THE EVENTS AT THE CAPE POINT RESERVE ON THE 27TH OF SEPTEMBER.

MY  EXPERIENCE AT THE CAPE POINT NATURE  RESERVE

On the 27^th of September 2013 both group 1 and group 2 went to the cape point reserve to gain more experience about the plants and animals. The trip was amazing and fun even though it was showering and windy at some point. The day started very well and ended very well as I enjoyed taking pictures of the plants and the animals and me off course. Our first stop was at Baffles bay information center  were we stopped to go to the toilets, and there were fossils of animals and background information about them. It was so beautiful, but we did not take that much time there as we were just there for toilets, I saw baboons as well, and they were so friendly that they allowed us to take them pictures, and we took pictures as well. When everybody was done we went back to the bus and off we went to the cape point nature reserve.

 Cape point nature reserve has a very beautiful view and lots of tourists, it is so beautiful that each and picture that you take just looks good. There was lots of tourist from different places around the world just to see the light house and the ocean, where Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean meet; I didn't get to see that though is it was so windy, if I was not strong enough the wind was going to blow me off. I saw different types of animals at the cape point, animals like baboons, and birds and more, and I saw very nice caterpillar with orange colors and little fur, it was very nice. The air was very pure and refreshing, the sound of the ocean and waves was mind clearing, I was stress free, and I even forgot about the problems that I had for that moment. Not forgetting about the walking, when I was going up to the light house…I thought I was fit enough but I just released that I need to stop eating the junk I have been eating and start exercising more, it was so hard that I even felt like giving up, but just because I really wanted to go up and take pictures and see the light house, I just pushed myself to the top, It was not easy, and I advise you that if you know that you are going there you should start exercising and eating healthier a month before that because you will never survive. The tuck shops at the nature reserve are so expensive, the prices are ridiculously high, the sandwich was R 35 and the coffee was R 20  Those prices are for tourists not us south Africans, which are expensive. When we was on our way to the buses from the light house, the rain starts showering but we made it to the buses and off we went to Cape of good hope.

The Cape of Good Hope is beautiful but not as beautiful at the nature reserve, the view is nice and the air is refreshing as well, I dint go up the hill, as I was tired from the climbing of the light house. We were closer to the ocean and the waves were so powerful as a result of the wind. I took lots of beautiful pictures with benga and my friend. It was very lovely day and I have learned more that day. I am even more into nature than before. On our way back home I saw an ostrich, and it was so beautiful. I had a fantastic day but I had to come back to Bellville

REFLECTIVE ESSAY ON MY EXPERIENCE OF BEING PART OF ECP

ECP is a very good program for all students to take, as all of us are from a secondary school and as we all know that secondary schools do not prepare us for the university. The university life and work is way too different from the secondary life and work..but ECP helps to pick you up and get you ready for university. 

ECP contains three modules, which are LFS 151, MAM 150 and ISC 153, and ISC 153 is divided into 5 sections which are, AL, QL, CL, LL and IL. All the three modules that we are doing are the starting point of the university life...getting us ready for university.

The experience that i gained in LFS 151 is about life and the environment. Most of the stuff we did them in secondary but we did not go deeply into the topics, but with LFS 151 we go deeply into the topics, and learn more about life and organisms. Our LFS 151 lecturer mrs Maryke uses movie or clips a lot to help us even more on what we will be learning, which i find it more helpful because sometimes it is hard to understand what is written in the book but when she start explaining using the clips, it becomes more easier and more fun, I think we should use clips all the time.

The experience i gained in MAM 150 is not really a lot as we did maths in secondary, but the only difference with MAM 150 is that the university math is more difficult than the secondary math, and in secondary they used to give us formula sheet and in university they expect us to know all the formulas by heart, but our mam 150 try hard to help us with every difficulties we have and they provide us with formula sheets to help us.

 The experience i gained in ISC 153 is really a lot. I Think ISC 153 is the major subject of ECP as it teaches us everything. At the begging of the year when they introduced ISC 153 to us, i thought it was i total different thing, i thought it was about science and the basic formulas of physical science. I thought maybe it is physical sciences but the easy one, not knowing how challenging it is, and needs more time as it has lots of work. ISC 153 is very helpful as it helps us with our critical thinking, vocabulary, how to write and think scientifically, graduate attributes, how to use coherence makers, and more. 

Overall the ECP is very helpful, and i think each i every student who starts the university should start with this program as it gives one a foundation of what the university is all about, and prepares one to be a good scientist in future, as one learn about how to become a good scientist and how to write and think scientifically, and how to do the researches and experiments.