|
Turtle Essays Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << September12, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 146 dated 12.9.2005 |
September26, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 148 dated 26.9.2005 >> |
|
Turtle Essays Edition no 147 dated 19th September 2005 ** Grand Tour of the Cape Peninsula Http://www.turtlesa.com/Peninsula_tour.html ** In this edition: Editor's Blurb Wale Street Cape Town. Penguins ** Editor's Blurb Hi there folks. Welcome to all my readers regular and new. To those who wrote to congratulate me on passing my tour guide exam a big thank you. It was much appreciated. I'll be getting my badge and licence this week so hopefully will be "On the road" shortly with visitors to Cape Town. Looking for a tour around our beautiful city please contact me. This week I am including two photographs of Wale Street, one taken a hundred or so years ago and the other a week or two ago. As you will see very little has changed over the years, except the Cathedral on the right in the older photograph has now been replaced with the more modern one built in the early 1900's. As I am looking to grow my mailing list further please send your friends a copy of this mailing and ask them to use the link below to become a regular readers. 50058-subscribe@zinester.com This week my household is going to be in turmoil. My daughter is finishing off her school career and her matric dance is on Thursday. The planning and excitement over this once in a lifetime event for her is becoming fever pitch so will have our hands full for the next few days. Thats enough from me for this week. Geoff Fairman ** Wale Street Cape Town. When visiting Cape Town most people find themselves in Wale Street at some time or the other. It is easily found as it is at the top of Adderley Street and runs at right angles to it. Wale street has a number of interesting buildings in it. The first building although not directly in Wale Street is the old slave lodge which was built way back in 1660 to house the slaves that were imported into Cape Town to work for the Dutch East India Company. In the photographs I am publishing on my website the slave lodge is the building at the far end of the street with the shutters. As you can see it has not changed much over the centuries. At its prime it housed 500 slaves but has served many other purposes since being converted in 1806 into an office complex where it served as the Supreme Court in Cape Town as well as the Post office. Today it is the South African Cultural History Museum. Walking up Wale Street towards Signal Hill the next building which is also on the corner of Wale Street and Adderley Street id the old Board of Executors Building. In the time of van der Stel it was the company hospital and had beds for a 1000 people. Opposite the Board of Executors building is St Georges Cathedral which was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and had its foundations laid in 1901. The Cathedral has an interesting history which began way back in 1827 when the Bishop of Calcutta visited Cape Town and consecrated land at the bottom of Government avenue for a church. The first St Georges church opened for services on the 21st December 1834. As it had no rector, chaplains conducted the services until Bishop Gray arrived in his newly-created diocese in 1848. The church had been made a cathedral in 1847. Bishop Gray was not happy with the building and over the next 25 years worked hard for a new and better building which is the building you see today. In St Georges Mall which is opposite the new cathedral is a red granite cross which was erected in his honour. Opposite the Board of Executors building and the red cross is the old Rhodes building. As most of Cape Town centred around Wale Street in the 1800's this building was in the centre of the business district of the time. Wale Street today houses many more buildings including the Cape Provincial Adminitration buildings. However these have no historical significance. If we continue up Wale Street we arrive at what is known as the Bo Kaap. Here Wale Street is lined with many small colourful houses which are inhabited by peoples who are descendents of the slaves and busines people who arrived here from the east back in the days of van der Stel. The area became known as the Malay Quarter over the years but is today known as the Bo Kaap. The residents of the area have established a museum in a house which dates back to the 18th century and was originally owned by Effendi Abu Bakr who was an emissary of the Ottoman Government in Turkey. A visit to the Bo Kaap should include a visit to the Museum. Today however there is much concern in the Bo Kaap as many people are being lured into selling their properties by the high prices being offered. What was once a Muslim stronghold could now become watered down and the Cape could lose an integral part of its cultural history. Next time you visit Cape Town take a walk up Wale Street and visit some of the buildings mentioned above. Geoff Fairman. ** Penguins Over the last month penguins have been in the news again here in Cape Town. After a mystery oil spill off the Cape coastline early in August 450 penguins have been covered in oil and have had to be rescued and taken to Sanccob for cleaning. Cleaning is hard work as each penguin has to be scrubbed for over an hour with an oil solvent to get the oil of them. Once the penguins have been cleaned their rehabilitation starts. The solvents that are used to clean the penguins also clean out the natural oils in their plumage and if they were to be released immediately they would die from dehydration as their bodies have lost their insulation. Once cleaned they are kept in enclosures where they are fed six pilchards per day by hand for a number of weeks before being released back into the wilds. Cape jackass penguins, the main species found along the Cape coastline are at risk and are listed as a vulnerable endemic species. Their numbers have dwindled drastically from the beginning of the 20th century when there over 9 million birds on the West Coast Islands. There are a number of reasons for the decrease with the main reason being the lack of food, caused by over fishing the pilchard stocks along the west coast of South Africa and Namibia. Penguins have some interesting characteristics. When they go foraging they form groups of about 10 birds and then forage in a range of about 20 kilometres from the colony. It's when they are out foraging that they are at risk of being oiled. Adult birds can swim at speeds of up to 12 kilometres per hour underwater and if you should try to catch one you would have no chance as they are liked greased lightning. This week some of the 400 oiled penguins that were rescued after the mystery spill in early August were released. The release of the birds is very interesting as they are transported to a beach near Milnerton in boxes with 5 penguins per box. Once on the beach the boxes which are sealed to keep the penguins from escaping are opened and turned on their sides. To facilitate a mass release all the boxes are turned over at the same time. Suddenly as the penguins emerge there are a hundred or more penguins on the beach all looking seawards. Once released some of them make a bee line for the sea while others stand and look around and admire the scenery before waddling off down to the water. To identify the released birds when they arrive back in their colonies the birds each get a pink dot sprayed on their white breasts. Once released the penguins gather beyond the surfline in groups to orientate themselves before starting their long swim back to their colonies. The penguins released this week were rescued from Dyer Island near Hermanus, Cape Agulhas, Bettys Bay and the Boulders near Simonstown. It will be interesting to monitor how long it takes for them to arrive back in their respective colonies.. Geoff Fairman ** ** Ezines R Us Ads: http://www.ezines-r-us.com/cmd.php?af=293028 ** Get the RIGHT Info to Really Multiply Your Cash Today! Listen to 4 new info-packed audio sessions with well-known, successful marketers John Reese, Alex Mandossian, Armand Morin & Alex Sampson. All from the comfort of your own home in your own time. Learn quickly: http://w--o--w.com/?i=10701 ** Turn your dog into the best behaved pooch on the park with Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer Guide Book http://www.dogproblems.com/clicksecrets.htm?hop=brerrabbit ** Turtle Travels new blog is online now. http://turtleessays.blogspot.com There are some interesting new articles being posted today. Be sure not to miss them. ** Start your own home nursery and earn yourself some pocket money! Find out how to do it from an expert. Here is his link: http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** Sometimes one gets lucky! I did when I came across this site by accident. Its offers stunned me so I decided to try it out to see if it was for real. It Was! This amazing members-only website run by a top internet marketer, is UNIQUELY available: at http://www.pr-pl.com/a.php?ELn Check it out today and get some of the free stuff offered as bonuses. ** For my personal details, contact address, and warnings regarding products advertised in this ezine please read the disclaimers which can be found at: http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html |
|
| << September12, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 146 dated 12.9.2005 |
September26, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 148 dated 26.9.2005 >> |
|
Turtle Essays Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on Turtle Essays |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |