School group enjoy History of Cape Town

With great excitement the group of grade 7 learners arrived at the museum after a bus trip to the V&A Waterfront. They were welcomed and provided a briefing of what to expect, cautioned to not run and informed that all staff at the Chavonnes Battery are passionate about sharing the history of Cape Town and have undertaken First Aid Courses so they are in good hands, should anything happen.

While tucking into hot dogs and a Minute Maid juice, they enjoyed a storytelling session with Willem Steenkamp, historian, storyteller and author of 19 published books. He shared with them the story of the famous pirate Van Hunks who settled at the Cape and held a smoking competition with the devil. (Hence the cloud on Table Mountain). He also told them the story of why the baboon has a kink in its tail. One of the learners had been delegated to thank him and shared that they heard stories like these during "Volks Verhale" and they were very happy to have two stories they could now go and share.

In small groups with their guides dressed in period costume, they then enjoyed a tour of the Chavonnes Battery where they learned all about life at the Cape during the 17th and 18th centuries, about the VOC Fort, cannons and how to load and fire a cannon, about shipwrecks and lifesaving and about the people, who they were and where they came from.

After a Q&A session where each child won a prize for answering the questions correctly about what they had learned, they were allowed time to visit the bathroom before being given a goodie bag which included an NSRI magazine, a few sweeties and a small toy.

They then enjoyed a leisurely stroll highlighting some of the 22 historical points of interest at the V&A Waterfront on the walk back to the bus.

The Chavonnes Battery team are very thankful for the opportunity to share the experience with the learners and for our Tourist Guide trainees to get more experience in guiding groups of all ages. Sincere thank you to PenBev for their sponsorship. We look forward to hosting our next school in the near future. (Click here for pics of previous schools)

All pictures courtesy of Craig A Wilson