Johannesberg 2025 Day 1

Hi,

Today we take a flight to Johannesburg. It is a huge city with a huge income disparity and poor living conditions. It is tough to understand all I am seeing and learning about South Africa, but this is apparently the situation here. I can't say more, but when we see Khanya's show some other things will become apparent.

The flight was beautiful.





Our first stop was not the hotel but lunch at an outdoor venue, which took about 2 1/2 hours to serve. With this many people -24 or so to serve and only one server, it is surprising it didn't take longer. Then we went on to the Origin Museum. We are now almost at the Cradle of Civilization, thus the idea of Origins is on everyone's mind. In fact, the idea of the mind and how it developed was something that this museum tried to track.

Entrance map of Africa

Showing the development of stone tools from the first crude ones on the right to the smaller and more sophisticated ones on the left

Ostrich shells with drawings and the making of ochre. 


There were many skulls recounting the development of brain size 


I can't really tell you what I learned about brain size and development and the evolution of skulls, but they are all intertwined.

The beginning of adornment and material culture


The gatherers provided most of the food, but the hunters added in meat and fat

What animals symbolize

Reproduction of a type of antelope- there was a video of hunters slaying this animal

Can you see the animals engraved in the stone?



These are contemporary art forms by Hannelie Coetzee and are made from waste materials.


More etchings on stone



Ostrich egg beads

More ostrich egg beads

This reproduction of a cave drawing depicts a worker uprising.


So that was it for the day. We arrive at our lovely Peech hotel. The pool wasn't great, but the hotel was in a beautiful setting. However, nothing has been as good as the first hotel, The Vineyard.




So that was Thursday. I will start on Friday right now, and maybe I will have it ready to send out tomorrow.

Hope you all are well and enjoying the day.

With Hugs,
Susan











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