Jinji Sadan

The garden route in south Africa is known for one of the most beautiful roads in the world so I wanted to see it for myself. It’s going on the south coast and it’s full of marvels places, places that I want to stay forever but I don’t have the time for it. The winter in started and I had the luck to cycle on the first big storm in the year. It was rainy like crazy and the wind was hard for me but I got used to it after I got to my rhythm. I thought that about that that millions years ago when they was the Pangaea (a one big continent)the east coast of south America was connected to the west coast of Africa and Argentina and south Africa was in the same land that how I need to thing like I didn’t took a flight and I am not cycled in America and know in Africa. I cycled in the world and i am still cycling in the same world. Think in pangea way i told my self. On the road the road i can see big baboons, ostrich (”bat yaana”) and zebras. After some days on the road I start to fill back again to my life and start to feel a part of the road and a part of the earth I really missed it. The road is also crossing some small hills and big farms and in the end of the day before it gets dark I am choosing a farm and cycle to that farm. people are happy to see me and I ask them for a place in there farm to put my tent, most of them are really nice and after they ask me from where I am and where I have been in the  bike they offer me a room and a hot dinner. That a good way to get real culture from the place and I can ask them about the history of the place and to get from there point of view the things. One day I put my tent in a farm (I felt a little spoiled with all this luxury) and then came a black guy name Sidney and asked me. “You are going to sleep outside in this cold?” he asks me. “Yes” and I started to explain him that here is not really cold for me and actually I feel warm now… Sidney is working on the farm and he got 7 children. I was happy to hear that Roei in the African language is red. He was in shocked when I told him that I am from Israel and I am almost 2 years on the road with my bicycle. He could not understand it and thought that I am joking with him.”I had a really long day but you are something else”. He told me that I am the first guy that he talked with that he is not from Africa. I ask him if they got a computer some where in the farm and I showed him some photos in different places. He brought a world map and I started the geographic lesson. We had a dinner break to eat some rice with chicken, he is eating with his hand and I prefer (now) my fork and knife. After dinner we sat and looked over the sky. We talked about his life and I told him that I think that his job is hard. “My job is hard? You cycled from cape town I got tired to drive there…”. “How old are you?” I asked chime. “I think that I am between 44 to 46″ he told me. “You think?” I looked at him in a weird face. “Yes I think, we were so poor and my parents never celebrate my b day and when I was a big boy and needed to have an ID my father didn’t had money so wee didn’t do it and then he died. Now I have an I D but I know that it’s not my birthday. “I grow up in the apartheid time and it was really hard these days for the black people. He told me that the black wasn’t allowed to walk in the street in the night; they had white buses and black buses. They were even toilets for black and different for the white. That they were crazy days but it’s over and now I am happy and not angry for this pain. “I am really happy that you didn’t have to suffer in your country in Israel” Sidney told me. “I was lucky born to a strong country but the Jewish had big problems in the past you know”. Sidney looked at me in a wired face (like the face that I did when he told me about his age). “What, you didn’t hear about the Holocaust?” I ask him , ”I don’t know what you talking about my friend” .For me its sound like every one needs to know about the Holocaust but I am forgetting that for some people the past is not so interesting they just think how to make it day by day and to bring a 7 kids family bread to eat. But now the history class open for one evening next to a fire. I told him that not long ago there was a guy name Hitler(he herd this name but didn’t know who his he) and he was the leader of a big group that killed many Jewish in Europe. I told him about the Nazis and how they salutered people, I didn’t want to give him too much information (it was hour first lesion…) but he got the point. “How many people do this Hitler guy killed?”. “6 millions of people” .He was in shocked, he had tires in his eyes and had problem to talk. “but, but. I can’t understand it why people needs to bee so bad?”
“There are some things that I can’t explain my friend”. For some time we didn’t talk just watch the fire. Before he went to sleep he told me. “Roei, I am happy to meet you and know that people like you are real, if I saw your book one day without knowing you I will say that it cant be true but after today I can say that every thing can happen in this world even people that cycling for years just because they want to see the world.” I gave him the small flag of Israel and we say good bye. Sidney will be in my heart. Think Pangaea my friends.
love you all
Roei jinni Sadan
the garden rout
South Africa
Africa
the world