Category: Blog

OMG, we’re going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship!! That’s right, we’ve officially decided to cut the lines—not literally, that would be a waste of rope—on Dafne and push off towards our last oceanic crossing: the Atlantic. We decided this last summer and we’ve been preparing ever since.

For the crossing, we’ve decided to stop in Namibia for about a month, then cross to St. Helena for a few weeks, then trek to an island off Brazil called Fernando de Noronha. From there, we have some plan changes, as Cleo will be leaving us for college and I’m going to be taking an exam for one of my classes (so excited—not). But, we’ll only spend about a month or so there, and then kick off to the Caribbean Islands for an indefinite amount of time.

As my glorious timing would have it, I should have posted before we started our voyage, but, alas, we’ve already sailed away from Cape Town and I’m just now updating you guys. I think by now we should establish a given rule that I’m going to be updating you a week or so late. So, in the future, you can expect me to be posting about stuff that has already happened, ‘kay?

So, here we are and I’m updating you week late. We set off from Cape Town on Wednesday and sailed into Luderitz, Namibia, on Saturday evening. I’m writing this on Monday as we sit here having been to the Luderitz yacht club for most of the afternoon using their wifi to catch up on work and school. Today, my parents went in to check us into Namibia, scout internet cafes, and get SIM cards for all of us. Most of these plans worked out, as they found the cards and ample choices for the cafes, but we will have to return to shore for more checking in.

As you guys already know, checking into a new place is always so much fun *eye roll* and we totally spend the minimum amount of time doing it *snort*. But, what can you do? You have to legally go through immigration, port clearance, harbor master, and quarantine if you want to do anything in a new country. So, back to clearing in it is for the rest of the day.

As for the trip, it was relatively good. We chose a good window for the wind, and the sail wasn’t as rough as we expected, having been warned about the wind in Namibia. However, we got in on Sunday and learned that making water is near impossible here due to bacteria clogging our filters if we try to use them. Argh! So, we are conserving water and taking showers at the yacht club. I think it’s safe to say we will being going there, as well as other internet places, for the next few days until we leave the boat.

Oops, I spilled the beans! That’s right, we’ve planned an inland Namibia trip. Eek! I’m so excited because Namibia is beautiful and has a ton of cool natural places. The climate is desert and arid, but is abundant with wildlife. We’re going to various sites around the country, where I will update you with posts and pictures, not to worry.

So, the next time you’ll hear from me, I’ll be exploring the desert of Namibia and sending pictures of elephants and cheetahs!! TTYL, y’all!!

Hey there! I wanted to post about the Holidays because it’s been pretty hectic and I wanted to keep posting blog posts regularly despite the encroaching horizon of school. Ugh, I wish winter break lasted the whole year long. I would just read books and listen to T. Swift for the rest of my life. Now that’s the life!

Anyway, Christmas was lovely. My sister was here for about a week and we celebrated relatively quietly in Kommetjie. I got a bunch of T. Swift merch and omg guys I got all of the albums IN VINYL (!!!) I love passing by them in my room, even though I can’t play them, I still want to take them out and look at the little forward and all the lyrics. They’re so pretty, and I got Taylor’s Version for Red and Fearless! I love them!!

I also got some other stuff, and we spent a really relaxed Xmas day napping and swimming. For New Year’s we visited family friends renting a place in Arniston, a small town a few hours from the city. Cleo had already gone up there, so we all spent a lovely New Year’s celebration together, watching the fireworks at midnight, and sleeping in the next day. I mostly read, catching up on my favorite pastime and finishing ACOMAF in time for my review (check it out now). On Jan 2, we drove back to Cape Town, stopping in Hermanus to see some other family friends for the day before arriving in the evening. We’re staying on the boat now, doing boat jobs (my dad and anyone he can lure into his traps), cleaning and provisioning (my mom), reading (my sister and I wish myself), and catching up on school (yours truly and miserably).

Soon, we’ll be heading out of Cape Town with Dafne for good, and although everything until then will be hectic and stressful, I still can’t wait and I’m so excited!

I won’t even try to apologize; you guys know me so well that you probably aren’t even surprised that it’s literally been months since I posted an actual updating post—not including my B-Tay post and all of the book reviews. Oops! I guess if you’ve been following my blog for the past while, you almost definitely know how finicky my posting schedule is, and how I love to post but school is the bane of my existence and academic validation is the object of all my desires (my fav line from Bridgerton). So, you really shouldn’t be surprised by my tardiness and childlike inability to keep my promise of posting regularly. It’s really your fault I haven’t posted in so long. Gaslighting? Check!

Anyway, back to business, I have a few updates about the past four (five?) months. After Cambridge Prep, which I believe was my last experience, I flew to the US for my family’s regular summer visiting and traveling time. I saw family and friends, went camping, and had a pretty regular and fun summer back there. Then, my sister, parents, and I all flew back to SA for the beginning of my 9th-grade year!!

It’s been so exciting starting high school, and I love all my classes…most of the time. As we know, I’m very centered and stressed about school, even when things don’t seem that stressful. I’m self-aware enough to know that I tend to panic or freak out if a deadline for an assignment is getting dangerously close and I don’t feel at all secure in my project. Although, this fear and stress are pretty unfounded; I almost always get my assignments in on time and in a form that is satisfactory. However, the added stress of finally being in high school has kind of exacerbated this stress.

Either way, I made it through my first semester intact, and with a few other interesting extracurricular happenings. I had my dance assessments (talk about stress—yeesh!) about a month ago, and I think those went fairly well. Again, in my self-aware fashion, I know that I’m definitely not near the top of my class in dance, and that’s fine. I only started a year ago, and I’m not naturally gifted. I’m just really grateful I was given the opportunity to make friends and grow in my dance abilities. My assessments went fine and now I’ve left the program.

Similarly, I ended my school semester (for the most part) at the beginning of December, and since then, I’ve had a really cool experience! On the 4th, I went to a volunteer program in Kwa-Zulu Natal, which is a province in the eastern part of South Africa. I went for a week to volunteer on a game reserve that was creating a summer program for the kids to teach them about animals and conservation. It was so much fun to interact with the kids, see the animals, and just spend time on a game reserve. I loved it!

Cleo also accompanied me there and volunteered with me, and we traveled back to Cape Town on the 10th. When we got there, we immediately began hosting and vacationing with our grandparents, who had arrived from the US the same day. Since then, we’ve been basically day-tripping all over the city and the surrounding towns, including vineyards and a few days in Kommetjie at the house. It was super fun hanging out and having a small early Christmas with my grandparents, but we all know that there is a certain time limit we all feel the effects of when with family if you know what I mean *raise eyebrows cause I’m petty*.

My grandparents left on the 18th, and we had a quick breather for a day before my sister arrived last night. She’s staying for a quiet Christmas with us, which I’m more excited about than I thought I would be. I know, can you imagine it? Me, excited for a family-focused holiday that involves stressful planning of presents, clothing, and food, as well as a long night of consuming alcoholic beverages and socializing. The sky must be falling! But, in reality, even though we are planning presents, food, and semi-nice clothing attire, I think it’s going to be a quiet Christmas, mostly because it’s just the five of us.

Anyway, hope you all are having a lovely holiday break and living it up wherever you are; whether rain or shine, it’s still Holiday Season, baby!! I really love Christmas, if you couldn’t already tell. Oh, I forgot to tell you, guys! My grandparents got me T Swift merch!? Agh, I love it so much. They got me a “Taylor’s Version”, a Red (TV) sweatshirt, and a Red ring!! I can’t believe it and I love them!

Bye, guys! Happy Holidays

Aghhhh!! I’m so ecstatic!! What a time! In case you were wondering, guys, I’ve finally arrived at Cambridge Prep Experience in Cambridge, England. Agh! It’s so amazing finally being here. It’s beautiful weather here in Cambridge and I’m currently sitting in my dorm room after my first exhilarating 24 hours here on campus.

I arrived yesterday and was picked up by Cambridge staff along with some other camp-mates. We drove an hour and some change outside of London to Cambridge, where we arrived at Peterhouse College, one of the campuses of Cambridge University used by Cambridge Prep. We were all checked in and transported to our dorms. There, I met my roommate, who was also flying in from South Africa. Although she was actually South African, and from Johannesburg.

After that we had the rest of the day to chill and unpack. I was a little nervous (still am) to go out onto campus and try making friends. But, around late afternoon I went out and read in a large open space designated to the Cambridge Prep students before heading off to dinner.

Although I’ve heard some bad reviews—mostly from Stella and Cleo—about the food at Oxbridge, I was happily surprised by how my expectations were happily met. Of course, it isn’t the same quality as my family’s cooking *chef’s kiss* but it was definitely better than my other experiences with camp food. They have a much wider range here, as well as not providing lunch, which forces kids to explore the restaurants around town for that meal.

Because Oxbridge is an academic camp, all students are required to pick a major that they study for the duration of the camp. The majors range from anything like robotics to creative writing to espionage. I am taking psychology with a small group of about ten kids. We started classes today and did a bit of icebreakers and get-to-know-each-other games. We also had a scavenger hunt around town, which helped everyone to get their bearings of where all the shops and colleges were.

Sorry for such a short post without many photos of my time here, but I’ll write a lengthy post in two weeks at the end of the session with lots of details and photos. Gotta go, bye!

Howdy, y’all! Long time no see, definitely. Aside from my recent book review posts, the last blog I uploaded was almost three months ago. Sorry about that—been finishing up the school year and haven’t had a ton to post about anyway. But, lately, since I’m off school and my regular activities—dance and tennis—are starting to go on break as well, I’ve found myself with lots of free time. This means that I can finally get back on track with you guys and get where I want to be by posting regularly and frequently, as opposed to my sporadic drop-ins (oopsies). As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve changed the design of my website as well as added a super exciting new section of book reviews and recommendations. I’ve been meaning to add that section for a while, and I’m stoked it’s finally up! This revamping and expansion of my website was a definite goal of mine since I started blogging, and it’s great to finally put it into action.

But, the main goal of this post is to update everyone on the many plans and the change of plans that have occurred during the past few months. Now, don’t be alarmed, nothing drastic has taken place and, compared to other plan changes that I’ve blogged about, these minor adjustments are definitely not crucial to the future of Dafne or the Fam.

However, a few news reports on the whereabouts and plans of my sisters are due. As I mentioned in my last post, Cleo has been accepted to Pomona College in California. However, she has decided to take a gap year before entering university. Starting in May, she flew to the US to get a summer job while figuring out her plans for her year off. Meanwhile, Stella has also finished her school year and accepted an internship based in Chicago, where she will be staying for the duration of the summer. She’s also moved into an apartment with a few of her roommates that she will keep over the summer and into the school year.

As for us remaining in South Africa, we number just three now *insert sad face*. While I’ve been closing out eighth grade and graduating (Whoohoo!), dad’s been working his but off on his many projects and companies he participates in. The most exciting of these is Cicero, which he founded with my mom as their second start-up back in the fall. Based on a one-on-one method of teaching similar to what Cleo, Stella, and I did when we all first moved onto Dafne, Cicero finally started to gain traction in the past few months. As its first official middle-school graduate, I’m ecstatic to continue learning with such an amazing method.

Perhaps the most important news of the last few months is how far our house in Kommetjie has come. Since last summer, mom has been driving down multiple times a week to move things along and renovate the entirety of the property. She’s made many new additions to the house such as a pool, hot tub, and braai, as well as completely flipping the layout of the inside so that the main communal rooms are on the second floor. I went down just a week ago and was so awed at how much has changed. It was truly an entirely different place and I’m so proud of how much effort mom has put into it. Good job, mom!

Well, so many reports on the many things going on in the Dafne crews’ lives, but I’m afraid the same cannot be said for our beautiful mother-ship. Dafne’s been mostly docked at the marina for the past year-and-a-half that we’ve been in South Africa, especially as the months feed into winter here in Cape Town. Because of the Fam’s annual trip to the US during the Nothern Hemisphere summer, Dafne will remain vacant until our return in September. But, come January/February 2023, she’ll be up and moving towards Namibia and St. Helena! Can’t wait!!

I will definitely post about those places, but I also want to make a habit of updating you guys continually throughout the coming summer and start of the school year. Please remind me to keep posting!! Bye!

Hi all!! Welcome back to pt. 2 of my time in Cape Town. Gosh, it feels like forever since I last posted, right? Sorry ’bout that, I have definitely been overloaded this semester in the area of my academics. Ugh, we’ll get into that trauma later. For now, let me tell you about what’s been happening for the past six months or so. Get ready, set, and action!

As you have probably guessed, I have some news regarding the plans of the Fam to share with all of you. The first is that, as of a couple of months ago, Dafne and her crew have decided to stay in Cape Town, South Africa, until 2023!! Yay! That is so exciting for all of us, as we have loved staying here and can’t wait to spend until February/March 2023 here in CT. Another announcement is that last year, Cleo has been applying to colleges in the US. She recently got accepted to ED (early decision) at Pomona College in Los Angeles! So exciting, and I finally get her roo- oh um…I mean um…just so exciting, Cleo! Anyway, I also have some news of my own. I’ve been accepted to the summer camp psychology program at Oxbridge!!! AHHHHH! OMG, I’m still reeling, and I found out more than two months ago. The program takes place in July in London at one of the Oxbridge colleges. I applied to the two-week program, so I’ll be staying until early August. Also, I applied for a scholarship and received a 50% discount on tuition. Thanks so much, Oxbridge!! I’m ecstatic to attend your program! Ahhhh!!

Well, now that I’ve addressed some of my most exciting and cool news, let’s have just a basic rundown of what the past six months have looked like.

During the last six months since I returned to South Africa from my summer back in the US, I’ve taken up a couple of extracurricular activities and hobbies. I’ve started contemporary dance at a local program in Cape Town, as well as playing tennis with a private teacher. I have also, recently, begun a recreational theatre and dance program at a theatre school near the boat. All of these things have been super fun and challenging, and have allowed me to meet some friends here in CT. The crew and I also have other connections that have led us to a town I’ve mentioned before in another post about two hours outside of Cape Town called Hermanus. We’ve visited Hermanus a couple of times in the past half-year, and I’ve grown to be quite good friends with a girl there. All these things, I realize, I have been missing out on while sailing around Southeast Asia during those couple of years. Now that Dafne and her crew are anchored (well, not literally) at a marina, we’ve been able to enjoy “land life,” as we call, it with all its perks and enjoyments.

Hey? Remember in pt. 1 when I *casually* mentioned that Dafne’s crew would be buying a house in Cape Town as a rental property and summer house? Well, that came true!! We have bought a lovely house about forty-five minutes outside of the center city in a town called Kommetjie, and we’ve been giving it a complete renovation these past few months. The house badly needed to be redone, and we also have been adding things like a pool, hot tub, and a large deck. However, though the past few months have been exciting getting to see the transformation of the house, it’s been a nightmare for my mother. Seriously. She’s had to deal with so many architects, plumbers, and more, who don’t listen to her plans for the layout and inevitably get the design wrong. Ugh! What a shitake show! Anyhow, it’s still progressing, and my mom thinks that it will be finished by this summer. So exciting!

Finally, this school year has definitely been eventful. The last time I posted, I was talking about all of the fun and partying I’d been getting up to in the summer of 2021. Well, this school year is a far cry from that Candyland. I feel like I’ve been swamped with a massive amount of assignments and papers, and it’s just getting deeper. The only good that has come of this swamp is that I finally have a valid excuse for the absentia of my blog. I’m sorry guys, I wish it was anything but, but I have succumbed to academia and its demands. Please pray for my salvation and rescue. Amen.

Anyways, all in all, the past six months of the year have been eventful and exciting. From trying out new activities that I continue to fail wondrously at, to lots of new friends, I assure you, I’ve become really accustomed to life on board Dafne II at the V&A Waterfront Marina in Cape Town, South Africa. Thanks, tons, you guys, and I hope you’re having as many adventures as possible! Mwah!

Good day to all! Or good evening, completely your choice. (Why am I writing/talking like this? Ugh, I’m just gonna start with my usual intro.)

Hey, guys! Welcome back for the second part of my exhausting summer – as you can tell by the title. In the last post, I told you guys about the first half of my adventures this summer, talking about visiting family members and friends, getting vaccinated, and going to a sewing camp (eek!). In this post, young Padawan, I will continue the summer from where we left off last. Uh, where was that?? Ah, yes, I was just getting back from my trip to Washington, DC, with my grandparents on July 3rd.

When we got back from DC, I stayed with my grandparents in Connecticut until July 8th. Then, my parents came to pick me up and bring me back to Philly. Like Cleo, I also had a summer camp that I was going to attend. However, this one would only last two weeks and would be in New Jersey. I stayed only a few days in Philly, getting ready, then left for my camp on the 11th. My camp specialized in the arts, and I took theatre, technical theatre, and slam poetry classes. They were all super fun classes, and I performed at the end of the camp session. So fun (and exhausting)!!

Then, in late July, my parents picked me up and brought me back to Philly, again. We stayed there until Cleo arrived back from her camp in the first few days of August. We also had a small family reunion with my mom’s side of the family, and it was so nice to see my great aunts and uncles. Then, on August 4th, we drove back up to Connecticut to take another extended trip with my dad’s side of the family.

My family and I stayed with my dad’s parents for about 2 weeks, spending quality time with my grandparents and aunt. On the 13th of August, Stella and her boyfriend came up and spent time with us. Stella had had a summer job, and now that it was finished, we could go on one last big trip with all the five of us, plus Stella’s boyfriend, who is a nameless side character for my plot. (Just kidding, I know his name! *Mom!*).

Then, on the 18th, the whole crew drove/flew up to Boston, where we met up with family friends. We always met up with them sometime during the summer to go on a camping trip in Baxter State Park, Maine. Once there, we all went camping for about 4 days. It was so beautiful up there, and we went to a part of the park where we had never been before! After our trip, we spent a few days at our family friends’ house, then drove back up to Connecticut. This was just the regular crew minus Stella, who, after camping, had flown to Ohio to meet her boyfriend’s family. The rest of the crew all stayed in Connecticut for about four days, where we celebrated half of my birthday. (The other half I celebrated with my mom’s family).

Then, we all drove down AGAIN to Philly – I hope you’re all still with me because this is getting tedious – stopping at my grandparents’ lake house in Pennsylvania. My grandmother’s birthday is a few days after my own, so, after celebrating with her (and lots of cake!), we finally, finally, plunked down onto an airplane and left our home country, snoring.

Thank you so much for bearing with me during this two-part saga of my looooong summer. (My brain is dead, I swear). Even writing these posts was overwhelming and tiresome, so I can barely imagine what you – my reader – have experienced. I know that these posts have delved maybe too much into detail here and there, but I only hoped of giving a full account of the goings-on in my life, as always. For now, take a rest, and I’ll see you in the next post! Until then, young sirs! (Still not working? Dang).

Hey there! This is not my usual post, which usually specializes in the exciting places I travel to aboard Dafne. However, keeping in the norm of posting once every never, I decided to update you guys on Summer 2021 for the Dafne crew!! Last summer, we didn’t take our usual trip back to the US because of COVID-19. So, this summer, we had so many trips planned, it seemed like the summer would never end! As I’m writing this, I realize that this trip was so packed full of stuff, that I have to split it up into two parts, the endpoint of this post in early July.

The first part of our trip started in late May, when we packed up all our suitcases, locked Dafne up, and hopped on a plane. Well, actually, a couple of planes. Our destination was Chicago, as that was where Stella had been for the past year. We arrived jetlagged, and, after dropping our bags at our friends’ house, we went to a health center to get our first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. It was quite an eye-opener to have literally just landed in the US from a place that will not see vaccines in quite a while, to actually getting our first dose.

We spent a week in Chicago, catching up with Stella and some family friends there. However, this summer was going to be busy, and we already had a trip planned for the five of us. Our next stop on the summer’s adventure was a 5-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon! For 5 days, we followed our guide down into the breathtaking canyon and back out again. The views were spectacular and the wildlife was next-level! It was also super hot! I really think that that trip was one of the best I have ever experienced…yet!

After our days in the Grand Canyon, we hopped on another plane in early June and flew to New York. Why you may ask? Well, Stella had a summer job lined up in New York, so we went to drop her off and then stayed a night at a friend’s apartment. Then, we drove up to Philly. Yay, Philly!! My birthplace and home to my mom’s side of the family. We stayed with my grandparents for about a week, visiting family friends, and such. I also went to a day camp during this time, where I learned to sew. Not one of my finer moments, I have to tell you! 😉

This is where the timeline starts to get confusing because Dafne’s crew starts to split off on different trips. I will do my best to make it less confusing. Remember how I told you that Stella was in New York? Well, she was, but she also took a train up to Connecticut for my grandfather’s 80th birthday in late June. Stella’s 19th birthday was only a few days after his, so we celebrated both with her. Then Stella went back to New York, while the rest of us all stayed in Connecticut.

Now it gets even more complicated. See, Cleo had a 4-week camp lined up in Barcelona. She had to be there in the first few days of July, so she left Connecticut with my parents around July 1st. I stayed behind in Connecticut with my grandparents and we took a trip to Washington, DC for a few days. My grandparents had to attend the funeral of a friend, so they took me along for an educational trip to our nation’s capital. I had been to DC before with my grandparents, but that was years ago, and it was exciting to visit the monuments for a second time!

There is more to my summer coming soon, however, I am still in the drafting process. Please stay tuned for the second pt. Or don’t. You tooootally won’t hurt my feelings. Enjoy your summer and peace out!!

I’m back! Yep, I’ve been livin’ it up! For the past 5 months, Dafne & Crew has been parked at the V&A Waterfront Marina in Cape Town, SA. The crew has been exploring South Africa, starting in Richard’s Bay, and rounding the Cape of Good Hope into Cape Town. Along our journey, we’ve been constantly debating the next steps in our circumnavigation; crossing the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean. This post will explain exactly what I mean, and the conclusion that Dafne has come to.

For most of November, Dafne was on the East Coast of South Africa, exploring places like Richard’s Bay, East London, and Port Elizabeth. During our time in those places, we went on multiple safaris and saw the stunning beauty of South Africa’s wildlife and landscape. We rounded the Cape of Good Hope in early December and sailed into Cape Town on the 13th. We immediately went on many trips, going to places such as Hermanus, Eland’s Bay, Kirstenbosch, and more. We celebrated Christmas and the New Year before going on an epic five-day hiking trip along the coast with a group of friends.  

Like all cruisers, our travels depend heavily on the weather, especially if we are making such a monumental step as crossing an ocean. The best time of the year to cross the Atlantic Ocean from South Africa is in January or February. However, another component of our crossing has to do with the wishes of Dafne Crew. The Fam is loving South Africa for several reasons; the amazing landscape, the friends that we have made here, and the variety of activities to do. My mom has also been looking at houses for sale around Cape Town and its neighboring towns. I know, I’m just casually mentioning the possibility of buying a house here, but if we did buy a house, we would not move into it. It would be like a summer home basically, and we would continue to inhabit Dafne. In conclusion, we have fallen in love with South Africa, and have decided to wait a whole year to cross our final ocean in 2022!!

In the end, Dafne will be parked at the V&A Waterfront Marina until February 2022! The Dafne Family will instead be flying to the US during the Northern Hemisphere summer to visit family and friends. We’re ecstatic to be parked in such an amazing place!