Today we traveled to Pretoria, the administrative capitol of S A and a very beautiful historic city, its streets lined with over 5000 Jacaranda trees. Although not in bloom now, with my eyes closed I could envision clouds of blue as far as the eye could see! Oue first stop was the Voortrek museum built to honor the pioneers that left the Cape between 1830-1850. There were beautiful gardens surrounding the museam and I was swept away by the blooming tree aloes, with their red, yellow, or orange, blossoms, some over eight feet tall! Spectacular. Our next stop was the Union Building which housed the president and foreign ministers. WHile there I watched an elderly African woman weaving necklaces from beads. SHe graciously allowed me to take her picture and I purchased one of her beautiful necklaces. CHeck them out in our slideshow. Next we traveled to Sterkfontain Caves known as the Cradle of Humankind. One of the world's most important palaoanthropological sits. We saw "little foot" an almost complete austropithecine skeleton dating back 3 million years ago, possibly pre Lucy. Our guide through the caves was a charming and knowledgeable young lady whose name was Adelaide Metsinani. Trained in the art of tour guiding at FGASA, a government sponsored school, she studied archeological, anthropological, and gological science for two years in order to become certified as a guide. Her knowledge and great sense of humor kept us all enthralled.Thank you Adelin! Pennie C.

Whew - what a great day! We started out with an early morning drive to Pretoria, South Africa. Our first stop was the Voortrekker monument and museum. What an incredible piece of architecture and flora! We were able to better understand the South African history by viewing the unique marble Frieze. These 27 panels of marble depict the story of the Great Trek from 1835 to 1852. From there we visited downtown Pretoria. We were able to see Church Square and its great monument to Paul Kruger. It was then off to the grounds of the Union buildings. These buildings house the President's Office and the Foreign Ministry. Sterkfontein Caves and the Cradle of Humankind were next on our itinerary. We were able walk 60 meters underground and view the final resting place of "Little Foot", the 3.3 million year old skeleton. This excavation is currently in process and when completed will deliver the oldest known human remains. We also stopped at Maropeng (Maropeng means "return to the place of origin") museum for lunch and a self guided tour of the interactive exhibits. These exhibits showed the beginnings of human kind and challenged each of us with thought provoking statements regarding the future of mankind. After a fun filled day in the field, our group was more than ready to head back to our hotel for a bit of R&R. Please check out our fantastic array of photos in the slideshow. We have over 300 great pictures of our exciting South African adventure. See you on Tuesday! Mark Z & Coni

Want to hear a little about about the trip over? Then listen to the first podcast from Discovery Educator Abroad: South Africa! If you check it out in iTunes or on your iPod, you'll be able to see the accompanying images as well. Click here to download the podcast Note: To view the photos with the podcast use Quicktime to open the file.

Today was quite a busy day. Last night I only got two hours of sleep so I thought that it would be good to have some coffee. I ended up having two cups of coffee. But these were not any regular cups of coffee. Each cup contained about 3 shots of expresso. This was not good for me. It made my head feel woozy for the rest of the day but it did not take away from our journey. We went to some beautiful places today. I will leave it to my teammates to explain what we did today. I encourage you to take a look at all of the great pictures that we have taken so far. I must say that this is an amazing trip and I will never forget it. All of the people that we have met have been so hospitable and friendly. I have learned so much and we are only on day 2.

by Mark Zinselmeier With a great night sleep behind us, we are ready for Monday's adventures. We are off to Pretoria and the Cradle of Humankind. In Pretoria, we will see the Voortrekker Monument that honors the Voortrekkers who rejected British rule in the Cape and in 1835-38 trekked into hinterland to found their own nation. Pretoria is also the administrative capital of South Africa. Can't wait to share the experience with you all later tonight! Mark PS - Keep your eyes open for a Discovery mystery guest who will join our team today!