Into Africa (June 2004)
by John and Maria Eng (Main content: 7/4/2004. Pages made: 4/21/2016.)A couple of years ago, we read about a rare type of astronomical eclipse called a Venus transit. This is when the planet Venus passes directly between Earth and the sun so that Venus's silhouette is visible in front of the sun. The last time this happened was in 1882. In the United States, only the last portion of the Venus transit was to be visible, and the probability of cooperative weather was poor. So, we journeyed to South Africa to witness this event in its entirety under clearer skies. We ended up seeing other things that we hadn't seen before, in addition to seeing something no one alive had seen before.
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| Getting There: The long flight and preparations for it. (back to home page) |
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• Map of South Africa. • Cape Verde. • Personal video. • Equipment test. • Packed bags. |
| Safari: We saw an assortment of animals up close in the wild, learning a few things about them along the way. (back to home page) |
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• Entabeni game reserve. • Entabeni Rock. • Cabin. • Our room. • Morning drive. • Black rhinoceros. • Plains zebra. • Zebra group. • Impala • Blue wildebeest. • Kudu bull. • Klipspringer • Young male lion. • Dominant male lion. • Dining room. • Blesbok. • Impala herd. • Eland. • Elephant. • Giraffe walking. • Giraffe. • Termite hill. • Warthog. • Barbecue African style. |
| Venus Transit: Astronomy is not just for nerds anymore! (back to home page) |
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• Maria working the telescope. • Menagerie of telescopes. • Venus transit. • Sunspotter. • Ostrich astronomer. |
| Southern Skies: The most spectacular sights of our trip. (back to home page) |
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• Milky Way. • Omega Centauri. |
| Cradle of Humankind: We learn about prehistoric humans and how the evidence has been collected about them. (back to home page) |
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• Mt. Grace resort. • Our room at the Mt. Grace resort. • Sterkfontein caves. • Paleoanthropologist with hominid skulls. • Mrs. Ples. • Extracting fossils. • Field workshop. |
| Radio Astronomy: This actually is just for nerds. (back to home page) |
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• Hartebeesthoek radio astronomy observatory. • Group photo op. • Tour guides. • Control room. • Radio survey of the sky. |
| South Africa Today: Some drive-by snapshots of life in South Africa. (back to home page) |
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• Primitive settlement. • Settlement. • Gated community. • Real estate offer. • Urban impala. • Combi. • Sunset on Johannesburg. |
| Cape Town: The San Francisco of Africa, but with much more. (back to home page) |
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• Cape Town map. • Cape Town. • Waterfront. • Table Mountain. • Cape Town and its peninsula. • Cape Peninsula houses. • Cape Point. • African penguins. • Helmeted guineafowl. • Sea lions. • Crane flower. • Portswood Hotel. • Groote Schuur Hospital. • Table Mountain finally clears. • Funicular. • View from funicular. • View from the top. • Student celebration. |
| Robben Island: We start to answer the Big Question about South Africa. (back to home page) |
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• Mbecki political sign. • Robben Island from Table Mountain. • Robben Island entrance. • Outside Nelson Mandela's cell. • Nelson Mandela's prison cell. • Limestone quarry. • Arriving prisoners. • Sleeping mat. • Segregated food rations. • Tour guide. • Quotation. |
| Postscript: A parting shot. (back to home page) |
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• Sunrise in flight. |
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