We were a bit scared being in Joburg but we didn’t experience firsthand any of the crime and violence the locals had warned us against. However, a mall we went to was violently robbed the day after we went there. So, needless to say, when the opportunity came to spend 5 nights in Kruger came up, we took it immediately. So, all we really saw/experienced of Jozi was from the township tour we did where we drove through Soweto. Soweto is the largest township in Joburg and for all the negative publicity the township generates, we thought the area wasn’t so bad a place to live in. During the tour, we also passed by Nelson Mandela’s and Desmond Tutu’s former homes. In addition, we stopped at the Henry Pieterson museum which focused on the events leading up to the deadly riots that were caused during the government’s push for Afrikaans to be taught in school. English had always been the main language in South Africa, but in a drive to segregate whites and blacks even further, the government pushed legislation that all schoolwork in public schools be taught in Afrikaans, a secondary language that few were versed in. The end result would be the failing of many blacks and coloureds thereby depriving them even more of their education. In the end, a quiet protest turned deadly when white policemen, overwhelmed by the numbers, started shooting at the kids who had participated. Henry Pieterson, 12, was one of those who was murdered that day and his death, captured by photo, came to symbolize the injustice that blacks suffered under the policy of apartheid.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
August 8-15: Mauritius
Hilton Beach Suite - Mauritius, originally uploaded by Andrew & Yvette's world travel.
Ah, time to C H I L L A X.
I remember awhile back in Peru, I was complaining to Andrew because of all the hostels we had been staying at and his response was, ‘Just wait for Mauritius.’ And after 10 ½ weeks, the wait was finally over.
We used our points to stay at the Hilton Flic en Flac and using our Diamond Status got ourselves a corner beach suite complete with a butler. The resort was grand and beautiful and was a great place to relax and unwind (yes traveling can get tiresome). Our resort also had a lot of free activities on offer such as water skiing and sailing. I tried the water skiing and after only my 3rd try, was able to stand up for a whole circuit. So exciting! We also tried sailing on a small catamaran and that was a rush. It was actually quite easy to learn and within just minutes both Drew and I were sailing Kiran (our teacher). Dolphin tours were also free and during one of our mornings, we took a boat ride to see a pod of them. Of course we also did a couple of dives but those dives were largely forgettable.
With all the activities on offer and a hammock right in front of the beach to relax in afterwards, it was a bit hard to leave our surroundings. However, we did manage to drag ourselves out of the resort and into the city for some museum hopping. One of those, the Blue Penny Museum, gave a fascinating and detailed account of Mauritius’ history. Among the things on display were the famous Blue Penny stamps worth 3 ½ million USD. When they were made, they were incorrectly printed with the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” and that mistake made these stamps a philatelic’s dream. Afterwards, it started raining so instead of going to the botanical gardens, we decided to go to an old sugar mill that had been converted to a museum. Needless to say, we were on info overload after today.
On a different day, we went for another drive and headed to Chamarel or colored earth. The area boasts of the ground being covered in 7 different colors but the sight was underwhelming to say the least. After this area, we continued our drive around the island. On one of the parks, we saw a family of monkeys and I had a scary monkey moment. I had seen a cute baby monkey and wanted a picture. I approached it slowly but when I got within 10 feet it hissed and started running towards me! I hightailed out of there and made it to the car where Andrew was dying of laughter after seeing me scream and freak out. Apparently when I stood, the monkey realized my size, changed course and ran up a tree instead. Not bothering to look back, I ran a whole parking lot in panic. After this excitement, we continued our drive around the island. However, because of the rains, we decided against doing any of the hikes and headed back to our resort where the weather was windy but sunny. As we settled in to our lounge chairs, we received a call from the reception telling us to go the parking lot immediately. There, to our disbelief was our car on the other side of the lot where we had originally parked.
Apparently, Drew had forgotten to put the hand break up and our car had rolled and hit another guest’s car. *gRrRrR*
Thankfully the rest of the week went by uneventfully and we spent the rest of our days in blissful relaxation enjoying the pools and the spa treatments. Alas, after one glorious week, it was time to head to Joburg.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
July 30 – August 7: Cape Town
Stop and think for a moment, how do you imagine South Africa? Can you picture a waterfront as beautiful as Sydney Harbor? A downtown as modern and eclectic as Manhattan? South Africa is all this and more with countrysides of green rolling hills, coastlines filled with Southern Right Back Whales and Great White Sharks and national parks blooming with flowers and teeming with wild animals. Our first stop in South Africa was Cape Town with impressive Table Mountain dominating the skyline in the background while the city sits on a bay fronting the Atlantic Ocean. We can only talk about the beauty of our surroundings though in retrospect. This is because Drew rented a car and not only did he have to drive a stick while sitting on the right side of the car, we both had to concentrate on staying on the left side of the road. We had several tense moments after entering the wrong side of the streets but our little Yaris served us well during all our reverse moves.
Breaking the mold with 6 full days in the city, as opposed to the grueling schedule of 3-4 days/city in South America, we decided to relax and take it easy. And what better way to relax than going to the Stellenbosch wine festival. The festival showcases wines from all over the region and for only $18 per person, you can try as many wines as you want/can. No boozing for us though as we had Kingdom Hall bright and early at 9am the following day. Following the meeting and field service, Brother English and his family invited us to their house for lunch. After two months of eating out, it was a treat to have a home cooked meal for lunch. After lunch, Drew and I drove up to Table Mountain. However, the cable car trams were closed for maintenance and we weren’t able to enjoy the panoramic views afforded from the top of the mountain.
After 2 days of relaxing, it was time to get back to what we do best: being on tourist mode and haggling for the best possible prices. However, a storm was brewing and tours to both Robben Island and Gansbai (for the Shark Cage Diving) were cancelled. Unexpectedly stuck on land, we were a bit lost as to what to do. So, we decided to go to the US Embassy and get more pages on my passport. With more than 6 countries left to visit and only 8 blank pages left on my passport, we decided now would be a good time to fix the situation. After waiting only 30 minutes to get extra pages, my passport was once again ready for some country stamping. As the weather was still good after this, we then drove to Boulders Beach to visit the resident colony of African penguins. There were hundreds of the cute little buggers waddling all over the place and it was all Andrew could do to stop me from trying to pick one up to hug and squeeze it. By the time we were done, it started to rain so we headed back to the hotel for my favorite pastime: napping = ) Relaxed and well rested, it was now time for dinner. We headed back to the Waterfront to Nobu where we met a Filipino working at the sushi bar. We got in a chat and he asked if we liked Bagoong and Talong because he had some. Although I was craving sushi, Filipino food sounded so good so I was really happy and excited. To my left though, Andrew was gagging and nagging talking about being in Nobu for goodness’ sake. What came out though was Filipino gourmet: cubed eggplants with a dash of bagoong and green onions all drizzled in ponzu sauce. Heaven!
The following day was still dreary but we decided to make the long beautiful coastline drive to Hermanus and try our chance spotting the Southern Back Whales. Hermanus is actually the best place in the world for land based whale spotting. At certain times, the bay is home to 70 whales!!! That afternoon though, there were only 2 in the bay and they barely surfaced = ( After a quick cappuccino break to warm up from the cold and get away from the rain, Drew and I headed out to meet the Lurie family, our new friends from the KH, for dinner. We had to keep them waiting for over an hour though because Drew left the lights on in the car and drained the battery. *GrRrR* Upon arriving, we met the rest of the Lurie family and enjoyed home cooked pizzas of different varieties.
The following day we drove up to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful day and just before we entered the park, we saw Chacma Baboons up the road eating, picking out each other’s lice and just swinging around. It was definitely a This is Africa moment (in a good way). Once inside the park, we hiked up to see the old lighthouse, posing at every possible moment to capture the beauty of the scenery. After the hike, we went to another tourist/picture trap: the most southwestern point of the African Continent. Just before getting there though, we saw some more baboons, but this time these baboons were of the naughty variety: one of the alpha males opened a car door letting his other cohorts in the car! And what did these boys come out with??? A Tupperware filled with food which the alpha male promptly started eating without sharing with the others. It was a funny scene up until the point when we passed the car and saw that there were 2 young kids sitting at the back. Just before getting back, we had another animal sighting of 2 ostriches at the beach. I’ve always thought ostriches were desert creatures but apparently they like the water also.
On our final day, we decided to do another wine tasting. As usual, we started our booze to be day bright and early. We visited 5 wineries tasting not only wine but brandy and champagne as well. The wines were largely forgettable but this day stands out for one very special reason: we met our future dogs in one of the estates. As we were doing a chocolate wine tasting pairing on the 2nd estate, the owners 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks came out. They were magnificent and it was definitely love at first sight.
Alas, it was now time to head to Mauritius, our vacation from our vacation destination.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
July 28 – 30: Buenos Aires – London – Cape Town
London
After a 12 hour flight, we landed in London where we had a 12 hour layover. Thankfully, BA has an arrival’s lounge which Drew and I put to good use by freshening up with a shower and a 15 minute massage. After storing our hand carry and waiting an additional 10 minutes to get the discounted tube passes (@ 9:30 they are only 7.50 pounds for the whole day), we were finally set for a day of sight-seeing.
First up on our to do/see list was getting my pounds out of Barclays Bank. After a 3am phone call to my dad, whose help I needed as the bank searches account numbers by last name and zip codes(???), Drew and I walked out 190 pounds richer (w/ more pounds left in the bank)! Can you believe it??? I thought I only had 70 pounds but apparently I had more money than I thought. With this newfound wealth, we headed straight to Harrod’s. Or rather straight to the tube station next to Harrod’s (come on guys, I’m w/ Andrew, as if I can actually spend my money). We next went to see Big Ben, walked through Hyde Park and posed aplenty in front of Tower Bridge. Walking pass the double decker red buses and the iconic black taxi cabs really made me miss living in this city. I’ve genuinely missed the London fog and the few hours spent here were so short. I wish this afternoon stretched out forever, however, as is typical in London, our outing was cut short by the rain. And so we strolled in to Nobu for a late lunch and watched the beautifully dreary city pass by in the rain.
July 24-28: Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, architecturally speaking, has the most beautiful buildings in South America. Walking through its streets, you’d be forgiven if you suddenly thought you were in Paris. Modeled after the City of Lights, B.A. dare I say, rivals Paris’ beauty with its grand buildings, palaces and statues. What Paris lacks though, B.A. has in good supply: friendly helpful people who smile even when you mangle their language; all in exchange for helping said stranger with their English = )
During one of our mornings, we took a free city tour where we walked through tree lined streets and passed through numerous dog parks. When we stopped at the Pink House, the flag was at full mast meaning the President, Christina Kirchner, was present. Sadly, she didn’t wave to Andrew and I from the balcony where Evita Perron used to make her speeches to the people. While in front of the Presidential House, we also learned about Argentina’s rather recent and very painful memory. In the 1970s, there was a military coup wherein thousands of people disappeared. Parents were murdered and babies handed over to those in the correct political circles. Most recently, a group of grandmothers have come out stating that if anyone in their mid 20’s to mid 30’s (our age) are suspicious of their past, they can do a DNA test to determine their family line. This campaign has led to a large group of young individuals to tragically discover that the parents who raised them were responsible for the murder of their real parents. Discussing history however, the triumphs and follies, is always charged with opposing opinions. As there were local Argentineans in the tour, there was a heated debate about these “tragedies”. After this surprisingly emotional tour, the locals, who had come to practice their English w/ us tourists, took us for a ride on the oldest city subway line (Linea A) and then afterwards took us to a local restaurant where we enjoyed a typical 3 hour long Saturday lunch.
That night as we headed back to our hotel, we met 4 sisters who were with the English group. We felt them to be a blessing as we found out their Sunday meeting had been moved because of the CO visit. Had we missed them, we would have arrived at the time given by Bethel and come to an empty Kingdom Hall. Now before we got there, Andrew and I joked how funny it would be if this CO was the same one as the CO at Iguazu. When the CO went to the stage, Andrew and I got a shock as the CO’s looked absolutely similar. The only difference was their voice and manner of delivery. When we brought this up with the brothers and sisters, one of them explained that the CO had a twin and if our picture memory was correct, then we heard ‘twin’ programs! After the meeting, we joined in the field ministry where I was able to place a tract w/ the following phrase, “Puede una para leia”
The following day we visited Bethel and met with more brothers and sisters. The other couple in the group was visiting their son and it was funny because the brother, who spoke quickly in a thick Spanish accent, was amused by us and loved talking to us. It was all we could do to keep up with the tour and his running commentary.
Now a visit to B.A. must also include a tango show. So for one of our nights, we went to Madero Tango for a dinner and professional tango show. I say professional because all we did was watch and enjoy the fabulous show. Other places/shows require participation but with our 2 left feet we decided sitting on our bums would be more enjoyable.
Alas the 28th came too soon and it was time to pack up our bags again. Before we start sharing about Africa, we thought we’d compile a list of all things South America:
Favorite Country from most to least: Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Panama and Bolivia
Favorite Activity: WMDR in Bolivia, and Diving Galapagos.
Best Restaurants: Q Grill (Hyatt Mendoza, Argentina) and Porcao Rio’s (Rio De Janeiro),
Must See’s: Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls
Favorite Hotel: Hilton Buenos Aires / Sao Paolo, Secret Garden Inn Puerto Iguazu and Swissotel Quito
Favorite Airport Lounge: Lima Intl Airport (Bar tender makes killer Bloody Mary’s)
Distance Traveled: over 20,100 miles
# of Countries: 6 = Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina
# of Accomodations: 26 different hotels
Traveling Days: 64
July 21-24: Mendoza
As a result of horsing around in Iguazu, I re-sprained my bad ankle and had to pass up skiing fresh powder in Las Lenas = ( So instead of swooshing in the snow, Andrew and I did another type of swishing, that of swishing wine. We signed up for a wine tasting tour and boy did we have the best, longest lasting buzz ever. We’ve never done this type of tour before and expected to have just one glass at each of the four wineries. We were so wrong. Each estate offered 3-6 huge glasses of wine!!! Even though we didn’t finish any of our glasses, our low estimate is that we each drank 2 fantastic bottles of wine that day. *hehe*
The following day, armed with the knowledge of how to taste/appreciate wine (smell, taste, swirl, smell, gargle/taste), we went to a fab wine tasting bar where we had some more excellent wines. Don’t think though that all we did was drink. We also ate! We ate a lot and we ate well! You see, Mendoza is like a fabulous boutique restaurant where the wines are exquisite and the food sublime. Great as Brazil’s churrascaria’s were they were no match for Argentina’s parrillada’s. Argentinean meat is great and the restaurants around Mendoza have really perfected the art of gourmet barbeque. As I write this, my stomach is growling for the rib eye at Q Grill paired with my Ruca Malen Malbec. The restaurants here really know how to pair their food with wine and one of our favorite meals in our lifetime is the 5 course wine pairing lunch we had at the Ruca Malen estate. *sigh* All this food write and all I have to eat is this salami sandwich = ( Better move on to Buenos Aires.
July 18-21: Iguazu Falls (Puerto Iguazu, Argentina)
All we can say is wow, w o W, w O W, W O W
We hiked the trails covering the falls and at every turn, all we could think of was how can it possibly get better than this? And yet somehow, when we rounded on to another corner, the view was more amazing than the last: the butterflies dancing through the rainbows, the swifts slicing through the falls, the water cascading thunderously to the ground. We saw the falls at both the Brazilian and Argentine side. The difference being the Brazilian side gave a panoramic view while the Argentine side allowed you to see the falls up close individually or in other words, the Brazilian side is the seat while the Argentine side is the show. Regardless of the side however, the net effect was the same: W O W. Although I’ve never been to neither Niagara nor Victoria Falls, I believe it when others say Iguazu Falls is the most mesmerizing.
In addition to all the hiking, I also took some time out for the Nautical Adventure. This adrenaline activity involved riding a boat that goes through the San Martin and Devil’s Throat Falls. Although the sun was hiding in the clouds and the water was super cold, I joined the group in repeatedly chanting “UNO MAS, UNO MAS.” We went through the falls several times and despite having a poncho, I still came out soaked. There was just no way of escaping getting drenched as the falls crashed down my body and the waters whipped about in frenzy.
In addition to visiting the falls, we also took a tour of the Itaipu Dam which sits on the Brazilian and Paraguayan border. The dam supplies clean energy and continuously provides for 90% of Paraguay’s energy needs and 25% of Brazil. We took the informative 2 hour tour which allowed us to see the engineers in the control room, the working turbine room and the walk bridge above the dam.
We came a day early however and missed the dam opening. The area had been receiving a significant amount of rain and was due for another storm the night we visited. Had we come the following day we would have been witness to a manmade waterfall, more powerful in force than all the 80+ falls in Iguazu combined, when the dam opened to ease/release the water buildup on the other side.
Although Iguazu Falls was “que lindo” and Itaipu Dam an engineering marvel, the highlight of this trip was 1) finding out our driver was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and 2) attending the Sunday meeting. We made a lot of new friends but we didn’t shake hands or kiss. Gripa A (swine flu) was gripping the congregation, or rather the country as a whole, and physical contact was discouraged as a precaution. Now, we were told this by our initial greeters but after the meeting, we had a lot of people extend their hands and give me the requisite besos on the cheeks. Needless to say, given the warning in the beginning, this sudden friendliness made us a bit paranoid. Over the next two days, we confused our tiredness with Gripa A and needlessly swallowed a whole lot of pills.
Our next stop in Argentina was Mendoza but we were tempted to spend a night in cowboy Paraguay where the DVDs are cheaper than the ones in Thailand and the 2 for 1 special is the “buy a gun, get a grenade for free.” Though the country also beckoned to us with the promise of another stamp on our passports, we (wisely?) passed up the offer.
