First off, we’re rounding the tip of Africa at 6 in the morning and the sun is rising behind Table Mountain. I thought ‘No wonder why the Dutch took this land from the natives – who could not see this land and only want it for themselves.’ After going through docking procedures – Kat, Sherri, Mary and I took a taxi ride to Lion’s Head Mt. in the afternoon. Lion’s Head is in between Table Mountain and the ocean and is a shorter climb. It took a little over an hour and we were sweating like pigs but the view was gorgeous – the city on one side, Table on the other, and the ocean on the other. Capetown reminds me so much of New England, like Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. They have tons of outdoor seafood restaurants and water sports, surviving mainly on tourism. However, the townships are like Peru – wood roofs and tin walls that are barely holding together. Like Eeyore’s house, it’s sad and pathetic. That is where the AIDS epidemic is… but I’ll get more into that later.
We head down the mountain and get some fish and chips near the ship. Let me just tell you how much I love these girls – they are so genuine, compassionate, and cheery. All we do is giggle like loons and laugh at each other’s stupidities. There was a jazz band playing in the street (Capetown is known for its jazz scene) and – you know me, I can’t sit still when there’s good music so I started moving my shoulders. Then a British man came up to me and said “Do you like this music?” and when I said yes he asked if I Be-Bopped and I said “No but I’d love to learn.” So he grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of the band and the crowd and started dancing. Of course being the talented woman I am, I picked up some moves and added a few of my own. GOD I’m fabulous. We did the Charleston, the Twist, and HEY MA – I pulled off the Mashed Potato! It was just a cool random moment that I love. We went back to the ship and showered to go out with Team Limbo Rollers. A bunch of people but the best include Andrea, Kevin, Mary, Andrew, and Dan. We went to Long Street which is a famous strip of bars and restaurants. Cool Runnings seemed pretty chill so we headed in – no one was there. Deciding to stay, we had these crazy drinks called Jamaican Genocide and insane shooters. Andrea and I had a Jager Bomb and decided to prove to everyone (pretty much ourselves) that we are still beautiful without hair. We met a few cool boys that night and they bought us drinks. We all chatted on the outside balcony. Andrea is so great to dance with – she doesn’t hold back, and neither do I (as most of you know.) Andrew and Kevin took care of us when we were uncomfortable with the locals. Dan and Mary are fantastic, such fun people. GOD I JUST LOVE WHEN PEOPLE LOVE TO DANCE!! It was such a fun night. The later it became, the more crowded it got so some of us headed home and had a sleepover…
…which was almost a stupid move because I JUST MADE IT to my bus for my safari. Dumb Amanda, dumb dumb. THANK GOD Kat called me and woke me up five minutes before we were leaving and THANK ALLAH that I packed the night before. We took a bus to the airport and had a two-hour plane ride to Durbin. Then we got into vans and drove to Kwazulu Natal. We passed African villages along the way and all these little kids walking 20 km. to and from school. We watched a movie on lions and hyenas and leopards. We finally pull into the reservation and IMMEDIATELY there is a baby elephant on the left. He was beautiful. Then we found giraffes and impalas and zebras. We finally arrive at our camp around 8:00pm. Other groups stayed in hotels, but we were staying in tents and ate outside (holy pants I miss camping.) Our guide, Cuevas, gave us a briefing on what to do if an animal walks through the camp i.e. Rhino – clap your hands, lion – DON’T MOVE!! His assistant Samora told us once he was in camp and two male lions appeared out of the bushes and they had a staring contest. CRAZY! Suddenly Samora runs to the east and shines his light to the river and there is a mama and baby Rhino a few hundred feet away… SO COOL!! Our cook – a very large black woman called Mama Cook (hahahha I love her) made us food (and there are vegetarian options… woo!) and we sat around the campfire and ate and our guides told us stories. One by one, everyone started to go to sleep, but Kat, Gika, myself and a few other girls stayed us with the guides and kept chatting. The moon was full so we couldn’t see many stars.
Topics of discussion ranged from marriage to America to animals. However, the most interesting yet heartbreaking topic was when they asked us if we have heard of the disease called AIDS. We told them that we had it in the US too, but not as bad. They were surprised that such a powerful country had this problem. So we started to ask them questions about the AIDS epidemic and this is what struck a painful chord in my heart: in the tribes such as Zulu, there is almost no education on HIV. So the tribesmen find different ways to “protect” themselves. They told us of one Zulu chief who had sex with his maid who he knew was HIV positive. When approached about it, he said that he wasn’t worried because he showered afterwards. A CHIEF thinks that is okay, could you even imagine what the lowly tribesmen think? I am sure you could not imagine what I am about to tell you (I am crying as I type this): some tribesmen are convinced that the cure for AIDS is virginity and purity – so they rape little girls thinking that they will be cured. There was one incident where4 men with AIDS raped an eight month-old baby. She died. I am nauseous right now.
I can’t write anymore about that. Everyone around me is staring at me balling. On a lighter note – we were about to head to bed but we looked up at the sky and saw that the lunar eclipse had begun! We didn’t even know that it was happening. Slowly, over the time span of an hour – it kept getting darker and darker. We let the fire go out and turned off the lamps. Stars started popping out, the Southern Cross was twinkling (yes – stars really twinkle!) Soon enough, you could see the Milky Way. We laid on the floor and realized – we’re in Africa. This is the Cradle of Humanity – and we could feel our hearts beat one with the continent that started it all. [It’s distressing though that such a beautiful central continent has so much turmoil and devastation.] But we were so happy to be alive, and laying on the ground in Africa… then a lion roared in the distance. Mind-blowing. Kat, Gika and I skipped to bed and couldn’t fall asleep in our tents because we loved listening to the frogs, crickets, and the occasional lion roar or hyena laugh.
We were up at 5:00 the next morning to grab bread and coffee and head out on safari. In South Africa – the Big Five consists of lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and water buffalo. We didn’t see any big cats throughout the day we saw rhinos, elephants, buffalos, impalas, wildebeests, warthogs, giraffes, zebras, baboons and small savanna cats. After the morning drive, we went back to have breakfast and chatted with some conversationalists from the reserve. They talked to us mostly about the wild dogs and how they are dying off. After the talk a bunch of us sat in a huge circle for two hours talking about everything: from Cosmo to politics to celebrities to religion to exercise. Everyone is intellectual and groovy (I’m bringing it back, the word groovy). The guides called our camp the Bush hence the title of this entry. Then we took a walk around the river and saw some baboons and buffalo. We sat on what the guides call the Bush’s Pride Rock and talked more about the lives of the animals. You know what’s crazy… in another reserve; there are lions that are doing some ‘unnatural killings.’ Normally, giraffes aren’t a prey of lions but on this particular reserve, they adapted. On the road in the morning, the dew collects and it becomes slippery. So a pack of lions split up into two groups; one group chases a giraffe down the road then the other group pops up and scares it into the other direction. The giraffe slips and falls on the wet road and the lions have their meal. They adapted to man’s inventions to expand their lion kingdom – it’s crazy!!
We went back to the camp to get water then head out onto our night safari. The end of the eclipse was happening, and the moon was red. It was marvelous dahling (though I still don’t understand why the moon turns red…can anyone explain??) Kat was holding the light and we were driving through the dark, looking for animals. Everything looked like animals, the only way we could tell was by the lights of their eyes. They literally glowed! It was so cool. That night, we sat around the fire and played “Big Booty,” “Gigolo” and roasted marshmallows. Eventually everyone started talking to our guides about Africa, but I branched off and sat in a chair alone near the fire and just stared at it and became lost in myself. Apparently I was just sitting there for 45 minutes. I must have looked like such a creep, but I didn’t even realize it. My mind was simply silent for a little while, just existing with the land that created civilization.
[GOD I AM SO CORNY!!]
Any way, the girls in my tent and I stayed up pretty late talking, listening to the lions roar…as well as the boys snoring in the tent next to us. Sometimes it was hard to distinguish the two. We were up early the next morning to do one more game drive. We saw a few more animals and then began our 4hour drive to the airport. Everyone slept. Haha We were so tired from the Bush. The flight was fine, and I sat next to two really cool girls. When we got back to the ship: we all took an hour long shower (which is SO revitalizing after sleeping in dirt and ants) then got ready to go out for Gika’s birthday (21!!) We wound up at Zula’s for dinner and have a few bottles of wine and these DELICIOUS shots of banana liqueur with some African rum (called Flapjack). Then we headed to a hookah bar and had some mint hookah. We met up with some more SASers. Some of the locals heard it was Gika’s birthday and bought us these strawberry shots. Soooo yummy! Gika, Kat and I, being the fabulous dancers we are, HAD to go dancing. We wound up at the bar called Cool Runnings and met these really cool locals. After a few hours of dancing I headed back to the ship because…yet again…I had to be up early the next day. [that is what is so hard about this trip, the lack of sleep. In port, there is such limited time that you never want to sleep. But because we have no weekends on the ship due to classes everyday, it is almost impossible to catch up on sleep. I am thinking that when I get back, I am sleeping until June.]
So Tiana woke me up around 7:00 to get breakfast and get ready to go hike Table Mountain. There was eight of us and we got a taxi to the trail (named… no lie… Plattekilp Trail. What the hell is a Plattekilp?? It must be Afrikans. Afrikans is one of the languages of S.A. There are 11 official languages in South Africa, one of them is the clicky language, Xhosa. I know how to say the name properly. Mad skills.)
SIDE NOTE: Jayme is in the room, bundled up in a sweater and snow cap. Let’s remember, she’s from Hawaii. However, I cannot help but make fun of the fact that we currently are rounding the tip of Madagascar and I don’t think these people know what a snow cap is. GOD I LOVE THIS WOMAN! She’s always good for a laugh…or to laugh at. J
I digress. Yet again. So yea we’re climbing Table Mountain (google it, it’s super famous) and Mary is still a little hungover from the night before so she’s super slow. However, Sherri, Molly and I didn’t mind hanging back with her because everyone else was going so fast that they weren’t stopping to enjoy the scenery. So it wound up being the four of us…and it was perfect. We basically giggled all way up the mountain, laughing at our antics. We stopped to take pictures and look at the beauty. During one of our stops, Sherri said “Could you even imagine how much time it took for the world to create this beauty?” And it hit me: change is slow. Such a simple concept that everyone knows, but I never really understood it until that moment. So I thought: humanity has only been around for a few thousand years and though it still has some problems, it’s so hard to contemplate the amount of love and beauty that has been shared. And maybe not everything is perfect, but nothing is perfect in the mountain. It has its fault and its small pieces that make it weak. But it took a long time for it to become so strong. Time is the essence. Humanity will work its way through the world, we just need to give it time. Maybe not our time, but the small bits that we contribute during our short time will help make humanity into a mountain of beauty.
Again, forgive my cheesiness. It’s really hard to put into words what we felt. I started crying a little. There was such a stirring of my soul and it felt so good. To quote Iron and Wine “it felt so simple and so prodigious at the same time.”
Okay – so we giggled up to the top of the mountain. We met some cool locals and chatted for a bit. Then the Tablecloth started to form. Around noon, the clouds start to roll over the mountain. Because the mountain is so flat, the clouds form a blanket. So due it’s name, Table Mt., it becomes the Tablecloth. IT WAS SO COOL!! WE WERE IN THIS MASSIVE CLOUD!! THAT IS EVERY KID’S DREAM!! We were dancing and laughing and taking pictures like loons. It was beautiful. After a few hours, we made it down the mountain. The last step, we held hands and jumped down together. They are so cute, I love them. As we jumped, there were two taxi cabs drivers who clapped for us. We asked one to drive us back to the waterfront to get food. His name is Alfonzo and he is from Rwanda. He sung to us in French. We asked him where he lived in Capetown and he said “Brooklyn.” I said “what??” He said “Brooklyn.” THERE IS A BROOKLYN IN CAPETOWN!! I told him that I lived in Brooklyn back at home! So he told us that after we had lunch he would take us to Brooklyn. Molly asked if he could also take us to the University of Capetown. He said of course. We had a good seafood lunch then met up with Alfonzo again and we headed to UCT.
On the way, I sat in front and started to ask him questions about Rwanda. He told us his life story: he is the only one of 6 in his family to survive. He told us what really happened, how it’s getting better. He told us how he found the church and how the church saved him. We talked about AIDS. I wish I could write everything down in here but there is just so much that it would take up so much room. We learned sooooo much from him. It was amazing how willing he was to share his life story. We talked about the difference between South Africa and America and how we need the best of both our worlds. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to leave the US, while we kept telling him never to leave SA. The grass is always greener…
So we get to UCT and BARELY fit into a parking spot and we walk around. There was a demonstration for Darfur in the main square. They also had free HIV tests going on all week; which is such a great thing to see because the lack of HIV education seems to be the root of Africa’s AIDS epidemic. The campus was BEAUTIFUL! Table Mt. was behind it, the buildings were New England style, with ivy leaves crawling across the walls. After a little while, we headed to Brooklyn. I think Brooklyn just means ghetto – because even in Capetown, it was a little bit ghetto. Alfonzo even used that word hahah. We headed back to the ship and exchanged emails with Alfonzo. I ran inside to get ready for dinner for Gika’s birthday (again). We went to Momma Africa’s where we had a reservation. They had live music, African drums (ahhh soo cool!!) I sat next to people I didn’t know and we had the best conversations. GOD I love meeting new people (but dear pants, it’s impossible to describe how much I miss you all back at home.) I sat next to another vegetarian, and while everyone was trying ostrich and alligator, we had the most AMAZING pancake with spinach and cheese. I had a bottle of wine to myself and was feeling pretty good. Oh, and the national Argentina rugby team was sitting behind us. Gika is from Mexico so her spanish is perfect, inviting them to eat with us. When I was leaving, I went to say goodbye to Gika. I gave her a kiss and one the players said “Oooohh don’t leave! It is my birthday.” I said “Oh well happy birthday” and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He said “No no, it’s my birthday!” and kissed me full on the lips. I kissed a RUGBY PLAYER HEHEHEHEHHEHE. Sorry mom and dad but it was exciting. I still, thinking on my better judgment, left because I had to be up at 4 the next morning for…
SHARK CAGE DIVING!! I didn’t sign up with my group but I was hoping that there would be an extra spot left on my friend’s trip. And there was. We took a two hour ride to Cape Point and had a breakfast and a small briefing and headed out on this tiny little ship. It was super rocky and we were bouncing all over the place. And of course, giggling like loons. Finally we get to a spot where sharks hang out and the guides started throwing fish guts into the water. After a few minutes, a shark popped up. There is a booey that is attached to the ship that looks like a fish, to tease the shark. The shark bit onto it and the guys tried to pull it in. He let go and swam away. Immediately everyone jumps into their wetsuits. I was in the second group and we were barely in the water with our goggles on and a shark bit the bait. “GO DOWN!!” screams the guide so we plunge. He pulls the shark towards the cage and the shark lets go and swims right for the cage and bangs into it!! Then he opened his mouth and bit one of the bars. It was iiiiiinnntense! When we emerged from the water, I couldn’t help but yell “OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO COOL! OH MY GOD I AM INCHES AWAY FROM A SHARK!!” Everyone shushed me. I am sorry but I could not contain my excitement… Within the next 10 minutes, we did a few dives with some close encounters with more sharks. After a few hours we headed back to shore, ate and headed back to Capetown. It was a day full of long traveling but so worth it, especially for that first dive. That night Andrea came back from her safari, so her, her friend and I went to dinner then went out to Long Street and danced it up for a few hours.
The final day in South Africa (March 8th) I went with Mary Jo and Sherri to a school in St. James (haha LD.) Mary Jo’s parish donated money to this school in South Africa, a few hours ride away from Capetown and she got in contact with the principal to pay a visit. Sherri is doing a documentary on schools in each port so this was the perfect opportunity for her. And Lord knows I’d go just to play with the kids. So we got a taxi and headed to St. James Primary School. We met the principal and he spoke to us about the school. He said that education has been a lot better since the end of the apartheid – however, it still is not near to where they want to be. The school is pretty clean, unlike where I worked in Peru. They have a computer lab with about two dozen computers of a decent quality. The principal told us of the students’ background: most are from a few towns away and must walk to school, about 20 km. They speak Afrikans at home so the main purpose of school is to teach them English. It’s amazing how everyone is at least bilingual – if not trilingual. There are a few children who are known to be HIV positive but the principal thinks that there are a few who either unknown to it or haven’t told the school yet. Some parents think their children will be treated differently – but he pointed out that of course they would be treated differently because they have an incurable disease that could be given to other children. But they would receive the same education.
We sat in on a computer class for 8 year-olds. They were learning how to save a document. But they weren’t paying much attention with us in the room so we walked around the school, then toured the pre-primary building. We sat with the little kids for a while – they were learning english through songs. They could ask us our name and where we were from and tell us their name and sing the alphabet. I wanted to smuggle one back with me. We went over the their library, which is the size of my room at home. They have 6,000 children’s books and they are very proud of it. Most were donated from outside programs. They have a NPO called Word Works that has been doing very well. They took us into one room where a workshop was going on: a few boys were sitting at some tables drawing. There was a psychiatrist, asking the boys what makes them angry and to draw it. They are teaching the kids that there are different ways for them to let out their anger. The principal explained that a big problem with a lot of boys is anger: angry with their poverty, with their family, with their lack of education and with that comes a lot of violence, and the peer pressure to be violent. This program teaches them how to express their anger in different ways; how to be aware of their problems and confront them. With girls – their problem is sex education. So many girls become pregnant in their teens (72,000 in the last year) and get AIDS and then give it to their children. We didn’t get to sit in on a girl’s session but it’s good to hear they have something for the girls as well. Equality is becoming so important to South Africans. Then recess came and we got to run around and play with the kids. I was teaching them how to cartwheels and Sherri was interviewing them for her project. They kept asking if they would be on TV back in the states (Sherri only wishes.) When recess started to die down, we decided it would be a good time to leave – we didn’t want to make any more disruptions and we had a lot of footage. The three of us were on a high on the way back to the waterfront.
The rest of the day was simple: lunch with the gang (we had lime milkshakes…delicious!) and ran some errands. I separated from the rest of the gang to go to the internet. When I started heading back to the ship, I ran in Bryan who grabbed me and said “There is no way I am eating on the ship for our last night in South Africa – we’re going to eat!” I had no money left, so we went to the Fisherman’s Choice and had calamari, chips and bottle of South African wine (I can’t remember the name but Bryan is obsessed with it – it’s a dry white and it was good!) So we finished the bottle and were feeling pretty good so we started heading back to the ship – but we ran into Jayme and her boyfriend from home Shaun (he flew to South Africa, then while we were at sea to Mauritius, he went to Zimbabwe then came to Mauritius). They ordered a fishbowl full of 5 different kinds of alcohol and couldn’t finish it themselves; so they asked Bryan and I to help drink it. So the four of us sat there laughing, drinking from this bowl as quick as we could because we had to get back to the ship. Shaun caught a taxi to the airport and we headed back to the ship, a little tipsy. A simple, wonderful way to finish my South African experience!
Sorry this was so long and so late: right now it’s March 19th and the last day in Capetown was the 8th. Opps. So much is going on with classes, then we were in Mauritius which was our Spring Break. Then we had the Sea Olympics which I MUST write about as well. More will come soon because in a week we will be in INDIA!! I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE EASTERN PART OF THE WORLD!!!
I love my life.
Infinite xo Amanda Panda
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