The "True African Experience"

Ever since I decided to come to South Africa, I have been bombarded with people questioning me as to whether or not I will be getting the “true African experience.” When I first heard these words, I was able to create a nice picture that I thought very fitting of the African experience. The image that I generated, I am embarrassed to say, would be all too familiar to any Disney fan who has happened to watch The Lion King one too many times. However after being in Africa for over a month, I seemed to have lost the idea that all of Africa is just one big mass of land where animals ran wild and people wore nothing but loincloths and war paint. Ok, so I pictured it a big more civilized that that, but you get the idea. Instead I have come to a place that embodies a variety of people, from a number of different cultures, who all lead very distinctive lifestyles. There many people that still hold on to the traditional lifestyle of Africa that one would imagine, where they perform rituals and incorporate music and dance in their daily activities. There are some who are just your typical city person and walk to and from work in a tall, modern business building downtown. Others are your typical beach bums who look much like those that cover the sands of California, surfing and drinking all day and night. And then you have the Afrikaans who descend from the original Dutch settlers in Cape Town and are much like your characteristic White, wealthy Europeans. Because of the vast array of people and cultures that exist in this city, it has become hard for me to pinpoint what exactly the “true African experience” really is. The point of this introduction is to say that while I am planning several activities within the next month that will enable me to experience what I previously considered the real Africa, I would like to share with you my broadening view of what the people of this continent are really like.

            With all of that said, I would now like to talk about my adventures this past weekend which, in my opinion, allowed me to see even more of the land and the culture of South Africa than I have thus far. Being an international student at UCT, I get to choose three societies (clubs) to join for free, in order to promote the involvement of foreign students in the school’s organizations. One of the societies that I was dying to join was the Mountain and Ski Society. I knew that this club would give me a chance to explore areas of South Africa that I might not have heard of under the guide of local students who were my age. In my opinion, this provided a more authentic experience as I could relate to and form friendships with the students as opposed to a tour guide, and get to see what people my age do in their time off.

            This weekend we kicked off the start of Mountain and Ski with an overnight hike in a mountain range about 2 hours from campus that is actually owned by the UCT society. We found a ride with a third-year engineer named Luke. He took us all the way to the mountain where we met up with the other cars, packed up our bags, and got the show on the road. After the first 20 minutes of the hike, we reached a large dam surrounded by a lake full of water. Here we took off our bags and got into our bathing suits. We took a nice relaxing dip in the water to cool off as it was just reaching about the hottest point of the day. While we were looking for a soothing, leisurely swim, others were seeking a bit more of an adventure as they went straight to the top of the dam with the intention of jumping off into the water. One by one people would launch their bodies into the air only to end their fall with a large slap into the water. A few brave, maybe even a little bit mentally unstable, students actually tore off all of their clothes and went in completely nude. Now that was not something that I was expecting to see at any point, let alone so early in the afternoon. After seeing the excitement on the faces of each person as they flew threw the air, and even when their heads popped up from underwater, I knew that I had to give it a go. With a bit of convincing, I was able to coax both of my friends to join me in my jump off of the dam. When we reached the top, we got an encouraging countdown from tour audience that really got the adrenaline to kick in. at the sound of the word “one” we put all our fears behind and released our clenching hands from the top of the dam. I felt such a rush as I fell through the air and hit the water with great force. I was so happy to have done the jump and could not wait to experience what more the rest of the hike had to offer.

            After we took time to enjoy our lunch, we took off to complete the rest of the climb. On our way up we ran into a wonderful little guy named Richard who seemed to me like a somewhat younger, more polished version of the crocodile hunter. He literally knew everything and anything there was to know about our surroundings and wildlife in South Africa. Richard had grown up on a farm in northern South Africa where they kept a variety of animals, ranging from your average pet dog to 3 crocodiles to a number of ostriches. He comes from a family of veterinarians, including both of his parents as well as several of his grandparents. Richard had traveled throughout much of southern Africa and knew the ins and outs of the surrounding mountains, parks, and deltas. He proved to be extremely helpful throughout the entire trip as he stopped to show us wild animal tracks or point out birds flying through the air, made sure we were supplied with snacks and coffee in the morning, set up our rock climbing equipment, and made sure to lead us on our way back down the next morning. If you have not already noticed, me friends and I were quite keen on Richard, as they would say in South Africa. While he was not your typical Prince Charming, he somehow had a unique charm as a result of his humble, yet endless supply of knowledge.

            Anyway, enough about Richard. God forbid he ever see this and think I am completely nuts. When we finally reached our campsite, which I might add looked nothing like a place that I would ever just drop my bags and roll out to sleep, we set up our sleeping bags in a “bare spot” just big enough for the three of us to fit “comfortably.” Excuse my frequent use of quotations but I find them completely necessary due to the lack of comfort in which we were forced to sleep. Next to our campsite we found a beautiful collection of natural rock pools where we were able to sit back, relax, and refresh ourselves from the long day of hiking. While the majority of people took position down on the edge of the larger rock pool, we managed to find a nice little pool overlooking the rest of the water. For the next few hours we made this little hot tub our sanctuary as various South Africans came in and out to start up conversation. Above the larger rock pool down below, there was a high rock that provided a likely source of entertainment as people would leap off into the air and fall into the water. The entire afternoon consisted of us lying around soaking in the sun, amusing ourselves among the rocks, and striking up interesting conversations with our South African company.

            Later that night, a party was set up at the base of our campsite. A group of ambitious hikers had actually trekked all the way up the mountain carrying 3 kegs of beer above their heads on two long wooden poles. God knows how they managed to do it, but it sure proved to be worth it to them as they got the party rolling before sunset. Throughout the night, people enjoyed the drinks and the snacks that were provided, but more importantly we were given time to get to know people that came from all different backgrounds. The three of us were able to spend a great deal of time with a South African who had spent all of his childhood in Japan due to his missionary parents. We also met a guy from the Netherlands, who was not shy to share his opinion on the arrogant and ignorant Americans. Of course we did our best to nip these stereotypes in the bud but who knows how successful we truly were.

            During all of the excitement of meeting new people and watching some of our fellow hikers enjoy one too many drinks, we could not forget about our darling Richard who was rock climbing off to the side with a couple of friends. Without having to be too persuasive, he coaxed us into giving it a try, despite the fact that at this point the sun was completely sunk and there was little to no light to be seen. Of course we were not to worry because Richard came prepared with his head torch that provided just enough light to see the rock that we would be climbing. It was really quite the experience getting to climb something a bit more authentic than the rock walls that I have become accustomed to seeing at birthday parties or in school gyms. Not only did we get the chance to climb on a real mountain, but as we ascended to the top, we could look out into the sky to see the moon rising to fill the mountain with light. It was an incredible sight to see the light creep out onto our campsite and watch the complete blackness suddenly turn into the familiar sight of the people and our belongings. After our climb and a bit more conversing with the South Africans who were becoming increasingly more crazed by the minute, we decided to call it a night and return to our luxurious, and oh so spacious, set up across the camp. The night was not so relaxing as the latter part of the day had been, due to our lack of a bed mat (we were mistaken by assuming that a sleeping bag would suffice), but we made it through the night with only a few bumps and bruises as a result of the spread of pebbles lying beneath our bodies.

            All in all the weekend hike was a tremendous success. We were able to venture even more out of our comfort zones by leaving our Interstudy group of abroad students and staying overnight with a bunch of local UCT students. As I said before, I am not completely certain as to what the “true African experience” is, but we have exposed ourselves to yet another aspect of South African life that has enabled us to add on to the plentiful list of experiences that we have encountered in attempt to better understand this country and its people.