Africa is a place of such contrasts. Its wild and untamed beauty is often masked by the associations we make from western headlines of violence and poverty--and there's no ignoring that that side of it exists, but it's hard to put the words to paper and to describe the kind of experience it was...
Fia and I met for coffee the other day to reminisce...
The highlight reel of all the things I never want to forget:
Fia and I met for coffee the other day to reminisce...
The highlight reel of all the things I never want to forget:
- The image of the isolated airport, so remote, so middle-of-nowhere, and so green--symbolic of the adventure that we'd soon begin
- The mist soaked walk through the falls
- Nami Nami peddlers and learning how to deal with them
- Appreciating the moment for what it is
- Befriending the street hawkers
- That moment when the danger became real in the Compound
- The shock of Bongo getting arrested
- Watching the World Cup game with the raucous crowd at Shoestrings Hostel
- Seeing the wildlife up close
- Cruising down the Zambezi
- The surprise luxury of Botswana
- That first night by the fire
- The 5am starts, and rolling that muddy tent...
- Acclimating to the funky truck water
- Eating lunch on the side of the road
- Laughing it off and adopting the expression, "T.I.A."
- A reminder of what it means to live simply
- The giddy, unsuppressed, uncontrollable laughter
- Tracking rhino Discovery Channel Style with Andy
- Getting up close and personal with a pride of lions--the tension of wondering if we were all going to become lion feed
- Our Mission Impossible stunts and the shenanigans we pulled to crash the volunteer party
- Summer camp style pranks with the Aussie guys
- Buying cashews on the side of the road
- Laying out all night in the hammocks
- Drinking wine on the porch and watching the sunset
- That tragic night--18-years-old--lost to the sea...recognizing the fragility of life
- Riding in the back of a death trap wind tunnel
- Our visit to the orphanage--a reminder that we do what we can, but it's never enough
- Getting a better understanding of real African politics and how things work
- Midnight yoga
- Waking up to the sound of the surf outside our bungalow, and going for a morning run on the beach
- That night at the bar--Sean asking "if God would be there"
- Whale watching by speed boat
- Visiting the Soweto township and realizing that this is someone else's reality
- The experience of the Apartheid Museum
- Learning about the world through the eyes of others
- Running to make our flight...would it be a proper trip for the two of us if it didn't involve us madly running through the airport?
- An experience polarized by Toronto--the stark contrast between two worlds
