Port Louis, Mauritius and Chennai, India

Hey everyone!
I am indeed posting two blog posts close together, the first I wrote right after South Africa but didnt have the means to post it. Anyway we left south africa and made our way north which was extremely rough and was not fun for my motion sickness-prone body. I was relieved to arrive in Mauritius where we only had 12 hours. Most people assumed that this meant that we only had 12 hours to get a drunk as possible and there were many incidents as a result.
I, on the other hand, just needed a break. I wanted this day to be my spring break. Me and a few people hailed a cab and managed to make it out to a small island where we spent the day in the shallow, warm waters drinking mild alchoholic beverages. The beer, Pheonix, may have been the best beer i have ever had. We chilled with the locals and laughed about how we were on a small island off a small island off a large island off the coast of Africa. It was rather amusing to think about. It was a lazy day in which I came back only slightly tipsy, sporting a beautifully red sunburn and very sandy swimsuit bottoms.

I eventually found out that nearly the entire boat had gotten terribly drunk on their day adventure. This was the last strike for semester at sea and the program is no longer allowed to return to the island. One guy nearly died and was taken to the hospital and rejoined the group in India. He was saved only by his outstanding academic record on board the ship.
The sea between mauritius and india was as smooth as glass, literally. The Indian ocean looked like a calm lake that just kept going. It reflected the sunset perfectly. One of those nights they turned off the lights so that everyone could view the stars. On the ocean, they rival even the stars over Yellowstone on a clear night. It was beautiful and a good excuse for the entire shipboard community to lay out on the deck together in a mosh pit of sorts and play drums while star gazing.

India. How do I even begin to describe India? It has been hard enough trying to describe these countries for how I see them and how this adventure has effected me but India is far harder to write out. If you haven't noticed, I am no writer. I struggle with expressing myself with words. I am much more apt at doing so with art. I will attempt to describe this but only in brief.
Chennai is in Southern India which differs quite a bit from northern India. The people in Chennai are dark skinned, traditionally dressed and their culture is less tailored to tourism. That is not saying much being that the entire country seems to be a huge tourist trap.

The cheapest form of short-distance transportation is by Autorickshaw. If you dont know what that is, it is the death trap in the picture above. Those little motorcycle/cart hybrids go up to 60 miles per hour and can make hair pin turns around various regular hazards of Indian roadways. Being an extremely population dense country, Indian roads have a certain hierarchy demanding respect on the crowded streets. At the top is the Sacred Cow and Buffalo. I am not joking. If a cow decides the middle of a major highway is a good place to lie down and take a nap, no one will protest. They will just navigate around the cow and be on their merry way. Even if that involvs driving off road. Then comes the bus which is the most physically intimidating followed by the car, the auto rickshaw, the motorcycle, the pig, the human pedestrian and then the dog. No one likes the dog.
We rode many Indian auto rickshaws in Chennai. The first day we went out to go shopping for the absolutely stunning textiles India has to offer. we were bombared by people wanting to sell us things or take us places, nothing new. By the time we returned to the ship we felt the need to wash not only our bodies but our eyeballs, our mouths and even our lungs.
The next day we shopped some more, getting used to how the people bargain and trade which is a game of deception and bluffing. I am proud to say that I am quite good at it!! Then I met a semester at sea group and we took a bus to the airport. Indian airport security is not bad at all actually. You can even take a water bottle with you if you want. You dont even have to take off your shoes. I guess that may be unsafe but "unsafe" is a relative term that means much less  to me than it used to.
After arriving in Delhi we found our huge luxurious hotel and crashed. Early the next morning we found ourselves at the train station before the sun had come up. It was creepy and we had both young, dingy looking children and old, dingy looking men begging us for money and food. The terrible truth about giving to beggars in this country is that they probably answer to some overlord that will collect everything they got from sympathetic tourists. You have to just ignore then which, to be honest, takes a little bit of your heart.
We spent a 3 hour train ride to Agra half sleeping while men with food walked up and down the isles. If you have ever seen slumdog millionare you know what our train looked like. It is identical. Anyway after a ton of logistics including making it miraculously to the hotel, we headed off to Agra Fort. The fort was huge and absolutely stunning, almost as stunning as the Taj.

Once we actually made it to the Taj Majal the sun was starting to go down and the effect on the building was increadible! It was a beauitfully constructed architactural marvel made out of white marble. We got to simply sit and relax for a few hours up there. which was a nice break from the people that ablely persued us to purchase their variious wares. Many of them being as useless and pointless as the snowglobe of the Taj.
The next day we went to another palace in a deserted city. That too was pretty cool. The people I hung out with were what really made the trip. I made fast friends with my assigned roommate for the trip and made other friends being our group was a small 20 people. My trip leaders were from colorado and I felt a bit of kinship with them.

I did have some minor ear discomfort on the trip but I managed to ignore it fairly well. The plane ride back made it even more uncomfortable.


The last day in India, we got a rickshaw ride to the zoo where we saw white tigers and even got to ride an asiatic elephant through the elephant exhibit. The babies were so cute!!
Anyway since then I have had a bit of a cold. Yesterday I was not doing well but today I am doing alright. Recently the Tsunami in Japan has been a big worry on the ship. We now get the news broadcasted to the ship so I know what is going on in Japan, Libya, Egypt, ect. For those of you who do not know, our trip to Japan was cancelled because our group thinks that our arrival will hamper aid efforts in the country and fears for our safety. They are currently trying to find another port in which we can go instead.
I also want to send out a big thank you to Granny and Papa who got me a cake for me and my friends to enjoy on the ship! We really loved it and everyone thought it was really adorable. Things like cake, soda and candy are worth a lot more when you are at sea and do not have regular access to them! THANK YOU!

Well until next time,
Genevieve

Cape Town, South Africa

Hey everyone,
Sorry, I havent had internet acess for quite a while. I didnt feel safe taking my laptop out and about. Anyway...
This one is going to be a long one for the simple reason that I LOVE SOUTH AFRICA!!! I swear, I could live here. Brief Summary: Stuck and Sick, Beautiful Waterfront, table mountian, nightout with crew, last min safari, cheetah handling, Amazing wine, comedy club, aquarium, more cheetahs, birds of prey, vine tasting, sand boarding.If you wish to get details read the blog. I assume thats why you are looking at this in the first place.
 The first day was not that great. Everyone was excited to get into this port but 60 mile an hour winds prevented us from entering the narrow harbor. So instead of having an awesome time in Capetown our first day, we spent it pacing back and forth in front of the port while rocking violently. To say the least, I was not thrilled. I was sea sick, and actual sick and just needed desperately to get off the boat whether that meant swimming through great white shark infested waters or making wings out of table cloths and attempting to fly to Capetown.
Eventually, though we managed to make it in but too late in the second day for me to make my Safari. It was cancelled and I was crushed. I wasnt the only one either others were crying which is something I kind of felt like doing. I decided that crying wasnt going to help me in anyway so I tried to find an alternative Safari because I cannot travel to Africa and not see the wildlife.
Anyway, the first day we actually got to be there, I was stunned to see this beautiful harbor. It is called V&A Waterfront and it looks like a vacation place. It is like Europe in Africa. Its really nice, filled with restarants, bars, craftshops and a huge mall. The mall had every american and european brand that you could want. Even an Aston Martin dealership where I drooled over expensive, fast cars. Below is a picture of the waterfront. Yes, there is a Ferris Wheel.

There are also sealions that play in the harbor and by the ship. They are really cool to watch!
Anyway after viewing the waterfront we saw the market and walked into downtown. There was a U2 concert that night and the streets were super crowded. We eventually got a cab up to the cable car station of Table Mountain, though one of the taxis over heated on the climb. Most of the girls I was traveling with were cool but a few were slow and indecisive so that eventually got on my nerves. Once we got to the top, though, the stunning view made me forget my annoyance. We stayed there til sunset and this is what it looked like:

After that, we went back down into town. We showered and changed then left to have dinner at this waterfront restaraunt where we met some of the crew and enjoyed talking and dancing to some really good live music! To be honest i probably drank a little too much. It was alright though, I went back to the room to talk to a friend for an hour and a half and then went to bed.
The next day I woke up and had breakfast and wouldn't you know it, one of the girls I sat with was going on an overnight safari! She invited me to join them in half an hour. I packed a bag and we got a cab to take us 2 and a half hours away to a game reserve. The place was beautiful and was a five star resort. We got a free cocktail then ate lunch, were shown to our rooms, had tea then pet the reserve's cheetahs. Basically, I walked out of my room and there in the grass were three cheetahs all accompanied by girls of about my age. I walked over and pet the cheetahs and talked to the girls about their internship there.
 I couldnt believe I managed to go to this amazing place on impulse. After that we went on a Game Drive. I cannot describe the excitement I felt when we saw lions, rhino, zebra and so much more. After that we had a 5 course meal with wine, sat by a fire pit and talked then went to bed in really comfy beds. The next day started at 6:00am when we got tea and went on another game drive. This one we saw Giraffes and we even got to get out of the vehicle and walk around with them as seen below!!!

After that we returned to port. Me and some of my friends were going to go horseback riding but we decided against it. We went, instead, to a comedy club in, to be honest, a sketchy part of town. It turned out to be a good decision because we got smirnoff ice drinks and sat through 8 comedians. Most of them were really funny and being such an intimate setting, they asked us questions and made a lot of american jokes.
The next day, we went to the aquarium which was really good quality and then went on a SAS tour to a cheetah outreach program. Unlike the cheetah reserve, the cheetah outreach program is for educational purposes more than actually breeding cheetahs. I still got to pet, yet another cheetah. THis one was larger.
Then we went to the Birds of Prey rescue center. They had trained a few permenant residents and we got to hold them like below. I freak out with these types of experiences.

After thet we did a wine tasting and went back. The wine in this country is SPECTACULAR. I wish we could bring it on the ship...
The final day (today), consisted of going to the sand dunes and sandboarding. ITS AWESOME. Its a lot like snowboarding but you get more exercise and its really hot out and you usually only curve with the curve of the dune. It provided lunch and I only went with one other person and so it was nice. I enjoyed it thouroughly. However, I did manage to get sand in places I never thought I could get sand.
Now we are waiting to leave this beautiful port and I think about the people I encountered. The people here are extremely kind. They are always willing to help no matter if they are from the townships or the ritzy part of Capetown. They are very laid back and I felt very safe and at home here. The place is the exact opposite from our last ports and is a needed break between Ghana and India. I, to be honest, dont care much for the whole poverty and dispair part of the countries. Some people eat it up. I care more about what people are doing to wildlife and ecosystems than what they do to themselves and each other. But that is just me.
I hope you all are well and hopefully enjoying this blog. I still welcome emails.
its gefuller@semesteratsea.net I write back quick. It is my one consistantly available form of communication.
Ive got to go do some homework now. Take care everyone!




Genevieve