The “camp” we were going to with the TLP kids was in the Transkei region of South Africa. Kosi grew up in the Transkei and her mother is a school teacher at an elementary school there.
The Transkei was a quasi-independent area formed in 1963 that was not governed by South Africa during apartheid. The closest thing in America would be an Indian reservation, but there are important differences. In 1994 it was reintegrated into South Africa as a part of the Eastern Cape Province. Because it was not part of South Africa there was no investment in infrastructure or education from South Africa during its 30 years of existence. And even since 1994, it has not received the money to invest as it should have.
It was a nearly 6 hour drive from our home-away-from-home near Umkomaas to our next “home” in the Transkei in Port St John. When we crossed into the Transkei, it was akin to going to another country. One indication of that was the road quality. We dodged lots of potholes.
We stopped for breakfast in a Casino hotel just inside the Transkei border. I would judge it equivalent to a mid-level Las Vegas hotel. The TLP kids had never seen a hotel like that in their lives. They each got a breakfast and then 5 tokens to go play games in the game room. More than one of the kids mentioned those games as the highlight of the week we were with them.
After breakfast, Schaun took them on a tour of the lobby and the pool area. When we walked around the corner into the pool area, there was an audible gasp from many of the children. It was a new experience for them. Then it was back in the car for the rest of the journey.
The region is dotted with homes and some bigger clusters that would be villages or towns. Most of the houses had a large garden which were well tended. There were outhouse near the homes and many had large cisterns to collect the water off the roof of the house See the picture on the right. That would be their water supply. There is little or no running water. There is electricity to the houses. Here are pictures of the houses.
The country side is beautiful. Large rolling hills with big valleys. Animals were everywhere. We saw cows, goats, and sheep all grazing on the side of the road, and occasionally crossing the road.
We took a side excursion to Magbe falls. Apparently it is not well known and rarely visited. If it were in Colorado, it would be a National Park and have tons of visitors every year. When we were there, there were no other visitors except some local boys. More on that later. Part of the reason was the dusty, gravel road to get there. We went through a massive tea plantation, and was not well maintained. The view was worth it. We had a short walk with a steep climb down to the small river which we had to wade across to get to the other side. It was a short climb up to view the falls. The boys (on the right were there when we got there. They live nearby and were just playing in the river. They were pretty interested in the group of white folks that showed up.
You can see the falls are very steep and you don’t get much warning. I didn’t see it, but apparently there is a pick-up truck in the bottom. Schaun was very careful to keep the kids away from the edge. Parents—would you let your elementary school age boys play unsupervised around the falls? I’m pretty sure I know the answer that question.
A view from the other side.