bay. It is nice there, no question about that. Many beaches, many inexpensive hostels. Everywhere restaurants, ATMs, shopping malls, bungalows and tour operators. However, to me, it seemed, that with all these super touristic things, somehow, Africa itself was lost on the way.... Where was the typical African chaos, which is usually just anywhere else on the continent? Where are the markets? Where the old busses, filled with people, chicken and gouts? Okay, all that you do not find very often in South Africa, but where are the black people? Please, no misunderstanding - South Africa’s landscape is more than beautiful, but it is not the Africa I got to know so far!

Knysna, South Africa

Wilderness, South Africa

Elephants - in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

For sure, I had a few more other exciting things on my list. So far, I have seen a lot of wildlife on my trip. However, for me wildlife is exciting again and again. So, I was very happy to go to Addo Elephant National Park. As one can imagine, there are a lot of elephants. Nevertheless, I was not prepared for that many of them! There were more than 200 elephants around one single water hole! It was so fascinating, that I spent three hours alone in this water hole! One elephant drinks water, the others have a bath, the next takes a healthy mud bath, a few teenage elephants fight, mama elephant shows her baby how to dive and hold the trunk like a snorkel upwards, grandma chases again and again the tiring warthogs away and the aunty keeps an eye on the tourists!

Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa

Malealea, Lesotho

Gates of Paradise Pass, Lesotho

My trip to Malealea, a small village in the west of Lesotho, was really exciting. Malealea is on the other side of a pass with the great name "Gates of Paradise Pass". The pass is on 2001 meters altitude. Well, I did not think of any problem, as this is a country with the lowest point on 1600 meters. But this pass was a rather demanding one - on both sides! And there was a really bad road on both sides of the pass - altogether seven kilometers. It took me 50 minutes to cover these seven kilometers!!!! The road was bad, and, moreover, it was also pretty narrow!

Road to Malealea, Lesotho

Once, I had to drive very close to the edge, as a lorry came from the other side. So, I went too far left and my left back tire went into nothing... Thank god, the truck driver who caused all that, realized the problem, got out of his lorry and lifted me and my little car again on the street. By hand!

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea Lodge, Lesotho

Malealea is well worth the trip. An absolute dream. A valley, enclosed by mountains, everywhere fields on terraces. Violet blossoming peach-trees, many cactus, small round huts, cattle, horses, donkeys,
The Malealea Lodge exists since many years and the owner Mick has already won several prices. This is absolutely right - the whole village is involved in the lodge. Men and male teenagers work as guides; women produce all sorts of things for the souvenir shop or work as cooks, in the service or in the laundry. There is also pony trekking managed by the villagers. The guides get a small salary from the lodge; the bigger part of their salary goes to the Malealea trust, which is used for the whole village. There are workshops on very different topics - sustainability, skills development, language courses, tree planting or building of schools.

Malealea, Lesotho

All that in wonderful surroundings! Definitively a place for falling in love with!
On my trip I came across quite some places, which have been difficult to leave again. Same kind of thing with Malealea.

But I after a couple of days I had to continue my travels. For sure, there was again the bad road and the pass, but again my small car mastered all that without bigger problems (at the end I have driven 7090 kilometers without a single breakdown!).
pigs, goats - AND the most charming people in Southern Africa. Everybody has time for a little chat, women like to explain, how they make these beautiful bowls of grass, men like to pose high on their horses for tourists and their cameras and the local children loved simply all strangers passing by. But I after a couple of days I had to continue my travels. For sure, there was again the bad road and the pass, but again my small car mastered all that without bigger problems (at the end I have driven 7090 kilometers without a single breakdown!).

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea, Lesotho

Malealea, Lesotho

Side trip to Lesotho "Kingdom in the Sky"

Northern Lesotho

My next destination was Lesotho. This small kingdom is an enclave in the Republic of South Africa; it is completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho a very mountainous country and so is also called "Kingdom in the sky". Because of the altitude, it is really cold in wintertime. With really cold I mean really cold - they have a lot of snow there! Winter was already gone, but in the evening no one stayed voluntarily outdoors! My time in Lesotho was wonderful. Two days, I spent in the northern part of the country in a tiny village with a family. They had put up a self-made sign in the main street advertising a homestay. Curious as I am, I went there to have a look, how a homestay looks like in Lesotho.
I write on purpose that I went there - it was absolutely impossible to drive to the village! At least not by using my small normal car. By 4x4 yes, but not with my small normal car. But well, local people also walk a lot here, and besides, it was only one kilometer to cover by foot....
However, this homestay was really nice, absolutely quiet, no power, no running water. Great food cooked by the mother and grandmother of my English speaking host. (Grandma is 107 years old, by the way!!!!). People here go to bed with the chickens and in the morning they are woken up by the same chickens (well - minus one quite big cock...). Milk, fruit, vegetables, jam, and bread - everything was home-made. Only tomatoes, they bought at the market, when grandma realized, that I like them whatever time of the day it is!

In Lesotho there are many caves with old rock paintings, some of them up to 6000 years old. They show people, animals and mythical figures. Many of these paintings are very well-preserved and are now protected by the government.

Trekking in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Trekking in the Drakensberg, South Africa

Trekking in the Drakensberg, South Africa

South Africa has some really high mountains - the Drakensberg! They are up to 3480 meters high and therefore the highest mountains of Southern Africa! Today, the Drakensberg are very well developed and there are many signposted walks. There are over a lot of waterfalls, great viewpoints and treks through all different forms of vegetation. Four days I spent at two different places in the area. Like this, trekking is a lot of fun!

Crocs and hippos in St. Lucia, South Africa

Hippos in St. Lucia, South Africa

Next, I went to St. Lucia on the north coast - this is one of THE places for local tourists. During the season, for sure! But the season is not in September. Basically, I had my hostel and the restaurant just for myself. It is a rather odd feeling to have a complete hostel just for you. Even the staff is going home in the evening - as there was no one besides me, the staff was only one lady anyway... Hotels and restaurants are plentiful in St. Lucia. Year round, there are 800 people living here - and there are 5800 hotel beds...
So, why do people come here?

In Saint Lucia and in the nearby iSimangaliso Wetland Park, there are very nice beaches and the sea is pleasantly warm. Moreover, there are a lot of animals - hippos, crocodiles, rhinos, zebras, buffaloes.... Some of the animals like to be outside the park as well as inside. It is not the best of all ideas to wander around St. Lucia at night. Not because of people, but because of hippos on the streets! They are really big here - I did not meet one of them in the streets, but it is exciting enough to sit on the balcony in the evening and just look down in the garden to see them eating huge amounts of grass...
As you find all sorts of wild animals in and around Saint Lucia, there are also quite a lot of ridiculous street signs - by far the best one was the warning of the crocodiles! They have large mouths with super sharp teeth. Yes, with creatures like these in the bush and waters, one must watch out. Also wheel chair drivers - so, they have an extra sign with a wheel chair driver on a sloping street and on the bottom, there is this gigantic saurian waiting!

St. Lucia, South Africa

St. Lucia, South Africa