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We are finally home after spending 48 hours in airports and planes. The flight home was quite a harrowing experience and an adventure in itself since we had 4 connecting flights before reaching LAX, our final destination.

During the Dubai--> San Francisco plane portion of the trip, an older man made the mistake of sneaking a smoke in the bathroom. Understandably, if you have any sort of chronic addiction, a 17 hour flight will get the best of you. Needless to say, it didn't turn out too favorably for this old guy because he didn't quite understand English, none of the attendants could speak his language, so no one could convey to him that smoking had been forbidden on plane rides since the 80s. He started to cause quite a scene. so along with the burly male flight attendants, the plane marshal was summoned and the man was forcefully handcuffed to his seat. For the remaining 6 hours of the flight, he would get hysterical and at some point started spitting on his neighbors and plane officials, so they muzzled him with a face mask and he spent the rest of the flight sandwiched between the marshal and the male attendants. When we landed, ground officers came onboard to arrest him before the rest of us could deplane. Entertaining? Yes. Appreciated? No.

We then missed our connecting flight from San Francisco--> LAX because we spent too much time waiting for our backpacks,one of which never showed up and is currently still missing. Thankfully we were put on another flight 2 hours later but after we finally boarded, the brakes were problematic so everyone had to deplane and wait for another plane.

I could definetely do without seeing the inside of a plane/airport for a while, thank you very much.

Anyways, we are home and happy to exploit the comforts of a westernized country.
Thanks for reading! Jason has posted our pics at www.flickr.com/photos/ruchbum

Mt. Kilimanjaro

We did it, we climbed and climbed and climbed for, literally, days and we reached the summit. I dont think I've properly digested the past 5 days to give an accurate and wholesome recap of our latest adventure (and i'm worried that the bad internet is going to shut me off before i finish), so i'll wait until we have better access and more clarity.

All I can say is that climbing this mountain was THE hardest, most challenging physical, mental and emotional journey of my life. and that is an understatement. Our wonderful group of 6 all reached the summit and i think at some point, each of us broke down and cried. its hard to explain, but i'm so proud.

A close encounter at the Greatest Shoal on Earth

Close encounter with whale, originally uploaded by jasonwmak.

We booked a trip to witness the annual sardine run in South Africa six months prior. It was by far one of our pricier excursions but we were too curious to pass on the opportunity to witness one of nature’s great events. To summarize, the sardine run occurs along the cape of Africa when seasons change and sardines migrate north to warmer waters. This mass migration of sardines makes for an annual feeding frenzy for the Indian ocean’s marine life including copper sharks, dolphins, seals, Brudas whales, and gannots (sea birds) to name those we witnessed.

We booked a flight from Capetown into Durban and with our Chevrolet Spark in tow, we made the five hour drive through Transkei to Port St. John, a small tribal village that relies on the two week long sardine run for their annual tourism income. The drive itself was through African townships and the famous Transkei Big Five. Not to be confused with the African Big five (lion, leopard, water buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant), the Transkei Big Five is less glamorous: dead goats, dogs, cows, donkeys, and chickens. We saw plenty of them all splattered the along the pot-holed roads as we made our way over endless hill and hills before finally seeing the ocean.

Our skipper Carl and dive master (and cook) Allen were typical South African dudes, friendly guys, always drinking and joking around. After dinner, we booked to bed early to get ready for a big day out to see. Supposedly the last 5 days were storm-ridden and our first day would be the first day that anyone would be out in the ocean.

At 6AM we climbed into our damp wetsuits and drove down to the riverbed where we would load our dive boat and launch to sea. Cold and miserable were an understatement. We sat in the boat freezing all the while being sprayed by the cold ocean and feeling nauseous from the rocky sea. Carl circled around for a few minutes in the riverbed before launching to sea. Apparently, this is the most challenging part of the launch: to get to sea we must negotiate dangerous waves and currents that could easily flip our boat. That day we were the first of only four boats to make it out to sea. After watching Carl steer our ship past the crashing waves, we offered him a round of applause and then the hunt began.

The search begins by looking for large colonies of gannots (sea birds) who follow pods of dolphins from above. These gannots will take us to the action. On the way, we begin to see dolphins jumping out of the water and we know we are getting close. However, after a few hours of watching birds and dolphins and the occasional whale surface (a majestic sight in itself), no sardines yet. By this time, Jennifer was shivering with cold and I was nauseous with sea sickness; it was beginning to feel miserable.

Then all of the sudden the gannots circling the air began to kamikaze bomb straight into the water like heat-seeking missles and the water surface begins to glisten with fish and dolphins. Our skipper yells at us to get our equipment on. He pulls us straight up to the “bait ball” and we jump into the water.

A mad frenzy ensues underwater and we are there to witness everything through the lens of our dive masks. Sardines have been coraled into tight balls and trapped to the surface of water by cunning pods of dolphins who easily snatch them up with their sharp mouths. Beneath the surface we can hear the squeals of the dolphins as they communicate with each other. At the same time the gannots dive-bomb into the water to get their shares. Some unlucky divers accidentally get smacked by the gannots. Looking down: all I see are dozens of gannots swimming underwater trying to hunt down any available sardines before re-surfacing for air, who said birds can’t swim. Ten feet below, I spot a copper shark and look up at my dive buddy Harvey. I grab him and yell “watch out, shark below!”. He replies “no shit, there are dozens of them down there.” I look down and realize that indeed we are swimming with sharks. Fortunately for us, only sardines are on the menu today. We keep our fist clenched so our fingers don’t get confused. The frenzy continues for over 15 minutes, dissipating when the sardines escape and reappearing when the dolphins coral another ball up. Then all the sudden from deep below, a whale appears and swims right below my fins. All I remember our the deep blue gills and the humongous tail of this 15 meter long mammal. This three second encounter literally took my breath away and had me happy for the day. Seeing such a large mammal up close was simply beautiful.

The bbq and beer was plentiful that night as we celebrated the “hottest action” our skipper, Carl, had seen in 10 years of doing this.


The next morning was colder but I armed myself with four motion-sickness tablets and Jennifer borrowed a big coat. The waves were even bigger today and our skipper ordered the scuba gear off the boat to save weight and make our boat quicker. We spent 20 minutes circling on the riverbed this time and we feared that we wouldn’t be able to make it out to sea. Thankfully our skipper found a gap and in a few minutes were cruising again, searching for dolphins and gannots.

About fifteen minutes searching for sardines, the gannots began falling from the sky again and so we scurried into the water. This time, the dolphins were going crazy and the sharks were getting closer to us, snapping blindly for sardines. Pods of five dolphins swimming around us, furiously taking in as many sardines as they can. Our team was elated by all the action and Jennifer said a shark swam right up to my fin. We surfaced and screamed in joy (or fear) as we were seeing even “hotter action” than the day before. I swam up to Jennifer and all of the sudden a whale barreled right in between us, knocking Jennifer on her back. I caught a bit of this encounter on video but mostly all you can see is the huge whale swimming by and hear all the “oh shits” by the divers. I think our skipper caught this close encounter I don’t know if I was scared or excited at this close encounter with the whale but looking back it was just awesome. Later on skipper said that had he known a whale would come so close, he wouldn’t have let us in the water. The rest of the day was spent witnessing more gannots, seals, and a few more dolphins. It was a short morning but unbelievable. A close encounter we will not forget!

The last two days were slow. Not much action. The sardine run only last for a few weeks each year and supposedly didn’t even happen in the last two years. Jennifer and I got so lucky to catch the two hottest days of the year so far and seeing all the action up close. Please check out our pictures, I’m sure they’ll take your breath away…

www.flickr.com/photos/ruchbum

The ocean's most dangerous predator

Great White Shark, originally uploaded by john white photos.

What is the ocean's most dangerous predator? Actually, it is rubbish. yes, plastic bags and human garbage kill more sea ecosystems and wildlife than great white sharks every year.

Anyways, today, Jennifer and i spent the day in Gaansbai where we got to go cage diving with the great white sharks (note, that is not my picture, but one borrowed from John White of flickr). We met the Animal Planet's Sharkman, John Rutson. In fact, John and many people at the dive shop and crew remembered Jennifer from 5 years ago when she did her research out in Gansbaii. They were all really nice and gave us a huge discount on diving, free gifts, and good times.

Anyways, the dive was pretty awesome. We pretty much get taken 20 mins off the coast and then get dropped into a steel cage. Then the shark crew throw "chum" and huge fish into the water to lure the great white sharks in for our viewing. It was pretty exciting and we were within a few feet of sharks measuring over 10 feet long.

On a side not, after the shark viewing, the entire boat got to view a very exciting yack show. Yes, I entertained the whole boat on our ride back to town by vomitting 4 times off the side of the boat. For some reason I coudln't find my sea legs and hold breakfast down. It was quite a sight and even two motion sickness pills couldn't help me. I hope this won't kill me during the Sardine run.

anyways, i will post our own actual pics from the shark dive and South Africa on our flickr soon so keep on checking..

www.flickr.com/photos/ruchbum

Hope everyone is doing well at home

Lemur watching in Madagascar

Caught looking, originally uploaded by jasonwmak.

We just finished a one week tour of Antanarivo, Madagascar. The country was suprisingly developed as it was once a French colony. Jennifer and I had to get by on some broken French for a few days but it was fine. I think we were both pretty worn out after India so we didn't talk to many locals anyways.

The one highlight of going to Madagascar was to see the lemurs (pictured). These are monkey-like specimens that are indigenous to the island. Contrary to what I thought earlier, Madagascar doesn't have lions, zebras, and other "big 5" animals as shown in the Disney movie "Madagascar". These little lemurs were the most exotic creatures there. Nevertheless, they were really cool. During our hike, we caught a family of lemur mid-howling. Their screeching was very loud and intimidating.

We are in South Africa now. This is our 2nd time here and Capetown has become even more developed since our trip here in 2003. We spent one day in a shopping mall just getting back to some 1st world conveniences. It's also winter here so we had to go to the local department store to buy some warm clothes. The real treat was watching a movie in the movie theatre. How nice it was to sit in a nice cushy chair and watch Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe run around for 2 hours. Nevertheless, we feel refreshed and ready to finish our last month travelling in Africa.

2nd time in India

City View from the City Palace, originally uploaded by jasonwmak.

I thought I'd give Jennifer a break from blogging and chime in with my report of my 2nd trip to India. Five years ago, I came to India with Bobby. India chewed us up and spit us out and we vowed never to return. Jennifer has always wanted to come to India, so as a dutiful husband, I decided that I would return to India's touts, scorching weather, poo poo streets, and urine stenched glory. One of my big goals this time was to "unpeel the onion". Every traveler we have talked to about India has said it was "amazing" and "unreal"; I too wanted to seek out this exotic and magical India that everyone raves about.

So far, the trip has been quite mixed. Our first stop in Goa was not too spectacular. The low season in Goa is barren, dirty, hot, and smelly; for the first time in our trip, we yearned to surround ourselves with Western tourists.

Mumbai was a little better. A nice driver took us to visit the slums so we could relieve Dev Patel's "Slumdog Millionaire" and Jennifer enjoyed some shopping in the trendy (even by Western standards) Colaba district.

Delhi welcomed us with scorching heat (46 degrees fahrenheit) and Indian touts. A visit to Old Delhi really wore us down. Thankfully, we discovered Khan Market, the Delhi hangout for Indian yuppies and expats. Sometimes, it's nice to hang with the regular locals, yes those that have white collar jobs, cars, and flatscreen TVs. We must remember that not everyone in India walks around with a turban and eats with their hands. A day trip to Agra let Jennifer say "been there done that" to the Taj Mahal. I was surprised to see how much the local government regulated the touts. There is now considerably less touting and better tourist services for foreigners in most tourist attractions in India.

The last week has been spent caravaning across Rajasthan, the India state known for it's vast deserts, forts, and mosques. Most these forts overlooked wonderful shanty towns that looked charming from above but were littered with cowpies at groud-level.

Our first stop, Udaipur was a nice surprise. Our hosts at the Tiger Hotel welcomed us as their only customers for three nights and we enjoyed roti, curries, and daal (chickpea mush) on rooftop restaurants every night overlooking the city. It was also this time where we received the sad news that my Aunt in Taiwan lost her battle with cancer so we spent the days less active and remembering her good character.

Our next stop Jodhpur reminded me of Jaipur, a large city, a dump, with a large fort. We took an unpleasant 5 hour bus and got stuck by a rickshaw driver in a crappy hotel. I think Jennifer was getting a little homesick at this time so we were quick to make Jodhpur a fading memory.

The next day we recruited our spunky driver, Sanjay, to take us to Jaisalamer. Our trip ride was hugely entertaining. Sanjay was a feisty father of 4 who enjoyed Indian hip hop and bungra dancing. Throughout the 5 hour car ride, he entertained us with shaking shoulders, waving hands, and his Indian trance/rave/bungra music....even when we were trying to sleep or read. Finally, we made it into Jaisalemer and turned up into our beautiful hotel inside the actual fort and overlooking the city. What a great find! We are living out of a scene of Aladdin. Thankfully, Jaisalmer is a smaller town which translates into less touts and more sincere people...this has been very welcoming.

Today Jennifer and I went on a camel safari and ate dinner in the desert with the local people. Our camels, Badu and Moinka, had the unfortunate task of hauling us up and down sand dunes through the hot day and at night. The desert people were really poor and really put in perspective our good our lives back home are. We also met a very interesting family from Arizona. The Cohen's stand 5 strong and are taking a year off from work and school to travel. What a cool family....they are fallowing a similar itinerary as us, but they have also been through mainland China and will be hitting up Europe and South America as well. Jennifer and I were all too glad to hear some American voices and glad we ran into such a cool family.

Tomorrow we head back up to Delhi (via an overnight sleeper train) and wrap up India. Next up, Africa...this will be a challenge but I do foresee many cool pictures and stories to tell.

I hope everyone is doing well back at home.

Jason

Udaipur, Rajasthan

Indian moustache, originally uploaded by jasonwmak.

Greetings from Udaipur, located in the central state of Rajasthan. Udaipur has been heralded as the "Venice of India" because of its famous Lake Pichola but the water has been missing for 2 years due to poor monsoon rain fall. Luckily, the city has still retained much of its charm due to a few beautifully bejewled palaces and temples. Also, its fairly underdeveloped and untouched by western modernization so you can get a nice sleepy feel for Old World India.

The gentleman in the picture is sporting the classic Rajasthan-y moustache which, as he proudly informed us, takes 30 minutes each morning to recreate. Among styling cream and gel, this creation is held up by spit and butter, yes, butter. He was such a jolly fellow (a minority in this country, it seems) and was quite happy to have his portrait taken. I love hiim!

Tomorrow we are off to Jodhpur, home to more forts and searing temperatures.

- Jennifer