My 100 Day Adventure Around the World!

Friday, March 2, 2007

I am so in LOVE with Africa!!! Today, I was up at 5:00 AM with my roomie Jenna. I only got 2 hours of sleep last night because I was so anxious about arriving in Africa!! We went to the bow of the boat, and surprisingly everyone on the ship was awake. We watched the sunrise over Table Mountain for about an hour and a half. Then quickly grabbed some breakfast and met in the Union to hear the Premier (governor) speak. He was so warm and welcoming. Desmond Tutu’s wife joined us on the ship for the first time. It was exciting to see her. She’s very beautiful! He was a ball of joy! I think he was very excited to see her. After, we made our way to the gangway and headed off the ship. My roomie’s parents were meeting her here, so she took off to find them and so I waited for my guy friends so we could go SKYDIVING!! YEAH!!!!!!! All four of them met me outside and we began to explore the city, grabbed a quick bite to eat at Ferryman’s Tavern in the harbor and had the greatest cheeseburger ever. I’ve been craving red meat since we don’t have it on the ship and I literally scarfed it down and all my fries. We then waited for our taxi driver to pick us up to head for Cape Town Skydiving. Our appointment to be picked up was at 3:00. 3:00 came… no show. 3:05…no show. I was thinking at that point that it was a sign that I shouldn’t go. But 3:15 came and I found myself in an old, rickety van with 4 guys and 4 girls who also on the ship. At this point, I was feeling very anxious and sweaty. I actually put on extra deodorant:) On the way, everyone was literally silent! All I was doing was saying my prayers. I really didn’t want to do it anymore but I figured I had come this far that I might as well brave it up and do it. After 20 minutes, we drove down a long dirt road and pulled up to a little shack and a barn. All around were SAS kids that had either gone or were going. And everyone was really drunk. Don’t worry, I wasn’t drunk. I did have a beer with a few girls to calm my nerves! So since my group had an odd number, I had to go with some random guy from SAS. After hanging out for about an hour, they called my name and before I knew it I was being strapped in! Ahhh… it was so surreal! So anyway, he pointed to the runway and told me to walk over to it and wait. So Jason and I began walking and all of sudden, I see some small, white South African guy coming running up behind me. He yells “you ready mate?” We took a few pics and then hopped in the plane. The plane was so incredibly old and the whole ride up it was shaking. Behind me in the plane was my friend Jason, the guy he was jumping with, and the camera man. I sat near the door with my guy. We got to about 5000 feet and he began running through the routine. Okay mate, so when the door flys open you need to cross your arms and lay your head on my shoulder. Once we start falling you can put your arms out! Before we get out of the door, I’m going to tighten your straps. I interrupted him, are you shitting me? I should be tightened up already!” He continued on, mate, don’t worry you are going to be fine. So once I tighten your straps, you are going to pull yourself up and then sit on my lap. If you don’t remember anything I tell you, remember this: KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN! It seemed like it took forever to get up to 9000 feet. On the way up, he was taking a NAP! Yeah, you heard me!! His eyes were closed. I asked him not to nap. Hahah because I worried that he wouldn’t be ready. I then informed of how fast my heart was beating and that FORSURE if I didn’t die from my shoot not opening, that I would die from a heart-attack. So he checked my pulse and then assured me that I was going to be okay. I was not havin it- so I put my hand out and it was shaking uncontrollably! Not cool! Basically, I was really debating about whether or not I should go. Before I knew it, he tapped my shoulder, I put my butt on him and the door swung open!! A HUGE HUGE gust of air filled the plane and without even thinking twice, I swung my legs out of the plane. He hadn’t scooted to the edge yet, but I felt gravity pulling me out and before I had time to even think about backing out, I was sucked out the plane and began free falling. I taped my camera to my hand and began filming myself falling! The feeling was unbelievable and I really can’t even describe it! We began free falling for about 30 seconds and then he pulled the cord and the shoot, thankfully, opened up! I was jerked back up the air and everything went silent! The view was amazing. I could see everything… the wine lands, ocean, table mountain, the harbor. He then asked me if I wanted to go fast, so he pulled the right cord and we began spinning sooooooo fast! He then pulled the other side and we spun the opposite way! I saw my friend Jason really far away and he tried to steer us near them. He slowed down, (however you slow down when falling from the sky:)) We actually stayed in the air longer than Jason and we even fell first! I didn’t want to ever land!!! The view was stunning. The sun was setting over the water and all I wanted was to live forever in the sky. The feeling of being free and soaring over the world is unbelievable. Everyone has to sky dive in there life before they die. I’ve always dreamt of flying but it really doesn’t compare to the real feeling. Before I knew it, he told me to lift up my butt and legs so we could land. We hit the ground and I was literally standing on two feet. He un-strapped me and quickly picked up the shoot to head back to the barn. He dropped off that shoot, grabbed another bag and headed up with another girl. I went to find my friends Drew and Sam, who were busy drinking away there worries since they hadn’t done it yet. I gave them hugs and was screaming and jumping up and down. I JUST WENT SKYDIVING! HOLY SHIT!! We were the last group to go, so I waited with other SAS kids and had a few drinks while they went up. After about and hour, we packed up our bags, jumped in the van, and headed back to the ship. We piled about 15 people in a 10 passenger van, cranked up the music (which was Michael Jackson) and rocked out. I mean, keep it real, we just jumped out of a frickin plane- we were on cloud 9!!!! We all watched eachother’s videos and looked at pictures. It was so surreal and amazing all at the same time. We reached the ship and I realized I had missed dinner, since I was supposed to go with a huge group to Baia at 7:00. I found my friend Jenna and Alli and they were leaving for dinner at 8:15. I realized it was 8:00, so I quickly threw on a dress, some make up and we headed for dinner on Long Street. The taxi driver informed us of an excellent sea food restaurant, so we took his word for it and had him drop us off!! It was me, Allie, Jenna, Jackie, Karen, Blair, Leanna, Kelly and some random guy they met earlier. The restaurant ended up being so incredibly beautiful. We were sat in a garden outside and the menus were brought to us on huge chalkboards. We ordered a couple bottles of wine and cheered to our first night in Africa! After a 3 hour dinner, we realized it was about 12AM and we were in need of some dancing. We hit up long street and our first stop was Cool Runnings. We ran into Colin, Kyle, Matt, Sam and like 200 other SAS people. We went up to the balcony upstairs and danced the night away with all our friends. At about 4:00am, we decided it was time to head home. So we jumped in a taxi with some random peeps from the ship. We were all piled in there once again. We got to the ship at 4:30 and I ended up running into some friends and stayed up talking and laughing for about an hour. Finally, I had to get some rest and hit the sack!!!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
I was up at 7:00 feeling horrible. After no sleep from the night before, I was really debating whether or not I wanted to go to the wine lands. But I forced myself to shower and get ready because I figured I’d regret it later. I met Erin, Katie, Rob, Jenna, and 5 other girls outside the ship at 9:00 and hopped in a teeny tiny van. The wine lands were about an hour away and the taxi driver literally blasted hanis sounding techno music the whole way. I was so car sick and on top of that, exhausted and on top that my malaria pills were making me sick. It was not a fun ride! We finally reached a hostel called “Stumble Inn” and waited for our tour guides. They finally grouped us all together and we hopped into 3 buses and they took us to our first vineyard. We got out of the bus and immediately it started raining! Now why does it rain everywhere I go???? AHHH! Anyway we decided to make the best of it and enjoy this beautiful vineyard. They gave us a tour of how they make the wine- unfortunately, I don’t remember. Haha So we tasted about 5 different wines and one type of champagne (which I sent home.) The winery was beautiful! Unfortunately it was raining, so we weren’t able to walk through a vineyard, but still it was gorgeous! Thousands of acres of wine lands… just stunning! Our guides were young, 28 year old guys- just beautiful! The people are so beautiful in S. Africa- even more beautiful than the people in LA. Everyone is blonde hair- blue eyed. But it’s sad because 1 in 9 people have aids!! It’s too bad because the people here are beautiful!! Anyway, one of the guides looked like the lead singer from Rascal Flatts! So after, we made our way to another vineyard (sorry I don’t really remember names). We tasted more wine and ate some amazing cheese. We then ate a quick lunch, and headed to another vineyard because it was closing soon, so we made it there before 4:00. This vineyard overlooked the whole city of Stellenbosch. I wish it wasn’t raining because on a clear day it would have been amazing! The view was still stunning even on a rainy day! Here they gave us as much wine was we wanted… We drank ourselves silly. The wine was so amazing. They are known for their Pinotage, which is white grapes but its red wine. Weird huh? Anyway, after we hit up two more vineyards and kept drinking. Everyone’s teeth were bright red because we had drank so much wine. We finally finished around 5:30 and had reservations at the restaurant Moyo at the Spier Hotel! We got there and saw that they had pet leopards. We got there too late because you can pet them, but it closed at 5 so we just missed it. But we took pictures of them.. they are so mysterious. I want one to take home with me…and sleep with!!:) Since it was raining all day, we weren’t able to eat in the Treehouse so we had to sit in the tent. It was still fun… They painted our faces and we drank more wine. The food was set up in little booths- kind of like the brazilian steakhouses I went to. It was amazing food. I ate 3 steaks, chicken, fish, soup, fruit and then amazing dessert. They have this hot dish called “malva” which is like a toffee brownie with this amazing vanilla sauce poured over top! I hate a couple plates. We invited one of our tour guides to dinner and he actually showed up. We had a few drinks with him and his friend and then called our taxi to bring us home. We were all exhausted. It was about 11 at night. We had been going, going, going for over 12 hours and were exhausted. We got into the same tax, with the same annoying techno music- talk about so annoying. Whatevs. So I made it home and hit the sack at 2:00 only to awake again at 4:00.

Sunday, March 4, 2007
I was up at 4:00 and was feeling like hell. I was so incredibly sick and really thought that I wasn’t going to make my safari. I broke down crying because I felt so awful… but I decided to buck up and force myself to go. Everyone met in the union at 5:30 and we loaded the bus for the airport. I slept on the bus, and then also slept on the plane to Port Elizabeth. We reached PE and took an hour and ½ bus ride to the reserve. We got there and it began to piss rain. It was so awful. The guides met us right outside the reserve with a 10 seater-open air trucks. We threw on rain jackets and headed for our first game drive. It was the so rainy that we decided to head back to the lodge. We walked in and were greeted with amazing hot chocolate. It was so yummy and tasted so good because we were incredibly cold. We then got settled into our rooms. My room looked out over the entire reserve. I was sitting on my bed as I was unpacking, and I saw a mama giraffe and a baby giraffe in the distance!! Talk about so cool!!!! We went on another game drive and saw more zebras and wildebeests. After dinner, we were informed of open bar. We had the entire lodge to ourselves! It was only our SAS group of about 15 people in the whole lodge, so the staff and owners partied it up with us. We had access to anything we wanted. They were continually filling up our wine glasses, pouring shots, or replacing our empty beers. I met the owner, Justin, who has a beautiful wife and two children. His wife’s father owned the reserve and when they got married, he gave it to them as a wedding gift. Now him and a young guy named Lex, who is 24, are partners and own the reserve. All the guides and staff were so welcoming and everyone got along so well. It couldn’t have gone any better! Everyone just drank, talked, laughed, and enjoyed living on a reserve with thousands of wild animals! I finally made my way to my friends room around 5:00am and actually had the opportunity to watch the sunrise.

Monday, March 5, 2007
The next morning we were woken up at 8:00, ate a quick breakfast and then headed out on another game drive. We were all praying for clear skies and sure enough our prayers were answered. Our guide for the day was Leonard, who was an incredibly smart man and knew so much about animals and plants. I got in the good truck with all my friends: Me, Jenna, Richard, Candace, Shawn, Dom, Elliot, Monica, and Ashley! We had a frickin blast! Finally, after driving around for about 2 hours look for lions, sure enough we spotted them. Leonard parked the truck and no joke, the lion was MAYBE 7 feet away from me. It was stunning! I had never seen anything like it… It was so surreal to be only a few feet away from the king of the beasts! The lion strutted his stuff for us. He showed his teeth, stretched, cleaned his mane, and rolled around! It was like he was showing off for us!! The reserve looked so beautiful in the sun. We stopped along the way to look at lion paw prints, trees that were demolished from their claws, turtles, bright blue birds, zebra, baby elephants, and giraffes. It was the perfect day. We even saw a full rainbow- stretching from one end all the way over the mountains. It was breaktaking. At about 5:00, the clouds rolled in and it began to pour. We were about 2 hours away from the lodge, so we had a long haul back. Let me just say it was the coldest experience of my life. We all put on our rain jackets and huddled very close together on our long haul back. My pants were soaking wet- might I add they were the ONLY pants I brought. My shoes were soaked all the way through my socks, which made my toes numb. I sat on the edge and we were driving through pure mud, which means I was covered in mud head to toe. My hair was soaked and my mascara had somehow found its way down to my neck. My fingers were completely numb from having to hold onto the bar because our driver was so crazy. I almost fell out at one point… we got stuck in the mud and had to rock our way out. BUT as cold and dirty as I was, it didn’t even phase me because we were all having such a blast. Laughing at how ugly we looked or cold we were or how crazy our guide Leonard was. We all were looking forward to the warm, cozy fire back at the lodge and khaluah hot chocolate was waiting for us. We were warmly welcomed back at the lodge by the owner, staff, and a round of shots for the whole group. They were called bushman’s balls. Haha:) They literally looked like what they are called- you get my drift!! So we all showered and then had an amazing buffet dinner- all the food was homecooked. We drank lots of wine and then decided to start a game of Kings. About 15 of us played till about 2:00 in morning. By the end of the trip, we all felt so close together. I really enjoy going on SAS trips because I get to meet people that I probably would never have known. Plus, the people that I do know, I become even closer with. So me and my friend Jenna decided to bring back a bunch of people to my room at like 3:00 in the morning- and lets just say my room flipped the hell out! Haha… I personally thought it was hilarious. Seriously, keep it real. We’re on a safari in Africa you can sleep later! AHHH… AND I didn’t sleep there the night before because she was crazy and I was afraid she would attack me while I was sleeping! Anyway, so she freaked out and asked me why in the hell I would bring people back to the room blah blah blah. It went in one ear and out the other. I basically stripped my bed of all the sheets and slept in the lodge. Three of us pushed two couches together and slept there. Unfortunately, we were awakened by the rangers at 6:30 AND AND… I got a gnarly spider bite. Don’t really want to know what kind of spider bit me or what it was doing on my body.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

So after getting NO sleep the night before, I decided to go back to my room and sleep till breakfast. Since it was raining, the rangers decided it’d probably be best not to do another game drive so we wouldn’t be soaked going home. We ate a quick breakfast, packed up our things, said our goodbyes and hit the road. It was sad saying goodbye… We had become so close to all the rangers, the owners and the staff that we all didn’t want to ever leave. On the bus ride back to the ship, we drove through an area that had townships. My biggest regret was not visiting a township in Cape Town. After literally seeing with my own two eyes how awful these people have it, I can’t imagine ever complaining about ANYTHING. I literally was tearing up. They have no running water or electricity. Some of them don’t even have tops to their shacks. There is garbage everywhere and they do anything for money. Some of them make clothes or sell hand crafted gifts. It was awful how these people live. So anyway, we got back into Cape Town around 5:00, quickly showered and then me, Jenna, Jamie, and Lauren hit up Cantina Tequila (props to Jenn!!) So we ordered this drink called “the fishbowl” which is very very famous. It’s a bowl the size of a mixing bowl that has tequila, vodka, gin, and then like 3 different kinds of juices all poured into one. A girl a few nights ago passed out walking down the stairs of the ship after drinking one… they actually thought she had to be rushed to the hospital. BUT don’t worry; I didn’t drink one all to myself. We all shared one! It was actually really good. So then, as we were paying we decided to go inside and wait for our bill. Well, everyone basically hates Americans wherever you go… Well I didn’t think to the extend of what was about to happen. So I’m chillin inside minding my own business, when all of a sudden a plate of nachos hits the back of my dress. I turn around and there is no one. Then, I look to my right and there is a couple (girl and guy) that are laughing. I was thinking no they wouldn’t throw those at me… I didn’t do anything!! So then I realize that they DID throw them. At this point, I am really pissed off. So, you know me and my mouth. So my guy friend Keith was like, no way are they getting away with that. So we walk over there and the girl literally starts fidgeting and freaking out. I pick up the nachos and go “did you drop something? Because I think this might be yours” The guy was like “we didn’t throw anything” I was like, “umm bull shit, then who did” He’s like, “why did you have to bring a guy with you, you could have come over by yourself” And I then wound up and punched the girl- haha no I’m kidding. But I wanted to… So instead of hitting her I walked calmly walked away!! So we heard about a great club called Tiger Tiger so we grabbed a taxi and hit it up. Okay, so I’ve been to some pretty amazing clubs in LA, but this place topped them all off. They played the greatest music, had all different bars for category of drink. They sold beer at one, wine at another, shots at another, and mixed at another. PLUS every person in the club was BEAUTIFUL! I’m not even kidding, I didn’t see one ugly person there! All south African guys dress very metro/euro. They were gorgeous… The girls on the other hand, well, they were all very pretty but VERY VERY rude. Everyone hates Americans wherever you go, unfortunately. I talked to a lot of white S. African guys and they all said that they could definitely pick out all of the Americans in the club that night. At about 3:30 we took a cab home and I really didn’t end up falling asleep till about 5:00.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Today I was up at 10 to meet Jenna, Jamie and Lauren so we could hike Table Mountain. We got in a taxi and the driver would not shut up. We all were extremely tired and just wanted to be left alone. So anyway he drove us up to the mountain and we realize that the cable car isn’t running because it’s windy. Honestly, it wasn’t even windy- but whatever. So we took some pictures and then had the taxi driver bring us to Hout Bay. There was a little market that sold cute jewelry and carvings, so we shopped for a little bit and then ate lunch at this place called The Lookout Dock. They had the BEST burgers I have ever eaten my life. It probably stood 6 inches tall. I’m not even kidding… it was so incredibly good. After lunch, we shopped a little more and then headed back to the ship Jenna and I took off on our own because we had some serious shopping to get done. We walked the mall, two markets, and then found a little boutique that sells Michal Negrin jewelry. All the jewelry is hand made and painted. It was gorgeous. We spent about 2 hours in the jewelry story and walked out very satisfied!!:) We then got a quick bite to eat at a sushi restaurant and then headed back to the ship to get ready. It was our last night in South Africa and we were determined to live it up. We met up with our friends Allie, Kelly, Blair, Karen, Kasey, Jackie, and Leanna at a gorgeous restaurant called Baia in the harbor that overlooked the water. We had a drink there and then headed to Hemisphere because we heard it was the place to be. When we got there, we realized it was closed, so we went to Long Street got a drink with some of our other friends and then headed to Opium. Literally, we SAS people took over the whole bar. But it was so much fun. Opium has like 5 bars connected to it and each bar plays a different kind of music. We all hung out and danced like crazy till about 4:00 and then headed back to the ship- and once again crashed!!!!

Thursday, March 8, 2007
Jenna and I were up at 9:00 to get an early start on our day. We went to the post office and then headed to Camps Bay. Along the way we drove down Victoria Street which is along the ocean… just beautiful! It was so cool and refreshing down by the ocean. The ocean looks very warm, kind of like the Carribean, but unfortunately it is freezing cold. They say many people die from hypothermy every year because they stay in too long. It’s probably as cold as the water at home, if not colder. So we laid out for about an hour and then were hungry. Her sister told her about a restaurant called La Med, so we walked about 15 minutes to get there, only to realize that it was nothing like we expected. It was in the middle of nowhere and kind of sketch, so we hit up a taxi and ate at this amazing restaurant that had couches for the seats. I ate another cheeseburger, and then we ordered the best brownie ever. It was half baked and poured over top was chocolate syrup with powdered sugar and ice cream. What a perfect way to end our last lunch in Cape Town. We made our way back to the ship, shopped some more and by that time it 6:00. So we grabbed a quick dinner in the harbor with some friends, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed our last few hours in Cape Town. Of course, we ended the trip with a fish bowl!!!:) It was delish!:) We ran back to the ship and were on at about 8:00. At 9:00, we had an African choir sing, dance, and then we all crashed!!!

Friday, March 9, 2007
So we still hadn’t left Africa… We had to fill up with fuel so the captain wanted to stay the night at the fuel docks. We were supposed to leave at 10AM, but it was too rough of waters so the captain delayed it. I had class all day and walked around like a zombie because I was exhausted. Then at 4:00pm, we threw off the bowlines and said farewell to the most beautiful place on earth. I literally can’t imagine any other place on earth looking as beautiful as South Africa. I usually have an easy time putting my feelings on paper, but for some reason I’m having a hard time digesting everything. I never felt a yearning to go back to a place like I do with Africa. I HAVE to go back and visit someday. There was so much to do, see, and experience- and I feel as though I only brushed the surface. I never saw a township, or an orphanage, or worked with children in schools. I was never able to visit an HIV/AIDS clinic or climb Table Mountain. I know I am so fortunate to have even visited… I’m not complaining. But I’m wondering how I can go back there someday. Everyone in the world needs to see Africa before they die. It’s a mix of California and Washington all in one- minus the poverty and AIDS. They say Cape Town isn’t typical Africa, which I’m definitely aware of. I want to go back to serve people… I feel like I was the typical tourist and I definitely should be since I’m on the most amazing adventure of my life; but I want to go back and give my time to all those children forced into townships that have no clothes or crayons to color with or even cute toys. It’s sad and it’s so unbelievable unfair that I really want to make a difference in this world, somehow, someday. Everyone I’ve talked to on the ship is already looking into plane tickets to go back. We all want to come back for the world cup in 2010!! Haha… But that’s beside the point; everyone I’ve talked to has said the same thing “they really can’t digest their experiences in Africa.” I tried my best to describe my feelings, the places I went, and the people I saw. But the words don’t even compare to how indescribable Africa was to me… my heart longs for more though. I don’t really know if I’ll ever be satisfied after any country. I want to see more. Learn more. Experience more. I want to travel into the unknown where people haven’t gone. I want to give up my life to give to others. I know I’m gonna be in India in less than two weeks and after that I’ll probably be even more changed. I can’t imagine- but I’m ready. Ready to grasp the world with my fingertips… in fact I’m holding on and not wanting to let go!

Sorry I rambled on guys… Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! Seriously, I don’t even know how I can repay you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love you.
Miss you.

A changed woman.