I've now been out of South Africa for almost three weeks and of course people keep asking me about my experience and if I was sad to say goodbye to the country. I generally reply with the same answer, "I had an amazing year in South Africa, where I learned a lot, met some great people and saw some unbelievable places, but I am relieved to be moving on."
I recently read two articles which I think do a good job of illustrating why I feel this way:
"The hollow state"
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21684146-two-decades-after-south-africas-transition-non-racial-democracy-its
"South Africa still awaits its golden age"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35106236
I've said it before, but I think South Africa is at a tipping point right now and it's not heading in a good direction. I think it'll get worse before it gets better but I hope the next generation of leaders will rise up and right the ship. It's a wonderful country of contradictions and surprises; I'm rooting for them to make it happen through it all.
Monday, 28 December 2015
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Closing up Shop
I leave town tomorrow and I'm just about ready to go. One amazing thing about living in a furnished apartment is how easy it is to shut the door and head out without trying to sell or store everything. I've slowly been purging clothes (donated to a local hospice [http://www.hospicewits.co.za/] who will come to pick up your donation; so convenient) and canceling memberships and whatnot, but one major item I do...or did own...was my car.
Selling my car, and hopefully not losing a bunch of money on it, was the biggest source of worry for me as I prepared to move. I tried to sell my car privately within my network and on autotrader.co.za, but when that didn't work I called around to dealerships to get quotes. Luckily, I also had a friend tell me about webuycars.co.za. This was the quickest, easiest process and I was able to keep my car right until my departure.
If you're looking to sell your car, you just go to the website, enter in the car specs, add a picture and ask for a quote. Almost immediately I was sent a quoted range and asked if I was happy with this, if I would set up an appointment. This quote was higher by far than any of the dealerships so I sent up an appointment for the day before I left so I could still use the car as long as I needed it.
The Webuycars rep showed up this morning, took a look around the car, checked out the paperwork, we took a test drive around the block and then he gave me an offer, staying within the range I had been quoted. We then took about five minutes where he entered in all my information in his tablet, sent me a sales agreement electronically and called his office to do an EFT to my bank account. We then waited another five minutes for the payment to show up in my account and voila - he left with the vehicle registration docs and the car. It could not have been easier.
Now the only thing left will be for me to transfer money from my bank account here into my Canadian account...I will have pay a Forex fee and I'll lose money on the conversion from Rand to Dollars but hopefully I'll still have a nice chunk of savings left when all is said and done.
Okay, now back to packing...
Selling my car, and hopefully not losing a bunch of money on it, was the biggest source of worry for me as I prepared to move. I tried to sell my car privately within my network and on autotrader.co.za, but when that didn't work I called around to dealerships to get quotes. Luckily, I also had a friend tell me about webuycars.co.za. This was the quickest, easiest process and I was able to keep my car right until my departure.
If you're looking to sell your car, you just go to the website, enter in the car specs, add a picture and ask for a quote. Almost immediately I was sent a quoted range and asked if I was happy with this, if I would set up an appointment. This quote was higher by far than any of the dealerships so I sent up an appointment for the day before I left so I could still use the car as long as I needed it.
The Webuycars rep showed up this morning, took a look around the car, checked out the paperwork, we took a test drive around the block and then he gave me an offer, staying within the range I had been quoted. We then took about five minutes where he entered in all my information in his tablet, sent me a sales agreement electronically and called his office to do an EFT to my bank account. We then waited another five minutes for the payment to show up in my account and voila - he left with the vehicle registration docs and the car. It could not have been easier.
Now the only thing left will be for me to transfer money from my bank account here into my Canadian account...I will have pay a Forex fee and I'll lose money on the conversion from Rand to Dollars but hopefully I'll still have a nice chunk of savings left when all is said and done.
Okay, now back to packing...
Friday, 4 December 2015
As I prepare to leave...
It's my last weekend in Johannesburg and I am feeling conflicted.
Of course, I will miss this city, the people I have met and unique culture I have been able to be a part of, but I am also feeling extremely excited to take the next step in my life; moving to London!
I went for dinner with a group of people this week who have just moved to Johannesburg and I was speaking with them about the exciting travel spots they want to go and the places they should see while they are here. I also took a quick scan back through my blog posts from the past year and it all made me nostalgic for the once in a lifetime experiences I have been fortunate enough to have while here. The office also said goodbye to me today at our all-staff meeting and capped it off with high-tea and drinks after work. It is finally hitting me that my year is actually coming to a close and I'm leaving. It feels a little sad.
While at the same time, not only am I very much looking forward to seeing my loved ones when I visit Canada for the holidays and for what is to come in London, but I know that this is really the right time for me to leave.
This week one of my closest friends here was robbed at gunpoint with his young family and accordingly to South African stats, crime rates have increased in Johannesburg this year over last. South Africa right now seems to be at a tipping point. The youth in the country are standing up and asking for more from their leaders, but so far they have only been met with band-aid solutions and misguided regulations. Unemployment is high, productivity and growth are low, but South Africa continues to make it difficult for foreign investors and infrastructure to enter in and build up the economy. People are getting desperate. As it stands, the ANC, won't be voted out of power, and the loyalty they receive is understandable, but my hope is that with enough pressure from young voters (if they get out and vote) who aren't as devoted to the ANC, the ruling party will start to adapt. But these are high hopes and right now its feeling more and more that things are starting to boil over. We'll see how the tides shift, but for now, I'm just grateful for the year I've had and relieved that I have a ticket to outta here in a few days.
Of course, I will miss this city, the people I have met and unique culture I have been able to be a part of, but I am also feeling extremely excited to take the next step in my life; moving to London!
I went for dinner with a group of people this week who have just moved to Johannesburg and I was speaking with them about the exciting travel spots they want to go and the places they should see while they are here. I also took a quick scan back through my blog posts from the past year and it all made me nostalgic for the once in a lifetime experiences I have been fortunate enough to have while here. The office also said goodbye to me today at our all-staff meeting and capped it off with high-tea and drinks after work. It is finally hitting me that my year is actually coming to a close and I'm leaving. It feels a little sad.
While at the same time, not only am I very much looking forward to seeing my loved ones when I visit Canada for the holidays and for what is to come in London, but I know that this is really the right time for me to leave.
This week one of my closest friends here was robbed at gunpoint with his young family and accordingly to South African stats, crime rates have increased in Johannesburg this year over last. South Africa right now seems to be at a tipping point. The youth in the country are standing up and asking for more from their leaders, but so far they have only been met with band-aid solutions and misguided regulations. Unemployment is high, productivity and growth are low, but South Africa continues to make it difficult for foreign investors and infrastructure to enter in and build up the economy. People are getting desperate. As it stands, the ANC, won't be voted out of power, and the loyalty they receive is understandable, but my hope is that with enough pressure from young voters (if they get out and vote) who aren't as devoted to the ANC, the ruling party will start to adapt. But these are high hopes and right now its feeling more and more that things are starting to boil over. We'll see how the tides shift, but for now, I'm just grateful for the year I've had and relieved that I have a ticket to outta here in a few days.
Working in SA
In building off a previous post about the talent drain in South Africa, and looking back on my year, I wanted to write about my personal experience working in the South African market.
When I first moved here, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I knew coming in that part of my responsibility would be to bring best practices to this young office, but the team had kicked off over a year before my arrival, so I figured some basic systems would be in place.
Pretty quickly I came to realize, it wasn't just best practices that were needed, this department was lacking any form of structure and organization. While at the same time, the growth targets were aggressive, so new initiatives were being proposed left, right and centre.
Almost as soon as I started, things began being added to my job description; campus portfolios, external program management, cleaning up legacy issues...in short, I was drowning.
But what I found most troubling in all of this, is that my local colleague's workload was being significantly decreased, not to the point that we were equals, but to the point where she had few major responsibilities.
I started seeing the inefficiencies of our local team as a whole. There is a noticeable difference in performance levels between here and our Toronto staff, which is concerning when Johannesburg has 1.5 million people more than Toronto and should have an eligible workforce from which to fill these roles. Yet, with the talent drain, it's just not the case.
Certainly, there are a few fantastic staff, who would be top performers in any market, but as a whole the group is under-performing and there is this lack of willingness to go above and beyond their job description (which as you can see, in a developing market especially, is often necessary).
This is of grave concern for any growing business in South Africa, because in order to maintain sustainable growth, there needs to be a base of South African employees who want to grow their career with the firm, but at the same time, an international standard of business needs to be met.
We're walking a fine and often frustrating line...
When I first moved here, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I knew coming in that part of my responsibility would be to bring best practices to this young office, but the team had kicked off over a year before my arrival, so I figured some basic systems would be in place.
Pretty quickly I came to realize, it wasn't just best practices that were needed, this department was lacking any form of structure and organization. While at the same time, the growth targets were aggressive, so new initiatives were being proposed left, right and centre.
Almost as soon as I started, things began being added to my job description; campus portfolios, external program management, cleaning up legacy issues...in short, I was drowning.
But what I found most troubling in all of this, is that my local colleague's workload was being significantly decreased, not to the point that we were equals, but to the point where she had few major responsibilities.
I started seeing the inefficiencies of our local team as a whole. There is a noticeable difference in performance levels between here and our Toronto staff, which is concerning when Johannesburg has 1.5 million people more than Toronto and should have an eligible workforce from which to fill these roles. Yet, with the talent drain, it's just not the case.
Certainly, there are a few fantastic staff, who would be top performers in any market, but as a whole the group is under-performing and there is this lack of willingness to go above and beyond their job description (which as you can see, in a developing market especially, is often necessary).
This is of grave concern for any growing business in South Africa, because in order to maintain sustainable growth, there needs to be a base of South African employees who want to grow their career with the firm, but at the same time, an international standard of business needs to be met.
We're walking a fine and often frustrating line...
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Ma & Pa Come to Town
What says I love you better than travelling over 13,000 kms to visit your kid? Not much. I was super lucky to have my parents come and visit me recently. They spent a total of three weeks down here and they saw all the highlights.
I picked them up at the airport on a Saturday and after a long flight they settled in and slept off the jetlag. That night we went the best steakhouse in the city, Wombles, where they were able to try their first kudu and springbok - so yummy!! They also got to experience a Joburg power outage when the power kept going on and off at the restaurant.
We chilled the rest of the weekend, but come Monday morning we were off bright and early to Kruger National Park. I was a bit nervous about what we would see, because the only thing left on my wish list was to see some big cats and with such a huge national park, animal sightings can be hit or miss. But, maybe chalk it up to beginner's luck, we saw all of the "Big Five" (rhino, lion, buffalo, elephant and leopard) in just our two day stay, including FOUR leopard sightings. Leopards are really rare to come across so we were beyond excited. We also had an epic experience with a pride of 13 lions. We came across a mama and her three adolescent cubs laying right on the road. We got lots of close up time with them before moving on but little did we know what was wandering towards us just a couple hundred yards down; nine lions all walking down the road. A few of them stopped right beside our truck and seemed to be tasting the air around them and as they passed right beside me they would stare right at me; I was a wee bit frightened, too scared to pull my camera up in front of my face to snap a pic at that close a range. A little later on our drive we also saw a hyena family, including a couple of cubs who were only a few weeks old. They were so cute, especially for an animal that grows up to be pretty ugly; one of the "Ugly Five" (hyena, wildebeest, vulture, marabou stork, warthog).
After a long drive back into Johannesburg, we hunkered down for the night because the next morning we were flying out to Zimbabwe. After a quick flight we arrived in Victoria Falls, which was hot as ever. Ma & Pa went on a sunset cruise down the Zambezi and I walked over to the Victoria Falls Hotel where I spent the afternoon reading my book and drinking beer while overlooking the Zambezi. It was delightful. Ma & Pa eventually joined me for dinner there. The next day, we got up and headed straight for the border. We crossed over into Zambia, walking across the Victoria Falls Bridge and to the Livingstone Hotel. From there we took a quick boat ride over to the edge of Vic Falls. During this time of year, in the dry season the water levels are low enough that in one particular area of Vic Falls, the Devil's Pool, you can actually swim at the edge without having the current sweep you over. So that is exactly what we did - swam atop Vic Falls! It was epic!! After our super cool swim, we had a nice breakfast and then headed back across the border. We spent the heat of the afternoon in the hotel pool, having drinks and chatting at the swim up bar and then went out for dinner in town that night. The next day Ma & Pa went to walk along the Falls but I had a migraine so I stayed at the hotel and then once they got back we went to the airport and came back to Joburg.
When they arrived back in Joburg, they settled into a nice little lodge in the city. I picked them up the next day and we went for brunch and then shopped around in Parkhurst as well as the Rosebank Market. During the week I was also working, but Ma & Pa did a couple touristy things around the city and enjoyed the sunny weather by the pool in their lodge. In the evenings, I would come over after work and we had dinner every night, going out to a couple of my favourite restaurants in the city or eating with some of the other guests at the lodge. It was quite delightful. But then alas, the end of their three week adventure arrived and they headed back to Canada in time for Canadian Thanksgiving with the rest of the family.
All in all, it was a great time and I think I can safely say, the trip of a lifetime for these two!
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Where to Eat
Johannesburg offers unbelievable value at their restaurants. The food and alcohol in this country are incredibly cheap by international standards. It is just as affordable to eat out as it is to cook at home, so why not!?
Here is my "best of.." list from the places I've been around the city:
Best American-style BBQ - Smokehouse & Grill, Braamfontein
Best Cafe - Warm & Glad, Craighall Park
Best Steakhouse - Wombles, Parktown North (The Local Grill & Grillhouse are also solid)
Best Asian Fusion - Great Middle Eastern Food Bar, Melville
Best Italian - Tortellini D'Oro, Oaklands
Best Chain Restaurant - Vovo Telo (Koi is a close second)
Best Bistro - The Leopard, Melville
Best Braii - Chaf Pozi, Soweto
Best Brunch - The Pudding Shop, Parktown North
Best Coffee - Naked, Melrose Arch
Best Indian - Thava, Norwood
Best Take-out - Col Cacchios, multiple locations
Best Chinese - PRON, Linden
Here is my "best of.." list from the places I've been around the city:
Best American-style BBQ - Smokehouse & Grill, Braamfontein
Best Cafe - Warm & Glad, Craighall Park
Best Steakhouse - Wombles, Parktown North (The Local Grill & Grillhouse are also solid)
Best Asian Fusion - Great Middle Eastern Food Bar, Melville
Best Italian - Tortellini D'Oro, Oaklands
Best Chain Restaurant - Vovo Telo (Koi is a close second)
Best Bistro - The Leopard, Melville
Best Braii - Chaf Pozi, Soweto
Best Brunch - The Pudding Shop, Parktown North
Best Coffee - Naked, Melrose Arch
Best Indian - Thava, Norwood
Best Take-out - Col Cacchios, multiple locations
Best Chinese - PRON, Linden
Friday, 14 August 2015
Madagascar
TIA ("This is Africa") is the classic cheesy tagline for when things don't go exactly according to plan on the continent and it couldn't have been more fitting for this trip. From the start, we had to deal with airline mishaps, difficulty getting a hold of the lodge owners due to connectivity issues and then when we arrived, weather troubles. And yet, this adventure through Madagascar, couldn't have been more exciting!
Especially because we started our trip by being flown by a friend to Cape Town so we could be at his party on Friday night with a 5:45am flight back to Johannesburg in time to catch our flight out to Madagascar. By the time we arrived in the capital, Antananarivo, we were running on red bull and room service; well worth it though!
When we arrived we settled into our hostel (Madagascar Underground - a great little spot run by an Australian dude) and then set off to a nearby market. We had been warned that the area was notorious for theft and was getting worse and worse so we set off with literally nothing on us except some cash stashed in our bras. We grabbed lunch at an old train station at the end of Independence Road and picked up a couple of small items and then made our way back. We were also warned not to be out after dark so we wanted to tour around a bit of a safer area before packing it in. We went for a walk and checked out the scene but as soon as the sun started going down, it was true, some creepers came out; just guys staring, cat calling; not charming.
We were so tired and had to get up early to catch our flight up to the Northern part of the country, so we went to bed unreasonably early at about 7pm. This is when I realized, I may be getting too old to stay in hostels. The young kids partying and coming in and out of the room, leaving the door open, I was ready to give them a stern talking to about hostel etiquette.
Because Air Madagascar is a total mess, they were on strike for a few weeks, flights were constantly getting rerouted, delayed, cancelled, we ended up booking a charter to and from Maroantsetra (the closest city to the lodge we were staying at). Terribly expensive, but at least it was reliable. Our flight arrived and we were met by our guide for the week Serafhin. He ushered us onto a boat to set off to through the Indian Ocean to get to the Masoala peninsula where are lodge, called Masoala Forest Lodge, is located just outside of the National Park.
I am someone who doesn't mind being on the water and even a choppy ride I have no issues with, never been seasick, but this boat trip was pretty awful. It was pouring rain, the seas were incredibly rough and our captain kept having to reroute to avoid big swells. Our boat trip was supposed to be a one hour ride and ended up taking three hours. Needless to say, we were very happy to step onto dry land when we finally arrived.
That very damp journey through the sea would be a precursor for our stay in Masoala, where is rained every day and we never felt fully dry. But, that didn't stop us from having a great time. Rain or shine, we went hiking in the rainforest surrounding our lodge. The first night we arrived I went for a hike at night to try to find some nocturnal animals and I managed to see two types of lemurs right off the bat, as well as some birds and reptiles. The two lemurs were a woolly lemur and a mouse lemur, which is the world's smallest type of lemur, so that was an extra lucky find.
The next day we set off to visit the secondary forest, which is called that because it was clear cut about 60 years ago by the French when Madagascar was getting its independence. You can still see old railroad ties embedded in the ground where the tracks used to run to take the logs out. The forest appears quite lush and is slowly building back its wildlife, but apparently the animals wait for a red-ruffed lemur to move in, and that is their signal to start building their home in the trees. No red-ruffed lemurs yet. We took a canoe trip down a river that runs through the forest, which gave us another cool perspective of the foliage.
The lodge we stayed in was really lovely. The owners are always around to make sure you have whatever you need, there is tasty local food all throughout your stay, the entire place is solar powered, and they have lots of glass bottles with filtered water and provide canteens to take hiking. There are books and games and sometimes even okay wifi in the main lodge where everyone staying at the lodge eats. Dinner is eaten together with all the guests and owners so it's a nice time to mingle and settle in for the night.
We explored the primary forest next, which is much more filled in than the secondary forest. This is where we had the most lemur sightings. We saw the infamous red-ruffed lemur, brown lemurs jumping between trees and were able to get very close to a sportive lemur. The hike was really fun but I'm very glad I had my hiking boots because it was muddy rough terrain. We ended up with one more chance lemur sighting when another mouse lemur was found tucked into the palm leaves that had been picked for our dinner - the lodge made us a traditional Malagasy meal (delicious!! Lots of rice, cassava and zebu). The guys who had picked the leaves spotted the lemur in there when they picked them up and they brought him to show us before returning him to a little spot in the rainforest.
One day the sun was shining for the afternoon so we went for a kayak through the sea to the end of the peninsula where we pulled up to a beach for a swim before heading back. The water was so nice and warm, even though it is winter there, so we went swimming a couple of times and laid out on the beach a bit. Then when the sun wasn't shining and we had downtime, I mostly sat in one of the hammocks and read my books, which to me, is paradise.
On our final day, we set off really early, this time the waters were much calmer so it was a quick boat ride. We also stopped at another island for a quick hike before we caught our flight. On this island we saw the leaf-tailed gecko that only lives on that particular island and we saw some brown lemurs who came down from the trees and were quite close to us. This was another really lush forest and a more challenging hike, but it was great.
Luckily, the travel out was uneventful; we took our small plane from Maronsetra to Antananarivo and then switched flights and flew back home in time for dinner.
It was a bit of an expensive trip, but honestly, it was so worth it in the end. Plus, it's much easier to get to that remote area in Madagascar from Johannesburg than anywhere else in the world so it felt like now is the perfect time to do it; I'm very glad I did.
Especially because we started our trip by being flown by a friend to Cape Town so we could be at his party on Friday night with a 5:45am flight back to Johannesburg in time to catch our flight out to Madagascar. By the time we arrived in the capital, Antananarivo, we were running on red bull and room service; well worth it though!
When we arrived we settled into our hostel (Madagascar Underground - a great little spot run by an Australian dude) and then set off to a nearby market. We had been warned that the area was notorious for theft and was getting worse and worse so we set off with literally nothing on us except some cash stashed in our bras. We grabbed lunch at an old train station at the end of Independence Road and picked up a couple of small items and then made our way back. We were also warned not to be out after dark so we wanted to tour around a bit of a safer area before packing it in. We went for a walk and checked out the scene but as soon as the sun started going down, it was true, some creepers came out; just guys staring, cat calling; not charming. We were so tired and had to get up early to catch our flight up to the Northern part of the country, so we went to bed unreasonably early at about 7pm. This is when I realized, I may be getting too old to stay in hostels. The young kids partying and coming in and out of the room, leaving the door open, I was ready to give them a stern talking to about hostel etiquette.
Because Air Madagascar is a total mess, they were on strike for a few weeks, flights were constantly getting rerouted, delayed, cancelled, we ended up booking a charter to and from Maroantsetra (the closest city to the lodge we were staying at). Terribly expensive, but at least it was reliable. Our flight arrived and we were met by our guide for the week Serafhin. He ushered us onto a boat to set off to through the Indian Ocean to get to the Masoala peninsula where are lodge, called Masoala Forest Lodge, is located just outside of the National Park.
I am someone who doesn't mind being on the water and even a choppy ride I have no issues with, never been seasick, but this boat trip was pretty awful. It was pouring rain, the seas were incredibly rough and our captain kept having to reroute to avoid big swells. Our boat trip was supposed to be a one hour ride and ended up taking three hours. Needless to say, we were very happy to step onto dry land when we finally arrived.
That very damp journey through the sea would be a precursor for our stay in Masoala, where is rained every day and we never felt fully dry. But, that didn't stop us from having a great time. Rain or shine, we went hiking in the rainforest surrounding our lodge. The first night we arrived I went for a hike at night to try to find some nocturnal animals and I managed to see two types of lemurs right off the bat, as well as some birds and reptiles. The two lemurs were a woolly lemur and a mouse lemur, which is the world's smallest type of lemur, so that was an extra lucky find.
The next day we set off to visit the secondary forest, which is called that because it was clear cut about 60 years ago by the French when Madagascar was getting its independence. You can still see old railroad ties embedded in the ground where the tracks used to run to take the logs out. The forest appears quite lush and is slowly building back its wildlife, but apparently the animals wait for a red-ruffed lemur to move in, and that is their signal to start building their home in the trees. No red-ruffed lemurs yet. We took a canoe trip down a river that runs through the forest, which gave us another cool perspective of the foliage.
The lodge we stayed in was really lovely. The owners are always around to make sure you have whatever you need, there is tasty local food all throughout your stay, the entire place is solar powered, and they have lots of glass bottles with filtered water and provide canteens to take hiking. There are books and games and sometimes even okay wifi in the main lodge where everyone staying at the lodge eats. Dinner is eaten together with all the guests and owners so it's a nice time to mingle and settle in for the night.
We explored the primary forest next, which is much more filled in than the secondary forest. This is where we had the most lemur sightings. We saw the infamous red-ruffed lemur, brown lemurs jumping between trees and were able to get very close to a sportive lemur. The hike was really fun but I'm very glad I had my hiking boots because it was muddy rough terrain. We ended up with one more chance lemur sighting when another mouse lemur was found tucked into the palm leaves that had been picked for our dinner - the lodge made us a traditional Malagasy meal (delicious!! Lots of rice, cassava and zebu). The guys who had picked the leaves spotted the lemur in there when they picked them up and they brought him to show us before returning him to a little spot in the rainforest.
One day the sun was shining for the afternoon so we went for a kayak through the sea to the end of the peninsula where we pulled up to a beach for a swim before heading back. The water was so nice and warm, even though it is winter there, so we went swimming a couple of times and laid out on the beach a bit. Then when the sun wasn't shining and we had downtime, I mostly sat in one of the hammocks and read my books, which to me, is paradise.
Luckily, the travel out was uneventful; we took our small plane from Maronsetra to Antananarivo and then switched flights and flew back home in time for dinner.
It was a bit of an expensive trip, but honestly, it was so worth it in the end. Plus, it's much easier to get to that remote area in Madagascar from Johannesburg than anywhere else in the world so it felt like now is the perfect time to do it; I'm very glad I did.
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