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Editor's note: Videographer Sony Stark has embarked on a world tour aboard the MV Explorer to make a documentary about Semester At Sea, a program of the Institute for Shipboard Education. She writes:
"For almost 12 years I've had a steady paycheck, dependable health benefits, yearly bonuses, seniority, a company car and 5 weeks vacation.
But three short weeks ago I said 'goodbye' to all of that, including my family, friends, and mortgage payment, and 'hello' to traveling around the world by ship.
I traded in a perfectly stable world for 100 days in 10 countries; Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan, and Hawaii.
It sounds crazy and foolhardy but here's the rationale: it's all free! In return, my mission is to shoot a 2-hour documentary of 750 American students learning about global interdependence.
The program is called Semester at Sea - an onboard educational curriculum sponsored by the
University of Pittsburgh. Faculty, staff, students and crew cohabitate for 3 months aboard the MV Explorer, the fastest passenger vessel in the world, designed specifically for student life and learning opportunities.
As they say, it's a chance of a lifetime, so what kind of "gonomad" would I be if I said no to that?
After each country I'll report in with a small summary about the people and places I experienced. It should be interesting... provided I don't get any of those ugly illnesses everyone keeps warning me about - malaria, typhoid, yellow fever, hepatitis, meningitis, etc, etc, etc...."
First Stop: Venezuela
By Sony Stark
Venezuela is a land of superlatives. I just experienced the tallest
waterfalls in the world (Angel Falls), the longest tunnel in the
country (Boqueron tunnel) and the world's best cacao beans, also known
as chocolate.
Sadly, though, increasing economic desperation in the
capital City of Caracas is the first impression you'll see driving into
Venezuela. Terracotta slums or shanties called ranchos flank the
overpopulated slopes of the Andes Mountains that surround the city.
Tragic Mudslides
In 1999 Avila Mountain, one of the highest, experienced horrific
mudslides that killed some 80,000 people in barrios or neighborhoods.
The devastation is still visible and many businesses and property
owners have yet to be compensated.
One of my tour guides described
how he fought to keep his sister and her kids alive that day but sadly
failed. Poverty is everywhere and many people blame President Hugo Chavez for corruption and nepotism. His programs
boast reform for the poor and restoring law and order, but many locals
say that his words have proven to be rhetoric. It's hard to gauge who is
right.
The city streets of the Las Mercedes district, in downtown Caracus, are
like tentacles that wind themselves around moderately priced
restaurants, Catholic churches, lush centros or plazas, and stone
monuments. Despite the delicious traditional Spanish cuisine and
friendly folk, in two days, I'm ready to escape all the noise, fumes
and litter. I decide Angel Falls and Canaima is the best place to
experience nature.
Angel Falls
Angel Falls is the 8th greatest wonder of the world and its vaulting
beauty is best seen from a 19-seater turbo prop plane. The aerial
video footage I shot will likely be one of the best highlights of a
documentary I'm producing.
Angel Falls was discovered by a maverick
ex-Canadian Air Force pilot named Jimmy Angel. He crashed his bush
plane near the falls in the 1937 while searching for gold.
Visitors can
backpack the verdant jungles to see the falls from the ground but be
aware it's an arduous trek rife with mosquitos and small midges. The
plane circles Angel Falls and surrounding tepuys or table-top plateaus
and starts its descent into Canaima National Park.
Access Denied
Thrill and
excitement quickly turns to confusion and frustration. My
professional video camera had been denied access at the Pantheon
National House and National Museum in Caracus so I'm not surprised when
authorities question my presence in the exclusive UNESCO world heritage
site.
But try as I might to convince them of my benign intentions,
they still manage to confiscate my professional Betacam. This, of
course, angers and embarrasses me but only until another tourist offers
me his smaller consumer-quality camera for documenting. The quality
isn't as good but at least it's something.
It doesn't make any sense
that one camera should be allowed over another and I blame it on the
sensitive political climate between America and Venezuela right now.
Later I'm told that even Steven Spielberg had problems wanting to shoot
Jurassic Park here so that mitigates my crisis.
Plush Comforts
My folly is long forgotten as soon as I step foot into the plush
comforts of my cottage cabin at Waku Lodge. Waku Lodge has about 15
posadas topped with thatch roofs, swinging hammocks and marble
facilities. There are howler monkeys that roam freely and enjoy
burrowing in my hair and singing in my ear.
Indescribable Beauty
The area is a haven for
canoe trips across the Carrao River into the pink lagoons that face
that El Hacha Falls. This vantage point offers the best photography
when the waterfalls are running at their highest (June-December).
My guide hikes us up a mountain pass into a swath of savannah and
ancient mesa mountains.
Wild orchids are growing everywhere -
the official flower of Venezuela. There are panoramic views of
indescribable beauty here. I long to stay longer but my guide assures
me that what's ahead trumps anything I've ever experienced. He's
right.
Under El Hacha Falls
A narrow pathway underneath, let me repeat that - underneath -
the waterfalls turns out to be the thrill of a lifetime. Rushing
waters in all directions at decibels louder than LAX airport smash down
on bedrock below. At one end of the falls, the energy and speed of
the water is harnessed for electricity for a community of 1,000
local inhabitants.
The Lost World
My tour guide, Miguel Canepa
of Canaima Tours shares his plans for a mountain bike rental shop
and excursions up and around the area. If you're there in 2006, look for
the name of his pending business, "Trails of the Lost World." He
adopted the name from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's adventure novel set in Canaima.
Bring several
pairs of extra sneakers, bandages and bug repellent because you will
get wet, you will slip and you will get eaten by bugs. Malaria
medication is a nice precaution but not absolutely necessary.
Sony Stark is a videographer, editor, and travel writer.
MORE ABOUT THE MV EXPLORER: The state-of-the-art MV Explorer serves as a fully functional university campus that includes six passenger decks, nine classrooms, a library, a computer lab with internet access, a student union, a campus store, two dining rooms, swimming pool, and a fitness center.
The MV Explorer is a 24,300-ton motor vessel with a length of 590 feet, beam of 84 feet and a draft of 24 feet.
Built in 2002 by Blohm & Voss shipbuilders in Germany, it is billed as the fastest passenger ship afloat today with a cruising speed of 28 knots.
SEMESTER AT SEA continues a tradition of shipboard education dating back to 1926 when the S.S. Ryndam set sail from Hoboken, New Jersey with a full quota of 504 students and a faculty of 63.
The ship covered 41,000 miles and visited thirty-five countries and more than ninety cities, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Columbo, Bombay, Haifa, Venice, Gibraltar, Lisbon, and Oslo.
