African Safari

Solar array for the game preserve

"Ranger Rick" on safari....

Elephant altruism

Today we took a 2 hour bus tour north of Cape Town to Aquila Game Preserve, in the Karoo Highlands.  The ecology there is much drier and more mountainous than the area around Cape Town.  This was not a "sleep out under the stars and listen to the wild animals at night" kind of safari.  It was a drive in 4x4's around a 26,000 hectare preserve to observe rhinos, hippos, wildebeest, eland, springbok, and elephants at close range...and lions at a distance!  It was fascinating to watch the animal behavior first-hand and somewhat in the wild.  The two male elephants were particularly interesting.  One was laying in a mud pit and was having difficulty getting up.  The other came over and used his head to help the first one turn over to get up (see above)!

And the preserve buildings were powered by a solar array!

Cape Town, Day 2

Today I was scheduled to go on a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years, however the ferry is broken and the part will not arrive for several days.  Instead, we toured the District 6 museum, which documents the forced removal and destruction of a mixed race neighborhood near downtown during the apartheid regime.  We also toured the Holocaust museum and talked about similarities between apartheid in SA and the restrictive laws against Jews in Germany in the 1930's.  Finally, we walked through the gardens in the center of town beside the Parliament buildings.  In the early years of Cape Town in the 1600's and 1700's, the garden was used to grow vegetables for passing ships of the Dutch East Indies Corporation.

Cape Town, Day 1

We arrived in Cape Town at dawn on Sunday morning and watched the sun rise over the city.  Later in the day I took a city orientation tour and learned quite a bit about the history of the city and about apartheid.  On some days, the clouds dramatically roll over the top of Table Mountain in a phenomenon the locals call the "table cloth".  We saw the Parliament buildings and visited the cathedral from which Desmond Tutu led marches in defiance of the apartheid regime.

Since you asked....

Group photo with Archbishop Tutu (who also shaved his head!)

Several people have asked if women on the ship also shaved their heads on Neptune Day.  A number of female students shaved their heads, including some partial shaves and Mohawks.  One female student who had shaved her head in the past year gave a presentation on what the experience meant to her in terms of increasing her self-confidence and expanding her attitudes about beauty. 

In King Neptune's Court...The crossing the line ceremony

For hundreds of years, it has been a tradition in the Royal Navy, US Navy, and Marines to initiate those who cross the equator for the first time (polywogs) into King Neptune's court.  First, though, they have to prove their worthiness by undergoing several rituals.  Once accepted into King Neptune's Court, they become "shellbacks".  Because we crossed the equator at the prime meridian, there is a special status of "royal diamond shellback" (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony for some fascinating history about the tradition.)

Soaked with "fish guts"

Kissing a fish

Kissing King Neptune's ring

Before

During

After!

Today we had the crossing the line ceremony on ship and it involved being soaked with "fish guts", kissing a fish, kissing the rings of King Neptune and his Queen, and being knighted by Davy Jones.  It is also traditional for initiates to have their hair cut off. Sooooo.....