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..

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.

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!!!!

Puerto Rico and ship life

Puerto Rico:

Day 1:

Woke up at 6:45 A.M. on the 26th to watch the ship pull into San Juan. Saw the early morning sun over El Morro (The fort on the coast), and the rest of the city- it was gorgeous. It was super hectic getting off the ship because it was our first port and everyone was antsy to get off as soon as possible. We spent the day walking several miles around Old San Juan, checking out the town and everything else around the area. The fort we visited is the site that the movie Amistad was filmed at.

Went back to the ship around 5:00 for our trip to the bioluminescent bay. For those who don’t know about this, it’s a true phenomenon. There are only 5 places in the world to view this spectacle, and 3 of them are in Puerto Rico (and the other 2 are highly polluted now, in Jamaica and the Bahamas). We took kayaks out at night, in the pitch black, for a 3 mile kayak trip in Laguna Grande, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. To set the scene, imagine 12 kayaks moving in the pitch black and the only thing you can see is glowsticks on the kayaks in front of and behind you. We took the kayaks through very narrow forest mangroves, and you could hear all the tropical insects/frogs/creatures in the forest around you. We could tell we were surrounded by dense forest, but couldn’t see much besides the glowsticks. It was awesome. Also, because it was so dark the stars looking amazing and the sky was absolutely covered in stars. Eventually we reached a wide open bay, which was our destination to experience the bioluminescence.

It’s almost impossible to explain it. The water glows like fairy dust when you touch it. When you swipe your hands/feet/kayak paddle through the water, it glows under the water and it sparkles and it really seems like magic. It has to be experienced first hand to get a true understanding for it. What causes it is 800,000 plankton per gallon of water, and there is some chemical reaction between these creatures and the water, I’m not sure what. It’s just amazing. From where we were we could see the oldest lighthouse in Puerto Rico. Also, the water was at it’s coldest that it ever gets, year round : 85 degrees!!! SO WARM. As the tour ended, the huge yellow moon rose over us and it was awesome.

Day 2

Woke up at 8:00 to go to El Yunque rainforest. After several attempts by local taxis to rip us off (the rainforest is an hour away), we got lucky and met up with another group and ended up getting an amazing guide named Rupert for the day who was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest that is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. While there we saw a couple waterfalls, and swam in one, ate some authentic PR rice, beans, and chicken over a cheap PR beer, found out that several films (including Swiss Family Robinson) were filmed there, went for a short hike, and saw some of the parks staple sites. It was beautiful, and from high altitudes we could see San Juan and the coast.

**Interesting side note. In case anyone has ever wondered about why people in Puerto Rico and the U.S. do or don’t want it to become the 51st state, this is what I was told by Rupert: 50% of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. come from Puerto Rico tax free. This industry employs 50,000 Puerto Ricans. If they were to become a state, the companies would leave the island and go somewhere else where they could produce them tax free, and people here would lose their jobs. The way it is, Americans are making their money and Puerto Ricans are employed.

When we got back we went to a beautiful beach where locals were partying and hanging out. Later that night we went into Old San Juan to experience the nightlife, which was very much alive. Met a lot of locals and spoke a lot of Spanish which was really fun, including a 78 year old frail man who could only whisper in my ear if he wanted to communicate. I also met a VP of some American company who really liked me, and bought me four drinks from the bar. He told me when I graduate that he wants to offer me a job. The rest of the night was spent visiting various bars, and dancing in the streets with a group of 5 Puerto Ricans I met. It was a hilarious and memorable night to say the least.

The last day in PR was spent at a gorgeous beach, and just chillin’ out.

Ship time:

Since we left PR, I’ve just been in classes, out on the deck, and anticipating Carnival and the rest of my time in Brazil. Everybody is really excited to get our first true glimpse of the world, besides the not-too-foreign Puerto Rico. Today we crossed the equator, and the ship honked its obnoxiously loud horn to signify our crossing. The sun is HOT!!!!! Got sunburnt just laying out for about an hour.

Classes are all very interesting, enough so that I would say I’m actually ENJOYING them, not just dealing with them. The professors on the trip are all equally as excited as the kids are, and they understand that homework isn’t our #1 priority. The workload has been more than manageable so far. Only thing I’m pissed off about is that a trip me and Laura tried to sign up for in South Africa was filled and we can’t take part in it. We were supposed to visit 3 townships in South Africa (the extremely poverty-stricken areas), and cook meals for them, as well as visit the children of farmers in the winelands and play with them for the day. Really bummed we’re not going to be able to do it.

That’s all for now. I’ll update again after Brazil. Leave me some comments or email me (pschwart@uvm.edu) !!!

I’m going to post some pictures on this blog, but I’m also going to try to create a website to post more pictures because I can only post a limited # on here.

Nassau and enroute to Puerto Rico

Sorry I haven’t updated it yet, just been busy doing other things and I also forgot my password to the blog but finally got it figured out. Recap of the trip so far.

Nassau:


Nassau was nothing expected, but a really good time none-the-less. Got there on Saturday the 19th; this was a very hot, beautiful day. My mom and I walked into town and got some authentic Bahamian conch and another kind of fish I don’t know, which was delicious. The next day we checked into our other hotel, the all inclusive Breezes resort. This is where Quinn and Laura, and all our mom’s would be staying. Not gonna go into details, but the first night the giants won and drinks were flowing and it was a great, great night. The rest of the time in the Bahamas was spent downtown or hanging around the resort, on the beach, and drinking all the fruity Caribbean drinks we could.