PALMIET NATURE RESERVE 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL COMMUNITY WALK 2016

ARROWSA once more led a community educational activity at the Palmiet Nature Reserve thanks to  an invitation from Warren Friedman and Jean Senogles of the Palmiet Nature Reserve Committee. Thanks to Palmiet Nature Reserve staff Sandile for facilitating the use of the well kept hall and premises at the reserve.

Mary Lange, ARROWSA Chair and facilitator, once more led a community walk in the Palmiet Nature Reserve to the iGwalagwala Cliff archaeological dig in March 2016.  Mary started the morning with a brief introduction to the physical evidence found in the area before the group went on a walk to the site.  Due to a massive storm in Durban prior to the walk the dig had a large amount of soil washed into it despite the tarpaulin cover. After the walk interest was shown by other tourist sites for Mary to take their guides on the walk as part of their training in the use of experiential and interactive tour guiding.

Palmiet Nature Reserve and Bergtheil Museum partnership with eThekwini Local History Museums' Passbook Competition continues-

March-April school visits 

Yellowwood Primary School grade 5’s visited the Palmiet Nature Reserve and the Bergtheil Museum in March 2016. Over 130 learners and the teachers attended and their visit was part of the Local History Museum's Passbook Competition.

Nature walks were led by Palmiet Nature Reserve Committee members Jean Senogles and Warren Friedman. ARROWSA chair and facilitator,  Mary Lange, introduced the learners to physical evidence of the cross cultural occupation of the iGwalagwala shelter and surrounding areas in prehistory and recent history.

Big thanks to the Palmiet Nature Reserve field rangers Jeremiah Sihlangu, Philip Mnembe and Sandile Duma for their great help.

The learners picnicked at the Palmiet Nature Reserve before going on to the Bergtheil Museum. At the Bergtheil Museum historian Alvine Calboutin facilitated the learners tour of the museum.  Gogo Aslina Madikizela and Mary entertained and educated the learners in the Bergtheil Museum's teaching room with oral narratives.

In April 2016 Reservoir Hills Primary School visited the Palmiet Nature Reserve, Bergtheil Museum and Pinetown Museums as part of the eThekwini Local History Museums' Passbook Competition. 

Resmount Primary School's Grade 6 (88 learners)  and Grade 5 (92 learners) classes attended the Palmiet Nature Reserve on the 13th and 14th April 2016 respectively. Their experiential environmental awareness  and cultural usage of the natural heritage by inhabitants of the PNR's past  was facilitated by Mary (ARROWSA) , Jean (PNR Committee), Johannes, Phillip and Sandile (PNR field rangers). Nick Evans also presented on both days an experiential interactive educational talk on snakes and  myths and reality related to them . 

The school's attendance was part of the eThekwini Passbook Competition and they therefore went on to the Bergtheil Museum after the Palmiet Nature Reserve in order to view the exhibition on the Palmiet Nature Reserve and other cultural artefacts linked to the area's heritage. At the Bergtheil Mary and Alvine facilitated the museum tours. Before the learners visited the exhibition at the Bergtheil Alvine linked the museum to the Palmiet by showing the learners large photographs of early settlers holding rock pythons that were hunted in the Palmiet area.  

She also told them a story of the Koningkramer boy who had an encounter with a Rock Python in the Palmiet area. She emphasised that these reptiles are now protected in the Palmiet Nature Reserve.