Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Another day, another country (Dec. 26/08 - Nairobi, Kenya)

Today marks the end of an era, so to speak - the end of our GAP trip, the end of traveling with a group, and the end of our time in Africa. It's bittersweet since we have had such a wonderful time here, and yet we're itching for the freedom of traveling on our own, being on our own schedule, and not having to be in the company of people we can't stand! First things first though - we have to get to Nairobi today since pretty much everyone flies out tonight or tomorrow.

Our first goodbye happened as we were packed up to leave the campsite in Arusha this morning, as Charlotte was staying there for the next two months to volunteer with a charity. So with an empty seat, we left Arusha and turned north and drove along some really crappy roads, past rolling fields of grazing cattle tended by Maasai herdsmen. Then we looked right and had an almost unobstructed view of Mount Kilimanjaro, much clearer than the view we had from the south the other day!



It was a long drive to the Kenyan border thanks to numerous detours off the crappy potholed road and onto even crappier gravel roads as the old roads were in the process of being repaired. We kept reminding ourselves that it was our last day of bumpy truck rides. The border was quick and painless, and from there it was about 150km to Nairobi. More detours, camels on the road, slow trucks to pass... it was a long haul to the city. Just as the highrises of downtown Nairobi came into view, a herd of zebras was seen beside the road, grazing amongst domestic cattle and goats. They would be the last wildlife we would see for a while, as we were soon pulling into the hotel that marked the end of our trip. The goodbyes were hard, as we have made some great friends over the past six weeks and spent a lot of time with everyone. Some we will surely see again - Ken in Vancouver, Ben and Kendra in Australia - others maybe not. We were sad to say goodbye to Raymond and Francis, who took us across Africa and showed us the beauty of the places they love. It really wsa a perfect way to see some of Africa's highlights, and we loved just about everything about it!

Over the last 41 days, we have traveled 10,240km from Cape Town to Nairobi, covering seven countries and passing through hundreds of towns and villages. We have seen the cultural contrasts change with the landscapes and the language. The people were friendly and happy virtually everywhere we went despite living in extreme poverty, with big welcoming smiles and waves. Maybe the key to happiness really is simplicity?

I estimate that we saw about 94 elephants, 41 lions, 10 rhinos, one leopard, two cheetahs, 60 giraffes, and hundreds of zebras, hippos, buffalo, wildebeeset, and antelope of every size and shape. Africa was beautiful and memorable - and I hope that some day we can come back for more.

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