So who knew Namibia was such a beautiful country?? Not me, I didn’t know anything about the country before this trip! Well, to give some information about it, it is on the western coast of Africa right next to South Africa and it is about the size of Texas. The population is 1.8 billion people, and 44% of the population is younger than 14 years old. Already, quite a drastic difference from Brazil, where the city of Salvador alone had more than 2 million people. The official language in Namibia is English, but it has very interesting demographics. It was a German colony and just gained its independence in 1990, so it is a very new country. They have quite the mix of native Namibians and Afrikaans (Dutch and other European settlers), and there are several hundred different languages spoken throughout the country, but almost everyone speaks English. So we ported in Walvis Bay on Friday September 19th and it was VERY foggy and overcast. Walvis Bay has a population of only 60,000 and I can honestly say that by 5pm on Friday, I had quite a handle on the city, which is saying something (many of you can vouch that my sense of direction isn’t the greatest…)
But we had some good German food and walked up the coast where we saw lots of jellyfish and oysters. We came back to the ship for dinner, and then headed out for the night to a local bar called the Raft. There are only two or three bars in Walvis Bay, so to say the least, it was PACKED. The bartenders and owner said it was the busiest they have EVER been (granted, it was a Friday night). Normally they close at midnight, but I think they stayed open until around 3am because they were just raking in the money. But to us, it was SO CHEAP! The conversion rate is 1 USD to 8 Namibia Dollars. So we could get a full meal for under 10 USD so all of the Americans were eating and drinking like crazy.
On Saturday we walked around a bit in the morning- went to the post office, the bank, did stuff like that and then got lunch at this really cute coffee shop, then we headed to DUNE 7 for the afternoon. We took a cap ride through the desert to what is supposedly the biggest sand dune in the area- we had no idea what to expect. Well, it was a big pile of sand. Everyone was talking about it like an attraction, so I was expecting there to be SOME civilization around- but no, nothing. So it took about 15 minutes to hike up- it is REALLY steep and the sad was SO HOT. Plus it is very difficult to hike in the sand. But once we got to the top it was amazing. For miles all you can see is sand dunes. I actually got a very similar feeling to one that I have felt a few times- when standing at the top of a huge snow mountain peak and it is just complete calmness and serenity all around. It was a really breathtaking feeling and I hope the pictures do some justice when I eventually get around to posting them…
That night we went back to the same bar, but it was much more fun because there weren’t nearly has many SAS kids (as they had dispersed to surrounding cities) so we got to meet more locals and we could actually hear each other which was nice. The locals were SO nice in Namibia and they were really interested in talking to Americans and we all have assignments to do for classes revolving getting information from locals, so it is always a cool experience making new friends!
On Sunday we slept in a little bit and then left for Swakopmund, another coastal city about a half hour away. We were able to catch a cheap cab ride and luckily stumbled upon a hostel that had some vacancy (there were 6 of us traveling together). So that was lucky and by then Swako was swarming with SAS kids, so we were everywhere. The hostel was really nice and clean and they offered breakfast in the morning! All shops/restaurants close on Sundays at 1pm, so there wasn’t much going on until the evening (well we found one open restaurant) but we just walked around the city and up the coast. It honestly felt more like Europe than Africa because the German influence there was so prominent. We had a fun night there at a local bar and then the next morning we got up early to head to the market before going quad biking!! We bargained for some fun and cool handmade crafts and artwork and then headed to the dunes for quadding! We each got an automatic 4 wheeler and our guide took us through the dunes for a total of about 2 hours. It was really neat and again, very beautiful. He took us to a view lookout points over the ocean which were just gorgeous and I’m not sure how fast the quads went, but we were booking. Of course, I got stuck a few times, but it was funny and no big deal. I’m really glad we did that- and then we shopped more around Swako and again had a really fabulous lunch at this tiny café that some locals from Walvis Bay had recommended.
We left that evening and came back to Walvis Bay for yet another crazy Namibian night (not really we were very tired but just couldn’t stay in our last night there!) and met some guys who had gone to Capetown University so they were giving us all of these tips and pointers and suggestions on where to go, how to be safe, etc. which was definitely very helpful! And before we left on Tuesday afternoon we just walked around the city some more, did some shopping, got some groceries, failed at using the internet café, got lunch, etc. And now we are back on the boat, but pulling into Capetown right now! (I’m writing this on Thursday evening.) We only had 2 days of classes, which was kind of a joke, because we had off for 5 days and now have off for 7 days, but hey, I guess we have to have class sometimes. By the way I am doing well in classes- I have had an exam and two quizzes- and so far so good! My sociology class is the only difficult one, but even that one I am doing well, it is just a lot of work and effort. It is very interesting information and completely applicable to all of the ports that we are going to though so I don’t mind doing the extra work because I actually feel like I am truly getting worthwhile and useful information out of the class. Other than that, nothing new on the ship- just very excited for South Africa! Hopefully there won’t be too many issues with theft or robbery or anything like that. I think there were only a handful of petty crimes in Namibia, but South Africa is much more dangerous so we have to be extra careful. And we are flying to Johannesburg for our safari which is an extremely dangerous city but luckily we will only be in that airport for a short period of time and it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus my good friend on the ship has a friend who is studying in Capetown for the semester so she is going to take us around for a few days which makes me more comfortable also! But some other plans besides the safari for South Africa include hiking Table Mountain, going Shark Diving!! I am so excited it should be a blast! I’ll try to write a few different times in South Africa since we are there for 7 days and that would be a huge and intense post after that!!! I’ll say hi to the great whites and black penguins (and Mogley)!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
AFRICA IS IN SIGHT!!!
So we have finally gotten to Africa!! Well not officially, but we will be in port by 8am tomorrow morning! So the plan is to get up to see the sunrise and have some breakfast before planning out our day that we will spend in Walvis Bay. We don’t have legit plans as of yet, but we will just walk around the city and see some sites and eat some apparently good German food- so that will be nice. We are all just so excited to get off the ship! It has been a long haul from Brazil…
Namibia as a country only has 1.8 million people, and 44% of the population is under the age of 14. So it will be quite different coming from Salvador, Brazil- a city whose population is more than the entire country of Namibia. Plus no one on the ship has ever been here before, so we all don’t quite know what to expect! It should be a fun experience though, I am really looking forward to seeing all of the beautiful landscapes. As of now, tentative plans include hiking to Dune 7 (one of the most famous Sand Dunes in Africa…which I’m not too sure how a sand dune gets recognized….guess I’ll find out), possibly going Sand Boarding and spending a night or two in Windhoek, the capital city. So we have 5 days to explore this beautiful country, and then we are only on board for three days before arriving in South Africa- so this is a very exciting part of the journey! It has also gotten significantly cooler out, rumor has it the high in Africa will be around 68 degrees, which is a little chilly, but more pleasant than 95 degrees for traveling.
As far as ship life goes- everything is going well. Classes are OK (I actually enjoyed the past few days because the history of Namibia is very interesting and something that I knew NOTHING about) and I had my first exam two days ago which wasn’t too bad. Sleeping has been a favorite of mine lately. We are now I believe 6 hours ahead of East Coast time…we have lost an hour every night for what seems like forever, so we have all been napping a lot. Speaking of, it’s about that time to get a good night’s sleep as I prepare for AFRICA!!! Love and prayers….Ari
Namibia as a country only has 1.8 million people, and 44% of the population is under the age of 14. So it will be quite different coming from Salvador, Brazil- a city whose population is more than the entire country of Namibia. Plus no one on the ship has ever been here before, so we all don’t quite know what to expect! It should be a fun experience though, I am really looking forward to seeing all of the beautiful landscapes. As of now, tentative plans include hiking to Dune 7 (one of the most famous Sand Dunes in Africa…which I’m not too sure how a sand dune gets recognized….guess I’ll find out), possibly going Sand Boarding and spending a night or two in Windhoek, the capital city. So we have 5 days to explore this beautiful country, and then we are only on board for three days before arriving in South Africa- so this is a very exciting part of the journey! It has also gotten significantly cooler out, rumor has it the high in Africa will be around 68 degrees, which is a little chilly, but more pleasant than 95 degrees for traveling.
As far as ship life goes- everything is going well. Classes are OK (I actually enjoyed the past few days because the history of Namibia is very interesting and something that I knew NOTHING about) and I had my first exam two days ago which wasn’t too bad. Sleeping has been a favorite of mine lately. We are now I believe 6 hours ahead of East Coast time…we have lost an hour every night for what seems like forever, so we have all been napping a lot. Speaking of, it’s about that time to get a good night’s sleep as I prepare for AFRICA!!! Love and prayers….Ari
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Life on the Amazon
Back on the ship from the most AMAZING experience in Brazil!! Bear with me because it is somewhat long and involved, but I want to cover everything because it was one of the neatest things I have done and one of the coolest places I have ever visited.
When we arrived in Brazil on the 7th, we had about four hours to walk around Salvador before we had to gather our things to get to the airport. So we went to the Upper City and the first thing we saw was a huge street festival and parade since it was Independence Day! So that was pretty neat and we just walked up and down the streets taking everything in. We did a little bit of shopping, saw some capoiera (a local form of martial arts that is a combination of dancing and fighting which is really neat) and of course had a local beer. We didn’t get the chance to get to downtown Salvador which was a taxi ride away- and this wasn’t the best area, so we were OK with only being there for a few hours. It was fun to bargain with the street vendors and also working around the language barrier was interesting and entertaining also. Then we headed back to the ship to get ready for our adventure to THE AMAZON!!
We were a group of 12 students traveling independently, meaning we had no affiliation with Semester at Sea and we did all of the arranging and scheduling as opposed to just signing up for one of their offered trips. Our group consisted of myself and the three other students from Ithaca College (Ben, Lacey and Greg) as well as two more guys and 6 other girls. So we left Salvador at 730pm, and with connections, a time change and a few delays, we landed in Manaus at about 230am. Our tour guide, Fabio, was there to meet us and we had about a half hour drive to the dock where our boat was ready to go. (Note, we didn’t realize there was a time change, so we thought it was 430am even though it was only 330am) The boat is two decks high…and there were the twelve of us, as well as a crew of about 10 guys (head guide, translator, two cooks, a few captains, the tree climbing expert, and a few others). So the twelve of us slept on the first deck and we all had to bring hammocks with us from Salvador. So we set those all up and got situated…a few of us slept for an hour or two before waking up for a BEAUTIFUL sunset at the meeting of the waters, where the Amazon and Black Rivers meet. Both rivers are distinctly different colors and it was an unreal scene to see the two meet together. From there we just cruised down a smaller branch of the Black River and Fabio explained to us a lot of history about Manaus and the Amazon region and about his past 7 years of being a guide, etc. There was a little storm that was neat to see roll in, and also it is unreal seeing the water line on all of the trees lining the river. I don’t know what the difference in river level from high season to low season is, but it is several, several feet. All of the shanties lining the river are floating so they adjust to the water height which is pretty interesting.
Before lunch we stopped at a local market and went on a little hike to see the largest Water Lilies in the Amazon and saw some birds and other neat wildlife. Then back on the boat, a few of us played cards with the staff members- luckily Luciano was there to translate- their favorite game is a variation of Rummy, so we picked it up pretty easily. It was neat because even with the language barrier, we were all able to hang out and spend time together and get to know each other. Then we stopped at a small beach and went swimming (in the Black River, not the Amazon) and grilled Timbutki, a type of fish and had a very delicious lunch, thanks to Jozue and Willande (the cooks!) In the afternoon we went piranha fishing in smaller boats. So we broke up to 5 people per boat and had just bamboo sticks with string and pieces of meat attached to a hook. Pretty basic…but the boys boat got the most, but I caught one!! It was pretty exciting because I had only been fishing a few times! But we caught them and then cooked them the next night for dinner!! We hung out on the boat for awhile after fishing and took some naps…before setting out to go alligator hunting once it got dark out. Again, we went out on the smaller boats, and one guy would drive the boats, and one would be on the front of the boat with a huge search light. Fabio was able to see the gators eyes from SO far away, and he would tell the driver where to go and would literally lunge into the water and grab the gators by their necks. It was a pretty crazy scene. But the first one that he caught the boys maturely named him Gaylord, and the second one, Crazy Craig was a little feisty and they threw him back in after a few minutes. But we all got to hold the gator and take pictures with him and Fabio gave us some fun gator facts- like you can tell how old they are by the elasticity of the skin on their necks! Then we had another delicious dinner-they eat so late in Brazil, which took a little getting used to, but we didn’t mind because the food was worth waiting for. That night was pretty chilly, so a lot of us didn’t sleep too well in our hammocks, but oh well. I had woke up in the middle of the night, and my hammock was actually on the end, so I caught a glimpse of the sky and just HAD to get up to look at it and I kid you not when I say that it was the most beautiful nighttime sky I have EVER seen. There was not a single light in sight, so the stars were SO visible- I have never seen such a bright and glittering sky in my whole life. Then of course I had Fabio wake me up to see the sunrise which was again, absolutely beautiful.
I went back to sleep for a little while before awakening to yet another delicious breakfast, and then we split into two groups for the day. My group was Greg, Lacey, Ben, John and Pooja. We headed to the tree climbing that they had set up for us early that morning. Mr. Valencio is a professional climber and in the Brazilian Air Force so he was super experienced. Another team member, Hobson, was also very experienced. So they set up all of the ropes and we each climbed the 25 meter tree to the top of the Jungle. It was really neat being up so high and I had a moment when I was about halfway up and it was so quiet because there was no one really in my vicinity (just above and below me) and I was taking a little break to catch my breath and just appreciating the beauty all around me, and then it just started to rain, out of nowhere and it was a really, really moving moment which was amazing. I continued to the top, and then the repel down was one of the most fun parts!! Once we were all hot and gross and sweaty and dirty, we headed back to the canoe to go back to the boat. We all went swimming to cool off and fool around and had some lunch, then we switched with the other group for the afternoon. There was a village not far from where we were anchored for the afternoon of native Brazilians who originally belonged to the Bera tribe. The community is only 14 years old and originally started as 12 people (I think) and now has 120 people- with a school, a church and a medical center. We had brought two soccer balls with us for the children and they were SO happy to receive them. They were really fun to play with and even though we couldn’t really speak with them much, we could still play with them, and they lovvved looking at themselves on our digital cameras! It was neat to learn about the natives of the Amazon region and the history of their village and see how simply and happily they live. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.
Back on the boat we were trying some of the native fruits from the Amazon region (which may not have been the smartest thing, but oh well). There were some really good ones, and some really gross ones. My favorite was the coconut water (which is nothing like anything coconut tasting I have had before. That night we had a lot of fun on the boat because we were getting to know the team better and started to communicate better with them. I actually was surprised how much my basic Spanish got me by and how much Spanish I was able to recall from high school which was pretty exciting!! But we had a great dinner of beef and sausage (neither of which I eat, but hey- I was in the Amazon, I had to!) and then we were just dancing and listening to music and had some rum drinks. They listen to music that we listened to in the 90s…Madonna, Michael Jackson, 90s alternative music…it was very funny for us and we had a great time with them. (Note, they are all about 23-27 years old).
Then pretty late at night we all loaded into the canoes and headed into the jungle for the night!! Fabio and Luciendo had already set up camp in the jungle with our hammocks and a tarp and everything. So we were all bundled up to keep protected from the deadly mosquitoes and insects. Fabio told us some really great stories about the spirits of the Jungle and just different stories he had from being a guide for several years which was really interesting and they led to more and more stories. I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night because we woke up at 6am to go exploring into the Jungle for a few hours!! We unfortunately didn’t see any real great wildlife, but it was AMAZING to see how resourceful those who know the jungle can be. It seems like each different plant and tree has different functions. There is a palm tree that is used to shelter, a vine that when cut you can drink the water from it, a tree that you can use as a means of communication because it echoes for miles, vines that can be used as ropes, bark that can be used as a healing medicine, etc. He was also able to make a blowgun using different branches and leaves etc as well as a compass from a few different plants. It was just really, really neat to see how useful the jungle can be if you really get to know it. And I also have no idea how they knew their way around the jungle because it was so dense that we were just trailblazing the whole time with a machete and I feel like we were randomly walking, but luckily they knew where they were going!
` When we made our way back to the boat, they had breakfast all ready and prepared for us and we just hung out for awhile, took some naps, played some cards and relaxed until we got to another beach where we went exploring and a few of us wound up repelling off of a bridge because Mr. Valencio said we should! So that was fun! And then we went to a mini waterfall/swimming hole which was refreshingly cold (because the river is actually pretty warm) and we hung out there for a bit and the boys were jumping out of trees and whatnot. Then we had duck for lunch which was great. I don’t know if we did anything noteworthy that afternoon- but late in the afternoon we went fishing again and also just exploring in the canoes- we saw some monkeys and neat birds, and then while we were fishing Luciendo fell in the water because he was trying to grab on to a tree for us to tie up to and clearly was unsuccessful- so that was a bit of excitement that unfortunately caused us to miss the sunset, oh well. But we didn’t catch anything, a few people caught some catfish, but not my boat =(
We then proceeded to the boat for the last meal on the ship which was very sad. As we were pulling up to the dock, we overlooked the city of Manaus while it was dark which was absolutely beautiful. We all just sat around talking and really bonding over a few departing drinks with each other and the team and packing up our hammocks and everything else. This trip was unreal and so memorable. Life on the Amazon is so simple and peaceful. It is just a beautiful region of Brazil with so much to offer and so much rich culture surrounding it. Our tour guide and his team were some of the nicest people I have ever met and the language barrier seemed minimal by the end of the three days that we spent together. We found ways around it and really got to know each other well and had a fantastic time together.
We cut it a little close with our flight back to Salvador due to some delays and complications, but we made it back to the ship on time- and even though I missed our tour boat and the Amazon in general, it was nice to have a bed to sleep in and a nice shower. We all REAKED of bug spray and general grossness- I felt bad for the people who had to sit next to us on the plane. I went through more bug spray in those 3 days than I probably have in my whole life. I think we sprayed ourselves down with Deet about every 15 minutes. Fabio had only gotten Malaria 3 times, but the captain had gotten it 27 times in his life! So we were trying to avoid Malaria, Denge, and all other gross diseases from mosquitoes. So far so good, and no one got sick on our trip !! (knock on wood)
I know this is unbearably long, but hopefully you got through it and got a sense of the amazing experience that I had in Brazil. It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to see Rio or much of Salvador, but we were only here for 5 days, so we had to pick and choose, but I am SO glad with our trip. It was so fulfilling and a GREAT way to start off our journey around the world.
Now we are en route to Namibia- we will get there on Friday. But it is a little rough because we are heading directly East, so we basically have a time change every night for about 5 nights- this is the 3rd one in a row for us, which is not so fun, but oh well- not much we can do about it!
Classes are going OK, but it is hard to get back into the swing of it after such a great time in Brazil. Guess we will have to get used to these transitions though. Things with my roomie, Dani, are still great and the food on the ship is still bad!
Hopefully I will write again before Namibia, and whenever I get to an internet café- either in Namibia or South Africa, I will be able to post some photos up here!!
Thanks for reading, and I miss you all a lot and think about you every day and pray that you are safe and sound back in the US!
Chao from the Atlantic Ocean!
Love Ari
When we arrived in Brazil on the 7th, we had about four hours to walk around Salvador before we had to gather our things to get to the airport. So we went to the Upper City and the first thing we saw was a huge street festival and parade since it was Independence Day! So that was pretty neat and we just walked up and down the streets taking everything in. We did a little bit of shopping, saw some capoiera (a local form of martial arts that is a combination of dancing and fighting which is really neat) and of course had a local beer. We didn’t get the chance to get to downtown Salvador which was a taxi ride away- and this wasn’t the best area, so we were OK with only being there for a few hours. It was fun to bargain with the street vendors and also working around the language barrier was interesting and entertaining also. Then we headed back to the ship to get ready for our adventure to THE AMAZON!!
We were a group of 12 students traveling independently, meaning we had no affiliation with Semester at Sea and we did all of the arranging and scheduling as opposed to just signing up for one of their offered trips. Our group consisted of myself and the three other students from Ithaca College (Ben, Lacey and Greg) as well as two more guys and 6 other girls. So we left Salvador at 730pm, and with connections, a time change and a few delays, we landed in Manaus at about 230am. Our tour guide, Fabio, was there to meet us and we had about a half hour drive to the dock where our boat was ready to go. (Note, we didn’t realize there was a time change, so we thought it was 430am even though it was only 330am) The boat is two decks high…and there were the twelve of us, as well as a crew of about 10 guys (head guide, translator, two cooks, a few captains, the tree climbing expert, and a few others). So the twelve of us slept on the first deck and we all had to bring hammocks with us from Salvador. So we set those all up and got situated…a few of us slept for an hour or two before waking up for a BEAUTIFUL sunset at the meeting of the waters, where the Amazon and Black Rivers meet. Both rivers are distinctly different colors and it was an unreal scene to see the two meet together. From there we just cruised down a smaller branch of the Black River and Fabio explained to us a lot of history about Manaus and the Amazon region and about his past 7 years of being a guide, etc. There was a little storm that was neat to see roll in, and also it is unreal seeing the water line on all of the trees lining the river. I don’t know what the difference in river level from high season to low season is, but it is several, several feet. All of the shanties lining the river are floating so they adjust to the water height which is pretty interesting.
Before lunch we stopped at a local market and went on a little hike to see the largest Water Lilies in the Amazon and saw some birds and other neat wildlife. Then back on the boat, a few of us played cards with the staff members- luckily Luciano was there to translate- their favorite game is a variation of Rummy, so we picked it up pretty easily. It was neat because even with the language barrier, we were all able to hang out and spend time together and get to know each other. Then we stopped at a small beach and went swimming (in the Black River, not the Amazon) and grilled Timbutki, a type of fish and had a very delicious lunch, thanks to Jozue and Willande (the cooks!) In the afternoon we went piranha fishing in smaller boats. So we broke up to 5 people per boat and had just bamboo sticks with string and pieces of meat attached to a hook. Pretty basic…but the boys boat got the most, but I caught one!! It was pretty exciting because I had only been fishing a few times! But we caught them and then cooked them the next night for dinner!! We hung out on the boat for awhile after fishing and took some naps…before setting out to go alligator hunting once it got dark out. Again, we went out on the smaller boats, and one guy would drive the boats, and one would be on the front of the boat with a huge search light. Fabio was able to see the gators eyes from SO far away, and he would tell the driver where to go and would literally lunge into the water and grab the gators by their necks. It was a pretty crazy scene. But the first one that he caught the boys maturely named him Gaylord, and the second one, Crazy Craig was a little feisty and they threw him back in after a few minutes. But we all got to hold the gator and take pictures with him and Fabio gave us some fun gator facts- like you can tell how old they are by the elasticity of the skin on their necks! Then we had another delicious dinner-they eat so late in Brazil, which took a little getting used to, but we didn’t mind because the food was worth waiting for. That night was pretty chilly, so a lot of us didn’t sleep too well in our hammocks, but oh well. I had woke up in the middle of the night, and my hammock was actually on the end, so I caught a glimpse of the sky and just HAD to get up to look at it and I kid you not when I say that it was the most beautiful nighttime sky I have EVER seen. There was not a single light in sight, so the stars were SO visible- I have never seen such a bright and glittering sky in my whole life. Then of course I had Fabio wake me up to see the sunrise which was again, absolutely beautiful.
I went back to sleep for a little while before awakening to yet another delicious breakfast, and then we split into two groups for the day. My group was Greg, Lacey, Ben, John and Pooja. We headed to the tree climbing that they had set up for us early that morning. Mr. Valencio is a professional climber and in the Brazilian Air Force so he was super experienced. Another team member, Hobson, was also very experienced. So they set up all of the ropes and we each climbed the 25 meter tree to the top of the Jungle. It was really neat being up so high and I had a moment when I was about halfway up and it was so quiet because there was no one really in my vicinity (just above and below me) and I was taking a little break to catch my breath and just appreciating the beauty all around me, and then it just started to rain, out of nowhere and it was a really, really moving moment which was amazing. I continued to the top, and then the repel down was one of the most fun parts!! Once we were all hot and gross and sweaty and dirty, we headed back to the canoe to go back to the boat. We all went swimming to cool off and fool around and had some lunch, then we switched with the other group for the afternoon. There was a village not far from where we were anchored for the afternoon of native Brazilians who originally belonged to the Bera tribe. The community is only 14 years old and originally started as 12 people (I think) and now has 120 people- with a school, a church and a medical center. We had brought two soccer balls with us for the children and they were SO happy to receive them. They were really fun to play with and even though we couldn’t really speak with them much, we could still play with them, and they lovvved looking at themselves on our digital cameras! It was neat to learn about the natives of the Amazon region and the history of their village and see how simply and happily they live. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.
Back on the boat we were trying some of the native fruits from the Amazon region (which may not have been the smartest thing, but oh well). There were some really good ones, and some really gross ones. My favorite was the coconut water (which is nothing like anything coconut tasting I have had before. That night we had a lot of fun on the boat because we were getting to know the team better and started to communicate better with them. I actually was surprised how much my basic Spanish got me by and how much Spanish I was able to recall from high school which was pretty exciting!! But we had a great dinner of beef and sausage (neither of which I eat, but hey- I was in the Amazon, I had to!) and then we were just dancing and listening to music and had some rum drinks. They listen to music that we listened to in the 90s…Madonna, Michael Jackson, 90s alternative music…it was very funny for us and we had a great time with them. (Note, they are all about 23-27 years old).
Then pretty late at night we all loaded into the canoes and headed into the jungle for the night!! Fabio and Luciendo had already set up camp in the jungle with our hammocks and a tarp and everything. So we were all bundled up to keep protected from the deadly mosquitoes and insects. Fabio told us some really great stories about the spirits of the Jungle and just different stories he had from being a guide for several years which was really interesting and they led to more and more stories. I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night because we woke up at 6am to go exploring into the Jungle for a few hours!! We unfortunately didn’t see any real great wildlife, but it was AMAZING to see how resourceful those who know the jungle can be. It seems like each different plant and tree has different functions. There is a palm tree that is used to shelter, a vine that when cut you can drink the water from it, a tree that you can use as a means of communication because it echoes for miles, vines that can be used as ropes, bark that can be used as a healing medicine, etc. He was also able to make a blowgun using different branches and leaves etc as well as a compass from a few different plants. It was just really, really neat to see how useful the jungle can be if you really get to know it. And I also have no idea how they knew their way around the jungle because it was so dense that we were just trailblazing the whole time with a machete and I feel like we were randomly walking, but luckily they knew where they were going!
` When we made our way back to the boat, they had breakfast all ready and prepared for us and we just hung out for awhile, took some naps, played some cards and relaxed until we got to another beach where we went exploring and a few of us wound up repelling off of a bridge because Mr. Valencio said we should! So that was fun! And then we went to a mini waterfall/swimming hole which was refreshingly cold (because the river is actually pretty warm) and we hung out there for a bit and the boys were jumping out of trees and whatnot. Then we had duck for lunch which was great. I don’t know if we did anything noteworthy that afternoon- but late in the afternoon we went fishing again and also just exploring in the canoes- we saw some monkeys and neat birds, and then while we were fishing Luciendo fell in the water because he was trying to grab on to a tree for us to tie up to and clearly was unsuccessful- so that was a bit of excitement that unfortunately caused us to miss the sunset, oh well. But we didn’t catch anything, a few people caught some catfish, but not my boat =(
We then proceeded to the boat for the last meal on the ship which was very sad. As we were pulling up to the dock, we overlooked the city of Manaus while it was dark which was absolutely beautiful. We all just sat around talking and really bonding over a few departing drinks with each other and the team and packing up our hammocks and everything else. This trip was unreal and so memorable. Life on the Amazon is so simple and peaceful. It is just a beautiful region of Brazil with so much to offer and so much rich culture surrounding it. Our tour guide and his team were some of the nicest people I have ever met and the language barrier seemed minimal by the end of the three days that we spent together. We found ways around it and really got to know each other well and had a fantastic time together.
We cut it a little close with our flight back to Salvador due to some delays and complications, but we made it back to the ship on time- and even though I missed our tour boat and the Amazon in general, it was nice to have a bed to sleep in and a nice shower. We all REAKED of bug spray and general grossness- I felt bad for the people who had to sit next to us on the plane. I went through more bug spray in those 3 days than I probably have in my whole life. I think we sprayed ourselves down with Deet about every 15 minutes. Fabio had only gotten Malaria 3 times, but the captain had gotten it 27 times in his life! So we were trying to avoid Malaria, Denge, and all other gross diseases from mosquitoes. So far so good, and no one got sick on our trip !! (knock on wood)
I know this is unbearably long, but hopefully you got through it and got a sense of the amazing experience that I had in Brazil. It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to see Rio or much of Salvador, but we were only here for 5 days, so we had to pick and choose, but I am SO glad with our trip. It was so fulfilling and a GREAT way to start off our journey around the world.
Now we are en route to Namibia- we will get there on Friday. But it is a little rough because we are heading directly East, so we basically have a time change every night for about 5 nights- this is the 3rd one in a row for us, which is not so fun, but oh well- not much we can do about it!
Classes are going OK, but it is hard to get back into the swing of it after such a great time in Brazil. Guess we will have to get used to these transitions though. Things with my roomie, Dani, are still great and the food on the ship is still bad!
Hopefully I will write again before Namibia, and whenever I get to an internet café- either in Namibia or South Africa, I will be able to post some photos up here!!
Thanks for reading, and I miss you all a lot and think about you every day and pray that you are safe and sound back in the US!
Chao from the Atlantic Ocean!
Love Ari
Saturday, September 6, 2008
To the Amazon!
Oi! So I am all packed for the Amazon!! I have my airline limit of 11 pounds all packed in my hiking pack and our flight leaves tomorrow evening. We will be getting to Salvador early in the morning, and it takes a few hours to disembark the ship, so we will have a few hours in Salvador, before we have to head to the airport in the afternoon. I can’t believe this trip is finally here! It is one of the countries I am looking forward to the most, and I think this trip will be unbelievable. We are all going ship crazy and we are SO ready to get on land! Our group is of 13 people, and we will be meeting our tour guide at the airport in Manuas at about 1am and we will proceed right to the Amazon and on to our Riverboat for 4 days!! We were planning on sleeping on the deck tonight, and waking up to the sunrise while pulling into port, but rumor has it it is raining right now, so looks like I’ll be waking up at 5am to see the sunrise!! Maybe when I get back to Salvador I will be able to send out some photos, but I might have to wait until Namibia if I don’t have enough time. (we only have about a 7 hour buffer zone for our arrival flight back to Salvador, which is a little nerve wracking, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!) So hopefully I’ll stay clear of Malaria and the dangerous wildlife, but I hope to see amazing sites and can’t wait to share my stories!
OH and Neptune day was yesterday- the ceremonial crossing of the equator…
We had fish guts dumped on us, had to kiss a fish, then several people got their heads shaved…including all but another of the Ithaca crew that is on the ship…including Lacey (my roomie from IC), Ben (a good friend), Greg (his good friend) and another girl from Ithaca…it is quite the seen seeing 80 shaved heads walking around..it was quite the fun day, however I opted to keep my head of hair!
OH and Neptune day was yesterday- the ceremonial crossing of the equator…
We had fish guts dumped on us, had to kiss a fish, then several people got their heads shaved…including all but another of the Ithaca crew that is on the ship…including Lacey (my roomie from IC), Ben (a good friend), Greg (his good friend) and another girl from Ithaca…it is quite the seen seeing 80 shaved heads walking around..it was quite the fun day, however I opted to keep my head of hair!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hello from Sea!
Day 5 on the ship and everything is great!
I started off in the Bahamas for 2 days, which were absolutely great. The weather was amazing, and we met LOTS of other Semester at Sea kids everywhere from the flight down there to the check in at the hotel, to Subway for lunch…we were flocking throughout Nassau. I flew down with Ben, a good friend who also goes to Ithaca, and we met up with another Ithaca student and some other students we were staying with at the hotel. We spent lots of time at the Atlantis and at the beach, and it really was great. Friday was boarding day- which was HOT and LONG. We got on line at 11am I think and didn’t get settled on the ship until about 2 or 3pm. I met my roommate, Dani, who is from the LA area in California and she is great! We get along really well and she is lots of fun, so it is definitely working out. The first two days were orientation meetings and safety drills, and just getting to know everyone on the ship and getting used to sea life. It was a little rough at first because we had to go 75 miles off course to avoid Hurricane Gustav, and in the process got a little caught up in Tropical Storm Hannah. Then we had to go really fast during the night to make up time, so the ship was ROCKING. Lots of sick people for a few days, luckily not me! I have been doing fine with the motion, thankfully! Today is day 3 of classes, and I am already LOADED with work. They expect a lot from us since there aren’t many distractions while on the ship. We are on a two day alternating schedule, so I have one class on Day A, and 3 classes on Day B. My glasses are Global Studies: The Rise of New Great Powers (required class), Survey of World Music, Philosophy of Love, Sex & Friendship, and Race & Ethnicity. They are all very interesting, and tailored towards the different countries that we will be going to. The sociology class will definitely be the most work, but I am really interested in the class material and I think it will be worth it. I have also gotten involved in planning the Sea Olympics…which is a day long event with all the members on the ship. The different decks are divided into seas, and there are a total of 11 seas. I am in the Red Sea, so it is the back starboard side of the 4th deck. It should be a lot of fun, and we will be meeting every other night since it is only in a few weeks! I also am part of the Bible Study group on board…as well as Students for Service, which organizes service projects both on the ship and at port. Also, along with every class, we have to do 3 FDPs (Faculty Directed Practicums) which are trips in each port that relate to our class, such as going to museums, friendship centers, musical performances, etc. I have one scheduled for Brazil, but more importantly, I have a 3 day trip to the Amazon planned! There are 13 of us in the group and we are extremely excited to get there and get started!!
Right now we are somewhat near Venezuela, and we will be crossing the Equator on Friday. Then we port in Salvador, Brazil on Sunday morning!
The weather has been pretty good, when going up to the 7th deck, you would never know we take classes here because everyone is in the pool swimming and just laying out enjoying the sunshine…but we do get our work done! We are still waiting for a good sunset…the clouds have been heavy, but I’m sure we’ll see our fair share…
OH AND EXCITING NEWS: I have free email!!! The account is: aetempleton@semesteratsea.net, but I have my gmail and Ithaca mail forwarded to my account, so arianne.templeton@gmail.com and atemple1@ithaca.edu also work. We only have 120 minutes of actual internet time, but we have free resource sites that are available to us, so we are dealing. OK I think that’s all for now. EMAIL ME!!
I started off in the Bahamas for 2 days, which were absolutely great. The weather was amazing, and we met LOTS of other Semester at Sea kids everywhere from the flight down there to the check in at the hotel, to Subway for lunch…we were flocking throughout Nassau. I flew down with Ben, a good friend who also goes to Ithaca, and we met up with another Ithaca student and some other students we were staying with at the hotel. We spent lots of time at the Atlantis and at the beach, and it really was great. Friday was boarding day- which was HOT and LONG. We got on line at 11am I think and didn’t get settled on the ship until about 2 or 3pm. I met my roommate, Dani, who is from the LA area in California and she is great! We get along really well and she is lots of fun, so it is definitely working out. The first two days were orientation meetings and safety drills, and just getting to know everyone on the ship and getting used to sea life. It was a little rough at first because we had to go 75 miles off course to avoid Hurricane Gustav, and in the process got a little caught up in Tropical Storm Hannah. Then we had to go really fast during the night to make up time, so the ship was ROCKING. Lots of sick people for a few days, luckily not me! I have been doing fine with the motion, thankfully! Today is day 3 of classes, and I am already LOADED with work. They expect a lot from us since there aren’t many distractions while on the ship. We are on a two day alternating schedule, so I have one class on Day A, and 3 classes on Day B. My glasses are Global Studies: The Rise of New Great Powers (required class), Survey of World Music, Philosophy of Love, Sex & Friendship, and Race & Ethnicity. They are all very interesting, and tailored towards the different countries that we will be going to. The sociology class will definitely be the most work, but I am really interested in the class material and I think it will be worth it. I have also gotten involved in planning the Sea Olympics…which is a day long event with all the members on the ship. The different decks are divided into seas, and there are a total of 11 seas. I am in the Red Sea, so it is the back starboard side of the 4th deck. It should be a lot of fun, and we will be meeting every other night since it is only in a few weeks! I also am part of the Bible Study group on board…as well as Students for Service, which organizes service projects both on the ship and at port. Also, along with every class, we have to do 3 FDPs (Faculty Directed Practicums) which are trips in each port that relate to our class, such as going to museums, friendship centers, musical performances, etc. I have one scheduled for Brazil, but more importantly, I have a 3 day trip to the Amazon planned! There are 13 of us in the group and we are extremely excited to get there and get started!!
Right now we are somewhat near Venezuela, and we will be crossing the Equator on Friday. Then we port in Salvador, Brazil on Sunday morning!
The weather has been pretty good, when going up to the 7th deck, you would never know we take classes here because everyone is in the pool swimming and just laying out enjoying the sunshine…but we do get our work done! We are still waiting for a good sunset…the clouds have been heavy, but I’m sure we’ll see our fair share…
OH AND EXCITING NEWS: I have free email!!! The account is: aetempleton@semesteratsea.net, but I have my gmail and Ithaca mail forwarded to my account, so arianne.templeton@gmail.com and atemple1@ithaca.edu also work. We only have 120 minutes of actual internet time, but we have free resource sites that are available to us, so we are dealing. OK I think that’s all for now. EMAIL ME!!
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