Okkie Jooste Camp

My Biofabulous weekend spent at Okkie Jooste Camp

When I first arrived on the camp site I was not impressed. Firstly the place was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains and trees and it was kilometers away from home. Despite my lack of enthusiasm I was hoping for the best and praying that atleast the food would be good. My prayers were answered, and the menu was filled with mouth watering treats. The first day was not too hectic but as soon as I got into my sleeping bag I fell asleep. We had to wake up early in the morning and I was welcomed to camp-life by a cold shower.

My team,Red, was a bunch of competitive beasts and we won any game we could. The team building activities and the night hike were the highlights of the camp for me. During the night hike the crazy Red team along with our leader,Bradley, were pranking the other teams. Although most of our pranks proved to be total fails, we still managed to have a whole lot of fun laughing.

By the time we left Okkie Jooste I had fallen in love with the place and was not eager on leaving. As soon as I got to the city I realized how calmer it is out there in the mountains and how fresh the air was. The sounds of the river crashing against the rocks , the cry of the frogs and the birds on the trees was really comforting and I would really go back there. 

SAMMY'S NATURE RESERVE EXPERIENCE 

In the morning I was not too eager to go to the excursion because I thought we were going to be required to spend a large amount of time walking in around in an open field and completing a boring long worksheet. But to my surprise the day was rather exciting and  I enjoyed myself. In the bus I made sure I sat close to the window and viewed the amazing sights as the bus drove down the road .The view of the mountain lay on my left and the ocean on the right. In the bus it was rowdy and loud, as my classmates and I made jokes, but at some point we were distracted from our conversations as the bus suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and as we peeked out, to see what the delay was about. The cause of the commotion was caused by an ostrich crossing the road. That was when I realised that we had just entered a place of isolation from our usual urban surroundings and now we were about to explore a place where nature was still conserved and treasured.

                                        

Ostrich living on the reserve

Baboons found on the path to the light house

We first made a stop at  the information centre. The first thing I noticed when I got out was that the loud sounds of traffic was no longer audible and I was surrounded by open fields where the only sign of human settlements was the small building of the information house. We then went to the lighthouse and made the long journey up the top of the mountain. On my way up I saw baboons and a lot of tourists. It surprised me that most of the people exploring the sites were not South African and this made me see how we take nature for granted. The higher we climbed the more vicious and violent the wind seemed to be and my ears were closing up because of the change in altitude .  By the time I reached the top I was completely out of  breath and tired but the sight that awaited me  made the strenuous climb all worthwhile . I looked down and saw the blue ocean, the green of the grass and the activity of the birds and animals moving around in the area.

                                              

                       

We then went to the beach and the first thing that caught my attention was the fresh smell of clean air and I couldn’t help but wish that I would wake up to that smell every day.  I took a lot of pictures and made sure that the memory of the experience remained was well documented.   

Africa is famous for being one of the most beautiful continents in the world. This is because is rich in nature and it has wonderful greenery, open fields ,mountains ,hills and plenty of other beautiful sites to explore . The excursion to the Cape Point Reserve made me appreciate the beauty of the country even more and this motivated me to live in a way that perseveres the environment and respects nature. 

                                      

                                                  MY EXPRIENCE IN THE ECP MODULE


 Before I got started with the Life Science 151 module I was sceptic and I did not know what to expect because it is my first year in varsity I assumed that everything is going to be hard . My first lecture was very interesting and fun that I became even more fascinated by the subject and much more curious about life and how the human body and nature work. I always associated Life Science with serious people who spend most of their time in a lab looking through the microscope but I saw my lecturer and realise that my assumptions were far from the truth. My lecturer proved to be a very carefree person and because of her enthusiasm for the module I enjoyed my lessons although there were days I was not keen to engage in activities. My first practical was very exciting, however the price of excitement was a heat rash and an unwanted tan, we were taken out to the Nature Reserve and I really felt like a Scientist out there in the bushes observing the environmental and seeing how human activity affects the nature. The days experience made me think that every practical was going to be just as stimulating but to my disappointment I was going to spend the rest of the year cooped up in a bland laboratory writing reports. Despite the morbid mood of the labs I really enjoyed using the microscopes and engaging in lessons that were done during the week. As childish as this might sound I admit that I enjoyed having the chance to role play the “I am a scientist” role and I really got a glimpse of what working in the lab is going to be like and in that way by the time I reach my final year I will know what kind of environment I want to work in.

Oh!! now I have to talk about ISC, even thinking about the module gives me a headache. The only section of ISC that I manage to enjoy is Living And Learning but the rest of it is just made up of strenuous tasks and activities that seem to have no necessity. But after much deliberation and moments of annoyance I realised that despising ISC is not helping at all but in fact its causing me stress and continuing to be negative about it will result in me failing the whole Module .  After I came to except ISC I started seeing how helpful it is and began to implement and use the tools that were being taught.

The maths department really put a lot of effort in my development and as result my maths marks have improved. With continues workshops and open consultation maths has become less of a chore and more like a stepping stone to a better tomorrow.

Despite all the struggles I had to face, of deadlines , tests  and days of hating varsity I learnt a lot and thanks to ECP my learning was fun.