Cape Town

Kadar se pogovarjam s tukajšnjimi domačini, me radi sprašujejo, kje vse sem že bila in kaj sem si že ogledala v Južnoafriški republiki. Pogovor se vedno konča z njihovim nasvetom, da moram nujno videti tudi Cape Town, saj je tam menda prekrasno. Žal za daljše potovanje ni bilo priložnosti, zato sem se tja odpravila čez vikend, z nizkocenovnim letalskim prevoznikom Kulula. Sicer je tu več nizkocenovnih letalskih prevoznikov, saj je država zelo velika in ljudje ogromno potujejo, tako v službene kakor tudi v privatne namene. Mnogo domačinov ima namreč sorodnike v več mestih v državi in se pogosto obiskujejo. Zaradi ogromnih razdalj (recimo med Johannesburgom in Cape Townom je okrog 1400 km), je v pomanjkanju časa pot z letalom največkrat edino smiselna.

Whenever I talk to local people, they usually ask me where I have been and what I have seen so far in South Africa. The conversation always ends with their suggestion that I have to visit Cape Town because it is supposed to be beautiful. Unfortunately there was never an opportunity to go there for a longer period of time, so I decided to make it a weekend trip using the low cost airline Kulula. There are several low cost airlines in South Africa as the country is large and people travel all the time, both for business and pleasure. Many local people have relatives in various cities around the country and in order to visit them across the huge distances, flying is often the most sensible choice (for example, the distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town is around 1400 km).

Moj prvi cilj v Cape Townu je bil obisk Mizaste gore (Table Mountain), peš, se razume, čeprav gor pelje tudi vlečnica. Glede na dolgo kolono čakajočih turistov pri spodnji postaji vlečnice sem verjetno prej prišla gor peš (slabi dve uri), kakor bi se načakala za prevoz. Razgled z vrha je čudovit, morda se mi je tako zdelo tudi zato, ker sem prvič po dolgem času spet videla morje oziroma ocean oziroma natančneje dva oceana (Indijskega in Atlantskega, ki se tu stikata). Imela sem srečo z vremenom, saj pravijo, da se zaradi vlažnega zraka na gori pogosto zadržujejo oblaki in takrat seveda ni razgleda.

My first destination in Cape Town was to ascend Table Mountain, on foot obviously, although there is also a cable car. The queue of tourists in front of the cable car was so long that I probably made it to the top on foot (it took me less than two hours) sooner than if I had waited for transport. The view from the top is magnificent, probably more so because I saw the sea or rather the ocean or rather two oceans (Indian and Atlantic) again after such a long time. I was lucky with the weather as often there are clouds at the top of the mountain when there is no view.

Na pobočju Mizaste gore je botanični vrt Kirstenbosch, katerega sem šla pogledat zlasti zaradi velikega nasada avtohtonih rož iz skupine Protea. Te vrste rože uspevajo le na jugozahodu države in nikjer drugje na svetu. Menda jih je zelo težko gojiti izven njihovega naravnega okolja, zato jih recimo nimajo v botaničnih vrtovih v okolici Johannesburga.

The slopes of Table mountain host the Kirstenbosch botanical garden that I visited especially for the vast plantings of Protea flowers. These flowers grow only at the southwestern tip of the country and nowhere else in the world. They can't be cultivated away from their natural habitat and are therefore not found in botanical gardens, not even in Johannesburg.

Odpeljala sem se po Kapskem polotoku (Cape peninsula) do rta dobrega upanja. Sicer tam ni nič posebnega (sploh ni najjužnejša točka afriškega kontinenta, kakor sem prej zmotno mislila), razen nekega mogočnega občutka ob pogledu na dva oceana in misli na vse pomorščake, ki so skozi zgodovino obpluli ta del sveta. Na polotoku leži kar nekaj ostankov ladijskih brodolomov iz starih časov in z zanimanjem sem šla enega izmed njih pogledat, no, kup starega železja pač. Videla pa sem tudi pingvine in tjulnje, ki tam živijo v naravnem okolju, saj je cel polotok naravni rezervat.

I drove down Cape peninsula to the Cape of good hope. There is actually nothing special to be seen (it's not even the southernmost tip of the African continent as I had mistakenly believed) except for a grandiose feeling when overlooking the two oceans and thoughts of all the seafarers who went that way through history. There are a few shipwrecks on the peninsula and I walked to look at one of them. It's just a heap of rusting iron. I saw penguins and seals that live there in their natural environment sine the entire peninsula is a national park.

Zanimivo, da se v Cape Townu najpogosteje govori v afrikanščini, saj je to domač jezik številnih potomcev sužnjev in ljudi mešanih ras, katerih predniki so bili tam že od samih začetkov naseljevanja. Prvi beli priseljenci, ki so prišli na celino skozi Cape Town v 17. stoletju, so si pripeljali sužnje iz Malezije. V okolici namreč ni živelo prav veliko črncev, ki bi bili primerni kandidati za sužnje, tam so živeli le pripadniki ljudstva San oziroma bušmeni, ki pa so bili prebrisani in se belcem niso pustili podrediti, še več, celo medsebojno so trgovali. V Cape Townu tako še danes obstaja Malezijska četrt, imajo restavracije z malezijsko prehrano, med tem ko se je malezijski jezik skozi generacije pozabil.

I found it interesting that the most common language in Cape Town is Afrikaans. This is the language of the descendants of the many people of various ancestries and races that have lived there since the beginnings of foreign inhabitation. The first white people to settle Cape Town in the 17th century were slaves from Malaysia. There weren't many black people in the area who could be used as slaves, there were only the San people, also referred to as bushmen, who didn't allow themselves to become enslaved, in fact, they even traded with the white people. There is a Malay quarter in Cape Town to this day, there are restaurants serving Malay foot, only the language has been forgotten through the centuries.

V enem vikendu je bilo to vse, kar sem si ogledala v Cape Townu in na koncu je to mesto ostalo še eno izmed tistih na mojem spisku, kamor bi bilo treba oditi še kdaj, si vzeti več časa in pogledati še vse tisto, za kar tokrat ni bilo časa.

This was all I was able to see and do in one weekend in Cape Town. The city remains on the list of those places that, time permitting, I would want to visit again and see everything else that didn't get my attention this time.

Velikih pet / The big five

Pravijo, da je cilj vsakega pravega lovca na divje živali, da ulovi velikih pet: lev, leopard, slon, nosorog in bivol. To so živali, za katere velja, da so najnevarnejše in torej najtežje za ulovit. V sodobnem času je lov na divje živali strogo omejen oziroma večinoma kar prepovedan, kar velja vsaj v Južnoafriški republiki. Na lov na divje živali pa se menda lahko še vedno hodi v Zimbabve, kjer je zaradi politične krize in korupcije mogoče tudi to, kar je sicer prepovedano. Če že lov na divje živali v sodobnem času ni več tako popularen, kakor je bil včasih, pa je postal cilj vsakega pravega turista, da hodi toliko časa v safarije in naravne rezervate, dokler v živo ne vidi vseh pet najnevarnejših živali.

They say that the goal of every wild animal hunter is to hunt the big five: lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. These animals are the most dangerous and therefore the most difficult to hunt. In modern times hunting wild animals is very limited and mostly prohibited, at least in South Africa. It might be possible to go hunting in Zimbabwe where the political crisis and corruption can cloud the illegal aspect of hunting wild animals. Since hunting wild animals is not popular in modern times, it has become the goal of every tourist to visit safaris and national parks until they at least see all five of the most dangerous animals.

Izmed velikih pet sem doslej v safarijih videla in fotografirala leva, slona in nosoroga. Bivola in leoparda pa zaenkrat le v živalskem vrtu, tako da še nisem dosegla kvote videti vseh pet v divjini. Fotografije sem posnela tako, da sem odprla okno v avtu za nekaj centimetrov, toliko, da sem skozi potisnila fotoaparat in uporabila zoom, zato so živali videti precej blizu, a so bile kar na varni razdalji.

Among the big five I have so far seen and photographed the lion, elephant and rhinoceros in safaris. I have only seen the buffalo and leopard in zoos which doesn't count. I took the photographs by opening the window on our car just a crack, enough to be able to squeeze the camera through and used the zoom to make the animals seem closer although they were quite a safe distance away.

Enega izmed levov sem srečala tudi iz oči v oči, saj se je sprehodil mimo našega avta v safariju. Takega kralja živali sigurno ne bi hotela srečati v divjini, je tako velik, da je z glavo segel do višine moje glave, ko sem sedela v avtu. Čeprav levi v safariju večinoma izgledajo kot nekakšne ogromne muce, ki lenobno poležavajo v senci, se je pred kratkim v enem izmed bližnjih naravnih rezervatov zgodilo, da so levinje pojedle lastnika. Prav zares, najbrž je tudi lastnik mislil, da je varno in je stopil iz avtomobila, pa so se levinje odločile, da je čas za malico. Zelo hitro so sicer pridrveli na pomoč reševalci, varnostniki in policija, a so bili na žalost nemočni, saj je bilo težko razgnati pet lačnih levinj pri jedi.

I met one of the lions eye to eye when he walked by our car in a safari. I certainly wouldn't want to meet such a lion king in the wild. He was so large that his head came up to my head when I was sitting in the car. Although the lions in safaris look like huge tame kitty cats that lie lazily in the shade, they can be really dangerous. The lionesses ate their owner in one of the nearby safaris recently. It's a true story, the owner probably thought he was safe and he exited his car, but the lionesses had other plans. The paramedics, security guards and police arrived very quickly but they weren't able to help as it proved impossible to save a human from five hungry lionesses.

Razen velikih pet je v safarijih mogoče videti seveda še mnoge druge živali, recimo zebre, žirafe, divje svinje, pa številne različne vrste antilop, ki imajo tu vsaka svoje ime, na primer springbok, gemsbok, blesbok, eland, impala, hartebeest, wildebeest, kudu, itd. Potem so tu še številne vrste ptičev, od katerih prav nobenega ne prepoznam.

In addition to the big five, there are many other animals that can be seen in safaris, for example zebras, giraffe, wild boars, and many different species of antelope, each with its own name, such as springbok, gemsbok, blesbok, eland, impala, hartebeest, wildebeest, kudu, etc. Then there are the countless species of birds that I'm not familiar with.

Ugibam, da antilope večinoma ne sodijo med ogrožene vrste živali, saj se nekatere med njimi pojavljajo na jedilnih listih v restavracijah (zebrini zrezki, springbokov carpaccio, posušeno meso kuduja, itd.).

I'm guessing that antelope aren't protected species of animals because they can be found on menus in restaurants (zebra steak, springbook carpaccio, dried kudu meat, etc.).

Kurje glave / Chicken heads

V službenem bifeju nam vsako jutro streže kavo zgovoren tip po imenu Sam. In je beseda dala besedo in se je izkazalo, da se tip v prostem času ukvarja tudi s turizmom, pa se je ponudil, da nam organizira lokalnega vodiča in nas peljejo na ogled Soweta (kar se je kasneje izkazalo za precejšen strošek iz naše strani oziroma za dober zaslužek iz njegove strani). Pa nič ne de, dogovorili smo se tudi za večerjo, na kateri so Sam in njegovi prijatelji pripravili tradicionalno afriško hrano, s seboj na žurko pa so pripeljali tudi svoje punce, tako da je bilo hrane, zabave in plesa na pretek.

A talkative guy named Sam works at the coffee shop where we go for coffee every morning. And he told us that in his spare time he is a tour guide and he offered to take us to Soweto with a local guide (which later proved to be quite expensive from our side and probably quite profitable from his side). Nevertheless we also accepted his offer of dinner where he and his friends would bring traditional African food. Their girlfriends came along and so the dinner evolved into a party with plenty of eating, dancing and fun.

Med jedmi, ki so jih prinesli gostitelji, je najbolj znan moroho, tradicionalna afriška jed iz špinače in arašidov, vendar se moderni afričani znajdejo in namesto arašidov uporabijo kikirikijevo maslo, ki ga kupijo v trgovini. Mesne jedi pa so za bolj močne želodce, saj je najbolj opevana jed narejena iz kurjih glav in nog. Izgledalo in dišalo je sicer kar v redu, saj so bile glave in noge skuhane v zelenjavni omaki z začimbami, a nisem se mogla prisiliti, da bi dala kurjo nogo, kaj šele glavo, v usta. Na sosednjem krožniku pa je bila kurja drobovina, načeloma sicer prav lepa kurja jetrca, želodčki in ledvica, prav tako dišeče začinjeno, a vmes so bila prepletena kurja čreva. Menda posebna specialiteta. Tudi ta jed je z moje strani ostala nedotaknjena. Nekako se nisem mogla znebiti občutka, da so naši gostitelji verjetno popoldne doma lepo pojedli belo kurje meso, potem pa so nam tujcem kot specialiteto prinesli, kar je ostalo: glave, noge in črevesje. A sem opazila, da so tudi gostitelji z veseljem jedli prinesene jedi, torej jih najverjetneje res tudi sami jedo in niso le nekaj, kar podtaknejo turistom.

The most well known dish that our hosts brought to the dinner was moroho, a traditional dish made with spinach and peanuts. The dish has been modernized so that store bought peanut butter is used instead of peanuts. The meat dishes require a strong stomach. The most glorified dish contains chicken heads and feet. It looked and smelled quite nice because the heads and feet were cooked in a spiced vegetable sauce, but I just couldn't bring myself to put a chicken foot, much less a chicken head into my mouth. The next plate contained chicken innards. There were nicely spiced chicken livers, stomachs and kidneys but there were also intestines snaking over the plate. It's supposed to be a delicacy but I didn't touch this one as well. I couldn't shake the feeling that our hosts probably ate the white chicken meat at home when they were preparing our food and brought us what was left over: heads, feet and intestines. But I noticed that they ate the dishes as well which means that they don't make them just to scare tourists.

Kot priloga je obvezen "pap", to je tu zelo razširjena hrana, še najbolj podobna žgancem ali močniku. Jed skuhajo iz koruzne moke, okus ima povsem koruzen, barva pa je bela, saj tu gojijo posebno sorto zelo svetlo rumene koruze (mimogrede, tudi jajca so tu bolj bledo rumene barve, verjetno zato, ker kokoši jedo to svetlo koruzo). Tako koruzno moko prodajajo v trgovinah v velikih vrečah, največkrat vidim, da jo ljudje kupujejo v vrečah po 5 kg. Kruha pa očitno ne jedo preveč. V trgovinah prodajajo v velike vreče pakiran toast, nekaj je tudi rženega kruha, tu pa se izbira neha. Kadar si zaželim kruh v štruci, je treba v Spar, kjer – če imam srečo in je na zalogi, tu se namreč ne poglabljajo preveč v optimizacijo oskrbovalnih verig – se dobi ciabatta ali francoska štruca. Kakšna škoda, da ob vseh teh vrečah koruzne moke ni še nikomur prišlo na misel, da bi lahko spekli koruzni kruh.

A side dish is the "pap", a very popular dish that resembles porridge or polenta. They make it from corn flour, it tastes just like corn, but the color is white which is due to a very light yellow variety of corn that is grown in Africa (by the way, eggs are also very light yellow in color, probably because the chickens also eat this light colored corn). The flour is sold in supermarkets in large bags, most often I see people buying it in 5 kg packages. They obviously don't eat much bread. I usually find giant bags of toast in supermarkets as well as some rye bread but that's where the selection ends. If I want a loaf of bread I have to go to Spar where - if I'm lucky and it's available, they don't pay much attention to supply chain optimization - I can find a ciabatta or a French loaf. It seems a shame that with the large bags of corn flour no one has thought of baking corn bread.

Zraven hrane je na afriško večerjo prišla še velika plastična posoda tradicionalnega afriškega piva. Je motno in ima nekako kiselkast smetanast okus. Takoj smo navalili vsak s svojim kozarcem, a so nas gostitelji podučili, da se afriško pivo ne sme piti stoje, saj bi s tem menda užalili njihove prednike ali nekaj takega, ampak ga je treba piti spoštljivo sede. V nadaljevanju smo potem raje pili običajno pivo iz pločevinke kar stoje, kakor se za pravo žurko spodobi.

In addition to food, a large plastic container of traditional African beer also made its way to the dinner party. It's cloudy and has a sour and creamy taste. We immediately grabbed a glass each but our hosts enlightened us that African beer shouldn't be drunk while standing up as that may offend their ancestors or something like that, but that we should respectfully sit down. We rather drank normal beer from cans while standing up as befits a good party.

Narava v Johannesburgu / Nature in Johannesburg

Johannesburg spada med mesta z največ zelenimi površinami na svetu. Kakšna škoda, da iz varnostnih razlogov večina teh zelenih površin sameva. Mesto je prepredeno z drevoredi, parki, botaničnimi vrtovi in naravnimi rezervati. Razen nekaterih zelo frekventnih lokacij, kamor hodijo domačini na družinske piknike in so posebej varovane, so na večini naravnih rezervatov obvestila, naj bodo obiskovalci pozorni na osebno varnost in naj se ne gibljejo posamično, ampak v skupinah najmanj 3 ljudi.

Johannesburg is one of the cities with the largest green areas. What a shame that most of these green areas are deserted for safety reasons. The city is filled with trees, parks, botanical gardens and nature reserves. Except for a few highly frequented locations where local families go for picnics that have security guards, most of the nature reserves carry warning signs that visitors should take care of their personal safety and go in groups of at least three people.

Tu zelo pogrešam hojo po hribih, vendarle se da z malce iznajdljivosti izvesti tudi to. Kar se tiče hribov, v Johannesburgu ni praktično nobene ravnine, vse gre nekako gor in dol, tako da hoja po ravnem sploh ni mogoča. Nekateri naravni rezervati imajo objavljene termine, običajno enkrat ali dvakrat mesečno, za organizirane skupinske pohode. Na en tak organiziran pohod sem šla v Melville Koppies. Zbralo se nas je kakih 30 ljudi, nekateri so pripeljali tudi pse. Šli smo na pohod z vodnico, ki nam je spotoma povedala marsikaj zanimivega. Na primer, da se v tem rezervatu srečujejo tradicionalne afriške verske skupine, kjer imajo nočne obrede. Kaj natanko počnejo, ni znano, vendar oskrbniki rezervata občasno najdejo kokoši s prerezanimi vratovi, kar daje slutiti, da se verjetno gredo obrede žrtvovanja, ki so sicer načeloma prepovedani.

Living here, I miss hiking. But with a little planning it can be done. As far as hills are concerned, Johannesburg is not flat at all, it just goes up and down so that walking on flat terrain is not possible. A few of the nature reserves have guided walks, usually once or twice a month, where individuals can attend as part of a larger group. I joined a guided walk in Melville Koppies. There were about 30 of us and some brought their dogs along. The guide led us on our walk and told us interesting facts along the way. For example, tribal local people gather in the nature reserve for their night rituals. No one knows what exactly they do, but the guards sometimes find chickens with their heads cut off which indicates that they do sacrifice rituals that are generally not allowed.

Še en izmed naravnih rezervatov je Klipriviersberg, oddaljen le 11 km od strogega centra mesta, a je tako velik, da se v njem počutiš kakor v divjini. Ta rezervat je dokaj varen za hodit, saj je povsem ograjen, na vhodu pa je varnostnik. Vendar ograja ni zaradi varovanja pohodnikov, ampak zato, da ne bi ušle živali, ki živijo v njem. Od večjih živali so to zebre in antilope. Bilo pa je tudi mnogo ptičev in številne avtohtone rastline. Zelo mi je všeč sukulentna rastlina, neke vrste aloe, ki raste vsepovsod, je zelena z belimi pikami in rdečo obrobo. Šla sem v vrtni center, da bi jo kupila za domov, a je tam ne prodajajo, seveda, saj tu raste kot plevel.

Another nature reserve is Klipriviersberg, about 11 km away from the city center, but is large enough to give visitors a sense of being in the wilderness. This reserve is generally safe to walk around in because it is completely fenced and a guard sits at the entrance. The fence is not there for guarding hikers but to keep the wild animals from escaping. Among larger animals there are zebras and antelopes. I also saw many birds and local plants. I love a succulent plant, some kind of aloe, that grows all over, it's green with white spots and a red border. I looked for it in a garden center to buy it as a houseplant, but they don't have it as it's considered a weed.