Goodbye Africa

      On our last day here in Cape Town our only engagement was a service at the Central Methodist Church in Cape Town. They chose to make their Sunday morning service our ministry. Despite the lack of electricity, it went out about ten minutes into rehearsal, we were able to share as only we can the message of God's love and peace. It has been a whirlwind journey but definitely one that we as individuals or as collective groups will never forget.

The artist in me couldn't resist posting this sign that was in one of the entrance ways of the church. This sign is made completely out of bottle caps and wire and the message is a wonderful reminder of our ongoing mission. God Bless Africa and her people. 

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika

Yes I am aware that this post is two days late. I had homework to do and therefore only completed half of the posting before we left and then have been in airports and on airplanes for the last 18 hours without wifi most of the time. So there will actually be one more post after this one.

2/10/18
     It rained last night. While this would not be an important news worthy discussion for many of us around the world for Cape Town it was a big deal. The rain was a little more than .25 inches but was still a cause for a slight degree of jubilation. There is a drought here and an anticipated Day Zero when the city expects to not have any water in the taps to run. Residents are allotted 59L of water per day and two minute showers, and due to following this guideline DayZero was actually pushed back a few weeks. Here in Cape Town even the restaurants in tourists traps like the mall we visited today have been forced to shut down their bathrooms and guests are required to use the mall bathroom as it has the necessary setup for efficiently saving water. There was a sign on the bathroom door that guests had to actually go into the mall to use their restroom. Other places that we have visited including the airport on arrival just had hand sanitizer at the sinks. Being my mother's child, therefore meaning I am almost always ready for the apocalypse, I packed extra  wetwipes, face cloths, and cleansing wipes in preparation for this leg of the journey.  It is a not so gentle reminder of the impact that not taking care of our environment and mismanagement of environmental resources especially when your rainy season is typically only one season a year can have.

Today was the final full day of our journey and we spent it traveling to Mandela's cell. We also had a closing dinner in one of the coolest restaurants I have ever visited.

Robben Island Tour

While we will not forget the brutality of apartheid we will not want Robben Island to be a monument of our hardship and suffering. We would want it to be a triumph of the human spirit against the forces of evil, a triumph of wisdom and largeness of spirit against small minds and pettiness, a triumph of courage and determination over human frailty and weakness. ~Ahmed Kathrada, 1993

   Could you have looked at someone who abused and misused you based on authority and then forgiven them and even invited them into your new life. Mandela did just this and his capacity to forgive people who literally tortured him and not walk away angry is one of the characteristics that made him loved and respected by people around the world. He did not spend his entire sentence on Robben's Island, just 18 years.
   Today we embarked on the Robben Island Tour. This included a ferry ride followed by a walking tour through the different areas of the prison and to see Mandela's actual cell. Being able to stand on the deck and watch Robben's Island coming into view was a mesmerizing and humbling experience. Robben Island is approximately 1000 acres in size according to one of the guides. Toyer our tour bus guide also further clarified the discussion from a previous day about the classification of color. Some were too dark to be colored and too light to be black which is when the pencil test was done, the thickness of the lip was assessed, and finally the width of the nostril was looked at to determine which classification you belonged to if you were not white.

food ration explanation

     This island was only reachable by boat and in order to further alienate prisoners and not give them access to anyone from their former lives this was the ideal place to imprison them. Water was brought in by boat and was rationed out meaning it was often depleted before the next shipment came in. There is no water problem currently on the island because they have a desalination plant and solar systems in place for energy. In the last year 140000 liters of diesel were saved. Food was also rationed and what blacks and colored received was different.
     Robben Island was intended for political prisoners because it was decided that these prisoners should not be able to access the general population. Today there is actually housing for workers on Robben Island if they choose to live here. There are twelve former political prisoners that function as tour guides within the actual prison. According to our tour guide, Dede, a successful escape never occurred. Dede described for us his exit into exile and his eventual capture and being charged with treason at the age of 19. Many of the activists went to safe houses to escape being captured but continued to do the work of the movement. When the government was unable to root out the "agitators", their families suddenly became targets of intimidation. He initially escaped to Tanzania, Angola, and Zambia before being captured when reentering the country posed as a soccer player. He was sent to Johannesburg and physically and psychologically tortured for six weeks in an effort to find other agitators before being arraigned for treason.
     This is the place where the government sent the "clevers", those people who could light the ember towards change. Our guide through the actual prison was a former Robben's Island political prisoner whose job is now to tell the story of his arrival , imprisonment, and release from the prison. The last political prisoner was released in April 1991.
    Many argue that prison guards were prisoners within the system as well. They were only carrying out the orders that they were ordered to in order to continue to provide for their families. As incomprehensible as it is for many of us in a "free society" the parallels between these prison guards and those in Auschwitz and the other concentration camps are blatant. Could you forgive them?

Gold Restaurant

Cape Malay pea and potato samosa, Zambian sweet potato cakes, Algerian ginger and cashew briouats

     Gold Restaurant  is an awesome multisensory experience that is all about sampling the tastes of Africa.  We were greeted at the door by the character in my picture who scared a few of those in our party when it started moving suddenly. There are traveling African dancers, the puppets,  and drummers who rotate throughout the establishment  singing, dancing, and drumming to tell a musical story. The meal is 14 courses that changes every season to incorporate traditional African dishes from all over the continent. Our menu for this evening included foods from South Africa, Egypt, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Morocco, Cape Malay, Algeria, Namibia, Ghana, and Zambia. Each item was brought out in small quantities for the table to share as the performers rotate through the different spaces in the restaurant.

     As part of our final night we also got to celebrate the birthday of one of our jewels. At my home church when I moved to the Maryland area anyone over 65 was called a Jewel and it is a habit that even after having been gone from that church for 5 years is not a habit I have broken. Happy Birthday Bruce!

Cape Town photos

Penguins, babboons and ostrich oh my

South African National flower Protea

Today was at a slower pace and we traveled around the city by coach absorbing the sites.


Cape Town has become a popular movie location. Due to its unique location Cape Town does not have natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes that many of us experience around the world, although it can get very windy as some of our pictures today clearly indicate.  Table Mountain National Park is approximately 96 square kilometers. As we prepared to visit the Cape of Good Hope we meandered past an ostrich farm and even got some great photos of a wild ostrich. Ostrich egg will provide the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs worth of food.

Cape of Good Hope

     The Cape of Good Hope is at the meeting point of two ocean currents, the cold Benguela from the west coast and the warm Agulhas on the east coast. It is not contrary to popular opinion the place where two oceans meet and is also not the southern most tip. The point at which the Atlantic and Pacific meet is actually at Cape Agulhas National Park. Whales are sometimes visible from the cape lookouts. Other species that might be seen include seals, humpback whales, Bryde's whales and dolphins. There are also many small animals that call this area home including rock hyrax AKA dassies, striped mice, water mongoose, and Cape clawless otter.  lizards, snakes, tortoise, insects. Larger animals that call this area home include zebras, eland, and other varieties of antelope.  This area is home to at least 250 species of birds.

     The Cape of Good Hope is part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom with an amazing 100 species of indigenous plants. 

Cape point

    Our second stop for the day was at Cape Point. Cape Point is on the Cape of Good Hope within the Table Mountain National Park. This particular area is classified as a World Heritage Site due to being part of the Cape Floral Region

     High winds, rugged rocks, sheer cliffs that tower 200 meters or more above the sea while jutting out into the ocean is God's divine creative design at its best.

    Baboons are given special protection. They feed on fruits, roots, honey, bulbs, insects and scorpions. During low tide they will sometimes feed on sand hoppers and shellfish.  We were forewarned that the baboons are a dangerous nuisance on the site but that we would be fine as long as we made no effort to engage them. The baboons did not make an appearance during the meal but were very present on the way out. We saw one hopping from car to car and a family with two young baboons as we were leaving the area. There are marshals to keep the baboons form annoying people but the car one avoided being spotted by waiting until after the marshal was 20 or 30 feet off before hopping atop a vehicle. He then decided to pose for all the photogs in the group.
 

Two Oceans Restaurant

Lunch today was at the Two Oceans Restaurant. The food was delicious although expediency was not the word of the day. Due to lunch taking an extended time we were unable to ride the funicular, cable car, up to the lighthouse. We were able to get some great photos of Table Mountain and the lighthouse from a path a few hundred feet away from the restaurant.  The lighthouse was built in 1859 and is often the first point of call. It can be reached by jumping aboard athe flying dutchman funicular for a three minute ride.

Penguins

The Penguins live on Boulder Beach in Simon's Town and are a part of the Table Mountain National Park system. African Penguins moved from the vulnerable to endangered status in May 2010. In the 50 years between 1956 when the first penguin census was conducted and 2009 more than 80% of the breeding population of penguins were no longer left in the world. The penguins have been vulnerable to the harvesting of penguin eggs as a source of food, and guano scrapping. In 1983 the Boulders Penguin colony was established in order to bring support an increase in the penguin population. In the beginning of the development of the penguin colony there were only two pairs of breeding penguins. The penguin population has however grown to approximately 2200.
      We viewed the penguins from a landing docking although there was an offshoot from the path that allowed visitors to get really close for photo opportunitiesThere was a beach full of penguins. Baby penguins, adolescent penguins who were molting, mating penguins( who I might add chose not to use the lovely little plastic tunnels provided for breeding but mated openly:) ), and adults swimming in and out of the ocean.

• Penguins can swim an average of seven kilometers per hour and can stay submerged for up to two minutes.
• Penguins eat mainly squid and shoal fish such as anchovies and pilchards.
• Enemies of the penguins include sharks, Cape fur seals, and intermittently Orcas. Land based enemies include mongoose, genet, cats, dogs, and the kelp gulls who prey on the eggs and newborn chicks. 
• Their tuxedo, formal wear is considered a camouflage. Animals in the water under them struggle to make out the white of the penguin belly. Animals outside of the water over them struggle with the black. 
• Molting time is at its peak in December. During molting they are land bound for about 21 days because they lose their waterproofing.In preparation for the annual molt penguins fatten up before the molting season begins.  They return from feeding after molting in January and begin nesting and mating from about February to August.
• While they are very cute penguins have sharp beaks if they bite or lunge at you. 
• African penguins bray like donkeys.
• African penguins are social breeders and nest in colonies.
• Due to an inability to fly African penguins build nests in hollow scrapes in the open and even sometimes burrows in the sand. They are also willing and quick to use artificial structures. 
• Full juvenile plumage occurs about sixty days after hatching  at which point they are a bluish grey color. After a year or two they gain their distinctive formal wear. 
• Penguins are monogamous and start breeding at approximately 4.
• Newborn chicks are covered in down which is not water proof. 
• Youngsters alone will gather together in creches for protection. 
• 
  

Cape Town Photos

Moses took us to the mountain

Cape Town

     Capetown, the place of sweet waters, is thought to have been founded by a Dutch commander for the Dutch East India Company, but some dispute this with the claim that the indigenous people already on the land were the Camissa.  The Dutch East India company settled here because of the 4 major rivers. Cape Town is the halfway point between Asia and Europe. The company traded in spices, silk and the slave trade. Slaves though were from Malaysia, east Africa, west Africa and India. The Dutch tried to enslave the locals but they refused to be enslaved and fought back.  The slaves procreating by choice or by force were what created the coloreds in the area. While the Dutch planned the city, it was the slaves that actually built it. Slaves with marketable skills could fetch higher prices at the market because they could be rented out by the masters.

     The Malay houses were originally the slave quarters. houses during the time of slavery were painted different colors based on the occupation of the resident, doctors house may for example be painted blue. The Khoikhoi people indigenous to the area speaking a clicking language that they are currently in the process of trying to revive.

Table Mountain

I know, I know cheesy but our bus driver for the next few days really is named Moses. And we went to the top of Table Mountain today. To date more than 26 millions people have visited this wonder.Table mountain is 1086m at its highest point, Maclear's Beacon. Table mountain is considered to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature .Some of the peaks of the mountain include lion's head, the 12 apostle's, devil's peak.Local lore about devil's peak in the mountain:

A Dutch pirate with a wooden leg named VanHunks was exiled outside when his wife told him that he could not smoke in the house. He sat on the mountain puffing away when he was suddenly approached by a man who challenged him to see who could blow more smoke. The stranger lost the challenge and as he was walking away Van Hunks noticed the horns and realized he had just beaten the devil. Hence the name devil's peak.

     The cable car transporting us up to the top of the mountain has a 65 person capacity meaning that 800 people are potentially transported in an hour. Rode up a funicular with a rotating floor that allows you to see 360 degrees as you ascend to the plateau of the mountain. The moving floor is initially disorienting but offers a great view of the water and the mountain. The only cable cars are only allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 10 meters per second.

Responsible tourism

     Responsible tourism is defined as making better places for people to live and better places for people to visit. This involves a collaboration between tour operators, governments, hoteliers, local people, and tourists make tourism sustainable. Our excursions today after Table Mountain involved a group named Coffee bean routes. We were split into three groups midday in order to visit  the Dompas Museum and to explore the history of Langa township.We traveled to the Dompas Museum in Langa township, had lunch at a local restaurant, attended a presentation with a local entrepreneur, and ended the afternoon with a concert by the Zamanani brothers. 

Langa Township

     Langa is named for Chief Langalibalele, whose name means the sun is scorching hot. The chief was imprisoned on Robbens Island for resisting the Natal government.  Langa is the first black planned township in South Africa.

Dompas Museum

Pass Museum

Actual Dompas book

     Our host at the museum has lived through an experience during Apartheid that for most of us would lead to hatred, resentment, anger, and a whole host of other unhealthy emotions. He was shot by the police and then jailed instead of being treated when he went to the hospital for treatment. The doctor instead of treating him called the police and accused him of bleeding on the floor. He was not operated on for more than a week after being shot. He visited three hospitals during this time and was only treated by medical professionals as two of the three medical facilities. He has since sued the city and won. He chose not to hate White people as a result of his connection with and understanding of Nelson Mandela's stance after being unjust imprisoned for more than two decades.  

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." -Nelson Mandela

   The museum is meant to be a history of the dompas passes and the people who were forced to pass through this edifice when it was active. The museum is situated in what used to be the government office where blacks would have to come and get a pass for living in the community. Men would get off the train station and must be immediately vaccinated. Vaccination at the time was done one of two ways both of which required being stripped naked and being dipped like animals before being given your clothing back. The methods were

• you walked naked through water that had chemicals in it as a means of vaccination, or
• you were sprinkled with a power.

Blacks were forced to carry pass books like the one above. The name was later changed to reference book but the intention of the booklet did not change. Pass laws were rescinded in 1986. In 1955 there was a women's anti pass campaign.

     The pass book contained your picture, your name, social security number, tribe name, employment verification, and pass board stamp. Each month your employer would have to sign the book indicating that you were still employed there and every three months or so you would be required to go before the judge to get the permit renewed for you to stay. Police officers had the right to demand the pass at anytime. If you were caught without the pass book you could be immediately arrested and brought before the judge. If no one in the audience was a friend or family member of yours then your family might not find out that you had been arrested until you were released months later. Everyone who came before the judge for a missing pass book was guilty and if you replied otherwise you might get three months in jail to think about your answer.  In the "court room" was the white judge, the colored clerk, and the spectators. 

    Between 500-800 people were serviced in this building each day including Sundays. If the judge thought that you were intelligent or you responded as if you had more than a thimble's worth of sense your sentence would be harsher and you might spend 3 months in jail. This resulted in many blacks dumbing themselves down in order to survive. Police were often found bribing people by ordering them to " buy me a drink" and then surreptitiously taking the money for the drink for ignoring the lack of a pass. IT was hard during this talk not to draw parallels to the US Jim Crow South.

Social Enterprise Development

     Tony's desire is to create a Langa Quarter similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans. He did a presentation on social enterprise development which entails social inclusion through social enterprise. Social inclusion involves the three P's: people planet, and profit. You are with this model ultimately  trying to create a cleaner safer, greener method of existing by creating jobs and opportunities. Where the center is situated is the white area of Pinelands, the colored area of Athlone and the black area of Langa. The areas all sit next to each other but do not cross mingle creating a widening class divide. WonderBags

Mzansi Restaurant

Lunch today was at Mzansi Restaurant. The bookings only restaurant is situated in Langa Township and is a tourist attraction meant to teach tourists about African food in a traditional African environment. The entertainment was provided by a live band. The owners children also provided a beautiful rendetion of American pop culture hits and a traditional song. 

Guga S'thebe visitors Center

Guga S'thebe visitors center

     In addition to the outdoor amphitheater this visitor's center also has a host of artisans displaying their work . Everything from ceramics and glass art to small souvenir type trinkets. There are workshops held here and we even got to meet a ceramics artist with a kiln on site for firing.

Zamanani Brothers

 The Zamanani Brothers are an all male a cappella group. The group performed in the outdoor amphitheater of the Guga S'thebe visitors center.  The heartily welcomed us in song followed by a learning experience in which we sang in conjunction with them a song that they taught us. We then sang one of the signature songs we learned for this tour, Thula Sizwe, singing together in harmony our African brothers and our American choirs was a beautiful sound to behold. 

Dinner and cultural music exchange

Without visitors your house is not a home.~Unknown No truer words were ever spoken than these when we prepared for our evening adventure. 

 Our entertainment and meal for the night was provided by the family of Wesley Valentine. Valentine is a 25 year old bass player. He is plays the guitar as well but as this is a very popular instrument he learned to play bass and piano. His mother cooked us a delicious African meal and invited our group of 14 into her home for a mini concert by her son and a musician friend of his who plays the saxophone. 

After leaving the Valentine home we were treated to our second mini concert featuring a marimba and a djembe. Those of us at this that were part of this group danced with our hosts and enjoyed music in English and their home language. We participated in a sing along of His Eye is on the Sparrow which our host also sang in his home language after we had all done the song in English.  I have personally decided that I don't like ginger beer. One of our hosts provided it as refreshment which I know is neither here nor there. The nightly entertainment was awesome. Each of our three groups visited a different site so I do not have a clear point of reference for what instrumental experience the others had. I have been told that the experience was eye opening for all.


Cape Town photos

5am is really early

It's their world

      Today we did part two of our game drive.  Being up at 5 am to go on an open air game drive sounds like insanity but was a great time to see some of the  animals in their habitats. We unfortunately didn't see the primates that seem to enjoy visiting the immediate area around the lodge.The giraffes were eating breakfast and we go to get pretty close to a male giraffe eating acacia. By the way a group of giraffes is called a tower. Giraffes have four stomachs and are ruminants.
Today's animal sighting for my particular travel group included

• A zeal of zebra
• Goshawks
• Kudu have big ears to aid them in hearing in the bush.
• Duikers
• Elan antelope
• Guinea fowl scratch open elephant dung and pick out the seeds and eat them

     But the story of the day for one of our groups was the sighting of two young male elephants. Upon arrival at the sight the two young elephants were jostling with each other and locking tusks. One of the elephants decided he needed to come and investigate the open air vehicle the group was riding in and bumped it a couple of times. It then got its tusk stuck in the canvas door of the vehicle. A very scary tale for the person sitting in the seat but a gentle reminder that we are in their territory which is one of the first things that we were told before embarking on yesterday's journey. No one was hurt but everyone gained a new respect for the giants.We must respect the environment in which we are in and be grateful for the experience to intrude on their lives. 

     Our group also drove by Executioners Hill which according to local lore was the place where tribes executed those in the tribe that had committed treason and a few other "offensive" acts. If it was believed that a person had shared tribal secrets with another tribe or not shared information that could benefit the tribe about other tribes they were taken to Executioner's Hill and dropped over the age. This was also the fate of women unfaithful to their marriage vows. 

Pilanesburg photos

Cape Town

     Today we traveled to the final city on our itinerary. We arrived in Cape Town aboard Mango Airlines. Must say the bright orange plane was moderately amusing to me, but I digress. The sight of Table Mountain as we landed was absolutely awesome.

Our guide for this leg of the tour is Gerry who was quick to inform us that Tom was off on holiday while he worked. (badabum!) Cape town is considered the legislative capital of South Africa. The seat of parliament which it seems is across from our hotel is in Cape Town. Pretoria is the executive capital. This is where the President and Cabinet are seated. The judicial capital is Bloemfontein. This is where the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal is. The Constitutional Court of South Africa is in Johannesburg.

      The city is in a major water crisis, due to a multi year drought, and there are signs and even metal art posted all over the city on the streets and in establishments reminding people to conserve water. Thankfully Day Zero, the point at which the taps will be completely dry, has been pushed back to May from the April date that we were given prior to preparing for this trip. People are limited to 59 liters of water per day.There is heavy rain currently predicted for late Friday afternoon which while

disappointing to the tourist is not something that any decent human could ever begrudge them.

     Capetown is the second largest port in South Africa. It has a known population of 4.2 million. Known refers to the fact that there are many informal settlements in Cape Town wherein the people living there would not have been counted as part of any type of census. 

     Dinner this evening was at Tiger's Milk Restaurant. The restaurant specializes in American fare. Not sure they were completely ready for a party of 56 even if food had been chosen in advance but it was a nice social end to a long day. I got to taste a Coca-Cola product actually in another country. I visited the World of Coke Museum in Atlanta last summer. One of their rooms was dedicated to Coke products around the world. Each continent had a station and tasting cups. I have decided as a result of that experience that some products just don't translate well to other countries. I tasted the African products at the museum but got try this particular one today in Cape Town.  This was my cream soda. Notice anything odd?

Cape Town photos

The Lions Sleep Tonight

Although jacarandas are the national flower nursuries are not allowed to plant them because they are very thirsty trees. They won't be cut down but can't be planted much like the willow another water thirsty tree seen in this area that can decimate a water scarce country. 

We left Johannesburg today to embark on what for me is the highlight of the trip, the safari rides. En-route we discussed the importance of conservation and how important the Big 5 are to the South African community.  Nelson Mandela an important cultural icon is on the front of the bills, but the big five are on the back side of the paper money. The buffalo is on the 100 rand, the lion on the 50 rand note, the elephant on the 20 rand note, the rhinoceros is on the 20 rand note and the somewhat shy leopard is on the 200 rand note. The small five are the leopard backed tortoise, the rhinoceros beetle with its horn, the ant, the elephant shrew and the buffalo weaver. The ugly five are the hyena, the vulture, the wildebeest, the warthog, and the marabou stork. 

     Today we visited the Ivory Tree Game Lodge. The lodge sits on 127000 square acres of land. But you can only see less than half of it from all the driving trails which the animals sometimes use as pathways because the roads are the path of least resistance. This site is a national park maintained by the government but privately owned by a local tribe. The Ivory Tree Game Lodge is part of the Pilanesburg National Park and is situated in the north eastern region. The national park is made up of a savana biome, a bushland, and a grassland.
     We were greeted upon arrival by African drummers and served some traditional foods, sorry can't tell you what the ostrich tasted like just couldn't trick myself into trying it.
Ivory Tree is full of local flora and fauna in addition to the birds, and mammals.
The elephants and giraffes have a preferred snack that actually has a defense mechanism. Both animals like the acacia plant and will chew on the bark to get to the sweet sap in the cambium, the layer between the bark and the stem. After two to three minutes of eating the plant releases a chemical that makes the acacia bitter so that the animal will not eat the entire thing in one setting.
Some of the animals that live here and cool factoids we learned from our guides today.

• There only exist 9 species of giraffe, The species differences are based on shoulder heights and the darkness of their markings . Due to their awkward gait giraffes will often die if they try to climb hills.
• Impala have black socks that are scent glands for following each other. There may be as many as forty females and one male in a group of impalas. Impalas have a seven month gestation period and the mother can hold the baby in for an additional 2 months if the need arises such as a drought in the living space. They have a dark black lines on their rear end that form the shape of the letter m, jokingly giving them the moniker "McDonald's of the grasslands
• kudu are herbivores
• wildebeest "brindled moo" is the the local name
  
  
  
  
  
• controlled fires happen to control the vegetative populations occur 2-5 years in tall growing areas and in other areas every 5-7 years
• zebras forcibly exile the injured. The zebras living here are plains zebras and have a shadowlining.
• suicide birds
• marshall eagle
• franklin bird
• glossy starlings are black but look greenish blue when the sign shines through their feathers. 
• black backed jackal puffs
• grey go away birds
• black shouldered kites will dive at speeds of 100 mph into tunnels after prey, often mice.
• buffalo thorn bushes are used as a defense so lions dont flank. they contain 1 crooked thorn and one straight thorn. The branches are also used by some local tribes to throw over the bodies of the deceased representative of their crooked life time and then that they will have a pure and straight afterlife.
• Children under six are not allowed in an open safari drive because the crying mimics a snack for lions and elephants have been known to attempt to turn over vehicles looking for the source of the noise.
• bushbuck
• masked weaver bird . The female runs the show in this relationship. The male spends a ridiculous amount of time building a nest in order to attract a female. The nest is tightly woven and often at the end of a branch. The female comes and inspects it. If she is not pleased she tears it apart and he must start all over again. 
• hyena it ran away before we could snap a picture they are evidently very skittish. 
• jackal we played follow the leader with him until he found some pals and a snack along the roadway
• White rhinos are grass eaters. We witnessed a mother and her 2 -3 year old infant crossing in front of our vehicle and later a bull white rhino. They have big flat square lips. Their heads can weigh 300 kg. They have an arched back and they don't swim. Two rhinos are poached each day for their horns. There is a steep fine for the poaching and the park is monitored but with 127000 square acres of land monitoring and managing to catch the poachers in the act is sometimes hard. Rhinos have a 16 month gestation period so new babies are not being born at a rate to keep up with the deaths by poaching. White rhinos are larger than black  rhinos. Rhinos can live up to 40 years. They have poor eyesight but a great sense of smell and hearing. Males have thicker horns with a thicker base that they use to fight with other males and sometimes hit against rocks. Females therefore have a longer horn but it has a smaller base. 
  
• Hippos an adult can hold its breath underwater for about 6 mins. An infant can only hold its breath for about 2 minutes. The mother therefore stays in shallower water with the baby until it is able to stay in deeper water. Male rhinos will sometimes kill a baby in order to mate with the female who will not leave the baby if it is still unable to survive in the deeper water. A hippos skin is very sun sensitive and it can lose its pigmentation if it stays out in the sun. 
• Rhinos are shadowed by cattle egrets that eat the bugs that are unearthed when the large animal walks along. 
• Elephants like to rip the bark off of trees and the trees over so that they can get to the roots. Elephants only process about 60% of what they eat.A bull elephant may eat 250 kg of food a day. 
• A male lion's vocalizations can be heard from 7-14 km away depending on whether they are on a flat savannah or a mountainous area.

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Our evening culminated with djembe drummers and a marimba band. Small drums were also placed out for guests to join in the jam session. It was a great time to release some energy, practice long forgotten African dance steps we learned at Swarthmore and just enjoy each others company. Well off to bed part 2 of the safari ride is at 5am tomorrow. Oh and lions refused to show their faces to all but one on the safari groups hence the title for tonight's post :)
Pilanesburg Photos

Holy Rosary School, Moyo Zoo Lake, Bedforview Methodist Church

Holy Rosary School

     Our day started with a visit to Holy Rosary School. The Holy Rosary School is a R(reception)-High School private all girls school with approximately 900 students. The school was initially started as a coed school through grade 3 until St. Benedict's College integrated the younger boys into their program. The school is very committed to missionary work and engages in multiple outreach programs one of which is Phumelela~succeed in Zulu~ Programme. Phumelela is financially supported through the debutante balls and generous donors. This is a Saturday school in which students from Dikatole in Germiston an informal settlement are transported to HRS by the brother school of Holy Rosary St. Benedict's College to engage in lessons  about life skills, academics, music and culture, sports and general knowledge. They are also taken on excursions during the year and provided with breakfast lunch and refreshments. In the spirit of Hope for Resolution and ubuntu we took up a collection and were able to be a monetary blessing to this particular community service endeavor at HRS and many have committed to finding ways to create long term support.

    The high school choir opened and closed the mini concert. The concert presentation was followed by both a meet and greet and a Q& A session with the students and those of us visiting from the United States. The group was well received by the students and they excitedly peppered us all with questions and exclamations of excitement. Vaneese impressed the students initially by singing the solo in Joyful, Joyful from Sister Act and then when describing some of her professional achievements including being one of the muses in Disney's Hercules. Her advice seemingly echoing that provided by their instructors previously was:

• Remember that your reputation precedes you.
• You must learn to be versatile 
• Work well with others. 
• Always be on time.

After the concert we were taken on a tour of the campus. The students across the campus respectfully and enthusiastically greeted us as we toured. We met R students, the equivalent of american PreK or K aged students who sang with us Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We were invited into their classroom where they provided advice on what to do about the lions we will see tomorrow. We were told that if a lion comes near we are to stand perfectly still so it doesn't eat us. We also had a discussion about where the United States of America was in relation to their home country which they proudly stated as being South Africa

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Moyo Zoo Lake

Moyo Zoo Lake was a fullcourse family style meal experience complete with face painting. The meal included a potato soup dish, flat breads and hummus South African spinach, rice,  a pumpkin peanut mash, line fish, beans, dombolo and beef stew. Dessert was a chocolate mousse. The restaurant is situated on a lake complete with water fowl and artwork combining metal and glass to varying degrees. 

Moyo Zoo lake Restaurant

Bedforview Methodist Church

   This evening's concert was hosted by the Bedforview Methodist Church. It was an awesome spirit filled service. We were joined on the program by members of the choir from Central Mission Church. Swarthmore Brand New Day, Hallelujah to the King, and I Bless Your Name. FUMCOG ministered The 23rd Psalms, O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing and I Believe. The combined choirs ministered Hope for Resolution, Freedom Trilogy, and I believe this is Jesus. The congregants attending the concert spoke of being moved by the spirit of the music and thoroughly enjoying our presentation.

Random factoids

• There is a high population of Zimbabwean refugees here. 
• Racial groups are colored, white, black, and indian. In the past each group was segregated by their group in terms of where they could live but today there is freedom of choice thanks greatly to Mandela and deKlerk.
• During apartheid if you were part of an interracial marriage you would have to go before a council to have yourself reclassified in order to live with your family. One of the methods of classification at the time included sticking pencil into the hair of the applicant. If the pencil stayed when they shook their head they were classified as black. Mixed race children often faced the stigma of not being accepted in school. In the 1960s the Chinese and Japanese were considered to be honorary whites. 
• Healthcare, medicine and hospital care is free for those over the age of 60. For those of low income a means test is conducted to determine your ability to pay and you are charged accordingly.
• Black economic empowerment is the equivalent in many ways to our affirmative action policies in the states.

Photos

Soweto, Johannesburg

Central Methodist Mission

      We started our day at the Central Methodist Mission for Sunday morning service. The sermon delivered by Rev R. N. Ncombo, Superintendent was entiteled "So We Wait" pulled from Isaiah 40:21-31.

Listen to the voice crying out in the wilderness. Listen to the voice of reason and learn to wait. So here in South Africa is so much about I have done everything that I can do. I have reached the end of my rope. I have nothing left to give. This is the place where God speaks, in that place where there is no food , no light, and no water. It is in this place that God can make a way. And he doesn't have to wait for the architect to design it or a construction crew to build a road nor does he need anyone's approval to make the way. God is a God of those who can wait. This waiting that we are called to is not the kind of waiting that is deliberate but it is situational and directional. You are bound by circumstances in this waiting place. 

You must learn that asking for wings when you cannot wait isn't prudent, wings don't grow overnight but are strengthened over time in order for you to fly. Much like a bird after it is hatched it needs time and it also needs its mama to watch and make sure that the enemy doesn't come and devour it. There is the same thing happening to you in the waiting period if you are not protected by the grace of God there is often an enemy waiting to devour you. So therefore your waiting isn't meaningless. The destination isn't about the waiting. The waiting is preparing you for the destination. 

There is no way possible that we can wait and have an experience with God and not be changed in the process. If we wait we know that God will sail through with us on the storms of life. Many of us are scared to run because we are scared of falling. But this passage promises us that when we run and finish the race we will not be tired. We must fix our eyes on the prize because we are not running for the applause but for our reward in heaven.

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”~ Martin Luther King Jr. In your waiting don't go to God saying hey God I am waiting for this but go with thanksgiving, adoration, anticipation and worship. I know the Lord will make a way. 

 As a part of this service we worshiped in conjunction with their awesome and amazing church choir. Check out the picture link at the bottom of this post to see a video of this awesome choir practicing one of the songs before service. The spirit moved mightily in the house and lives were changed both through the ministry of music and the ministry of song. We even learned to sing a song in another language, well we tried but the congregants and choir welcomed us with open arms, a warm heart, and spirit. God's love is never ending and is a universal language that all can learn to speak, feel and hear. The church further demonstrating the ubuntu spirit fellowshipped with us and provided lunch after the service.  The choir after lunch came to each bus to bid us farewell in song and dance.

Wandie's place

     Wandie's is noted as the first restaurant in Soweto.  It is approximately 15km from Johannesburg and is a popular stop for Soweto tour operators. We enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch complete with a house artisan who by his own definition was there to provide edutainment. His repertoire of songs included Bob Marley, No woman no cry, through to the Lion sleeps tonight and everything in between.He enthusiastically encouraged everyone to sing along which for a group of  traveling singers did not require a lot or arm twisting. :) The walls, ceiling, and floor of the restaurant bear witness to the many dignitaries local and international who have come through the doors.

Regina Mundi Catholic Church 

Regina Mundi Catholic Church is the largest Roman Catholic Church in South Africa.  Regina Mundi which translates to "Queen of the world" was built in 1961 and officially opened in July of 1962. It became a historical place of record when it opened its doors ti anti-apartheid groups and provided shelter to apartheid activitists. The church became a place of refuge for the students participating in the 1976 student uprisings who were trying to escape police tear gas and pullets. During this uprising the police entered the church and continued shooting which ultimately damaged the marble altar and the crucifix. This role has earned it the moniker of the people's church. The church includes stained glass windows depicting various scenes important to South Africa including a full panel dedicated to Nelson Mandela and one of the Annunciation donated by Jolanta Kwasaniewaska. The church has been visited by President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rev.Jesse Jackson as well as former First Lady Michelle Obama. They signed the guest roster and the church has laminated the roll sheets.

The church is home to the Black Madonna painting a rare jewel that includes within the painting symbols relevant to Soweto. 

• hand shake symbolizing solidarity
• red spots represent the Soweto train stations
• the forks and machete represent the suffering of the people. The eye in the painting is that of the Virgin Mary looking over the houses of Soweto, the Orlando and Elka stadiums and the Regina Mundi at the center representative of the cross. 

Hector Pieterson Museum

           Due to scheduling conflicts we were unable to visit the museum before it closed for the day. We were able to see the outside memorial built in his honor.  The museum is located in Orlando West South Africa approximately two blocks away from where the preteen was shot and killed during the Soweto Student Uprising in 1976. The museum named in his honor became one of Soweto's first museums when it opened in 2002. The memorial includes a photo taken by an amateur photographer of an injured Pieterson being carried by a then unknown South African youth as his sister walked alongside them. The unknown student was later identified as 18 year old Mbuyisa Makhubo who was forced into exile after the photo was published. The photo was reportedly smuggled out of the country in order to make sure that the world saw what was actually happening. The photographer was stopped but because he had removed the film surreptitiously before being stopped despite his camera being taken the pjot became the bloody face of the police response to the uprising. 

    The uprising started as a response to the Bantu Education Act of 1953 an ideological policy on racial segregation on all educational levels from primary school through to university.  Students in 1976 after the passing of the Afrikaans Medium Decree, which made Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor" and English the teaching medium for black children during their final six years of school. In response students went on strike and decided to schedule a march for June 16, 1976 .The government setup blockades to stop the march but an estimated 15000 students took to the streets. They were met by a police force ill equipped to deal with that many student marchers and rocks were thrown, tear gas was dispensed and finally the police opened fire before the children could disperse. 

Johannesburg photos

    OR Tambo Airport.The airport is named for Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo who was the President of the African National Congress from 1967 to 1991. He was an anti-apartheid politician.

 Swarthmore College Alumni Gospel Choir & the First United Methodist Church of Germantown have joined together to journey to South Africa. We left Atlanta and after a 16 hour flight landed at the

Factoids I learned today

• Johannesburg, also known as Jo'burg, Joni, Jozi, eGoli is the largest city in South Africa in terms of population. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng. Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa, was known as the city of Gold because its beginnings as a gold mining town. It was founded on October 4, 1886 during the gold rush.
• The currency of the area is the Rand
• We are at an altitude of 5,571 ft.
• Southern parts of the country are suffering from the worst drought  in 100 years in .
• There is the belief which we could all benefit from adhering to that a spirit of humanity is an essential part of the culture. "I am a person because you are a person."
• There are 11 formal languages in South Africa.English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Southern Sotho,Tswana, Northern Sotho, Venda, Tsonga,Swati, Ndebele, and South African English.
• the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Africa and the 16th largest stock exchange in the world. 

        For dinner after our long flight we were treated to a delicious Braai at the Capital 20 West Hotel/Apartment The braai, which would be the equivalent in the states to a BBQ or grilled.
Day1 Photos