Lions, Rhinos, and Crocs! Oh my!

So I am in love. With South Africa. This port is my favorite on the trip so far.

We got into Cape Town on Tuesday, and I loved it the second we stepped out. The first morning, one of my friends and I went shopping. Yeah, I know, it probably sounds dumb BUT we discovered that no matter what you do, as long as you say “in Africa” after, you’re good to go. So… we went shopping in Africa. Oddly, it was SO nice because it felt super comfortable and safe the whole time we were there. It’s weird to think that I’ve been gone a month, but it’s nice to do things you don’t necessarily miss but remind you and offer the same comforts as home. So we shopped and had lunch. That afternoon, one of my other friends and I were bored because everyone else went on a school trip so we were like gah what should we do?? We started walking down the street and someone asked, “Do you want to go on a helicopter ride?” Yessss. The helicopter was like an army one (whatever they are called) so it didn’t have sides or doors or anything. The pilot would take us REALLY close to the water or when we are flying towards a hill he would pull up at the very last second. It was a lot of fun, and the view was amazing. Cape Town is a beautiful city because there is the ocean and also Table Mountain on the other side. That night we had a girls’ night (the first one ever!) and went out to a Mexican restaurant where I had the best quesadillas and nachos ever. Yes. Went out for a little bit then came back to pack for my safari.

We left for Kruger National park at 3:15 am. (after one hour of sleep) on a bus that someone had organized. My trip wasn’t through SAS but an incredibly organized pair of students. There were about sixty of us total. Two of my good friends randomly were on the same trip so it worked out really well. We took a two hour flight then a six hour bus ride. I slept before the plane took off basically right until we arrived at Kruger. It was grand. Once we got there, we went out on our first drive. We were in nine passenger Land rover jeep vehicles. South Africa is a lot more mountainous than I had realized- it’s beautiful. We went out for about 2 hours I think then came back and had a delicious meal at our camp. We kind of just sat around and played cards (what else is new). Mom and Dad- I played the best nil hand in spades, you would be so proud! Hahaha. The next day, we went on an early morning drive and an evening drive again. In between, we went to the gift shop and walked around and fun things like that. The next morning, we went out on our final drive with our guide, Johnny, who was awesome. He knew a lot of information and told us some great stories. Animals I saw on my safari: a million impala, warthogs, wildebeest, elephants, lions, antelope, crocodile, hippo, rhinos, water buffalo, giraffes, zebra, a baby turtle! ... I don’t know what else. My favorite animal is now the elephant because we saw so many, and they got super close to us which made it exciting and a lot of fun. I had a great time on my safari which is lucky because some people didn’t even see elephants ever. I would have been really disappointed had that been the case. So I’m lucky. On the way back, I got bumped off my flight. Which was not so lucky. Haha. Six of us from my trip were bumped so it wasn’t too bad. Except that the flight we got onto was then delayed. But all in all it didn’t really bother me because at least I wasn’t alone and it’s not like I was going to do anything else that night anyway. And I met a couple really cool South Africans waiting for that flight. So it was all good.

The next day, I went to the market, did lunch, shopped… I tried to go to Robben Island but it was closed for the day because of rough seas. I was disappointed obviously, but I did get to look around the exhibit at the little museum right there so I feel good about that at least. That night, a group of us went to Moyo, a restaurant supposedly in a tree. So we get there, and they didn’t have our reservations written down. We were like oh no we’re going to have to eat at the bar or something. We ended up with the most amazing dinner table ever on a platform landing amongst the tree. So we had our all you can eat buffet in a tree house. We got our faces painted, and men came around and did a singing welcome. It was the best place I’ve gone to for a meal although the Brazilian steakhouse was better food. It was a good choice. Later we went out and explored Cape Town, it was SO much fun.

Then the last day we just hung out and enjoyed our final hours in Cape Town. I’m reallyyyyyyyyyyy disappointed about not going shark diving but I could convince none of my friends to go since it was a full day event. But oh well… next time I’m here. Because there WILL be a next time, for sure.

I finally made it to an internet café while I was in Cape Town, so I got to put up a few pictures. An elephant I saw during my safari! The sunrise over San Juan, Puerto Rico! My friends and I swimming under a waterfall in el Yunque (PR)! My friends and I with some locals our last day in Brazil!

The next few days are supposedly the roughest waters of our trip as we head to Mauritius (more-ish-is). It’s… rocky. I’m ridiculously tired right now… I got 15 hours of sleep + my six hour traveling nap in five days. So I need to rest up for Mauritius! Which is basically the African Bahamas. Hope everyone is doing well! Love and miss<3

Pictures!

I see dolphins at dinner

Since this is my longest stretch at sea until April, I thought I would write a little bit about what life on the Explorer is like!

There are seven decks, two dining rooms, 9 classrooms, a piano lounge, the Union (which is just a huge room), a small spa, a tiny cardio room, and the pool deck with a snack bar and pool. One of the dining rooms has seating out on the deck. I eat every meal out there just about and watch the sunset every night. One night I saw dolphins while I ate dinner! Super cool. The food is pretty good… very repetitive. There are variations of salad, fruit, meat, fish, potatoes, pasta, bread, vegetables, and rice for every lunch and dinner. Good thing I LOVE rice. I also eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all of a sudden.

I am taking four classes: Global Studies, World History through Memoir, Leaders of the 20^th Century, and Human Effects on Coastal Systems. On the ship we have A days and B days. 23 days of each, and seventy-five minutes a piece. Global is mandatory for everyone and is everyday. I have one other class on A and the other two on B. The classes are actually a little bit harder than I expected just in the sense that I have a TON of reading. I am on book four already.

When I’m not in class, I generally hang out or read with some of my friends on one of the decks and enjoy the sun. At night, I either play games, read, or watch movies. We play a lot of Dutch Blitz and Apples to Apples… it’s a lot of fun haha. Also, we never have more than four days of class in a row. We have class on Saturdays and Sundays though so it’s not like we have a million days off on the ship. Thursday we had a day off, and there was a dance type thing, and everyone dressed up as an animal. I was a sweet looking elephant! Another night was a 80s theme social. Good thing I love to dress up. Thursday was Neptune Day, which is when we honor Neptune as we cross the Equator (even though we crossed it like ten days ago…) Some people shaved their heads, some got covered in fish guts. I most definitely did not shave my head.

I don’t spend much time in my cabin unless I’m sleeping or need to concentrate on some reading. It’s not that big… there are two twin beds with a nightstand in between with about space for another twin bed tightly squeezed in between. There is one desk, two chairs, a TV, a mini fridge, a closet, and some shelves. I definitely could have brought more clothes and been fine. But oh well. There is also a little bathroom in our room which is convenient. Oh, I have an inside room so there is no porthole. Instead, I have a full wall of mirrors. Since there is no natural light, when the lights are turned off, you can’t even see your hand two inches from your face. It’s ridiculous. Also, all of the walls are magnetic which is pretty cool. Let’s see… the steward comes in everyday and cleans. He’s super nice.

It has gotten pretty rocky… When you look out the window you will see all sky, it will rock and you will see only ocean. Weird. Before when you looked out, the water was calm. Now, you can see white caps all over the place. Supposedly, there were 20 foot waves Thursday and that we shouldn’t run into swells of more than 30? But I’ve also heard Thursday’s waves were 3 out of 10 on some sort of scale, but I’m guessing we wouldn’t expect to find waves above 6? But I have no idea. All I DO know is that the ship was made for speed not stability, so if they see we are approaching a storm, we can go around it. It’ll take some getting used to, but it’s not that bad.

Since we are traveling east, we are losing hours the whole trip. Traveling from Brazil to South Africa, we lose four hours. They’re spreading them out so every other day we lose an hour of sleep. So as of Sunday we’ll be six hours ahead of EST. In April, we have two April 15ths to make up for losing so much time. That would be an awesome day to have a birthday.

And yay for getting our circle for next year! haha

It's almost dirty not to do it

Todo bam!

So Carnaval was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It’s so hard to try and figure out the best way to describe it because it was insane, and you really have to be there to grasp it. I have a feeling most of this trip will be like that but yeah…

We docked in Salvador at 6 am. As soon as we could get off the ship (around 10) a big group of us went to Old Town. Old Town sits above the part of the city where the dock is. In order to get up you have to take an elevator which is funny because it is literally just an elevator shaft up the side of a hill. Everything was decorated for Carnaval- some vendors just sleep in the square as to not miss any business. We grabbed a popular Brazilian dish for lunch (fejuada- the spelling for that is probably incorrect). It was pretty good. We walked around, shopped then headed back to the ship. Around 6, a group of about eight of us started out for Carnaval. At first we went to Old Town. In the square, small bands were marching around with giant masks and costumes. Everyone sort of jumped right into the parade, and we were all just dancing and getting sprayed with this foamy stuff people kept spraying into the air. We were in a dance circle and a conga line for awhile… it was pretty mellow and comfortable. But we wanted to see more than that so we walked down into a bigger part of town. At one point, you walked over a little hill of the road and as far as you could see it was just PACKED with people. (By packed I mean this is the biggest party in the WORLD with more than a million people. Google it if you want I don’t have time to find an accurate number, but I’ve heard up to 3 million.) We got right in there and walked in the parade which, in this area, was huge trucks blasting music. While we were dancing in this parade is where I can see it getting out of control. There were two guys and seven girls in my group… the guys definitely had to be aware of all of us because you were just being pulled on and slobbered on. That being said, I never felt threatened at all, and I didn’t get anything stolen. (SAS had been warning us constantly about wearing the right clothing and hiding your money because of rampant thievery during Carnaval.) One of my friends did get mugged, but nothing of hers was stolen. Other people weren’t so lucky. But, my group and I didn’t stay out very late just because it is a different crowd there later at night. But I had an amazing time.

Early the next morning a lot of my friends left for trips in other parts of Brazil (Rio, Lencois, the Amazon). The rest of us went to the market and went shopping. It was a pretty low key day. Then I had the best meal of my life. We went a restaurant called Boi Preto (I think). It’s a Brazilian steakhouse. When you sit down, they give you a small coaster. One side is green and says “Sim, por favor! Yes, please!” The other side is red and so “Nao obrigado! No thank you!” When the green side is up, all of these waiters come by with (seriously) huge chunks of steak, chicken, sausage, bread, cheese, drinks, desserts, and fish and if you say yes they give it to you. There was also a huge buffet of sushi and other seafoody things. It was SO good. The food was delicious, and it was just so much fun because it’s unlike anything I’d ever been to for a meal!

Thursday, my friend and I met up with a small group we had run into the night before. In a sort of complicated manner, they had access to a private boat and driver for the day. We were in the water for about thirty-five minutes and ended up on a small island. The beach was beautiful, and there were no people or buildings. It was just a beach surrounded by palm trees. It was breathtaking. Eventually we got back in the boat and went to a different part of the island that had a few beachside restaurants. There was no dock or anything, so you just had to jump off the boat and swim to shore for the food. As we ate, the tide kept rising. By the end, the water was up to our knees. I don’t know how it could possibly have gotten any better than that. It was an absolutely amazing, beautiful afternoon. After getting back from that wonderful excursion, I went to a futbol game. Bahia won against a really bad team, but it still was a fun experience with everyone cheering and chanting and jumping up and down. It was a lot of fun.

Other than that, I’ve just been hanging out, exploring Salvador. It was a very relaxing five days. The people were friendly and very affectionate haha. I was surprised by the favelas and how dilapidated almost all the homes seemed to be. In the other two ports, right where the cruise ships dock is super touristy, like trying to make it look good. But in Salvador, you walk off the ship and, literally, you step over puddles of urine. It smells, and it’s gross. Not until you get to Old Town did it start to have a quaint feel to it. If I were to come back to Brazil, I don’t think I would come back to Salvador, but I would definitely love to see both the Amazon and Rio.

So! I loved Brazil. Now it’s off to Cape Town, South Africa! I believe we’re at sea for eight days this time. Hopefully I don’t go crazy or get seasick. I’ve only felt nauseas once, took ginger and I was fine. But the Atlantic will be a lot rougher than the Caribbean so we’ll see! Hope all is well!

Attention, students of the world!

Quick update! I have spent the last week or so on the ship. My classes have a lot of reading to do, but they are going well. It was rainy for a few days which made life pretty boring. This week I have gone to a couple Portuguese lessons which was fun. At least now I can say hello and thank you and some other pretty random phrases. Sometimes I feel like we’re on a retirement cruise because we play cards ALL the time. We pretty much play games every night after dinner and then either lay out on the deck and talk or watch a movie. Last night, SAS played a radio program of the Super Bowl. (Dad and Grampy, I am guessing you freaked out haha)

Today I only had one class and just laid out on the deck reading. It’s hard to believe I’m at school right now. Everyone is getting really excited about Brazil. A ton of people are going to the Amazon or Rio. I’m staying in Salvador which I’m excited about. The first day we get there is Carnival (Fat Tuesday). Apparently it’s the biggest street party in the world so I’m guessing it’s going to be a good time!

Hope all is well!