Apartheid Museum
Today was our leaving day from Johannesburg, but before we left, mom wanted to make one last stop at the Apartheid Museum. This museum does not only talk about the Apartheid in South Africa, but also about Nelson Mandela, and the beginning of South Africa.
I learned that Apartheid is just like Segregation in America. They even had boycotts. I think it was MUCH more violent here though. One quote that I found really inspiring by Winnie Mandela was: I will never lose hope, and my people aim to face we exasperated that they will fight. Another one was: “In order to run from the danger, you must become the danger.”
The Cradle Boutique Hotel
After leaving the Apartheid Museum, we drove about an hour and a half out into the countryside the Cradle Boutique Hotel, nestled in the middle of an area called the Cradle of Humankind. Once we got all checked we found out that our room wasn’t quite ready yet, so we had to stay at mom and dad‘s. They were transforming our room so that each of us kids could have our own bed. Soon we arrived at our cabin, number 12, and we’re excited to find that they had divided up the beds so that we could each have our own. Our bathroom was very big too. With a good size bathtub for shower two sinks and a toilet room. Us kids soon got settled in comfortably, then headed down to dinner.
Dinner was exquisite. I got a pork belly salad, and all the flavors in it combined amazingly. The risotto was also absolutely astonishing. The texture in the moisture just mixed so well. Unfortunately they did not have any gluten-free desserts at the time but that was okay because we were also tired from traveling so we just went back and went to bed. I have a great night’s rest.
Into the cave with human bones in it!!
Today was just a relaxing day, along with a really amazing cave tour. We got to sleep in Till 830-ISH, then we headed down to breakfast. After breakfast, we went on an amazing tour. Our guide, Kellen, took us on a drive in a really cool safari type of jeep. I saw a wild giraffe for the first time. I was overjoyed! We saw so many other animals like wildebeest, warthogs, and strange mole-like things. Once we arrived at the spot where we could not drive anymore and we had to hike, we got out of the jeep and hiked for about 20 minutes. Along the way I learned many things about the plants around the area. One was called the Coral tree. The Coral tree always bloomed on June 21. South Africa‘s winter solstice. We also learned about this other kind of flower, of which you could smash up and use it as a bitter for alcoholic drinks or you could put in tea. It smelled very exuberant.
Once we arrived at the cave, we walked a little further in between a rock crevice. Kellen told us to look for bones in the rock. And we found so many! Soon we were climbing into the cave. The boys were very excited. Me and my sister KB were not so much. It was very dark and you had to crouch/crawl your way down. KB saw a bat and got very scared. I didn’t blame her, I would’ve been crying and crawling my way out. But we braved it through and went in. The cave didn’t go that far down. I learned how all the bones were from animals who would crawl down into the cave, get stuck, then die there. On our way climbing out, Mom stepped on a bone and broke it. We all now know what it sounds like for bone to break.
Sterkfontein Caves
One of the sites that we went to was Sterkfontein Caves. This museum was special because it was one of the 3 largest natural caves where human bones were found. We went spelunking (that is when you go exploring caves) with a guide. We had to wear hard hats because of possible falling rocks, and when we would have to crunch so low that we might hit our heads. Because our family was so tall, this was a problem all the time when we went spelunking. Especially dad.
Maropeng Visitor Center and Museum
We also went to the Maropeng Visitor Center and Museum. I especially loved this museum because it was interactive. In order to get into the museum, you had to go though this ride where you go a little bit wet, but it was worth it. The ride was dark, and not very eventful. It did have thunder and lightning and loud sounds. Next you watched a video on how the world developed. I learned all about DNA too! There was this test that you could do where you had a mettle bar that had twists and turns, and a ring with a handle that you had to bring to the other side of the course without touching the nettles together to make the light buzz. I did this many times, and I couldn’t get through the entire course without hitting the bar at least once. I also learned about how many people can read in the world. Here is the percentages of some countries:
- Afghanistan 36%,
- Australia 100%,
- Botswana 80%,
- China 91%,
- Egypt 58%,
- Ethiopia 43%,
- India 60%,
- Iraq 40%,
- Japan 99%,
- Kazakhstan 98%,
- Laos 66%,
- Mali 46%,
- Mexico 92%,
- Morocco 52%,
- Nigeria 68%,
- Norway 100%,
- Panama 93%,
- Paraguay 94%,
- Rwanda 70%,
- Saudi Arabia 79%,
- Sierra Leone 30%,
- South Africa 86%,
- Somalia 38%,
- Uganda 70%,
- United Kingdom 99%,
- United States of America 97%
What a night!
After our excursion outside we went back and just chilled for the rest of the day. Us kids also had violin lessons that evening, so that was fun. We went to the restaurant and had dinner. And all of it was very good. One part I especially appreciated about dinner was our waiter. He was very kind. Because the previous night we had not had any dessert, so he arranged for us to have an assortment of different desserts. We were very surprised, the chef had made us an astonishingly beautiful assortment of different desserts. There was Rice Pudding, Milk Tart, Lemon Brulé, Fruit Salad, and Panna Cotta. The flavors were all exquisite! And the way the chef prepared the dishes was beautiful.
The rest of the night was amazing and we all had a great night’s sleep.
Fire!
While at The Cradle Lodge, we happened to see a fire. I have never really been around a real wildfire, and was very scared. But the waiters told us that it was not close enough to hear us. And he was right. The next day, we went on a Safari ride and saw the damage. The story we received was that an arsonist tried to burn down the movie set of a new tv show that is coming out soon. The plane didn’t work, and the arsonist was unsuccessful. Though it did burn down 200 hectares of land. It was amazing to see that on one side of the road there was burnt and charred ground, but on the other was perfectly untouched!
Sophie the Giraffe
One of my new favorite animals is the Giraffe. They are just so majestic! I love that they are so tall (like me:), they have 3 different kinds of species, they grab tree leaves with their tongues, and that they have the best eyelashes ever. They look very proud too. Anyway, we got stuck behind one giraffe, and we named her Sophie because she looked like one of my favorite stuffed animals when I was a baby. She kept walking in front of us, and we kept driving behind her. She was probably thinking “Why can’t these people just stop following me like creeps and drive to the bottom of the cliff? Then I could just eat in peace!” She eventually got off the road, but it was still fun to see.