I am a bit in shock that I am leaving in 20 days. I can't get over how quickly these past 8 months have gone. I am sad to be getting ready to leave but it has helped that Lauren, who arrived to start her internship a week after I did, is getting ready to leave too. I am starting to get excited to see everyone again. I think I kind of deal with being away by not thinking about home very much and just concentrating on where I am so that I don't miss people and places. But now I am curious to see how people/things have changed and how my perspective has changed.

It is hard to get annoyed with things here because I know I will miss them soon. The smell of burning garbage. People asking me if I want a taxi every 5 seconds. Having dusty, dirty shoes & feet every day. Street kids following me around. The way that everything runs on “African time” here (very very late). Fighting with taxi drivers over how much my ride should cost. HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE WITHOUT THESE THINGS??

Do you remember the Simpson's episode where the crazy man thinks he's Michael Jackson and Bart gets him to sing to Lisa for her birthday? I always have that song stuck in my head when it's my birthday. Or Birthday by the Beatles.

So yesterday was my birthday and it was quite fun. I did relax for most of the day and got some phone calls from home (which was nice despite the bad connection). Lauren and Jill came over to help me prepare (and go swimming) in the afternoon and that night about 20 people descended on Alla's apartment to celebrate my birthday and drink Long Island Iced Tea and eat chicken kebabs with peanut sauce. It was quite the night. We made it to a bar nearby for more drinks (although sadly the dancing sucked so it was more of a chatting evening than a dancing one).

One thing that put a damper on the evening was when we were entering the club 2 of my Kenyan friends were hassled at the door and told they couldn't' come in because they didn't have proper i.d. They were the only 2 Kenyans with us and were the only 2 stopped and I had to go outside and scream at the bouncer for a while before they were let in and apologized to. This is a problem in many bars in Nairobi and it has lead to many of them being boycotted by a lot of people. Basically, because places want to keep prostitutes out of their clubs, they don't allow black females into their clubs without a guy or mzungu bringing them in. It is an unofficial policy and it is really stupid for them to assume that all African females going into a club without male or mzungu (foreigner) accompaniment are going to prostitute themselves. I was furious and upset. My friends were furious and upset. We won't be going back there but we tried to make the most of the night despite the stupid staff there.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes...

I went to a dinner party last night and it was quite lovely. I felt very adult sitting around, drinking wine and chatting. Luckily as dinner ended the conversation quickly went back down to my maturity level when we somehow started talking about the most disgusting things we've ever eaten. I wasn't the one who bit head off the live maggot but let me tell you, I will never forget the detailed description of the experience that the guy gave us. I will spare you the details.

Today there is no power at work (they forgot to pay the bill) so I had time to come to the internet cafe and catch up on my blogs.

2 days until my BIRTHDAY! Whoo hoo! Wait - why am I excited again? Oh yeah, I will get lots of attention and free drinks. THAT's WHY. And my big plans for the day are sitting by the pool, relaxing, meeting some friends for appetizers & drinks, then going DANCIN'. I put almost no effort into the planning (compared to last year's "AMAZING BIRTHDAY RACE") so it will hopefully be a pretty stress-free birthday. We'll see.

My return to work was a bit irritating. For starters the office manager (who I get the feeling doesn't like me) claims to have never known I was going away for a month (despite the fact that I wrote down my vacation dates for her before I left) and went on and on about how worried she was that I was dead somewhere having not heard from me in a month. Funny she thought I was dead but didn't think to call or email me or even just ask the director or my co-workers if they knew where I was. Whatever. Another co-worker greeted me with “Did you bring us presents?”. 2 others told me that I looked like I had gained weight. The rest were OK and seemed genuinely glad to see me back. I guess 4 out of 8 isn't bad.

Otherwise things haven't changed much. Some of the street vendors asked me where I was. I thought that was funny that they missed me! My taxi drivers also said they were glad to have me back. Aww!

My remaining time in Zanzibar was spent on the beach, reading a crappy novel that I borrowed from the hostel library, and going swimming every 45 minutes or so. I had sunset cocktails (referred to as "sundowner's" in east Africa) with 2 girls I met who are also travelling solo. The banana daiquiris were superb.

On Friday, I took the bus back to Stone Town and head to the airport. It was cooler weather and even a bit rainy so it made it easier to leave. But once I got to the airport it was just hot and humid. I was hoping the airport would be air conditioned. It wasn't. So I was sitting there sweating (and when I say sweating I mean that my face was dripping with perspiration) and I was thinking - at least it will be nice and cool on the plane. No. No air conditioning on the plane. And the little blowy fan things didn't work either. It was hotter on the plane than it was outside. I wanted to suggest opening a window but thought no one would appreciate my humor in the situation. It was a very long and tortuous ride. One great thing was that we flew over Mount Kilimanjaro. It was beautiful and mostly clear at the top so we got a great view. One day I'll climb it. One day...

When I got back to Nairobi I was so relieved. It was so nice to have cell phone service and be able to negotiate with the taxi drivers for a price that I KNEW was fair. And to talk about the recent developments in Kenyan politics with the cab driver on the way back. I was just so glad to be back. I really missed the place.

I'm staying with my friend Alla this week. She is actually leaving for Swaziland tomorrow (I think she is hoping to seduce the king and become wife #11) so I will have her place while she is gone. After that, I am not sure who or where I am staying but something will work itself out I am sure. For now, I am just happy to be back, see my friends again, and have a clean toilet and shower to use.

Photos will be uploaded hopefully sometime this week. There are a lot of them. Brace yourself!

In other East Africa news - PLEASE read Becca's post on a recent news article published in the Kampala newspaper. It really is just another world here.

The beaches here in Nungwi are amazing. White sand, turquoise water. It is nice too because it is fairly deep so you can swim for most of the day, even when the tide it out. It is strange that it seems fake? Like it is too lovely to be real. I keep thinking I am swimming in a pool, not the ocean.

I went to a full moon party that was held in conjunction with a music festival as well as Valentines day. I ran into 2 Canadians I had met initially in Nairobi and we arranged transport by boat to head about 5km down the beach where the party was. I had seen other people piling into these boats and heading over but I wasn't prepared for the utter terror that was to unfold as we head off on our journey. First of all, they completely overloaded the boat. There were people on all sides, on the roof, hanging off the mast. So we were sinking and tipping into the water right from the get-go. This didn't bother me much though because it was quite shallow where we were and it would have been quite easy to swim to shore if the boat sank or something. Easy. The thing that worried me was the smell of gasoline and the number of people smoking! Seriously people - when do petrol and fire ever mix nicely?? I mentioned it to the driver and he actually cleared all the drunken smokers away from the rear of the boat where the jerry-cans of gas were sitting. I mean, it may have just been diesel... I hear that diesel only burns, it doesn't explode...

In the end there were no fireworks display on the boat and we got there fine and enjoyed a concert and lots of dancing. On the way back we were lucky to find a boat that was just heading back empty (there were only 4 of us as passengers instead of 25 as on the other boat) and the only incident was the poor Canadian girl puking over the side of the boat as her boyfriend held her hair back. Happy Valentines Day indeed!

I stay one more day here on the beach and fly back to Nairobi tomorrow evening. I am actually excited to go back. Can it be that I am all holiday'd out?

It is quite lovely here. I am enjoying Stone Town - wandering the streets, drinking fresh fruit juice and getting even darker than I was. The people are pretty laid back here. You have to be - it is too hot to get excited about anything. That makes harassment less of a problem. You just stroll down the streets at a leisurly pace and watch the world go by. I went swimming 4 times today (and I want to go again). This place is amazing and I recommend that you all check it out.

Tomorrow I head up north to the beaches of Nungwi. More swimming. More sun. Hopefully more juice and seafood. I could get used to this.

My second bus ride up to Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia to catch the train was fairly uneventful unless you count the guy who was sitting across the aisle from me throwing up about once an hour. Just all over himself and on the floor and not wiping it up. It was GROSS. Luckily it didn't smell.

The train was a whole other ballgame. What an adventure. I am trying to describe it that way because for the first 24 hours of the 44 hour train ride I was writing this post in my head and describing it as some kind of prison hell. I had a second class ticket which meant a 6-person berth sharing with 5 other girls. I don't even know how to describe this. It was SMALL. When the beds were down then you coudln't even sit up in your bed, you could only lie there with about a food of head space to the next bed above you. And it was HOT. And there was no water. And squat toilets.

But after the first day I got used to it and kind of liked it. I met a few people and got used to the heat and cramped quarters. Today as we were going through a game park I saw tons of wildlife through the window and it just felt so good to be where I was. I really felt free.

Once in Dar Es Salaam, I decided that there was no need to stick around the city and rather head straight to Zanzibar. After not showering and sweating profusely for close to 3 days, I was looking and feeling pretty terrible and decided to treat myself to a nice hotel in Stone Town for a couple of nights before i head to the north beach. What a room! With a 4-post bed and AIR CONDITIONING! And a sit down tiled shower and a NICE pool! I am in heaven! Bad website but to get an idea what it looks like it is www.tembohotel.com

I figured out a way to get the beachboys to leave you alone when you first arrive in a new place. Just tell them that you are staying at the fanciest hotel and they will walk away. It is because they only recieve commission from the smaller hostels and hotels and if you go to an expensive place they don't get anything so see you as a waste of time. Live and learn.

The beachboys here are annoying. I have had a really hard time about getting ripped off since I came to Zambia and Tanzania. In Zambia, looking back at my reciept, I was charged $20 too much for my Zambia visitor visa. Then on the train they tried to short-change me TWICE! The same guy. Either that or he just can't count. Then in Tanzania I bought my ferry ticket and once on the boat looking closely at the ticket I saw that I was charged $5 more than was printed on the ticket. I think that was a commission for the guy who brought me to the ticket seller. Things like this are starting to get to me. MAKES ME CRAZY!

I am now in Lusaka, Zambia. This morning I woke up before everyone else and slipped out to begin the next solo part of my journey. I took a cab to the border, left Zimbabwe, walked across the bridge over the Zambezi river (it was really high and I really don't know how Ciaran had the guts to bungy off it), got my Zambia visa and head to Livingstone. I managed to just catch my bus in time (or so I thought). Once everyone was seated a man came on the bus and introduced himself. I thought it might be the driver. No, he was a preacher from a local church who had a deal with the bus company to preach the word of God to us for 45 minutes before we left on our trip and lead us in prayers. WOW. This is why I LOVE using local transport in Africa. It is always full of surprises and interesting things. He was quite the preacher - completely reminding me of the Samuel L. Jackson character from Pulp Fiction. Except it was a 45 minute speach, not a 2 minute movie monologue. Other than that the ride was rather uneventful and I am taking this evening to catch up on emails and journals and probably going to bed early. Tomorrow I will be attempting to catch the train to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and then onto the beaches of Zanzibar. Wish me luck.

I really had a good time on my overland trip. I was initially sceptical about being on a "tour" and stuck with the same group of people for almost 3 weeks but I was really lucky. It was fun, full of adventure, and the people were great.

We head out of Botswana to our final destination of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It was raining as we arrived and that kind of deterred us from signing up for very many actvities (like rafting or riverboarding). Plus the prices were a bit ridiculous. Because it was Jodie's birthday we decided to go for a river cruise (with unlimited alcohol) and were lucky when the rain stopped in time for us to hop on the boat from 4 - 7. We saw hippos and crocs and impala and lots of drunk people (wait, that was us). The photos are highly entertaining and will be posted upon my return to Kenya.

It is funny that on the first night of the trip, 8 of us went out for dinner and drinks and really got along great and we all stayed friends throughout the trip. On the last night we even found the same 8 people heading out for one last dinner. Despite the vast age differences (25 - 72 age range) and that we were from all different parts of the world, we got along rather well and I hope I will see most of these people again one day in the future.

There were a lot of elephants in Botswana. And spiders. Of all sorts and sizes. We were driving along the highway and something caught my eye on the side of the road and I saw a herd of about 40 elephants. It was unbelievable. And the worst part was that when I looked around the truck everyone else was alseep. So I was the only one to see it. It reminds me of when I was in Peru and we were driving to our starting point for the Inca trail early in the morning and suddenly in the middle of nowhere a marching band appeared walking down the side of the road (in full costume and with drums and everything). I looked at them in amazement and turned to share the moment with my fellow passengers only to see that they were all asleep. This is why I never sleep on buses! You miss all the good stuff.

Botswana was rainy. We went to the Okavanga Delta which is basically a big swamp with a national park around it and were paddled out there in mokoros (dug out canoes). Mine had a hole in it and kept taking in water but I made it there without getting eaten by a crocodile so it was ok in the end. That evening we went on a 3 hour hike through the Delta and went to the side of a marsh to check out some hippos. Our guide started making some sort of mating call or something to the hippos and they started snorting and growling and coming out of the water at us. For those of you who don't know, hippos are the most dangerous animal in Africa. They are vicious creatures. EVIL. So I was understandably terrified and ran away. I wasn't the only one. But we didn't get attacked. We just got soaked on the walk back to the camp. It was still raining the next day as we made our way back to our campsite in an open 4-wheel drive truck. It was a 2-hour drive that basically felt like someone was constantly throwing buckets of water on you while you went over huge potholes and through shallow rivers. At first it was fun, particularly because it felt like one of those amusement park rides where you pay a lot of money to get wet. But imagine being on one of those rides for 2 hours. And then all your stuff is soaked.

The next day we went to Chobe National Park and saw a LOT more elephants and some hippos (on a boat safari). Guess what happened then? It started to rain! Was the boat enclosed? NO! Then what happened? It started thundering and lightning. And we ran out of gas! I am serious. With crocs and hippos all around us we couldn't stop laughing at the dire situation. Luckily the captain found some more fuel and we made it back to the camp in one piece (albeit soaked).

OH BOTSWANA. Do you ever stop raining??

We have had one number of adventures after another on this trip. I am running out of internet time so this is a quick list:

1) We encounter a sandstorm while entering Sousoufflei (not fun when setting up tents)
2) It starts to rain and the entire area floods, roads turn into rivers, washing our tents away and soaking our sleeping bags/mats
3) Johanna (Sweden) gets her debit card stolen in Swakopmund.
4) Our bus loses a tire as we are heading out of Swakopmund. We nearly tip over. We are stranded by the side of the road in the blazing sun for 3 hours. We pass the time playing frisbee.
5) We are driving through Etosha National Park (encountering many lions) and our truck wheel slides into mud. Stuck. VERY STUCK. You aren't supposed to get out of vehicles but we have no choice. Once again our truck nearly tips over the truck is at such a strange angle. This time we play word games while we wait for the park rangers to get a tractor to pull us out of the mud. We also try and make lots of noise to keep the lions at bay.

Our tour leaders seem to be impressed with our group. No one freaks out. No one gets mad at them or the situation. It is a good group. Very calm. Very Hakuna Matata...

It is terribly disorienting for me to be here in Southern Africa. I thought that I would only be shocked by Cape Town but I am sitting here in Windhoek and still feeling like this is a strange place that can't be Africa. It seems quite modern. And here I was thinking that Nairobi was so modern just because there are some shopping malls and you can get a decent cappuchino. WHat a difference nicely paved roads make. But on the other hand, the abundance of stores and advertisements and obvious western influence is a bit strange considering that Namibia is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Tomorrow we head into Botswana. We have had rain for the past 3 days... I expect it to continue until the end of the trip.