Day #1, April 9, 2009 – By Patrick Woolpert

To start off, it really is not just the first day but the first two days. Our trip began at Midnight on Tuesday night with our departure from the Marigold Center in San Luis Obispo. After the three hour drive to Los Angeles, we began our long day of flying at 30,000 feet. 

Our initial flight was a five hour journey from Los Angeles to New York.  After a 3 hour layover we then had our 7 hour flight to Dakar.  As we drove the 60 miles from Dakar to Thies, it was very interesting to look out the window and see the country. There were hundreds of people jamming into tiny buses to go to work. There were a lot of half finished buildings that looked like they had not been worked on in years.  At about 11am local time we finally reached our hotel, about 28 hours since we left San Luis Obispo.

The first thing we did was go to our hotel, Hotel Lat Dior, thank God. We needed to shower and rest. I could barely think because I was so tired.  But with a quick nap and a shower we were ready to go to SEEDS Academy for basketball practice.   This is a school for players from all over Senegal where they can better their basketball skills and their education. At SEEDS we shot around and ate lunch. This lunch was huge. It was fish and vegetables on top of the biggest pile of rice I have ever seen. We got to meet and talk with players at lunch. I met Goa, an eighteen year old, who could speak French and Spanish, so I had to remember my Spanish lessons. Then we got to go back to the hotel so we could rest even more.

Later in the day we returned to SEEDS so we could practice with the SEEDS Academy students. It was different because their coaches coached us. It helped me to see how they practice in Senegal. It is very fast paced, and the students were naturally athletic. After the two-hour practice we ate dinner. It was a giant plate of pasta and an unidentified meat.  Some people thought it was goat, others maybe beef.  We will never know. 

 The best part of the day was the end when they threw us a celebration “dance”. We sat in a huge circle outside and drummers played while people danced and sang. We definitely missed Mike Escobedo from Arroyo Grande High School who went on the trip with us last year.  Mike would have loved dancing for two straight hours.

The Senegalese wanted to teach us about their culture and their traditions. People told folk stories and others danced and sang.  Everyone in our group got up and joined them in their dancing.  At the end they wanted us teach them an American game, so Emily Casey came up with the great idea of duck, duck, goose. It was very fun and exciting.

This is the reason why I wanted to come to Africa. I wanted to learn about their culture and exchange ideas and thanks to the SEEDS Academy, I learned a lot. So after an extremely exhausting two days of travel, we have arrived and every minute has been well worth the 28 hour journey to get here.

Day #2, April 10, 2009 – By Jake Murray

Today was day #2 of our trip and I woke up at 10 o’clock to eat breakfast.  The breakfast was very different than what I normally eat.  It  was just bread that had chocolate inside of it. It was actually really good. I never had anything like that before.

After breakfast we went over to the Seeds Academy to practice before our game versus the local team. We learned a few plays as this was our first practice together so it took time to build our chemistry with one another, but I knew it would take more time before we really could gel together. 

Seeds Academy is a boarding school for 24 basketball players from all over Senegal.  There are kids at the school ages 16-20 and they have a lot of tall guys.  I knew that our game with them would be difficult as 18 of their players are 6’6” or taller, with about 5 guys who are 6’10” or taller.  

Following practice it was lunchtime and we ate every meal in a cafeteria with the basketball players from the Seeds Academy.  This was of the best part of the trip for me. This was the time where we talked and really got to know the kids from Seeds Academy.  

After that we went back to our hotel to rest before our big game against the Seeds Academy.  I decided to go swimming because I wasn’t tired.  Too bad I didn’t check the water to feel the temperature because I jumped in one of the coldest pools I have ever swam in. So after that not so brilliant idea I played pool with one of my new friends, Zack Slocum from San Luis Obispo HS.  I won both times.

At 5:15 it was time to go to the arena to play against the Seeds Academy. Before we left Coach Tom Mott gave us the 1Dream jerseys to wear. So when we got to the gym there were people already in the stands and they cheered for us when we came in.

After our warm-ups,  coach told me that I had to go talk to our fans because of my personality (I guess).  This  was really fun to meet new people and they all cheered for me the loudest during the game.   I’m happy that I ended up going up there to meet the fans.

The game started close for the first half  and I was thinking maybe we can win this thing.  But then the second half started and the bigger, faster and more athletic Seeds Academy team started to extend their lead.  Their 7 point half time lead grew to 20 before we knew it.   We ended up losing and I played horrible it was still fun to play against different people and see how they play.

The reason they won was for three reasons. One was that they were fast, second they were extremely tall, and last they had played together for very long and that was our first game together as a team.

Prior to the game starting the 1 Dream team gave some of our shirts to the Seeds Academy players. I gave my Dallas Cowboys shirts that my dad gave to me when I was young. They seemed to really like it.

After the game we came back to the hotel to take a shower to clean up for dinner at the Academy cafeteria.  After we ate we a small party. At the party I was dancing with the African players. They taught me their dances and I had so much fun. We were laughing and having a good time. They even got Shane Kennedy to do a dance, which was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. When I was dancing I didn’t see that my sister was videotaping me dancing like an idiot, which is embarrassing because he is going to show everyone me dancing terribly.

When our dance party ended, we started to do an interview on the internet with the players from both team.   When the interviews ended we had to say goodbye to the great players that we had just met a day ago. I didn’t want to say goodbye to them. It was so fun to hang out with them for two days and I will never forget them.  I will find them on Facebook and plan on keeping in touch with them for the rest of my life.

Day #3, April 11, 2009 – By Emily Casey & Chase Kennedy

This morning we woke up at 8 o’clock to eat breakfast at the Lat Dior hotel in Thies, Senegal.  Our breakfast once again consisted of croissants, chocolate filled pastries and juice. It was very tasty and a great way to start my morning. 

After our fabulous breakfast we went back to our rooms to pack our suitcases and begin preparations for our bus ride from Thies to Dakar. The 60 mile bus ride took nearly two hours as there was a ton of traffic and drivers who do not follow any rules of the road nor have appreciation for other cars on the road.  

Once we arrived in Dakar, a city of 3 million people,  we went on a tour of the city.  Our guide was named Packar and he did a great job of explaining the historical aspect of this West African city.  We were even able to take a picture outside their “white house” with one of their cute soldiers, gun and all. 

The tour was very educational and helped us to learn more about the wonderful city of Dakar. While in Dakar, we drove through a huge and crowded market place where the locals tried to sell us tons of their items which included: jewelry, paintings, sandals, sunglasses, wood carving, and many more interesting items.  It was a chaotic scene that we would never experience in America. 

After our informative tour of Dakar, we went to lunch at Chicken Caeser’s where the food was fantastic. After eating traditional African food for the past two days, it was nice to eat pizza and salads like we have in America. After lunch, we hopped on a ferry boat for the 20 minute ride to Goree Island. Goree Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was one of the main departure points for the slave trade during the 1700s. There are currently 1,200 people that live on this island.  Most of the inhabitants  have lived there their entire lives and 75% of them are Muslim and the other 25% are Christian. The island is supported economically exclusively through tourism, with the tour guides, artists and restaurants surviving because of the visitors each day. 

One unique aspect about the island is the “Door of No Return”.  This is a door located in one of the slave houses.  The door leads to the Atlantic Ocean, where their slave ship would be waiting to transport them to North America.  It was very interesting to learn about the slave trade and even more interesting to know that both Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II had visited that exact slave house that we did. 

After nearly missing the boat ride back to the mainland, we were able to get all 19 members of our group and our three tour guides safely onboard.  Our tour guide was a bit of a pain as he was not happy with the tip that we gave him.  But I think we treated him very fairly and our tip was more than enough. 

Once back on dry land,  we dodged the street merchants who were everywhere and headed over to our hotel. It is very beautiful, in a simplistic sense,  and we practically fill every room in the hotel. Once we all got settled into our rooms we headed over to the restaurant, Just 4 U, for dinner. There we got to experience some very tasty food, but first we had to translate the menu because it was all in French! After dinner we stayed for the live entertainment that they performed at the restaurant. It was very different from what we are used to; however, it was very nice to get to experience another culture’s music style.

When dinner was all finished we headed back to the hotel. Many of us were tired, yet none of us wanted to go to sleep because we have to wake up at 3AM to head to the airport. Awaiting us is a nine hour plan flight from Dakar, Senegal, all the way to Johannesburg, South Africa.

We are all looking very forward to this next adventure of our trip.

Day #4, April 12, 2009 – By Devin Kennedy

Today we flew from Dakar, Senegal to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Our flight departed at 6:30am and after 7 hours in the air we arrived in South Africa’s largest city.  South Africa is the southern-most nation in the African continent and like many African nations, was once a European colony.

The World Cup is coming to South Africa in 2010 and there is a lot of construction and improvement projects going on all over town.  The airport had an entirely new terminal that was completed since my last visit in 2008 and a new train was being built to help control some of the terrible traffic.  Johannesburg is very much a modern city and these improvements have really helped in this regard.

We landed at about 4:30pm local time and after about an hour of customs, immigration and baggage claim we met our tour guide and bus for the 30 minute ride to our hotel in Sandton, one of Johannesburg’s nicer areas.  We quickly checked into our hotel and departed for Witts University and our 7:30pm game versus the Momentum All-Stars.  Momentum was a team of adult players, ages 24-32 and the game was very evenly matched.  Their team was bigger, but our team was more technical and had better knowledge of the game.  Jerry Casey (Mission Prep) had 27 points and 15 rebounds while Devon Pickering (Veritas Academy) had 27 points as well.  But is wasn’t enough as we lost 87-85 in a very closely contested game.  I know that I was exhausted from our long plane ride and I wasn’t even playing In the game.

Following the game we returned to our hotel, showered and dressed for dinner which was held across the street from our hotel in the Nelson Mandela Square.  The team ate at a nice Italian restaurant where 14 pizzas filled us up.  It was now nearly 11pm and we were all exhausted.  

This wasn’t the most eventful day as half of it was spent on an airplane, but we knew that we had an exciting day ahead of us as we were scheduled to depart for the safari at 10am.

 Day #5, April 13, 2009 – By Kyle Minkel

After a three hour drive from Johannesburg, we arrived at the safari lodge, Entabeni, and were greeted by a herd of zebras.  Our tour guide Anishka, brought us to the lodge where we dropped off our luggage and got ready for our first afternoon safari. We departed in jeeps and five minutes into the drive we saw our first animals. Two hippopotamus were poking their heads out of the lake in front of our hotel.  Shortly after, we headed to the large African savanna where we saw impala, bestbock, warthogs, wildebeests, and baboons.  The highlight for the afternoon was the three giraffes that came within fifteen yards of our vehicle. The animals were incredible and to see them in real life was absolutely amazing.                         

This was only the beginning of our incredible adventure in the African Bush. Later that night we were informed that we could not go back to our rooms because a rhinoceros was blocking our way. Sure enough the huge animal was walking down the pathway to my room. Thankfully the rangers were there to protect us with rifles if the situation became tense. All of the guests had to be escorted back to their rooms, and because the rhino was in front of my particular block, they took me in the jeep. When walking to my room, Patrick Foran and I were shocked when we turned the corner and 10 feet away from us was the rhino chomping on the grass in front of our neighbor’s room. We ran straight to our rooms and figured that we had enough adventures for one day. 

The next morning we woke up at 6 am for another safari. The morning is the best time to see the lions and that is exactly what we saw. A male and female were casually strutting through the grass as every other animal was sprinting for their lives away from the two. It was amazing to see these lions up close because TV and pictures do not do them justice. They were enormous and definitely got our heart rates jumping.

Our last trip on the savanna was that afternoon. We were out for a little over two hours and hadn’t seen much of anything. Night came while we stated on a cold ride back to the resort. When we about 1 minute away from the lodge, we spotted a young male elephant crossing the road.  It was the last animal on my list that I wished to see while in Africa and it came at the last moment. We sat in the jeeps with the spotlight on it while it grazed in the grass. As we started to pass, the elephant became uncomfortable because we had invaded its territory. It began to charge at us as it roared but thankfully our ranger quickly sped away. It was probably the most incredible/scary situation I have ever been a part of. As we came closer to the lodge two more rhino’s and three giraffes greeted us. To end the night we were again on lockdown as the rhino’s were roaming the area.

I never thought a safari could be this intense but it made this trip unforgettable. I was able to learn about these wild animals and see them in their habitats. To be that close with a rhino, lion, giraffe and to be charged at by an elephant is something that will last forever with me. 

Day #6, April 14, 2009 – By Patrick Foran

Today we had a rigorous schedule.  It all started with a 5:00am wake up call to endure the beautiful sights of Cape Town on the top of world famous Table Mountain.  Table Mountain is named because it looks like a table… and it’s a mountain.  The hike was a nearly 2 mile climb up steep steps to reach the 3,000 foot summit.  It was not easy and I must say that I was the first person from our group to make it to the top in just over one hour.  Our tour guide told us the record was about 32 minutes.  The majority of our group finished in about 90 minutes so by 7:30 am we had already climbed a mountain, not a bad way to start the day.  Although the hike was very exhausting, it was well worth it to get to the top and see the beautiful sights.

After spending about 20 minutes on the top of the mountain we took the cable car down the mountain and that took about 8 minutes.  A much easier route for sure.

We returned back to the hotel at 9:30 am where we were greeted by a huge buffet breakfast.  After we sufficiently filled out stomachs many of us walked a couple of blocks to the local flee market where we bought souvenirs for many of our family and friends. 

Following our souvenir purchases we returned back to the hotel for a quick rest and to get ready for our next activity.

Our next adventure was one of the highlights of the trip thus far.  We travelled into one of the local townships (slums) to put on a coaching clinic with the Hoops 4 Hope organization.  This is an organization that helps thousands of kids each year by putting on basketball and soccer programs.  The clinic was an amazing two hours.  There were about 150 kids there and many of them had no shoes which was really heart breaking to see.  The kids were incredible, their smiles enormous and they were so appreciative of our arrival.   It’s amazing to see a group of people with so little in terms of material items but with so much happiness.  Our group did not want to leave, but we had a game to get to so we were on our way.

After the clinic we headed to the Cape Peninsula Technical University for our final game of the trip.  We were playing a local men’s team and they were big, fast and strong.  I was worried that after our long hike we might have some problems.  We were able to keep it close throughout the entire game and then when we were down by 1 point with 2 seconds left when Jerry Casey hit a game winning jump shot.  It was a great way for us to end the trip.

This was one of our busiest days of the trip.  Full of adventures and a day that I will always remember.

Day #7, April 15, 2009 – By Matthew Gomez

We started our morning with a 7:00 am wakeup call and the first thing that I saw when I opened my door were two elephants eating the grass about 15 feet from my front door.  I tried to call everyone else in our group so that they could share in my excitement but unfortunately the elephants didn’t like my presence and rumbled away.  For my final day at the safari, this was a great way to say good bye.

After another great buffet breakfast we packed our bags into the vehicles and made our way on the 2 mile dirt path to our charter bus that was waiting at the entrance gate as the road was way to difficult for the big bus to drive on.  We said good bye to all of the amazing animals and our great safari guide Laini.  Fortunately we are able to take so many memories of our two days on safari; the elephant’s roar, female lions, rhinos near our rooms and all of the other unique animals that we saw. 

Leaving Entabeni was sad, but I was very excited for the next portion of our trip, Cape Town.  I was excited because of all of the history that the city holds and all of the things that some of the other players who visited Cape Town last year had told me about the city.

We only had a two hour plane ride from Johannesburg to Cape Town which was much better than our previous flights of 5, 8 and 7 hours.   When we first arrived in Cape Town we were met by our new tour guide, Deon.  The first thing that I noticed about him was his strong accent which made it a lot of fun to try and decipher some of his words as he explained some of Cape Town’s rich history.  One of the most interesting bits of information that Deon shared with us had to do with the racial segregation that occurred because of apartheid.  He told us about the various districts and how there were neighborhoods that were exclusively for blacks, colored and white people.  It’s amazing to hear about such a time in history where this occurred and the fact that it happened not that long ago.

We arrived at our hotel which is located in downtown Cape Town.  We checked in, were given a welcoming drink of apple juice and then most of our group headed to the V & A Waterfront which is a collection of shops and restaurants located right on the harbor.  My favorite store was called Out of Africa and it was full of African gifts of all types and the perfect store for anyone looking for a souvenir to bring home.

Our final activity of the day was our game against the Montana Vikings.  This was our third game of the trip and the first time we played kids our age and size.  After losing our first two games to teams that were much more physical and athletic than our team, we were determined to get a victory.  We started off strong and kept up the pace throughout the game.  Our goal was to score 100 points and we were on track after each of the first three quarters.  After a scoring lull in the fourth quarter we finally put a nice run together to end the game and hit the century mark, winning 100-54.  It was a fun game and every player on the team scored and had a lot of fun.

All in all, it was a good day.  A very long day, but a day filled with a lot of memories.  Starting the day seeing elephants at my door and ending the day scoring 100 points in just our third game together.  Not many people can say that they’ve done that.  Tomorrow is even busier and a 5:30am wakeup call is soon approaching.