A Surfin South African Safari

This is dedicated to all of my friends and family who promised to visit but never did. SOUTH AFRICA IS AMAZING. You missed out. :D All jokes aside, my month long journey across SA was incredible and was the perfect way to transition from being a volunteer with a purpose in life to unemployed and homeless.

As many of you are probably aware, I haven't had any visitors for the whole 2 years. No one to share my joys and pains, no one to fetch water for me and get sick with me, and no one who could relate and understand what I went through in my everyday hut life.I still don't have that BUT what I do have is someone who gets SA, the culture, and the rural life and that's close enough for me! My friend from home came out and we spent 3.5 weeks exploring the coast, starting in Durban and ending in Cape Town.We rented a car which was the biggest luxury I've had for quite some time! For anyone who's lived in Africa or has spent time here using public transportation, you can understand my joy. For those of you who don't know let me paint a picture for you. A 15 person khumbi (minivan), on average, will usually have somewhere between 17-25 people packed full with animals,babies, food, and materials such as buckets. It's not a comfortable ride. With a car I could just throw my bags in and spread out, though not too much as our little car- the Spark Lite- was as tiny as it sounds. But even then, that beat hauling your life into a khumbi and having to hold everything on your lap. No waiting for hours; you can go when and where you please. Obviously it's been a while since I've had a car.

Joey and I started our trip in Durban. We stayed in The Bluff which had some fun surf! Unfortunately it's been so long that I spent more time paddling than catching waves but it was fun nonetheless. From Durban we went to Umkomaas to dive on the Aliwal Shoal. Joey got certified and I did 2 dives, a reef dive and a shark dive. There were only black tips and Dungies in the water but they often see great whites, zambezis (bull sharks) and tiger sharks. It was pure adrenalin rush, diving in great white territory without a cage, and having the water chummed before you enter. I've never done a shark dive quite like this!

From Umkomaas we went to Port St. Johns where the shark attacks in this region were unbelievable. This year alone they have had 5 fatal attacks in one beach. Two surfers, two lifeguards, and one swimmer in waist deep water were all attacked by Zambezis (bull sharks) and unfortunately, all died. We did some amazing hikes to a couple of waterfalls and to a blowhole where you had to climb down a cliff. It was incredible! The hostel we were staying at had live music. A girl who was on South African Idol (top 20) performed for us. There were talented people from the villages who came out and Joey  even got up there jamming on the uke! It was a great time.

We then went to Coffee Bay for a day, and did a small hike to the river. From Coffee Bay we made a few stops along the way in Buttersworth, East London, Grahamstown, Addo Elephant National Park, and then finally to Jbay. We stayed for a little under a week in Jbay taking in the sun, surf, and food! We lucked out and the swells hit when we were there! Joey surfed Supertubes everyday and I stuck to the baby waves of Kitchen Windows. Ha. I can only hope that when I return to Hawaii, my surfing skills also return...

From Jbay we stopped in Plettenburg Bay, Buffalo Bay, Victoria Bay, and Mossel Bay. Joey once again was able to hit the waves while Eric and I found solitude on the beach drinking beers and eating fish and chips! We then went to Cape Agulhas to see where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and eventually made our way to Cape Town. Joey left SA on Sunday, August 26 returning back to America, and I continued lazing around SA until Tuesday when I headed out to Namibia.

This month of attempted surfing, eating fish (FINALLY!), not having to worry about public transportation or being stranded, hanging out with good friends, and being in and near the ocean was more than I could ever have asked for. It was an amazing trip largely in part to Joey coming out, so thanks!

Pretoria and NGOs

The main objective of going to Pretoria, South Africa was to obtain visas and eat good food. Little did I know how amazing the city actually is! AnnaMae and I spent our days exploring and our nights watching the Olympics, cheering on Pretoria's own Olympic gold medalist, Cameron Van der Burgh!

One day as I applied for a Tanzanian visa I  met this kind South African man. After talking for a bit I found out that him and his wife do amazing work for gassroot organizations. As I have said in previous posts, the BEST kinds of organizations are ones like these where the money donated go straight to the people and projects instead of NGOs and churches who tend to just build something without teaching them how to do it on their own or give free things away and then leave. This specific NGO is called Fathers in Africa and could use some donations. If you have any free time to check them out, please do! http://fathers.co.za/ Any donations will be appreciated and will help the children and their projects greatly.

Goodbyes Are The Hardest Part

The sound of a vehicle was approaching my homestead.I took a deep breathe, closed my eyes, and smiled at all the memories of the past 2 years- both good and bad. Happy to be moving on, sad to be saying goodbye.The car came to a stop outside my hut. It was time to leave. My host mother and sister were sitting inside their house watching from their window as I packed the last 2 years of my life in the back of a car, and  they refused to come out. I had just spent the last hour saying thank you and goodbye, exchanging gifts, shedding tears, and laying hugs and kisses on them. I entered the car, gave one last look at my hut, my homestead, and waved goodbye to no one. And to everyone.

My days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Swaziland were now officially over.

It was just Bongani (the PC driver) and I. We drove through my village, shopping town, and major cities for the last time. I mentally said my goodbyes and tried to hide my excitement for my future and what the next 5 months would bring. After being picked up from site, the following three days were spent "exiting" PC: closing out my bank account, getting signatures, having interviews, shipping boxes home, and saying a goodbye.

On Friday, July 27, 2012, Katie, AnnaMae, Joe and I rang out. Ringing out is a ceremony to celebrate our service and a chance to say goodbye to the staff and PCVs who we have served with. I had been given a heartwarming and thoughtful card by my amazing friends Mia and Kelly, and as we left on Saturday, all of our friends came outside, formed a line and started doing "the wave". Tears formed in my eyes and AnnaMae and I were deeply moved by the kindness and love shown on behalf of all of our friends. We've been through so much together- changed, grown, loved, laughed, cried, vented, fought, shared the highest of highs and the lowest of lows with one another. We have shared this unique, once in a lifetime experience with each other and there will always be this to bond us no matter how different we may be. So saying goodbye to the closest friendships formed was that much more difficult. But the RPCV world is small and I know our paths will cross again one day soon.

 And so begins the adventures of a nomad.