Just the Beginning

(Sunset on the Booze Cruise)

Where do I begin? That has been the question running in and out of my head for the past few days. How do I begin to explain the countless activities we did, people we met, animals we saw, living conditions in a form that I was unaware existed. The most troubling aspect of it all is that I still cannot really begin to understand it myself. I am going to try and keep the next few blog entries concise and to the point, but please bare with me if they get lengthy.

Anna, Julie, Talya and I flew into Zambia, Livingstone on a Friday the 19th with minimal problems and checked into the Jolly Boys Hostel located in the heart of Livingstone. We immediately signed ourselves up for a booze cruise on the Zambezi River for that night. The drinks were tasty, the people interesting, and most importantly the sunset was breathtaking. Woke up very early Saturday morning to embark on a 50 minute drive on the back of a jeep through a local village that brought us to a starting point on the Zambezi. There we were taken down in a cable car and spent 30 minutes on a “Jet Extreme” boat. Cool but not worth the money. That afternoon we walked with lions, which definitely deserves it’s own post, so look out for that.














(Out on the Jet Extreme Boat, Zambezi River)

Sunday morning we had another early wake up and were greeted by our new best friend for the day, Potatoe. Yes, that is his actual name. And yes, he claims his sister is Sweet Potatoe. Anyways, Potatoe jeeped us along with three inflatable “canoes” (they seemed more like kayaaks to me but who knows) to the Upper Zambezi River. We set out for a full day canoeing trip, and spent a lot of downtime floating with the current, bathing in the broiling sun, and screaming through the occasional rapid. Also spent most of our time in immense fear due to the fact that Potatoe continued to steer us through “hippo territory.” Being that hippos kill the most humans of any animals in Africa (mosquitoes being second, malaria), I was not so thrilled. Every several minutes Potatoe would take his oar and smack it on the water to “wake the hippos up” in case they were too close so we could scramble out of that area. At first I thought that, like the name Potatoe, the reality of hippos was a funny joke, but quickly learned otherwise. All in all, the day was a success and no one was eaten by hippos or crocs. We also ended our adventure virtually at the top of Victoria Falls- stunning view. When we returned back to Jolly Boys that afternoon we had Ariel waiting for us which was (obviously) magical and that is when our adventures really began...







The above is only brief details about the first weekend of our trip-a lot more to come-hopefully in the near future.

thandi from africa
emma

Theme Song/ Lion King Remix

a video everyone must watch that makes our lives

emma & anna

Oh Happy Day

We laughed, cried, bled, learned, laughed, saw, experienced, misunderstood, laughed more, and left- with the memories from a once in a life time trip. Starting out with four jam-packed adventure days in Livingstone, Zambia, we rested comfortably by night at the Jolly Boys hostel run by our new found friend Kim. Departing Zambia we went on safari with a group of our five friends in Chobe National Park in Botswana followed by several days in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Missing Jolly Boys and Zambia, we returned for our last three days. Because some of the most memorable aspects of the journey were those we could have never predicted, ie working with four forms of currency, cutting my toe in half resulting in gushing blood in the middle of the african bush, being forced out of a taxi while crossing from zim into zambia and essentially all getting lost and picked up by zambian police and a yellow pick up truck, and being caught in the middle of a very scary physical fight at our hostel in Zim. Did I mention that the jeep we were on safari in Botswana broke down surrounded by a herd of elephants and we all had to get out and push? Oh and casually ran into a family of five lions a short time later and watched a live show of lion hunts the impala. On a more negative note, our travel agent ruined our lives and booked us out of the wrong airport (equivalent to NY instead of DC) so we had no idea how we were getting back to Cape Town until Sunday morning right before we left (ended up having to drive from Zambia back to Zimbabwe to catch a plane). To sum it up, many details and fun stories to come but for now we need to shower, worship the rand, and enjoy not being referred to as "white person" in one of the 72 languages spoken in Zambia. As nice as it feels to be back in Cape Town, we miss our trip !!

love emma

LOTS MORE TO COME...

TRAVEL PLANS

Leaving tomorrow bright & early for our 10 day trip! Our home base will be the Jolly Boys Hostel in Zambia. Hopefully we will get some sort of internet access along the way...

CHOSA

A big part of our experience in Cape Town has been volunteering. I volunteer with CHOSA (Children of South Africa) at Baphumelele, which is a children’s home in the township of Khayelitsha. CHOSA was started by American study-abroad students five years ago who were volunteering with these same kids, and now provides support to over 10 community-based children's projects in South Africa. Baphumelele is home to about 150 kids who have been placed there due to neglect, abuse, or a whole other slew of heartbreaking reasons. The kids who live there are the most amazing group of children I have ever encountered. All they want to do is climb all over you, touch you with their sticky hands, and steal your sunglasses and jewelry…I am not really making them sound incredible…but they are. It is amazing to see how happy and resilient these children are, and just how willing they are to welcome you into their lives.

Ariel and I have an after school class of 8 kids who are six and seven years old. They are the youngest group of kids who are in the after school program, or “study” as they like to call it. Most of our kids barely know the English alphabet, but they are so eager to learn anything. We have slowly begun to do all the letters, currently on “C”, and we are teaching them all kinds of songs. Sometimes the kids are perfect angels and you just want to cuddle them forever, and other times it as if they have been possessed by the devil and we leave covered in dirt, tears, blood and snot. But all the good always outweighs the crazy.Yesterday was a very good day. We sang mother doodle bird, colored some letters, and even had time for a little baby shark.
Mother doodle bird was quite a big hit. They really loved when they had to shake their tushes and waggle their tongues. These kids have more rhythm than I ever knew possible.
I am pretty convinced that they pop out of the womb dancing. I am actually falling in love with these monster children and will most definitely be taking two or three back to New York in my suitcase. I feel so privileged that I am having the opportunity to develop relationships with them and am getting to know each of their personalities so well…even if some involve hitting and biting.
CHOSA is currently taking part in an online fundraising competition to win a $4,000 dollar grant. The online competition is not about seeing how much money we can raise, but trying to get the greatest amount of people to donate $10. The competition lasts from now until March 30th, so please please please donate so that we can win this grant. Donate $10 to CHOSA and help us win $4,000. It is really easy to do, and you will be helping these kids out so much. So please please please donate to an amazing cause. Thanksss.


-Talya


Ps. I blogged! Now Emma can’t threaten to cut off my lady parts.

A Little Retail Therapy...

After a draining weekend in Johannesburg (details to come) Anna & I decided some relaxation and indulgence was much needed. After classes yesterday morning we headed to downtown Cape Town, more specifically to a neighborhood called “The Gardens.” This particularly upscale
area is on the outskirts of the famous Long Street. I had never been to The Gardens before but Anna went last week with her boyfriend while they were staying at The Villa Africa up the road. Anna had been raving about this unique boutique The Wardrobe that is well known around Cape Town for reworking vintage clothing. It was above and beyond what I imagined. After being naughty at Wardrobe, I dropped Anna off to get her nails done while I explored the area solo. Browsing in and out of boutiques and coffee shops I came across a showroom for LaLesso, a clothing line developed from the collaboration of South African & Kenyan designers (large amount of profits support Kenyan women). See above pictures. After shopping we headed to the fancy Mt. Nelson Hotel where we indulged in "High Tea," tasting a range of rooibus and black teas and eating delicious crumpets. GREAT DAY!

PS- sincere apologies for the myspace-esque picture but Anna is obsessed with rompers and this romper was too good to be true.
Also, in the spirit of African internet, the blog will not allow me to include the pictures in the writing, only above, so sorry about that...

thandi from africa,
emma & anna

Peace Out Cape Town

All four of us will be in Johannesburg for the weekend visiting the Apartheid Museum, Constitutional Hall, bike touring Soweto (South Western Townships), and experiencing the Jo'burg nightlife! We’ll take lots of pictures and try not to get robbed (Jo'burg’s nickname is “the world’s crime capital”). Waking up at 6am tomorrow to catch an early flight!


Thandi from africa,
Emma, Anna, Julie & Talya

Stellenbosch

So I've decided that Emma's domination of fourgirlsoneworldcup must come to an end...

Two nights ago my friend Robin and I went to Stellenbosch, a suburb about 45 minutes outside of Cape Town known for its wineries. The UCT Rugby Team was playing against Stellenbosch University; the two teams are huge rivals, so the game is a big event every year. A ton of students were expected to go and party in the town of Stellenbosch afterwards, so despite missing the game, Galen, Robin's friend from choir, and his friend Matthew offered to drive Robin and I to the after party. We got there at 10pm, just as the game was ending. It was totally worth it! Stellenbosch was exactly like a big 10 Collegetown in the states. Tons of kids were running through the streets in jerseys and face paint. All the bars and clubs were overflowing. Our crew decided to set up shop in this bar called Mystic Boer. The DJ was this 30-something year old woman rolling some sick American and Afrikaans beats while smoking a cigarette and flailing behind the booth.

The next morning I got an email from Emma saying "what is going onnn??? you sent me a SMS in Afrikaans last night, I thought you were dead." Turns out I had sent her a text message of the name of this Afrikaans song I heard at the bar: Die Antwoord-Zef Side. It is AWESOME, check it out...

Later lovies,

Juju

Coco Wah Wah's

All of you blog followers should know by now that Coco Wah Wah's is a cafe down the road from our houses in Rondebosch that we basically live at. They let us use their free internet if we order coffee, food, etc. Great vibes here and cool people. Leo is one the girls that waitresses here and has become part of our little family. She lives in the nearby township Khayelitsha in a shack with her mom and sisters but is originally from Lesotho. Even though she is about a 20 minute drive from here, the bus takes about two hours back and forth. Not only does she take care of us daily at Coco's, she has become an amazing friend. She is 23 but lives such a different life than us- my favorite afternoon activity is to sit in Coco's and make her tell me everything about her life as a child and now. (she is fascinated that everyone in America has showers and not bath basins) She just got her hair done and I promised I would post the pics on the internet of her new do. THE BRAIDS TOOK SEVEN HOURS!

thandi,

emma

Zim Zam Bots

SPRING BREAK PLANS: (19th of march to 27th of march)

Victoria Falls (one of the seven natural wonders of the world) is located on the Zambezi River in between Zambia and Zimbabwe. For our week off we are flying out of Cape Town to Joburg and then to Zambia. Starting out on the Zambia side we are staying at the Jolly Boys hostel and hopefully spending the days white water rafting, helicopter riding, and sunset cruising aka booze cruise. After spending a few days in Zambia we will travel across the Falls to Zimbabwe where our accommodations/activities are up in the air. Hopefully we will be able to experience Zimbabwe in the best way possible despite all of the political madness currently taking place there. NEXT we are going to travel (by bus?) to Botswana and go to Chobe National Park and see millions of ELEPHANTS! Safaris are supposed to be beautiful in Chobe so I'm really excited for that since the only animals we have seen casually around Cape Town are baboons. So basically our spring break should be an amazing time and we are all looking forward to traveling in other parts of Africa.

traveling girls,

emma, anna, julie, talya & ariel

Its Always Sunny In...

So my mom & dad have not had power for four days, schools across the country have been snowed in, and Matt is in Saratoga building seven feet tall snow men. WHAT?? Sorry to say it but the weather here has not dropped below 75, rained for more than 45 minutes, or dissapointed me in any way. While it is summer in Africa right now (reversed seasons), and will start to cool down as rainy season approaches in the next few months, digesting the idea of multiple snow blizzards right now is unimaginable. We want visitors so everyone escape the snow and COME TO AFRICA. This week we have Anna's boyfriend Alex staying with us since Michigan is on their spring break. Lucky Alex gets to experience extreme sweat with us..

thandi from africa,

emma

The Biggest Fish in Town

This coming Sunday marks a double whammy- Goldfish is playing at Kirstenbosch Gardens. The beautiful botanical gardens in the heart of Cape Town that host Sunday sunset concerts all summer was our Valentines Day destination. Goldfish, also known as the most popular band in Africa, is composed of two talented musicians that are infamous for beat boxing while simultaneously playing the harmonica. Their concerts are a guaranteed good time. Two of my

most memorable nights here so far

have been jamming out at La Med in Camps Bay in a packed venue sweating and dancing to the live amazingness of Goldfish. (One night Julie and I even worked our magic and ended up in VIP taking shots with the lead singer!) ANWAYS, on Sunday, Goldfish is going to be performing at Kirstenbosch and I CANNOT WAIT. Only problem is that tickets are sold out but I am sure we will figure something out...

thandi from africa,

emma