Go with Henry: South-African outback - Lusikisiki and Flagstaff in the Transkei

Friday, 19 February 2010

South-African outback - Lusikisiki and Flagstaff in the Transkei

Tour of the Eastern Cape

Rural Education Development

Learnthings Africa

Rural South Africa

13 - 15 January 2010

Background

For nearly a month I traveled more than 7000 km through the Eastern Cape of South Africa (including the area previously known as the Transkei) to install Learnthings and Microsoft software content at poor rural schools on behalf of Learnthings Africa.

In this post, I cover Lusikisiki, which is about 100 km from Bizana via the R 61.

It was very misty and it took me more than 2 hours to reach Lusikisiki due to the slow drive.

I booked in at SIPS B & B in Bubu Avenue where I spent the next 3 nights. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they have wireless internet and a swimming pool.

The meals were fabulous and the guesthouse had DSTV in the rooms, which enabled me to be a couch potato in the evenings after quite busy and eventful days having to install software at various locations.

Rural scenery, Lusikisiki, Transkei

About Transkei

The Transkei (meaning the area beyond [the river] Kei), officially the Republic of Transkei, was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the south-eastern region of South Africa. Its capital was Umtata, which was renamed Mthatha in 2004.

Transkei represented a significant precedent and historic turning point in South Africa's policy of apartheid and "separate development"; it was the first of four territories to be declared independent of South Africa.

Throughout its existence, it remained an internationally unrecognized, diplomatically isolated, politically unstable de facto one-party state, which at one point broke relations with South Africa, the only country that acknowledged it as a legal entity.

In 1994, it was reintegrated into its larger neighbor and became part of the Eastern Cape Province.

About the Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province.

Landing place and home of the 1820 settlers, the central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the Xhosa people.

This region is the birthplace of many prominent South African politicians, such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Chris Hani, Thabo Mbeki, Steve Biko, Bantu Holomisa and Charles Coghlan (Wikipedia).

Lusikisiki street scenery, Transkei

The Road scenery between Bizana and Lusikisiki

On the road between Bizana and Lusikisiki

The scenery on the road between Bizana and Lusikisiki

Shop on the road between Bizana and Lusikisiki

About Lusikisiki

Lusikisiki is a town in Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. This village is 45 km north of Port St Johns in East Pondoland. It developed from a military camp established in 1894, was surveyed in 1902 and administered by a village management board since 1932 (Wikipedia).

Lusikisiki is wild. The countryside is rugged, remote and untamed, and time has virtually stood still in a part of the world known as ‘God’s country’ or Pondoland. The little town gets its name from the sound of the wind moving through the grass.

Here the countryside - a series of rolling hills, lush tropical forests, wide open spaces, untouched beaches, and an untamed mystery - supports the local people’s lifestyle that has changed little over the years.

The AmaMpondo are welcoming people who traditionally live in huts; old-style and beehive-shaped (SA venues.com).

Lusikisiki, Transkei

Software installation in Lusikisiki

Content installation

Siwali JCC - Lusikisiki

Lusikisiki street scenery, Transkei

A caravan spaza, Lusikisiki, Transkei

SIPS B&B in Lusikisiki where I stayed

Excerpt from my diary – Thursday 14 January 2010

I had to use my own transportation to and from installation sights over the last 2 days in Lusikisiki.

The roads are not good enough for a small car. There was a lot of off-roading on dirt roads and even the main roads are riddled with potholes. I am not sure why the department could not provide us with a proper off-road vehicle.

We traveled nearly 400 km today and together with the heat left us all pretty exhausted at the end of the day. Upon my arrival back at SIPS B&B, I appreciated the splash pool to cool off and the excellent dinner refueled my strength.

Bakuba Junior Secondary school, Tabankulu, Eastern Cape

Flagstaff

About Flagstaff

Flagstaff is a town in the OR Tambo District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa located some 80 km south-east of Kokstad and 45 km north of Lusikisiki. It is the seat of the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality.

The town developed from a trading station established in 1877 and derives its name from the practice by the owners of hoisting a white flag on Sundays to indicate that the store was closed. For many years it served as a post of the Cape Mounted Rifles (Wikipedia).