Africa: A Summary

Our time in Africa is over.  31 days of exploration, adventure, discovery, and surprises have come to an end. 

I’m sad and happy at the same time.  Sad to say goodbye to my new-found friends: lions and zebras and rhinos and giraffes and elephants and wildebeests and cheetahs and leopards and buffalo and hippos and crocodiles (okay, I’m not so sad to say goodbye to them!) and water otters and goats and puppies and cats and jackals and steenboks and springboks and kudu and orecs.  And I’m sad to leave the gorgeous GORGEOUS country of red earth, red sunsets, green trees, yellow bushes, purple flora, blue skies, and black nights peppered with white stars.  It’s such an amazing, spectacular, beautiful, peaceful, chaotic, aggressive, competitive, soul-searching, mystical, puzzling place.  I know it will take years for me to be able to succinctly describe our time here.  Because at this point, I’m still at a loss of words to sum it up.  I’ll say, “it was awesome!  It was incredible!  It was spectacular!”  and that won’t even begin to adequately describe this journey.  We had moments of awe, moments of surprise, moments of laughter, moments of sadness, moments of frustration, moments of sheer joy, moments of peace, moments of discovery, moments of speechlessness, moments of experiences that will never be able to be described in words but simply by our memory, and moments of absolute gratitude that we can experience such an array of emotions in such an amazing place.

I loved that I was able to witness a mother rhino step in front of her baby because she thought we were a threat, and I love that I rafted down the Zambezi River (even though I caught a cold after!).  I love that we were a half of a day ahead of the rest of everyone back on the western side of the world.  I love that everyone we met were thrilled to welcome us to their country.  I love that a lion growled at me, a shark charged at me, and an elephant threw a temper tantrum (maybe) because of what I said.  I love that our friends Ron and Anya took so much time to research our trip so that we could see so much of a country we knew nothing about; and then took us to their home so we could see their life with their families.  I love that I almost couldn’t climb through a cave but in the end had my husband give me the push I needed to climb up into bigger spaces.  I love that we ate our way through Barcelona and that I’m still dreaming of Iberican ham.  I love that I walked across Abbey Road and thought of the 4 iconic musicians that have certainly shaped my musical knowledge.  I love that I spent countless hours on a plane with Matt, on our way to explore new lands together.  I love that I got to snuggle with little Aidan and Jules (Ron’s niece) and Frank and Chelsea (Ron’s parent’s pups).  I love that I got to drink bottles of wine for $2 a pop, and cappuccinos for $1.80 a pop.  I love that we saw the top of Table Mountain and Cape Town over the clouds.  I love witnessing the pride South Africans have of their country.  I love that we ate so much meat that I truly could not ingest another bite.  I love that I swam in the Indian Ocean.  I love that we sat around campfires and stared into the flames without saying a word.  I love that on our last day in South Africa, we witnessed 3 elephants walking through the plains.  I love that I was able to spend time in a watering hole, waiting for wildlife to come and drink water but really it was just a way for me to take a moment to reflect on the blessings of my life, including this vacation.  I love that I was able to spend the last 6 weeks with some of the best friends Matt and I could ever ask for.  And I love that through these friends, we were able to meet new friends in new places.

I will forever be truly grateful for this experience.  I know it’s changed me.  It’s changed me in the ways that I may not be able to verbally describe; and yet, those around me may be able to just know that I’m a little different.  We as Americans are truly, truly blessed in our lives.  We may have a messed up government that can’t get off their asses to agree on the important things in our country, and we may have simple stupid issues on a daily basis that we deem as “important” or “awful” or “life-changing”, but the reality is, we have it really easy.  Even our low-income citizens have a much better opportunity in succeeding than high-income Africans.  And our freedom is truly real: we can go anywhere.  Literally and figuratively.  We have the means to travel the world and the world welcomes us with open arms.  And more importantly, we can see a world that so many people will never know. 

I’ve seen poor villages and I’ve seen prospering villages.  I’ve seen people in utter poverty, and I’ve seen people who, according to our standards, are poor but according to theirs, have everything they could ever want.  I’ve seen the innocence in children in Africa like I’ve seen the innocence in children in the US.  I’ve seen sheer joy and I’ve seen struggle.  And I’ve seen normal people, living their life on a daily basis, just like we do back home. 

I think that’s what struck me most about life in Africa: the normalcy that, with a few exceptions (some minor, some major), is very similar to life back home.  We are all just living our lives.  Making the most with what we’ve got.  And it doesn’t matter if you’re in Africa, America, Europe or Canada, we are all just trying to survive.  Some are doing it much better than others, and there are plenty of people in the world who choose to spend their time on this earth doing things that the rest of us question, but for the most part, all money aside, we are all trying to live our lives the best way we know how.  

It may be a naïve statement, and maybe I’m giving some people more credit than they deserve, but from what I’ve observed the last six weeks, more people than not are just doing their everyday thing: working, raising a family, providing, socializing with family and friends, etc.  There were plenty of people we met who live in a house smaller than our boat and wish for nothing more; and there are people we’ve met who live in a house bigger than 10 of our boats and always want a little more than what they have.  And if it’s in the US or Africa, it’s the same thing.  The language may be different, the governments more or less corrupt, and the freedoms more or less limiting, but in the end, we are all on the same planet, trying to make our way the best way we know how.

I had a lot of expectations of this vacation, most of them involving animals and assuming that I would know how to experience this place, simply because of the fact that I didn't know what the place would offer me.  And in the end, my expectations, while surpassed for the most part, were definitely redefined once I realized that I had no concept of this part of the world, and it is better to let the expectations fall by the wayside and just allow the surroundings take me in and show me where I am.  

Wow.  An absolutely, utterly amazing few weeks we've had in this beautiful part of the world.

I did mention that I was happy to see the end of this trip, didn’t I?

I’m happy to get back to our home country, where we know the rules, we know the language, we know the “ins” and we know that we will drive on the right side of the road.  There’s something to be said about going “home.”  And the more you travel, the more comfortable coming home feels.  Not to mention, I’m very excited to begin the next chapter of our life.  And taking this trip helped me to get more prepared for the next adventure: spending a year off the boat, away from our business, and focusing on the next phase of our life.  It’s a little scary, but I think taking this time to explore new worlds helped me to feel more confident in myself with pursuing this next adventure.

And so, it is with a heavy heart that I say farewell to Africa, but it is with all the love in my heart that I say, with confidence, I will see you again.

Because we WILL be back.