The world lost a special person today

I received awful, shocking news this week. I've lost a dear friend in Kenya, a person who was important to me, and important to everyone she knew. Tuma was my host "mom" while I lived in Kenya this summer.

I received this news from the village yesterday:

"Fatuma (Tuma) Rashid died December 12th, due to complications of Typhoid, diabetes and high blood pressure. I know that this will come as a shock to all of you. We all still can't believe that she is gone. Tuma was a very young and strong woman, wife to Khamis, and mother of three young and beautiful girls. We will all miss her dearly. Words cannot explain the grief that Tuma's family and the community of Takaungu is going through now. Her burial will happen today."

I still can't believe this ... what a shock.

Tuma was a friend, mother, and inspiration to me. This is so unexpected, all I keep thinking about are Ryann, Sue, and Baby Ummu and how this will effect their lives. She was such a strong person in Takaungu Village; this is a huge loss to the whole community.

Tuma fed me, taught me, housed me, trusted me, and even clothed me. That's what I remember most about her- she gave so much to everyone else. She would make sure everyone in her family ate before she did - I'd always ask her if she had eaten yet and she would just nod and say, "don't worry about me."

She loved to teach people, she'd always say, "Dana, I'll teach you how to cook anything you want. I'll teach you." She was also open to learning new things, asking me questions and wanting to expand her abilities.

Tuma would surprise me, too. She brought me to a Swahili wedding in Mombasa dressed like a beautiful queen, wearing make-up, and ready to party! At the wedding, she laughed, danced, and let loose. It was like a different Tuma!

The day I left Takaungu Village, Tuma gave me one piece of her kanga, and I gave her half of mine, so we could remember one another whenever we wore our half. We cried- it was a great moment.

We had plans... plans for continuing our friendship, plans for helping out the girls when they were older, plans to see each other again. I'll miss her, and hope I can teach her daughters one day some portion of what she taught me.

Life Update - New Job, Surf, and Grad School

I thought I'd write an update on my new job and share some events from today… Two weeks ago I was hired as the Sea Center Programs Coordinator for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History! I'm very excited about my job and am enjoying working for both a museum and an aquarium (the Ty Warner Sea Center is an extension of the Natural History Museum). My duties are pretty varied - planning winter marine camps, special events, and festivals; helping design and interpret exhibits; working with the aquarist to feed animals, go diving collecting new ones, and diving cleaning the saltwater lines under the pier; guiding visitors in the aquarium (including shark handling); and helping to train new volunteers. So far I'm really enjoying the job, and my co-workers are great to work with. The Sea Center is located on the wharf (pier) in Santa Barbara, so it's very cool to come to work every day at the beach and have a view from above the ocean out my office window!

Right now big swell is hitting our coast. (surfline.com is calling it 'epic') The waves were pretty big this afternoon and are expected to peak around midnight (some places, 20+ feet!). At work I was able to experience some pretty intense waves pounding the pier. With the extremely big waves, the whole sea center would rumble and roll like a mini-earthquake! Just now one of my co-workers called me to say the waves are now coming OVER the pier! Crazy!! We're a little worried about the lines we have running under the pier pumping seawater into the aquarium, but are hoping everything stays intact overnight.

Bryan's doing well with his first quarter in the Geology PhD program at UCSB- it looks like he'll be doing his first season of fieldwork in late spring/early summer in the Copper Canyon in Mexico. We've made new friends, but really do miss our friends and community in the L.A. area. We've been trying to get in as much diving and surfing as we can here in the Santa Barbara area, and are enjoying exploring our new home. Before the big swell came rolling in, Bryan and I spent a few hours surfing at Rincon yesterday ... dolphins and a harbor seal swam right beneath our boards- it was AWESOME and a bit surreal!

Cape Town - Penguins, Climbing, & Diving

Now in our last 4 days in South Africa, we moved onto our final destination: Cape Town. Our first day there we were fortunate to have perfect, sunny weather- so we took the opportunity to climb Table Mountain. As we arrived at the trailhead, helicopters flew overhead and emergency rescue vehicles rushed in- apparently there were two accidents at the mountain that day. Not being superstitious, we started our climb anyway and made our way up the most direct (yet very steep) route to the top up Platteklip Gorge. The rigorous hike was refreshing and made us feel good- especially because we made it to the top in less time than the parks department suggested for "reasonably fit" hikers! We were stoked to be more than "reasonably fit"! No, really, the best thing about the hike was the amazing view of the cape from the top of Table Mountain. The Atlantic Ocean was so blue, the city of Cape Town shining between the mountain and sea. We could see out to Robben Island and down south through the cape. We took the cable car down for the experience and were loaded in with the type of tourists we usually try and avoid. I overheard one conversation in the rotating cable car, by a Texan man with a strong drawl talking about how he'd, "bagged himself a kudu." We spent the evening at a braai (BBQ) hosted by our friend, Kia, at her home in the suburbs of Cape Town.

The next day, I was eager to get some SCUBA diving in to be able to compare the kelp forests of temperate Cape Town to the kelp forests of California. Bryan's perforated eardrum still wasn't healed, so he headed to the aquarium so we could see the same things. The local dive shop took me to a spot on the eastern coast of the cape, along False Bay, where I did a rocky-beach shore entry. Although the visibility and currents were good, the fish diversity wasn't what I expected, and the kelp was pretty unimpressive (compared to our Giant Kelp). The highlight was being followed by a playful Cape Fur Seal and I was fortunate to spot a large octopus and a vibrant cuttlefish, changing color as it swam by. After diving and visiting the aquarium, Bryan and I met back up and headed to Boulder's Beach to check out the colony of African Penguins, which were quite a delight to see in the wild! It had begun to rain as we headed to the dramatic Cape of Good Hope, but we were still able to visit the sights, even though we opted out of hiking due to the weather. For our last full day in South Africa, we took the ferry to Robben Island, where we toured the prison, talked to former prisoners, learned more about the horrors of apartheid, and took in Table Mountain from a different perspective. The next day we headed to the airport for almost 36 hours of travel time, most of it in cramped airplanes. None of our luggage was lost on the way home, our Malawi chair arrived without a scratch, and our surfboards came through safely!

We've been home for over a week now, and are just finishing up moving to Santa Barbara, Bryan's preparing for his PhD program, and I'm applying to jobs… our time in Africa was amazing, full of new experiences that have definitely given us more perspective, a greater appreciation for nature's diversity, inspiration to experience life more, and empathy for others in the world.

Surfing the 'tubes & breaching whales

In the surfer's paradise of Jeffrey's Bay, as featured in the movie 'Endless Summer', we stayed at a backpacker's lodge next to the beach at Supertubes, we woke up early every morning to catch the sunrise and watch the experienced surfers catch perfect tubes. Stunning every morning! We were so inspired by those surfers, we decided to take surf lessons ourselves in J-Bay. Although Bryan and I have both dabbled in surfing, we've never had real instruction, and before moving to Santa Barbara we figured we better learn so we can hit the waves more comfortably at our new home. We had so much fun learning to surf, it was a great sunny day and our teacher was enthusiastic and energetic, rooting us on as the waves rolled in, calling out, "Who wants this one??" in his South African accent. Surfboards in Jeffrey's Bay are about ¼ the price as boards in California, so we actually ended up buying a couple new surfboards to use in CA, which we strapped to the top of our rental car.

Our next destination was Tsitsikamma National Park along the famous 'Garden Route.' Tsitsikamma was beautiful!! Waves crashed forcefully against the rocks along the beach, verdant forests lined the cliffs, and we took a beautiful hike along the Loerie trail. After Tsitsikamma, we headed to the coastal town of Plettenberg Bay, where we ate seafood and went on an awesome 4-hour hike around the Robberg Peninsula. Along the peninsula we saw Cape Fur Seals, a breaching Southern Right Whale, endangered black oystercatchers (birds), and gigantic (up to 20-foot!) waves crashing against the rocks of the peninsula. The hike had been a suggestion by a South African friend, Hugh, that we'd met on the Wild Coast- and his tip to hike the peninsula was well worth it- a spectacular adventure.

On our way out of Plett Bay, we made a stop in Knysna to take a tour of Mitchell's Brewery, a small brewing company with completely natural beer- no preservatives. In fact, the beer only has a shelf life of two weeks! While there chatting with the staff, we learned that the place we had reservations to stay at that night – a cool backpacker's lodge in old train cars on the beach - had burned down the day before! Good thing they told us! It was late in the afternoon, so we had to make other arrangements for the night. Our running joke during the trip was everywhere we went in South Africa burned right before we got there- Blyde River Canyon's hiking trails were all closed due to fires, Kruger still had fires going while we were there, Swaziland had just put out the biggest fire in their country's history, and now the place we were supposed to stay at for the night had burned down the night before! Strange!! Our weather/fire luck was about to change, though, as the last week of our trip had more rainy days than not (winter in South Africa).

We spent the next morning driving to the southernmost point on the African continent: Cape Agulhas. As a geographer, I had to go there; it's where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet! It ended up being a nice side trip with pretty beaches and scenic drives. We arrived in Hermanus, a coastal town dedicated to whales. The town used to be a whaling harbor, but now caters to whale watchers and is arguably the best whale watching spot in South Africa. We were lucky to be there during the Southern Right Whale breeding season. The whales were very active- breaching all over the place! It was amazing! I'm used to seeing whales spout or show their tail fluke in California, so it was quite a treat to see these huge marine mammals catapulting themselves out of the water in dramatic breaches. Hermanus is a nice place to go whale watching, as the town is perched on cliffs, and they have a nice walking trail along the cliff's edge where you can easily spot whales. Along the trail we also came across many rock hyraxes, and were treated with a beautiful rainbow over the bay, just before sunset. Now getting into South Africa's wine country, we decided to visit a couple wineries just outside Hermanus and were rewarded with no tourists, free wine tastings, delicious wine, and gorgeous scenery. It was raining for most of the day, so it was perfect for wine tasting! We spent the next night in the gastronomic capital of South Africa, Franschhoek, where we did a little wine and cheese tasting in a valley surrounded by picturesque mountains.

Far Flung Coasts

After a long day of driving, we left tiny Swaziland, making our way to Kosi Bay- a small, sleepy village on the coast of South Africa bordering Mozambique, where we spent the next two nights. We were hoping for a full day of relaxation at a remote beach, and that's just what we found. We spent our time walking along a vast, deserted beach, swimming, reading, and snorkeling in tidal lakes. The tidal lakes were fascinating! Although only about 8 feet deep at high tide, the inlets were filled with lionfish, pufferfish, colorful triggerfish, and many other kinds of Indian Ocean species. Since we were in protected coves, it was very easy to snorkel, making sure to avoid collisions with the stinging lionfish. We really needed that day of relaxation, as the next day was to be one of our longest drives.

The following morning we woke up around 3:30 a.m. in order to pack and be on the road early- we had over 900 kilometers to drive to our destination for the next 4 nights: Bulungula Lodge on the scenic Wild Coast. Before the sun rose, we had a couple hours of careful driving through the wetlands, which were shrouded in early morning mist. Dodging meandering cows and goats in the road was an added obstacle … Our long drive took us through towns and cities that we'd been advised by many South Africans and fellow travelers to skip, as they were mostly just developed suburbia. 10 hours into our drive, getting closer to the wild coast, we were surrounded by sweeping vistas, threatening rain clouds, pothole-ridden roads, and the occasional rainbow: it was lovely! Taking the last hour of our drive on poorly graded dirt roads was an adventure; we passed colorful Xhosa villages nestled in golden hills, pastel-painted rondavel huts and cows dotted the landscape. We were following an interesting map given to us by the lodge, with directions like "make a right after the twisted tree to get to Lulama's store. Ask any local where Lulama's is to make sure you're going the correct way…" Somehow we made it to Lulama's "store" a half an hour early for our land-rover pick up coming from Bulungula Lodge- the rest of the road they said would only accessible by 4x4 vehicles. To kill time, we entered the store and were greeted with about 50 Xhosa people waiting to buy food and looking at us intently, probably wondering what the heck we were doing in their remote village. None of them spoke English, and they kept giggling at us, so we began to leave when Lulama came out and told us we were in the right place for the pick-up, our car would be safe, and to just wait outside. Later we found out everyone had just received their pension checks (it was the 15th of the month), thus the crowded store. The land-rover arrived at 5:00 exactly to take us the remaining hour to the lodge- they weren't kidding when they said only 4x4's could make it: this road had to be the worst road I'd ever seen in my life!

After a 15-hour travel day, we made it to Bulungula Lodge: a beautiful, community-run, eco-friendly lodge for backpackers, situated on land with a stunning view of the coastline. We were given a tour of the facilities, which included rocket showers (paraffin heated and pressured, which made a rocket sound when the pipe was ignited- ingenious!); the solar-panel powered community building, decorated with driftwood and shell mobiles and brightly painted walls; the compost toilets; a small windmill to create power on rainy days; rain water cisterns; and our private rondavel hut situated on a small bluff on the Xhosa River, close to the ocean. What a fantastic place!! Each night we had nutritious, delicious Xhosa meals prepared by the local women, after which we would chat in the comfortable community room with locals and fellow world travelers. One couple of travelers were inspiring- a young Swedish couple that had been traveling in Africa for over a year- they'd started in Morocco, had made their way down through west Africa, bought bicycles in Cape Town, and were now bicycling up to Ethiopia for the next year. Amazing people! We spent the next few days on the wild coast canoeing on rivers, hanging out with locals in the village drinking homemade beer brews from paint cans, getting up early every morning to catch the sunrise over the ocean, collecting beautiful shells on the beach, and taking long hikes along the beach and cliffs. The wild coast reminded us of the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo county coasts in California, with sweeping golden hills dotted with oak trees, beautiful pristine beaches, and a coastline relatively uninhabited.

Our four days at the remote Bulungula Lodge were great, but we only had 10 days left in South Africa, so we continued on our way with another long day. This time we only had about 6 hours to drive, but with unforeseen car troubles again, we had a much longer day. We were headed for the surfer's paradise of Jeffrey's Bay, when we were stopped at a police checkpoint. No big deal, they just checked our drivers' licenses and asked to see in the boot (trunk) of our car. Unfortunately, the boot of our rental car only opens with the keys, so we had to turn it off to go show the policemen: thus, our mistake. As had happened a week before with our last rental car, the car wouldn't start. Great. We were in the middle of nowhere. The policemen helped us push the car out of the road, and instead of trying to help us further, they just wanted to see what U.S. dollars looked like, so we passed one around. While they examined our currency, we called the rental car company, and they sent a tow truck with a car, which was supposed to arrive in 1-2 hours. We specifically asked for a different type of car- no more Nissan Tiida's for us! Four hours later, long after dark when the police roadblock had been dismantled and everyone left hours before, our new car finally arrived and we were ready to hit the waves at Jeffrey's Bay…

Swaziland

Our two days in Kruger National Park were some of our best in Africa, leaving us with fantastic memories, good times, … and a sniffly nose. Unfortunately, for the next few days I battled a cold while we traveled, but not to let a little cold keep us down, we headed to the tiny kingdom of Swaziland the next morning, a country nestled between Mozambique and South Africa. Swaziland is one of the last few absolute monarchies left in the world where the late king of had over 60 wives and 300 children in his lifetime! A very interesting place to say the least. Actually, it was refreshing to be in Swaziland after a week in South Africa- the people are more friendly and laid-back, and the culture lacks the racial animosity and tension that we'd experienced throughout South Africa. Swaziland was not conquered by the Boers as South Africa was, so they don't have the turbulent history of apartheid. We found Swaziland to be a peaceful, beautiful country.

Now, what's a good road trip without a few bumps? On our first afternoon in Swaziland we stopped in the picturesque mountainous area of Phophonyane Falls Nature Reserve where we planned to do a little hiking. However, once we stopped at the entry gate to pay our fees, we couldn't get the car to start. Thus began a daylong ordeal with our rental car company, as the tow truck couldn't bring us a new rental car from South Africa over the border of Swaziland. So the tow truck met us at the nature reserve, picked us and the defunct rental car up, took us back to the border we'd crossed earlier that morning where we had to register the new car, and completed our third border crossing of the day (by now it was 9:00 p.m. at night). What a day! Despite the car drama, the nature reserve was a lovely oasis to spend our afternoon, and taking the 2-hour border drive three times that day was a good opportunity for Bryan to admire and collect the oldest known rocks in the world (and collect a few more stamps for our passports). For you geology buffs out there, the oldest rocks in the world are gneiss formed 3.8 billion years ago! Bryan was so amazed by the mountains, that he started to question the impressiveness of the rocks in the Andes that he'd studied last summer. Relatively, he said the mountains in Swaziland made the mountains in the Americas look very young.

We arrived very late that night at our backpacker's lodge, where we slept in a rondavel hut and awoke with a view of the Mlilwane Nature Reserve – a place teeming with wildlife. Ostriches, warthogs, and antelopes wandered freely outside our hut. We took a long hike around the nature reserve that morning, coming very close to herds of zebra, wildebeest, and impala- and were treated to a rare, close encounter with a Nyala (an elusive species of antelope). We spent the rest of the day browsing the local markets and visiting the oldest mine in the world- a place where humans have mined iron and hematite since 40,000 B.C.! Bryan collected some rocks there, too; and although small, they were extremely heavy to lug around since they're heavy with iron. Leaving Swaziland on our third day, we visited another market, this one the largest in the country, where I bartered for unique Swazi fabrics, and admired handicrafts while chatting with local women.

Canyons, Caves, and Rhinos!

After a restful sleep following the busy tree planting, Bryan and I loaded up our rental car to officially start our road trip in South Africa. We headed to the Mpumalanga province in the East to explore the Blyde River Canyon- the third largest canyon in the world! Bryan and I were surprised to have never heard of it before, but it turned out to be a gem of a place! Sweeping views, tall waterfalls, and pine forests characterized the area (although the pine forests are man-made, the largest man-made forests in the world). We took in the sights- a geologist's dream, and went on a caving expedition in the evening. We hadn't been caving since Jamaica; it was pretty rustic caving, using candles to light the way (although using headlamps would have been more environmentally-friendly). :-/ Blyde River Canyon is right next to Kruger National Park, so we headed there next, driving down the steep escarpment into the Lowveld.

The last couple days we spent exploring Kruger have been awesome! On the other game drives in Africa, Bryan and I had to go with guides in their vehicles. Here we could go where we wanted to, and spend time observing an animal for however long we liked! The one animal Bryan and I didn't get to see anywhere thus far in Africa was a rhino... but in Kruger we've seen more than 10 in two days! One was a mother white rhino with her baby! Some of our other favorite wildlife encounters were watching secretary birds, an elephant herd interacting with a white rhino, huge herds of impala, elephants walking in the road (causing a traffic jam and a scare), and observing the beautiful lilac-breasted roller (a type of Kingfisher). We are having such a great time here in South Africa, we've extended our tickets home for an additional 10 days, so we'll be able to spend almost a month here. We head to the country of Swaziland in the morning...

Planting Trees in South Africa

After leaving Soweto, we headed toward the small town of Dennilton, a poor farming community with a high rate of AIDS, orphans, and unemployment - but full of warm, dedicated, and giving people. Days before we left for Africa, back in June, a colleague of mine had mentioned a non-profit and orphanage she helps support in South Africa and suggested we contact them for a visit. While traveling, I'd e-mailed with the group, and it worked out that they had received funding to purchase trees for the orphanage (Youth with a Vision) and needed help with planting trees. The orphanage had just received the grant money to plant trees, but they didn’t know which ones to plant or how to plant and care for them. I saw an opportunity to help this community, using my experience working and planting trees for the non-profit TreePeople in L.A., and began to create and plan for a tree planting workshop. Whenever I had a moment to use the internet while traveling, I organized and prepared for the tree planting at the orphanage, calling on colleagues from the U.S. to help.

By the time I arrived overland in South Africa, most of the preparation for the tree-planting workshop was ready, and the community was too! The orphanage and supporting community was so thankful for our help, they fed us and arranged for us to stay in a family’s home. Upon arrival, we began the on-the-ground preparation for the tree planting event, suggesting the purchase of certain species of trees to plant, and arranged for the orphanage to receive a large drum of water to keep their community garden going and water the new trees (their water supply had been shut off for a week as their subsistence garden wilted). Of course, it was much harder to find the right equipment and supplies to plant trees in rural South Africa than it is in the U.S., but I improvised and found equivalent materials for mulch, tools, etc. Then, came the workshop where I organized about 30 people (adults and children) into tree planting teams and taught them the steps of how to plant trees. Over the course of three days, we planted over 60 trees by digging into the hard, red earth and coming together as a community. Through this experience I learned how important networking with former colleagues and staying in touch with old friends is, as it just took one person from home to connect me with this small African community that needed assistance. Although I had just met these people, we found mutual respect for one another to improve their community and formed friendships.

I <3 Soweto

Our first night in South Africa was spent at a backpacker's hostel in the outskirts of Johannesburg- it was nice to finally sleep in a bed after a month on the ground in a tent! Although the area was peaceful, Bryan and I wanted to experience a more "authentic" Jo'Burg, so we spent the next day and night in the township of Soweto (population est. 3-4 million people).

South Africa, and Soweto in particular, has a turbulent history- we learned so much while we stayed there. Although much of the travel literature warns visitors about the dangers of Soweto, we figured it couldn't be any more dangerous than Kingston, Jamaica- so we headed into the township. Bryan and I found the people to be friendly, warm, and happy- especially Lebo, the owner of Soweto Backpackers, the only backpacker's hostel in Soweto and one of only a few black-owned hostels in South Africa. During the day we went biking with Lebo through the streets of Orlando East, Orlando West, and the Meadowlands neighborhoods of Soweto. It was great exercise and we talked with locals, visited famous places (Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's homes, memorials, museums), and bonded with Soweto's locals in shebeens (unlicensed drinking establishments in townships). Lebo introduced us to the township's local brew, which was a strange sour beer made from maize served in big yellow buckets, passed around in the tiny zinc-roof shack of a shebeen. Quite an experience to say the least... Everyone was very friendly with us - I think they were just excited to see white visitors not afraid of a township, so they made special care to treat us well, and taught us to dance to Kwaito music. We really had a great time in Soweto, and were sad to have to leave so quickly, after only one day and night, but we had responsibilities to attend to...

Bungee Jumping & Botswana!

Soon after my last post, I took the plunge off a 111-meter bridge at Victoria Falls bungee jumping! I wasn't scared until my toes were on the edge ... I had a brief moment of hesitation ... but did a swan dive off the bridge to be welcomed by a rainbow over the Zambezi River as I bounced by my ankles. Jumping was exhilarating and beautiful; my stomach was in knots for days afterward and even now when I think about it I get a mini-adrenaline rush. After jumping, one of my new travel buddies, Kia, gave me a little Zambezi river necklace carved from the same stone Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River are formed from. Later that afternoon, Bryan and I took flight over the falls in microlights, which was an incredible experience in itself- what a view! Our time in Zambia and Victoria Falls wasn't over yet... we were incredibly fortunate to be at the falls during the Lunar Rainbow on our last night there (what timing!). After the full moon had risen, we returned to the falls after dark to see rainbows forming over the cascades- from moonlight refracting on the water droplets. Bryan figured out how to set my camera on slow exposure, so I was actually able to get a couple (dark) pictures of the lunar rainbow.

The next day we headed to Botswana. After a complicated border crossing (ferry issues across the Zambezi and border issues with the overland vehicle), we arrived in Chobe National Park in time to go on an evening boat trip around the wetlands on the Zambezi River. Hippos, Nile Crocodiles, and beautiful birds were everywhere. The next morning we woke up early to go on an early game drive in Chobe, where we were very lucky to see a leopard with its kill up a tree. Leaving Botswana briefly, we headed into Namibia to take a shortcut and drive through Caprivi National Park, then back into Botswana to get into the Okavango Delta! To get to our camp in the delta, we were on motorized boats for an hour, zipping through wetlands full of hippos and crocs. Although it was nice to get to camp early, I much prefer quieter sailboats and kayaks- the motorized boat scared so much of the wildlife. That night at our camp in the Delta, we heard elephants feeding on and pulling down trees- they sounded so close ... I got a little scared when one trumpeted! :-) The next day was one of my favorites in Africa! We spent the day in mokoros, dug-out canoes used by Botswana fishermen in the delta. Mokoros are shaped like canoes, by are moved by a poler- a man who stands behind two passengers in the mokoro with a tall pole pushing off the bottom to propel us forward through the water and reeds. The day was so relaxing and beautiful, gliding through the delta with water lilies surrounding us! The only time I got a little harried was when we were in an area thick with papyrus, I heard a hippo surface very near but couldn't see it; our poler was cautious and propelled us toward another direction quickly. During the day we saw elephants and beautiful water birds – we felt very fortunate to be spending time in the Okavango Delta. That night at camp, a local traditional dance group came to perform- it was interactive and Bryan and I soon found ourselves grooving with the Botswanans! We had a great time dancing and laughing that night! The following morning we caught a short 45-minute flight in a bush plane over the Okavango Delta, spotting elephants, giraffes, and hippos from the air. The next couple days were pretty uneventful, with a long drive across the vast Kalahari Desert, eventually crossing over the border into South Africa.

Zambia - The mighty Zambezi and hungry hippos

We crossed into Zambia almost a week ago, and spent a few days in the South Luangwa National Park, where we camped right along the Luangwa River and fell asleep listening to hippos. One night we awoke to a munching sound to see a HUGE hippo grazing one meter in front of our tent! We listened and watched him for over 30 minutes (it was about 3:00 a.m.)- it was just a crazy experience! We did a daytime game walk and night game drive while we were there and were lucky to see 2 leopards, 2 honey badgers, a few hyenas, and a whole group of elephants walk in front of our land rover just around sunset (along with lots of antelope and giraffe during the day). I had a better time on safari here than in the Serengeti, actually! It just felt more adventurous, low-key, and less touristy. After leaving the national park, we visited a local school where we taught the children games and songs and donated schoolbooks and pens to the students.

After driving through Zambia for another couple days, we're now in Livingstone/Victoria Falls - what a place! Yesterday we spent the day in Victoria Falls National Park, admiring one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The volume of water and magnitude of these cascades is just amazing.It's extreme sport central here! Actually, in a few minutes I'm leaving to go bungee jumping and gorge swinging at a bridge overlooking Victoria Falls! In the afternoon Bryan and I are going to fly over the falls in microlites, which are motorized hang gliders and should give us a killer view of the Zambezi River and falls. I'll try and write again before we get to South Africa (after Botswana and Namibia).

Malawi: The Warm Heart of Africa

I last left you in Zanzibar... after returning to Tanzania via ferry, we made our way overland through the port city of Dar Es Salaam, spending the next couple nights in Tanzania. Although Tanzania is a nice country, our next destination was my favorite so far in Africa: Malawi! (Although Kenya has a special place in my heart).

We spent almost a week in Malawi, mostly along the beautiful white sand shores (from quartz crystals) of Lake Malawi where we spent time with local Malawians and went kayaking, swimming, and I was even able to go SCUBA diving! The fish life in the lake is so interesting- hundreds of endemic species of African cichlids! Some fish I saw are endemic to the specific island I was diving at! Quite specialized little fish!

The cliche about Malawi is that it's the warm heart of Africa, because the people are so nice and welcoming. I found the cliche to be very true. Every day when we'd go down to the beach, where lots of little kids would join us swimming- we had a blast playing with them. Unfortunately, most of them have lost one or both parents to AIDS or Malaria or more often a combination of both. But, those children were so joyful and thankful! One particular boy, John, had a really bad burn on his hand, so I brought him out some first aid supplies and cleaned and bandaged him up- which caused many teenagers and children to then proceed to show me every cut they had, some of which were fine, others needed a band-aid. Someone from our travel group joked that I was going to become the town's new witchdoctor. John was so thankful that he made me a couple bracelets as gifts- so sweet!! Another younger boy, Ovias, also really touched my heart and I loved playing with him in the water.

Malawi also has the best woodwork and crafts we've encountered in Africa- we bartered with clothing and a little money and got a beautiful Malawian chair (which we've been lugging around since). Also in the craft market, the local carpenters taught me the African game of bao, which is a little like backgammon and chinese checkers, but played with seeds or small stones on a board with little indentations. Once we headed out of Malawi, most the people in our group agreed that Malawi was a special place with friendly people, inspiring natural beauty, and low-key for travel!

Tanzania: Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, & Zanzibar!

After traveling back to Nairobi, we met up with our overland adventure travel group on the 8th and headed for Tanzania. We're the only Americans in the camping group- the other travelers are from Great Britain, Germany, Korea, South Africa, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic- a very multi-national group! Along the way we passed Kilimanjaro, but the skies were too cloudy to catch a glimpse of the glacier-capped mountain. Our first few days in Tanzania were spent on safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks. We loaded into old, sturdy, green 4x4 land rovers, passing through Maasai villages until we arrived at Olduvai Gorge- a fascinating place! We then kept 4x4ing it until we arrived in the Serengeti. We only had a couple hours before sunset to try and look for wildlife, but we were able to see giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, gazelles and other antelope, a female lion with her kill (a zebra), lots of birds, a cheetah, hippos, hyenas, vervet monkeys, and a leopard! We spent the night camping in the Serengeti without fences or even a boma, listening to hyenas. The next day we went on safari and saw tons of wildlife, including elephants, baboons, Cape Buffalo, and a family of lions.

After the Serengeti, we drove all afternoon to the crater, and camped on the rim. After dinner and nightfall, as Bryan and I headed to our tent, we were surprised to find 7 zebras and a big cape buffalo surrounding our tent, their eyes glowing by the light of our headlamps ... it was surreal (and maybe a little scary). The following day we had an amazing safari in Ngorongoro Crater, first with the view of thousands of wildebeest! The highlight of the safari was encountering a female lion with two young cubs, walking along the dirt road. We were able to watch them for some time, even when they came to a river and crouched down to drink- the experience is very hard to put into words, it was so awe-inspiring! After the safari, we went back to campsite to tear down our tents and found two huge male elephants in our camp!! What a surprise! (We gave them a wide berth and kept our distance).

Following another couple days of travel, and a boat ride from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania- we are now on the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean. The beaches have powdery white sand, the waters are turquoise, and each morning the north monsoon season winds blow for a couple hours. I've gone SCUBA diving a few times- the biodiversity of fish and reef life here is incredible. Today I saw my first wild green sea turtle! Sadly, after only 3 days here, we are leaving tomorrow to head back to the mainland- although this is really a place we could spend months at: swinging in hammocks, eating lobster, and diving (for relatively cheap!)! We also spent a day exploring the historic "Stone Town" full of carved wooden doors, beautiful architecture, and a colorful market with tons of spices and scarves.

Next we head to Malawi...

Kenyan Education

Our last week of volunteer work in Takaungu Village was wonderful; I already miss my host family and students. A typical day there for me started early in the morning, awaking to the call to prayer, eating a quick breakfast of tea and porridge, then walking about 2 kilometers to the Vutakaka School. I assisted a teacher, Mr. Musa, with his class (about the age of 3rd graders) every morning until about 12:30, when I would walk back to Tuma's house for a traditional and delicious Swahili lunch. After lunch I'd usually take a refreshing cold shower to wash off the heat of the day before walking back to school, where I would help in the afternoon with after-school "extra education" for Vutakaka students. Most days in the mid-afternoon I'd play a couple matches of netball (volleyball) with the school staff or dance with local Giriama women (one of the 9 Bantu-descendant tribes) to the beat of drums. From about 4:30-6:00 p.m. I'd teach/tutor students from the local public school, then walk home again along the beautiful, coconut palm-lined road back to Takaungu Village.

The Kenyan education system is widely known to be pretty bad ... the public school in Takaungu typically has 170 students in ONE class with ONE teacher, and maybe 2 desks and a piece of broken blackboard. The reason the public schools are so crowded and poorly funded is because primary school has only been free since 2002 when Kenya's current president was elected. Making primary school free was a good thing, except no additional funding or infrastructure has been provided, but children from poor and destitute families are now trying to attend school- in some places quadrupling the previous attendance numbers. On the other hand, Vutakaka School is a private school funded by the non-profit "East Africa Centre" and provides students with more tutoring time and resources (although still limited versus U.S. schools). I wish we could have stayed longer ... just when we had friends in the village and were starting to feel very comfortable with our host family, our volunteer time was up! I'll miss Tuma and her family, as well as my students, and plan to come back at some point in the future.

Habari Ako from Kenya!

After crossing the mangrove-lined Takaungu Creek in a canoe, walking along a red dirt road under the blazing African sun for 1 1/2 hours, and greeting about 50 people along the way, Bryan and I have made it to a town with internet access today!

We arrived in Nairobi a little over a week ago, to find out my luggage was still in London lost somewhere... rather than let it get me down, I remained optimistic that it would turn up soon (after all, Bryan had his bag.) After exploring Nairobi for the day, we embarked on a 13-hour train ride from Nairobi to Mombasa- quite an experience!! The train was overnight, so we awoke to the African sun rising over Baobab trees on the horizon- it was a rickety ride, but romantic. Only later, once I saw the side of the track littered with toppled-over rail cars did I learn that Kenyan Railways are notorious for derailments...

Once we arrived in Mombasa, we were greeted by the Vutakaka School Volunteer Coordinator, and driven to the small village on Takaungu where we met our welcoming, warm, traditional Swahili host family. Swahili culture is a blend of Arabian, African, and Indian influences and is a culture all its own. Our host family is Muslim, so I wear conservative skirts that cover my legs, and hear the "call to prayer" echo through the village mosques five times a day. Since my luggage was lost for 5 days, my host mom loaned me clothing to wear- so I looked especially Swahili in my first few days here! Bryan has taken to wearing the traditional male-skirt, the Kikoy, around the village and home.

Although my Kiswahili language skills are improving in very small steps, many people in the village can speak a little English (especially our host-mom, Tuma, and her father Mzee Rashid). We are very lucky to be living with this family- the children (Ryane, Sue, and Baby Umu) are little darlings, Tuma is known as the best cook in the whole village and has been teaching me how to prepare some traditional dishes, Mzee Rashid is like the chief or mayor of the village and knows everyone, our family has a large shamba (farm) so we have a variety of food including fresh milk, and our host-father Khamis brings home ocean-caught fish several days a week. Most of the food is prepared with some form of coconut in it, and we have fresh mangoes and chai tea every day. It seems I'm talking about food a lot, but when you live in a small place where everyone is very poor, life really revolves around food.

Our volunteer work this past week has been at the Vutakaka School- a 30 minute walk from our home. I mainly help with the 7-11 year-old class every day, where I have already formed friendships with many of my students as well as the Kenyan teachers that work there. The children here are so sweet and happy- everywhere I go, I hear little voices calling, "Jambo! Jambo!" Bryan has been helping 3 guys: Katana, Safari, and Kigili, with the construction of a basketball court; although the "court" is only in the bush and coconut-tree clearing stage at this point.

Last night I went with Tuma and 6 other women from the village to a traditional Swahili wedding, which was quite unique! This week should be full of more new experiences, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with our host family.

Off to Africa! & Bryan's Graduation

We're off to Africa for the summer! After a crazy-whirlwind last week or so, Bryan and I are packed and ready to leave tomorrow for Nairobi.

We're leaving the U.S. for two months to travel where I've always wanted to go: East and Southern Africa! Something of a delayed honeymoon four years later… (Peace Corps in Jamaica definitely did not count as anything close to a honeymoon!) We're also moving from our lives in Santa Monica, to Santa Barbara, since Bryan has been offered a full-ride fellowship to earn his doctorate at UCSB! We'll be moving to Santa Barbara in early September, where I also plan on pursuing my graduate studies (applying this Fall).

We spent the last week wrapping up our responsibilities and getting the next phase of our lives in order… my last day of work at TreePeople was Friday, Bryan finished his master's thesis and graduated Saturday from UCLA, and we packed all our stuff out of our apartment and into storage for the summer (our kitties and aquarium will be cared for by Troy in Wrightwood).

We'll be on the continent of Africa for two months, leaving tomorrow, returning in late August. First we'll be living with a Swahili family on the coast of Kenya, doing volunteer work and teaching at a local school. After that, we'll be camping and traveling overland through 8 countries in East and Southern Africa with a group of other travelers for a month, ending in Johannesburg, South Africa. During our last two weeks we'll be roaming around South Africa on our own, flying back to California from Cape Town. Thank you VERY much for those of you who have passed on tips from your various experiences in Africa—your suggestions definitely have helped!

I have always wanted to explore Eastern and Southern Africa, and I am absolutely thrilled that this is our chance! Ever since I took geography courses on African wildlife in college, I've been aching to go and experience the continent for myself and see the places, people, and wildlife I've only been able to read about. I am also really looking forward to helping local communities while we travel, volunteering where we can, and am only sad that we won't be staying longer to help more...

Although I anticipate internet access being very intermittent, I plan on sending out update e-mails when I can to let you guys know we're OK.

Thanks again for all our friends and families' support during our last couple busy weeks- love you guys!

Here are a few pictures from Bryan's graduation Saturday:

Summiting Mt. San Gorgonio

For my birthday weekend, Bryan and I decided to backpack up to the summit of Mount San Gorgonio- the highest mountain in southern California. After doing a little research with our backpacking books and trail maps, we decided to break the climb up over 2 ½ days. The weather in CA was shaping up to be perfect for a backpacking in the mountains- very hot in the valleys (upper 90s!), which meant that we would expect conditions in the mountains to be in the low 70's during the day.

We planned to drive out to the San Bernardino Mountains after my meeting for work on Friday, departing from the Santa Monica area around 1:00 p.m., with plans to hit the trail by 2:30/3:00. Our goal was to hike up to 'High Creek Camp' by sunset, which seemed doable if we hit the trail when we'd planned… But, as Robert Burns once wrote "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." One guess for what delayed us in L.A… traffic, of course! We didn't get to the trailhead until 5:30! Three hours later than we'd planned, and after over 4 ½ hours on the road!! Lucky for us, backpacking is a great way to "stretch your legs" after a long road trip!



Although we had less than 2 hours of solid daylight, we geared up and hit the trail, as the moon began to rise over the mountains.



The first part of the trail took us through a wash, where tall mountains loomed above us.



The first couple miles were pretty steep, climbing from about 6,000 foot elevation to close to 8,000 feet. One point in the trail led us to a neat little rock outcrop where we had a great view, including a waterfall!



We soon passed the first camp along the trail: Vivian Creek Camp. The sun had just set behind the mountains, but there was still enough light that we felt like we could push ourselves to the next camp, 2 ½ miles further to Halfway Camp- that way we'd give ourselves a little less mileage to cover in order to get to the summit the next morning. We kept our headlamps handy, as we figured it would get dark before we reached camp. The sky's changing colors through the trees was beautiful!



Most of the dirt in this portion of the trail was dark brown, with most of the rocks a light granite, so even as the light began to fade, we could spot the ankle-twisting rocks in our path, illuminated by the moonlight. It was nice to allow our eyes to adjust slowly to the night, and we actually ended up backpacking quite a bit in the dark by the moonlight with our night vision. We only put our headlamps on when we came to a crossroads in the trail, and weren't sure which way to go. After consulting our map, and looking around a bit with our lights, we found the trail again and arrived at camp after about 30 minutes of backpacking in the dark.

This is where we encountered the only other backpacker of the day. As we hiked past this solo backpacker's tent, I noticed he had used branches to form a wall circling his tent, so I asked him about it, and he said, "Oh, I'm just making barrier." So, me being me, I just asked him, "Why?" He said, "Ah, I don't know, I just felt like it." I was thinking, 'OK… we're not in the bush in Africa, dude… yes, there are bears, but you don't need to make a boma to keep out lions or anything." But I didn't say it to the guy, just to Bryan in whispers. As we moved past him, he asked if we had a camp stove (Of course we did! Who wouldn't?) and Bryan said, "Yeah, you need to use it?" No, the guy had a brand new one, and was just asking. No wonder this guy was hiking by himself… Strange dude…

We pitched our tent at the base of a big ponderosa pine, cooked dinner, stashed our food in a bear canister and wedged it between some boulders, then hit the sack.

The next morning we emptied our backpacks of everything but the essentials: food, first aid kit, headlamp, and a jacket. We planned to hike up to the summit, then back to Halfway camp by the evening, leaving our tent, sleeping bags, therm-a-rests, etc. at the campsite. We hit the trail by mid-morning, passing under a huge fallen ponderosa pine.



After a mile or so following a gradual incline, we arrived at High Creek Camp along a cold, mountain stream. We filtered a couple litres of water into our hydration packs, and began traversing switchback after switchback, some through patches of snow, up the rugged mountain.



A couple behind us cut through the switchbacks straight up the mountain which infuriated Bryan and I- they were causing massive erosion!! Why even follow a trail up to the summit if they were going to cut their own?? I almost said something to them, but refrained. Bryan reminded me that I'm not the police of the world… but I was a park ranger for a couple summers, so doesn't that count for something?

Anyway, back to the hike. After dozens of rocky switchbacks, we slowly approached the top of the mountain we were climbing, figuring we were getting pretty close to Mount San Gorgonio…


Steep Switchbacks

Once we got to the top of this ridge, we were greeted with a cool view of the Palm Springs area, and Mount San Jacinto across the way.


Almost to the top!

After admiring the view, we trudged on, thinking we could see the summit ahead. I found a cool rock outcropping of granite and took a couple minutes to do a little bouldering.


Pause for bouldering

The last couple miles didn't get much easier… most of the trail was above the treeline, the ground littered with white granite; the sun was intense, reflecting off the white rock onto our faces.

Even though the elevation kept the temperature in the 70's, our proximity to the sun, coupled with our exertion kept us pretty hot. It seemed strange that we were hiking through snow in shorts! The last mile was mainly along a ridge- finally we were done with switchbacks!


Getting close! The sign says so!

We pushed and pushed, and appeared to be approaching the summit, but once we were there, we saw another peak just behind it… looked like we had another ¼ mile to go! A false summit! This is what I've read about a lot of summits, once you're up there it's hard to tell which peak is really the highest.


Almost there!!

After hiking through melting snow, we arrived at the real summit of Mount San Gorgonio- at 11,501 feet, the highest point in southern California- on my birthday!


Elevation Marker


A little corny… but we were happy to be up there! And, I deserve a birthday kiss!

Apparently, on a clear day, you can see all the way out to the Pacific, over to Telescope Peak hundreds of miles away in Death Valley, over both the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, and out to Joshua Tree National Park. Unfortunately, due to the heat wave southern CA was experiencing, most of our views were hazy with clouds, but we could see over to Big Bear Lake, and a 180-degree view of the Mojave Desert including Joshua Tree NP and the Palm Desert.




At the summit

While partaking in a little lunch of beef jerky, yogurt covered pretzels, dried fruit, and nuts; we were given quite a treat- a herd of 5 endangered Bighorn Sheep and one little baby traveled across the ridge in front of us. What an inspiring birthday present!


Bighorn sheep at the summit

After snapping a few pictures, we put our names in the registry box, and began our descent. Luckily we had our trekking poles, but the descent was pretty steep at points and was rough on our knees. Plus, as always, my heels were beginning to kill me- I was sure I had blisters. (I always get blisters when I backpack, so now I'm just resigned to the fact.)

After a few hours, we got back to camp. I doctored my heels a little, and was grateful to get my feet out of boots and into my flip flops! Since we still had a couple hours of daylight, I set myself up against a rock, drinking some Cabernet and reading my book, but also drinking in the changing colors of the sky through the towering pines as the sun set. Before darkness set in, we cooked a scrumptious (by backpacking standards) curry and lentil dinner, a little apple desert, and fell quickly to sleep.

The next morning, we packed everything up and were back on the trail, passing through areas we'd only seen in the dark on our way up.




Bryan emerging from the creekside after filtering water

We passed brambles with thorns, immense ponderosa and sugar pines, and trickling mountain streams. As we descended thousands of feet in elevation, we could feel the temperature rising pretty quickly- into the high 80's. Arriving back at the trailhead in the early afternoon, we reflected on a nice, exhausting trek, rolled the windows down and drove home, enjoying the breeze.

East Coast Part III: On the Streets of NYC

As I mentioned in my D.C. blog, my first impressions of New York City as a 13-year-old were that it smelled bad, had a lot of trash, and was very busy. My first impressions of NYC as a 25-year-old were that it reminded me a lot of La Paz, Bolivia. Bryan thought it was hilarious that I kept saying NYC was like La Paz, that I should be thinking of it the other way around. Both cities have more pedestrians than cars, have tall buildings, smell similarly, and are full of busy people wearing cold-weather clothing! I concluded that as a 13-year-old I just hadn't been to a developing country, and in smell, NYC is definitely like a developing country! So, having been to more than a few developing countries now, I don't think NYC smells as bad. The trash was still there though, and I think they need to work on that.

Our first full day in New York City was with our friend, Amina, who really wanted to take us to the East Village. We arrived at Grand Central Station on the train from Connecticut, bought day passes for the subway for $7, and Bryan and I commenced our first ride on the NYC subway. I'd heard all kinds of stories from people- from rats running amok, to the subway being very dirty and dangerous- but I never saw a single rat or robbery; of course it was dirty, but not too much more than the Metro buses around L.A.!


Bryan and Amina waiting for the Subway

One thing about the NYC subway I really liked was all the live music! Every stop seemed to have something different- an indie rocker, a Peruvian panflute band, a cello soloist, African drumming, etc. – I started to think, I could live here … We took the subway to the bustling Times Square first to buy Broadway tickets at the half-price ticket counter.


Amina walking across the street in Times Square

It was hard to decide on a show- all we knew we wanted was a show that's not playing in L.A.- so we ended up buying tickets for the show we could get the best tickets for: Beauty and the Beast. Now, before you make fun of me, we thought it'd be a good show with great costumes like The Lion King, plus who doesn't like a feel-good Disney story? After buying tickets and exploring Times Square a little, we popped in a deli to grab sandwiches, and saw the matinee show at 2:30.


The Cast of Beauty and the Beast

After the delightful little show, we went back to the Subway, to head to the East Village.
Once in the East Village, Amina and I wanted to find new jewelry- me, for my upper ear piercing and Amina, for her new nose ring! The East Village is a lot like Venice Beach to me, but with less freaks and more college-age people. We browsed through used books, bohemian clothing, jewelry, and shoes.

East Village in NYC

At one point a stand caught my attention that had South American-looking goods, and after talking to the vendor, I found he was from the Andes in Peru. We spoke a little in Spanish about Peru and he kept asking me if I was going to return and live there … I politely said I really liked the area, but no, I wouldn't be moving there. After a little more conversation, Amina, Bryan, and I made our way to the famous Washington Square, where we hung out for a bit and people watched.


Hanging out in Washington Square

We started to get hungry after all this walking, and began our search for a restaurant Amina's friend had suggested… we searched and searched, walking not just through the East Village, but through Greenwich Village and Little Italy, until we gave up and settled on a cute little Italian place and sat down with our sangrias.


Sippin' on Sangrias in a little Italian restaurant

We finished the night in NYC eating sweet cannolis at Veniero's Pasticceria, took the bustling subway back to Grand Central Station, and caught one of the last trains back to Connecticut.

Two days later, Bryan and I returned to NYC on our own for our last few days on the East Coast. We were hooked on Broadway shows, so after checking into our hotel- "The Barclay Intercontinental" (oooh la la!)- we headed straight to the theater district, and bought tickets to the show Bryan most wanted to see- Monty Python's Spamalot! While we were walking through the beyond-touristy Times Square, I'd quickly learned what mannerisms separate the New Yorkers from the tourists. So, I started acting like a New Yorker in order to avoid the persistent vendors and ticket sellers- but as soon as I started acting like a local, tourists kept asking me questions! How to get to such and such place on the subway, what shows to see, directions to locations, etc.! My geography skills kicked in though, so I was able to answer most of the directional and subway questions with the help of my trusty NY pocket map.

We had the better part of a day to explore some of the city before the show started at 7:00, so we took the subway down to Lower Manhattan. We got off the subway near Church St. to pay homage to the victims of 9/11 at the World Trade Center Site. Most of the site was under heavy construction, so really there was not much to see- but I think that's what was most poignant: the emptiness.

World Trade Center Site

Not having seen the twin towers standing, I thought it wouldn't be as moving to me, but looking around the cityscape it was clear that the large towers were missing. It wasn't hard to imagine how much taller the world trade center was than any of the surrounding structures, and for their size, how many people worked in the center every day… and how many people's lives were drastically changed after one day in history. The most moving thing to me were the collages of artwork by victims' families displayed in the area- as a fire captain's daughter myself, I could relate to and imagine if I were one of the sons or daughters that had lost a parent that day…


9/11 Artwork

Directly across the street from the World Trade Center Site stood a small church made of weathered stone, with very old-looking tombstones standing haphazardly in the grass. Bryan and I headed over to the church to investigate.


St. Paul's Chapel

While looking at the writing on the weather-beaten headstones, I noticed a sign with a picture of what this graveyard had looked like immediately after 9/11: paper and litter over a foot deep surrounded the headstones like snow… what an astonishing and sober sight it must have been. We wandered into the church to find a string orchestra playing (we'd caught one of the few concerts the church holds each month), and after perusing some of the memorabilia from the aftermath of 9/11 displayed throughout the little church, I started talking to a man in a tweed suit selling books of poetry. I learned his name was Chester Johnson and he was the author of "St. Paul's Chapel and Selected Shorter Poems," a compilation of poetry based on St. Paul's Chapel and the volunteer relief efforts after 9/11. I was lucky to strike up a conversation with this man as he was a wealth of information and told me about the history of the chapel (it was George Washington's home church), his 8-month experience with the volunteer relief efforts (the chapel was the home-base), and pointed out where the pews were thoroughly gouged and chipped by the weary rescue workers who slept in them during the rescue efforts. The most astonishing thing I learned was that this church is known as "the little chapel that stood" as it survived the great fire of 1776 in NY, is the oldest standing church in NYC, was the host to President George Washington on his inaugural day in 1789, and survived 9/11 completely intact. Here is the first stanza of a poem by Mr. Johnson that best describes this chapel:
"It stood. Not a window broken.
Not a stoned dislodged.
It stood
when nothing else did.
It stood.
when terrorists brought September down.
It stood among myths. It stood among ruins."
- excerpt from "St. Paul's Chapel" by Chester Johnson

After our heavy mid-morning, Bryan and I wandered the streets a bit, popped into the bustling "Century 21" store that Amina insisted I shop in, and grabbed a slice of NY pizza for lunch.


Chowin' down on some NYC Pizza

After enjoying the thin pizza and some garlic knots (tastier than the pizza in my opinion!), we walked down to Wall Street to check out the historic buildings and try to catch a glimpse inside the stock exchange; but alas, since 9/11 no one can just pop in the NYSE to see the busy traders anymore as security guarded the entrance.


Wall Street

We then headed down to Battery Park to try and see the Statue of Liberty at the south end of Manhattan- we'd missed the last ferry out to the statue by 10 minutes, but that was O.K., we just walked around battery park enjoying the sun (which is normally blocked-out by the tall buildings everywhere else in Manhattan).


Battery Park


See the Statue of Liberty in the background?


Windblown Bryan in Battery Park

After downing a couple pints of beer in the historic "Frauncess' Tavern" (the tavern where George Washington said farewell to his troops in 1783), Bryan and I headed back to our hotel on the subway to freshen-up before our Broadway show.

Spamalot was excellent! Laugh-out-loud funny!


Spamalot on Broadway

After the show, we weren't ready for bed, so we bought tickets to a comedy show at The Laugh Factory. Comedian after comedian was hilarious! I'd forgotten how hard I can laugh at live comedy. The show was over around 1:30, so we walked the chilly NY streets back to our hotel for the night.


Walking the streets of NYC

Although we were tired, the next morning I didn't want to sleep in on our last full day in New York- so, as soon as we awoke, we got ready and headed out the door with our sights set on getting to Central Park. On the way up to Central Park, we headed past Rockefeller Center and popped into Trump Plaza… although I can't stand the guy, I thought we'd check it out just for the novelty. It was gaudy beyond belief- gold everything! We got out of there quickly, and continued to make our way up to the park until we found the huge toy store FAO Schwarz. Once I learned it was the place with the big piano you can dance on, I found the piano, jumped on the keys and started to dance, trying to make some sort of melody- but the 8-year-old girl next to me was showing me up!


Playing the Piano: Big Style

After checking out the rest of the toys, we crossed the street and were in Central Park. The things that most surprised me about the park were all the fences! Fences to keep you in, keep you out, just fences all over the place!


Strolling in Central Park

After strolling around the park for a while, I met a young woman walking her dog who offered to take a picture of us. She then proceeded to tell me about her job, the dozens of cities she's lived in, and about how she's tired of moving… basically her life story as we walked around the park! Whoever said New Yorkers aren't friendly is wrong! Strike up a conversation, and they'll talk your ear off and help you in any way they can!




Central Park Birds

We parted from her as we headed to the American Museum of Natural History (yes, our THIRD natural history museum of the trip! Ahh!). We had to see it because it supposedly has the best paleontological exhibits, and Bryan was excited to see more dinosaur fossils. One particularly nice thing about the clean museum was the view of Central Park- with the cityscape peeking above the tops of the trees.


Bryan in AMNH


Yeah, we're museum nerds


View of the Manhattan Skyline

By mid-afternoon, we'd had enough of museums, so we headed back on the subway to buy our third set of Broadway tickets.


Pretty Subway

In line for the tickets, I had the funniest conversation. A middle-aged couple from Tennessee were standing behind us and starting asking us questions about what shows to see. I gave them ideas and was describing some of the shows I'd seen in NY and previously in LA, when the woman asked me in her southern drawl, "What about Playbill? That one seems pretty popular." It took me a second to figure out what the heck she was talking about, when I realized she was asking about the programs you get at every show you go to- a playbill. So, I politely explained to her what a playbill was- that it wasn't the name of a show. I'm not totally sure she understood, but after a couple explanations she probably realized she was looking a little stupid and finally nodded her head like she did.


Have you seen "Playbill?" I hear it's good.


That night we had dinner at a swanky Mediterranean place, then saw a classic show- Les Miserables. Once again, we weren't done with our night, so we caught another night of comedy at The Laugh Factory and took an empty subway back to the hotel.


Empty Subway

The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast, packed our luggage, took the subway over to Queens where we hopped on a bus to La Guardia, left New York and headed back to sunny California, memories in tow.