Having Fun in Singapore

March 16

        I'’ll start with a confession:  the last few days I was really bored in classes, didn’t have any school work, and pretty much spent all my free time playing cards and hanging out with friends. It was sorta a mini-spring break where I did nothing, which was a lot of fun but has taken away from my blogging and journaling. So yes, I am fully aware that I have not blogged about my travels in India, but fortunately I have a pretty detailed itinerary with me so I won’t leave anything out when I do finally write it up.  I absolutely promise I will post that before we arrive in Vietnam on Saturday.  Before I continue about my travels in Singapore today, I should also mention that I shaved my head completely bald (we’re talking shaving cream and razor bald) a few days back, so I look a little different but honestly have been told it looks pretty good.  This decision was part of the Neptune Day festivities, so there are a lot of bald guys (and girls!) on the ship now.  More to come on Neptune Day in the next post.  So with that lengthy and rambling introduction I would love to share about my experience in Singapore.
        Like Mauritius, we were only in port in Singapore for one day.  On ship time, which basically is like a curfew to be back on the ship, was about 4 hours later than in Mauritius, so at least we had the opportunity to eat dinner in the city before returning to the ship by 2030.  Singapore was an absolute blast, one of those places I immediately promised myself I would try to return to later in life.  We pretty much had zero plans going in and even stepping off the ship had no idea what we were going to do.  It was a good and liberating feeling though, and after wandering around the harbor center for a while we made it to the metro station and bought an all day rail pass. The metro system in Singapore literally makes the DC metro look like a toilet bowl.  The trains were clean, modern, efficient and quite a bit of fun to ride.  Actually, the entire city center of Singapore puts almost any US city to shame in terms of cleanliness, architecture, noise, smell, attractions, city planning, efficiency of public transportation and just general city vibes.  As an example, despite being in the heart of the city, I don’t think I heard a single vehicle honk its horn the entire day, just because everyone followed the traffic laws and was generally courteous.  It was quite a nice experience, and not something I have been at all accustomed too considering the constant blaring of car horns in India.
        Our first stop off the metro was Chinatown.  We spent about an hour there, wandering the shops, visiting an elaborate Buddhist temple, and smelling all the great food.  Next we headed closer to the waterfront area, hoping to find the Sands Casino.  What we didn’t quite realize about the Sands was that it was much more than a casino.  After crossing a pedestrian bridge called the Helix (designed and constructed to look like a twisting helix) we were confronted with this massive complex of towers and buildings.  The hotel portion of the Sands consists of three, 55-story towers arranged in a row.  On top of the three towers is a massive platform linking the rooftops and extending about a hundred feet out in front of one of the towers, called Sky Park.  In front of the hotel is a massive mall and casino, and in front of that is a science museum that was constructed to look like an opening flower.  Seriously, everyone reading this should google the Sands Singapore and just look at the buildings, it was pretty impressive.  We went to the mall first and ate some great noodles and chicken in the food court next to the indoor ice rink. Next, we were on to the casino where we spent about an hour.  Despite appearing to be rich Americans, the massive casino was way too expensive for us (the minimum bets at all the poker tables was 50 Singapore dollars, or about $40).  We all lost about 10SD on slots, got a complimentary bottle of water, and left with our heads held high.  It was on to Sky Park, boasting panoramic views of the entire city, an outdoor restaurant and one of the world’s largest infinity pools.  It cost 20SD to take the elevator 56 flights to the top, but the experience was well worth the price of admission.  We could see the hundreds of ships anchored just off the main island, the massive city skyline, the floating soccer field and stadium in the harbor, and the armadillo inspired theatre concert venue.  We met up with some other SAS friends at the top and spent 45 mins snapping pictures, trying to sneak into the infinity pool (unsuccessfully) and generally pretending we had way more money in our pockets than we did.  This attitude of snobby American wealth continued after Sky Park when we were in the mall, at which point I assumed the role of the son of a rich white business man, vacationing in the country.  At one store I was presented with a “lucky” stone bracelet costing a cool $200,000 (the store also had a statue costing 20million).  After the sale associate’s pitch I told her I would have to ask my father.  At another store I received a free massage in a $5,000 electronic massage chair (which was absolutely incredible) and was given the store worker’'s personal phone number to call if I decided to buy one of the chairs.  It was fun pretending, but couldn’t quite justify investing in a bracelet, no matter how “lucky” it was.
        After the Sands experience, we wandered over to the theatre center and had the pleasure of sitting in during the sound check for one of the evening’s performances.  The artist was one of the most incredible guitarists I have ever heard and, although we had to leave to meet some other friends, we thoroughly enjoyed our 20min show, which was free, and the seats were oversized beanbags.  Next we were off to meet up with friends at the world famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore Sling drink.  Again, everything was crazy expensive ($20 for a tiny mixed drink!) but we did manage to play a free game of billiards in the cigar room, which was pretty classy.  After Raffles, we went to Center Quay, which is a fancy waterfront dining area.  We walked around for a bit, played in the fountain, and eventually ended up at a waterfront seafood restaurant for dinner.  This decision was made after a thorough discussion of going to the Clinic for dinner.  The Clinic is a bar/restaurant where the customers are treated like patients and the staff is doctors and nurses.  This means that guests are seated in gold wheel chairs, drinks are served in IV bags and syringes and all the lights are surgical lights.  It was fun to watch but too expensive and the restaurant we ended up at was great.  Our table of four just split a seafood bucket and a Singapore Sling, but despite not eating a full meal, the atmosphere and company was perfect after a long day.
        We took the metro back to the ship and managed to board with about 2 and a half minutes to spare.  If we had been just a few minutes later, we would have gotten “Dock Time” and been kept from getting off the ship in our next port for up to 24hours.  But everything worked out, as things tend to do with a lot of prayer, a little bit of hustle and perhaps the exposure to a ludicrously expensive lucky bracelet.  So that was Singapore, a place where I would have loved to spend a few more days and could have spent a few thousand dollars.  The city was great, the buildings were spectacular, everything was expensive, and I feel like I did a great job traveling with the lack of planning.  Certainly no regrets or "I wish I would have done that"” from Singapore.  Vietnam is in two days, China soon after and then a yet to be determined new country.  Which reminds, since I suppose I haven’t mentioned it, we are of course, no longer traveling to Japan after the recent tsunami.  I feel guilty even thinking of being disappointed for not being able to go considering the massive scale of tragedy and destruction that is occurring there.  It certainly puts this trip into perspective.  The rumor is we will be going to the Philippines instead, but S. Korea is also an option and would be an incredible destination.  Either way, I am sure I will find adventure and excitement. 

Don’t spit in public or you will get arrested,

Ben

Indian Insights

March 11

  Salutations America (and other foreign locations)!  My last post listed the things I planned to do in India.  It would make sense that this post would describe the things I did do in India, but for some time I have been promising some more creative, and perhaps humorous insights into my travels, and so will take this opportunity to attempt to stray away from my typical chronological accounts (I will post a blog detailing all the things I did later) and instead offer some observations from India.  It should be noted that I have not slept more than about 20 hours in a bed (I have slept a lot on planes, trains and buses though) the past 6 days and so if any of what I am saying does not make sense or contains errors, I suggest you, the reader, stop being so critical and pretentious.  With that said, here are some of my reflections on India.

1.      Mustaches are the dominant fashion statement among males in India.  Literally 90% of men in India sport a mustache without a beard.  This impressive display of lip fur, coupled with the shear volume of men in India, makes me confident that 75-80% of mustaches in the world come from India.  It also makes me want to grow a mustache.
2.      The typical things you would expect to see in India, I did in fact see in India.  This includes snake charmers, rickshaws, the Taj Mahal, train stations just like the ones in Slumdog Millionaire, street beggars just like the ones in Slum Dog Millionaire, every single meal containing curry, cows wandering the road, people talking with an Indian accent (an obvious observation), things smelling (more on that later), very crowded cities, silk and monkeys.
3.      Some other typical things you might expect to see in India that I did not see are: elephants, tigers, 1 billion people (although I did see a lot of people), telemarketing office buildings, the customer support center for Microsoft, massive slums (I was asleep when our train passed them) and 7-Elevens. 
4.      Things smell in India.  Not everything smells and the places that do smell do not all smell badly, but taking a rickshaw around the city of Chennai reveals some intense olfactory sensations.  The things that did smell good in India were: any location within around 4 feet of burning incense, which there were a lot of.  Also, the flower necklaces we got smelled good.  Things that smelled bad in India were: the tons of trash on the streets in the poorer parts of the country, the rivers of poo and pee that run through these streets, copious amounts of curry, the airports, the bus stations and the shops (all probably related to the poo, pee and trash everywhere), the River Ganges, the bodies being cremated in the open on the banks of the River Ganges and the tap water at the hotel.  I do not want to sound like a whiny tourist and therefore do admit that the strong and many times disagreeable smells all enhanced my India experience.
5.      I believe there exists a correlation between the socioeconomic status of an India city and the type of vehicles in that city. In Chennai there were hardly any private cars but tons of rickshaws and motorcycles filling the wide roads.  In Varanasi the roads were not as big or wide, and the more dominant vehicles were buses and bicycles.  In the nicer areas of Delhi there were private cars, the roads were wider and traffic was a little easier.  So it was interesting experiencing all of the different vehicles and traffic scenarios.  I traveled via taxi, bus, motor rickshaw, bike rickshaw, motorbike rickshaw, ship, canoe, train and plane.  At the end of the voyage I want to try to remember all of the types of transportation I have used, since the list is pretty long already.
6.      A three-wheeled motor rickshaw is cheaper, more fun and a lot more dangerous than any amusement park ride in the world.  Literally these tiny vehicles would shot gaps in traffic with inches to spare going 30+ mph.  My legs and arms stuck outside the open frame ever so slightly, but I still had to squeeze myself into a tiny ball just to keep all of my limbs intact.  Richshaw drivers also have these deals worked out with shop owners where they get a commission if they bring customers to the stores, so every rickshaw ride includes a bunch of stops at the driver’s “family” shop or a lot of yelling and negotiating to avoid these unnecessary stops.  I took a video during one of our rickshaw rides, which is really the only way to describe the experience.
7.      It appeared that I was the tallest and biggest person ever to go to India.  The only clothes that fit were 5XL (about 3-4 sizes bigger than normal), my legs barely fit in bus seats, and I had to constantly duck to avoid the low ceilings.  If I opened a Big and Tall store for American tourists in India, I’d be a rich man.
 
   I think that is all the insight I can muster for now.  Tomorrow we are celebrating Neptune day, which was supposed to happen when we crossed the equator back on the Amazon, but for some reason we are going to pretend that we are crossing the equator right off the eastern coast of India.  Classes are cancelled so there is no need to complain and the tradition is to shave your head, so ill probably do that (A bald head would nicely complement a mustache).  I’ll also try to post some specifics about the past 6 days, so look for that. 

Hope all is well

-Ben

The Indian Ocean

March 5

        Greetings from somewhere off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka! We have been at sea since Monday and are set to arrive in Chennai tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  The Indian Ocean has literally been like glass (for those not nautically inclined that means there are hardly any waves and the water surface appears like a sheet of glass), which has made for an incredibly smooth journey without any noticeable rocking.  Last Monday we were making almost 30kts an hour, which is a pretty rare occurrence.  The next morning at around 7:30am the captain made an announcement stating that we had been rushing to a remote military island in the middle of Indian Ocean in order to evacuate two students who needed medical attention (I also heard that a crew member was evacuated, but that is not official).  The students were suffering symptoms from pre-existing conditions, and the latest report is that they were successfully airlifted from the military base to Singapore and were recovering well.  However, they are not expected to rejoin the voyage, so I’m not exactly sure what their condition is.  The military base is named Diego Garcia and is currently one of five locations that help keep the US military’s GPS running.  It is the only “black” location, which I don’t really know what that means, but as soon as we entered their restricted waters there was a flotilla of marines carrying machine guns in about 6 zodiac crafts constantly circling our ship.  We also were not allowed to take any pictures.  The whole process was rather exciting and we are probably in a very, very small group of non-military people who have ever seen the island. 
        So that was the excitement for Tuesday morning and other than a slight head cold that kept me resting in bed more than I would have liked, the past few days were a pretty “normal” week at sea.  On Thursday night we had a fellowship service that was attended by a lot of students, of which about 7 was their first time.  It was very encouraging and again I am blown away by how God has blessed me with a great community of believing brothers and sisters and the opportunity to worship Him no matter where I am on the globe.  After the service the ships crew turned off all of the exterior lights and let the students go out on the top decks to star gaze.  I don’t know a lot about different star formations or anything like that, but you didn’t have to be an astronomer to be in awe of the night sky.  It was incredible to lie on my back, have a deep conversation with one of the new kids at the fellowship service about faith and life, and be mesmerized by God’s universe.  Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night.
        Anyways, tomorrow we arrive in India and as tradition has been so far on this voyage, I’ll try to give you a rough itinerary:

Sunday: I am attending a street theatre performance for one of my classes.  Kinda bummed about not having the day free to explore, but it should be a fun experience and I know a few friends on the trip.
               
Monday: My only free day in Chennai.  Hopefully I can take a bus into the city and get lost for a bit.  I also want to see some of the temples in the area, but I am really trying to leave that day plan-free so adventure can pop up.
       
Tuesday: My SAS overnight trip starts today.  I fly to Delhi and then on to Varanasi starting at about 3 in the morning. In Varanasi we are going to a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu temples and some museums.

Wednesday:  We wake up way early in the morning and board a small sailboat for a sunrise trip down the Ganges River, which I am incredibly excited for.  Then we fly back to Delhi and spend the rest of the day exploring Delhi.

Thursday: Again we wake up ridiculously early and board a train to Agra, where we hit a few temples and forts and then the Taj Mahal.  Obviously I am excited for this.  Then we take the train back to Delhi.

Friday:  Today we wake up really early again (shocker) and return to Chennai. We are scheduled to be back on the ship around 1pm, so I probably wont have any time (and will be ridiculously tired) to go back out in Chennai to explore before on-ship time. 

So that is the plan for India.  Should be fun.

Just tryin’ to blend INdia,

-Ben

Gettin Vicious in Mauritius

Feb. 27
      
        So today we had the pleasure of getting off the ship for about 7 hours, exploring a remote foreign country and then leaving.  This blog post will be pretty short, because there simply wasn’t any time to do much of anything, so it won’t take me too much time to explain the one thing I did.  So without further ado, the one thing I did in Mauritius was…. to go on a catamaran cruise to an island, swim around, eat lunch, and sail back to the ship.  It was fun and relaxing, but probably not one of the more memorable things I have done so far or will end up doing.  Literally about 200 SAS kids all were at the same island on about six different catamarans.  It was funny because when we were let off the ship this morning one third of all the students got in taxis, drove to the north side of the island, got on a catamaran and all ended up at the same spot.  When we reached the island, which was uninhabited and you couldn’t really climb the rocks to get on land anyways, all the boats tied up and anchored together and all the SAS kids spent a few hours swimming from boat to boat, jumping off the railings, eating the barbeque from the catamaran’s tiny grill and generally enjoying themselves.  I had debated not going and instead exploring some of the capitol city Port Louis, but had a free ticket for the catamaran and had told some friends that I would be going, so I figured it would be worth it.
        The experience of only being in port for one day was really strange considering we visit most other countries for at least 5 days.  When we are in a country for a longer time like that, we all go through this process of preparation, adjustment and equalization with the local culture, and then the strange effect of being back on the ship.  It is actually rather draining and requires a lot of someone.  Today however, it really felt like a Saturday afternoon (it was Sunday to be technical), where a bunch of us just went sailing, for a while and then got back on the ship.  No packing, no hotels or hostels, no getting lost, no finding a good restaurant that you want to go back to, just getting off the ship and getting back on a few hours later.  I have heard this will be the last time SAS stops in Mauritius, mainly because there isn’t a whole lot to do in one day, and the SAS kids have a reputation of being raucous and drunk.  On previous voyages, the ship had stayed overnight, but the Mauritian government was so upset by the damage done to the island that they were not cooperative and would not let us stay overnight even if ISE had wanted it.
        Anyways, at least I can say I have been to Mauritius and it really was a beautiful island that I enjoyed immensely during my few short hours.  However, the great land of India is less than a week away, and that is really where everyone'’s attention has been since leaving South Africa.  I have a little bit of sunburn on my shoulders to keep me warm when I sleep tonight (even though we were only here for a day everyone is exhausted), but I figure it’s better than getting cold from the winter temps on the East Coast.

Enjoy life,

-Ben

Things I did in South Africa

Feb 22.


        So the time has come again where I must figure out a way to communicate the awesome experiences I had in a country.  Describing South Africa will probably be tougher than usual, because I did so many things and everything I did was so breathtakingly gorgeous, adventurous and unforgettable.  I think I last left off just after I finished describing my Habitat build, so that leaves us at Saturday evening:
        Saturday night about 15 students and myself all went out for a farewell dinner for Andrew Briggs and his colleague Lee Gross, who left for their humanitarian work in Uganda this morning (Tuesday). We went to the Green Dolphin, a restaurant on the waterfront with a live jazz stage.  The food, company and atmosphere were absolutely incredible.  I had some of the best fried calamari I have ever had, along with a seafood stew and a local fish called Line Fish.  The whole time a fantastic jazz band entertained us.  Again, it was one of those “is this really my real life” moments where the shear enjoyment and satisfaction of the experience is almost overwhelming.  After a few hours at the Green Dolphin, we all grabbed a cab to go to Long Street, which is the center of nightlife in Cape Town.  With the help of a mutual friend of an SAS student who is spending the semester in Cape Town (and is actually from Annapolis), we were able to find this awesome bar with a live ska/reggae band.  It was great because we were the only SAS kids there, which is normally a rarity when in port, so it was just my friends and I and a bunch of locals enjoying the live music.
        Sunday morning myself and three other friends made our way to Hillsong Church Cape Town for their 9:30am worship service. This is the same Hillsong as the band Hillsong United, and I think there are about 7 different Hillsong churches all over the globe.  The service was really good, but I admit it felt a little strange going to a new church after not having the opportunity to go to any churches since I left home.  However, the message was definitely encouraging, the music was great, and we were able to meet up with some other churchgoers for lunch at a nearby mall.  The church and the mall were located in this new commercial development called Century City, which is super upscale and fancy.  I spent about an hour walking around the canal that runs through Century City (I would guess it’s similar to river walk in San Antonio) by myself, which was really peaceful and gave me some time to think about things like life and God.  After lunch, we spent about an hour trying to find a taxi or a bus, which, considering the usually near riot that the numerous taxi drivers cause right outside of the ship, was a little difficult. It was kinda fun to wander around this fancy development trying to find a taxi, bus, train and even thumbing for some rides while everyone else was driving around in Masseratis and Benzes.
        We finally were able to take a shuttle to a taxi/bus station.  We (I negotiated and talked) were able to hire a driver for the rest of the afternoon.  Our taxi driver, Owen, who lived in Cape Town his whole life, had a lot of trouble taking us to the spots we wanted to go and had to call his boss to get directions to even the most common spots like Simon’s Town and Fish Hoek.  He also talked to me a lot about how great - yes great, he though apartheid was because it gave everyone jobs and there was a lot more “respect,” (some would call it fear) than there is today.  Needless to say Owen, who was colored, was an interesting character, but a really friendly guy.  He also only charged also 100 rand (about $13) each for the entire trip, which lasted about six hours, essentially the cheapest taxi I will ever have. The four of us are all pretty free-spirited/not really concerned about time, which was awesome because we basically just drove along Cape Peninsula, which is one of the most gorgeous drives in the world according to people way more important than me, and would stop and hangout on a beach or hike along an overpass whenever something that looked cool was spotted.  We made it to the penguin colony at Boulder Beach, and checked out a few other beaches and small towns too, all of which were breathtaking.  We had hoped to make it down to Cape Point for the sunset, but got there just after the gates closed, and so instead ended up at this amazing (and fancy) seafood restaurant overlooking the Indian Ocean right next to the penguin colony at Boulder Beach.  Once again the food, company, atmosphere and scenery was better than one could imagine and I had a great time getting to know everyone better.  After dinner, we headed back to the waterfront and after dancing to the incredible marimba band street performers we ended up back at the Green Dolphin for some dessert and to enjoy the jazz music.  Relaxing to the live jazz music was a perfect ending to an awesome day.   
        Monday some other friends had planned a shark dive that I had wanted to go on (The SAS staff doesn’t care about shark diving b/c literally everyone did it so I’m allowed to talk about it).  However with the delays in arrival earlier in the week the original plans fell through.  Fortunately we were able to find a company right outside the dock that agreed to take us that day and rush us to the dive site 2 hours away to meet up with a group that had left earlier in the day.  Our taxi was basically a Mazda sports car, and our driver absolutely flew to get us to the dive site in time.  It was a great ride, and the scenery the whole way was breathtaking.  We got to the dive company a little after noon, which was located in a small town near Hermanus, and happens to be the Great White Shark diving capitol of the world. After a safety briefing and some soup, our group of about 25 (mainly SAS kids) boarded a fishing boat and headed out to the coast of Seal Island, about 20 mins from shore where a shark cage was anchored.  The ride was really bumpy and rough, so I enjoyed it a lot, but some guests spent the entire time violently throwing up, which I thought was a little funny because I think the dive master said the vomit helped attract the sharks.  The boat was pretty small, especially considering the 25 passengers and rolled violently the whole time we were at sea. I didn’t get sea sick at all (never have gotten sea sick in smaller boats like that) but the rotten fish oil smell of the chum, which happened to be rotten fish oil, wasn’t the most pleasant thing.  After anchoring and attaching to the cage, the crew baited the water and the great white sharks appeared within minutes.  I was so excited to jump into the cage I barely had finished zipping up my wetsuit and putting on my booties (I was rushing and so had 2 right feet on the whole day) when they asked for the first six volunteers to go into the cage.  To describe the shark cage, which was a lot different than I had expected:
        The cage was about 12 feet long, maybe 2 feet wide and about 9 feet deep.  So it was basically this long narrow cage, not a big square box that I had expected, and six people at a time would slide in through an opening at the top and shuffle down length of the cage, all facing the same direction.  About 1.5 feet of the cage floated above the surface so it wasn’t like we were trapped underwater, which was a good thing because we didn’t have oxygen tanks, but the contraption might have caused some to feel claustrophobic, although those people would probably be more terrified of the sharks or the frigid water that stole your breath when you first get in, or the fact that the waves would cause you to bounce around in the cage, potentially jamming you against the side or causing you to slide a limb outside of the cage.  The cage was basically just crissed crossed metal bars, forming holes a little bigger than the size of my head.  One side of the cage was tied directly to the side of the boat, which made getting in and out really easy, but also made the cage seem deceptively safe (I’ll explain later).  The crew would place fish bait and a foam board that imitated a seal a few feet from the cage.  When the sharks would come by, they would pull the bait towards the cage causing the great whites to charge right at the divers.  Normally, we would have our head above the water and hold onto a bar above our heads, but when a shark came by, we would hold our breaths and pull ourselves down into the cage, holding onto a bar lower in the cage.  During my first dive session, I got into the habit of diving down pretty deep in the cage and resting on my knees while locking my arms out against the bar to overcome the significant buoyancy of the wet suit.  I guess I assumed in my excitement that my feet would be against the underside of the boat, but I later realized that the technique I used left my feet dangling outside of the cage, well underneath the boat’s hull and in range of the sharks.  The relaxed nature of this post should indicate that no sharks tried to eat my feet, but I certainly didn’t press my luck and adopted the crouching technique during my second dive.  Some other kids were too scared to get into the cage, some got into the cage but didn’t dive down and some got in and immediately got out once they felt the freezing salt water.
        During my first dive we saw about 5 or 6 different sharks, which would come by pretty frequently.  At one point there were 3 great whites all within about 20 feet of the cage, which was real intense (awesome) because they all came from different directions.  By the way, when I say great white sharks, I mean great white sharks.  I’m talking Discovery Channel Shark Week, 18 foot, huge teeth, full grown, hungry great white sharks.  It was so crazy being in the water with them.  During my second dive, which only a few of us wanted to do, we used weight belts so we could stay underwater easier and longer.  Sadly, when I was in the water the closest the sharks got to the cage where about 3 feet.  Twice when I was on the deck, the sharks brushed the cage, but I wasn’t lucky enough to be in the water when that happened, otherwise I would have definitely gone to pet the fins, despite the warnings of the crew.  I was probably in the water for about 30-40 minutes total and we were out at sea for about 3 hours.
        The whole experience was absolutely unreal.  This is literally the best place in the world (and one of only two spots on the globe) that great whites can be viewed consistently.  Almost all the footage on TV of great whites comes from the area we were in.  I couldn’t tell one shark apart from another, but the crew said there were at least 9 different sharks that came by for us, an impressive number considering this was the off-season for shark diving.
        After shark diving we took our speed taxi back into Cape Town and decided to take the cable car up Table Mountain to watch the sunset.  I originally didn’t want to go, since I think it was cheating getting to the top via cable car without actually hiking it, but decided I would compromise my integrity to enjoy the sunset, and boy was it worth it.  I’m not even gonna try to describe how incredible the sunset was.  I promise you it was more spectacular than you can imagine.  It was rather crowded at the top, mainly with SAS kids, but I was able to find this awesome boulder to sit on and enjoy the sunset in relative solitude.  For whatever reasons, I have really started to enjoy time alone, especially in South Africa.  I think I have become more confident in my abilities to accomplish and enjoy things by myself.  Also, walking and hiking around alone really gives me some time to think and reflect.  Its not that I don’t like the company of the other SAS, in fact its quite the opposite, but I think I am beginning to realize that introspection and self- growth is more important and valuable in the long run than spending every moment with friends.
        Along this same vein I really wanted to hike Table Mountain by myself.  The hike isn’t that long time wise, but is pretty much all climbing up rock steps with literally no level areas, which makes for an exceedingly strenuous process.  There were a lot of warnings passed along about the dangers of hiking the path: don’t hike it alone, watch out for robbers in the lower portion, don’t hike it in the morning, don’t hike it when its dark, don’t hike it when it’s windy, and don’t hike without a guide or other people on the mountain further ahead.  Being the careful rule follower that I am, I ended up disregarding all of these things and doing a solo hike this morning (Tuesday) before sunrise.  I woke up at 4am, grabbed a taxi (it was awesome watching the drunk SAS kids coming back from the bars as I was leaving), and headed away from the port.  I was at the base of the trail right around 5am.  Obviously it was still dark out, but there was a full moon and tons of starlight, so I rarely had to use my flashlight to navigate the path. About 30mins into the first portion of vertical stairs the path leveled out and started to follow the curve of the mountain without gaining much elevation.  I had heard that there was another trail that didn’t lead to the summit that was an easier hike, but I made certain to shine my flashlight any time the path turned to look for signs, so I didn’t think I had made a wrong turn.  About 35mins into the level hike around the side of the mountain I ran into another SAS kid doing a solo hike, and it didn’t take us long to realize that we had both made a wrong turn and that we needed to double back and find the other trail.  We finally made it back to the steep part and after looking around found a big sign clearly showing the correct path’s direction.  Of course the sign was painted forest green and placed in front of a green bush so it is understandable that we both missed it in the darkness.  Anyways we both were back on the right path after about a 50min detour and headed to the summit.  The other SAS kid was from Colorado and so basically leapt up the steps while I slowly labored behind.  I had planned to be on the summit for sunrise, but after the wrong turn that wasn’t a possibility so instead I took a nice breather on the backside of the mountain and watched the sun coming over the peaks.
After about an hour of continuous vertical rock steps, literally gaining more elevation than horizontal ground, I had finally reached the summit.  I was pretty exhausted the whole way up, and definitely paced it out so I didn’t collapse.  It also didn’t help that the winds were gale force and the clouds I was hiking through made me really cold.  However, as soon as I reached the top, the winds died down and the clouds lifted, revealing the most incredible and well earned view of my life.  It took me about 2 hours and 20mins to reach the top, including the 50 min detour, meaning I spent about 1.5 hours climbing up; not too bad for a big kid considering the estimated hiking time was 2 hours.  I spent a little bit of time hiking some other trails around the top and eventually made my way over to the cable car.  I was the only other person at the top of the mountain, except for the other SAS kid and around 2 park employees.  There was a pay phone there, so I called home and talked to my mom for about 8mins.  It was nice to hear a familiar voice, and also the most remote phone call I will probably ever make in my life.  The park employees couldn’t believe that we had hiked up in the wind, and actually seemed upset that we even attempted it.  The high winds also meant the cable cars weren’t running down the mountain.  Thankfully, and I cant emphasize how thankful we were to not explode our knees on a hike back down, the park people let us take a cable car down with one of them.  After that it was a quick taxi ride back to the ship and a nice hour nap to recharge for the rest of the day.
        I had planned to meet up with some other people and drive down to Cape Point, the place we had attempted to visit the previous day, but those plans fell through.  I was pretty exhausted from lack of sleep and also climbing the mountain so I spent the rest of the day walking around the waterfront, going to the aquarium, playing a round of Cave Golf (putt-putt) and spending about an hour putting some photos on my computer at a coffee shop.  I have really enjoyed the lack of Internet connectivity, so I was only online for the free 15 mins that I got with my smoothie at the coffee shop, and couldn’t justify paying for any more minutes.
       I’m finding these blog posts to be really long and dry, but for the sake of my memories, I want to cover as many details and events as possible.  If you the reader (my mother) are bored by my posts, maybe you should find another world traveler to live vicariously through.  But in all seriousness, I would love to have time to write more creatively and elegantly, but we do so many different things in port that I want to mention all of them, even just briefly.  I keep telling myself that I should post a blog about some of the interesting things I have been learning about the world and myself (and what it’s like being in the male minority with tons of girls – its great btw) but most of that is being allocated to my personal journal, which is simply to profound and earthshattering to post online.  A more reasonable request would be to post some photos and videos, but my Internet time is so limited and I think it’s dumb to waste too much time in a country checking Facebook instead of exploring the world.  I miss everyone back home but am perfectly content to be wherever I happen to be at whatever particular moment.  It’s liberating.

Keep your hands in the cage and don’t hike alone

-Ben

It’s a BEAUTIFUL DAY in Cape Town (stereotypical U2 reference)

Feb. 19

I woke up yesterday (Friday) around 7am hoping the ship would be in port, but sadly we were still out at sea.  The weather seemed perfect for docking; there was hardly any wind and the waves were minimal, but it wouldn’t be until 11am that we finally reached the dock.  I think part (or all) of the delay, at least this morning, was based on the fact that the port officials and pilots, the port people who actually guide the ship in, were not that efficient in boarding the ship and starting the proper procedures.  I could be wrong, but I definitely got the sense that the SAS staff and crew were frustrated by the delays of the South African port officials, especially when the weather was fine.  Anyways, we finally were docked, after about 30 hours of sailing in circles.  The V&A waterfront of Cape Town is by far one of the most beautiful areas I have ever been to.  The weather was fantastic yesterday and today, and everything around the harbor is clean, neat and classy.  There are a lot of waterfront restaurants and shops, as well as a really upscale mall all within feet of our ship.  The sidewalks are nice and wide with tons of plants, sitting areas and performers.  The waterfront also smells great; a nice mix of beachy ocean with just a hint of seafood to remind me of back home.

I was scheduled to leave for a trip to Robben Island, a township and some apartheid related museums yesterday at 8:30am.  Obviously that did not occur, but my group was very fortunate that our trip did not get cancelled completely and we were still able to go to the township and Robben Island.  A lot of the other SAS trips scheduled for Friday (and of course Thursday) were cancelled including a couple overnight safari trips that cost around $2500.  I can'’t remember the exact name of the township we visited, but it is the oldest one in Cape Town and starts with an L, if someone back home wants to look it up.  Because we were so pressed for time, we basically just busted in there and went straight to a family owned restaurant for lunch.  There was an incredible marimba band that performed for us the entire time.  One of its members was a successful opera singer, so they sounded really good.  Some other highlights from lunch were the ostrich meat stew and the fried bread, which I’'m sure, has a specific name.  I also had a glass of a South African merlot.  It was a 2005 from one of the only black owned-vineyards.  It had hints of cherry and a tinge of cedar, but was a little too demanding for the meatiness of ostrich.  Perhaps it would compliment roasted lamb better.  (I actually thought the wine was gross, and had a tiny glass just out of respect to the owners.  I know nothing about wines, so disregard whatever flavor description I gave.  The wine tasted very winey, which leads me to believe it is in fact a real wine, and not the type of wine that comes in a box.)
After my very cultured lunch, we left the township and boarded the high-speed ferry to Robben Island.  Robben Island was a very interesting and enlightening experience.  Our guide was a former prisoner on the island during the apartheid years and provided a very personal description of prison life.  One thing that was special about Robben Island was the model of commonality, or spirit of Ubuntu as Tutu would call it, that all the inmates shared.  Even though inmates were treated differently based on their race (colored, black, etc…) they would all share food, reading materials, and the conversations that were instrumental in the eventual fall of apartheid.  All of the prisoners would go on hunger strikes, forcing the administration to make changes and treat all inmates equally.  Even some of the guards were sympathetic with the prisoners and would provide them with newspapers and uncensored correspondences from the main land.  I saw the cell that Nelson Mandela stayed in for almost 20 years on Robben Island, and couldn'’t help but be amazed how influential he was, even from his 2m by 3m cell.  The people in Cape Town speak of Mandela as if he is the pope, or maybe even God.  If Mandela told South Africans to jump today, in unison they would reply, “"how high?”"


After Robben Island, I had a little bit of a chance to walk through the waterfront on the way to the ship, stopping at an ATM to get some rand.  This happened to be the same night that U2 was preforming a concert at the giant soccer stadium less than a half mile from the ship, so there was a lot of activity and excitement.  I had thought about trying to scalp a ticket to the show, but instead ended up chartering a private catamaran with about 10 other kids.  The stadium is right next to the shore, so we were able to listen to U2 from the water, in our privately chartered sailboat, while only paying about $35. I don'’t want to understate how incredibly classy and sophisticated this experience was:  not many people get to listen to Bono, in a sailboat, in South Africa while he gives a concert.  People may have to start referring to me as sir, or His Majesty.   But in all seriousness it was an absolute blast, one of those experiences where you can'’t possibly imagine that there is another place or time you would rather have.

This morning I had a Habitat for Humanity build in one of the townships.  I thought about skipping out because we were a day short in port, but have felt obligated to at least attempt to give back to the community in each country we visit.  Along with that, I think serving other communities gives me a better idea of what and more importantly where I could potentially serve in a long-term role/career.  I think a part of me is expecting (or wanting) a sort of epiphany on this voyage where I find a community or village and immediately feel called to live there and serve.  It hasn'’t happened yet, and maybe won'’t happen this entire trip, but I still feel that service projects give me a unique opportunity to interact with locals in their communities, not in the commercialized or touristy parts of a country.  The Habitat build went great.  It was much more organized than the one I did in Ghana.  I also felt like we accomplished a lot more in terms of actually constructing the house.  There were a lot of local kids there too, since it was Saturday, so on my break I got to play soccer and rugby with them.  I also showed them the pictures on my camera of the places we had been and some pictures of my family and home.  I have found that cameras are a great way to interact with the kids, because most of them have never seen one before, and all of them are excited to get their picture taken.  I probably have about 30 different photos of little Brazilian, Ghanaian and South African kids climbing all over me and hugging me.  That interaction and loving is a mutually uplifting and encouraging experience. 


After that Habitat build I returned to the ship for a quick shower.  I still hadn'’t found time to just walk around the port and shops, so I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around alone.  It was super relaxing and enjoyable.  I bought a SA rugby shirt that was on sale and had about 15 mins online at an internet café.  Everything in Cape Town is pretty expensive.  It also doesn’t help that the exchange rate is something like 1 dollar = 7.30 rand.  So the price tags on a nice shirt says 200 rand, and I immediately think how ridiculously expensive that is and so I don'’t end up buying anything.  On the other hand, my account balance on the ATM was 7 times larger than I'’m use to, and coupled with the private sailboat cruises, I definitely am a style cat in Cape Town.  Along those lines, I’'m heading off to a fancy beach restaurant for an exquisite dinner tonight.  Maybe I’ll gain some more experience in my wine senses.

You stay classy, America

-His Majesty Ben

Arriving in Cape Town (almost)

Feb 17.

So after our pre-port meeting, and a little bit of reading I decided to go to bed really early last night, around 2200, just so I could be nice and rested for exploring Cape Town.  I woke up today around 7 to go grab some breakfast, and realized that the ship was still moving and had not yet docked.  Oh well, I thought; we were pretty close to the shore, and figured we would be pulling into our berth in the next hour or so.  I thought this until we made a 180-degree turn and started heading away from the waterfront, and back out to sea.  At this point the announcement came on that the winds were too strong to attempt to dock and that we would have to wait a while for calmer seas.  It’s about 1900 right now, and we have basically been sailing in these giant circles all day.  At best we can probably expect to be off the ship early tomorrow morning, but if the winds don’t die down, our arrival could be delayed even more.  I guess that’s the way wind blows (pun definitely intended) so there isn’t much use in complaining.  It was gorgeous outside today, and I spent most of it out on the deck reading, playing cards, and talking to friends.  Unfortunately I slept so well last night that I couldn’t really nap or sleep in, which is what a lot of students did, but at least I’m rested. 
From the water, Cape Town appears absolutely gorgeous.  Table Mountain dominates the landscape, with a permanent hat of these big billowy clouds right at the peak.  Every hour or so, an announcement comes on saying that there is no new information to report and that we will be updated as soon as information is made available.  It stinks missing a day in port, especially Cape Town, but at least I didn’t have any concrete travel plans today (some students missed flights for overnight trips and missed SAS day trips).  I’m not sure what the plan is as far as staying an extra day or anything like that, but logistically I can’t imagine that that would be possible. To keep us from going crazy, they have been showing a lot of movies and have planned an open mic event for tonight, which should be fun.  I am supposed to catch a ferry to Robben Island tomorrow morning around 9, so hopefully that will work out.  Until then, I’ll keep doing my best to stay sane, and probably go play some more cards. 

Cheers from South Africa (or at least the South Atlantic)
-Ben

UPDATE: It’s about 1 in the morning here in S. Africa.  We were told we would arrive between 2300 and 0100 but that obviously hasn’t happened.  I was just on the decks and we still are pretty far offshore (and not heading towards the port), which means that we are looking at at least several more hours before docking, assuming that the conditions are immediately ideal.  Hopefully, I can wake up tomorrow morning and we will be dock, but I think the possibility of another day at sea could be happening.  Today was kind of like a snow day from school, because no one had much to do except relax.  Of course, it wasn’t like a snow day because everyone really, really wanted to be on land.