that is why we need to travel.
if we don't offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull. our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. our eyes don't lift to the horizon; our ears don't hear the sounds around us. the edge is off our experience, and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. we wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days. don't let yourself become one of those people
kent nerburn, letters to my son


these last six months (can you believe it's gone by so quickly?!) have been marked by a lot of traveling, exploring, adventure-seeking. my journey's taken me to five countries (france, south africa, botswana, zambia, zimbabwe).. soon to be seven (swaziland and kenya). the theme of my travels? as my african literature lecturer spoke about recently, "magical realism". i am learning to breathe deeply, to shed some layers of this new-york-cynic pachydermata as i seek out the magic in life. (an art which has been graciously passed down to me..)

here's a taste (photo recap) of the magic:


1February (back to week one) table mountain group hike: 1-2 hiking through the clouds // 3 drinking fresh mountain spring water // 4 team north face // 5 reservoir at the top // 6 mountain goat-ing // 7 interstudy crossing table mountain // 8 on top of the world! // 9-12 the view on the (exceedingly bumpy) way down


24-25February UCT mountain & ski club! ceres valley hiking trip: 1-2 sunrise/sunset // 3 swimming hole at the peak // 4, 8, 12: dam-diving (30+ ft!) // 5 early morning sunlight // 6 & 10 pretty flowers // 7 graham, me, erin wining & dining (dried fruit & crackers) // 9 fire-scorched protea // 11 redrock


24March interstudy stellenbosch trip (nothing like 60 college kids and a ton of wine): 1-4 playing in the grass at spier wine estate // 5 the magars honeymoon in stellenbosch // 6 .. i ended up wine-soaking everyone in a 5ft radius in an attempt to "aerate the wine" // 7 tom & noah honeymoon in stellenbosch // 8 & 12 hi noah! // 9 vino love // 10-11 bijul, julia, me.. it took a couple tries to get this right



31March-10April semester break 2007, overland african adventure

lots of time spent on the overland truck: 1 passed by lots of fields // 2-4 with incredible open skies overhead // 5 elephant on the side of the road! // 6-7 surreal landscapes // 8 sunrise // 9 field of sunflowers // 10-11 sunsets // 12 overland truck at campsite


2April, camping in the okavango delta: 1 makoros at the campsite // 2-3 welcome to africa // 4 un-real sunsets // 5 me & amelia after an intense game of water-lilly // 6 aaand this is why i am so tan // 7 with our makoro polers/guides // 8 little earth & me // 9 blue skies outside our tent // 10 family portrait // 11-12 more makoros


3April, cruising the delta in a dug-out canoe: 1 & 5, 4, 10, 12 more un-real sunsets // 2 makoros // 3 botswanan poler // 6 carrying straw to bed the makoros // 7 & 11 water lillies // 8 hippo-view of the delta // 9 windows desktop picture?


3April, early morning and late afternoon game walks to stalk animals: 1-2 sunrise // 3 storks and african fish eagle // 4-5 baobabs.. upside-down tuber trees // 6 & 10 our awesome guide kapinga // 7 elephant! // 8 walking single file through the delta // 9 us and kapinga // 11 lion print! // 12 TIA


5April, sunset cruise in chobe national park: 1 african fish eagle // 2 view of the river // 3 elephants! // 4 & 8 more unbelievable sunsets (recurring theme on our trip) // 5 kudu? // 6-7, 9-10, 12 elephant herd drinking at the river // 11 the view


6April, game drive in chobe national park, just before i got hit by a serious case of the plague (dysentery? food poisoning?): 1 vultures waiting... // 2 elephant crossing // 3 look at the colours of that bird! // 4 & 8 sunrise on the river // 5 water buffalo // 6 hippo! // 7 buck/bok // 9 more river // 10-11 safari vehicle // 12 another bokie


7April, made the world's quickest recovery in time to go to zim! 1 zim flag at vic falls hotel // 2, 5, 7 victoria falls // 3 & 6 a lot of border crossing // 4 & 8 zimbabwe market, where bartering became a new sport // 9 me & amelia // 10 heading to the falls // 11 getting soaked off of the spray // 12 making friends at the market


8April and this is how i celebrated easter.. 1-2 bridge between zambia and zimbabwe // 3, 7, 11 craziest thing i've ever done // 4 view of the gorge // 5-6, 9-10 getting tied up (we didnt see out bungee cord until we were on our way up) // 8 free-falling // 12 getting pulled back up after a forever-long wait


8April zambezi sunset cruise 1-2 welcome aboard the african queen // 3 date for the evening // 4 open bar // 5 earth & me // 6 lindsay, my tent-buddy! // 7 sunset on the zambezi // 8 nick & me // 9 me with a 225lb grown-ass man // 10-12 amazing


21April UCT habitat for humanity, muizenberg cobb house build (an earth-friendly house built with all environmentally-friendly materials): 1 tossing mud balls // 2 sweet views // 3 & 7 mixing sand and mud with our feet // 4 group shot // 5 amelia & me // 6 mud ball hoard - ammunition! // 8-11 cobb house being built // 12 earthy kids of the home-owners playing in the dirt


21April eek es stormer! try! stomers vs new zealand rugby game: 1 amelia, me, noah // 2 this is why those rugby shorts are so heavy-duty // 3-4 stadium lights // 5 cecil love // 6-8, 12 stormers fans // 9-11 scrum!


28April xcape art bus tour - city centre, stellenbosch, khayelitsha: 1-3 castle of good hope // 4 & 9 outside SA art museum // 5-8 view from lookout point, khayelitsha // 10-12 being artsy fartsy


12May UCT habitat for humanity, mfuleni township foundation build: 1-2 group picture // 3 the house next door to our build site // 4 & 8 babies just chillin // 5 the colors of mfuleni // 6 me & gail // 7 bundled up // 9 gail & bijul // 10 a king on his throne // 11-12 mixing cement by hand, in the street

always a favorite, camps bay beach: 1 amelia & julia // 2-4 twelve apostles and victoria road // 5 whiffen! // 6 summer love // 7 "IT'S MY SWIMSUIT!" -emily lapointe // 8 nicolas! // 9 em and laura taking on the waves in the ice-cold atlantic // 10 jump laura! // 11-12 beauty


oh, the midnight magic of long street: 1 lion's head at night, on the way to city centre // 2 & 4 me and b // 3 me & erin // 5 earth & magar // 6 earth, me, noah, bijul // 7-8 cape town festival: dancing in the rain in the middle of long st // 9 hug it out // 10-11 can't end the night without a falafel w/ my favorite fatty // 12 peace be da journey!


lion's head hike (5 times over!), my favorite thing to do in cape town: 1-4 view of the city, devils peak, table mountain, 12 apostles.. amaaazing // 5-6 on the way up // 7-8 at the top! 20March w/ cameroonies and georgy and 13April cecil wollmunster love // 9-10 sunset from the peak // 11-12 city (of almost-blinding) lights


uct campus is SO MUCH prettier than you! 1-4 views of jammie hall and our ivy-covered buildings w/ devil's peak looming overhead // 5-8 the reward of climbing uphill to campus // 9 & 11 cecil rhodes memorial, overlooking the city // 10 walking home // 12 jammie hall at night


surfing at muizenberg (wetsuit love): 1 me & nick // 2 noah, me, andrew, tom // 3 andrew & harry // 4 tom, me, andrew // 5 em & amelia heading into the waves // 6 me & amelia // 7-8 muizenberg beach // 9 boys and boards // 10 superheroes // 11 i'll take a 7'6" // 12 tomas!


end-of-summer days at sea point: 1 i like these colours // 2 wind-blown 90degree trees! (or, em is scarily strong) // 3 em & me // 4 seaside // 5 by the sea point pool // 6 & 10 off the high dive! // 7-8 pool fun // 9 noah, me, em, andrew // 11 cool kids // 12 prettiest public pool ever?


didn't realize how much baking i'd be doing in africa, but with eight hungry, baked-good-loving housemates, i churn out cookies/cupcakes quite regularly: 1 & 5 happy birthday harry! // 2-3 mmm chocolate frosting (poo from heaven) // 4 smarties segregated for smarties cookies! // 6 caramel-y cake // 7 cupcake CONE! so freaking cute! // 8 & 12 tom's WILD 21st! // 9-10 100's and 1000's // 11 pink for a princess


magic in the everyday: 1-4 rooftops on my walk home // 5 soccer pitch near our house // 6 palm tree love // 7-9, 11-12 the bio-diversity is out of control (anthro/eco parallels in cape town?) // 10 lover's walk on the way to rondebosch


devil's peak backed by blue, cloudy, sunset, sun-ray, fire-explosion and cotton candy skies - still in awe of devil's peak magic, every time. i won't ever get sick of this view.

traveling for me has not been limited to the physical act of "going from one place to another" (thank you dictionary.com) really long plane/bus rides, almost-as-equally-long waits for the university jammie (shuttle) and lazy days at the beach have whetted my voracious appetite for books. books, as we all know, are (or, have a huge potential to be) pure magic. worlds and worlds at your fingertips. i've noticed that my reading selection has very much reflected the nature of the ever-changing landscape of my last few months.

so, if you're stuck somewhere and itching to travel, live vicariously and stumble into some magical worlds.
read with me, i'd love a traveling buddy.

books read:
spilling open by sabrina ward harrison; collector of treasures by bessie head; maps by nuruddin farah; you can't get lost in cape town by zoe wicomb; disgrace by j.m. coetzee; to every birth its blood by mongane serote; ways of dying by zakes mda; the end of poverty by jeffrey sachs; purple hibiscus by chimamanda ngozi adichie; beasts of no nation by uzodinma iweala; letters on life by rainer maria rilke; down 2nd avenue by es'kia mphahlele; things fall apart by chinua achebe; no longer at ease by chinua achebe; so long a letter by mariama ba; whiteman by tony d'souza; the restless supermarket by ivan vladislavic

and for the next couple months i have:
what is the what by dave eggers; what's so amazing about grace by philip yancey; the power of one by bryce courtenay; traveling mercies by anne lamott

exactly one more month of cape town countdowns
[including a special-guest appearance by mommy&daddy shieh and miss jessica lee (!!!!!!!!!!), a trip to the eastern cape and swaziland (to visit sibusiso!), lion's head (for the sixth time?) and cape town shenanigans with joseph arseface kim.. throw in a couple more beach days, more long st ridiculousness, a few hikes, maybe a couple more habitat builds, a few finals and papers here and there and that'll be a wrap!]

and then off to another adventure! (see: www.stephshieh.com/kenya)

until kenya!

keep searching for the magic.