5 Hours in Mauritius

On our way from Cape Town to Mauritius, our ship was directly in the path of a tropical storm. It had a name so must have been a bit important. Anyways, we had to take a detour and at first it was announced that we would arrive in Mauritius at night to refuel and would not be able to get off. Everyone was disappointed and the administration announced they would give us the day off and a barbeque. Where these ribs and burgers came from we do not know and did not ask. 

BUT…

During our "Mauritius Day" they announced that we would in fact be able get off the ship for a total of 5 hours from 7am to noon. This was some incredible news and we still got a barbeque!

We had a great Mauritius Day that included sitting by the empty pool since seas were rough, eating as much mac and cheese, ribs and burgers as possible, laying in the sun and catching up on some much needed sleep. After our day off, it was time for our 5 hours in Mauritius.

Mauritius is a pretty interesting place; it is basically a natural experiment in evolution. Since no natives ever inhabited the island, when the Dutch first showed up they began destroying the island's pristine flora and fauna. As you may know the Dodo bird comes from Mauritius, it is a bird that lost its ability to fly over time because it had no predators and therefore no reason for flight.

Everyone was up early and ready to get through immigration as fast as possible to make the best of the 5 hours. Once we got off my small group had decided that instead of going to the beach like everyone else, we were going to hike. And hike we did, after making it to what we figured was the trailhead of "La Pouce" a thumb shaped mountain that would give us a 360 degree view of the island we hit it hard.

Never mind making it to the top, we ran out of time but found a place with a view. It had to be one of the coolest hikes I've ever done. Surrounded by jungle it was like walking through a tunnel. And the view! Quite amazing what a place, reminds me of Jurassic Park. Once we turned around, we quickly made our way back to the ship, took a quick stop at a post office and made it on the ship with seconds to spare.

After that it was time for food, shower then a quick nap before beginning homework.

India will be up soon, and so will finals...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Cape Town, South Africa!

Cape Town, South Africa is one of the most interesting and amazing countries I have visited and I know that it is one of the most unique in the world. South Africa is a country that is more like 2 countries. Have and have nots, the rich and the poor. The inequality in this country is incomparable with anything I have ever seen. That said it is also one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Google Table Mountain and you will see just how picturesque the city of Cape Town really is.

My first day I went shark cage diving in Gansbaai, which is about a 2 hour drive from Cape Town. Fresh off the boat we met the shuttle and began the drive. The drive turned out to be an awesome journey through rolling hills and plains. Baboons were on the side of the road as we passed what looked to me like pine trees and more wine vineyards than I could count. Shark cage diving was awesome; if you have ever seen Shark Week on the Discovery channel you know what I am talking about. The water only had about 4 feet of visibility so every time we saw a great white they were literally right in our face. All in all it was a great first day, the only thing was that cage diving took all day so I was back to the ship at 6 and immediately got ready to go out and get dinner. We went to Long Street, the place in Cape Town with all the restaurants and bars. There we ate at a Mexican restaurant and it was glorious, the nachos, tacos and margaritas really hit the spot after eating ship food for over a week.

The next day I left for my safari bright and early. We flew out of Cape Town to Johannesburg and then took a small flight to Hoedspruit, which is basically a small airport right next to the game reserve. We hopped off the plane and right into Toyota Land Cruisers with open tops. On our way into Kapama Game Reserve, we saw a Giraffe, Kudu's, Impala and Warthogs and this wasn't even a game drive!

The place we stayed at was called Buffalo Camp and had 7 different "bungalows" that were situated in a ravine about 20 feet off the ground. They were kind of like tents though not really at all just the walls were made of canvas. Our shower had a huge glass wall so you could see outside and there was a bathtub in the middle of the room. Needless to say it was one of the coolest places I've ever stayed at.

After we checked in we went on our first game drive. We came out of the fenced in complex took 2 turns before we ran into 5 Rhino's just hanging out in the middle of the road. They were within 10 feet of us, it was amazing. They didn't pay any attention to us at all, the animals are used to seeing game cars and since we are silent and don't move much they don't really bother humans. Now if you hopped out of the car and attempted to walk around that would be a different story. After the Rhinos we drove around for 5 minutes and ran into 2 lionesses with 3 cubs right off the road. That was so cool and if you have ever seen the Lion King you know what I mean. We spent about 45 minutes watching the cubs play with each other and I got some really adorable videos.

Next we saw some Hippos in the water as well as a herd of Impala. Then we pulled over to have drinks and snacks while a Giraffe came out on the road and kept walking toward us interested in what we were doing. He got probably within 25 feet and just walked around us so it was a great photo opportunity. After that it was dark so we headed back to the hotel to eat dinner and relax before going to bed early since morning game drives leave at 5am. The next morning on our game drive it took a bit to find some animals but eventually we ran into herds or Zebras, Impala and Kudu hanging out in a field. Then we spotted 2 cheetahs watching them from afar and drove over closer to them. The walked right in front of our car and perched up on a rock watching the Impala, Zebra and Kudu's. Unfortunately we didn't get to see a kill but on the way back to the hotel we spotted a herd of Giraffes walking down the road.

Since it's so hot during the day the animals aren't really out and we got the rest of the morning and afternoon to hangout and relax. After an awesome nap a friend and I took a ride to the main hotel complex to check out the gym and the pools they had there. The main lodge was so cool and the gym and spa area was like a giant Zen garden with an infinity pool in the middle. After we got back to our camp we headed out on the night game drive. We saw Water Buffalo hanging out by a pond and then a herd of 13 Elephants nearby. That was really awesome to see them, there were probably 3 babies and some that were huge they walked right past our car snapping branches off the trees and eating them. It was getting dark when we ran into a male lion, 2 lionesses and 3 cubs walking down the road. It was great to see the cubs again but we were all so happy to see the male. Animals in the wild like that are just truly amazing.

On our last morning we did an Elephant back safari where instead of doing a game drive, we rode Elephants. They are huge, really smart and it was a great experience. From what I was able to observe, they treated the Elephants really good and they said that if they wander off they usually come back the next day or so.

After that it was time to leave Kapama Game Reserve and head back to Cape Town. It took most of the day to travel back so once we got back to the ship, it was time to shower, change into some clean clothes and head to the waterfront for dinner. We ate at this place called Mitchell's a Scottish pub with great food and even better tasting beer that they brew themselves.

The next day, I had a trip all day for one of my classes called Operation Hunger. It is a non-profit NGO that works in the townships to feed kids after school as well as promote sustainable farming. Driving into the township we visited was literally like traveling from Downtown Denver to my home stay in Ghana. The townships are a 3^rd world country. It is such a huge contrast it's unbelievable. Our group was big so we split up and I ended going to help them in the "garden". Their "garden" was more like a sand pit filled with trash. After about 2 hours of weeding and cleaning up as much trash as we could we planted cabbage, carrots and onions. After lunch, we learned more about the organization as we waited for the children to come from school. The kids came and they were so excited to see us, we weighed them and measured their arm circumference as a way to keep track of their nutritional growth. After that it was time to go and we headed back to the ship and got ready to go out for dinner.

The last day in Cape Town, I had another trip with a teacher. We went to The Triangle Project, a non-profit NGO. The Triangle Project is basically an LGBT center with an AIDS clinic. We talked with their program director for a while about what they do and how they benefit people in the city and the townships. It was for my gender and society class and was definitely an interesting trip, plus it was out by lunch so I had the rest of the day to walk around the city. I went to the mall and the market getting a few souvenirs specific to Cape Town. The food in Cape Town is very inexpensive but everything else like clothing and electronics is a bit more expensive than in the US.

Overall Cape Town and South Africa was a place I will never forget. Cape Town is such a beautiful city but it has a very dark side. You could spend 10 days in Cape Town and not see the townships but you would miss the most important part of the city. Although Apartheid is over, its remnants linger and it is fairly obvious to see that the white people are rich while the black people are poor. If you do visit and want to see the townships I would recommend contacting an NGO instead of doing a tour through one. With an NGO, you can help them by volunteering while doing a tour they just take you through and don't do much to give back to the community. 

Unfortunately, there was not enough time for me to climb Table Mountain, visit a vineyard, go to Cape Point, and visit Robben Island. But Cape Town is a place I know I will return to and if you have never been, it is truly a must see destination and one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

Check back soon for pictures!

You Ghana be kidding me

Hey everyone sorry this is so late I'm been really busy with everything and there is always something better to do on the ship then type up blog posts but I promise I'll be better about it.

Ghana was a very interesting country and one that I wouldn't mind revisiting. We ported in Tema, which is about an hour drive to the capital of Accra. Its only about 3 miles away but the traffic is so bad that it takes a while. I did a home stay in Senasi village, which is about a 2-hour drive north from Kumasi. Kumasi is just about in the middle of the country so we were pretty far north.

We visited a slave castle the first day in Cape Coast and that was interesting but pretty depressing. President Obama and the first lady visited a few years ago so everyone in Ghana absolutely loves Obama. Whenever we would tell people we were from America they would yell Obama and say how much they love the U.S.

After staying the night in Cape Coast, we traveled through Kumasi, and experienced something that could only happen in a place like Ghana. Since in the cities traffic is so bad people will sell just about anything to you in your car. Bags of water, awesome ice cream, chocolate bars, onions, loves of bread for about a dollar, small flags, banana chips you name the food and you can probably buy it from your car in Ghana.

We arrived at Senasi village after dark and had a great dinner of something really good. It was pitch black with few lights so we went to bed early. The next day we played with tons of kids before visiting schools, playing with more kids and then visiting high school aged kids all before lunch. The sad thing is that the younger kids and older kids learn in the same buildings. They are basically open structures with roofs, few walls, no windows and doors. The only thing on the walls is a blackboard and posters about HIV/AIDS.

Meeting all the kids was really great and fun but it was also incredibly depressing. It really changes your perspective on a lot of things when you witness their reality. I can't imagine staying for a week or a month because 2 nights and 2 days was enough to really get me. Later in the day we had some down time to play soccer with some kids and then we learned a dance that we would perform the next day in front of a school.

After dinner a few of us stargazed for a while in an unfinished church with no roof. The power in the town had gone out around 8pm so it was pitch black everywhere making it perfect for stargazing. The next day we had a great breakfast of who knows what and left the town to go to the school and perform our dance. It was a ton of fun and the kids really loved it. Then we were back on the bus for the long drive back to the ship. It was a really great experience, so far the most eye opening one I have had on this journey and it is one that will certainly have an effect on me once I get home.

For the last day in Ghana, I headed into the capital city Accra to do some shopping and to check out the city. Thankfully it only took about an hour to get into the city and that was with light traffic. We went to Global Mamas first which is a nonprofit organization that operates a fair trade store so all the profits go directly to the people that created them. They have a website so if your interested they have some cool t-shirts and accessories check them out!

Next we headed to the cultural center where I got my first lesson in bargaining. This was the place to buy arts and crafts and they had some really awesome stuff. Huge masks that you can hang on the wall, wooden sculptures and carved out bowls with great detail were in most stores. It was like a tent city, some places sold t-shirts others jewelry and many that had paintings and great pieces of art. When you bargain in a foreign country you have to be smart otherwise they will take advantage of you. I bought a mancala board and a wooden beaded mask for way too much but I learned my lesson. A good rule of thumb that I know is to take 30 to 40 percent of what they tell you. They will seem angry or insulted but it's the name of the game and you will enviably settle on a reasonable amount. It can be fun but frustrating and if you just walk away, they usually yell for you and will take your bid. After walking throughout the shops for a while and buying the necessary souvenirs, we headed to Makola Market to do some grocery shopping before heading back to the ship. Some things were reasonably priced like the ice cream and some candy but things like a can of peanuts would have cost about $15 USD. It was interesting to see just as it was in Nassau, Roseau and Manaus what food prices were like. For the most part Ghana was more than reasonable but things we take for granted like nuts or granola bars are considered luxury items in other countries.

We got back to the shuttle, which was leaving at 4 and made it back to the ship by 5:30, on our way due to bad traffic and cattle crossings it took longer than expected. But just as in other countries looking out the window is so entertaining. In a place like Ghana if you wave to people, they will smile and wave back.

If I've learned something in Ghana it is that a smile is universal and though a village may not have running water or even power, people do all the same things. They take bucket showers, they eat breakfast and they find ways to economically sustain themselves.

My Cape Town post should be up soon and possibly pictures so check back!

Celebrating my 21st birthday

First off sorry for taking so long to update about Brazil, our internet on the boat is pretty reliable but our email really only works when it feels like it. At least mine does it took me 4 days to get the Brazil email to send. So now that it sent, my birthday was on the 8th. Nothing like celebrating your 21st birthday in the middle of the Atlantic ocean but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. It takes 9 days to get from Manaus in the Amazon to Tema, Ghana in Africa. The 8th was our day off and was also the day we passed over the equator in the ocean. It was marked as procedural protocol day on our calendars but we all knew it was Neptune's Day. We were woken up at 8 by a bunch of the crew dressed as Roman warriors and our dean painted green and apparently Neptune. Everyone met out on the deck to complete the ritual that you must do in order for King Neptune to deem you worthy to cross the equator. Since it was my birthday, just about the entire boat sang happy birthday to me and I went first. First they pour liquid fish guts on you which smells but wasn't that bad, then you jump strait into the pool get out, kiss a fish, kiss the rings on Mr. and Mrs. Neptune and then get knighted. Then comes the optional head shaving which I of course did. Never shaved my head before and won't ever do it again but it'll grow back in 3 weeks so whatever. I think about 7 girls shaved their heads and that I think is a big deal. After that we can an awesome taco lunch and chocolate cake. The rest of my day consisted of napping, reading scheduling a massage for the following day and getting ready for dinner at 6:45. About 20 of my new friends joined me for special occasion dining. It's $30 a person and thats a deal considering what we got. A 5 course meal that had appetizers, shrimp cocktail, greek salad, broccoli soup, then salmon, prime big or tenderloin for the entree and finally cheesecake or creme brulee. The creme brulee was incredible by far the best i've ever had and everything else was great too. Everyone had ordered me a mint chocolate vanilla ice cream cake too and that was so awesome. Also the dinner came with champagne. Sorry to make everyone jealous but hey it was my 21st. It was a great birthday but I do wish I could've shared it with all of my friends in Boulder too.

Today is the 10th and we'll be in Ghana on the 13th, i'm doing a 4 day 3 night home stay in a village. It was done through facebook sponsored by kids from previous voyages who said it was by far the most significant trip they had during the entire trip. That gets me pretty excited.

Next update we'll be on our way to South Africa!

Hope you are all doing great.

-Steven

Fwd: Celebrating my 21st birthday

Begin forwarded message:

From: Steven Lowy <steven.lowy.s12@semesteratsea.org>

Subject: Celebrating my 21st birthday

Date: February 10, 2012 3:24:54 PM GMT-01:00

First off sorry for taking so long to update about Brazil, our internet on the boat is pretty reliable but our email really only works when it feels like it. At least mine does it took me 4 days to get the Brazil email to send. So now that it sent, my birthday was on the 8th. Nothing like celebrating your 21st birthday in the middle of the Atlantic ocean but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. It takes 9 days to get from Manaus in the Amazon to Tema, Ghana in Africa. The 8th was our day off and was also the day we passed over the equator in the ocean. It was marked as procedural protocol day on our calendars but we all knew it was Neptune's Day. We were woken up at 8 by a bunch of the crew dressed as Roman warriors and our dean painted green and apparently Neptune. Everyone met out on the deck to complete the ritual that you must do in order for King Neptune to deem you worthy to cross the equator. Since it was my birthday, just about the entire boat sang happy birthday to me and I went first. First they pour liquid fish guts on you which smells but wasn't that bad, then you jump strait into the pool get out, kiss a fish, kiss the rings on Mr. and Mrs. Neptune and then get knighted. Then comes the optional head shaving which I of course did. Never shaved my head before and won't ever do it again but it'll grow back in 3 weeks so whatever. I think about 7 girls shaved their heads and that I think is a big deal. After that we can an awesome taco lunch and chocolate cake. The rest of my day consisted of napping, reading scheduling a massage for the following day and getting ready for dinner at 6:45. About 20 of my new friends joined me for special occasion dining. It's $30 a person and thats a deal considering what we got. A 5 course meal that had appetizers, shrimp cocktail, greek salad, broccoli soup, then salmon, prime big or tenderloin for the entree and finally cheesecake or creme brulee. The creme brulee was incredible by far the best i've ever had and everything else was great too. Everyone had ordered me a mint chocolate vanilla ice cream cake too and that was so awesome. Also the dinner came with champagne. Sorry to make everyone jealous but hey it was my 21st. It was a great birthday but I do wish I could've shared it with all of my friends in Boulder too. 

Today is the 10th and we'll be in Ghana on the 13th, i'm doing a 4 day 3 night home stay in a village. It was done through facebook sponsored by kids from previous voyages who said it was by far the most significant trip they had during the entire trip. That gets me pretty excited.

Next update we'll be on our way to South Africa!

Hope you are all doing great.

-Steven

Brazil and the Amazon

>> The past 4 days in Manaus, Brazil were awesome. We spent 4 days and 3 nights and going into it, I really didn't know what to expect from the city. Manaus turned out to be an incredibly vibrant and busy city. The first day was spent exploring the entire city. It was so busy, cars and people everywhere a lot more than I thought there would be. With a population of 2 million there are 500,000 cars so the traffic was terrible. We walked around the markets and random streets trying to find banks that would accept our debit cards. The first 2 banks we went to ended up with us breaking the atm machines, they wouldn't accept our cards and started to restart themselves and it was so funny because the banks were packed with people who got so pissed waiting for us. Finally we found an HSBC and got cash. The exchange rate was about 2 to 1 and things seemed a bit cheaper depending on what you were looking for. Electronics were way more than in the states but food was pretty reasonable. We headed for the opera house which is the historical building you have to visit in Manaus. The Teatro Amazonas or Amazon Theater was built during the rubber boom and was entirely imported from Europe. The inside of the theater was absolutely breathtaking. Wood and marble covered everything and chandeliers were everywhere. The tour was about a half hour long and well worth it, I will definitely have some good pictures but they won't do it justice. After the theater we asked our guide about a place for lunch and it ended up being only 5 minutes away and really really good. It was a buffet style Brazilian steakhouse so you would get your sides from the buffet and then all the meat came strait off the grill. The meat was soo good, sausage, filet, ribs the best part was you paid by the kilogram so you could get as much or as little as you wanted. After lunch we walked around the city for the rest of the day going to a rubber baron's house that was turned into the governors house. My question is how do become a baron in anything?
>
> That night we went to a really nice dinner at another Brazilian steakhouse and it was awesome. Again it was buffet style but with way more options and even better meats. I tried chicken heart and I wouldn't eat it again. We were there for the whole night and I had to leave early the next for my river boat trip so we went back to the boat to get some sleep. The next day I was up bright and early meeting with my riverboat group to head out into the rainforest on our overnight trip. The first thing we did was go to the meeting of the rivers the Rio Negro and the Amazon which was really cool. One is black and one is brown and they literally meet together and it looks really awesome. The temperature difference was crazy too one was hot an one was cold. After that we travelled the shore and did a canopy walk. Right at the beginning of our walk were 2 little monkeys playing in the tree and basically posing for everyone who was taking pictures. They were so cute and basically made my day. Next we walked along the trail down to another section of water to see the giant lilly pads. They were probably about 3 feet in diameter so pretty huge, also there was a cayman which is a smaller crocodile who climbed out of the water to see what we were doing. After the canopy walk through the jungle, we got back on the boat to begin our 5 hour ride to the village we were visiting. It was a great time for naps and a nice lunch since our hammocks were set up. We finally arrived at the village and had about 2 hours to walk around and meet some of the people. It had a population of about 200, a lot of kids and a school. I played soccer with some kids about 10 years old. Then I met Iago who became my friend and followed me around the rest of our time there. We toured a house and talked to the resident with our translator. She told us about life there and our guide talked to us about how the people basically live stress free. They don't have many material possessions and they realize they don't need them just their health, family and friends. It was very inspiring to see they way they live. Then it was time to leave and say goodbye to my new friend. Our boat headed out and as it got dark we hopped into smaller boats and went looking for Caymans. After a while we found one and all got to take pictures holding it. It was cool but at the same time picking an animal out of its habitat so that we can all take pictures with it totally freaks it out and is really just selfish tourism. After that we headed to a white sand beach that i'm pretty sure was man made and had a luau. It was really fun and the food was great, we played a bunch of games like limbo and musical chairs before learning some samba and heading back on the boat to get ready for bed. Apparently mosquitoes really hate the black water so they were never a big issue. I think I only got one bite but I made sure to put bug spray on constantly. That night a few of us couldn't sleep due to the incredibly loud snoring from the crew and some kids so we stayed up until about 4am stargazing and talking long exposure shots of the moon and surrounding clouds.

The next morning we woke up around 8 and had a nice breakfast of sausage and eggs. I'm not a coffee drinker at all but the coffee we had tasted like chocolate milk it was awesome. After that we headed out to swim with the river dolphins. It was a lot of fun, they are wild animals but pretty much know whats going on playing with the guys who were feeding them and swimming all around us. Got some good pictures of them they're a bit smaller than other dolphins and have really small eyes but are incredibly intelligent animals. They have bigger brains than we do. Then we fed these giant endangered carps in a holding tank they had. We would swing fish from a pole and they would jump and rip it off. They are really really strong, all the girls had to have the people working there hold on to the poles as well so they wouldn't get pulled in. Then we went Pirhana fishing, unfortunately out of 30 people no one could catch one. I was pissed, got a lot of bites but no fish. Our last event before heading to Manaus was a jungle walk. While walking through the rainforest you have to be really attentive as to where your stepping so you can actually look up and see the incredible vegetation, otherwise you'll just stare at your feet and try not to trip on anything. We didn't see much wildlife but about a 2 inch spider landed on one of our guides I guess it was really poisonous so good it landed on him and not someone who would have freaked out. We tried brazil nuts fresh from the tree, they have the texture of coconut but taste like an almond. After that we made it back to the riverboat and made our way back to Manaus. It was a really fun trip but I was ready to get back to the ship, that night we went out to a club that was like a 5 minute walk from the ship.

Day 4, for each class we take we must do 2 field trips with the professor and mine was for my conserving endangered wildlife class. My teacher is really obsessed with birds so I wasn't sure how this trip was going to be. It was at a nature reserve in the rain forest so it was pretty cool to walk through all the trees. The reserve was located on the outskirts of Manaus so it was about an hour drive. It was a different type of rain forest than the kind I saw on the riverboat trip. We saw lots of birds and some spiders but other than that not any animals. The rainforest has an incredible assortment of species but it is not densely populated which I never realized. We spent about 2 hours before we had to head back to the ship at 3pm. Back on the ship I heard all of my friends stories many who I hadn't seen the whole time we were there. Some did multiple overnight trips on riverboats and in eco lodges in the Amazon and quite a few went to Rio de Janeiro. I was a bit sad I wasn't able to go to Rio but now my goal is to make it back there someday.

Brazil and the Amazon was an amazing experience, it went by so quickly like all the ports will but it was really a great experience to visit a place where many don't go and I place where I will probably never return. It is crazy to think that we travelled up the Amazon river and into the rainforest and now we are on our way to Africa

Tripping on Malaria Meds

The past few days at sea have now gone by pretty fast and as I am writing this we are traveling up the Amazon river. Its a strange feeling almost like it isn't real but looking into the tan water and seeing so many trees on either side its safe to say we are in the jungle. Everyone is on Malaria medication now and they give you pretty crazy dreams that make for great conversation at breakfast.

In Global Studies, the class that everyone on the boat takes we learned of all the crazy types of species including vampire bats, cyanide spitting caterpillars, spiders the size of your hand and a kissing fly that bites your lip and makes your brain swell up. So that makes things a bit more interesting but still I cannot wait to get out into the jungle and explore. The tomorrow we will arrive in Manaus and I will spend the day exploring the city. The coolest thing about Manaus is that it has a population of 1.7 million and the only way to access the city is by boat or plane, no major roads connect the city to the rest of Brazil. The next few days I will be doing an overnight Amazon riverboat tour which I am really excited for and the last day I am doing a jungle hike required for my conserving endangered wildlife class. All in all i'm super excited and i'll let everyone know how it goes in a couple of days!

-Steven