Thursday 31 March 2016

DAY TWO From Johannesburg to Durban

Day two – From Johannesburg to Durban (through Howick Falls)


General hustle and bustle of packing and organizing ourselves before driving.


ZUZANNA WALISZEWSKA:

In the morning we ate our first breakfast and embarked on over ten- hour- long trip to Durban. It was the day when we tried Nando’s. We didn’t know that it will be probably our last chicken in South Africa. I must admit that eating chicken in our van, next to Agata, trying not to get dirty was something that I still recall in my head. It was also the day when we tried  ginger beer. Firstly, we all shared the bottle of Stoney. I have to say that it didn’t sweep me off my feet. We also bought a homemade ginger beer and tried it. Adrian and Michał really loved it and they enjoyed it so much that they bought three bottles for each of them. I remember them walking proudly with those bottles in their hands. I also remember their faces, when I told them that this beer has actually no alcohol. I’ve never seen such a disappointment  in my entire life. At that day we also had an opportunity to see Howick Falls. We were all in a great awe and our Professor just said “It’s pathetic”. We don’t have many waterfalls in Poland and those remaining look more like fountains. That’s why we were impressed by Howick, although it didn’t look the way it should have due to the drought.  What’s more, during our first full day in South Africa we experienced rain that didn’t prevent us from reaching our destination. In the evening we arrived to ATKV resort called “Natalia”. We were welcomed by a really nice couple, with whom we ate a delicious supper. There was a chicken pie, mashed peas and as a dessert- malva pudding. For some of us it was love at first sight. 




From Johannesburg to Durban

ADRIAN PTASZYŃSKI – Miami, here I come!

An early wakey-wakey and the first South African sunray taking a gentle stroll down my skin – delightful! Our first breakfast in Suid-Afrika is not really surprising or revolutionise my culinary awareness in any way – it is your old, traditional eggs and bacon you will get anywhere around the world, and especially in former British colonies, that's for sure. I am trying to get mentally used to the ''Hou links!'' mode of driving, even though I don't drive myself. A series of dissapointments wait for me on the road – the ''dagga'' plant we found was just a poisonous local bush and the ginger beer I stocked up on contained zero alcohol. Well, to be honest, it is quite tasty anyway! However, finally reaching Durban with its stunning ocean view and the tropical palm trees all over was definitely THE thing of the day – I've always wanted to go to Miami, and here I am, in a city looking almost exactly like it! We wind up at the ATKV resort, Natalia, that has kindly offered to host us for some time. We eat a wonderful dinner and then realise how necessary the room air conditioning is in these parts of the world.

Drinking Stoney and homemade nonalcoholic ginger beer on our way to Durban

MICHAŁ MARCINIAK:

It's our first morning in South Africa. We're having our first breakfast, it's not that bad. We are on our way to Durban. Along the way we experience our first rain in South Africa. I would even call it heavy rain. So far, the landscape reminds me a bit of Polish landscape during summer. We were hungry so we stopped at Nando's. It was definitely the best choice ever. Nando's chicken is delicious and the wedges are even better. But before I had it , I tried Stoney. Yes, that beverage remaind my favourtie one until the last day of our tour. It is a great pity that it is not available in Poland. We also tried biltong, I like the flavour but it is quite hard to chew it. For me droëwors is much better, probably because of all the spices, which give amazing flavour. This is definitely a day of new flavors. We also tried a real, homemade ginger beer. However, we are a bit disappointed with Adrian because it turned out that it does not contain alcohol. When we finally get to Natalia- ATKV Beach Resort it was already dark. They were waiting for us with the supper which was really nice. Later we went to our rooms and chatted for a while.

WE ARE FINALLY IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!
AGATA LEŚNOWOLSKA:

The morning started with a lot of confusion, since it is not as hot as we’d expected. There were some outfit changes and many, many jokes relating to this issue. Parents informed, headaches cured, bodies refreshed – everyone was ready to experience an adventure. We didn’t know yet (such babies) that there was a lot of driving ahead of us. We stopped at the airport to exchange our money which turned out to be a complicated process. All kinds of information were needed and it took a long time. Conscientiousness of the employees? Not really, just a lot of paperwork filled without much thought, as we could see on the basis of the person who was serving Adrian. He confused his passport with Ilona’s and presented it in the bureau the change, while the person working there didn’t even notice something was amiss.


The first views seen from the car’s window reminded very much the Polish ones. It was only when we were in KwaZulu Natal, did something start to change. 

KwaZulu Natal
KwaZulu Natal
The highlight of the day was Nando’s. Well, it was simply so delicious. I miss Nando’s. South Africa has far more good fast foods, which undoubtedly factors in the obesity problem.

The first drive made me realize how much attention I paid to the last year's cattle cultural studies. For the whole trip whenever I saw a cow there was this thought in my head, emerging with almost programmed-like regularity 'very very important, bantu cattle have nice colours, lobola' but in the first two/three days my excitement about seeing a cow was even bigger than that about seeing my first South African giraffe. Which I now realize was quite strange for a polish girl, because it is a fairly common animal in my country and I would even say that Polish cattle’s coloring is far less diverse but more entertaining. In other words, cattle in South Africa have become rock stars in my head – very, very important.

We also tried our first biltong and droëwors and root beer. All delicious, biltong as chewy as described. Even more. We were also told that Coca Cola is huge in South Africa, an information that we would be discovering to be true for the next three weeks and 8493 drinks.
Howick Falls

Howic Waterfall. We were super excited as it was the first ‘thing’ we would see in South Africa and we weren’t disappointed at all. I refuse to acknowledge it as pathetic even though I know it must be much more impressive when there isn’t a drought.

The dinner in Natalia was absolutely lovely, a fact that I am only now able to see because during it I was too confused and stressed. My lack of life experience told me that such events must be awfully formal and uncomfortable and it took me a few more of them to realize that I was again being a life baby. I don’t remember what the food was exactly but I was surprised that there was a dessert. Now I know that there is ALWAYS a dessert. Not a polish phenomenon and for once I’m happy (so much food, you eat, you’re full, you almost cry and then… a dessert. Known also as the nail in my dinner coffin, the last straw. Please note, at this point Michał still wasn’t discovered as Hoover).

Howick Falls
Happy Chasers with Hawick Falls

ILONA KARNIŁO:

As we have managed to rest after the flight, the next morning there was a 12 hour drive ahead of us. Destination – Durban ATKV Natalia Resort. But first, we had to go back to the airport to exchange our money and buy simcards and airtime. I had to pay 100 rands for the simcard, which I found outrageous, as it is free in Poland. Also, the policy South Africans have with money exchange is very tiring. You need to give all your details and the passport, and the whole process takes ages! (5 to 10 minutes, but that’s a lot). When we finally managed to leave Johannesburg and went south, we were all amazed by the landscape, and that was the moment it got to me – I’m in South Africa! Three things I’ve learned during the trip – Ginger Beer is very tasty, but it does not contain any alcohol, Nando’s is very tasty, and cheap unlike in the UK, and biltong is not tasty at all, but I’ve managed to keep it secret so nobody gets offended. As we reached our destination, we jumped straight to the restaurant at ATKV and we were greeted with a delicious supper.

Howick Falls
KwaZulu Natal

Monday 21 March 2016

DAY ONE Poznań to Johannesburg

Few weeks ago we've traveled 8500 km of South Africa getting to know the country and ourselves. We have been back in Poland for quite some time now but adapting oneself to everyday Polish reality after almost one month of sunny and adventurous South Africa is painful. That is why it took us so long to report from our adventure. But now we want to share our South Africa with you. Each and every one of us wrote his or her own report so you have the chance to compare our notes and impressions. I found it very interesting to read my friend's notes as sometimes it seems we have been to different places. We all have different styles and observations and I think it makes our Chasing the Horizon Tour's report even more exciting. So enjoy.

The route we took:



AGATA LEŚNOWOLSKA: 

The trip is still very fresh in my mind. It was full of strong feelings and I don’t have the benefit of hindsight to help me see things more objectively and emotionlessly. Please beware, it’s life uncensored. My South Africa for you.

There were two crucial aspects of Chasing the Horizon Tour making it the most incredible and memorable experience. The first one was also the most obvious one, that is, simply South Africa. Having studied our major for quite some time, having learnt this and that about the country, having heard this viewpoint and that viewpoint about its issues I finally got to compare the notes. Was South Africa what I expected? Was my theoretical knowledge accurate and sufficient to deal with everyday South African reality? To all these questions I now have the answer.

The second aspect was actually more important and less expected. What impressed me the most was the way in which the trip was meticulously planned by prof. Olivier with an aim to make us happy. How it offered an incredible variety of experiences designed especially for the poor bunch of students for whom the sole opportunity of setting foot in a country like South Africa was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, needless to say a schedule tailored especially to our needs to make it even more memorable in every aspect. For me, that is what makes this trip so extraordinary, the awareness of all the trouble, time, knowledge, experience and effort he must have put in it to make it as special as it was. I treat it as a sign of his professionalism and kindness but also as a vote of confidence in the group of people that we happen to be. And it simply means a world. 

ZUZANNA WALISZEWSKA:

If someone had told me that in my early twenties I’d travel through South Africa, I would have laughed at it. “Yeah, sure”. But it turns out that if you work hard you can do whatever you want. Of course, probably not all of us will receive Oscar or walk on the moon, but if you can dream, why not to dream big? It wasn’t until I had seen the night lights of Johannesburg through the airplane window, that I realised “I’m in South Africa. THIS is happening NOW”.    

DAY ONE - from Poznań to Johannesburg

from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views

ILONA KARNIŁO:

At last! We landed in Johannesburg. The flight wasn’t as tiring as I expected and the KLM airlines were very decent. We were offered Amarula onboard, our first South African drink of the tour, and the tastiest one.  As we collected our luggage, the feeling of excitement got dimmed by anxiety. It was late and the night was black in every sense of the word. We’ve headed to the currency exchange bureau, where there was almost no counter opened. Unfortunately, we did not succeed to get any rands, so we went on to find our white minibus, which, with a little help of our professor, has taken us to a nearby hotel. To my surprise, the 7 of us had 3 separate rooms, each with its own bathroom. 


from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views

AGATA LEŚNOWOLSKA:

The peak of our excitement was in Warsaw, in the train and while getting to the airport. With the flying comes the revelation that lots of people travel by plane with small, small children. Now, one has to admire that. Eleven hours, dry air, turbulences, no place for anything and a baby. And what surprises you even more is that it’s quiet, peaceful and problemless. Our happy bunch probably made more noise than the kids. Then, KLM is an aircraft with good food.    
KLM's food

MICHAŁ MARCINIAK: 

It has started. We are sitting in the train to Warsaw. The rest of the passangers probably do not really share our excitement. Some of them look askance at us but we do not really care about it. I wonder if I packed everything. It seems to me that the rest also has similar thoughts. Ilona takes our t-shirts out and now we are even more excited. The journey takes only around two hours.We are at the train station in Warsaw. We decided to take a selfie using my selfie stick to post it on our Facebook page but we encounter our first problem. To be precise, I encounter a problem. I cannot open my luggage because I must have changed the code by mistake. I try to open it for a while but the results are not satisfactory. Finally we decide to take a picture without the help of 'magic stick'. I opened the lock with a knife when we get to the apartament where we stayed the night before the flight.

from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views
It is three in the morning. It is not so easy to get up. Agata and Zuza want to kill me because of my enthusiastic greeting. We are all on our way to the airport. After check-in it is time for breakfast and boarding. This is the moment. We are on board. The flight passed quickly. After less than two hours of waiting the boarding starts. I take my seat by the window and I am a bit curious who will be sitting next to me. After some time it turns out that the seats next to me are free. The door closes and half of the seats on the plane is still empty. It just could not be better. At this point I notice one of the passangers changing his seat. Why did he have to choose a seat in my row?! However, I still have a lot of space for myself. I guess I still cannot believe it. A ten-hour flight has just begun. Finally, I am on my way to South Africa. How am I supposed to survive such a long flight? Fortunately during the flight I could see some latest movies, listen to music, eat surprisingly tasty food and above all...sleep so I managed to survive. We are here, we landed in Johannesburg. We  quickly go through passport control and we are heading to our rented van. But it is not that easy  because we cannot find it for a while. After we found out our vehicle and we packed all our luggages into the trailer, we set off to our first destination – Airport Lodge Guest House. We are all tired so we quickly go to bed to rest before our first 'day' in South Africa.

KLM, from Amsterdam to Johannesburg

ADRIAN PTASZYŃSKI:

from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views
A little bit of anxiety that accompanied me since the initial ticket booking reaches its heights in the early morning – after all, it is utterly stupid of me to fly over Northern Africa in this political climate.  However, after boarding the main plane to Johannesburg and soaring over Sahara, anxiety gives place to full-on amazement – it's richness lies in its emptiness. I muse about being down there as a hermit, a spiritually heightened philosopher. All the peace and serenity captivates me and my urge to descend into the sands almost brings the whole plane down. After landing in Joburg and stepping outside the terminal, an expected and yet utterly unexpected wave of heat hits me in the face, bringing strange pleasure. I have a lovely first smoke with a local police officer under the 'No Smoking' sign – it confirms my hopeful expectations that people here will not have a habit of mindlessly obeying all the idiotic laws and regulations that the European Union loves so much. In the evening, I cherish and rejoice in the undescribable feeling of meeting Africa personally and setting my foot on her – I am convinced at once how beautiful this relationship will be.


from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views
ZUZANNA WALISZEWSKA:

from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views
Our big journey started on Wednesday at 18.40. I could say that actually this journey has started almost three years ago, when I decided to study South African culture and language, but let’s skip those years and get straight to the point. After two hours of sitting in a train we arrived to Warsaw and after the next hour we were all in our apartments ready to fall asleep just for a few hours to catch a plane afterwards.  Waking up at 3 am after two hours of sleep is not fun at all. Especially, when you feel like killing anyone who will even look at you. However, you can feel way better if you realise that in less than 24 hours you will be in South Africa. 

Our first flight- to Amsterdam- was only two- hour- long. It’s nothing when compared to the flight to Johannesburg that was ten- hour- long. Nevertheless, I remember that some of us were quite anxious while eating our breakfast at the airport. People were looking at the screen saying “There’s boarding already. Come on! Let’s eat faster!”. At that time I thought “Oh my God, it’s going to be like this for the next 25 days…”. Luckily, I was wrong.

As we arrived to Amsterdam we walked through the gates to get on a plane to South Africa. During ten hours of flight we were chatting, eating, sleeping, taking photos and again- eating. Thanks to KLM airlines some catchphrases like “Would you like a hot towel, sir?” became the mottos of our tour.  

After ten hours we arrived to South Africa. I still can remember Agata’s and mine excitement when we saw the night lights of Johannesburg. Probably we were too tired to express our happiness. We spent over an hour at the airport searching for a parking lot and when we arrived there we saw THAT. Waentjie. At that time I didn’t know that waentjie will play such a major role in our lives.  

Our first time in Johannesburg was nothing but unpacking and going to bed. I can remember, that Michał was quite shocked when he realised that South African sockets are quite different than Polish ones. The perspective of uncharged phone was probably the biggest nightmare that could ever happen to some of us. 


from Amsterdam to Johannesburg views