August 09, 2011
July 13, 2011
July 10, 2011
July 09, 2011
July 04, 2011
July 03, 2011
Micro-lighting over Victoria Falls: Alanna on Takeoff (June 30th)
Our first Vic Falls Activity- rainbows, incredible views, animal spottings from above- what a treat;)
June 23, 2011
June 22, 2011
Africa Episode 35: After Hiking Table Mountain (June21)
Ohhh the relief!!!
7 hours later, and and abseil in the meantime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dl5d-Uz9O4&NR=1
We made it;)) Major Highlight of trip so far;)
7 hours later...we made it. Stephanie, Alanna and Jebs hiking up and down the famous Table Mountain on foot thanks to awesome guidance by Nyasha from Green Elephant!!! Highlight of the trip for sure and boy oh boy, were our heart rates pumping!!!
June 14, 2011
June 13, 2011
Africa Episode 11: Seal Sighting at V& A Waterfront
First Day in Cape Town, Sunday afternoon visit to Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.
June 07, 2011
South Africa's Constitutional Court: Justice Under a Tree (June 7)
On Monday, Steph and I had the pleasure of visiting Constitutional Hill: the site of "Number 4" Prison (where thousands of ordinary people were brutally punished before the dawn of democracy in 1994)
and the South African Constitutional Court, established in 1994 following the country's first Democratic Election.
Pretty Amazing....flag donated by 7 Zulu women- entirely made of beads, black hide skin covering the justices' desk symbolizing unity (the black) and individuality (the white lines 11 times), the clear windows to represent transparency, the level seating throughout the room representative of equality...the 5th country in the world to legalize same sex marriage, amongst many other intrepid but necessary human rights proclamations...
Here at the other photos from our day at Constitutional Hill.
This was the first time I have been to a museum of this sort (i.e. containing such pithy recollections of our humanity and frankly, the egregiousness of it) since I was at the Holocaust Museum in D.C back in 2004. It's powerful, very poignant and Stephanie and I stood with wet eyes on many occasions while reading and looking at some of the horrors, and, as well, the inspirations, before us.
Hope there is a thing or 2 thrown in here that you find edifying, moving or merely worth your time reading;)
Learn more about the history at the website: constitutional court and the Number 4 Prison.
Thanks!
and the South African Constitutional Court, established in 1994 following the country's first Democratic Election.
Pretty Amazing....flag donated by 7 Zulu women- entirely made of beads, black hide skin covering the justices' desk symbolizing unity (the black) and individuality (the white lines 11 times), the clear windows to represent transparency, the level seating throughout the room representative of equality...the 5th country in the world to legalize same sex marriage, amongst many other intrepid but necessary human rights proclamations...
Here at the other photos from our day at Constitutional Hill.
This was the first time I have been to a museum of this sort (i.e. containing such pithy recollections of our humanity and frankly, the egregiousness of it) since I was at the Holocaust Museum in D.C back in 2004. It's powerful, very poignant and Stephanie and I stood with wet eyes on many occasions while reading and looking at some of the horrors, and, as well, the inspirations, before us.
Hope there is a thing or 2 thrown in here that you find edifying, moving or merely worth your time reading;)
Learn more about the history at the website: constitutional court and the Number 4 Prison.
Thanks!
June 06, 2011
My Favorite Excursion So Far...(Pysch!!)
This was the last stop we made today: the Bead Shop- Stephanie "liked this very much" and joined Heidi and Kate in perusing the craftsy selection for 30 mins. I, on the other hand, took a seat at a desk and recaptured the day in words and photos on my phone. NB: i did try to look around for 4 mins- after that I couldn't take it any more.
June 05, 2011
June 1: Day in Zurich with the Strommers
An Elaboration on My Notes From Our "Pleasant" Day in Zurich
Summary (if you don't want to read the whole post)
During our layover in Zurich on Wednesday, the lovely Andrea Strommer gave up her time to collect us from the airport- she took us back to her beautiful Swiss home, allowed us to take much needed showers, naps and then join her 4 quads (Arthur, Benjamin, Daniella and Oli) for a wonderful lunch (Hungarian Meatloaf, roasted yellow potatoes, steamed broccoli, and mini salad capresses, followed by carrot cake or cupcakes and tea).
Summary (if you don't want to read the whole post)
During our layover in Zurich on Wednesday, the lovely Andrea Strommer gave up her time to collect us from the airport- she took us back to her beautiful Swiss home, allowed us to take much needed showers, naps and then join her 4 quads (Arthur, Benjamin, Daniella and Oli) for a wonderful lunch (Hungarian Meatloaf, roasted yellow potatoes, steamed broccoli, and mini salad capresses, followed by carrot cake or cupcakes and tea).
June 04, 2011
Steff's First Post
Here are the tidbits I had written as notes on my phone over the past few days! Ill try and keep up to date from now on so they wont be as long..
Wednesday June 1st
Ok, so it's day two of our travels to Joburg. Currently feeling a combination of exhaustion, "I told ja so" attitude, and impatience - but desperately trying to find the humour in all of this. Running on about 1 hour of sleep from when we first began our journey in Providence, and unfortunately we still have a significant leg ahead of us - 10 hr flight to JB. All i really want right now is a good nights sleep. In a bed.
Let me just recap the past few hours for you...
So we (but really Alanna) decided that we were going to go to Zurich for a couple hours before returning to the airport. I expressed that I didn't think it was a good idea given that we were venturing out so late in the day but knew that Alanna really wanted to get out and explore. In any case, we had several rude encounters - with one man literally grabbing my arm and pushing me a side while waiting in line for groceries, and we never made it to the Lindt Factory - the "highlight"of the trip. Realizing that we didn't have enough time to visit the factory, but having nothing else to do in the area, we decide to head back to the airport earlier than we had planned. After paying for our tickets we miss the train while Alanna is asking for directions to the appropriate train terminal. The joke is that I thought I knew the right direction to go in but apparently I didn't make this clear enough - Alanna made her point by informing me "I don't speak German". Anyways, after catching our breath from having sprinted to the already departed train, we purchase another set of tickets and hop on the next train. Of course we get on the wrong carriage - business class - and have to walk through two carriages until we reach standard class.
Feeling relieved that we were finally on our way I start to chuckle while Alanna sits across from me straight-faced and shaking her noggin as usual. We get up to leave the train and I hit my head on the overhead luggage container - hang on I though the Swiss were meant to be tall?? Leave it to me to hurt myself wherever possible. Poor design I must say.
Upon arrival at the airport we try to do a quick check-in at a kiosk and, after first selecting the single malfuncitoning machine and then being asked to enter some random numbers (we had no idea what they were asking for), we decided to hit up the regular line. Thankfully it didnt take long and we quickly headed through security where I finally had the chance to nap on a bench for 45 mins while Alanna checked her email.
Wednesday June 1st
Ok, so it's day two of our travels to Joburg. Currently feeling a combination of exhaustion, "I told ja so" attitude, and impatience - but desperately trying to find the humour in all of this. Running on about 1 hour of sleep from when we first began our journey in Providence, and unfortunately we still have a significant leg ahead of us - 10 hr flight to JB. All i really want right now is a good nights sleep. In a bed.
Let me just recap the past few hours for you...
So we (but really Alanna) decided that we were going to go to Zurich for a couple hours before returning to the airport. I expressed that I didn't think it was a good idea given that we were venturing out so late in the day but knew that Alanna really wanted to get out and explore. In any case, we had several rude encounters - with one man literally grabbing my arm and pushing me a side while waiting in line for groceries, and we never made it to the Lindt Factory - the "highlight"of the trip. Realizing that we didn't have enough time to visit the factory, but having nothing else to do in the area, we decide to head back to the airport earlier than we had planned. After paying for our tickets we miss the train while Alanna is asking for directions to the appropriate train terminal. The joke is that I thought I knew the right direction to go in but apparently I didn't make this clear enough - Alanna made her point by informing me "I don't speak German". Anyways, after catching our breath from having sprinted to the already departed train, we purchase another set of tickets and hop on the next train. Of course we get on the wrong carriage - business class - and have to walk through two carriages until we reach standard class.
Feeling relieved that we were finally on our way I start to chuckle while Alanna sits across from me straight-faced and shaking her noggin as usual. We get up to leave the train and I hit my head on the overhead luggage container - hang on I though the Swiss were meant to be tall?? Leave it to me to hurt myself wherever possible. Poor design I must say.
Upon arrival at the airport we try to do a quick check-in at a kiosk and, after first selecting the single malfuncitoning machine and then being asked to enter some random numbers (we had no idea what they were asking for), we decided to hit up the regular line. Thankfully it didnt take long and we quickly headed through security where I finally had the chance to nap on a bench for 45 mins while Alanna checked her email.
June 02, 2011
Welcome to Our Blog!
This summer (2011), 3 girls and a guy are going on the trip of a lifetime (and for the first time) to the renowned African Continent.
At various times, and in various permutations, Stephanie Wilkins, Alanna Rodgers, Catherine (Jebs) Shively and Simon Lowe, will be exploring, trekking, biking, surfing, camping, climbing and volunteering the rich countries of: South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Madagascar.
We're not quite sure what we are doing, and we are being generously guided by multiple African friends along the way- but we are certainly planning to open our hearts, minds and physical bodies to all of the transforming life experiences that this journey will gift us with.
Whether you are a concerned family member, a confused and somewhat fascinated friend, an aspiring world traveler searching for some vicarious inspiration or simply a curious onlooker starved for comic and dramatic entertainment- we hope you enjoy!
At various times, and in various permutations, Stephanie Wilkins, Alanna Rodgers, Catherine (Jebs) Shively and Simon Lowe, will be exploring, trekking, biking, surfing, camping, climbing and volunteering the rich countries of: South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Madagascar.
We're not quite sure what we are doing, and we are being generously guided by multiple African friends along the way- but we are certainly planning to open our hearts, minds and physical bodies to all of the transforming life experiences that this journey will gift us with.
Whether you are a concerned family member, a confused and somewhat fascinated friend, an aspiring world traveler searching for some vicarious inspiration or simply a curious onlooker starved for comic and dramatic entertainment- we hope you enjoy!
June 01, 2011
Bussing It to NYC & Traveling on SwissAir
Our flight didn't take off from JFK until 5:50pm in the evening, but, we still needed to get ourselves to NYC from Providence and the menagerie of travel methods, times and prices pointed to an early 8:40am departure from the bus station none the less. (Sigh). This wasn't such an ordeal since Lisa was leaving to go back to Nassau on a 7am flight in any case, and so, naturally, the activity of the "Meeting Street Beach House" was in motion in the wee hours. To be honest, I awoke at about 4 am and began to respond to outstanding emails in final preparations for the trip and wasn't particularly anxious about being up in time to gather all of my "belongings" and ensure that my backpacks were properly packed (since I had worked on this several times, with Steph's guidance over the past 24 hours. See Video below of my first attempt to walk with all gear in tow:
Alanna and Steph are leaving for Africa!
Alanna and Steph will be in Zurich at 8 am!
The Adventures have begun!
....And I'll be in Montreal slaving over accounting homework! yippeeee!
Happy Tuesday Y'all!
-xxxooo Jebs
May 17, 2011
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