Knysna Is Lovely

Jon and I sailed into Knysna on Tuesday, November 29th, to escape an impending blow from the west.  There are not many safe harbors along that section of South Africa's eastern coast, and we tried on Monday to come into Port Elizabeth, a day's sail north of Knyzna.  However,  reports from other sailors who were already there advised against it.  The marina in Port Elizabeth (PE) was crowded and, given the howling winds, the docks were undulating in a manner that can only be described as manacing.  Our friends on A Small Nest took video before leaving as soon as they could -- it's hilariously funny, if you get a chance to check out the link.   So, we made a U-Turn just outside the PE harbor, dodged a whale and a few penguins and decided to take a chance on entering the narrow pass, known as The Heads, that leads into the Knysna Lagoon.

Inside the marina, inside the lagoon

We thought we would be there for a week at the most, assuming the next weather window would arrive soon...we waited for seventeen days.  The advice from South Africans for navigating their coast is to be patient; wait for favorable weather; and do not go out in anything but favorable conditions.  Those who do not follow this advice are guaranteed an uncomfortable journey at best and a disaster at worst.  South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) made over 500 rescues at sea and saved over 1100 people in 2010.  It is an amazing organization of nearly 1000 volunteers who risk their lives to save those who get caught in the treacherous seas that frequently occur along the coast.  The seriousness of this advice cannot be understated, and several boats we were familiar with have been rescued coming around to Cape Town.

Grey Heron

And what a lovely place to wait.  Knysna is in the heart of an area along the coast called the Garden Route, which runs from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg.  It is a region known for its biodiversity from old growth forests to the many species that come into the lagoon to spawn, to the world's most endangered sea horse.  The marina was home to several Grey Herons and Cormorants and a few Egyptian ducks.  The occasional seal also made his presence known within the marina.  While we all managed to coexist peacefully and a good part of the lagoon is a National Park, dedicated to preserving its eco-system, the human population around the area is growing, so the stresses on the environment are likely to continue.

The Knysna Sea Horse lives in the shallow grasses of the lagoon and is most at risk from nearby human pollutants.  It is only about 20 millimeters long, but we were able to see several in aquariums.  They can change colors like chameleons, their eyes move independently, their tails are like monkeys' and can hold on to grass, and the males have pouches like kangaroos so they can bear the babies.  Simply put, they are really cool.

Knysna Yacht Club

The local Yacht Club embraced us foreign invaders, welcoming us to their Wednesday evening happy hours and dinners.  The local sailors could not have been nicer.  Mark and Pauline met up with us shortly after we arrived inviting us to happy hour the next day.  Wayne and Tracy had us to their boat for dinner.  John and Lynn took us to lunch and for a hike in the forest.  Roger, Herbie and Dudley helped us with boat logistics.  We managed to attend three happy hours and were treated once to a brilliant triple rainbow after a brief rain shower.

The Waterfront

The marina abuts the waterfront, one that was beginning to dress up for Christmas.  It was full of shops and restaurants, as was the town itself.  Jon and I both felt like we could have been in Berkely or Sausalito, California, or Providencetown, Massachusetts.  Organic, holistic and chic were easy to find.  Knysna is also a tourist destination and given that it was summer, school holidays and Christmas all rolled into one, it was a bustling place.  A group of us from four boats took three dinghies across the lagoon to the gated community of Belvedere.  While it fancies itself as a pretty exclusive neighborhood, we invaded the "private" jetty, climbed over the gate and explored the old Anglican church and graveyard as well as the quaint Victorian resort.  No harm, and we were tolerated, but I could not help wondering what the reception would have been like if were not white yachties.

Busi preaching her heart out.

Some of us also attended a new church founded by an evangelical woman who was from Zimbabwe, via Johannesburg.  Busi had been preaching here for only four weeks, but her small congregation had a home, a sound system, and a growing membership.  She was fervent in her faith and deeply committed to helping people whose lives were languishing in drug addiction and alcoholism.

Next to the storefront church was a night club, called Zanzibar, which had this sign posted at its door.  Such signs are common in commercial establishments, but few are this harsh.  All businesses say they have the right to deny entrance to anyone and often one has to be buzzed in through a security door to enter, reflecting a fear of being robbed.  The denial of any liability made be wonder if this was perhaps a very litigious society so that businesses felt compelled to make customers bear all risks.  Perhaps it is their culture -- or legal system -- that without such signs they would be sued out of existence.  In any event, I do not get the impression that plaintiff attorneys are very successful in South Africa.

Finally, we had the pleasure of meeting Khosanati, a Zulu who worked at a nearby hotel and, though he was currently on holiday, he was looking for extra work.  He polished the stainless steel on our boat, and shared with us some of his life story.  We learned that he lived in section of Knysna called the White Location, which is ironic because everyone who lived there was black. Khosanati was one of the nicest and most gentle persons we had the pleasure of meeting in Knysna.

Designations of racial origin are part of the daily conversation in South Africa, something we are getting used to. In this post-apartheid, nation, the issues of race continue to occupy center stage in national political and economic debates, debates which take place openly and explicitly.  White Location is a shanty town, meaning that its inhabitants are, in the legal sense, squatters, building their humble homes on land they do not own.  Their ramshackle homes are very small, close together, and are made out of found wood or tin or any materials available. Some have electricity, few have running water.  Such communities are quite common in South Africa and they stand in sharp contrast to the affluence of the Knysna waterfront and Belvedere.

I will not venture to explain why these paradoxical juxtapositions are so common in South Africa, a country of two faces:  a wealthy, first world country on the one hand, and, on the other, a poor, third-world country.  But at a minimum, I can say that there continues to be a severe lack of affordable housing combined with high unemployment in most of the areas we have visited, seventeen years after apartheid was abolished and political power went to the African National Congress.  As we know in America, legal equality often unfolds much more quickly than social and economic equality.