April 23 Fort Collins, Colorado by Dr. JJJ

A quick update on our adventurers to date:

We are back in Fort Collins. We arrived home on April 10, 2020, after roughly 1.5 days of continuous travel from Cape Town. It was a wild set of circumstances that put us on our path home, considering that South Africa has some of the most stringent covid19 lock down measures in the world, including the closure of all airports. Repatriation became the number one priority of the U.S. Embassy in South Africa. After about 2 weeks of negotiation with the South African government, the Embassy was able to put together 2 repatriation flights for Americans who wished to return home. Chris and I debated about whether or not to take the flight. The data that we were collecting regarding covid19 from the United States did not appear to be particularly promising. Quantitatively, we could see that being the United States posed a greater risk to us than being in South Africa. We were comfortably hunkered down in Cape Town and felt extremely safe. It was baffling and maddening to follow the news in the U.S. and to watch the Trump Administration fumble through decisions that literally threatened to get people killed. This was a stark contrast to what we were experiencing in South Africa where the government took clear and aggressive action to stop the spread of covid19, and according to our daily tracking of the numbers, their decisions were working. Additionally, we knew that if we opted for the flight, we'd likely be dropped in either Newark or Washington D.C., and we were not super excited to be traveling through potential covid19 "hotspots." Nor were we particularly motivated to be on airplanes generally, breathing the same air as hundreds of other people. Finally, the terms of the flight, specifically the cost, were ambiguous, and we had already purchased 2 sets of international flights home for our entire family, neither of which were refunded (one set from South Africa and one set from Frankfurt, Germany). If we took the flight, we knew that we would have to sign a promissory note agreeing to pay whatever cost was settled upon, likely a hefty amount.

Ultimately, what put us over the edge to take the flight was the possibility of being in South Africa for many months, with no option to return home. We had some time flexibility and felt that we could work remotely from Cape Town, as well as engage with home school activities for the kids, through May, maybe even through June. And, because we became somewhat smitten with Cape Town and our situation there, the option to stay a bit longer was actually pretty appealing. But, the idea of being there for an unidentified amount of time was concerning for us. We worried that if we didn't take the charter flight, it might be a very long time, maybe even into the fall, before commercial flights were flying again in South Africa. We worried about becoming a burden on the country if we happened to get sick. We worried about potential civil unrest as income inequality magnified by the virus and the lockdown orders might make it difficult for some people to meet their basic needs of food and shelter.

Several other Semester at Sea families who were also in South Africa at the time were faced with the same decision. About half chose to take the flight, and about half chose to stay. I can see the rationale for both choices. This was not an easy call.

Never would have guessed an Embassy organized chartered flight
would be an experience we would share on this voyage.

Cape Town International Airport. Completely closed except for repatriation flight. Erie. 

 

30 minutes from complete circumnavigation of the globe!

The final leg: Cape Town, South Africa -- Lome, Togo -- Washington D.C., USA -- Denver, CO, USA -- Fort Collins, CO, USA

The first question we often get asked about our return home is, "How did Euchre respond when he saw you?" I'll admit that my expectations were quite high for this reunion.  My honest to goodness hope was that he would be so happy that he would pee himself. But, this guy is a model for integrity, and he stuck with his values. I imagine that in Euchre's brain, the reunion resembled the following:

"Ohhh, I see some people! Do they have food? Hmmm....doesn't appear so. Whatever."

If I had to pick one word to describe his response, it would be "aloof." The good news is that we were so jet lagged after our journey that in the first two days he probably logged about 20 hours of snuggle time, shoved under the covers of our bed.

(It's also worth a quick shout out here to our fabulous friend and puggle-sitter, Pamela, who managed this clown for us since late December. He didn't require any emergency vet visits AND only busted into a full bag of his food one time! Pamela, we adore and love you and we are so incredibly grateful for your contribution to this adventure).

 Puggle at home. Looks thrilled, doesn't he?

Being home has been bittersweet. The moment we stepped out of our minivan from our long journey, we were welcomed by about 20 of our River Rock neighbors. The sidewalk leading up to our door was littered with "welcome home" chalk messages. My mom and aunts had worked hard in advance to stock our fridge and pantry with tons of food. Our friends and colleagues have delivered food and thoughtful messages. It is so nice to feel loved and cared for, missed and valued.  So many people have showed up for us in ways big and small during this time of transition for our family.

That said, our arrival comes with sadness and grief. Three days ago, April 20, was the day we were originally scheduled to disembark from the MV World Odyssey for the final time in Amsterdam. One day after our arrival to Fort Collins, we looked at the calendar and noticed that we were supposed to be in Marrakesh, Morocco, one of our favorite cities and a place we were looking forward to sharing with the kids. Our losses pale in comparison to what many are experiencing right now (loss of employment or health) and yet, there are moments that are pretty sad.

One of the things we have learned over the last few months is that the Johnson-Lecks do quite well together in adventure mode. Rigley, having bunked up on the ship with roommates and functioning fairly autonomously for the duration of the voyage is 10-years-old going on 20 (in all the BEST ways possible). It turns out that Wally, the kid that we worried would struggle with lack of routine and social anxiety, is in fact our most flexible and adventurous traveler! Guthrie....well, he's still a live-wire and a massive handful to parent, but other people found him to be cute and charismatic, so I suppose the fact that he didn't ruin everything is a pretty big win. Plus, he can totally rock a Vietnamese manicure.

Rig, Greta, and Elora have made a pact to come back to 

SAS as college students and share a room. 

Wally on safari in South Africa. This boy has many adventures in his future.

Guthrie and JJJ both enjoy their first manicure ever in Ho Chi Min City.

For me, the changes and personal "ah ha" moments as a result of this voyage fill pages of my journal. There are so many ways that this voyage helped me reconnect with my own desire for the "new" and realize my own potential and desires moving forward. Given this reality, reentering our "old life" under the fog of covid19 is both helpful and difficult at the same time.  In one sense, the slower pace and the more insulated lifestyle that this virus requires, has allowed us to take our time reentering the world. Honestly, the idea of rushing back into the hustle of our old life is so unappealing to me, that I actually feel quite grateful for the respite that is now required of us. Having so much quality time together as a family, both on the voyage and now, has been a real gift.

 Home school "recess" in Fort Collins

On the other hand, a crisis often drives people to seek stability, which feels in direct contrast to the values that are centered for me right now. Yesterday our Governor, Jared Polis, announced that Colorado will slowly "reopen" starting on April 27, the beginning of our "return to normalcy." I trust this guy, and feel fortunate that residents of our state will benefit from rational and ethical leadership in a time when it is so desperately needed. At the same time, when I heard this announcement, I felt a visceral resistance inside my body to the idea of "getting back to normal." While I desperately want everyone to feel and actually BE safe and healthy, including myself and my family, the notion of "going back to what was" is deeply unappealing to me. Having experienced a profound personal transformation over the last three months, I am focused on change and opportunity, and feel more willing than ever to lean into risk to build and create the future. My feelings are in stark contrast to most peoples' strongest individual and collective desires right now. That truth is scary and isolating.

So, that's where we are at.

I'll sign off with a few of my favorite quotes from the voyage.  We have so many stories to tell from this adventure.  Ask us about it if you are interested.  Hugs and love to all who have followed us.

"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way." --Crosby, Stills, and Nash

"14 minutes till cake. That's how I live my whole life."  -- Doug Sink

 Friend and travel companion, Doug Sink. Doug and I work one floor away

 from each other at CSU, but it took a trip around the world to REALLY get to know one another.

"What we get from this adventure is sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money." --George Mallory

"You smell like dung." --Rigley re: Guthrie

"We live in a world full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." --Jawaharlal Nehru

Sunrise from the MV World Odyssey, Indian Ocean

Cape Town, South Africa 21 Day Lock down (Day 2) - by Jen and Chris

Hi all,

Just a quick update from our end as we've had a number of questions and concerns from those back home.  Here's a quick summary:

We arrived in Cape Town via the MV World Odyssey on March 14, 2020. Students and staff could disembark between the 14th and 16th at their own pace.  It was a couple of emotionally brutal days for us as we mostly spent our time hanging around the gangway on deck 5 and tried to give students the send off they deserved. There were lots of hugs and tears.  It was hardest watching the ship kids. This has been a positive and profound community for them and they were pretty emotional.  They will miss their college friends and the other ship families. It was also hard to see the voyage part of our adventure end, particularly considering it's early conclusion (we were supposed to conclude the voyage on April 20, 2020).

Since our arrival in Cape Town, we knew we'd be in a race with the virus. We have been closely watching the virus spread since January. It's one of the big differences between us and most of the folks in the US. Our lives have been altered by corona virus for months now, not just days or weeks. We followed it's explosion in Asia, it's spread to Iran and Italy, and it's boom in the rest Europe and the United States. We knew that Africa and South America would follow, just on a later timeline.

Our decision, believing we were in a race for time, was to try to enjoy South Africa for as long as possible, and then make our way home before the inevitable explosion of corona here (hopefully also avoiding the worst of things in the United States).

South Africa, and Cape Town specifically, is truly an amazing place. We'll do a more detailed post with pictures of all of our adventures here so far, but damn, we are smitten. Both of us regularly fantasize about the possibility of moving and working here, or figuring out a way to spend more time to really get to to know this place. The city itself is beautiful, filled with fabulous restaurants and museums, wonderful urban planning, a beautiful waterfront, and people of all backgrounds, races, and religions. Outdoor options abound: swimming, running, hiking, paragliding, and surfing are all easy options here. People seem about as exercise-obsessed here as the folks in Colorado! Since our time here we've enjoyed the Botanical Gardens, playing with monkeys, a safari at Aquila Nature Reserve, visiting Boulders Beach and seeing the indigenous Jackass Penguins (honestly, they sound EXACTLY like donkeys and are the funniest little creatures you'll ever see), hiking Lion's Head mountain, enjoying the beach, and spending loads of quality time with our fellow Semester at Sea voyagers. We have had a blast.

But you can't talk about Cape Town, or South Africa really, without talking about apartheid and the centuries of subjugation and oppression. Racial divides are stark and the gaps (social, economic, geographic) are wide. Everywhere you look you can see the history and feel the pain of unhealed wounds and unpunished crimes. But it really gets you thinking about the United States as well. For most Americans, all the land is stolen land, and the economic disparity along racial lines is clear if you're paying any kind of attention. One of the things about travel is that it changes how you think of home as much as wherever you are. You can be all the way over in South Africa to learn to see racism and oppression in the US in a different way. 

We've been following the virus on worldometer daily and have also closely followed the State Department's website and South Africa's decisions related to protecting the people here. Shortly after our arrival, museums and large gatherings were closed down, and then on the 24th the President announced a 21 day "lock down" starting at midnight on March 26th. We had already purchased plane tickets to return home on March 28th. When the President made the announcement, we were unclear how this would affect international air travel. We tried to gather as much information as possible but things changed pretty quickly. At one point, our flight got cancelled and then got reinstated 1 hour later with a message saying that since the flight was reinstated it was unlikely to be cancelled again. One day later, it was cancelled for good.

What we now understand is that the State Department was lobbying to repatriate any remaining Americans in South Africa through the full commercial flight on United on the 28th (our flight along with 200+ Americans) but the South African government wouldn't bend on the "lock down" to let the plane fly. So, this is where we stand now--March 28th, day 2 of a 21 day lock down in Cape Town, South Africa. If the President holds the line, airplanes are not likely to fly anytime before the conclusion of the lock down, leaving us here for at least another 19 days.

I really admire the South African President for his swift and decisive action on this (even though it leaves us without a ton of control over our individual situation right now). Corona is dangerous and South Africa is uniquely poised to have a terrible problem on their hands if they don't get a handle on this thing early. Wealth disparity here is significant. We've opted out of any "poverty tourism," but we've definitely seen people who are extremely poor residing next to some of the most ridiculous mansions I've ever seen. In some of the townships, it wouldn't be uncommon for multiple people to share one small space, a tough scenario when trying to avoid spreading germs. Apartheid, unsurprisingly, had had lasting social and economic effects on the South African people and you can observe it easily in how people live. Many people here will also likely experience significant financial hardship as a result of the virus. Also, about 20% of South Africans are HIV+ meaning that they might be more vulnerable to the health impacts of the virus. Having had the privilege to visit and enjoy Cape Town, we are hoping that this beautiful country can weather this storm and get back "to normal" as quickly as possible.

The truth is, we have mixed feelings about our current situation. I (Jen) mostly wish I had an animal to shove under the covers of the bed to snuggle with. And I wish the South African guidelines were more akin to those in the U.S. which allow walking or exercising outside (not allowed here, probably for good reason). We don't at all want to be any kind of burden on an already "stressed situation" in South Africa (whether that be financial, medical or otherwise). But the truth is, none of us were at all excited about the idea of taking a flight through Newark or any airport for that matter. What we hear and see on TV about how the US is weathering this pandemic is pretty bad, and other countries (South Africa included) seem to have learned from the mistakes of others. Plus, we weren't originally scheduled to be home until May 4, so we have already put things in place to be handled at home until then.

And, the truth is, our current digs are pretty amazing.

We're set up on the 16th floor of a beautiful apartment building with an amazing view of Table Mountain and Lion's Head. We have four balconies, 3 full bathrooms, 3 beautiful bedrooms, a big screen TV, washing machine, and a fully functioning kitchen. Plus, it's summer weather outside. We have fast internet and tons of activities and books that we packed for the voyage (Today we launched paper airplanes from the balcony. It. Was. Awesome). Because we were prepared to be away from home for 4 months living on a ship, we have crafts, games, books, costumes, and a bunch of other random things we never would have had had we just been on a 2 week vacation. We have 10 grocery stores within walking distance of our place, one of which is pretty much the South African version of Whole Foods.

We know that we are in solidarity with the 1 BILLION people around the globe who are experiencing one form of "lock down" or another. Like many of our family and friends, we are trying to figure out how to entertain ourselves, be respectful of one another, prevent the kids from having 16+ daily hours of screen time, complete work projects (Jen needs to wrap up 3 Semester at Sea classes), and get our kids engaged in homeschooling. We'd like to look back on this time together as a special part of our family story. Today I asked Chris what success looks like in this situation. He said a passing grade would be "no one murdering anyone." He said a B would be "no one THREATENING to murder someone" (so far for today we're hoping for the D...LOL). But we are not suffering. This is a pretty great place to hunker down. The chances of us getting corona here are super low compared to Colorado or the air travel it would take to get there. 

This is an unprecedented situation for the whole world, and as citizens of the planet, we're also in it! We feel so fortunate that we are all together, we are safe, and absolutely maintaining our sense of humor and "sanity." We have wonderful family and friends (both in Cape Town and at home) who we are enjoying communicating with electronically.  And, on the back of our SAS adventure, we are all too familiar with itinerary and schedule changes. We've honed our abilities to be patient and flexible!

We are sending our love and positive thoughts to all who are suffering in one way or another right now, whether that be financial stress, physical stress, boredom, anxiety, or (like us) are just doing our best to stumble through a truly unfathomable series of events. We're hanging in there and we hope you are too! At some point we will be home, but who knows when. In the mean time, we're 7 or 8 hours ahead of most of you all so holler back if you want to video chat with us or the kids. Be well.

Mauritius Photos

Welcome to Mauritius. We originally had planned on just spending one day here, but with all of the changes, we got to spend one day in port, two days floating within eyesight of the island, and five more days in port. It's an incredible island a bit and a ways north east from Madagascar.

Watch out Mauritius, here come the Johnson-Lecks!

Obviously an island in the Indian Ocean is all about the beaches. The water was a million shades of blue and the sand was perfect.

 

 

We headed out to do a little snorkeling right away. We had been on the ship for a long time so we wanted to be out playing as much as we could. We hung with a bunch of other families from the ship and went out to swim with sea turtles. They were feeding and swimming right with us and would sometimes bump us on their way up to get air. Amazing experience for the kids.

 

But Mauritius is not just about beaches. There are mountains and rain forests as well so of course we went hiking. We hiked in clouds mostly and it rained on us too. But we had so much fun. It felt like an Indiana Jones movie since we only ran into a couple other hikers on the trail. Our driver thought we were a little nuts when we came back soaked and covered in mud.   

This was our hiking buddy for the first half. Notice the hurt back paw. Remind you of anyone?

 

Next stop was the city, Port Louis and the markets. They have tea plantations and vanilla plantations and sugar cane fields.

They also cut their pineapples so you can eat them like they are on their own stick. One cool thing about this whole experience is that the kids got to see how other countries do things so much better than the US. Toilets and transportation in Japan. Pineapples in Mauritius. 

This shot was taken from the balcony of our Airbnb. Notice the wildlife.

Dad even got some beach Scrabble in.

Mauritius is a small island so we ran into friends everywhere we went.

These are Fort Collins kids and the middle one will be starting at Rigley's school in the fall. (IF there is school in the fall.)

Mauritius and some of the other islands around here are famous for giant tortoises.

Snorkeling was so much fun the first time around, let's go again. This time in a protected marine park. Corals there are facing the same fate as many around the world, but the fish we saw were the best we had ever seen.

This woman made, according to Wally, the "best food he had had on the entire voyage. Veggie fried noodles. He loved it so much he tried to tip her. She refused his tip so he gave her some shells he had collected.

It started to rain while we were getting ice cream so this guy brought all the kids into his truck to wait out the rain.

We stopped off at a Hindu temple. Amazing colors and amazing people.

Rigley and Wally were so cute, people could come up to them and ask to take their picture. They must have posed with this group for 15 minutes. They were good sports and the people fawned over them to no end.

Mauritius also was the home of the Dodo bird. After all this time, it's still the national bird.

Alright, until next time Mauritius. (We're hoping there will be a next time. It's a hard place to get to, but the whole country was amazing. It's got everything you could ever want. Plus, the island was uninhabited until the Dutch showed up so there's no indigenous population that was oppressed!)