Michigan State Invades Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
By Jaimie Radford
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s just those Spartan teachers.
Cape Town is amazed as Michigan State teachers flood the city and all its major tourist attractions. Driven by Edmund and navigated by Salie Moosa, the seventeen teachers and two leaders made their way from their base hotel, the Centurion, to the top of Table Mountain, past the University of Cape Town, by the Grooteschuur Hospital (which conducted the first human heart transplant), past Kalk Bay, and to Simon’s Town. After a quick visit with the penguins, the group travelled to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.
The journey began with Salie providing various facts about South Africa regarding its population of fortysix million people, with a mere four million in Cape Town alone. It was also acknowledged that tourism and natural resources drive the population while unemployment and housing are having negative affects on the community.
Salie had made reservations for the cablecar ride up the mountain, so we avoided the massive Table Mountain line. The Table Mountain cableway, which has operated since October 1929, has a 65 passenger cable car that rotates 360 degrees during its journey from cape Town to the top of Table Mountain, which has its highest point at 1085 meters. The cars can take 900 people per hour and run at a maximum speed of ten meters per second. They are also 1200 meters each in length and weigh 18 tons. They can carry a weight of 5200 kg.
The students walked on the top of the mountain for about 45 minutes and when they came down, were speechless. Some of the only words they could sputter out were: phenomenal, fantabulous, breath-taking, beautiful, indescribable, memorable, bekubanda. One student, Anthony Galardi, described the experience as “epic.”
While they were still in awe, they travelled past Lion’s Head Mountain, the University of Cape Town, the Mount Nelson Hotel (named after Lord Nelson; has been named the number one hotel in the world), the Holocaust Museum, Trafalgar High School (a District Six High School still standing), vacant land (a part of District Six), Grooteschuur Hospital, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Constancia Vineyards, Falks Bay, Kalk Bay, and Fish Hoek until finally they came to the small bay of Simon’s Town. Here they saw the buildings over 100 years old, including the British Hotel where John Rhodes (responsible for the Mandela Rhodes Trust and the design of the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens), celebrated the completion of the railway running from Kalks Bay to Simon’s Town. Before Simon’s Town, the students delayed their excursion to Whale Watch at Muizenberg Beach. These whales can commonly be seen there from July to November.
In Simon’s Town, a quick lunch was grabbed and then they were spotted at Boulders taking in the waddling of the African Penguins. One male student thought the penguins were dirty but a female student, Kristin Thielemans quickly acknowledged that they were just moulting (an annual process that occurs for about 21 days and rids the penguins of their old feathers). The learners were amazed to learn that because of their donkey-like braying call the African Penguins used to be called the Jackass Penguins, and also that their diet is comprised mainly of squid and shoal fish such as pilchards and anchovy. They were able to see their black and white coloring used as a camouflage (white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the water) from predators such as sharks, seals, killer whales, mongooses, genets, cats and dogs and kelp gulls that steal their eggs and newborn chicks. They also had the opportunity to see them swim at a speed of 7 kilometers per hour and submerge under water for up to two minutes. When being told about the penguin habit of monogamy, the students jokingly responded that they could never be penguins.
Headed toward the Cape of Good Hope, the students encountered baboons! Waymomay, mothers, fathers, and babies were all over! They would stubbornly sit in the middle of the road as well as on top of automobiles. Frightened that baboons would park themselves on top of their very own tour bus, the teachers continued on their journey…until they reached their final destination: The Cape of Good Hope.
The beautiful fauna and flora of the Cape of Good Hope amused the students as they approached Cape Point. From their tourist bus, they could see bontebok, which are antelope-type animals that camouflaged with their surroundings. Other animals that were seen were more baboons and ostriches. Other animals that were not seen by the students but are found in the park were zebra, lizards, snakes, tortoises, insects, dassies, striped mousse, water mongooses and cape clawless otters. The Cape of Good Hope is also home to at least 250 species of birds.
Finally they got to Cape Point where Salie informed them that they would have would have to travel 1,432 steps to get to the lighthouse. Later, after he believed he frightened the students, he told them it was footsteps and waited for them to be relieved. They travelled up ramps and steps until they reached the beautiful lighthouse of Cape Point. It was at this point that Portuguese navigators rounded the cape in search for land, and landed at Mussel Bay. Also, this is the spot where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean, and is the southernmost point of South Africa.
After taking in the views, most students hiked down to the Cape of Good Hope, immersing themselves in the beauty of the area. This also provided an opportunity for more scenery photographs, and allowed the students to reflect upon their experiences thus far in South Africa. The Cape of Good Hope, which is the most southwest point of South Africa, had a beautiful beach with striking white sand. The sounds of “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” were barely heard over the crashing waves of the bright blue ocean. When Salie announced that it was time to leave, it was hard to gather the group; clearly they did not want to leave.
In the 7,700 acres of the Cape of Good Hope, there are over 1100 species of indigenous plants. The two types of fynbos (fine bush) are coastal fynbos and inland fynbos and are commonly found in the park.
On the way back to the Centurion Hotel, the students reflected on their day journeying through Cape Town in their dreams (nearly the entire tour bus was napping). Cape Town proved to be a beautiful and glorious experience for the Michigan State teachers. It is doubtful that they will ever see something so beautiful again in their lives.
