It has been about 2 weeks since I've been back from my trip to S Africa. It has taken a while to process the trip and how amazing it was. As I reflect on my trip I realize how much we take for granted here in the United States.
For example, the water issues that they are having in Cape Town and the potential of having to use water that is processed in a desalination ship. How we just waste water on a regular basis. I have started to take shorter showers and rethink on days that I just want to take a bath and soak. Not to say that I will be giving that up but it does make me think how frequently I do it. For safe drinking water they have to have filtered water and most restaurants don't offer water and on the menu the water offered is a lot of times sparkling water or something like that. If you want tap water you have to ask for it (at least the restaurants do filter their water) and it usually has like a lemon in it Even when you order a drink that isn't water such as a coke you only get about half a dozen ice cubes.
Another thing is just how easy it is to spend money for souvenirs and how much that is for them. Being in a country where money is hard to come by it is amazing how "cheap" everything seemed compared to here. Being from Austin I understand the importance of supporting local artists is I did try to buy things that were made from local artists and also supporting companies that are fair trade businesses. It just highlighted more of the struggles that are still being faced there with women and businesses that pay fair wages.
One of the strangest things I saw was the caution/beware of baboon signs that I saw as we drove into Simon's Town and in random other places. We have to worry about deer for the most part, however, the baboons apparently are an issue - they will come into town and scavenge for food and will actually take things from humans. I was warned that if I saw one or one did take something from me to just let them have it because they are big and can be aggressive. They can also be seen at roadside picnic areas hanging out. I really wish I could have gotten a picture of me with the sign because every time I saw it I would laugh. The other members of our group that it was awesome and funny as well. Carmex was a common topic and joked about.
I have always been told that I can make friends anywhere and I was really nervous about this trip because I wasn't sure how I would connect with the other people in my group. Luckily, I connected well with them and we really had a good time hanging out together outside of being on the boat. We would hang out and just chat after our daily trips and then have dinner together. On the car trips between the cities we had so much fun laughing at each other. It is amazing how some of the memories I have will be over some of the mundane conversations and just teasing each other. The rest of the group were really used to being on boats and were so supportive of me as I adjusted to being on a boat in the ocean and getting sea sick. We laughed sometimes until our sides hurt. There is something about being with people who love the same things as you do. We were able to agree on where to eat dinner together and that is with having a vegetarian in the group, another one with a nut allergy, and one that couldn't have seafood (me).
One of the other things I noticed about S Africa is that the portions of food were manageable so that you would finish your meal and not leftovers or extra food on the plate. When I would order something for the most part I would have portions that were able to finish. They also pair a lot of their meals with "chips" and that was weird for me until I realized that they were potato wedges or what we know as fries. Not being a person who can eat seafood they had prawns, which I learned were like giant shrimp, that were massive compared to anything I've seen in the states. Overall the food I ate while I was in S Africa was amazing. I even had 2 fantabulous bubblegum milkshakes (which I found out that Chris Fallows really likes as well) with a couple of my dinners and yes they tasted like Hubba Bubba bubblegum. Their fillet steaks were so tender and delicious and they pronounce - fill it which also lead to some fun conversations. One of my favorite food conversations dealt with trying to get one of our members to dip his fries into his milkshake and try it. There were two of us who emphasized that it's the best with a Wendy's chocolate frosty but one of the other members was saying that strawberry was the best. By the time we had left we hadn't convinced him to do it but there's still hope. Just some of the food that was enjoyed (most by me except the prawns).
For example, the water issues that they are having in Cape Town and the potential of having to use water that is processed in a desalination ship. How we just waste water on a regular basis. I have started to take shorter showers and rethink on days that I just want to take a bath and soak. Not to say that I will be giving that up but it does make me think how frequently I do it. For safe drinking water they have to have filtered water and most restaurants don't offer water and on the menu the water offered is a lot of times sparkling water or something like that. If you want tap water you have to ask for it (at least the restaurants do filter their water) and it usually has like a lemon in it Even when you order a drink that isn't water such as a coke you only get about half a dozen ice cubes.
Another thing is just how easy it is to spend money for souvenirs and how much that is for them. Being in a country where money is hard to come by it is amazing how "cheap" everything seemed compared to here. Being from Austin I understand the importance of supporting local artists is I did try to buy things that were made from local artists and also supporting companies that are fair trade businesses. It just highlighted more of the struggles that are still being faced there with women and businesses that pay fair wages.
One of the strangest things I saw was the caution/beware of baboon signs that I saw as we drove into Simon's Town and in random other places. We have to worry about deer for the most part, however, the baboons apparently are an issue - they will come into town and scavenge for food and will actually take things from humans. I was warned that if I saw one or one did take something from me to just let them have it because they are big and can be aggressive. They can also be seen at roadside picnic areas hanging out. I really wish I could have gotten a picture of me with the sign because every time I saw it I would laugh. The other members of our group that it was awesome and funny as well. Carmex was a common topic and joked about.
I have always been told that I can make friends anywhere and I was really nervous about this trip because I wasn't sure how I would connect with the other people in my group. Luckily, I connected well with them and we really had a good time hanging out together outside of being on the boat. We would hang out and just chat after our daily trips and then have dinner together. On the car trips between the cities we had so much fun laughing at each other. It is amazing how some of the memories I have will be over some of the mundane conversations and just teasing each other. The rest of the group were really used to being on boats and were so supportive of me as I adjusted to being on a boat in the ocean and getting sea sick. We laughed sometimes until our sides hurt. There is something about being with people who love the same things as you do. We were able to agree on where to eat dinner together and that is with having a vegetarian in the group, another one with a nut allergy, and one that couldn't have seafood (me).
One of the other things I noticed about S Africa is that the portions of food were manageable so that you would finish your meal and not leftovers or extra food on the plate. When I would order something for the most part I would have portions that were able to finish. They also pair a lot of their meals with "chips" and that was weird for me until I realized that they were potato wedges or what we know as fries. Not being a person who can eat seafood they had prawns, which I learned were like giant shrimp, that were massive compared to anything I've seen in the states. Overall the food I ate while I was in S Africa was amazing. I even had 2 fantabulous bubblegum milkshakes (which I found out that Chris Fallows really likes as well) with a couple of my dinners and yes they tasted like Hubba Bubba bubblegum. Their fillet steaks were so tender and delicious and they pronounce - fill it which also lead to some fun conversations. One of my favorite food conversations dealt with trying to get one of our members to dip his fries into his milkshake and try it. There were two of us who emphasized that it's the best with a Wendy's chocolate frosty but one of the other members was saying that strawberry was the best. By the time we had left we hadn't convinced him to do it but there's still hope. Just some of the food that was enjoyed (most by me except the prawns).
While I was in Simon's Town I got the to see wild S African Black Footed Penguins just hanging out on the beach. Penguins have been a favorite animal of mine for a while - yes I get the irony of the fact that sharks eat seal and penguins. I do get how the predator/prey relationship works but it doesn't change how I like animals. I literally walked down to Boulder Beach and right there on the rocks and sand were penguins. There was an orange construction net up around some of the boulders that said "Do Not Cross - Penguin Nesting Ground" and as badly as I wanted to get on the rocks to see if I could see some eggs I followed the instructions and stayed back. That did not stop me from being able to get fairly close to other penguins though that were swimming in the water and coming out on the beach and just watching how they interacted with each other. I stayed and watched them for quite a while taking pictures and some videos. One of my favorites was this penguin who was last in the group of following three other penguins and he got behind in following them so he went down and "scissor-walked" using his flippers to help catch up. The other penguins walked off into some brush on the beach and he stopped, looked around, and decided that he wanted to go back to the water. He then "scissor-walked" his way back to the water and then slid smoothly into the ocean and swam around totally relaxed. They were so cute and were constantly cleaning/preening themselves when on the rocks. I never thought I would just get to see penguins in the wild and so close. I've interacted with them in captivity but this was a completely new and different experience.
Comments
Post a Comment