Some Final Thoughts

Now that I have been back in the States for a little over two weeks and have had a chance to reflect on the plethora of experiences I had since I last posted, I feel ready to write my final entry on Cape Town and to move onto thinking about my upcoming semester in Paris.

Finals ended at the end of the first week in November, and between then and the end of my time in Africa, I was living out of a heavy duty overnight camping backpack and traveling all over southern Africa. Not bad, hey? My travels began with a tour of the Garden Route with a girl with whom I had become very close over the course of my stay in Cape Town. We traveled very well together, which was crucial seeing as we drove all the way from Cape Town to Joburg via Durban, a trip that took us along the entire southern coast of South Africa over a week's time - no small task! We arrived in Joburg, where I spent the night with my friend's family. We had one great night out before I headed off into the bush for two weeks on an overland safari.

The Garden Route was truly amazing, with one of the highlights being my long-awaited bungy jump (the largest in the world, I might add!) and another being Cape Agulhas, the true southernmost tip of Africa (not to be confused with Cape Point, which is the southwestern-most tip of Africa). While this road trip was great, the overland safari was indescribable. Having the opportunity to drive across borders into truly "African" countries, such as Botswana, Zambia, and even Zimbabwe, will forever remain a part of my memory of my overall African experience. I saw Victoria Falls from both Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as from the air on a microlight plane. I also spent two nights completely removed from civilisation in the Okovango Delta in Botswana, where we were guided in wooden mokoro boats through reeds and water lilies. And those are just a few of the innumerable experiences I had over those two weeks! After the trip, my flatmate from Cape Town (who traveled with me) and I spent a few more days in Joburg and Pretoria (the capital of South Africa) before heading to Mozambique.

The three day visit to Inhaca Island in Mozambique was a relaxing culmination to my stay in Africa. With nothing to do but lounge by the pool and swim in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, both my flatmate and I got tanned and ate some unbelievable fish before heading back to Cape Town for a final South African hoorah. These final days were bittersweet in that I was sad to be leaving behind a city and a country that I had come to love and to feel at home in, but I was also excited to get home to the States where I had left my friends and family behind.

I can honestly say that I do not regret a single thing that I did while in Africa, and I now have memories that will forever remain with me. Each new experience has contributed to the person I have become since leaving for Africa almost six months ago. While I am relieved to have all the comforts of home, I am also amped to embark on my next adventure. Please look out for my next set of blog posts from Paris. Wishing you all the best in 2009!