The Dust of Africa...

2/19 – 2/24

Day 28 – This morning after Robyn and I along with a few other brave Eskimos survived an extremely cold, windy, and short night out on the deck. But to see the lights and coast of Africa rise up from the unbroken darkness of the horizon was an unforgettable experience. This was Africa! A place that until that moment had seemed a mystical and far off land worlds apart. The silhouette of Table Mountain provided the backdrop to a sparkling city by the water. Despite being exhausted a few hours later Kate, Kait, Robyn, and I stepped off the ship onto a spectacular wharf with incredible views of the mountains surrounding Cape Town. This was a much cleaner city than Salvador and we were immediately taken by it. It is heavily westernized with a wharf side shopping mall that would not have looked out of place back in the States. Moving around the city and communicating was also a breeze as everyone we talked to spoke English and signs were in English and Afrikaans.

We spent our first few hours exploring the Waterfront and the shops near there. Shopping was quite enjoyable as the dollar enjoyed a quite favorable exchange of about 1 to 7.5 rand, making everything quite inexpensive. We also grabbed lunch at a quaint little Italian restaurant where we ate streetside to the music of a band composed of a saxophone, maracas, some kind of percussive instrument, and a cello. It was one of the most relaxing mornings I’ve had! Here we were sitting beneath an umbrella on a beautiful clear day at a sidewalk café in Africa!!! After our meal we made our way to the Waterfront clock tower where we met with my CU TA’s mother Alison. She was an incredibly pleasant person and extremely welcoming. As she drove us to the Rhodes memorial, a massive statue with a surrounding monument built into the slope of Table Mountain in honor of the man who envisioned South Africa’s economy she told us of the history of the city which has been at the forefront of the turbulent years following the end of Apartheid in 1994. It was very interesting to talk to someone who had actually lived through a period we had spent so much time learning about.

After Rhodes we continued on to the Groot Constantia vineyards for a tour and wine tasting. The wines were excellent and the vineyard breathtaking with gently sloping emerald green hills nestled against the jagged piercing peaks of the mountains with a view of the Atlantic Ocean to top it all. I suppose with this wine tasting we are now all cultured adults! After the winery we went back to Alison’s house in a very upscale neighborhood where the fenced in and gated homes exhibit terraces, fountains, and swimming pools. There we met her husband Dennis and their son Gary who were both also very welcoming and cordial.

We took an early evening walk on a trail running behind their house with their very affectionate rescued dog Kitt. The walking path was very heavily forested, but interestingly contains all exotic plants from Europe and elsewhere and very few indigenous ones as they were brought by the European settlers hundreds of years ago.

For the evening we enjoyed a Bry where we were served Ostrich fillets, Springbok Biltong (a jerky like method of preparing meat that tastes much better), and some kind of sausage. We also enjoyed their different soft drinks such as Ginger Beer (my personal favorite, carbonated but with a spicy aftertaste), Appletizer, and Grapetizer. Fortunately they had internet access as well so we were able to make some contact with family and friends. I slept out on a balcony on the second floor which was effectively its own apartment where Gary lived. I found it interesting he was also on Facebook and listened to the same kind of music we hear on the radio back in the States.

Day 29 – Today we had a very relaxing morning lounging around and enjoying actually seeing live television and news before heading to Boulders Beach which is renowned for its large penguin colony. We had take out lunch and ate amongst the penguins on top of massive boulders that were strewn about as though a giant carrying a sack of rocks had simply tossed them there. Most of the penguins reminded me of college students at a lecture, standing around looking half awake and periodically dozing off. The water was quite frigid but very invigorating and the scenery was spectacular! South Africa may very well be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been!

After Boulders we took a scenic drive around the outskirts of Cape Town along a road weaving through the cliffs that when built was considered an engineering marvel. We eventually stopped and had a sunset dinner at a restaurant overlooking Camp’s Bay where there are apparently a lot of Hollywood celebrity sightings. By the time we finished dinner it was dark and time for Alison to take us back to the ship. After our heartfelt goodbyes we made our way to the ship security checkpoint where disaster struck me. Somehow over the past two days I had managed to lose my ship ID/keycard that gets us back on the ship. Add to that the fact that I had neglected to bring any other form of photo ID with me. After what seemed like forever and my future wandering around lost in South Africa had flashed before my eyes I was finally waved through and required only to sign in on paper and immediately get a new card from the purser’s desk. So apparently you can still get back on the ship even if you’re an idiot. I will not be going to bed tonight as it is going on 1 in the morning and I still need to pack for my safari tomorrow morning which leaves at 0300!

Day 30 – Sleep…Need Sleep… This morning long before sunrise 21 of us boarded buses in the darkness bound for Cape Town’s international airport for our trip to Kruger on safari! Though everyone was exhausted, excitement filled the air as we arrived at a thoroughly empty airport. We also had the opportunity to watch the complete lunar eclipse while waiting for our flight though there was still a small sliver visible when we had to go to our gate. The airline Mango was interesting because all though it was a 737 we boarded from the tarmac after being bussed to the plane. A short hour and 45 minutes later we touched down at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and stuffed into a luxury bus. 7 hours and 3 petrol stops later we finally arrived at the Skukuza lodge in Kruger where we will be spending the evening in bungalows before tomorrow moving to the Flying Lions Bush Camp in the Balule Nature Reserve. We partook in an afternoon game drive where we have already seen elephant, giraffe, warthog, springbok, kudus, and a hyena. This is going to be a spectacular trip! Though my bungalow buddy Meghan and I will have to get up at 0445 tomorrow morning to make our morning game drive! Tonight we had another excellent meal prepared by the camp chefs and ate at an incredibly long dining room table outside with other SAS students who happened to be here. Africa is spectacular!

Day 31 – Today Meghan and I got up at 0445 for a morning game drive. It was spectacular to be up for the sunrise let alone to see it rise up out of the African savanna. We spotted some hyenas, a ton of impala, and a bunch of vultures that were in a battle with a lone hyena over a hippopotamus carcass (don’t worry hippo fans, I’m sure it was just sleeping and having a party with all its vulture friends). Africa has such rugged natural beauty that one could easily spend years immersed in it. After the game drive we had another bus transfer to Balule and our camp. We have a small lodge with a kitchen and 3 bathrooms and a field with several tents and a small swimming pool overlooking a watering hole. After getting settled we departed on an evening game drive that brought us across a herd of elephants. To see these gentle creatures filled me with a great sadness that because of the amount of natural land that has been dedicated to human use the only viable option to control the population of the elephant and keep it at a level that the natural parks can support is culling the animals. Balule is situated on a parcel of land with all rough dirt roads giving each safari a thrilling feeling. The stars were incredible though were somewhat spoiled by the nearly full moon. After getting back to camp we had dinner and celebrated the day’s safari with beer and wine into the evening.

Day 32 – Today we were awakened at 0430 for another morning game drive which brought us our first glimpses of lions and wildebeests. The experience of seeing an animal as magnificent as a lion in the wild is indescribable. We were also fortunate to see a mixed herd of zebra (that’s zeh-brah, not zee-brah) and giraffe. We arrived back at 0900 for breakfast that was plagued by bees and so most everyone’s juice soon had drowned bees in it. Waking up so early makes the days seem so much longer as we had a full 8 hours to kill between our morning drive and evening excursion at 1700. This caused quite a dilemma as it caused one to have to make the difficult decision between taking a nap, dipping in the pool, or finding a nice shady spot to read. I managed to do a bit of each and before too long it was time for our night drive.

During this ride one of our guides named Edward told us about the Areola trees growing on the Savanna which his culture believes has roots which provide a place for one’s ancestors to visit. He also showed us a “magic bush” which when ground up and mixed with another plant that grows in the mountains can cause someone to forget things or make a woman fall in love with you. I have not yet been able to find the other plant from the mountains. Our other guide Andrew was a storybook perfect image of a safari guide, very much resembling Crocodile Dundee. Though for much of the drive we only saw the tracks of the animals we were seeking it was still very relaxing and cleansing to just cruise through the wilderness and the darkening sky. We did have an incredible flurry of activity at one moment where we saw a family of warthogs, a herd of giraffes, a herd of zebras, several impala, and a pair of jackals. We had a final outside dinner and shared drinks with our guides late into the night around the campfire. We sang and shared stories under the rising full moon and enjoyed every moment of our final night in Africa.

Day 33 – They say that when the dust of Africa enters your blood, you can’t get rid of it. I am completely enchanted by this place. It has truly been an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The majesty and sheer splendor of it all is humbling. In a poetic gesture a single bull elephant trumpeted a farewell as we left the camp this morning. We were also graced to witness a cheetah walking alongside the road during our final drive out of the camp. Though it was tame an aura of incredible power permeated the air with each of its fluid movements. This was clearly an animal built for the hunt. However the shocking smack of returning to civilization was made all the more painful by the fact that our bus that was supposed to arrive at 0730 did not arrive until 0945, meaning that the 6-7 hour drive to Johannesburg to catch our flights became a mad dash to sink a buzzer beater and make our flight.

Attempting to make up for lost time our bus driver was pushing the bus quite hard and as a result after about 30 minutes of driving an alarm noise began to sound indicating the bus was overheating. We had to stop the bus in order for it to cool on 3 separate occasions, making our tight timeframe to get back to the airport and catch a plane to the ship seem quite impossible. By some minor miracle we arrived at the airport with a bit of a cushion until our flights. However mother nature decided to make the 6 of us on that South African Airways flight (Me Shannon, Eric, Aileen, Ana, and Dan) as nervous as possible about making it back to the ship. A heavy rain caused our plane to take a 30 minute delay taking off. We landed a mere hour before our on ship time of 2100 and sprinted off the plane with an interesting waddle from our heavy packs that surely must’ve entertained the other people at the airport. We found our waiting taxi and sped off to the docks. I checked in at 20:47 , 13 minutes to spare! It was definitely a memorable experience to say the least.

Day 35 – Today back at sea, I realized that by my approximation we are currently about 10,000 miles from home. Everything there seems so distant and disconnected. Despite that I am still so excited to be here. The full weight of what we are doing has still not even slightly begun to sink in, but I think it might not until the trip is over.

Day 36 – Nothing much to report today. I did however decide to participate in the Manly Month of March competition. It is a fundraiser where I will grow out my beard for the entire month of March and not shave. I will attempt to get people to pledge to sponsor the beard and the proceeds will go to the Students of Service charity, which will in turn collect the money for a suitable charity! So far I have about 16 sponsors and $100 pledged. So let this be a warning that the weird bald bearded guy in future photos is in face yours truly!

With Out Further Ado....

I'm finally able to get some photos up! I was going to try to put everything up but it's proving to be quite difficult, after the Salvador pictures I'm moving to a best of format for the time being...

Arriving in Salvador
Arriving in Salvador Part II
Everything Else

Enjoy!

Goodbye Brazil, King Neptune, and The Reverse Middle Passage

2/8 – 2/14

Day 17 – Today I finally caught up on some much needed sleep and slept past 11 for the first time since Colorado. Robyn, Kait, and I had a short afternoon in Pelourinho where we stopped at one of the several internet cafes strewn about the town square. Unfortunately the computers ended up being nostalgia pieces from the early 90s and were incredibly slow and unable to accommodate my aim of uploading photos so we were only able to check a few emails and of course make an obligatory check of Facebook. While walking through the streets we came across a bunch of feral cats with a litter of kittens which actually seemed commonplace. We also went back to the Marcado Modelo where we wandered around through the plethora of open air markets and I finally got a Brazilian painting. I was able to haggle it from 40 Real to 10, so I was pretty happy with a 75% off deal!

Day 18 – Robyn, Kristen, and I spent our entire day from 0800 – 1730 on an FDP that took us all around the state of Bahia. We made our way up to Praia Do Forte to visit the Tamar Project which works for the preservation of various types of sea turtles. It was interesting to sea all the different types of turtles as I hadn’t realized they could get to be so large! They will only hatch from their eggs and head to the sea at night. Also when relocating turtle eggs one has to take special care to maintain the exact orientation the egg had when it was laid or the baby turtle will die! Also at Praia Do Forte we got to walk around on what was once a coral reef which surfaced and dried out with falling sea levels. It was a very bizarre and alien landscape. Afterwards we made our way to a petrochemical outfall site where the waste water from Bahia’s Titanium factory is expelled. We also visited a mangrove forest. Mangroves are the only known plant that can filter and use saltwater by secreting the salt through small gland like openings in the leaves. To cap off the evening we had an excellent barbeque back aboard the ship to celebrate our farewell to Brazil.

Day 20 – The ship is beginning to experience a bit more rocking as we are entering the deeper waters of the South Atlantic, but nothing too severe.

Day 21 – Oh that’s right! There’s school on this here ship! We had our first Global Studies exam today and to spice things up a bit I’m in a pool of 5 where the low score buys a round at the next port… I studied quite a bit but unfortunately Global Studies is a horrendously unorganized class with tens of different speakers and scattered reading assignments making it difficult to figure out exactly what is important enough to be tested on. Anything from knowing that Perry Christie is the current Prime Minister of the Bahamas to knowing the names of the Condomble deities is fair game. Tonight we’re losing our second hour of the last 3 days so I’m beginning to think that death by sleep deprivation is not out of the question. I also caught some spectacular stargazing tonight with Kate, though the lights of the ship are still bright enough to limit what we can see. Nonetheless we saw a couple shooting stars and got to see the moon set between the flashes of lightning of a distant thunderstorm!

Day 22 – This morning I received a blessing from the Gods of class. My 8 am class was cancelled so I got to go back to bed and get a bit of bonus sleep. They’ve been showing pretty great movies lately so Kate, Kait, Robyn, Sarah, Rebecca, and I watched the Shawshank Redemption, which three of them had not yet seen! We chose this over tonight’s Wild Animal Dance Party. It was interesting though as they had a camera on the dance available on our cabin TVs so we had an amusing time of watching our drunken ship mates stumble around in crazy costumes oblivious to the fact that they were on screen.

Day 23 – Happy Singles Awareness Day, and apparently also Neptune Day! Today we were awakened a 7, 7:30, and 7:45 to the sound of whistles, drums, cymbols, and shouting outside the cabin and before long the Voice came on and in pirate speak informed us that his Imperial Highness King Neptune and Queen Minerva had boarded our ship and had demanded our presence on the aft deck. Most of us struggled out of bed to answer the call and a short while later I was having fish guts poured on me afterwards I jumped into a pool and was then instructed to kiss a rather large cod or some similar fish before being stood before King Neptune himself and commanded to bow to my knees and kiss his ring as a symbol of my worth. And following with this greatest of traditions Teneya shaved my head. That’s right this pollywog has officially become a shellback. I am now acutely aware of even the finest breeze and never before has a pillow felt so close to my skin! I’ll try and get photos of my new look up when we get to South Africa in a few days!

Summer, Salvador, Futebol, and The Largest Party on Earth

2/1 – 2/7

After a few days of rain at sea we finally got back to the sunshine! We crossed the equator on our way to Salvador so it is now officially summertime! Woo hoo! Crossing the equator also means extreme heat to the point where going outside without some shade or a strong breeze transforms you into a lovely puddle of sunscreen and sweat. Our interport lecturer Javier has been so excited for us to get to Brazil and his energy and enthusiasm has been infectious. So for the most part we were all excited to get to Brazil though there was a general concern about getting robbed or mugged as they constantly reminded us of the threat to our safety especially since we would be arriving on the final day of Carnival.

In keeping with tradition, a new port means sleeping out on the deck so Kate, Kayleigh, and I joined a few dozen of our other shipmates out on the deck in preparation for our arrival into Salvador!
Woo hoo for deck sleepovers! (Blog 1)

After a short night we awoke to Salvador rising up out of the darkness looking almost like Gotham City. Amazingly we could hear the distant rumblings of the music for the final hours of Carnival from all the way across the water! Salvador, Brazil (Blog 2)
Sunrise arrival into Brazil (Blog 3)

Once docked, Robyn, Kait, Kate, Megan, Kristin, and I set out to explore the city. It was fascinating to see the mix of immaculate looking houses, huge apartment buildings, condos, and dilapidated and run down housing of the Flavellas mixed so thoroughly together.

Portside in Salvador looking at the Lacerda Elevator to the Upper City (Blog 4)

Salvador is divided into two halves by terrain and so has a large structure called the Elevador Lacerda which moves people easily from the Lower to the Upper City. Elevador Lacerda is free to ride during Carnival of which we arrived for the last day, and otherwise costs something like 5 centavos per ride.

After exploring around the upper city known as Pelourinho for a while we found a restaurant called Axeco where I tried a seafood stew dish called Moqueca which had fish and shrimp and is made with coconut milk and dende oil. It was quite good but a little on the salty side. The portions were enormous and I was completely stuffed after eating only about 1/3 of the meal.
(Kristin, Kate, Kait, Megan, Robyn, and me mere hours before the insanity that is Carnival (Blog 5)

A few hours after returning to the ship, Kate and I boarded a bus to an SAS sponsored Camarote trip. Camarotes are essentially temporary clubs which are set up along the streets where the Carnival parades happen. They are exclusive only to those who have a ticket and a shirt unique to each Camarote. The experience was the most insane thing I have experienced thus far in my life. The scene resembled swarms of ants massing around pieces of bread to chest pounding music. There were thousands of people jumping, dancing, and singing in the streets, and we witnessed several Blocos roll through the street with bands and full sound and lighting equipment. Our Camarote was completely decked out with massage parlors, internet access, private bar and food access, bathrooms, laser lights, etc, so that we were able to be right next to the street but have a little less concern about being harassed by the throngs of people. There were about 80 SAS students at the Camarote and we even had an 18 man military police escort from the bus dropoff point into the Camarote.
Myself, Kira, Kate, Teneya, and Danielle in our sweet Camarote shirts (Blog 6)

Just getting started, the party lasts for 12 hours each day for a week and ends when the sun rises
Apparently Fat Boy Slim had a Bloco on this night but we missed it

After several hours of this it was time to go and SAS herded us back into the bus and safely got us back to the ship where I instantly fell asleep

The next day Robyn, Kait, Tracy, and I made our way into Salvador with the intention of catching a ferry to Itaparica island but ended up taking a small boat literally just across the marina to Sao Marcelo Fort, which was built hundreds of years ago by the Portuguese to defend the harbor and this section of the Bay of All Saints from invaders. Kait, Robyn, Me, and Tracy at Sao Marcelo
The view from Sao Marcelo

After a quick stop at the ship for lunch Kait used her impressive bargaining skills to cut us a deal on a Taxi to a nearby place called Barra to see the lighthouse and beach there. Walking along the beach it seemed odd to see the familiar emblems of Visa and Mastercard plastered over everything on the beaches contrasted against the products and advertisements uniquely Brazillian. Though the city is in its Carnival cleanup stages I can’t help but remark about the smell. Often as one walks through certain parts of the city it smells strongly of urine and there are some who claim to have seen people relieving themselves onto the street. I also learned that many of the beggars and street vendors were once homeowners or their descendants who were forced out of their homes by the government. They are largely uneducated and therefore attempt to eke out a meager living for themselves on the streets. As we were walking along the beach we observed many children playing in the surf using chunks of Styrofoam as boogie boards and on a nearby hill they were using what looked like cardboard to slide down the grass. How different their childhood must be!

The children at the beach

In stark contrast to the dirty sections of the city near the lighthouse was a spectacular restaurant called Itagiba which was open air overlooking the beach and the lighthouse. The four of us stopped there for some late afternoon drinks and appetizers. We finally got to try the infamous Caipirinha, a 100% Brazilian drink made with tons of crushed up fruit, vodka, and sugar cane. I thought it was quite good but I think I was alone in that sentiment. We also tried to order cheese balls and wound up with crabmeat balls instead; such is the experience of attempting to order food across a language barrier. In fact we haven’t encountered many who speak English outside of the area around the port. Also we were served some kind of green salsa looking stuff with our crab balls… WARNING DO NOT EAT THE GREEN STUFF! At least not without trying a small portion first. Robyn, Kait, and I failed to do this and I liken the experience to sticking a soldering iron into one’s mouth. This stuff was SPICY!!! After recovering from the green stuff we took in the view a while longer and headed back for a relaxing evening at the ship.

Itagiba is the cluster of tent like structures at the center of the picture overhanging the beach

Kate, Tracy, Myself, and Robyn enjoying the afternoon!

The next day I woke up for a SAS schooner trip which took me out into the Baia De Todos Os Santos (Bay of All Saints). We spent the morning crusing between Salvador’s two light houses which also gave a spectacular view of the city and of our ship.
Home sweet home

The tour of the Bay was fun but coincidentally ended with a tour of Sao Marcelo fort, the same fort I had just visited the day before! Though this time our guide spoke considerably better English so I got a bit more out of it. The fort was originally a defensive structure but was later used as a prison. The cell was sweltering in the heat and felt claustrophobic with about 50 SAS students in it. Our guide said at its heyday the cell held as many as 150 prisoners!
Our guides and schooner crew were dressed as Portuguese soldiers

After coming back from the schooner ride, I had a lazy afternoon in preparation for a Futebol game in the evening! SAS bussed 7 loads of us to Estadio Armando Oliviera where we watched Bahia take on Pocoes. The stadium was a little on the small side, but it was still very exciting to see a Futebol game in a country where they are so passionate about the sport. Fortunately we cheered Bahia on to a 2-0 win but Pocoes was lucky to have gotten away giving up only two goals as they were dominated the entire game. It was interesting to hear the variety of cheers the fans start on their own as unlike in most US sports there is no electronic board that informs the fans of when they’re supposed to cheer. They also have vendors roaming the stands as at a US sporting event but they were selling quite different things, like sugar cane, and popcorn with coconut shavings.
That’s Bahia in the white and Pocoes in the Blue

Into The Blue

1/29 – 1/31

We’ve now been at sea for a few days with nothing but open ocean for miles in all directions. We’ve also gotten a few days of class under our belt! To think this counts as school credit is simply amazing! My classes are all interesting so far and the plethora of reading assignments is a welcome change of pace from the usual grind of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Classes come between laying out in the sun and the smell of sunscreen and sea air wafts through the classrooms. This is certainly the most pleasant time I’ve had doing homework since it entailed making macaroni pictures!

A few nights ago we had a huge group at dinner of about 15 people which ended in a quite entertaining Catch Phrase game! At 2100 there was an activities meeting where I signed up for the extended families program where I will have occasional dinners and other special events with one of the families on the ship, effectively “adopting a family” for the voyage! Unable to resist the lure of fast moving bouncing objects I also signed up for Ping Pong, Volleyball, and Dodgeball!

Aside from occasional bouts with homesickness, life is stellar right now! The experience has already made me much more sociable, an improvement I hope to put to use when I return home! There have been a few down periods though and its interesting because it almost seems like the entire ship goes through them at the same time so we really are becoming a tight nit community.

We’ve entered a bit rougher waters than anything we’ve encountered yet but fortunately my sea legs earned from past cruise liner experience seemed to past the test with flying colors. I finally managed to squeeze in a nap yesterday but since we lost an hour with another time change it was pretty much a wash! After dinner Robyn, Kait, Kayleigh, Mandy, and I muddled through all of our immigration papers for the upcoming ports and barring any mishaps should be good to go!

Most of our time at sea is spent in class, reading, and eating, which somehow passes entire days fairly quickly.

Also an interesting thing happened last night. Normally at dusk the ship turns on all of its exterior running lights, most notably the chain of lights running across the top of the ship from bow to stern. However last night they were left dark throughout the night and rumor on the ship is that it’s because we don’t want to attract the attention of pirates. There are even scattered reports of people seeing another ship tracking us for a while but it’s impossible to tell if they’re just hearsay. But having seen all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies several times I’m sure I could swashbuckler with the best of them should I need to defend the ship! Thar be pirates in these waters!