South Africa

Capetown felt so far away at the beginning of the voyage and all of a sudden its over and we’re on the way to Ghana. In comparison to Vietnam, Myanmar and India- Capetown was a very different type of port experience. Our port and terminal was right next to the V and A Waterfront, an outdoor mall area. We got off the ship the first day, walked there and then ubered to meet our friends studying abroad in Capetown for brunch. Before we actually met them, I made Rachel, Caster and Zoe just stand in Woolworths (think Whole Foods) just for a few minutes to appreciate the beauty of a market. 

Two disclaimers before I get further into this. We ubered literally everywhere and there were multiple meals where I ordered two or more dishes. 

We met Emily (shoutout Olin for being the best Capetown tour guide) and a few other girls studying at UCT for brunch. We had the best pancakes and were so happy to see avocado. After we ate, we brought them back to the ship. Emily was so impressed with the “details” of the ship and how there are random German painting on every wall. She’s my only friend not on SAS that will ever see the ship so thats a pretty cool accomplishment. After the tour and introducing them to all of our favorite crew members, we walked down Long Street, had afternoon drinks and went back to the ship to change for the night. We met a big group of people at Cafe Caprice, a restaurant/ turns club on the water where we had dinner before being bombarded by 400 SAS kids. 

We somehow made it back to the ship and were ready at 4am for Shark Cage diving pick up. For funny stories on this topic feel free to contact me directly. After a 2 hour drive, we got to Gansbai and got onto a small boat that took us out to the middle of the ocean. After living on a ship for 2 and a half months already, this was the most sea sick/naseous I’ve been (maybe for a few different reasons). The men on the boat started throwing fish guts and dangling fish heads over the side of the boat to attract sharks. We were the first group to get in the cage and even though the water visibility was pretty low, we saw 3 huge great whites swim by. It was actually just as cool to watch the sharks from the top of the boat because you could see their heads come out of the water as they tried to bite the dangling fish head. 

After getting back to the ship, showering, and finding the best smoothie place called Kauai, we packed up and checked into our Air BNB, a perfect little house looking over the water. I could have stayed there for years. That night we went to dinner with Emily, had amazing ice cream and saw more of University of Cape Town. 

We found a restaurant called Kleinskys, and had bagels, lox, & cream cheese !!!!!! Then we drove to Lion’s Head, went on a great hike/rock climbing expedition to get to the top and see full 360 degree views of Capetown. For the rest of the afternoon we walked in the city center, shopped, went to Kauai again, found an amazing shoe store, and went to two more markets to load up on snacks and chocolate covered matzah. That night we had reservations at a restaurant called Bungalow, which my phone told me was only 0.5 miles away from our Air BNB so I decided we could walk there. One of the very few times we didn’t call an uber and actually needed one, so we were 25 minutes late to the reservation but we made it and that’s all that matters. 

The next day, we ventured a little bit out of Capetown and made three big stops. First we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens, which had a beautiful tree canopy walk and grassy areas where we just sat for a while. Then we had an hour drive to Boulder Beach, where all the little cutie penguins just lay and waddle around the beach. We climbed over the boulders (omg it makes sense why it’s called Boulder beach) and sat in the water watching the penguins. I could have stared at them for hours but we continued on to lunch then Muizenberg Beach. Muizenberg is another beach town, with colorful little houses along the beach. It was super windy so we watched the kite surfers, got ice cream and headed back to CT. 

The next day we packed up early and went back to the ship to meet Caster’s cousin Bev. Caster had only briefly met her on the first day, but Bev was so excited to meet us and bring us to her house. We went to brunch with Bev and her sister Michele came. They were actually so funny together and it was a nice chance to relax and learn a little more about South Africa and get to know them. That afternoon we went on a wine tour in Stellenbosch, a beautiful winery about 45 minutes away from CT. We had a guide who drove us and explained everything. The first winery we had wine and chocolate and the second one was food and wine. It was actually the most fun afternoon-shoutout Zoe for finding the tour. 

We got back to Bev’s around 5 just in time for her kids and grandkids to come over for dinner. Picture this- 4 American girls who just got back from a wine tour, Bev’s whole Jewish South African family, home cooked food, minus Julianne’s stolen debit card- we were smiling and laughing the entire time. 

We had plans to go out that night and Bev forced us saying we’re only young once and pouring Zoe more beer, so we rallied, met everyone at UCT, and went to Boogies (equivalent to Skeeps but WAYY better music). It was so fun to be with Emily, meet her friends, and get to explore Capetown with their help. 

On the last morning, I went on a beach walk with Bev and her dog with Juj, Caster and Zoe jumped out of a plane. They came back alive, thankfully, we all had lunch together and Bev brought us back to the ship. We promised we’d come back to Cape Town for her and we were all so sad to say goodbye. 

We made it back before on ship time and now we’re on the way to Ghana !!!!!! xx

Neptune Day and Mauritius

    On March 7th, 2018, I went from a pollywag to a shellback. This might not mean much to you, but since we woke up at 4am to watch us cross the equator and then participated in the Neptune day festivities, it means a lot to me. To answer some of your questions: no, I didn’t actually see the equator, but I did see a red light flashing in the distance and yes, Neptune day is real thing. Search it on Wikipedia and they even give SAS a shout out. 

    We were woken up at 7am by the dressed up crew banging drums and screaming in the hallways. “The voice” over the loudspeaker gave us 45 minutes to be ready and upstairs on 9. In order to properly conquer this task, they poured “fish guts” on us, which was actually just green juice, then we jumped in the pool, kissed a big dead fish, kissed King Neptune’s ring and that was that. For the rest of the day, people shaved their head, and every last person, even all the deans participated in this maritime tradition. 

    Since this is a combined blog post, I’ll give a little rundown on Mauritius as well because it was only a one day fuel stop. The Port Louis terminal was by far the prettiest port I have seen. I had my Global Studies field class, so I went with a big group to the Rotary Mural Club called CEDEM where we painted murals. CEDEM houses and takes in children from abusive or dangerous homes. They provide schooling and extracurricular activities. To create a more visually pleasing environment, they asked us to paint murals on the cement wall outside the building. The kids there were so excited to dip their hands into jars of paint and then smack them on the wall. 

    We were in Mauritius the day before their independence day, so there was a lot of celebrating and excitement around us. The people at CEDEM were incredibly hospitable; they gave us frosted cookies, chocolate croissants, and bread right when we arrived, and if anyone looked tired they just kept giving us more food. 

    After we said our goodbyes, we went to the beach for an hour. Beaches in Mauritius are gorgeous, really clear and warm water, its a must see. We came back to the ship that afternoon and had more food that the people from CEDEM sent with us. I’m telling you, it was actually unbelievable how many processed carbs they so graciously provided us with that day. 

    To add onto the eating habits, my extended family on the ship (a fun program for students and staculty to form ship families) had a ice cream sundae party on the pool deck. 

    The one day stop in Mauritius broke up our trip from India to South Africa. See ya there! xx

Nommin on Naan

Since I’ve started all my other blogs in chronological order, I thought I would mix it up this time and start with our last day in India. We got back from our field program at 12 the last night, so we woke up on the ship the last morning and got off to have one last day in Cochin. Rachel, Maggie and I ended up getting in a tuk tuk (motorized little vehicle) and told the driver we wanted to find a cricket game to play with some locals. We found a dirt patch where some kids our age were throwing around a ball. At first, they were a little hesitant about 3 girls in their workout clothes asking to play cricket, but we quickly started tossing around a ball and they taught us how to use the bat. It turns out that they were filming a short movie, so they asked us to be extras in the back of one of the shots, so now we’re Indian movie stars. 

    While very nice, Indian people can be very pushy. We didn’t have any plans for the day, so the tuk tuk driving ended up taking us to his friend’s shops and telling us to go inside and shop so we could help him and make his children happy. We bargained, tried on some fur coats and bought some last minute gifts. Our last stop was a small restaurant/local kitchen-  where we tried chai masala that at first we thought would break our good streak of no Delhi belly, but turned out to be really good. 

    Now to rewind back, we got to India early in the morning on the first day. After clearing immigration, we got in two taxis and went to Jewtown. Jewtown is a small, touristy area in Fort Cochin. Before 1948, there were about 5,000 Jews in Cochin. After the founding of the state of Israel, most of them went to Israel and today there are 5 remaining Jews in Cochin. We walked through the old synagogue in the center of town and stopped in some of the stores. All the stores had the same blue and white awnings that say “Shalom” on them and the storeowners stood outside yelling saying come in and shalom in their strong accents. Couldn’t have done India without asking Goldie 9 million questions, so thanks to her for being the best ever. 

    When on SAS, early wake up calls are just part of a normal day. We left at 330am the next day for our field program to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. By 345 am, I had already dropped my ship ID and lost it on the floor of the terminal and spilled an entire bag of my sweet potato chips into my bag, that my friends called my “diaper bag.” We flew from Cochin to Delhi, made a quick stop at a Starbucks in the airport, and got right onto a 5 hour bus ride to Jaipur. 

    After arriving in the late afternoon to Jaipur aka the Pink City, we walked through a bazar (market), bought more things I definitely don’t need, drove past the famous beautiful buildings on the main road, and went back to the hotel. 

    In pre-port before India, they told us multiple times to take 2 pepto before every meal, not eat vegetables and be very careful with water. At dinner that night, I had vegetables, drank from a pitcher of water rather than the unopened bottle, and had 3 bowls of ice cream. 

    It just so happens, that we were in India in perfect timing to celebrate Holi. Holi marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated kind of like we celebrate New Years Eve, except for the throwing of vibrant color powders on people in the streets. They brought us to a field- think mini Coachella and Color Run- and that’s exactly what it was. As a tradition, you rub color on people’s face and say “Happy Holi.” Of course this turned into squirting each other with water guns, throwing the powder, and dancing along to local Indian music and dancers. It was all fun and games until we got back to the hotel and had an hour to shower and eat lunch. Our bathroom floor looked like a crime scene and Maggie and I couldn’t get the red color off our faces for close to three days. 

    That afternoon we took jeeps up to the Amber Fort, an ancient Mughal castle. Another special Holi treat is a marijuana milkshake. As we drove up the winding streets and dodged cows in the middle of the road, our jeep driver pulled over so we could watch them make the drink. Men were mixing two big metal vats serving out a green milky liquid. Little kids were running up with cups waiting to get some of their own. Mia and Sage, 2 ship kids, were fully fascinated by the young boys their own age trying some.  

    The next day we woke up for a 3 hour train ride to Agra to see THE TAJ. Avery and I decided we want to live there, the intricacies and architecture is just as stunning as I thought it would be. After taking pictures and walking through the inside, we sat on the platform in the middle and just took it all in. One of my favorite moment so far. 

    Our last night, we arrived in Delhi and hung out in the rooftop bar of our hotel for little. The next day we basically just did a bus tour of Delhi, stopping at Ghandi’s memorial and a replica building of the Taj. We drove past the President’s house and parliament building. Delhi is definitely the most modern city we visited, clearly very influenced by colonial ruling. 

    I think this brings us back full circle, to the last day of the trip. India was a crazy, wild experience. Had I come from the US just to India on a trip, I think I would have had a different reaction to what I saw, smelled and tried. Yes, we spent much of our time traveling, but given India’s size and incredible culture, its impossible to see everything in the 6 days that we had. 

    Stay tuned for the next installment, which will cover the exciting events of Neptune Day and our one day stop in Mauritius.