1 week Transkei: Port St. Johns to Morgans Bay...

[SimonB]

Trip reports are a form of travel journalism, and if it has no subjectivity, it has no personality. It still needs a good measure of objectivity, but still personal opinion is exactly that, personal, and everone is entitled to theirs.

[HBannink]

MR2-Blue
Your trip report is a valuable input as it serves to educate and entertain. Based on some of the pictures that you have posted I have vowed to go and investigate for myself. There will always be folks that know the area better and that is how more information on a specific area become available so take the pointers given as constructive criticism. As with the problem of rubbish all over some of the nicest spots the different cultures in this country should be acknowledged and often one makes the mistake taking ignorance as arrogance. I was priveledged to attend a symphony concert in Saltsburg and as with all good concerts the conductor left the stage before the final encore. This prompted a tour group from a big country to jump up and rush towards the door and the reaction from the locals was one of calling for a loud doctor of lakes, something about leute, arzt and loch . Maybe these tourists would have been more at home in a big baseball game and they paid the price for their ignorance by having to stand outside in -40 howling winds waiting for the rest to come out.

What I am trying to put across is to look for the positive and the beauty rather than the filth and squalor even the biggest elephant dung pile has the most beautiful dung beetles

[4ePajero]

For once I have to agree with everybody (Jorg included!).
Travellers post their experience of an area, and they are entitled to post that they way they see/experienced it.
Nobody needs to agree with that.

What is important though is that what is posted here serves as a reference database for searches.
If somebody searches for Port StJohns, he will get Jorg's negative comments regarding the Village.

It is however fair to post the positives of the area (but then without making it personal or aggro. I've had enough of that, elsewhere!). Jorg is entitled to do his visits the way he wants. others look at an area differently.

If you look at my earlier post, where I posted the places in the port St John's area that appeal to me, it is clear that different things appeal to different people.

The rural Transkei needs to "get used to". At first the filth, masses of people and poverty is all you see.
After a while you grow "filters" over your eyes. You still see the filth, masses of people etc, but you tend to look past that.
You will never be convinced of the friendliness of the people if you sit in your car.
If you stop and talk to them, showing interest (and respect), you get to know a different Transkei. A proud nation, who(erroneously IMO) chose to move away from their traditional life-style and tried to fit into a Westernised society. This empoverished them to the extent that they battle to maintain an existance, never mind maintain their deep-rooted traditional values.
I look at the old "madallas" and "mamas" shuffling along the dirt road and try to imagine what is going on in that mind. They have seen the transformation from purely tradional ways of doing things to a disfunctional modern nation.

Ja, the rural Transkei is not the French Riviera or Key Biscayne.

[KaiV]

I see I stirred a bit. I am in no way bashing CT and will still go down and visit out Capetonian friends again. But you gotta agree, anyone that has drive from CT to JHB, should have seen the wonderful city in the the rear view mirror

[MR2-Blue]

For once I have to agree with everybody (Jorg included!).

Woooooow - this must be the first time - thanks

Ja, the rural Transkei is not the French Riviera or Key Biscayne.

We enjoyed the Transkei - the only exception was PSJ - as I have written many post before. My wife even wants to go there again for an exzended weekend - it will be Morgan's Bay.

To close the discussion from my end - I'll continue to post some pics of areas we've been but most likely leave out any judgements (w/o stepping on someones feet - we probably have seen a lot of RSA in the short time we've been here so far....)

[4ePajero]

We enjoyed the Transkei - the only exception was PSJ - as I have written many post before. My wife even wants to go there again for an exzended weekend - it will be Morgan's Bay.

That's good, except that Morgan's Bay is not in the Transkei!

Treat yourself and spend a few days at Umngazi River Bungalows.

Surfaced road all the way.
Quality establishment.
One of the best kept secrets in South Africa!