My First Safari and Hopefully Not My Last!

After my personally moving time in Ghana getting back to ship life was hard so it was a relief to finally reach South Africa.  The best part of the sail was the several talks given by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  He shared personal stories about growing up in South Africa during apartheid but never in anger or hate for the injustice that he faced.  Always laughing and sharing words of wisdom it was a pleasure to hear his ideas about South Africa as well as the world.

Cape Town is such a beautiful port that me and some friends decided we would get up a 4:30 am to watch us come in but of course that was wishful thinking.  I fell back asleep only to be woken up at 5 am by a loud squeaking noise outside my cabin.  I look out my porthole and HELLO there is the pilot boat.  I think they were about as surprised as me but we waved and then they took off.  It was a pretty fun way to start off the day even though I was dead tired and a little anxious about not missing my trip to the Kariega Game Reserve.  My first safari that I was so looking forward to!  We were to be the first ones off the ship and because our flight was moved up they would not wait for anyone if they were late.

Of course everything worked out great and before I knew it I was in a plane to Port Elizabeth and then in the back of a truck looking for Africa’s big 5.  But of course we had lunch in between and it was a tasty treat after eating ship food.  I tried some Ostrich meet for the first time and it was delicious, I hope we will have some on the ship.  Anyways, we went for our first game drive soon after that and met our wonderful ranger Julia from Sweden.  In no time at all we saw all sorts of animals including lost of giraffes, different kinds of antelope and birds but the most stunning were the heard of elephants we found after a little adventure on one of the more traitorous roads.  Lets just say we bit off a little more than the vehicle could chew and got stuck next to an embankment that would not have been fun to slide down.  One of the other rangers came to help us out and we eventually got out of there fine.  It was just a little added excitement and I love off-roading so I was just having a blast.  Seeing the elephants just roaming around was so cool.  Julia told us all about the herd and they were not afraid to walk right up to our vehicle.  We drove around a while more before we stopped in a safe area for drinks and a snack.  Looking out over the South African plains at sunset it sort of hit me that I was living my dream.

Then as sort of a side story, when I left the ship I was so bummed because my clean laundry had not yet arrived so all I had was my big jacket to take with me but like my grandfather always said, “don’t worry everything will work out for the best.”  As it turns out it is unexpectedly very cold at the park so I would have frozen to death without my big jacket.  In fact most people had to buy extra clothing at the store just to try to stay warm.  By the time we got back from the game drive most of us could not feel our feet so we were happy to see a nice fire burning in the fireplace.

The next morning we got up at about 5:30 am to go on a drive before breakfast.  The sunrise was just beautiful and in no time at all we found a family of rhinos grazing on the open plane.  We observed them for a while and then we found some ostriches with lots of little babies.  From there we spotted some Blesbok which I have to say are some of the coolest looking animals I have ever seen.  Then it was off to see the hippos which we did but we also found some monkeys as well as a fish eagle on the way.  It was awesome to see all of them in their natural habitat but also learn about their patterns of behavior.  The monkeys were not looked so kindly upon by the rangers because they like to run on their roofs all night and keep them awake.  We all thought they were hilarious so we stayed and watched them for a while.  Then it was back to the lodge for some of the most delicious breakfast I have ever had.  Meats, cheeses, eggs and bread, what more could I ask for.  Oh and some fruit to.  After eating all that it was time to pass out and nap for a couple hours.  Oh its lunch now, thats convenient.  We grabbed some food and went out for our afternoon game drive to find the elusive lion.

It took us a while of driving around in every which direction but we eventually found them.  At first it was just the mom and one of her older sons just napping in the protection of the trees.  After a few minutes of waiting the juvenile male stood up and the two cubs wandered out of the bush.  It was amazing!  We watched them sort of play around for a while but then we left because Julia did not trust the juvenile male lion because it had been really aggressive recently.  He had actually tried to kill the cubs recently just to show his dominance over his father.  I was kind of hoping to see them hunt or something but we were lucky to see them move at all because they sleep for about 18 hours a day.

It was going to be hard to top the lions but we still drove around for a while and saw some pretty cool birds that I will never remember the names of.  After a while we headed back for the lodge for......you guessed it....dinner.  Once we finished dinner and were just sitting around talking the staff broke out into some traditional song and dance.  It kind of caught me off guard but it was so cool.  Once they finished we moved out to the fireplace to talk about all the cool things we had seen.  No one wanted to leave because we were having such a good time.  The next morning it was raining and we didn’t have time to get breakfast but they had prepared some boxed breakfasts for us which were a disappointment compared to the breakfast we had the day before.  Then it was back on the plane to Cape Town.

The rest of my Cape Town experience and a little bit on Mauritius is coming soon.  I am now on my way to India so I will be at sea for the next 6 days.

Ghana Days 1 and 2

I left Ghana tired dirty and sunburned but happier and more content then ever before.  I am eternally grateful that I was able to visit this place and be with such amazing people.  It is going to be very difficult to fully express my experience here in words but I will do my best.  It is a bit long but there is just a lot to say so hang in there.

My time was limited to only 4 days and it was divided into two distinct but wonderful experiences.  The first two days I traveled around the city of Winneba as a member of a delegation representing Semester at Sea, the Virginian city of Charlottesville as well as the entire United States.  This was a role I was not accustomed to and was not completely prepared for but I found it quite enjoyable.

I should give you a little background before I dive into this amazing experience.  Semester at Sea is academically sponsored through the University of Virginia which is located in the city of Charlottesville.  Now the Ghanaian city of Winneba recently became the sister city to Charlottesville and so they have established this connection.  My professor who was leading the trip was also the former mayor of Charlottesville.  So as you can see there were a lot of dynamics involved in this trip and although all of us were not there in some official capacity we were treated as such.

As we soon learned Ghanaian time is somewhat slower than we are used to, even in Hawaii.  After waiting for hours for our guests from Winneba to come they finally arrived and we were off to Winneba.  It was about a 3 hour bus ride and I got my first taste of Ghana as we drove through towns and countryside.  When we arrived we were greeted by the Mayor as well as the Chiefs of Winneba in a traditional ceremony of sorts.  Then it was off to the University of Education Winneba where we were greeted by a brass band as well as 75 or so students.  Earlier in the day I had volunteered to sit on a panel to represent the students of SAS but I was not sure what it would entail.  So as things got underway at the university I soon found out that I had to essentially describe to these students the entire Semester at Sea program.  Wow I was so not ready for that one but I guess I had explained it to so many people before I even got here it was sort of easy.  Than we listened to some students from the UEW talk about their university and answered a few questions.  I found their college experience to be somewhat similar to ours in the US but they lack sufficient access to new and relevant resources.  Considering most resources are online now it is very sad that they do not have high speed connections for the University.  Anyway they were very excited for our visit and they all wanted to know how they could get on SAS, I don’t blame them.

The next day we started early but it was raining hard so we were taken to a local courthouse to observe some proceedings.  There were some civil cases but then we got to see a wedding that took place in the courthouse.  We were not expecting that but it was fun to see.  From there we were rushed off to go meet with the Chief fisherman and his counsel.  We learned how they settle disputes as part of the legal system but out of the courts.  A very interesting integration of the old traditions with the new.  From there it was off to a local market to meet with the Market Queen.  At first we sat awkwardly in the center of the market with everyone staring at us but after a little dialog they immediately accepted us and started shaking our hands and dancing around.  We were told later that that was not normal at all and that our visit was truly exciting for them.  This is a theme that would continue throughout the trip which was just amazing for me as well as everyone else.  Usually we are the hated tourists even though we try not to be.  Everywhere I went in Ghana the people there wanted me to stay longer and that is just something you don’t often see.

After about 15 minutes in the market we had to leave to go present a indestructible soccer ball to a local elementary school.  The school was nothing more than a couple of rundown concrete buildings with a small dirt courtyard in the middle.  As we arrived the students were peeking out of their classrooms and as soon as the headmaster told them they could come out they rushed out into the courtyard.  They swarmed each one of us and they wanted to know our names but most of all they wanted their picture taken so they could look at themselves on the screen.  Then they wanted to press every button on the back of my camera to see what it did.  Even though most of them could not speak English we had a great time and I hope we brightened their day too.

Then it was back on the bus and back to the government center where we had gone the first night for our official send off.  The Mayor as well as the Director of Transportation was there to present the delegation with two gifts representing the connection we now had.  We were also presented with local hand made bags from a local youth organization which was just amazing.  They so appreciated our coming to visit them and our interest in their city.  Their kindness and generosity was overwhelming even though they clearly had very little to give.  It was truly refreshing and uplifting to be around people like that because I think we have really lost sight of this in the United States.

Ghana Days 3 and 4

Now before I knew it I was back on the streets of Ghana but this time in the city of Takoradi with my Bahai contact Eddie.  We had been emailing for about a month about my visit so we were both very excited to meet.  We only had two short days together but lets just say we are like brothers now.  First he showed me around the streets of Takoradi and then it was off to his Aunties store, which is basically a shack along the side of the road where she sold school supplies and homemade notebooks.  We talked for a while to wait out the rain which was coming down pretty hard.  I shared pictures of the ship as well as my home.  We got to know each other very quickly and he had many questions about life in the United States.  He wanted to know everything about “my place,” as he referred to it.

Once the rain died down he took me to the house where he and his other family live.  We got around by Tro-Tro which is one of the most interesting forms of transportation I have ever been in.  It is essentially a bunch of people driving around in vans picking up as many people as possible and dropping them off.  Not in any organized fashion but it got the job done and it is the most economical way to get around.  I was just glad Eddie was there because I would have been totally lost trying to get around.  Anyway he showed me his home which was very simple and nice.

Then it was back into town where we went to the local hospital to meet up with his friend who is a nurse there.  I guess he had told her that I was coming so he wanted show her that I actually came.  I think she was happy we came so we talked for a little bit about what she does but then we had to leave.  The hospital was not as bad as you might imagine but it was nothing like what you would find in the US.  I don’t think the rooms even had A/C and it was quite dirty for a hospital.  Eddie told me that it is still the original hospital and they have not renovated it in quite some time even though it serves Takoradi which is the second largest city in Ghana after the capitol Accra.

Next we ventured over to a sort of conference center in Takoradi to meet with Auntie Christy, another Bahai, who was waiting to give a presentation on behalf of Ghana’s EPA.  The whole conference was about how Ghana should manage the production of oil which was just recently discovered off shore in a way that will benefit the most people.  We talked for a little while about what I was doing in Ghana but she was quite busy so we just enjoyed listening to the talks and sitting in the air conditioned conference room, sort of a novelty there.  After the program ended for the day we chatted a little more and she was nice enough to give us a ride to a restaurant that Eddie wanted to show me called Harbor View.  As you can guess by the name it overlooked the harbor and even though it was dark by then it was a very nice view.  We just had some drinks and talked there for a while before we headed into town to eat some local cuisine.  I am not really sure what I had because it was dark but it was delicious and filling.  One thing I did find out is that they like to put hot sauce on everything so you got to be careful.

It had been a long day so we went back to his place where I met his cousin and some other family members that lived at the house.  We watched some Ghanaian TV and chatted about life.  They of course wanted to know about the US and I wanted to know about Ghana.  Most of them including Eddie were working as part time workers for the census which was just around the corner.  Eddie had actually requested the day off to show me around but the next day it was off to some pretty remote villages where he had to do some prep work by numbering houses.  I was happy to go with him and it turned out to be a real adventure.

First the car we got to take us to the village on some dirt road broke down and they had crammed 6 of us into this ancient VW Passat which as I found out was pretty normal.  We had no cell signal to call for another car so luckily after a while some sort of mechanic called by the driver walked out to where we were and got the thing started.  So we piled back in and off we went.  Once we got to the village we met up with his supervisor and the other workers which were all very nice and had absolutely no problem with me tagging along.  As I walked around I started to accumulate this group of kids that were just fascinated with me.  It was really weird to be the total center of attention.  I would take their picture and give them the thumbs up and they would do it back and just laugh.  Like the kids at the school they also like seeing their picture on the back of my camera.  Even some of the adults came over to look.

At first the kids were curious but they were still a bit cautious to get near me.  None of them really spoke english so I couldn’t really say anything to them but after a couple of hours they got a little more used to me and I think it was after I got one kid to high five me they really started to warm up to me.  I tried to speak English with one of the kids but he new very little.  Then I showed them that my watch had one of those rotating dials on it and they went crazy.  They all had to have a turn spinning the little dial.  It was really fun to finally connect with them and it was unfortunate that we had to move on to the next village so soon.  Little did I know it would involve riding on the back of a motorcycle for several Kilometers and then walking for a good 45 minutes along the beach, all with my 30 lb backpack.  Most of the time I had little to no idea what was going on but I was enjoying myself and taking it all in.

We grabbed a quick lunch before the walking portion at a beachside village.  I think what we ate was called Citi or something like that which was essentially a wet dough like thing dipped in some hot sauce and then some fermented fish on the side, whole.  True local cuisine and let me tell you we were hungry after walking around in the heat for about 3.5 hours.  As it turns out we would need the energy to make it to where we needed to go next.  Also as a side note I had to be back on the ship by 6 pm and it was already past 3 pm by the time we got there so I was stressing out a little.  As we arrive they immediately got chairs for us, offered water, and gathered the elders of the village.  After listening to them talk for a while Eddie told me that the people in this village are sort of right on a boarder line between the Western and Central regions and they did not want to be counted in the Western region anymore because the Central Region has done much more for them.  They were quite upset because politicians would come to their village to campaign and promise them things that once they got elected they would never do.  This seemed to be a recurring problem for these remote villages.  There is no infrastructure being built for them.  We told them we understood, shook hands, and asked the best way to get back to Takoradi.

Luckily there was a village not so far away that had a road where we could get a taxi.  It took us a little while and I got a little muddy but we made it to the road, we got a taxi, then a tro-tro, then another taxi so I could get to the port on time.  Unfortunately the ship was docked a good distance away from the edge of the port so Eddie, who had worked at the port for a year, had to get his friend to drive me to the ship on the back of his moped.  Lets just say it was an epic journey and I did make it back on time which was sort of a miracle.  The worst thing is that I only had about 30 seconds to say goodbye to my new brother who had shown and taught me so much is such a short period of time.  He called me as I was boarding the ship to make sure I had gotten there alright and to say goodbye one last time.

What else can I say, this place truly changed me.

I told you it was going to be long so thanks for reading if you made it this far.

Next is South Africa!