This past weekend was truly crazy! I
was trying to get in all of my last minute bucket list items and was very busy
each day. On Friday, Charity and I headed to the Slave Lodge and Castle of
Good. We met up with Lucy, who is an activist for indigenous populations and
informed us all about the Khoi groups that lived in Cape Town before the
establishment of Von Riebecks refreshment station in the 1600’s.
When we toured the Castle, very
similar to a revolutionary era fort back home, I was surprised that they had
the living history exhibit that was a Khoi village. We got to speak with fellow
activists who informed us further about their history and how hard they fought
to establish their exhibit. The way in which their exhibit was set-up was in a
way that empowered the indigenous populations and did not make them puppets of
the dominantly told history of the fort, which is not something I think we see
very often back home.
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| Elizabeth, Charity & Lucy at the Slave Lodge |
At the slave lodge I was again taken
aback by one, how large the structure was and two, how there was an actual
museum in the center of town dedicated to slavery and informing citizens about
the troubles of their past. This again made me think about the lack of a
similar structure in America, even though we also had slave involvement to build
America into the country it is today. Even when talks were about the start of
the Museum of African American History and Culture (set to open this fall in
D.C.), there was controversy over the need for such a museum, where it should
be located and if these narratives should be included in the Smithsonian
Collection. It is also 2016 that we are
opening this museum when these stories have been in existence since the late
1600’s and the Smithsonian Institutions have been in place since 1846. Why has
it taken us this long?
On another note, that afternoon, I
headed off to the ostrich farm to pet some ostriches and see if I could get in
an ostrich ride. We had a great tour guide who showed us around the farm and
let us feed the ostriches and meet their prized Tom Thumb, the world’s smallest
ostrich. He was super cute and friendly, which is not typical for ostriches to
be so welcoming. We did not go for an ostrich ride due to safety concerns for
the riders and the animals, but did get to sit on them. They put the ostriches
in these wooden structures that were supposed to alleviate the weight applied
to their backs, and they can carry up to 150 KG or 330.7 LBS. It was a little
weird and I am not entirely certain that the ostrich knew I was on its back,
but he was very soft. On Saturday, I attempted surfing in Muizenberg and will
unfortunately not be breaking any surfing records in the near future. It was
nice to be in the ocean but I swallowed more water than I surfed on. It was a
great workout, I stood up twice and am still sore. The beach in Muizenberg is
the most beautiful beach with incredible views of the mountains and coastline.
There are also the classic brightly colored beach huts that scatter the sand.
It was nice to relax on the beach and then head home for a yummy burger from
Hudsons.
All in all a great weekend, I am
very sad to have it be one of my last for this trip to Cape Town!
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