waka waka (this time for africa)

Sadly, as of today, my spring break has come to an end.

I have thrown all of my incredibly dirty clothing onto my floor,

kicked my sand-filled shoes under my desk,

checked under my covers and bed for disturbingly large spiders,

and now,

I rest. 

Oh sleep, how you are welcomed here.

I'm exhausted.

But, I would be disappointed if after an week of camping in the bush I was perfectly energized.

This exhaustion is the result of adventure.

______

Saturday morning, at an ungodly hour, a few friends and I packed up and hopped on a combi to the Rail Park bus station in Gaborone, Botswana.

We then found a bus going to Francistown and hopped on in!

This bus ride was about 5 hours long.

Upon arrival to Francistown, we booked it through the bus rink in search of our bus to Kasane.

Unfortunately, we missed it by literally 3 minutes. 

Boo hiss.

It was noon.

We asked around about the next bus and found that it did not leave until 11:00pm.

So, we had three options.

1. Hitchhike 

2. Find a hostel somewhere.

3. Take the night bus.

We decided that option number three was the most logical, our group was too large to hitchhike in one vehicle and hostels cost money.

So, we waited around the bus rink for hours and hours until finally boarding our bus.

We arrived in Kasane, after the craziest bus ride of my life, at around 6:30am.

We then slept in tents for a few hours to power us for the day.

The sleep was so sound that when we all awoke, it felt like we had slept the whole night.

At 10:00am we made our way to Kasane where we boarded a boat and cruised down the Chobe River.

Holy hippos, it was incredible.

Our boat driver (captain?) was super adventurous, which made some uncomfortable, but thoroughly excited me!

He would get real up-close and personal with the animals.

He would do this so much so that as soon as they disappeared under water, he would have to floor it to avoid them attacking the boat. 

Hello Mr. Hippo

and Ms. Elephant.

_____

The next day, we went accross the boarder to Zimbabwe.

Here, we traveled to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

and boy oh boy, does it deserve it!

I stared in awe at this massive cascade.

My brain could not/cannot comprehend the amounts of water pouring over the edge of the cliffs. 

A few friends and I hiked around the falls to different check points with fantastic views.

Now, this large of a waterfall creates mucho sprays.

If that were not enough, it was thunder storming.

Needless to say, we got a bit wet.

By checkpoint number three: we were drenched completely.

Thankfully, we had plastic-baggied our things beforehand.

So as an unfortunate result, I am limited in pictures of this beautiful scene. 

But oh baby, if God created this for earth...

Heaven.

_____

The following days we stayed in Chobe.

We were originally supposed to venture to the delta, but for time's sake and the desire to not take a 4 hour car ride in the back of a truck in the rain.... we stayed put. 

This was no bummer though.

It was beautiful.

_____

Every night of the trip, we camped.

Now, this was no camping for sissies...

This camping was intense. 

(All of you who know that joke, it's appropriate for you to laugh here.)

We pitched our tents in the middle of the Chobe National Park.

Literally, we were sleeping with lions, hippos, elephants, ect..

You could hear them in your sleep.

Have you ever fallen asleep to the sound of lions growling

or hippos grunting

or elephants stomping?

I have.

(and am eager to do it again)

_____

We went on two game drives per day, one in the morning at an again ungodly hour, and again before dinner.

lions

elephants

impalas

 baboons

all sorts of neato birds

monkeys

kudu

giraffes

zebras

and many more beautiful creatures

neef neef.

bashful baby baboon. 

my sassy impala friend.

she says hello.

oh hey there, watch out for dem alligators!

you're gonna here her roar.

_____

Unfortunately, my trip had to end.

I am, after all, in school.

I have quite a few papers and projects to complete by Monday.

So, the few of us who had demanding work back at UB packed up and headed back.

(The rest continued onto Namibia...

not jealous at all.)

We left Kasane to Francistown

and Francistown to Gaborone.

_____

I miss it already.

Easter break cannot come soon enough!

_____

Well, now I guess I'll go get myself an egg phaphata and begin my assignments.

If any of you are just dying to write a narrative post-colonial, historical interpretation of John 11, give me a holler and I'm sure we can work something out. ;)

Assuming I will have no takers on that offer, I really should be going.

_____

go siame. 

(goodbye.)