only 2600 miles of adventures

...4,359 kilometers (approximately 2,615 miles), 10 cities, 3 countries, 34 days, 3 bags, 22lbs of rice, 1 broken foot, hundreds of pictures, lots of new friends, too many bus rides, and so many adventures I don’t even know where to begin! To put this into perspective, the US is about 3,000 miles across, so really, we could have practically made it from the east coast to the west coast...Any who, break was, well, unforgettable. While it seemed like a perfectly normal adventure here, I suppose it’s not everyday that you have the opportunity to backpack across East Africa, exploring its cities, meeting its people, and enjoying the culture, language, food and atmosphere that make up the beauty of life here. While we hit some rough patches along the way (ahem, Christmas…my broken foot…other things I would rather not remember) I can look back and say that I’m happy for the rest of it!

A few things I’ve learned along the way first:

--Pack less. If you think you don’t have much, get rid of half of it.

--Have patience. Because when everything is going wrong, there’s probably not much you can do about it anyways. Then say a prayer, call mom, and laugh about it.

--Have a back up plan. Or be ready to spend the day simply wandering in circles.

--Don’t be afraid to talk to people. I still struggle with this one, because even in America, I really don’t like to randomly strike up conversations with people. But when travelling through foreign places, you really don’t have a choice. Lucky enough for me, not only did I have to talk to all these random people, but I had to try speaking my limited Swahili with them. Ohhhhh yes. I’m getting better at it, but it really goes against my nature. I just keep telling myself that it’s good for me. But I’m still not convinced.

--Enjoy the city. But only for a few days. And then be very grateful when you’re back in the quiet of the bush. Like talking to strangers, cities are also against my nature, so it while it was a good stretch for me personally, I’m happy to be back.

And you know what, in all honesty, I really AM happy to be back in Muyenzi. While I could never permanently live here (I actually do need an electrical plug more consistently in my life), it’s a really nice way to unwind after a month of travelling craziness. But in all the craziness, here’s a list of my top ten travel memories:

10. Dar es Salaam, TZ.

Mostly kicking off our holiday by stepping off the 32 hour bus ride into the craziest bus stand ever was the worst thing in the world. To be honest, I don’t really like Dar at all, and then Marisa accidentally stepped on my toe and I painfully lost my toenail…So actually, I don’t know how Dar is on my list at all…oh, wait, it’s taking the place of Christmas on Diani Beach. Because losing my toenail was actually better than spending Christmas alone. No worries though, it’s only up from here!

9. Bukoba, TZ.

I actually really liked Bukoba, but it didn’t really have the same flair as everywhere else. It was a lovely place to visit, but considering it was at the very end of our trip, I really just wanted to be home, so it was hard to fully appreciate the beauty of this city on Lake Victoria.

8. Arusha, TZ.

Arusha was pretty cool. Visiting the Rwandan Genocide Tribunal and riding a camel are pretty cool things I suppose. It just seems like so long ago! So it’s not making it any higher on this list.

7. Kampala, Uganda.

While Kampala has a lot to offer, I wasn’t really a fan of taking a motorcycle through insane big-city traffic to get everywhere. And although the food was wonderful (Korean, Indian, Chinese, Italian, American…yum!), there didn’t seem to be much else to do in the city. The Bwaise slum tour was really amazing, and I loved seeing that part of the city, but otherwise we didn’t do much. If I ever have the chance to go back, when I can walk again, I would love to explore some of Uganda’s national parks. That’s one of the few regrets I have about our holiday, but considering we were there after a month of travelling, I was really just ready to get back home.

6. Nakuru, Kenya.

While Nakuru didn’t have much to offer as a city, I did get to see a leopard and a lion! Dream come true for sure!

5. Moshi, TZ!

Moshi was great, as far as Tanzanian cities go. And we got to hike on Mount Kilimanjaro, which was certainly an adventure of a lifetime!

4. Kisumu, Kenya.

Meeting up with Sarah, David and Steve was a nice change of pace. We were able to ring in the New Year together as we lived it up at a dance party on the rooftop of our hotel. Good times! I also had the pleasure of enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich, sizzling brownie and Oreo milkshake for dinner one night at Laughing Buddha, so I’m actually surprised Kisumu isn’t higher on my list…

3. Mombasa, Kenya.

As far as cities go, Mombasa was really great. I loved that we were able to walk around everywhere, explore the markets, enjoy good food, and our hotel even had air conditioning, so no complaints here!

2. Zanzibar, TZ.

Seriously so great! Stone Town was by far the best place to walk around and explore. Not to mention the amazing beaches, ancient tortoises, delicious international cuisine, and booming nightlife! I’ll certainly be back some day!

1. Jinja, Uganda.

LOVED it! Minus the red dust everywhere, Jinja was my favorite city on our EA tour. It was a very relaxed city, no one was in a rush and people were all so friendly. There was a nice expat population, with a mix of adventure-seekers and people doing mission work. And forgetting that I broke my foot (which btw still hurts), I was able to white water raft on the Nile River. Now that’s CRAZY!