Day Eight: Dodgy backpacking and vintage shopping

Last night was an interesting one for this confused traveller. After a free filter coffee from the Ultra-Stop in the Midlands I took out my little backpacker boekie and searched for a backpackers in Pietermaritzburg. Called them, and although the lady who answered the phone did not sound enthusiastic at all, and although my gut told me not to, I booked a room.

Eish.

This was my first time in a backpackers and I don’t know if all backpackers are like this but I am definitely not going back. Not alone anyways. I had a private room in the house, luckily, as there were seven or eight other people there too, half of them construction workers, two from Holland, and another few who I did not speak to. There was one bathroom with a toilet and one with a shower. The shower room was so small that you can’t have both the shower door and the door to the room open, so you basically have to get in the shower, close the main door and then close the shower door. It was awkward. There were pubes on the bathroom floor and men’s underwear hanging in both the bathrooms. OH EM GEE. Guess I had to experience it at some point. Oh ja, AND my room didn't have a key so I couldn't lock it. Needless to say my pepper spray was close at hand all night.

Anyways, creepy evening aside, I spent the morning in the Voortrekker Museum in town and learned a few new things about my man Retief and his Trekkers. For example, Pietermaritzburg is named after Voortrekker leaders Piet Retief and Gerrit Maritz and it was established as a township by March 1939. Also, the Voortrekkers used herbs and other natural medicines to heal the sick among them and each house had a ‘Huis Apoteek’ (home pharmacy) which had mostly Lennon’s pharmaceutical products. I totally rely on Lennon’s. The bergamot essence apparently makes your hair grow quicker.

The best part of the day was meeting up with a friend from Durban. It was soooo good to see a familiar face again and to be pulled back out of the travel haze I have been living in. Thank you Lauren! We did some vintage clothes shopping as well and I am now the proud owner of two new lovely items. Thank you Lauren!

Tonight I am in a very shmancy BnB in the beautiful Hilton and tomorrow I am hopefully heading to uMgungundlovu- the secret conclave of the elephant. It is where King Dingane’s kraal was and also where Retief’s gravesite is. My trek is nearing its end physically but emotionally and spiritually it will live on forever. There’s some yummy cheese for you to enjoy on this lovely Wednesday evening. 

Voortrekker/Msunduzi Museum, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. 2013.

Church of the Vow. This church was built in commemoration of the vow made by the Trekkers before the Battle of Bloodriver, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. 2013. 

Piet Retief as he came over the Drakensburg. Statue is in the Voortrekker Complex, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. 2013.

Frankie and I outside a charity shop in Pietermaritzburg. Big smile after a good day :)

Day Seven: Graffiti, dirt, and dust

How Frankie has not signed for a divorce yet I don’t know. Today we had another dirt and pothole road adventure through the mountains. One of the things I did actually plan for this trip was to see a painting on a rock face at the foot of the Kerkenberg done by Piet Retief’s daughter, Deborah. The painting, well more like graffiti, is still there today and is of Piet’s name and the date of his birthday which was when Debs painted it.

Frankie barely made it up those mountains so I have no idea how the trekkers got up with there with their ‘home on wheels’. Once you eventually get up there, though, it is one of the most spectacular feelings you will ever feel. The Kerkenberg mountain stands proudly above you, so mighty, so powerful, and in the opposite direction are other smallish mountains, part of the Drakensburg I presume, which all surrounded by the vast open veld. Beautiful doesn't describe it. It’s more than beautiful. It’s unreal. I sat there for a while and ate my packed salad bun and wondered what the Trekkers did when they camped up here.

On my way to the klip, which by the way has no signs from the road telling you where it is, you literally have to take that random dirt road that leads up the mountain and hope that you are going the right way. While searching for the klip I found a huge sea of water called  the Sterkfontein Dam and right then and there I wished I had a group of friends and some food because it makes for the perfect picnic spot. On the one side you have a view of the Drakensburg and the other is of the hills and veld areas alongside the R57. It’s so peaceful J

Anyway, I know I originally said that my trek was ending in Pietermaritzburg, which is where I am now, but it is not done just yet. I still have a few more things to see, photos to take and stories to share. So keep reading. Prease :p 

The turn-off to the BnB I stayed at in Bethlehem, Free State. 2013.

On a random dirt road waving to my only friend- myself (haha). Somewhere

in the Free State. 2013.

Sterkfontein Dam, Free State. 2013. 

Dassie on a rock at Sterkfontein Dam, Free State. 2013.

Somewhere close to Bergville, Free State. 2013.

Pretty-ness, Free State. 2013.

At the Retief Klip, foot of the Kerkenberg, Drakensburg. 2013.

South Africa's first graffiti. Not really. Retief Klip, Drakensburg. 2013.

Kerkenberg, Drakensburg. 2013.

One of the 'koppies' you can see from Retief Klip, Drakensburg. 2013

The Great Trek: 175 years later

TASK: Write a 5 000 word non-fiction article

IDEA: Redo the Great Trek

AIM: Find some resemblance of an answer to the question: Who am I?

MISSION: 1175 KM (roughly)

175 years ago over 15 000 semi-nomadic boers packed their jawbone-shaped ox-wagons and headed for the unknown- the interiors of Southern Africa. Similar to these determined trekkers who left their homes in search of new life, I am leaving my home in search of a new beginning.

Following voortrekker leader Piet Retief's route as closely as possible, I will embark from Grahamstown on the 14th of August 2013 (tomorrow) and head for Pietermaritzburg. Driving in my blue Hyundai Getz, Frankie (named after 'ol blue eyes, Frank Sinatra), I will explore the rural Eastern Cape, the Orange Free State, and end my trek in the fertile land of KwaZulu-Natal.

I hope to get some clarity on where I stand on my identity as an Afrikaner and I not only want to try and answer the question, 'who am I' but also, 'am I or am I not an Afrikaner.' I hope that by travelling in the footsteps of my ancestors the answers to these questions will become more clear. My only plan is to get from Grahamstown to Pietermaritzburg in 10 to 12 days. I have not booked any accommodation, and I have no idea what awaits me. Just like my ancestors did not know what awaited them all those years ago.

This project is part of an assignment for my Writing and Editing Course in which I have to write a 5 000 word non-fiction article on any topic of my choice (this is my fourth and final year as a Journalism student at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape). This blog is a digital diary of my trek- what I see, what I discover, what I lose, what I gain, what I hope for, and what I fear.

If you have any comments, advice, or ideas that you would like to share, check the Contact page.