Tuesday, August 2nd, we left our friend’s house and headed North to the latest tourist attraction; The Phoenix. The ship had crashed on South Africa’s rocky coast just North of Durban near a beach called Shaka’s Rock, but more precisely Sheffield beach.
It was about a 40 minute drive and one toll costing Rand 7 to reach the area. There were police at the final turn off down the hill to the ship telling people to stop their cars. The ubiquitious car guards showed up and we left our vehicle for the trek to the ship. Passed the high price mansions in the areas surrounded by fences we got our first glimpse of the ship.
The crew were on their way from west Africa to India to scrap the vessel. Unfortunately, because of previous engine failures the ship made its final mistake. Since its crash, July 26th, thousands of people had come to see the ship. When I saw it on the news the reported told viewers how the authorities were urging people to stay away from the scene.
Despite their plea more and more people kept coming, us included! When we got to the bottom there were various individuals, families, and couples with their cameras, binoculars, and selves observing the site. As of today the ship cannot move and has to be taken apart bit by bit.
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After taking some photos and taking in the ocean we drove down to Harding to do some more interviews.
Today is Thursday. There was nothing planned so we decided to go to Matatiel (Matat) to grab some special Basotho blankets as souvenirs. When returning to Harding we passed through Kokstad which was founded by Adam Kok III– a Griqua man. We admired the churches on previous occasions and decided to visit this time to take pictures.
One of the temples we decided to visit was the Masonic temple. We really went in to use the bathroom but got a pleasant surprise when we came out. Upon the urgency of one of the office workers we agreed to meet the owner of the company. At first we found it a bit akward but after meeting her and experiencing all her enthusiasm we were happy we had entered the temple.
The lady showed us a scrap book of all her plans, the pictures she had collected regarding how she wanted it to look, the renovation process, some pictures of before and after. along with a newspaper article from when the temple had been built (around 1926). She also told us how sometimes people will be begin to enter but realize what type of temple it was. Upon realization they make the sign of the cross and turn around quickly. The co-owner gave us a tour of the new facility which is dedicated to rural development. Here are some photos of what we encountered.
Goat skin rug made from local small scale farmers. Many people in the region have goat herds but don't utilize the resource as a money maker. Many of these people are poor. So to make a living part of ScientificRoets initiative was to have the people utilize the natural resources.
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