Arcadia Pretoria

... aggressive and we were with the very experienced vet, so it was fine. Then we got to stand around and watch the procedure, which was gross but interesting.

This week, one of the black-backed jackals at the park gave birth to a litter of 6 pups. Apparently, she has eaten some of her pups in the past, so the staff swooped in and took them away from her. What surprised me was that jackals don't have their litter all at once; she had them over the ...

... Afrikaans as the language of instruction. It also explained quite a lot about apartheid, including a great 1960s video of White life, with interviews with whites on their attitudes about races and racial equality. Overall the museum was a critical exposure of the superiority and patronizing view that white South Africans had for the non-whites.

We went up to Pretoria where we stopped at the Voortrekker Monument, a good stop thanks to Rudolf’s explanation ...

This morning we had breakfast at 07:30. The buffet featured lots of fresh tropical fruit like papaya and mango, which I really enjoy. We checked out and loaded the car and were on the road before 09:00 to view game. Pilanesburg National Park is located in an extinct volcanic crater that covers 500 square km. The park was created in the late 1970s and early 1980s out of what had been farmland belonging to whites and blacks. The farm ...

... extravagant and well dressed polite English gentleman. Central Pretoria is a beautiful mixture of modern and old architecture. The crowning jewel is Church Square, the heart of the city, a well manicured green square, with a statue of Paul Kruger in the middle of it. Surrounding the square are beautiful colonial buildings still in use today ranging from banks and court houses to charming little café's. Outside the city square is a great ...

... dept but maybe when the FGASA (field guide assoication of South Africa) student have completed their final exams I can pay Tom (19) to help me. We'll be spending quite a bit of this week providing practice for them as "clients" for their practical exam. Subjects covered last week included reptiles and fish and astronomy and weather. We made rope out on the bush (strands of "string" from Mother in Law's tongue which you then plait together - it's ...

... against the fence (trying to ignore the endless horn blowing and bumping-intos by passerbys) crossing our fingers. This was going to be a HUGE upset. But, alas, Barcelona scored two in the last ten minutes or so, pretty much ruining the night for the entire nation of South Africa. Either way, a co-worker has offered to show me around Mamelodi next week, so I should get closer look into a more "real" side of South Africa. I'll write more another day...

... WRONG--had to pay about $100. US for visa and $100. US for courier services to Jo'burg where I had just left in a hurry to get to my beautiful Cape Town. That wasn't the biggest problem. My application was rejected on 2 ...

... The tour included a visit to the incubator in which the eggs are hatched. The chicks stay there for 3 days after they hatch and are then turned over to foster parents, who raise as many as 60 chicks at a time. As long as there are some of their own chicks in the batch, they don't mind how many there are. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride an ostrich. I can't say that it was fun and even thinking about it brings back the unpleasant ...

... Pasadena together in 1966....we've been friends 40 years. We have gone through many experiences and adventures in the Church. Who would think that we would meeting in South Africa....and this is the third time in the past few years. Bill and Cheryl took an assignment in South Africa to serve here for five years starting in 2002. They will be returning to the United States to serve in a pastoral position. Morgen and Joleen Kriedemann who are native South ...

... and Mikado biscuits as well as the previous day's Examiner newspaper from Ireland. We then hit the sack for 2/3 hrs just to make up for lost time. We then got up and went for a drive into Jo'burg and had a walk around. The place is huge, absolutely massive. We went into this hotel for a look, it was like a giant hollow triangle with all the rooms on the sides, you could look right up and see the very top of the place, I think that it had something like 43 floors.