It’s officially winter and although it’s the coldest month of the year, we still want to get out of the house for some action. Here’s our favourite adventure for the chilly season: Every year between June and December, whales migrate to the Cape shores to mate and calve while giving us land-lubbers the opportunity to get up close to these gentle ocean giants during marine tours.
Photography gallo/ gettyimages; Illustration Jess Nicholson
Romonza Boat Trips
Mossel Bay
044 690 3101
romonzaboattrips.co.za
Dyer Island Cruises
Gansbaai
082 801 8014
whalewatchsa.com
This Day in History
June 5, 1832
The young writer Victor Hugo was strolling in Paris when he witnessed angry Parisians manning the barricades as they were fired upon by king Louis-Philippe’s soldiers. Hugo made his escape but the moment stayed with him, becoming the inspiration for his novel (and later hit musical and film) Les Misérables.
June 7, 1934
The world’s most famous duck, Donald, made his first appearance in the Walt Disney cartoon The Wise Little Hen, based on the fairy tale of The Little Red Hen.
June 9, 2008
American baseball player Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th career home run, becoming only the sixth player in the entire league to accomplish this feat.
June 16, 1963
Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She was launched into space aboard the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits of the Earth in 71 hours.
June 25, 1978
An artist in San Francisco, Gilbert Baker, designed a hippie-influenced rainbow flag with eight stripes, to be flown during the city’s Gay Freedom Day Parade.
Sources: Britannica
Southern Hemisphere Winter solstice 21 June
For centuries, cultures around the world have celebrated the solstices, throwing wild festivals and building structures in honour of these celestial events.
Stonehenge has a famously special connection to the solstices. On June 21, people gather to watch the sunrise line up perfectly above Heel Stone, which stands outside the main circle.
A similar ritual plays out in Egypt, where, if you stand at the foot of the Sphinx, the sun sets precisely between the pyramids of Khafre and Khufu.
At Machu Picchu, home of the sun-worshipping Incas, the sun shines through a window at the Temple of the Sun built so that the light would shine on a specific carving on sacred rock on the winter solstice.
In Scandinavia, the Midsummer festival stems from pagan times but is still celebrated today. In Sweden, people listen to traditional folk music and dance around the midsummer pole, while houses are decorated with wreaths and garlands. In Denmark, they celebrate Midsummer’s eve, marked by lighting large bonfires.