http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Trojan-Kari/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Trojan Kari en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:41:11 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:41:11 +0000 Today we crossed the border into Namibia a country I had never heard of before I came to South Africa sorry Mrs. Archuleta. We drove a really long time from the hilly green valleys of South Africa into the plains of Namibia. We crossed the Guariep River which marked the border between South Africa and Namibia. We set up camp at a really nice camp site on the river complete with a bar heat http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-18971.html My spring break trip to Namibia began early on Sunday morning when i awoke to an SMS message at 711 from Liza asking if I was up. The taxi was going to be there at 715 AM. Of course I slept through my alarm and had to race to shower and shave and leave before the taxi left us. Typical Kari Anyway we made it to Greenmarket Square where our trip would depart from. We were travelling in a b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/blog-18968.html August 12th August 14thThis weekend CIEE placed us with families in Ocean View a coloured community in a valley behind Cape Town. The families had created a community several decades before after the apartheid government forced them off their property along the coast and in the city. We assembled at a church and met our families and then watched some of the local teen groups perform. They ha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18967.html So . . . after cleaning my room I decided it was time to take pictures of where I've been living the past month. I don't have any pictures of my flatmates Robi and Siami yet because they are never there at the same time but they're coming soon Also I was really bored and thought you all should be bored with me http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18966.html Today I celebrated both my 24th gulp birthday and the South Africa Springbok's rugby win. CIEE took us out to this cute restaurantsports bar near the Newlands Stadium to watch the rugby game agains the New Zealand All Blacks team. We had great greek food and drinks and got to enjoy seeing how south africans do rubgy. It made me a little homesick thinking about how many SC Football games I w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18965.html Today after a VERY early morning of SHARP training for me I went to Gugletu a township of Cape Town to enjoy a Saturday afternoon of drinking eating and watching soccer and rubgy. My friend Ellie's roommate Funeka invited us to join her and her friends to this weekly event. Mzoli's is a little place that hosts neighborhood people to come watch the soccer and rugby games which are projected ont http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18960.html Tonight some of my American friends from Forest Hill met up with new friends from UCT for a night of drinking games and dancing and all those things you do in college no matter where on the planet you might go to school. We taught Gomez Rogers and Pascal how to play Kings hard enough to explain the rules while drinking but add the cultural and language differences and some wine and you have y http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18956.html Today CIEE took us on a trip to Stellenbosch to see the wine country of South Africa. We stopped for lunch at the Spier Estate which is huge and wierd but it had a cheetah and spotted owl reserve as well as local people selling crafts. After lunch we headed for the wine estate whose name I cannot remember for some tasting and a tour. I had flashbacks to my old job at the wine bar in the sprin http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18959.html After a day of orientation all the international students were invited to participate in a drum circle. We each received our own drum and tried to play as the instructors taught us some beats. At one point some of us were given percussion instruments and yours truly was given a castanet. Lots of fun was had laughing at ourselves trying to keep up with the real drummers. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-18950.html Today we went on a tour of Robben Island which was the site of a prison for many years made famous because it held many political prisoners during the apartheid regime. Nelson Mandela was it's most famous prisoner. We were led on a tour of the prison by a former politicial prisoner who shared his experiences with us. The boat that took us out to the island is connected to a museum on the wat http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-16624.html Our CIEE group has merged with all the other international students and we're in the middle of UCT orientation. Basically we have to get up really early and walk to middle campus and listen to people talk to us about academics safety etc. As exciting as that sounds the best part is that they take us on little tours of Cape Town and the area. Today we went on the Cape Peninsula tour. We stopp http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-16281.html We visited the University of Cape Town today and saw where we'll be going to school and living. As much as I love USC and think it's beautiful this campus has to be the most amazing looking school EVER The school is literally built on the side of the Table Mountain Range on the edge of Devil's Peak. We were divided into small groups during orientation so that's who all those people are with me http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-16278.html I arrived in Cape Town at 800 am after a really long overnight flight from London just as the sun was rising and the mist and fog was coming down over the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. The weather was so warm compared to London which was ironic since it was winter in Cape Town After resting and exploring the area around our hotel our program took us to the top of the famous Table M http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/South-Africa/Western-Cape/Cape-Town/blog-16275.html I started my journey to South Africa on the 4th of July. My mom and brother barbequed ribs and chicken and we enjoyed a great lunch before heading to the airport in Denver. We took this picture ourselves on the first try After saying goodbye I met up with two other girls Marie and Beth from Colorado who were also going to Cape Town under the same program CIEE. I didn't get really excited u http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-16271.html So as many of you know I had a layover in London and I and three other girls who were on the same plane from Denver decided we had enough time and energy to explore London. As soon as we got to the underground station we had great luck and some of us including me got free passes from people returning and leaving for the airport. With our day passes we got on the metro and headed toward the ci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-16273.html