November 3, 2007

Happy Birthday Grandma!
This morning I woke up at 5:30am and from my bed I had a beautiful view of the sun rising. I watched for a little bit and then went back to sleep for another hour. Ee were up and eating breakfast at 7:00am ready to start our long day. We ate out on the deck overlooking the lagoon and the ocean! It would be so nice to wake up to that scene every morning. At 7:30am we met Michael and Tobaya at “Big Green” the big green 4x4 that we were going to take on the tour of the Transkei. The vehicle was an old 1969 military vehicle which served the medics. We all piled in and bounced back and forth in the backseats. We stopped at the Great Kei River (pronounced Kie…like pie) and we walked along the flood plains to the ferry that would take us across the river to the other side. We drove Big Green onto the ferry and we rode across where we went to see another river that has much religious symbolism for the Xhosa people and Sangomas (their witch doctors). After more driving we came to another river where we hiked up a large hill to get to he pools off of the river. There were large rocks and cliffs surrounding the pools. All of us changed into our swimsuits at the top in the middle of a field with towels wrapped around our waists! We climbed down the first rocks and went into the water! It was chilly but we got used to the water, then I climbed the rocks on the opposite side of the pool to the top of the cliff. Brenna and Katherine were up there, and Christy and I met them up there. They were too scared to jump, so they made me go first. I stood at the edge, with my toes hanging over, took a deep breath and jumped! I couldn’t even count to three because that would psych myself out! As I jumped, I thought, “What the heck was I thinking!?!” but I slapped into the water and it hurt the bottom of my feet because I didn’t point my toes! It was a lot of fun. Christy jumped after me, and after much coaxing Brenna then Katherine jumped. Christy and I climbed back up again and did it one more time! The second time it was much more graceful! We swam under the little waterfall for a bit and then had to climb back up the steep rocks to go and change. We all went to our “changing spot” and got dressed. We walked back to Big Green and we drove to a nice overlook to sit by the water and have sandwiches for lunch. It was peaceful sitting by the water and listening to the waves slap against the rocks. The Wild Coast gets its name from the dangerous currents and tides along the strip of shoreline in the Eastern Cape. It is ranked in the top five more dangerous pieces of shore for ships to sail. It is dangerous because there are three different currents coming to shore, one from the North going South along the Eastern coast, another coming up from Cape Town going South to North along the Eastern coast, and finally a current coming from the South Atlantic into shore. There were large waves that break out very far from shore.

After lunch we went to a Xhosa Village where we met Mama Tofu and she taught us about the Xhosa culture. We watched the young girls dancing traditional dances in their outfits. Then Mama Tofu explained the symbolism with the outfits that the women wear. She taught us about the role that each person has within their clan. Her daughter then told us about the slaughtering of animals, a cow is slaughtered when a man dies, and a goat is slaughtered when a baby is born. The hide of the goat is then used as a blanket for the child when he or she is carried their mother’s back or when they sleep. We watched the women make mealies and grind corn. Then we had the chance to buy beadwork from the women. I bought a purse and some jewelry as well as some gifts that I am really excited about giving to people! When we were finished with our shopping we were served a small meal to sample some of the traditional foods. It was so delicious! The stew was incredible! Tonya and I shared a plate and we really enjoyed that part of the meal! It started to rain and thunder, so we went into one of the huts to listen about marriage rituals before taking a few pictures and going back to the backpackers.

We arrived at the backpackers and before dinner I read my book and just relaxed. Dinner was served at 7:30 in the guest house and we were served a traditional Xhosa dinner. We had soup, beans, meat, sweet potatoes, squash, and spinach. It was very delicious, and the dessert was very yummy as well. After dinner we all went back to our room and we all sat around talking and reading, then we went to bed! It was an early night for all of us!