· StormsEast London, South Africa · 20th Jun 2008 · Posted by Sanjay
Tuesday night produced a severe storm that continued into Wednesday during the day. The place we were staying in was not the greatest, as everything in Margate revolves around sunny weather. The damage was quite severe, water was leaking into our place which meant everything seemed damp, the trellis had fallen off the side of the building and collapsed on the ground outside, and elsewhere roads were in poor condition, uplifted in parts dangerous, and there were massive puddles of water to drive through.
As we couldn’t go to the beach or do the other outdoor activities we had planned, we went to the Wild Coast sun casino complex. There we had a game of ten pin bowling African style. All the Africans amongst us bowled in barefoot, whilst Rheanna went with bowling shoes!
We had lunch there (I had a whole large pizza) and wandered round for a while. Then we went to a shopping complex to buy a map. Whilst there we went to Milky Lane for milkshakes, and I had a waffle with ice cream (provided with seven different flavours of syrups), and a double thick milo milkshake. After that and my pizza I was stuffed!
We just relaxed for the rest of the day
Thursday morning we left Margate to travel to East London, almost 600km away. The terrain was very hilly with windy roads so the going was slow. There are plenty of rolling hills with traditional African Rondavels scattered amongst the countryside. We passed through Umtata and Qunu, the areas in which Nelson Mandela grew up. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore the areas or visit the museums.
Umtata was interesting. Very busy, barely a white person in sight, and very much like what you see in the movies of an almost third world/old/run down sort of look and feel. Rheanna has been sick all day and has been needing the toilet. We went to a shopping centre for her to go, and when she came out she told me she couldn’t go. They had no toilet paper, no seats, no light even, the cubicles were pitch black! Shame…and no sympathetic husband either!
We only arrived in East London after 5pm, with some very tired travellers…(well the other 3 shouldn’t be as they slept while I drived for most of the way!)
For dinner we went to a steakhouse where my father in law had a peri peri chicken and I had a steak with calamari. It came with chips also, I can’t tell you how tough it was not to eat one of them!
Photos
1. Broken trellis in margate
2. Wild Coast sun casino
3. Bowling African style
4. The waffle
5. Highway from Margate to East London
6. Highway from Margate to East London with houses in countryside
7. Main road, chickens on left side
8. Highway from Margate to East London
9. Service station in Umtata
10. Nelson Mandela museum, Qunu
As we couldn’t go to the beach or do the other outdoor activities we had planned, we went to the Wild Coast sun casino complex. There we had a game of ten pin bowling African style. All the Africans amongst us bowled in barefoot, whilst Rheanna went with bowling shoes!
We had lunch there (I had a whole large pizza) and wandered round for a while. Then we went to a shopping complex to buy a map. Whilst there we went to Milky Lane for milkshakes, and I had a waffle with ice cream (provided with seven different flavours of syrups), and a double thick milo milkshake. After that and my pizza I was stuffed!
We just relaxed for the rest of the day
Thursday morning we left Margate to travel to East London, almost 600km away. The terrain was very hilly with windy roads so the going was slow. There are plenty of rolling hills with traditional African Rondavels scattered amongst the countryside. We passed through Umtata and Qunu, the areas in which Nelson Mandela grew up. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore the areas or visit the museums.
Umtata was interesting. Very busy, barely a white person in sight, and very much like what you see in the movies of an almost third world/old/run down sort of look and feel. Rheanna has been sick all day and has been needing the toilet. We went to a shopping centre for her to go, and when she came out she told me she couldn’t go. They had no toilet paper, no seats, no light even, the cubicles were pitch black! Shame…and no sympathetic husband either!
We only arrived in East London after 5pm, with some very tired travellers…(well the other 3 shouldn’t be as they slept while I drived for most of the way!)
For dinner we went to a steakhouse where my father in law had a peri peri chicken and I had a steak with calamari. It came with chips also, I can’t tell you how tough it was not to eat one of them!
Photos
1. Broken trellis in margate
2. Wild Coast sun casino
3. Bowling African style
4. The waffle
5. Highway from Margate to East London
6. Highway from Margate to East London with houses in countryside
7. Main road, chickens on left side
8. Highway from Margate to East London
9. Service station in Umtata
10. Nelson Mandela museum, Qunu
