South Africa Part 1

There is no way that I will ever be able to sum up the beauty of this country, the travel opportunities, the once in a life time experiences that I had here but I will try. Photos are going to come later on, once I get back to my computer. As you are all familiar with the reliability of my internet connection (reliable that I dont really have one), it may take a while.

So I arrived in Johannesburg on December 16. I was supposed to arrive around 11 but after our flight was delayed in Nairobi, we got in around 3. Apparently, when a pilot calls in sick to Kenya Airways, KA does not, like the rest of the world, have a system of back up pilots. Even at Starbucks, we had a system of back up baristas... Anyway, after three hours they were able to locate another pilot and away we go. My first impression of Joburg... did i get on the wrong flight? Am I actually in Atlanta? Freeways, billboards, tall buildings, SKYLINE (something that I havent seen in about five months) and malls malls malls. It really is a city of shopping centers. Every neighborhood has a brand spanking new mall, or so it seemed, filled with food courts and movie theatres and beautiful shop windows. Luckily I arrived on a holiday so all the stores were closed. That could have been a disaster in so many ways. So rather than blow all my money the first day, I just walked around with my mouth open looking at the holiday lights, sticking my nose up against the store windows, and finding my way into the open bookstore and petting book covers for hours, opening them up and smelling their wonderful book scent.
After a couple hours of staring lovingly at books, I tore myself away to go back to the hostel that Katie and I were staying in (Backpackers Ritz, a misnomer if ever there was) to await for Katie. I just watched tv and read Lonely Planet and waited with baited breath for Katie so that when she arrived we could go to dinner at the mall restaurant, I had already scoped out... SUSHI! That wasnt the name of it, it was just the beautiful beautiful food we got to eat (food will be a reoccuring theme throughout this blog. Deal with it... Im deprived)
After we gorged ourselves on sushi, we went back to the hostel to the dorm style room we were staying in to await our first south african sunrise. That was not before accidentally stumbling on an amorous couple in the showers (thank god for shower curtains) and an encounter with perhaps the strangest hostel worker I have ever met (note: "hello. Do you mind if I mount you?" is in fact inappropriate in all languages, dialects, accents, and cultures. Please keep in mind). Although that day no doubt seems pretty normal to most of you, for me it was a pretty big shock. Actually a huge shock. I havent blended into a crowd, seen a bookstore with english language books, been in new car, seen a building over five stories, eaten delicious food, or drank decent wine in five months. So all those things were pretty exciting for me. More to come...

Happy Holidays

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season, whichever holiday you might be celebrating! I am in South Africa now with my friend from Emory, Katie Morris. So far we have shopped the malls of Johannesburg (which was a bit of culture shock coming from Kigali), seen the Soweto Township which is where Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived, just feet from each other and where the outright struggle against apartheid really started, been an armslength away from a herd of elephants on safari, seen lions, leopards, rhinos, zebras, buffalo and giraffe, climbed Table Mountain, been to the Harbor, and drank wine on the coast as the sun sets. Tomorrow we are going to go on a wine tour, Sunday view the Botanical Gardens and listen to music in the park, and Monday we are off for a two day hike around the Cape of Good Hope. Hopefully after that we will see some penguins on Boulder Bay! All in all it has been a good trip with just enough rest and relaxation, although it doesnt really seem like Christmas. I think that I will be very shocked to get back to the states next year after a year of perpetual summer to learn that time does actually pass! I hope that everyone else is having a great holiday season. I miss you all and love you!!!

Rwandan convicted of genocide

Thank goodness. The court does work, even if it took 15 years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/africa/19rwanda.html?_r=1&hp

Links to photos

Gorilla pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023110&l=ef159&id=48101028

Akagera game drive pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023065&l=99054&id=48101028

Gorillas

Last weekend my friend Aryn (who I have to say deserves credit for writing most of this. I am a shameless plagarist) and I trekked through the bamboo forests and thick vegetation of the Virunga Mountains to visit one of the few remaining troops of mountain gorillas that reside in Volcanoes National Park. This is Rwanda's major tourist draw, and we decided to take advantage of the special rates we get as residents and make the splurge. Although it cost quite a bit, it was an amazing experience, standing just feet away from wild mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.

We visited the Hirwa troop, which means lucky in Kinyarwanda. This troop has six youngsters that entertained us throughout the hour we were allowed to spend in their presence. The rule is to stay 7 meters away from the gorillas to prevent the possible transmission of disease, but young gorillas do not always abide by these rules and we were incredibly close. When we first encountered the family, we simply walked into a small clearing, perhaps ten feet wide, with the family on one side and us on the other. The silverback and the adult female that we observed simply sat and ate bamboo while the children rolled around playing on the ground, with the endless energy of toddlers. It was amazing to watch the babies child-like behavior and observe the family dynamics. According to the guides, the silverback of the Hirwa troop is the most attentive father, and we watched him groom several of the babies, grabbing them as they ran past, laying them down, and cleaning them of bugs and dirt. During breaks from cleaning, the silverback continued to chow down on bamboo. Full grown males, which can reach over 400 lbs, can eat over 60 pounds of bamboo in a day so its a pretty constant activity. Interestingly, if the gorillas eat too much bamboo in a day, they can get drunk. Although we didnt observe that, I have some great scenarios playing in my mind about what a drunken gorillas family would look like...

Our companions on the excursion included two guides, a porter, and several trackers who spend their days following the troops so that they can inform the guides where to bring the tourists. Many of the local people who are indirectly employed through the gorilla tracking and the trackers themselves are often former poachers. The government works very hard to keep them employed protecting the animals they once hunted and seeing them as a precious resource rather than target. We were also joined by four other travelers: a honeymooning Swiss-American couple, a German man working in the Maldives, and a British guy who does consulting work with NGOs. Perhaps one of the greatest joys of traveling is meeting other people and sharing stories. All of us have seen and done some pretty amazing things and listening to others recount their experiences traveling made me eager to continue exploring and experiencing this amazing planet.

Here is the link to the beginning of my facebook album about the Gorillas. It will expand slowly over time as the pictures are slowly uploaded.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023110&l=ef159&id=48101028