Friday, March 21, 2008
INDIA
so I'm in Malaysia and haven't had time to type up India yet. Here's a few pictures to start and a whole recap on India and Malaysia to come.. At the bottom there are three videos- one of the streets in India, one of the infamous South Indian head-bobble I'll explain later, and one of our visit to a school. I also put about 30 more pictures on webshots (community.webshots.com/user/philschwartz3)
Monday, March 10, 2008
South Africa Continued, and then Mauritius!
First pics, then info. Also, added a new album on the webshots site.. These are random pics of the beach and mountains, and a pic of a tortoise that must be have been about 100 years old. Also me playing with lions!!! There are more pictures on the other website (community.webshots.com/user/philschwartz3)
So. Got back to Cape Town on the 22nd late night, passed out hard in hopes of waking up early to hike Table Mountain. Woke up early only to see that the mountain was covered in clouds and the view wouldn’t be that good, so we kind of scrambled to plan something else and ended up having a pretty sweet day anyway. We hit up the Two Oceans Aquarium (named this because the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean connect near the cape in South Africa), which was pretty sweet. Saw tons of different fish/turtles/penguins and some sharks. Ended up walking around the waterfront for a while, bought a variety of African music which was pretty cheap (5 CDs for like 25 bucks).
After that we decided to check out Boulder Beach, which is where there is a colony of African Penguins. As far as I know (but I could be wrong), these penguins only exist in southern Africa. There were TONS of them just chillin on the beach, wobbling around, and a few swimming. Really cool to see penguins in a natural environment. It was really weird however, to see penguins in 80 degree weather on a beach, and not in freezing temperatures sliding around on ice.
After this we walked around a few markets and bought a couple things for ppl at home, and then took the drive back to the ship along the coast which was really nice. Rested on the ship for a bit and then went into the downtown area to meet up with Lindsey Palma!! Woohoo, and about 5 others came with us to eat at this restaurant called Mama Africa. Ordered a bottle of wine which was like 6 bucks, and ended up eating a pretty “wild” dinner- crocodile, kudu (their antelope), ostrich, springbok, and venison sausage. It was actually all amazing as weird as it sounds. Most of it just really tasted like steaks, and it was served with a BOMB mustard sauce, squash, and millipop (cornmeal kinda thing served with a marinara sauce.)
After dinner we got some drinks at a hookah bar which was pretty sweet ($2 mixed drinks, $1.50 beers), and then I met up with Sherman and some of his friends living in Cape Town and went to another bar. This place was pretty sweet; crowded, but we went to the rooftop which had an open area where you could view the rest of the downtown scene, which was bumping as it was Saturday night.
Stayed out til about 3 A.M., passed out, and woke up at 8 A.M. to go for a hike. Laura and I decided that we were going to hike Table Mountain’s neighbor, Lions Head instead of Table Mtn. because there were a million ppl going to Table and we wanted some peace and quiet on top. So we hopped in a cab and went there. About an hour or so hike up, maybe a little more. It was SUPER hot, sun blaring in our faces but it felt good. The trail was winding up and provided an awesome 360 degree view of the surrounding area. On one side you could see the whole city, on another was an amazing view of Table Mountain, and in the back was the Ocean which was gorgeous, as it was a mix of turquoise, deep blue, light blue… you get the picture. We got to the top and hung out for about an hour and a half just enjoying the view, taking pictures, chillin. Tough life, I know. On the way down we went a different way, the “harder way”, where in certain areas you had to lower yourself down by rappelling on metal chains. Pretty crazy, as it was so hot and we had sunscreen on our hands so they were oily and sweaty.
When we got back we just walked around the waterfront, bought a t-shirt.. Then, we went to a craft market where I met one of the nicest people ever: Laura bought a painting from him for about 7 bucks. I lent her my last South African money so she could get it, and then I realized I wanted one too but was out of luck. The artist saw me looking at his work and asked me how much I could give him. I told him I literally had zero money. He put his finger up to his lips in a “shhh” motion, and slid the painting I was looking at into a bag, and gave it to me for free. I told him I couldn’t accept it because I felt so bad taking something from someone who clearly didn’t have money to spare, but he told me he insisted on me having it, and that someone rich would make up for it in the future. I wanted to hug this guy. It was so unnecessary, but a true showing of how the people in South Africa are. Amazing, nice, and so happy with having so little.
We had about 4 hours left in port so we went to a brewery and got some of their homemade beer ($ 2.00 draughts!!!), which was 7% alcohol and sooo delicious. All of a sudden I heard a chant coming from upstairs that sounded like a fight song you hear in English soccer games, so I went to see what it was. Turns out it was the Cape Town Chelsea fan club about to watch Chelsea play in the Carling Cup championship game!!!! (for those of you who don’t know soccer, Chelsea is one of the 4 best teams in English soccer, and I love them.) They were playing Tottenham, who shouldn’t have had a chance. The game was about to start and Laura and I decided to ditch any other plans and watch the game, as the ENTIRE BAR was full of Chelsea fans, and we were LITERALLY the only two people in there that didn’t have jerseys on. So, we kinda quietly sat down and watched. Ended up starting a tab and drinking a bunch of beers for like zero dollars. The fan club also bought pizzas for everyone in the room and it was just a ridiculous experience. SO MUCH FUN. Chelsea was winning until after the 80th minute, when Tottenham tied it up and in extra time T’ham ended up winning. Lets just say the mood was a bit somber in the bar…
Overall, Cape Town was unbelievable and I will be back in my lifetime (World Cup?). Speaking of World Cup, I made it a point to talk to a lot of locals about it and get their opinion on it and I was surprised to learn that the majority of people DON’T want the World Cup to occur there, and are unhappy about it. They feel that money could be better spent, and that it’s just another example of the rich getting richer and the poor not benefiting. We’ll see.
One thing that really moved me in Cape Town was how racism is still so prevalent. You can see, hear, and feel it in the attitudes of the people there, but you can just tell by looking around that the after effects of apartheid are still felt by the entire nation. It’s really sad because this place is amazing. About 75% of the population is Black, and they still occupy less than 20% of the land. They live in townships and squatter villages, while the other 13% of the population occupies 80% of the land. Really wild. Also, South Africa is absolutely destroyed by HIV/AIDS. 21% of the adult population in the country is infected. 21%!!!! 1/5 people in the whole nation!!!
50% of the people lie below the poverty line. So, a lot of problems for them to deal with, but what amazed me the most was how happy they are even in this position. People in the U.S. are so much more miserable living in poverty than these people. They truly make the best of their situation and it was pretty inspiring.
MAURITIUS
Pulled into Mauritius on March 1st, and woke up at about 6:00 that morning to watch us pull in. I walked out on the deck to see a gorgeous city. The backdrop for Port Louis is just the most lush green mountains that everybody pictures when they think of “paradise.” These mountains surround Mauritius (at least every part I was in), and it was awesome. They are just these crazy mountain formations that are deep green.
The water in Mauritius was probably the most beautiful ocean water I’ve ever seen. It is literally crystal clear. When you’re in the ocean you can see everything underwater. The color of the water is just ridiculous. I’ll upload some pictures, but you should all look at some google images of Mauritius.
For the academic side of Mauritius, there are some interesting facts. Mauritius has tons of different cultures coexisting- Indians are 50%, and then there are French (who colonized the island, and the majority of people speak French), Chinese, and Creoles. It was really cool seeing all of these different populations all over. Hindu is the biggest religion on the island and there were lots of temples and other evidences of this.
Here is the interesting thing. French people make up only 2% of the population, but hold by far most of the wealth. These are the remaining descendants from the French colonizers.
The country is in a big transition phase right now. They have one of the most stable economies in all of Africa, but their focuses are changing. Historically they were known for sugar exports, which have been shrinking in recent history due to changing world prices. Now they are substituting other industries. One of their goals in the country is to make the ENTIRE country wireless, including beaches, homes, everything.
So on the first day we got picked up at the port by the family we were going to stay with. (Me, Laura, Quinn and two other friends from the ship). The mother is a five star chef, and has her cook books being sold all over the island. The father was a nice guy, and then there was a guy our age named Kinglsey, and younger girl. They ended up being one of the nicest family’s I’ve met. So we drove out to their house which is on Flic En Flac beach (google it). We would stay here for 3 nights, 4 days. The house was a block and a half from the beach, had a pool, satellite tv, yada yada. All of our breakfasts and dinners were included, 4 hour open bar every night… you get the picture. We were set up for a week in paradise.
Not gonna summarize every day individually because I don’t really remember the specifics, but in general we woke up every day to breakfast, then headed to the beach and swam and chilled, did some snorkeling which was AWESOME because the water was amazing, got a $4 massage that included 2 drinks, went to a casino, ate tons of good food… and at night everybody migrated to Flic En Flac’s only bar named Shooters. Good times.
On the last day we went to this place called Casela, where we were hoping to do a 2 hour ATV cruise through the wilderness, but it was sold out. So instead we pet lions. Yes..we pet lions. They have 6 lions that you are allowed to interact with, that are fully grown, and not drugged. There’s no strings attached, except for I’m sure they’ve been hand fed their whole lives so they don’t view humans as food. We got tons of pictures petting and hanging out around them, and then walked around the rest of the area which had HUGE tortoises up to 100 years old (sick pictures of these too), two Bengal tigers, some parrots…
I’m sure I left some things out but whatever. Mauritius was a very interesting place, tons of culture to learn about and I became really good friends with the son in the family. I hope to get back together with him later in life.
Tomorrow we arrive in India, and I’ll try to update again in a few days! SO PUMPED for India.
So. Got back to Cape Town on the 22nd late night, passed out hard in hopes of waking up early to hike Table Mountain. Woke up early only to see that the mountain was covered in clouds and the view wouldn’t be that good, so we kind of scrambled to plan something else and ended up having a pretty sweet day anyway. We hit up the Two Oceans Aquarium (named this because the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean connect near the cape in South Africa), which was pretty sweet. Saw tons of different fish/turtles/penguins and some sharks. Ended up walking around the waterfront for a while, bought a variety of African music which was pretty cheap (5 CDs for like 25 bucks).
After that we decided to check out Boulder Beach, which is where there is a colony of African Penguins. As far as I know (but I could be wrong), these penguins only exist in southern Africa. There were TONS of them just chillin on the beach, wobbling around, and a few swimming. Really cool to see penguins in a natural environment. It was really weird however, to see penguins in 80 degree weather on a beach, and not in freezing temperatures sliding around on ice.
After this we walked around a few markets and bought a couple things for ppl at home, and then took the drive back to the ship along the coast which was really nice. Rested on the ship for a bit and then went into the downtown area to meet up with Lindsey Palma!! Woohoo, and about 5 others came with us to eat at this restaurant called Mama Africa. Ordered a bottle of wine which was like 6 bucks, and ended up eating a pretty “wild” dinner- crocodile, kudu (their antelope), ostrich, springbok, and venison sausage. It was actually all amazing as weird as it sounds. Most of it just really tasted like steaks, and it was served with a BOMB mustard sauce, squash, and millipop (cornmeal kinda thing served with a marinara sauce.)
After dinner we got some drinks at a hookah bar which was pretty sweet ($2 mixed drinks, $1.50 beers), and then I met up with Sherman and some of his friends living in Cape Town and went to another bar. This place was pretty sweet; crowded, but we went to the rooftop which had an open area where you could view the rest of the downtown scene, which was bumping as it was Saturday night.
Stayed out til about 3 A.M., passed out, and woke up at 8 A.M. to go for a hike. Laura and I decided that we were going to hike Table Mountain’s neighbor, Lions Head instead of Table Mtn. because there were a million ppl going to Table and we wanted some peace and quiet on top. So we hopped in a cab and went there. About an hour or so hike up, maybe a little more. It was SUPER hot, sun blaring in our faces but it felt good. The trail was winding up and provided an awesome 360 degree view of the surrounding area. On one side you could see the whole city, on another was an amazing view of Table Mountain, and in the back was the Ocean which was gorgeous, as it was a mix of turquoise, deep blue, light blue… you get the picture. We got to the top and hung out for about an hour and a half just enjoying the view, taking pictures, chillin. Tough life, I know. On the way down we went a different way, the “harder way”, where in certain areas you had to lower yourself down by rappelling on metal chains. Pretty crazy, as it was so hot and we had sunscreen on our hands so they were oily and sweaty.
When we got back we just walked around the waterfront, bought a t-shirt.. Then, we went to a craft market where I met one of the nicest people ever: Laura bought a painting from him for about 7 bucks. I lent her my last South African money so she could get it, and then I realized I wanted one too but was out of luck. The artist saw me looking at his work and asked me how much I could give him. I told him I literally had zero money. He put his finger up to his lips in a “shhh” motion, and slid the painting I was looking at into a bag, and gave it to me for free. I told him I couldn’t accept it because I felt so bad taking something from someone who clearly didn’t have money to spare, but he told me he insisted on me having it, and that someone rich would make up for it in the future. I wanted to hug this guy. It was so unnecessary, but a true showing of how the people in South Africa are. Amazing, nice, and so happy with having so little.
We had about 4 hours left in port so we went to a brewery and got some of their homemade beer ($ 2.00 draughts!!!), which was 7% alcohol and sooo delicious. All of a sudden I heard a chant coming from upstairs that sounded like a fight song you hear in English soccer games, so I went to see what it was. Turns out it was the Cape Town Chelsea fan club about to watch Chelsea play in the Carling Cup championship game!!!! (for those of you who don’t know soccer, Chelsea is one of the 4 best teams in English soccer, and I love them.) They were playing Tottenham, who shouldn’t have had a chance. The game was about to start and Laura and I decided to ditch any other plans and watch the game, as the ENTIRE BAR was full of Chelsea fans, and we were LITERALLY the only two people in there that didn’t have jerseys on. So, we kinda quietly sat down and watched. Ended up starting a tab and drinking a bunch of beers for like zero dollars. The fan club also bought pizzas for everyone in the room and it was just a ridiculous experience. SO MUCH FUN. Chelsea was winning until after the 80th minute, when Tottenham tied it up and in extra time T’ham ended up winning. Lets just say the mood was a bit somber in the bar…
Overall, Cape Town was unbelievable and I will be back in my lifetime (World Cup?). Speaking of World Cup, I made it a point to talk to a lot of locals about it and get their opinion on it and I was surprised to learn that the majority of people DON’T want the World Cup to occur there, and are unhappy about it. They feel that money could be better spent, and that it’s just another example of the rich getting richer and the poor not benefiting. We’ll see.
One thing that really moved me in Cape Town was how racism is still so prevalent. You can see, hear, and feel it in the attitudes of the people there, but you can just tell by looking around that the after effects of apartheid are still felt by the entire nation. It’s really sad because this place is amazing. About 75% of the population is Black, and they still occupy less than 20% of the land. They live in townships and squatter villages, while the other 13% of the population occupies 80% of the land. Really wild. Also, South Africa is absolutely destroyed by HIV/AIDS. 21% of the adult population in the country is infected. 21%!!!! 1/5 people in the whole nation!!!
50% of the people lie below the poverty line. So, a lot of problems for them to deal with, but what amazed me the most was how happy they are even in this position. People in the U.S. are so much more miserable living in poverty than these people. They truly make the best of their situation and it was pretty inspiring.
MAURITIUS
Pulled into Mauritius on March 1st, and woke up at about 6:00 that morning to watch us pull in. I walked out on the deck to see a gorgeous city. The backdrop for Port Louis is just the most lush green mountains that everybody pictures when they think of “paradise.” These mountains surround Mauritius (at least every part I was in), and it was awesome. They are just these crazy mountain formations that are deep green.
The water in Mauritius was probably the most beautiful ocean water I’ve ever seen. It is literally crystal clear. When you’re in the ocean you can see everything underwater. The color of the water is just ridiculous. I’ll upload some pictures, but you should all look at some google images of Mauritius.
For the academic side of Mauritius, there are some interesting facts. Mauritius has tons of different cultures coexisting- Indians are 50%, and then there are French (who colonized the island, and the majority of people speak French), Chinese, and Creoles. It was really cool seeing all of these different populations all over. Hindu is the biggest religion on the island and there were lots of temples and other evidences of this.
Here is the interesting thing. French people make up only 2% of the population, but hold by far most of the wealth. These are the remaining descendants from the French colonizers.
The country is in a big transition phase right now. They have one of the most stable economies in all of Africa, but their focuses are changing. Historically they were known for sugar exports, which have been shrinking in recent history due to changing world prices. Now they are substituting other industries. One of their goals in the country is to make the ENTIRE country wireless, including beaches, homes, everything.
So on the first day we got picked up at the port by the family we were going to stay with. (Me, Laura, Quinn and two other friends from the ship). The mother is a five star chef, and has her cook books being sold all over the island. The father was a nice guy, and then there was a guy our age named Kinglsey, and younger girl. They ended up being one of the nicest family’s I’ve met. So we drove out to their house which is on Flic En Flac beach (google it). We would stay here for 3 nights, 4 days. The house was a block and a half from the beach, had a pool, satellite tv, yada yada. All of our breakfasts and dinners were included, 4 hour open bar every night… you get the picture. We were set up for a week in paradise.
Not gonna summarize every day individually because I don’t really remember the specifics, but in general we woke up every day to breakfast, then headed to the beach and swam and chilled, did some snorkeling which was AWESOME because the water was amazing, got a $4 massage that included 2 drinks, went to a casino, ate tons of good food… and at night everybody migrated to Flic En Flac’s only bar named Shooters. Good times.
On the last day we went to this place called Casela, where we were hoping to do a 2 hour ATV cruise through the wilderness, but it was sold out. So instead we pet lions. Yes..we pet lions. They have 6 lions that you are allowed to interact with, that are fully grown, and not drugged. There’s no strings attached, except for I’m sure they’ve been hand fed their whole lives so they don’t view humans as food. We got tons of pictures petting and hanging out around them, and then walked around the rest of the area which had HUGE tortoises up to 100 years old (sick pictures of these too), two Bengal tigers, some parrots…
I’m sure I left some things out but whatever. Mauritius was a very interesting place, tons of culture to learn about and I became really good friends with the son in the family. I hope to get back together with him later in life.
Tomorrow we arrive in India, and I’ll try to update again in a few days! SO PUMPED for India.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
some more pics
Helloooo from Mauritius!!! GORGEOUS HERE. got some time to put some more pics up. Check out the South Africa blog if you didn't already. There are 2 days I still have to write about for S.A., and I'll probably do that when I write about Mauritius. I also put some more pictures on the webshots site (community.webshots.com/user/philschwartz3).
The pic of the food is me eating alligator, ostrich, kudu, venison and one other random meat i forget in South Africa. The two beautiful girls are from the Rastafarian township I went to. The penguins are African penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa. Pretty crazy. Also a pic of me and Laura after hiking Lion's Head, me and two others in the Rasta townships. The picture of me and two guys in the township is their symbol (they put two sevens together to signify unity and "one love", and the white kid puts his hands together to signify "togetherness".
The pic of the food is me eating alligator, ostrich, kudu, venison and one other random meat i forget in South Africa. The two beautiful girls are from the Rastafarian township I went to. The penguins are African penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa. Pretty crazy. Also a pic of me and Laura after hiking Lion's Head, me and two others in the Rasta townships. The picture of me and two guys in the township is their symbol (they put two sevens together to signify unity and "one love", and the white kid puts his hands together to signify "togetherness".
Saturday, February 23, 2008
some of my favorite pics so far.. (hopefully?)
Some pics so far. More to come. Check out community.webshots.com/user/philschwartz3 for some others, and South Africa pictures will be there as soon as possible.
The 1200 foot cliff and view..
Beach in Puerto Rico w/ skyline view
Waterfall in El Yunque Rainforest, Puerto Rico
Beautiful people of Lencois, Brazil.
This is in Brazil in Chapada Diamantina National Park. The edge of this rock is a 1200 foot dropoff, and its one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen..
The 1200 foot cliff and view..
Beach in Puerto Rico w/ skyline view
Waterfall in El Yunque Rainforest, Puerto Rico
Beautiful people of Lencois, Brazil.
This is in Brazil in Chapada Diamantina National Park. The edge of this rock is a 1200 foot dropoff, and its one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen..
Friday, February 22, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA!!!
HOLLER. Right now i'm in the airport in Johannesburg awaiting my flight back to Cape Town. Arrived in Cape Town on the 19th, and woke up that morning at 5 AM to watch the ship pull in. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen... the sun was rising over the city, which contains one of the most gorgeous backdrops of any city i've visited: Table Mountain. I sat up on the deck for about 45 minutes watching the sun rise, and the ship was sooo full of anticipation, as this port is one that people are extremely excited for.
DAY 1: Laura and I volunteered with an NGO called operation hunger, which tries to help feed people living in poverty all over the area. We went to a Rastafarian township called Marcus Garvey Rastafarian Community and our project was to walk around the neighborhood, which was very poor, and get the ages and weights of all the children living there. The purpose was to study whether people are impoverished within the community. It was an amazing experience.. we got to play with beautiful children and give them small gifts like stickers and toys, as well as some food. The people were SO appreciative. By the end of the day all the kids were covered in stickers, and I have tons of pictures that will melt your hearts.
Also, this was a true Rastafarian community. There was marijuana growing in almost all the houses' backyards, and people were smoking it all around us. I did not partake.. The people loved taking pictures with us, and we got their address so we can send them copies. Overall it was a wonderful experience, and the people were were truly grateful and waved goodbye to us very emotionally when we left.
That night we went out into downtown Cape Town for some drinks and sushi, and went to an Irish pub to watch some soccer and drink some guinness and other various beers. The bar was absolutely packed, a lot of SAS kids but a lot of locals and other internationals (met people from Spain, England, Mauritius). Great time.
Got back to the ship around 2 A.M., slept for 2 hours and then woke up for day 2.
Day 2: Woke up at 4 to take a taxi to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg, where we would drive to Kruger National park for a safari. Arrived at Kruger in the middle of the afternoon and went on our first game drive. We saw impala, elephants, and also one of the most amazing things I've seen: a leopard perched in a tree in front of us about 15 feet away. It was a beautiful looking animal to say the least.. I almost cried/threw up/died/cried again. Our guides tried to stress how lucky we were to catch this sighting, as it's not all that common. We also saw tons of baboons.
Dinner was cooked on the grill by locals, and was sausage, chicken, salad, squash, and a traditional south african dish called milli-pop, which was like corn meal, and served with vegetables in marinara sauce. So delicious. We had about 10 bottles of wine for our group, and beers, sodas, waters... felt like royalty.
Day 3: woke up at 4 45 am the next day for a morning drive, as this is when the most animals are out. \saw baboon, impala, giraffes, zebra, elephants, antelope, hyena, vultures eating hippo carcas, crocodile, other hippos, african hunting dogs (the kind on planet earth that they show hunting from above), warthogs.... endless really.
Not gonna detail the rest of the safari, but we drove around in huge open air safari vehicles, did about 5 hours of driving each day, and it was fantastic.
Day 4 was just a morning drive, then a trip back to Jo'burg where I am now. Tomorrow I plan on hiking Table Mountain (google it, it's gorgeous) and I don't know what else. Hopefully going to meet up with 2 friends attending Cape Town University this semester (sherman and lindsey palma), and see what else happens.
Overall, S. Africa has been everything I hoped even though I didn't get to see lions or rhinos. The people are great, volunteering was an unforgettable experience, and I can't wait to summit Table Mountain. I still can't get over how lucky I am to be doing all this and it is going by so fast!!! Still got 2 more months though, which is also crazy to think about.
I'm going to try to find an internet cafe tomorrow to post all my pictures. I wish I had my flash drive right now but I don't, so I'll have to delay it again. Don't worry, they are coming and they will be epic!!!
Love and miss everyone.
DAY 1: Laura and I volunteered with an NGO called operation hunger, which tries to help feed people living in poverty all over the area. We went to a Rastafarian township called Marcus Garvey Rastafarian Community and our project was to walk around the neighborhood, which was very poor, and get the ages and weights of all the children living there. The purpose was to study whether people are impoverished within the community. It was an amazing experience.. we got to play with beautiful children and give them small gifts like stickers and toys, as well as some food. The people were SO appreciative. By the end of the day all the kids were covered in stickers, and I have tons of pictures that will melt your hearts.
Also, this was a true Rastafarian community. There was marijuana growing in almost all the houses' backyards, and people were smoking it all around us. I did not partake.. The people loved taking pictures with us, and we got their address so we can send them copies. Overall it was a wonderful experience, and the people were were truly grateful and waved goodbye to us very emotionally when we left.
That night we went out into downtown Cape Town for some drinks and sushi, and went to an Irish pub to watch some soccer and drink some guinness and other various beers. The bar was absolutely packed, a lot of SAS kids but a lot of locals and other internationals (met people from Spain, England, Mauritius). Great time.
Got back to the ship around 2 A.M., slept for 2 hours and then woke up for day 2.
Day 2: Woke up at 4 to take a taxi to the airport for our flight to Johannesburg, where we would drive to Kruger National park for a safari. Arrived at Kruger in the middle of the afternoon and went on our first game drive. We saw impala, elephants, and also one of the most amazing things I've seen: a leopard perched in a tree in front of us about 15 feet away. It was a beautiful looking animal to say the least.. I almost cried/threw up/died/cried again. Our guides tried to stress how lucky we were to catch this sighting, as it's not all that common. We also saw tons of baboons.
Dinner was cooked on the grill by locals, and was sausage, chicken, salad, squash, and a traditional south african dish called milli-pop, which was like corn meal, and served with vegetables in marinara sauce. So delicious. We had about 10 bottles of wine for our group, and beers, sodas, waters... felt like royalty.
Day 3: woke up at 4 45 am the next day for a morning drive, as this is when the most animals are out. \saw baboon, impala, giraffes, zebra, elephants, antelope, hyena, vultures eating hippo carcas, crocodile, other hippos, african hunting dogs (the kind on planet earth that they show hunting from above), warthogs.... endless really.
Not gonna detail the rest of the safari, but we drove around in huge open air safari vehicles, did about 5 hours of driving each day, and it was fantastic.
Day 4 was just a morning drive, then a trip back to Jo'burg where I am now. Tomorrow I plan on hiking Table Mountain (google it, it's gorgeous) and I don't know what else. Hopefully going to meet up with 2 friends attending Cape Town University this semester (sherman and lindsey palma), and see what else happens.
Overall, S. Africa has been everything I hoped even though I didn't get to see lions or rhinos. The people are great, volunteering was an unforgettable experience, and I can't wait to summit Table Mountain. I still can't get over how lucky I am to be doing all this and it is going by so fast!!! Still got 2 more months though, which is also crazy to think about.
I'm going to try to find an internet cafe tomorrow to post all my pictures. I wish I had my flash drive right now but I don't, so I'll have to delay it again. Don't worry, they are coming and they will be epic!!!
Love and miss everyone.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Super Bowl and Brazil
This is gonna be a quick post because I~m in an internet cafe in a small town in Brazil.
Super Bowl. Thanks for all the updates, but fortunately we all got to listen to a live radio broadcast of the game because one of the kids on the ship has free internet because his mom is the nurse. There were at least 150 kids gathered around the laptop, and it was an awesome way to enjoy the game. SOOOOOOOOOOO psyched the giants won.. it was great. Everybody was yelling back and forth, and I started some red sox suck chants and they were returned with yankee hating. Great experience.
We got to Salvador, Brazil yesterday. During the day we walked around Pelourhino, the older section of the city. There are several churches that are hundreds of years old, and a lot of old buildings in general. The people here are very nice, for the most part, and all the scary things I have heard about Brazil turned out to be much worse than anything I have seen or experienced thus far.
At night, we went to Carnival. All i have to say is that this puts anything, and I mean anything that goes on in the states to absolute shame. Easily one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. They say that at any time during Carnival there are 2 million people dancing in the streets, in Salvador alone. I was one of those 2 million. We followed Fatboy Slims truck, and he played from 11 P.M. until 5 in the morning. It was absolutely ridiculous... these people know how to party like nothing I have ever seen.
To summarize quickly, there are about 20 huge trucks that have live music BLASTING from them, all different kinds of music, and it parades through the city very slowly (over the course of like 6 hours). People walk behind them or in front of them, or stand on the side of the road watching all of them pass. We stayed on the side until Fatboy Slim (a DJ) started, and then followed his truck for about 4 hours. I encourage everybody to look on youtube in upcoming days for vidoes of Carnival 2008 in Salvador to see what i~m talking about, and if possible look for videos of fatboy slim to see where i was. Before that we saw some african drumming and horns, and some other more traditional brazilian music. I have been learning some Portuguese and the people here love when you try to speak it. This really can~t be explained well.. it is something that i think everybody should experience in person. UNBELIEVABLE... truly. Please look up video to see what i~m talking about.
Oh yeah, for my parents and anyone else. we met up with Max yesterday morning. He crossed over all the way from the western coast of Chile to meet us in Salvador, which is at the western coast of Brazil. He went through Peru, Bolivia and I forget where else.
Day 2 This morning we all left Salvador after 1 hour of sleep to go to Lencois, and Chapada Diamantina (which is a national park|. Lencois is a small town of 8,000 inhabitants, and it is at the foot of the national park. It is a very safe and friendly place and I love it so far. We went for a short hike to a place where there is pink and purple sand and rock formations that are millions of years old. Our group is being accompanied by locals who are trying to teach us about their culture through interpreters. We joined hands in a circle while a young Brazilian girl sang in Portuguese and she had the most amazing voice... I literally almost cried, it was that moving. They are so proud of where they~re from, and proud of their simple life. We then walked to several swimming holes where the water was unbelievably fresh and refreshing, and the view was ridiculous. We could see for miles and it was lush green mountains and the small town in our sights.
Day 3
Woke up at 700 to fresh mango, pineapple, homemade bread, peaches and cream cake, chocolate cake, and delicious coffee. We went for about a 2-3 mile hike to Lapao Caves, and then hiked from one end of the caves to the other. Inside the cave there was a river which we sat in as a group and talked for a while, as it is considered sacred water and a special place to experience. After that several people bungee jumped and rappelled into the mouth of the cave, but I opted to save the money for other things. (160 $$ to bungee). Following that we hiked out along the Lapao River while the sun was setting, and went for a swim in a nice small waterfall. We spent much of the night in the town of Lencois which is incredibly lively for such a small community in the middle of nowhere. This place is truly amazing and I am definitely planning on coming back. I~ve met some great people from Brazil on this trip. We had some drinks in the town, watched some live Brazilian music which was great, and passed out.
Day 4
Woke up at 600 today for a long, long day. We took an hour and a half drive through the national park as well as several small villages which really showed an authentic side of Brazil. We arrived at the base of our hike for the day, which was to culminate in Fumaca Falls, the 1200 foot waterfall which is the 2nd tallest free falling waterfall in the world. The hike was pretty tough for the first hour- 100% vertical incline. Really intense. After that we walked for about 1.5 hours on flatter ground before arriving at the falls. It was truly incredible, and the only thing I can compare it to was the feeling I got the first time I visited the Grand Canyon. There is a rock at this site which you can crawl out on, very carefully, and lean over and below you is a 1200 foot complete dropoff with nothing in between. It~s an intense rush and incredible feeling. I have pictures of me on the rock, and a video of me crawling out to it, but pictures do not do this place any justice.. the air is so nice, the wind is strong, it was so hot, there are just so many aspects of it that cant be captured in a photo. This hike was great as you could see countless peaks in the distance, as well as some of the villages we passed on the way there.
After this we drove to another waterfall where we swam and climbed the falls, and from the falls you could see for miles. From the falls, we drove to Pai Inacio, which is one of the most famous attractions of the park. This was equally incredible as the view from earlier in the day. There was such a great vibe at this place.. We stayed here and watched an intense sunset over the mountains, during which I couldn~t help but think about how lucky I am to be here in Brazil, and here on this trip in general. Its only been a couple weeks but I already feel like its been the time of my life. The days are packed and the people here are great.
When we returned, several people from the town came to our hotel to teach us some traditional Brazilian songs and dances, and then they cooked homemade flatbread pizza, about 10 different kinds, and provided beer, soda, Caprinha which is the local drink consisting of vodka, lime, fruit, something and something. And now, Im in the cafe taking advantage of cheap internet before i get back on the ship after a 6 hour drive back to Salvador in the morning.
Overall, Brazil was truly incredible and inspiring. The people on the ship were scaring us and preparing us for such a dangerous place, but nothing I have experienced was less than amazing. The people I~have met here have been so kind, and they always smile and give us a thumbs up or peace sign. I have been handing out stickers to Brazilian children and they love it. Once, I put a sticker on a baby who was in the middle of being breast fed and the father was looking right at me while I did it, completely happy about it. I met a woman from Sao Paolo who wants me to come stay with her if I ever come back, and I would love to. I also was invited to stay with our guides who were the planners of this whole trip. Can~t wait for Cape Town, South Africa which is in 10 days!!!
Me Amo Brasil!!!!
Super Bowl. Thanks for all the updates, but fortunately we all got to listen to a live radio broadcast of the game because one of the kids on the ship has free internet because his mom is the nurse. There were at least 150 kids gathered around the laptop, and it was an awesome way to enjoy the game. SOOOOOOOOOOO psyched the giants won.. it was great. Everybody was yelling back and forth, and I started some red sox suck chants and they were returned with yankee hating. Great experience.
We got to Salvador, Brazil yesterday. During the day we walked around Pelourhino, the older section of the city. There are several churches that are hundreds of years old, and a lot of old buildings in general. The people here are very nice, for the most part, and all the scary things I have heard about Brazil turned out to be much worse than anything I have seen or experienced thus far.
At night, we went to Carnival. All i have to say is that this puts anything, and I mean anything that goes on in the states to absolute shame. Easily one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. They say that at any time during Carnival there are 2 million people dancing in the streets, in Salvador alone. I was one of those 2 million. We followed Fatboy Slims truck, and he played from 11 P.M. until 5 in the morning. It was absolutely ridiculous... these people know how to party like nothing I have ever seen.
To summarize quickly, there are about 20 huge trucks that have live music BLASTING from them, all different kinds of music, and it parades through the city very slowly (over the course of like 6 hours). People walk behind them or in front of them, or stand on the side of the road watching all of them pass. We stayed on the side until Fatboy Slim (a DJ) started, and then followed his truck for about 4 hours. I encourage everybody to look on youtube in upcoming days for vidoes of Carnival 2008 in Salvador to see what i~m talking about, and if possible look for videos of fatboy slim to see where i was. Before that we saw some african drumming and horns, and some other more traditional brazilian music. I have been learning some Portuguese and the people here love when you try to speak it. This really can~t be explained well.. it is something that i think everybody should experience in person. UNBELIEVABLE... truly. Please look up video to see what i~m talking about.
Oh yeah, for my parents and anyone else. we met up with Max yesterday morning. He crossed over all the way from the western coast of Chile to meet us in Salvador, which is at the western coast of Brazil. He went through Peru, Bolivia and I forget where else.
Day 2 This morning we all left Salvador after 1 hour of sleep to go to Lencois, and Chapada Diamantina (which is a national park|. Lencois is a small town of 8,000 inhabitants, and it is at the foot of the national park. It is a very safe and friendly place and I love it so far. We went for a short hike to a place where there is pink and purple sand and rock formations that are millions of years old. Our group is being accompanied by locals who are trying to teach us about their culture through interpreters. We joined hands in a circle while a young Brazilian girl sang in Portuguese and she had the most amazing voice... I literally almost cried, it was that moving. They are so proud of where they~re from, and proud of their simple life. We then walked to several swimming holes where the water was unbelievably fresh and refreshing, and the view was ridiculous. We could see for miles and it was lush green mountains and the small town in our sights.
Day 3
Woke up at 700 to fresh mango, pineapple, homemade bread, peaches and cream cake, chocolate cake, and delicious coffee. We went for about a 2-3 mile hike to Lapao Caves, and then hiked from one end of the caves to the other. Inside the cave there was a river which we sat in as a group and talked for a while, as it is considered sacred water and a special place to experience. After that several people bungee jumped and rappelled into the mouth of the cave, but I opted to save the money for other things. (160 $$ to bungee). Following that we hiked out along the Lapao River while the sun was setting, and went for a swim in a nice small waterfall. We spent much of the night in the town of Lencois which is incredibly lively for such a small community in the middle of nowhere. This place is truly amazing and I am definitely planning on coming back. I~ve met some great people from Brazil on this trip. We had some drinks in the town, watched some live Brazilian music which was great, and passed out.
Day 4
Woke up at 600 today for a long, long day. We took an hour and a half drive through the national park as well as several small villages which really showed an authentic side of Brazil. We arrived at the base of our hike for the day, which was to culminate in Fumaca Falls, the 1200 foot waterfall which is the 2nd tallest free falling waterfall in the world. The hike was pretty tough for the first hour- 100% vertical incline. Really intense. After that we walked for about 1.5 hours on flatter ground before arriving at the falls. It was truly incredible, and the only thing I can compare it to was the feeling I got the first time I visited the Grand Canyon. There is a rock at this site which you can crawl out on, very carefully, and lean over and below you is a 1200 foot complete dropoff with nothing in between. It~s an intense rush and incredible feeling. I have pictures of me on the rock, and a video of me crawling out to it, but pictures do not do this place any justice.. the air is so nice, the wind is strong, it was so hot, there are just so many aspects of it that cant be captured in a photo. This hike was great as you could see countless peaks in the distance, as well as some of the villages we passed on the way there.
After this we drove to another waterfall where we swam and climbed the falls, and from the falls you could see for miles. From the falls, we drove to Pai Inacio, which is one of the most famous attractions of the park. This was equally incredible as the view from earlier in the day. There was such a great vibe at this place.. We stayed here and watched an intense sunset over the mountains, during which I couldn~t help but think about how lucky I am to be here in Brazil, and here on this trip in general. Its only been a couple weeks but I already feel like its been the time of my life. The days are packed and the people here are great.
When we returned, several people from the town came to our hotel to teach us some traditional Brazilian songs and dances, and then they cooked homemade flatbread pizza, about 10 different kinds, and provided beer, soda, Caprinha which is the local drink consisting of vodka, lime, fruit, something and something. And now, Im in the cafe taking advantage of cheap internet before i get back on the ship after a 6 hour drive back to Salvador in the morning.
Overall, Brazil was truly incredible and inspiring. The people on the ship were scaring us and preparing us for such a dangerous place, but nothing I have experienced was less than amazing. The people I~have met here have been so kind, and they always smile and give us a thumbs up or peace sign. I have been handing out stickers to Brazilian children and they love it. Once, I put a sticker on a baby who was in the middle of being breast fed and the father was looking right at me while I did it, completely happy about it. I met a woman from Sao Paolo who wants me to come stay with her if I ever come back, and I would love to. I also was invited to stay with our guides who were the planners of this whole trip. Can~t wait for Cape Town, South Africa which is in 10 days!!!
Me Amo Brasil!!!!
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