R.A.T. Your Rodent Around-the-World Traveler (a.k.a. Raz)

Hi, My name is R.A.T., which stands for Rodent Around-the-World Traveler (I like to think it stands for Rodent Adventure Traveler), but everyone here calls me Raz for short. I would love to share my adventures with you. I left my rat family in early January to seek adventure. Everyone said "head west young rat," so that is what I did. I headed west to San Diego, California where I ran out of land and had to hop on a ship to continue my journey. It turns out that the ship I found was going west around the world--a dream come true! The MV Explorer is home to the famous Semester at Sea study abroad program. My shipmates include 629 college students and about 150 faculty, staff, lifelong learners, and family members. Things are really busy here on the ship and even busier when we are in port. Come follow me vicariously as I take this incredible journey. Yours, R.A.T.

P.S. I had such a great time on the voyage that the adventure continues!!!!



Tuesday, March 31, 2015

South Africa - Cape Town

On our last day in South Africa we went to the V&A Docks and took a boat ride to Robben Island.
Here I am on the island.
The island use to be used as a prison. For many years this is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Here is his cell.
After our trip we had a picnic.
And visited some ducks.
Back on board the ship heading to Namibia with some of my friends.

Monday, March 30, 2015

South Africa - Cape Point - Penguins & the End of the World!

We went down to Cape Point to see the end of the world. On the way we stopped at Boulder Bay to play with the penguins that live there



This guy seemed to be looking for something. Maybe a nice fish lunch.

These guys were just hanging out.

We then headed further south to Cape Point, the very end of the peninsula. Here are its coordinates.
We went up to the Lighthouse.
Here is the view.
We could also look down upon the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point of Africa, which was just down below!
See here is the sign that states that!


Sunday, March 29, 2015

South Africa - Lions and Zebras and Giraffes Oh My! -- Part 2

Rhino road block! These gals did not want to leave the road. We had to gently encourage them to move over.
This elephant stopped by to say "hi" to me!

And his little five-year-old friend was friendly as well.

This kudu spent the day hanging out outside our room at the lodge.
At the end of a long game drive it felt good to relax a bit!



Saturday, March 28, 2015

South Africa - Lions and Zebras and Giraffes Oh My! -- Part 1



In South Africa we went to Kapama an animal preserve. We drove around in a large open air vehicle. We saw lots of zebras like these.

WE saw lions like this sleeping one.
Her sister was jealous since she was sleeping in the good spot and woke her up.

These guys just crashed in the road.

This giraffe came by to say "hi"!


These guys were putting on a good show of mock fighting. They swing their necks around each other.


We also saw some huge rhinos.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

India - Auroville and Beyond

Auroville was a fascinating place. There is a crystal orb in this building. Looks a bit like Spaceship Earth at Disney's EPCOT.

This is the Hindu temple at Gangaikondacholapuram. It was an amazing site with the longest name of any place I know. 

These two guys at Gangaikondacholapuram

Saturday, March 7, 2015

India - Temples and Friends

Next stop was India. We went to Mamallapuram to see the Shore Temples.
Let's follow the crowd. These kids seem to know where they are going.
The amazing temples were surrounded by friendly cows.
I made friends with Nandi the cow there.
You have to watch out for the lions though!
Here is another friend I made at Mamallapuram. I really like her caterpillar shoes!
I made a bunch of other friends. They were visiting the temples on a school trip.
Here is a scary lion-elephant from another temple.