goodbye time

So here I am sitting in my room trying to study for my last final and all of a sudden my computer goes to the picture screensaver. As I get distracted from studying by watching the changing pictures, I began to reflect on my experience here. A new vet, Rebecca arrived last night and I can’t describe the feeling I felt when she asked how long I was here for and I told her “Until Thursday.” It sounded like an automated response, as it flowed so freely, effortlessly out of my mouth. But tonight as Margot and Andrew took us Americans up to Signal Hill to watch the sunset and I was sitting there with Miss Piggy in my lap, watching the sun disappear behind the vast ocean and watching all the city lights begin to flicker on- I realized that I only have until Thursday.
My ending here is approaching fast and to be honest, I’m not ready to say goodbye.

Cape Town is a complex city, Africa in general is a multifaceted continent. And my time here has been short- but every moment, every day since July 8th, I’ve called this place home. And finally tonight- having dinner around the table with Margot, Andrew, Ali and Rebecca, I actually felt at home.

I’ll be honest with you (whoever YOU are that is reading this…) but I’ve never been good at saying goodbye. In fact I suck at it. I would much rather avoid you than have to say goodbye. At least if I avoid you then it’s more of a “we’ll see each other when we see each other”- it doesn’t have the official stamp of a goodbye. When I say goodbye it becomes real to me that I won’t be seeing you for a certain period of time. Yes goodbyes can sometimes be for a short period of time, but usually when you make a deal out of “saying goodbye” it’s for a significant amount of time or maybe for an unknown amount of time.

But on Thursday I have to say goodbye; goodbye to my new family, goodbye to 26 Raapenberg Road, goodbye to the life I’ve made here.

I guess you could say I had 5 months to prepare for this goodbye, but really- I honestly didn’t expect it to come this fast.

When Rebecca asked me how my experience here has been, I was hesitant with my answer. How do you answer such a complicated question in a way that doesn’t send you reminiscing about your life since July?

So here’s my answer:
Over the past 5 months-
my life has changed in ways I couldn’t even imagine it would,
I’ve experienced things I only dreamt about,
I’ve felt emotions that I never knew existed
And I’ve met people who, even if I tried my hardest, I’d never be able to forget.

My experience here is not describable in words.
Not in pictures.
My experience here can only be conveyed in the ways that I’ve changed as a person. The ways I’ve grown up and matured since I’ve been here. The ways in which going to an African country not knowing a single person, the ways in which living with another family and experiencing their every day life, the ways in which living in a country that ended segregation only 14 years ago, can change you.

Change. That’s a powerful word. And it’s a big word for Americans right now.
But as scary as change is, it is necessary. And it is inevitable. I’ll admit, I’ve changed.
I came here with expectations. As much as I tried to reassure myself that I didn’t, deep down I did. It’s only natural to expect something. I can’t tell you what I expected, but I had some image, some thought as to how my life would go about while attending UCT.

Not all my expectations were met- and I’m glad they weren’t. New challenges forced me to completely adapt how I live my life here from how I’m used to living normally. I’ll admit at times I didn’t necessarily embrace challenges with open arms, but I did overcome them. And because of that, I’ve changed.

I’ll be seeing my mom December 5. It will be 1 day short of exactly 6 months from the day she dropped me off at Newark International Airport to come here. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to see her and receive one of her good “mom-hugs.”
And she’ll notice it- the change; the small piece of Africa I’m taking with me and I’ll never have to say goodbye to.

2 finals done

so i wrote something last week during study week that i was supposed to post- but i never actually got around to doing it... oops! but just know my study week went well- consisted of doing a lot of errands & getting ready for my travels to Kenya & Tanzania after finals. i didn't really get a whole lot of "studying" in during the week, but come last weekend i was a prisioner in my room due to my favorite class.... ethics.... well the exam was at 5pm on tuesday night... it was in the sports complex and it was VERY intimidating.... they even had proctors watching us from the above viewing deck... i seriously felt like i was in a prison!
it didn't go too bad but after the exam ended at 8... yes, a 3 hour exam that took my almost the whole time!, i was POOPED. and i was wondering where the day had gone!

so on wed. i spent the day "studying"... actually it consisted of me, sarah and ellie hanging out- talking and laughing... we are all so over studying.

so last night i freaked myself out with how little i actually knew for my psych exam, so i forced myself to go to it... it was margrets last night so she made a yummy pasta dinner and terri and tamara came over as well.

it finally hit me that today is my 2 week mark until i leave the mcinnes. when i thought about this a few nights ago before going to bed, it just sort of hit me. i have all these mixed emotions of saying goodbye- i actually hate saying goodbye to people- but i look back at this semester and i cant help but to smile at all the memories i'll have of living with ali, margot & andrew. the past month or so i feel like i really connected with them and i'm officially part of their little family. margot is superwoman- i don't know how she juggles everything she does, and yet still has time to make sure i'm comfortable and enjoying myself- she really is the best host mom. ali and i have gotten closer & have sort of bonded over our not wanting to study for finals... but she has 7 exams for her occupational therapy degree so i can only imagine her pain. im dying with 4. haha. and andrew- oh man- he's a character. never ceases to amaze me what a great kid he is and how grown up he is for only being 11. and then of course there is ms. piggy and ernie (the pugs!) and big boy (the cat)... everything at 26 raapenburg road has been so kind and has really made this expereince worthwhile.

okay so now that i'm off my emotional kick- i just finished my psych. exam- not too bad. now i only have film genre and my religion exams left. my flim genre exam is Nov. 4 and my religion is nov. 10... so i got some time... good thing bc having 2 within 2 days was tough. im ready to kick back for the rest of today and tomorrow. (HALLOWEEN!- don't have a costume. still don't like the holiday. but i figure i need to at least do something to celebrate!)

alrighty i'm off to the gym now... phew- glad 2 exams are down!
hope everyone is doing great!
love & miss u all!

pasta party, 1/2 marathon & sunset @ the beach!

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown

so on Saturday night, Molly, Lauren and I had a pasta party for our pre-run dinner!

so much yummy food!!.... that we DEVOURED...!!!

so the 5 girls made our way to the start line at around 6am- and after dropping off our bags and what not we made it to the start line at 650am! ... a good ten minutes before the race began! then we did some last minute pep-talks/stretching and before we knew it the countdown began... 10-9-8-7- BOOM! and the gun went off... apparently they don't count down to 1 here in Africa! so we were off!!! at first it was a bit crazy as everyone was trying to get out first... but i just kept telling myself its going to be one hell-of-a-long run so u better start off slow! so i did & i pretty much kept the same pace the whole time. the race began in sea point and we ran along the water, then turned the first loop and headed back to green point where the finish line was. from here we ran through the waterfront area and then eventually into the city. after the city we headed back past green point and down to sea point one last time before truning around for the finish line. it was a gorgeous day out! got to be a bit hot, but could have been A LOT worse! My final time was 2:30.17 !

hanging out after the run.. Ravi, Janine & Sarah came down to support us at the finish line!

YAY! I FINISHED!

representing CIEE! Molly, Dawn, Lauren, & Courtney
the finish line was right by Green Point Stadium which is being built for the 2010 world cup!

The band! it was such a nice morning & the sun was shining so it was nice to just relax & hang out after the race!

for sunset, Margot, Andrew took the new Vet, Margret, and me to the beach for the sunset- such a great way to end a long day!

andrew playing in the water.. he was SOO happy playing in the water by himself... brought back memories of when Jen and I would go to the beach after Easter mass!

1/2 Marathon is tomorrow!!!

So here I am hanging out in Molly's room at the res. hall & we've been pumping ourselves up for the Gun Run- 1/2 marathon tomorrow!!! Yesterday we walked out to the Sportsmans Warehouse to pick up our race packets & got our very cool looking shirts! We also were able to pick a few pre-race items that also helped us to get PUMPED. This morning I woke up in a frantic as I thought it was Sunday and I had overslept! Today we're taking the day pretty easy- just hanging out with Molly and getting together with Lauren a bit later for our pasta dinner. Should be fun. Molly and I have spent the past hour looking up motivational quotes which has only made us more excited to run this tomorrow. We looked over the course route and it looks like it'll be a nice run along the beach and through the city- only 21.1k!!! alright well i hope i don't die & i'll post again after the event!!!!

"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving." - Maurice Greene

Heritage day! & Ellie's surprise bday!!

So last wed., September 24 was a national holiday... it was Heritage Day/ National Braai day!! so that meant no classes! so in the morning, Margot, Andrew, Ali & I all went to a place called Cafe Sofia for breakfast... it was delicious! Then I went back to the house and began working on my Ethics paper... yuck! as Margot took Andrew to chess and Ali went out. In the afternoon I went for a nice run (it was blue skies and only a light wind) and then Terri & Tamara came over for a braai! It was so nice to just sit outside and talk and enjoy the semi-warm spring weather... it has been raining on/off for what seems like forever now, and we are all sick of it!!!

terri braaing!

then in the evening, the seminar kids were given tickets to an event called Cultural Delight at Cafe Sofia (the same place where we had breakfast!). every wed. night they have an open mic-night and tonight's theme was culture/ heritage. there were 4 people to a table and apparently each table cost 200Rand. once again, the VIP status of being in the seminar group as all we had to do was show up!

so we got our faces painted when we first arrived by the women dressed in traditional wear. that was very cool. and then when the show started around 8, they brought out some snacks and each table got a bottle of wine to share.

it was cool to a mix of poetry & music- i was bummed that i had to leave before it was over but i still had work that needed to be done for the next day and it was already 1030!

then the next night, guess where i ended back up at?! CAFE SOFIA! this time i was there for a surprise birthday party for Ellie!!! (Ellie was best friends with Terrance and after flying back to the states for the memorial services/ funeral, had just got back to Cape Town the previous Saturday.) It was her birthday the day of Terrance's funeral so we all planned on throwing her a surprise party upon her return!!!

so we all arrived at around 530 and helped decorate the outside porch area and then she arrived just after 6, SHOCKED AS COULD BE!!! she had NOO CLUE! it was the perfect surprise! then we all hung out and ordered dinner and on Thursdays it's jazz night at Cafe Sofia so we got to hear the band play a little. then we sang happy birthday & had some delicious cake!!! i think she had a great time & she really was so shocked/touched that we all took the effort to throw her a party. (once when Ellie, Terrance and I were on the Jammie shuttle bus going to campus, the driver was playing the Westlife cd on repeat (westlife was THE british boy band group of 90s!) so we were cracking up and singing along and everything and it was always a joke because whenever i took that Jammie with the Westlife music, I'd always be with Terrance & Ellie! so for her birthday, i bought Ellie the Westlife cd! She got a good laugh at it and said that this will be playing repeat on her computer!!! Sarah- her flat mate- hated me for giving it to her because she's not the biggest fan of westlife!!! ohh well- i told her by the end of this semester she will be LOVIN' them!!!

decorating!!!

waiting for the birthday girl to arrive!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!!

happy birthday to you....!!!!

terri's birthday!, whale watching & margot's country-western themed party!

so on September 16th, Terri & Tamara came over for dinner to celebrate Terri's birthday! After dinner Margot realized she had extra sparklers from some event so we decided to light them & have a little fun!!! it reminded me of the 4th of July!!!

Terri blowing out her candles! me & terri with our sparklers!

tamara & her sparkler!

Andrew!

Then on Saturday September 20th CIEE took us to Hermanus, a coastal town about 1.5 hours away to go whale watching via sea kayak!!!

sea kayaks! --- that white stuff is a whale!

some pictures from the day... such a pretty area... molly & her fish, the whales of hermanus bay (over 200 whales were in the bay the day we were there!)

had a delicious seafood lunch while sitting out in the sun listening to some music!!!

when I returned home that night, Margot was hosting a country-western themed party!!!

the outside porch area and Ali, my host sister!!! (i think it only took us 3 months to take a picture together!)

spring break in SEPTEMBER!

DAY 1: CAPE TOWN – PALAPYE, BOTSWANA VIA JO’BURG

Okay so on thurs. aug 28th I spent the night at the Res. Hall with my friend Sarah & we got picked up by our tour group bright and early at 5am. We were actually fortunate because I think the first person picked up was at 415! So the group of about 40 of us made our way to Cape Town International Airport and caught at 615am flight to Johannesburg (Jo’burg). We were met at the airport in Jo’burg by our driver, Thedius and our chef, Kingston. From the airport we drove in our “overland vechicle”, we nicknamed it the Silly Mobile- to Botswana. It was around a 10-11 hour drive day- tough, but our truck, the Elephants- all seemed to get along great and had a first fun day getting to know one another and playing cards. There were 22 people and the 2 leaders, Monique & Dave, who are also students at UCT. Monique was also a CIEE orientation leader which was ironic because most of us, about 18 of us on the bus were from CIEE. Although I was a bit hesitant joining a group with SO many CIEE kids, it turns out we all ended up having a great time & I was able to meet and get to know other CIEE’ers who I haven’t really gotten a chance to know yet this semester.

inside of the Silly Mobile

Nothing like playing some catch phrase while overlanding it in Africa!


this is Africa...

So we crossed the Botswana boarder at around 6pm- and we saw our first official “African bush sunset”. HOLELY COW- it was amazing! We didn’t have any trouble at the Botswana boarder & were all still pretty shocked at the temperature difference. We left rain in Cape Town and when we arrived in Jo’burg it was already at least 80 degrees & only got hotter as the day of driving progressed. Even after the sun went down and we had yet another 2 hours before we got to our campsite- we still had the windows rolled up & we’re enjoying sitting in the dark, letting the hot air blow through our hair & talking. It’s incredible how much people open up when the lights are dimmed!
first sunset in the bush... crossing the boarder into Botswana!


We finally arrived at our camp site around 815ish and were nice enough to have already prepared dinner for us. Because it was already dark and we were leaving bright and early at 630am the campsite also let us sleep in this big open dorm- it was a good way to end our first day together & we all were anxious to see what the next day would hold for us.
first night of the trip. all slept in a dorm, palapye, botswana


DAY 2: PALAYPE, BOTSWANA – MAUN, BOTSWANA

So on day 2 we had another day of travel- we woke up at 515 and packed everything back up and set out at 630 for Maun- which would be our base point before entering the Okavango Delta. We stopped for another breakfast at around 930-10ish and I’ll admit to you that it was the first time I peed out in the Bush! I was super anxious & nervous about doing it- but everything went well! Little did I know that this would be the first of MANY trips out to find a “pee-bush” and upon re-integrating myself back in Cape Town life I still sort of miss the freedom of the bush!


I was on lunch duty today- and help the chefs (there were 2 trucks, so 2 chefs and 2 drivers) prepare tuna salad sandwiches! although I was a bit hesitant about not knowing what to expect food wise on this trip- i was even hoping to maybe lose a few lbs- but no that was surely not the case. The food was amazing! Kingston was such a nice guy & couldn’t have prepared more incredible meals. So after lunch we loaded back up & were on our way to Maun!


waiting to help start with lunch... Rachel, Lauren, me & Molly

making lunch.... yum!!

When we finally arrived in Maun- we first stopped at a ShopRite (a grocery store) to buy 5liters each of water- when we went into the Delta there would be no running. Then we got to the campsite and Sarah & I had no trouble setting up our tent!!! That night we had dinner and then all hung out at the bar- excited for the next day!

sarah & i after having no trouble putting up our tent!!!

sunset in Muan, Botswana

DAY 3- 5: OKAVANGO DELTA

So today we got up and packed all our stuff into backpacks- taking only that was essential for the next three days… and surprisingly I was able to fit all my baggage that I needed into my backpack! I’m pretty sure that was the best packing job I’ve ever done in my life! Then we boarded a different truck and drove the hour or so it took to get to the Delta. This drive was cool because we drove through really small, rural villages- and all the locals were outside mingling and would wave. Such a cool experience.

waiting to start loading the truck to go to the Delta


little village we passed through to get to the Delta

We got to the Delta and were met by the locals who were going to row us in the makoro’s to our camp. Wilson- approached me and “picked” Sarah as his! So he helped us load all our stuff in his boat and off we were!!!

We floated along for about an hour or so- sooo peaceful- I couldn’t help but to close my eyes with the sound of the water splashing and the light breeze- SOOO peaceful.

wilson loading all our stuff!

off we go to our campsite!

Then after our swim time- we relaxed for a bit and then went out for an hour nature walk on one of the other little islands. We didn’t see any big animals- just birds- but it was so cool to go on our first game walk and the sunset was gorgegous!

That night we just hung out around the fire and played cards. We tried to play Mafia- somehow I was encouraged to be God- and I accidentally messed up the first round so the whole time I was trying to figure out how exactly the game could continue on without starting over. It was something like 23 of us playing. It was a bit hectic. Not to mention all the locals- who stayed and camped with us- were trying to learn and after my little screw-up only helped to reinforce their “crazy American” stereotype!

area where we had our nature walk... so quiet!

nature walk/game walk group!

heading back to camp in the makoro

sunset # 1 in the Delta

The next day we woke up at 530am to depart by 6 by makoro to go on our 4 hour game walk!!! SOOO incredible. On our makoro ride over to the island we would be walking around- I spotted our first animal of the day- a hippo!!! We also managed to see lots of zebras, water buffalo, impala, and an elephant from far away. We saw lots of foot prints- so knew that the animals were there! But we just had trouble seeing them.

zebra!

wilson hanging out in an elephant's foot track!

The game walk was for 4 hours so when we got back it was around 10 and Kingston had breakfast made for us!!! Then we all sort of relaxed and at around noon we headed over to the water hole again. It wasn’t as hot as the previous day so it didn’t feel as refreshing and it was a bit too chilly. I attempted to get some reading done in the sun but ended up falling asleep!

The afternoon was spent free to just hang out- Sarah and I attempted to go out in the makoro- after about 15 mins of trying to maneuver the boat and only managed to get us stuck in the reeds- I got fed up and Sarah managed to get us back safely to camp.

kingston, our chef-had breakfast waiting for us when we returned!

making a makoro out of tree bark

At around 545 we left camp and went to go watch the sunset at the hippo pool. There were about 3 hippos and im not going to lie- I got a bit freaked out when one came close to us!!! I was not wanting to go for a swim!

So we watched the sunset from there as well- such an amazing array of colors! As we were waiting and watching- Wilson and our nature/game walk guide, Brandon, made sarah and I these really cool necklaces out of reeds! It was soo cool!

hippo pool

me at the hippo pool!.. we actually saw hippos but none of my photos were worthy enough to post on here!

sunset at the hippo poolSo after the sunset, we went back to camp and Kingston had a braai going (like a cookout) and we had a delicious dinner. After dinner we were spoiled with some amazing dancing and singing by our local guides and then it was our time. Haha lets see- we started out show by all of us singing “I’ve been working on the railroad” then sang/danced to the Hokey-Pokey, then to the YMCA, and I Will Survive, and finished off with the National Anthem. We all felt pretty lame with the songs we all knew but our local guides seemed to really enjoy it! Then after that, we still sat by the camp fire and some of the younger guides started telling rittles which only reinforced the “stupid American” stereotypes haha. No it actually was a lot of fun and it was cool to interact with them. They were all very shy at first (there were about 15 of them) but by the last day they seemed more comfortable.

As we were getting ready for bed our last night in the delta- we looked up to the sky and OMG I’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH A MASSIVE, CLEAR SKY. It was INCREDBILE. The milky way was super clear and seemed to extend on forever. We stood out behind our tents looking up to the sky for about 30 mins. Finally we decided that because the night was so clear and wasn’t too cold- that we’d all sleep out by the fire. Even though we were out in the wilderness and wild animals were free to roam- a few of the locals stayed up all night to keep the fire going and to make sure no animals came close.

So the next morning we had to pack everything up- and eventually made our way back in the makoro to the Delta’s edge. We were sad to say goodbye to Wilson and all the other locals and knew we were leaving as changed people. I don’t think I’ve ever been more dirty in my life and genuinely not even cared. I swear- the rest of our group saw me looking at my “finest” haha but it was sooo freeing to just not even have to worry about make-up or how gross your hair looked, or how dirty your feet or finger nails were.

So we left the delta and headed back to Maun to shower! 3 days of no shower! And had lunch before we loaded up the Silly Mobile and headed off again.

wilson in his makoro!

heading back to meet the trucks

sooo dirty but what an expereince!
BYE WILSON!!!

DAY 5: NATA, BOTSWANA

So after our nice warm showers we headed back on the road- another 5 hour drive to Nata, Botswana. After driving all afternoon- we finally got in around 8pm and had dinner and made sure to get a good nights sleep as we had to wake up early for our last major drive to Chobe National Park.

random elephants we saw on the side of the road!

DAY 6: CHOBE NATIONAL PARK

After another early morning and a long ride, we got in to our campsite around lunch time and were able to relax a bit before we headed out on the Zambezi for a sunset cruise. We stopped to pick up some wine before hand so it was relaxing to be out on the boat after a long day on the road and just to be able to kick back and enjoy the scenery. We saw a ton of animals- crocodile, baboons, zebra, a herd of elephant coming to the water- absolutely incredible- hippos, and some cool birds. That night after the cruise we just hung out at the campsite bar and managed to have fun.

we called this the "flashing bird"

chobe has the largest elephant population in Africa... elephants coming to the water for a drink

the girls on the sunset cruise-raina, caitlin, melissa, me

lots of elephants!

sarah & i enjoying ourselves on the top deck

melissa & me

croc!

elephants in the distance & hippo!!

after the booze cruise back at camp:

DAY 7: EARLY CHOBE GAME DRIVE / CROSS BOARDER INTO ZAMBIA

So whosever’s idea it was to have an early game drive (and by early I mean a 530 departure time) the morning after the “booze cruise”…. Well thank you.

it was definitely an early morning- our picture is worth a thousand words- but we had a great time just being driven around. Our driver was super cool, and made sure to point out all the lion king animals. At one point he stops the truck short and goes “LOOK ZA-ZOO!” it was great.

everyone at their finest...

thought you'd all like this one of me....

nothing like a beautiful sunrise in Chobe National Park

impala

pretty watering hole... me, chantel & ashley

sad! dead elephant... our guide said it most likely died from a disease only a few days before... smelt HORRIBLE.

After a nice 3 hour game drive- we headed back to camp to pack up and got everything ready to cross the boarder in Zambia. There is only 1 ferry boat that goes across the River so we really had no idea how long it was going to take. Tourists, and especially American Tourists- somehow get to cut the day long line of trucks waiting to cross. So fortunately it only took us about and hour to get our trucks across and pass through passport control, etc.

Our last little driving trip was from the boarder to our campsite in Vic Falls. We got in around 3ish and were briefed by the people at the campsite all the activities that would be available for us to do over the next 2 days.

ZAMBIA HERE WE ARE!

after crossing on the ferry

bridge connecting zambia & zimbabwe

the following shots are of Victoria Falls from the Zambia side:

everyone was giving me a hard time about taking such a "creeper" photo but i thought this father/son picture was so cute!

DAY 8: WHITE WATER RAFTING DOWN THE ZAMBEZI (level 5 rapids)

I ended up going white water rafting (apparently the rapids at Vic Falls are the best in the world?) on Friday and then on Saturday I crossed the boarder into Zimbabwe and did the Lion Encounter and went to the market there.

White water rafting was amazing- so much fun to be down in “no mans land” and just floating along. It was a long day out on the water – we were all pretty beat by the time we got back to camp.

start of the day- look at all of us in our boats!

having a blast!

here's the sequence of the only time we lost people on a rapid!...

heading in....

what a ride!

such an pretty day!

DAY 9: LION ENCOUNTER IN ZIMBABWE & MARKET, VIC. FALLS FROM ZIM SIDE

The next day a group of us went into Zim. And had fun seein gth elions so up close and getting to pet them and walk with them. After that we headed to the market where you could basically trade ANYTHING for some sort of African cool memorabilia thing. When I say anything, I mean anything. I traded the socks on my feet, some wash cloths, a hair tie, a pen, and a plastic spoon- for 2 bracelets, a necklace and a 1billion dollar Zim note. As fun as it was to bargain- it was also heartbreaking to see how desperate these people really were for just the basic necessities. As we were leaving I was able to give the kids a few extra granola bars and a bottle of water that I had- and to see the look on their faces, as if I was a saint or something. It definitely put things more into perspective and was hard to see.

yah... i rafted that... view of the zambezi from

nomansland... crossing the bridge between zambia & zimbabwe

unfortunately there was still dew on my lens from the falls!

little baboon we saw sitting on the trash can... these animals are sooo creepy looking... they'll just stop what they are doing and stare at you and watch until you leave...

Zim. market

the following shots are of Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side

ashley, me & ruth

As this was our last night of the trip, we had one final sunset “booze cruise” on the Zambezi. This cruise was open bar- and need I say that people took advantage of the open bar on the boat. Even our main leader seemed to have a few extra drinks to sort of celebrate the ending of a great trip.

molly, sarah, me & lauren

last sunset of the trip :(

DAY 10: AIRPORT TRANSFER- HEADING HOME TO CAPE TOWN

The next day we all slept in and had to pack up camp one last time. We were all very sad about this but managed to get everything done in time to make it to the airport for our 2pm flight. We had to fly back to Jo’burg and then had a connector to Cape Town. We ended up getting back to Cape Town around 9 and I was home and in bed by 11! I was exhausted.

Okay – well I feel like I used the same adjectives over and over to describe my trip- and I know that its getting repetitive and I apologize. It’s hard because there really isn’t any words to describe how incredible this trip really was. I definitely feel like I experienced the “real Africa” and I feel like a changed person after that.

It really was such an amazing week- these little reflections do not even do it justice. I kept a journal through the whole week- and it’s great to go back and read my entries. I was so relaxed on the trip and it seems to show through in my journal entries. I’m so glad that I forced myself to journal even when I was dead tired- it’s something I’ll have to hold on to for the rest of my life.