Vietnam!

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”
~Helen Keller


The view pulling up on Ho Chi Minh City was unreal. After a few hours on the Mekong Delta the sudden sight of skyscrapers and bustling city life was quite a shock. Erica and I went straight to the Airport after leaving the ship and got a plane to Hanoi. It was definitely not hard to find my uncle Pat at the airport, considering he towered over everyone else there (hehe). We drove the 45 minutes to his apartment in Hanoi and on the way passed a lot of rice fields, rivers, and amazing buildings. Most of the houses there are built very narrow, but very tall. This came from the period of French colonization, and people were taxed on the street space they used for their homes. So, they used as little street space as possible, but maximized the space by making the houses very tall. We arrived at the apartment, which was beautiful! My aunt and uncle live right in between two lakes one of which is where McCain was shot down and captured. We went out to a delicious little restaurant in the French quarter and ate A LOT of yummy Vietnamese food. It was so nice to be staying with family again and have free internet. You never realize how much of a luxury it is until you live without it for a while. Facebook is blocked in Vietnam, but I did get to Skype a lot of people! We woke up early the next morning and walked to the Pagoda right by the apartment. A Pagoda is a Buddhist Temple where people go to worship and make offerings. There were incents burning everywhere and beautiful statues and shrines everywhere. Ancestor worship is such a huge part of the religion, so there were offerings for people’s ancestors (a lot of sodas, beers, and candies), and places where people went to burn possessions of their ancestors as a form of prayer. We took a nice little walk around the lake and had our first lesson in crossing the streets. There are so many motorcycles and cars that there is never a point where you can just cross. You have to just step out into the street and walk slowly, without stopping, so that the motorcycles and mopeds can swerve around you. Its just as terrifying as it sounds. You really have to clear your mind and just force yourself to keep walking, because if you hesitate they are more likely to hit you. We then went downtown to look around the shops and eat lunch with my aunt. I can see why the number one killer in developing countries is respiratory diseases. The air was thick with dust and smog. Still, though it was very fun walking around and experiencing the markets. It was also pretty chilly, which was a nice change from the other ports! You could definitely pick up the communist feel from the loud speakers on every street. Every now and then an announcement would be made, I wish I was able to understand Vietnamese so that I could hear what they were announcing.
After lunch we went to the Women’s Museum. It had everything from Vietnamese customs in marriage and birth to fashion to womens’ roles in the war. It was very interesting seeing how important women were in the war, both as soldiers and as nurses. There are vast differences between the different ethnic groups and their customs in marriage and child birth. Some are very elaborate and others are very simple. Some favor girls and others favor boys. I never knew that there were so many different ethnic groups within Vietnam and how different they all were. After that, Erica and I walked around on our own. We found a cute little café, got some drinks, and shopped around. We even rode in a little bicycle taxi! It was a very fun and relaxing day!
The next morning a bus picked us up to go to Ha Long Bay. It was about a 3 hour drive through the country side, and it was cool to see some of the smaller villages and people working in the rice fields. Ha Long Bay was incredible. The pillars of rock sticking out from the green water are said to be formed by a dragon thrashing its tail around. Our boat had a small group on it, which was very nice. There were people from all over: Switzerland, France, Australia, and Poland. It was great eating dinner with everyone and sharing stories. The French family was very nice and very funny and Erica and I had a great time hanging out with them! We sailed around Ha Long Bay and went to a huge cave. We got off of the boat and walked around the cave, and even got to pet the good luck turtle (a rock formation that eerily resembles a perfect sea turtle). We then got into kayaks and paddled around the bay, through some caves and around the giants rising out of the water. It really makes you realize how small you really are when your looking up at these towering rock formations. It was a misty night, which made it seem like the perfect scene for a horror movie, but we sat outside and had some drinks and shared more stories with our fellow travelers. It was really nice being away from the giant group of SAS-holes (the name given to some of our shipmates by Brittany, the photographer). Not that they aren’t tons of fun, but when your on your own you really get to know new people and you get to absorb your situation more. In the morning we had a breakfast of pho and eggs (yum!), and went to Ti Top Island. It has a pretty little beach and 245 steps leading up to a temple at the very top. Needless to say the view was incredible! When we returned to the boat we had a cooking lesson and learned how to make spring roles….then ate them of course. The sun finally came out and we had a nice leisurely sail back into the port. Some backpackers joined our bus on the way back, and there was a lot of traffic, so it was a very long and cramped 5-hour ride back (with a very awkward encounter in which one of the French guys leaned into me and said “your neighbors are so loud” in French. Unfortunately one of the girls spoke French very well and understood everything). We finally made it back, got a pedicure across the street from the apartment, and ate more spring rolls (can’t get enough of them). My Aunt and Uncle went to an event at the Opera House with the Lord Mayor of London and some other dignitaries, so we were home alone. We were exhausted though, so we ended up just staying in, skyping, and watching movies (and eating way too many spring rolls).
The next morning we said our goodbyes and flew back to Saigon. Even though the cab driver nodded as though he understood us, we drove in circles for quite a while before we ended up just drawing a picture of a boat and he finally understood and we eventually made it back to the ship. We threw our stuff in our rooms and ran out again to explore Saigon a little bit before we had to get back on. We walked around Saigon Center and some other markets and shopped a lot more than we had planned to. I wanted to get a dress made, but I didn’t think I had time. Still, around 2 a lady talked me into getting a dress made and took us to her apartment nearby to pick out a design and get measured. Somehow she managed to do all that and get the dress finished within less than 3 hours! It amazing how fast they work! It was quite an experience, since I’m almost positive that apartment building served as a dress making shop (a tiny one), a home, and a cock-fighting arena. There were huge chickens in cages and a sand pit behind what looked like a moped shop…didn’t take long for me to put two and two together. When we got back to the ship it was pouring…for those of you who know me well, you know I was sitting on deck playing in the rain and splashing in the puddles. It was a lot of fun =) Vietnam was fascinating in a lot of ways. The culture, customs, and overall dynamics were so much fun to learn about and adapt to! The people generally just ignored us, but those that I was able to interact with were nice (I think, Vietnamese is a hard language to interpret…most of the inflections sound angry). I enjoyed it very much, and there is so much to see in all the different regions. I will definitely have to come back someday for a longer period of time and do some major exploring.


Back in Nam

Singapore...Merlions and shopping malls

Coming fresh out of India, Singapore felt unreal. The city-state is absolutely pristine in every way. The architecture, the food, the stores, the streets, everything was flawless. People were very nice and the public transportation system was unbelievably efficient. We got off the ship, bought a pass for $8, and jetted around the city all day. Erica, Levi, Kenji, Steve and I had absolutely no plans and absolutely no idea where we were going, but we had a great time. The entire city is like one big shopping mall. There wasn’t a single place we went that didn't have a food court and more stores than you know what to do with. The architecture was fantastic! I can’t even explain it, you will just have to see in the pictures! It was a very strange sensation going from a country where the bathrooms were holes in the ground, to one where you could get caned just for spitting your gum out. There were so many signs around the city that told exactly what you CANNOT do. For example, you are not allowed to bring Durians on the subways…yeah they got that specific. Erica and I ate at a little Chinese restaurant with a very nice cashier, who was more than eager to hold up the line so he could give us some advice on places to go, both here and in Hong Kong. We walked around the biggest bookstore I have ever seen and ate a lot of different foods. China Town was as busy and exciting as we were expecting. They had these live infomercials going on. There were men standing on the streets with sham-wows and mops and microphones and they did a whole corny, info-mercialesque presentation. We went to the Marina Sands hotel and walked around the casino and the massive mall connected to it. After talking to a bartender, however, we got a different perspective. He told us: “Here, you either have a job, or you throw yourself off a building. That's it.” The cost of living is very, very high, and anyone who has been there can easily see why. All in all it was entertaining and beautiful, but creepily perfect. I would like so spend more time there (someday when I have a lot of money) and learn more about the culture underneath the malls and hotels.

Singapore Slideshow 

India

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

**This post was started right after India, but it took me until now to finish it, so the dates may seem a little bit weird

Today we had the day off from classes to reflect on India. One day is not nearly enough, in fact I don’t think even a lifetime is enough to process what I saw. My eyes have been opening wider and wider this whole trip, but I feel as though India has removed my eyelids so that I can never close them to the world again. It is going to be very hard for me to describe my feelings and the things I saw, but I’ll try my best.

I have had mountains of anticipation building up in me for India since I first signed up for this trip. You can imagine my excitement stepping off the gangway and into this mysterious country, one which I knew was going to change me forever. We jumped into a rickshaw right off the bat. Rickshaws are three-wheeled, open air, go-cart-like taxis. We quickly learned that wherever you want to go will come after the driver takes you where he wants you to go. For example, we stopped at his brother’s clothing store, and his mother-in-law’s sari shop before we got to the restaurant we wanted to go to. Turns out it worked out even better for us, because we were able to get some Indian clothes for the rest of our trip. Not to mention, the ride was extremely fun and we got to see a lot of Chennai on the way. Sitting in the rickshaw, wind in our faces, new images everywhere, my friends and I were smiling from ear to ear. The smells and the colors and the sights and the sounds were intoxicating. In India cars use horns…a lot. There was constant honking and swerving and chaos all over the streets. I was definitely a little nervous, but I knew it was part of the experience. That afternoon I went on a trip with one of the professors to visit some of the slums. The one we went to was a government housing complex, set up for tsunami victims and families from other slums in southern India. In a way I see that experience as preparing me for the rest of the week. At the time I thought walking around this particular village was tough. But looking back, the people there were lucky to be in that situation. The local government had provided them with not only homes, but also jobs and specialty training in the medical and textile fields. Kids were playing cricket at recess, and there were goats and cows, and what seemed to me to be very close families everywhere.  We visited one of the boys’ schools for a while. At first, they were all sitting very still and very quiet like robots. But when we started handing out stickers they turned into little boys again. We started playing word games, clapping games, and had some major thumb wars (I usually lost, they were good!). It was an incredible experience hearing them laugh and seeing those huge smiles on their faces every time they won, especially when we were sitting in a very hot, very small school house, with one chalkboard, a few books, and no desks or chairs. It’s hard to imagine going to school every day and sitting on the floor for hours, not to mention the heat! After being torn away from the kids (we all wanted to stay and play more, they were going to teach me cricket!), we went to see the compost area. The village has a program where they turn the trash into compost, and either use the very fertile soil to grow their own vegetables, or just sell the soil. It is a great way for the families to bring in their own income, from their own work instead of relying on the government. The goal, we were told, is to get these families on their feet again, and empower them to rise out of their situation. We also saw a woman, who was given a loan to start her own hair salon. She went to school, started a salon in the village, and is now the resident hair dresser. She is also taking in younger women and teaching them how to style hair. Our guide told us something that seems to be a common theme in every country we have visited so far: When you educate a woman, you educate a country. We saw all sorts of success stories like that, where people were given the tools to make their own livings based on what they want to do. It is a great program, and I was happy to hear that they were in the process of building more homes to add 28,000 more people to the already 25,000 strong village. It was very inspirational, despite the poor conditions they were living in. We all had an experience that was new to most of us; those who had cameras were pulling them out and taking pictures of us as we walked past. No one minded though, we just saw it as getting a taste of our own medicine. It doesn't seem like it would be a bog deal, but it was a very strange sensation being photographed by strangers.

            At 4:00 the next morning I was heading to the airport on a bus. We jumped on a plane to begin our trip around Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Once again, the plane was very nice and the food, movies, and drinks were free. We arrived in Delhi to nice cool, crisp weather, and the second we walked out of the airport, the crowds hit us like a brick in the face. It was Chennai on steroids! Cars and horns and people and cows EVERYWHERE! We were immediately greeted by our tour guide, Rameesh Anand, who, I would like to mention turned out to be the best tour guide ever. Right off the bat we started sightseeing. Delhi is beautiful and busy, with nice parks everywhere. We started at Qutab Minar, which is the tallest tower in India. It was originally a Hindu Temple, but was destroyed when Muslim rule was established in India. You can still see remnants of the Hindu statues that had been knocked down and replaced by carvings of the Quran. We drove around Delhi some more and saw the Embassies and the India Gate, which is a memorial commemorating soldiers who died in World War I (it looks a lot like the Arc de Triomph).  We had a delicious lunch of curry, naan, and everything else Indian you could imagine. There were these delicious little fried doughnut balls with honey sauce and ice cream, I want more! After lunch we drove to Rajghat, Gandhi’s memorial. It was very peaceful and beautiful. Out of respect you are required to take your shoes off, and the incense that were constantly burning were intoxicating. It was quite a relaxing experience.

            Next we went to Humayun’s Tomb. Humayun was a ruler of India, and was Shah Jahan’s great grandfather. His tomb is beautiful and massive, and it even includes small tombs around it for people like his favorite hairdresser! We made our way over to the hotel, where we were greeted with bindis for luck and flower leis. The hotel was beautiful, and after a huge and delicious dinner we were ready to catch up on some sleep. The next morning was an early one…partially because I couldn’t sleep, knowing we were going to see the Taj Mahal that day. At 5:30 we were on our way to the train station, weaving our way through crowds of beggars and cars, trying to keep our bags close to us. It was very intimidating and chaotic, but we made it. The train ride was beautiful, and we passed through beautiful countryside and the sun was bright, bright red as it was rising. Using the toilet was another story. In India, most of the toilets are just holes in the ground…trains are no exception. You can use you imagination about how dirty they were.  I can’t explain to you the excitement I felt when we finally arrived in Agra. I was practically sprinting off the train, I was so anxious to get to the Taj. However, that excitement was diminished pretty quickly. I thought I had seen the poverty already in India, but I had just barely scraped the surface. Immediately leaving the train station we were surrounded by children, probably between the ages of 3 to 12. No matter how fast you try to walk and how much you try desperately to “be deaf and dumb”, as our tour guide suggested, you can’t ignore the shockingly thin children begging at your feet. I had to force myself to get on the bus without a word, and try not to look out the window at the kids still standing outside begging for money. I had always heard about the street kids and the poverty here, but I never imagined that they would be so young. It was a hard realization to cope with, but I tried to process what I saw and keep moving.

And then we were there. There was a long walkway to get to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. It was swarming with monkeys, camels, and people trying to sell you “unique” keychains “for a very good price”. They were definitely a constant presence, and we realized quickly that the second you say one word to them, even if its NO GO AWAY, your doomed. You really have to be deaf and dumb and completely ignore them. The monkeys were playing in the trees, it was a beautiful sunny day, and I was about to see the one thing I had been dreaming of ever since I did that 5^th grade project on the wonders of the world. We walked and walked, went through security, walked, and finally stepped through the entrance. I felt like a hurricane was blowing in my face with the blinding white and shocking grandeur of the Taj Mahal. Yes, I cried. I cried hard. I couldn't believe I was actually, finally there, at the real thing, the one and only. I think in twenty years I will remember that exact feeling. “The first time I saw the Taj Mahal I was a 20 year old college student, holding my best friends hand on the steps and crying my eyes out, trying hard to convince myself that I wasn’t dreaming. That this was real, that the sky was a perfect bright blue, and the sun was in the just the right position in the sky.” It really could not have been any more perfect. We spent a lot of time walking around, taking pictures, and just simply marveling. I really wish that I could do the feelings I had justice just by writing, but I think its impossible. After tearing ourselves away and surviving the hawkers again, we went to a little shop where they practiced a unique art form that can only be passed down from father to son. In fact, it is the same way the Taj Mahal was built. They carve marble and inlay it with precious stones, which they flake and shape themselves. We had a chance to watch them work and then tour the gallery.

            After another delicious lunch, we traveled to the Agra Fort. It is a beautiful sandstone fortress, with a hall of public audience that had walls lined with fragments of mirrors so that when the lamps hit them they look like stars. This is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son for 8 years. There is a spectacular view of the Taj Mahal, the very monument he built for his lost love, from the room he stayed in. He died gazing at it, and was later buried next to Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb under the spectacular onion dome he built for her. The fort was spectacular and had peacocks (The Mughal symbol for wealth) and precious stones everywhere! We got back on the bus and had a long drive through the countryside before we finally reached Jaipur.

We first stopped in Sikri, which is an abandoned city that was once the capital of India. It is built entirely out of red sandstone, and even has a tomb for Emperor Akbar’s favorite elephant. The next morning we got up early so that we could get elephant rides to the Amber Fort. We drove through the Pink City, which was extremely busy. Its very strange seeing cows walking around everywhere, including into stores (seriously, I saw a cow walk into a store as though it was going to buy a sari). The elephant ride was so much fun! We made Drew buy a turbin (hilarious) and got some great pictures. Upon arrival at the fort some people played traditional music that was used to announce when dignitaries were arriving. We toured the fort and I was absolutely shocked by the spectacular views. We got to see a rug factory. They showed us how they weave the rugs and do block-printing. Let me tell you, this guy was a very good salesman, he had me considering buying a $500 rug for a second…then I realized I didn't have $500, so that's a good thing. We drove back through the Pink City and visited the Royal Observatory and the City Palace (Chandra Mahal). Both had ancient relics of early astronomy, textiles, weapons, and art. We spent the evening getting henna and shopping around our hotel in Jaipur. The next morning we were supposed to drive back to Delhi…instead we spent about 3 hours just trying to get out of Jaipur. The traffic was unbelievable, our tour guide even got out to direct cars (along with about 5 other people, so you could imagine it didn't work very well). When we finally made it to Delhi we had to cut out a lot of our original plans. We were still able to visit a Sikh temple though. It was beautiful, and an entirely new experience. The singing rang throughout the area on loud speakers, heads were covered, and shoes were off. We even ate some of the ceremonial offerings...which was a big, mushy clump of flower, sugar, and butter, served to us in our bare hands. Those with weak stomachs skipped that part. We also toured the kitchen, which is run completely by volunteers and donations, and provides meals to anyone who wants to eat with them. It is a lot like soup kitchens in the US.  We finished off our trip with Hi Tea, and got back onto the plane for a late flight.

We were all sad that it was our last day in India, but we jumped into some rickshaws and rode around Chennai. We did a lot of shopping, a lot of eating, and a lot of observing. We were eating lunch when some other SASers ran up to us with news about the Tsunami. We found a TV and watched as much as we could. We were all very shaken to say the least, but we just tried to enjoy our last few hours so we could get back to the ship and hopefully find out more about what was happening in Japan.

I know that this was a very brief and choppy synopsis of my time in India, but honestly I have been struggling with how I was going to write this. There is no way to do justice to the thoughts that ran through my head and the feelings I felt while there. I loved every second, good and bad, but a lot of it was very hard for me to process. It was chaotic, beautiful, terrifying, depressing, enlightening, friendly, puzzling, horrifying, and a million other things that I can’t find words for. Every stop so far has been amazing, but I think India takes the cake. My emotions were ripped back and forth, from trying not to break down in front of the street kids, to marveling at the Taj Mahal. Everything from shopping to using the bathroom was worlds away from anything I’ve ever known. I was so stimulated that I could barely sleep for more than an hour at a time for days after we left. It was truly an amazing experience, one that will never be forgotten, and I am eager to return. I hope the pictures help to support my stories! Love you all!

Slide show is below! The pictures are a little bit out of order, so bear with me!

India Slideshow!
Some more pictures from Ashton!

Mauritius!

“I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

~Diane Ackerman

Mauritius was beautiful! It is a very small island off the coast of Madagascar, very close to Réunion. Some of you may know it as the land of the Dodo birds. Of course, those have been extinct for a long time, but it was still kind of cool to be on the island where the last Dodo birds lived (there was a big mural of Alice in Wonderland, and the heroic Dodo that saved the other animals from her tears). Unfortunately we only had one day to spend there, but it was definitely a wonderful day. A group of us decided to go SCUBA diving at Flic-en-Flac beach. After a beautiful drive around the island, we arrived at a ridiculously extravagant resort. The dive company that works out of that resort opened especially for us (they normally don’t work on Sundays). We had a great dive, except the visibility wasn’t very good due to the heavy rains they had just a few days before. Still, there was lots to see, and the dive master was great! It felt so good to be under the water again, its been way too long since I’ve been able to dive. One thing that was hard to get used to was that they use steel tanks, instead of aluminum ones. It made me way heavier under water than I was used to! The official languages there are French and English, so I was able to practice my French a little bit. The majority of the population on Mauritius is Hindu, and just a couple days after we left they were having a big festival in honor of Shiva. We got to see people preparing their floats and decorations, the colors were unbelievable! The three dive masters we were with were all 6^th generation Mauritian, and they all had very strong opinions about France…they think French people are mean and too uptight, and the only affiliation they had with France was their French passports and the language. I heard that some French Creole was spoken, but I was hearing very proper French all day.

The reason we only stayed one day, rumor has it, is that a previous voyage basically drank the island dry and trashed almost an entire hotel. I was getting very upset knowing that we couldn’t stay longer just because of a previous voyage, I really wanted to spend more time there! Our people weren’t exactly role models either. The majority of students rented catamarans and got completely smashed.  Unfortunately, as we were standing in line to get back on the ship we saw a student being rushed out in a wheelchair…at that moment I thought that I had seen my first dead body. He was in very critical condition and no one knew if he would be able to be revived. Luckily one of the voyagers is an ER doctor, and they managed to keep him alive. He is still in Mauritius in the hospital, and we are not sure if they are going to allow him to return. I still don’t understand the mentality among some of the students that they have to get as drunk as possible as fast as possible in every port. I personally like actually remembering the countries I visit. I can only hope that India will wake some people up to the reason we are here and why it is so important to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible.

I am very, very excited for India. The day we arrive in Chennai there will be a cricket world cup match between South Africa and England. A lot of people bought tickets, and much to our British Global Studies Professor’s demise, a lot of people also bought South African Springbok jerseys.

Now please enjoy a simple explanation of cricket, as given to us by Professor Smith:

• You have two sides, one out in the field and one in;
• Each man in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out;
• When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out;
• Sometimes you get men still in and not out;
• When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in;
• There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and decide when the men who are in are out;
• When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

It can take up to five days

 Simple, right?

Slide show below!

Mauritius Slideshow!

South Africa!

“Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”

~Henry David Thoreau

I have always heard that Cape Town was breathtakingly beautiful. I promise you, not a single person was lying. We had a very interesting start to our trip. As we pulled in, the winds in Cape Town reached about 40 knots. The port officials would not let us dock, because it was too dangerous. So we waited, and waited, and waited and at midnight that night the winds still had not died down. Everyone just had to sit on the ship and look at Table Mountain in the distance, practically drooling with anticipation. We were finally able to pull in the next day around noon. We were all a little bit sad that we had lost an entire day, but also very excited to get out and explore. There were seals everywhere, and the view coming in on Table Mountain was incredible! It is such a gorgeous city! The port area was like Disney Land compared to our last few stops. There was a ferris wheel and a huge mall, and tourist stands everywhere offering you skydiving, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and basically everything else you could imagine a major tourist destination to have. I had to remind myself that this was definitely not an accurate representation on South Africa and I tried not to get absorbed in the façade they had created. The first half-day was spent walking around Cape Town, shopping, eating, and most importantly…getting ready for U2!

The World Cup stadium where U2 played (the one where the semi-finals were played) was conveniently located right next to the port. I went with two friends, Austin and Drew, and we had a nice walk to the stadium. Just kidding, we were practically skipping there, we were so excited! The concert blew my mind. They opened with “Beautiful Day” and the entire crowd (I think the final count was around 78,000 people) went crazy. We had relatively good seats, definitely not on the field but pretty close to the front in the stands. Needless to say they sounded phenomenal, and Bono had some very inspiring words about how fantastic South Africa is and how we can all do our parts in fighting HIV/AIDS. I left the concert on cloud 9, just knowing that I had finally seen U2 live, and I still had 4 more days to play in beautiful South Africa. The Afrikaans accents sound very similar to Australian accents, only they role their r’s more…but don’t ever tell them that, they HATE Australia. Why? I was quickly informed that Australia is the rival of any and all South African sports teams.

The next morning we went to our new favorite restaurant (I must have eaten there 5 times before we left). It was a little coffee shop called Mugg and Bean….they had better food than any American restaurant I’ve ever been to, not to mention the best iced coffee I’ve ever tried. We then jumped in a cab and went to see Table Mountain. Just like in most of the other ports we’ve been to, the cab driver waited for us until we were ready to go, so convenient! We would have hiked the mountain, but we got a late start and it’s a very long hike. So we took a cable car to the very top. It was so gorgeous, and every now and then the wind would blow the cold clouds over us. The views were amazing…dry savannah and mountains on one side, and the beautiful ocean and Cape Town on the other. On our way back towards port we saw a restaurant called Rafiki’s. Since Drew and I were both obsessed with the Lion King, we decided we had to stop there. Once again, delicious food, delicious drinks, and a cute little bamboo balcony overlooking the city. After doing some more walking around and souvenir shopping, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. It was a beautiful aquarium, with a very strong focus on conservation. One of the exhibits that stood out was the shark exhibit. Next to it was a sign that said: “last year, 652 people were killed by chairs. 4 people by sharks. Last year, 791 people were killed by defective toasters. 4 people by sharks. Last year over 100 million sharks were killed by humans. Rethink the shark”

Those were some pretty amazing statistics…next to it there was a picture of a shark, which said: The ocean’s most dangerous predator. Then a picture of a lion, which said: Land’s most dangerous predator. Right in between the two was a mirror, and it said: Planet Earth’s most dangerous predator. Both of those exhibits really stuck with me. Its truly scary what we are doing to the oceans. It was a very relaxing and very fun day for sure!

The next day we got up early to catch our fight to Port Elizabeth. Here was the best part: apart from the ticket, everything was free on the plane. A free meal, free wine, free drinks, free bags, free everything. It made Americans look extremely cheap! So after an easy flight and a nice glass of wine, we arrived in Port Elizabeth and got on a bus to our safari. Kariega Game Reserve is a beautiful ‘little’ reserve. It is considered a small one, despite its 22,000 acres of reserve area. Before we even got off the highway we saw blesbuck and giraffes! All of us were expecting a small room with bunk beds and a bathroom…or something along those lines. Lucky for us, our ranger took us straight to our luxury chalets to freshen up before our first game drive. They were BEAUTIFUL! Amazing little cabins overlooking the reserve, with absolutely free range for the animals. We started on our first game drive that afternoon. I won’t lie I cried a little bit, just because I was so so so excited to see everything, and it was finally here! We immediately saw impala, blesbuck, wildebeest, and other beautiful grazers.    

Then, as we were driving down one of the paths, our ranger stopped suddenly and turned off the engine. A herd of elephants slowly made their way into our path. They came both on the road and through the trees so we were surrounded by wild elephants. Needless to say it was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. One of the elephants got so close that her ear brushed up against my face. I was frozen stiff, I had no idea what to do. I know very well that these weren’t zoo animals, and they could easily kill me, so I just tried to stay still. There were about 3 babies with them, and they held onto the mom’s tail with their trunks, just like in The Jungle Book! =) We waited until they were done eating and started on our way again. We passed by lots of zebras, blesbuck, wildebeest, impala, and lots of other grazers. Then we came up on a group of Rhinos, the second of the “Big Five” (elephants were the first). They call them the big five, for those who are wondering, because they are the hardest animals to hunt, and therefore the five biggest game animals. They are: Rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion, and leopard. We watched the Rhinos for quite a while…it was especially entertaining to see the baby boy running around trying to play with the adults (an only child on a big lonely reserve). Rhinos are one of the most poached animals currently. Poachers often come in with helicopters, tranquilize a rhino, come down, cut the horn off with a machete, and leave the Rhino to bleed to death. It is really a horrible situation, for such an incredibly stupid reason. People pay thousands of dollars for Rhino horn, because they believe it is an aphrodisiac. 10 days before we arrived, poachers had killed a Rhino at the Kariega Reserve. Unfortunately they did not give the Rhino enough sedative, and it woke up before it could bleed to death. The vet had to put it down. Even worse, this was a new mother, and the baby was doomed without its mother. Fortunately they were able to send the baby to another reserve, and they hope he will be able to return within a year. It is truly a horrible and wasteful process, especially since the horn will grow back if cut at the right spot. Instead, they hack the entire thing off and kill the animals in the process. Its scary, because they have no idea how the poachers manage to get on the reserve, much less find the rhino. Because of the recent poaching, every ranger and staff member had to take a lie detector test to determine if they had any involvement.

We moved on, all of us so satisfied with our drive so far. We thought we were incredibly lucky to have seen so many animals. So, you can imagine how surprised and completely, out-of-our-minds excited we were when we found the pride of lions. They had just finished a kill, you could see the spare legs and fur laying around, and they were all taking a nap. We were about 30ft away from the closest female, and she was staring straight at us. The big male was laying in between his females and the young male on the other side….it was time for the teenager to move out. They were so beautiful and so powerful, and so unbelievably breathtaking. I couldn’t even ask questions I was so in awe. They are used to seeing the jeeps, but we were told not to make any sudden movements, as they would without a doubt defend themselves. You can imagine after a comment like that we were all glued to our seats. So, in one day we were fortunate enough to see 3 of the big five, missing only the leopard and the buffalo. We returned for an amazing dinner…including some warthog (yes I did feel guilty eating Pumba, but he was delicious), blesbuck, and impala. It was all amazingly delicious. I couldn’t get enough! I tried to wake up for the sunrise, but it was too cloudy to see it….lucky for me I was distracted by the monkeys playing on our porch. At 5:30 we went on our morning game drive. We saw buffalo (number 4 of the big five), lots of giraffes, monkeys, and lots of grazers. We had an afternoon walk, where we learned about the smaller animals and plant life on the reserve. I was feeling adventurous and tried some termites. They actually tasted pretty good. Like mint and thyme. We had another very successful afternoon drive, where we saw the lions again, as well as the very rare black rhino (there are only 2 on the reserve)! On each drive we stopped for drinks and snack, and always in the most beautiful places with the best views. We were fortunate enough to have the head ranger, Dean, as our guide, so he always knew the best places to go. He was hilarious and we had so much fun! I am seriously considering going back to work at that reserve. I felt so at home and the rangers are fantastic. Not to mention…coolest job ever!! I absolutely did not want to leave, but after an early morning drive and some hot chocolate, we got back on the bus to return to the airport, and then to Cape Town. I wish I could accurately describe the feelings I had looking at wild lions, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and everything else. Unfortunately I realize that it would be impossible to explain. I hope the pictures do it at least some justice, but honestly I am still on a high from that experience, and I feel that I will be for the rest of my life.

We were able to see some of the townships on the way back, which was very interesting. I would have like to be able to visit them, but I guess I will have to do that next time. The safari was absolutely incredible, and Cape Town was so beautiful. There is so much more that I want to do there and I absolutely have to come back soon! To be honest I loved every second of it, but I felt much more connected to the people in Ghana. As we were leaving Cape Town I felt like I was leaving a vacation, and leaving Ghana I actually felt like I was leaving close friends. Overall, Africa was good to me. I loved every second of every minute of every day. SO many incredible experiences in such a small part of an incredible continent. I will return, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind about that. Besides, I HAVE to go back since I didn’t get to see the leopard. =) I’ll miss Africa a lot, but I am excited for my adventures in Asia! Love you all!

The Friends I Met on My Safari:

Cattle Egret

Great White Egret

Reed Cormorant

African Jacana

Blackshouldered Kite

Yellow Billed Kite

Ostrich

Secretary Bird

Cape Weaver

White Stork

Black Bellied Glossy Starling

Warthog

Bushpig

Cape Grysbok

Giraffe

Buffalo

Elephant

Oribi

Nyala

Impala

Black Backed Jackal

Vervet Monkey

Blesbuck

Common Reedbuck

Burchells Zebra

White Rhino

Black Rhino

Blue Wildebeest

Red Hartebeest

Bush Buck

Hippopotamus

Kudu

Water Buck

Lions

Slideshow is below! Works best with the Circle of Life playing behind it!

Safari and Cape Town =)