"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad
We were up at O'Dark-thirty again to catch an early flight back to Johannesburg. Once there, we split into two groups. Half of us were staying in Jo'burg, and the others were flying on to Phalaborwa. The flights to Phalaborwa are small planes, and we wouldn't all fit on one. Yikes! So...my group got to tour Mauropeng - The Cradle of Humankind first, with Pumla back as our guide. It was supposed to only be about a 30-minute drive, but there was road construction and lots of traffic, so it took twice as long, but we finally got there.
Mauropeng means “returning to the place of origin” in Setswana, an indigenous language. About 1,000 hominid fossils have been discovered there, some more than three million years old (Australopithecus), and that's something I'm still trying to wrap my brain around. (Mary - this is where I got your first rock!)
Mauropeng Visitor Centre
After lunch and a little souvenir shopping, we headed back to the airport. My jaw dropped when I saw our plane. I'd never been on a plane this small before, but I put on a brave face, took a deep breath, got on, and survived to tell the tale.
Saturday was our last day in Cape Town, and we had a free day until dinner. Kathy and I teamed up with Sharon and MaryLynne and their partner teacher, Naomi. Naomi and her son picked us up at our guesthouse and drove us wherever we wanted to go all day. Sharon wanted to visit the University of Cape Town bookstore to get a sweatshirt, so that's where we started. As we parked the car and got out, we were approached by a man in the parking lot who we paid R5 to keep an eye on the car. Naomi told us that this was another way of creating jobs for people. They earned a little money, and drivers felt a little more secure leaving their cars.
We found a shop that had University shirts on this street near campus.
We headed back toward town to visit a jewelry store and a local crafts store, then moved on to the waterfront for lunch, sightseeing, and more souvenirs.
Nobel Square, V&A Waterfront
Bronze statues represent South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates:
Albert Lithuli (1960), Desmond Tutu (1984), FW de Klerk (1993), and Nelson Mandela (1993)
At first I thought this 12-meter tall statue was made from Legos, but he was crafted from 4200 Coke crates.
Naomi was in the crowd the day Nelson Mandela made his first public appearance on this balcony after his release from prison.
Our last dinner in Cape Town was really exciting! It was about a 30-minute drive to Moyo-Stellenbosch, and we didn't know what to expect until we got there. It was quite an experience with outdoor dining under a Moroccan-style tent, face painting, and traditional African entertainment and food. The temperature dropped quite a bit while we were there, but you could get blankets brought to you. It was a great way to end our time in Cape Town!
On Friday, Andrea and I went with Gail to her school, Windermere High School. It is located in a very disadvantaged area and has about 650 students in grades 7-12 and only about 20 teachers. Funding for the school comes from student fees which are R700 per year (about $106). By comparison, the fees at a more affluent school nearby are R17,000 (about $2,575). Gail teaches multiple subjects and multiple grade levels. Classes are much larger than what we are used to, with some teachers having as many as 64 students in one class. Lessons after third grade are all taught in English, even though for most of the kids English is their second, third, or fourth language. After 12th grade, all students have to take the "matric," an exit exam that must be passed to go on to University or for certain jobs, and that test is only given in English.
These boys wanted to have their picture taken with me.
Security is an issue, so the school grounds are enclosed by fences topped with razor wire. Many houses or subdivisions are also behind such fences and/or gates.
Inside the school, many halls and rooms also have bars.
After touring the school and talking to several classes, Gail took us to an outbuilding to meet with her student ambassadors, a special group of kids that she works with, along with Runaldo from the local Adopt-A-Pet organization. They take the kids and some rescued animals to visit a center for the disabled. It is a very positive experience for the residents and also for the kids.
The kids decided they wanted to sing something for us, so they quickly put this together.
Before we left, every single one of those kids hugged us and thanked us for coming. It was very touching.
We left the high school and walked a few blocks to a nearby elementary school where Gail's friend, Paul, teaches.
The fourth grade class had 48 students.
We spent some time visiting with the principal, Professor Isaacs. The Professor was a prisoner for 13 years on Robben Island where he was known as "the teacher" because he taught the other inmates.
Here I am with Andrea, Professor Isaacs, Paul, and Paul's wife.
From there, we drove to Adopt-A-Pet, a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats, but they also treat horses there.
We visited lots of rescued dogs and cats.
We also watched Runaldo and an assistant putting a microchip into a dog being adopted. (This puppy reminded me of our old dog, Josie.)
We had to go back to Kirstenbosch in the afternoon to share our experiences, but we were running late and still needed to eat lunch, so to save time we went through the drive-up window at McDonald's. It was really weird to hear Gail order a Big Mac, and then to eat a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in the back seat of a '94 Toyota Corolla hurtling across Cape Town.
After our debrief, each pair of U.S. teachers went home with a local teacher for dinner. Gail's friend, Kevin, also a teacher, drove us around all day, and we actually went to his home for a braai (barbeque). When we went in the front door, we found an elderly lady standing there with a stick held up over her head. It was a little disconcerting, but it turned out that she was Kevin's 79-year-old mother, and she wasn't trying to hit us; she had just used the stick to help her close the curtains.
We were made to feel at home right away and put to work in the kitchen. Kevin's mom directed Andrea in the making of beer bread. While it was baking, Gail helped me make koeksisters, fried dough dipped in a simple syrup and coated with coconut. They were delicious! AND we got to eat them before we ate dinner!
During the evening, various family members came by. Here we are with Gail, her mom, her son, and her brother.
Gail was happy with the t-shirt and backpack I brought her from my school.
When it was time to leave, Kevin discovered his car battery had died, so he needed a push to get a jump from Paul's car.
It was sad to say goodbye to our new friends, but I hope to keep in touch. They are all very special people.
Wednesday was another full day of activities with a focus on learning about conservation along the Cape Peninsula. First was an overivew of key environmental issues with Patrick Dowling from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA). WESSA focuses on conservation and education.
We headed to Kalk Bay for World Wildlife Federation marine site visits. This area is big with surfers and is also a hot spot for white sharks. Surfers and sharks don't really have a good relationship, so surfers started training the locals who found parking places for people to spot sharks for them. The surfers would all chip in to pay them. Shark spotters now also help collect data for researchers. We stopped by a shark spotter's stand to have a look for ourselves, but we didn't see any sharks, only surfers.
We enjoyed a presentation at the Save our Seas Shark Center by Paul Miller, and then went to explore the tide pools.
A piece of leathery kelp in my hand.
Gail picked up a sea urchin for me to hold.
I took a few moments after lunch to run outside and snap some photos of these changing huts on the beach.
As I was taking pictures of the beach, this man wanted to pose for me.
I am fascinated by the women who carry their babies like this. I can't figure out how the babies stay up.
When they think about African wildlife, most people probably don't think about penguins, but they are there, and I was really looking forward to seeing them. We drove to Boulders Beach, home to a large colony of African Penguins (also called Jackass Penguins) and one of the few places where they can be seen at close range.
Penguins in action.
Craft sellers at Boulders Beach. Sharon was a champion shopper.
Some local talent.
We ended the day back at the V&A Waterfront and a brief visit to Two Oceans Aquarium before dinner.
From the first time I read about it, I wanted to take the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain.
I knew I would have to be brave, because that kind of thing scares me to death, but I was going to do it. We had a free morning Tuesday, so some of us took a cab to the mountain. When we got there, it was too windy for the cable car to run, and I was soooooooo disappointed. I had to settle for these views from part way up the mountain.
Three of our group decided to hike to the top, but Kathy and I knew our limitations and took the cab back down to the waterfront to do some shopping instead. We had a great time buying souvenirs for friends and family back home, and wandering in and out of stores like Gucci, Prada, and Jimmy Choo pretending we could actually buy something if we wanted to. However, I did learn that I could learn to like $1,000 shoes!
Our afternoon was spent at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (KNBG). We met up with local teachers who would be sharing in our program for the rest of the week, and toured the garden in small groups getting to know each other.
Andrea and I were teamed up with Gail Neethling, a high school natural and life sciences teacher.
KNBG sits at the foot of Table Mountain.
My favorite thing in the garden was a silver tree.
Calla lilies are everywhere! If only I could bring them home for Karen's wedding.
Dinner was at Idasa's (the Africa Democracy Institute's) Cape Town Democracy Centre. There was a book shop and restaurant in front where I had my first malva pudding (yum!), and a large meeting room in back with Desmond Tutu hanging from the ceiling.
