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for March, 2009.
By geoff
We made it home this morning after 18.5 hours of travel. I had a breakfast burrito in Washington Dulles airport and it was about the best thing I’ve ever eaten.
many thanks to all of the people who made this piece of our project a huge success including the people who write the checks that make it all possible.
Earlier in the blog I promised some video of Jason performing his best shot at an American accent. Unfortunately, Jason never got quite drunk enough to carry out this plan (at least not in our presence). Instead you will have to settle for this video shot on location in Ramaphosa Township.
jason-impersonation
Thank you all for your words of encouragement and smart aleck comments. They kept us going.
Next stops: Barbados, Calgary and several US cities. Stay tuned……
By geoff
I’m a little late with this one. Tuesday night was our last night in Port Elizabeth so we did a little bon voyage celebrating with some locals down on Parliament street. Here’s some pics and video from the night.
Keith chats Khaya up
The scene outside Zanzibar
Zimi and I
This is Sam. Thank God someone had a name I couldn't butcher.
L-R Ceando, Me and Lutando
Lutando and his brothers are local hip hop musicians and producers. Lutando raps in Xhosa, Afrikaans and English. Here’s some Xhosa freestyle.
lutando
We made it back to Johannesburg today. Apparently we are a day late to witness a pretty large uprising of the Minibus taxi drivers that rule the roads in downtown Johannesburg.
Tomorrow we ship out. One stop for fuel in Dakar, Senegal and we will be home by Friday morning.
By geoff
We took the day off to check out Addo Elephant National Park. Addo was established in the 1960’s to protect elephants in South Africa from hunters. It’s just like a National park you’d find in the states except it is filled with African elephants and other cool creatures and you can’t get out of your car (unless in a designated area) because you might be eaten by various animals that roam freely. Below you will find photos and some quicktime video links.
We ran into this guy about 5 minutes inside the park gate. We don't have a telephoto lens for the still camera with us, so he's about 15 yards from the car in this shot.
I kept catching myself looking for a fence or something to separate us from these enormous animals. There aren't any.
Those brown bumps are termite mounds
The Vervet Monkeys got pretty curious.
Vervet in tree
This little Vervet baby came pretty close.
Here’s some monkey video.
here-monkey-monkey
Nelson knows the park well and he was on a mission to get us as close to the animals as possible. I should know by now that when Nelson is on a mission, the mission will be carried out. We came across a huge bull crossing the road on its way to a watering hole . The pictures and video should speak for themselves.
Keith did some in-camera slow motion of this close encounter so there will be no audio.
close-call
We didn’t see any lions but we could see evidence of their presence.
Warthog carcass and a skull from another animal that we couldn't figure out.
A warthog "before" picture
we alighted
L-R Nelson, Keith, Me, Jason
Here is some more video of a big bull at a watering hole.
muddy-elephant
By geoff
Today was our last production day in the Townships. We spent the first half of the day with Nelson in Ramaphosa Township, an “informal settlement” that is supported with nutritional and educational programs by The Calabash Trust. The tour company Nelson works for established this NGO in order to help township visitors make a direct impact on the townships they visit. Ramaphosa is one of the Port Elizabeth townships that is most in need. To learn more about Calabash Trust you can visit their URL http://www.calabashtrust.co.za
I will now start the photography section of today’s blog with some crowd pleasers.
This little guy had just been let out of the preschool provided by The Calabash Trust
Playing in the yard, Ramaphosa Township
The Ramaphosa kids are totally into seeing themselves in High Definition.
After Ramaphosa we headed off to meet Lubabalo and his Nephew, David. We had some “finishing touches” production to do in several areas including the Jarvis Gqamlana school in Red Location.
Keith sets up an exterior at Jarvis Gqamlana school
Everybody loves the lunch lady no matter where you are
These kids would like to reassure you that, despite recent events, print journalism is not dead.
"Schools out! hey, let's go see what that bald white guy with camera is doing in the parking lot!"
Gqamlana kids stick around for an after school draughts program.
Keith is going to have a hard time going home. He is treated like a rock star wherever he goes.
Keith and Jason made the mistake of accepting David’s challenge of a game of checkers. They were eviscerated rather quickly.
Keith, shortly before the tears bagan.
David tried his best to be nice about the slaughter.
We wrapped for the day and for this section of the trip. We celebrated with a few Windhoek’s (local beer) and did some body surfing on the beach across the street from our hotel. The water here is steel-balls cold. It has been pretty strange spending all day in the townships, then coming back to a beach side hotel. A bit surreal.
Summerstrand beach
The slave driver in me put together a pretty taxing production schedule so tomorrow we are off to spend our last day in this part of SA at Addo National Park. Some of the other visitors that are staying in our hotel have been returning from Addo with some amazing pictures of massive wild African elephants and warthogs etc. We are excited for a little R&R.
By geoff
We spent most of the day hanging out with Lubabalo and his draughts (checkers) friends in Veeplaas Township. The guys play every Sunday in a small cinder block building lit by one window. It’s quite a sight. Lots of smack talk and slapping of checker pieces onto well-worn boards. Not anything like the Checkers play we’re used to seeing. The location itself was a bit hectic as it was next to a neighborhood shebeen (tavern). The scene was busy and Nelson and I were too occupied by explaining to the locals why 2 random Americans and a barbaric South African guy were in their neighborhood to take any pictures. Sorry ACF guys, you’ll have to watch the movie.
The rest of today’s blog is dedicated to Keith and Jason. Day after day, they somehow manage to block out the strange situations that we inevitably run into in order to return home with what are really some stunning, relevant and, more importantly, useful images. Thank you guys.
Keith: Township action hero
He's single, ladies.
Jason is the manliest dude on the Western Cape. Especially when he is on the Eastern Cape
Cape Town-ers be warned, we are shipping him back to you soon.
Tomorrow is our last day of production in the Port Elizabeth townships. It is sure to be bittersweet.
-Geoff
By geoff
Today we had our fly-in interview in the morning and then we helped Lubabalo throw a braii (barbecue) at his mother’s house in Red Location Township. I was unaware that Xhosa families are traditionally quite large so when I asked Lubabalo how many of his immediate family members would be there I was a bit surprised when he said “40″.
There is a great sense of reverence for the elders in the Xhosa culture that is very touching. When you arrive at a function like this you must first greet the family elders, it is considered a sign of disrespect if you don’t. The elders always eat first. Here are some pics from the day.
Chow time at the braii
Enjoying some Hansa Pilsner
The kids here are inescapable and each one is more adorable than the next.
Jason gets overrun in Red Location
Keith and Jason eventually survived this savage attack by a bunch of township kids.
Red Location kids
Even the township dogs benefit from Ubuntu. They are owned by no one and cared for by all.
Jason has been shooting some behind the scenes video with his phone. You will need Quicktime to see these, just click the links below.
kid-pics party-prep
Continuing the trip tradition of staying open minded about food I bring you Eisbein. It is some part of a pig’s leg ( I can’t seem to get a straight answer about this). They fry it so the outside is extra crispy. It’s probably the largest amount of fat I’ve consumed in one sitting and I didn’t eat much more after this photo was taken. It tasted pretty good but did absolutely terrible things to my stomach. This was dinner last night.
Beware the Eisbein.
By geoff
Today was very powerful. We spent the day with Lubabalo Kondlo experiencing township life and Xhosa culture.
Keith sets up a shot in Wells Estates Township
Lubabalo's neighbor, Victoria, is sort of the drive through of the neighborhood. She will cook you some serious Hake (fish) in that black pot of hers.
A Wells Estates neighbor does some laundry by hand.
We got some amazing stuff.
shooting a township draughts (checkers) game, New Brighton Township.
These guys are playing draughts on a board and with pieces they've made by hand, New Brighton Township.
The Township kids are really sweet and extremely curious about our cameras.
New Brighton Township
Keith has a new friend, New Brighton Township
New Brighton Township
Jason introduces the kids to the squirrel
I don't know where we would be without our guide, Nelson. We love you Nelson.
Red Location Township Kids
Red Location Township
Red Location Township
Red Location Township
By geoff
Port Elizabeth city center
After an early morning flight we arrived in Port Elizabeth and met up with our driver and guide, Nelson. Those of you have visited our Company website, will know Nelson as the guy giving Xhosa language lessons to a tourist on a piece of video we have posted in connection with King Me. When I began my research into the Townships around Port Elizabeth, Nelson’s Youtube Xhosa lesson was one of the first videos I found. I ended up hiring him some months later to drive and guide us through the townships.
Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth is an old seaside city. It is quite beautiful and, mercifully for Keith and I, much more laid back and less stressful than Johannesburg. It somewhat resembles Long Beach, CA if you’ve ever been there.
We are coming to understand that South Africa is a bit like 2 countries within 1. There is the country that exists in the cities like Port Elizabeth and then the other country that exists in the townships that surround the cities. We are here to spend most of the remainder of our trip in the townships that lie 5-8 miles outside of Port Elizabeth. I was nervous about this part of the trip because I didn’t know what to expect. We spent the second half of the day with Nelson getting acquainted with and shooting broll in several of the townships we will spend time in.
Lubabalo Kondlo and I outside his Wells Estates township house
This is an amazing place. The townships have their own rules. There is no government financial assistance for the poor here. Unemployment is somewhere between 28% and 80% in the townships depending on who you ask. Instead, they survive on a system called Ubuntu . Ubuntu basically involves people in the community looking after one another. If your neighbor has no food and you have some, you share. If there is trouble of most kinds the police are not called, they sort it out themselves. Knowing this, you start to understand how people often choose to remain in the townships even when they do manage to find a job and make some money. I am no longer worried. These are good people.
We came here to spend some more time with Lubabalo Kondlo, who we first met in Ohio back in September. Tomorrow begins the hard work of documenting his life here on the fringe.
The woman with the axe is preparing a sheep’s head for a dish called a “smiley”. Apparently once you’ve eaten the flesh from the face the sheep will smile at you. Jason is obsessed with eating one while we are here. Keith and I remain un-obsessed
The townships are full of “informal markets”
Post-apartheid township government housing complete with concrete roads and electricity
Students walk home from school, Kwasi Kheli township
By geoff
Today was a bit of a fire drill. Last night Keith and I managed to blow up the part of our hard drive tower that regulates power, yes we are brilliant. Our guy Jason was invaluable today and set about helping us solve this problem with the resources here in Johannesburg. We dropped it off at the shop to see what could be done, then headed to Pretoria for an interview.
Pretoria is just as dense and bustling as Johannesburg. Our interviews done, we headed back to Jo’burg (about 40 minutes). Back in town we learned that the guys we left our tower with couldn’t do anything for us aside from selling us a replacement for 45,000 Rand (about $4,500.00). Needless to say, we didn’t see this as a great solution. Jason eventually led us to a small computer shop run by a Bulgarian couple who eventually solved our problem for $60. We breathe again. Did I mention that these Bulgarians were anti-American conspiracy theorists?
they would like you to know the following:
1- America is no longer a free country
2-The U.S. Federal Reserve has been closed for the last 70 years
3- Citibank has secretly gone out of business
This information is a bit hard to swallow when all you’re trying to do is get your flippin’ hardware fixed. We smiled, took the bashing, said thank you, gave the nice people our filthy American money and moved on with our lives.
Later, we cruised around central Johannesburg to shoot broll. Until this afternoon, Keith and I had been pretty insulated from the crush of humanity that is Johannesburg. This is a city incredibly dense with people. Being out on the street amongst all of the Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and other assorted languages that are spoken here reminded us that we are indeed still in Africa.
Not many photos today, it was a bit hectic. Tomorrow we fly to Port Elizabeth and New Brighton Township.
Pretoria corner
Pretoria
By geoff
We had a very productive day today. Unfortunately for this blog, there isn’t much to see as we were too busy actually working to take many photos. We spent the day connecting the dots with Colin Webster at The Old Edwardian Society Club, a country club of sorts in the suburbs of Johannesburg.
Colin teaches me how to play the native game, Morabaraba (that's not a typo). ps. Justin, here's some photographic evidence that your electricity research paid off.
The Old Edwardian
The lawn bowling green at "Old Ed's"
Keith (showing no signs of male pattern baldness) shoots some broll of lawn bowlers
Tomorrow we head up to the nation’s capitol, Pretoria, for some more interviews. In other news: in response to our constant butchery of his speech pattern, our Camera Assistant, Jason, is hard at work on his American accent. we hope to have some video to share with you soon.
-Geoff
