SOUTH AFRICAN SENSATIONS

What I most liked". South African sensation.


This is a question I get whenever I return from a trip and I'm never able to answer: "What did you like best?". I stumped. It's impossible to choose just one thing, one place, this has been a journey of so many facets. So they wait, baited breath, expecting me to say "ok here's the best thing about the trip" But for me, travel is not linear: when I travel I involve all the senses and means "the best bit" may not be a place itself the smile of a girl who greeted me from afar, or smell a meal that came through the open door of a house, or the cold wind hit me in the little part of my face that wasn't covered with clothing, or the expression of the girl who sat under that sign in that city that I never knew the name, or the feeling of happiness I felt when I got on the rickety bus and saw the asphalt moving under my feet. The best bit...as I said before, is often too numerous to pin down.

A week ago I returned from South Africa. It was a short but intense journey. We saw and did so much that the nine days seemed one month. I almost didn't sleep. I barely had time to write. The good thing about slow travel, is that the information can be processed bit by bit. That works for me, that works for me just fine. 

So this is the closet I can come to "the best parts of the holiday" more like "what I liked most of South Africa". Purely subjective sensations which reappeared days after I was back home in London. 

1. Tickling feet

In Durban we met Nono, a local. As we talked I asked him to take me to walk through a township and was keen to meet people and talk with them. He made me a counterproposal: "If you're interested, I can take you to know the school that directed my mom 13 years ago." A schoolhouse full of South African children, a place that no "tour" could take? I accepted right away. 

The next day we met and went together. The school / dining room is located in the township of Chesterville, in a territory that belongs to the Church in the area, and gives education and food to nearly 100 children between 2 and 6 years, almost all of them children of unemployed or very young mothers. At the first sitting that we went to two years. Most of the kids were asleep, except two who looked at us with curiosity. I approached them, I sat on the floor and started to tickle one's feet. He laughed out loud. 



 

2.The sea


I never thought I'd be so eager to get to the sea when I was in Durban, but knowing it was around the corner made me a little giddy. We rented bikes and went for a walk along the promenade. I was unprepared, and without a swimsuit. So we arrived at the beach and decided to go down, and just touch the sand with our feet. 

We walked a little further and reached the coast: you can't be on the beach and do not put your feet in the sea - you just can't. The water was lovely, but I was in street clothes. So I only walked a little further out, stopping to admire the view. Many people were bathing, families, men, women, and all fully dressed. So after a few moments thought I submerged my whole body, and swam with the most uncomfortable clothes, but somehow it was still very enjoyable. 




3.The Indian-African market





South Africa has a high number of people from India, and it shows. The market was full of spices and saris. At the same time, however, there were women who did the typical African braids and men selling giraffe carvings. A nice mix. The two women in the photo caught my attention. The first, by chance. I was taking a photo of the colorful decorations and she went and sat right there in the empty space of my picture. 



The second I saw her from afar, I loved the color forming composition to the back wall. I approached her, shyly at first (did not want to be a bother), and asked how long it took make that fabric. "One hour," he said. I asked if I could take a picture working. She smiled and nodded.


4. Bunny Chow 



Bunny chow has to one of the spiciest dishes I've encountered in my life. I was asked mushrooms and potatoes, but you can get it with all kinds of meat. At first glance, it just looks like stuffed bread. But the bunny chow origins have a story. They say the dish was born in a corner of Durban in the 40s during the apartheid Indians were not allowed to eat in certain restaurants and cafés, then the workers in the local resturants devised the dish to serve food to their compatriots without anyone noticing. They simply "emptied" bread, hiding food inside, then was handed through a back door or window. 



5.The sound of the  sea



I would often go to the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of the South African continent, and listen to the sound of the sea for several minutes, without getting bored. I found that standing on over that huge chunk of Earth, was amazingly zen.



6. Mandela


Cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned


South Africa-aniko-Villalba-30 bus in which Robben Island, the "island prison" was used during apartheid.



Nando was imprisoned with Mandela and told us how was life in prison.

Though I never knew him personally, as I followed Mandela's life path, I felt the presence of his-story. I entered the house where he lived, and went to the cell where I was imprisoned nearly two decades of his life, I heard the story of the South Africans who felt as if they were imprisoned with him, and I heard people call him "papa" ("father") with a great deal of love. I also understood how important the word "reconciliation" is in South Africa. When I returned home and saw the movie Invictus (highly recommended) and I could not help but mourn the loss of a great man. I am relieved to have met and known others who also devote their lives to humanity.