South Africa

October 3, 2009:

The morning of our arrival to Cape Town, we got up early to watch Table Mountain appear on the horizon, not long after the sun had risen. We watched the boat steer carefully into our spot in the gorgeous port area of Cape Town. That day I had a FDP trip to two wineries in South Africa's reputed wine country. Before our FDP we decided to walk around the port area. We walked past beautiful hotels, a huge mall, lots of smaller shops, and a craft market before arriving at Mitchell's, a traditional style Scottish alehouse the faculty, staff and students alike frequented during our time in Cape Town. After local beers, Old Wobbly and Marzan Gold, and lunch, we headed back to the ship so as not to miss our trip to the wine country.

Once aboard the bus, we learned a lot about Cape Town and South Africa from our tour guide. Cape Town has been around since the 1400s when sailors were looking for a sea route east to Asia from Europe. In 1652 Cape Town was established as a halfway refreshment station, and a garden was built to help supply the Dutch East India Company with fresh fruit and vegetables to combat scurvy. A big part of our visit was the significance of the coming 2010 World Cup, the first ever in Africa. Lots of preparations and infrastructural improvements were in progress already to prepare for the massive amount of visitors that will be coming next summer. Before our arrival to South Africa we learned quite a bit about their political past, and some of the past and current struggles centered on race. Although the tour guide did not touch on this, I learned enough in my classes to be aware.

Our first stop on the FDP was Nelson's Creek Wine Estates, in the Paarl region of the wine region outside of Cape Town. We took a tour of the grounds, led by the general manager of the small winery, and learned about the history and production of wine, which was really interesting. Then we were seated at tables, which were thankfully shaded, amongst crates of wine complete with date stamps. While we continued to learn about wine production and management, as well as the marketing and sustainability of the winery, we were led through a proper wine tasting. We were also given delicious crackers and cheese, which I happily nibbled on. I had a lot of fun on what was my very first wine tasting.

Our next stop was Backsberg Wine Cellars, a larger winery, also in the Paarl region. We were led straight into the tasting room where we were seated at an incredibly long table situated between out of use gigantic oak barrels used to age the wine. We were lucky enough to have the CEO himself speak with us about the same operational and business areas that our trip had focused on at Nelson's Creek. A very animated man, who's job is to speak to visiting groups, led us through the wine tasting, which included an award winning (best in the world-1995) brandy and a port wine.

After we returned to the port, we changed and got ready for dinner. We headed to popular Long Street for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Nando's and then headed across the street to Zula, which had live music that evening. The music was an interesting mix of rock, reggae and later on, a DJ who favored mid-90s semi-hits. Perhaps the most noteworthy part of our night was the ride home, when we drove past a riot, where the police officers had used tear gas. The cab driver didn't know why they were rioting, but said it wasn't a normal occurrence.

October 4, 2009:

The next morning I woke up early. Although I had really wanted to go bungee jumping in South Africa, which has the world's tallest bridge bungee jump, I was unable to because of time restrictions. Instead, I decided to fill my second day with adrenalin from a different cause: sharks. We piled into the large van that had been sent for us and headed for Gansbaai, South Africa the Great White Shark capital of the world. Situated near two islands that are completely populated with delicious treats of African Penguins and Cape Fur Seals, the shark population is large enough to merit the title. The shark company we used was named Shark Diving Unlimited. The owner, Michael Rutzen, star of Discovery Channel's Sharkman, has done more free dives with Great White Sharks than any one else in the world. We arrived at the offices, set in a house, had a wonderful breakfast and waited for the boat to come to the dock. On our way out we saw another boat offshore watching an amazingly large animal breach out of the water, at first we thought it was a shark, and I was seriously rethinking the cage dive. When we zoomed in with our cameras we saw that it was a whale, and the skipper told us that it was a Southern Right Whale. Once we were on the boat we traveled out into the ocean a few miles and the fun began.

First they "chummed" the water, pouring fish blood and guts into the water. We drove in a circular direction honing in on the area where we would perform our cage dive. Soon there were big shadows lurking underneath the boat, sharks! As we approached the cage, which had been left out by the group that went in the early morning hours, we all put on wetsuits. We were given strict instructions on what to do and what not to do. When we say divers down, go down, your head cannot be above the water when there are sharks near the cage. Do not put any part of your body outside of the cage. Do not hold on to the outer rails of the cage. Do not splash. Do not make sudden movements. Stephen was the first from our group to go in, with four other people in our cage dive group but not from SAS. Soon enough it was my turn. I was outfitted with snorkel goggles and a weight belt and instructed to climb into the cage with Missy, Andrew, Andy, Nikola and Aly. Right when I got into the water there was a shark approaching and I had to go underwater. Between my weight belt and the over the head wetsuit, I was having a lot of trouble breathing and asked to be brought out as soon as the shark was done. For a second I wasn't sure if I could really go through with the shark dive.  I readjusted my wetsuit, and to give myself more breathing room I didn't zip it all the way up. Then I got right back in. The next 10 or so minutes were absolutely amazing. One of the crewmembers on the boat would throw out a large fish head (basketball sized), and tease the sharks to get the sharks to swim close to the cage. Andrew had an underwater camera, so I will always be able to remember what the experience was like. The sharks were amazingly big and very graceful. There were a few times in the cage when the shark swam right against the cage. Although the railing we held on to was about a foot inside the cage, I slowly peeled my hands off the bar and held them back… not wanting to get nibbled on! Being on the boat while others were diving was equally amazing. When you're in the water you don't see all of the sharks circling, only those that are fairly close to you. Also, the most amazing part of seeing the sharks from the boat was when they would breach, biting for the fish heads. There were a couple of times, thankfully not while I was in the cage, when a few of the sharks decided to take a nibble on the cage. How terrifying! After each of the three groups took two dives we headed back to shore. The whole time the skipper had been videotaping the sharks, and our group, and while we had lunch (including the best split pea soup I have ever had!) he compiled it onto a DVD. We all watched the video, and our group decided to buy one and split the cost since one of the boys knew how to burn DVDs. Then it was time to head back to Cape Town. We were all so exhausted from the constant adrenalin rush.

After we got back from shark diving, Missy and I went shopping. I bought a safari outfit and hat from South Africa's REI equivalent. Then we went to the craft market. Although we browsed nearly every stall, I only bought a few bracelets. Then we headed back to the boat to get ready for dinner.

Once everyone was ready for dinner, we headed out to pick a restaurant. We settled on a place in the Victor and Albert Waterfront mall area, called Cape Town Fish Market. We shared a few bottles of wine, a handful of us now considered ourselves connoisseurs after our wine tasting from the previous day, and wanted to try even more of the famous South African wines. The restaurant was a seafood place but also had a significant Asian flair. I had vegetarian sushi, edamame and an Asian noodle dish. After we left the restaurant we again headed to Mitchell's, where we saw one of our ship-board deans. Some of our friends even took shots with them! I think it's fair to say that would NEVER happen at any of our home universities. We didn't stay out too late since our safari was leaving the next morning!

October 5, 2009:

The next morning our safari group met near the gangway on the ship, before departing for the airport. The airport, like other pieces of infrastructure is undergoing serious renovation in preparation for World Cup 2010. We walked through security without any worries, and the water bottles we had forgotten to empty weren't even noticed. We waited at our gate before boarding a large bus that drove us out to the tarmac where our plane was waiting. The plane was also a new experience for me, with two propellers on each side. Once we departed Cape Town we had a two-and-a-half hour flight to Kruger Mpumalanga airport. Upon arrival our safari dreams started to come true. The airport was exactly what I could have imagined. It had a traditional straw type roof and looked like a large lodge.

We met our driver, whom we convinced to stop for food and beverages before heading to the lodge we were staying at. Everything was fine, until we got pulled over at a checkpoint, and our driver discovered he had an outstanding ticket. One of the boys agreed to pay for the ticket, and the driver said he would pick us up and pay him back, which he did. After the period of excitement, we continued driving and driving along the two-lane road. Our first animal sighting was the large pack of goats that our driver drove aggressively towards, honking and almost hitting them. On the plane we had all read the airline magazine which had an interesting article, curiously un-cited, that said there is a growing trend in America to eat roadkill. One of the boys referenced the article, saying if we had actually hit the goats we could have had dinner! In the small towns we passed through there were lots of very skinny cows in addition to more goats.

Once we were within the park, we continued driving on a two lane road to our lodge. Most of us dozed off, exhausted from the previous days of adventure in Cape Town. All of the sudden we were awoken by a sudden change of direction as our driver whipped the vehicle around. He instructed us all to be quiet and pointed out a watering hole flush against the fence. Just over the fence were two rhinos and a hippo laying on its side in the water. We were so excited! Our first safari animals! Once we turned off the road we continued on a dirt road. Just on the way to meet our guide we saw a giraffe, zebras and kudu (an antelope relative). Once we met our guide, we said goodbye to our driver who would meet us on the last day of our safari. We transferred all of our luggage into one of the vehicles, that Kylie was driving back to the lodge, and we climbed into the safari vehicle with Mark, who would be our guide for all of our safaris. Our vehicle drove on sometimes very rough dirt roads through the savannah woodland. We saw lots of birds and game. At the airport I had purchased a fold out bird guide, at my mom's recommendation, so I had a lot of fun identifying the birds.

After a while we pulled over and Mark asked if any of us wanted a beer or soda. Then he unloaded our afternoon snack of vegetables, sausages and dip on the hood of the vehicle. It was at this point that we realized how much better this would be then going on a Semester at Sea organized trip. We continued on our game drive, getting to know Mark along the way. It was clear at the beginning that he didn't understand our sarcastic sense of humor, but soon he adjusted and knew that we weren't being stupid Americans.  As we were heading back to the lodge, we crossed a riverbed and there was an elephant right there, although it ran away we were very close to it for a few moments. It was all by itself which made me sad, but Mark said in dry season the elephants sometimes spread out a bit more to find water. He said that the elephant had probably been digging in the riverbed sand to try to reach water. Poor thirsty elephant!

Once we arrived at Drifter's Game Lodge, we were greeted, signed the register, and shown to our rooms. Alex, a new friend on the boat who goes to University of Miami, and I shared a room. Off the wooden deck, where two chairs sat looking out into the savannah, was a tent/building structure. First we had to undo the monkey lock on the screen door, evidently the monkeys learned how to unzip the screens and had wrecked havoc in the past. Once inside we were amazed at how nice it was. The floors were carpeted, and the beds looked huge compared to our small mattresses on the boat. Although the structure was some sort of permanent tent, we had lots of screened "windows" and the entire entry was screened so we could look out. The best part was the bathroom, which was beautifully tiled and huge compared to the ship bathrooms and had a shower that was open to the outdoors! We were instructed not to leave any toiletries in the bathroom, so as not to lure the monkeys into the bathroom. After not too long the dinner drum played and we wandered back to the lodge.

Once we were all back to the lodge we were led to the dining area, which was across the driveway from the main lodge. The dining tables were set up in a semi circle with the chairs on the outside facing the fire in the middle of the large circular dining area which was fenced in with a tall grass fence and covered with sand. We were seated and served. This would be the beginning of the delicious NON-SHIP food we enjoyed on our safari! The first course a butternut squash soup with cream, served with amazing home made bread. Next was a green apple sorbet served as a palette cleanser. The rest of the group had warthog step over beans that we were told were Nelson Mandela's favorite! I was served a creamy vegetable dish over the same beans. I was so thankful that they had been able to accommodate me. During dinner we heard hyenas in the distance, although we never saw them. Also during dinner, Missy had leaned too far back in her chair and tipped backwards. This was just the beginning of us loosening up the staff at Drifter's. For dessert we were served a "cooked sister", a fried dough dessert similar to a doughnut, with ice cream.  After dinner they invited us to scoot in around the fire, and we enjoyed tea and coffee and some good conversation.

October 6, 2009:

The next morning we were awoken at 5:00AM by a kudu horn blowing, summoning us to breakfast. We had a prompt breakfast of cereal, delicious bran muffins, soda bread, mango and mixed tropical punch juices, tea and coffee. It is so funny to see how the simple things make the biggest difference in my day, like a good breakfast. Food on the ship is really not good. We departed Drifter's for our second game drive as the sun rose. We had been driving for a while, having seen giraffes and zebras, as well as kudu and antelope. All of the sudden Andrew yells at Mark to stop. We look to the right and there is leopard perched on a car-sized rock, about 25 feet from our vehicle. The leopard looked at us as we looked at it. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life, it was such a beautiful and powerful animal and SO close to us. The leopard climbed down the back of the rock, and then came around, even closer to our vehicle. For a few seconds I was a little scared of what was going to happen. Then the leopard crossed the road behind us and ran off into the savannah. We tried to track it to see it again, to no avail. We continued to drive around for a while, and heard report of a fresh lion kill of a baby giraffe, which we would pursue in the evening. On our way back to the lodge we saw a mommy and baby rhino crossing the road. The mommy was so protective of the cute little baby. It was really sweet to see, especially since they crossed only about 10 feet in front of the vehicle.

After we returned we were served brunch, the entire spread from earlier, as well as a delicious fresh fruit salad and our choice of eggs, bacon, sausage and grilled tomato. After brunch, some of our group headed off for naps, while the rest of us headed to the pool for the afternoon. The pool at Drifter's was made to look like it was all rock, and was really cool. There were tables and lounge chairs around the pool area. We had a great time getting some sun and getting to know one another. The funniest part of the afternoon was probably how we decided to chill our drinks. We had a few bottles of South African wine that simply would not fit in the cooler, so we used the very cold pool to help! Eventually it got hot enough that I jumped in to join the bottles for a bob in the cold water. At about 3:45PM we were told to get ready for tea and our evening game drive.

We changed and headed back to the main lodge where we were served cinnamon and mixed berry crepes and two different types of quiche. After a quick snack we loaded into the vehicle. One of the boys, Andrew, had napped most of the afternoon and then tried to play catch up with the rest of us, ended up passing out for the evening night drive, which was definitely our best game drive of the trip. Earlier in the day Andrew had been our best spotter, with the lucky spotting (pun intended) of the leopard. On our way to see the dead baby giraffe, we drove past another piece of the park that was fenced. Laying next to the fence was a lion and lioness… and two cubs! We sat there and watched them for a few minutes, which was really cool. Not long after the lion sighting, we pulled over for snack: vegetable eggrolls and chicken wings with drink of choice. While enjoying a ice cold Coke and watching the sunset, I got up the courage to ask Mark a question. I was prepared for a no, but when I explained to Mark that I knew how to drive a stick and that I would really like to drive the vehicle, if that was OK, he surprisingly agreed. After snack, everyone climbed back in the vehicle, and off we went. He didn't let me drive very far, and it wasn't anything that needed higher gear four wheel drive, but I would have been prepared I'm sure. How many people can say they've driven a safari vehicle in South Africa, not many I'm sure. We continued on towards the giraffe kill, and although it was too far off the road to really be seen, we saw some jackals eating it. All of the sudden they ran away and when I happened to look back over my shoulder I saw one of the lion cubs running across the road behind us! There was no fence between the lions and us this time! On our long drive back to the lodge, I spotted the most rare of all of the animals we saw on our safari, an aardvark. It was so scared of us bumping into trees and getting stuck in bushes trying to get away from us. At this point Mark started to wonder if we weren't going to actually end up seeing the Battle of Kruger, the infamous video clip of the lions and alligators fighting over a water buffalo, which the boys had jokingly requested since we first met Mark. "With your goodluck, we just might," Mark joked back. After the aardvark we spotted a few waterbuffalo, rounding out our big five! On the way back to the lodge we stopped in a river bed, and did a little stargazing. The stars were so bright and easy to see because there was no light pollution in the middle of the park. The Milky Way was very visible as Jupiter.

After returning, we quickly were called to dinner. The non-vegetarians were served ostrich pate with tomatoes on half of a fresh biscuit, while I was served a biscuit with delicious mustard cream cheese. Next came the palette cleanser of the evening, a delicious pomegranate sorbet. For our main courses we were served beef mince meat, cooked in the style of local Malay people, curry style over rice and brinjal (eggplant) rolls with delicious cheese filling served with vegetables and rice. We again had tea around the fire, this time inviting Kylie to join us. As the youngest member of the staff, she was only 20 years old, Kylie identified more with us than with the staffers. She told us how fun we had been, but how rare it was to have a young group, and that we were definitely the youngest she had seen.

October 7, 2009:

The last day of our safari we were awoken early for breakfast, and quickly left for our last game drive. Before we even left our camp, we saw a giraffe. Mark was giving us lots of attitude the last morning, making the drive even more fun. The giraffe walked into the river bed bordering our camp, and Mark directed us to pursue on foot. With the giraffe in the distance we took pictures. The last of our group to have his personal picture with the giraffe, Mario, had also decided to video a few moments with the giraffe. As he slowly backed up to get even closer to the giraffe without scaring it off, Mark all of the sudden lunged, as if the giraffe was coming at Mario. Mario jumped about three feet off the ground and then turned around, scaring off the giraffe, but realizing that Mark had played his first practical joke! We all laughed and laughed! After we got back into the car, someone asked Mark to do his best giraffe impression, expecting to hear a giraffe call. Instead, Mark lengthened his neck, looked around slowly and imitated the slow, long-legged movements of the giraffe. Again we all laughed and laughed. Mark had finally caught on to our sense of humor, and stopped thinking that we were just acting like stupid Americans. On our drive back to the lodge we saw a bunch of monkeys playing in the trees, which was really cool. They were so acrobatic and playful, hanging upside down and swinging from branch to branch.

Upon our return we had a quick brunch and packed our gear into the other safari vehicle. Saying goodbye was sad, I didn't want to leave. They encouraged us to come back, and if I ever take another safari, I will. Drifter's was the perfect amount of rustic Africa, and luxury hotel. The food was amazing, the beds were so comfortable and the people were so nice! We took a different vehicle, the one the other four safari-goers had been using, that had a seat on the hood of the car. Mario asked if he could ride up there, and the other game driver, Drew, obliged. At some points Drew accelerated to have a little bit of fun, at which point Mario would look back at us wide-eyed. We arrived at the transfer point where our driver met us. Sure enough he had gotten Andrew's money. We proceded to Kruger Mpumalanga airport. Although our flight was delayed, we were given a bit more time to grab lunch (grilled cheese with tomato on wheat bread and a strawberry milkshake YUM!) and buy postcards! We arrived back to Cape Town and the ship safely, but exhausted and a little dusty!

On our safari we saw: bush baby, zebra, leopard, giraffe, lion, rhino, aardvark, wildebeest, kudu, impala, bushbuck, elephant, african wildcat, civet, mongoose, african buffalo (water buffalo) and warthog

We saw the following birds: brown hooded kingfisher, southern yellow billed hornbill (like Zazoo from The Lion King), red billed hornbill, helmeted guinea fowl (which we saw everywhere… pigeon of the savannah, stupid), saddle billed stork, grey heron, cattle egret, black collared barbet, white crested helmet shrike, red billed oxpecker, red billed buffalo weaver, red billed quelea, blue waxbill, cape turtle dove, grey go-away bird, brown snake eagle, hooded vulture, coqui francolin

That evening I went to dinner with Cat, Andy and Stephen at City Grill on the waterfront. The boys hadn't yet had their fill of authentic South African meat, so they had a skewer of warthog, kudu, alligator, etc. I had a vegetarian platter with stuffed mushrooms, mashed sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, vegetable and cheese philo dough roll up. We sat on the patio overlooking the water and Cat and I wrapped ourselves in provided animal skin print blankets. We were directly overlooking a particular ship in the harbor that was made to look like a pirate ship, and had people dressed as pirates operating the bar inside of the pirate ship. I noticed that one of the pirates standing outside, holding a cannon, was a boy from our own ship. We had a great time trying to answer why he was dressed as a pirate and where he got the pirate costume.

From there we went to Mitchell's to enjoy our last night in South Africa. We were all getting sad, and thinking about how we didn't want to leave! Then we decided we needed to try out the pirate ship, but didn't even want to stay for a drink once inside. We did snap a few pictures, but left promptly to return to Mitchell's. We stayed for a while longer, before returning to the boat, completely exhausted!

October 8, 2009:

The next morning a group of us ventured off the boat for one more delicious breakfast. Missy had heard of a place from a friend that was in the nearby mall, that was really delicious. I had a breakfast burrito and delicious hot chocolate, and everyone's meals looked so good! The rest of the group wanted to hang around and use internet, uploading pictures or talking to people from home. I decided I was absolutely not going to waste another final day in port on the internet like I did in Ghana. Since we had arrived in South Africa I had wanted to go to Table Mountain, and after talking to the hospitality desk that was on the ship daily, I decided that I could go alone safely. I ventured back to my room to change into appropriate walking shoes and warmer clothes and left the ship. On my way down the gangway I ran into a friend from USD, Zack, who was headed off the boat. He was going to meet a girlfriend of another USD SASer who I had met earlier that week, and they were planning to head to Table Mountain! Perfect! Zack tried to go on a tour to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned) at the last minute but Kate, who is English, but traveling around the world and meeting our boat in a few places, still wanted to go to Table Mountain. We met her travel partner, Imogen, and then headed out to find a taxi. We had a great time talking in the cab, got to the bottom of the cable car, bought our tickets and waited in line. While we were in line I got a text message from Zack saying his tour was cancelled and he was coming to meet us with another friend Zack. The Zack's found us at the top of Table Mountain and we walked around taking pictures. My memory card was still full from the safari, but I got a few good shots, and will take more from Zack before the trip is over. We shared a pizza and champagne in the restaurant that sits on the top of Table Mountain, which was fun, but then it grew time to head back to the ship.

After we arrived back at the waterfront we stopped at Mitchell's. Everyone was there enjoying there last moments in South Africa, and feeling very reluctant to leave. We had a few drinks, signed the American flag that was hanging on the ceiling, danced to some American hits played the jukebox a friend from school was controlling, and… bought a Mitchell's jacket. Down the right sleeve, large letters advertise "drinking arm". Although very silly, it will always remind me of the good times we had in South Africa! Eventually we really did have to head back to the ship and got there with only 15 minutes or so to spare.

South Africa was amazing. The cultural understanding we gained before arriving was so valuable to appreciating the changes that are occurring in South Africa. When the World Cup is going on this summer I will be pleasantly reminiscing about all the great times I had while in Cape Town, visiting the wine country, shark diving and on safari in Kruger.

Stephanie@Sea