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Published: March 29th 2008
Wow! What a crazy month this has been! This whole trip has been feeling like a dream…just trying to take it all in.
I’ll begin with my trip to Table Top Mountain in Cape Town at the beginning of the month. I went with a group of children from Delheim Wine Farm which was sponsored by the Pebbles Project. It could have been hectic keeping track of 25 young children, but they were very well-behaved and respectful. I am so thankful to work with such a great group of kids. Table Top Mountain is estimated to be 600 million years old - 6 times older than the Himalayas and 5 times older than the Rockies! Also, the mountain has 1460 different species of vegetation. We got to the top by taking a cable car - while you go up and down the cable car makes a 360 turn so you get to see a view everywhere around you. None of the children had been to the mountain so it was so much fun to share this exciting experience with them. The view from on top was gorgeous! You can see all of Cape Town and even see where Stellenbosch begins.
Usually it is very windy on top - many times the cable car is shut down because of the wind. However, this particular day it was completely silent and calm. We did not have much time to explore the mountain and I am hoping that I will be able to visit again before I leave in June.
One weekend we were going to visit Robben Island however the boat was broken and we were unable to go. We ended up visiting District Six, which was an area in which a vibrant black/coloured community thrived until the 1970s when over 60,000 were forced off their land and moved to townships outside of Cape Town. (FYI: coloured is a term used for people of mixed races.) According to the beliefs under than the apartheid, interaction between mixed races was a recipe for disaster and made district six a white-only area. After everyone was moved out, all of the homes were destroyed and the only buildings left were churches. When the apartheid ended in 1994, with the help of the African National Congress (ANC) and Nelson Mandela, District Six is being rebuilt and in 2003 families began returning to their community. Also
in 1994 the District Six Museum was built - this is where my group visited. Inside the main area there is a huge map of the district with pictures of the original homes and shops. When the museum first opened, community members were asked to come and sign their names on the map where they lived.
Visiting the museum was very interesting and as I am reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom”, I can’t stop thinking how recent it was that the apartheid ended…I just learned the other day that the area in which the University of Stellenbosch is built was area where blacks were forced off their land and in fact many of the academic buildings on campus are named after people who strongly supported and encouraged the philosophy of the apartheid. In my transitional justice class I have learned that South Africa has a long long history of oppression and racism since the Dutch arrived in the 1600s. Since I have arrived here and have learned SA’s history I find myself nervous about the color of my skin; I feel almost ashamed. Being white is a privilege and something that I didn’t earn or choose.
I look at my skin and keep thinking, what’s the big deal? I remember going to school at Madrona Elementary in Seattle and being the only white girl in my class but never noticing or caring. There is still so much racism here, especially in Stellenbosch. In most areas of SA like Cape Town there is discussion and it is recognized as a problem. However in Stellenbosch it is much like the United States - we pretend that it doesn’t exist, yet we find creative, sneaky and sometimes just obvious ways to express racism.
I feel like I could write about this for a while so I think I stop here but I am looking forward to talking with people back home more about issues like this.
SO- moving on to lighter topics… Sokkie! This is an amazing dance very similar to swing dance, in which the girl basically hangs on the man as he swings her all over the dance floor doing dips and twirls - it’s sooo much fun! I have never learned a formal dance before and while I was very clumsy and found myself wanting to lead, I think I did okay. 😉 Next week
Night out in Cape Town
with Irina and StefanieI am planning on going to a Sokkie dance that is every Wednesday evening in the Neelsie student center.
The weekend before I left for the Garden Route I went out with some friends to Cape Town for the night - we were dropped off at 9pm and left at 2am. During this time we checked out a few different bars - one in particular was interesting - it appeared to originally be a loft and as we kept climbing stairs to higher levels we ended up on top of the building where I enjoyed my gin and tonic. Yumm. After this we searched for a club. At the first club we ended up at we were the only white people and we stayed for a bit to dance but eventually the tension was enough for us to leave - or maybe it was just me who felt so uncomfortable… anyway we ended up at a cool rock club where we caught the last few songs of local band performing.
Finally I want to write about the Garden Route trip I went on last week! We left last Thursday, March 20th and came back on Tuesday, March 25th.
Thursday: travel for 8 hours along the southern coast and arrive at the Barn Yard Theatre in Plettenburg Bay at 2am.
Friday: Got up at 7am, ate breakfast, and left for Monkeyland! The sanctuary is the size of 60 football fields and the monkeys come from zoos, or families that didn’t want them anymore. Interestingly there was a story about one spider monkey that lives at Monkeyland that is psychologically damaged after living with a family for too long. Spider monkeys become very attached to humans however after a while the monkey becomes sexually frustrated and begins biting. This particular monkey had developed a nervous habit of tearing out hairs on its tail, and recently had recovered from a phase in which it would tear open its stomach and had to be put in a straightjacket!
Oh, also when we first drove to Monkeyland we passed by a bird sanctuary where I distinctally saw a bright red bird - the scarlet ibis!! I was so excited - for those of you who don’t know this, I am planning my next tattoo which I will get this summer: a scarlet ibis on the back of my right shoulder. (
afrikan sky
my first and favorite picture taken on the garden route. I have been planning this since my trip to Tobago when I saw the scarlet ibis for the first time.)
After visiting with the monkeys I went with a group of students to do the zipline canopy tour in the Knysna Forest. It was sooooo sweet! We went on 10 different ziplines with the longest being over 100 meters. It was so beautiful and peaceful as we went deeper into the forest.
Saturday: Went sea kayaking at Plettenburg Bay - very fun. unfortunately did not see any whales, sharks, or dolphins. However, we did kayak where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. It was more fun to go boating in the ocean as apposed to the lake - much more exciting - especially when Bethany and I were coming into shore and you had to catch the waves at the right time so you wouldn’t get knocked over - we got it just right. It was so amusing watching other people come in and get smashed by the waves. : P
Then we went to Knysna Elephant Park - wow! The elephants were so incredible-so strong…even the babies seem so ancient and wise. The highlight was by far
getting to feed them. After seeing the elephants we drove to Buffalo Bay where we stayed at the backpackers for the next three nights. Oh it was like a dream - we stayed right on the beach…we were gone for most of the days but as much as I could I was on the beach.
The first night I was lying on my bed on the top bunk and as I was writing in my journal, a gross black worm thing decided to fall from the ceiling and landed right next to me. I managed to keep calm until I jumped off the bed and with Julia’s help we got the worm out of the room….let’s just say that I didn’t sleep too well that night. I kept waking up thinking I was going to find one slithering in my ear or in my hair…egh!!
Sunday: Went to the Ostrich farm…ostriches are definetly the most awkward animals alive. It was even more awkward to watch people in my group ride them. At first I thought I would do it, but after seeing how they treat the animals I did not support it at all. It was seriously animal abuse!
Ziplining
oh yah... :P Honestly what was on my mind most of the visit was thinking about how delicious those ostrich thighs looked…
Then we went to the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn - easily my favorite part of the Garden Route. I went on the adventure tour which took us really far back. Most of the time it was 95% humidity. I have never considered myself to be claustrophobic but there were definitely times I felt pretty uncomfortable and feared getting stuck. There were areas that required that we crawl on our stomachs and the “devil’s chimney” was a 70 degree uphill climb through a tiny tunnel! Oh it was so much fun!
That night at the backpackers AIFS organized a surprise for us - a Rastafarian band came and performed. Very awesome.
Monday: In the morning had a tour of a township in Knysna. There is a large population of Rastafarians and we had the opportunity to visit their church and learn more about their religion. We then went to Knysna Heads where we went on a boat to a natural reserve for a hike. Very pretty…afterwards we went to dinner and I had the chance to have ostrich kebabs. Yep, those
Barn Yard Theatre
the cutest cottage where we stayed!! ostriches taste as good as they look!
Tuesday: Woke up early to take a walk on the beach before we left for Stellenbosch. Watched little snails crawl around - such fascinating creatures…these slime balls that live in the most colorful shells. It was nice to come back to Stellenbosch and sleep in my own bed. After coming back I realized how attached I have already become to my new home…
Geez! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog…was not prepared to write so much but I’m glad that I can keep you guys updated. Write me when you can!!
(oh yah-SOOO excited - in the process of planning a trip with some friends at the end of the semester to Kruger Park for a safari!! will be buying plane tickets to Johannesburg later this month...more details to come!)
Peace & Love,
Ashley
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Ned - Dad
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cruelty to ostriches
I've been looking forward to your next entry, and I was not dissappointed, and it was very well written. I'm so happy that you're learning so much, and having so much fun, at the same time!! I was hoping you'd choose to do the zip line thing. I've done it once, and I knew you'd love it. The spilunking sounded fun, I've got a little claustrophobia myself, so I can relate to your anxiety. I'm happy that you were able to face your fear, and enjoy the experience. I had to laugh when you said you didn't ride the ostrich, 'cuz they were miss-treating them, but then you ate one =). I sure love you sweetheart. I'm already looking forward to your next entry. Love Dad