On the road again

I woke up in Cape Town on Wednesday morning with a feeling as though I was preparing for an athletic event. I diligently ate a hearty breakfast to ensure some endurance for my daylong excursion. After all, I was being picked up at 9 am to take a tour of South Africa’s winelands until about 5 pm. “Grant” picked me up and I said adieu to my lovely Hout Bay hosts and my beautiful B&B. Luckily we didn’t arrive at the first winery until 10:00 am, so I guess it was a little civilized to be enjoying the spirits at that hour. We were the first to arrive. Our first visit was a winery that boasts a blend called “The Trilogy” that was voted fifth best wine in the world. Unfortunately, they were low in stock and didn’t get to taste their claim to fame, but the rest was good. Grant held off on drinking, seeing as he was driving, and I sole-handedly did my best to pretend like I knew something about wine. After the third glass I realized that the pitcher and spittoon-looking thing were meant for me to rinse out my glass between wines…hahaha oops! The winery’s host had a seriously lazy eye, so I made sure to look at his good while trying to concentrate on what he was saying about the wines. It was a beautiful setting and I enjoyed their wines the best out of all of them. The second place was the oldest privately owned winery in the country. It was absolutely beautiful, set in the rolling foothills of the Drakenburg mountains. At this place, I had red wines, then port, then whites – a HUGE no-no in the ways of wine-tasting connoisseurs, but I held my own and did it my way. :)

At that point, I began finding the entire situation pretty comical. Here I was, at 11 am, feeling a little tipsy with some stranger, driving me around to all these wineries. We had lunch at the next spot thank god and then headed for the airport. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the wineries very much, but again, it would’ve been so much more fun to share the experience with someone other than Grant, the enthusiastic fellow with the lazy eye, and the Dutch Goth-girl who scoffed at me for going from red to port to white.

Upon arrival at the airport, I had some more grub and waited to board my plane. Once seated, my plane-pal, “Anders” the German model headed home from a shoot, notified me that our flight was 11 hours. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I knew it was going to be long, but subconsciously made a point not to check out the actual travel time. Flight went well, although it was overnight and I slept for a total of about 25 minutes.

Anders and I parted ways and I learned of the horrific-ness of the Frankfurt airport. No clear signage, a TERRIBLY slow customs woman, and construction, made my hour layover a continuous battle that ended with me sprinting up stairs and bursting into gate A16 for the final boarding call. I managed to get some sleep on the 40 minute flight between Munich and Frankfurt.

I feel as though this blog just got extremely boring, because honestly, who wants to hear about travel dilemmas. We all have them. Let’s just suffice it to say, there was a bit of miscommunication with my family in Germany and I had an eventful morning at the Munich airport which included: making security nervous after checking outside three separate times, begging a 20 year old girl to let me use the internet since it only took coins and I only had a credit card (couldn’t get out cash because Bank of America forgot AGAIN that I’m traveling and wouldn’t let me get money), begging a 40 year old man to let me use the internet (again, no luck), finally remembering my Kenyan shillings and exchanging them for Euros so I could get online, getting online to check email and seeing my cousin on g-chat (while I’m thinking she was going to be at the airport) – that was a funny chat to say the least, then hopping on three trains and arriving in beautiful Garmisch. I would never have made it if it weren’t for Hans, the German cologne seller who was headed in the same direction as myself. Thank you Hans.

Arriving to family after traveling for two months was so incredibly wonderful!! If you know me, you know how close I am with my extended family and I was ecstatic to see my aunt Marianna and cousin Abigail. We spent some time catching up, sharing stories, and reflecting on the insanity of our life paths at the moment. Then we all cleaned up and prepared for the influx of Garmisch women coming over for book club. Not much talk of the book, but it was a great to almost be a fly on the wall in a room full of mothers and have some delicious food. Relaxing today as some serious snow falls on this amazing town. Going up to Munich tomorrow, Easter brunch with friends on Sunday, and skiing next week. THEN HOME SWEET HOME ON WEDNESDAY!!!! I’ll keep you posted if something more exciting than travel stories comes up. ~EKY V.

Kickin' it in CPT, goin' with the flo' and growin’ up some mo’

During the course of our lives, we all have moments when we feel we’re getting older, maturing, and becoming an “adult”. I had one of those moments a few months ago in late December when I realized that for the first time in my life I had bought my own wrapping paper. I suddenly felt older, more mature, and more of an adult after proactively buying my own gift wrap as opposed to mooching off my mother for the 25th year in a row. While at the time I felt it was the pinnacle of my ascent towards adult-status, I knew there was another similar moment lurking around the corner. I had that moment yesterday when I rented a car, by myself, in a foreign country. Having never previously rented a car anywhere in the world, I achieved many firsts by conquering my virgin rental in South Africa. I signed the papers and felt an immediate sense of “adult-hood”, but more importantly, sweet freedom.

There is something to be said about flying solo down the coast (any coast) with the windows down and music blaring. It soothes the soul. With that being said, I have to recommend that everyone take the drive from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope at some point during your life. It definitely rivals the PCH. The almost orange rock cliffs on your left compliment the blue, blue sea stretched out to your right, and the silver boulders make a nice, solid divider between the two. You hug the curves and sneak glimpses into the seaside towns you pass along the way, or the pristine beaches on the floor below you.

This drive is the story I will recount, inshallah, to my children and my nieces and nephews when I encourage them to travel the world. It was just amazing. The freedom, the independence and the isolation really made me feel alive and made me feel that I had taken this journey for all the right reasons and gotten everything possible out of it. I used to sit at my desk for all those long hours and think “there’s has GOT to be more to it than this”. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true. And it felt great to know that I’d gone out on a limb, WAY out of character, and taken the plunge to do what felt right – travel. This drive yesterday solidified all those feelings and brought everything full circle. (Davin – I was one of those people, driving down the road with a HUGE goofy grin on my face. I couldn’t help it.) (Jessica – I know Davin is not reading this, so please rely the message.)

Okay, so enough about the drive… what have I been all this time in Cape Town anyway? I think I left the blog on Saturday night. So I enjoyed a great dinner that night with Di and Don – my hosts while in Cape Town. Sunday I went down to the local Sunday market and checked out the local flavor. Then I grabbed a cab (cost me an arm and a leg) to Table Mountain. There I proceeded to wait in line for an hour before jumping on the cableway and heading to the Cape’s best known landmark. It was a PERFECT day and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The first people I enlisted for helping me take a photo of myself on afore mentioned landmark turned out to be from Hall County, Georgia. Small world indeed.

Now I’m going to get reader’s digest on you. Came down from the mountain and headed into the city. Checked out the famous V&A Waterfront, enjoyed a meal and beer on the edge of the water in a wonderful waterside café that was reminiscent of so many European cafes on canals and such. I tried to get out to Robben Island, where Mandela and so many other political prisoners were once held, but the tour was booked through next week (unless I wanted to come at 8:45 am, and the $50 cab ride wasn’t really in my budget for a second trip). So I hopped in another cab and came back along the coast, enjoying the sights of all the cute, bustling coastal towns. On Monday I woke up RARING to go and expecting to pick up my car at 10:30 am. As anyone who’s traveled to Africa would know, things don’t happen like that. So the car won’t be ready until 3:00 pm. Having already planned my route for my “day long” drive and planning to be at a winery all day Tuesday, this threw quite a wrench in my plans. But left with no other choice, I made due. Spent the morning at Kristenbosch one of the biggest botanical gardens in the world. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Set on the side of the mountains behind Table Mountain, there may not be a more beautiful botanical garden in the world. It had insane plant life, but I couldn’t get over the setting. These perfect lawns of short grass surrounded by beds of beautiful plants and little benches dispersed throughout for those regulars who knew to bring a book and picnic lunch. Blue skies, warm sunshine, and a perfect light breeze to keep you from sweating. (Nicole – take your dinner break).

So THEN, I picked up the car and did the drive I spoke about earlier. On the way back from the Cape I stopped at Boulders Bay and chilled with the African penguins for a second – they were much happier than the ones at the GA Aquarium. I got back to Hout Bay just as the sun was setting, so as I approached the bay from over the mountains I had the bay and the sunsetting in front of me and a HUGE moon rising over the mountains to my right. I grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to my B&B.

Although I thought the car situation had thrown me off, it actually made things PERFECT! This morning I woke up early and decided to try to get out to Robben Island despite being deterred by the mere fact that they were sold out of tickets. BAM! I arrive ten minutes before it leaves and there’s space. The tour was incredible and both my guides were former political prisoners at Robben Island. It was on my list of things to do and it wouldn’t have worked if it hadn’t been for the botched car rental. Then I drove over to the Long Street Area and checked out the infamous party street – which did in fact have partiers (I think they were 14 years old) at 1:00 pm in the afternoon. I also made it to the Green Market Square and wished I had more money to buy things. I also wanted to mention that the drive into the city was another incredible sight. This time the mountains were on my right and as the sun rose over the Twelve Apostles (rock/mountain formation near Table Mountain) massive, strong rays of sunshines, sheets of light rather, shone between the twelve apostles. It was magnificent.

I returned to Hout Bay via the coast again, hugging the curves and relishing in the wind and music. I then made a special trip to Hout Bay’s claim to fame – “Fish on the Rocks”. I doused my bag of fish and chips with vinegar, dashed it with salt, and sat a huge picnic table to inhale my meal. Unfortunately, I was pressed for time to get the rental back and the two German girls sitting next to me watched in horror as a healthy portion of Hake and Chips disappeared before their very eyes.

I then walked up the hill (imagine walking to Susan Harmon’s from that big avenue way below) to relax in the pool/jacuzzi and read. Tomorrow I have a day’s tour of the local wineries before being dropped off at the airport to catch my overnight flight to Germany. I know I’ve kept you long enough. Hope you enjoyed those past photos. ~EKY V.

Photo Session

So please have a look at some long overdue photos, but also go beyond these and read the few posts below - these all went up in one night, so I'm sure you're a bit behind. The post prior to this one will explain the phenomenon of seeing photos on this website. It's a shock..I know. Enjoy! ~EKY V.

The view from my room in Mombasa - seems like ages since I was there!!

The table where we had many great lunches, dinners and games of Trivial Pursuit.

The driveway to Kimita - the location of Phil's dad's house and Phil's cottage.

Half of the wounds I've been dressing and cleaning for the past two months.

The other half of the wounds (and there's also the side/back wounds - but they didn't require quite as much attention).

Our plane and runway in the Serengeti on first safari with Steve and Jane.

Swervin' in the Serengeti

Tea time near the Gol Mountains

You can make out our tent at Nesera Rock, TZ in the bottom center.

View of a sunset over the plains from our tent - baboons live in the tree on the left.

Greystoke Lodge - where Lake Tanganyika meets the Mahale Mountains.

Not a bad spot for an upstairs afternoon read, or an evening's meal under the stars-only 12 allowed.

Upon finding the chimps despite the rain, we had to put on masks to protect the animals.

Do I have something in my eye? (They were about ten feet from me)

Sundowner (noun): beautiful spot with great sunset and wine or cocktail.

Resting grounds after long dinners and hiking for chimps.

Not a great shot, but that's a leopard walking about three feet from me.

Hopefully you've learned by now that this is called a sundowner.

You lose the quality and color on this small size, but you get the gist.

Just to make sure you realize how close we get to the animals-these lions mated five minutes later.

Just another example of the closeness to the wildlife.

Pretty plains of the Mara with a typical lone acacia at the horizon.

Again - the color gets washed out in these small versions. :(

The airstrip at the Masai Mara.

Hopefully this helps you imagine things a bit better. Don't forget to read the other new posts, there's a couple. ~EKY V.

Holy High-Speed Batman… Holy Gale-Force Wind Robin!!

So if you go back and look at my two previous posts you’ll find a novel new addition to the writings of “ekgoesglobal”…PHOTOS!!! Yes, I’m currently in Cape Town with extremely good internet. In accordance with the rest of my travels, it’s not just the internet that is incredible – the surroundings surpass even the fastest wi-fi connection.

48 hours ago – Thursday, March 13 – Nairobi, Kenya. I’m packing to leave Kenya and still don’t know where I’m staying when I arrive in Cape Town on Saturday. I contact numerous places but everything is full. Phil takes the attitude “it’ll be fine, you have numbers of people that can help you, it’ll all work out.” I take the attitude “I’m arriving to a new city I don’t know, full of people, with no where to sleep.” Friday comes and I leave Nairobi – still nowhere for Cape Town and full of anxiety, doubt, and straight-up fear. I spend the night in Joberg where I’m looked after by a former player from the Silverbacks – Rafique. He helped me out tremendously and gave me a quick tour of Joberg. It was an early night and in the morning I frantically resumed my search for places to stay. I say frantically because on Friday and Saturday morning it involved trying to reach places and being aware of the lack of phone credit that would eventually run out and end my search, In the morning I finally reached a really nice sounding woman at a B&B who had room. BAM! Place to stay, airport pick up, I’m all set!! So to celebrate…I checked out the closest mall. It was quite a change from Nairobi – shiny floors and fancy stores – a mix between Lenox and Phipps, but doubled both in size. I had just enough time to shower before heading off in a taxi to the airport for my flight to Cape Town.

Having never done the “B&B” thing, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I saw the place in a Greenwood Guide and they had room – not much else mattered to me. Di and Don picked me up at the airport and I first became aware of how HAPPY I was to be staying at a B&B as opposed to a hostel. The $10 a night I would have saved did not cover the hospitality of my hosts, their inside knowledge of Cape Town and genuine interest in my well being, or the beauty of their home. Luckily some woman with a wedding had cancelled so I have the whole place to myself!! It gets better and better!!

The drive from the airport to Haut Bay (the suburb where I’m staying) was beautiful!!! It reminded me of Northern California with curvy roads and HUGE evergreen trees. We traveled around Table Mountain and began descending past wine country and botanical gardens. Hout Bay stretched out before us – more beautiful than I had imagined. As we passed through Hout Bay proper – I was reminded of New England, but I think for no other reason than it was a town on an ocean. We pulled up to the house and I began to think I had heard Di wrong when she quoted me on the price. It’s fabulous. They took me up to my room – huge bed, huge bathroom, giant shower with serious hot water and serious pressure, and windows looking over the bay forming two walls of the room. My French doors lead onto a veranda which is all mine thanks to the wedding-lady. Di then showed me the “pool” which is secluded and actually a heated hot tub – so I can sit in at night or the late afternoon and also look out over the bay.

I honestly freaked and thought I had heard her wrong, so I went back down to ask Di about the price one more time – yep, I heard her right!! I also thought I’d check on internet – oh there’s wifi? Golden.

So here I am in another beautiful setting, waiting to see what tomorrow will bring me. The agenda calls for a breakfast with Di and Don, a walk through Hout Bay’s Sunday market, and a venture into the city to meet up with Phil’s friend John.

One small tidbit – as my flight was landing our pilot briefed us like always of the weather conditions in Cape Town. Sunny…blue skies…blah blah…WHAT?? Did he just say “gale-force winds”? Uh yeah – he just said gale-force winds. So the beautiful room with all the windows is wonderful, but I’m hearing every ounce of force from these winds.

Another bit of bad news – I departed Nairobi with a USB cable to take photos from my camera and put them on my computer – only it was Phil’s cord, not mine. So I’ll use my high-speed internet time to put up old photos you missed out on and hope to upload the ones from South Africa and Germany when I return to the ATL. Keep me posted on what you’re up to – I LOVE updates. ~EKY V.

Spitting Speeches

So before we get to present day (Saturday, March 14), let's fill in a few of the missing blanks on the Masai Mara safari. One morning we woke up at 4:30 am and I was allowed the privilege of joining the wageni on a hot-air balloon tour over the Mara. It was amazing!! We watched the sun rise as we waited for our chariots-of-air to fill. I have to admit, I was a little nervous to be in such small quarters, above the ground, with fire and huge tanks full of gas...needless to say it was incredible!!
You're quietly floating just above the ground, sometimes 200 feet, sometimes 50 feet, sometimes 5 feet and all the while you're able to observe the wildlife on the ground without so much as a second glance from the creatures below. The first balloon in our three-pack saw the big five (lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, buffalo) during our ride - I'll put it into perspective for those of you not completely in awe about their sightings - that was the third time it's happened in 35 years. So yeah...it's kind of a big deal. Our balloon saw tons of great stuff, including a lion roaring to scare off about 15 hyena from his kill. It was so cool to see this lion emerge from an overgrown area and then to see all the hyena scatter back to a bigger perimeter. So that was a nice $400 trip that I didn't spend a dime on. :)

We saw a fresh cheetah kill where three males had taken down a waterbuck and were proceeding to devour every piece of meat except his stomach. The vultures waited patiently in the background. We went to a Masai Village to see the "local culture". The village chief spoke to us and welcomed us while wearing his "I love Jesus" hat. No joke. Phil had a special treat planned for the big wig from the company (he's also Phil's longtime client). Phil had the local guys do a special-only-for-Masai blessing for the main man in charge. The Masai bled a cow in front of us to create their staple sustenance for long days out with the cattle - a mixture of blood and milk. Then they gave the gourd to the head man to drink - he took three big gulps without so much as a second thought. They then brought him and his wife forward in front of three elders sitting on little stools. The elders then took moonshine and spat on the heads and feet of the boss and his wife as all the other people from the company looked on in horror and amazement. It was a VERY special ceremony.That evening around the camp fire, the partners gave the head guy a special gift for all his guidance and service. In his "acceptance speech" he eloquently, thoughtfully and humbly taught us all a lesson. He said that in their line of work - management consulting in the middle east - it's very important to remember where other people are coming from and to keep culture in mind. He said that earlier in the day, not only was he spat upon, but he had to sit and watch his wife get spat upon. And while it was the biggest insult to him and his wife, it was the highest honor for the Masai people. I've clearly not even begun to touch on how well he brought it all full circle, but it was an incredible speech.~EKY V.

Encyclopedia West and the Lady Leopard Spotter

The photos above are of a sunset in the Masai Mara and a cheetah eating a waterbuck in the Masai Mara. More photos to follow, but Blogger sucks for photos. So the majority will be on facebook.

I realize it’s been two weeks since I last blogged, how exactly that happened I’m not sure. I spent some time enjoying Nairobi – finally having my driving lessons in the kick-ass Toyota safari machine! I’ve got the shifting down pretty much, but will hold off on getting on the roads because I haven’t mastered the matatus, people, and horrible drivers that I’d be sharing the road with in Nairobi.

I spent the last week on safari in the Masai Mara. Due to a number of elements combined, it’s one of the best places to see animals in the world. The week included sightings of all kinds – lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, baby elephants, hippos, baby hippos, baboons, baby baboons, hyena and many more!!!!

In reference to the title, Encyclopedia West is an understatement when describing Phil West and his wealth of knowledge about ANYTHING in Eastern and Southern Africa. I have to comment on this aspect of the trip because in all honesty it blew me away more so than the animals. It’s almost indescribable. For example, he took some of the spouses on a walk around the camp. He could have easily gone 10 meters and talked for an hour. We strolled through the camp and he stopped every few feet showing us the plants, their medicinal purposes, insects, tracks, etc. Again, I’m not giving it justice. Unlike most other guides, his knowledge encompasses plantlife, wildlife, geology, meteorology, mythology, astrology, and anthropology…for a number of countries. It was crazy. Other guides came along during his impromptu “walk” to learn some extra stuff. It may sound weird that I’m going on about this stuff, but it was unfathomable at times.

So – the Lady Leopard Spotter! Our first morning in camp at about 6:00 am, when all the cars were filling up and heading off for a game drive, I decided I’d hang back – not sure if I should be on the game drive or helping out at camp. Much to my excitement the cars drove off and Phil and Johan (the croc jumping life saver) started walking back towards the mess. Huh??!!! The two best guides aren’t going on the game drive? One-armed Phil can’t drive and a client basically kicked him out of his passenger seat – WHAT AN IDIOT!!! Johan didn’t have anyone in his car. We hung around for a little while, waiting on a delayed client to appear out of the woods and ask where everyone had gone. No such luck! So we were free. I got to go on a game drive with just the two of them and no wageni (clients). After about thirty minutes we made it to the river and as we were crossing, Phil had Johan stop and he got out to examine some tracks on the river bed. As he said “man these are seriously fresh tracks” I saw a blur of motion and watched a leopard run from about five feet from Phil towards the cover of a bush. Phil and Johan jumped in the car and we tracked her for about two hours. We called over one of the other cars and we basically found her again and again so the wageni could get photos. At one point she went into a huge thicket of bushes and trees. Phil said “I’m sure she’s headed for those big trees way down there, let’s go wait for her.” We went and waited. The other car followed. Nothing. As we decided to leave, low and behold, here she comes strolling up. It was amazing! She walked RIGHT past the car. It was by far the best morning.

I can’t write anymore but will include more about the Masai Village, the balloon ride, the delicious food and the temporary city we set up in the Masai Mara. This place is unreal.

I’m sadly leaving Nairobi tomorrow but really looking forward to South Africa and Germany and then HOME TO THE ATL for three days before hiking Machu Pichu and habla-ing Espanola. Keep me posted. MORE PICS ON FACEBOOK. ~EKY V.