Roseau, Dominica

Hey friends!

    Well I have finally left the last port and am on my way back home. The time has flown by. It feels just like yesterday I was leaving Halifax on my way to Ireland! This voyage has been absolutely incredible. The people I have met and the cultures I have experienced will have impacted me for my whole life. I am excited to be coming home so I can see all my friends and family though!



    The ship was only in Dominica for two days and it most definitely was not enough time to see everything this tiny 27 miles island had to offer. The people were wonderful (except for some wackos we ran into on the streets) they were so friendly and happy to have us there. The day we arrived me and some friends woke up early to see the sunrise. It was the most beautiful thing ever! Once we were able to get off the ship we walked into town and did some shopping and site seeing. Some friends had to leave to go on  a SAS trip so me and another girl decided to go to the beach and snorkel. We went to what is known as Champagne Reef. It is an active underwater volcano and there are hole that create bubbles that are similar to when you open a champagne bottle. It was a spectacular site to see. We were there for hours snorkeling around looking at all the fish and coral. The water was crystal clear and almost as warm as a bath! After snorkeling we decided to head to the waterfalls. It was short detour but way worth it. They were located in a tropical jungle and it was just so beautiful.  The picture below is the bubbles from the volcano.

   

The second day I was lucky enough to go diving. I was able to make two dives that day. The first one was at Champagne Reef. It was amazing to be under the water this time instead of at the surface. When you put your hand on the sea floor or a rock you were able to feel the heat from the volcano. It was almost as hot as an oven! I think that diving in Dominica is one of the best places that I have dove so far. During the dive I saw a turtle, octopus, and I made a puffer fish puff.. it was funny! I also held a sea horse (which was probably a very bad thing to do but it was handed to me so I had to take the opportunity).  After the dive I went back to the ship and relaxed. The picture below is the little down of Roseau.


    Dominica was so wonderful. Unfortunately not everyone was able to experience a wonderful time. A student, Casey, had a terrible accident on the first day that ended up being fatal. This shook up the whole SAS community. She was such a bright, positive, wonderful girl. It is horrible that she was taken away from all her friends and family in such an instant. I can't imagine what her parents are going through at this time.. there daughter is so close to coming home and now they will never get the chance to see her again or hear her stories. Please take a moment to say a prayer for Mr. and Mrs. Schulman during this time of unimaginable sadness.  Every individual will get the chance to debark the ship in Ft. Lauderdale on the 7th and reunite with their friends and family very soon after that.. we are lucky individuals and we should be thankful every minute of every single day we are here on this earth.



   

Manaus, Brazil

Hello!

    I have made it out of the Amazon jungle alive!! Man was it quite the experience! Manaus is a city built in the jungle... there was not much to do independently but it was still fun to walk around the town and see how the locals live.

The first day (Nov. 22) we got there was Thanksgiving. It was kind of sad knowing that I was not spending this day with my family like I have done every year in the past. But  I made it through it knowing next year and every year from here on out I will be looking back and remembering exactly everything I did this Thanksgiving. In the morning me and some friends attempted to walk around the city to get breakfast and some WIFI. We did not succeed so we turned around and headed back to the ship after about 3 hours of searching. Once we made it back I got the opportunity to join a SAS trip that was going around the city to all the important building and monuments. We went to the opera house, presidents palace, an Indian museum and a banana and fish market! For one,  I have never been in an opera house and oh my gosh it was soo beautiful! And second, at the banana market there were sooo many bananas! I have never seen so many in my life!!!! After the trip to the markets we headed back to the ship where we had dinner and got ready to go to the symphony.  It was a pretty memorable Thanksgiving! The first picture was the opera house and the second picture was the bananas!






The second day (Nov. 23) I had the chance to do a service project where I hung out with neurologically disabled children at the zoo. I have to say that this was probably the most challenging service visit yet. It was really hard to connect with the children for many reasons ranging from their disability to the language barrier. But it was wonderful to see how their faces lite up when the realized we were at the zoo. The zoo was a completely different challenge. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY WEIRD ANIMALS IN ONE PLACE BEFORE! This zoo was definitely one that housed Amazonian animals. This trip took all day but once we got back me and my friends had a 'girls' night which was fun. We went out to dinner than out to dance... and have fun :) The picture below is one of the largest/weirdest/nastiest rodents I have ever seen in my life!



The third day (Nov. 24) was eventful. In the morning I took a riverboat to see where two rivers meet. It was cool to see because  it is the confluence between the Rio Negro, a river with dark (almost black coloured) water, and the sandy-coloured Rio Solimoes. It is a main tourist attraction in Manaus. After we saw the meeting of waters we went into a little village where we saw how they make rubber. After talking and shopping there we went to see some the the largest water lilies ever and took a small hike through the jungle where I came across some of the largest bugs that have ever roamed this earth! It was scary! The first picture if the meeting of water, the second picture is of a butterfly/moth thing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey everyone!

        I just wanted to wish all my friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving from Manaus, Brazil! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE eat so much food you can hardly walk away from the dinner table! I will be celebrating with a few close friends at an Amazonian BBQ where I am bound to try some food I can not even pronounce!

  My voyage is coming to a close faster than I expected. It feels just like yesterday I was saying my goodbyes to everyone... and now in 2 weeks I will be home! I can not wait to see all of your bright and shining faces!!!

Love you all!

The picture below is what it looked like sailing up the Amazon River for two days.

Rio de Janerio, Brazil

I THINK I FOUND A NEW HOME! Brazil is amazing.. I know I said that about almost every port.... but Rio was the best so far.

The town was so beautiful... it was huge with soo much to do. I had an extremely busy three days but it was worth it. I would be on the move constantly and I did not even put a dent in what Brazil had to offer.

This is a picture of a small part of the city. The big body of water  in the middle is a salt water lake and then on the other side it the ocean. The city was built on a huge tropical mountain. A lot of the city was built on the hill as well as around the base.



Day 1: The minute the ship was cleared with immigration me and a friend got in a taxi and sped down to Copacabana which is one of the most beautiful beaches in Rio. Once we arrive we went shopping at the hippie market. This market is an open air market that held all the tourist like things as well as a lot of hand crafted items. It was lovely. But we did not stay long. Soon after we decided to venture to the Christ the Redeemer statue. It proved to be one of the most spectacular views of the city I could ever image. It is located on one of the highest points in Rio so you are able to see it know matter where you are in the city. That is where I took the picture above. We did not get much time at the Christ the Redeemer statue because we needed to get back to the ship and get ready for a field trip we were scheduled to go on. The field trip was to a Samba school and dinner. Samba is a traditional Brazilian dance that consists of two steps and a lot of shaking of the hips. The school is primarily used to train dancers who want to participate in the carnival celebrations every February. But on Sundays (which is the day we went) the school is turned into what I would refer to as a huge club. There was loads and loads of people all dancing, drinking, and having a good time. It was so much fun! After the school we went to a restaurant which had a really nice atmosphere. It was an open air type of set up.. which was nice because I don't think Brazilians believe in air conditioning!! At the restaurant there was food, drinks and of course more dancing!! We stayed there until about 22:00 when we decided to head back to the ship so we can have another productive and exciting day!
Here is a picture of Christ the Redeemer.



Day 2: I had a SAS trip leaving at 08:30 to two tropical islands on a schooner. If you don't know what a schooner is just imagine a pirate ship converted a little to hold a large number of people comfortably. It took about an hour to reach the boat  that was going to take us to small secluded islands off the coast of Rio but once we got there it was no time at all until we anchored in the middle of the ocean to take a quick dip. The water was so cold!! After everyone jumped in and settled down again we were on our way to an island where we spent a little time laying on the beach and swimming. After that island we went to a private beach where we had time to relax and have a traditional Brazilian BBQ. The food was absolutely amazing! Of course I spent a lot of time sun bathing and some time with my goggles and snorkel swimming around :) We left the island and made our way back to the bus that was going to take us back to the ship. We made it right in time before we had  a nice little rain storm. After the rain stopped pouring me and some friends decided to go attempt to watch the sunset on what they call Sugarloaf Mountain which proves to have an almost equally awesome view. The clouds decided that we would not be able to see the sunset all that well so we decided to head back and catch some dinner and have a few drinks before calling it a night. The picture below is of the schooner.



Day 3: IT WAS SO RAINY TODAY!!! But that did not stop me. I took a long slow stroll around the town taking in the view with my raincoat on and an umbrella over my head. It was nice to take the time to 'stop and smell the roses' My voyage has been fast paced and busy and it was time to slow down and take it all in. So I did. It was wonderful. I met a lot of amazing people... and some that would try and talk to me but I had no idea what they wanted to talk about because I unfortunately did not brush up on Portuguese before I left. But in all reality... Brazil was amazing, the people were so friendly and kind (even though Brazil does not like the US) and I would most definitely recommend visiting!!!!!!

2 PORTS LEFT, 23 MORE DAYS.......... See you all very soon!

I love and miss everyone!!

~~Amy

Montevideo, Uruguay

    Well it was an interesting experience departing from Buenos Aires one night and waking up in Montevideo the next morning. But none the less I was excited to be in another country. Unfortunately I was sick the whole port so I did not get to do much... but what I have heard from friends aboard the ship is that it was a city that did not have much to offer. So if I was to be ill in a port of call it was this one.

    The first day in Montevideo I took a city tour. This tour took me all around to the most important monuments and buildings. It is such a small city that it did not take all that long but I was able to see a lot of cool things with out any issues.  After the tour was over I went back to the ship and called it a day.

This is a picture of the congress building.



The second day in Montevideo I went and found some WIFI and bought some medicine in hope I would start feeling better soon. I did some walking around the town and it was a nice little area. There were a lot of open air markets and people just roaming around with their mate. Mate is a tea that is extremely popular in South America... personally I think it tastes like dirt... LITERALLY!

The last day in Uruguay I have a service visit to a local school where I helped repaint a greenhouse, plant flowers and hang out with the children. It was pretty awesome. The school had a whole vegetable garden that is managed by the children. It was nice to lend my hand to something constructive.

This picture is of the greenhouse that we helped fix up.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hello all

        I have made it through Europe, Africa and half of South America now. I have only three ports left :(. This has most definitely been an adventure of a life time. Buenos Aires was wonderful and beautiful city. It is the Paris of South America. 

    The first day in Buenos Aires I decided to walk around the city to see what it was like. In the heart of what we would call 'downtown' there were rows and rows of pedestrian streets kind of like the 16th street mall in downtown Denver.  I did some shopping, a lot of site seeing and getting lost in the town. It was quite the adventure. I literally spent the whole day roaming around. This  is a picture of one of the main pedestrian streets... during the day it was quite calm. But once the sun set is when everyone came alive. There were parties, music and dancing all along the streets.


The second day I was there I decided to spend part of the day on the beach front and then ventured into town again. I walked by the Presidents Palace which I decided is where I need to live. It is a big PINK mansion! Then i walked to the largest street in the world called 7 de Julio. It is the main street running through the country. It has 20 or so lanes of traffic.... Imagine trying to cross it! I was not daring enough :) After walking around town for a little longer I decided to go to La Boca which is the home of the Tango. La Boca is also known for its colorful buildings. It was so beautiful. There was an open air market as well as a festival. It was interesting because there would be Tango shows right in the middle of street with traffic going around.


I think the best part of Argentina was the service visit I went on called L.I.F.E. Happy Birthday Program. This program would go to the slums of the country and throw birthday parties for children who had never had a celebration of their own. We decorated their house, baked cakes, wrapped presents as well as painted and played games with them. As many of you know my mother gave me bracelets to hand out which I wrapped up to give them as presents. My boss at work gave me some dresses that were made out of pillow cases that I wrapped up as well.  It was so amazing and rewarding to throw a child a birthday party who has never had one before. Their faces just lit up just like ours do on Christmas time. I have never seen a child more excited to open a present in my life! It was wonderful!



Argentina was wonderful. It was such an alive city! But  I do have to say that if I come back I want to go to Patagonia (which are glaciers in the southern part of the country) and Iguazu Falls (which is one of the seven natural wonders of the world in the north eastern part of the country). It is such a beautiful country with so many beautiful people!

Cape Town, South Africa

Hello Everyone!

     Well I have exactly 5 ports left until I am back in America! This trip has flown by... I wish I could travel like this forever! I was in Cape Town, South Africa for 5 days and I have to say that this port did not go as planned.... but there is no surprise there. Things can't go smoothly in every port! Cape Town is such a beautiful city with so much to do and see. I will recommend this port to everyone!

This picture is one side of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain


Day 1 (Oct. 18): I woke up early to watch this ship come into port. I think it was one of the most beautiful mornings I have had on the ship. We had the most spectacular view of the city as well as Table Mountain. I am a firm believer in 'love at first sight' now because I honestly fell in love with this city the moment I saw it. I was planning on scuba diving this day but it didn't happen because we were not able to exit the ship early enough. So instead I made my way up to the top of Table Mountain where I spent a good majority of the day. It was breath taking... last year Table Mountain was voted one of the seven wonders of the world!



Day 2 (Oct 19): It was a really rainy day so we took it easy waking up and spent 99% of the day shopping in the mall. There were a lot of tourist stores where I was able to buy all my souvenirs. There is not much you can do on a rainy day so we took this time to slow down, reflect... and of course spend money!!

I thought this was pretty cool. It was a sculpture to symbolize non-violence and it was dedicated to John Lennon.




Day 3(Oct. 20): We left the ship around 10 am and wandered around the city some. Then we decided to take a ferry to Robben Island. Robben Island is a prison that housed political prisoners during the apartheid in South Africa. It was a moving experience just like the slave castles were. We were able to see the cell where Nelson Mandela was kept which was pretty cool. I was surprised by the size of the island. It was huge! I am still trying to process my thoughts regarding the apartheid, the after effects it has had on the citizens and about Robben Island. I don't know how to put my feelings into words. So this is a story that will be told when I get home :)



Day 4 (Oct21): This was the day I was suppose to go Great White Shark cage diving. It was cancelled due to rough seas. So instead I went down town and did some shopping at a local market. There was a lot of cool stuff there... The downtown area looked really westernized. It looked like Europe and America. But it was nice to walk around and see what the city had to offer.

Day 5 (Oct 22): Today I went to a township and met with some locals there. It was a day where my life was put into check. The township is pretty much the slum of the city. It is where all the lower class individuals live. It was interesting. The houses that are available to live in typically hold 16 families in 6 bedrooms. So next time you complain your room is to small or your bed is not comfortable remember that other people have to way worse. In a home like this each family has one bed that usually sleeps 3-4 people. I am not kidding when I say the beds are the size of a twin. I was in shock when I was walking through this town. I could not believe my eyes. It is another story I will have to tell when I get back... I am still trying to process their way of life.

This bed held two adults and three children.




EXPERIENCE OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE:




This is called a "Smiley" It is a sheep's head. In African traditions this is a delicacy. So there was no option to refuse it. Suprisingly it tastes like beef jerky. I will say that this is the weirdest thing I have ate in my life!

~~~ I am now making my way back across the Atlantic to Argentina where more adventures await!