Aloha meets Ubuntu

photo: Jason Patterson

I first started following the voyage of the Hokule'a last year at the suggestion of a friend who knew how much Vince and I enjoy the sport of sailing. At the time, the Hokule'a had just embarked on a historic leg of their worldwide journey, namely from Hawaii to Cape Town.

Their voyage is significant on many levels, but perhaps most notable is the fact that this particular leg signified the youngest culture (Polynesian) arriving at the cradle of humanity where the oldest cultures of mankind originated. This "reverse-migration" story with people returning to their roots piqued my interest even more than the sailing. I have been tracking the voyage ever since!

The crew of Hokule'a made landfall on the African continent in mid-October arriving in Maputo, Mozambique. From there, they made their way to Richards Bay in South Africa before stopping in Mossel Bay where they visited Pinnacle Point, an archaeological site where some of the oldest known hominin fossils have been unearthed. From there, Hokule'a rounded Cape Agulhas, the southern most point on the continent of Africa.

photo from TEC FB page

Along the way they picked up National Geographic photographer and The Explorers Club Fellow Dan Lin (right) who is from Simons Town, South Africa. Lin and TEC Fellow Nainoa Thompson (left) sailed across the southern tip of Africa and into the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Hokule'a with #ECFlag 124. This marks the first time in known history that a vessel from the Pacific Islands has ever reached the Atlantic.

Hokule'a finally reached Cape Town more than a month after landing in Africa where they were greeted by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the spirit of Ubuntu for which he is a proponent. I had hoped to be in Cape Town to welcome them too when they arrived in port, but a little thing like moving to Asia at the end of November put the kibosh on that plan. 

However Vince was in Cape Town last week for work (and a stop over at the Royal Cape Yacht Club for a farewell drink in order to watch a friend's son race). He managed at least to make it over to the V&A where the Hokule'a is docked during its stay in Cape Town. The crew was not in to say Aloha to, but Vince kindly took a few pictures of the vessel for me to see. Amazing!



 

"Aloha" is a Hawaiian greeting and farewell that conveys affection, peace, mercy and compassion. "Ubuntu" is a Nguni Bantu term roughly translating to "human kindness." It is an idea from the Southern African region which means literally "human-ness", and is often translated as "humanity towards others", but is often used in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. 

I would have loved to have been there to see Aloha meet Ubuntu in person, but unfortunately the timing was just not on my side. I am encouraged though to know that at least it did happen.

 





To read more about the voyage of the Hokule'a check out these articles in:
The New York Times
and
National Geographic.

To track the voyage in real time, visit their website tracker, 

(Please note that the Polynesian Voyaging Society owns the trademark for the image of the voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a™)