Ikamva Youth Cape Of Good Hope Outing - 16 December 2010   Photos by Ken Eaton

Ken Eaton, from the Wildernes Leadership School, Cape Town arranged for a group of 15 from Ikamva Youth to do an outing with us to Cape Point.

Ikamva Youth helps learners from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve the higher grade 12 passes necessary to access tertiary institutions and/or employment-based learning opportunities. The outing was arranged as a reward for best achievers 2010.

 
The group arrived at the shark centre at 9:45. After looking around the centre we did a basic shark lesson. Then we watched a short movie about sharks, Maxine's journey. This tells the story of Ragged Tooth Shark, Maxine's release from the Two Oceans Aquarium.

 

Once the movie was over we headed downstairs and moved on to the next leg of the outing. The group boarded the mini-bus once again and we set off for the reserve. Our plan was to do the Shipwreck Trail from Olifantsbos.
 

Along the road through the reserve we saw ostriches and a large herd of bontebok. Once we arrived at Olifantsbos Ken spoke about fynbos and hazardous snakes before we began the hike.

We began walking along the beach from Olifantsbos to the wreck of the Thomas T Tucker and Nolloth some distance south along the coast. Along the way we passed the Olifantsbos cottage.There was plenty of kelp washed up and the birds were plentiful. I spoke about the life cycles involving kelp in the water and once it is washed ashore.

 

Once we reached the Thomas T Tucker we had a look around and stopped for a while. There was quite a lot to see of the wreck. We learned a bit about the history of the ship from the pamphlets we had with us.

After a short break we set off for the Nolloth about 500m south down the beach.

 

We spent some time checking out the wreck of the Nolloth. Then we turned inland, not far past the wrecks to follow the path back to Olifantsbos along the ridge.
 

Along the way looking down we could see the Olifantsbos cottage and ahead on the ridge we could see military buildings from the time of the second world war.
 


On the way down Ken called for a few minutes quiet time to appreciate the surroundings and gather thoughts. Then we descended to the Olifantsbos car-park where we saw baboons.  Many in the group said they had not visited Cape Point so we decided to take the group to the point before they went home.

Once again all boarded the mini-bus and we set of on the third leg of the outing. It was a long walk up to the Cape Point Lighthouse for many already tired by the day's walk.
 

Although the wind was very strong all were happy as we took a brief break at the top in the howling gale before beginning the walk back down. All were in good spirits and quite worn out as we sent the group off home from the Cape Point parking lot.

Feedback has been good and all had a great day thanks to Ken Eaton and Ikamva.


If you would like to arrange similar outings or learn more please contact me    
   

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