South Africa Part Three

Disclaimer:  There is a lot of stuff in this blog that could come off as offensive and I apologize for that but I am simply trying to tell you what I experienced and how I felt about it.  I am sorry if anyone is offended or angered and hope that you will keep reading even if we disagree :)

The fourth day in South Africa was a Sunday and so Danielle and I went to church.  Danielle has been to South Africa before (though not Cape Town) and heard of Hillsong Church which started in Australia but now has other locations around the world and is quite well-known.  We took a taxi out there in the morning for the service and ended up paying the driver to stay there while we went to mass because he said it would be impossible to find a taxi back so he literally took a nap in his car in the parking lot which was kind of amusing.

Meanwhile, we were greeted at the door, and just inside the door, and in the middle of the foyer, and beyond by all of these people who kept saying, “Welcome home, welcome to church.”  They were all happy and excited and energetic and genuinely welcoming each and every person who walked through the doors.  There was music playing and a small coffee shop set up to the right with some pastries and drinks and a table full of CDs from Hillsong and some books as well.  Inside it looked like a concert hall (and truth be told it was converted from an old club/dance place) but there were TV monitors and a full rock band set up on stage and a great sound system, etc.  The feeling in the room was so unlike Catholic church that I almost felt as though it wasn’t really a church but at the same time felt more at home there than I ever have in churches at home (sorry, no offense).  Danielle made a comment about never being in a church with a stage before and I said, “dude I’ve never been in a church with a TV before.”  She thought I was kidding and explained that her church uses them and that almost every church she has been to uses them and wondered how boring our church must be (again no offense, just different experiences) and compared to the TV screens and the rock-type band I had to agree with her. 

The service started with the band playing some awesome songs that were so much cooler than most of what we play even in Teen Mass, but Nzameranza wins out :)  I actually liked singing along and everyone was on their feet, clapping and singing and there was so much energy and excitement that it was impossible not to be swept up in it.  You could see in the performers faces how much they loved doing what they were doing and how attached they were to what they were singing, how much they believed in it.  There was not a person in the building who was not standing and participating in some way—much different from home where three-fourths of the congregation doesn’t even bother to pull out their hymnal, much less sing along.  After the songs they had some announcements (that day was actually a baptism day but I will get to that in a minute) and did the readings and the gospel.  Again, this was much different from my previous experiences as it was not so much read word for word and then explained in a homily as it was told through stories and explanations and for once actually made some sense to me.  The readers were animated, they walked around and talked like they were having a normal conversation, they didn’t read in a slow monotone voice.  They gave life to the stories and made it much more interesting and relate-able.  They were funny and charismatic and entertaining.

We sang some more songs and the donation was collected and then they announced that they were going to begin baptizing anyone who wanted to be baptized.  All of the people who went up were adults and some of them decided that day, right then and there, that they wanted to be baptized, it wasn’t scheduled or planned they just felt that baptism was what God wanted of them.  It was actually really powerful and while we did not stay for the entire thing it seemed to me that it meant a heck of a lot more to them than it would to a baby.  Again, I mean no offense these are just my observations of a different culture and religion.

After church we headed back to the ship for lunch and then spent the rest of the day with Tori walking around the city center, going to a local bookstore sale, checking out a really good bakery and talking with some of the locals.  All in all it was a fun and relaxing Sunday, though it was still rainy and fogy outside—who’d a thunk it.

~Colleen

South Africa Part Two

Our second day in South Africa was a chill day.   We originally had some plans in the making but between the super icky weather and our lack of motivation because of it we didn’t actually do much.  We explored more of the area around the waterfront and talked to the locals around thereabouts.  We hit the mall to stock up on some items for our ten day crossing (namely food and candy so the kids can go trick-or-treating on Halloween).  Yeah, that’s really all I’ve got which sounds pretty pathetic and probably is so I can’t really defend it…..moving on.

The third day was super-amazing because we went on a safari!!!!!   We got up and took a double-decker bus to the Aquila Game Reserve which is a huge game reserve about two hours north(ish) of Cape Town.  It is my no means the biggest or most popular place to go on safari (that would be Kruger National Park or Victoria Falls area) but it was amazing.   Picture your basic cheesy, cliché safari with the tan, mud-splattered jeep with a tan cover on top and a wide open flat, sandy/clay/muddy area with animals wandering around and grazing.  The one difference in our cliché, cheesy picture was the fact that it was FREEZING so instead of parading around in those “safari hats” and shorts we were in sweatshirts and pants wrapped up in blankets and huddling for warmth—but hey we were on a safari in Africa so I don’t think anyone really minded all that much.  Right before we entered the reserve the guide warned us that sometimes they take tours out and see nothing, not one stinking animal and that due to the cold weather there would be a chance that we could not see anything.  Needless to say we all sat there thinking, “we better see something or this is going to be the worst day ever!”  Then about five minutes later when we spotted our first elephant that thought was immediately diverted to, “Oh my gosh there’s an elephant, this is the best day ever!”

We ended up seeing a lot of animals: the two teenage elephants, zebras, ostriches, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, springbucks, wildebeests, hippos, alligators, etc.  We took thousands of pictures and got champagne half way through (for some reason) which lead to maybe a thousand more pictures of us doing dumb stuff like hiding in the bushes and pretending to be lions.  The game reserve was just as beautiful, if not more so, than the mountains and valleys we drove through to get there.  All of the herbivores are allowed to roam free wherever they please, which is why they cannot guarantee that you will see any animals, so we drove around the plain between two mountain/hill things for a long time.  Then we headed over to the lion area and literally were about twenty-thirty feet away from the pride.  The lions have to be kept separate so that they do not eat all of the other animals but they have a huge area that they are free to rule.  This pride was interesting in that there were two adult males.  Apparently the leader of the pride usually kills his sons at a young age so that they do not have to give up the thrown (So much for the happy family feeling Disney portrayed). In this pride the cub was allowed to live longer than usual and he challenged his father.  In all truth, they told us, he would have lost and been killed but the females of the pride stepped in and accepted his leadership and so he is now the leader of the pride.  Naturally we named them Simba and Mufasa and tried to sort out the females as to who was who as we sat in the jeeps and took pictures.

After that we went to the proverbial watering hole to see the tips of the hippos noses as they occasionally lifted them out of the water to breathe.  Hippos are nocturnal for the most part (I guess) so they stay underwater all day and come out at night, but never go farther than about 25 meters from water.  Therefore we saw lots of noses and footprints but that was about it—still cool though!

After our safari we went into the main lodge (you can stay there for a few days, like a hotel, and go on multiple safari’s during the day and night—which would be SO amazingly cool) for lunch which was very very good.   After that we headed back to the ship and basically crashed as we didn’t get much sleep the night before and were worn out from the day.

Some more fun facts about Aquila:  

·         The lions don’t attack the jeeps because they know that it will damage their claws if they hit the sides.  All of the dents in the jeep are actually from the wildebeests (stampede!) which was very surprising given their size as compared to the jeeps.

·         The rhinos are under constant protection because they had poachers sneak in awhile back and kill both of their males, luckily their females were able to get away quick enough, but now they are monitored—from a distance—24/7. 

·         Aquila has over 800 Springbucks

·         They used to have baboons but there was no way to keep them in and they kept escaping

·         They also used to have warthogs (Pumba!) but they had to take them away because….get this….the warthogs kept KILLING the LIONS!!!   Yeah, we were shocked too.  Wasn’t Pumba running away from Nala?  (0 for 2 Disney, tisk tisk)

·         Hippos will use their jaws to snap you in half, quite literally, if you get too close or make them mad but because they are herbivores they will spit you out your body and just keep moving on

 

More soon

~Colleen

South Africa Part One

Sorry I’ve totally failed at updating but it’s been super busy lately, and sorry that being super busy is always my excuse for not updating—fail.

 

Part One

First off South Africa was amazingly beautiful even though we had rain and clouds most days.  It was more mountainous than I expected and the countryside’s if you will were just gorgeous.  Table Mountain stands tall over Cape Town and on clear days looks impossibly flat and sculpted but on cloudy days it looks like someone put the world’s biggest fog machine on top.  The fog literally falls off the edge and hugs the side of the cliffs on the way down.  It looks so majestic and daunting in a way, and it literally just keeps rolling down until you cannot see the mountain at all.  We jokingly started to call it “Tablecloth Mountain” after the third day of fog because we almost never got to see the actual thing.  

The day we arrived Danielle and some others went shark cage diving so Sarah and I went to the V&A Waterfront and looked around in the morning.  Typical SAS day one recon: find an ATM, figure out the best place to get free wifi, check out the souvenir shops and talk to EVERYONE to figure out the best things to do and see.  That afternoon we went to SANCOB which is a Penguin Rehabilitation Center just outside of Cape Town.  Sarah had found out about it a long time ago and started to get a group together because they do a very limited amount of tours.  There are a few beaches in South Africa where penguins live in the wild and while they are very cool to see you cannot get close to the penguins (they are surprisingly viscous).  Also, you can adopt a penguin at SANCOB :)

We got to tour the facility and learn about how they receive penguins who are injured or sick or who are victims of oil spills and the like.  Penguins can be brought in by groups or (I believe) by volunteers.  The funny thing is that they literally have a Bird Drop Off Box sitting outside the door because sometimes deliveries are made after hours.  So if you ever find an injured penguin just stick it in the drop off box and they will get it in the morning haha.  We also got a look at their ICU and treatment centers for the penguins who are injured or malnourished.  (Oh I should probably mention that they also have birds there but we were more focused on the Penguins).  They have stages of pens that the birds travel through on their way to recovery.  There is a pen for penguins who are still needing essentially an IV type drip for food or water, a pen for those still on medication, one for those who are eating by themselves but need to build up strength, one for those who are working on the oil covering for their feathers so that they are waterproof, and finally the home pen.  Home pen looks like your typical zoo exibit for penguins, minus the snow.  There is a pond for them to swim in and plenty of rocks to climb on. 

SANCOB’s main focus is to nurse them back to health so that they can be released back into the wild but they do have a few penguins who live there full-time.  One named Yaga lost a flipper and stays there because it would be almost impossible for her to swim and survive in the wild.  Roger is the same, he lost an eye, and so lives at SANCOB.  Finally there’s Rocky, a Rock Hopper penguin that they believe was once a pet on a cargo ship or something similar as she is not indigenous to South Africa and is very comfortable with humans.  Apparently it is common to take a penguin on as a pet if you find one alone whilst sailing—I kind of want to do that now, not gonna lie.   She was super cute and funny and we were allowed to pet her and take pictures with her.  She was nice and friendly but man that penguin has an attitude lol, especially when she is dealing with the staff—it was sooo funny to watch.

After SANCOB we just went back to the ship for dinner before heading out to the previously scouted wifi points and going to bed.

More in a bit—I promise

~Colleen

Ghana Part Five and the Sail to South Africa

The last day in Ghana I went back into Accra for awhile with my friends Jenna, Abby, Dana and Matt and we just hung around the market until it was time to go back to the ship.   The market on the beach was great because it was full of shops and people who were always so happy to see us and talk to us but as it was our last day and we didn’t have much money left we felt a little crowded by all the people begging us to come see their shops.  It was a fun day though and I was sad to leave Ghana L

The first day back on the ship was Neptune Day (yay) but the rest of the sail was normal class days and studying.  We had crappy weather which was very unexpected as the coast of Africa is typically very dry with no clouds in sight but we literally went seven days without seeing the sun.  All we got was fog and wind and rain and waves which was a bit annoying.  We had hoped that we would have good weather for astronomy but with all the clouds we could not see a thing so hopefully the weather clears up a bit so we can study the southern sky and see the meteor shower!

I’m sorry this is such a short and boring post but sadly we didn’t do too much besides boring homework haha.  We watched some movies and played games and such—typical college stuff.  Other than that not much to report—sorry.   I will tell you all about South Africa later and that will be much more interesting. 

~Colleen

P.S.   We went to get wifi two days ago and I was excited to get some pictures up for you all but whenever we tried to upload pictures our computer batteries would drain SUPER fast!  So that failed :(  I will try again when we get to Buenos Aires but no promises. 

If you want pictures of my trip send me an e-mail (colleen.lesch.f12@semesteratsea.org) and I can compress pictures in a word doc and send them to you—just let me know!