Helllooo Helllooo from the Indian Ocean! This boat is a ROCK
N ROLLLLLIN---more on the weather situation at the end of my posting, but let’s start
out with something exciting such as my time in South Africa!
Day 1-
Friday February 24th
We woke up to a beautiful Friday morning in Cape Town (and
when I say beautiful I mean a 11/10 on the Andy Klein weather channel—clear
skies and perfect temperature). Getting off the boat in South Africa was a
little bit different than in other countries because we each had to physically
give South African immigration officials our passports so that they could clear
us through immigration… I know what you are thinking--- clearing 900 people in a
timely fashion? You probably didn’t get off the boat until at least noon, but rest
assured, SAS has these types of things down to a science. I would say that it
took at most an hour to get everyone through immigration. Instead of having us
all line up and wait to go through, they simply called out our halls (which on
the boat are referred to as seas--- such as the Mediterranean Sea *cough the best sea cough*, Yellow Sea,
Caribbean Sea, and so on…) This system was ideal for me as per usual I was not all
packed, so I was able to do last minute packing before leaving for the day.
According to the rumor mill (and again I like to quote my
sources as I don’t want to be accused of misleading
my fan club), from here on out we will have to do a similar immigration process
as almost all of our remaining ports are more developed/ developing countries,
thus they follow this procedure.
Anyway, now for the actual interesting details about what
Day 1 in Cape Town entailed… I was scheduled for a
field trip to a wine tour (The Warwick Estates) for my Operations Management
class—yes, you read correctly, I got to go on a wine
tasting field trip for class credit (how many jealous people are out there
right now!?)
When we arrived at the Warwick estates, we broke into 3
groups and did a rotating cycle of 3 different “stations.”
My group began with a tour of the winery in which we got to see wine
production. A few interesting facts that I learned from the winery:
1. Warwick Estates handpicks each and every grape that is used
for their wine. This is because if they were to have a machine pick the grapes,
they would lose control over the quality of the grape
2. They make
80% red wine and 20% white wine
3. Red wine
doesn’t start with a red color, but rather the juice is all
white and then they add in the red skin after the juice has been taken out of
the grapes to give it the red color
4. We were
able to taste the grapes that are used for the wine and they are so much
smaller than the grapes we are used to… to give
you an idea, I would say they were even smaller than the size of a marble! (Now
that I write to all of you, I wish I had snapped a picture of them!)
After the production tour we went on a “safari ride”
(with the safari jeep and all) through the wine lands so we could actually see
where they grow the grapes. As we drove past a patch of grapes that were used
for a particular type of wine, the driver would compare the wine to one of the “Big 5” animals.
What’s the “Big 5” you maybe
wondering, well thanks to Eileen Kerwin for doing her homework and correctly
answering the trivia question:
For those
of you who are not aware, when going on a safari in Africa, generally people
will ask you how many of the big 5 animals did you get to see? The term the big
five was originally used only by
hunters, in which they classified these 5 animals as the hardest to capture… these
animals are: lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino.”
Here
is a picture of some of my class from the wine land tour… too bad for Jilly and
Andy that we didn’t need parent chaperones for this field trip… to think that I thought
the 5th grade trip to Williamsburg was cool! Hahah ;)
1.
After the ride, it was time for the wine tasting. At which
we got to taste the delicious wines, and let’s just say
there was plenty of wine to taste ;) At this same point, they told us the story
about how the Warwick logo came to be--- in a nutshell a silversmith wanted to
marry a King’s daughter, but the King didn’t think he
suited his daughter well, yet they were madly in love. After much begging, the
King decided that if the silversmith could create a cup where the silversmith and
his daughter could both drink from the cup at the same time, without his
daughter holding on, then he would be would be deemed worthy to marry his daughter.
Of course, the King didn’t expect for the
silversmith to actually be able to complete this task, but the next day the
silversmith and the princess come back to the King to show him the cup he has
created… the King is completely shocked by
his creation and allows the silversmith to marry his daughter! As you can see
below, here are Justine (playing the man’s role)
and me (playing the woman’s role) using what is now
the logo for the Warwick company!
2.
Finally, our wine tour concluded with a rather scrumptious picnic
lunch! It was so cute, they gave us these “boxed
lunches” that “blow away” SAS’s boxed
lunches any day… we had delicious lox,
cheeses, salads, and baguette rolls… I could
really get use to that kind of fine dining all the time!
We arrived back to the ship by 3:00 PM and I had until 8:00
PM to explore Cape Town… (I had to take a cab to
the airport). Although it seems like I had 5 hours to explore Cape Town, in reality I only had about 3 hours---
have to factor in
1. Time for dinner
2. Of course it’s
me, thus I needed to allot enough time to putz (spelling?!) around--- we all
know how long it can take me to get out the door when packing (even when Roy’s not there to distract me… there’s
your shout out Marisa!)
Side
Notes:
·
I was
flying to Johannesburg for my safari to Kruger National Park
·
I was on a safari with 7 other SAS girls
·
Because
Alexa and I had to do field trips on Friday, we took a later flight than the
rest of the group.
My friends and I
decided to keep it low key by just going down to the V&A Waterfront/ Mall… the Waterfront reminded me a lot of something that you
would see back in the States, but prettier of course because you have the
beautiful Cape Town back-drop. We walked around the mall for a while which was
a lot of fun because I noticed a lot of differences between a South African
mall and the American malls which I know and love…
·
Stores are
grouped by theme/ genre--- all the electronic stores in 1 wing, men’s apparel, children’s apparel, etc.
·
They had a
grocery store in the mall--- correct me if I am wrong, but we certainly don’t have a full fledge grocery in “Monkey Mall”
(shout out to my Montgomery Mall fans)
·
In the grocery
store, they use electronic price tags that they put out on the shelves for each
item--- this is instead of the paper tags, which we have in our stores. By
using these electronic tags, they can save a lot of time when they have sales/
specials because they can simply use a computer to switch the prices! How cool!
·
For a long
time my friend’s
and I roamed the mall aimlessly in search of the mall directory… we ended up asking someone who pointed us to what appeared
to be an advertisement screen (like those we see in the center of our malls),
but low and behold once you touch the screen out of no where there appears a
mall directory in which you can navigate all via touch screen… this screamed WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY!
Before we knew it, it
was time to head back to the ship, I am happy to admit that I managed to stick
to just window shopping, in all honesty, I have never been a huge fan of
shopping (gasp, how can I be an American girl if I don’t like to shop?), so I was much happier just looking through
the mall and not having to deal with trying clothes on and what not! On our way
back to the ship, I made sure to stop by the Coke Man (thanks to Auntie Adrian
for telling me his “history”)…
this huge guy is made out of all coke crates and was constructed for the 2010
World Cup games and has been standing tall ever since--- I think the 2 of us
truly look like a match made in heaven ;)
3.
What occurred next… ahhh yes of course, although I had carefully planned out
how long packing/ eating would take me, I wouldn’t truly be a Klein without running late ;) Don’t worry, the girl who I was flying with, Alexa was running
late as well so it wasn’t
a big deal, just more a typical Klein moment that was totally note worthy.
Alexa and I got to
the airport with plenty of time to roam the shops near our gate… at this time I should note that I was craving something
sweet such as a McFlurry, but naturally (or rather unnaturally—as this more explains the treat I was seeking) there wasn’t a McDonalds in my gate, so I had to settle on getting a
milk shake from a South African fast food equivalent, Wimpy’s …
The moment of truth: my shake being handed to me, and CK having her first taste
of South Africa (kinda, aside from the Wine lands, but just work with me here)… what the heck this was no milkshake—was this some type of sick joke? I am pretty sure I received
literally milk shaken up with a hint of vanilla taste. I am going to blame it
on the hour that I ordered the shake (around 10:00 PM/ closing time) and hope
that this isn’t
actually what South Africans consider to be a milkshake… because if so, then the name of the restaurant, “Wimpy”
certainly does fit their food quite well!
Side Note: Everyone should be proud of me because instead of
going back to the restaurant and trying to sort out if this was my first taste
of South African cuisine or if this was just a machine flaw--- I chose to cut
my losses and just to suck it up (pun intended)!
Side Note to the Side Note: wow, with the past 2 puns in
that story I am really making Henry, Andy, and Brad Klein proud! And certainly
killing Jill’s hopes that
CK would avoid the punny genes!
We made it to Johannesburg
with no problem and were greeted by our tour guide, Anthony Chavkin. Alexa so
wonderfully provided Travel Tip #1 for my South Africa blog in which if you are
ever to be picked up by someone at the airport who you have never met before,
be sure to have them provide their name to you before asking, “excuse me sir, are you Anthony”… remember what I said in my last blog, you see the best an
worst of humanity all in one moment, so sadly we always must keep our guard up!
Before heading to the
bed and breakfast (where we were staying for the night) Anthony told us that he
was going to pick up our friends who were out at a restaurant/ bar called the
News Café. When we arrived at the News Café, I was shocked to discover how
residential Johannesburg appeared-- from the books I had read and the news I
had seen I expected to see a really run down city, but instead I saw the News
Café was located in a shopping center, which reminded me a lot of the good ol’ Rockville, Maryland. Anthony explained to us that
Johannesburg of course has its fair share of poverty/ unsafe areas, but also
has a lot of nice parts to it much like anywhere in the US. As we waited in the
parking lot for our friends to come back into our van, we only spotted Amanda… oy vey where on earth were the others?! As Anthony rolled
down the window, he knew exactly what was going to come out of Amanda’s mouth he spoke before she could even speak, “Let me guess, you guys are all having so much fun and want
to stay longer?”
Amanda just smiled and said “yes!
We love it here!!!!”
Anthony, typical Anthony (as you will read throughout this entry, the Chavkin’s went above and beyond the call of duty for the 8 of us,
hence why I said, typical Anthony) told her that he had no problem just sitting
in the van waiting for them as he was intent on us having an amazing experience
in South Africa. Furthermore, he didn’t feel comfortable having them take a cab ride home because
if anything were to happen to any of them he would have never forgive himself.
Amanda then looked to
us in the car and explained that we just had to come inside and meet all their
new friends. Alexa and I looked at each other and said there was no way we were
going to show up at this place in the outfits we were wearing (let’s just say I wasn’t looking my hottest in my sneakers, leggings, white v-neck,
and no make-up), but before I knew it Alexa and I jumped on the bandwagon and
were running across the parking lot ready to meet some “hot”
South African guys!
Ahhh Amanda wasn’t lying…
we had a blast! Although I was wearing the most “un- going-out attire” the South Africans literally didn’t notice (or at least that’s what they said… awkward now that I think about it, were they lying to me?).
The 8 of us were considered celebrities in the bar as we were constantly having
people (and by people I mean South African guys with quite attractive accents!)
come up to us to see if we were “the Americans” --- I kid you not, we were known as “the Americans!” Just to share one of the many the funny questions that we
were asked: “Are
frat parties really like those we have seen in American Pie?” What a great way to start our stay in South Africa!
I would say about an
hour passed, before we all realized that we better get going as yes, AMAZING
Anthony was still waiting in the parking lot for us. He of course claimed that
he didn’t
care and was so happy that we had fun… oy vey think about the pressure he had to impress a group
of 8 American girls! Nice work Anthony ;)
We arrived to the Bed
and Breakfast around 1:30 AM at which time we all went straight to bed… the place was really cute as it had 3 condos (for anyone
who is worried that the size of the condo would be comparable to Roy’s condo…
have no fear, they were much larger!) – if you don’t
know who Roy is, then you clearly don’t know CK well at all…Roy= my poooochie aka my dog!
Day 2- Saturday February 25th
I woke up to the
sound of a little boy with a South African accent going from condo to condo
tapping on our front doors, “Hello,
hello are you awake? Hello?”
I was both confused and amused by the sound so I went to look out the door… to my surprise there was this adorable kid about 7 years
old in a polo shirt and khaki shorts. Who on earth was he? As soon as he saw a
creature emerge, he went running to my door… Now mind you, my door was locked so I was peering at him
through a glass screen door and at this point had to find the key to unlock the
door, but of course that’s
no easy task when the doors use the old fashion kind of keys! Oy vey… once I finally locate the key, I have to have a darn 7
year-old coax me through how to unlock the door… hey now buddy, it’s 7:30 in the morning cut me some slack!
I literally felt like
the scene could have come straight out of a movie because as soon as I opened
the door, the boy comes running into my room and the first thing out of his
mouth is “Oy
it’s a mess in
here!” (my entire
suitcase was sprawled over the ground! Yet another buzz kill, being told by a 7
year-old boy that I am messy!) Eccckkk…
I obviously am loving
it that this kid is running around our condo pointing out things here and there
and then before I know it he is gone! No explanation, no nothing!!! At this
point I am deducing ahhh yes, he must just be another guest staying at the Bed
and Breakfast…
I finally get him to
stand still for a moment and he smiles and announces, “Hi, I’m
Alex!” alright… great but who the heck are you and where do you fit into
the picture of my safari?! He then explains that Anthony is his father and he
will be joining us on our safari… at this point, I am STOKED!
Alex is actually the
cutest kid ever despite what the rest of my fellow “safari-ers”
might tell you (aka the other 7 girls weren’t quite as amused by Alex as I was)—to the Greenberg children who hold a VERY near and dear
place in my heart, I would beware because Alex has a South African accent which
gives him MANY extra brownie points ;) Alright alright, you don’t actually have to worry, my heart is big enough for the 4
of you!
It ended up that we
were not only traveling with Alex and Anthony, but also Elaine, Anthony’s wife. Just to keep everyone in the loop the way in which
we connected with the Chavkin’s:
·
Anthony’s sister is Hillary
·
Hillary now
lives in Michigan
·
Michigan - Amanda and Hannah’s are from there
·
Amanda and
Hannah were in playgroup (and are still great family friend’s with) Hillary’s son
Now that I realize your playgroup could actually have
international members, I feel that my playgroup was really slacking… sorry Hannah, Nicole, Matthew
and Jessie… please try to
be more worldly in life!
The ride up to Kruger
Park was apparently really long, but typical CK fashion, I slept the entire car
ride which was stellar! Gotta love my fine ability to be able to conk out in a
car ride just about anytime, but never be able to sleep through the night… go figure. Before entering Kruger we stopped at a
supermarket to get a few snacks before making our way into “The Wild.”
It just so happened that the supermarket, Spar, was the same store that I had
done a group project on for my Operations Management class. I love when your studies
come to life!
By around 2:00 PM we
were all settling into our little lodges within the gates of Kruger. The way
that the park works is that you can either be a day visitor or else you can
stay on the property of the park at one of the “hotels.”
I think that most are set up the same way as ours in which there are numerous
lodges that people can rent along with camp sites where you could pitch a tent.
One additional piece of information that is probably relevant is the size of
Kruger... my friend Katie and I were all excited that perhaps we would run into
each other at Kruger, that is until we found out that Kruger actually is the
size of Israel--- our hopes and dreams of becoming one with nature together
were immediately crushed! Kruger extends into Botswanna and Mozambique
(apparently these are the 2 countries where you can do some serious safari-ing)
After enjoying the AC
for a little while, it was time for Game Drive Number 1… for my own sanity, I am going to pick some of my favorite
pictures of the animals that I took and post them throughout this blog post, if
you want to see more once I return home you are more than welcome, but I have
far too many good photos to post them all considering the extreme slownessss of
my internet!
We arrived back to
our lodge by 6:30 PM and were all ready for a nice shower and some dinner.
Another minor side note, if you stay on the Kruger property, you must be back
onto your hotel property by 6:30 PM so as not to get eaten alive by the animals
since it begins to get dark at this point. They actually have an electrical
fenced gate that apparently if you walk through will electrocute you… guess they feel it’s better to be electrocuted than eaten by a lion? Whicht would
you rather?
Day 3- Sunday February 26th (Jenna’s
21st Birthday which I sadly wasn’t there to celebrate with her)
On Sunday we woke up
around 8:30, had some breakfast and once again were out for the day doing Game
Drive Number 2! At first all of us were a bit bummed out that we didn’t get to experience a “real safari”
because we drove around in a white van so we only had a few windows to take
photos from, but then I think we all came to our senses as we quickly worked
out a system…
·
Carly and
Michelle needed to have good seats since they had the legit cameras
·
Amanda, Alana,
Alexa, CK would snap shots at the really exciting parts since we didn’t have the huge cameras
·
Leah and
Hannah sat in the back since their cameras are no longer with us
o Hannah has successfully lost/ broken 2 cameras on the trip
(touchy subject so I shall not joke too much more on the topic)
o Leah lost her phone and camera in Ghana, but was touched by
an angel as her taxi driver in Ghana turned them in and then shipped them to
our port in Cape Town (so she picked them up once we got back to Cape Town)
Furthermore, at great
photo opts, we would open up our van door and then all crowd around to take
pictures... Finally, since Anthony was awesome, we did some total illegal
nonsense (well okay, not me, but Carly and Michelle) got actually out of the
car at some points to take even better pictures of the animals! Okay, okay
there was this one time that we all legit got out of the car… to take a group photo ;)
Now for some of my
encountering with the animals--- at points where I totally and completely was
speaking to them (duh, I’m
Eliza Thornberry)
1. We saw this elephant from across a pond/ shallow body of
water who was just hanging out all by himself. Out of no where (but of course
somewhere because I totally told the elephant to do so), he decides to walk
across the pond and take a nice bath! It was sooooo cool watching him bathe and
then come out of the water and be even closer to us
2. All of us were only paying attention to these elephants and
giraffes interacting with one another, when all of the sudden Amanda turns
around and we hear terror in her voice, “Anthony, Anthony… DRIVE DRIVE THE CAR--- there is ahhh a herd of elephants
coming at us!”
At this point we all turn around to find an entire family of elephants just
crossing the road--- totally oblivious to all of us.
3. Rhinos crossing the road and then our safari jeep chasing
after them…
I have a really cute video of this happening ;) This actually occurred when we
were in the actual safari cheep ride (so once again you’ll understand more of that as I explain in a bit)
After getting REALLY
distracted by all the animals, we eventually realized that we were all hungry
so we stopped at a picnic area. Elaine and Anthony had prepared a delicious
South African lunch for us---complete with fresh mango--- yum yum yum! No rest
stop would be complete without a gift shop… Hannah, Amanda, and I wanted to pretend we were animals:
By the time we got
back to our lodge it was around 4:45 PM and we had another game drive at 5:30… this is one that was done by the Hotel park rangers and
therefore allows you to go out from 5:30-8:30 PM in one of those safari jeeps.
Originally, we were all adamant that we participate in both a morning and night
game drive mainly because:
1. We felt that we may be missing safari experience by driving
around in a van and not in an open air jeep vehicle
2. Thought maybe the park rangers would use their magical
powers to locate animals that we couldn’t find on our own (lions, cheetahs, buffalo--- of course this
didn’t happen!)
Now that I look back,
I realize that we should have listened to Anthony when he said that it wouldn’t be worth it, as Anthony does know all… Of course, like typical American girls we all were too
stubborn to admit to Anthony that he was in fact correct--- so if Anthony you
are reading this, then here is my apology for not listening to you!
While the 8 of us
went on our game drive, Elaine, Anthony and Alex prepared a traditional (and
delicious!) South African meal for us! Not sure if I mentioned this earlier,
but the lodges included an outside charcoal grill and patio furniture so once
we finished our game drive, we were greeted by a lavish feast. We had
scrumptious meat kabobs, some vegetable side dishes, freshly toasted pita with
humus, and finally the traditional South African dish called Pap which
is a stiff, fluffy, porridge of maize meal (basically a mix between mashed
potatoes and grits).
After a long day, we were in bed by 10:30ish with the
knowledge Monday would bring an unearthly wake up time of 4:30 AM so we could
be at our game drive by 5:00 AM.
Day 4-
Monday February 27th
Brrrring brrrring briiiiinnnng… I woke on Monday morning utterly
and completely confused on my where abouts as my alarm was vibrating around
4:30 AM (the funny part is for all you Eastern Standard Timers--- I was waking
up for my day before you had even gone to bed and that includes my mother and
father’s bed
time! Well, I guess not quite… it was around 9:30 PM your time). I actually remember
shooting up in my bed and then trying to take in my surroundings while wracking
my brain--- WHERE AM I?! Then I came to my senses that ahhh yes, I was in
Kruger!
We got a little lost walking to the jeep tour meeting
station and nearly missed the entire safari--- selfishly, I was hoping that we
would have missed the game drive because I was still half asleep, so walking
back to my lodge to get a few more zzzzzzzzzz was sounding pretty darn good! Not
to worry, we made it in the knick of time as the jeep was literally right about
to pull out of the lot. Bummer MAJOR (I mean…)
The morning game drive was a lot of fun, for the parts that
I saw… I’m just
going to be honest and admit that I napped for a good portion of the game
drive, at least I was getting fresh air!? Like an idiot I didn’t take
into account that mornings in Africa are in fact quite chilly, thus pants and a
blanket would have been ideal (I was in a sweatshirt and shorts). We did
however witness some hyenas, which might I add are terrifying --- just like in
the Lion King!
By 9:00 AM we were out of Kruger Park--- sadly we were
headed to Johannsburg and then flying back to Cape Town. Not too much to report
about the ride back just quality bonding with my Best Friend Alex. Apparently Elaine
snapped a precious picture of Alex sleeping on my shoulder… can’t wait to
post that picture once I get it from Elaine. We also did some gimping (gimp= lanyard
if you don’t know
what I’m
referencing, then you are clearly missing out on life, either google the term
or else run to your nearest craft store ASAP and ask for a spool of gimp… Gimp= a
CK favorite pastime and am minorly offended that you are unaware of the term).
It was actually really interesting because the gimp in South Africa is rounded
and has a hole in the middle unlike the gimp I know and love (flat)… to my
Timber Tops Crew, I am now kicking myself for not grabbing a few spools of the
gimp to bring some of South Africa to camp this summer. ARRRG!
We arrived to the airport EARLY, which let me just tell you
is SUCH a strange concept to any Klein member. I really didn’t know how
to handle myself… ended up
just following along with my friends as they all did some errand shopping.
Grrrr for no free wifi!
The airline that we flew, Kulula Airlines actually puts even
South West airlines to shame (mind you, I’m a huge fan of South West--- free checked bags,
friendly service, and no nasty airline food--- what’s not to
love?!). However, Kulula staff were so funny and candid on their announcements
to us over the PA system… bahhh wish I could remember what they said, but it wasn’t just me
laughing at their jokes, it was everyone so hopefully that validates the humor
a little bit!?
One thing I do remember is that they instructed everyone to
turn and introduce themselves to their neighbor… On this flight, I
had the potential to chit-chat, but that would require a nap in order to take
off the edge. I politely introduced myself to my neighbor, Imtiaaz and then
dosed off. Probably 5 minutes into my nap I decided that I was just a bit too
cold so I woke up to turn off my air conditioning, as I was about to close my
eyes, I made eye contact with Imtiaaz. At this point without a moment’s
hesitation he offered me his jacket! Alright people… what is
it that makes strangers offer their jackets to me on airplanes? I know for a
fact that I go for the “I just fell out of a tree look” when traveling, but does the
reaction to such a look evoke the “I feel sorry for you, I should hand over my jacket
emotion?!” Hmmm… if so,
perhaps I should try this look more often, as it seems to be pretty effective!
(If you are confused about my reference to a past airplane experience, please
see my post on Rio)
Once I was “well rested/ rejuvenated,” I stroked up a conversation with Imtiaaz… alright
alright I’ll be
honest, he stroked up the conversation, but we ended up chatting for a long
time. He was really curious about SAS and provided tips on his personal “must see’s” in Cape
Town. We then also got into talking about perceptions of one another’s
countries and other “worldly topics.” Imtiaaz was so kind as before heading off the plane
he wanted to make sure that my friends and I had a ride back to the ship.
Additionally he was saddened to hear that I would only be in Cape Town thru
Wednesday as he really would have loved to have my friends and I over his house
for traditional South African cuisine… although I have already discovered that there are
both wonderful and awful people in this world, I am always delighted by my
reaction to the wonderful people. Each time I meet someone like Imtiaaz, I stop
and notice a smile on my face--- there is a sudden realization that perhaps this
world is full of people with huge hearts after all.
Monday night concluded with a night out in Cape Town and a
Sari Meltzer spotting! For those of you who don’t know Sari, she is a family
friend and currently studying at the University of Cape Town, which might I add
has a BEAUTIFUL campus. Sari and I had been trying to meet up with one another
when I was in Cape Town, but after comparing our schedules it appeared that
there wasn’t going to
be a time when we could meet up… that being said, it was so much better running into Sari so
randomly! We both were super excited and of course had to document the run in.
Tuesday
February 28th- Megan Berman’s 21st Birthday!
On Tuesday morning, I was reunited and traveling with the
newly 21-year-old, Jenna Rose Binkhorst (I sadly missed celebrating her
birthday on the 26th). Our plan for Tuesday was originally to go
with friends to the wine lands and do a bike tour, however we ended up being
too late to do a biking wine tour as they all begin at 9:00 AM and sadly it was
already 10:00… I was actually happy that we ended up being too late because although
I of course would have loved to go to the wine lands again, I felt that in such
a limited amount of time I should really see another aspect of South Africa---
the only reason I was tagging along was because everyone else I had spoken to
was either on field trips or on safari’s, etc so I was stuck in the mud! Unfortunately one
of the hardest parts about being a girl on this trip is not feeling comfortable
traveling solo in these countries whereas males can go freely (as many of my
friends will admit, this fact kills me as I hate not being able to be independent!)
My friends ended up booking a tour of Cape Town by bike. I
would have been totally fine doing that, however Jenna wasn’t feeling
it and I had been fixated on going to the Cape of Good Hope, thus we decided to
do our own thing and potentially meet up with our friends at the end of the
day. This is the great thing about a program like SAS--- first and foremost my
friends were of course sad that we weren’t biking with them, but were in no way mad that we
didn’t want to
come. Additionally it really teaches you to be your own person and do/ see what
you want… If you
feel passionate about seeing something, then take matters into your own hands
and make it happen! (I probably sound a bit of a hypocrite saying that
considering I was almost going to bike through the wine lands, but that’s only
because I didn’t have a
fellow travel mate).
After much debate Jenna and I ended up booking a tour of the
Cape of Good Hope in the afternoon, which left the morning to kill. We decided
to buy tickets for the double-decker tour buses. For those of you who aren’t familiar
with these buses they are a great way to tour a city because they have a
pre-arranged list of stops and a recorded tour guide talking about what you see
as you drive by that you can listen to… I was a bit nervous for the ride as a
result of my last 2 experiences on double-decker buses:
1994- San Francisco, I really had
to pee so I peed off the side of the bus!
2010- the Klein family toured
Barcelona and at one point all 4 of us fell asleep causing us to miss our stop
and get quite sun burned ;)
This time, I was ready to succeed… made sure
to limit my liquid intake for the morning along with setting various alarms to
help me stay awake! The trip went according to plan aside from the fact that we
ended up only getting off at one stop (stop number 4), the Green Market and
didn’t end up
getting to see much else of Cape Town… can you blame us? The market was a wonderful open-air
market full of all sorts of crafts made by local artists all across Africa.
Although it is wonderful that people come from many different countries in
Africa to sell their art work, it is actually causing a problem for the local
South African artists because it makes more competition for them. I made a
conscious effort to only buy authentic South African craft work to try to help
to locals… Below is a picture of what the market looked like:
Jenna
and I eventually made it back to the bus around 12:45, but needed to be back at
the start of the route by 2:00 PM to make it for our Cape of Good Hope Tour. We
got on the bus and then as we were sitting there began to do the math in our
head only to realize that there was no way we would make it back in time for
our tour! At probably the 10th stop we spoke to the driver who told
us that from the current stop it would take a good hour and a half for us to
get back to the start… oy vey! We kept ourselves calm, cool, and collect and managed to navigate
our way back to the Green Market in hopes of finding a place to eat lunch and
also call the tour operator to see if they would be able to pick us up from
here instead. I am happy to note our plan worked out smoothly and by 2:00 PM we
had eaten a lovely lunch and were in the van on our way to the Cape of Good
Hope.
The
tour ended up being a semi-private tour as it was just Jenna and me with a
couple from Canada. From the start Jenna was a bit irritable with the couple because
as soon as said we were on a program called Semester at Sea, the husband
replied, “OOOO I have heard about that… I hear all you do is party while on
board.” This immediately pissed Jenna off, so for the entire tour she
made every effort to appear super smart to the guy… THAT’S MY GIRL ;)
Our
tour included a trip to Boulder Beach to see the Penguins. At the beach, the
penguins roam freely as they just waddle about, kinda felt like I was watching
the Happy Feet Movie… here is a picture of some of the penguins.
Sadly,
it began to rain/ get really cloudy as we were looking at the Penguins which
was a major bummer because the drive to the Penguins and the Cape are really
beautiful drives so the fog made it difficult to see anything far away… Not to worry, the fog
cleared out by the time we got to the Cape of Good Hope, so the photo-opt was
wonderful! While driving to the Cape, one comes across hundreds of what I now
consider to be one of earths most terrifying creatures… the baboons! Over time
the baboons have become so accustomed to humans invading their habitat/ being
fed by humans that they have actually figured out how to open our car doors… they will even “rob” you of your backpack---
once again in hopes of getting some food. It sounds like a joke, but it is
actually a serious issue… they now have to kill some of the baboons because they are such a
violent animal and have hurt people as they attempt to steal bags and other
belongings!
Not
sure if you can make it out in the picture below, but the Cape is the South
Western tip of Africa. Now for the funny coincidence… there was a couple
doing head stands/ yoga-esque poses in front of the Cape sign. After they
finished posing, Jenna and I began chatting it up with them only to find out
that they both teach at the same exact yoga studio that Jenna goes to in Boston… of all chances how
weird is that!?
Our
day concluded with another wonderful night out in Cape Town. Jenna and I had a
rather romantic dinner at the V&A waterfront. Yum yum yum! I ordered
delicious sushi, while Jenna was a bit braver than me and actually ordered a
South African delicacy Springbok (antelope)! I’ll admit that I actually
did try a bite and it was quite tasty. After dinner we made our way over to
Long Street---very comparable to Athens, Georgia night scene… meaning lots and lots
of bars! Jenna’s good friend from home was also studying abroad at the University
of Cape Town so we met up with her and she was able to show us the night life
in Cape Town. After a jam packed day we made it back to the ship around 12:30
AM and we were pooped!
Wednesday- February 29
(David Lowey’s 6th birthday/ 24th birthday and LEAP
YEAR!)
My
last day in Cape Town was spent visiting a HIV/AIDS hospital for children; this
was a particularly eye-opening experience. The hospital provides a comfortable
home with food and even gives out toys to the sick children while they undergo
their treatment. HIV/AIDS is a really big problem in South Africa as
approximately 930 people are diagnosed each day! It was especially sad to hear
from the woman in charge, Nolean, that for many of these children, living in
the hospital is much better conditions compared to what they are used to at
their homes. Many of them don’t have delicious meals to eat for breakfast,
lunch, and dinner, nor do they sleep in a comfortable bed at night… thus living at the
hospital is actually better. One of the most memorable parts about my time at
the hospital were the closing lines by Nolean, “Every person can make a
difference, you might not feel like you are making a difference because you are
just a small student, but really 1 person has the potential to change millions
of peoples lives.” I hope that for those of you who do not believe in the power of
serving those in need, you take a moment and consider modifying your philosophy… think about how
fortunate you are compared to those around you and understand that it doesn’t take much effort to
help someone in need.
After the field trip, I came back to the boat, and was upset
because I had about 4 hours until I needed to be back at the ship, but I didn't
want to waste away the time at the water front like I had on Friday. I really
wanted to make good use of the time... I ended up wandering around the ship and
found a group of girls that I am friendly with, but not BFF with who were
leaving. I yelled to one of them to see where they were going and it just so
happened that they were on their way to Table Mountain!!! I was so proud of
myself because I invited myself along with them and it was a lot of fun (again,
this is what SAS is all about). We sadly didn't have enough time to actually
hike the mountain, but I did get to take in the UNBELIEVABLE VIEWS--- couldn’t have
asked for a better way to leave South Africa!
My
6 days in South Africa were amazing amazing amazing and I along with the rest
of the ship were so sad to leave. Where in the World will CK be next? Headed to
Mauritius… or was supposed to be headed to Mauritius (off the coast of
Madagascar) I say supposed to be headed to Mauritius because it just so happens
that we are currently caught between 2 tropical storms so we are now unable to
go to Mauritius! The water is really rough so they have had to travel a
different way to get us to Mauritius giving us only enough time to re-fuel and
then continue on our way to India… unfortunately we are supposed to get in
at 10:00 pm and then they want to leave by 2:00 AM so there is not enough time
for us to get off the boat and then get back on… I shall keep you posted
on what actually ends up happening (I am writing after going to Mauritius, so
the story actually ends well, but would rather leave you all on the cliff
hanger ending for now) … your trivia question for INDIA shall come in my Mauritius post!
ADIOS
for now from the INDIAN OCEAN.
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