Welcome Home to Me!

I landed in NYC yesterday, and will be catching up with old friends for the next few days before heading to my actual home on Monday. I guess it is now time to reflect and be all philosophical about my four months in Africa, huh? It is difficult to begin to recount the many, many things about my trip that were amazing and fabulous, as well as a few things that were annoying, or otherwise unacceptable ;). I visited ten countries, and even so it is hard not to generalize, so I'm just going to try to sum up the things that stood out the most about Africa:

• Over-crowded, broken-down transport, on shoddy, potholed, or entirely unpaved roads. May include live animals and/or people with B.O. that smells like rotting onions.


• Discovering all the things that I will never be able to carry on my head or on the back of my bicycle: all manner of fruits or vegetables (e.g. bushels of plantains or 35 pineapples), or any mass quantity of groceries really, large bundle of logs, jerry cans (full or empty), hay, laundry, other human beings, and many other mystery packages all of which look very heavy.


• Stunning sunsets, especially in southern Africa.


• I hate being called "mzungu" by anyone over the age of 12, but being called "sistah" grew on me.
  


• I managed four months without any illnesses, especially of the intestinal/stomach kind, and am really hoping there is nothing latent in my system (i.e. bilharzia from Lake Malawi).


• The slowest customer service in the world has got to be African. Slow walkers too. I had a blister on my toe and thought I was moving slower than a turtle, yet, I passed many people, none of whom appeared to be handicapped.


• I can manage to pee pretty much anywhere after all the toilets (so-called, sometimes) I encountered along the way.


• I know more about African safari wildlife than ever will be necessary in my life again. But perhaps I will be good entertainment at cocktail parties, despite no animal attack stories. (Or because of it.)
  


• Red dust. Everywhere and on everything.


• Africa is expensive as a tourist. Some of the pricing I understand, to pay for conservation or parks, etc., but damn "mzungu tax" and all that business is irritating.


• I have haggled over the price of a fried plantain, and that sums up just how much is negotiable. Haggling is fun, to a point. Mayhaps I'll try it at home.

The major highlights/favorite memories, if I was really forced to choose my favorites, would be the Kili trek, and the Serengeti safari (actually almost all the various national parks since they were all quite unique), cool souvenirs, meeting my Dragoman pals and some other cool travelers along the way, gorillas, chimps (favorite chimp fact: we share over 98% of the same DNA), and feeding giraffes.

I plan to sort through all my photos soon after I get home, and posting the best of the best somewhere fun. I'll post a link on the blog. Talk to you/see you all soon!

Packing Woes

Self-portrait of a packing phenom
Originally uploaded by michellew54

Packing for this trip has been much harder than any I've taken in the past! I want to be prepared for everything without taking too much stuff, and it has been stressing me out the past few days. I've had to make some hard decisions regarding pants, shoes, and worst of all, the tent. It absolutely won't fit. I was hoping to save a bit here and there by camping (secured sites only, mom!) and have the added benefit of not listening to some other random hosteler snoring, or worse. Alas.

Anyway, I've managed to stuff most of what I wanted to bring* into (or onto) my pack, as you can see in this lovely self-portrait. The pack and gear total a "mere" 45 lbs. (And of course, note the day pack I'll be bringing too.)

To learn more of my packing woes, visit this set of flickr pics.

* This would not have been possible without the kind offers from Nick and Lindsay to bring some of my cold weather gear I will only need on Kili when they join me in Tanzania.

F.A.Q.

• Where exactly in Africa are you going?
• What are you bringing for FOUR months?!
• Is it safe?
• What's all this stuff about the hippos?
• What are you going to miss the most?
• Did you pass the Bar?

Where exactly in Africa are you going?

Southern and Eastern Africa. I'm flying to Johannesburg, SA (via NYC and Amsterdam), and will explore South Africa for about a month. Then, I'll be doing an overland trip with a company called Dragoman from Cape Town, through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania, to Dar es Salaam. I plan to leave the trip a couple of days early, extending my stay on the island of Zanzibar, since Nick (the bf) and Lindsay (friend since high school) will be meeting me there! Together, we will climb the roof of Africa (Mt. Kilimanjaro) and go on a Tanzanian safari. After they leave, I'll have another three weeks on my own to explore East Africa, and in particular, Uganda, where I hope to see some mountain gorillas. Then, sometime in August I'll return to Minneapolis, with a stopover in NYC for a few days on the way.

What are you bringing for FOUR months?!

Packing for a four month trip when you are going to be carrying everything you need in one very large backpack requires some planning. I'll try to take a few pics when I pack up, but here's a sampling of my packing list:

• Sleeping stuff - sleeping bag & liner, sleeping pad, camping pillow, tent (if room)
  
• Walking stuff - shoes! hiking boots, running shoes, sandals, flip flops, trekking poles
• Health stuff - kick-ass water filter and water treatment tablets, prescriptions for malaria prevention, altitude sickness, and severe stomach ailments, first aid supplies and lots of stuff for minor stomach ailments and other potential aches and pains, bug juice, sunscreen, hand sanitizer
  
• Stuff to wear - I'll pretty much be wearing variations of the same outfit for four months, since I need to prepare for almost all weather conditions (deserts, beaches, rainforests, snow-covered mountain tops, etc.); my fashion will be best described as "laidback and layered."
• Electronic stuff - ipod, digital camera, watch with alarm clock, headlamp, voltage converter/adapter and chargers, flash drive
  
• Other stuff - day pack, personal items to stay as clean and non-stinky as possible and mascara (because a girl has gotta have something girly), guidebooks, one or two regular books, journal, money belt, duct tape, Leatherman multi-tool, jump rope to keep up the cardio when running is not an option, a few photos of family and friends, my wit(s) and senses of humor and adventure
• Pet monkey (maybe)
  

Is it safe?

Absolutely not. ;)

Ok, I definitely appreciate that people are worried about me. And yes, travel through Africa might present some new challenges. But we all know I'm not a total idiot, and I promise to use common sense to stay safe and check in regularly so you know in fact I am safe and happy.

A few safety tips I plan to adhere to:

• Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle.
• Never leave valuables unattended. at home.
• Safety in numbers (this is of course the main purpose of bringing a pet monkey).
• Africa is not a giant petting zoo. Someone should have told that to this crazy lady.
• Seeing pink elephants is a bad idea.
• Avoid the wrath of an angry, territorial hippo.
  

What's all this stuff about the hippos?

They look rolley-polley and cute, don't they? Pfftt. Hippos are one of Africa's most dangerous animals. They are territorial, have giant, continuously sharpening teeth and a set of mouth tusks, and can run at speeds up to 30 mph. They might look all docile and lazy, but get in the way of a hippo and its water or its baby and there is trouble. Luckily, they are also creatures of habit, so with a good guide this problem should be easy to avoid. There are less than 150,000 hippos in all of sub-Saharan Africa, and in some areas the population is decreasing due to poaching and habitat destruction. (Most of the places I'm visiting have stable hippo populations.) I have included a few fun and informative links about hippos if you want to know more.

And in case it is unclear, there is no such thing as a Pink Hippo. I just like pink, and I've already tried to explain the thing about the hippos.

What are you going to miss the most?

I'm not going to name names, but obviously there are a lot of family and friends I will miss while on the road. But the wonders of the interwebs should help alleviate some of that, particularly when you all make comments on my blog or in my guestbook. :) So, the thing I'm going to miss the most this summer is SOCCER! 11 v. 11, 90 minute, outdoor, adult rec soccer. Especially my mamacitas de Fuego Rosado. I expect to receive many email tales of soccer glory!

Did you pass the Bar?

People. Stop asking this question. Won't you feel awkward asking me this if for some reason I did not? I promise, if (when!!!) I get the good news, you will be informed.