Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Taylor's Travels: Best of South Africa

Writing a Best of South Africa blog, I feel like parents do about picking a favorite kid. How am I supposed to choose favorites when the whole trip was so lekker? But in honor of those who slyly wink and nod at their youngest after telling their brood that they love them equally (thanks dad!), I’ll have a go.

Favorite City

Cape Town gets a narrow win over Durban on this one. Anywhere that’s got mountains, waves, and wine within 50 sq. kilometers makes me want to get comfy. The maze of mountains and bays and roads made my senses spin—one of the few places where I completely lost my sense of direction. I’d drive around the corner to check the surf, decide to see what was over the hill only to be back where I started. A week driving in Cape Town and I was still saying damn it around every bend. Not a place I mind being lost though. Oh! And there were beautiful girls…everywhere.

Favorite Food
Meat Pie. The mystery of why we don’t have these in the States is up there with Stonehenge.* They’re so fricken good. Doesn’t take a genius (case in point, Australia) to figure out that putting our favorite slow cooked meats and veggies inside a hand held pastry is a winning recipe. I suggest a culinary exchange: we’ll send over our best burrito makers if they send the pies over. I’ll have a Pepper Steak, my good man.

Favorite Word

Lekker. An Afrikaans word meaning cool. Heard it used to describe everything from clothing, people, even the feeling of being inside the barrel. I can picture you now, if you’ve yet to visit SA, saying the word to yourself, LE-kk-ERR. Not so cool when we do it. Hell, I heard it every other sentence and I still couldn’t imitate it. Gotta say it quickly, out the corner of your mouth, LA-CKAr. And throw in bru after it, just for good measure. I’m not alone in loving this word. Friends who’d visited before wrote me while I was there. Dana wondered if I’d met any lekker locals or surfed any kif waves? Trevor asked if the waves had been lekker or lacking? The waves were lekker, Trev. And Dana, the locals couldn’ta been more lekker.

Favorite Saying
This came from a guard at the South Africa/Swaziland border. I’d been dropped off at night after being told by the receptionist at my destination hostel that there would be public transport at the border. I asked the guards with confidence where the bus was. They had a hearty laugh in my face and said the last one left a couple hours ago. Grab some pine kid, we’ll try and find you a ride. So I sat as they stopped each car, asking if they’d be willing to schlep a naïve American to Mbabane. They found me a ride like snap. Two actually. One was a semi-truck going all the way to my final destination, Durban. But I already accepted a ride with another car. And I reserved a spot at that hostel. I guess I didn’t’ put a deposit down. Shoot, it would save me money if I just went straight to Durban. Aaaagggh, I can’t decide!

Hey! One guard snaps me out of my mental struggle. Make up your mind, between two stools we fall on the floor.

I laughed and asked him to repeat it. He did, then explained the saying to me three times, just to make sure I’d got it. While he was proudly lecturing me on the pitfalls of indecision, the semi left.

Most Awkward Moment

Riding my host’s bike to the mall to withdraw cash to rent a car, my phone rang. I stopped on the corner (its dangerous to talk and ride, ya know?). Why hello Leslie! I’m fine, thank you. No, I can talk. Ya, Cape Town is AMAZING!

WHAAAM!

One man darts past me and I make a move to follow. Then I realize that another man running down the other street is the one who just ripped the phone off my ear. I head towards him, set on reclaiming what’s mine. But he’s halfway over the fence already and if I chase him, his homeboy will come back for the bike. What to do what to do? I got it! I’ll yell something at him. Ya, its perfect. Something so clever, so noble he’ll realize the error of his ways, lower himself from the fence, and return the phone with a heartfelt apology…

F**K YOU!

My new SA phone number is 073 986 7238.


Favorite Person

Ok, so I’m just as bad as the spineless parents who can’t get off the fence. Minus the phone bandits, South African’s treated me as family. Of the two months I spent there, I think I paid for lodging maybe seven nights. I spent the balance in the homes of friends, their friends, and strangers. People are SO hospitable down there. I could list all the legends that took me in, but lists are lame and they know who they are.


I’ll claim it: South Africa is the best country I’ve been to.



* After I wrote that I saw this on youtube, essentially solving the Stonehenge mystery. Unreal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRRDzFROMx0


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