East London, South Africa

After over three months living with just seniors, while Mark stayed on the ship, I couldn't wait to see children again, this time at a daycare in an East London township. Our group of nine was welcomed by the soft-spoken principal who had started the small center 25 years ago. It's open from 7AM-6PM Monday-Friday. We moved from classroom to classroom charmed by the children who sang songs for us in Xhosa and English. Both languages are spoken in the school and in homes. We couldn’t hear the click in the Xhosa songs since that is developed and gets louder with age.

One Class at Zamani Day Care

Although not a Christian school, some songs were about Jesus. Others were about sharing the love which we truly felt as they all “loved on us” with hugs, smiles, kisses, and the thumb flick which took a minute to understand.


At first, I just thought they were giving us a thumbs up, but when she did it back, they all started touching their thumb to mine. Our guide explained that this quick touch of thumbs is the Xhosa hello and goodbye.

Saying Goodbye with Hugs and Touching Thumbs

Preparing to Sing for Us

The principal was showing us the beans and samp being prepared for lunch when she dropped the bag and raced to the front of the school. We assumed a student had been hurt. After several minutes we walked to the front yard where a crowd had gathered and police vans were parked along the road investigating a crime scene…our bus. While we were in the school, two men had pulled a gun on our driver, taken his phone and money and then gone through the two backpacks on the bus. I wasn’t worried about the money, but I was hoping they didn’t take my passport. Two hours later when I was allowed on the bus to check, the money was gone, but my passport was thankfully there! The general manager of Viking and the shore excursion manager soon arrived in another bus to escort us back to the ship although no one was ever in any danger. My heart broke for the principal who clung to me for a good five minutes repeating,” I’m so sorry…I’m just so sorry.” She depends on these tours to help fund the school since many parents can’t afford to pay the $10/week fee. Hopefully, they will continue and not stop
because of this one incident. The rest of the township tour
was canceled, and we were driven directly back to the ship.

The Police and Small Crowd outside the School After our Bus was Robbed

Homes and Business in the Township

Typical Car Wash

That afternoon we drove through the city of East London, past the old colonial city hall to the East London museum.

Parts of East London were Very Well Off...City Hall

While the rest of the group learned about extinct fish… I wandered up to the second-floor exhibits where Avide, my guide that morning explained more about the Xhosa people and customs. A few facts…Xhosa people make up almost 20% of SA’s population, second to Zulu. They live mostly in the Eastern and Western Cape of South Africa in townships. During apartheid, the males were only allowed to work in the mines and the effects of apartheid can still be seen in the poverty of those living in the townships like we had visited that morning. Xhosa people traditionally worship their ancestors and believe in a creator, yet many are Christians due to the work of the missionaries. Like the Navajo people, these religions mix. (80% of South Africa are Christian) They traditionally lived in beehive-shaped huts which still can be seen near modern homes on the hillsides. President Nelson Mandela belonged to this ethnic group. Their language has unique clicks for letters C, X, and Q. It’s amazing!

Xhosa Marriage Clothing on the Left

Interesting to me was a clothing custom still followed today. As with the Zulu people, the groom pays a dowry to show respect to the bride’s family. This price is negotiated and can be money, cows,(traditionally the Xhosa people were herders) or even washing machines. Our guide’s husband had paid in cash, the cost of two cows. When the bride first enters the home of her husband’s family, she is redressed in a certain headscarf to differentiate herself from single women…a long skirt with an apron which symbolizes that she will cover problems and not share them with anyone outside the family, and a cape. After six months she becomes a trusted and accepted member of the family and again wears her regular clothing.

Coelacanth Fish

While Carol was engrossed in tribal customs, I continued on the tour by the museum guide. The museum had several prize specimens.  The main one was the Coelacanth fish. This species, that can be found in fossils dating back 400 million years, was felt to be extinct until one was pulled in by a local fisherman in 1938. Since then 100 others have been found in other parts of the world, some of them monitored to learn their habits. They have several unusual features worth commenting on. One is unusually hard scales that act like the armor of some dinosaurs.  Another is the pectoral fins that look like subby arms with elbows and used in propelling forward with alternate fin stroking. The swim bladder that most fish have filled with air to allow them to stay at the same depth, are filled instead with fat, that actually helps keep them righted.  And 90% of the brain cavity is filled with fat. Truly an odd specimen.

Opah Warm Blooded Fish

The other interesting fish on display was the Opah fish, which is the only warm-blooded fish known to man.  Along with fish, the museum boasted of the only known Dodo egg and had a life-size display of a dodo bird, created after reviewing all articles and pictures in the archives. 

Dodo Bird and Egg

We drove past beautiful homes on the way to East London’s waterfront where we saw the German immigrant statue. Many Germans had come to SA back in the 1600s. Then in the late 1800s, close to 4000 Germans farmers, immigrated to East London to supply provisions needed to restock ships of the Dutch East India Company. This explains the many towns with German names in the region.

Coastline in Front of  Statues and Mosaics to German Immigrants

German Immigrant
Statue at Waterfront