History – Blue Moment

When I was a kid, I remember visiting the Helsinki Natural History Museum. The exhibit that impressed me most was a calf with two heads (still there today). Otherwise, I remember it being quite ‘dusty’ and stiff. It was very different from today’s museums.

Entering the Iziko South African Museum felt like a return to the late 80s, with glass cases filled with rather poor examples of taxidermy… until we wandered into the new side with the dinosaur and shark exhibits. They were cool! Very cool!

The main picture today is a giant fig tree in the Company’s Garden just outside the museum. It is approx 150–175 years old, so you can quite fairly classify it as well within Natural History.

It is tricky to explain to the girls how privileged they are. For a 7-year olds, their own problems are always the biggest in the world. And, to be fair, that is often true for us adults too.

However, after visiting one of Cape Town’s big townships – Langa – today, the differences were starkly visible even to Alanna and Kiara. As the girls said “There were a lot of kids, but not many toys”.

The explanation of the history and the social commentary of the guide (a Langa resident himself) were a bit too complicated for the girls, but they now recognize the words for Apartheid and Nelson Mandela.

The lunch at the Waterfront – a luxury area indeed – drove home the the comparison.