The Phoenix Sun

It really was a perfect day when I took this GigaPan image at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, South Africa. Composed of 160 individual photos, the panorama covers 260 degrees in width. One of the joys of viewing a GigaPan is that it’s a participatory process. Hiding within those 260 degrees are probably upwards of a hundred species of plants — all indigenous to South Africa — and birds, insects and a few humans. Feel free, of course, to explore here by zooming in on anything that intrigues you. But, if you want to share your finds, you can create one of those snapshots you see at the bottom of the picture. To do that, click here to go to the image’s true home, on the GigaPan Website.

I’ll write later about our (Toyota International Teacher Program) Sunday trip to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 17 of his 27 years in South African prisons. I’ll also have to wait to write about visiting with residents of Mufleini, the largest “township” in the Cape Town area. Both days held powerful experiences — and that’s why they’ll have to wait. Complexity demands reflection and there was nothing simple about the past two days.

Since we arrived in Cape Town on Monday, it seems as if everywhere I look, Table Mountain is there. It dominates any view of the city, and it’s breathtaking every time I see the mountain. Up close, one can see zebras roaming the slopes and small herds of springboks. Tomorrow morning (which is only a few hours away now), several of the teachers on this program and I will take a cable car to a point below the summit and then hike the rest of the way up. We have to return to our hotel to catch a 1:30 bus that will take us to Kirstenbosch — one of the most important gardens in the world. The visit has special meaning for me — as supporters of my Kickstarter project know.

If the weather is clear tomorrow, as it’s been since we arrived, I plan on making a GigaPan image of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain. Here’s hoping for good weather.

I got up before “the great heat” descended on us this morning and hiked to good spot to hone my GigaPan skills. Gotta learn quickly — the trip to South African is just around the corner. I want to get as many decent GigaPan shots in as I can before embarking on the Kirstenbosch Project.

Piestewa Peak is a special place for me. It’s just a short drive from my house and I’ve hiked to the summit too many times to count over the past decade. Mostly, it’s special because I’ve had the good fortune to get to know the family of the young soldier for whom the peak was named: Lori Ann Piestewa. What started out as an article for Rolling Stone magazine on the first Native American woman to die in combat fighting for the United States (Iraq March 23, 2003), became much more. I drove up to Tuba City to interview Lori’s family. Her mother, Percy, and father Terry lived in Tuba City on the Navajo Reservation at the time. Her Dad is Hopi, her Mom is Mexican American, and the husband of her two (adorable) children, Carla and Brandon, is Navajo.

After the article was finished, we all stayed in touch. Percy and Terry included my family and me in birthday celebrations and I met aunties and uncles, brothers, Lori’s sister, grandparents, cousins. That’s the thing I’ve noticed about a lot of Native peoples — there’s a very thin line between friends and family. Once you’ve become a friend — you suddenly have a new extended family!

I often think about Lori when I hike on Piestewa Peak, especially when standing on the summit. It’s a strange feeling — Lori, the young warrior I wrote about, is one of the few people in her family I’ve never met. And can never meet.

It’s a special place, Piestewa Peak. Enjoy the view. (It’s easier to see it fully over here on the GigaPan site.)