We are now in Port Owen on the west coast of South Africa. We arrived last night about 8:00 pm. We try to arrive a new places in daylight, but the events of the day did not allow for that. We started the day with a visit to the penguin sanctuary in Betty's Bay. Then we returned to our home for the week in Hermanus where we waited three more hours for our found luggage. We finally were able to leave for Port Owen at 4:00 and had to make a stop at a mall to return some items we no longer needed and pick up camera batteries left for charging. Thus our late arrival in Port Owen.
You noticed the good news there I am sure. Linda got a call on Wednesday with the news that some of our bags had been found at the Durban's King Shaka Airport. Since we had been told to expect nothing back, this was a nice surprise even if they arrived much later than promised. Just to get much of our stuff back was like an early Christmas present. And just like Christmas, the anticipation was palpable as we did not really know what to expect.
But this is really about how wonderful people in South Africa have treated us. That story begins in Zulu Nyala where the manage and his staff were always available to talk and help us understand the things we were seeing. Rohan, our personal guide, was more than helpful in identifying birds and being willing to talk about his life as a South African, much more than what a guide should be required to do.
I already talked about the great staff at the Beverly Hills Hotel and the magnificent treatment we received there after the robbery. That continued at our next stop, the Hermanus Beach Club in Hermanus. Charmayne, the manager at Hermanus, and her staff helped us at every turn, providing advice on places to go and helping us deal with the remaining efforts to fix things with credit cards and phone bills. She even allowed us to use her personal laptop when needed websites were unavailable. On the last day of our stay, they allowed us to stay in our room long past check out time and then wait in their very small office and served us with coffee and tea as we whiled away the long afternoon waiting for the promised bags. When Linda asked if there was someone we could write a letter to extolling her virtues, her response was that this is just the way things are done in South Africa. Certainly, our experience here supports that notion. We left her a bottle of wine anyway.
Another person who went way above and beyond is Marlė, the manager at FotoFirst in the Somerset West Mall. When we explained our predicament and the need to recharge camera batteries she said she could do that for us since she did not have one that would work for my Pentax camera. Three times over the course of the week, we stopped by the mall on our way elsewhere to to drop off or pick up batteries. To top it off yesterday she gave me a Pentax charger she had found. I will have to find a cord to get it to work, but that should be not a problem at a good computer story. Her friendliness and helpfulness will be remembered for a long time. We left her with a nice bottle of wine as well.
Finally, last evening after dinner here in Port Owen, we had a nice long conversation with the chef after our wonderful dinner. When I asked him about the changes in South Africa, he was qyite forthcoming. He was classified as Coloured which place him above blacks, but below whites and Indians. His comment was that he is happy that the ANC (South Africa's ruling party) is finally realizing that people like him have needs, too. It is not just about black and white. I have had this conversation with several here in South Africa now. I'm always a bit hesitant to ask because the question strikes me as a bit personal, but the responses have been quite forthcoming and without hesitation.
So you can see why I said at the end of the last entry that this is still one of the friendliest places we have visited in our travels. We will surely be back and hope that some of the people we have invited to visit us if they come to America will take advantage of our offer to repay them in a small way for being such great hosts to these strangers from America.
Sorry about the lack of pictures. While the internet service here is excellent, I can't get any pictures from the camera to the computer. Pictures may have to wait until we get home - or at least to a different computer.
Showing posts with label Robbery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robbery. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Troubles in Durban
Sorry that we have no pictures today and the length of this posting, but we were robbed while we were in Durban. Before going any further, I will dispel your worries by adding that it was the car that was robbed while we were elsewhere, so we are fine, just a bit inconvenienced and we are continuing on after purchasing a few replacements. The story is a bit long also, so we may have to split it in pieces. Hopefully, we can get a few pictures up later.
We spent our night in Durban at the beautifully chic and modern Tega Tata B&B, overlooking the Durban bay. Durban is the largest port in South Africa; we never saw fewer than 18 ships waiting, coming or going during our day there.
We spent some extra time after breakfast talking to Monica, our hostess, and a couple of other guests. He is from South Africa, but married a Swede. They moved to Sweden around 1990 when a number or Europeans left rather than face the uncertainty of the end of apartheid. They had come back to South Africa to see old friends, but were going back to Sweden and home rather than stay in the new South Africa. Monica called us typical tourists in that we were not spending any real time in Durban to see all it has to offer. Most people do that, she said. We just used it as a jumping off point to get elsewhere, whether into the Drakensburg Mountains or to fly to Cape Town. That described us perfectly.
After breakfast we took Monica’s advice and drove along the shore as far as we could to the sounther ned of the waterfront drive. The port facilyt must be further south since we saw no evidence of any working port other than the many ships in the harbor. We turned around at the UShaka Aquarium which is supposed to be quite good and drove back towards the airport. We stopped at a couple of places to check out the beach and purchase some souvenirs.
Our big stop was at the stadium built for the FIFA World Cup two years ago. It is a tourist attraction because it includes a trip to the top where you get a spectacular panoramic view of the city. We took some pictures up there and bought some clothing souvenirs in the gift shop.
Then we headed to the Oyster Box Hotel for the recommended lunch. Several people had said this was a must in Durban and after looking at the view and enjoying a drink and cheese plate we agreed.
Until we returned to our car and found it empty. We had parked in what seemed to be an extremely safe spot between the Oyster Box and the Beverly Hills hotels. These are two of the best hotels you will find anywhere, fancy without being ostentatious. We also saw one of the security guards that inhabit all the parking spaces in South Africa that are not gated. The thieves must have been well-organized and brazen to have taken all of our stuff from that location in the middle of the afternoon.
All we were left with was the clothes we were wearing and the cameras we had carried into the Oyster Box along with the two pair of binoculars, my older 100-300mm lens and three jackets. Oh yes, they also decided we could keep the souvenirs we had just purchased.
While this was a bad thing, we were not involved in the robbery, so we are safe. But the best news is that the people around started to help us in ways we could never have imagined. The security folks helped us call the police and allowed Linda to call the tour company that had arranged much of the trip. Jan Vogel of that security group even walked Linda to a phone store to help us get a phone.
Then while we were at the police station where Jim and Marcia needed to go to get an affidavit that their passports had been stolen, John de Canha, manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel called us to offer us a room for the night along with dinner and breakfast and laundry. That was just the beginning. Jim and Linda spent a total of about four hours that evening and the next morning using the internet and phones to deal with credit cards, medical prescriptions, and travel arrangements. Then John drove us up to the pharmacy to clear the way for us to get our prescriptions refilled. The chemist is a friend who simply asked what we needed and took care of us. It took about 45 minutes to get them all filled. We paid the bill and returned to the hotel where we took a few minutes to regroup in our rooms before dinner. A bottle of wine awaited us in the room.
While Jim and Linda spent time on the computers and phones, I talked to Brian, who is the head of the security operations for that area. He has been working for the last couple of years to create a safe environment in the area, so he took our situation pretty hard. He had walked into the hotel and told John what had happened. He said John’s immediate response was to help us.
We can’t say enough kind things about the Beverly Hills. John was magnificent spending over two hours just helping us. The rest of the staff, Werner, Colin, Brian, and others I don’t have the names of, helped us at every turn. Getting up to freshly cleaned clothes helped us get off to a good start then next day as Linda and Jim spent a couple of more hours getting more things taken care.
It did help that Linda still has good connections at iQ Credit Union. It also helps that Linda and I did not have our credit cards compromised or lose our passports. We also had wonderful quick help from Jason at Azumano Travel, Theresa at Mango Tours, and Dawn at Wilderness Travel here in South Africa in getting us new vouchers for the rest of the trip and even sending photocopies of Jim and Marcia’s passports. That helped a lot in getting them replaced.
Other than losing almost all of our stuff and all of the pictures I had taken, the only real negative of this entire experience was trying to get in touch with the US Consulate in Durban. When no one answered the listed number, Jim called the Embassy in Pretoria and was given an emergency number. No answer there either. When we were at the Consulate in Cape Town yesterday, Michael, who helped us there, said that they are told not to answer the phone at certain times so they get their real work done. Wow!
We spent our night in Durban at the beautifully chic and modern Tega Tata B&B, overlooking the Durban bay. Durban is the largest port in South Africa; we never saw fewer than 18 ships waiting, coming or going during our day there.
We spent some extra time after breakfast talking to Monica, our hostess, and a couple of other guests. He is from South Africa, but married a Swede. They moved to Sweden around 1990 when a number or Europeans left rather than face the uncertainty of the end of apartheid. They had come back to South Africa to see old friends, but were going back to Sweden and home rather than stay in the new South Africa. Monica called us typical tourists in that we were not spending any real time in Durban to see all it has to offer. Most people do that, she said. We just used it as a jumping off point to get elsewhere, whether into the Drakensburg Mountains or to fly to Cape Town. That described us perfectly.
After breakfast we took Monica’s advice and drove along the shore as far as we could to the sounther ned of the waterfront drive. The port facilyt must be further south since we saw no evidence of any working port other than the many ships in the harbor. We turned around at the UShaka Aquarium which is supposed to be quite good and drove back towards the airport. We stopped at a couple of places to check out the beach and purchase some souvenirs.
Our big stop was at the stadium built for the FIFA World Cup two years ago. It is a tourist attraction because it includes a trip to the top where you get a spectacular panoramic view of the city. We took some pictures up there and bought some clothing souvenirs in the gift shop.
Then we headed to the Oyster Box Hotel for the recommended lunch. Several people had said this was a must in Durban and after looking at the view and enjoying a drink and cheese plate we agreed.
Until we returned to our car and found it empty. We had parked in what seemed to be an extremely safe spot between the Oyster Box and the Beverly Hills hotels. These are two of the best hotels you will find anywhere, fancy without being ostentatious. We also saw one of the security guards that inhabit all the parking spaces in South Africa that are not gated. The thieves must have been well-organized and brazen to have taken all of our stuff from that location in the middle of the afternoon.
All we were left with was the clothes we were wearing and the cameras we had carried into the Oyster Box along with the two pair of binoculars, my older 100-300mm lens and three jackets. Oh yes, they also decided we could keep the souvenirs we had just purchased.
While this was a bad thing, we were not involved in the robbery, so we are safe. But the best news is that the people around started to help us in ways we could never have imagined. The security folks helped us call the police and allowed Linda to call the tour company that had arranged much of the trip. Jan Vogel of that security group even walked Linda to a phone store to help us get a phone.
Then while we were at the police station where Jim and Marcia needed to go to get an affidavit that their passports had been stolen, John de Canha, manager of the Beverly Hills Hotel called us to offer us a room for the night along with dinner and breakfast and laundry. That was just the beginning. Jim and Linda spent a total of about four hours that evening and the next morning using the internet and phones to deal with credit cards, medical prescriptions, and travel arrangements. Then John drove us up to the pharmacy to clear the way for us to get our prescriptions refilled. The chemist is a friend who simply asked what we needed and took care of us. It took about 45 minutes to get them all filled. We paid the bill and returned to the hotel where we took a few minutes to regroup in our rooms before dinner. A bottle of wine awaited us in the room.
While Jim and Linda spent time on the computers and phones, I talked to Brian, who is the head of the security operations for that area. He has been working for the last couple of years to create a safe environment in the area, so he took our situation pretty hard. He had walked into the hotel and told John what had happened. He said John’s immediate response was to help us.
We can’t say enough kind things about the Beverly Hills. John was magnificent spending over two hours just helping us. The rest of the staff, Werner, Colin, Brian, and others I don’t have the names of, helped us at every turn. Getting up to freshly cleaned clothes helped us get off to a good start then next day as Linda and Jim spent a couple of more hours getting more things taken care.
It did help that Linda still has good connections at iQ Credit Union. It also helps that Linda and I did not have our credit cards compromised or lose our passports. We also had wonderful quick help from Jason at Azumano Travel, Theresa at Mango Tours, and Dawn at Wilderness Travel here in South Africa in getting us new vouchers for the rest of the trip and even sending photocopies of Jim and Marcia’s passports. That helped a lot in getting them replaced.
Other than losing almost all of our stuff and all of the pictures I had taken, the only real negative of this entire experience was trying to get in touch with the US Consulate in Durban. When no one answered the listed number, Jim called the Embassy in Pretoria and was given an emergency number. No answer there either. When we were at the Consulate in Cape Town yesterday, Michael, who helped us there, said that they are told not to answer the phone at certain times so they get their real work done. Wow!
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