“Shark in the water!” – words no swimmer wants to hear.
There are many shark warning signs along the coast of False Bay.
Sadly, one swimmer, Michael Cohen, ignored the warning on September 28, 2011. It’s a date he’ll always remember, the afternoon a Great White Shark bit off his leg.
There have been several shark spottings since we’ve been here. There was another one today. The shark was close to shore and got tangled in fishing nets. It died before it could be released from the net.
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Simon’s Town School, a public school just a few blocks from my home here in South Africa. The first thing I noticed about the Grade 4 class was the number of children in it- thirty-three! The classroom was packed! I’m used to having a class of twenty-four students at Cottage Lane, so this number of bodies in one room seemed overwhelming.
This weekend, Linda and Sinazo helped me check out the new Cape Town Science Centre. (Note that that South Africans spell center differently from Americans.)
What a fun day we had! I always knew science was fun, but having all these hands-on activities made science a BLAST! Check out these pictures! These were some of Linda and Sinazo’s favorite activities.
I’m feeling a little bit nervous, but can’t wait to get started!
Cleaning House in My Brain
I’m cleaning house
In my brain,
It’s BACK TO SCHOOL
Time again.
Shine windows,
Make sure you’ve taken the test on the previous blog post, Iconic Table Mountain, before you view this post. Write the answers in the comment section on the previous post. To view the answers and correct yourself, scroll down this page.
Take a look at this picture. This mountain is very different looking, isn’t it? As a matter of fact, it kind of looks like a __________. (You figure out the word!)
Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa
Do birds of a feather flock together? In most cases, yes they do! That is, birds of the same species tend to group together.
Cormorants fly over the lagoon.
Just Nuisance with his sailor friends.
“You’re just a nuisance!” sailors would exclaim, as they tried to step over him or around him. The Great Dane would lie on the deck, his large body spread across the top of the gangplank, making it difficult for the sailors to board their ship. Just Nuisance didn’t care. He didn’t move. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the attention.
Born in 1937, Just Nuisance lived in Simon’s Town, South Africa, home of the Royal Navy (now the South African Navy). He befriended the sailors, who would often give him treats and take him for a run on one of the local beaches. He would follow them around the navy yard, onto the ships in port, into town, and even on the train into the city of Cape Town.
This blog post is dedicated to Mrs. Rudin’s Class. Thanks for visiting me! Here are some of my favorite beach pictures. When you look at them, if you have a good imagination, you’ll feel the warm sun on your back, the cool water on your legs, and wet the sand between your toes….
Fish Hoek Beach
Wooden Zulu warrior in a local shop dressed as Santa for the holidays.
Sending my very best wishes for 2012!
Out for a hike on Christmas day.
Here are some scenes from my surrounding area taken on December 25, 2011. It was a beautiful warm summer’s day, with a nice breeze. There were a lot of people out on the road!
Christmas is a big deal here. Christmas decorations began appearing in stores in October. Most people in South Africa (~80%) are Christian and celebrate Christmas. ~15% say they do not belong to any religion, and the other ~5% belong to other religions. Many people in these non-Christian groups also celebrate Christmas (the secular part, not the religious part).