Extra pictures from my trip...by popular demand

Venus De Milo's Crack

Me preparing to leave from Dulles Airport

My two new friends from Michigan that I met at the Paris Hostel

Outside of Buckingham Palace

The people I participated in the protest with in Paris
Hall of Mirrors in the Palace at Versailles

In front of the oldest pyramid in Egypt

Some place in Rome...I forgot

The Egyptian God Horus

Stephanie and I won the mummy wrapping contest on the cruise...very corny, but we won.

Kids we met in the Internet cafe in Aswan, Egypt

Merchant in Aswan who sold me my galabeya

Table Mountain Lion's Head. I climbed the smaller one on the right

On the way to the vineyard Backsburg in South Africa

Taya's friends outside Mzoli's in Gugulethu township in Cape Town

Merchant/ Artist I befriended in Green Market

Slave Lodge in Cape Town

Nelson Mandela's Cell Robben Island

Sunset on the Nile

One of the many temples in Egypt

Barcelona

Another shot of the sunset on the Nile

Ubuntu!

Well, today is my last full day in Cape Town and the end of my month long journey. I don't know how many people were actually reading this blog, but I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have been writing on it. The one good thing about this blog is that it encourages me to reflect on my trip at various points.

The ending of my trip was marked by my visit to Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela spent most of his imprisonment as a political dissenter. I was of the belief that the highlight of Robben Island was seeing the single cell that held Mandela for many years, however, Robben Island tells a bigger story that goes far beyond the iconic bars of cell block C.

The tour guide for my group was absolutely amazing. On the tour there had to be at least 12 different countries represented. The tour guide had a way of connecting every person and country to Robben Island. He wanted us all to feel as though our lives, no matter how far away, played an important role in the development of Robben Island/ South Africa and the ending of apartheid. He also brought to life the basic African principle of ubuntu, I am because we are. The best part about that guide is that he said he wanted to got to America to visit NASA and Graceland. If there is one thing we Americans love to do is to get in our pick up truck and take a weekend trip to Graceland.

When you finally get to the actual prison, you are guided by a former political prisoner of Robben Island. That guide made me consider a word that I have never really thought about before, reconciliation. Instead of persecuting those who persecuted them, the South Africans choose to forgive their oppressors. The prison were not a jail, but a community of freedom fighters that continued their struggle even behind the bars of the jail. The educated men that were behind bars actually took the time to teach even the white prison guards that were less educated. That is why South Africa has National Reconciliation Day.

I did take a picture of Nelson Mandela's cell, but I needed to put some context to the island.

Overall, this truly was a trip of a lifetime. I wish I could have told you all of the stories from this trip and the people that I have met, but then you would have no need to talk to me when I get back. Also, I would not be able to tell you about the freakish international obsession with David Hasselhoff and Knight Rider, or as the Italians call it "K2000".

If you have been following the blog from the beginning I did not get a chance to tell you what happen to the old lady in the Paris hostel. So, the whole time we were there she offered all of us in the room everything. She bragged that she was carrying a pharmacy with her on the trip. On the second to last day she fell ill (it was not that bad, but by the way she was acting you thought she had caught the bird flu). I asked her if she had Imodium because she had packed a pharmacy. But the Super Prepared old mother who packed a pharmacy did not pack Imodium. Well guess who did? In the African principle of ubuntu, I lent her a helping hand and gave some of my Imodium. In fact, I walked to the store and bought her some 7up. I guess that ubuntu is innate? She could not handle her sudden illness so she packed her bags, cut her trip short, and went back to the states.

Thank you for sharing in my experience with me!

Adam Hunter

Perfect Timing

I don't even know where to begin. Cape Town fells like my second home. It is mostly because of Taya (one of my friends that convinced me to go on this trip), Fidel, and Mary-ann. Taya and her family had open their home to me for the weekend. It is one thing to live in a hostel or stay in a hotel, but when someone opens their home to you in another country you feel as though all of South Africa has welcomed you in.

Taya and her friends allowed me to be a part of their many discussions on current South African affairs, politics, and culture. On Saturday we went on a wine tour and tasting of South Africa's best wines...or at least some of their best wines as you can see from picture below. One experience that I have never done, but I will be doing again. You start in the morning by having wine with breakfast, tasting of wine during the day, and wine over a late lunch. Now that I think about, I'm surprise I remembered anything. Yes, you are suppose to spit it out but why waste all of that good wine.

I could not leave any vineyard without leaving my signature in the guest books.

Yesterday, was our physical activity by tackling one of the two famous mountains in Cape Town, Lion's Head, the other being Table Top Mountain. Before we took to the mountain we all made a pack to make it to the top together. To help exericise the lungs and prepare the respiratory system for such a rigorous task, half of the group decided to indulge with a very healthy cigarette. Me, on the other hand, took the more healthier route and ate a Twix bar with is delicious caramel and cookie crunch.

So up the mountain we went. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we went up to catch the sunset. It is said the the best view of all of Cape Town is from the top of Lion's Head. From the start it seemed like a pretty easy trail nice and wide.

It was all pleasant looking towards to the top of the mountain.


We must pause to look at the view mid way up the mountian. (Someone should start selling my scenic pictures)

Wait one minute! This trial is not as easy as we thought. There was actual CLIMBING going on.

To cut the trial in half you can climb up the chains to safe time. The sign at the bottom said "Use the Chains at Your Own Risk". We took that to mean go ahead and kill yourself....so we took the chains.

All I kept on thinking was please don't fall.

As we got closer and closer to the top the sun started to disappear.

Finally we all made it to the top. However, the sun was gone, we were tired, and that meant hiking done the whole mountain in the dark. That is what I call perfect timing.

Good thing Fidel knew to pack a flash light.

Made it to Cape Town

I finally made it to Cape Town after 14 hours in the air and a layover in Doha (I had to check a map too). Nonetheless, I added a few pictures from Egypt to show you how beautiful it is.

Puff the Magic Dragon Lives by the Nile

Why was our carriage driver in Edfu high? I mean puffing the magic dragon, enjoying the good grass, getting lifted... you get my point.

One of our stops on the cruise up the Nile from Aswan was in Efdu. One of the couples on our tour group are corporate lawyers from Australia Nick and Simone. Between the four of us sarcasm was was at an all time high. I LOVED it. We were like the kids in the back of the classroom who needed to be separated for making too many jokes.

When we first got to Edfu and got off the boat, we started looking for a small van to take us to the Temple. That was not the case, we were directed to take the smelly touristy carriage that rides around carrying its own poop. Just imagine sitting behind a smelly horse, in the hot desert sun, and with THAT smell hitting you in you in your face. So the four of us crowded into this carriage made for two and we were off. Our driver thought he was Ben Hur because decided to race the other carriages through the streets (No one else was racing him). That should have been our first clue. Then when we got to the temple he crashed it into the side walk. While we were going there he kept on looking back at me, trying to grab my money, asking if we wanted to take a picture with it, and all the while doing a pitiful job holding the reins.

After the visit, the most rationally thinking individuals decided to get back on that carriage to go back to the boat. Three of the four of us smelt the aroma and Nick saw it (he was sitting in the front with him). As we rode away he drank the rest of Nick's soda and threw the can on the temple grounds... so much for keeping the place sacred. We're still alive and that's what counts.

Our last stop on the cruise was in Luxor. To me it was the best city in Egypt because was very peaceful and clean. Luxor was also the hottest of our five stops in Egypt. The temperature was somewhere between heat stroke and please kill me. At night is when the city really lights up.

Yesterday we took our last train ride up to Alexandria. Alex, as they call it there, reminds me of Barcelona. Also, the history is the perfect blend between Egyptian, Roman, and Greek mythology and culture. That part of the trip was very timely given what I saw in Rome and the rest of Egypt. I will be going back to Egypt.

Next stop South Africa.

The Valley of the Kings

Tour guide Mary for the upper part of Egypt.

Beautiful sight...but the official "Shake Down"

Amazing. There are not enough words to describe what I have seen over the past three days. Rome was in ruins, Barcelona had narrow streets, Paris had political riots, London had bad food, and Egypt had the pyramids.


My hike through Europe was me, my bag, and my travel guide. However, I got the official upgrade when I got to Cairo. From the minute we got there we had our own personal travel guide and driver to take us to the different sights. As I flew into Cairo at 2:30 in the morning I could still see the turns of the Nile River from the window of the plane.

The pyramids were the first place Stephanie and I visited. You are drive through the very crowded and hectic streets of Cairo (you think driving in NY is crazy, go to Cairo) all of a sudden the streets get real quite, cars turn into mules pulling carts, and buildings are replaced by farm land that is watered by the Nile. When you see the pyramids and the different tombs you can only be amazed at what the Egyptians had to do in order to build them. So I could not believe that I was actually there. I had to put my hands in the sand to really feel the desert.

The best part about seeing the pyramids was riding a camel around them. That was the official beginning of the shake down. When the 13 year old kid who was taking us around on the camels took our picture and then demanded 50 Egyptian pounds for them. At one point he held our cameras until we pulled out some money, which we did give him. When I say shake down, I mean no matter what you do or where you go in Egypt everyone wants an unreasonable tip. The cab driver wanted a tip for a picture. The man holding the broom at the pyramids asked for a tip because he said hello. Then random people start jumping into your pictures all for, you guessed it, a tip. After awhile very nice hospitality turned into a nuisance. The people are very nice, but expect to pay out of pocket for it.

I must mention our 1950 style of travel from Cairo to Aswan. I mean we had a sleeping car porter who was there to let down our beds and serve food. It was a train fully equipped with arm guards ready to throw down at a moments notice. Even though it was 12 hour ride it only felt like three. Plus, in the morning you can see the Nile River from the train which is lined by the biggest palm trees you will ever see. In Aswan everything is on an island which is only accessible by motor boat or felucca. Sailing on the Nile in a felucca is up there with the camel ride.

It would not be socially responsible of me if I do not acknowledge some of the social conditions of Egypt. While the tourist enjoy first class developed accommodations, still many in Cairo and Aswan can only realize 3rd world conditions. The amount of kids (5-13) who were working and selling things to tourist on the street was shocking. Even the ones working in the carpet industry, which we had visited. For Aswan the tourist make up a huge part of their economy.

There is so much more to tell you, but I have to leave the internet cafe. I'll post more stuff later with picture.

As they say to me in Aswan, bye cousins.....




















This is our Cairo tour guide Rehamm.