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These photos are from a journey I took down the Wild Coast of South Afrika, between Port Saint John's and Durban. I had gone to stay in Port Saint John's between the first and second semester of the school year (what was "summer break" sort of thing.) I met up with a group of people at a local hostel who were heading out to the rural areas on foot to celebrate the yearly thatch harvest with some of their friends who lived in the country. The thatch was the material used to create the roofs of the rondavals that people lived in, and every year it would be harvested to build a new rondaval or replace the roof of another.

This scene to the left was along a deserted beach on the way up the coast. We ran into a small group of people who were also traveling on their way to a traditional healer. We were able to speak a bit, and one woman gave me some chicken to eat (no one else would really eat it since it wasn't very thoroughly cooked.) When I asked her if I could take her picture, she was mostly concerned that she would not end up in a museum... I'm not your subject, nor am I an object...

Here's my journal entry from the first night that I got to the hostel in Port Saint John's... "Right now it's the night of Thursday. Sitting here on the night of the 25th of June, 1998. I can hear the roar of the sea and see the flashing across the horizon of a lighthouse hidden behind a hill. Feel this one, feel this one, feel this one… I had a heavy tired day of traveling. Made a lot of moves today y'all, motivation. So, I started off the morning in a backpackers place in East London. From there I moved with this American guy up to a place called Umtata, which is in the Transkei. The area I'm in right now in school is the Ciskei. The Kei is a river that divides the two. So I started off this morning in East London at this backpackers place. From there got into a car, traveled with a few other people with a taxi moving from the one town to the next. We moved along, I sat by the window and the other guy was there in the middle and the other guy was driving. Sat there and had a conversation throughout the afternoon as we moved along in the combie. Speaking about issues of race, identity, film, that kind of thing, kind of getting a feel for where each other is at. We moved through Transkei, which is a very hilly, very beautiful open spaces, man it was just like expansive spaces. Lovely.

We went through Transkei into the town of Umtata, where we shifted from one combie to another. Waited there in town maybe 10 or 15 minutes while the combie loaded. Stood there on the street for awhile, smoked two cigarettes, spoke with some people. People kind of laughed when they hear ndisazi Xhosa. They kind of smile and look and kind of test you out a little bit. Moved through from there to another spot more out in the countryside. Stopped at another taxi rank and then from there went down to Port Saint Johns. All very lovely hill country. Now I'm sitting here by the ocean. In front of me is a deep gully bank. And another rise about 100 yards in front of me, then another deep gully bank, up and down up and down to the ocean. Its maybe a mile in front of me. There's a mass of hills between myself and the coast. Behind me is the light of a youth hostel where a bunch of traveling young Europeans dwell. Right now I'm kind of stepping out because I got in there and there's too much up in my space. I feel a negative energy there. I saw one person that really effected me… come on you need to be strong, clear headed, avoid all the wickedness. I must motivate and elevate to a higher state, that from which I originate… I brought along my poetry so I can go through it and revise, edit and look over things. I've been writing some interesting things about identity. Coming in the perspective of the white LIEf. The white LifE. That's word sound. Welcome from wherever you are. We're moving forward… life is deep man, times are intense, energy is high, strength must also be high to contain the energy, coming into life, manifesting on a daily basis. Jah live, Jah life, Jah live…"

The path along the Wild Coast was quite desolate. We did see scattered rondavals, some children running along the way, a few fishermen and a few adults working in fields. There were no roads or telephone poles, just foot paths all along the way. This was probably the most beautiful landscape I saw during my time in Afrika, although there was some stiff competition. To the left is another shot of a wide open beach along the way looking down a long hill I had just climbed. You can see two of the people I was travelling with half way down the hill. The dry grass had all been burned off for some reason. It made for an interesting landscape at times...

 

More from my journal the day of the journey... "I walked along the coast from Port Saint John's to a small village today. I left with a group of travelers this morning from a hostel that we all were staying at in Port Saint John's. The trail hugged the coast and went through some hills for about four hours. I traveled with six people. The way was hilly, but the walk was nice. Man, this is the most I've really seen the countryside since I got here. Coming to this place has been interesting. The village is having a festival since they finished cutting down the thatch for the roofs of the rondavals. Everyone gathers in one rondaval with the women on one side and the men on the other. Some women were singing and dancing and everyone was drinking qomboti, or traditional beer. I sat in the hut and smoked and drank for a time, then came down to the rondeval that we laid our things in. I rested for a bit, then got up to write. The sun is setting now and I can hear the ocean from here. It's a very irie place. Should go for now, Selah. Sala khahle."

More from my journal... "Trodding along in South Afrika in Transkei. It's about 10 minutes until noon. I'm walking along a hillside, there's a bit of an incline coming up. On the right is a valley, on the left is the hill that I am walking on. The sun is up, when I'm looking at the ground in front of me, the sun would be at 1 o'clock, above and to the right of my right eye. The landscape is lush in the valleys. The side of the hill that we're walking on right now has dried grass. The dirt is somewhat dry. We've been moving since about 9:30 this morning. Mostly up and down hills. We just went through a forested area. Now, coming up the side of a dry hill with a large, lush valley to the right. I've been taking photographs as I've gone. Let me pause for a minute...


This was about as close to a road as we saw along the way.
You can see the various rondavals scattered along the hilltop.
The beauty and peace of the countryside was astounding.
The coast line was just over the distant horizon.


I'm walking down the hill. It's 12:05, we just passed this little hut on the way down this hill into this expansive valley. Little rondevals are here and there. To me, it reminds me of a 3D version of Ohio. The landscape is maybe a little bit dryer, and a lot more hilly, but the tree density is the same. There's different types of trees though. Its like a time to soak everything in and feel everything. Sometimes it can be hard to live it in the moment and just soak this all in. I want to remember this instead of relying upon cheap mechanical tricks. My mind is in too much of a rush forward to be able to capture it on the conscious level, cuz I'm thinking too much and feeling. Afrika... How does this compare to expectation? I think about that internally, cuz I think about how this would be conveyed, carried... I wonder what these days will mean to me in the future.

I realize the rush of the city when I settle into the pace of the Afrikan countryside. Life is very irie here. I know it would take a shift to base here, but once you did it would be very fundamental and solid. I find it hard to slow down and enjoy life and experience. My mind is too based in motivation for the next level."