South Africa

I loved South Africa. Cape Town is an amazing city with so much to offer. I spent two days there and didn’t even get to half of the things I wanted to see. The majority of my time in South Africa was spent on safari, we went to a private game reserve called Kapama and stayed at the River Lodge that was built only two years ago. The food, the people, the scenery, the accommodations were all top notch. To get there we took a plane to Johannesburg and then got on a historic DC-4 built in 1947 that brought us to Hoedspruit which is about 10 minutes by Land Rover to the lodge. Flying on the DC-4 was unforgettable. The pilot said that we’re welcome to use our cell phones during the flight, because there was no electronic instrumentation to interfere with. He also told us that it was normal for the old engines to leak oil, but if they stopped leaking oil then we should let him know. On our safari we saw four out of the big five, missing the leopard, as well as many other exotics. We got up each morning with a five a.m. wakeup call, tea was at five-thirty and we left at six for our morning game drive. During the morning drive we would stop for tea after a few hours and then be back around nine for breakfast. We had free time to nap or sit by the pool during the day and lunch around one. After that there was another tea time at four-thirty before our evening drive. During the evening drive we had a cocktail break around sunset and were back for dinner at eight. Upon reflection I think I could really get used to the vicious routine of eating opportunities. I know, I know you want to hear about the animals. We saw lions, cheetahs, elephants, rhino, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, kudu, impala, warthogs, springbuck, vultures, and many others. Lions were by far the most exciting to see, it was awesome seeing all their powerful features and confident gaze. We eventually returned to Cape Town were I went to the company gardens, as in the Dutch East India Company, in the older part of the city. It was really cool seeing all of the old world architecture in the middle of Africa. It's going to be really tough for another country to beat South Africa, but I'm excited to see what happens.

Brazil

Another great port. With the Bahamas and Puerto Rico in the rear view, Brazil felt like a real foreign country. The first day we got off the ship in Salvador and went straight to the airport to see if we could catch a plane to Rio de Jinero, on the last day of carnival, one of the busiest travel days in Brazil. We where lucky enough to get on a plane, and in just a few hours we arrived in Rio. Will had made reservations at the Copacabana Palace on none other than Copacabana Beach which is right next to Ipanema, which you may know from the Bossa Nova song “The Girl from Ipanema”. The hotel was first class all the way. We had people opening doors for us left and right, greeting us in Portuguese and playing along when we would try and speak it back to them. Thankfully they knew English as well. Included with our stay was one of the best breakfast buffets that I had ever seen, half of it was fruit another half was pastries and the rest was bacon, eggs, meats, cereals, and yogurts (I know my figures don’t add up, the buffet was that big). There was also a selection of about 7 different fruit and melon juices to choose from. On as side note: let it be known that henceforth my favorite fruit shall be mango or as they say in Brazil “manga”. We where there during mango season and I ate and drank mangos whenever I could, there was a restaurant that had mango juice that was more like a smoothie, but it was 100% mango and 100% delicious. The most impressive site I visited was the Christ the Redeemer statue. Located on Corcavado Mountain overlooking the entire city, it’s really an amazing site. Although it was kind of cloudy, we could see all of Rio for a couple of seconds as the clouds blew by. It also gave a mystic feeling to the statue being shrouded in white one minute and then clearly visible the next. Another highlight was going to a pro soccer game in the largest stadium in the world. We watched Flamengo versus V. Redonda, it was really great, although there where no yell leaders in sight, all of the Flamego (home team) fans where beating drums clapping and singing the entire game. The most impressive thing was the 30 foot bamboo flagpoles that littered the fan sections; some looked like pirate flags while others had portraits of their favorite players. These diehard fans wrestled their giant flagpoles, incorporating their entire bodies, for what seemed like the most tiring activity I could imagine. The last day Wes and I went to the embassy where we got the VIP treatment simply for being passport carrying Americans. Although, we couldn’t see a lot of the internal workings because of the strict security rules, it was great to see our tax dollars at work. Yesterday before we left I had a chance to see Salvador, it was the original capital city of Brazil so it has a lot of history and neat architecture. I one of the coolest parts was going to a capoeria school. For those of you that forgot capoeria is a fighting style developed by the slaves in Brazil in order to fight against their oppressors while still bound by their shackles. It is very rhythmic and uses a lot of kicking, twirling and handstand maneuvers. By now I’m sure you are growing tired of my rambling, and there is so much more to tell. But know that I am well, and excited about the adventures yet to come.