animals

I have seen many sheep, goats, cows, and horses.  I have also seen animals we might think of when we think of “Africa” – elephants, giraffes, ostriches, warthogs, buffalo (not what people in the US think of when we say “buffalo”), zebra, lion, monkeys, and a variety of animals in the antelope family.  The most fascinating is the kudu which can jump over 2 meters high when it is standing still, and over 3 meters when it’s running.  The elephant-proof fence is 2.4 meters tall.  It keeps elephants, lions, and other large animals in the national park, but the kudu jump in and out all the time.

houses

We have seen many different kinds of houses.  There are informal settlements for very poor people, government provided houses for poor people, middle class houses, rural traditional Xhosa round houses, and rich people's houses.  Here are some photos.  The first one is a government house, the second is the informal house, and the third is a middle class house.  The last one is a traditional Xhosa.

landscape

I had some questions about landscape.  So far, I have seen some more green areas (near Cape Town in the south west), hills and mountains (in many places), and dry areas with cactus (near Port Elizabeth and at Addo Elephant Sanctuary – a national park).

This is the road to a farm.  We rode in the back of bakkies (pick up trucks).  Also a view on the way to Mthatha.

 

No SpongeBob

We saw a big statue of a cheetah, so of course I thought of the MDS Cheetahs.

overthrowing old traditions

Overthrowing old traditions.  Yes, in South Africa there was a time that old traditions were overthrown.  For many years, white people controlled South Africa.  Black people and others fought for their freedom.  Finally, in 1994, there was the first election where everyone could vote.  It is called the liberation.  Now place names have been changed and there are 11 official languages (before there were only 2 official languages - the languages of the white people).

Some answers - money, temperature, and language

The internet connection is generally slow in South Africa, and here I think it is even slower, so I can't upload a video.

I have a few more answers to questions.

This is what some of the money looks like:

The money is called the Rand.  $1=about R8.  So $5 is about R40.  For someone from the US, many things seem cheaper than in the US, some things seem about the same price, and some are more expensive.

It is winter, but the temperatures are very warm - about 60-70 degrees during the day.  In the southwest (where we started), it rained every day, but here in Port Elizabeth it is sunny most days.  People swim in the ocean every day.  I have not, but I have walked by the ocean.  In Cape Town where we started, it was the Atlantic Ocean.  Here it is the Indian Ocean.

South Africa has 11 official languages.  Business is usually in English, so I have had no problems.  My classes are in English, even if the teacher's first language is Afrikaans.  Things are sometimes written in English and Afrikaans plus one of the other languages like Xhosa or Zulu.