Durban Goodbye

Hello there!

I am officially on winter break! I finished my paper and now I’m off to adventure around South Africa. It feels wonderful to be done with all of the academic work, but obviously it’s tough because that means I have to say goodbye to people and places. It has been a long goodbye process, so I’m actually happy that today I leave Durban and just rip the Band-Aid off. It’s tough now, but it just has to happen.

These past few days have been packed with last minute activities. I have spent much of my time just walking around, taking pictures, shopping at street fairs, packing, and saying goodbyes. And I ended on a great note yesterday with the first soccer game to ever be played in the new World Cup soccer stadium! It was pouring down rain, but that didn’t damper our spirits. The game was also sold out so we had to scalp tickets…but it was SO worth it.

So today I leave my home city of Durban to go on a two-day safari with my class in St. Lucia. On Thursday we travel back to Johannesburg to catch our flights to various locations. I am first flying to Cape Town to go on a bike-riding-wine-tasting tour, visit penguins on Simon’s Island, and visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during Apartheid. Four days later a friend and I fly to Kruger National park to go on safaris. This is the leg of the trip that I am most excited for…I can’t wait to spend some quality bush time with lions and elephants! Lastly, I fly back to Johannesburg to spend a few days venturing around. I then hop on one last plane to be back on December 18th! It for sure will be a whirlwind tour and I hope to be able to post at least a few more updates.

I hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays because I will be ready to party hard!
Miss you all!