Mauritius

In Mauritius we saw some pretty cool yellow, red and almost pinkish birds.

And we went snorkeling. I saw starfish while we were snorkeling. And they were really small and black. We also saw a clump of seaweed with barnacles on it, that mom thought was a squid.

We also went to a tea factory and we went to a sugar museum and tasted different types of sugar.

The darkest one tasted terrible. It tasted like something gone rotten. I liked the one that was brownish and the most solid.

[Sugar Tasting]

I am keeping a tea leaf right now and it is already shriveled. In the tea factory, first they take the tea leaves and dry them for 24 hours.

Then they bring them over to a place where they grind them up. Then, they heat them up in a heater. Then they take out the veins by using static electricity.

Then they package them by hand and by machine, too.

Cape Town, South Africa

We went to South Africa. We had fun. We saw this coca-cola man, made out of coca-cola boxes.

The big thing to see is Table Mountain, and its tablecloth, which is really clouds sweeping over the edge.

I got some good books about cats called Warriors.

And we went to the aquarium in Cape Town and there was a tank that you could crawl underneath and you would practically be right underneath all the fish and they would be swimming around you. It was cut out and there were fish sitting on top of you. Just kidding! They were swimming on top of the glass on top of you.

I saw Seal Island. It was really just a bunch of rocks that had a million seals sitting on top, and swimming too.

I saw box jellyfish swimming outside the ship. Sorry, but I missed the picture of Wolfie in Cape Town.

We saw baboons and an ostrich farm.

And also we saw penguins. :)

Ghana!!!

We are in Ghana now. We arrived in Ghana yesterday morning and then we went on a bus ride to slave castles.
Offerings to those who died. One of them is from Obama (the President).

In the slave castle they had a magazine that had bats in it (real bats). Here is the video of the bats. [Be patient--the videos will take a couple minutes to load].



Then we ate lunch at a hotel by the beach called Coconut Grove. I met a bug named Fred there. He was fuzzy. Here are some videos of the dancers at the hotel.





Then we went to another slave castle, then went back to the ship, then went to sleep, then woke up early in the moring and went to the market. These are fish in the market.

These are hand-made soaps made from cocoa-pods [also sold in the public market].

Morocco

We were in Morocco. We took the train to the Marrakesh and I became friends with a little girl from Morocco.

In Marrakesh there were people carrying boxes with about a million chickens inside.


There were snake charmers. We got a picture of Dad with a snake around his neck. There were cobras, too.
We had fun swimming in the hotel. The pool had green tiles. I liked the hotel.

At the hotel there was a fountain made of marble that was always spurting out water, even in the middle of the night. People turned on the lights in the pool at nighttime.

[Our hotel in the Medina in Marrakesh]

We visited an old school that used to have students in it, but it was so old that nobody uses it anymore. [It was an old Madersa or Pesantren for studying Islam, and exceptionally beautiful--KA].
This is what a student's room looked like. [These are all things a student brought with them when living at the Madersa--KA].

These are cats that are very hungry. But the guy is not paying any attention to them. He is paying attention to the customers.

These guys are selling snails. (Poor snails!). :(

Spain

[Wolfie in the port of Cadiz, Spain]

We were in Cadiz, Spain and we drove to Arcos de la Frontera, a white village, and then to Granada, a city.

Right now my dad is watching TV. Even if you have cable, you wouldn't reach this channel because it shows a meeting on the ship. Only a few hours until we're in Morocco.

In Spain there were a lot of tourists and cheap but fake flamenco dresses.

[Danielle & her dad in Arcos]

[Danielle & her mom admiring the view from Arcos]
[A white village]

They have a really good lemon drink called limon KAS. Spain was great, but it wasn't as exciting as Halifax, Canada (FRED--the Halifax public bus).

In the Alhambra there was a bunch of cool stuff. Here are the pictures.









[Danielle takes a rest in one of the Alhambra courtyards]

[Wolfie enjoying the balcony view from our Granada hotel]

WOLFIE AROUND THE WORLD (This is a new title)

We are on a ship and are going around the world. I decided to make a blog where I show Wolfie in every country we go to, wearing different clothes made out of paper and holding the flag of that place. Get ready for Wolfie's appearance.

Being on the ship is so awesome because there are so many kids on board and there is a school where you do your homework. The waiters at the cafeteria are REALLY nice!!!!


This is Wolfie in Halifax, Canada.


Although it [Halifax] was more boring than I expected, FRED (which means Free Rides Everywhere Downtown) was a really funny name for a bus. FRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was a place that had statues of mermaids and pirates that were supposed to go on the front of a ship.

Although it wasn't as snowy as it looks in the picture [of Wolfie], that's because my blog entry was a little bit late. But the leaves were starting to fall from the trees when I got there. I will write a bit but, you should look forward to the next port which is in Spain.



[Above: Views from our cabin in Halifax--fog on the 1st day, sun on the 2nd]

[Above: Danielle at Halifax's historic Citadel]

[Above: Danielle with Scottish regiment member at Halifax's historic citadel]

PART II. Semester At Sea Voyage Around the World

1. After a year back in Chicago, we are on the road again. This section is Danielle's record of our current trip. -KMA