Table Mountain and Soil for Life

Well, I guess you could divide today's adventures into "Didn't get dirty" and "Got dirty."

Didn't Get Dirty:

We had a magnificent "Didn't Get Dirty" trip to Table Mountain, leaving the hotel at the very early hour of 7:30 a.m. (especially since most of us did not get to sleep until after 2:00 a.m. and several of us did not have air conditioning last night while at the same time leaving on the towel warmer in the bathroom which kept things nice and toasty). We had heard from previous groups that if it were too windy, the cable car going up the mountain would not run, so the visit would be scrubbed. Well, the weather cooperated - though it was quite foggy initially. Despite the fog, which cleared, making for a somewhat warm visit toward the end, the views were breathtaking as we looked down toward the ocean, across to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, and across to other mountains (Lion's Head, among others). While we had plenty of sun up top, beautiful, white fog (oh, let's call it a cloud...that's a little more positive) blanketed portions of our view -- in and of itself jaw-droppingly beautiful.

The girls and all the adults had quite a bit of fun watching a mammal, the dassie, that lives atop Table Mountian - these rodents are about the size of a ground hog and the animal to which they are most closely related is, surprisingly, the elephant. We observed respectfully, saw Mom-dassie and some babies. We watched them staring at us until one suddenly appeared on the wall next to which we were standing. Let's just say that the Chatham Hall girls were not in any way fazed by this creature, and some chose to try to make a new South African friend, as chaperones and parents on the trip shouted, "Don't touch it...it might have rabies!" Needless to say, while nobody actually touched a dassie, students cozied right up to them. Things were going well until our furry friend tried to chase Charlotte. I fear that I do not have a photo of that pursuit as I was laughing too hard.

Table Mountain is a very biodiverse area, with 8,500 different plant species. We were treated to trees, flowers, and grasses that we had never seen before. After an hour and a half visit, we took the cable car back down. The floor of the cable car rotates so everyone inside can enjoy a 360 degree view of the Cape Town region.

Got Dirty:

Once at the bottom, we climbed back into the bus (coach and very comfortable) with Lourence, our driver, and Lynne, our guide for our time in South Africa. Lynne's preparations for our arrival and time in South Africa have been very much appreciated. Lourence took us the long way to our next stop, so we had a chance to get the lay of this beautiful land. Our first service experience was Soil for Life. The non-profit organization is a little oasis of small gardens whose mission is to teach people how to raise food in the dry soil of South Africa. The fruits and vegetables grown at that facility are sold to raise money to fund the organization. They also make and package compost, which is in high demand. This is the part of the blog where, if I have not already demonstrated my high degree of maturity, it will, hopefully soon be very apparent. After an initial welcome by Pat, the director, we headed over to work with three very patient employees of Soil for Life. We spent the rest of the morning making compost, which involves staking out a 3 meter by 1.5 meter area, putting down a base of corn stalks to allow for aeration, and then layering "brown, dry" (dry leaves), then "wet, green" (rotting vegetables, mowed grass, basically things that smell very, very bad, but which will help make plants grow!), and manure (or, "the icing on the cake," as the folks at Soil for Life called it). All layers were hosed down, and each bed of compost had 3 layers of each of the above. I think I can speak for the group when I say that the "brown, dry" layer was our favorite. We were okay with "wet, green" when "wet, green" was mowings, but after the first layer of it, we were directed to a pile of rotting vegetables that was about as awful a smell as any of us had ever encountered, and pretty much had us hoping that lunch would not involve organic materials.

Notice in the photo on the right that Tony is shoveling the "wet, green," because it lost its appeal pretty quickly. Tony also knows that the girls will have a chance to shovel this same stuff tomorrow when we go to a site that is beginning to make compost.

After lunch (just a little lettuce and tomato in the sandwiches), we set about the "turn" compost piles that had been started just a couple of weeks ago. Ask your daughter or family member who went on this trip to tell you just how hot the center of the piles get. Each group of students/faculty/parents and one Soil for Life employee turned two piles of compost - remember, each is 3 meters by 1.5 meters and is pretty dense. I'm not sure at what point of the day we became aware of just how dirty we were, covered in compost and its makin's, but no one left unscathed as compost was flying fast and furiously. We took a five minute break and then came back to sift and bag compost that was ready for sale. Apparently, they cannot make enough to meet the demand of people who wish to grow their own vegetables in the sandy soil of the region.

At four o'clock, we boarded the bus for the trip back to the hotel. With the hot afternoon sun beating down on the bus, combined with our late arrival last night and our early departure this morning, I think that Don, Lynne, Cricket, and probably Lourence (the driver!) were the only ones awake for most of that ride.

We are now back at the hotel resting until we have dinner at 6:30 and then head off to the Waterfront.

More later!