Animals in South Africa

I know...it may seem a bit weird that I blog about the animals when there are at least thousands of other topics I could have chosen. My ridiculous obsession with the South African animals probably has to do with the fact that I come from Hungary where the only wide animals you can find are deer and boars. Plus you can at least get an idea what you will or can visit in the country. So here it goes:

Table Mountain

This is a dassie, which we see a lot on Table Mountains (by the way its closest relative is the elephant, which is kind of surprising). We did the Table Mountain on our first weekend, and although it is not in the program you can do it any time the weather allows you. You can either hike or - if you are a lazy one like me - take the elevator.

Cape Point

The Cape Point is part of the program and it is simply amazing. It is the most southeast point of the continent and you will have the opportunity to hike a little bit. Later we went to Simons Town to see the penguins, which was a really awesome experience.

The Seal Island

It is also part of the program. The island is situated near the Hout Bay, and we took a boat from there.

The Game Park

The game park is part of the program as well, and we went there on the last weekend of the seminars. It is approximately 3,5 hour drive from Cape Town and it was absolutely worth the trip. It is basically a hotel that consists of huts and a restaurant with the most amazing view I have ever seen. We drove out twice to see the animals and the second one was quite an experience since we get "uncomfortably" close (like 2 meters) to the lions.

The Monkey Town

This and the whale watch below were not part of the program, but one of the weekends three of us rented a car and drove around Cape Town a bit. The Monkey Town is approximately half hour drive from the city. Although the monkeys are in a cage (considering some of the angry ones it was not that bad after all) it was a lot of fun, and if you are lucky, you can also watch the feeding.

The Whale Watch

Every year from July to October, the whales gather at the bays near to Cape Town, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions of the area. One of their favorite destinations is Hermanus, a pretty little town about 1 and 1/2 hour drive from Cape Town. Since we went there at the end of June only 10% of the whales were there, and thus we had to take a boat to be able to see them. The boat trip was not particularly cheap, about R500, but it was a really interesting experience.

Highlight of my trip to South Africa: Church Service and Breakfast with the Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Craig, a coworker at our internship’s (Department of Economic Development and Tourism) girlfriend, works for Desmond Tutu as his PR Assistant. He never failed to remind Nora and I of this “very important position” daily. July 16^th was Youth Day in South Africa and a public holiday. Nora and I were presented the perfect opportunity to finally meet with Desmond Tutu himself. The offer was declined because we would rather attend a Braai (South Africa’s version of a barbeque) we had already agreed to attend on the same day. Craig was not pleased and we were quite disappointed ourselves.

We were fortunate enough to get another opportunity to meet Mr. Tutu again. Craig’s girlfriend let us in on a secret very people knew about. Every Friday, the Archbishop led service at the St. Georges Cathedral, downtown Cape Town. It would be a second chance to see and possibly meet the Noble Prize winner. This time, Tom, Nora and I were out of the house by 6:30 am on a Friday. There was no guarantee we would meet him but we thought it was worth the try. When we arrived at the cathedral there was barely anyone around. We wondered if we were better off in bed but after a few minutes of anxious anticipation, we saw him walk through the door…. very unassuming and in plain clothes. I said good morning to him, he responded and headed off to say a quick prayer at the altar.

By then, everyone had arrived. There were very few of us- say, about 20 in total. We gathered and waited very patiently for the Archbishop. Service was short. Archbishop Tutu asked us to introduce ourselves individually. We then proceedws to sing hymns, pray and receive communion. This was especially important to me since I hadn’t been to church in a while. It was especially humbling because it was officiated by the Archbishop himself. After service, we shook his hand and bid him goodbye. He then informed us that we could all meet up for breakfast at a cafe across the street from the cathedral. Of course, by this time we were all running late for work but there was no way we would miss an opportunity to have breakfast with Desmond Tutu.

Almost everyone at the service made it to the café. The mood was intimate and friendly. The Archbishop joined our conversations and cracked jokes with all of us. We asked him to take a photo with us before he bid us goodbye. As we left, we were certain that moment was worth waking up at dawn. There were many highlights of my trip to South Africa. But this is by far the most memorable.

Workshop at Masi.

On June 26^th, PASSOP, the organization that Rebecca and I were fortunate to have interned with held a workshop on the Zimbabwean Dispensation Project and Anti-xenophobia in Masiphumelele (or Masi for short), a township located slightly outside the city center of Cape Town. In Xhosa, the word Masiphumele means “We will succeed”.

The workshop held focused on addressing the critical fate that undocumented migrants would face once the deportation moratorium is lifted on July 31^st 2011. An estimated 200 individuals were present and managed to have been briefed on the important matters concerning their statuses. Given the severity of migrants’ documentation and the time constraints regarding the close proximity of the deportation date, we were able to have provided the necessary information to those still awaiting permits. Additionally, the workshop also intended to address xenophobia by bringing together South African and Zimbabwean citizens.

Key elements of the workshop concentrated on making the confusion regarding obtaining documentation more transparent, providing a section on Q&A at which many migrants took advantage of, and finally bringing people together.

As a peace and conflict resolution major, this specific event allowed me to have been a part of something I have read for my studies last semester that focused on hands-on approaches to addressing a particular conflict, such as going into the field, creating workshops and informing the masses of what’s at stake. Overall, it was a great workshop as it brought us in direct contact to the intricate nature of migration and alerted those of the necessary information, who perhaps may not have been informed through other means.