On the 27th of September the 1st
year students went on a field trip to the Cape Point Nature Reserve.
I have never been to the Cape Point Nature
Reserve before and found it to be an interesting experience.
I learnt lots of
new things about the history of the lighthouses as well as the indigenous
plants that reside within the reserve. I really hated the weather as it was
very cold and wet at times. I found it really strange that at Cape Point, the
wind was extremely strong compared to other areas, especially on higher
grounds. I did not know that Cape Point Nature Reserve was actually such a
widespread area.
I enjoy being surrounded by nature and I would not mind studying
in a nature reserve, lol. I couldn’t really identify any kinds of smells in the
nature reserve, however the sea let off a nasty smell at certain areas in the
park (I still wonder why, because sea water supposed to have a “fresh” odour).
I hoped to see more animals though; all I saw were a few baboons, an ostrich
and one or two birds. The walk up to the lighthouse was torture! It is amazing
to see how unfit we are as first year students at such a young age. I was out
of breath by the time I reached halfway, but i wanted to get to the top and just
kept going. I also enjoyed going up the
trail to the top f the rock ridge. Nobody went up, most people were too tired
and just went either halfway or they just stayed at the bottom. I made it to
the top and had lunch there. I’m not much a camera type of person but this day
was an exception as I went ahead and jus took a bunch of photos.
I hated the
bus ride so much! Firstly, it was long and slow. Secondly, the seats were
really uncomfortable as it was too straight up and hurt my back. And last but not least, there was no music in
the bus or some form of entertainment. My mathematics lecturers were quite
annoyed to hear that we won’t be there on Friday because we will be missing a
mathematics lecture. I wish all or most of our practicals could be in an open
area or more “practical“ and not just based in a lab. I observed a lot about
the nature reserve and think that the country needs to invest more money on its
Nature Reserves. Poaching levels are on the rise and I noticed that there is no
sense of security or Park rangers to monitor what people do and to ensure the
safety of people, animals and plants is taken care of. Baboons tend to be
aggressive at times and I believe that anything can happen with them around and
people would not know how to handle the situation correctly. Overall, I would say that I don’t regret
going as it was a fun day for all.
