home.

So I'm home. Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few weeks of my trip, internet was scarce, and expensive where you could find it. I finished up my paper, photo-editing, and presentation on the antenatal care and home environments of rural newborns and pregnant women; it turned out well. I'm really pleased with how the photos, especially, turned out. I'll give you a heads up when they are posted on flikr. After the academic stuff ended, we did some last hurrah safari things with the group. Saying goodbye to everyone was really rough, we only had 15 minutes in an airport parking lot. Everyone who was leaving wanted nothing more than to stay, everyone staying wanted nothing more than to go home, all of us wanted to stay together wherever we were. I ended up crying way more than you'd expect and hanging on to my friends for dear life until they had to go catch their planes. 

While I was still sniffling, Sara, Mary Beth, and I had to catch a shuttle to Nelspruit, the town outside of Kruger Park, our next destination. After way more planning than I enjoy, we rented a car and went into Kruger for a day, guided by a guy from the backpackers' who had been a guide for 16 years. He knew the park top to bottom, from bugs to trees to clouds, and of course the big game. We learned all about their behavior and about the park and had a really cool experience. We were there sunrise to sunset. We had some really cool experiences with elephants- stories I am saving to tell in person- and saw some gorgeous scenery. We ended up having to book it out of the park to make it before the gates closed- MB realized that we had to be out by 5:30 instead of 6- so it was exciting right up 'til the end.

After Nelspruit we went to Livingstone, Zambia by Victoria Falls. The falls is on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe and is the world's largest waterfall. It is a mile across of unbroken falling water. There is no one spot where you can see the waterfall in its entirety, especially with the clouds of mist constantly rising from it. The Zambezi river below it is at the highest point it has been at in at least a decade. Unfortunately this meant that rafting was cancelled, but we got to see the river at the height of its power. The first day we did an abseiling (rappelling) combo at/over/across the gorge 3 km (1.8 mi) down from the falls. We were over rapid 6 of the Zambezi, known as the Devil's Toilet Bowl. It's accurately named, as the kayaking line is to get sucked down in to a whirlpool, spin downstream underwater and then pop back up at the end of the, er, flush. Kayaking the Zambezi takes a LOT of talent. And insanity. 

Anyway, the abseiling day included a zipline across the gorge, abseiling (backwards- sitting- and forwards- walking down the side of the gorge), and a gorge swing. Now I didn't totally know what I was getting into with the gorge swing. You step off the side of this cliff and free fall for 3 seconds- 173 feet- before the rope and harness catch you and you swing back and forth over the gorge. It's not quite like bungee jumping because you are right side up and you don't bounce, but the free fall is the same. When I did it, I hadn't seen anyone do it, so I was sort of flying blind. 

"I'll count down from 3, and then you step off the edge."

"...and then what happens?"

What happens is I squeezed my eyes shut (it is impossible to make your body step of the edge of a gorge if it sees what it's doing) and screamed a LOT, but had an awesome adrenaline rush and a lot of fun. I even did it again as a tandem swing with Sara. 

Sara and I also did a tandem bungee jump the next day at Victoria Falls. It's off of the bridge by the falls and has a beautiful view. It was scary for the first part, but after that, surprisingly serene. Just rainbows and trees and water everywhere. A really wonderful way to sightsee, if you're okay with being disoriented. 

We also walked across the bridge closest to the falls. There are buckets and buckets of water at every spot at every second. You can't even SEE there is so much water. Most people do this with raincoats and flip flops, we did it fully clothed and in tennis shoes. It was one of the most invigorating experiences I've ever had. We went up and sunned ourselves on a rock at the top of the falls afterwards and watched the water rush over the edge. 

After Zambia we went to Cape Town. I'd been for a weekend before, but Sara and Mary Beth hadn't. It's much different in character and appearance than Durban or elsewhere; much more like Europe. It's a great place to visit, but I was glad I spent my time where I did. It's the rainy season, so it was very wet and cold. Because of that, a lot of the sightseeing things, like the boat to Robben Island and the cable car to Table Mountain were closed, but we still got to do some exploring and had an awesome day doing a wine tour in Stellenboch, about an hour's train ride from CT. Stellenboch is beautiful, pastoral area almost entirely devoted to wineries. We ate cheese and pretended to know how to properly taste wine, met some cool people and had a really nice and relaxing day. We stayed the night at a backpackers' then returned by train to Cape Town. 

I left to return to Jo'burg the day we got back as my flight to New York left the next day. Leaving, and arriving for that matter, still seems like a surreal experience. I hugged Mary Beth and Sara goodbye, putting it off 'til the last minute, and set off on my own. 

It's weird getting used to spending time alone, and being out at night, and having choices in my food and purchases and clothing. I miss a lot about South Africa, but I have missed a lot about home. I'm finally caught up as far as jet lag goes (I think), but I think it'll still take me a little while to feel totally re-integrated here. I feel like a broken record, because all I can talk about is SA, but it's also just about all I can think about. Just like when I went to SA and couldn't stop thinking about America, it's not that I want to be there, exactly, it's just that there's a lot to process. Forgive me if I am either a broken record or if I can't put things into words- you're bound to get one or the other.