Final Dinner and Krieger National Park

Tuesday night, the entire delegation had an end of trip dinner. Most of the delegation headed back to the U.S. the next day. 6 of us, including me wanted to take the excursion to Krieger National Park.

We left Cape Town at 5 am Wednesday morning to catch a flight to Johanessburg. From there, we had about a 6 hour bus ride to the park. Yes, the bus ride was brutal, especially since it started to down pour. Our bus driver did a great job getting us through the mountain pass in the dense fog.

When we actually go to our hotel, which is right outside the gate of Krueger, it was a torrential downpour and completely dark. We're in the middle of nowhwere and there are all kinds of sounds that I've never heard of. By the way, there are monkeys everywhere ready to steal your food if you're not careful.

We had a 4:30 am wake up call so we could get out and drive through the game reserve to see animals. We were pretty fortunate to see all of the big five (Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, and Leopard) on the first day. I've attached pics of them (missing the buffalo because it was too far away for my camera.

Day two tomorrow morning then we're going on a night ride through the park. I have to imagine it will be the darkest environment I've ever been in. I'll let you know when I survive it.

Robben Island Tour Cancelled

Really disappointed that the Robben Island tour was cancelled. Apparently the ocean was too rough to take the trip. Speaking to a couple of the locals, the management company that runs the tours isn't very responsible. We couldn't reschedule the trip because we left Cape Town the next day.

The Weather Sucked Today

We obviously got the really nice weather in Cape Town yesterday. Today was a high of 57 with rain off and on.

We started the day off with a discussion with people involved with the Active School Initiative. They are a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting play and physical activity as important approaches for social learning and life skill development. This program has been endorsed by the South African Education department.

Their vision is that each child has hidden potential that is worthwhile and yet to be discovered. They want to show that education can be fun, creative and dynamic. Their results showed that many students attendance and behavior has improved since the implementation of this program in the primary schools.

They focus on a lot of cooperative education, social skill development and health and safety awareness. Based on the activities they do and the content they get across, this program seems to be more relevant to elementary and middle schools. I couldn't imagine doing some of their initiatives at the U.S. high school level. Although, they do outward bound activities as well as teamwork initiatives.

After this meeting we were able to visit a primary school that was still in session. We met with the principal for about an hour and then visited a classroom. Though this school was struggling financially, they were far better off than the schools we visited in Durban. Instruction in this school was in Afrikaan, the official language of the old government. However the students spoke English fairly well even though the principal said they would be shy because their English isn't very good.

Their facilities are not great but they've done a lot with the help of the Active School Initiative, otherwise, Physical Education wouldn't be existent at this school either. After the school visit, we ate lunch in a Township at a bed/breakfast owned by a couple who turned their shack into a 15 room bed and breakfast. They built the restraunt one brick at a time when he would find them on the side of the street and collect them until he had enough to build his business. Now their in a position to expand and people come from all over the world to stay with them. It's really interesting to see this thriving business in the middle of the dirt poor township.

After lunch we visited the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. Bascially it was tour of their facility, which looked a lot like our upscale fitness clubs (X-sport, Bally's, etc.) but had a sports medicine and elite sports training department as well. I was in my element viewing this facility as they had a lot going on and were truly working on improving wellness. Unfortunately, they didn't allow us to take pics in their facility.

Tomorrow we'll visit a local university and then tour Robben Island. I'm sure that will be an amazing visit. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 29 years.

Cape Town Tour

We got into Cape Town safely Saturday night and went directly to the hotel. My room in this hotel is awesome. I definitely wasn't expecting these type of accommodations on the trip. YIt's a view of table mountain from the 28th floor.

This city seems a bit more European than Durban but the poverty also seems to be worse. We took a trip down the peninsula to see a few different things. I've attached some pics. We visited Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope which is the most southwestern point of Africa. We also visited an area where penguins colonize.

Since it is Sunday, there was no professional part of our program but we will eat dinner at locals home, not sure why they would offer but, OK.

Enjoy the pics, I've added a few more since the blog is shorter.

Heading to Cape Town

Checking out of the hotel in Durban, gonna catch a flight to Cape Town. I'll check in when I check in.

Traditional Zulu Dance

Visited Zulu Land Today..Met With a Real Life "Zulu Healer"

Nothing on the professional agenda today. We drove out to a very rural area and had a traditional Zulu experience. The Zulu people are the extreme majority in this are of South Africa and a lot of them still live the traditional way.

You can see from the pics that the houses are still traditionally round and they mostly grow their own food and live traditional lives from the food they cook to how they interact with one another. The road to their village was filled with stray goats and cattle grazing on the peoples land. Ironically, we ran into a camera crew filming a movie.

We visited a primary school to see their facilities and how P.E. and sport were implemented. It was pretty disappointing that there wasn't even an area dedicated for activity. The school can't keep equipment from being stolen. We were able to buy some equipment for them before we arrived and they were so thankful. Sometimes I just wish my students were as thankful for what they have. Some of my colleagues handed out candy but I felt that was counterproductive to our mission so I gave out toys, balls, etc. They couldn't get enough of it!

One of our tour guides was born and raised in the village. She couldn't have been more than 20 years old. It was pretty funny that we were in such a remote, rural area and her cell phone rang every 5 minutes. I have no idea how she got service out there but apparently she does. The funny thing is the government was saying how difficult it was to reach the rural schools because of lack of electricty, etc. Well, one of my colleagues was able to get wi-fi service on her phone out there so don't tell me you can't give these people access to education!!

Anyway, we were able to meet with a real live Zulu Healer in her traditional round home. I'm the only male in the delegation and their tradition states that females must sit on the left side of the house and males on the right. I found it pretty funny that there were 15 women sitting on the dirt floor (polished by cow manure) and I was the only person sitting on the right side of the house on a wooden bench! Needless to say, I had to help a few of them get up from the ground.

After we heard the traditions of the village and the role of the village healer, we visited a villagers home where she cooked us a traditional Zulu meal. I have to be honest, it wasn't any different than a soul food dinner I've had many times. Mashed corn, pumpkin squash, collard greens and cabbage. I have to admit, it was really good....but I couldn't bring myself to eat the cabbage, I hate that stuff. In addition, they don't eat with silverware; they use their hands. I was done before anybody (I gave my cabbage away, sorry Dad, no force feeding me this time).

When we were done, the children of the village performed traditional dances for us. The pulled me out there to do it with them and I did but some how it wasn't documented on film....very weird how that happened. Oh well, I guess you can't trust technology.

We leave for Cape Town tomorrow afternoon. The majority of the day is free for us to do what we want. I'm actually going to go back to the stadium where they hosted part of the world cup and do a bungee swing from the rafters of the stadium. I think I'm a bit crazy but hey, you only live once. Apparently it drops you about 10 meters from the ground, I hope it's a bit higher. I'll post a video of it later.