African Musical Instrument Museum

The African Musical Instrument Museum at Rhodes University in Grahamstown was fascinating. It has thousands of drums, horns, and other instruments. Many of them are very historic being hundreds of years old but most of them probably date from the 20th century and represent ways of playing music that stem back to ancient times. At top, at the end of our visit, some of the staff teamed up with one of your students, Tealie, to work out some African rhythms. At bottom are drums, many of them very old and historically important. Next, we have thumb organs, which have little prongs of metal that you strum with your thumbs. A simple but versatile instrument. At bottom is something a pipe organ.

Frontier Wars

The Eastern Cape, especially the area around Grahamstown, is historically connected to the Frontier Wars. These are nine conflicts that pitted the British settlers against the Xhosa people. At top is a monument to the 1820 settlers, Brits who relocated to South Africa to settle the country. They had an enormous impact on the future of the region. At bottom, we are receiving a blow-by-blow account of the wartime key events by a local historian of the wars.

Indian Ocean waves

An evening along the Indian Ocean at Port Elizabeth.

African Dance Troupe II

Telie and Lily get their photos with their dance instructors.

African Dance Troupe

On afternoon on a plaza at Nelson Mandela University, we were entertained by a great African dance troupe. Pictures cannot communcate the great sense of energy and excitement generated by their enthusiasm. The students loved it. The dancers were all ages. At top a group of the women work the crowd. The dancers pulled a number of our students out to dance with them. The bottom photos of a kind of conga line was great fun to watch.

Beautiful Vista

Algoa Bay at Port Elizabeth is a beautiful spot.

Seaview II

Lions were not the only attraction at Seaview. They had large numbers of giraffe and zebra as well as other animals wandering about the park.

Seaview Lion Park

Lions are the feature attraction at Seaview Lion Park near Port Elizabeth. At top, we have a couple of lionesses, including a white one, napping in the noonday sun. Next, we have a favorite of the park, the lion cubs, and next is a photo of a student, Emily, petting one of the kittens. At bottom is a old male lion waking from a nap and looking not too happy about it. One of the women who was working with the lion cubs was from the US and working in Africa as part of a veterinary program.

Grahamstown - National Arts Festival

Streets were crowded for the festival as seen in the top photo. We went to the performance of a steel drum band that was very entertaining. Two of the guys were excellent tap dancers. The guy with the huge pineapple was a fixture of the festival, walking around with a kind of maniacal laugh, and asking people to go to his website that was called something like "givemeyourmoney.com" At bottom, President Obama is certainly popular in South Africa.

Grahamstown - Boer War Memorial

In the city center of Grahamstown, there is a great Anglo-Boer War memorial. At top, Telie takes a break on its steps. Next you seem to have a photo of farmers (Boers) laying down their arms and becoming productive subject of the empire (not likely) with a herd of ostriches in the background. Next is a tribute to the settlers and soldiers. Next, the dedication. Albany was the British name for the region, kind of like a county, where Grahamstown is located. At bottom, another view of the impressive monument.

Grahamstown

One of the highlights of our trip to South Africa was a weekend spent in Grahamstown, a historic community founded by the 1820 British settlers. We went to Grahamstown for the National Arts Festival. This is a smaller and less industrial city than Port Elizabeth, somewhat more quaint and more English (architecturally anyway) than most of PE. The festival was partly on the grounds of Rhodes University and partly in the city center. It was very busy and colorful with some very cool artwork. At bottom is the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George, a beautiful and historic church which opened for services in 1830. At right, you can see our students ready to cross the street.

Boer War defenses

While no real Boer War battles were fought in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth, the British did fear a possible Boer attack. So, on the outskirts of PE, a series of trenches were built and a small fort to secure the city's resevoir and important railway bridge. At top, from the vantage point of the stone fort, is the railway bridge. If you were to follow the gulch in rightward direction for several miles, the stream would lead you to the reservoir. The next two photos show a gun port in a fort wall. You can see that lacking other building materials, British soldiers stacked up the stones to build the defenses. Hard work in the African sun. In the bottom two photos, the local historian, a Mr. Tomlinson, discusses the remnants of the trenches in which we are standing.

Day at the Beach

Although it was a little chilly, we could not be so close to the beach and not spend some time sunning on it. As you can see, there was almost no one else. At top, Lily, Emily (standing), Mike, and Telie settle into beach mode. In the middle Cal and Telie survey the scene. At bottom, the group stands in the Indian Ocean.

Kragga Gamma III

We had the chance to watch the keepers feed a group of wild cheetahs. Beautiful animals. When they ran, they looked like water flowing over the ground.

Kragga Gamma II

Nice kitty!

Some of the cheetahs at the game preserve had been raised by their keepers since they were born so they are relatively tame. That means an opportunity to get close personal with the cats. We were warned not to make any sudden movements, not to look like "prey."