Today was a driving day between the Cape Region and the Great Karoo. I wanted to share a few thoughts and mostly photos to show you what the landscape looks like, before I delve into the Karoo in more detail tomorrow. Leaving my quaint campsite in the vineyard just north of Cape Town I drove through many more miles of valley-filled vineyards nestled in some pretty rugged and rocky mountains. Here a couple of pictures depicing the scene:
If you love wines, wow, this is the place to go. I have never seen so many acres of vineyards – they simply go on an on in the valleys. I am sure this rivals, or perhaps exceeds, the NAPA valley in California. However, the mountain valley setting is more spectacular in my opinion. Sean, if you were here I don’t think we would have made it very far today and probably would be saying the same a week from now.
Now, I dont’ want to suggest that everything is idyllic in wine country, because there is a “dark” side to all of this. We all know that apartheid is officially over in South Africa, but that is more of a political reality than a practial one. Yes, the SA government is now run predominantly by the majority black Africans, but the reality is that the white South Africans still run almost all of the major businesses while the black South Africans provide the manual labor. This is certainly true in wine country. All the vineyards and major businesses appear to be white owned and run, but it looks to me like most of the labor is done by very poor black South Africans. There is a definite economic class divide, rather a grand canyon, between the white professional class and the black laborers. This is very evident in the residential settings. The white community mostly lives in modern houses, often in gated communities, while the black laborers live outside of town (and in some places reasonably hidden from view) in what can best be described as “slums” or “shanty towns”, or in more politically correct terms ,”informal settlements” and “squatter camps”, as depicted here:
Most of the area’s that have white settlements, such as the valley’s with vineyards, have one of these “slum” camps nearby for the laborers. Note, I wasn’t able to photgraph these very well because, quite honestly, I felt awkward and more than a bit embarassed driving my big rig stopping to photograph these camps with the many onlookers. So, you will have to trust that the picture above was repeated many times.
Back to a more postive note! Leaving wine country and heading north, I traveled through several vineyard-filled mountain valleys on some pretty “fun” mountain roads, as shown here:
Gussy would have “enjoyed” this drive – ha! Gradually, as I drove north the landscape got drier and drier, as evidenced by the semi-arid desert vegetation and almost complete lack of human habitation, and I transitioned into what is called the Great Karoo ecosystem on my way to Karoo National Park. But I don’t want to spoil you with a description of the Karoo just yet, so you will have to tune in again tomorrow after I spend a day exploring the Park!
Kev, I don’t know if I should feel guilty for enjoying an occasional South African wine…. or feel OK since ultimately I am supporting the laborer’s jobs. Not sure how to fix this global wealth vs poverty relationship that has evolved over centuries.
Keep on drinking as I am sure all would be worse off without the employment opportunity. A solution is not forthcoming or an easy one. I’m not sure government intervention would solve it since government corruption is rampant. I can’t think of any practical solution!????
Well, wine from that part of the world has never been on my list…
But, I’ll go get a bottle and enjoy your future blogging while I immerse myself in the flavor of this adventure…
Thanks!
Great idea Tom!
Do they have a minimum wage? Is it livable?
Yes, they have a government required min wage of roughly 1 USD per hour, but I suspect many are working for less than that as the government here is pretty corrupt. Don’t know if that wage is sufficient, but I suspect it is barely enough to live on so long as you don’t mind living in a corrugated metal hut without about 100 ft2 of living space.
The squatter’s camp looks a lot like some areas of Mexico.
Yes, I suspect it is not an uncommon site in the less developed parts of the world. I have certainly seen a lot of poverty across the world and minimal living conditions, but I must say I haven’t seen too many “shanty camps” where they are all packed in so tight. Not a pleasing site to see; that is, I empathize with those that are born into this without choice or viable alterntive. Cheers.
Love the pictures and the commentary. I don’t know the solution either to the wealth disparity! 😞. Safe travels. Looking forward to the next one! Be safe. ❤️
Thanks cuz!
Good to hear your voice this morning when you and Nancy connected by video call. The two of us were getting ready for a morning hike along the trails at the Twin Buttes Trail System outside Durango. We were the only hikers as it turned out.
Sounds like you are finally on the road to exploring the rest of South Africa. Phil would indeed enjoy that wine country. He is off to the car races at Laguna Seca so he will be seeing a bit of ocean as well as cars, but no penguins, unfortunately. Sea otters are pretty cool, tho.
Mary
Thanks Mary, and thanks for keeping Nancy entertained and engaged! Yes, he may have sea otters but I have clawless otters, top that. Cheers.
You know my Mom (Gussie) would have enjoyed anywhere you would have taken her. She trusted you implicitly ❤️
I know, butshe sure was fun to challenge and push her limits of comfort.
Fun that you brought up Gussie on her birthday!
Yes, she was one in a million!
Great pictures. If you have ever traveled off the beaten paths of America, you can also see the divide between wealth and poverty. It’s everywhere. It’s sad!!
Yes, but it’s nothing cose to as bad as it is here. Homeless people are everywhere of course, but I don’t see these kind of “shanty camps” in the US.
This is true, but I saw some pretty awful living situations here. At least most, not all, having running water and a toilet. The wage is horrible their f or the hours/labor worked. Love you and always count our blessings. We don’t realize what we have here until we travel.
I can’t imagine where all the sewage ends up in these camps! Love ya.
Beautiful photos Kevin!
Glad you like!