South Africa Trip 2017

Final Post I had an amazing trip to South Africa. It would not have been possible without the generous support from the Lexington Education Foundation, and the Clarke PTO. I can't thank both of these organizations enough for helping me make my dream of going to South Africa a reality! I would also like to the thank the amazing group of people from Clarke that I went on the trip with. This our last picture in South Africa: It was truly a pleasure to have this unique experience with all of you!  Lastly, I would like to thank my family that made it possible for me to go on this trip, and supported me every step of the way! 

The Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope is part of the Table Mountain National Park which includes 7,750 hectares of many different kinds of flora and fauna and has 40 kilometers of coastline. The coastline consists of three different capes: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Maclear, and Cape Point. The first spot that we visited inside the park was the Cape of Good Hope. After the taking some pictures and enjoying the scenic coastline in this area of the park we headed over to Cape Point.  At Cape Point there is a small train called the Flying Dutchman funicular which takes visitors up to a lighthouse that has amazing views of the coastline below. Visitors can also hike the trails that go up to the lighthouse.  One other thing to note about Cape Point is that the chacma baboons are protected in the park and are seen running along the paths and along the tops of the buildings. There are specific signs that tell visitors to "keep a safe distance from baboo

Boulders Penguin Colony This was a really fun stop on our trip. The Boulders houses a colony of endangered African Penguins. The town that it is in is Simon's Town and is a picturesque beach area. It was really cool to see the penguins at such close range and know that they are safely able to coexist with humans in this beautiful environment. 

Table Mountain Table Mountain was another experience in Cape Town that is very dependent on the weather. We were lucky again with our weather and got a beautiful day to ride the cable car to the top of the mountain. In 2011, Table Mountain was voted one of the 7 Wonders of Nature. It truly is an amazing feature in the heart of Cape Town. Having the mountain as the background behind all the buildings and development of Cape Town is really a unique sight. The cable cars that you take to ride up the mountain can carry up to 65 people, and have a rotating floor so that you can see all the different angles of the view as you ride to the top. The base of the cable cars is balanced by built in water tanks that also bring fresh water up the mountain to the restaurant at the top. The beautiful flora that grows on the mountain is part of the smallest floral kingdom in the world called the Cape Floral Kingdom. It has over 8,500 distinct species. The view from the top is

School visit in Cape Town We visited a secondary school when we were in Cape Town called Cosat. It is a high school that has grades 9-12, and its primary focuses are Mathematics, Science and Technology.   We were told it is the only school in South Africa with a focus on Information Technology. Students are either selected because of high achievement to attend the school or take a placement test to get in.   There are about 560 students that are currently attending the school. The school was founded in 1999, and by 2013, 100% of the students passed the Metric test for university.   The last few school years their highest score has been 96%.   They are classified as a Model school by the South African government and because of this all the students will be receiving tablets next year to help with their access to technology.   Only the Model schools receive this advantage. When we arrived at Cosat the Principal, Mrs. Cooper, greeted us.   She gave us an introduction

Cape Town and Robben Island Our first day in Cape Town was packed with amazing sights. Cape Town is known as the “Mother City” in South Africa because it was where the Cape Colony was first established by the Dutch in the 1650s. The first stop of the day was Robben Island. Pieter had told us earlier that a tour of Robben Island is very dependent on the weather because of the ferry that you need to take out of Cape Bay to get there. We were all so happy to wake up to a sunny day, which allowed us to take the voyage to the island. Our first tour guide, once we reached the island, was extremely well versed in the island’s history, and clearly very passionate about his job. We rode a bus around the island so we could see all the different landmarks as he informed us about the island’s history. The name of island came from the Dutch calling it seal island because there were so many seals that originally live there.  Nowadays the seal population is no longer o

Visit to the Village After our second day on safari we visited the village that is across the street from the Timbavati Safari Lodge. Our guide was from the village himself as well as many other employees at Timbavati. We learned from him that the South African government owns the land of the village and the elder’s jobs are to distribute it to the people of the village without charge. The people then are responsible for building their own homes. They cannot sell these homes, instead they are passed down through the family. We met the village witch doctor who treats everyone in the village if they have a medical issue or to help them with social and emotional issues as well. Villagers get free water from the government, but pay for electricity on pre-paid cards. The children of the village walked along with us as we got a tour of some of their homes and neighborhoods. There were many houses that had goats and cows living in small-fenced areas in the families’ plots of land