Hanging Out in Knysna

This is a relaxing sunny afternoon in South Africa and I listen to Tchaikovsky as I write to you. We’ve been in Knysna for a couple of days now and we might stay a couple more, waiting for the right sea conditions to sail out towards Durban. It doesn’t make sense to sail out in 35 knots of wind that would be right on our nose, so we just hang out, do work on the boat, visit the region and enjoy its wonderful gastronomy.

Yesterday, we went to a Monkey Park as you can see on the photos Frank has posted. There is one of me, looking scared and scared I was… a spider monkey approached me making strange noises and looking at me with a bad eye. I didn’t know if I should move or pretend I didn’t hear, or even worse, see him. I tried to make myself as small as possible as you can see from my posture but it didn’t work… I am still in one piece though. The other monkeys were nice, I liked the ones with the zebra tails.

For two days, we had another sailboat next to us with 14 people from the Royal Corps of Signals from the UK. They were attached alongside our boat and they have just sailed out towards Perth, Australia in the setting sun. I cried as I waved to them. My heart was tugged even though I don’t know them. It was just a little sailboat setting out to cross the Indian ocean with 14 people on it… there is something breathtaking in it… they got smaller and smaller as they headed out towards the big waves. My heart goes out to them.

I like Knysna, and being tied to the town dock is nice. We can get on and off whenever we want to. This has given me a chance to go for long morning runs and take walks around the small waterfront full of restaurants and cafes. My favorite place is Mario’s cafe, facing the Knysna Bay, just next to a bridge for a canal that enters the city. Sitting there reminds me in some way of being in Venice. In my free time, I go there to write and to read on the sunny terrace. Like on night watches, there is time to think about life when a sailor waits for good weather in a harbor far from home.
I haven’t quite been here for two weeks yet, but now, I am feeling much better, I feel adjusted to being at 34′ South and 21′ East. I have not expected so much wealth though, being in Africa. Granted, we are in nice harbors full of tourists, but the infrastructure seems quite advanced. Though it hurts to see that most of the people working in the restaurants are black and all the people enjoying themselves, are white. The world seems to be an unjust place. I am getting itchy to start working and try to do something against these injustices in the world. It just doesn’t feel right.

What I really like in South Africa are the mountains. They are beautiful against the sky. There is something about their forms that takes me away. Wonderful wines grow on them as the sun warms them and the rain feeds them. They invite me to climb them and to follow their ridges with my eyes, feeling them like a sculptor would touch a material “to be transformed.” I already feel transformed and transforming constantly. It takes courage to be away.