CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA!!

Thursday, February 17^th, 2011

Our visit to Cape Town, South Africa began a little rocky. Literally. The boat was forbidden to dock in Cape Town because of the rocky waters.  We were scheduled to arrive at 0800 on Thursday, February 17^th.

I am not sure if I have mentioned “the voice” to all of you blog listeners out there, but if not I will explain. “The voice” is the dean who makes all of the announcements over the loud speaker. She is actually the same dean whom I mentioned in an earlier blog pertaining to the first day of orientation. She does not have the most welcoming of voices so why she was given the job of “the voice” I haven’t a clue. She tends to provoke feelings of anger when she wakes you up at 8:00am on the only day you don’t have an 8:00am class just to tell you to that we are losing another hour.

Anyway, back to being stuck in the ocean…..

After being awoken by “the voice” who notified us we would not be docking in Cape Town as scheduled due to the windy conditions, most of the students congregated on the 7^th deck to evaluate the situation. I could see Cape Town in the distance! There is was…. Just sitting in front of us… but we couldn’t reach it! Such a tease. Because the boat had slowed down significantly, we were really rocking. I felt at times that the boat was actually going to tip over. Walking across the deck became a real challenge. I grabbed a breakfast burrito from the grill and waited for “the voice” to finally give us some good news. If you ever go on SAS, GET THE BREAKFAST BURRITO!! You won’t regret it.  

The rest of the day everyone awaited anxiously hoping to receive word that we would be landing soon… we never did. Therefore many of us spent the day staring at Table Mountain in the distance and eating one too many candy bars from the grill. I also may or may not have purchased two ice cream cones… call me crazy.

Before bed, we received word that we would be able to dock the next morning, so we set our alarm clocks for extra early so we could run off the boat and start our lives in Cape Town!

At 6:30am I awoke and attempted to stand. When I fell back down again because of the intense rocking of the boat I knew it wasn’t good. I called the front desk and sure enough we were still in the middle of the ocean.

It wasn’t until around lunch time that the MV Explorer finally docked in the Victoria and Alfred Harbor in Cape Town, South Africa. To say that we were excited to get off the boat is an understatement. Think black Friday- sas style. People pushing people over racing to be the first off the gang way. Elbows flying. There may or may not have been injuries.  

We landed in Cape Town on such a beautiful day!!!! The Victoria Alfred waterfront is SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We walked around the waterfront with gigantic smiles on our faces! WE HAD MADE IT!!! EEEEKKK!!!!!! I cannot attempt to use enough exclamation points here!!!!!!!

Not wanting to waste a minute of our precious time in Cape Town, our group set off! Liz, Sarena, Katie, Alison, Natalie and myself were joined by Sarah and Elizabeth. Great group. We decided to try and tackle Cape of Good Hope/ Cape Point and Boulders Beach where there were supposed to be penguins! WAHOO!!

After speaking to information we hopped on a bus to take us to the train station. Thankfully, people speak English in Cape Town or we never would have made it. We sat on the bus and began chatting excitedly about how happy we were to finally be in Cape Town. We weren’t paying very close attention to where we were going and after a few stops a man stuck his head back on the bus and said, “Girls this is the end, the train stops here.” HA. We got off the bus.

There was this funny moment when we all looked around, saw no train station, and realized that we had no idea where we were. I asked a man in an orange vest and he smiled and pointed us around the corner where we found the train station!

Yes, most of the people in South Africa speak English but it is a different kind of English than mine. It is laced with such a strong accent that it can literally sound like they are speaking in a foreign language at some points.

I loved the train ride to Cape Point! The scenery along the coat of South Africa is so beautiful!! The colorful houses dotted along the white sand stand in front of the most beautiful backdrop of mountains. We attempted to not look like tourists buttttt I am going to go ahead and say that we did. I practically had my head stuck out the window the entire way giggling with excitement.  Yes giggling.  

A lady on the train told us that we probably didn’t have enough time to fit everything in because we really shouldn’t ride the train after dark. Great. Just a small glitch in our plan. The rest of the day turned into something like a scavenger hunt.

We located a white van that looked like it would fit all of us and convinced the driver to be our personal tour guide for the rest of the day. We had only a few hours to fit everything in so we were in a bit of a time crunch. I don’t know if you have ever ridden the Mad Hatter ride at Disney world… but if so… replace the ride car with a big white van with dark green velvet seat covers and you have a picture of us racing to Cape Point.

We passed Boulder beach on the way and stopped to take a picture of the penguins. Yes PENGUINS! Penguins were just walking around the rocks and beach enjoying the sunshine. I snapped a picture of two that were playing together like they were the best of friends! Such a moment!

The penguin visit was more like a drive-by considering we were on a mission to make it to the Cape of Good Hope/ Cape Point. SO penguin pictures and back in the mad hatter mobile.

The drive to Cape Point was beautiful! It didn’t take us long to get there and as soon as we arrived in the gate we saw a baboon. They actually have pink butts. I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. BRIGHT PINK BUTTS. Toooo funny!

Our van driver was so speedy that we made it in time to see both Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Cape Point is the end of Africa and the meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Pretty dang cool!

Cape of Good Hope!

Converting currency really throws me off. It is something like 7.4 Rand = $1.00 USD and so you never have any idea how much money you are actually spending. I felt as if I was throwing out 100’s spending a fortune and at the end of the day we had only spent $23 USD!

We made it back to Cape Town just be before dusk! I’d say it was a success!

We noticed masses of crowds all headed in the same direction and realized they must be heading to the U2 concert! Yes U2 was scheduled to perform at the World Cup soccer stadium the same night we were in Cape Town. (OMG OMG. I really feel like my life is not real!!!!! EEEEKKKK- A frequent thought running through  my mind during our entire stay in Cape Town)

We followed to crowd towards to stadium and stopped at Romanos to eat. American girls WOULD eat pizza for their first dinner in Cape Town, South Africa. Yes, we would.

We spent the next few hours outside the world cup soccer stadium listening to “IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAYYYYYY” (Bono, obvi) We ended our night on Long Street, the entertainment district of Cape Town, dancing to Justin Beiber.

Saturday, February 19^th 2011

After a solid 3 hours of sleep, Liz, Katie, Alison, Sarena, Brendan and I woke up early the tackle the hike up Table Mountain.

I don’t think any of us knew what to expect. I pictured us casually walking up neatly mulched trails all the way to the top; maybe climbing over a rock or two. False. The word hike now means something more to me. We were literally climbing straight up rocks the entire time. One of our group members turned around after 7 minutes and said she thought it would be best for her to meet us at the top via cable car. Hha the rest of us pushed through the massive amount of pizza and McDonalds we had consumed the night before and made it to the top!

It was worth it!!! THE VIEW WAS AWESOME!!!!!! J

After taking 1 million pictures and enjoying the incredible view we opted to taking the cable car back down the mountain. Not trying to break any records or anything.

We headed back to Long Street for an incredible, well deserved lunch.

We spent the next few hours browsing the Green Market which is SO COOL! Shout out to the fam- I got yall some sweet gifts. Be excited!!!

Market shopping in SA is veryyyyy different than Ghana. People weren’t breathing down our necks, forcing stuff into our hands. It was actually a rather enjoyable shopping experience.

We stopped by a gelato store next to satisfy our sweet tooth. What happened next would defiantly not be FDA approved.

The two employees immediately put an apron on Alison and offered her a position at the gelato store. They let us taste every single flavor 10 times each. I was ushered behind the counter where I was allowed to scoop my own gelato!! (with my dirty, mountain climbing hands haha) They next took Brendan behind to counter where he proceeded to taste every flavor with the same spoon- defiantly not sanitary. We probably spent over an hour socializing with the gelato men! It was a blast. Before we left they obliged for pictures with everyone and then Acorn (one of the employees) picked up Alison (6ft 4in D1 basketball player) and swung her around and around. We were in tears laughing so hard. I love South Africa.

That night we ate a restaurant in Stellenbosch called Moyo. We were seated underneath this huge tent and immediately had our faces painted with traditional African artwork. So cool! It was buffet style with the most delicious food known to man- chicken, steak, venison, springbok (the national animal of SA), and more and more delicious food! My stomach is growling just thinking about it! We all ate so much that we had trouble moving.

We then met some of Alison’s friends who are studying at the University of Cape Town. A few of us had to head back to the ship eventually though because our stomach’s hurt from eating so much. High five Carter

Sunday, February, 20 2011

We woke up early to meet our guide for our arranged Bikes and Wines tour. We rode a train out to Stellenbosch to begin our tour. Our group consisted of Liz, Alison, Katie, Natalie, Serena, and I. The other two members of the group were the nicest ladies from Canada named Caroline and Monique.

Upon initially signing up for a “cycling through the wine lands” tour, I pictured myself on a beach cruiser with a big fat seat, riding my bike along shaded,paved paths though the wine lands.

Therefore, I was a tad surprised when our guide, Dan, brought out mountain bikes and helmets. We began our journey on a rocky pathway alongside train tracks. To say that I was sweating would be an understatement. I was pouring.

The first winery we visited was Welmoed, followed by Spier. Spier is a very commercialized winery and has the most beautiful wine lands. We rode through them before our tasting. Despite what you might think- the more wine tested the better I became at riding my bike!

After Spier, we visited a cheetah conservatory. Cheetah’s are such beautiful animals. So perfect looking.

We visited one more winery, ate lunch, and finished our tour at a brandy factory. Brandy… hmmm. The tour guide told us that it was an acquired taste, but I can honestly say I don’t think you will ever catch me walking around sipping on brandy.

We concluded the tour and caught the train back to Cape Town. Again, I really do enjoy trains. The scenery is wonderful and if they aren’t too crowded the ride is quite pleasant! Plus you can buy everything you need from candy to q-tips from the man that walks up and down the train car. How convenient.

  

Liz and I then made an attempt to attend the Hillsong- Cape Town church service. Our attempt was a bit of a disaster considering our cab driver got lost, charged us too much, and we were an hour late. We ended up at the Crystal Towers Hotel attempting to get a taxi back to Cape Town and when the taxi finally arrived we were so ready to get back to the boat. 10 minutes into the ride back I realized that I had left my phone at the hotel. Good one. The taxi driver was so wonderful though and whipped the car around, called the hotel, and had them bring it out to the front! WHEW. What a close call. I kept calling myself an idiot and told the taxi driver that my dad would kill me if he knew I lost my phone. He thought it was hilarious.

On the way home (for real this time) the sun began to go down and I relaxed and admired the orange sunset behind the black shadow of Table Mountain. It really was incredible.

I turn to comment to Liz when I notice that she is as pale as a white sheet. She hadn’t been feeling well all day, but in the taxi car she actually looked like she was going to die. We finally arrived back to Cape Town where I drug her to get something to eat at the mall food court. I figured she was just exhausted and dehydrated. I ran to the pharmacy and grabbed some electrolyte packets and forced her to drink them. Poor Lizzy was struggling! She finally ended up getting a bit sick (I’ll leave out the details) and felt much better!!!

That night there was a concert in Camp’s Bay that everyone from the West Coast was excited about. (apparently everyone from the West Coast has cooler music than those of us from the East Coast. Pshhh. To each his own). I decided to join up with the west coast kids and head to Camp’s Bay. It was such a pleasant taxi ride when all of the sudden I reached into my purse and noticed my wallet was missing. I had my chap stick and my cell phone, but not wallet. Grrrreeeatttt. I’ll make a long story short by saying- after crying to a taxi driver, and questioning a security guard and some homeless people, I was able to recover my wallet with everything in it. Sorry dad. I promise it won’t happen again.

Monday, February, 15, 2011

I woke up this morning to a call from Chris saying- “get up here you are going to miss the safari!!!” AHHHHHHH.

In record speed, I brushed my teeth and ran off the boat to join a group of people for a one day safari to Aquila game reserve.

The ride there was beautiful! I love the mountains- they look so incredible against a blue sky with a few white clouds.

We arrived at Aquila and ate a delicious buffet breakfast!! Next, our ranger Timothy took us for a drive around the reserve. I have been to the zoo before, but seeing these beautiful animals close up in a natural environment was AWESOME!

We saw ZEBRAS, SPRINGBOKS, OSTRICHES, WILDABEASTS, RHINOS, ELEPHANTS, ALLIGATORS, WARTHOGS, HIPPOPATUMUSES, AND LIONS!

My favorite animal was defiantly the lion!! I took some awesome pictures and hopefully I will be able to upload them sometime soon! They really are wonderful!

 My favorite animal- THE LION! 

Someone was hungry!!!!

David, Chris, Armand, and I ate a delicious sushi lunch back at the Cape Town waterfront and then took care of some computer issues at the mall.

It was our last night in Cape Town L No one wanted to leave! We met at Mitchels and then headed to Mercury (something cool from the West Coast- called dub step (sp?) was playing).  

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Today Joellen and I walked around the Green market and just took in the sights of Cape Town one last time before heading back to the boat. We sat at a café and people watched for a while.

When we pulled away from Cape Town tonight I really almost cried. It was such a wonderful few days! I loved every minute of it!!!

I can’t believe we are already leaving Africa. It is going by too fast. I am looking so forward to the other countries, but I don’t want this trip to be over. I have loved the traveling we have done so far. Figuring out train stations and working past language barriers, it is all so new, but so exciting!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE SOUTH AFRICA!

GHANA!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Today we arrived in Takoradi, Ghana at 0800. SO happy to end our 9 days straight at sea!

First on the agenda was a visit to the castles and slave dungeons of Cape Coast and Elmina.

We arrived at Elmina first.

The Portuguese first came to Elmina in 1471. The name Elmina is derived from a word meaning “The Coast of Gold Mines.” The city of Elmina sat at the heart of the West African Gold trade at one time. The castle itself has two names St. George castle and Elmina Castle.

I was confused at first as to why the building was referred to as a “castle.” The curator, George, explained that the building itself was originally built to trade goods. It wasn’t until the Dutch took over in 1637 that the store rooms of St. George castle were converted into slave dungeons.

Over 400 women could be held in the women’s slave dungeons at one time. They stayed at Elmina for 1,2, or 3 months. Conditions were terrible. The women were only provided with enough food to sustain them. They wanted them to be so weak that there was no chance they could fight back. Many died just waiting for the boats to arrive.

George showed us a cannon ball located in the middle of the courtyard between the dungeons. If a woman “misbehaved” she was strapped to the cannon ball in the middle of the blazing sun for hours at a time.

The governor of the castles would look down into the courtyard and choose women to rape. They were escorted up a trap door into the governors quarters (which were triple the size of the dungeons themselves.) 

George then showed us “the gate of no return.” The gate was intentionally built narrow so that slaves didn’t have room to resist or fight back. Slaves were escorted out this small gate to awaiting boats and never returned again. 

We then visited Cape Coast. Cape Coast’s economy was dominated by its role at the heart of the transatlantic slave trade throughout the 18^th century. Much larger in size than Elmina castle, the Cape Coast Castle held 1,500 captured individuals at a time. 1,500 is about the size of my high school.

Upon beginning our tour of the Cape Coast Castle our guide told us that he hoped the Cape Coast Castle remained standing forever. Many people have petitioned for its destruction hoping to forget the atrocities of the slave trade. He said that it was not good to completely erase reminders of a painful past. We need to forgive, but never forget.

At the entrance to the Cape Coast dungeons is a plaque which was presented by the Ghanaian chiefs at a reconciliation conference in 1998.

The plaque reads-

“In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors

may those who died rest in peace

may those who return find their roots

may humanity again never perpetrate

such injustice against humanity

we. the living. Vow to uphold this.“ 

There is a similar plaque at the entrance to Elmina castle. I found it very profound that the Ghanaian chiefs took responsibility for their part in the slave trade. Instead of passing all of the blame to the outside forces that invaded Ghana, the Ghanaian chiefs took their part of the blame and apologized.

We passed the stone and walked into the male slave dungeons. 

The eerie feeling in the bottom of the dungeons cannot be explained with words. There was no light and no one spoke. 

It was in the bottom of the pitch black slave dungeons at Cape Coast Castle that I was suddenly overwhelmed by the connection between the place I was standing and the Charleston market.

Growing up in South Carolina, I visited Charleston, SC and it’s famous slave market many times. I remember walking through the market buying jewelry and candy. I own a t-shirt that I purchased in the market many years ago. The same market the conjures pleasant childhood memories for me is the exact market that was a living hell for many people not too long ago.

Our guide told us that when the dungeons were cleaned many years after the end of the slave trade, 24 inches of waste were removed from the floor of the dungeons.

60 million Africans were taken captive. 12 million made the middle passage.

The massiveness of the slave trade is appalling.

To me, the slave trade highlights an ultimate evil- Man’s greed for money, power, and control. Chiefs betrayed their own people for money. Christian nations purchased slaves as property; something to be owned and exploited. It is scary to think that there were probably many people who didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. It is terrifying.

The sad thing to me is that there are many other forms of slavery still taking place all over the world. Just on this voyage we have learned of the child soldiers in Uganda and the enslavement of the Nepali school girls.  The wickedness of slavery did not end when slavery was abolished in the United States.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Today I was supposed to be on a trip at 7:00am. At 7:02am my friend Katie starts banging on my door. She had been waiting on the bus and when 7:00am hit she realized I had probably overslept. For those of you not familiar was SAS trips. They aren’t joking around. The bus will leave you when you are late. She told the trip leader that she forgot something (me) and sprinted back onto the boat. What a dear!! I awoke and looked at my alarm clock, brushed my teeth and sprinted to the gangway. The bus didn’t leave me! WHEW! Close call! I blame it on the super bowl.

We headed three hours away to a rural village to work with Habitat for Humanity. My only job the whole day was to carry water from a barrel to help mix cement. Access to water is very limited in Ghana, making the process of building a house very slow. We worked with some Ghanaian men who laughed at us for commenting on the heat and did not stop working once to take a break. When we stopped for lunch, they didn’t. They worked so so hard and let me tell you the work was no cinch. My back was actually sore for two days from carrying the water back and forth.

We spent the next few days exploring the city of Takoradi. We spent a day and one night at Axim beach which was a wonderful way to bond with some of the SAS kids. Not too much to report.

One piece of advice if you ever travel to Africa. Don’t tell anyone your name. DEFIANTLY don’t write you name down on a piece of paper. 10 minutes later that same kid that you thought wanted to just be friends will walk up to you with a woven bracelet with your name on it. You will then be guilted into paying wayyyyy too much money for it.

Many SASers returned to the boat with bracelets.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Today was our last day in Ghana. I woke up for an early FDP for women’s health and childbirth practices in Ghana. We traveled to the Cape Coast Regional Hospital.

The OBGYN Doctor Evans Ekanem greeted us and took us for a tour. The hospital we visited was a government run hospital that was considered to be one of the best in the region. It was an example for other hospitals… It was in very poor condition.

Here are some notes that I took from our visit to the hospital… I apologize for the randomness.

-Epidurals are not provided to women giving birth because they are too expensive.

-The average life expectancy for Ghanaians is 60.

-Abortions are not technically illegal or legal. The government turns a blind eye. If an accredited doctor performs an abortion it is okay.

-Many children born with mental illnesses die. They do not have the resources to care for them.  

- Many women in Ghana do not care to attend family planning centers (which are provided by the government) because they are concerned they will be perceived by their communities as promiscuous. –lack of education

- Some women also believe that if their child is mentally ill they have done something to upset a goddess and they are being punished. –lack of education.

One thing I have learned on this voyage is the value of education in terms of developing countries. Education is vital to the improvement of developing countries in so many areas- including health. I have so much respect for my sisters who are both in the field of education. It is so so important. GO SK AND TY!

Random thoughts on Ghana-

Smells- Ghana reminded me of Haiti in regard to the variety of smells. Unique to the west of Ghana is the export of coco. One word to describe the smell of coco- potent. I still am not sure if it was a good smell or a bad smell… (maybe a little of both), but the smell of coco is strong and powerful! 

According to our tour guide- “the best come from the west.”

One of my favorite things about driving around in Ghana is reading all of the signs for businesses. A few examples I noted:

“Lord Most High Beauty Salon”

“Showers of Blessing Food Market”

“In His Time Car Repairs”

hilarious.

I love the uniforms that the beautiful children wear. All of the different color combinations- yellow, light blue, navy, green. I love the way the big white smiles of the children contrasts against their dark skin.

The people of Ghana are so proud of how far they have come. Our taxi driver, Bob, confidently turns to me and asks me what I think of Ghana. I am so caught off guard all I can say is that it is wonderful. He nods his head and smiles because he is so proud of his country.

I wasn’t honest with Bob. I looked around and saw intense poverty. I saw children with no shoes. I saw women laying in filthy hospital beds with their new born babies unprotected from the filth. Some say ignorance is bliss.. and to a certain point I would say I agree… Many Ghanian people are happy and content.

In America we have something called the “American Dream.” Kids are asked their entire lives what they want to be when they grow up. I have never doubted that I could be anything that I wanted to be. We asked our tour guide on the way back from the hospital if Ghana had anything similar to the “American Dream”. He sadly shook his head no. He said that they try to encourage such things, but it is so hard because of what they face. We are so fortunate in America for so many things beyond just basic necessities. Not only do we have hope, we have the American Dream. We have the possibilities and opportunities that are so foreign to some places that they don’t even dare to dream.   

Ghana is a country plagued by poverty. What is the best way to help? At what point does our helping become harmful? As I mentioned earlier, many Ghanaians are SO happy. They live their lives content in their villages. Attempting to “modernize” or “improve” their way of life with our way is not always the best option. Our way is not always the right way. I feel as if the best way to help developing countries such as Ghana is to help provide drinking water and other basic needs. Many illnesses and deaths result from simply lacking access to clean drinking water.

I am thankful for my time in Ghana. I hope I don’t forget a moment of it. I learned so much. 

Some pics for your entertainment

As captain for the Mediterranean Sea it was my duty to get everyone pumped up before the opening ceremony. "World's Greatest" by R.Kelly is playing on that pink i pod. 

Bridge Tour- sitting the the captains seat :)

GHANA!

 Ghana Africa

slave dungeons