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Plettenberg Bay mansion

This diary was part of the Africa Lives Season in 2005

Part way along the incredibly scenic Garden Route of South Africa sits Plettenberg Bay.

The plush hotels and designer shops in this playground for the rich were not for us, but rather a campsite on the outskirts with gas stoves purring.

With only a day's driving separating them from the experiences of Robben Island and the Township Tours of Cape Town, the 550km to Plettenberg Bay felt more like a journey to another world.

Our young expeditioners enjoyed the morning with Ocean Safaris but were taking in their surroundings with newly educated eyes.

Plettenberg Bay

"The contrast within Plettenberg Bay between the black and white South Africans has moved us all involved with the expedition. As we entered the Plettenberg area we stumbled upon a black township, however these townships were nothing like the ones we had witnessed in Cape Town. The Plettenberg Bay Township was far more developed than the ones in Cape Town.  These contained running water, electricity and sewage systems. Also these houses were not made out of bits of wood and metal, they were real brick houses. As we approached the coast we entered a millionaire's paradise, with multimillion pound mansions as far as the eye could see and Lear jets flying overhead. It was hard to believe that these two different communities were so close, yet so far apart.

^{CHARLOTTE, MATT, BETH AND ALEX.}

Life before death?

Adjacent to every settlement we pass is a sprawling and growing township cemetery. Thousands of graves with simple headstones mark the passage of countless lives. At what ages do people succumb to the clutches of poverty?

Before the expedition set off from England, the students were aware of the dramatic difference in life expectancy between the people in their home country and that of those in the townships that lie before them now.  

However, it wasn't until they saw and entered such townships that they could begin to comprehend the devastating web of problems encompassed under the umbrella of poverty. 

The students witnessed the dramatically overcrowded townships and where people lacking the basic human rights of food, water and shelter struggle to live on a daily basis.  They learnt from our excellent tour guide of how problems including poor medical care, AIDS, lack of immunisation and insufficient provision for education just perpetuate these deathly living conditions.

Graveyard at a South African township

Africa Expedition

"Before we set off to Africa we were really excited about helping others in the third world. Now we are here it's even more exciting and we cant wait to get to Malealea its self. I don't think anyone knows how bad the poverty will be as well as us no one knows until we get there. We are driving there now. We are staying in tents which we all like doing especially as we have done it before. I would rather sleep in tents with a camp fire than stay in a four or five star hotel in the wealthy parts of South Africa. We've had a great time so far and I'm sure it will get better!! ^{JAMES AND LUKE}

Graveyards

"During our tour of South Africa, numerous graveyards caught our eye. One thing we noticed about the graveyards were that they contain many new graves. This will most probably be due to the dramatic increase of HIV in Townships over recent years. The living conditions are considerably worse and health care is practically non existent. This factor is the main reason for the increase of deaths. We feel this could have been prevented if the effort had been made to reach out to the people living in the townships and educate them about HIV and prevention. Maybe then the grave yards might not be so full." ^{ALEX, CHARLOTTE, BETHANY AND MATT}

All text and photographs by teacher Ken Dunn, unless otherwise stated.