Toon's Mauritius Motto: Shit Just Happened

Hello everyone. Just wanted to write another update for Mauritius since I have the time to write about it. Jon and I have come up with a motto for Mauritius…and that is: Shit just happened. Well anyway. Time to sum up our trip in Mauritius. When we got into port, we immediately exited whenever we had the chance. Jon and I and a couple of other friends were pumped to check into our villa next to the beach. We decided to take a taxi to Flic-en-Flac for about 40 dollars for 5 people. Our cab driver tried to sell us a pound of weed…When we finally got to Flic-en-Flac, we got lost because we didn’t know where our villa was located. So our cab driver stopped and asked for directions. When he got back into the cab he started to drive a little further and all of a sudden one o f the tires busts…shit…so we paid the cab driver the money and started walking. Some of the people in our group were hungry so we decided to stop by a local café to get some food. When we were all done, we realized that the villa was about 5 minutes away from where we were..god, we felt stupid. The villa that we got was definitely not what I expected…It was definitely not worth the money that we all put into for it. The kitchen was disgusting, the beds were nasty, and the villa itself had a musty smell. But, hey, what can we do right? We had to make the best of whatever we had. We then went out, got some food, and groceries. We had to stock up the fridge, if you know what I mean… After we were all settled in and everything, we decided to head down to the beach and lay around. It was pretty fun. But when we looked down the beach, we saw a huge group of people just partying it up so the guys and I decided to walk down to see what was going down. And when we finally got there, it was not surprising to see that it was a group of SAS people. After hanging out a little bit, we decided to get back to the villa because it was getting dark and we wanted to get ready for the night. There was only one club/bar in Flic-en-Flac and it was called shooters. This places was extremely packed and there were approximately 100-200 SAS students juss jamming at this place. It was wild…definitely spring break status. It was a good night.

I had to wake up about 7 AM in the morning to go on a catamaran/ snorkeling tour. IT was probably the most miserable thing to do because it was definitely a long, long, long night. But we ended up waking up and a friend and I were ready to go. The catamaran ride to Flat Island was one of the most scenic and greatest rides of my life. Being able to sail on the ocean was definitely a sight. The ocean was blue and the sky was great. The sun felt hot, but there was a nice ocean breeze that kept us cool. When we got to the island, it was incredible. White sand beaches and clear blue waters filled with corals surrounded us. It was amazing. A couple friends and I decided to go snorkeling before lunch, so we rented some gear to go out. We went out for about 15 minutes and saw some cool stuff.

All of a sudden my friend Eric started to have a seizure under water right next to me. At first I thought he was just kidding, but I soon realized that it was reality. I quickly swam to him and made sure that he didn’t drown himself. He was having a seizure on the bottom of the ocean where all the corals were. I made sure his head was out of the water and his neck was fully secure so that he wouldn’t break it. When he actually became conscious again, he was not able to speak or anything. When I saw him in my arms, I seriously thought that he was going to die. I don’t know how it was going to be. I had so many things going through my mind that I was not able to really comprehend what I was doing, but I was able to somehow stay calm and do as I was supposed to do. I guess it is from listening to Jon’s stories about his lifeguarding experiences every day. You all know; those mundane stories that we all just listen and nod our heads while he just speaks. I also wondered what it would have been like now if he actually didn’t make it out of the water. I was even thinking about how long ago I just met Eric, and when I look back, it seriously has been like 2 months and a little more. Although we haven’t met each other for a very long period of time, it seems as if we have been hanging out with everyone on this ship for so long. As he was laying in my arms yelping, my heart was calm and controlled. Then I snapped out of my semi-zoned out state and realized Eric’s eyes were not really focusing and his face was turning a bit blue. His lips were also turning blue by the second and his tongue was extremely swollen. My other friend and I were screaming frantically for help. The coast guard finally came to pick him up. There was a Swedish doctor who was there to help us out all the way. Thankfully he came to save Eric. If he wasn’t there, I would not have known what to do. Then I had to help the coast guard carry Eric on a lounge chair to transport him to another island. From that island, we had to wait about a couple hours to wait for the helicopter to come and pick him up. I was kind of excited because I wanted to ride in the helicopter to the hospital with him, but unfortunately I was not able to. Because I wasn’t able to get on the helicopter with Eric, I had to take the Catamaran back to the island. I don’t know what happened to me, but I just felt like I needed to be alone. All I was able to think about was the fact that I had to save my friend out of the water. As I looked back on all the things that happened out there, I was surprised I was not the one freaking out and swimming away. I guess some part of me was able to realize that I had to do what I had to do. Everyone tried to talk to me to make sure I was ok, but I just wanted to be alone and enjoy the cool ocean breeze with the sun beating down.

As we arrived to the main island, the national coast guard was there to pick me up and asked me to follow them to the station. I did as I was told and answered a couple questions and figured out where he was at. When I finally arrived to the hospital, the place looked like a jail cell mixed with a psychiatric ward…I cannot believe that the place we were at was a hospital. The doctor told us what happened and said that he was now fine and he should be alright after recovery. I went in to drop off some clothes for him because all he had on was his Speedo. I thought it was kind of funny that he was wearing it because I don’t know, it was just funny. I notified our ship Medical staff and they quickly arrived to check up on him. After about forty-five minutes of talking, the hospital agreed to let him out and come back to the ship where he would be watched closely in the ICU. We took the taxi back to the ship. He had to be wheel chaired in. When I got back onto the ship, I had to answer a few more questions, fill out some paper work and just make sure I was clear to exit the ship. Before I left the ship, I checked up on Eric one last time before I was to go back to Flic-en-Flac. He seemed relieved and back to the Eric that we knew before the seizure happened. As I saw his energetic self back, I became relieved and de-stressed.

When we arrived back in Flic-en-Flac, we decided to get some Chinese food, and to be honest, the food was not too bad. I arrived back to my villa and everyone was just so glad to see me. But they realized that Eric was not with me. I told them the story and they immediately thought that I was joking around. I then stood my ground and told them that what happened to Eric was not a joke. When they saw the seriousness on my gloomy face, they realized that it really happened. We proceeded to go out that night just to have a little fun, but I was obviously not in the mood to do anything. I didn’t want to stay back by myself so I decided to follow along. As the night was coming to a close, my one friend (not Jon), was pretty tipsy. He decided that he wanted to go to another villa to hang out. I was the only one who did not want him to leave by himself, so I decided to just make sure he gets to the place safely. With a mixture of stumbling and laying on the ground a few times, I made sure that he made it back to the villa he wanted to be at safely. By the end of the night, I was so tired, that I decided to crash at the villa.

I just slept and hoped that the morning was going to be ok. With my back burnt up and the sun blaring into my face, I realized what a great morning it was. As l got ready to go back to our own villa, people were either wandering about or still sleeping in bed. We got back to our villa around mid-morning. I was not really tired at this point so I went to take a dip in the pool. It was extremely refreshing. About lunchtime, Jon, a couple friends and I decided to go out and get some lunch. We went into this local restaurant place and got some food and surprisingly it was really good. And I spent around 2-3 dollars. Pretty cheap eh? We all decided to go shop for some groceries so we stopped at the local supermarket to buy some goods. I needed money so I decided to pull out some cash from the ATM. As I was pulling cash out, there was a taxi that stopped and everyone I was with was like, “Holy shit, its Eric.” When I saw Eric back like we were the first day, I felt a slight jilt of joy in my heart…not in a gay way. It is a figure of speech…come on give me a break. Haha. So then we all just jokingly talked and went around town doing our daily things and about mid-afternoon, we all decided to hang out around the beach. At the beach, the guys decided that we would have a guy’s night out and eat dinner to discuss all the things that has happened and all the things that we plan to do for the rest of the stay in Mauritius. When we were done with dinner, we went back to our villa to get ready for the night. Everyone got home safely that night and all was well.

The morning we had to leave, we cleaned up our whole villa from all the garbage and sand that we left around the area. After we cleaned everything and made sure that everything was tidy and the same way as we left it, we checked out and started our journey back to the MV Explorer. When we got back to Port Louis, we checked back into the ship and showered up to head into town to do some shopping. I bought some souvenirs and decided that I needed to head back to the ship because I was so damn tired. When we all got back to the ship, we blacked out our room and took a long nap. We didn’t wake up until the ship started to sail which was 11 at night.

That about sums up the Mauritius experience. Although there have been a lot of things that happened here in Mauritius, some of the other stories that I left out are better to be told in person. J

2 days from Mauritius

Hey Everybody! Sorry for the hold up, unfortunately Alan and I both forgot to pack a USB cord so we can put our pictures on to our computers. But I bought us one in South Africa! So we are back in business! So far the trip has been unbelievable in countless ways. Our first stop was Puerto Rico and it already feels so long ago! In Puerto Rico I went Kayaking at night through a mangrove to a Bioluminescent Bay. In the bay there were algae that absorb the sun so that when they are afraid they glow bright green as a defense mechanism. It was awesome! As Alan and I dipped the oars of our 2 person kayak into the water it instantly illuminated. After a few days we left for Brazil. When we first arrived to Brazil it was the last 36 hours of Carnival (the biggest party on the planet)! At about 4 A.M. the next day I left for the Amazon. After about 12 hours of traveling the SAS group I was traveling with finally arrived to our Riverboat. Twenty-seven students 2 teachers and 1 lifelong learner lived on a Riverboat traveling up the Amazon while exploring the Rhio Negro, mangroves, indigenous villages, and jungles. We fished for piranhas ( I was the only one who did not catch 1, although I held a bunch and more than I can count stole my bait). We slept in hammocks and while visiting an indigenous village we were challenged to a soccer game. 11 on 11 full field 15 min halves! Two other guys and I were the only ones with soccer experience. I scored a goal and a penalty kick in an OT shoot out. We won in PK’s after tying 3-3. It felt good to play again and it was amazing how in the middle of the Amazon Jungle these villagers not only could play soccer but were good. What was more interesting to me was that these villagers who did not speak 1 word of English (but spoke 7 Indigenous languages) knew everything I was communicating to them on the soccer field. After the game they gave me a Ronhaldino Jersey and named me the MVP. After the Amazon and another 12 hour travel day I was back in Salvador for one last day/night with the boys before 9 days on the ship till South Africa. When we finally got to South Africa we were pumped! South Africa was arguably the best trip of my life. I did a 3 day Safari in Kariega a 1 hour flight and 1 hour bus ride away from Cape Town. I got to see lions, buffalo, giraffes, elephants, and at least 50 other animals within feet in their element. When I was 10 feet from a lion in the wild it was not only amazing and scary but it was defiantly one of the most humbling experiences of my life. The area we stayed was beautiful. There were green mountains, grassland, an infiniti pool, and all you can eat buffet (the good stuff) at every meal. Cape Town was also full of wonders; Table Mountain, Wine lands, Beaches, and Townships. Alan and I visited 3 Townships in Cape Town. We played with kids gave them candy and gifts it was so much fun. The nightlife was intense! Some of the nights in Cape Town will be remembered forever. I know this post is very long but believe me it still leaves a lot out! I hope you all are well!
Love and Miss You all,
Jon

Puerto Rico to South Africa Update

To Friends and Family;

I must say that I am sorry because we haven’t posted anything on our blog yet. The internet is expensive, and I have been just too lazy to write a long blog every port…but since Jon and I felt like we should, here it goes.

Anyway, on a good note, our first port was Puerto Rico. It was such a blast…Although we didn’t do much site seeing; we just got hammered every night. When we first got to port, we literally went from the ship to the first bar we saw and drank until we were drunk. Then we went shopping for a plate for Jon’s family and just wondered around in the city. Then when the sun set, we went out to the local bars and just drank, drank, drank…and drank. You would think that you would be partying with all the locals, but in reality, SAS kids took over the cities. Then the next day, we went to this local restaurant and had some BOMB ASS food…god it was amazing. Jon and I got such good food for such cheap prices. And we had a half pitcher of sangria…oh man it was amazing. It is still hard to grasp the fact that I am legal in all the places we go and I never get carded…damn what a great feeling.

On to Brazil…well this was probably one of the longest journeys on ship. You would think that it was SOO PIMP to just be on a cruise ship for school while all you USD kids are on land walking up that big old hill…but let me tell you. After the first week of school…I was over it. The cruise ship is nice, but I feel like I’m trapped in a closet…So a week or so go by and finally….we arrived in Salvador, Brazil. When I first saw this port, it seemed like and smelled like a hell hole…but to my dismay…it wasn’t really that bad….seriously…We arrived in port around 8 AM and got off around 10. I must say…the streets smell like piss. We first went to the beach area just to walk around and see the sights. It was crazy. People were passed out in the streets and people were busy preparing for carnival…the biggest, most crazy party of the year…The Guinness Book of World Records says that it is even bigger than Marti Grah. So in preparation for Carnival, we decided to have some dinner and some brews. Then on the way up to Carnival, we decided to buy a Bicardi rum and go up with the fifth. But disappointingly we were stopped by five security guards because we weren’t allowed to bring up glass bottles…but then we came up with the idea of putting the rum in our empty beer cans…it sounds like a good idea at first…but let me tell you…it tasted like warm…piss…IT’LL GETCHA…and that was one of the most amazing nights I have ever experience. Millions of people were in the streets just going nuts dancing and Jon and I was just fist pumping the air like no tomorrow. Haha. That was one crazy night. I had another day in Salvador while Jon had to wake up at 1:30 AM to leave on his Amazon Explorer trip. When I came back…he was passed out with Friends on TV. Good thing I was there to wake him up. On my extra day, Henry, a friend I met on the ship had a family friend who wanted to take us out on a boat ride on the bay…and let me say this…It was sick. We went on his private boat and everything. And to top it off, we went to his condo complex and his chef made us bomb ass snacks...amazing stuff along with a couple caparioskas…a local “fufu” drink aka..has like 5 shots with maybe a little bit of fruit juice. All in all it was a pretty good night. I then went to Cachoeira. It was around a 2 hour bus right through Brazil. I was able to see so much of the old town away from the cities. It was an amazing experience. Being able to see a small town with local shops really opened my eyes up. Getting away from the city craziness was also a good switch up because the weeks have been so intense. I really needed a nice break, and this was what I needed. Then when we all came back, I met up with Jon and some friends and we went into the city to just have a last hoo rah…so we decided to buy a fifth of sugar cane rum….the local stuff…and let me tell you….it was the worst thing ever…but hey, it was only 5 reai…which was only 2 dollars…hahaha. Yeah 4 people shared that fifth…and we were hammered…no joke. Then we sailed off to South Africa…what a fucking shit show…hahaha next paragraph…

The ship ride to South Africa is supposedly one of the roughest rides over because it was the Atlantic sea...I was thinking about Titanic or maybe Poseidon. But thankfully, it was only a couple days of rough seas…no biggie. I hit so many walls and fell a couple times, but other than that, nothing really bad happened.

So…after nine long days of sea traveling…we definitely became seamen…haha. Fucking sucked. But seriously…so gay. Now…CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA….wooo woooo. ITS THAT WOOH WOOH…seriously, let me tell you guys. It was by far the best port we have been to so far. The first day was our friend Kevin’s birthday so we went out to a nice African dinner and it was amazing. The food was great, the company was great, and we all just had a blast. We then went to Longstreet which was where shit went down. Jon and I ate so much that night that we could not get drunk…and we had like 25 drinks a person…so….yeah that basically sums up the night. You may think that going on a safari is fucking pimp…and you know what..? IT WAS PIMP. We saw so many animals that I seriously was about to Garfalia all over Jon’s chest. It was soo much fun. The Kariega game reserve was extremely fun. I saw zebras, kudu, ostriches, white rhinos, mad elephants, giraffes, and a bunch of other animals. I have a lot of pictures, but I don’t have the internet time to post them up. Sorry. Then on our last night at the game reserve, we got hammered with the bartender and rangers. Oh boy. Jon and I had a couple shots of some sort of barbed wire alcohol that was 100% proof and no joke…there was barb wire all around the bottle…we then had some bushmen’s balls and some springbuck. The bushman’s ball had some weird liquor in it, some baileys, and 2 drops of chocolate liquor and that was what made the balls come down. It was tight. Springbuck was half Bailey’s and half peppermint liquor. It tasted like mint chocolate chips. HAHA. Then our friend bought 6 six packs of beer and we jumped into an infiniti pool and drank all of them...The pool was fucking cold. Ice cold. Then we got back home…Then that night we went out to a fancy dinner and it was oh my god, the best food I have ever had in South Africa. I had Chateaubriand which was 5 slices of steak on top of caramelized mushrooms with a red wine sauce…and it only cost 30 dollars…It could possibly be one of the best things I have eaten in South Africa. The next day we went to a township which was where all the black population lived at. We went there and visited a primary school (elementary school) and we had these little kids sing us songs. It was tight…We then had this nasty local beer that was disgusting. IT takes three days to brew…It was sour and just gave me the shits…hahah…we got to stay in Cape Town for another night because we were delayed due to the thick fog. We had 0 feet of visibility.

And so….we are on our way to Mauritius. Hope all of you out there back home are doing well. Enjoy the blog. I wanted to show you a picture here as a tease but the internet is really gay, ill try later. Enjoy …by the way, we just hit a big swell…the whole ship shook…

-Alan

Some pictures of the two of us...CHYEA

Pre-Trip Part 2

Hello Everyone,

For the most part, I shall start this blog by saying that I am currently in San Diego on intersession taking managerial accounting and Jon is in Jersey being a champ. He will be in the Bahamas on January 20th and I shall be going down to meet up with him on the 22nd. And then January 23rd is when this crazy, wacky, and intense journey shall start. For now, we are trying spice up this blog a bit for viewers' pleasure. And thats about it.

Enjoy and look forward to new posts as this journey begins.


-Alan

Pre-Trip

Hey Everyone,
This blog is a place for all freinds, family, and or other acquaintances to reach Alan and Myself. Feel free to post comments and check up on our latest postings (however they might be few and far bewteen). We will try to use this as the first place we will look in terms of communication with all of you (since internet usage is limited aboard the ship). We look foward to hearing from all of you throughout our journey!
Jon and Alan