i usually do a live music roundup at the end of every year. usually it's about 90-95% indigo girls shows. 2008 was very different for me. and i have to say, 2008 was awesome in terms of concerts i attended.

there were a few house concerts and private shows that i went to that i can not write about publicly (sorry for the vagueness), so with the exception of those, here is my year in terms of live music:

january 2008:
i saw lady miss kier (yes, of dee lite) DJing at the mezzanine here in san francisco. the show was on the eve of joey's birthday, and we went to celebrate his birthday (and because he is/was a dee lite fan). the show was actually a lot of fun, and i have never been asked for so many hard drugs in my life (some kid came over to us looking for e and/or coke. we had neither. of course.)

i was supposed to attend four indigo girls shows in the midwest. all of them were either canceled or postponed due to emily coming down with the flu. some of the shows were rescheduled, but since i didn't want to go back to the midwest, i didn't go to any of the rescheduled dates. it was very disappointing, but thankfully the whole trip to the midwest wasn't a bust, i had to be in chicago anyway because my flight for africa left from o'hare. sadly, my friends laura and bonnie flew to the midwest for these shows too, and they really ended up in the midwest in january/early february for no reason. sad.

february 2008:

i was in africa for most of the month. while i didn't seek out any shows while i was there, i happened upon a traditional african duo in mozambique. that was quite cool. for the second half of their set, they did not play traditional african music and instead played beatles covers on their guitars. not quite as impressive. (what is it with beatles covers? i've seen "yesterday" covered by bands in japan, mozambique, france, and vietnam now. i know it's an insanely popular song, but come on!!!)

march 2008:

holyshit. i saw the black crowes live for the first time and was immediately in love. joey had loaded up my ipod with crowes music for my africa trip, and i was actually a very casual crowes fan throughout college and high school, but seeing these boys live blew me away. all of them (with the possible exception of adam) are real musicians who know how to jam. this one show made it so i will now travel for the indigo girls/amy ray AND the black crowes (for years, i'd only travel to see the indigo girls/amy ray solo. not any more. this was epic for me.)

april 20008:

joey and i went to tahoe to see the crowes. i don't really remember any details from this particular show except that i had an amazing time. i even made "friends" with some crowes fans in line. OH! and i saw mona (one of their backup singers, who i have a "thing" for) before the show. i said "mona, i love you," and she told me she loved me back. i also sweet talked the casino worker into giving me the poster for the show. good times.

the next night we went to see mark ford (former guitarist for the crowes) at blake's in berkeley. sadly, i got sick during the show and missed most of it, but what i saw/heard was impressive. joey said it was really good. i will take his word for it.

may 2008:

i saw girlyman, one of my past favorites, in berkeley at the freight and salvage (i hate that venue). it was a very "meh" show, and despite being far from sober, i found myself quite bored. by far the least impressive girlyman show i had ever seen. i slowly began losing interest in them after that show. that girlyman gig was perhaps the most disappointing show of 2008 for me.

june 2008:

the indigo girls were on the west coast, and where they were, i was there too (with the exception of the horrible venues in southern california. i actually skipped those shows). i love love love love the indigo girls (as 99% of those reading this know), but i am sad to say, i found the summer shows to be really weak for them. i am not saying i didn't have a good time - i had a GREAT time. and the shows were still awesome, hey, when amy and emily are on stage together, awesomeness occurs. but there were very few setlist surprises, and out of the 200+ indigo girls shows i have seen, i have seen MUCH better. none of the summer 2008 shows made my list of "top 10 indigo girls shows i have seen," or even top 20 for that matter. it wasn't all about the concerts, though. i had gotten some really bad news on the morning of one of the shows. and despite all of that, i still managed to have fun. plus it was so much fun to go up to the pacific northwest and see bonnie, courtney, and julianna. annnnd, joey got to see lovely oregon for the first time, so that was fun too! out of all of the shows, i think the best was the first one i saw, in yountville, california (near napa). i was stoked to be seeing the girls again, and there were some, um, very entertaining audience members. ;) the veneta show was also a highlight of that tour for me, not for the actual show, but for the fact that it was at one of my favorite venues (a general admission winery in beautiful central oregon) and because i got to meet a lot of really awesome people!

july 2008:

i saw the weirdest gov't mule/ratdog show EVER! the show was supposed to be at this outdoor venue on the peninsula (the mountain winery), which is a bit snotty, but it's still an outdoor venue. however the day before the show, the crew at the mountain winery realized that the renovations would not be completed in time for the show. so this hippie show was moved to the san jose center for the performing arts. yes. that kind of venue. however, i am pretty sure the venue staff was given clear instructions not to bother any of the concert goers about anything. no one was in their "assigned" seat. and the best parts?!? people were straight up smoking up inside the venue. the san jose performing arts center smelled like a marijuana collective! and the hippies did not leave their hippie dogs at home! joey and i witnessed a few big digs running up and down the ramps at the performing arts center. as for the concert itself, i was impressed with gov't mule (warren haynes can have my babies), but not so much with ratdog. oh bob weir... sorry, but the former members of the grateful dead are nothing without jerry. sorry.

august 2008:

thanks to my friend lynn, i got to see dolly parton for free at the greek theater in berkeley. it was a lot of fun. we had amazing seats, and dolly sure knows how to put on a great show!

while we didn't have tickets, joey and i headed to golden gate park to see radiohead at the first (and maybe last) outside lands festival. although i wished i could see better, thom yorke and radiohead put on a fucking amazing show. radiohead is a band that i like. a lot. but i hardly listen to their recorded music. live is where it is at for them!

on the last day of the month, i got a very special treat (and kind of a lifelong dream of mine). the indigo girls were playing a mere six blocks from my house! the people at the oakland art and soul festival somehow managed to book them. it was an amazing show, and i think it was the best IG i saw in 2008. it wasn't the setlist (though it was quite varied, even for a festival), but it was the fact that i was seeing a band i have traveled to the UK to see within walking distance of my house. i was in my usual spot (front row, amy side/center) and many of my non IG fan friends came to the show (namely marin and kelley), and i had a freaking blast! matt nathanson "opened" for them and i was a lot more impressed with him than i thought i would be. really, can it get much better? the indigo girls for $10 six blocks from my own bed. nah, it can't! and to add to the specialness, laura came up from san diego for the show.

september 2008:

joey and i went to power to the peaceful (free spearhead festival in golden gate park) to see warren haynes play solo. that day solidified the fact that warren haynes can have my babies. while i really like gov't mule, i would say warren solo is probably in my top five or six of favorite musicians. he ended his set with "soulshine" and while it's "the 'galileo' of warren haynes," i genuinely love that song and i loved singing it with all of the hippies at golden gate park. joey and i were going to stick around for spearhead, but it was an unusually hot day in san francisco, so we went to the beach instead. it's all good - i have seen spearhead several times.

a few weeks later, we drove up to arcata (humboldt county) to see the black crowes at a small theater on hsu's campus. i really liked that show because a) it was mellow and b) they played "forgiven song," which i was creaming over. but chris' voice was bad. way bad. bad enough that the rest of the tour was canceled due to his illness. major bummer for joey and me because we had tickets to two more shows. both canceled. i think in 2008 i had a record number of concerts canceled on me (indigo girls earlier in the year). but of all of the shows on that tour, i was glad that humboldt was not canceled! seeing the crowes (big stoners) in humboldt county (and we all know what humboldt is known for) was sweet. and yes, i brought some "souvenirs" from humboldt home with me (although i get them here at home, regularly ;) )

october 2008:

i went to the hardly strictly bluegrass festival (free. again, in golden gate park. i love san francisco!) to see robert plant (of led zepplin) and allison krauss do their thing together. it was kind of a cluster fuck of people, and the show was a lot flatter than i had expected. then i gave their duet cd a listen, and it was flat flat flat. still, i had a good time in the park with my friends.

in mid-october i flew to the midwest to catch a few of amy ray solo gigs since (at the time) she did not have any west coast dates up. i fucking love that woman solo and had not seen her solo since 2005 (which, fair enough, was the last time she toured solo). i had a blast at all of the gigs (of course). i hooked up with some old friends on the road (jib, sarah, amy, nancy) and it was great to see them! hearing the songs off of didn't it feel kinder live gave that album a whole new dimension for me. plus arizona, her opening band, was great as well. i simply can not wait to catch amy's gigs on the west coast later this month. whereas the indigo girls shows were mediocre (for IG shows), the amy shows were fan-fucking-tabulous! she even played "chiapas bound" at a small club in champaign, illinois.

november 2008:

the night before flying to kentucky and illinois for an extended thanksgiving holiday, joey and i saw gov't mule at the fillmore. it was a really fun show, and i was glad that mule played a full set as opposed to their opening set for ratdog. plus the fillmore is a better venue for them. the show didn't end until after one in the morning, but it was worth it to stay for the whole thing. not only was the whole set really great, but the poster (fillmore poster) is one of my favorite fillmore posters that i have. i will gladly pay to see gov't mule again.

december 2008:

on kind of a whim, joey and i went to the fillmore to see the coup, my favorite hip hop band (local bay area too). that show was so memorable in that neither of us were expecting it to be as much fun as it was. for now on, anytime the coup is in town, i will see them. we were in the front row (which is not unusual for me at concerts) right in front of pam the spinstress. joey and pam even had a few "moments." sadly, we were also by the rude drunk girl and the drunk couple who almost threw up all over me. but hey, it all goes with the territory.

and finally, the crown jewel of my 2008 concert going came in mid-late december: five nights of the black crowes at the fillmore (i was starting to feel like i should just live at the fillmore i was there so often). joey and i went to all five nights. kenny, my favorite member of joey's family, flew in for four out of five of the nights (joey thinks that the first show was the best and can't believe that he missed the first show!). there were so many amazing moments and so many highlights. since this wasn't so long ago, i am still processing it all myself. so instead of a recap, here are a few things i learned at the five night black crowes' fillmore run: 1) i am not a fan of phil lesh. 2) if there's not a barrier up and someone jumps on stage, there will be a barrier up the next night. 3) some crowes fans are amazingly awesome. we made some new friends. 4) some crowes fans are psycho ie the crazy dancer and the "YOU DON'T THINK I'M PRETTY?!??!" low self esteem girl. 5) a band that plays an unexpected setlist filled with surprises owns a piece of my heart. and 6) i can't believe the black crowes were in freaking oakland in 2007 and joey asked me if i wanted to go and i told him no. *KICKS SELF HARD. VERY HARD* i have recordings of all five nights and am constantly rocking out to them, letting the memories last a little longer.

so while 2008 wasn't a great year for me and the indigo girls (shitty venues, bad tour dates, my unwillingness to go to the east coast, canceled shows), 2008 was a great year for live music all around. i want to send a super loud "THANK YOU" shout out to joey, who basically pulled me out of my indigo/aray exclusivity and introduced me to so much more.

here's to a great live music year in 2009. we're already off to a great start... amy ray is coming west in about three weeks!

i just returned to the us from an amazing three week solo backpacking trip through southern africa. the absolute highlight of my travels there was my four days spent in kruger national park in south africa. it was an amazing place, camping under the stars, seeing ALL of the 'big five' (and so many other animals too) in the wild, being awoken at two in the morning to the roar of the lion, and just looking around at the scenery, the flora, and of course all of the animals.

the day i got back to the united states, one of the top news stories was that the south african government is going to start killing elephants again to get their numbers under control. now, i won't deny that the elephant population at kruger was disproportionate to the population of all the other 'big five.' but killing elephants is cruel and senseless. there are other ways to deal with overpopulation.

this just breaks my heart. i spent some of the four best days of my life living in kruger among the elephants, and to hear that the government is going to start to sanction killings is so horrifying. various animal rights groups are banning together to help the elephants of south africa. one of the best, animal rights africa, has an online petition that y'all can sign that will be sent to the government of south africa.

to sign the petition, go here: petition

for more information on animal rights africa, go here: animal rights africa

finally, to see a HEARTBREAKING video on cnn, go here (it's not pretty, though): here

thanks for reading.

"if i know a song of africa, of the giraffe and the african new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does africa know a song of me?" ~ karen blixen, out of africa

hey y'all,

well, now i can say it: my dream since high school has been fulfilled. i have been to sub-saharan africa. of course, now that i got a three week taste, i just want more. i am already planning my next african adventure in my head. ;)

i am back in the bay area safe and sound. africa was amazing! i know that some of you were keeping up with my adventures via email and blog. thank you so much for "coming along" with me. though i usually enjoy it, traveling alone does get lonely at times. it was great to know that my friends and family were "following" me from home.

anyway, i still need to write a final travelogue (which i will write in my blog), but i spent most of the day today catching up on rest, getting over jetlag, and uploading photos! i took over 900 photos in africa (don't worry, i didn't upload them all), and for some reason my internet at home was slooooow today. so uploading took a while.

but here it is, my final "spikey left for south africa (and mozambique)" photo set:

flickr is your friend. and (hint hint), i <3 when my flickr contacts comment!

watch for a final blog entry within the next few days.

last night, a dear friend and i were discussing how much i have changed over the past year. i see it very clearly. but i think i changed more during my three weeks of backpacking (mostly alone) in southern africa than throughout the entire year. i am a different person now that i was on 5 february. it's pretty amazing what africa can do for a person. i highly suggest it as a travel destination to y'all!

xoxoxoxox

karen/spike

ps- feel free to share my photos/travelogue/blog with anyone who you think might be interested. :)

i am back in the us (chicago tonight, california tomorrow). i started the long and arduous process of uploading my photos. i've barely made a dent! so far i have uploaded all of my cape town photos (including the cape peninsula and the cape flats) and about 1/2 of my kruger national park photos. i am too tired to upload anything else tonight, but i still have 1/2 of my kruger photos, photos from my visit to a small south african village, photos from the panorama drive, photos from jo'burg (including soweto), and ALL of my mozambique photos lef to upload. i hope to be done by monday night. here is a link to what i have so far:

"spikey left for south africa..." (and mozambique)

i will post another link once i am finished.

i can not believe i forgot to type this out! the magazine on south african airways has a "letters" section. they publish both praises and complaints. i laughed my ass off (and i am sure the editors of the airline magazine did as well) when i read this one. in fact, i had to cut it out and keep it because i knew it was blog/email worthy. anyway, i have the cut out that i am bringing home with me if anyone doesn't believe me. this is almost too stupid to be true!

SAA = south african airways
SA 63 = the flight number
lusaka = the capitol of zambia

complaint:

this is getting way too much. every time i travel to lusaka the lunch served is horrible. on 17 november last year, on SA 63 from lusaka, the lunch was shamefully ridiculous. something called couscous? with cold ham and a tomato, and a bread roll that was not fresh (and very hard). first of all, half of the people did not know what couscous is (very foreign to south african meals). why not just give passangers a sandwich if SAA can not afford to give us decent meals?

this is my second complaint about meals on this route; should one revert to the press to get some response? i am tempted to take this to the media in both zambia and south africa.

no one has bothered to respond to my first complaint. one wonders if the food served is deliberate because the route is an african one.

food for thought!
agnes phiri"

the response:

"our menu on this route changes every week to offer variety. our caterer has put measures in place to address all quality issues. couscous is a staple food throughout north africa and part of the cuisine in neighboring african countries and elsewhere. one of its attractions is that, unlike pasta or leavened bread, it is a light and elegant grain food. as the leading carrier on the continent, our african routes are our stars and we would like to thank our customers for traveling on these routes and assure them that we greatly appreciate and value their continued custom"

seriously?!? for real?? i was alughing my ass off when i read that on the flight here. but, now re-reading it, i am slightly irritated. i can't believe someone is threatening to take bad airline food to the press (uhh, honey, you should try out an american carrier... the food is never ediable. i found the food on SAA to be okay...). especially in a place where there is widespread poverty and many people are lucky to find any food, at all, to eat. entitled people never cease to amaze me. but still LOL LOL LOL. my favorite line: "something called couscous?" i loooved SAA's response. the perfect amount of humor. *sigh* i love south africans.

i made it safe and sound to jo'burg. this time, it was a coach bus from maputo to south africa, no chicken bus. i kind of missed the chicken bus. ok, maybe not so much. anyway, aside from getting stranded at the jo'burg bus station (which is one of the scariest places on earth), no incidents to report. phew. oh, and the border crossing from mozambique back into south africa was interesting. i shall write about that later (because i have a *great* quote from the bbc to include, and my notebook, where i wrote that quote down, is in my room).

anyway, i can not believe that tonight is my last night in africa. tomorrow i am doing that soweto township tour (finally!), and then it is off to JNB for the monsterous flight back to the us. it's an overnight flight, and i will arrive in chicago on saturday morning. i will spend the night in chicago at my mom's and then fly back to san francisco on sunday afternoon.

i have very mixed feelings about coming home. i plan on writing a long, reflective travelogue sometime after i am back in the us and can look back and see it all a bit clearer. on one hand, i'd love to stay and backpack throughout more of southern and eastern africa. there is just so much here! i'd love for krimpdaddy to join me, and then i'd have a friend on the road with me and could easily do another few months. i'd love to get to victoria falls, namibia, and up to tanzania. next time... and there WILL be a next time. but on another hand, i am ready to go home. traveling in africa has been rough. i've really learned to tough out various situations and i had to make a LOT of compromises. there were certain things that were way out of my control (ie lack of running water) that i just had to learn to deal with. while i feel i've grown a lot on this journey, and in many ways become a different (better?) person, i am ready to go home to knowing that the electricity will be on, the water will run, and there won't be a political situation that blocks my entry into certain places. i also miss my cats, and of course my friends and family. krimpdaddy is going to meet me at the san francisco airport, and then it is off to watch a recorded version of america's next top model, order in from sparkey's, and just hang out... the things i love most about home.

but i can not deny that africa is a part of me now. and i can't believe it took me 30 years to come here. i feel like i have been so many other places, yet i have always had a deep interest in africa. now i've seen it. i've seen how different it is when you cross borders, towns, streets, etc. it has both lived up to my expectations and left me begging for more. yet there were also disappointments. there always are (this is turning into the reflective travelogue that i wanted to hold off on...). but now that i've seen it with my own eyes, i know more about this continent, these countries, than the us media can ever feed me. and really, that is why i travel. yes, i am leaving tomorrow, but i am also bringing pieces of africa home with me. so it will always be with me. i will never forget waking up to a lion's roar at two in the morning in kruger. and i will never forget the poverty and misery, yet so much hope and happines, that i saw in the townships of cape town and mozambique. and of course, i am planning my next trip already.

i will write more after soweto. right now i have to pack and organize.

can i just say that i hate that we are on the same continent??

seriously, sometimes i feel like he follows me around. we happened to be in bangkok at the same time a few years ago.

totally laughable, bush was speaking about the MALARIA epidemic today in ghana. umm, fucko, malaria is bearly a threat to africans, only people who are not immune to it. what a moron. if he is into epidemics, he should do more to fight AIDS in africa (and not only pledge money to organizations that are anti-choice, as he has done. you gotta love it, help, but only if abortion is not an option...)

hey y'all,

first off, this keyboard is weird. it's portugese style, so i don't know how t use all of the punctuation. sorry 'bout that.

i am in maputo, mozambique's capital. while i had a VERY awsome time at the beach, it is amazing t be back to civilization. my beach bungalo was quite rustic, and the "running water" never really ran. i am actually at a REAL hotel with an elevator, i have not seen one of those in weeks, and a tv!!!!! i have not watched tv since i left my mom's house in chicago. well, except for the flight over to south africa. oh, and i caught the africa cup finale, cameroon vs egypt, at the cape town airport while waiting for a flight. bu tonight i am going to watch bbc world!!! YAY! i do know that castro stepped down as i talked to joey VERY briefly on the phone last night. but aside from that i don't know any other goings on in the world. i am eager to catch up. the last news i got was from jo'burg over a week ago. i also took a PROPER shower, something i needed so bad. BEST SHOWER EVER! this hotel is the equivalent of a comfort inn-type thing in the states, but for me it is luxury since i ahve not seen air con, elevators, tvs, proper beds, and proper showers in SOOOO long!

anyway, the road back t maputo wasn't nearly as nice. it was anpther 8 hours crammed in a chicken bus, that didn't want to run at all times. we stopped to pick up, and drop off, locals, their babies, and their livestock at every po dunk town. although i am used to chicken buses by now, i was really getting to my wits end. my contacts were becoming irritated, and the body oder, MINE INCLUDED, was a bit unbearable. mozambique is really not developed at all, and compared to moz, south africa is like fully developed, which it is not. oh, and not to mention i thought i was going to die like 1000 times on the chicken bus. my lonely planet guide clearly states to avoid mozambique's roads during the dark. great in theory, but in practice, the only bus leaves tofo at 4am, so there is no way to avoid night driving. the roads are littered with people crossing and live stock. plus, most vehicles here have non functioning lights. i am hapy to report that i am alive, though somewhat surprised to be! my bus back to jo'burg tomorrow is a "luxury" coach bus, so no more chickenbus!

anyway, i think i might ctually explore maput for a bit. the good thin abou the early chickenbus is that i t got me here by noon. when will i ever be back in maputo? maybe never. i hear there is a decent market here. i think i am going t check it out.

my HOTEL (read, not hostel, not campground, not rustic bunaglo.... HOTEL) has free, albeit very slow, internet. so i shall return later.

oh, anyone want me to pick them up an african parrot? they sell them on the side of the road here. i can also offer y'all chickens, goats, and loads of other livestock. i am sure us customs won't mind if i exit the plane with an armful of parrots and a goat on a leash....

ps: i don't know ANY indigo girls news. sorry. i have no clue if emily is still sick, no clue if the shows have been rescheduled, and no clue if there are any new dates. generally, indigovortex takes too long to load here, and the internet is so slow in general that i am not checking my long list of daily indigo girls sites. i am sure any updates will be posted on indigo vortex... sorry.

pps: i am using my humberto icon because he looks how i felt pre shower. ;)

hey y'all,

i am writing from a small town in mozambique that i had to take a chicken bus to get to. needless to say, i will NOT be accessing my email until i get back to the capitol sometime wednesday night.

this is what lonely planet has to say about moz:

"here's the good news. mozambique is on the up. after more than 10 years of peace, the spectres of the past are finally being laid to rest and the mood among the country's gentle, welcoming citizens is one of unbridled optimism. best of all, most of the world's tourists haven't arrived yet. traveling around mozambique is still quite a challenge, especially once you're across the zambezi. most of the journeys still involve rickety busses filled with mangy chickens and leaky babies. but hey - they lead to dazzling white beaches, magical old towns and prawns the size of crayfish."

and that, my friends, is spot on. of course i don't care about the prawns, but the beaches, the towns... wow.

let me start with the journey to tofo. you've all seen pictures - crappy old mini busses STUFFED with people, livestock, and (uggh) children. not to mention the road conditions north of xai-xai are, well, non existant. the trip from maputo to tofo took well over 8 hours. but once in tofo, it was worth it. tofo = paradise. the beaches are clean and virtually untouched. the diving is said to be magnificent (ask me about that after tomorrow). the town is tiny, chill, and laid back. there is no running water (septic tanks) and no telephone/internet. right now i am in inhambane, the town about 45 mins away, checking email and getting to an ATM. once i leave inhambane, i am heading back to tofo for te rest of my stay here. that means no more internet for a few days.

but y'all should SEE where i am staying! i have a private bungalo on the indian ocean for $20 usd a night. and that is a splurge! i go to sleep at night to the crashing of waves. i wake up in the morning with the clear, blue indian ocean just steps from my door. i have my own mosquito net (thank tha lord for that), and a ceiling fan. air conditioning? HA! yesterday i spent much of the day playing on the ocean. i also hit up tofo's small market (i am going to hit the larger market in inhambane as long as i'm already here). last night, i had a few drinks with some germans and canadians at dino's, this bar owned by a south african.

compared to mozambique, south africa is a developed nation. amenities are easy to come by. traveling in moz means ROUGHING IT. and i have never roughed it this much. but the rewards are massive. traveling in moz is not for anyone who believes that schedules need to be stuck to. traveling in moz isn't for anyone who has a weak stomach and can not handle being stuck on a minibus for hours on end. i am a lot more adaptable than i've given myself credit for, and i am pleased that i have held up so well. i've never, in all of my travels, been to anywhere quite this remote, quite this undeveloped. but i am LOVING it. i am loving the chance to kick back and just enjoy being in africa...

and i am IN africa. the ride to tofo as everything i expected africa to look like - jungle huts, lush greenery, women in traditional garb carrying their goods on their head, people and livestock on the "highway" (if you can call it a highway), coconut palms everywhere. it's pretty amazing. it's a very different life from the one that i live at home, and the sociologist in me is intrigued beyond belief. english is non existant here, most people use tribal language or portugese. but i am enjoying working my way around. also, single female travelers are very very very odd here. most foreginers either come in groups or couples. so i am getting quite a bit of attention (none of it unwanted or threatening, just pure curiosity). and people have gone out of their way to help me. the people of moz are some of the warmest, friendliest, most inviting that i have ever met.

i am glad i am here now. for the time being, very few people (mainly backpackers) know about tofo. give it 3-4 years, and i am sure there will be mega resorts, golf courses, ritzy tour buses, and yes, running water. i am glad i discovered this paradise before it changes. because trust me, it will. you should SEE the beach.

my first order of business when i get back in the us will be to take a nice, long, hot, proper shower. in fact, since i left for kruger, the quality of shower here (even in jo'burg) has been questionable. and once i get back to south africa, my first order of business is to find me an outlet to charge my ipod. i am SO glad i have the foresight to buy a battery powered ipod charger. i have not seen an outlet since i left south africa, and the chicken bus journey would have sucked without music.

anyway, i am gonna send this one off, explore town, and head back to tofo (45 mins away via chicken bus). i will write again once i get back to maputo (moz's capitol).

i am off to mozambique for a week in paradise in the morning.

i don't know what the internet situation is going to be like in maputo and tofo.

but, while y'all are chained to your desk jobs, you can think of me sipping a 50 cent pina colada on a perfect white sand-ed beach with clear aqua water on ithe indian ocean.

don't hate me. ;) really, don't.

xoxoxoxoxo

i am still in jo'burg and can not WAIT to get out. at 2pm i am going to ring up the guesthouse in moz. (mozambique) and see if they have any availbility for the next few nights. if they do, i am out of here at 730am tomorrow morning on a bus to mozambique. if not, i am going to try to get to swaziland or the wild coast tomorrow. all i know is that tomorrow morning i am leaving johannesburg. and i will not return until my flight is scheduled to leave back for the states.

my day so far has been pretty mundane. since jo'burg is SO unsafe (and y'all know i don't usually take these warnings serioualy. i have traveled around vietnam by myself despite the warnings), you can not walk around anywhere by your self, even during the day. booking day tours is costly too. i didn't make soweto today (but i will go there right before my evening flight back to the states). instead my new friends and i took the hostel's free shuttle to the mall. christ. i spent a morning in africa in a mall. how pathetic is that? i mean, i did need to get some stuff (a new towel, etc), but still. and talk about being sketched out at the mall. i didn't bring ANYTHING i couldn't afford to lose. at the ATM, it was safety in numbers. according to lonely planet and other guide books, you are most likely to be a victim of crime at the ATM. so while one of us withdrew money, the others watched our backs. lovely. i have never been so sketched out in a mall, and that includes the now defunct east gate mall in oakland.

i don't have much to say about the mall in africa because malls here aren't all that different from the malls at home. there was an orthodox (?, maybe) jewish bookstore which cracked me up. i didn't expect to see that here! i was also able to get a bagel, whcih was a treat. oh, and we had lunch at a place with (get this) a southwestern us/NATIVE AMERICAN theme. it was... weird. there was a guy dressed as an indian chief. how racist! but the food was fairly decent.

anyway, i am going to get back to planning my great escape from jo'burg. tust me, i will be on and offline all day today (and all night) since there's nothing to fucking do here at night. wait, that is a lie. my friends and i are going to hit the hostel bar where the shots of springbok (kuluaha and mint) will be a flowin'...

hey y'all,

i am alive!

right now i am in johannesburg. however i am planning my great escape (MOZAMBIQUE HERE I COME!??!?!?!??!?) because joburg is a dump. i am going to a township (soweto) and the apartheid museum and then getting the hell out of this city.

i don't think i can adequately describe the last few days of my life. i was really weary about doing an organized camping trek, but i am SO GRATEFUL that i sucked it up and went. first off, nomad tours is awesome. i can not recommend them enough. that's my selling point for the day.

so where to begin. i think i typed a somewhat discombobulated email from kruger, but there internet was at premium and i had very little time. now i have all the time in the world because there is absoultly nothing for a traveler to do in johannesburg at night, so i can try to sum it all up.

on monday morning, i met bjorn, my nomad tour leader at a hotel near the JNB airport. i was still very unsure that i wanted to do this trip at all. i had not camped in ages, and i am not big on group travel either. so i didn't go in with the best attitude. but as soon as i met bjorn (and then kerrie from the uk, clayton from canada, matteo from brazil, and bettina from denmark, some of my friends/traveling companions on the tour) i kind of knew it would be ok. our first stop... the johannesburg airport to wait for a flight from brazil carrying 15 norweigens on a round the world trip who would be joining us. (no, i don't speak norwegan... yet!). the flight was delayed so we sat around JNB for a while. once their flight arrived, we began the trek to kruger.

now, nomad uses trucks (IT'S NOT A BUS... and if you call it a bus your tour leader won't be happy), so the 7 hour ride to kruger was very bump, but enjoyable. once we passed nelspruit, the drive became quite beautiful (it was uneventful for a while). we got to kruger at around 330pm, just in time for a quick game drive.

here's the thing about game driving... you have to be really patient. REALLY patient. kruger is an unfenced national park the size of new jersey. so it's not like there are animals everywhere. our first sighting was an elephant. i was just psyched to see an elephant in the wild. the funny thing is, after three days in kruger, elephant sightings were passe (except for one i shall describe later). "oh look, there's an elephant. we just saw 10 of them. keep driving."

it was a while until our next sighting, but this one changed my life. there it was... a LION. in the wild. i think i tried to describe my emotional state when i saw that. but honestly, i can't describe how it felt. a lion. in the wild. lion sightings at kruger are not all that common, and we were fortunate enough to see the lion pretty nearby (not deep in the bush). the awesome-est part was, the lion had many of the same mannerisms as my cats at home. it was even purring in the way that big lions do! it was probably in my top 10 list of most beautiful things i have ever seen. and i mean ever. a lion. in the wild. i still can't put words to it.

our game drive continued and we say loads of impala, buffalo, elephants, springbok, crocodiles, hippos, etc. nothing, and not even the crocodile, moved me as much as the lion. later, we were stopped by a pack of wild dogs which of course got me singing (to myself) "the wild dogs cry out in the night as they grow restless longing for some solitary company..."

in game parks, your rhythm of life is that you wake when the sun rises and go to sleep shortly after sunset. the sun began to sink, and we started making our way to our first camp. the african sunset is absolutely brilliant. it's like every book and postcard you've seen, but nine billion times better in person. i tried to capture it with my camera, but i know that it was a moment that couldn't be photographed. we got into camp just as the sun gave off its final rays of light for the day. next order of business: putting up the tents. thankfully, i am somewhat (who knew?!?) skilled in that department and my tent went up nice and easy. we had dinner under the african sky, and then it was bed time for i knew i'd be waking when the sun rose.

sleeping under the stars in africa is another experience that can not be described. you just need to do it. in australia, i camped out on the beach one night. i thought the southern sky was brilliant in northern australia. nope. the southern sky is brilliant in africa! so clear. i fell asleep under the magnificent sky to the sounds of the african bush after listening to the perfect song for the occassion - the 1200 curfews version of "world falls." at around 2am i was awoken by the BEST THING EVER. lions roaring. now, the lions were not near the camp, but that roar radiates throughout. it's an unmistakable sound, and you can not miss it. how many times in a lifetime can you say you work up to the sound of a lion's roar? this was a first for me.

that's the thing about africa. it's all about new experiences and experiences you'd never get at home. for example, i've been late to work before because of a standoff in my neighborhood. but on our final day in kruger, we were late to camp because there was an elephant in the middle of the road, and it would not move for our safari truck. rule number one at kruger: wildlife has the right of way. we sat about 10 meters from the elephant for about 15 minutes just waiting. when the elephant finally got out of the road, we continued driving. again, that's an experience that just doesn't happen in san francisco. "oh, sorry, i am late for work because there's an elephant sitting on the BART tracks." uhh, no.

anyway, back to my chronological tale. sorry, i was sidetracked. the next day i woke up BEFORE the sun came up, and i was so glad i did. the african sunrise was just as brilliant as the sunset. we went on another game drive where i saw many of the same animals and some zebras and giraffes. i was so excited to see zebra and giraffe in the wild. day two was a lot like day one (minus the drive from jo'burg) and equally as brilliant. the big difference was that on night two, it rained. so instead of the sounds of lions roaring, i fell asleep to the sounds of the rains of africa ("i bless the rains down in africa...." sorry.) camping in the rain is quite fun, actually. by then i was so dirty and nasty and stinky that i didn't even care (that's the other thing, even someone as high maintanance as me didn't worry about the small things, ie not smelling, in the african bush). by the time i woke up (again, before the sun rose), the rain had stopped. luckily my tent really was waterproof and all of my gear was just fine.

on day three, we did a morning game drive. more wildlife in the wild. more happy spikey/karen.

then we left kruger to go to a private game lodge (no more camping. i actually had mixed feelings about that!). on our way, we stopped at a remote african village and got a private tour by a resident. it was amazing and eye opening! it was a black town, and very very poor. our first stop was at the government run health clinic. i took numerous photos, but of course the main focus was AIDS/HIV and the spread of it. the AIDS/HIV rate here in africa is alarmingly high. people simply don't want to get tested. and the disease continues to spread because of this. i will eventually post my photos on flickr (probably not until i am back in the us, to be honest. i am so behind and the connections here are so slow), but it was so interesting to be in a government run health clinic in rural africa. in sharp contrast, our next stop was to the witch doctor (NO SHIT). she told us all about traditional african healing practices. next time i get the flu, please remind me to find some bones from the nearest impala... finally, we stopped for some locally (HOMEMADE) brewed fruit beer. we all drank out of the big cauldron. it was actually kind of tasty and i don't much like beer.

our final evening was spent on a night game drive. and that's where it happened... we saw a leopard in the wild! leopards are rare rare rare. i feel honored to say i saw one in the wild. it was about 50 meters away, and in the dark, so no photos. but again, what a life changing experience. and a great way to bid kruger goodbye. we saw just about everything. bjorn said we were VERY lucky.

last night i slept in a traditional african game lodge. and i had several drinks (with my new friends) in the bar at that game lodge, so i can't remember much more. ;)

this morning we woke up and left kruger and the wildlife behind. we drove up the panorama route, through a canyon, up into the clouds. we stopped by a traditional african market, and headed back to big, bad jo'burg. right now i am in a hostel in jo'burg with two of my friends from the safari. tomorrow i am going to soweto. tomorrow night we will have some farewell drinks at the bar. then on saturday morning i am off to... somewhere to be determined (probably moz because i need a beach on the indian ocean).

so that's it... kruger national park. *sigh* i don't like being in the city. i want to be back to where the lions are.

xoxoxoxoxoxoo

hey y'all,

i have to make this one quick because i am leaving for the airport to catch
a flight to jo'burg in a few hours.

today i took a boat out to robben island, where nelson mandela spent much of
his prison tour. lonely planet, the series of guidebooks that i trust to
get me 'round the world didn't have the best things to say about the robben
island tour. as usual, it turns out that they were right. don't get me
wrong, seeing nelson mandela's tiny cell was quite an awakening. and i
learned a bit more about apartheid than i knew this morning. but like
alcatraz in san francisco, on robben island there is NO way to get away from
the tourists! and like most tourists, a lot of people were just there to
say they've been there, not to gain the full experience (or to learn
something). first we took a 45 minute bus tour around the island with one
of the greatest guides ever. i learned the history of robben island and how
it used to be a leper colony and a military base (before it became a
prison). we also saw a colony of penguins. now there is something y'all
need to know (before i continue on about robben island); my family love
penguins. we do. one of my mother's favorite movies is the march of the
penguins. and we have penguin stuffed goods (not formerly alive) all over
my childhood house. so naturally, although i was out at boulder beach
earlier in the week, i was very happy to see yet another penguin colony. i
made friends with a penguin who followed me around for a bit. i named him
horton (pics coming later). at least i *think* it was a boy. hard to
tell. anyway, ah yes, back to the robben island talk.

after the bus tour we were all shuffled into the maximum security prison
building where a very angry (yet rightfully so, as he was a former prisoner
there) man showed us around. uhh, i was a bit too scared of him to ask any
questions. and the other tourists (ALL white) were grating my last nerve by
this point. the highlight for me was seeing mandela's cell. it was very
moving, but i had to keep on moving since there were gaggles of tourists, so
i didn't have proper time to fully process the experience. i can not
imagine how mandela spent 18+ hours a day in that tiny shithole. and i
simply can not believe how willing people are to reconcile. wow.

so after the boat took me back to the mainland (30 mins each way) i asked
the nice woman at the cape town information booth where would be a good
(CHEAP) place to buy a few things for my safari. you know, another pair of
shorts, another tank top, a hat. just basic needs. she pointed me in the
direction of a mall. i could not believe i was going to a mall in africa,
but what the fuck, i needed stuff. en route to the mall i stopped at a mega
music store. no indigo girls (not even imports) here. shame. so the
mall... ok, remember i told the woman that i needed CHEAP stuff? this was
NOT the mall for me! it was all high end designer shit. yeah, i could have
gotten a pair of shorts - made by hugo boss. umm, no. needless to say, i
had little success at the mall.

of course i have to make a comment on the mall. i could hardly believe i
was in africa. there was zero diversity there. all white people. or shall
i say all RICH white people (south africans and tourists alike). of course
security was everywhere. gotta keep the residents of the townships out of
the white peoples' mall (rolls eyes).

so that, my friends, was my last day in cape town. i am getting ready to
head out to jo'burg really soon. i hope to log in from there, but maybe
not. if not tonight, then i will be *offline until thursday evening (south
african time). i am going to kruger national park on safari for 3 nights/4
days and i will NOT have any internet access. *i promise to keep a paper
journal and write a longass email/blog post once i return to jo'burg on
thursday night or friday morning. so if you don't hear from me until then,
i have not been eaten by a lion. but hopefully i am seeing one. or
several.

take care, y'all!

xoxoxoxoxo

i just uploaded three (yes, only three) photos to my flickr. they were the three i wanted to get up there as soon as possible:

1 of me at cape flats
1 of me at the cape of good hope
1 of me and joran partying in cape town

off to robbin island now!

xoxoxo

when i travel, i often wonder why the most disenfranchised people are always the friendliest. the people in vietnam, who were left with next to nothing, were by far more gracious than the people in australia and western europe. today my theory of people who have nothing are friendlier and more hospitable was proven yet again.

this morning, i woke up slightly hungover from a fun friday night. i met up with some sta travel folk who i had traveled with previously for a night out on long street. we were rejected from a club for not being properly dressed! LOL! no biggie, though. we just headed over to the dubliner, one of cape town's most popular bars. i made a new friend named jimmy who works for nomad travels, a company that sta uses. he was nice enough to walk me back to my lodging (not safe to walk alone at night here). once back, we had another quick drink in the bar downstairs where i preceded to make a new friend from... the congo. again, this is a reason i love to travel so much, i love meeting people from all over the world.

anyway, i paid for it all this morning. big time. in a nutshell, i didn't want to get out of bed. once out of bed, i didn't want to do *anything*. i decided to head down to the city center to pick up a few last minute goods for my three night/four day camping safari in kruger. i got sidetracked, and i am glad i did.

out of pure boredom, i wandered into one of cape town's many backpacker's travel booking centers. since i have not been to the top of table mountain yet, i decided to inquire about guided hiking tours. there was nothing that was leaving as late as i was, so i asked the woman what i should do in the afternoon. she suggested a township tour. at first i protested, because a township tour (soweto) is the highlight of my johannesburg itinerary, but she insisted telling me that the townships in cape town differ from the ones in jo'burg. i am glad she insisted.

sam, from sam's tours, picked me up at 2pm. on my tour there was a couple from the netherlands, a girl from japan (!!!), and a girl from the uk. right off the bat, i knew these people would rock. and they did. our guide was amazing too. our first stop was to cape town's district six museum. district six, once a non-white neighborhood, became (by government mandate) a white community during apartheid. all of the blacks and "coloreds" were moved into the townships (read on). years later, after apartheid, district six was razed. the non-whites never returned, and the whites abandoned it. the museum tells that story.

while i was in the museum, i made a pledge to myself that i will actively fight racism when and wherever i see/hear it. while i am obviously not racist myself, i do sometimes hear racist comments, and do not always stand up to them. apartheid was a horrible, corrupt system, and i want to make sure that it, in any form, never happens again. that includes self-segregation. today, i think i firmly realized while i live in oakland, in the neighborhood i live in, and why, after incident upon incident, i choose to stay there. seeing this shit, on such a level, firsthand, was a real eye opener for even me, and i grew up in a really diverse community.

after a quick drive through what used to be district six, we headed to the cape flats, ie the townships. now, lonely planet recommends ONLY venturing into the cape flats with a trusty guide. our guide actually resides in cape flats, and he knew everyone, so it was ok. but i think lonely planet is exaggerating. no where in south africa have i met more gracious people! the majority of these people have virtually nothing. they live in shacks with 2-3 families per room (only three beds per room). many of these shacks do not have electricity or running water. i took heaps of photos, but the internet is way to slow to upload anything at the moment. but the people were all smiling, even welcoming my group into their homes. we saw how local businesses operate in the townships, one business sells sheep's head, which is a local delicacy (eww). everyone was curious as to where we came from, and everyone wanted to pose for photos. i do not like children in the least bit, but even i had to admit that some of the kids were precious, and i even posed for some photographs with some kids (yes, i have evidence!).

in the first township, we stopped by a local market. i decided that i wanted something to always remember my visit to cape flats, so i bought a traditional south african ring, painted with cheetah spots, and made from horns of the springbok, south africa's national animal (it's not as tacky as i am making it sound, i promise). i am wearing it on my left hand, right next to the ring i bought myself in turkey to always remember that too. every time i look at my new purchase, i think about my amazing day in one of the most poverty stricken places on earth.

in one township, we stopped by the local bar. they brewed their own "beer" and sang traditional african folk songs for us. they even showed us some african dances. this was the first time on this trip that i KNEW i was in africa! awesome. although i am not a beer drinker, i tried the local "brew" (brewed in a small bucket, not bottled or anything). of course i wasn't fond of it since i hate beer, but the experience was worth it. in another township we stopped by a bed and breakfast. yes, even the people of the townships are cashing in on south africa's tourism industry.

anyway, throw all preconceived notions of the townships away. although they are poverty stricken beyond imagination, the people there are HAPPY. many of them are college educated and employed. our guide explained that these are communities, and no one is being forced to live in them anymore (no more apartheid). the people who live there CHOOSE to stay there. i can no wait to upload my photos because i really want to give y'all a glimpse of what i experienced today. i wish i had videoed the sounds and rhythms.

i can not wait to get to jo'burg and experience soweto, south africa's most infamous township. i can't wait to hear the rhythms of traditional african music again. i can not wait to encounter such friendly people again. and i want to witness, yet again, how the people who have NOTHING seem to be the happiest on earth.

phew. that was long. thanks for sticking through it and reading it.

good morning, north america!

it's evening here in south africa and i just had a fantastic day. to even attempt to summarize what i saw in an email/blog post is probably next to impossible. but i have a few minutes to kill while i upload photos, so i am going to attempt to do the impossible.

today i joined baz bus, one of our vendors that we work with at sta travel, on a full day tour of the cape peninsula. cape town sits on the peninsula, but if you head south of the city, there are some awesome sights. being the dork that i am, i actually took notes. haha.

the day started out with an optional boat ride to seal island. i don't know why i hesitated to pay the 50 rand (less than $10 usd). i would have kicked myself had i missed that! we were in the atlantic ocean, an ocean that i always thought of as gray, boring, and ugly. but here in south africa, that is not the case. the color was exquisite! so so so so blue (think alize bleu!) and the seals... so freaking cute! the island is not inhabited, so we couldn't step foot on it (good for conservation), but we looped around to see the seals. we saw mothers and their cubs, seals jumping in the water, and seals sunning themselves. from the boat, we saw some coastal scenery. wow.

later we went to boulder beach, home of the colony of jackass (african) penguins. it was windy as hell, but so worth it. those little fuckers are precious. they come right up to you! the reason they're called jackass penguins is because they make noises similar to donkeys.

during the drive down to the cape of good hope we discussed how cape town isn't real africa. sure, it's on the continent, but it is very european/australian. i am excited to venture deeper into africa. but despite being... different, there are reminders of where you are. unemployed laborers wait at the side of the road looking (begging) for work. the socioeconomic and racial problems exist. we passed a township. and although our guide was silent, i could tell exactly what it was by the living conditions. so sad. in jo'burg i am planning to do a tour of soweto, one of the most infamous townships (too dangerous to go there on my own, hence the tour). while i love cape town, i am ready for more. it's so civilized here. we also saw (from across the water) a leftover from the apartheid regime: three villages. one colored (indian, mixed race), one white (the most expensive homes), and one black (deplorable living conditions!). the thing is, although apartheid is a thing of the past, the coloreds and blacks can not afford to move into the former white towns, so segregation still exists in the most blatant of ways. the new generation is looking ahead to the future, but as i already mentioned, there is still a LOT of racial tension, and there need to be some major changes.

our next stop was the start of the cape of good hope for a 6 km bike ride. SO FREAKING AWESOME! the wind pushed me down the hill, sometimes blowing me and my bike around (hello, travel insurance). i biked in africa! i biked on the cape of good hope! and man, did i get a workout. now i don't feel guilty about the pasta i'm about to have for dinner (plus, we hiked later, so yeah, my ass is in shape). i highly recommend the bike ride on the cape of good hope. it gets you going!

next it was further on to the cape of good hope, literally to the end of the earth (or the southwestern most point of africa). en route we saw an ostrich in the wild! first we hiked up to a lighthouse, waaaay up a cliff where we could see the cape of good hope plunging out into the atlantic ocean. so breathtakingly beautiful, yet so windy!

finally, we pushed on to the end of the world... i had a moment there. i had my ipod and put on "world falls"

"NOW I'M RUNNING TO THE END OF THE EARTH
and i'm swimming to the edge of the sea
and i'm laughing, i'm under a starry sky,
THIS WORLD WAS MEANT FOR ME
don't bury me... carry me."

"everywhere i turn all the beauty just keeps shakin' me..."

it's moments like that when i rediscover just WHY this is my favorite song ever, and i thank amy ray for putting my life into a 3 minute, 44 second song. i was becoming a little "world falls" jaded, partly because some of its magnificence and specialness wore off when it became a setlist staple last summer (uhhh... we can all thank brandi carlile for that. :rolls eyes:). that song was so special to hear live, and then when they started playing it EVERY NIGHT, that wore off. it was too much of a good thing, and it became expected. the expected is not often special. but thanks to my journey to the cape of good hope today, that song has regained *everything* for me. perfect. just perfect.

i took a few (wind blown) photos at the end of the earth. then i climbed back on the bus to discuss american, swedish, and south african politics with my guide and fellow backpackers. speaking of which, i love the international vibe here. today i met (aside from my friends) the first other american i have seen since arriving here. my tour mates were japanese (YEEEEEEEEES! I COULD SPEAK IT!!!), korean, swedish, british, german. swiss, french, ukranian, american (just one aside from myself), and even one from mozambique (more on that later, i hope, as i may go to moz next week). our guide was south african (indian decent), and our driver was south african (african) as well. very cool.

on the way back, we saw baboons in the wild!!! BABOONS IN THE WILD! hello!!! the mother was carrying her baby. then there were a few more on the side of the mountain throwing baboon poop at one another (hee hee hee). we arrived back into cape town in time for dinner. tonight i am having a big heaping of pasta and then meeting some friends (hopefully) in the city centre for drinks (kelley, i talked to mike today...). so that was my day.

there were a few other random tidbits from my journal that i wanted to comment on, the first being south african diet coke. one of my travel quirks is that i enjoy tasting diet coke (or coke lite) from around the world. unlike sugar, that artificial sweetener is not uniform (ie french coke lite is different from japanese coke lite which is different from thai coke lite, etc etc). i have decided that i am NOT a fan of south african coke lite. the sweetener leaves a disgusting after taste. so yeah, i have actually drinking a lot of regular coke (gasp). of course fruit juice (so fresh) and water are my main liquid staples at the moment. i also am not a fan of the south african tomato juice. they add some weird spice that tastes... dare i say it... beefy? ewww.

anyway, i'm gonna send this one off, and wait for some photos to upload. they will be at flickr in a few moments (hours?)

i promise i have a life. i am just waiting for a friend (a friend i traveled in greece and then turkey with. coincidentally enough, he's in south africa right now too!) to call me so we can go out later. i figured i'd kill an hour or so uploading more photos and typing a real travelogue.

yesterday on the airplane, i wrote a lot. i was going to transcribe it all into my blog and in an email, but of course my travel journal is sitting in my room, not with me right now. if i remember correctly (and who knows as i was drugged out on advil pm), i wrote about the excitement (and impatience) of being on a looong flight to an unknown place. being on south african airways yesterday reminded me a lot of being on my flight to bangkok a few years ago, and a lot of being on my flight to sydney before that. unlike going to japan, russia, or europe, i was on the plane to travel by myself for a few weeks - not go to school or just spend a week somewhere. it's really exciting yet nerve wrecking at the same time. i am not much of a planner, so it's always crazy fun landing somewhere i have not been before.

i have never been to sub-saharan africa in my life. never. yesterday was the first time my feet touched real africa. and it was so exciting. the sunsets here are as amazing as the books and postcards make them look (of course i was not up to see the sun rise. haha). the weather?! unbelievable! it's summer here! i am so pleased to be spending part of my winter in africa in the summer time. right now i am running around in a tank top and shorts. it's hard to believe that i just came from a horrible few wintery days in chicago. this weather suits me so much better.

today i explored cape town on my own. unlike johannesburg, cape town is fairly safe (as long as you take proper precautions). i walked from my guest house (in the gardens, if anyone is familiar with cape town) down through the city bowl to the waterfront. i bought a ticket to the robben island ferry for sunday. robben island is where nelson mandela was imprisoned. like alactraz sits off san francisco, robben island sits off cape town. also like alcatraz, robben island is no longer an active prison. it is now a museum. i feel very fortunate to get to visit because tickets for the ferry are hard to come by. sunday is my last day in cape town (i am leaving for jo'burg on sunday night), so i got ferry tickets just in the nick of time. i would be crushed if i came all the way to cape town and didn't get to visit robben island. aside from securing ferry tickets, i wandered around, took a bunch of photos (uploading now, much faster than this morning!), did some light shopping, and visited a small human rights (apartheid) museum.

i wanted to make a quick comment on south africa's dirty past. although apartheid is a thing of the past, sadly old feelings die hard. although i have only been here for a day, i can see the scars. i still feel a lot of racism and inequality. south africa is not only racially divided, but it is economically divided as well. basically, the (majority of) whites have the money, and the (majority of) blacks don't. it's really sad. i can't quite explain it, but i have never seen anything so economically segregated, and i live in oakland! the majority of the people here have treated me quite well, but i have to wonder if i'd get the same treatment if my skin were a different color. it's just something i've been thinking about.

anyway, back to cape town. this city is gorgeous! street musicians are plentiful, and the streets are filled with colors and sounds i have never seen before. although i *am* in africa, cape town reminds me a lot of australia. the vibe, the water, some of the architecture, some of the people, etc. sometimes i forget where i am! i have not seen any (hee hee hee) wild animals yet - that will be tomorrow when i go to the cape of good hope (africa's southernmost point), and when i go to kruger national park in a few days (!!!!!!!!!!). but then there is always something to remind me that i am in africa. the beats, the rhythm, the smells, etc. pretty damn sweet.

ok, my photos are finished uploading (view them). so i am gonna let this one go. i will write more soon. real soon. cape town is very wired.

i am uploading a few photos from my south africa trip to my flickr account.

i probably will not continue to add any more until i get home because the internet here is slow and this is taking FOREVER (i want to be out exploring cape town, not uploading photos).

i will try to see what i can do, though...

arrived in johannesburg safe and sound. the flight was loooong (hello... i flew direct from north america to south africa) - 14.5 hours from take off to landing. that didn't even count the taxi. i had a whole row to myself and watched ratatouille (for the 500th time) and into the wild. i also slept. a lot. south african air is nice except i recommend that you bring plenty of stuff to drink! they don't hydrate you enough!

i am at JNB (the airport) awaiting my connection to cape town. more from there!