Giving Me the Run Around

While in South America, I visited two ostrich farms (http://bothsidesnowblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-wish-i-could-fly.html ). But now, a year later, I found myself in Oudtshoorn, South Africa, the town with the world’s largest ostrich population. Oudtshoorn has over 300 ostrich farms, some of which have over 10,000 ostriches!

Street Marker in Oudtshoorn

An Adorable Baby Ostrich

 In the late 1800’s, ostrich feathers became extremely popular as fashion accessories in Europe.

No, this picture is not from the late 1800's!

These fancy plumes were used on wraps, skirts, handbags, fancy dresses, but especially on women’s hats. In fact, at one point, ostrich feathers were selling for more than gold! And there were more ostrich farms in Oudsthoorn than anywhere else in the world. The ostrich farms in southern Africa made their owners rich. “Feather palaces” (huge homes) were built in the area by these wealthy ostrich farmers – even shipping custom rugs and wallpaper from Europe. Unfortunately for the farmers of Oudsthoorn, the feather boom collapsed in 1914, in large part due to the advent of the car – large hats adorned with ostrich plumes were blown off ladies’ heads while riding in their fancy cars. Nowadays, ostriches are farmed for their meat more than for their feathers (each bird yields 75-90 pounds of meat).

Of the 300 farms in Oudtshoorn, 3 have decided to cater to tourists –and nothing is more of a draw than the opportunity to ride an ostrich!

Ostrich races are common in Africa but relatively unusual elsewhere in the world.  These three farms give educational tours and offer a chance (only to those under 160 pounds) to ride an ostrich. It was certainly my first time attempting to ride a bird! There were two professional “jockeys” that helped us with our ride. First, they put a “saddle” on the bird (we only rode the males).

Then they caught the ostrich, blindfolded him, and led him into the corral so he wouldn’t panic as novice riders approached.

I love the little hole for his beak!

Mounting the ostrich is a strange process. Unlike a horse, you leap frog onto his back from behind, not from the side. There are no reins, you just hold onto his very large, strong wings.

As soon as they remove the blindfold, the ostrich takes off!

Sadly, my ride was shorter than I had hoped – it’s not easy to keep your balance! Of course, after the novices looked like fools, the professional jockey showed us how it’s done. It was impressive!

The professionals use the ostrich’s neck both to turn and to stop. Ostriches have 17 vertebrae in their necks (most mammals have only 7), which gives them a very flexible neck – they can literally corkscrew their necks! Watch this video to see the expert using the neck to dismount. (My dismount was decidedly less graceful!)

It was good fun!

For those back in the States, Chandler, Arizona hosts an Ostrich Festival each year which features ostrich races. If you’d like to check it out, the 24^th annual festival is coming up March 9-11!  But, there they don’t ride on the ostrich, but have the ostriches pull a chariot, Ben-Hur-style!

While at the farm, I tried to give back to the birds by helping to incubate their eggs!

Seriously though, we learned that since ostrich eggs need to support the weight of an adult male bird (the males sit on the nest at night since they blend with the dark sky), eggs can hold over 250 pounds!

Don't try this with chicken eggs!

I had a fun day at the farm. I really think ostriches are cute, nevermind that their eyeballs are bigger than their brains!

Feeding 8 birds and getting a shoulder massage at the same time!

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In a Tight Spot

In a limestone ridge that runs parallel to the Swartberg Mountains in the Klein Karoo region of South Africa, are a series of dripstone caverns known as the Cango Caves.

Legend has it that these caves were first discovered in 1780 by a local farmer. He located the first cavern (about the size of a football field) with only a small candle.

But, as with most “discoveries,” later excavations proved that people had been using and living in the early caverns of the caves since the middle and late stone ages.

In the early 1800’s, the caves became the first official tourist attraction in South Africa.

Early tourists weren’t that different from modern tourists. . .many used candles to burn their names into the ceiling of the caves. Some of this graffiti dates to the 1840’s!

In 1897, the first 26 caverns were mapped.  By the late 1970’s, two additional connected cave systems were discovered. The three sections of the Cango Caves cover over 4km with one-fourth open to tourists (and only with a licensed guide).

The system is full of spectacular halls and impressive limestone formations with the largest cavern being 300m long!

Most caves are formed when natural acid in groundwater seeps through faults in soluble rock. Over thousands of years, these faults form cracks, which then expand to become caves and larger cave systems. Many caves, such as the Cango Caves, are filled with various formations made of calcium carbonate that are produced slowly as water drips through the ground and the minerals within solidify.

Many of these formations are stunning.

Stalagmite

Several Stalactites

Column Formation

Curtain Formation

In addition to the basic educational tour of the first few caverns of the Cango Caves, they offer an “adventure tour” which consists of 90 minutes of crawling through narrow passages and climbing up steep formations (as you'll see below, there are size requirements to do this tour to keep tourists from getting stuck in the cave!).

Some of the highlights . . .

The “Tunnel of Love” – a narrow keyhole-shaped tunnel that’s nearly 33 feet long.

The “Chimney” – a 12 foot climb upwards in a chimney-shaped tunnel with an average diameter of 35 inches (the smallest section is not quite 12 inches wide!).

And lastly, the “Letterbox” – a 16 foot crawl through a tunnel with 24 inch roof to floor clearance at the highest. Here are my feet as I disappear into the letterbox:

I used to have a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt hanging in my condo: "Do one thing each day that scares you." I think it's a great life policy!

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Going South

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the Cape of Good Hope is not, as is often thought, the southernmost point in Africa. Instead, his lesser-known relative, a rocky headland about 100 miles east of Cape Town, Cape Agulhas, has this distinction.

Cape Agulhas Sign in English

Cape Agulhas Sign in Afrikaans

Interestingly, the Cape got its name (translated as: Cape of Needles) from Portuguese sailors who noticed (in 1500) that the needle of a compass points due north, without any magnetic deviation, at this point in Africa.

The actual southernmost point is indicated with a survey marker, without which, determining the exact spot would be difficult.

Not only is this the southern tip of the continent, but it is also the “official” dividing point between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. (The meeting point of the ocean currents, however, fluctuates seasonally between this spot and Cape Point.)

Cape Agulhas is not nearly as spectacular as the Cape of Good Hope. There is no huge, dramatic cliff overlooking the ocean below, just a rocky beach.

But while the landscape may not be spectacular, the cape offers a unique opportunity – the chance to stand in one spot and watch the sunrise and sunset over two different oceans. An opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

I made sure to mark my spot to be sure I stood in the exact same place. . .

Then I enjoyed a stunning sunset over the Atlantic. . .

Followed at 6:30 the next morning, with a breathtaking sunrise. . .

I’m not sure which was more beautiful, but I’d love to return again and again to figure it out!

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District Six

As Cape Town was formed, it was divided into different municipal districts. Each was named according to the order in which it was created. “District Six” was the sixth such municipal district and was created in 1867. The District was primarily populated with former slaves, artisans, merchants, and immigrants. By the early 1900’s, District Six was home to 10% of the population of Cape Town due, in part, to the proximity to both the busy downtown and the harbor.

On February 11, 1966, the Minister of Community Development declared District Six a “white area” under the Group Areas Act. Accordingly, all current residents were to be relocated starting in 1968. Over the next 15 years, over 60,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes and businesses. These people were moved to an area 25km away known as the Cape Flats – a sandy, barren area lacking consistent basic amenities such as electricity and running water. Since walking to work was no longer a possibility for many people, the move severely hindered the economic (and social) stability of the citizens of this area.

Government officials justified this move by claiming that District Six was crime-ridden and dangerous. They also stated, per Apartheid policies, that interracial interaction bred conflict and the races needed to be separated for the good of the country. Most residents of District Six believed that the government wanted the land due to its proximity to the city center and the harbor, precisely the reasons the current residents had enjoyed living there for decades.

The government further declared that District Six was a slum that wasn’t fit for rehabilitation. Accordingly, nearly all of the houses and businesses in this area of Cape Town were razed by bulldozers after the residents were relocated.

District Six After Bulldozers Razed the Area

Richmond Street after Relocation

In 1970, the District was renamed Zonnenbloem (after the Dutch farmstead that had originally been located in the area) to prepare the area for white habitation. The Bloemhof Flats complex in (former) District Six was refurbished, renamed, and sold to white individuals and families.

Bloemhof Flats building before relocation.

Abandoned Bloemhof Flats Buildings

Renovated Bloemhof Flats -- ready for white occupants.

A university (the Cape Peninsula University of Technology) was built on the former District Six land as well as a police barracks. But, sadly, the rest of the area remained undeveloped – after people were forcibly removed from their homes to make way for white families, the land wasn’t even used.

With the fall of Apartheid in 1994, the former residents of District Six were looking for ways to reconnect with old neighbors and friends as well as share memories of life in District Six. In December 1994, the District Six Museum opened to help people reconnect and share memories. Eventually, this museum was opened to locals and foreigners as a remembrance of the apartheid era and a memorial to a decimated community. The museum includes several maps of District Six with spaces for former residents to note where their homes had been.

The museum also includes street signs from the former District that were saved from destruction.

One particularly moving display in the museum is the embroidered namecloth.

In 1992, when former residents of District Six were starting to reconnect, a large piece of cloth was provided for people to write their names and their thoughts.

As the ink from the felt pens began to fade, residents donated their time to embroider over the written to preserve these memories.

Eventually, as the cloth grew, the embroidery became a project of female inmates in the local women’s prison. Today, the double-sided cloth is 1.5m wide and over a kilometer long!

Since the new, democratically-elected government came into power in 1994, South Africa has struggled with how to compensate for the land, the homes, and the businesses, that were taken from black South Africans during Apartheid. In District Six, ex-residents have been able to apply for land or an apartment in the (still vacant) District in order to move back.

On February 11, 2004, exactly 38 years after the relocation law was passed, former South African President, Nelson Mandela, handed the keys to the first two returning residents of District Six. Twenty-four houses were given to former residents, all over 80 years old.

1,060 families have been approved to return to the community currently under construction in the District Six area by February 2014. These families will get three-bedroom homes worth about $125,000 each but will be asked to contribute about $28,000 toward the construction. These 1,060 families will become shareholders in the new community which will include residential, commercial, retail, and community facilities. 

It is important to note that District Six is just one example of the government relocations that occurred during apartheid. This didn’t just happen in the District Six neighborhood and it didn’t just happen in Cape Town. Over 60,000 people were moved from Sophiatown in Johannesburg in 1955 to create the South Western Townships (SoWeTo). In total, it is estimated that 3.5 million people were relocated during the last three decades of apartheid.

I was moved and saddened by what I learned about District Six. More than anything, I was moved by the incredibly positive spirit of the former residents I met. The way in which some people deal with adversity and maintain a positive attitude is an inspiration, and certainly a lesson to me.

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