Cape Town, South Africa

A lot has happened both on and off the ship since we left Brazil and
because I get asked about what ship life is like, I'll tell you a few
of the things we've been doing aboard the MV Explorer.

Febrauary 14th was not Valentine's Day while transiting the Atlantic
Ocean, it was Neptune Day. We awoke to the sounds of pots and pans
being banged together and whistles being blown up and down the halls.
I ran outside to look out my cabin door, and saw members of the crew
dressed in tin foil costumes producing the noise, followed by Avi, the
videographer who flashed the camera right in my groggy face. We were
told over the intercom by one of the staff members doing his best
Captain Barbosa impression that were to go to the pool deck to pay
tribute to King Neptune (Dean Ken Gaither AKA Papa Ken dressed up in a
wig and crown). This consisted of getting a blue liquid poured onto
us, that smelled (and tasted) like sour milk, jumping into the pool,
kissing a dead fish, and then kissing King Neptune's ring. This was
followed by the Semester at Sea tradition of head shaving. We had
close to forty girls on the ship shave their heads (SAS record!) and
about as many guys. The festivities were capped off by a burger and
hot dog lunch, which was a nice break from the pasta and meat we
usually get.

Other shipboard activities included a bridge tour, in which we got to
see the ship's bridge and all the equipment used to navigate the ship.
The ship is put on autopilot and while we were on our tour, there were
only two people in the area. The man giving us the tour, and another
man whose job was to stare out at the waters ahead of us. We were told
that the captain stays in his cabin most of the day. At night, there
are activities that students can attend, such as Coffee House, where
students and other staff members can perform songs, poetry, even
juggling routines. One of the professor's sons is going to be famous
someday. Remember the name Willie Denton-Edmundson.

Now, what you really want to hear about. South Africa. To be honest, I
think writing this is going to be difficult, because it's going to
make me miss South Africa!

We came into South Africa very earlier on Tuesday morning. There was
not even a trace of light in the East as the pilot boat met us and
directed us into our port. We had come to a complete stop by the time
we could make out Table Mountain, a huge mesa that shelters the city.
The morning was used exploring the Victoria and Alfred (or V & A)
Waterfront. My first impressions of this area were, "this is not
Africa, we must have made a wrong turn and ended up back in San
Francisco." The Waterfront area felt like a more European San
Francisco. It even smelled like San Francisco. As we explored further,
however, we realized that this in fact is Africa. Not the Africa that
we see in the news, but a more Westernized Africa. Yes, there was a
lot of European influence, but the performers in the streets screamed
Africa. I spent the morning in this area before taking a taxi up to
Table Mountain for a nice, leisurely hike, or so I thought. I'm not
really sure what we were expecting when we decided to hike Table
Mountain. It definitely looks like it would be a rigorous hike from
afar, but for some reason, we thought we were going on a little walk
up a hill. Not so. It took us only an hour and a half to hike up, not
horribly long, however this hour and a half was 95% uphill. And not a
steady incline. It was stones that had been placed to form steps for
the entire way up, with a few areas (maybe four) that plateaued
(apparently that's not a word according to spell check, but I'm
sticking with it) out , but never for long enough to stop my legs from
aching. When we finally made it to the top, it was worth it. The
mountain offered a view of the entire city of Cape Town. We could even
see the MV Explorer sitting in its port against the turquoise-blue
waters. Table Mountain is not only famous for its massive presence in
the city, or for its breathtaking views. It's also known for its
tablecloth, present on many days out of the year. The tablecloth
occurs when the fog rolls in to Cape Town. It's an incredible sight
when seen from the ground. It's possible to literally watch the fog
coming over the mountain and creep down the sides, but it always stops
halfway down when it meets the warm air of the city, creating what
looks like a tablecloth over the mountain. Now, the key words here are
that the tablecloth is an incredible sight when seen from the ground.
However, that isn't the way that I got to experience it the first day.
As we neared the top of the mountain, the tablecloth started to roll
in. The winds picked up and in a matter of minutes, we were engulfed
in an extremely cold cloud. This made hiking up the mountain even more
difficult because we were walking fairly close to the sides of cliffs
as it was. Add the wind, and you have a fun little game on your hands.
We made it to the top though, with plans to take the cable car back
down, because it was starting to get late in the afternoon and we
didn't want any part of trying to hike down Table Mountain at night.
The cable car, however, is the same kind of cable car used on Sugar
Loaf in Rio de Janeiro and when it gets windy, they close it down. As
we got to the top, we began hearing a voice informing visitors that
the cable cars and the ticket office would soon be closing. We started
running to the ticket office and made it just in time to take the last
cable car back down the mountain. And when I say last, I mean last. We
were on the car with the Table Mountain staff. The mountain was closed
for the night. It was well worth it, however, and I'm so glad that I
did it the first day, because the next few days it was covered by the
tablecloth and few people were able to hike it at all.

Day 2 in South Africa brought a safari. We left early in the morning
for Cape Town international airport and were given boxed lunches as we
left the ship consisting of bologna sandwiches, a chicken wing, Oreos,
Caprisuns and an apple. We figured we'd save these for lunchtime, but
as we pulled into the airport, we were told we wouldn't be able to
bring them on the planes. Not wanting to waste food, we scarfed down
that meal at about 5 am. We flew into Durban, a city on the East Coast
of South Africa, and another boxed lunch was waiting for us before we
took our three-hour bus ride to Kwazulu-Natal and the Zululand Tree
Lodge. When we arrived to the open-air lodge, we were greeted with a
buffet of meats, pies, fruits, soups. We were well fed on this trip.
The rooms were quite literally tree lodges. They were small one
bedroom, one bathroom cabins on stilts with a large viewing deck that
overlooked Ignala and Velvet monkeys playing just outside the window.
A large mosquito net cascaded down from the ceiling to cover the beds,
however there hasn't been a malaria case in fifteen years and I didn't
see a single mosquito the entire time I was there. We sat by the pool
for much of the afternoon watching the monkeys try to steal sugar
packets and other foods from the dining area. That night we went on a
two-hour game drive through the smaller park. This park contained
zebras, giraffes, all of the gazelle-type animals, such as impala and
ignala, and they told us there were rhinos, leopards and hyenas,
although we did not see them. That night, we were given another feast
as we excitedly talked about the next day's eight-hour game drive
through the Hluhluwe- Umfolozi game park. (The first word is
pronounced shlush-lewie) The Hluhluwe park contains all of the Big 5
(lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant, and rhino), which are considered to
be the five most dangerous animals to hunt. The day started off fairly
quick. We saw buffalo within the first fifteen minutes of the drive,
several zebras, and a few giraffes. After about an hour, we stopped at
a picnic area in the middle of the park, which was fair game for both
humans and animals to be roaming about. A zebra and her baby were
standing near a playground when we drove up. I had to use the bathroom
while we stopped and while I was in there, I hear people in my group
yelling that there are elephants, followed by very, very nearby
elephant trumpeting. I was a little bit nervous that I was about to be
trampled while in the bathroom, so I got out of their quickly to see
what all the commotion was about. Down in a shallow valley, about 200
feet away from us was a herd of elephants. Our guide, Francois told us
that if he gave us the signal, we had better run out of there. He said
that this was a herd of 64 elephants that was a part of a larger herd
of approximately 120. The elephants were throwing dirt into the air to
cover their skin, babies were jumping around at their mothers' feet as
the heard meandered around the valley. One elephant came a little
closer to us than the others and Francois informed us that this was as
close as you ever wanted to be to an elephant without some sort of
barrier between you. After they had cleared out of the valley, we
returned back to our jeep and drove on our way. We drove for about two
hours after this without seeing as much as an impala out our windows.
Which is surprising because our guide told us that impala are the
McDonald's of the park. They are everywhere, and everyone eats them.
Finally, we turned a corner and standing no more than ten feet away
from us was a white rhino. It made most of the people in our jeep jump
when they saw how close it was to us. I don't know if you've even seen
a rhino that close up, but it is really amazing how prehistoric they
look. Their skin is tough and their eyes have this tired look to them,
almost as if they could just stop existing at any second. The next
road, that we took, after the rhino had lumbered off into the brush
and disappeared completely within a matter of seconds, was filled with
baboons leisurely walking down the road. It's amazing how human-like
they seem sitting on fence posts and interacting with each other. One
older baboon just sat on the metal fence almost in the position of
'The Thinker.' He looked like an old man contemplating life as he sat,
paying little attention to the human intruders. Finally, the baboons
let us pass as they walked away with their round pink rear-ends facing
us. The highlight of the day came as we were looking out on top of a
hill over the park. Down in a dried up riverbed we could see an
elephant and two rhinos. The elephant was down the hill from another
jeep that had come by to look. Francois told us they probably couldn't
see the elephant that well, but if he started to move, then we would
drive down there. After a few minutes, the elephant had still not
moved, but we decided to drive down to get a closer look anyway. When
we arrived, we had a decent view of the elephant and the two rhinos.
The elephant walked up the riverbed a bit and began rolling in some
mud. As he was doing this, Francois looked up the riverbed and
announced in an excited tone that there was a lioness walking toward
the scene. We could barely see her at first. She was just a yellow
moving spot out in the distance. But as she got closer and closer, we
could clearly make her out. She walked closer to the elephant and
rhinos in that graceful hip-swaying way that lions walk. She turned
toward the rhinos, as if she thought she might actually be able to
attack them, realized that they were four times her size, and cantered
off into the bushes. It was amazing to see three of the big five all
with a hundred feet of each other. I have several photographs with the
four of them clearly visible together. This was in the last hour of
the drive and after this scene, we saw a few more rhinos, including
two babies, and some warthogs. That night we had a traditional South
African braai (pronounced bry) around a campfire. Again, the lodge
staff cooked meats, prepared pineapple, and desserts for us. The next
morning, we were all sad to leave the Tree Lodge as we drove back to
the Durban airport, stopping at a local craft market before we flew
back to Cape Town.

On Saturday, day 5 in Cape Town, I was able to visit Khayelitsha
Township. Townships are the shantytowns in South Africa. They are
comparable to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, except that their
appearance is perhaps even more dismal and rundown. There are two
million people living in Khayelitsha and a good majority of the people
live in homes that are self-constructed with tin metal siding, and
sometimes roofed with either tin, plywood or even occasionally what
looked like black plastic bags. These houses are little puzzle pieces
of whatever the people could find to build with. The spirit of the
people living in Khayelitsha, however, mirrors anything but their
living conditions. Everyone that I had the opportunity to meet was
very cheerful, willing to talk and generally just excited that we were
there. We stopped several times to visit people's small business and
homes within the township and every time we got off the bus, we were
swarmed by children who wanted their pictures taken or the stickers
that we were handing out. It was amazing how excited these kids got
over stickers and just seeing pictures of themselves in a digital
camera. One woman, who opened a bed and breakfast in Khayelitsha,
Vicki said that she had organized for the children to get Christmas
presents every year and they are so excited to receive pens and
pencils as their gifts. Our next stop was at Kopanong Bed and
Breakfast run by Mama Thope, as she is known. Thope opened her bed and
breakfast after receiving a fellowship to study at the University of
Pittsburgh. There she learned about small business and opened Kopanong
when she returned to Khayelitsha. Since this time she has helped other
women in the area open their own bed and breakfasts and when tourists
come to visit, Thope has some stay at her house and divides the rest
up between the other women's B&Bs. She even has women who help her
cook and people who supply her with fruits and vegetables. She says
that she could not just succeed on her own, when you live in such
poverty, you have to share the success with the other members so that
the community as a whole succeeds. I think this applies not just to
poor areas like Khayelitsha, but to the rest of the world as well.
After we visited Mama Thope, some of the women that work in the area
took us on a tour of Khayelitsha. As soon as we walked outside, a few
kids came walking down the street. One little girl zigzagged through
our group and ran right towards me. She grabbed my hand and walked
around with me the rest of the tour. I don't know how or why she
picked me out from all the other students around me, but I don't think
I can ever forget her. Every time I took a picture of anything, she
wanted to see it. The strange thing was, this nine-year old girl, who
had picked me out of all the rest, had the same name as my cousin,
Annelies, not a name that I hear very often. I'm considering sending
her some of the pictures that were taken of her and me to Mama Thope
so that maybe she can pass them along to Annelies.

As we walked, people waved to us and occasionally started walking with
us. People were incredibly friendly and even though we were in an area
of overwhelming poverty, I never felt threatened in any way. One of
the guides informed us that Khayelitsha has received attention from
donators and the government to try to improve the area. About ten
years ago, outsiders could not even visit the townships without their
putting themselves in danger. Only 35% of the residents attended
school a decade ago. Today 89% are in the local schools and some go on
to universities. Our guide said that while things are looking up for
Khayelitsha, this is not the case for many of the townships. He told
me that people would not want to visit the others because there is
nothing to look at, only garbage. I assume he meant that there is
little hope in these places and it would be too hard to take in for
most people. It is so nice to see places like Khayelitsha improving,
but unfortunately for every Khayelitsha, there are several dreary
townships that are forgotten about. I think people have a tendency to
think that because one is getting better, the rest are too, therefore
there's no need to worry about them. Hopefully, more of the
communities will go in the direction of Khayelitsha over the next few
years.

As we climbed back onto the bus, Annelies hugged me several times and
then waved as the bus drove off. It was hard to leave, knowing that we
would be going back to our ship, but their lives stay there in the
township.

Day 6 in Cape Town was a long one, but an awesome one. Yes, awesome.
That's the only way to describe it. Six of my friends and I woke up to
meet a bus outside of the ship at 6:30 in the morning to take us to
Gansbaai, a two hour drive from Cape Town. We drove through
mountainous areas and wine lands and finally arrived at a sleepy
harbor side town. We walked into a couple's house that had been
converted into a shop and restaurant for those of us who would be
going Great White Shark Cage Diving that day. There, we were served
breakfast before going out on the two story boat for the day. The
first four hours of the day we saw absolutely nothing. Well, not
absolutely nothing. We did see a shark near another boat, but that's
about it. Finally, when we were about ready to give up, one of the
crew members yelled that he saw a shark. In the water, they had thrown
a Styrofoam cutout of a seal and half a dead fish, both tethered to
ropes. They would get the shark's attention with the seal, and then
lure it closer to the boat with the fish. The first group of divers
got into the cage and waited until the crew could lure the shark
closer to the cage. Finally, the shark followed the bait and flipped
its tail against the cage. The divers came up laughing and exclaiming
how incredible it had been. Next, it was my turn. I put on my full wet
suit, complete with a head cover (that water was cold!) and then my
mask. We weren't using tanks because the noise scares the sharks, so
we just held our breath when the crew yelled "Down! Down! Down!" My
friend Katrina and I got in the cage and took pictures underwater with
my camera before we finally heard one crewmember inform us that there
was a shark on his right, follow the seal, he's near the bait now,
down! Down! Down! We held our breath and went under the water as the
shark passed us and banged his tail up against the cage. We were able
to do this several more times. It was incredibly exhilarating watching
a great white shark inches away from your face, going after some food.
For the final group of divers, the shark bit onto the bait and the man
holding it, did his best to lure him right up against the cage where
he stayed for several seconds, just thrashing up against the cage
trying to free the bait. Honestly, seeing all of this from outside of
the cage was almost as amazing as seeing it from inside the cage.
After about two hours of this, we sped back to the little house by the
water and drove back to Cape Town, with just enough time left to eat
dinner and say goodbye to the city.

For most of us, we were ok with leaving Brazil. It had been a nice
experience, but no one seemed too broken up about leaving. In South
Africa, everyone wished they could stay. I heard so many people
exclaim that they didn't want to leave, and I was one of the people
saying that. I fully plan on returning to South Africa. I feel like I
didn't waste a second of my time there, but there are so many things
that I want to do that there just wasn't enough time for. South Africa
has definitely been the highlight of my trip…

So far.