The Donkey and the Chameleon - 11/03/12

5 volunteers and Kait in Chameleon

In the streets of Kirkwood

GABBY - Yesterday, while we were eating breakfast, I heard a donkey cry out from the road.  Apparently a pregnant donkey was hit and killed by a police van and all the raucous was coming from the donkey’s child.  In South Africa, if you hit an animal, they say it becomes yours.  The donkey was hit to the right of the Orange Elephant entrance, so it became our problem after no one moved it.  The police made a full report, but just decided to leave it there.  So today, we were greeted by Sarel and John’s gruesome tale of their early morning task.  They tied ropes around the dead donkey’s legs and using the Orange Elephant truck, towed the road kill rag doll down the road a few meters.  They moved it away due to stench, but also to make it someone else’s problem.  Ben, being a bit hungover from Afrikaanos, was cringing at the retelling of the noises the donkey made as it was dragged along the road.  My stomach is curdling thinking about it right now.  Anyway, we had big plans for the day, which consisted of going into Kirkwood to get some groceries and grub at a recommended restaurant called the Chameleon.  On our way, we saw a rock monitor, which was crazy because that was entirely in the wild.  It’s not in the National Park, but it was in the wild outdoors.  We reached Kirkwood and stopped in the Spar to pick up some soap, shampoo and candy before heading to lunch.  Sarel met us there on his Monster crotch rocket.  It was all 5 of the volunteers, Sarel and Kait at the restaurant.  We enjoyed lively conversation until our milkshakes and burgers arrived.  We snarfed down all the food in sight, took some pictures and headed back to the ranch.  We took a frequently interrupted 2 hour nap until our first Addo braii began.  It was Ben’s first braii ever!  Sarel and John cooked up some chicken, boerewors, and pork sausage.  We all sat around a table talking kak about different things.  John and Cheryl’s friend, Andrews was visiting.  He’s a photographer who has been living in Nigeria for awhile.   He told us some of the most disturbing things he had witnessed including people being stoned, run over, and tortured.  One method of torture and eventual, certain death is with tire necklaces.  Apparently it doesn’t just happen in Nigeria, but in some of the townships like Khayelitsha as well.  A person has 2 tires placed over their head around their arms.  Then someone fills it with gasoline and lights it on fire.  There’s no way to get out of the tires, so they will burn to death.  Tire necklaces were common violent acts during Apartheid.  One of the Dutch guests working in Khayelitsha told about a Mzoli’s brawl that he witnessed.  I had been to Mzoli’s many times during my abroad experience because it is a well-known braii restaurant in the townships.  I even took my parents there 2 years ago because it is an educational, cultural experience to have.  The Dutchman went to Mzoli’s with a friend from the townships and a fight broke out between the blacks and the coloreds.  His friend took a tray in one hand to use as a shield, and a broken wine bottle in the other to use as a sword.  He shielded the Dutch guy until the fight had subsided, about an hour later.  The party resumed, the floors covered in a layer of broken glass and blood.  I can’t even imagine.  Andrews told his stories in such a jaded, nonchalant way that made me feel like the most innocent, emotional person in the room.  Everyone laughed, or shook it off while I just sat there, my jaw falling farther and farther towards the cement floor.  I could not believe some of the stories I heard.  I also sat there, grateful of the education I was receiving.  I am learning so much living here in Addo.  It feels like a true, home-stay experience.  I am learning more and more about the language and culture of Afrikaners.  I learned a lot during my abroad experience 2 years ago, but it is a totally different kind of learning I am getting here.  I’m sure there is much more to come, but so far I am getting way more out of traveling than I expected to 3 weeks ago.