Betsy & Floyd - on the road again

The Mother City Times

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:06:00 +0000

Our "Mother City Times" format seems to be successful, as many of you have indicated. It's a news sheet, one page, with tidbits of interest to us and, hopefully, to you. Please let us know. The links below are to PDF files which you can either read online or download to read later.

Volume 2

Volume 2, Issue 3

Volume 2, Issue 2

Volume 2, Issue 1

Volume 1

Volume 1, Issue 6

Volume 1, Issue 5

Volume 1, Issue 4

Volume 1, Issue 3

Volume 1, Issue 2

Volume 1, Issue 1

Panthera pardus

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:07:00 +0000

There are multiple reasons for going on holiday; getting away from the weather, the house, the neighbors, the job, etc. or to enjoy going to the beach, the vacation house, a favorite place, view animals, an exotic location, a new and wild experience, etc.

In this particular case we had left extremely hot weather, left all the jobs and volunteer work behind, flown to Durban, driven to the animal reserves (think national park areas), and spent time self-driving ourselves around viewing birds, flowers, scenery, and wild animals. I’m thinking that there is something in the wild adrenalin rush when you are the prey.

This segment of our adventure began in the Ithala Game Reserve. We began each day with our schedule flexible, depending on Zane’s need for naps. When all seemed clear we loaded up into the rental (unfortunately not 4WD) and headed out for a 3-hour trip. The route we turned into was not marked as requiring 4WD, but it should have been.

I’ve used this picture in a previous segment but it is worth another look. Due to the amount of rain this year the waterfalls were spectacular, the grass was tall and the animals were well hidden. We took a lot of bird and flower photos.

We got about halfway into our loop down a narrow, one way dirt track when we found a dam / waterhole with a turn-around. Resting in the center of the area was a nice little herd of impala. They weren’t entirely pleased to see us. They had staked out a spot where they were safe with a clear line of sight in all directions and were reluctant to be chased away. Many of them were dozing.

We stopped and took all the pictures we wanted, and then drove slowly around them to head out and continue our drive.

And then the *%$# hit the fan. Kurt said, “There’s a leopard!” The adrenalin kicked in as we all said “Where?” He was stalking our herd of impala, looking for dinner.

It still amazes me that he spotted the cat. This photo, taken with all of the zoom I could get out of my 12X lens, shows a well-magnified view of what Kurt spotted. The leopard was lurking in a gully when we arrived on the scene and spoiled his stalk.

He* looked at us, looked at his dinner, and then disappeared…

…only to reappear a bit further to the right, behind a bit of grass.

He sprinted left to right across an open area – then disappeared. Becky, with Zane in mind, said “Let’s get out of here.” Kurt and I, basically macho, bloodthirsty, primitive, hunter-types wanted to stay to the end but were outvoted.

The unintended result of our driving away was we actually herded most of the impalas down the road, away from the hungry leopard. A few impala stopped along the way for that extra bite of grass. Only the leopard knows if he cornered an impala, but some of us were very sorry to think that we might have deprived the leopard of his dinner. The rest of us were very happy to have saved an impala. I’ll leave it to you to decide who was on which side.

Floyd

* Sexing a leopard – you can step up and check it out yourself, or you can ask at the park headquarters.

The Galagos Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:59:00 +0000

Following our three nights in Hluhluwe, it was time to go back on the road. By this time we had learned that Road Warrior Zane did not have infinite patience for being imprisoned in a car seat, so we planned a rest stop at a Wimpy’s. While Zane, Betsy and I were enjoying a healthy  snack, Becky and Kurt went off to visit the local town. They returned with some basics: pineapples, whiskey, Amarula and some mangos (a key part of this adventure).

We arrived at the Itala Game Reserve and checked into our cabin, rejecting the first choice and opting into the second. The normal signs were posted: “Keep your doors and windows shut – the monkeys and baboons enjoy human food”, and “Stay inside after dark – rhinos wander through the camp”. They didn’t mention the monitor lizard and the snake I encountered on a path to the camp store. I digress.

Some of the windows had wire panels covering them, allowing us to keep them open for the breeze while keeping the vervet monkeys and the baboons at bay. The cool evening breezes are welcome despite the few mosquitoes that blow in. Remember that this area is identified as one with possible malaria. Zane had a mozzie net; Betsy and I used a plug-in repellent, Becky and Kurt used blankets and stick repellents.

When we got up the next morning it was to the news that we had been raided during the night. Kurt had cleaned it up so he related the story of finding some of our bananas and mangos had been taken, eaten, with bits of peels strewn on the floor along with small animal droppings. We suspected very young vervet monkeys even though it would have been unusual for them to be afield at night. The alternative suspects would have been bush babies but we had heard none calling the previous evening and so ruled them out.

We operated on that assumption until we checked with the reception desk. They finally mentioned that other guests had experienced similar raids and the culprits were Galagos, bush babies, a small primate. They are cute, but can be troublesome. That evening, when Becky began setting out our dinner, she let out a shout to chase the bold little critters away from the dinner table. “It was sitting on the bench, paws on the table, looking at me like I was the problem.”

We finished our meal, watching over our shoulders. The mangos weren’t that great so we decided to sacrifice a few in the name of photography, placing them in strategic location for good photos. You can see the results in Kurt’s photos.

Inspecting the area in the light of day convinced us that we probably should not repeat the mango feast. There were bits of peel, seeds, and droppings everywhere. We cleaned up, primarily because it was a problem for Zane crawling around and putting things into his mouth. Another good reason was to avoid being reprimanded by the camp personnel for feeding the animals.

That night our dinner included some gooseberries. These are not the gooseberries you may be familiar with in the States. They are yellow, larger, and much sweeter. We had let them age a bit too much so there were leftovers. Kurt took them out to the porch and tossed them, strategically, into areas we could observe from inside. Minutes didn’t pass until we saw a grey streak pass the door. We stood and watched the gooseberries disappear.

Curiously, one of the bush babies climbed straight up the wall to the rafters of the roof as if being pursued. I walked over to another window and saw what I thought was a ring-tailed bush baby nosing at the path where Kurt had tossed some berries. It moved into the light and I called for Becky to come and see. It was clearly not a bush baby. She immediately identified it as a genet, a small carnivore. We never got a picture of the genet so I’ve included a picture from the web. They do not normally prey on bush babies but the disappearance of every one for the balance of the night said something. There were still gooseberries on the path the next morning.

Floyd

HluHluwe 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:45:00 +0000

I want to close the chapter on Hluhluwe-Imfolozi by including some chosen photos of our finds while in the camp and on game drives. Zane showed an amazing amount of interest in the animals. As I’ve said before, he is a sponge.

We didn’t discriminate in our photography. Birds, insects, flowers, primates as well as the game animals.

Here’s an industrious waste worker, a dung beetle, cleaning up after a rhino.
Sorry about the focus on the scorpion. It was small and very lethal so I rushed the photo before disposing of the insect.

Not all of the primates were in the veld; some were in the pool. This was Zane’s first swimming pool. We had taken him to the beach a couple of weeks ago and he remembered the fun of the water. He couldn’t contain his excitement and was squealing, pointing, bouncing and generally having one heck of a good time. Yes, he was (initially) covered in sun block.

Two of the Big 5

Zebra

Baboons

Our Black Kite

Wart Hogs

And, one more Zane picture. It was a good time.

Floyd

When Eagles Fly

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:27:00 +0000

February, 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

As I sit down to write this morning, it is hard to know where to begin this story. guess we should begin when I received a phone call from Becky last fall asking us if we would like to go the tent bush camp Mpila within Hluhluwe-Imfolozi nature reserve. When I read the write-up, it said, “Be sure to protect your small children. Hyaenas will steal the meat off your braai.”

Wanting to protect Zane (who is now 11 months old) and not knowing if he would be walking, or crawling, or opening zippers, Floyd and I opted out of that one for Zane’s first safari experience. We decided instead to stay at Hilltop camp in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, a place we had been to before, where you stay in cottages and where there is a fence around the camp so most predators are locked out. We did however share the space with bush buck, vervets, baboons, spiders, geckos and other small creatures.

All was well. We had settled in. In the morning, we would look out and see the bush buck and her twins feeding in the dense foliage in front of the cottage.
Vervets with sad eyes watched from the trees then gracefully moved through the branches. Baboons raced across the clearing screeching as they went.

After the morning safari, time spent looking for rhino and other animals, we would go back to the cottage so Zane could take a nap. After nap, it was time to sit out on the deck and look for animals in the valley below. In the quiet time, Floyd would sit out there watching for a rare, beautiful blue bird with red wings, a purple-crested turaco. He was trying to get a picture of it as it flitted from tree to tree (never did) to prove that it really did exist in that environment.

On our second afternoon there, he and Kurt were sitting out trying to get that picture when a large raptor circled overhead. It circled and circled and circled.
It would go away a bit and then come back and circle some more, floating over the deck. The guys were madly taking its picture.

I (Betsy) came out to look, then Becky brought Zane out and sat on the deck floor so he too could watch the bird. And it circled some more.

We lost sight of it for a little while when all of a sudden, winds flapping and talons flared, it whooshed by Becky and Zane’s heads… to pick up prawn crisps out of a bowl on the table. It scared us all and reminded us that raptors in Africa can kill small primates. Prehistorically, the Taung child (an early human ancestor) was killed by either a Martial or Black eagle but then the Taung child at three years old was very small, the size of a three year old chimp.

From that moment on, we all watched the skies with renewed vigor whenever we were out hiking. Who would have thought...

Love to all from South Africa,

Betsy and Floyd

PS. Here is a picture of a crisp thrown in the air and the bird, later identified as a black kite. Floyd and Kurt spent the entire afternoon trying to lure it back down so they could get another picture, and finally did…the one directly above.

The Parks

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:27:00 +0000

Toward the end of January, the Rogers, Betsy and Floyd, and the Ackermann’s, Becky, Kurt, and Zane, departed Cape Town for Durban to enjoy a brief holiday. We spent three nights in each of the two parks described below and a final night in Durban before returning to the relative cool and dry climate of Cape Town.

Zane made friends wherever he went. Here, tired as he was, he entertained and was soothed by an Indian family during the flight. “Passing the baby” is expected and widely practiced.

At the King Shaka airport in Durban we rented a car, drove toward town to stock up on groceries and wine, and then hit the road to an area just south of Swaziland; Hluhluwe-Imfolozi reserve. We do the self-catering thing by choice as our meals are healthier and better. It also allows us to be more flexible when touring remote regions.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

The thatched roof cottage on the left is where we stayed for three nights at Hilltop camp in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi. Notice the game fence at the bottom left. It keeps some of the animals at bay. Vervets, baboons and bush buck among others have free reign within the camp. We’ll have more later on the animals and our adventures, bur first some background.

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is set in the heart of Zululand. It is the oldest game reserve in Africa, a place where Zulu kings such as Dingiswayo and Shaka hunted and put in place the first conservation laws, where today the "big five" of African legend stalk the verdant savannah. Established in 1895, game viewing is the prime attraction. Viewing hides overlook waterholes enabling visitors to see animals at close range.

As the home of Operation Rhino in the 1950s and 60s, the Park became world renowned for its white rhino conservation. Other areas of focus for which Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is famed include wilderness trails which originated in Imfolozi in the 1950s and its renowned Game Capture unit recently upgraded into the Centenary Capture Centre, a bench mark for animal capture and sustainable utilization throughout Africa. The Park covers some 96 000 ha and contains an immense diversity of fauna and flora. Hluhluwe is characterized by hilly topography, and this northern section of the park is noted for its wide variety of both bird and animal life. Apart from game-viewing drives, there are two self-guided auto trails which provide information on both the management and natural history of the reserve. Guided walks are also available, particularly rewarding in the early morning and late afternoon.

Hluhluwe Imfolozi is one of South Africa's most popular game parks affording visitors fascinating wildlife encounters. The wide range of plant life in the park gives rise to a diversity of mammals, birdlife, reptiles and amphibians. The BIG FIVE - lion, rhino (back & white) elephant, buffalo and leopard are all to be seen in the park, as well as a variety of other species, including cheetah, wild dog and giraffe. It is also one of the best places in the world to see nyala.

When uncontrolled hunting brought many game species to the brink of local extinction, Hluhluwe and Imfolozi were set aside as protected areas for game in 1895. Through good conservation practices and the world famous project "Operation Rhino", the white rhino population was brought back from extinction in this park. Numbering less than 20 animals in 1900 they now number in excess of 10 000 worldwide, though poaching is becoming a huge problem, especially in Kruger Park which shares a border with Mozambique. Rhino horn is more precious than gold. Still KZN Wildlife boasts one of the best conservation teams in the world, and enjoys international acclaim for its conservation efforts, not least in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park.

Ithala Game Reserve

This magnificent reserve, tumbling from the heights of the Ngotshe Mountains a thousand meters down into a deep valley, carved over the eons by the Phongolo River revealing the world's oldest rock formations, is a game viewers paradise. Situated in the rugged, mountainous thornveld of northern KwaZulu-Natal, the reserve's multitude of habitats hosts a spectacular array of wildlife species. Its scenic beauty aside, Ithala's most characteristic feature is perhaps its’ astonishing geological diversity. Some of the oldest rock formations in the world are found here, dating back 3,000 million years. With a topographic profile varying from 400m above sea level in the north to 1,450m near Louwsberg in the south, Ithala's terrain extends over lowveld and densely vegetated riverine valleys to high-lying grassland plateaus, ridges and cliff faces. The area now proclaimed as Ithala has been occupied by man for thousands of years and there are many sites littered with stone-age spear and axe heads dating back some 20,000 years. There has even been a middle Stone Age tool discovered by archaeologists which pushes the date back to anything up to 200,000 years. More recently, in the last few hundred years, with the advent of the Nguni people, iron smelting took place in Ithala and there are a number of smelting sites adjacent to deposits of banded ironstone, which was crushed to provide the iron ore. Ithala has provided the setting for many historic events, from Shaka's reign and those of successive Zulu kings, to a number of gold mining enterprises in the early years of the 20th Century. Ithala has an excellent auto trail to facilitate visitor's game viewing, and a notated guide booklet is available in the shop at Ntshondwe, Ithala's superbly designed, multi-award winning camp.

Now that we have the history of the area out of the way, stay tuned for more on our adventures.

Betsy and Floyd

Cricket Explanation

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 11:31:00 +0000

We spent yesterday at day three of a five day test match between South Africa and India. I won’t bore you with all of the details but I thought you could use a refresher on the way cricket works; so here it is.

Cricket Explained

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.

When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

How Many Lobster Tails Can You Eat?

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:33:00 +0000

We had a chance to answer that question last weekend. The occasion was Betsy’s birthday; the venue was a self-catering cottage in the small seacoast village of Paternoster where the locals were celebrating the crayfish festival. Wait just a minute you say. We’re not talking crawdads – we’re talking lobsters! Time for some clarification.

Wikipedia calls them Spiny Lobsters, Langouste, and Rock Lobsters and notes that they are called Crayfish in South Africa. So, since this story is set in SA, these are crayfish! You can see the anticipation on Zane’s face as he checks out what’s for dinner.

Kurt even offered one to Zindzi and Thula, our African dogs, but they were wary of the pointy bits. The rest of us broke off those parts and saved them for another meal. There were eight crayfish for the four of us (we decided that Zane was too young to indulge) when we began. At the end there was one crayfish left because someone couldn’t face another bite.

Over the next few days we bought and froze another dozen of the larger ones to take home and enjoy over the next few months. What a treat!

Speaking of treats, the entire weekend in Paternoster was a treat. The place we stayed was lovely with doors opening onto a deck and views of the Atlantic.

We were able to watch the fishermen in pursuit of our meals and time our visit to the landing beach where the catches were sold to local restaurants and locals interested in fresh crayfish.

Look closely and you will see Betsy and Kurt arranging a dinner purchase.

The process of moving the boats into and out of the ocean involves a bakkie (pickup truck) and four-wheel drive. The boats are pulled into the water where an incoming wave allows them to float further out. I’m betting that the corrosion caused by the salt water limits the useful life of the vehicles.

What do we do while on holiday in a sleepy fishing village? Eat, sleep, walk the beach, and play with Zane.

Life is good.

Floyd

Zane and the Fishies

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Zane Rogers Ackermann, six months old on our 46th wedding anniversary August 22nd, is a sponge. He is in the 90th percentile of height (length), the 50th percentile of weight, and a very handsome baby. But the most striking thing to me is how he reacts to new experiences. Take, for example, our recent visit to the aquarium here in Cape Town.

We are committed to saving Tuesdays for Zane. This particular Tuesday was to be our first outing so Kurt briefed us on procedures, loaded the stroller into the car, dressed Zane in warm duds, loaded him into the car seat, and off we went. Notice how pensive he is - just tolerating all the fuss.

We drove to the Waterfront, parked, assembled the car seat and stroller, and took off for the short stroll to the aquarium. Elapsed time so far was about 15 minutes. Hoping that this would be a good experience, we purchased season passes and went on in.

It was apparently the day of the week when local school classes come for an outing because there were groups of children everywhere. Our first stop was at a large cylindrical tank full of darting silver fish. Zane was mesmerized. He watched those fish for ten minutes with his mouth open and hands waving. You can only imagine what was going on in that little mind. He was not finished with those fish but we finally decided to move on before he overdosed on excitement.

We’ve noticed that this little person has an input mode. By that I mean his eyes get bright and wide, he becomes absolutely quiet, his mouth opens and he shows all the signs of intense concentration. I don’t remember my own children doing this behavior, but then I was at work most of their babyhood hours. Grandparenthood gives us an entirely new set of opportunities.

We went through a number of exhibits before arriving at one which drew interest. The penguins were moving around, into and out of the water, and Zane followed them with interest. He loved the sound of the running stream.

So we watched those little guys and gals in their tuxedos perform for quite a while.

Then we moved on to the big fishies and the kelp tank. It can be a hypnotic experience, just sitting there and watching the kelp sway with the wave action. We stayed there wondering how the neurons were dealing with the little fish / big fish issue. Were we giving him nightmares?

The next tank held fish of many sizes. The ones attracting Zane’s attention the most seemed to be schools of small darting fish that moved in waves in order to avoid the larger fish. Brightness and movement seem to be key to interest at this stage.

Betsy and I needed a rest so we tried to interest Zane in a bottle or his pacifier. Forget that! The sharks were way cool!

Eventually we wandered away from the displays and into the cafeteria for tea and coffee. Zane got distracted by the flags fluttering in the breeze, and we eventually talked him into a bottle. We left, strolling over the cobblestones, through a craft market, and back to the car, noticing that he had fallen fast asleep, input processing complete for the moment.

All in all it was a successful first outing for us as grandparents. We are looking forward to many more.

Floyd

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:35:00 +0000

In Search Of ...

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:42:00 +0000

Meandering … an honorable pastime. Meandering in Cape Town … a pleasurable pastime! We began the day with two goals: breakfast in one of our favorite spots – then find a birding location for our favorite in-laws.

Goal one is a little café in Blaubergstrand. You might want to translate that as the beach of the blue mountain. Betsy is watching a family meandering over the shoreline rocks in search of tiny fish. The blue mountain, Table Mountain, is in the background. Our breakfast was terrific.

Goal two sent us to locations on the other side of the blue mountain. We didn’t know exactly where we were going – just a general idea. Our first stop was a good-sized, as it turned out, dog-walking park named Island Park. Winter in Cape Town is the time for many of the bushes to bloom. Betsy is standing beside an eight-foot tall shrub covered with little white blossoms. Stunning!

Yellow blooms covered other shrubs and there were Calla Lilies everywhere.

We finally spotted some (significant) birds. There were any number of coots cruising around and a few pelicans. I get a kick out of the fake red eyes on the coots. They’re actually deemed attractive by females during the breeding season.

The area seems much like we we’ve seen along the waterways in Florida, only on a smaller scale. The boats tied up at the docks tended to be canoes instead of yachts.

Other neat stuff that we spotted on Park Island included a Pelargonium (Geranium) that only my brother Marshal would recognize,

and a Weaver Bird nest under construction. A finished product was nearby.

We had come out to this specific location because of a rumor of a pod of resident hippos. When we asked a dog-walking couple about them, they said we were in the wrong place and that we should backtrack down the main road a bit to a location called Rondevlei (Ron-de-flea). So, off we went.

This was a real park, admission fees, brochures, toilets, museum, the works. The trails were over four feet wide and covered with a heavy-duty rubberized mat. There were occasional breaks in the matting – round in shape with a pattern on one side which looked a lot like animal toes. Never any more than three or four in a row – it looked like a hippo might have used the path for short distances between grassy areas. This realization brought some degree of discomfort, particularly when we saw the Hippo Crossing sign and the path through the rushes.

Rondevlei has two observation towers from which you can see the bird hides and locate the large gatherings of waterfowl. We did not see the pod of hippos, so we set off down the trail.

Along the way we found some interesting flora. This plant is one whose flowers are pollinated by rodents. I rather suspect that it is not native to the area but belongs several hundred kilometers to the North.

We did find some birds including this group of Sacred Ibis.

However, the find of the day came as we sat for a minute at the end of the trail. This little critter, a mongoose, seemed to be scouting for a meal. Perhaps a cobra?

So, did we find what we were searching for? Hard to tell. We had a great time – took a nice long walk in the fresh air – found some beautiful flowers – saw some interesting birds – met Riki-Tik-Tavi. I’d have to say that, yes; we found what we were looking for.

Peace,
Floyd

Isikhokelo Primary School

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:23:00 +0000

"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."
— John Bunyan

We encountered this quotation the other day on a billboard in Cape Town. Well, not exactly, because the billboard left out the word today. You can feel comfortable with the quote missing that key word. It’s much more difficult to deal with today.

In that vein, Betsy and I have spent a good part of the last month working at the Isikhokelo Primary School in Khayelitsha, one of the townships on the fringes of Cape Town. The parts of Khayelitsha seen from the expressways tend to be pretty disreputable despite government efforts to build housing.

The problem is that once a family gets into a nice new house, the relatives migrate in, build shacks in the yard, and bring in their livestock. It’s impossible to get ahead of the problem.

It’s a bit convoluted, but this was our route to Isikhokelo Primary School. Betsy has, for years, been in a state of despair over seeing the tons of fairly new books from our US public schools going into land fills. She volunteers at SCARCE in Glen Ellyn which rescues books and gives them to schools that need them. She carries a suitcase full each time we go to South Africa and gives them to a pre-school for their library. We also worked with an organization in Glen Ellyn, IL, to ship books, along with medical and computer equipment, to a rural school in Ghana where we helped to establish a library and create a computer lab a few years ago.

We’ve tried to find a way to get a container load of the same books into South Africa and failed due to their protectionist taxes. Recently, after complaining about the government policies, a member of Central Methodist Mission in Cape Town suggested that we try the Help2Read organization. Help2Read provides volunteer reading tutors for schools. The volunteers work with individual children on a one-on-one basis. We attended their training session in January and quickly recognized that our skill set was much different than their normal needs.

It turned out that they had been receiving requests from some primary schools for help with libraries. We offered our help through them and they responded with the Isikhokelo opportunity.

With the support of the Principal, Mrs. Qomoyi, library volunteer staff member Lindikhaya and the library committee members we were able to help:
- Setup a bar-code scanner compatible with a PS2-Interface keyboard. The USB-Interface keyboard, purchased with the computer system, was not compatible with the scanner
- Put a software back-up procedure in place
- Train Lindikhaya on the method for making computer generated barcoded labels for the books
- Train Lindikhaya on the method for making computer generated spine labels using Dewey Classification system
- Move the computer station to its administrative position at front of library
- Determine with the Library Committee members the length of the book check out period, how many books could be checked out, how to roll-out school’s library use program, what was to be policy on book fines and lost books, etc.
- Train the 7th grade student team on the process for identifying which bar-code labels go in which books
- Train the 7th grade library student team on how to shelve books and on how to put the barcodes and spine labels on books
- Import the integrated student file for grades 1 through 7, provided by Barbara, into Libwin (Microsoft Access database system) in order to enable the borrowing process
- Facilitate the printing of the learner and teacher bar-code labels by grade and class
- With Lindikhaya, write orientation programs for parents and for students
- Ensure the computer process for taking out books works properly
- Purchase return library book bins and display shelf bins
- Put bar-codes and spine labels on hundreds and hundreds of books
- Install a new printer

Our experience there has been wonderful. The children are like children everywhere. The staff has been warm and welcoming. We continue to learn about the challenges they face on a daily basis. As an example, it was normal to have power outages at about 2pm each day and all computer work would cease.

It turns out that the Western Cape has committed to install over a hundred libraries this year with this same set of books, same software, same computer setup. We ache to be able to help them all in somewhat the same fashion we’ve been able to help at Isikhokelo. We plan to be back in August to continue doing what we can.

We’ve learned to find a way to utilize the skills accumulated over a lifetime. It is incredibly uplifting.

Betsy & Floyd

Zane Rogers Ackermann - February 22, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:51:00 +0000

Last June Becky told us that she and Kurt were expecting a baby. It came as a shock – we had come to grips with their plan to have no children. They had been deeply affected by Lisa’s death and the discovery that Becky has the same genetic factor leading to blood clots, as do both Betsy and I. So when she told us, we were quite conflicted and kept it quiet for some time in hope and fear.

Time passed, and we returned to Cape Town in December to find a lot of preparations underway. Kurt’s office was turned into Zane’s nursery – Zane Rogers Ackermann by the way. Stroller, pram, furniture, in place - plans for car seat, clothing, bottles, etc., waiting for completion. Becky was still working, busy finishing up papers for submission and completing book reviews - Kurt working madly against deadlines for television scripts – all the while the inevitable deadline of February 22nd approaching.

In case you were wondering, the medical care in Cape Town is every bit as good as anywhere in the States. Yes, it is Africa, and yes, this is a first-world city with all of the good and bad bits that come along with that designation. Becky had weekly doctor visits where they took ultrasound pictures. It’s quite – I’m at a loss for the right word – an emotional experience to see the face of your unborn grandson while he’s still in the womb. It makes me rethink the whole abortion issue.

Betsy and I have forgotten how our lives changed with our first child, or at least I’ve forgotten. We were so young. This grandparent thing is an entirely different perspective on the event. We’re able to view events from a distance; not needing to worry about diapers, bottles, formula, car seats, and the like; focusing on the wonder, the fear, the future, the past – you know, the scary stuff. Wow!

 February 20

February 21 

The weekend before surgery was spent walking on the beach and clowning around. Becky was blessed with no morning sickness throughout, but some lower back discomfort. She feels quite fortunate.

With surgery scheduled for noon on the 22nd, they left the house at ten to check into the Cape Town Medi-Clinic. Kurt was with her throughout the entire process – we waited in the lounge. Kurt kept us posted via text messages and Zane made his appearance at 12:45pm – kicking and screaming into the world. Weighed in at 2.83kg (6lb, 3.6oz) and measured 47cm (18 ½ inches).

The initial challenges with new babies are simple in concept: get enough food into them to avoid weight loss; and learn their communication signals (hunger, discomfort, etc.). Deceptively simple.

In practice, new parents can become quite stressed with these challenges. I don’t know how much help we are but I’m glad we are here.

The new family formation arrived home on Thursday, three days after the preceding picture.

The entire family turned out to see the new arrival. The dogs were clueless at first, not knowing if it was a new puppy, a squeaky toy, or just something to smell and lick.

Several days later, the dogs are adjusting well – the parents,…? Zindzi (the older, black village dog) tells the parents when Zane needs changing – so funny. Again, I have forgotten, perhaps blocked, those difficult times.

We had one of those high/low moments as Becky opened a bottle of wine that Lisa had given them in 2001. It was saved for a special occasion – not too many more special than this.

Follow the Zane photos at http://bit.ly/adNJae

Floyd & Betsy, aka
Oupa & Gogo

Rugby 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:38:00 +0000

If you recall, Betsy sent out a blast last month on our experiences learning about Cricket. The game was new to us and we’ve begun to enjoy its subtleties. In the hope of a similar experience, we attended a Rugby match last Saturday. Part of the incentive for us to do this was the venue – the new Cape Town Stadium. You can see the stadium in the picture. It is part of the infrastructure development effort coming online in time for the World Cup this June and July. I cannot imagine a more beautiful location.

The rugby match was the second event to be held in the new stadium. It was to be an additional test for the overall management of the event. You can only imagine the scale of needs for training, transportation, parking, security, food service, ticketing, housekeeping, etc.

For the first event, a soccer match, 20,000 tickets were sold for the 68,000 seat stadium. Seating was available for the first deck only. Our rugby match increased the tickets to 40,000 on two decks and proportionately increased the challenges.

The stadium facilities are quite lovely, although there remain some issues with food and beverage queuing. The field is open, not a problem in this beautiful climate. Construction continues on the third deck. We talked to friends who had seats in the sun – they needed more sunscreen.

We noticed three helicopters in a nearby area while walking into the stadium. One was police, the others were medical. We thought that was nice – preparing for emergency situations among the crowd. Right! The medical choppers were for the rugby players.

I was a bit shocked at the violence of the game. Think of when you were watching the recent Super Bowl. Take away all of the padding. Take away the forward pass. Take away the TV timeouts.

There are two ways to advance the ball: run and kick. Most of the running also involved tossing the ball in a lateral (or behind) direction to another runner and then continuing forward until tackled. Then a big pile of bodies is formed (a ruck, a maul, or a scrum), the ball emerges and the run/kick process repeats.

I forgot the opening ceremony. Politicians are the same world-wide. Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, was one of two speakers welcoming us to the new stadium. She is a very efficient politician and it was nice to get to hear her in person.

Our conclusions:
 We’ll continue going to Cricket matches.
 We’ll probably not attend any more Rugby.
 The Cape Town Stadium is a terrific venue – will be a terrific venue – in time for the World Cup.
 Post-event traffic is a nightmare and must be addressed, particularly since 68,000 fans will be dramatically more difficult to manage than our 40,000.
 It has been a worthwhile experience and the price was right (about $9)

That’s what we’re about – new experiences.

Floyd & Betsy – grandparents to be

On A Summer's Breeze

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:06:00 +0000

Have you thought about kites lately; those joyous things that sail on the breeze on a warm summer’s day? We have, several times.

This week is a week of warm, strong breezes with clouds rushing by overhead. And at Blauberg Beach, the kite surfers are out in force. I counted 26 kites sailing on the breeze. It was an amazing sight, especially considering how frigid the Atlantic Ocean water is. The kites are attached to a harness which is attached to the surfer’s body. The surfing board is just that. The surfers use the wind to surf across the waves parallel to beach, then toward the beach and back out again, and amazingly rarely do they seem to fall off their boards.

On the beach, yellow and red flags flap in the breeze cautioning swimmers. Because the water is so cold, people wear wet suits to get in the water. People in wet suits look like seals, and the great white sharks have been sighted often lately. Several swimmer and boaters have died. But when there are strong winds, the board and kite surfers come out in full force, traveling the huge waves, throwing caution to the winds.

Blauberg Beach is across Table Bay from Cape Town, in the area of the Reitvlei wetlands and Milnerton Beach. When strong breezes blow and storm clouds roll, the freighters that anchor in Table Bay waiting to get into Cape Town’s port have to be careful. Even now there is a freighter stuck in the shallows on Blauberg Beach. It was grounded in a storm last August. It contains coal and the local gossip says that at some point all of the coal will be off-loaded and then the freighter will be taken apart by hand, or should I say torch, piece by piece. The work hasn’t started yet. You can see from the picture of the grounded freighter and rocks just how treacherous the area is, and yet the kite surfers dodge the rocks and each other’s lines with no problems.

The mountain in the background across Table Bay is Lion’s Head, a famous Cape Town landmark.

This week we also experienced a day of strong, steady breezes, the best kind of day for the huge kites that fly from the grassy areas along the Sea Point boardwalk in the area of Three Anchor Bay, which is on the Cape Town side of Table Bay. (Can you guess why the name?)

There is a red and white lighthouse there that mournfully sighs when the bay is foggy, warning ships coming into Table Bay of danger. There is also a kite vendor who advertises his wares by flying large kites in the air. He can get an amazing amount of kites on one string. He puts them up in the air, and then attaches the string to a weighted rock, and the kites stay up there. We have often wondered how he does it. What child, or grandparent, for that matter could resist trying even one when he can get so many in the air at one time?

And like children everywhere, this boy had to use his cell phone to take a picture of the biggest kite of all. Wonder what his picture looked like.

Do you think it looked like mine?

PS, we loved walking under the dragon. It was awesome!

And the face was especially amazing!!!!!…..

Love from Cape Town,
Betsy and Floyd

A Tale of Two Wetlands

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:20:00 +0000

Over the years we have sent you many pictures of the beach at Milnerton. It is my favorite because it is on the ocean across Table Bay and you get a great view of Cape Town and Table Mountain behind it from there. It is also my favorite because all the huge ocean liners park in the bay waiting to get into port to load or unload. They look huge when they are at eye level and I love sitting a Maestro’s restaurant counting and recounting them as they come and go.

Last week we were finishing lunch after a beach walk when Floyd asked, “What do you want to do now?” “I want to see if we can find the entrance to the huge wet lands that is just down the road.” And, off we went. It took us an hour but we finally found it.

The Rietvlei Wetland Reserve is a freshwater wetland located on the floodplain of the Diep River before it drains into Milnerton lagoon, and then into the ocean at Table Bay. It is sandwiched between the residential areas of Milnerton and Table View. The extensive 560 hector wetland area includes a wide diversity of habitats including a freshwater lake that provides a permanent fresh water source, reedbeds, and a tidal lagoon. This true riverine habitat is seasonally home to 102 species of waterbirds, 70 of which are regularly present.

Since this is a favorite place for bird watchers censuses are taken regularly. A recent official census recorded a total species count of 184. Birders also counted over 10,000 birds during the water bird census. Regular visitors include pelicans, flamingos, coots, ducks, herons, cormorants, darters, grebes and ibis. In the summer, huge flocks of migrant waders arrive including sandpipers, plovers, swallows and swifts.

We got out of the car to walk the long winding path into the wetlands – there are two hides far apart so we choose one of them, the one closest to a large flock of birds. I only had my small camera since we hadn’t expected to go looking for wildlife.

A pamphlet said that one could find small mammals such as Steenbok, the Cape Clawless Otter, Mongoose, mice and moles in the area. We didn’t see any on our hike. We did see waterbirds; great flocks of pelicans, flamingos, ibis and heron, only a few of which we could capture with my small camera.

I did particularly like watching the pelicans as they rode the currents overhead.

When leaving the area we spoke to Wally, the nature reserve ranger on duty at the gate. He said there was another spectacular wetland, tucked into the middle of Century City, an area of dense residential housing and the huge Canal Walk mall and casino complex. The developers had built this immense retail complex on top of a wetland, and an impact study was done forced them to rehabilitate part of the area as the original island was a nesting site. They call the wetland Intaka Island.

Intaka Island is a small, 16 hectare multipurpose nature area, home to 120 species of birds, many of them nesting there. It is surrounded by a canal that acts as a barrier between the residents and the wetlands and as a water transport canal for the local residents. It is also part of a water recycling system and treatment facility. That said, it is very well done.

There were several special areas. From atop “Bird Mountain” you could see cormorants drying in the sun. They are sitting on the log structure in the middle of the picture. One very large chick had its entire head in its mother’s mouth, trying to get her to regurgitate dinner.

Across the lake are two hides. From there you can watch the ibis and heron nesting.

The man-made heron nesting site has won numerous human awards since it was installed in 2007, and the birds like it too. Interestingly, the site is built on large, open drums sunk into the wetlands. These drums collect guano which is then pumped out and used for fertilizer.

The structure is filled with branches and sunk. Eventually all the leaves fall off and the result is a rookery.

It looks like this.

The heron and ibis love it!

From a hide somewhere in the Cape Town wetlands,

Love to all,

Betsy and Floyd

Cricket - a newbie's view

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:42:00 +0000

What is cricket? In the US, as children we learn that “crickets” are insects that walk on the ground and hop when you try to catch them. In other parts of the world if you ask, “What is cricket”, cricket is a team sport, a bat and ball game. It is a game in which the batter protects the wicket. It is also the national sport of England.

In an effort to expand our horizons, Floyd and I attended our first cricket match yesterday in Cape Town’s Newlands Stadium and we were privileged to see one of those special sporting events, almost as special as Mickey Mantle hitting his 300th home run, or a horse winning the Kentucky Derby.

It was a scorching day in Newlands Stadium, the 3rd day of the match-up between England and South Africa (the Protea). At game time the temperature was already in the mid-80’s as we and our much more-knowledgeable South African friends took our seats. They had prepared us ahead of time by explaining terms.

Some important ones are “wicket” (three sticks sticking up out of the ground in a row with another stick balanced on top, or an out), “overs” (the bowler (pitcher) changes and the offensive player standing in front of the opposite wicket becomes the active batsman – this happens every 6 balls), “bowler” (a person who on a bounce tries to hit the wicket behind the batter and make the batter out) and “batsman” (the person at bat who tries to hit the ball before it hits the wicket). Points are scored (from 1 to 6) based on where the ball is hit or how many “runs” a batter makes.

There are 9 ways to wicket, i.e., get a batter out. The most common ones are catching a hit ball on the fly, having the ball bounce into the wicket, or LBW, “leg before wicket”, which means the ball bounced by the bowler hits the player’s leg and would have hit the wicket – kind of an interference thing. The bowler usually bounces the ball at the player’s legs.

On this particular day the last three players on England’s team had to take their turn at bat, based on the results at the end of the previous day. England’s opening score was 241-7, 241 points with 7 men out of 10 wicketing (being out). The bowling team needs to get 10 out of the 11 players on a team to wicket to change sides or, after two innings (rounds), to finish a game.

South Africa had previously bowled and their team score was 291. By the time they were done, England had scored a total of 273-10, 18 less points than the South Africa team who had previously bowled, so SA was in the lead and about to extend it. The sides changed.

After scoring, the first South African player Ashwell Prince was out on a LBW (see, we learned a little something.) Prince’s partner for the stand, Hashim Alma, continued to play. The SA team captain, Graeme Smith, joined him. Records were broken. Together the partnership of Alma and Smith broke by 58 runs the record of 172 runs in a stand (one at bat) set in 1972 by Eddie Barlow and Tony Pithey. Alma and Smiths’ new total was 230. Or as the online press at www.iol.za.co puts it, “Smith and Amla (95 off 165 balls, 14 fours) raked in the runs in 54 overs together, a rollicking run-rate of more than four to the over as they tormented a tiring England attack.” By himself, Alma got 95 runs before being forced out.

Graeme Smith continued to score with a new partner. At the end of the day he had scored over 150 runs, and will continue to bat tomorrow when the test enters the fourth day. At the end of the day, says IOL online, “Smith advanced his score by 97 runs from 65 to 162 in the 34-over final session yesterday - scoring at a shade under three to the over on his own!” In more than 19 tests where Smith has gotten over 100 runs, SA has won.

Will Graeme Smith add to his run streak in the 4th test since he is still the batsman? Will the SA Protea continue to score runs at a run rate of four plus to an over? Will they be able to get 400 runs quickly before 10 players “wicket”? Will SA then be able to get all the men on England’s side to “wicket” before they score and beat them? If they don’t get all ten batters to “wicket”, the match ends in a draw, even if one team is leading. These are the issues SA cricket fans will be wrestling with during the 4th day.

Multiple times Floyd and I have watched cricket on television and found it hard to understand. I never understood that it was a game in which the batter defended the wicket. It was much more interesting in person. How else would you know that the teams take a lunch break for 45 minutes at 12:30 pm, the stands empty and the spectators come down onto the field and examine the wickets and the playing field? How else would you know that a break is taken for 20 minutes at tea time? And too, how else would you understand that it is the interaction between the batter, the bowler and ball, and the ever moving fielders that make this game interesting.

We will go again.

Love from us and our friends watching the test - Alan with flag, Floyd, Rae, Roy, Lionel and Vincent.

Betsy

Christmas for the Homeless, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:12:00 +0000

A southeaster was blowing moving the clouds across the sky like horses galloping in the field, pushing all Cape Town's debris on the wind. The “Cape Doctor” had arrived. Gritty sand stung faces and sand blasted eyelids. Aloes leaned on their stalks, quiver trees quivered and the birds huddled in crevices, just trying to keep from being blown away. The wind had been howling for two days.

It was almost noon on the second Sunday in December, the day Central Methodist Mission was going to have a Christmas dinner for the homeless right on Church (Kerk) Street, a brick thoroughfare between buildings, usually home to cafes and street sellers. Previously, the dinner had been held in the Church Street church hall, but the hall only holds 85 people and each year 40 or so more people were fed dinner downstairs by the outside door. So each year, there were ever-growing numbers of people physically fighting for their chance to get in the door because everyone was worried there wouldn't be enough food for them. It was becoming dangerous for them and for us.

So there we were, battling the wind with paper tablecloths stapled to the tables, not daring to put soda into paper cups, working feverishly in the kitchen, waiting for the guests to arrive. We were ready to go.

Despite the wind, we were all very happy. The African Image Cafe (see rooster in above picture) let us use their kitchen to serve from which meant we could move the food from the counter on trays directly out into the street, not up/down a long flight of stairs as had been done previously.

And because of the ever-increasing number of homeless that the church members feed on the street each Sunday, the decision had been made to provide for 200 people.

The guests had started to arrive early, some watching us from 9 am on as we set up the rental tables and chairs. Others showed up at the last minute, but all wanted Christmas dinner: a chicken leg and thigh; spaghetti; a piece of corned beef; rice; beetroot; and tomato, onion and pepper salad, with malva pudding, ice cream and peaches for dessert; a feast. And of course, there were “cool drinks.”

It was time. The CMM team sprang into action. The guests were seated. After prayers, they ate; young, old, families with children, and some men and women who had been on their own for years.

Some we recognized from talking with them each week on the street; others were new, but all were grateful for the chance to sit down and enjoy to a real meal with family and and friends.

There were 210 guests in all.

As they left the adults were given a gift bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, soap, a banana or apple (depending on whether or not they had their front teeth) and a bit of candy. The children got fruit and sweets.

Sarah, please say thank you to all the members of the Mission Committee at Southminster for helping to provide the monies for the meat, the soap and the washcloths. All was appreciated. Without your help we would not have been able to be so generous.

Each year Floyd and I look forward to this event because in our small way we want to support those who have been helping the homeless in Cape Town each week for the last 22 years. Thank you for supporting our efforts.

African Rockhounds

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:55:00 +0000

Betsy and I have been members of our local rock club since 1977. The Earth Science Club Of Northern Illinois, ESCONI, played a large role in our family’s lives as the older members shared their finds and their knowledge with Becky and Lisa as they grew into young ladies. So it should come as no surprise that we joined a club in Cape Town this year.

The Cape Town Gem and Mineral Club has a narrower scope than ESCONI, focusing on minerals and lapidary. They are quite active, holding monthly sales, swaps, programs and barbecues as well as the occasional field trip. The field trip opportunity was the final straw on our decision to join as it was a “members only” event.

Vredendal is a medium-sized town about a three hour drive north of Cape Town. We were to meet the other members of the club at nine in the morning at the mine. Since we had to drive some narrow roads through mountains to get there, we went up the night before.

You can see our Volvo wagon parked in the middle of the line of cars waiting for the signal to move into the mine.

First, of course, is the mandatory lecture covering safe practices and what we might expect to find in this quarry. Notice the small quartz crystal that the club president is holding. Perhaps that specimen established a level of expectation within
the prospectors?

So we went in to the Vredendal dolomite quarry.

“The Cape Lime Company dolomite quarry is really a series of quarries excavated into the rocky bluffs on either side of a shallow gorge cut by the Wiedo River as it approaches the town of Vredendal. These hillsides have been terraced in various places by the mining activity, exposing the blue-grey dolomite rock, which is extracted and crushed for use in high temperature resistant refractory ceramics.”

“In one particular location there are at least two parallel quartz veins which host all the interesting mineralization. The veins in the “quartz” quarry are about 1m apart, undulate somewhat, and vary in thickness from a few centimeters to pockets up to 0.4m in diameter. The pockets contain the well-crystallized mineral specimens, while the intervening vein material is often very sheared, with the appearance of being crushed. When they have been excavated, it is clear that the pockets are elongated pod-shaped features within the veins. The quartz veins also underwent both shearing and tension, to create the voids, which subsequently formed the crystal pockets. The pockets themselves are filled with orange sandy clay into which crystals project from the walls, with some “floaters” or loose doubly terminated crystals in the clay itself.”

“Excavation of the pockets is hazardous because the rock above the veins is severely fractured by explosives used to break open the face. In some places the vertical quarry walls are several tens of meters high, so the risk of falling rocks is considerable, especially with people working on the face at various levels. It is mandatory that anyone working on the quarry face must wear a hard hat. The pockets may be narrow, but some of them reach at least 2m in length and diggers sometimes can only be identified by their shoes. The soft sandy clay is dug out using a variety of tools, including discarded pieces of iron found around the quarry. Loose crystals are recovered from the clay itself, while crystal clusters must be pried off the pocket walls.”

Some of the clearer quartz crystals include red, golden, or black rutile (TiO2) needles. We found one but needed some bright sunlight and imagination to really see the needle.

There are many other collectible minerals along with the quartz crystals. Crystals of dolomite, calcite, and adularia feldspar (shown) are also found both in the pockets and scattered on the ground as a result of the mining operations.

We also enjoyed the base rock with frequent displays of the dendrites you find in limestone formations. They look so much like actual moss growing on the rock.

We had a great time, made some new friends, got scraped up a bit – altogether terrific.

The quotes in this journal entry are from an article in the March 2006 edition of the South African Lapidary Magazine, used with permission of the editor (Allan Fraser) and the article author (and our good friend, Duncan Miller).

Floyd

Springbok - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:55:00 +0000

We wanted to visit another flower zone on this trip so we set our sights on visiting the Atlantic coastal area in the Northern Cape. Initial investigations led us to believe that we needed a 4x4 for the trip. Pricing out that option led us to another – hiring a guide and their car for the day would save us money. It turned out that we didn’t need the 4x4 but we did need the guide.

Leaving Springbok, we drove west toward the Diamond Coast and the company-owned town of Kleinzee. De Beers has been mining there under strict security for 80 years. It didn’t take us long to get into the security zone and we began to feel comfortable with our decision to take a guide.

We drove through a small town whose inhabitants all worked at the mining operations. It was quite some distance from the mines so they were bused to and fro.

The weather toward the coast was cooler than inland so the flowers were not as far along. Nevertheless, there were some spectacular shows.

This compound bloom is about twice the size of your thumbnail.

As we approached the mining area itself, security became tighter. Our guide talked us through this guard and gate into the town of Kleinzee.

The mining operation in this location involves huge machines scooping tons of river deposits into trucks which then drive to the processing facilities.

There are towers, conveyor belts, heavier security and the eventual towering mine dumps.

The glittering diamonds are almost gone and desperate ghost towns are left clinging to the last signs of life. The only customer in a Kleinzee supermarket said the industry had left the area looking as if a nuclear bomb was dropped on it. De Beers has cut operations, reducing staff from about 3,000 to 250.

Schools, recreation centers and houses stand mostly empty. This empty house in Kleinzee is one of many. The town waits for De Beers to “proclaim an end to its life as a privately owned mining town.” Then the individuals will be able to purchase their homes from the mining company and get on with their lives.

De Beers is spending in the area of 60 million dollars in a restoration effort. Grappling with how to leave the town, De Beers is partnering with conservationists who are working to reinvigorate the area through tourism, fish farming, wind turbines and other industries. It is estimated it will take 30 years to get to the point that you can’t see that mining happened in Kleinzee. Isn’t it amazing what we are doing to the earth we have been given?

Floyd

Springbok - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:18:00 +0000

I promised animals. There were no lions, tigers, wildebeest, elephants, hippos or crocodiles available to us on this trip. However, we did encounter herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. You can explain those words to your offspring – or they can explain them to you.

Since the trip was to Springbok, it is only appropriate that I show a picture of a herd of Springbok. They differ from Impala (the fast food of choice for predators in
Kruger) in that they are smaller and more strikingly marked. They also taste good.

While inside Namaqua National Park we saw termite mounds and dassies, but you’ve already seen pictures of those so these are just reminders.

On the way out of the park we encountered a plant that those familiar with the genus Hosta might find familiar. Of the many varied interactions between plants and animals, one of the most unexpected is pollination of flowers by rodents. Flowers of Massonia depressa (Hyacinthaceae) are visited at night by at least four rodent species, including two gerbil species.

I found the plants quite interesting, but then, I have a collection of Hostas. These are large plants with a single leaf as large as a foot across. It’s difficult to believe they can survive in the blazing-hot summers in this area, but they do and they thrive.

An additional spotting as we left the park was a streak across the road. At least it appeared as a streak until I stopped the car and got out the camera. Many times a Meerkat will appear in a group but this one must have been out hunting. It was nice of him/her to pose for me. (This is the carnivore.)

A bit further down the road we found our omnivores. Goats will eat anything but this baby was doing what nature designed him/her for.

Back in Springbok, in the Geogap Nature Reserve, we were extremely lucky to see this magnificent animal. There is a small herd of Oryx in the park but they are a bit camera-shy. No, I don’t know how they taste.

What happens when the visitors leave at 4pm and the park closes? Do the animals come out to graze in peace and quiet?

I’m really stretching for material here by showing this cluster of caterpillars munching on foliage. Life goes on in large and small scales.

Only one more critter sighting on this trip. We stopped to fill up with petrol and noticed a small pond with some trees and a lot of activity. A colony of Weaverbirds had set up their nests and were busy with whatever it is they do.

Next journal – DeBeers

Floyd

Springbok - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Namaqua National Park

Visitors from around the world come to this place every year for the late winter - early spring flower show. We have been twice and touched only a very small part of the park. There are campsites and roads accessible only to four-wheel drive vehicles and ours is a station wagon with very low clearance.

Access to the park is a process. We leave the lodge in Springbok and drive 65km south to the little town of Kamieskroon (http://www.saexplorer.co.za/south-africa/map/namaqualand_map.asp). The N7 is a main highway, two lanes for the most part, through hills and small mountains in this section, so the drive is not taxing.

We did a drive-thru in Kamieskroon. It seems a quite normal small town with this picturesque church. South Africans take the security of their children seriously as you can tell by this fence around one of the local schools.

At Kamieskroon we exit onto a gravel/dirt road toward the park for another 17km. This is a much more exciting drive past farms and through streams and puddles.

The flowers are the big attraction for this park and for the entire area. The weather becomes quite hot and dry in the late spring so these blooms are taking advantage of the winter rains and cool temperatures. It’s time to bloom, be pollinated and reseed. Mats of orange, blue, yellow, red and white cover the flats and hillsides.

That rock in the picture? It’s really a termite mound as you can see below. When the termites finish with the mound other critters move in. No, we didn’t see which critters.

Aardvarks, porcupines, snakes, rodents – all tend to use shelters like these.

There are some great vantage points within the park. Here Betsy is taking advantage of one of them.

Meantime I’m taking pictures of some of the other wildlife who are trying to catch some rays. These are dassies (yes, there are two – see the one peeking over the rock ledge?), rock hyrax, the closest living relative to the elephant. They’re about the size of a big housecat.

Let me close with a few photos of the daisy-like flowers from the area. Cape Daisies (Osteospermum) and Gazanias are two that can be bought at garden centers in the US.
I’ll deal with some of the more unusual flowers in a later journal edition.

Floyd

Springbok - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:19:00 +0000

This will be part one of three or four or five, I haven’t decided yet. The overall series covers our late July trip north into Namaqualand for the late winter flower season. We did a similar journal last year and may accidently repeat some of the photos – but they are beautiful and bear repeating.

Part one will cover our trip to the lodge and our accommodations. Part two will cover the trip into Namaqua National Park. Part three will get heavily into plants and flowers. Part four, should that be necessary, will cover some of the critters seen. Part five will cover our trip to the coast and the DeBeers diamond mines.

It’s a 500km, 5.5 hour trip from Cape Town to Springbok. That’s if you don’t stop to take pictures. So it takes us a bit longer. The flower season varies depending on the weather and latitude. We were quite early in the season this year and the locals told us that the displays were “not so good.” You be the judge.

Most of the flowers are in the daisy family. There are a number of species on display and I won’t bore you with their names. Marshal sells some of them at Village Flower & Garden in Lisle (unpaid ad).

We stayed at this B&B in Springbok. Betsy is unpacking while I’m working the camera. Daisy was not new for us – we were there in 2008 as well. Nice digs, good people, nice landscaping.

Our “room” for this stay was the honeymoon cottage – fireplace, air conditioning, private patio, private braaii area, king-size bed – the works.

We were entertained by the resident showboat. We were much more impressed than the peahens. He did his best. Reminded me of my childhood and my grandfather’s collection of peafowl. Good memories.

There were also flocks of geese, guinea fowl and sacred ibis.

The Daisy Lodge is also in close proximity to the Geogap Nature Reserve. Geogap boasts beautiful sweeps of early spring flowers (we were too early), animals (another journal), one nice three-bedroom cabin (we’ll book into there sometime), an excellent stand of quiver trees (a variety of aloe), and a garden surrounding the visitors’ center containing some unusual specimens.

This guy, for instance, is about an inch tall.

And this friendly fellow.

There were flowers blooming in Geogap, just not the daisy varieties the area is most known for. This orchid-looking bloom appears a bit like our own toad lily (Tricyrtis).

I was intrigued by the appearance of this spring bulb (I think). It almost appears to be a candlestick in shape. I can theorize that the bulge is a food storage vehicle, but it’s only my theory.

That’s all for now. More of nature’s wonders on the next installment.

Floyd

Road Trip for Olives and ....

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Dear Friends and Family

As the sun rose over Table Mountain at 7:30 this morning, I rolled out from under two comforters. It was 42F degrees (5C), a brisk and beautiful sunny winter day after five days of rain.

The beautiful skies convinced Floyd and I that we should go on a mini trip out to the Kloovenberg Wine Estate about an hour and a half from Cape Town to pick up their wonderful black olives. And, of course, if we were going to Riebeek Kasteel for olives we had to go by way of Malmsbury to the Lammershoek Estate to visit the vintner Albert and pick up some of our favorite South African wines. This trip is always an active decision, because the estate is 7 km each way down a bumpy dirt road.

Carla was there and didn’t disappoint us. Albert had a beautifully crisp white Chenin Blanc that we think we sipped out of the cask last winter. It had aged wonderfully and Carla told us, unlike other white vintages, the Lammershoek white wines are better when kept for a year after bottling. The Chenin had been in the bottle about six months and was well on its way to perfection. By the way, the estate logo says, “Therefore we drink wine.” Someone had a fine sense of humor.

Then it was on Riebeck Kasteel for a late lunch. Along the road, the soy beans were in full bloom with yellow flowers waving on green stalks. And the land was beautiful shades of lush greens and gold, with long winter shadows. In the distant mountains, you could see snow. We hadn’t brought a camera but we did have our cell phone, so Floyd was able to take this picture of the distant mountains from the valley floor. The vineyards are in the foreground, the olive groves to the left, and the small town is around the corner. This is the Riebeek Valley, a basic Western Cape agricultural area.

After a lovely lamb lunch in this very quaint town it was a short drive to the outskirts of town for olives. Along the Kloovenberg fence rows, white roses bloomed. The roses entice the bees into the vineyards where they pollinate the vines and fruit trees. Like Lammershoek, Kloovenberg is known for its wines, some of which are imported to the United States. But here in South Africa it is also known for its olives. Over the last five years the owners have expanded their olive line from green and black olives and olive oil to olive tapenades, olive chutneys and olive based bath and body products including soap, skin softeners and body massage oils. They also produce apricot and grape jams, and they are yummy.

As the sun dimmed on the horizon, we returned to Cape Town, amazed at how far from the city we could see Table Mountain. It provided the beacon that drew us back.

Love to all from Cape Town,

Betsy and Floyd

Cape of Good Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Rogers Family) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:55:00 +0000

Greetings from Cape Town,

Planning activities can be an iffy thing due to the winter weather here in the Cape. Several days ago it was brilliantly clear and 80 degrees. When it is that clear, the nighttime temperatures tend to drop into the 40’s. But winter is the rainy season so many days there are periods of cloudiness and rain. Then the temperatures vary from the low 50’s at night into the mid 60’s during the day. Not too bad compared to Chicago winters.

Friday we awoke to a partly cloudy morning and decided to gamble on the weather remaining nice enough for us to visit the Cape of Good Hope National Park. We packed up our cameras, jackets, sweaters and rain gear and took off. The road between Cape Town and Cape Point passes through several seaside towns and runs along the shore of False Bay, so named by the explorers who drew the maps. Sailors rounding the horn of Africa would turn north thinking they were on the way to Europe, soon discovering they turned a mite too early.

It’s a very scenic drive with many spots to stop and look for whales or sharks. Stopping is the appropriate action as it can be quite dangerous for the driver to sightsee while navigating the winding mountain road. That was made clear to us as we rounded a curve and encountered a troop of baboons. Passing them, within seconds, we came upon an accident scene where the driver of a small pickup (bakkie) had gone off the road and was hanging at an angle over the side of the mountain. He was safe and on the cell phone, calling for help, with a sheepish look on his face. We guessed that he was traveling too fast when he came upon the baboons and got into trouble avoiding them.

We always stop at the visitors’ center in the park for two reasons: it has restrooms, and I need to take these two pictures again. The cedar tree is such a wild and wind-blown thing and I take a picture of it on every visit. The vista photo shows the mountain range across the bay. In the foreground are the white sand dunes and we’ve seen baboons, ostrich, and bontebok moving through them. The monument on the shoreline was erected to honor one of the early Portuguese explorers, Vasco da Gama (1460-1524). Another monument, to Bartholomew Diaz (1451-1500), is on the other side of the peninsula.

We continued driving slowly, watching for flowers and game. This is the season of rain so the fynbos is green and healthy. Not too many flowers here on the rocky Cape of Good Hope peninsula; just some white Erica and a few Protea. We stopped to watch the waves and sea birds for awhile. It is quite soothing to watch and listen.

Then we went on up to the main facilities at Cape Point for lunch. Taking a chance on the weather, we chose an outdoor table on the patio overlooking the bay. It turned out to be a good choice, despite the cool weather and a good breeze, because of the busloads of Chinese tourists who settled into the inside restaurant and were very excited and talkative. We enjoyed the outdoors, the quiet, the birds, and the play of the light through the clouds on the ocean and the mountains.

It was a very nice day, peaceful and leisurely, with moments of excitement and meditation. We wish all of you the same.

Floyd & Betsy