educational – Helpful Haz

Location: Waterfront

Price: R175

Okay I know Aquarium’s are much of a muchness, all are very similar however I had heard some wonderful things about this place. So one a cloudy day I decided it was the perfect opportunity. It is one of the more expensive places to go. There is a massive range of fish and sea creatures to be enjoyed and learnt about. It is very accessible for families, wheelchairs and prams included.

Surrounded by Nemos and Dorys – hard feeling to beat according to this childs face. Bless him. This is right in the start of the Aquarium, and you walk through there are a few smaller tanks to see the stranger of the fish. As you work through there are sea horses and crabs and eels. The explanations are very easy to understand and read. The only challenge is then trying to see the different creatures, in the different tanks.

As you turn a corner there is darkened corridor – normally I would be the last person to go into this voluntarily but curiosity killed the cat. The photo below is what i was greeted with.

So I turned the corner and I am welcomed by Jellyfish , tubes of Jellyfish, and surrounded by mirrors so it made it look like there were hundred of them. It was a very cool affect – no pictures can really do it justice. Another ‘exhibition’ that could not be photographed well was a darkened one too, where you press lights and it lights up the tank in certain areas to see if the fish and crabs of that prefer the dark. This was just incredible. I loved it.

Just beyond here was a touching pool, the lady was in the know, showing me what could be eaten and not eaten. I got to feel all sorts of kelp and sea weed, starfish and other plants too…the woman tending it was very chatty and happy to explain everything. I love the hands-on learning in places like this. They really do help the whole process.

The big tanks for me are always the best part about Aquariums, either being able to walk through it and see everything going on around you, or just sitting and watching their world from a distance. Seeing the Kelp forest you start to appreciate the underwater world, the different sizes and colours. I must have sat here for a good 10-15 mins just watching penguins dart around and the fish avoid one another. All the big tanks have somewhere to sit nearby so you can just relax and take it all it.

There are to penguin ‘exhibits’ in the Two Oceans Aquarium. I happened upon them during feeding time, so I could see them in their element as above. It was very interesting to hear the explanations of how they distinguish between the different animals and how they all have name . They have to keep track of what each penguin eats and ensure everyone gets something. – What a job…

Just behind this part of the Aquarium, there was a section that helps you realise about the plastics used in daily life along side an interactive learning space to make sure people make the right choices with packaging and products. The ids seemed to love it.

If you get there at the right times you can change various feeding points. As I mentioned earlier I saw the penguins being fed but also the Stingrays. This Tank I watched for maybe 30 mins. It has so many fish and rays it was hard not to be fascinated by them. The divers explained everything so well, everyone was mesmerised by the experience. The lady on dry land helping to guide the conversation had to come up with a lot of the questions herself – i think we were all a bit dumb struck.

All in all, this place is a lovely stop on a rainy day or somewhere when it is too hot to be outside. As anywhere gets its busy and quiet periods. There i wifi throughout the Aquarium and it is easy to navigate, there is a cafe half way around and play pens for children too.

Until next time

Okay….so history nerd is going to come out here so please bear with me.

Location; Corner of Adderly and Wale Street, CBD.

Opening hours: 9-5 every day (except Sundays: closed)

Entry: R30.

So. The title of this blog kind of what this building used to be. It was where the Dutch East India Company used to keep their slaves before deporting them. As with many of these lodges the conditions were next to awful to say the least! After its horrible beginning this building became a court house as well. Ironic I think.

So you walk into an open space with 5 walls with the overarching explanation of slavery in the Cape. It also interestingly goes into the modern day international equivalents.

You start on left side, with a film that goes through the basic history, the room next door discussing the archaeology of the building: what they found and as a result what they were able to deduce from this.

As you move through, you find the drawings and etchings to Brookes Ship and other slave ships, the conditions. Even this mock up (see above) of the ships itself – this is not to scale. Various documents are featured throughout explaining how slaves were treated and what the conditions were on the ships. Ships logs and reports are just one way of explaining the situation that occurred on these ships.

As you walk through you follow the story of these slaves, the different places they went to, and/or came from. The exhibitions are spacious and easily laid out to understand everything. It is a nice place to meander through and read as much or as little as you would like.

The image above was one that was poignant to me, these are the name of those slaves that died that we know the name of. There of course millions more, thrown from boats, never named, disappeared, and many more reasons. To see their names and the diversity of their names jut proves how many countries were involved in this part of history. Named after the months they were sold, or they arrived, surnames of their first masters, who knows where some of the names came from.

The image above is a calendar. They found people with the surnames of each month, and brought them together. Something amazing has happened to these people they are proud of their surname, that their ancestors have been such a large part of history. They see themselves as the reminders of what has been and therefore what shouldn’t be repeated. Such an extraordinary exhibit.

As you move through the different rooms. You get to see cases of other artefacts that have landed in Cape Town, from all of over the world. Demonstrating the reach of this port and the number of people that used to come through this “rest” and refuel station.

This demonstrates the space the Slave loge used to occupy and an old plan of the lodge itself.

After doing the downstairs, you are best moving upstairs where there are temporary exhibition spaces. At the moment, they have one of ancient Egyptians and another for apartheid music alongside their permanent spaces for the collection of silver – most from the colonial period. Surprise surprise.

The music during the Apartheid exhibition caught my eye and therefore I m going to focus on this, rather than do a little on all of them. I hope you don’t mind.

Apartheid… now to me the first thing I think of is not music. Apparently I am wrong in this assumption – who knew.

Music was a massive way of rebellion in South Africa, throughout this exhibition they display songs and the ways that audible media helped to fight Apartheid. The headphones are great way to connecting with the voices of the part. Older generation radios play a playlist of old songs and rebellious songs.

As I turned the corner out of the singing for freedom exhibition, I am faced with this wall of record slips. I follow the flow to the opening and as I walk through to come to a piano. It conjured all sorts of thoughts and feelings at the time. It is quite surprising and yet so well placed.

This museum on the whole is one of my highlights. It goes through history of the Cape from Slavery on 19th century to modern discrimination. The interactivity of this museum helps you to learn on your own terms, how works best for you. Not just reading pages and pages of text which is not to everyone tastes.

Tag: educational

Two Oceans Aquarium

Slave Lodge