The End.

Johannesburg was not quite the city adventure that I expected. The city itself is quite dangerous, rather large, and very cumbersome to travel around. Instead of attending all of the events we had planned, Uejin, Ben, and I spent most of our time moseying around and just observing. Somehow we made it in and out of Joburg everyday without any issues. Our biggest excursion was to the Apartheid Museum. This museum depicted what Apartheid was like for people of all races. Due to time constraints we only had two hours to spend in the museum, but I easily could have spent five hours reading all of the material provided. The rest of my stay in Johannesburg was spent reflecting on my grand adventure. My two other travel buddies and myself relived many of the great moments we shared over the past four months. Our favorite memories included safaris, our homestay families, visiting clinics, and goat slaughterings.
After five days in Joburg I had to hop on a plane to head back home to good ole Eugene, Oregon. I was excited to come home to the comforts of home, but very, very sad to leave South Africa—a country that I now love. Ben and I traveled together for 40 hours to get back to Portland where our excited families met us. We were very exhausted from the traveling and the time change, but it was still great to see our families and share a classic American meal at Red Robin.
So now I am sitting in my warm, cozy bed in America writing this blog post. I have been home for nearly three days and I am still not accustomed to home. I left 90 degree weather and an 8 pm sunset in South Africa for freezing temperatures and darkness at 5 pm in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only has the weather been a big change, but the time difference has knocked me off my feet. Today was the first day that I stayed awake the entire day with no naps—a big event for someone who is extremely jet-lagged! Despite some adjustment issues, it has been great to be home for the holidays and catch up with family and friends. I return back to school soon where I will continue with classes, lacrosse, and a Resident Assistant position. I don’t know if I’m ready to return to my duties and obligations, but time will not wait for me.
And so that is the end of my South African adventure physically. However, I am still mentally and emotionally on an adventure as I reflect upon all the lessons learned. I have enjoyed writing up my stories and sharing them with you. I hope you have found some sort of enjoyment, laughter, or even sadness in reading my stories. I would love to share more with you in real life at some point.
I love you all and thank you for your support in my endeavors.

Salani Kahle (Stay well).

Into "The Bush"

Cape Town = Amazing. Such a beautiful city in both a man-made and natural sense. My last two days in Cape Town were primarily spent doing more touristy events. We visited Robben Island to tour through the prison that held both political prisoners and criminals during Apartheid, including Nelson Mandela. I was surprised to learn that this island actually functioned as a small town with schools, hospital, post office, and housing. I was picturing more of a small Alcatraz-like island with literally just a prison, but Robben Island is actually a functional town. After Robben Island we hit up the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen in an area called Camp’s Bay. I can definitely see why people like Leonardo DiCaprio and Charlize Theron would have houses overlooking this beach.
Unfortunately it rained my last day in Cape Town, but this gave us the chance to catch up on a handful of important tasks. Firstly, I went shopping one last time to pick up a few essential souvenirs. Secondly, a few of us went with a friend we met in Durban to get lunch at a local restaurant to see what real Capetonians eat like…it was not like the tourist food we had been eating on the beachfront. Lastly, two of my friends and I had a night on the town to check out some of the dance clubs. I must say that for a Monday night Cape Town still knows how to party. Overall Cape Town was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend visiting the area if the opportunity arises.
Next I traveled to “the bush” with my friend Uejin. I must say, it was hard to say goodbye to the rest of the group in Cape Town; Uejin and I spent a lot of time reminiscing about the good ole days and nearly everything we did turned out to be nostalgic in some way. It was good to be out in the middle of nowhere to have a reflection period. Here are some highlights from my time spent in “the bush” AKA Kruger National Park:

Day 1: Uejin and I flew into Nelspruit Airport then caught a 3-hour-long bus ride to our camp. The bus ride was quite enjoyable and a great way to see the country-side, although we stuck out like sore thumbs on the bus. We were on a commuter bus for workers living in rural areas, so our hiking backpacks, huge bottles of water, and the color of our skin gave us away as tourists. Nonetheless, we made it safely to our pick up spot where our animated tour guide, Andre, fetched us. We arrived to our camp where we set-up camp in an adorable tent.
Day 2: We moseyed around the game reserve, took a nice nap, ate some porridge, and went on a “sundowner” safari. Uejin and I both agreed that a day can’t get much better than this one. The sundowner safari started around 4 pm and ended after the sunset at 7 pm. We saw just about every animal, including lions! Unfortunately, we failed once again at spotting the Big 5 because we did not see a leopard. For those who do not know, the “Big 5” is the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and leopard. They are called the “Big 5” not because they are the biggest animals or the most prevalent, but because they are the five most dangerous animals to hunt.
Day 3: Andre Adventure day! Andre is a talkative Afrikaans man who Uejin and I view as a grandfatherly figure. We were pretty excited to have him show us around the Kruger area. First we drove up through the Blyde River canyon, which happens to be the third largest canyon in the world, behind the Grand Canyon and some canyon in the Amazon (name never remembered by Andre). We then visited the Muhalohalo game conservation center. Uejin and I petted a cheetah, fed a vulture, and touched a baby rhino! We also learned quite a bit about how game reserves function and some of the issues behind them.
Day 4: Another lazy day. We were both pretty tired so we just relaxed in the camp. It was quite nice to have some down time after a semester of work and traveling.

And that brings us to Johannesburg! Uejin and I flew from Nelspruit back to Johannesburg for one last go at South Africa. Joburg is a big city with lots to do, so we will keep entertained. One of the events we are looking most forward to is a “carnivore feast.” Basically we understand this to be a buffet of all sorts of African meats, including ostrich, antelope, and crocodile. While in Joburg I plan on mentally preparing myself to return back home. Many things will be different for me once I return home both mentally and physically. One of the biggest issues will be jumping into a full-blown winter back in the Northwest! I have enjoyed a solid 6 months of summer, so the weather may be one of my biggest battles. See you all soon for a cold Christmas!

Baboon Attack

It's been a crazy week. It all started with the goodbyes in Durban. Leaving the city limits of Durban one last time was really rough. Not knowing exactly when or if I'll be able to return to such a wonderful place is a hard idea to grasp. Luckily my program knows that these goodbyes are hard so they whisked us away to a safari. We spent an entire 10 hours riding in a safari jeep in the St. Lucia game reserve. Unfortunately we didn't see the "Big 5," but we did see quite a few animals, including zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and buffalo. It was quite windy and cold, but we were able to cuddle up together under blankets and enjoy the ride.

The next day we went on a boat tour of the St. Lucia delta to see hippos! I greatly enjoyed this boat trip because hippos are by far the most interesting animals in South Africa. Did you know that they mate under water? Or that they have a bite pressure of 3 tons? Or that they can stay under water for 6 minutes? Fascinating. Anyways, after the boat tour we all hopped back into the vans and took the long journey back to Johannesburg. At about hour 8 I started experiencing cabin fever, but I managed to subdue the symptoms until we arrived. It was our last night together as a group of 29 students, so emotions were high. Saying goodbye to most of the group the next morning was another hard experience. We shared so many joys and challenges together. We often talked about how we were the only ones that really knew and would understand what we have been through and how we have changed. I guess that's what makes our experience unique.

So three days ago I hopped on a plane to beautiful Cape Town! There are 9 of us in Cape Town currently, and we have managed to see much of the city and the surrounding areas. On the first day we walked around town and beach front to get acquainted with the city. The next day four of us took a day-long tour of Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope, and Simon's Town to see penguins. This city may easily have the most breath-taking views I have ever seen. Another thing that took my breath away was a run-in with a baboon. As some of you may know, I eat a lot and I eat frequently. Not really thinking I rolled out of our tour bus with a pb&j after our tour guide said several times that baboons are vicious and will take your food. This mother baboon carrying a baby literally sprinted towards me and started to climb up my arm to grab my sandwich. I threw it on the ground and the baboon took it. She didn't even share it with her baby. Needless to say, all of my friends really appreciated the visual experience of my baboon attack.

Well, last night was quite the experience. So there is this little thing going on next year in South Africa called the World Cup. And last night they had the final draw for the World Cup here in Cape Town and it was absolutely NUTS. There was a huge street party that of course I attended. It required a few stampedes across barriers and run-ins with crazy soccer fans, but it was amazing. They say that we attended one of the biggest parties in Cape Town :) Today we all recovered and went on a bike tour to go wine tasting. I don't drink, but I did selectively choose a few wines to taste. I must say that I don't really have an appreciation for wine, but riding around the wine country on a mountain bike was really fun.

I have two more days in Cape Town, which will consist of visiting Robben Island, a few beaches, and going on a few hikes. I'm loving Cape Town, but definitely missing Durban. Such a bittersweet time.