20 Apr 2010

Dinner Under the Stars, Namibia

Almost 500 of us caravanned for 40 minutes, to someplace in the middle of the desert, for dinner and entertainment.

Notwithstanding the fact that the road was the worst ever, the food was modest at best, and the entertainment just ok, we actually all had a great time. It just seemed to work.

The star clusters were amazing. There was absolutely no ambient light which really brought out the stars.

After bumping back home, the ship’s staff was outside to give us the red carpet treatment. That was very cool.

This post has 1 comments, Tell us what you think by clicking here

19 Apr 2010

Walvis Bay, Namibia

Namibia, in Southwest Africa, may be the most desolate places I have ever visited. It was a perfect day for us to charter a small Cessna and see just how desolate.

We flew for two hours and barely saw any vegetation, let alone animal life.

This desert receives less than 15 mm (.59 inches) of rain per year.

It is famous for its shifting sand dunes, which are the highest in the world. They are as high as the Empire State Building. It is hard to get the perspective from the air.

Also we flew over Namib Dunes, known as the long wall.

The Eduard Bohlen was a ship that ran aground on September 5, 1909. Currently the wreck lies in the sand, quarter mile from the shoreline. That speaks to the sand buildup.

Out of nowhere some seals appeared.

Flying over the Forbidden Diamond Area, we viewed remains of old diamond camps.

They also mine salt here, by simply trapping it in shallow pans and having the water evaporate.

There are no comments for this entry. Be there first to comment by clicking here

18 Apr 2010

Jewish South Africa

Cape Town houses the South African Jewish Museum. It does a wonderful job tracing the local Jewish population from their roots to present day.

I thought I was back in Vilna, Lithuania in my maternal grandparent’s shtetl.

South Africa's Jewish population grew 10 fold in the late 1800s and early 1900s, to about 40,000 (with the vast majority of immigrants being from Lithuania).

Not unlike the American Jewish immigrants of this time, they were forced to leave their shtetls (small Eastern European towns with large Jewish populations) because of pogroms being carried out against them.

As a group, they have thrived here, becoming very prominent in the professions, education, business, and even politics. A disproportionate number of Jewish people were strong, vocal anti-apartheid, and were acknowledged as such in a speech we watched by Mandela.

Cape Town has had eight Jewish mayors in the last 100 years.

There was significant persecution prior to WW II.

In 1930, the Quota Act of 1930 severely curtailed the entry of Jews from Eastern Europe, including Lithuania.

In 1937, The Aliens Act, virtually stopped all migration, including German refugees.

Much of the population was openly anti-Semitic.

Currently there are about 50,000 Jews in South Africa (1 / 1,000th of the population).

Next door we visited the Cape Town Holocaust Center. It is the only one in Africa. It is of particular significance because of the apartheid history here. South Africa actually copied several of their laws from Nazi Germany.

Fortunately, there was a combination of wanting blacks for cheap labor, and public outrage, which stopped apartheid before the genocide began.

They have a wonderful education program, with 96% of their visitors being non-Jewish. Besides being a memorial, they teach about the consequences of prejudice, racism and discrimination.

They promote an understanding of the dangers of indifference, apathy and silence. The Centre serves their local and International community extremely well.

This post has 1 comments, Tell us what you think by clicking here

17 Apr 2010

Beautiful Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town is known for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Its landmark icon Table Mountain is a beautiful 3,500-foot backdrop right in town that overlooks the city and water.

Even though they have four distinct seasons, monthly average high temperatures range between 64 and 81.

The most southern point in Africa is Cape Agulhas, 105 miles southeast of Cape Town. That is the dividing line between the (warm) Indian and the (cold) Atlantic Ocean.

We are so far away. It takes over 30 hours to fly to New York or L.A. from here. You wouldn’t want to come just for lunch.

This post has 2 comments, Tell us what you think by clicking here

16 Apr 2010

Kayamandi Township, Cape Town area, South Africa

We spent the entire day in Kayamandi. It was a total eye opener.

During the Apartheid era, blacks were required to live in self-contained mini-cities called townships.

Now most blacks still live in townships here, but for financial reasons.

Kayamandi, like most others has two areas. One area has small homes with electricity, water, bathrooms, and telephones. There's a street address on each house, and residents can receive mail.