Safari and Desmond Tu Tu

Camps Bay and Orphanage

Shark Diving Adventure

Old Biscuit Mill, Boulders Beach and Signal Hill sunset

Cape Town, South Africa

Omg this place was amazing! I definitely plan to come back at some
point. I did so many fun things, but still wish we had another week to
spend here!

Day One:
It was a little foggy, but the view pulling into port was amazing.
Almost everyone woke up at 6 to see the sunrise! There was a really cute
waterfront area about 5 minutes away from the port so we spent a little
bit of time walking around there before heading down the Cape Town
peninsula. Our first stop was The Old Biscuit Mill. It was an organic
food and craft market on Saturday mornings that my friend Olivia from
Bentley who studied in Cape Town told me about. Had a great time! Got a
really pretty African coin bracelet and tried lots of food like ostrich
burger, tuna jerkey and lots of homemade desserts, pesto and South
African beer! From there we hopped on their train system to keep going
down the coast. It was a really pretty, scenic route along the coast to
Boulders Beach which is known for its African penguins! Our plan was to
hike up Lion's Head to see the sunset, but by the time we got back
closer to the city center we wouldn't have had time to hike to the top.
Instead, we went to Signal Hill which is another amazing view. We ran
into our friend Jeanette who was with her friend that was studying
there. He took us off the beaten path, away from the tourist picnic area
to this really cool lookout. We had wine and watched the sunset from
there! After a long day we grabbed dinner at this fun place Mitchell's
by the waterfront and headed back to the ship then went out on Long
Street which is a popular street in the city.

Day Two:
Four thirty AM sure came early after a late first night in port!
Dad, I don't know how you get up that early all the time! We (a group of
19 of us I organized) got picked up at the ship at 4:45AM for shark cage
diving! It was the sickest thing ever!! We got a briefing on shark
diving at the place before heading our on the water. The boat basically
had a cage on the side of it. We didn't need snorkels or anything just
goggles. We split up into three groups because the cage held 6-7 people
and everyone else could watch from the top deck. The guys in charge
basically told us when to go down and we held our breathe and pulled
ourselves underwater by the bars. Because of the wind, the water wasn't
very clear, but the action on top of the water was intense! For each of
our groups, we had sharks literally come at the cage! I bought the DVD
and have tons of my own footage... I can't wait to show you all! Our bus
driver on the way home was amazing. He took us on a scenic route and
stopped at a bunch of cool viewing spots! We were back to the boat by
2ish, but were all exhausted. I slept for a little while then grabbed
sushi (THAT WAS DELICIOUS) with Savannah. I ended up with a free ticket
to this Jazz Safari SAS program that ended up being pretty cool. We went
to a few local jazz musicians homes and listened to them play. Plus, we
got a good home cooked meal out of it! I got back to the ship to a bit
of a scene. A baby humpback whale had gotten stuck between the dock and
the dock. It took hours of help from animal control and port officials
to get the little guy out. Unfortunately, they weren't sure if he'd
survive after all the stress and confusion he experienced :(

Day Three:
I woke up pretty early to go check out a different part of Cape
Town called Camps Bay. It's a really nice beach area, but unfortunately
it wasn't that nice out. Savannah and I walked around and got a
delicious steak, salmon and wine lunch at this place on the water! After
that I headed back to the ship to go to my orphanage and township visit/
tour through SAS. We started out at the Baphumelele orphange. There were
tons of little kids and we were able to play with them for awhile and
get a tour of the facilities. From there we went and rode bikes through
a couple townships which are like small towns/ villages that a lot of
people live in. They are definitely low class by our standards. This is
going to sound gross, but I tried goat head (yup, tongue and all!) and,
believe it or not, it was sooo good! The second township was actually
where a lot of the Denzel Washington movie, Safe House was filmed. It
was really cool to see an up close and personal experience with such a
different lifestyle.

Day Four/ Five:
Got to check a big thing off the bucket list--- going on a safari!
It was called Fairy Glen and was about an hour and a half drive away
from where the boat was docked. It was an animal reserve at a lodge type
place set up in the mountains. When we first got there we had a
delicious meal, got settled in our cute little cabins then headed out on
a three hour game drive. Saw so many zebras, antelope, elephants,
rhinos, lions, ostriches and buffalo! When we got back to the lodge, we
even got to feed the elephants! It was so cool to be so close to them,
but I got freaked out a couple times when the trunk snuck up behind LOL.
They also had a ton of horses including two minis! The next morning we
went out again and saw even more. Our guide, Deon was a great guy!

Back on the boat now and won't be getting off again for 13 whole
days! Crossing the Atlantic to Argentina is going to take awhile, but I
definitely need the rest after all the activity and excitement here in
Cape Town! It's my 22nd the day we get there.. didn't think I'd ever
spend a birthday in South American LOL. Everyone got back on the boat
fairly early this afternoon because Desmond TuTu came on board to give a
speech! He's sailed with SAS before and is really involved/ connected to
the program. Hope you enjoy all the pictures!

Go Red Sox!

xoxo
Katrina

Happy 50th Semester at Sea!

Here's the picture we took the other day for the 50th anniversary...
it's on the SAS website!

Neptune Day!

So Neptune Day is a tradition for Semester at Sea and it's on the day we
cross over the equator. This voyage, that day was today! Everyone knows
about it, but they do a pretty good job keeping it a secret as to what
exactly goes on. Here's what goes on:

We were all woken up a trail of crew members running around the halls
drumming and using other loud instruments. After breakfast, everyone
headed up to the seventh deck where the pool is for the ceremony.
Basically what happens is we all get nasty fish water/ guts dumped on us
then jump in the pool one and a time. When we get out we have to kiss a
fish. It's kinda silly, but definitely entertaining! After that a ton of
people (girls included!) shave their heads! DON'T WORRY... I am not one
of those girls. I actually almost cried watching this one girl with
really long gorgeous brown hair get it hacked off. Now idea how this
tradition started and there really isn't any significance behind any of
the activities, but it was fun! We also all take a bunch of pictures
holding up zeros to signify crossing the equator.

A little later this afternoon we also took some big group pictures and
videos celebrating the 50th anniversary of Semester at Sea. I'm pretty
sure the video crew said that those will be up on the SAS website, so
you guys should check that out in a few days!!

More Ghana Pics!

Who would've thought I'd be back in Ghana so soon!

When I left last time I didn't think I'd ever want to go back, but I had
a great time! I got to see some of the same things as last time when I
went with Bentley and some new sites. This was a port where we had the
option to overland so I did. It was me and four other kids. The first
day we got to Ghana it was a holiday that involved slaughtering of
goats. Brian and Wiley had the pleasure to witness this in the morning
on the side of the road. They made friends that invited us over to eat
with their entire family (see the picture with about 20 Africans plus
the three of us lol). Everyone here is really nice and welcoming, and I
actually noticed an improvement in the pollution/ garbage issue in some
of the places that I had been to a year and half ago. After spending
some time with the locals in Takoradi we hoped on a tro tro (A super
crowded and ridiculously hot form of public transportation) about an
hour or so away to Cape Coast which is another region. We explored
around there and then stayed at a place called Hans Cottage a little
closer to Kakum National Park. Little did Brian and I know, but we had
been there to see crocodiles on our last trip!

The next morning we went to Kakum National Park and did the canopy tour
and hike which is 7 rope bridges that go over the canopy of the
protected rain forest there. It was definitely cool to do that again!
From there we explored Cape Coast a little more (Got some really cool
headbands made by a local!) then took a SUPER BUMPY bus to Accra which
is where the boat moved to. It was pretty late when we got here (Get's
dark at like 6 PM!) so we went around to a few hotels looking for a good
price and trying to bargain. We finally ended up at the this place
called the Blue Royal. We weren't in the hotel room for more than 10
minutes and this girl Callee (also from Bentley) was in the shower and
all of a sudden we heard this huge smash. I ran in to find her wrapped
up in the shower curtain that had feel and the sink completely shattered
off the wall. Clearly it was not on the wall very well... poor
construction like a lot of other things in Ghana... because all it took
was her leaning in to look at the mirror to smash it. She cut her hand
open but was fine. We were dying laughing. We told them the next morning
and they were more concerned about her cutting her hand. They said we
could just leave, but I think the language barrier made it so they
didn't quite understand exactly how broken the sink was. Would've loved
to see their faces when they actually went up to the room. Never a dull
moment in port!

We did some shopping at the big arts center that day before taking the
shuttle back to the boat. I had to be back at midnight because I had a
field program to a market the next morning for my Anthropology of Food
class (See pics of dried fish and peppers). It was definitely cool to be
back in such a different place. We interacted a lot with local which is
always the best part of visiting any country! I had a lot of fun, but
I'm definitely ready for a new part of Africa... Cape Town, South
Africa. Have lots of cool things planned there like shark cage diving
and a safari (Thanks Bruce and Gram!) Talk to all in 8 days or so when
we get there!

First stop in Africa... Morocco!

Morocco was awesome! We arrived on Thursday to the port in Casablanca
and I took a train pretty much right away to Marrakech with my friends
Kelsey, Brian and Jeff. Kelsey had a family friend, Majdouline, who
managed a riad there (like a hotel) so she got us a place to stay. Ours
was called Riad Mariela and it was right around the corner from the one
she managed. They are a traditional Moroccon hotels with no windows on
the outside. Instead, all the rooms open up to the middle where there is
a courtyard area and rooftop terrace. My picture doesn't really do it
justice... Google image search some! Majdouline was so wonderful! She
had us over for a full, fancy Moroccan dinner one of the nights and
breakfast the next morning and had a woman come to the riad to do henna
for Kelsey and I. We spent a lot of time walking around the Medina which
is a huge outdoor market area with all the souks and snake charmers and
stuff! On the second afternoon we went on a half day camel trek that was
hillarious. We got these traditional outfits and everything. The food
here was pretty good (tajine and couscous) and the mint tea was delish!
I bought Moroccan argon oil to bring back for us all to try! We got back
to the Casablanca from the Marrakech excursion last night. Today I went
to the Dar Lamima orphanage with Semester at Sea. We got a tour and were
able to play with the little kids! I really enjoyed it.. I'm doing
another orphanage visit in South Africa.

Getting to Ghana on the 15th! I'll post again after that!

PS- The last picture is my name written in Arabic. We met some people on
the train ride to Marrakech that showed us all our names!

XOXO