Blog 15

South Africa -

The country of South Africa is most definitely my favorite place that we've been so far. It's 11AM on April 5 and we're supposed to be sailing for Ghana, but the winds are too high in the Cape Town harbor so we're still docked. We were supposed to leave 8PM yesterday and we spent the whole night here and the morning thus far. We're all stuck on the ship only able to look at the city, It's such a tease!

We pulled into the harbor to find it was a waterfront community with an upscale mall, great places to shop, and people walking up and down the water's edge. There were vendors, street performers, and people from all different walks of life. I had gotten up very early that morning to get some good pictures from the ship; especially some shots from the front deck of Table Mountain, the butte that towers over Cape Town. I saw the South African sunrise for the first time as it came over the mountains. Absolutely beautiful! After I got some good shots, I went down to deck 6 for some breakfast out on the deck. Breakfast is the last meal that I am able to stand on the ship because I never wake up in time for it on a regular basis and the food at dinner and lunch is always the exact same. So being as excited for breakfast as I was, I engulfed quite my share of eggs, oatmeal, cereal, and peanut butter pancakes! MMMHHHH! Now I know why there's so many fat girls on the ship.

I finished eating and we were released to get off the ship pretty early that morning, around 10 AM. It's earlier than usual and we didn't have to do the face to face immigration like we usually do. Outside, it was a little windy but otherwise perfect weather. I wore short sleeves and a tee shirt when I first went out to explore the water front. I found various shops and restaurants and I was looking for a safari hat but never found a good one for a reasonable price. I had to be back to the ship by 11AM because my three day safari was scheduled to leave at that time. I had signed up for this trip before we departed and was very excited about it. We boarded a bus around 11:15 when everyone was present and accounted. There were about 38 of us; mostly students, a few life-long-learners, and some faculty. We had funny little South African tour guide whose name was Gerraldina Barry, but she just had us call her Gerry Barry. With her south African accent she would say things like, "if everyone could gather your bits and bots and move along gently".

After the bus ride, we boarded a plane in the Cape town Airport and traveled to Port Elizibeth, which is on the eastern coast but still in South Africa. The plane was very small and the flight was only about an hour long but we were treated like Kings. First of all, they served us lunch! (Take note American Airlines) Lunch on a plane! It was like 1992 again. And in the short hour we were onboard they came around twice for the drink service. The first time with a bottle of water, and then with the option of a FREE soda, beer, or wine. Not bad South African Air. I had myself a chicken sandwich and a Castle beer.

Once we landed we had another bus ride for about an hour until we arrived at Kariega game reserve. You'll have to ask me how to say that name in person. The bus pulled on the property and we lined up to get our keys and sign our life away, saying that we can't sue if we get mauled by a lion. We went for a quick drive before the sun went down, but before, we dropped by our cabins or our "Chalets" (were what they were called) before the drive. I was in Chalet 14 and was rooming with 3 other guys. Lukas, a half Asian kid; a Jewish guy we called Stone; and a Minnesota kid named Peyton, (eh?)... I had enough diversity for at least a month's worth of jokes. The Chalets were beautiful! Wood cabins in which we each had our own rooms and bathrooms. The cabin overlooked a beautiful scene from the balcony of the wild African terrain. WOW! Unreal.

Soon after settling in, the Cruisers came back to pick us up for the first drive. The safari guides were all young white guys with thick accents that drove Toyota Land Cruisers with no tops and three rows of three stadium seats. So including shotgun, which I nabbed for the first drive, there were 11 passengers in each cruiser. We started off finding some impala and got about 30 or 40 feet from them, it was very cool. Then we saw some rhinos and got about the same distance from them, but by this time it was getting very dark and we had to use the flashlight in the glove compartment. We saw some giraffe and monkeys swinging around in the trees too. We arrived at the main lodge after the drive for dinner. Dinner was excellent, one of the best meals I've had the whole SAS experience, it was a barbeque with ribs, chicken, beef, fish, and every kind of meat and bread you could think of. And the dessert table… my GOD! Some of the girls on the ship would have been unstoppable. That night we went to bed very early and we were scheduled to wake up at 5:30 AM for our next drive.

The next day was very foggy at 5:30 AM and we were all pretty slow moving to start with. This time, we went across the street to the other side of the reserve where we passed many signs warning of dangerous animals. First, we saw a bunch of elephants eating and carrying about. One was very large and obviously dominant of the group. They would grip the grass, plants, and even cactus with the trunks and bring it up to their mouth to eat all very loudly. We, apparently, got too close to one of these, and it started to walk towards our cruiser to ward us off. I got pretty excited until the driver told me that even the baby could flip us right over. We kept moving and got out of the dangerous area until we found a place to stop and get out for a drink of coffee. The cruisers all met up on a hill and enjoyed a cup of coffee that our tour guides had packed in the cruisers. By this time, it was sprinkling and we were wearing parkas.

After coffee, the drivers told us that there was a lion sighting near so we packed up and left. When we arrived at where the sighting was, we found the lions lounging in the bushes. There were a few females, at least 2 males, and a few cubs that we seemed to be interrupting from their nap. We drove by them and were able to get as close as 5 to 10 feet. One thing that we kept seeing that morning were giant spider webs draped from tree to tree and bush to bush. Huge webs that would stretch all the way across the trail, were the work of the African bark spider. This nasty little critter was about 2 inches big and would spin it's web at night, and then sit in it all night catching insects and bugs. In the daytime, it would retreat back to the tree bark and blend in until nightfall and do it all again. One was even stretched across the path of the cruiser and our guide ran into it to knock it down before we actually went through.

After breakfast that morning, which was once again, splendid, we had the choice of doing a hike to look for game, or the option of a canoe trip. The canoe trip filled up pretty quick but me and Stone were able to get a spot. We got down to the river and loaded up in the canoes. It had heated up quite a bit and the river was very nice and calm. We started downstream and went for a few miles or so, but were instructed to return in an hour and half. There was one girl who was in the front, and when we all turned back, she insisted that she had been told that the river connects and goes all the way around. The only thing she was forgetting was the laws of physics. I thought that everyone knew that Six Flags Lazy River is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Anyway, we had all turned back and were just waiting around for the missing students to return. It was very boring just sitting on the bank, waiting and waiting. It was then, that I decided to cover myself in mud and write SAS 2010 on my chest for a picture. Who else can say they did that? We all had a good laugh and then another cruiser came back to pick us up. We barely made lunch because of the missing students who still weren't found yet, and the safari guides were getting worried because they were heading into areas which are known for hippo sightings. Hippos, believe it or not, are the deadliest animal in Africa. Apparently they are very territorial and have a jaw on them that can just snap you in half.

After lunch, we took a ride back to the cabin and I took, not a shower, but a bath. I took a bath because; 1. I needed to efficiently get the African mud out of my ears and 2. This tub was insane. We spent the afternoon kickin' it with a 6 pack of Castle Beer on our cabins deck, overlooking the amazing terrain and sighting some beautiful exotic wild birds. At 4:30 PM, it was time for another drive. On the drive, we learned the missing group from canoeing was found alive, indicating that it was now appropriate to give them wall bullshit for their stupidity. This drive, we saw hippos in the water (close to where we were canoeing in earlier), zebra, and giraffe that were were running. Seeing them run is quite a sight. The way that their bodies move almost looks like it's slow motion because they are so long. It's like a big wave of motion that shoots up their body, very awkward, yet very fast. We also experienced an attempt at mating when one of them tried to mount multiple times, but his home girl wasn't having it. Later on that drive, we approached the rhinos which started to run at us. The cruiser actually had to reverse until it backed off, it was pretty exciting.

After the drive it was about 7:30 PM and time for dinner. The dinner was phenomenal once again. I had a type of curry and some sort of beef with a few servings of bread and a great dessert, once more. After dinner, we went back to the Chalet and had most of the SAS crew over for some card games and drinks. We got to bed pretty late that night considering our waking time at 5:30AM, once more. Most of the crew, the next morning, went on the riverboat trip, but having seen the river while canoeing the previous day, my cabin decided on another drive to try to find the lions. We were actually unsuccessful in our quest but we did have a fun time joking with the tour guide about how the drunk SAS girls were, and how they were throwing themselves at him last night. We saw some ostrich, returned for breakfast, spent the morning relaxing, and then it was time to check out. The procedure for the transit home was just the same on the way home. A bus ride, top-notch airplane experience, and shuttle back to the ship.

Overall, the safari was absolutely amazing. The drivers were very knowledgeable, we saw hostile rhinos, lion cubs, we had unbelievable accommodations, great food, and almost experienced a giraffe rape. What more could you ask for. I was also very pleased to have 2 more nights, once we returned to Cape Town!