I just wanted to start off by apologizing for keeping everyone in suspense to read my latest journal entry. The internet connection from the ship has been extremely slow, making it frustrating to log in and access any website.

After the entertaining festivities of Neptune Day it was back to work. That week I had three tests (in which I got two A’s and one B) and two papers. It was a very hectic time but well worth it to be free to enjoy everything Africa had to offer.

Let me just start off by saying South Africa is amazing! I spent a wonderful week around Cape Town and near Johannesburg on safari. I highly recommend everyone travel there sometime in their lifetime, and I hope I get the opportunity to go back.

We slowly arrived into the Cape Town port early in the morning to a spectacular view of Table Mountain. I woke up around 545 am and hurried up onto the seventh deck in my sweatshirt (it was very windy and chilly at the time). By then the sky had already started to lighten. The mountain range slowly began to sharpen into focus and rise up higher before us. The sun peeked out above Table Mountain and gave us a warm welcoming to Africa. I went and had breakfast and then went back outside to watch us dock in Cape Town. On the top deck I stood near Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who is accompanying us throughout the whole voyage) and I could tell he was glad to be back home.

Cape Town is a lively port with a huge variety of people. The majority of these people are not “white” nor “black”, but actually are classified as mixed. English is widely spoken, but Afrikaans is as well (easily identified by its Dutch / German sounds). Right in front of our ship’s dock was the V&A Waterfront Mall. It could have fooled me though cause it looked like any mall back in the states with people that would blend in with Americans quite easily. One of my cab drivers said that if I hadn’t spoken and given away my accent I could have passed as South African.

My first day in port was spent with several friends wandering around Cape Town and doing a bit of shopping. We took a taxi to Long Street, which is a local favorite shopping and restaurant area and went to the African Music Store where I picked up several local CDs. The type of music I selected was kwaito, which is a black post-apartheid celebration hip-hop style of music.

Coca-Cola is the most widely recognized brand in South Africa seeing as they give free signs to businesses as long as Coke can put their logo on it. I found a really neat metal elephant about a foot long completely made out of recycled Coke cans. I also found some great African necklaces, one of which was made by villagers in Kenya. That night my friends and I went to the food court in the mall and I had an amazing Thai dinner.

The next morning I was supposed to go on a trip to the botanical gardens and winelands. I was really looking forward to sampling various wines and shipping some back to Ohio and Virginia, but unfortunately my alarm wasn’t set to go off. I woke up a half hour late and scrambled to the meeting point but everybody had already left. I was so disappointed and mad at myself for missing such a great trip. Instead I headed out by myself in the drizzling rain. I discovered a new market area with wonderful works of art, most of which I couldn’t afford. Then I made my way over to the Two Oceans Aquarium.

The aquarium is similar to most aquariums I have visited. The focus was on local species of marine life, one of my favorites being a tank with hundreds of clown fish. I also saw beautiful lionfish, which in South Africa are interestingly called devilfish. They also featured a colony of penguins, eels, starfish, seals, jellyfish, sharks, and a kelp forest. The oddest fish I saw was something called a pineapple fish, which looks – pretty much – just like a pineapple. Visiting the aquarium was a good way to spend a rainy and drizzly morning. Many people I know tried to go hike Table Mountain and were unsuccessful in such weather. After my marine adventure I headed back to the mall and wandered around some more shops including a local grocery store Pick-n-Pay.

That night I stayed in and packed for my safari. We were only allowed one carry-on that had a limit of eleven pounds so it was a difficult task sorting out what I really needed. I took a short break in between packing to go on the sixth deck and watch the lunar eclipse. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy from the earlier rainstorm so every now and then the clouds would creep in front of the moon. It was really neat though watching as the eclipse progressed.

My safari group left at 430am. We took a bus to the Cape Town airport and caught a two-hour flight on kalula.com airlines. Once in Johannesburg we caught another bus, which took us two and a half hours away to the Ivory Tree Lodge in the Pilansberg Game Reserve. Our safari guides greeted us with champagne and then we checked into our rooms. Each little lodge held two students. There were two beds which were surrounded by mosquito nets at night, a refrigerator, a sink, toilet, huge bathtub, deck / patio area, and an enclosed outdoor shower.

We didn’t have much time to enjoy the facilities before our first game drive. I was so excited; it was almost unbelievable that I was in Africa setting out to find all kinds of wild animals I had only seen on TV and in zoos. Each truck held ten passengers plus the driver. Our tour guide’s name was Luke and he was pretty awesome and knowledgeable. He had a good sense of animal behavior and could tell when we should continue or wait and observe.

I had a great group of people on my truck. We had Joe whom is the voyage videographer making a movie about the whole trip for us. We also had Beth, our trip leader, and her son Ryan who is just a great guy and fun to be around. There was another Ryan (Tex) who was a Texan southern gentleman, Kaitie, Emily, Sarah and Amy (who were always energetic and excited), and Kristen who was a bit more laid back.

About five minutes out of the electronic fence gates, Tex (who is a hunter and is good at spotting game) shouted “look, a deer!”. Luke then informed us that no, there are no deer in Pilansburg, and that it was actually an impala.

We continued on seeing plenty of impala along the way. The first major animal we spotted was a white rhino, which happened to surprise us from behind a bush we had stopped at to look at more impalas. Everyone was taken aback at how amazing it was to see a rhino from fifteen feet away. Rhinos, we learned, have great hearing and a good sense of smell. Unfortunately their vision is poor so you are to hide behind a bush or tree if it spots you. Luke also told us that Pilansberg is home to the black rhino as well which is more endangered than the white. White rhinos are grazers; they eat vegetation on the ground and therefore are more nearsighted and have three humps on their back. The black rhino are browsers so they eat off of trees and bushes. The black rhino are much more aggressive and would most likely charge the truck if close enough.

Another fun fact that Luke taught us was about hyena poop. Hyenas can crush bone with their powerful jaws and often eat bones, and because of this their feces turn white. Interestingly tortoises will come along and eat the hyena poop. Because hyenas eat bone, their feces are high in calcium, which then strengthens tortoise shells.

Later we ran into a warthog, which Luke said are fairly hard to find in the reserve. Throughout our game drives we must have seen about two dozen warthogs including a few young piglets. Zebra were also very common throughout Pilansberg. Besides impala and other deer-like animals (waterbuck, hartebeest, kudu, tsesebe, and springbok) zebra herds were everywhere. We also saw quite a few wildebeests, but no African buffalo which is one of the “Big Five”.

We were informed that the Big 5 – lion, rhino, elephant, leopard, and buffalo - are not the most rare or elusive of all the wild game. The big five were named so because they are the hardest five animals to hunt on foot. Basically all of these five if they detect you will charge, attack, and most likely kill you. Thankfully we stayed in the safari truck the whole time, which hopefully made us bigger and safer.

A rhino’s strength was demonstrated one afternoon when we saw a male trotting along the road. He periodically would stop and spray trees to mark his territory. Farther down the road we spotted a baby rhino with its mother. They were both just enjoying a snack of grasses when all of a sudden the male came over. The baby was confident and went right up to the male and touched noses. It was a really tender moment but then the mother became defensive. She started to grunt and charged a bit towards the male. The baby was still curious and wanted to approach the male, but eventually the male wandered off and they went back to munching on grass.

The landscape in Pilansberg was spectacular. The area was once volcanic so the mountains were made of a specific composition of chemicals and rocks. The mountains and trees made for a wonderful backdrop for sunsets and sunrises. Bright and vivid pinks and oranges lit up the sky in streaks and swirls. At night the cloudless and dark sky exposed more stars and constellations that I have ever seen before. Getting to take showers outside under the moonlight and massive amounts of stars was an experience I will never forget.

On our first morning game drive on the second day we were on the hunt for lions. One male and two females had been spotted heading towards each other and it was our goal to be right in the middle when they met. The great part about our safari was that each game guide had a radio so they could tell other guides locations of specific animals. After driving around for quite a while and only being able to hear male vocalizations, a radio call came in saying the male was spotted. We raced over and took a front row parking spot where the male was heading to cross the road. He was off in the distance quite a bit and I got some amazing footage on my video camera of him slowly making his way right towards us. Then without thinking anything of it, he crossed right in front of our truck about twenty-five feet away. There’s no real way to describe what it’s like to see a wild male lion walk right in front of you. I was scared and excited, nervous and amazed. It was a once in a lifetime experience that simply made me speechless.

We saw a female lioness in the grass the next day. Unfortunately the sun was out and it was too hot for her so she stayed low in the grasses to stay cool.

Elephants are another must-see while on safari. One afternoon we happened to run into a whole heard of them feeding on vegetation right along each side of the road. We saw several big males, one of which completely knocked down a tree. Two adolescent males started play-fighting in the middle of the road before us, apparently in preparation for real battles as adults. We spotted many other elephants during our drives including some very cute babies.

Another adorable baby animal we saw was a giraffe. There were many giraffes throughout the park, but one of my favorites was a “little” baby standing next to its mother (see pictures). I think out of all of the animals we saw on safari, giraffes were the most interesting to watch. Their long necks and agile tongues made an interesting site while feeding on branches and leaves.

A few of the other wild creatures we encountered on safari were a troupe of baboons blocking the road, a black-backed jackal, vervet monkeys, a lone ostrich, a brown hyena, and a dung beetle.

Part of the exciting afternoon / evening game drive was spot lighting. Basically you take a giant spotlight and point it into the trees and grasses to find the reflection of predator eyes – typically lion or leopard. We found herds of zebra and wildebeests, and even got really close to where some lions were vocalizing but didn’t spot any. There were however tons of owls that would sit in the middle of the street and fly off when the light shone upon them.

Throughout our whole stay at Ivory Tree Lodge we were all spoiled at the massive amounts of delicious foods. We had steak, lamb chops, roast beef, impala, and leg of lamb - not to mention the vegetarian dishes and wonderful desserts. Two nights we got to eat out in the Boma which was a dinning area surrounding a bonfire. Each day before our drives we also got high tea and biscuits (cookies).

The whole lodge area was stunning. In between our game drives we got to enjoy the scenery, relax under the sun, and swim in the pool. A lot of my friends said the place was so beautiful and relaxing that they wanted to come back for their honeymoons one day. The lodge even had its own spa with such unbeatable prices I had to indulge myself in my first ever Swedish massage. A sixty minute massage for only fifty dollars was a deal I simply could not pass up, and every penny was quite worth it.

On our fourth and last day at Pilansberg we sadly had to say goodbye but got one last game drive. We were lucky enough to hear vocalizations from two sets of male lions each heading towards each other. Finally we spotted two of the males walking along side each other off on the opposing mountainside. Seeing two male lions was the perfect way to end my safari experience. All in all we went on six game drives for a total of over twenty hours. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my stay at the Ivory Tree Lodge in Pilansberg and on my safari. It was an experience I will always remember and hopefully will get the chance to do it again.

As fun and exciting as our safari was, the trip home was less than thrilling. Our plane was delayed one hour, and after that hour it was delayed another. Apparently the seal to the engine was faulty and being worked on. Then our whole group was going to be transferred to another airline. As they were handing out plane tickets I noticed my name was not called out. Four other people and I waited around as it was straightened out but my name wasn’t called the second time either. Apparently space was limited so me and one other girl had to go on a separate flight than our fifty fellow Semester At Sea friends. Well that was just great. So Mary and I sat around waiting for our plane to board as everybody headed towards their gate. Finally our names were called and we were told to get on this shuttle, which would take us to our plane. It was quite a shock when I saw a huge group of Semester At Sea people waiting on that shuttle. I guess we had gotten on the same flight after all. So we get on the plane and sit there with no air circulation for an hour before we finally take off. So at this point our departure was delayed by three hours. Finally we arrived in Cape Town, but our bus was nowhere in sight. We waited around an hour at the airport as five other safari groups arrived back and took off on their own buses. It was a huge ordeal, and I waited another hour in line getting back onto the ship. All said and done I arrived seven hours later then scheduled. Now I consider myself a very flexible person, but it annoys me when I arrive so late that dinner was no longer being served and was forced to go out and buy some food.

My last day in Cape Town was spent at Robben Island where many political prisoners were held during apartheid, including Nelson Mandela. We got to see the lime quarries where the prisoners were sent to dig up rocks and move them from one corner of the quarry to the other and back again the next day. It was a pretty touching experience to see how prisoners were separated by race and the stories of how the inmates were determined to be classified as political prisoners.

Leaving Cape Town was very difficult. The whole town was vibrant and thrilling and it seemed like there was so much more I could have done there (climbing Table Mountain, visiting a township, skydiving, Boulders Beach, cage diving with sharks, and so much more). South Africa was a great place to visit and I definitely want to make it back there some day.

One thing I thought I’d start doing is to include local currency conversions. Puerto Rico uses American dollars. One US dollar equals about two Brazilian reals, and about seven South African rand.

…. Mauritius here I come!