History of South Africa—Europeans Arrive!

100. Watch an entire season of 2499. Get a blood clot in your leg (walk

every 2 hours if you want to skip this one)

98. Refine your stand up comedy routine on a captive audience

97. Knit a sweater 96. Play Charades

95. Make a cross word puzzle . . . Book94. Write an award winning screenplay

about your life93. Lean Afrikaans swear words92. Write complaint letters to companies91. Watch 2 seasons of The Wire

More to come in future issues.

Top 100 things to do on a 22 hour flight—the first 10

December 4, 2009 Issue 2

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Important Dates

Passage to Cape Town

Cape Town Coat of Arms

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Thanks to Sekhar Ganti, the winner of last issue’s trivia question, we know Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Dias was the first European to dis-cover the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. Dias initially named the area The Cape of Storms. A moniker that proved well earned when Dias and four of his ships were lost in a fierce storm off the cape in 1500. After Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese explorer, estab-lished the trade route around the cape with India in 1497, the Dutch first settled in what is now South Africa.

The Dutch East India Company first established a settlement in 1652 at the Cape of Good Hope to support trade ships traveling from Western Europe to India. On the long journey, many sailors were dying and the settlement at the cape was established as an interim stop-over where ships could re-supply with the fruits and vegetables to prevent scurvy. Dutchman Jan van Reibeeck led the first settle-ment and enjoyed unfettered access to the land of the cape.

Many of the local nomadic farmers rejected the Dutch authority and simply moved inland to avoid conflict. By the late 18th century, Cape Town was a busy port where passing vessels could trade goods and get supplies for the rest of their journey.

After France over-threw the Dutch monarchy 1795, the British saw the French as a threat to their lu-crative trade route with India and immediately sent troops to southern Africa to occupy the cape. Ultimately the British would have a significant impact on the culture of South Africa. They abolished the slave trade in 1807, guaranteed freedom of religion and speech, and for

some odd reason, introduced cricket to the local population in its southern African colony.

It was not always a civil co-existence with the in-digenous population. While the nomadic farmers encountered by the Dutch had moved fur-ther inland, the British had a more difficult time. The Xhosa were a local population and wound up being a formidable opponent that vigorously re-sisted European incursions into their territory. Skirmishes between the Xhosa and the British continued until 1852 when the Xhosa were deci-mated by the British firepower, starvation and disease.

In the next issue -The Zulu Kingdom, diamonds, and the Gold Rush - South African style.

Trivia Question -

The springbok is a major sym-bol of South Africa. The

country’s national airline had a springbok as part of its logo, as did the nation’s Air Force. The springbok was part of the

national Coat of Arms, and many national sports teams were known as the Spring-

boks. Most uses of the spring-bok faded into the country’s controversial past, however,

consent was given to the South African National Rugby team to continue being known as the Springboks. What is a

springbok?

E-mail your answer to

CapeTownOrBust@gmail.com

We are keeping score

Dutch East India Company Seal

Passage

to Cape Town

Page 2

Mzoli's is a butcher shop in Gugulethu, just out-side Cape Town, that doubles as a restaurant. However, the dining experience is more likeeating at a farmer's market. There's no combo meal here. Mzoli's provides the meat. The local business community provides the rest. AtMzoli's butcher shop, you select your pound or pounds of meat and marinade. Then you take your large bowl of raw meat to the back of the

shop where you hand it over to the grill masters.But wait...

You're missing something. Drinks? Bread? All can be found at the nearby spaza shops, which are informal convenience stores typically run from a house. Now that you've gotten your meal together, find a seat and enjoy the braai.

Tentative Itinerary

April 29, 2010

Depart Richmond 10:00 am

Depart Washington-Dulles Airport 5:40 pm

May 3 Start of

Business Site Visits

Fine Dining Around Cape Town

South Africa Quick Facts–The Wildlife

The Two Oceans Aquarium

The Big Five

The Shark Lady

South Africa is known for its wildlife and for having 8 sites on the World Heritage List. South Africa is well known for their memorable large mammals, especially the Big Five (elephants, lions, cape buffalo, rhinoceros, and leopards).

The big five are far from the only large mammals that inhabit the South African landscape. In fact, there are a total of 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds. The majority of the animals live in the high inland plateau of the inner coun-try, but many also live in the mountainous region as well as the low lying coastal areas.

Not all the wildlife is in South Africa however. Some of it surrounds the cape as well. Many of the marine animals can be seen in the tame environment of the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. More than 3000 different species, all of which are in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans surrounding South Africa, can be seen at this world class aquarium.

For the more adventurous, you could visit the Shark Lady and get a much closer look.

On the electronic version of the newsletter, check out the links to the right to sample some of the wildlife.

Alfred Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background