South Africa Journal

For the past two summers Alabama Juniors have brought teams to Europe, traveling and playing in Germany, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic. On the second tour, Andi Donald suggested that we try South Africa for the third tour and hence, the idea was launched to bring the Alabama Juniors team to South Africa. The tour was amazing and went off without any problems at all, as Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In addition, the opportunity to mix volleyball with an African Safari was perhaps one of the best experiences these young athletes will encounter.

There are far to many people to thank, but I must point out that our hosts in Cape Town went far and way beyond what was expected. The volleyball was very competitive, the city was wonderful and the people of South Africa were exceptional. I would like to personally thank Gary Gabriels or all his work and efforts to make this trip possible. Without Gary I don’t think the trip would have been possible, so Gary, much thanks to you for everything. I would also like to thank the workings at Cape Town Best Western Suites Hotel, never has an American volleyball team been treated so well.

Finally, to anyone thinking of taking a volleyball tour to South Africa, I can highly recommend this wonderful country.

Day One, July 5-6th, 2004
By: Grace Brannon and Jodie Ferguson, Birmingham, AL and Woodstock, GA

The morning of July 5 th the group, Andi, Carey, Jennifer, Christina, Jordan, Whitney, Keely, Mike, Harrison, and Grace, met at the South African Airways ticket counter at the Atlanta Airport. We then met up with Jodie, CJ, and Kamryn at the gate. The flight left at 10:30am and stopped at Sal Island and Johannesburg before arriving in Cape Town. The flights were extremely long and uneventful. We did everything we could in order to not be bored such as trying to sleep in tight spaces (on the floor, chairs, etc…), watch movies, and play games on the monitors in front of us. The food was not so bad, and the flight crew changed over each flight giving us different views of South Africa. Anyway, we arrived around 2:00pm South Africa time on July 6 th. South Africa time is seven hours ahead of Alabama time causing some people to have a little bit of jet lag. After we got our bags and went through customs, we all met up with Cory Solomon, our tour guide from Salt Lake City, and proceeded to our four star hotel; “Best Western Cape Suites of Cape Town”.

After getting settled into our rooms and a meeting with Cory about the do’s and don’ts, we went down to the waterfront to walk around the shops and grab something to eat for dinner. The waterfront was gorgeous, and it was interesting to see some culture of the South Africa within the stores. One thing that someone noticed was that it almost looked like the sun was setting upside down from what we are used to back home in the states, the sky going dark to light from the horizon. I guess it maybe because we are on the other side of the equator? It was getting a little chilly, and people were getting tired, so we decided to go back to the hotel to hang out for a while before going to bed.

Note: The temperature when getting off the plane was 18 degrees Celsius, about 64.5 degrees Fahrenheit. It dropped to about 15 degrees Celsius, 59 degrees Fahrenheit at night. It is actually winter here!

This morning we woke up and met downstairs at the hotel bar to eat an awesome breakfast. We had the choice of a hot breakfast consisting of; omelets, hash browns, bacon, and sausage, which, from what I hear are very different from European breakfast. The cold breakfast consisted of fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt, bread, and juice. During breakfast we had to decide on our lunch and dinner entrées. We made our decisions among chicken salad sandwich, pita with vegetables and chicken, and a beef burger with chips. The choices for dinner were a beef burger, catch of the day, and pork chops with vegetables and rice. Cory then gave us the option of going on a strenuous hike up Table Mountain or to ride on the cable car. It was a hard decision because Cory stressed that the hike would be hard and to seriously look at how good of shape you were in. Nine of us chose to hike including Cory, Krista, CJ, Kamryn, Andi, Carey, Christina, Jodie, and myself. I was the first up to the top of the trail, Platteklip Gorge, besides Krista who ran the whole way up. Jodie brought up the rear like the responsible person that she is. Jodie claimed that it was easier for those of us with long legs to get up the mountain, which may be true. I was stoked because I even kicked Cory’s butt!

After about a 2-hour hike, ascending on stair stepping rocks, we relaxed and took lots of pictures. We met up with those who took the cable car and walked around on the top of the mountain until about 2:00pm. We then took the cable car, which rotated 360 degrees, down the mountain. This enabled us to have a better view of the mountain, as well as, the city. We shopped in the souvenir shop at the bottom of the mountain while we waited for taxis and for Krista to run down the mountain.

We came back to the hotel, ate lunch and had a couple hours to sleep, relax, or do whatever. Jodie and I wrote postcards on the balcony until it was time to go to our first match. We left around 6:00pm to walk over to the University, Cape Technical. We were all a little bit rusty which was obvious by the way we played. Even still, we won our match against the club team “Cape Tech Cats”: 25-9, 25-19, 25-19. To play a little longer, we then played an exhibition game, which we won 25-18. After the match, the owner of the club team held a small reception where we could taste native foods and socialize with the other team. After we exchanged e-mail addresses, we hurried back to the hotel to eat dinner at the pub. Being that it was late, people started to settle in for the night. What a great day!

Today we started out at the Wild Boar Bar and Grill for breakfast. Omelets, eggs, bangers(sausage), baked beans, grilled vegetables and toast were the hot choices. Cereals, cold meats, cheeses, fruits, homemade breads and muffins were on the buffet also.

We started by breaking into three groups to walk through the city to get to our first tour. We walked from the hotel down by the college and into town. There we saw a lot of the city, we walked through old and new neighborhoods. There are many shops and businesses. We saw our first chemist (drug store), several department stores and service businesses. In the middle of town was an open-air market. There were fresh fruits, vegetables, breads and other foodstuffs. The merchants we selling house hold goods, clothes and novelties. We got to the Holiday Inn downtown and we’re picked up and taken to the waterfront. When we got there the drawbridge was open and there was a large ship coming through.

We went into the building at the wharf to go to Robben (robin) Island. In the building were many documents and pictures describing the Island. The significance of Robben Island was told to us by three guides. One described its history. One told about its conditions and another showed us the living conditions. The Island was a stop for ships to get food in the early days of its use. The sailors killed penguins for food and replenished the food to continue their voyages. In the late 1600’s the ships began to use the Island as a prison for dropping off people that would not cooperate with the system. As time went on the Island became a regular prison for people from several areas around the southern hemisphere. There were Colored, Black, Asian and White prisoners. In the 1800’s the Island became a prison for all types of crimes, as well as, a colony for persons with Leper Disease. The people kept in the colony could all have had Leper Disease, but all types of skin diseases that were unknown were considered dangerous and all on these people we sent to the island.

Super Dad’s Harrison and Mike, Keely, Christina and Jordan on the boat to Robben Island

As time continued the prison was used to house people who had differing political views. These people could be held for a minimum of three months and could have no contact with their families or friends. This was the beginning of the congregation of prisoners who were against the government’s philosophy. When these men were finally brought to trail, they were charged with sabotage, treason and terrorist activities. Any sentence could be pronounced, from one year to life. There were many men on the Island whom had a life sentence; Nelson Mandela is probably the most famous of these prisoners. He was sentenced to life and was required to perform hard labor by breaking rocks and digging lime from a quarry. Surprisingly, our guide explained that this deed had no material use what so ever. It was during these times of hard labor the political prisoners began to educate themselves and the guards. The prisoners began to teach each other, as well as, come together to fight for their freedom. They were eventually released, some with substantial education. Many came away with college degrees.

Nelson Mandela, first President of the New Democratic South Africa, was kept in the prison on Robben Island, in the same cell for fourteen years. The cell was about 6’ by 7’, concrete floor with plaster walls and ceilings. These were very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. In the beginning of his imprisonment there was no bed, only a sleeping mat and a sanitary pail. They were kept in their cells from 3:30 in the afternoon until 8 or 9pm the next morning. There was no contact with other prisoners between the cells because the walls were so thick and the doors to the outside of the cell were solid wood. Also, the guards controlled the lighting, so I can imagine the winter months were brutal. No recreation was allowed and severe punishment was administered to prisoners who did not follow the rules.

At this time, the island was used only for the prison. Prisoners could only have their religious leader visit once a month and their family once every six months. A child could only visit after he/she was 16 years old. In the later years, the guards and wardens were the only other people that lived on the island. In 1992 the political prisoners were released and they began to tell their stories. The island and its heritage will always be a reminder of man’s cruelty to human beings when power and greed are involved. The tour was worthwhile on many levels, not the least of which, was a mirror to look at how we treat our fellow human beings.

When we returned from the island we had lunch on our own and shopped at a very nice mall on the waterfront, the Wharf Village. Later, we came back to the hotel to rest and write post cards and letters. Also, Harrison downloaded our pictures to his computer from the morning. That night we play a Gordon High School and controlled the match the entire time. We are undefeated and having a great time.

Editors Note: The match today was played against Gordon High School and Team Alabama won a tight match in 4 sets, 3-1. The scores of the match were 25-14, 25-20, 18-25 and 25-21. As the match went along the play was tighter and tighter and in the end some very solid volleyball was being played.

Today we went to the museum of the unknown Capetown District Six. District Six was a black only district that was demolished from the late 1960’s until the middle of the 1980’s to make room for the “whites”. This area of Capetown was worth a great deal of money land wise, and because of that, the government decided that the “whites” were more “fitted” for the property. The reason the government decided the blacks needed to leave was because it was supposedly a gang-infested slum, but in truth it was a community that allowed for the respect of neighbors- no matter what color or race they were. The Americans were unaware of this demolishing of a community by the South African government, and it was absolutely shocking to all of us whom went to the museum. We were all shocked too, that this type of thing was happening only less than three decades ago- a time when most of us were alive and in our childhood. I think that this was an eye opener for all of us who thought that this type of racism and discrimination was gone with the 60’s, but in reality it still was happening. I was amazed that it had happened and it was something that I had never heard of- probably because around the time the demolition of District Six was being thought of, we as a country were going through our own racial crisis. I hope that this was an eye opener for the younger girls on the tour of what can happen when people are ignorant, and help them out with understanding the history of South Africa more than what they are being taught in history class or what they are reading in their history books.

After we all gathered our thoughts from visiting the museum, the majority of us went to the beach at Camp’s Bay which was about fifteen minutes down the road. We walked along the beach until we found huge boulders where we all found spots to lie down on and enjoy the sun. Grace and Whitney found bright orange starfish, Kamyrn on the other hand had fun flipping the barnacles and searching for sea creatures. After sweating under the sun we all then decided to go to lunch, and some of us ate at Bella Blu café, which was open to the beach and the beautiful view. After that we all went back to the hotel to take a nap before we played our double header against a high school team and the fourth ranked women’s team in the country of South Africa.

The first team that we played was a high school team, which we beat soundly. They were very scrappy and quick on their feet. The next team we played however put up a fight, because they were the fourth ranked women’s team in the country. After two close games we were able to come out with a victory, and were able to remain 4-0. We once again met up in the party room and made plans to get together the following night with Serene, Jo, and the rest of the team. As always we had fun meeting the different girls who played for the other team and then rushed back to the hotel to have dinner!

Editors Note: Team Alabama played two matches tonight, first against the USSASA-WP U16 team, which Team Alabama won 25-15, 25-6. The second match was against the Saints Senior team with Team Alabama won 25-19, 27-25.

USSASA-WP U 16 team members after the match

Warming up for the USSASA match

Well this morning was almost like every other morning, so far except for one thing, a little bit colder. As usual we ate breakfast at the hotel. We had to be ready by 10 A.M. At that time the tour guide, Peter; from the tour guide company we hired met was at the hotel telling us "let’s go"! We got in a “Mini” bus. It held about 19 or 20 people nicely. We traveled towards one of our many destinations for the day, the “ Cape of Good Hope.” As we traveled, our tour guide talked us through the history of his country and the sites we were seeing. We ventured through Camps Bay Beach, Summerset, and the beautiful view around False Bay. About two hours from our hotel, we stopped at the confluence; where two oceans met (Atlantic and Indian Oceans). So many cars were lined up looking at a beautiful site. The wind was blowing very hard, which made the already chilly day, even colder. We viewed this wonderful site and took a lot of pictures. We loaded back up and headed for the next site, Cape Point.

During the 45 minute drive, we drove through Cape Point National Park, which was where we saw all different kinds of plants and animals. We saw two animals, Ostrich and Élans. We saw the pack of Élans and a male and a female ostrich. Then once we arrived at the next checkpoint, Cape Point, we saw lots of cars, tourist, and Baboons.

The Baboons were everywhere; they were sitting on people’s cars, climbing in all the trees, and just walking down the roads like they owned the place. The tour guide told us that as long as we did not have food that they could see or that they could smell, they would not attack us. So most people left their bags in the bus expect for a few. We got out of the vans and climbed these steps that took us up to this huge lighthouse (just to clarify the steepness, the steps were going up to say the least.) Well about half way up the mountain, Cory and Krista witnessed Whitney get attacked by a baboon. Before Whitney new what hit her, she realized a baboon was tugging on her backpack. The baboon actually leaped onto her book bag and hung on to it, tearing it from her shoulders. She dropped the bag and ran behind Jodie, the shortest coach on tour. The baboon opened her bag and went through all of her stuff. He even took out her memory card for her camera and bit it. After this happened the whole group kept trucking up to the top where the lighthouse was located.

On top we took pictures, then went to the bus for our journey to Simons town. There we ate at this amazing place located on the Indian Ocean. The food was amazing! A few of ordered pasta, beef burger, salad, oysters and shrimp. After lunch we all went to look at the Penguins at Boulder Park. The penguins were so close, and so fascinating to watch and to take pictures of. They got in the cold ocean and would swim while their mate would sit on the beach with the babies or eggs and then they would switch. While in the water they were gathering food for their young and themselves.

Back on the bus we went and headed for the last stop of the day, the botanical gardens of “ Cape Flats”. We just made the gates before they closed for the day. Peter took us through all these unique and native plants and trees. There were some plants that smelled good and some that did not. The whole experience was so wonderful. A plethora of plants filled the entire place.

After the tour we got ready for a special dinner. The hotel maids showed us some original African dancing which were very entertaining. We then had dinner in a banquet room, which was very enjoyable. After dinner we called some of the girls that we had met through volleyball to come over and hang out. After awhile they took some of the girls out clubbing at “Club 169”. They left at around 11 PM and returned around 2:30 AM. From what I heard they had a wonderful new experience and had so much fun. The girls said the room was small but had loud music and lots of people. They would have not traded that for anything. The other half, who did not go, stayed at the hotel and had much fun of their own. This day was long, but we will never forget all the fun and interesting facts and experiences we learned all in one day.

Day 6 South African Tour
Jordan & Meghan , Birmingham, AL and St. Augustine, FL

We began our day eating breakfast at the hotel with little time to eat. After loading up in the Venture taxis, we began our journey towards the flea market. Once we arrived we all immediately spotted the golden arches of McDonald’s. We split up into groups and Cory told us to meet back at the restaurant at 12:30. All of the groups went their separate ways, some in search of an ATM, others looking for souvenirs. Our groups included, CJ, Jodie, Kamryn, and us. Our goal: to find gifts for our family and friends in the States. During our journey we came across odd things. Some children were dancing and singing authentic South African songs. Two security men told us to put our book bags on the front, to prevent muggings and pick pocketing. We finished our shopping with a lot of purchases, mainly by Jordan. Previously on the trip, we had all been invited to eat at an American corn dog shop owned by a German player on Cape Tech Invitational, the first team we played. There was a 20-minute walk ahead of us to get there, with Cory in the lead. Tina wanted to make a few last minute purchases and took Whitney, Keely, and Mr. Kennedy along with her. We ate our corn dogs, hopped in the taxis, and proceeded to get lost for 10 minutes on the way to our game. Finally arriving, we headed into the gym and got a blast of cold air as we entered. We changed for the match, and then began to warm up for our first match of the night. Our two challengers were “ Western Cape Sport Academy” and “SAPS”. The first match we won 25-18, 23-25, 17-15. The second match we lost 25-20, 13-25, 16-25. Thus, we finished our tour with a five-win/one-loss record, the best record for a BIP tour to South Africa (probably because it’s the first) so far. After the matches we had a get-together with the two teams; the coaches all gave a short speech to summarize the past few days.

We returned from the gym, showered and began packing for our trip to Johannesburg the next day. In the evening we ate St. Elmo’s Pizza at the Wild Bar and Cafe. Serene, Jo, Riefkah, and Anita from “Premier Saints”, the fourth team we played, came over to hang out with us on our last night in Cape Town. Jordan and I are now sitting at the bar writing the journal entry, complaining to Jodie who was the one to pick us to write it. All in all though, it was a very awesome day.

Editors note: Today marked the end of the six day volleyball tour in Cape Town with two more matches. Team Alabama won 5 matches and lost one during its stay in Cape Town.

We started the day by waking up at 6:30am. Today, we flew to Johannesburg so we could begin our Safari. Everyone had to drag their suitcases down two flights of narrow staircases. Jodie and Carey overslept and only had 5 minutes to get dressed, eat breakfast, and run to the taxis. We drove to the airport, which only took about 30 minutes or so, unloaded our bags and headed towards the check-in counter. Once the entire group got checked in, we went to the gate and sat around for half and hour. We boarded the airplane and flew for an hour and a half to Jo-burg. They served us sandwiches, drinks, and a chocolate bar. We landed and walked through the airport to get to the “Which Way Tour Bus.” We then met our tour guides, Peter, Sabeena, Lalani, and Jacob. It took us over 6 hours to get to Nelspruit, the first town we stayed in overnight. We stayed in a backpackers’ hostel, which held; 6 beds in one room, 5 beds in the other, and 2 beds in the other 2 rooms. My roommates were CJ, Kamryn, Andi, Carey, Jen, and Grace. The other room had Jodie, Meghan, Keely, Tina, and Jordan. The dad’s stayed in a room together, and Krista and Cory were in the last room. That night we ate chicken stir-fry with white rice for dinner. It was freezing cold outside! We were going to be waking up at 6:00am again the next morning, which will begin our Safari into Kruger National Park! Heh-yah!!

Day 8 South African Tour
Harrison with assistance from Grace and Meghan, Birmingham, AL and St. Augustine, FL

We woke up at the backpacker’s camp at about 6:0am in Nelspruit. The Chihuahuas were barking every time we moved. We slowly got our breakfast of cereal, or peanut butter and honey sandwiches. After Peter narrowly squeezed out of our parking space we chugged up the hill towards Kruger National Park. We had only gone just a bit before Peter needed to change our flat tire. After the tire was changed and some much needed “supplies”, bought we were finally park bound.

We entered Kruger National Park and we’re on a long search for wild game. We saw many animals including the Browned hornbill, Marshall eagle, Crowned eagle, many Impalas, Zebras, Giraffe, Elephants, Vervet monkeys, Blue wildebeests, Hartlaub’s frolicking with chicks, Brownhooded kingfisher, Klipspringer, and the Redfaced mousebird. Only CJ and Christina were able to catch a glimpse of the Hyena. Only a few saw the Bontebok. The most significant sighting of the day was the endangered Wild dogs that caused quite a huge traffic jam. I was the only one lucky enough to see the Rhino that everyone else claimed was a rock.

For lunch we had ham sandwiches. Lunch was at Shukusha. After we ate lunch and people got some much-needed rest under a sycamore tree, we continued on with our game drive.

After our game drive we headed out of Kruger towards “The Gecko Lodge”, to set up camp. It was just our luck that it began to rain. Once we arrived at the campsite, Peter showed us how to set up our tents. Through the wind and the rain we struggled and succeeded in setting up our tents. With many of us being new campers, our tour guides were impressed with our teamwork and ability to set up the tents. Afterwards, some showered while others sat around the fire vowing to take a shower tomorrow. We all were hoping that they would.

This morning was somewhat hectic, especially for me because I had to wake up at six o’clock. Our entire campsite had to disassemble their tents before 7:15am in order to have left by eight. It was extremely difficult for me to get out of my warm sleeping bag into my cold, dirty pair of jeans. Breakfast was the usual peanut butter and jelly with hot chocolate or coffee. The hot drink was important because it warmed my numb hands.

After an hour or so, we arrived at Kruger National Park for the third day to see a lion. Today was our last day, and if we didn’t see it soon, my only hope was the Birmingham Zoo. Personally I wanted to see a rhino. We saw the usual elephants, zebras, birds, and hippo. It was strange, because we would see one and simply drive by. How often do you get to see a wild elephant and just merely drive right by? We also saw some giraffes eating, and some zebras playing and rolling around in the dirt. I thought they were going to mate, but maybe it’s better that the approaching waterbuck made them quit. After that we drove to a watering hole to try and see more hippos. There were impala and waterbuck along with the hippos, and if I had a good zoom it would have been a great picture.

Lunch consisted of ham sandwiches. As usual I went back to get seconds, but the ham was gone at that point, so I settled for a cheese sandwich. The toilets at the rest stop were only holes in the ground with a seat around it. Once we were back in the truck/bus thing, we all got tired as we saw less and less. Eventually we saw a sign that told us we had seven kilometers before the exit. We had given up all hope of seeing a lion. Little did we know, that just up the road, there was a huge traffic jam witnessing just what we had hoped. Four young males and one female lions had just killed a buffalo, and were relaxing around their kill. One lion playfully ripped off the tail and was running around with it in its’ mouth. Eventually we had seen enough, so we made our way toward the gate to leave Kruger National Park for what might be forever.

Another hour and we arrived at our campsite. A sign near the entrance said to be cautious of crocodiles and hippos. Oh my Good Lord!! Somehow our bus squeezed itself through the trees to reach our campsite where we began to set up tents, yet again. We sat around the fire for our awards ceremony, in which Andi and Jodie gave awards for each of our unique qualities. I received the “Weaver of Any Type of Grass” Award because of the grass bracelets and necklaces I made. Dinner was delicious as usual: beef stew over rice. After a shower, I was ready for bed, so I crawled in my sleeping bag to get warm. It was a great day, and well worth it to see the lions.

Day 10 Wrap Up - South Africa turns southern girls into safari freaks!
CJ- St Augustine, Florida

It always amuses me when I get asked questions about the international tours I go on, things like how people live, what is the food like and was the volleyball any good? Also how did the American kids feel about the whole trip?

Don't get me wrong. I am a coach and I have two children of my own however, I do not speak any language but english fluently and I don't know alot about politics. How can I state this: I am a simple coach from the southeastern United States and I love volleyball and traveling. I have never had a bad tour with Bring IT USA, but this one was one of the best.

I loved South Africa. We visited Cape Town and Kruger National Park. I had never been to either place and did not know what to expect. My own personal affinity for South Africa grew as I met the people involved with the volleyball community and with investigating the culture and sites of Cape Town. I loved the climate, (winter is mild like in Florida), the landscape, with Table Mountain as a backdrop to the north and the coast to the south and Lions Head Mountain to the east, Cape Town is so picture perfect I can understand why people love living there.

My first trip to Europe was with Cory Solomon and Bring IT USA. I was changed forever, knowing how much more there is to explore and enjoy overseas we both got this bright idea with another friend Andi to go to South Africa last summer. We were hooked and we knew we had to go.

This experience was awesome. I know that everyone felt the same way as I did. For two weeks we explored the sites of Cape Town and went on the most incredible safari in Kruger National Reserve. The fact that we were feet away from Lions, Elephants, Zebras, Hippos, Impalas and such is too hard to explain. I believe our team of 9 players from Birmingham, Alabama got it! They were such great campers, (honestly we set up camp the first night in the rain, no complaints and everyone did there part!) We ate exotic things, we worked together and took probably somewhere around 4,000 pictures together.

This small group received such a warm welcome from the volleyball teams we played and met. We enjoyed our time with them, and made the most of it, exchanging emails and addresses and promising to send American Flags and other trinkets to our new friends.

This is honestly all it is about. Making the world a smaller place for our kids. Exploring the cultures, people and volleyball in foreign places. But mostly changing lives and developing a sense of compassion, understanding and making so many wonderful memories that you will never forget your experiences.

Have you ever seen a Giraffe walking gracefully in the wild, strong, slow, deliberate and showing off to no one's delight but their own? That is the sight of the kids on tour learning, growing and enjoying what they have been placed on earth for, to learn and become better people. And that is what it is like to go on tour with Bring IT USA and especially this tour to South Africa.