Skip to main content

South Africa Day 6 15th Feb 2007

Now - I know that a travel journal usually starts at the beginning but seeing as I started at the end by posting yesterday I'm going to write about my final day in South Africa.

To say that the day was a Geographers dream would be an understatement! Myself and colleague Jamie German were given a tour of the Franschhoek area by one of its residents Julian. Franschhoek being the area around one of the partner schools. The highlights of the day were standing at the base of a dam which will be under 90m of water by this time next year; being given a tour of a water filtration plant and tasting wine from the fermentation tanks with the wine maker.

I have to give our thanks to Julian who accompanied us around the area!


Julian our guide. The area he is standing on and behind will be flooded once the Berg River Dam is complete


As this article suggests the Berg River Dam is an important development for the Western Cape. The dam will supply Cape Town with additional water. We were lucky enough to be given a tour by the project manager that involved a 4x4 tour around the dam site. We were able to discuss many issues including the environmental impact of the project, including the rehabilitation plans. We also chatted about the employment opportunities the dam project had created and how archaeological sites were protected during the project. We also talked about the consideration of the various stakeholders including local farmers and wineries. From the tour we will produce a virtual tour of the site and a case study of the issues involved with such a large scale development - especially as the tour involved the very rare opportunity of standing behind the dam. I hope to revisit the site once the dam has been completed to compare the area. This will provide an up-to-date case study of a dam under construction!
Archaeological artifacts under protection.
Behind the base of the dam with the intake tower in the background
Looking down on the spillway and the front of the dam


Where else could you just turn up at a dam and be given a tour of the filtration plant? The Wemmershoek dam is in an incredible position - surrounded by a Nature Reserve that is home to Leopards, Baboons and many other animals. The scale of the project is unbelievable considerings that this clay dam was completed in 1958. We were treated to a tour of the filtration plant where the water is filtered, cleaned and pumped to Cape Town residents. Our tour guide even showed us how the filter beds were cleaned - I just hope that there wasn't a Capetonian who went without their water for a while! The tour also including a look at the Power station.

It will be possible to produce a virtual tour of the facility that will allow a greater understanding of the process for pupils. I was also impressed by my restraint - considering the plant looked like a James Bond set I resisted the urge to run around pretending to shoot people and push buttons!

'We only have 1 minute to save the world!' The James Bond style control room.

Our guide shows us how the filtration tanks are cleaned.


The next stop on this amazing day was the Moreson Winery. We were treated to a wine tasting (I know - tough work but someone has to do it!) and also a behind-the-scenes tour of the cellars and production process by the wine maker himself. This included tasting the product in its various stages straight from the fermentation tanks. I liked the way in which the winemaker described his job as being 'an educated alcoholic'.

The winemaker getting something to taste form the fermentation tanks.

All the gear but no idea - wine tasting

Franschhoek Pass

With the tour coming to an end we were driven to the top of the pass for an overview of the area - this will be great for the virtual tour of the area.

The view from Fanschhoek Pass showing land use.
And to the airport


Informal settlements around the airport

So to end a totally bizarre day it was off to the airport. I noticed that the area was surrounded by informal settlements.
Cape Town International Airport and flight BA 58 home




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words