Long long ago when Karen was in early elementary school, her Dad would read aloud to hear at bedtime. Sometimes they were historical novels aimed at young readers. One of the books was about Sacajawea, Bird Woman. Today we visited the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Park where she lived as a young woman married to Toussaint Charbonneau before Lewis & Clark hired him (them) as guide and interpreters. The contour of the land at the actual site of the village still shows depressions at the sites where the earth lodges once stood. The park service has built a replica of a Hidatsa earth lodge. It’s easy to envision an extended family living in this comfortable space. We particularly enjoyed discussions with the rangers Jeff and Dave giving us a broad overview of the trading patterns among the Native American nations including how the Knife River got its name and specifics about Hidatsa and Mandan society and about Sakakawea and Charbonneau.
Queen Mary 2’s arrival in the Port of Dakar, Senegal was heralded in the local press and greeted with ceremony. Our own excursion took us on a coach journey through the streets of the capital city to visit a Wolof village and the shore of Lake Retba, the salty lake famed for an intense pink color.
Today’s safari adventure transported us out into the Dorob National Park to have up close encounters with little creatures that are well adapted to the extreme heat and lack of water in the Namib Desert.
With a UNESCO World Heritage Site, two national parks, dozens of museums, and hundreds of tours offered in the Cape Town area there is more than plenty to do. For our two day visit we opted to concentrate on African wildlife visiting the Aquila Private Game Reserve and the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony for a wonderful chance to these fabulous animals in their own habitat.
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