Hey all
Mauritius was amazing, and today I spent the entire day competing in the 'Sea Olympics.'
Tomorrow, I'll finish up writing about both and post em' up later.
Talk then,
Greg.
P.S. We pushed our clocks 30 minutes (to get on India time). We are now EST + 10:30 hours.
I am so proud of our ship and its crew. As you may recall, we left Cape Town a full 12 hours after we were scheduled to. Our itinerary dictatd us staying in Mauritius for only 12 hours, so we all expected the worse: We would not be stopping in Mauritius.
Captain J, however, had different plans. This baby has been gunned all the way up to 27 knots for the past 4 days, now…an amazingly fast speed for a ship its size. We’ve been humming across the water, and have definitely been feeling it…tonight’s been a pretty rough ride, but well worth it…because:
We will be arriving in Port Louis, Mauritius, tomorrow…1 hour ahead of schedule. Awesome.
Most of you…myself included before the voyage…have no idea Mauritius even existed on this planet. That’s fair, it’s a tiny island, less than 800 square miles that sits in the Indian ocean, to the east of Madagascar. I’ve never been there, but the common idea that is being promulgated to us is that it’s paradise.
Mark Twain, in his 1897 book “Following the Equator,”wrote, “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven, and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”I think that’s amazing.
Mauritius was stumbled upon by Portuguese sailors in 1507, established a quick visiting base, and then took off. Nearly 90 years later, 3 Dutch ships got caught in a storm and ran into the island, and named it after Prince Maurice of Nassau…Maurice…Mauritius. That’s how the island got its name. The island was held until 1715, when the French seized control. The island remained until captured by the British in the 1800s during the Napoleonic wars. It wasn’t until 1968 that Mauritius declared independence as an independent commonwealth.
All throughout, each of these cultures, including masses of Indonesian and Chinese immigrants left their mark on the island, which now stands as a mosaic of past cultures. According to our professors on board, food is a blend of Indian, Chinese and European staples, and tourism is the largest industry on the island (behind sugar cane harvesting).
At our Logistical Pre-Port briefing tonight, Luke “The Voice”Jones played a great joke on us. When he got to the part of his presentation about the weather, he said “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but BBC weather has Mauritius listed tomorrow as rainy all day with a high of 60.”It was like somebody died in there, everybody, including myself was depressed. Then with the click of a button, the slide changed to a big “Mr. Sun”wearing sunglasses, calling for 85 degrees and sunny all day!
Tomorrow, my plans are to go with an SAS trip to “Adventure Park Mauritius,”but it’s not like any normal roller-coaster-filled park. Instead, it’s a huge national park filled with high-ropes and zip-lines. The description of the trip says it’s a wonderful experience as we get to hang out hundreds of feet above the ground for the better part of the day. After that, it’s off to town and the beaches to enjoy the afternoon and some dinner before boarding the ship off to INDIA!
I should also mention that tomorrow is the opening ceremonies of the SEA OLYMPICS…one of SAS’longest running traditions. It’s pretty much like color war at Camp Tall Timbers (so I plan on dominating), and we get the entire day off to compete for our sea. My sea is the Caribbean Sea, and is the 3rd Deck Aft Starboard (got all that?) part of the ship. I am slated to participate in the cheer, the Olympic relay, host the Spelling Bee, play dodgeball and…the grand finale of them all…take part in our synchronized swimming team. It should be a lot of fun. The winner of the Olympics gets the high privilege of disembarking first in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in May. The losers, however, get to remain on the ship until the very end…even after the textbooks disembark. Either way, it’ll be great.
Will write tomorrow, freshly back from Island paradise!
G.
I think a certain realization has set over the ship in the past few days since leaving Cape Town; it’s certainly set over me. It’s kind of a wake-up call as to where we are, and what we’re doing.
Cape Town, for all intensive purposes, was our last familiarity for awhile. Mauritius, India, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan…these are different places. The people look different, their languages are different, and getting around is going to get harder, not easier.
Its great, of course. We all know that, how lucky we are to have just rounded the Cape of Good Hope…but still, it’s a bit unnerving. While we’ve been technically committed since pulling out of Nassau, there was something familiar about being only 2, 3, 5, hours ahead of the US…something reassuring about being on the same Ocean. Tonight, we advance another hour on our clocks, and will be EST + 10 hours; an unfathomable amount to me…especially because I’ve lived through each of those time changes, I didn’t just get off a jet 10 hours ahead.
If there was a point in the voyage that the gravity of the trip suddenly fell on me, it’s now…sailing northeast towards Mauritius, towards the equator, and further yet from home.
It’s incredible. It’s scary…and it’s ours to accept.
I think I’ve said it before in the blog that people are amazing in their ability to adapt. We must remind ourselves that we’re on a ship sailing the globe…because living here every day makes it all very commonplace and mundane. “There’s dolphins out the port side,”is something you may hear…and yet, it’s spoken with as much oomph as, “I’ll have a grilled cheese sandwich, please.”It’s scary how we can adapt to this life…
Yesterday we had a beautiful sight…the southern coast of Africa out the left side of the ship for a few hours before we turned northeast towards Madagascar. It looked so exotic, so beautiful, so un-touched…just a few hundred yards away. I tried to picture myself sitting on that beach, watching a huge ship pass by…what would I be thinking?
…Anyway, enough thoughtfulness for one evening. Global Studies went well, and everybody’s excited about our last day of class tomorrow before Mauritius.
Love from the Indian,
Greg.
South Africa is a land of complete contrasts. Part of the reason it took me so long to compose this blog entry was because of tests, and being tired, and just being lazy. More importantly, I needed a few days to digest what I had experienced. It was tough. Not in the literal sense of the word; the streets were safe and the sights beautiful, but it was tough on the mind.
South Africa has a disturbing past. All the way from 1905, the British enacted laws to disenfranchise those of color in the country. Blacks were forcefully relocated, denied jobs, denied equality, and forced to carry ‘pass books’with them at all times in the street. Where they lived, where they worked, and what they did were heavily monitored and restricted; it was a system with many parallels to pre-1964 United States. But South Africa’s Apartheid laws did not change in 1964, in fact, they got worse.
It wasn’t until 1994 that those laws were reversed. Led by Nelson Mandela, the country finally realized its new purpose, to provide an equal life for all.
Right. Valiant and beautiful, South Africa’s story is. However, it just doesn’t play out like a fairy tale. Instead, it plays out, as I said, like a land of contrasts. The rich got richer. The beautiful got so much more beautiful. The cities got bigger and grander and more popular (The country host’s the World Cup next year). But something else happened…the poor got poorer. Much. Poorer. And they became juxtaposed, just miles from all of that beauty on an amazing cape peninsula.
The people, though: rich, poor, taxi driver or businessman are strong, proud, and determined. They are friendly and welcoming, and made it devastating to leave their home only 5 days after arriving
---
We were late getting into Cape Town. At 6, I awoke and went up to deck 7 to see…. Nothing. It was the densest fog I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t see 5 feet off of the bow of the ship. The ship’s foghorn blew, as per regulation, every 60 seconds, scaring the be-jesus out of everyone outside…I love the foghorn…it’s so simple…it screams “I’m bigger than you, now get the F out of my way.”
Anyway, it took an extra hour for the fog to lift over the coast, and we could proceed in to the harbor. Coming in was incredible. The sun was rising over table mountain as we headed toward the harbor. Simply beautiful. We could see the world cup stadium, still being built on the coast, and the city bustling to life on an early Wednesday morning. We pushed into the harbor, and were so giddy, because we were parked right in the MIDDLE of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. For those of you like me, from Baltimore, imagine a giant ship 10 feet away from HarborPlace.
The beauty, that day, was short-lived, because I had a busy 1st day ahead of me. I went along with an SAS trip to Khayelitsha, a large township 30 minutes away from downtown Cape Town. What is a township, you ask? It is a place where extremely impoverished South African blacks live. I didn’t know what to expect, and I never could imagine explaining it. I encourage you, as you read this, to google Khayelitsha, or “South African township”so you can get an idea along with my words.
The township is shacks. Corrugated metal shacks with no doors and sometimes no roof. If there is a roof, it’s held down with cinder blocks, tire rims, or whatever heavy metal object will keep the wind from lofting it up. These shacks are constructed with less than a foot between each other, with small streets that run through them. You’re probably imagining a village-like scenario, in which there are 30 shacks or 100 shacks or some equally small number accessible from one main road. That’s what I imagined.
Instead, what I saw was sensory overload. 1.3 million. I’ll say that again. One point three MILLION people live in Khayelitsha. That’s almost 3 of all Baltimore. If you can manage to get to a vantage point, everywhere you look, 360 degrees around as far as the eye can see are corrugated roofs. And that’s it. It’s hard to describe, and harder to write, as anger and sadness flow just by typing this. It hurt to see these people in such conditions, humans, people who were only there because long ago people decided they didn’t deserve what others do. They run stringy wires from electric poles to get electricity that is unsafe and unreliable. Their bathrooms are holes in the ground shared by as many as 10 ‘residences’at a time. The shacks are roughly 5 feet by 10 feet in dimension, and sleep 2-6 people. This is no joke. This is the real thing.
Okay. Break. That was tough.
What I found in the township lifted me truly. There was no sadness, no look of remorse or self pity present anywhere. The children saw our bus and our white skin and ran towards us, tears in their eyes. They hugged and kissed and jumped on us. They longed to see our cameras and our clothes, and to high-five us. The parents, who were sometimes around, smiled and waved. We learned that what we were doing was as beneficial to the township as the experience was to us. My tour guide Jimmy told me that generations of young blacks have been raised to hate their white neighbors for what they’ve done (or watched being done). By being here, Jimmy said, we were helping the young children to break down barriers and trust whites again. We drove throughout Khayelitsha, stopping in different craft markets and mission-houses, as well as one particularly touching story.
Vicki, a resident of Khayelitsha decided to open a bed and breakfast in the township. Over the years, the B&B has grown to 6 beds, and she take 0 profit from the venture. Instead, 100% of the profit goes to her school, which she runs behind the B&B for local kids in her township. She was inspirational. I want to share one thing she said with you all. She came aboard our bus before we got off and told us one thing:
“Please don’t give the children any money. If you want to donate, we love you, and have places for you to donate. But if you give the children change, maybe tomorrow the next group won’t…and they’ll get upset. And maybe instead of asking, they’ll reach for money. Years later, instead of reaching, they might steal, or become violent for money. We don’t ever want that,”Vicki said. She then ended with something that stuck with me the rest of the time in SA, “We may be poor. But we are proud. We are very proud people.”
The rest of the day was spent looking around and touring, before returning to the ship at 6 pm, exhausted from a long day facing a world I denied ever existed.
That night, Chazz, Caroline, Alicia and I had dinner on the waterfront and made friends with our 19-year old waitress Waranita. We planned on seeing her later in the week. That night, we went out to explore Cape Town’s world-renowned nightlife on Long street.
On the second day in CT, I continued my education on Apartheid. I had signed up for a full 10-hour tour of all of the historical sights in Cape Town. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but we made many rounds to some very inspirational places. This included the District Six museum, a tribute to an area of the city which was deemed to be “White only”in which all of its non-‘white’residents were forced out. This included Blacks, Jews, etc. On the outside of the building was a very moving plaque, whose words are below:
“ALL WHO PASS BY
REMEMBER WITH SHAME THE MANY THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED FOR GENERATIONS
IN DISTRICT SIX AND OTHER PARTS OF THIS
CITY, AND WERE FORCED BY LAW TO
LEAVE THEIR HOMES BECAUSE OF THE
COLOUR OF THEIR SKINS
FATHER FORGIVE US”
We were also treated to visiting Robben Island, a small stretch of land just a few miles off of Cape Town’s shores. Robben Island was a prison camp, set up for black criminals and ‘political criminals’who publicly opposed Apartheid. As you can imagine, the prison was corrupt, and prisioners were held for years beyond their supposed discharge date. We were shown around by a former prisoner of Robben Island, which was amazing. To hear his story and have him point out where he slept, ate, and lived for 8 years was incredible. We also saw Nelson Mandela’s cell on the island. On a completely unrelated note, the views of the city from the island were truly something. Of course we took lots of pictures and basked in the sun of the 75 degree day.
When we got back, a bunch of us went to Mitchell’s, a great pub with fun food we never get on the ship (See: nachos, burgers, homebrewed beers). I went to sleep that night history-ed out from my 2 days exploring Cape Town’s past. I felt like I had an amazing time experiencing things that every human should see. I remind myself constantly that I am not on vacation; seeing sometimes painful things is what Semester-At-Sea is all about.
The next day, I focused on Cape Town’s positive future, and it has a lot of it. Alicia, Lia, Caroline and I hailed a great cabby named Kallie who took us to our biggest adventure yet: Table Mountain.
Table Mountain is imposing on Cape Town’s Skyline. It sits directly behind the big buildings and the touristy attractions, and doesn’t apologize for its imposition. It is stunning, a near straight up rock with a completely flat top. Standing 3,563 above the city, It is big, and beautiful.
Yours truly, however, having successfully scaled the likes of Masada in Israel and Uluru in Australia (as well as many a hill in the Camp Tall Timbers, West Virginia), did not worry too much. But at 3,563 feet, I probably should have.
I donned some good shoes, slathered on enough sunscreen to actually visit the sun, pretended to stretch (everybody else was doing it, I wanted to look official), and took off for the trail. We were told 2 hours to the top…I figured it was an overestimation for the less qualified people than myself. What I found, however was one of the hardest climbs ever! It was SO HARD. At one point, It was difficult to lift my foot to take one more step. I hanged with Lia, and we exchanged inspirational speeches when each other faltered. We were determined, however, and we made it. 6 hours later. No, just kidding, but it felt that long. It was such a feeling of accomplishment…I can’t even tell you. I felt so proud to have made it. I gorged myself on blue PowerAdes and sandwiches to replenish what I had lost in sweat for the past 2 hours climbing. The view at the top was well worth the hardships of climbing. We could spot everything from Robben Island in the distance to the MV Explorer, who looked like a toy boat from that height.
I should also mention that Alicia, who stands at an imposing 4 feet 10 inches took a lot of crap from us (me) about how difficult it must be for her to get up the rock. She was, however, the first one to reach the top, and deserves public recognition right here and now.
Afterward, I took a few hours to go to a hotel right by the ship with my laptop to get free internet and connect with people at home. I was able to skype with Mom, Dad, MomMom, Grandpop, Steph and Jenna, as well as Brownstein/Sami and Cara. I tried waking up others (steve) but to no avail. Because the internet was free, I had to pretend like I was there for another reason, so I kept ordering orange Fantas from the bartender so they wouldn’t kick us out. By the end, I probably paid the same amount for Fantas that I would have to an internet café, but…oh well.
Once I was skyped out, I got prepped for something that I am really happy I did- a real live South African RUGBY GAME. Nate, Alicia, Caroline and I went to Newlands stadium to watch the mighty Cape Town Stormers battle the Australia’s Queenstown Reds. I’ve always maintained that you can learn a lot about a place by its sporting events, and I definitely agree. After a few minutes, and a bunch of questions to the friendly South African seated behind me, I picked up the game pretty well. What an insane game…and the crowd was loads of fun to be with. Rugby, for those of you who don’t know, is like football, soccer and kickboxing rolled into one. And when one of them gets injured…they don’t stop. The medics run on the field dodging the players, and treat the injured guy while play continues…no biggie.
We had a great time at the game. As a sports fanatic of all sorts, I really loved to see what other people go nuts for. For the rest of the stay in Cape Town, everyone we talked to was thrilled we made it to ‘the big game.’We returned to Mitchell’s for some drinks with friends later that night, including ‘Fishbowls’and ‘Springboks,’both famous Capetonian drinks.
On our fourth day, Justin, Lia, Alicia, Brandon and I decided we wanted to see the wine lands. Cape Town is famous for their wine, and the locals have been known to get quite annoyed if you compare their pride and joy with that of Napa Valley or France. We got a great cab to stay with us for hire for the entire day for R800 (about 80 US dollars), and he took us deep into the wine country. As we pulled into our first stop, Spier Vineyards, we could immediately tell something was up. There were people directing traffic and tons of activity. Apparently, we happened to show up on their one-day annual wine festival: our luck was amazing. The place was incredible. We were treated to different types of red and white wine as well as live music, unbelievable food and fun activities. One of those was ‘grape stomping,’which is exactly as it sounds. They take giant half-barrels of grapes and put you in it, and you stomp on them to make juice. It was so much fun.
The winery also boasts a cheetah sanctuary, so of course we had to see them. We left Spier after like 3 hours, and went to one other smaller winery called Boschendal. It was so beautiful, surrounded by mountains. We enjoyed some wine-tasting and cheese-eating in a great little table under a huge oak tree. Couldn’t have gotten better if we tried.
Okay, now here was one of the best parts of the trip thus far. My Aunt Barbara had hooked me up with the name and phone number of family in Cape Town. They weren’t there this week, but they, in turn gave me the number of their friends, Mervyn and Ilana who live in Cape Town. With nothing to lose, I emailed the them last week to ask if they would be interested in meeting us for lunch or dinner. Being the amazing people they are, the invited me to Mervyn’s birthday party, which was while we were in the country. And so, that night, Alicia and I were picked up by Bron, their 23-year old daughter and we were taken to their house for a Braai, the South African equivalent of a BBQ.
We had the best time, eating and chatting with them and their friends. Theyw ere so welcoming and receptive towards us, and were such a pleasure. I feel like I got such a good idea of life in South Africa from chatting with everyone. I asked them everything from current politics to living under Apartheid in years past. We shared a great meal and an unbelievable desert with them before catching a cab back to the city. We met up with everyone else and had a great last night in Cape Town at the waterfront and Long st.
My final day was spent shmying through craft markets and city streets. I got lunch and bought souvenirs. I had stopped by a tourist kiosk to ask what I should be doing during my last 12 hours in the city, and everything they had listed, I said “already done.”From Townships to Wine, from Mountains to Islands, I had truly had a great cultural time in Cape Town.
---
When I returned to the ship an hour before on-ship time, It was time to ascend the gangway for the last time in South Africa. It was difficult. Cape Town, more than any other port, was one of discovery and understanding. It is a place with its own unique problems that it must work through. The people and the culture, rich or poor, are positive despite their country’s problems.
Before leaving the land, a few of my friends came to the conclusion that we didn’t we had a stronger urge to remain in this port than any other so far. I think that that stems from the hospitality and the friendly nature of the South Africans, and I really thank our hosts over the past week. Whether they’re Vicki, a poor township B&B owner, or an already well-to-do family, you can tell something is just…different. As the US Consulate said when she boarded the ship on day 1 before debarking to explore the country, “South Africa welcomes you, at a most pivotal time in their history!”That’s true to some extent. The hoopla of independence is long gone, and now it’s just a lot of work ahead of them. It’s a long road ahead for most of the countries on our itinerary, really, and it’s a privelage to see how each culture deals with them. South Africa has a big election coming up, and I hope that some day when I return the contrasts are only visible in the people, not their living conditions.
As our host for the past 35 days, the continent of Africa has taught me much about who I am, and where my culture fits in the world. Africa has not fallen on as much fortune as other places in the world. Their resources, their people, and their lands have been exploited for far too long. It’s important to remember, also, that wars and genocide still exist on the continent even today. Still, the biggest lesson I’ve gotten is from its people. They are…human. From the Moroccans who ushered me into their shop to the bus driver in Namibia who spoke an ancient language with ‘clicks,’they were like you and I. They were happy, probably happier with less than most Americans with more. The news tends to view Africa as an exotic place; we shouldn’t be surprised, CNN asserts, that genocide is still occurring. It’s not exotic, it’s just different…but these are still people, wonderful people who are welcoming and accepting. To them, I apologize eternally for disregarding them in my mind for 20 years, and hope never to do so again.
And to the Atlantic Ocean, which we left officially last night…I’ll see you in May.
Thanks for reading,
Greg.
PS. We pushed forward an hour yesterday and an hour again tonight. We are now EST + 9 hours.
First, I know I still haven’t posted my South Africa blog. I started writing it today, and I’ll have it done tomorrow. I had to postpone finishing it because of a significant event on the ship that is tomorrow: our first global studies exam.
Global studies is the class taken by everybody aboard the explorer every day. It is all encompassing and highly detailed. Most of the time, it’s pretty interesting as well, as it follows our itinerary and focuses on each country.
However, today has been less than great, since we have the exam looming tomorrow. For that reason, much of the day that we weren’t in class we spent studying…or trying to at the very least.
We were delayed 12 hours coming out of Cape Town and didn’t pull out until 0800 this morning. We were told, however, that as long as the weather cooperates, our arrival into Mauritius in 4 days should be unchanged. Speaking of weather…we can feel a lot of it. This afternoon, we officially rounded the Cape of Good Hope, marking the southern-most point in our voyage. We are heading north once again, and for the first time, we are NOT in the Atlantic! Hello, Indian Ocean! The Cape of Good Hope is notorious for jostling ships of all sizes as two major oceans collide together, and we’re certainly feeling it.
For now, wish me luck on tomorrow’s exam, and I’ll try and get that blog out afterwards.
Talk Tomorrow,
Greg.
I've had an amazing 5 days in Cape Town. I will be sitting down tonight and tomorrow and writing about it all so you can get an idea... but I did everything and had a fantastic time.
In the mean time, the Explorer's departure from CT is currently delayed due to high winds.
We've been informed that this will not affect our arrival in Mauritius 5 days from now. We did hear, however, that the weather between here and there is pretty crappy and the waves should be nasty. Should be lots of fun.
Expect a long blog entry sometime today or tomorrow.
Greg
Hey all,
Just wanted to pop in and say everything is amazing here. The MV Explorer is berthed right in the middle of downtown Cape Town. The weather's warm, the people are nice, and the activities have been great.
I won't write at length now, but expect some details on what i've been up to later tonight or tomorrow.
Best!
Greg
Well, as you can read above, my experience in Namibia was one for the books. I loved it. As amazing as it was, however, it seemed that the second that Namibia disappeared from the horizon out the ship, our next port took the forefront in our mind: CAPE TOWN.
Tomorrow morning at 0800 we arrive in Cape Town, South Africa. A town steeped in history, Cape Town is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The city is situated along a peninsula that stretches just west of the Cape of Good Hope, the southern-most point in Africa. Cape Town is also the future site of the FIFA 2010 World Cup, so you can imagine what type of effect the games will have on the city.
We spent the day today preparing for CT, sitting through cultural and logistical pre-port. Through it all, we can tell that CT is still deep within trying to oust itself from its past. With its first democratic elections only 14 years ago, the results of Apartheid are still prevalent. Blacks are still highly underrepresented, and problems with the education system lead many educated professionals to leave the country, known as ex-patriots, or ‘expats’. HIV is also a common problem, though less so than in Namibia. As our dean put it this morning, though, every country has its problems, and none should be judged for trying to overcome them. As always, I hope to keep an ear to the ground to compare what we’ve talked about with what is actually seen.
As far as ports are concerned, this one will probably be the most beautiful- that is the area immediately outside the ship. CT is situated on the coast, nestled within 3 mountains, the biggest and most famous of which is Table Mountain- which I plan to scale on Friday. It’s called this because fog often sits on it’s flat top, looking like a tablecloth on a kitchen table. Immediately outside the ship is a beautiful waterfront complete with shops, restaurants and travelers necessities. Most of the time we port in industrial marinas, so this will be a welcome relief.
With my 5 days in Cape Town, I plan to do it all. Here’s my sched for now:
Wed: Explore the port area in the morning, then do a SAS trip at 1330- “exploring a south African township.”Townships are empovershed areas where previously disenfranchised blacks live. They are supposed to be unbelievable to the eyes of privelaged people like myself. I am both excited and nervous for what I’ll see. At night, I plan to explore Cape Town’s many restaurants and its nightlife
Thurs: 0800- SAS trip called “Apartheid in Cape Town”This is a 10-hour trip that will take us to all of the important historical landmarks in Cape Town including the District Six museum and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for over 30 years.
Friday: 0900- climb table mountain with friends. After, we plan to take Chapman’s Peak Drive (google it, it’s an insane road cut through a mountain) to Hout Bay to enjoy authentic South African food while looking across a bay at the skyline (tres cute). Then an SAS trip to a township for an evening BBQ.
Saturday: Wine tasting tour in the vineyards outside of Cape Town, traveling for the day to Camp’s Bay. After that, possibly meeting up with a family friend who may be hosting me/friends for dinner.
Sunday: Scuba Dive, tour the city of Cape Town before leaving that night late.
---
It should be a great few days. And I’m looking forward to it. As always on land, feel free to call me, I will have my cell with me. My blog should be updated mostly daily, as I’ll return to the ship each night. If it’s not, fear not, I’ll catch you up in the next few days.
Thanks for all of your emails. I can’t wait to hear from you tomorrow.
Love from S. Africa!
Greg.
P.S. Anonymous, thanks for your compliment. Please email me at GMLessans@semesteratsea.net. I’d love to know your connection to the SAS program.
Like any port, Namibia began far before descending the gangway and hitting land.
For me, it began at 6:30 in the morning, when I woke up and went up to the 7th deck to watch us pulling into port. We were already in the channel, and layed out in front of me was the Namibian coast. Somebody remarked to me that Namibia may be the most “exotic”of ports we call on; that is, the least likely we would visit on our own.
Namibia is a land of amazement and wonder. It’s the type that makes you question what you’re seeing; whether it’s real or just something you thought up will looking in a coffee book somewhere. But it was real, and there it was. A very small port city on the coast with rolling red sand dunes as high as Utah mountains behind it.
--
I was up early to watch, and then to greet. Along with a few other ambassadors, I waited at the top of the gangway for 3 members of the American Embassy to come aboard and brief the ship on safety, politics and travel in Namibia. It was an honor to have them on board, and very interesting: this was the first group of Americans I’ve met who were not part of the ship. We small-talked while they got ready for their talk, and then they spoke to the shipboard community. I grabbed my bags, waited for the announcement that my passport was ready, grabbed it and went.
At the bottom of the Gangway was a group of 20 or so young Namibian girls who were part of a choir in Windhoek (the capital of the country). They were there performing for us, dancing and singing. The trip from the capital to our ship to sing, a 3 hour journey, was organized by the Catholic Aids mission, and represented by 8 or so older white Englishmen and women who the kids affectionately called “grandma”and “grandpa.”I spoke to one of those guys, named Mike who was just celebrating his 70th birthday. We chatted at length about our respective trips, the ups and downs about Namibia and the girls he chaperoned to our ship. The girls were to board the MV Explorer to tour the ship and have lunch after the madness of disembarkation ended, and Mike told me how excited they were for it.
“We were trying to explain to them on the ride here what it was they were going to see: kind of a mix between a school-house and a boat, but they couldn’t grasp the idea of a ship this large, it just didn’t exist in their minds”Mike said. Around us on the dock, with the hot Namibian sun over us, the girls had stopped singing and instead were mingling with fellow SAS-ers, hugging, taking pictures, exchanging names and handshakes and kisses.
Mike, with some emotion in his voice continued, “you all have no idea how influential you are, just being here, on these girls.”
“They’re just as influential on us,”I replied. It was a touching moment, a very human moment, as we realized how wrapped in each other’s experience we both were. Even though we had met not a few moments before, it was like we knew each other forever.
I said goodbye to Mike and the girls, and headed off the pier to begin my safari.
---
You can tell a lot about a country from the first few moments on land. Namibia was amazing. In 2 minutes I realized how amazing the people were. Even the immigration officers (notoriously angry people, like the post office) were smiling and excited to see us.
We walked off the pier and found the Wild-Dog Safari caravan of small busses, and found our bus, bus #5. I boarded the bus-van-safari-mobile and met my two guides, Benny and Manfred. Both born and raised in Namibia. I stowed my bag in the back and established a seat and an area. I had no idea what crazy events would transpire right within the bus at the time.
Once we had everyone, we took off, and our first destination was right in town: ATMs and Grocery Store. We got some Namibian dollars, and then headed to Shop-Rite, the big discount grocery store to stock up for our journey. I was methodical in my shopping as usual. I got 2 GIANT 5-liter bottles of water, some chips and snacks, and of course with prices this low (approx USD$ 3.00 for a 6-pack), our bus had to stock up on some authentic Namibian beer as well. It’s all for the culture, as I’m sure you know.
After getting back in the bus, we got our first surprise. We were told since leaving the US that the drive from Walvis Bay to Etosha national park was about 4 hours. I said nonchalantly to Benny, our driver, what time he expects us to set up camp. He replied, “not long, man, not long, I’d say 7 or 8 hours, not long at all.”Everyone looked around at eachother. Did we just hear 7 or 8 hours?
I’ll skip a bit. It took 9 and a half.
You see, Namibians have short attention spans, which means approximately every hour, on the hour, a 15 minute break was in order where we could pee, buy more crap at gas stations, and walk around doing that whole stretching our legs bit. It was funny, after like 5 stops, Benny was to pull off and the bus told him in so many words, “none of us have to pee! Keep going!”He laughed, and then made a right into the station.
At one point in the drive, Manfred turned around violently, “CLOSE THE WINDOWS! CLOSE THE CEILING, MAN!”I looked out the windshield and saw why. It looked like the road stopped in the distance. Not so, it was just a WALL of rain. We hit it like a ton of bricks and it was the loudest pelts of rain I’ve ever heard. We were in an authentic African rain storm. ‘we’re safe here in the bus,‘I thought to myself…and then: Drip. Drop. SPLASH, the ceiling was leaking like a faucet in about 10 different places, most notoriously in a water-fall like stream above ME. I grabbed my bag and chucked it to a dry part of the bus and took cover in the back with my other bus-mates. We were all soaked, on a bus, within minutes.
Everything was going great. Conversation was flowing, people were drifting in and out of sleeping for a few minutes here, a few minutes there. I had dried out and was in great spirits, laughing about the one ‘glitch’in our drive.
Then, all of a sudden…quiet. The bus’engine was notoriously loud, and when we drove, we shook in a violent manner similar only to, well, the ship’s engine. This was weird. I could hear myself think. I glanced up at the rearview mirror and saw Bennys eyes darting back and forth between the road and the dashboard…something was up.
We coasted a mile or so before momentum gave up and Benny pulled off the road. He turned the key and we heard that famous noise that nobody wants to hear. “click-click-click-click-click…nothing”We were broken down. In Namibia. In the middle of nowhere. Optimistically, I yelled up to Benny, “How far are we from Etosha??”We had been driving for at least 5 hours now, we couldn’t be much further.
“Not far, man, not far, only about 3, 4 hours, not far,”Benny replied.
The bus was pooped, and within a few minutes, all 8 other busses in our caravan had met up with us. The 14 of us, affectionately known now as “refugees”were split up into the other busses and continued our drive. I ended up on a water cooler in bus 9, and couldn’t feel my ass for the majority of the trip. It was ironically funny…all we could do was laugh!
To make matters worse, Etosha closes their gates at sunset. It’s simply dangerous to be driving in a park larger than Yellowstone without natural light in the sky. Oh, did I mention, lions, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, etc. are in the park? Anyway, the sun was rapidly descending in the sky, and we were nowhere near Etosha. Whether or not they would wait to shut the gates was unknown.
Long story short, we converted the bus to a mobile dance party to have some fun. It was great, and hilarious, and before we knew it the driver got on the mic. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Etosha National Park.” It was pouring down rain, cold, and dark, but we didn’t care. We were there. We made it. We had to pitch camp in the pouring rain. My tentmates Hannah and Caroline and I worked diligently to get it up fast and get it up right, and then shut the thing and refused to go in it until we found a way to keep it dry and sterile. As some of you know, my Dad’s version of camping is staying in a Holiday Inn, so my knowledge of camping has been learned, not genetically passed down. What I have learned, however, saved us: The first rule of camping is keep the tent sterile. And sterile it remained.
Benny and Manfred finally made it to us with the bus, and sat us down to make dinner over the campfire. It was difficult in the rain, but amazing. He made pasta and Namibian pot pie…one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. We were talking about it the next day. After hanging with the other busses, laughing and chatting, we finally and quickly got in the tent, rolled out our sleeping bags and fell asleep. I slept like a baby.
When we awoke, the rain continued, but slowed greatly. We were up at 545, ate, and then headed out for the day to “game drive,”drive around the park and stop to look at the wondrous animals that would be passing by. There’s not much I can write to describe the experience. Certainly pictures will help, but I’ll tell you this. We saw Oryx, Springboks, Wildebeests, Zebras, Giraffes, and even a lion under a tree in the distance, among hundreds of less recognizable, but equally distinguishable animals and birds. It was not a zoo, or anything close. We were on their turf, and many times they made sure we knew that. It was an amazing, amazing day.
I should mention that even though the weather cleared and was absolutely beautiful and sunny outside for almost the entire day, our luck did remain. When we pulled in for lunch, we snagged something and got a flat tire. Poor Manfred, he had to change it. I offered to help, but in true Namibian friendly fashion, he would hear nothing of the sorts. He and some other guides got their hands dirty and changed the tire.
That night, we returned to camp to a completely different scene from the night before. The camp was beautiful in the light. We swam, showered, visited the store and just hung out. There was a tower in the middle of camp. We got some wine and climbed up its spiraling staircase in preparation for a sunset, what would be probably the greatest sunset I’ve seen. There, at the top of the middle of nowhere, with nothing on any horizon but trees and grasslands, was a 360-degree sunset. Every cloud on every side of me was glowing with a different shade of red, or purple, or pink. We looked around, our senses unable to process what we were experiencing.
The camping experience for 2 days was amazing. We truly got a taste of the high African landscape, and through my many conversations with the guides, I felt like I had a great chance to connect with Namibians. They are truly wonderful people. They surprised me with their optimism, vitality and excitement about life. They took every one of our many bumps in the road in stride and said “Anything can happen in Africa, no worries.”
--
Monday morning, we awoke early for our trek down south back to Walvis Bay and the Ship. Compared to the two days before it, it was largely uneventful. Uneventful was something we knew little about in Namibia thus far, so it was a welcome relief. We still stopped every few minutes, it seemed, and we slowly made our way south. Out the window, I found myself just looking out at- nothing, passing trees and desert, wondering how I got there.
As we approached Swakopmund, we enjoyed some bag lunches on the bus, and then Benny treated us with one extra stop on the way back to the ship. He pulled off at one of the dunes on which we stopped, stretched, took pictures and ran up and down. Stopping there must be like when somebody from Hawaii sees snow for the first time. I have never seen or stepped on or processed literal mountains of sand…it was so cool.
Benny and Manfred drove us back to the ship and we all hugged goodbye. They had been great hosts for the past few days, and I truly appreciated their hospitality.
---
As I said, much of what is learned in each port is from the first five minutes. This country is beyond explanation. The kindness and excitement in the people’s expressions is palpable. It’s a part of the world that has seen heartbreak again and again, with problems incomprehensible to countries like the USA. As one Namibian said to me, “how can we worry about the economy when 40% of our citizens die from HIV?”He was right.
Every single Namibian I met both on safari and in the towns that we stopped in made it a point to shake my hand and introduce himself to me. I hope that this continues. With its un-tapped paradise and a growing tourism industry, Namibia has one of those “in 10 years this place could be like The Atlantis,”landscapes, which worries me a bit. They should capitalize on their location and beauty, but I hope their culture remains. It’s hard to do in this world, but they have a good, unique happiness going that truly surprised our ship. I hope that in 10 years from now, students aboard the MV Explorer II or whatever it’s called then are as equally as impressed by the vitality of the country’s people, instead of looking at the country as a weekend destination. Only time, however, will tell.
In the mean time, I’m truly grateful to experience their country through my eyes, I truly knew nothing about it before.
--
As we pulled out of the port, the port-hands were right below us to throw our ropes in the sea and release us from the country. This is a fairly routine, and the amount of people who make it their business to be out there on the top deck has dropped off, but my friends and I are generally there. On this occasion, the entire immigration/customs team, port-hands and the entire port staff lined the dock, yelling, waving and reaching through car windows to honk their horns. I’ve never seen anything like it. They were so sad to see us go and were truly giving us a great send off, rivaled only by our parents in Nassau.
Captain Jeremy, in return blew the ship’s fog horn “beep beep ba beep beep….. beep beep.”As we pulled out, I locked eyes with someone down below, and yelled “thank you for having us!!!”to him.
He looked up, put his hand on his heart and screamed, “Thank you for *coming* my friend! See you soon!”
We were picking up speed, and a few seconds later, he was gone from sight. A few minutes later, so was Namibia.
Hi all
My apologies to those who tried to call. I had zero service with my cell provider in Namibia.
I am back on the ship safe and sound after the most amazing 3-day stretch I've had in awhile. From Lions to Zebras to broken down vehicles and being caught in freak African rainstorms, this story has it all. I will sit down tonight/tomorrow and compose it all and then post it on the blog, but I'll spoil the ending for you: I'm safe, happy, and very smelly back on the Explorer.
Time for shower, food and sleep. Talk to you later.
Greg.
There’s a feeling that overtakes the Explorer the night before we port. We spend so much time at sea that we stop realizing it. When the seas get rocky, we don’t whine, we just adapt. If, on occasion, we get tired of the dining choices- nobody complains. Because complaining just makes it worse; actually admitting a problem is the worst thing to do, we just grin and bear it. Why? There’s no other option. We are on a ship. In the middle of nowhere, and we all realize that. At home, it’s easy to bitch about one restaurant or one activity. Of course it’s easy! There’s a million other, better things you can be doing! Here, that alternative fails to exist…and in it’s place is a weird peace. A calm feeling that, “it’s out of my hands. I can either smile, or not. Either way, I’ll still be on the same ship.”
The night before landfall, however, that tends to change. With land, endless opportunities present themselves, and endless dangers as well. No longer will we be safe in our own clean, English-speaking, medically-staffed ship. It’s back into the real world, where nobody looks out for you except you. Of course, it’s no different from normal life in the states, but I promise you that when you’re taken away from it for 8 days at a time, you really understand it when you head back ashore.
The feeling’s palpable. It’s on every face, every white-board message outside every cabin: “Namibia Tomorrow!”and on every bulletin board. Our next port is close, and everybody knows it.
---
We had a great logistical pre-port tonight to prepare for Namibia. There, we hear all the logistics of the day to come. You all at home probably have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’ll share some of the details:
-Berthed in Walvis Bay Harbor Berth 8
- Docked on Starboard side
-Gangway on Deck 5
-Customs officials on at 0800, Ship cleared by 1000. No face-to-face interaction required
-Moderate security risk. Pickpocketing and tourist rip-offs and scams common, violent crime not really a worry.
-Currency: Namibian Dollars, 1:9.9 USD. USD not accepted generally
-Language: English primarily, Afrikans and German 2nd and 3rd.
One of the PAs also spoke about health requirements. I’ve already started taking my Malaria medication in preparation for my safari, and will continue it daily all the way a week past departure from Namibia. The water, he informed us, is of course unpotable and shouldn’t be used.
These pre-ports are the culmination of excitement, it’s when we really get pumped. And it helps that our MC is Luke “the voice”who is hilarious and keeps our attention. Honestly, we just laugh our butts off for an hour while pumping ourselves up for Namibia.
I had a great afternoon today, tutoring one of the dependent children (a 14-year old) in Algebra for 8th graders. He's a smart kid, and got really interested in Mathematics that was way beyond the scope of 8th grade algebra, like differential equations and calculus. I found myself excited explaining the complex stuff, stuff that I take for granted as common knowledge but are actually, now that I revisit them, pretty hard to wrap your head around the first time. I credit all of my teachers and professors throughout the years for preparing me well time after time... it was fun to put that to action for awhile today.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be up at 0630 to watch us roll into port, and then will change into nice clothes to welcome our US Diplomats on board. After they start speaking to the ship, I’ll go change, grab my bags and wait for the ship to clear, and then it’s off to Etosha National park for 3 days!!!
Until then, I hope all is well. I will be sure to update upon my return to the ship on Monday.
Best as always,
Greg.
There are members of the shipboard community younger than our next port-of-call. The country of Namibia, a state not much bigger than Texas on the Western coast of Africa was given independence on March 21, 1990. In the US, Namibia would just be getting its drivers license.
Namibia has come about through compromise. After the atrocities of colonialism on the continent, thousands of tribes were left wondering what to do when their invaders left. The country that would later become Namibia decided the only way to have a functioning political entity would be to put the past behind it entirely. It adopted English as its official language, claiming “it was the only language without blood behind it.”
Namibians are young. The average age of its 2 million citizens is 20 years of age. They are, according to one lecturer this evening, eager to join the world marketplace and welcoming to their country. Tourism is building in Namibia, but not huge. Last semester, in Fall 2008, the MV Explorer called on the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia for the first time. We will be doing the same on Saturday. Unbelievably, between the two shiploads that the Explorer is bringing to the Namibian coast, Semester-At-Sea counts for 10% of American tourism to Namibia. I’ll repeat that. SAS has contributed 10% of annual American tourism to the country of Namibia. Amazing.
Namibia is a land of amazing natural wonders. The coastal town of Walvis Bay is small, but a gem on an otherwise skeleton-coast of Africa. To the east lie Namibia’s most famous landmarks, the towering sand dunes of the Namib desert. These skyscraper-high sand dunes are result of millions of years of red-sand storms, and offer natural habitats for thousands of unique organisms, as well as a lot of fun for tourists looking to ski, sled, and 4-wheel down them. To the north and east is “the bush,”the African highlands home to the big game. Within it, is Etosha National Park, where I’ll be heading.
Namibia’s concern for the environment is unspeakable. It is the first country in human history to include care for the natural habitats into its state’s constitution. Additionally, 14% of all available land in Namibia is a national park.
The country is not without hardship, however. 50% of Namibians make less than USD $2.00 a day, and food shortages are widespread. Still, speakers who have spent time in Namibia and our interport lecturer insist that the spirit of the people is alive and well and ready to continue to work to build a better country. I’ll let you know how I think they live up to their reputation.
---
Today was great, I took my first Biomedical Ethics exam and watched a really sad movie called Wit about living with cancer. I highly recommend it. It’s with Emma Thompson and Christopher Lloyd, and most of the class was in tears by the end of the film. I also spent a bunch of time finishing my first ‘culture packet’to be sent to Mrs. Berman’s 6th grade class in Virgina. I don’t want to spoil anything for them, but there is a DVD included!
Also, for valentines day, a bunch of our friends got together and exchanged names of eachother. By tomorrow, we have to come up with a nice valentines day gift: poem, song, card, etc. Whatever is liable to be the most embarrassing and most fun at the same time. Tomorrow, after logistical pre-port we are going to get together and exchange.
Everything is amazing here on the explorer. Things are moving a bit faster than I’d like, but that’s how it tends to work, I guess. Namibia’s right on the horizon and S. Africa is right after.
Oh, and we crossed the Prime Meridian today. We are now in the South-eastern hemisphere! We advance one hour tonight, and are now EST + 6 hours.
Love,
Greg.
It’s a shame to think that there is such thing as normal on the ship. It really saddens me, to tell you the truth.
Truthfully though, however, we all adapt, and we have more than adapted to life at sea. It’s crazy to think that we are already just a few days away from Namibia, and our 2nd great ocean cross is almost complete. I am trying harder than I ever have to stay in the moment and not think about the future, but it’s so hard. With 24 days already behind me, I can’t help but think how fast this is moving; and I just want to take each day, each hour for its own worth.
So I’ll try.
Namibia. It’s going to be SO. MUCH. FUN. I am lucky enough to be part of the intercultural committee of the Ambassadors’s club on board, which means that I’ll have the privilege of welcoming aboard a US Diplomat at 0730 in the morning after porting in Namibia. I’ll be meeting him on the gangway, touring him around the ship and then introducing him to the shipboard community. He (or she) will be sharing with us some up-to-date pertinent information about Namibia before we disembark the ship.
Then, it’s straight to a bus where I am starting a 3-day safari in Etosha National Park, roughtly 4 hours away from Walvis Bay where the ship will be berthed. Etosha is widely recognized as one of the best game parks in the world. Lions, Tigers, Zebras, Elephants, Hippos and others will be our audience as we spend days driving around in open jeeps touring the area. At night, we will be staying in tents in the middle of the African highlands. From what I’ve heard, the camp will be protected by guns since the animals are constantly out…it should be an amazing experience. Also, the area in Etosha is known as one of the greatest places to see stars. I can’t tell you how excited I am.
We’ll be there for 3 days and two nights, and then return to the ship. Ahhh. So pumped.
I’ll be back tomorrow with our cultural pre-port information including the info we learn about Namibian culture. In Global Studies, we are learning about the history of the African continent. As you all know, it is a troubled place with a troubled past. As one of our professors put it today, “it’s easy to scramble an egg, but not as easy to un-scramble it.”
To actually walk among the history will be pretty cool.
Good night.
Greg.
I got some interesting facts and figures about H20 and the MV Explorer via an email the other day. A bunch of you have been emailing me and asking me things like these, so enjoy! --Greg ---------- 1. How much water can the ship hold? Do we enter ports with a full storage of water? 542.6 m3 143196 gallons / Yes, that is always the goal, but not always possible if short distance in between ports for onboard production. 2. How much water is used on a daily basis at sea and can we get comparison figures for in port? Average consumption at sea 285 m3 / 75000 gallons per day In port an average of 120 m3/31500 gallons per day if reduced amount of passenger onboard or passengers adhere to water conservation The ship is using osmotic generators to produce water; this operation can only be done at sea in non polluted waters, at a certain depth of water and distance fro shore and underway. 5. How soon after leaving port can we begin making water? Depending of above criteria - average 1 hour 7. Is there a certain range of water usage that is considered acceptable for a ship this size with this many people on it? (They're looking for a range we can set as a target goal.) The less the better, below 120 m3/31500 gallons per day is a good target. But keep in mind it’s not the fresh water consumption that is the issue, it is the waste water generation. 8. What happens to the water we use - our waste water? There are two kinds of waste waters accumulated from the accommodation: Gray Water: The term grey water is used on the ships to refer to the wastewater that is generally incidental to the operation of the ship: drainage from dishwashers, shower, laundry, bath and washbasin drains. Its discharged at sea only when underway and 4 nautical miles away from the nearest land or such other distance agreed with authorities having jurisdiction or provided by local laws except in an emergency, where geographically limited. The discharge must be made when the ship is at a speed of not less than 6 knots, this standard is set to ensure the dispersion and the mix of these discharges is the best, helped by the action of the propellers since they’re discharged approximately 10-14 feet below the surface. In port GW have to be kept on holding tanks or discharged ashore to reception facility where possible. Black Water: Definition Black water is the wastewater that comes from the toilets, urinals, drainage from medical premises (dispensary, sick bay, etc.) via wash basins, wash tubs and scuppers. Handling Method It is separated in special holding tanks from other wastewaters before processing and/or discharge. It is treated before discharge using a Marine Sanitation Device approved by the US Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Marine Sanitation Devices use physical, chemical and/or biological processes to allow effluent from the process to be discharged with characteristics that are similar to effluents from conventional wastewater treatment plants ashore. After treated, black water can be discharged at sea only when the ship is more than 4 nautical miles away from the nearest land or greater distance agreed with authorities having jurisdiction or provided by local laws (if not treated not less than 12 NM) and underway making way at not less than 6 knots. 9. What is the exact number of people on the ship? 844 passengers and 203 crew
4. Why can't we make water in port? Might be helpful to people who don't know...
At 3:45ish, we crossed the line.
To answer the question that I've been getting a lot of, yes, it's hot. Very hot, but not stifling. In just a few days time, the average temperature is near 80 degrees during sunlight, and it's been very humid.
At 12 noon, the explorer turned on all four of her engines to 85% for the first time in the voyage. The MV Explorer was ranked number one of passenger ships of her size for speed. This is the fastest cruise ship in the world. And today, we were pushing upwards of 25 knots. The wake behind us is enormous, the water spewing from the 4 engines looks like a huge tail chasing us from behind. The result? We're hauling ass, which is good, because we have over 2,000 NM to go before porting in NAMIBIA on this Saturday.
With Neptune day behind us and a certificate of Shellback (not a joke) in hand, we rejoined classes this morning. Sleeping on the deck last night was a great experience, and I've definitely learned a lot about it. Bradee, Nate, Caroline and I picked the 7th deck, all the way forward since it was darkest and we could see the most stars. However, this is only a few yards from the bow of the ship, and the wind is immense. I would be woken up randomly by my sleeping bag whipping me in the face- not so fun. After fighting with it for a few hours, we finally succumbed and went to sleep in our cabins at about 3ish. Next time, we'll sleep aft and it will be much better.
For tonight, though, I'm gonna try an old fashioned bed-sleep. I should enjoy it while I have it, because while in Namibia later in the week, I will be completely bed-less. What could I possibly be doing that prohibits sleeping in a bed for 3 days, you ask? You'll have to stay tuned until tomorrow, and I'll spell it all out for you!
FYI, we had gained an hour from Spain and were then EST + 5. Since we are alingned with Nigeria now though, we lose an hour of sleep tonight, and return to EST + 6 hours.
Goodnight from the Southern Hemisphere.
Greg.
Just not 5 minutes ago, the Explorer 'Crossed the Line.'
The captain came on and told everyone that we were about a minute away and that the ship would sound its horn at 0 degrees. He also joked "due to the surf and sea conditions, it is unlikely you will be able to see the actual line this afternoon."
It's beautiful, 80 degrees and humid, and as of 5 minutes ago, it's officially Summer. I have one more class for the day in 15 minutes, and then off til tomorrow morning. I napped a lot of the day away after a long night on the deck last night under the stars. I'll tell you all about it later.
Just wanted to share with you the good news.
--Greg
--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
Just not 5 minutes ago, the Explorer 'Crossed the Line.'
The captain came on and told everyone that we were about a minute away and that the ship would sound its horn at 0 degrees. He also joked "due to the surf and sea conditions, it is unlikely you will be able to see the actual line this afternoon."
It's beautiful, 80 degrees and humid, and as of 5 minutes ago, it's officially Summer. I have one more class for the day in 15 minutes, and then off til tomorrow morning. I napped a lot of the day away after a long night on the deck last night under the stars. I'll tell you all about it later.
Just wanted to share with you the good news.
--Greg
I was awoke with a startle this morning. At 8 o’something, the sound of whistles, drums and voices jolted me from my slumber. All of a sudden, they got louder, and louder, and louder until I was awake. I ran outside to see a barrage-slash-parade of tribally dressed crew members. They had war paint and whistles, carried maracas and drums and were hell bent on making as much noise as they could, awaking us and telling us to scurry to the 7th deck. They made several passes, banging on my door each time until I was awake (and snapping pictures of their parade down the hall).
Suddenly, Luke “the voice”Jones came on the PA.
“Attention all Pollywogs. Attention all Pollywogs. Report to Deck 7 Aft immediately.”
It was Neptune day.
--
Neptune day is an ancient tradition. It dates back to the 1600s aboard naval vessels, and even before that on older ships. As ships would cross across 0 Degrees latitude, the equator, those who had never made the jump across the line would be initiated into the ranks of those who have. They would go from being pollywogs to shellbacks. In the old days, ships initiation ceremonies were harsh and dangerous. They would dip sailors 40 feet below the ship before brinigng them up gasping for air, only to do it again. In recent years, though, it has simmered out to be more of a friendly welcome. Each ship does it differently, but they all do it.
SAS has followed the same ritual since its inception in 1963, and we were about to be the next in the line. Luke, along with anyone who had ‘crossed the line’before (the shellbacks) were dressed head to toe in white sheets and war paint, tridents and fishes in hand. They led us around the pool where the ceremonies began. Luke introduced King Neptune Rex and his queen sat on their royal throne, complete with the seargant-at-arms (Joe Brascas, our conduct officer), and other royal helpers. Unbelievably, King Neptune was played by the Captain of the MV Explorer Jeremy Kingston. This is amazing. Capt. Jeremy was head-to-toe in green paint, topless and in a hula skirt with a giant trident and a big blue ring we were to kiss.
Now, life at sea revolves around the captain. Capt. Jeremy is the president, the commander-in-chief, the boss, the ultimate authority at sea. When you see him, he is always in uniform, and you tend to sit up straighter, greet him appropriately, and pay your respects. He is your captain. To see him in character as King Neptune was amazing. He is so gracious for doing that for us, and truly made the day for us all.
The initation went like this. We would step in the wade-pool and ‘fish guts’were doused over our heads. This was only like 1/8 fish guts, and the rest foul smelling concoctions mixed with oatmeal and blue food dye. It was to look and smell as gross as possible. After being dumped on that by that stuff, we had to kiss a huge fish on the lips, and then bow to the king and queen and kiss their rings respectively. Finally, we jumped into the pool as pollywogs and emerged to be knighted by Seargent Joe as shellbacks. The whole thing was a bunch of fun to watch and to take part in. After this, many elected to get their heads shaved down to nothing. While I decided against it, many of the guys and a bunch of the girls too went bald. Much of the hair was donated to locks for love and other charities, and I really respect them for having the guts and confidence to shave down. They all looked great, by the way.
One of the coolest parts of the day was a conversation I had with a passenger who just boarded the ship in Casablanca, and is sailing with us through to Cape Town. He is an alum who sailed back in 1984, and was invited to share a portion of the voyage with us. I asked him what the similarities to his Neptune day were. He smiled and told me that it was the exact same, nothing has changed a bit. I think that’s amazing.
We didn’t actually cross the equator today (remember our scheduling conflict a few days ago). The cross will occur tomorrow late afternoon. I’ll be outside for it, and the captain plans on blowing the horn in celebration. It will be a very cool experience.
As a note: I’m writing this from the 7th deck forward, looking out over the bow of the ship fighting through the waters. Africa’s to my left, and the United States to my right about 4000 miles or so. It’s just after midnight, and because of the great weather, a bunch of friends and I are sleeping out here. We spotted the big dipper an hour or two ago, and realized that this will be the last time we see it before re-entering the northern hemisphere in a few weeks. It will be great to sleep out here, and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Today was one of those days where everybody took stock of how amazing this is, and how lucky we are to be here. I have to pinch myself every few minutes or so to make sure I’m not dreaming. And that’s not a joke.
Love from the Atlantic.
Greg.
So, as you probably know, tomorrow the ship will CROSS THE EQUATOR!!!! Today at dinner, Luke "the voice"jones came on and said the following:
"In a world defined by lines, one is bigger than them all... the equator. Where will you be when you cross the line?"
The answer is tomorrow; NEPTUNE DAY.
Here's the email we got today in our inboxes from the ship. I'll write all about it tomorrow.
Love Greg
---
SUBPOENA to all POLLYWOGS,
You are hereby requested to appear before the ROYAL COURT OF THE REALM OF NEPTUNE, in the DISTRICT OF EQUATORIUS, because it has been brought to the attention of HIS HIGHNESS, NEPTUNE REX through his trusty SHELLBACKS, that the good ship M/V EXPLORER is about to cross the equator and enter those waters accompanied by passengers who have not acknowledged the sovereignty of the RULER OF THE DEEP.
THEREFORE be it known to all Slimy Pollywogs that The Royal, King NEPTUNE REX, Supreme Ruler of all citizens of the deep, will, with his Secretary and Royal Court, meet in full session on board the offending ship M.V. EXPLORER on the 9th day of February, A.D. 2009 at 0900 on Deck 7 aft, to hear your defense.
Regards,
-King Neptune and His Royal Court
In addition: All pollywogs with hair longer than 8 inches who wish to donate their hair to a worthwhile charity, should do so BEFORE undergoing the initiation ceremony, as only clean hair is able to be donated.
If there are any pollywogs who have brought hair clippers on board, your services are hereby solicited by King Neptune and his Royal Barber. You may help by bringing your clippers to DECK 7 aft, tomorrow morning.
We must be heading south, because the ship is being welcomed into a new climate. For the first time in recent memory, the waters have calmed, the sun is out longer, and just a hint of warmth flows in the air outside. It’s been crisp and chilly since we approached Cadiz back in January, and now, just 2 days from the equator, it’s getting nice and toasty.
Classes have picked up. I spent awhile studying for a quiz I have in my evolution class. It’s kind of funny; the professors know how hard it is to balance everything, for them too, but they do a good job of doing their jobs and teaching the material. I really enjoy my classes. Particularly my biomedical ethics class. The professor does a great job of keeping things relevant and flowing, and the discussions are always heated and interesting.
We have class day tomorrow, and then our first actual day off since we started this whole shin-dig 3 weeks ago. Tomorrow night will be great, since we’ll be able to kick back and not have to worry about getting up at the crack of dawn.
I met my “family”today! On the ship, you can sign up to be adopted by the lifelong learners and join a shipboard ‘family’. My ‘mom’is Rose, a 26-year old LLL who’s heading to law school next year. She’s not really a ‘mom’as much as she is a ‘big sister,’but she took the time to make us all name plates and bought us all personalized SAS rubber duckys from the bookstore. There are 8 of us in the family, and they’re all really great kids. Many of them I know just by acquaintance, and this will give me an opportunity to develop even more relationships. It’s awesome. We plan on doing dinner at least once a week, and hanging out other times too.
I ducked out of my ‘family dinner’for 10 minutes to celebrate Havdallah on the ship with some others. We had to do it on the fifth deck starboard, the smoker’s deck, because it’s the only place the ship allows for open flames. I was in charge of getting the spices for the prayer, and finally figured that I’d ask the kind people at the piano bar if they used cinnamon in their cappuccinos ever. They did, and were happy to provide me with a cup of it- worked like a charm. Watching the sun set (luckily starboard is also west these days) over the rails while doing havdallah was one of those memories that will stick with me.
Annyyyway, it’s off to bed for me. Hopefully I’ll kick ass on my evol quiz tomorrow.
Talk at ya.
Greg.
It’s amazing how fast we get back in our rhythm here on the ship, and with what experiences we bring back to the community. Morocco, as you read yesterday was a blur, and getting back on the ship was a great relief.
I slept a lot last night, catching up on all the sleep I missed while in port. It’s tough to justify sleeping, you know?
Today classes resumed. We are already beginning to study and learn about the history of the African continent. As you probably know it has a troubled past, and still a violent present. The Captain informed us that we will be stopping in Dakar on the western coast of Africa for a day soon to bunker for fuel before continuing south to Namibia.
How cool, right? No big deal, just pulling off here in Dakar before continuing down the coast of AFRICA. Our lives are too good.
Took part in post-port reflections today, a chance for people to share stories and anecdotes about their trips. I shared some of my Moroccan realizations. I can’t even tell you how amazing this shipboard family is, it’s a very supportive unit.
I got letters today!!! Everyone in Ms. Berman’s class back in Virginia wrote me personalized letters about who they were, what their interests are, their travel experiences, etc. I was so happy to see and read them. If you’re reading this, guys, I’ll be writing you back and mailing them from Namibia in a few days, so you should be hearing from me soon! It was a pleasure to meet you all through your letters!
I had a great Shabbat dinner and service with everyone tonight. One of the guys, Jonathon, who led the service made a pretty good remark: ‘this is the fastest service I’ve ever led…we’re going about 20 knots.”I also heard that matza will be purchased by ISE in Hong Kong for our Passover stint, which should make things a lot easier.
Other than that, getting back in my routine is really nice. I’m in love with the ship, as you can tell, so it’s just good to be home.
Talk tomorrow,
Greg.
What an amazing, developmental few days it has been. There truly existed a transformation within me from the time I entered the country of When we docked on Tuesday, we got our passports and things, and debarked the ship at 8 am. From the second we descended the gangway, I said to my friend next to me, “we are so not in Our first challenge, after walking a mile and half to the exit out of the port, was to find a taxi to the train station to travel southeast to Marrakech. Moroccans speak Arabic and French, neither of which I know any. Spanish ended up helping out a lot as a bridge language, but I’ll talk about that later. We split up into groups and set out trying to make sense of the 400 arab men who were fighting for our business. We settled on one man who we probably should have forgotten about. He drove a less-than-marked taxi with no visible taxi-cab license hanging from the rearview. In a split second decision, the group decided to go with him; it was only a 10 minute drive. We negotiated a price with pen and paper, like Joe our ship’s conduct officer told us to do, and hopped in. In a Jack Bauer-like moment, I noticed the locks of the back doors were missing. Terrified that we would be on NBC news later that night in the states, I opened my car door right in the middle of the road to confirm it was unlocked, and then held it barely cracked for the rest of the ride. We were 10 minutes old in the country and scared, do you blame us? At the train station, we learned that the credit card machine was down, and Euro were not accepted. We had to get some Moroccan Dirham (roughly 9:1 with USD). The extra time it took at the ATM meant that by the time we got to the ticket window, all the first-class tickets (where you get seats) were sold out, so we settled for a 2nd class ticket, in which seats were not promised. This was a three hour ride, so the group and I planted our butts out on the platform an hour before the train arrived, and nearly trampled over some nice Moroccan women to grab some seats in an open compartment. On the train we met a nice 22-year-old Moroccan man named Hicham. He spoke French, and so did Lia, a member of our traveling group. Through her, we conversed about everything from Moroccan politics to American perceptions, to the conflict in We arrived in Marrakech, and took refuge in the train station. It was clean, and we felt comfortable. After some nice lunch, we took a cab to our place of residence for the next 48 hours, Riad Mar Akush. Riads are basically bed-and-breakfasts. This place was INCREDIBLE. I can’t even begin to describe. It was 5 rooms, of which we booked them all, built into an open building complete with open courtyard, balconies, and roof-decks. We had at our disposal two guys, Mohammad and Hassan. They were both incredible. They helped us out so much, pointed us in the right directions, kept us safe and made recommendations. We had about 3 to a room, and it was truly awesome. It was already about 4pm when we decided to walk to the That night we went to a place called Chez Lucile for dinner. I recommended it because of one word on the menu. Shawama. And it was G-O-O-D, Excellent. It wasn’t Israeli shawarma…but it would have to do, haha. Like every one of us got Shawarmas. <While writing this, my friend next to me ran to the bathroom as her seasickness returned with a vengance. The waves are insane>. That night we stayed up talking and crashed early. We’d need the rest for the day to come. At 9 we were awoken by Mohammed and Hassan who were ushering us into the living room for breakfast. No words. Bread, yogurt, mint tea, more bread, crossaints, all homemade. We spent the day in the medina, getting lost and haggling. I never felt like more of a trained middle-easterner than when dealing with these people. I would walk into each shop with a different persona. Sometimes, I’d be from the In one hilarious exchange, a shopkeeper asked me for 150. I said 20. He then asked me for my maximum price. “Twenty-five,”I said. “Final.” He kept arguing and kept asking, lowering his price with each sentence. At one point he offered me 60, and I gave this comment, much to the amusement of my friends watching the scene: “Do I look like I’m from the Finally, he goes, “alright my friend, what’s your final price.” “Since I’m feeling generous,”I said, “Twenty-six”(a difference of about 20 cents) We settled for 30. We had a great lunch at a restaurant called Argana, which came heavily recommended by the travel guides we read. It was in the middle of the square, and served Tangiers, traditional Moroccan food with meat, veggies, sauces, spices all brewed together for hours. Kind of like a crock-pot, but very unique. Hannah and I shared a traditional steak Berber one, and shared with Nate and Lia who got lamb, raisins, onions and other in their tangiers. We spent the rest of the day walking around the shops and markets being yelled at by shopkeeps, then went to explore an ancient palace called El-Badi. While walking back to the Riad as the sun was setting, we stopped again at the main square to take one last look around. Someone in the group wanted a quick henna tattoo, so Jill (co-open mic night superstar) and I walked into the massive crowds to look around for what would become the defining moment of my stop in As we walked around, groups were gathered around people who were doing tons of different things. Some were backflipping, some were playing music. Most were literally just telling stories. Mind you, they were in Arabic, but their body language was speaking in a language I always call human, and you could tell that their tales were gripping. Unbelievably, people just gathered around to listen, to cheer, to sit, to comment. There were no tourists there, no showy gags or flashing cameras. Just thousands of men and women who were partaking in a daily tradition as old as life itself. They come together, they share, they go home. No paragraph will ever explain how we felt during this 10-minute walk through the square, but I’ll never forget it. It was true cross-cultural understanding, and the backbone of this voyage. We stayed out late that night, went to a Hookah Bar, and then a bar bar before calling it a night in the cold riad (they don’t deal with winter well). We caught a 9 am train back to We flew by Ray’s Café (famous from movie Okay. I’m going on and on. I think you get the idea. Leaving the port tonight the waves caused a few injuries and a bunch of minor damage around the ship. When I returned to my cabin, for instance, I found my dresser about 10 feet from where it should be. Mind you, my cabin’s only about 11 feet long, so this was quite a move. To any parents reading and freaking out, your kids are fine. Nobody’s hurt. Hopefully the seas will calm out tomorrow. Goodnight from outside Greg PS. Below are the lyrics from “No Land”the song we wrote and performed last week.Italics = Jill, Underline = Me, Bold = both. Enjoy. “No Land” Tell me how I’m sposed to live with no land It was so tough before Hitting the walls it hurt my knees Plus puking everywhere was like living in a world with no land ooooooh Four drinks for me is not enough Wish I could steal a boat to get myself to land BUT HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO LIVE THIS LIFE ON THE SEA all this water all around me is making me crazy tell me how I’m sposed to live with no land can’t live can’t breathe without land Les McCabe don’t you understand There’s no land no laaaand Got me out here in the waters so deep Lose an hour every night there’s no sleep Guess I’ll go watch the MICE band Cuz there’s no land, no laaand No land land no land land no land land I hopped a train north to Tapas vino I’m lovin it That Spanish gypsie cast a spell on me for real Somehow I’m still awake at five Churros and chocolate keep me alive I don’t know Spanish but the guy in the club didn’t even care So how do you expect me to get back on the MV cuz Espana all around me it’s so hard for me to leave Tell me how I’m sposed to live with no land can’t live can’t breathe without land Captain Jeremy don’t you understand there’s no land no land Got me out here in the waters so deep Estrogen everywhere makes me weak If there’s no more men I’m gonna scream No men no men no men men women men no land land B R E A K *** LAAAAAAAND Tell me how we’re sposed to go without fuel Can’t see Wanna ride a camel or mule NO FUEL NO FUEL Sometimes it gets really hard That’s what she saiiiiid I can’t wait to get off she said she saiiiid What were doing for six hours last night I’m sick of card games all night Watched the superbowl until it got light NOT TIGHT not tight Got me out here in the waters so deep If we don’t get there soon I’m gonna weep Off this ship I might leap time to sleep time to sleep No land land no land land noooo lan Les McCabe……
I can’t walk when the seas are rough
