the adventures continue...
Day 9 Thursday
Knysna log inn- no one can complain about the lodging arrangements- the swimmingpool was a "must" för me when the Atlantiv, and here the Indian ocean werent´t friendly enough för swimming!
Knysna - (/Naisna`/) I still struggle with pronounciation problems when I first thought it was with r ; "Krysna"... a town för tourism and a likely "Waterfront" we found in Cape Town and a lot of hotels- most of them more or less empty at this time of year. Our hotel had even a sauna, but it dis´t work (electric) and I didn´t mind to ask again- the pool was ok.
-"Rallienglannista" ja lausumisesta myös sen verran, että meille matkaajille tuotti aluksi vaikeuksia ymmärtää kaikki mitä paikallisoppaamme Greg puhui - "building"- sana vääntyi kuulostamaan "bolding"ilta ja jotkut muutkin sanat olivat ihan omaa luokkaansa...Nykyään hyväksytään paremin se, ettei lausuminen ole täydellistä, kunhan sanottava tulee selväksi kuulijalle- onneksi!
-some pics from our hotel - so nicely built in wood
The itinerary had been changing a bit here and there, but our group was a good schoolclass and we just "followed the leader" - the paths in the Tsitsikama natur reserve were in absolutely fine condition and we had a nice walk along the shore. Lunch at the beach, and when departing to the hotel again, we made a stop at one of world´s highest benjipoint- luckily my youngsters werent with us- they would have been eager to jump!
touching a tiny waterspot of the INDIAN ocean. But unfortunately I`ve forgot my swimsuit at the hotel....
To visit Africa - that must include a SAFARI and it did! Ive been on one before- in Senegal, with my lads, with a little different terrain- more thick junglelike forests, but not as wide as this. 2000 km2, they mentioned. Then a special thing- The guide asked us not to put official photos all around of some certain endangered species, I do it that way I will not tell where we were. I´n South Africa, yes.
...there is a hippo hiding in the pool...
the first cat I was introduced with stayed at this hotel.
As an explanation :the stony beach wasn´t very tempting...
The most interesting- and surprising - thing of this morning journey was to meet the turtois- straight on our path! I was next to the guide and she told us there is turtles, not very many, and we were lucky to see this one; about 40-50 years old- they grow bigger during their whole life!
The evening program was presented by Paul- he had just mentioned that he´s been doing some stand up comics, and what a star he was! Laugh, laugh and laugh.
DAY 10 - Friday
Last morning at Knysna we did the missing tour to Featherbed by boat- a trip in splendid weather took half on hour and we stayded inside the lagoon of Knysna. We were conducted uphills by a lorry and then went down on paths by foot. Chattering, taking pictures, looking around and listening to the stories of the local guide.
We were all in such good mood when entering the town again- the weather was nice and we sat keenly in the bus .
Tähän väliin lisää opetuksia- meitä ei "vaadittu" vaihtamaan vieruskaveria tai paikkaa bussissa, mutta teimme sitä kuitenkin hieman - etenkin näin pitkällä matkalla hyvä jutella muidenkin kanssa ja saada uusia tuttavuuksia ja vaihtaa ajatuksia! Tosin osa matkoistamme meni lähes nukkuessa- sen verran oli ohjelma tiivistä että väsy välillä yllätti!
To visit Africa - that must include a SAFARI and it did! Ive been on one before- in Senegal, with my lads, with a little different terrain- more thick junglelike forests, but not as wide as this. 2000 km2, they mentioned. Then a special thing- The guide asked us not to put official photos all around of some certain endangered species, I do it that way I will not tell where we were. I´n South Africa, yes.
We had first a short lunch, found our rooms -and a pool again -yippee- and at 5o`Clock pm we met at the meetingcircle where the jeeps where waiting. I had a fantastic luck to be the last one in our vehicle-only free seat was to sit beside the driver/guide and we had such an interesting discussion with Robin, who had been working at the place already seven years. Studies to be a safari guide takes at least 6months, and requires enormous interest in animals and knowledge from earlier stage.
All the animals live in completly wild state, but during the summer in dec-march, they sometimes have to feed the elephantes and put also out some hay for antilopes etc. The predictors caught their own food mostly, but sometimes the lions are fed because they live separated to not kill every little antilope and deer.... They kill also just for fun.
We drove around - nine persons in every car- separately- and two hours went so fast, even if we had a short brake taking some refreshments after the first hour.
When we came back in the dawn, the two hippos were arguing/playing but then it was already so dark no-one could take any pictures..
I tryed to make some calculations about the sunset and the sunrise - it happened nearly on the same place of the sky. Too difficult, I think- in North during summer, the sun doesn´t set at all, here it seemed to set and rise nearly in the same place after being asleep between 19 and 06.30
Lovely late evening with star watching by the swimmingpool - thanks Hanna for your knowledge about stars - and a lovely dinner. This couldn`t have been better!
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| Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the film "Out of Africa" was on my mind and spirit.. Have also been to the home of Karen Blixen in Denmark, where she went back after the bankruptcy of her farm in Kenya. What a feeling to get turned nearly 100 years back in time... |
Day 11 - Saturday
Early in the morning we just had a fast coffee/tea before entering the jeeps- now I let my place to Ari and sat up behind with the others. The elephants had just woken, Robin told us that they had been "urban" ellies before, and needed a shelter for the night. When they came, they had even broke into the sheds before the stuff understood they needed to sleep over indoors...
The sun hides behind the Antarctis so it really looked like it rose from west also???
The lionessis were angry- they stayed on their side of the fence looking at the cheetahs who had a nice peace of antilope to eat-perhaps some of the new ones which had been released from two trucks just half hour earlier... Robin told us, they had picked up 110 small antilopes- I don´t remember their species- and let them free just a bit earlier that we started our safaritour.
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| two cheetah with their pray- can you find them? |
I asked about transporting these wild animals- they don´t use any tranquilizers, but they are packed very side-to-side (I thought 110 in a truck sounded terrible...) so they couldn´t run around during the transport and hurt themeselves. In spite of that, stress hits them and of this amount they have calculate that 10-15% vill not survive more than a weeks time.Poor ones, but a true fact- this is the nature, sooner or later most of them will fall as catches for the cheetah/lions.
After two hours drive we went back to the hotel and had again a delicious breakfast, and then it was time to leave- heading to Stellenboch for the last night. We had a few hours brake at Spier wine estate with lunch, and were intoduced with some preybirds as faulks and owls.The guy who held us an introduction, was keen to save engagered preys, and did it in his fathers´ footprints.
I wasn´t very convinced about the humanity in these enclosures, it seemed to me more like a zoo for the public, but of course, if they can save engagered birds, it is ok.
Our last hotel before leaving South Africa was a wineyard nearby the region of Cape Town. A hint of luxury again, but seemed quite empty, and this time even the pool didn´t look very wellcoming...The taps in the bathroom were- as in many other places- of this ancient English model, end here it didn´t even work so well. I heard claims about too much/too little or wrong temperatured water, but it doesn´t matter- only one night. We had a nice last evening in the bar and on Pauls suggest, everybody told what had been the most spectaculating/interesting/overhelming place thing during our visit. The safari was among the most liked, and also the first evening in Cape town; all over people were so satisfied at everything. On a journey like this, it was absolutely rare and interesting to pay a visit to the township and see that there is hope- even though politicians seem to be complitely rotten.
There was a lot of nice details in the design of furniture and the rooms alltogether, so it was easy to forgive some not-so-well-working-taps
I agree, completely, and tried to follow this. I don´t understand those people who lives as they are used at home and spends water just beacause "we have payed for it".
Day 12, Sunday
Again a fantastic breakfast- all this fruits were so delicious and made ready-to-eat for all us lazy teachers...Then -packing our luggage wasn´t easy- now there had to be a decision what to keeep as handluggage on the plane and what to pack in your suitcase (s). I thought I had made my decision already and had left my suitcase in the bus. In the morning I remembered a few things I should need on the flight or in the airport- as all the receipts from alla purchases bigger than 300rand- there were quite lot of them ...
Leaving the hotel for a tour in old Stellenboch town, which had been a settlement for dutch already in the seventeenth century.
Some historical facts was now served in the museum of the village- interesting fact was that, already in the 17oo-1800 century there had been slaves and workers from many eastern countries too. On the houses a kind of weed was used to cover the roofs in stead of straw what we used.
After strolling around in this well prepared museum, we had time enough to do the last shoppings and look around. Most of us had a lunch- never had so big pizzas before! (Except in Italy, Firenze, when one of my lads couldn´t finish his huge pizza at all...) Paul luckily handed-over his left-overs to a begging guy, so we all felt a bit as good people....
"Time to say goodbye"
We hit the airport well in time- luckily, for the tax-free desk where we had to declaire those purchases we wanted taxes repaid for, was operated by one and two ladies only. The paperwork was enormous, and I hadn´t spare all the recepits, so I think after more than one hours waiting I probably will get 30€ back...
A good thing to know, if You make some bigger purchases out from EU!
Some smaller incidents happend yet- Piritta forgot her camera, but they will send her it- and most of us had problems with the baggage. I was a bit proud of myself- my suitcase weight 9 kg:s when entering South Africa, now it was 14,6 kg, including three bottles of wine from the winetasting-yards. The handbaggage was nearly 9kg so when entering the plane without a rolley, it felt quite heavy..
First 9 hours from Cape Town to Doha, then change of plane in the most extra-exclusive airport ever- and 7 hours left- no sleep at all I think. And again at 3oClock in the morning - food.
Looking back with reflection- I think this has been absolutely one of my best voyages ever, and I`m waiting for Mirvas invitation to Lahtis for a remembering-evening...
But first- I have still a flu to get rid of - damned airplanes´airconditioning- and after all this lying in bed in fever- a sore back.
*vielä yleisiä huomioita suomeksi- jotain siis oppimiseen liittyvää:
*nuorten kanssa esim luokkaretkille matkustettaessa kannattaa etukäteen tehdä listaa tarvittavista vaatteista ja varusteista- Pohjoisnavalle ei tarvita uikkareita, ja etelän lämmössä voi toppatakki olla turha...
*kestävään kehitykseen kuuluu järkevä pakkaaminen muutenkin, ja kohteessa tuo veden ja pyyhkeiden säästäminen. Joissakin hotelleissa pitää erikseen myös pyytää ettei lakanoita päivittäin vaihdeta. Näistä asioista on hyvä puhua etukäteen - etenkin tyttöjen vedellä "lotraaminen" suihkun käynnin yhteydessä ei ole sitä mihin pyritään!
*Kohde, missä pieninkin hygieniaongelma, syytä tarkistaa matkalaukut kotona eikä laittaa vaatteita sellaisinaan kaappiin-niitäkään joita ei olla käytetty. Täit kulkevat kuulema näppärästi matkalaukuissa... Saunomisesta ne eivät kuitenkaan pidä.
*Matkustuskieleksi voisi valita englannin- hassua ettemme itse opettajina tulleet tätä ajatelleeksi. Ei sitä kieltä niin paljon tule käytettyä, ja unohtuu helposti
*Omia ideoita ruotsalaisen Micce Hermanssonin
https://blogg.undervisningsplan.no/blogg/grej-of-the-day
https://www.speakersforum.fi/micael.hermansson
Väck barnens nyfikenhet
"Grej-of-the-day, eller GOTD, är sedan några år tillbaka ett vanligt inslag i många svenska klassrum, framför allt på låg- och mellanstadiet. Det är mikrolektioner, max tio minuter långa, som väcker lusten att få veta mer i praktiskt taget vilket ämne som helst.
Varför inte köra egna Grej-of-the-day med barn i din närhet? Ämnen kan du hitta i bokhyllan, på internet eller i naturen. Eller inspireras av Micke Hermansson – läraren bakom konceptet GOTD. Han har skrivit 222 grejer du inte visste att du ville veta (Bonnierförlagen lära, 2019) och gett ut en rad handledningsböcker till andra lärare, samt dragit igång en stor community på Facebook, där lärare delar med sig av sina GODT- lektioner." source: https://fof.se/artikel/2020/7/sommarnyttigt-2020/
*Paulin idea viimeisen illan yhteenvedosta oli upea ja ilman muuta sovellettavissa nuorillekin- jos ryhmä kovin heterogeninen ja joukossa paljon ujoja, tämän voi tehdä paperille joita nimettömänä sitten luetaan. Ja mieluiten englanniksi.
*Matkakohteista voisi olla matkanjohtajan/oppaan toimesta vielä suullista etukäteisinfoa eim bussimatkan aikana - aika harva meistä oli lukenut sitä tietoiskua mikä meille oli ennen matkaa lähetetty.
*Mikä ihana tapa integroida eri aineita - tässä oli kieliä, maantietoa, biologiaa, sosiologiaa ja kestävää kehitystä- miten sen vain haluaa tarjoilla- eväitä riittää!
*Tällä porukalla uusi retki ensi vuonna- onko se sitten Intiaan, Tyynen valtameren saarille tai vaikkapa Madagaskariin- siitä päättää viime kädessä enkunopejen hallitus. Mutta mukana ollaan!
