It is in the area of old Transkei, from Port Edward to Port Elizabeth that the Xhosa population is the most repreented. It is by far and surely our preferred area, thanks to the beauty of the landscapes (less built, very wild) where the xhosa huts of turquoises colors constellate the surrounding green valleys and hills. It is also the typical culture and traditions that we can immediately feel in every moment of our walks around.
The majority of the population lives in many small villages, far from the cities, far from all, between only mountains and hills.
Often presented as proud people, each xhosa has a clan that indicates his ascent to a specific ancestor. Nelson Mandela is of the Madiba clan, resulting from a Thembu chief, who reigned during the 18th century. They are thus directed by several chiefs, speak a very singing language (lipilile? “How is it going? ”) and highly maintain their traditions. Sorcery is usually practised. We will cross also young women, with their faces painted with white clay, meaning that they had recently married.
We will realize very quickly that the Xhosas live very modestly and have very few means.
We will cross many herds on the road, cows, dogs, sheeps, trotting and crossing our wayd. It is very current, that animals die on the road, we will indeed see two decapitated goats lying. The most impressive view was this dead horse that some wandering dogs were starting to eat.
Port St John
After many hours spent through the hills, we take the road that goes down the coast and the Indian Ocean. Port St John is a site of an exceptional beauty, nested in a bay, between mountains with tropical vegetation and two estuaries of rivers which are thrown on the sea. It is a real haven of peace, where we will camp in front of the sea at the foot of the mountains. The place is run by very sympathetic hippies who created this very beautiful lodge made of wooden rooms with a very creative decoration.
One afternoon, we decide to go for a long walk through the hills and discover a very local village situated slightly up and off the coast. After half an hour of climbing up the cliffs, we meet some young Xhosa girls crossing our way. Soon we enter the heart of the village and abruptly notice the poverty of the population.
Houses are made of wood, mud or at best bricks. Some of them are very simple and small and we wonder how people can actually live inside. On the main dirt road we meet children wandering by themselves (3-4 years), with some of them playing in the dust and bin areas. They like to smile at us, and answer our bonjours by waving back or smiling. Some are surprised to see us, others seem awckward of our presence, in short we are in the middle of a very strange and remote universe, out of time. We realize quickly that in this village, some have more beautiful and larger homes than others, the women are with their furnaces, or hanging linen, the men away working or seating with other men chatting.
Umtata and Qunu
The visit of the Nelson Mandela Museum, in the old capital of Transkei was a required passage for us, especially after having read the great man's memories ('a long way towards freedom'). The first part of the museum is dedicated to his action and his fight against the oppresive government, and the second part displays his private collection of gifts. We also visited his native village, Qunu.
One of the impressive moments is the meeting with the “priest” in front of the church of the village, we could feel a kind of magnetism from him.
There is no proximity trade in these villages, hence it is necessary for the people to walk long distances to the nearest villages where they can by food and other supplies. We will see in particular in Port St John some women with their trolleys crammed with bread and nothing else. We guess that their supplies are for the month and for other people in their village. Also half of the stores are made of shelves displaying sells corn, flour, and rice in very great quantity. It is difficult to find my hazel nut/bar of chocolate milk; 0)
The other main issue is water, the majority of the villages do not have running water and have to fetch it very far away (sometimes many kilometers)- where a manual pump system has been installed. In Port St John, the sea is just a few meters away and we see many women filling their jerry cans of straight on the beach.
Among all the children that we cross on our way, only a few are clean, all the others being dirty on themlseves. We could understand that when they do not work with their families, they go to school and learn in particular English, but once again the school is far away and long distances are to be walked. There is no school bus service.