Gandhi…. King……Mandela….

January brings the memory of great souls like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.  King followed the footsteps of Gandhi invoked the nonviolent civil rights moment in the USA which resulted in removing the segregation completely from the southern states. Nelson Mandela fought to remove apartheid following the nonviolent principles of Gandhi.   2018 is the birth centenary year for Mandela.
My travels in 2018 culminated in S. Africa. Landed in Johannesburg in December.  It was great to pay homage to Mandela by visiting his house in Soweto. The house where he grew up is now a museum well maintained by the Mandela foundation.  

Another important place to visit is the Apartheid Museum that chronicles the poignant history the fighters, supporters, gruesome details that is an eye opener to everyone and the future generation as how apartheid, segregation and discrimination are the three evils that humanity should avoid at any cost.

In Gandhi square there is a statue of young Gandhi as a barrister. This is a

unique statue with his barrister robes. The Gandhi museum keeps the history of the civil disobedience moment he started first in S. Africa.

Salute to these three great souls.

PEACE ON EARTH 

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Cape Town…. Cape of Good Hope…. Cape Agulhas….

Last time when I visited S. Africa in 2008 missed Cape Town. The stories I heard about the Table Mountain park, Cape and the wineries beckoned me to visit this beautiful town. Finally, in 2018 I could put a check against this in my bucket list!  Cape Town has a unique coast line and famous for the Natural reserve park in the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point and Cape Agulhas where the Atlantic and the Indian oceans meet. Cape Agulhas is the southernmost tip of the African continent.  Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese explorer first named the Cape as “Cape of Storms”. Vasco Da Gama came around the Cape of Good Hope and reached the west coast of India landing in Calicut in 1498.

Indeed, a long history of loot, wars, colonization of the African continent and setting up trading posts in India followed by the English, Dutch, Danish and the French who later colonized many countries in Africa and Asia. The Cape was witnessing all this and the ships crossing the southern tip of Africa ceased when Suez Canal was opened in 1869

From the Hilton City Centre, we drove along the coastal route and took a ferry to hop into the Seal island. Cape of Good Hope Natural reserve park is the best with the lush green trees and provide sanctuary to many birds and animals. The African Penguin whose ancestors must have migrated from the Antarctica have adapted to the warm weather of the African coast.

The vista from the Cape Agulhas is breathtaking. One can see the two different currents of the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean with distinct hues of blue. The clouds, rocks, wind, ocean and the sand take you to a World of awe and wonder. I felt like melting away into the nature leaving everything. The thought was pushed away when I looked at the light house. Oh! Yes, need to climb.....

PEACE ON EARTH

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Ambohimanga....Lemurs ….Madagascar…..

Need to catch up with all the travels done in 2018! Let me begin with Madagascar. Not the movie but the real country! The simplest way to reach Madagascar is from Johannesburg S. Africa.  The flight crossed the Indian ocean and the lush green forests and mountains are in sight when we landed at Antananviro.  Madagascar is the remnant of the ancient Gondwanaland and due its isolation its flora and fauna are unique.

We checked into the Carlton Hotel overlooking the lake and this is the only five-star hotel in Antananarivo the capital of Madagascar.  Though French is spoken widely, the hotel staff are conversant in English. Time to explore the Lemur sanctuary park. Lemurs are a separate species from monkeys are apes. It was interesting to see their antics.

Another must visit place is Ambohimanga a UNESCO World heritage site near Antananarivo.  The largest ethnic group Merina consider this as their spiritual and national identity.  Till the French colonized Madagascar and its surrounding islands by defeating the King Radama II.  Madagascar gained independence in 1958 and named as Malagasy republic.

An island with species nowhere to be found in the continental Africa, rain forests, spices, orchids mixture of ethnic groups makes this island an exotic location. Time to fly back to South Africa.

PEACE ON EARTH

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.