After experiencing the Carnaval chaos, no one seemed to mind our weeklong crossing of the Southern Atlantic. We sailed for 5 days straight after departing from Rio and it was rather relaxing. The weather was nice and the seas were calm so I spent a good deal of time by the pool. I’ve also been doing a lot of reading, writing emails, photo editing, and trying to catch up on those hours we keep losing (aka sleeping late). I try to get to the gym everyday so I’m not completely lazy, not yet at least. They always have so many things planned during sea days; interesting lectures, movies, art and language classes, etc. So the day is really what you make of it, you can do everything or you can do nothing at all.
On Feb. 25th, the ship stopped in St. Helena, a tiny island in the middle of the S. Atlantic. I’m still trying to comprehend the fact that a place like this actually exists and I was actually there. St. Helena is a mere 47 square miles in size and is home to 3500 people. It is not a tropical island, has no airstrip or port, and it’s supplies arrive on a ship that comes 3 or 4 times a year. I don’t think it could have been any more the opposite of the last 2 ports we were in. St. Helena’s claim to fame is that it was the ‘prison’ for Napoleon after his defeat at Waterloo. He was banished to this desolate island along with 2500 soldiers and sailors to make sure he didn’t escape and swim the 1800 miles to Brazil. 6 years after his arrival, Napoleon died on the island. His body was kept there for another 19 years before it was taken back to Paris, but the tomb remains on the island.
After taking a tender to shore, we walked a short distance to get to the island’s other attraction, Jacob’s Ladder. 699 cement stairs from the town to the top of Ladder Hill. We overheard one of the tour guides saying that when she was younger, she climbed the stairs everyday to get to school. So if you ever think your commute is bad, just be thankful you’re not stranded in the middle of the ocean climbing a massive flight of stairs. Anyway, although the climb looked rather daunting from the bottom, we certainly had a few pastries to burn off. We rested a few times along the way, but we eventually reached the top. It wasn’t the highest mountain on the island so you couldn’t see the entire area, but you could see the town nestled down in the valley. The walk down was actually more difficult because the stairs were quite steep, about a foot each. My dad told the people walking up that there was a buffet at the top. A cruel, cruel joke.
Back in town we walked up the main…well, only street and wandered around. It was quaint in a British way, but was also a bit like something from the Twilight Zone. It had a sort of empty feeling. Nevertheless, it was good to get out and it’s not like many people can say they have been there. So after our walk, we ran into our friend, Jared, from the ship in one of the 2 pubs on the island and had a drink with him before returning ‘home’.
Following St, Helena, we spent another 2 days at sea before we reached Africa. Woo! A new continent! You could tell by this time people were itching to get back on land. I had dinner the one night with an interesting mix of the ship’s entertainers…an actress, a singer, a comedian, a dancer’s wife, and the baby-sitter. Needless to say, there were a lot of stories and interesting conversations, not to mention gossip! It reminded me of my high school days (sigh).
Our first stop in Africa was Walvis Bay, Namibia. It felt like Africa too, desert and dunes everywhere you looked. We were a bit worried about the weather when we first arrived because it didn’t look promising. We made previous arrangements to go kayaking with Jared for the day. The guide told us that it was too windy to kayak right away, but she could take us for a drive and see if the weather improved. So we drove for a while and saw lots of flamingos and birds, as well as huge mounds of salt and the salt pans were it came from.
Eventually we turned off the road and made our way down to the area we’d be kayaking. Thankfully, by that time the winds had died down and the sun came out. The guide told us beforehand that we would definitely see some wildlife, but we were no way prepared for what we experienced. After paddling a short distance off the beach, we found ourselves in the middle of a seal playground. It was incredible! They were so close, I was worried I was going to hit them with my paddle. It was a little scary at first, but they are quite friendly and would pop their heads out of the water to stare at you a little before quick diving back under to tell their friends. Occasionally, one would flop out of the water and splash us.
I wanted to spend the whole day with the seals, but eventually our arms got tired and we went back to the beach. We then invented a new activity of our own and that Jared appropriately titled ‘skulling’. On the way there, we noticed mounds in the sand and asked the guide what they were. She said they’re seal skeletons because they suffered a food shortage last year. A lot of mommy seals aborted their babies because they somehow knew they wouldn’t be able to feed them :( So on our way back, we tried to find the best seal skull to take with us. Great success! We celebrated at a restaurant back in town where stuffed ourselves with fresh oysters, ostrich carppachio, pizza, and garlic knots. It’s not like we don’t eat every 2 hours or anything.
So today concluded our 3 day stay in beautiful Cape Town, but that’s another entry because there is so much to say about the amazing city. Check back soon!
1 comment:
Who's Jared?
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