Welcome to South Africa!!

February 19, 2008 to February 24, 2008

February 19, 2008

Well, we made it to South Africa… YIPPIE!!We made is safely, and early, again.I got up at 5:30 a.m. to watch us pull into the port and see the sunrise over the mountains.It was an amazing site to see, with hundreds of students up as well.I cannot believe it, I am in Africa!!I am half way around the world, look at the globe or the map and locate where I am, it is unbelievable.We are in Cape Town, South Africa and we are here for the next 6 days, our longest port country in the entire itinerary!!

South Africa uses currency on the Rand.One dollar is equal to 7 RAND.. our dollar is pretty dam good here.I cashed in $90 and got 650Rand.Things are pretty much the same price as at home or even cheaper.The thing you need to remember is seeing the prices in high numbers.But once you convert your money, you are like.. dam what a great price,I need to buy this.Water and juices and candy are like 7 - 10 Rand, which is the same price at home $1 or so.

The first day was a usual day in port for the first time.I walked around the waterfront, where our ship is docked.I did some shopping, toured the area, got a glimpse of the great scenery, toured the aquarium had some dinner and some great food walking around the area.

Walking around the area I noticed that South Africa has such amazing things to buy.The shops here are so beautiful and you can buy almost anything you can thing of.The quality of the materials are great and the prices are just right for buying things.

South Africa is a very dynamic place.It is referred to as the rainbow country.Why you might ask…. Well as we learned and also being in the area for today, south Africans speak over 11 different languages and attract all types of people from all over the world.There are the wealthy, the middle class and the really poor class society here.All of them getting along very well.The South Africans that we talked to all day today were very polite, very educated and used the English langue very well.I do have to admit, there sentence structure and the way they speak very different, but in a good way.They make so many better sentences and formulate their thoughts so well that it makes us being here sound stupid and under educated.The accents that they speak with are so great.It is like an Australian accent or some sort!!

Being here today makes me realize why are Americans not as polite or well spoken in the English language like they are here???

The sad thing about South Africa is the high percent of people living with HIV/AIDS.President Bush is actually in Africa giving money to other countries to help with the AIDS epidemic.South Africa is the wealthiest and most organized country in Africa and is doing really well compared to all of the other countries and just seeing what I saw today, I can contest to this!!

After walking around, it was time for some dinner.I wanted to try something new and local tonight and I decided to have Ostrich.Let me tell you… it was SO GOOD!!I loved it, the taste was so lean and it was like eating a steak.I will eat Ostrich again and again if given the chance to do so!!

After hanging out for the night, I needed to get back to my room and start packing for my safari trip.. so off for the night to get ready for the rest of the week of adventures.

February 20, 2008

SAFARI time!!Here we go.What else must you do while in Africa.. go on a safari.Now I will have to admit, I did not go on a full safari, just a small one due to some costs and budgeting, but the trip was overall amazing.

We left at 9am and started our 4 hour ride through Africa to reach our destination.On our way to the site I saw some really good area so South Africa and then some of the really poor areas, known as townships.South Africa is in pretty good shape and is pretty wealthy, but many of the white folks are leaving for some reason and moving to Australia.The area is pretty worried about this because is many of the wealthy white people leave, they will leave the poor people trying to run these areas which will not work.

Well, as we drove up to our site, Kagga Kamma Game Site, I saw some awesome mountain formations, monkeys on the side of the road and even donkeys strolling through the streets.It was interesting and something different to see while being on a highway and on the streets.

The mountain presence that we all were seeing was very strong and it was very clear that we were in the mountain area of South Africa.The beauty of the mountain is just breath taking and really makes you wonder how beautiful things can really be in life.

As we kept on riding up to our safari site, up long curving hills, our bus decided to overheat!Fun, right.. NO.We had to take a break with the bus and let it cool down for 30 minutes.The 30 students and I just got out of the bus and just walked around the top of the mountain and went exploring at the rock formations that were around.It was fun.Our F word here at semester at sea is Flexible, and that is what we were!!

We got back into the bus and finally made it to our site.The camp site was amazing and so beautiful.The staff greeted us to a great welcome lunch with some great food sitting under the rocks.As we were eating a freaking baboon decided to spy in on us eating and was so close to us.. it was pretty cool, but then the staff chased it away so it would not fight us for our food.Who can say that something like that happens to you??

After lunch we checked into our rooms for the next two nights.The rooms at this site consist of caves and huts.Look at the pictures and you can see the cave I stayed in for the two nights.The accommodations were great!!

After relaxing by the pool for a few hours in the HOT DRY heat of Africa, we got ready for our nighttime safari game ride.So, it was pretty odd to actually be in South Africa, at a safari… I am used to being at ones in Disney World, but I was actually doing the real thing.. how cool is this!!

We drove around for three hours looking for the animals and we had a good ride.We saw zebra, ostrich, antelope, wildebeest and other animals.We saw some from the distant running and herding their way through the lands… we saw other animals just chillen and relaxing on the road, looking at us and other animals trying to hunt for the evening.I cannot describe this trip… I do have to say.. you must come to Africa and go on a safari for sure!!

As we were driving around the sun began to get ready to set and we stopped in a safe area to get a nice view of the sunset, and what view it was.Take a look at the pictures and you can see what I am talking about.It was an such a peaceful time and such an picture perfect scene to be at.The sun setting in the WEST and the then on the EAST the moon rising with the red glowing of the sunset.WOW.. is all I can say.. I cannot even try to describe it to you…

After we returned back to the camp site from our game ride and sunset, the staff had dinner ready for us and what a dinner it was.As we walked into the back yard, they had a large fire going and tables all around the fire ready for our dinner.Tonight on the menu we had meat pie which consisted of ostrich meat, deer meet and wildebeest meet.Then we had chicken curry, macaroni and meet with tons of veggies and cheeses.The meal was so GOOD, that I was so FULL from this meal.I cannot believe how tasty all of these meets are and I cannot wait to have them again!!

Well, after a long night and long day it was time to hit the sack and get ready for our second day at safari.Off to the cave for some sleep!!

February 21, 2008

Today, back to the itinerary for safari.This morning we started off with another three hour safari ride and cave painting ride.While driving around again we saw many of the animals walking around and getting their morning routine together.As we were driving around we stopped and looked at some of the cave paintings from the Bushman people over 2000 years ago.It was fascinating to see these paintings and be at the same place they were trying to communicate with each other.

After having some pool time, we then got ready for our 3 hour hike into the valley… and whathike it was.We explored the various rock formations, climbed through some of the rocks, went up and down the paths and just got a nice view of were the animals do live and how the rocks and valley has formed over time.

After the hike, time to eat dinner!!The staff really out did themselves again for dinner.Tonight we had a BBQ!!The meat choices were mutton, pork, and sausage (ostrich and deer), carrot and bean soup,rice, veggies and cheese, etc.Dinner was really good, yet again.I was full again trying all of these new meats and enjoying this experience!!

After some relaxing time, we then went up to the top of the mountain and got a nice view of the stars and two planets through the high viewing telescope they had.I got a chance to see the south hemisphere star formations, the planets MARS and Saturn and learned how the stars formed in the south.It was great to see all of this and learn how things are different from the northern hemisphere to the southern.

After our star gazing, we decided to have some drinks and relax for the night to get ready for our departure for tomorrow.

February 22, 2008

Well, today was our last day at safari, so sad.We started off with our breakfast and then just hit the road to go.After our 5 hour drive back into town, we stopped at a vineyard to have lunch and to do wine tasting.Did you know that Cape Town, South Africa has some of the best wines here.. and they were good, that is for sure.

The entire safari trip was well worth it.I had a chance to get off the ship for the past three days and explore Africa, which was a blast.

After being on safari and looking back and reflecting today, something hit me as we learned this today with the animals, etc.

CHANGE…. All of us need to adapt to change.No matter if we are bacteria, animals, buts, people, etc, we need to adapt to change as we are coming and going into different environments.If we do not adapt to change in the environment we are in, no matter how long we are in it, or adapt to change as we move ourselves to change, then we are going to extinct.So if we don't adapt either way, then we would not exist.It makes sense how change is a two way street and both parties need to adapt or be left out for the good of everything.

Interesting perspective.I look back at my life and working and meeting people… and it does make more sense.If both parties are not making an effort to change with the times or the person not willing to change, then just let us be extinct and leave.

HMM>… maybe we could learn something big from the evolution of the animals and past people on how they adapted to change and made things better for them and not saying all of the time.. well this is how it was always done, why change it… well believe it or not.. if we don't make that change, then we are not going to fit the new culture or people coming in… and then maybe the older people will extinct to make room for us younger people willing to adapt to the change and the new environment…

Something to think about.

Well I am off to bed…. I am going river rafting with the students tomorrow.Time to get up at 5 AM to get on the bus for our nice ride up the mountain and then to raft back down.

Talk to you later.

Stay tuned for more.