So Mauritius, So Delicious

I made my return to the northern part of the island of Mauritius, where I had been, 2.5 years ago, on my last voyage. During my short stay, on the rainbow nation island, I relaxed by the beach and with the help of a scooter and an excellent driver; I explored some of the local neighborhoods. We left the tourists strip and cruised past beautiful public beaches and lively local neighborhoods many of which had colorful Hindu temples (52% of Mauritian people are Hindu). I chowed down on excellent roti and fresh pineapple which I ate as I sat on the beach.
As we were getting ready to depart this tropical paradise, the people of Mauritius were preparing for Diwali, stringing up lights over their houses and businesses and purchasing fireworks. Needless to say, as the ship pulled out of the harbor, Mauritius was lit up like the 4th of July.




Pretty



Our neighbor, Mr. Turtle.

My Return to the Western Cape

Cape Town was the first repeat port! It was nice to go to a familiar yet foreign place. I hiked Table Mountain which made the view that much more spectacular and saw lots of wildlife without even going on a safari. I also spent time in a refugee camp where over 20,000 foreigners were relocated during the height of the xenophobic attacks. South Africa is full of so many complex issues that it’s hard to wrap my head around them all, especially in the midst of so much beauty.

The cure all soap

Jon and I set out to film in a Liberian Refugee camp. After hours of travel, we arrived at the camp only to be denied access; our run and gun GNG style failed us. We decided to take it in stride and explore the neighboring area. There we met a group of girls that worked for a medicinal beauty product company called Rexcom. The company pays their rent, provides them with a van and they also earn commissions from sales. They spend their days packaging the products in their own home and take road trips all over Ghana to sell the goods. While the girls worked in their living room feverishly packaging the products their male friends who also live with them, rent free, sat around, unemployed, not even helping. Maybe we came on their day off. It was inspiring to see this group of young females embracing entrepreneurialism, working together and supporting themselves.

Ramadan tastes real good

Is being in Morocco during Ramadan a blessing or a curse? The entire country is fasting so by default I too was fasting...sorta. I felt a sense of guilt as I snacked on a power bar to get me through the day. When the sun went down, the taste of food was legendary. To break the fast we ate dates, a veg soup that was full of chickpeas, hard-boiled eggs and sweet treats. After everyone broke the fast, they would take a nap or socialize with their families and then head out. Stores would open at 8 PM or 10 PM and stay open for a few hours during the late night hours. Everyone would eat a second meal between 12-3AM and that was supper. The whole country was on a very different time table than the rest of the world or the non Muslim world I should say. Sleeping during the day and working at night during the hours that they could eat. Of course there were plenty of people that did not have that luxury and had to work through the day without food or water. Is it cheating if you just shift your daily schedule to accommodate your fast? Does that defeat the purpose?

Where the wild things are…

September 7th, 2009. 10:30 PM- Cadiz, Spain

The summer is coming to an end and kids are getting ready to go back to school. The children are running wild in the streets! While children in the U.S are asleep in their beds, kids in Spain are playing in a concrete jungle gym on the streets of Cadiz.

It's all coming back to me now

I have fallen off the wagon and I don’t feel good about it. In the spirit of micro blogging I am going to shorten my blog entries to short recaps of select moments from my experiences and post pictures. Maybe this new style will keep me more on the regular this time around. Get ready for an explosion of updates!