cape town, sa
All of these photos are out of order.. will sort out later...
this is a booze cruize on the upper zambezi in zambia.. above the falls.. some hippos..
Durban.. and the beach.. the Indian Ocean!
Port St. John's, S. Africa.. my friend Liselotte eating a fish that we bought and grilled..
delicious..
my friend Nollie...his back.. attitudes you find in psj
Community resource center, psj.. bolly teaching kids how to drum
wild coast, psj
2nd beach.. a few hundred meters from where i stayed
me and Lisalotte.. covered in mud bath
mussels.. mmmm
i've made it to capetown.. and i am finally going to post some pictures. since the last time i wrote.. i left Mbeya Tanzania via train to Zambia.. an awesome ride.. about 24 hours long.. and arrived to have to deal with some visa issues. Namely, that it costs 100usd to enter this country which i refused to pay the immigration officials on the train as i thought they were ripping me off and pocketing half of this. plus, i only had 80usd in my pocket. they told me i could deal with it at the office when we got off the train. these people gave me a 2 day pass to deal with it in lusaka at their immigration office (after much pleading by me).. so i squished into a minibus with some new found friends.. actually an american on the train.. and made it to lusaka. big city shock. i stayed for a couple days and then caught a lift to livingstone, near victoria falls. spent a few days here.. explored the falls.. amazing.. went white water rafting.. also very cool.. and relaxed. Next, I left by overnight train to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.. which wasn't as nice of a ride as the first.. but shared a sleeper with 3 local women which was very cool. the topic of conversation was the money issue with Zimbabwe. Once arriving in Zim and hauling my ass to a hostel a couple miles from the train station.. b/c i didn't have enough money for a cab.. i realized i didn't have enough money for this country. I had 50usd. Which anywhere else could go quite far.. plus, i could just go to an atm.. my staple in surviving. however, at an atm.. i would get 250 zim dollars for 1 usd.. whereas on the black market, i would get 4000 zim for 1 usd. hmm.. too bad you need to have actual usd in order to utilize the black market. so i stayed one night.. 2 days.. and caught the cheap overnight bus (b/c i didn't have enough money) to jo'burg. something like 14 hours later we arrived. and given that it was the cheap bus.. there was no a/c.. and we were jam packed into this bus.. 3 seats on one side.. guess where i was (of course i didn't arrive early to the bus station as they advise).. yep, the middle. and we went through the hottest area i've been so far.. near the border.. and had to get on and off the bus several times for the border crossing. but i appreciated being in the same boat as the average african traveler. In jo'burg.. I immediately caught a bus to Durban.. a delux bus.. and something like 8 hours later arrived at the sea.. with a huge city next to it.. and people filling me with fear of walking alone, it's a dangerous place, etc. I was quite anxious to leave.. but I have a hard time leaving somewhere immediately upon arrival.. not my style.. i need to relax. so stayed a couple days.. took in the surf culture.. good indian food.. and the best thunderstorm i have ever seen.. it was amazing.. and a bit scary. Next I caught a bus to Port St. John's.. or as close as the bus would get me.. and there I stayed.
i've had a great journey so far. my lack of planning has given me both exciting and not so exciting adventures. mainly good, though. i am trying to remain present in each moment and be open to whatever possibility presents itself... and go with the flow. i have met some great people.. seen some amazing things.. like victoria falls.. and i have fallen in love with south africa. especially the wild coast.. transkei.. and the wine region. i spent a week and a half in port st. john's.. east of cape town.. and i didn't really want to leave. the quality of life there.. the amount of love i encountered in the people i met.. is great. i have also gone through a few weeks of being quite homesick.. especially when i am alone.. which is often. i am starting to feel better.. excited about the next leg of my journey.. which will begin on thursday.. driving with friends from Boulder, Kyle and Mariah.. through namibia and botswana. and i'll be back to the states April 12. I appreciate the pace of village and African life.. although i have been slowly entering the western world since arriving in S. Africa.. which was a stark contrast from Zimbabwe.. which i only passed through.. and also Tanzania. Now in cape town.. I am hit head on with western life. and i want to go crawling back. although there are the perks. i was able to make real coffee quite easily this morning.. and have granola with soy milk.. and sit at this computer with high speed internet. Even though this is 1st world life.. there is still 3rd world in s. africa.
i don't want to write too much b/c i don't have a lot of time.. so here are some pics.
this is a booze cruize on the upper zambezi in zambia.. above the falls.. some hippos..
Durban.. and the beach.. the Indian Ocean!
Port St. John's, S. Africa.. my friend Liselotte eating a fish that we bought and grilled..
delicious..
my friend Nollie...his back.. attitudes you find in psj
Community resource center, psj.. bolly teaching kids how to drum
wild coast, psj
2nd beach.. a few hundred meters from where i stayed
me and Lisalotte.. covered in mud bath
mussels.. mmmm
i've made it to capetown.. and i am finally going to post some pictures. since the last time i wrote.. i left Mbeya Tanzania via train to Zambia.. an awesome ride.. about 24 hours long.. and arrived to have to deal with some visa issues. Namely, that it costs 100usd to enter this country which i refused to pay the immigration officials on the train as i thought they were ripping me off and pocketing half of this. plus, i only had 80usd in my pocket. they told me i could deal with it at the office when we got off the train. these people gave me a 2 day pass to deal with it in lusaka at their immigration office (after much pleading by me).. so i squished into a minibus with some new found friends.. actually an american on the train.. and made it to lusaka. big city shock. i stayed for a couple days and then caught a lift to livingstone, near victoria falls. spent a few days here.. explored the falls.. amazing.. went white water rafting.. also very cool.. and relaxed. Next, I left by overnight train to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.. which wasn't as nice of a ride as the first.. but shared a sleeper with 3 local women which was very cool. the topic of conversation was the money issue with Zimbabwe. Once arriving in Zim and hauling my ass to a hostel a couple miles from the train station.. b/c i didn't have enough money for a cab.. i realized i didn't have enough money for this country. I had 50usd. Which anywhere else could go quite far.. plus, i could just go to an atm.. my staple in surviving. however, at an atm.. i would get 250 zim dollars for 1 usd.. whereas on the black market, i would get 4000 zim for 1 usd. hmm.. too bad you need to have actual usd in order to utilize the black market. so i stayed one night.. 2 days.. and caught the cheap overnight bus (b/c i didn't have enough money) to jo'burg. something like 14 hours later we arrived. and given that it was the cheap bus.. there was no a/c.. and we were jam packed into this bus.. 3 seats on one side.. guess where i was (of course i didn't arrive early to the bus station as they advise).. yep, the middle. and we went through the hottest area i've been so far.. near the border.. and had to get on and off the bus several times for the border crossing. but i appreciated being in the same boat as the average african traveler. In jo'burg.. I immediately caught a bus to Durban.. a delux bus.. and something like 8 hours later arrived at the sea.. with a huge city next to it.. and people filling me with fear of walking alone, it's a dangerous place, etc. I was quite anxious to leave.. but I have a hard time leaving somewhere immediately upon arrival.. not my style.. i need to relax. so stayed a couple days.. took in the surf culture.. good indian food.. and the best thunderstorm i have ever seen.. it was amazing.. and a bit scary. Next I caught a bus to Port St. John's.. or as close as the bus would get me.. and there I stayed.
i've had a great journey so far. my lack of planning has given me both exciting and not so exciting adventures. mainly good, though. i am trying to remain present in each moment and be open to whatever possibility presents itself... and go with the flow. i have met some great people.. seen some amazing things.. like victoria falls.. and i have fallen in love with south africa. especially the wild coast.. transkei.. and the wine region. i spent a week and a half in port st. john's.. east of cape town.. and i didn't really want to leave. the quality of life there.. the amount of love i encountered in the people i met.. is great. i have also gone through a few weeks of being quite homesick.. especially when i am alone.. which is often. i am starting to feel better.. excited about the next leg of my journey.. which will begin on thursday.. driving with friends from Boulder, Kyle and Mariah.. through namibia and botswana. and i'll be back to the states April 12. I appreciate the pace of village and African life.. although i have been slowly entering the western world since arriving in S. Africa.. which was a stark contrast from Zimbabwe.. which i only passed through.. and also Tanzania. Now in cape town.. I am hit head on with western life. and i want to go crawling back. although there are the perks. i was able to make real coffee quite easily this morning.. and have granola with soy milk.. and sit at this computer with high speed internet. Even though this is 1st world life.. there is still 3rd world in s. africa.
i don't want to write too much b/c i don't have a lot of time.. so here are some pics.
posted by heidi at 12:14 AM
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