Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Cape Point
The professors (and Andi) took a drive to Cape Point this morning. Along the way, we followed the coastline, at times driving along cliffside switchbacks with insane drops off the side. Part of the way, we were in a half tunnel (with the drop-side open) so that we were protected from rockslides. The views were amazing, when we could manage to look over the side of the speeding vehicle!
The weather today has been foggy and a bit rainy, with dramatic mist swirling up from the sea and hiding the tops of the mountains. In the city, it's been a little wet, but not so bad because little cafes and shops are everywhere and it's easy to duck inside. We were worried that the gray day would obscure the gorgeous views, but it turns out that the views we did have were pretty great, so it all worked out.
We walked around at Cape Point, the South-Westernmost point of Africa (and almost the most Southern, but not quite). Sad to say, there has been a lot of misinformation about Cape Point, including, as I had believed up until today, that this was the place at which the Indian and Atlantic Oceans met. But not so. Several large currents meet here, including one that passes India and is much warmer than the Atlantic water, but it isn't the edge of the ocean. Darn.
Still, it was gorgeous. The South African National Park system is really well maintained, and the three parks we have seen have all been wonderously beautiful. Cape Point was no exception, with huge crashing waves and giant cliffs and a dramatic hulking peninsula with a victorian-era light house at the top. We had the choice of walking up to the highest point, or taking a funicular car. The view was amazing for miles around us, although the fog did obscure the mountains on the other side of False Bay. Still, it was pretty great.
We then went to visit some penguins, or rather, we went and tromped around in their nesting grounds while exclaiming loudly in wonderment. The male penguins were hanging out, not afraid of us, going about their penguin business. We could see babies in some of the nests, some of the babies seemingly being squashed by dad's rear-end sitting on them. The females were out fishing, and if only we had shown up a little later, we might have seen them return with their catch.
On our way home, we were waylaid by a group of baboons hanging out in the middle of the road. They walked alongside us, and we were careful not to have any open windows as they can be quite aggressive about food. We did see a little baby baboon run out into the road, and mom immediately leaped out and tackled the little one (literally) and then in one swift move, latched the baby onto her belly while continuing to run across the road. We couldn't help but think how similar humans might be, racing out to rescue our babies from the road.
During our free time today, a number of groups of students have done all kinds of interesting things. There was some serious bargaining going on at the local crafts market (and I've seen a number of quite lovely gifts heading home, not to give away any secrets or anything!). Mike and Jocelyn are working on Facebook as I write, and a number of students began posting their photos online today. Sadly, the students who planned to go to the beach (Becky, Laura, Jocelyn, Mike and Dylan) got rained out. Our shark-divers, Chris, Jameson, and Diane have survived with all of their limbs intact, and they swear it was a wonderful experience with "lots of action." (I don't want to think about it too much!). The three of them were apparently together in the cage while the sharks were baited, and the sharks were so close that they were thrashing their tales against the cage as they ate. I'm just glad our students are back safe and happy. A number of students are out right now down at the waterfront, where there is a GIANT mall with lovely seaside restaurants and curio shops and all kinds of entertainment options. I think there is a group heading out for clubs later tonight.
I think we all really like Cape Town a lot. It is such a lovely and lively city for walking, and there is such an interesting mix of cultures here. And it is SO beautiful! It's hard to believe we'll be home soon.
The weather today has been foggy and a bit rainy, with dramatic mist swirling up from the sea and hiding the tops of the mountains. In the city, it's been a little wet, but not so bad because little cafes and shops are everywhere and it's easy to duck inside. We were worried that the gray day would obscure the gorgeous views, but it turns out that the views we did have were pretty great, so it all worked out.
We walked around at Cape Point, the South-Westernmost point of Africa (and almost the most Southern, but not quite). Sad to say, there has been a lot of misinformation about Cape Point, including, as I had believed up until today, that this was the place at which the Indian and Atlantic Oceans met. But not so. Several large currents meet here, including one that passes India and is much warmer than the Atlantic water, but it isn't the edge of the ocean. Darn.
Still, it was gorgeous. The South African National Park system is really well maintained, and the three parks we have seen have all been wonderously beautiful. Cape Point was no exception, with huge crashing waves and giant cliffs and a dramatic hulking peninsula with a victorian-era light house at the top. We had the choice of walking up to the highest point, or taking a funicular car. The view was amazing for miles around us, although the fog did obscure the mountains on the other side of False Bay. Still, it was pretty great.
We then went to visit some penguins, or rather, we went and tromped around in their nesting grounds while exclaiming loudly in wonderment. The male penguins were hanging out, not afraid of us, going about their penguin business. We could see babies in some of the nests, some of the babies seemingly being squashed by dad's rear-end sitting on them. The females were out fishing, and if only we had shown up a little later, we might have seen them return with their catch.
On our way home, we were waylaid by a group of baboons hanging out in the middle of the road. They walked alongside us, and we were careful not to have any open windows as they can be quite aggressive about food. We did see a little baby baboon run out into the road, and mom immediately leaped out and tackled the little one (literally) and then in one swift move, latched the baby onto her belly while continuing to run across the road. We couldn't help but think how similar humans might be, racing out to rescue our babies from the road.
During our free time today, a number of groups of students have done all kinds of interesting things. There was some serious bargaining going on at the local crafts market (and I've seen a number of quite lovely gifts heading home, not to give away any secrets or anything!). Mike and Jocelyn are working on Facebook as I write, and a number of students began posting their photos online today. Sadly, the students who planned to go to the beach (Becky, Laura, Jocelyn, Mike and Dylan) got rained out. Our shark-divers, Chris, Jameson, and Diane have survived with all of their limbs intact, and they swear it was a wonderful experience with "lots of action." (I don't want to think about it too much!). The three of them were apparently together in the cage while the sharks were baited, and the sharks were so close that they were thrashing their tales against the cage as they ate. I'm just glad our students are back safe and happy. A number of students are out right now down at the waterfront, where there is a GIANT mall with lovely seaside restaurants and curio shops and all kinds of entertainment options. I think there is a group heading out for clubs later tonight.
I think we all really like Cape Town a lot. It is such a lovely and lively city for walking, and there is such an interesting mix of cultures here. And it is SO beautiful! It's hard to believe we'll be home soon.
Fynbos
So I'm going to take a moment to geek out a bit about all the plants around us. We are in a very small but very special vegetal area, considered its own biome. The Cape Floral Kingdom, where we are, is one of only six floral kingdoms in the world, and is also the smallest. The Afrikaans word for it is 'fynbos,' or fine bush. It's a kind of shrubby and floral set of vegetation that grows in extremely sandy and rocky soil, only needing water for part of the year, and needing regular wildfires to jump-start the reproduction process. The fynbos is all around us on the sides of the mountains, looking from afar like a bit of a close-cropped dark green carpet.
Up close, we can easily see all the flowers. The fynbos is filled with proteus plants, currently in full bloom. I've spent a lot of money on these flowers in my life, buying them from speciality flower shops. Here they grow wild, looking like huge pink blooms busting out of the top of a pineapple. Some of them are quite large, bigger than any I've seen in the US. Mixed in with the proteus flowers are wild rooibos plants, which aren't in bloom but which clearly show the little red needles that are collected for rooibus tea (which I also drink regularly). There are lots of juicy-looking little succulent plants spreading over the ground. I know there are honeybush trees in the mix, but I'm not sure I can identify them yet. And every now and then, there is a large wild aloe plant in bloom, with any number of large spikey orange flowers shooting up from the top. The wild aloe don't always get harvested, and some of them have grown quite huge on top of their old leaves (limbs?). Some are as tall as I am, which seems pretty amazing.
Around homes, we see blooming hibiscus, bougainvilla, and jasmine. There are also a number of bushes with small blue flowers (kind of cornflower blue). I can't seem to identify them, but they are everywhere it seems, even in the wild.
The soil up the sides of the mountains is so poor that trees don't grow easily, so there are very few of them. We do see a few Norfolk Pines and Lebanese Cedars, but not much else outside the city.
It all makes for a very interesting landscape, filled with flowers but at the same time, seeming a bit dry and scrubby. It's lovely in any case.
Up close, we can easily see all the flowers. The fynbos is filled with proteus plants, currently in full bloom. I've spent a lot of money on these flowers in my life, buying them from speciality flower shops. Here they grow wild, looking like huge pink blooms busting out of the top of a pineapple. Some of them are quite large, bigger than any I've seen in the US. Mixed in with the proteus flowers are wild rooibos plants, which aren't in bloom but which clearly show the little red needles that are collected for rooibus tea (which I also drink regularly). There are lots of juicy-looking little succulent plants spreading over the ground. I know there are honeybush trees in the mix, but I'm not sure I can identify them yet. And every now and then, there is a large wild aloe plant in bloom, with any number of large spikey orange flowers shooting up from the top. The wild aloe don't always get harvested, and some of them have grown quite huge on top of their old leaves (limbs?). Some are as tall as I am, which seems pretty amazing.
Around homes, we see blooming hibiscus, bougainvilla, and jasmine. There are also a number of bushes with small blue flowers (kind of cornflower blue). I can't seem to identify them, but they are everywhere it seems, even in the wild.
The soil up the sides of the mountains is so poor that trees don't grow easily, so there are very few of them. We do see a few Norfolk Pines and Lebanese Cedars, but not much else outside the city.
It all makes for a very interesting landscape, filled with flowers but at the same time, seeming a bit dry and scrubby. It's lovely in any case.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Townships Near Cape Town
This morning, we left early to see the view from Table Mountain. This mountain is the giant, flat-topped mountain that backs the city into the sea, and it is huge. We had hoped to go all the way to the top via cable car, but unfortunately, the cable car wasn't running today (everything is shut down for repair). So we drove up to the highest point we could and stopped to take some pretty breath-taking photos. We could see the entire bay, with the city curving below us. We could see back to Lion's Head, the other, more spiky smaller mountain nearby. The ocean and sky were bright blue, and the sun was really bright. Except for the fact that the sun was in our eyes in one direction, it was really lovely.
Then we went to the other side of Lion's Head, and walked along the ridge. This allowed us to see into the next bay over, and get the rest of the city in view. We also looked down almost directly on the monster new soccer stadium being constructed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Championship. We could see Robben Island way out in the bay. We watched, for a while, some men who were preparing to jump off the side of the mountain with only a parachute. We waited and waited, but the wind was never just right, and finally we got tired of waiting and left them behind.
By mid-morning, we turned our attention back to our class topics, and had a chance to walk through the area of the city called the Bo-Kaap. This area was settled in the early 1800's by the newly freed slaves the British had brought from the West Indies. When Britain outlawed slavery in 1814, they also took responsibility for their former slaves and built them this neighborhood. The houses still stand, amongst mosques and small shops, but now they are mostly painted bright colors. It's funny to see these houses built in the time of Jane Austen, and in similar style, now beautfully painted such bright colors!
From there, we left Cape Town center and drove up through a mountain pass to the area behind Table Mountain, a place they call the Cape Flats. Flat it is, and not particularly pleasant. While the land in front of the mountain is lovely and verdant, planted with trees and flowers and filled with beautiful houses and buildings, gently sloping down to the ocean, the area behind the mountain is scrubby, sandy, and poorer. There is not even the smallest glimpse of the ocean. It is here that the Apartheid government built a number of townships for Colored people and for Black people. We got to visit the township of Langa, where we had the chance to walk through the market and talk with people. We also got to visit the lovely community center, where people come to learn crafts which they then practice in order to sell goods to support themselves and their families. We got to see the ceramic studio and the iron working area, and we also got to hear a short performance piece telling an old traditional tale. And some of us bought lovely crafts that had been produced by the collective there. What was very interesting about these crafts was that they weren't just producing more of the expected traditional carvings and jewelry, but instead were melding tradition with art and coming up with some really unique items. It was nice knowing that by shopping for gifts there that we were also supporting this community center, located in the midst of such poverty.
We also visted Guguletu, another Township, and we noticed that the townships are extremely vibrant and interesting places. There are areas which are essentially shantytowns, with tiny mean little shacks, some with only plastic sheeting for a roof. Other areas of the townships have nice-by-any standards middle class homes (behind fencing and protective metalwork gates). And there are a number of areas with one room homes built by the Apartheid goverment, and the houses are still standing. And then there are the new houses. The ANC government began in 1994 on their greatest project, to build decent housing for the people of South Africa, and we could see some of the fruits of that project in the Townships. We could see blocks of neat apartment buildings, rows of townhouses, and neighborhoods of small houses mixed in with all the other housing. It makes such an interesting mix.
We stopped at a restaurant in the township called Lalepa, inside someone's home. The woman who owned the home, Wendy, moved into the township in 1960 after being resettled by the government. Over time, she began running a restaurant there, and now she has added a number of rooms in a sort of haphazard way. The food was traditional African, served in a buffet, with lots of delicious dishes. Dessert was a type of gingerbread cake that gets drizzled with syrup while it is still hot. It's quite sweet and very good as sweet things go. Throughout lunch, we were entertained by a marimba band (with 3 marimabas and several traditional African drums). It was a lot of fun, and they ended by playing The Star Spangled Banner, which our students spontaneously began to sing. We then asked them to play the South African national anthem, which they did, and we were surprised when everyone around us stopped and joined in singing. We had been singing our anthem in a fun way, but they were passionate and serious about singing theirs. It was a touching moment. Of course, the anthem is from the new South Africa, and has at the heart of it the idea of freedom for all. Given all that we have seen, learned, and experienced here so far, it's easy to see how the idea of freedom takes on a particularly special meaning.
Tomorrow is free time. Students are shark diving, going to the beach, shopping for presents, and maybe even hiking up Table Mountain. Andi is going with the professors to Cape Point to see two oceans meet. We are winding down, and having a lovely time. More later.
Then we went to the other side of Lion's Head, and walked along the ridge. This allowed us to see into the next bay over, and get the rest of the city in view. We also looked down almost directly on the monster new soccer stadium being constructed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Championship. We could see Robben Island way out in the bay. We watched, for a while, some men who were preparing to jump off the side of the mountain with only a parachute. We waited and waited, but the wind was never just right, and finally we got tired of waiting and left them behind.
By mid-morning, we turned our attention back to our class topics, and had a chance to walk through the area of the city called the Bo-Kaap. This area was settled in the early 1800's by the newly freed slaves the British had brought from the West Indies. When Britain outlawed slavery in 1814, they also took responsibility for their former slaves and built them this neighborhood. The houses still stand, amongst mosques and small shops, but now they are mostly painted bright colors. It's funny to see these houses built in the time of Jane Austen, and in similar style, now beautfully painted such bright colors!
From there, we left Cape Town center and drove up through a mountain pass to the area behind Table Mountain, a place they call the Cape Flats. Flat it is, and not particularly pleasant. While the land in front of the mountain is lovely and verdant, planted with trees and flowers and filled with beautiful houses and buildings, gently sloping down to the ocean, the area behind the mountain is scrubby, sandy, and poorer. There is not even the smallest glimpse of the ocean. It is here that the Apartheid government built a number of townships for Colored people and for Black people. We got to visit the township of Langa, where we had the chance to walk through the market and talk with people. We also got to visit the lovely community center, where people come to learn crafts which they then practice in order to sell goods to support themselves and their families. We got to see the ceramic studio and the iron working area, and we also got to hear a short performance piece telling an old traditional tale. And some of us bought lovely crafts that had been produced by the collective there. What was very interesting about these crafts was that they weren't just producing more of the expected traditional carvings and jewelry, but instead were melding tradition with art and coming up with some really unique items. It was nice knowing that by shopping for gifts there that we were also supporting this community center, located in the midst of such poverty.
We also visted Guguletu, another Township, and we noticed that the townships are extremely vibrant and interesting places. There are areas which are essentially shantytowns, with tiny mean little shacks, some with only plastic sheeting for a roof. Other areas of the townships have nice-by-any standards middle class homes (behind fencing and protective metalwork gates). And there are a number of areas with one room homes built by the Apartheid goverment, and the houses are still standing. And then there are the new houses. The ANC government began in 1994 on their greatest project, to build decent housing for the people of South Africa, and we could see some of the fruits of that project in the Townships. We could see blocks of neat apartment buildings, rows of townhouses, and neighborhoods of small houses mixed in with all the other housing. It makes such an interesting mix.
We stopped at a restaurant in the township called Lalepa, inside someone's home. The woman who owned the home, Wendy, moved into the township in 1960 after being resettled by the government. Over time, she began running a restaurant there, and now she has added a number of rooms in a sort of haphazard way. The food was traditional African, served in a buffet, with lots of delicious dishes. Dessert was a type of gingerbread cake that gets drizzled with syrup while it is still hot. It's quite sweet and very good as sweet things go. Throughout lunch, we were entertained by a marimba band (with 3 marimabas and several traditional African drums). It was a lot of fun, and they ended by playing The Star Spangled Banner, which our students spontaneously began to sing. We then asked them to play the South African national anthem, which they did, and we were surprised when everyone around us stopped and joined in singing. We had been singing our anthem in a fun way, but they were passionate and serious about singing theirs. It was a touching moment. Of course, the anthem is from the new South Africa, and has at the heart of it the idea of freedom for all. Given all that we have seen, learned, and experienced here so far, it's easy to see how the idea of freedom takes on a particularly special meaning.
Tomorrow is free time. Students are shark diving, going to the beach, shopping for presents, and maybe even hiking up Table Mountain. Andi is going with the professors to Cape Point to see two oceans meet. We are winding down, and having a lovely time. More later.
Damond's Birthday
We were without email for a while, and I didn't get a chance to write about our experiences in East London. We flew out from Johannesburg to East London and went to our hostel, a place called The Sugar Shack, which was pretty much both a little bit of sugar and a little bit of shack. The good thing was, it was right on the beach, and we had our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean, which was lovely. In our free afternoon, many folks went swimming or walking on the beach.
The real highlight, though, was after dinner, when a local man named Richard came and joined us around a campfire. Richard is a traditional African drummer as well as a really great guy, and he gathered us (and a few random Australians and Brits) around the fire, gave us amazing hand-made drums, and showed us how to use our hands to make the best sounds. And then we drummed. For a while, we all drummed together, with the sounds of the fire and the waves, but then we went around the circle and each one of us started a new beat which everyone else then picked up. It was Damond's birthday (and Richard's birthday too) so it was already a special night, but the drumming was almost like magic. Even the students who were less interested (or capable) at first ended up getting the hang of it, and it was pretty cool to learn drumming from a man who not only made all the drums by hand but for whom drumming was such an important and traditional part of his life.
So happy birthday, Damond. We had a great time.
The real highlight, though, was after dinner, when a local man named Richard came and joined us around a campfire. Richard is a traditional African drummer as well as a really great guy, and he gathered us (and a few random Australians and Brits) around the fire, gave us amazing hand-made drums, and showed us how to use our hands to make the best sounds. And then we drummed. For a while, we all drummed together, with the sounds of the fire and the waves, but then we went around the circle and each one of us started a new beat which everyone else then picked up. It was Damond's birthday (and Richard's birthday too) so it was already a special night, but the drumming was almost like magic. Even the students who were less interested (or capable) at first ended up getting the hang of it, and it was pretty cool to learn drumming from a man who not only made all the drums by hand but for whom drumming was such an important and traditional part of his life.
So happy birthday, Damond. We had a great time.
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