Riffs on South Africa

Many years ago, Leon Uris wrote a book about Ireland entitled "A Terrible Beauty."  That would also be an apt name for a book about South Africa.  The land is beautiful, the people are wonderful, but there are hosts of problems, and an underlying tension that will not be easy to solve.

Maybe I over read it, but Carol and I both noticed numerous instances of white Afrikaners being rude to blacks.  Maybe people are very brusque there, but there was not a lot of the natural courtesy we are used to.  Although, one South African man noted that he thought Americans are too polite, so maybe it is cultural and not racial.

There is certainly hope for the country -- it's a beautiful land, with opportunity and hope for the future.  The example set by Nelson Mandela has kept the country from falling into a cauldron of revenge and anger.  At the same time, the townships, the education system, and the racial splits suggest the country has a long way to go.  The biggest problem facing the country, however, is the corruption among the politicians, which is evidenced in many ways, including the current housing scandals.

On less serious topics:

Stop signs appear to be optional -- sort of like suggestions.  The drivers pay attention to stoplights, but apparently "stop" means go south of the equator in this part of the world.

The food was fabulous everywhere we ate.  We chose a couple of well-regarded restaurants, but even excluding those places we ate well.

Rugby is the major world sport I don't get.  I've been taught cricket, but have never gotten rugby.  It's certainly a huge sport among whites in South Africa.  Basketball appears to be making in-roads in the country, and the NBA will be happy to hear I saw a bunch of official merchandise being both worn and sold.  Of course, I also saw some unofficial merchandise, with the NY Yankees hat that had "Yankees" in purple being most memorable.  Note to MLB: Send your lawyers to South Africa!

There are reasons everyone raves about Cape Town.  It's a neat city, but more importantly, between the Cape of Good Hope and Winelands, it's a short drive to a variety of beauty and nature.  We did not go on the Garden Route, and nor did we do any of the adventures, such as shark cage diving (on my list for next time) or bungee jumping (not on my list!).  I'd also like to hike up Table Mountain some time -- we didn't really have time this trip.