Day 12: Knysna (nn eyes nnaah), Monday, Sept 8

Day 12: Knysna (nn eyes nnaah), Monday, Sept 8

QOTD:

What's the word?

Tell me brother, have you heard

From Johannesburg?

What’s the word: Johannesburg!

Weather: Raining, then overcast in the afternoon

Breakfast: granola and yogurt, Woodstock Bakery compagne sourdough toast (bread imported by THB from Cape Town), instant decaf and hot milk, included.

D has arranged a tour of the Knysna township, which is east and up from the downtown area. We are picked up by Penny and Ella, and then joined by a German family: mom and dad and twenty something daughter who does the translating for them. THB takes very few pics, none of the actual township.

In Ella's HFH home

Ella

Ella is Khosi, black, in early 30s, and speaks with a clicking sound when speaking in her native language (it is hard to describe, kind of like pops going off periodically, almost from somewhere else...ventroloquist?). Penny works with Ella, white, from Zimbabwe, maybe a bit older than Ella, and drives the van while Ella explains what we about to see and a bit of the culture of the township (vis a vis the town).

They formed a company, Emzini, at Ella’s instigation, to give tours of the Knysna township and the proceeds go to supporting all the good work done by Ella and to aid in expanding her church (Ella and Penny met at the local Baptist church). Along with driving the van, Penny obviously helps with the company business and feeds the dogs of the township, periocally throwing beer cupfuls of kibble out the window.

Ella has quite a story herself: having an amazingly upbeat personality, graduated late from school, taught herself English late as well, and now runs a foster home (6 or 7 kids ranging in age from 17 months to 19 years old) with full-time help for the youngster. The house was built by Habitat for Humanity, one of only two in the township. The government gives houses out for free to those in need (i.e., no income or assets) while HFH expects house recipients to put in labor and carry a mortgage. Of course, there’s a wait for the free houses; we see many of them in the township, there’s encouragement to wait.

We visit a hairdresser (salon in a shipping container) braiding hair (her customer also chips in now and then with a comment); a pre-school (goes through age 6, lots of singing in English by the 5-6 year olds); Ella’s HFH home where we have tea and learn a bit of Khosi (HAH!! Like THB can even speak Spanish with an accent, let alone a click), sing songs, and hear a bit more about Ella and Penny; a township market; and the library.

Ella encourages and answers many questions, all helpful to us in trying to make sense of what we can see and the divide between town (where Ella now runs a skills center, and has a car, a van, and runs these tours) and the township (where Ella feels many of her friends are, where she lives, her foster home, and her church).

The only “rule” for the tour: no giving people in the township money (none asked for any). Ella does hand out small pieces of candy to the small children she sees outside of school (and not to the big ones, those she tells them they should be in school).

Per Ella, crime has been increasing in the township in recent years because of the growth of drug usage; house break-ins are more common now and the use of youth by drug pushers is undermining education (sound familiar) and Ella also thinks most of the crime is because of the immigration of other Africans to South Africa, not from long-time locals.

Quite the experience, the tour lasts over 3 hours and costs $35pp. It was worth that much just to spend 3 hours with the indefatigable Ella.

Lunch at the East Head Cafe, out on the point where the harbor entrance is through the churning surf. Salads for three of us, and soup for M, with two Jack Black (no relation?) lagers and bread: $40.

Then we walk along the side of the harbor to get a better view of the churning surf (stopping short when the path seemingly starts downhill towards the churning surf), followed by driving up to the bluff to get a better view of the churning surf. It is definitely churning!

Hiking on the East Heads:

Back to the hotel for cappucinos with excellent dark chocolate/hazelnut biscotti from the East Head Cafe ($4 for a healthy bagful...or is it unhealthy bagful?).

A rest up and then dinner at the hotel (partly due to weather, it is grey and overcast and gloomy out, and partly due to inertia...is that because it is grey and gloomy or have we turned into slugs while riding in the car for long periods?).

Dinner: smoked trout salad and green chicken breast for THB, soup and salad for DB, grilled fish for M and mushroom tart and fish curry for D, shared bottle of Pinotage (they were out of the Hidden Valley Pinotage, which we tasted in Stellenbosch, and one of the more expensive bottles on the list). Two of the local liquers, and one ice cream with the liquer shaken and served with a straw instead of a spoon; $90 including tip, for four!

Book Review: Open City, Teju Cole (novel): A melancholic early 30s American of Nigerian descent, in the final steps of becoming a psychotherapist, roams the streets of New York and Brussels mulling over his past while walking long distances (and having come a long distance) and the differences we all experience. To THB, the biggest difference is the one the narrator cannot seem to understand: between his actions and his emotions. Makes a handsome companion to Lost and Found in Johannesburg, where Gevisser (who quotes from Open City) is also measuing differences and distances (literally and figuratively). Recommended