The holiday skillz camp finished up in mid December and GRS offices around Africa officially closed for the holidays on the 17th. With schools out and most kids away for the holidays it was an opportunity to get out of Kimberley for a few weeks, refuel the volunteer batteries and see a bit of Southern Africa. I joined up with three fellow interns from Cape Town for a proposed epic hitchhiking and backpacking trip through the neighboring countries of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Our trip started in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; home to incredible waterfalls, wildlife and non stop adventures on the mighty Zambezi River.
We wasted no time trying to find some of this adventure and signed up for a full day of white water rafting down the Zambezi. None of us knew exactly what we were in for and we certainly were not expecting the insane class 5 rapids that awaited us. Our friendly Zimbabwean guide “Colgate” (major pearly white smile) whipped our team quickly into shape as we drifted down the first couple easy rapids. We admired the amazing scenery and commented on how lovely and tranquil the river seemed. The proud spirit of the Nyame, Nyame (the Zambezi river god) must have been listening because the next couple sets of rapids showed us why it is know as the “Mighty Zambezi”: Aptly named “Stairway to Heaven” and “Devil’s Toilet Bowl”, these rapids swiftly flipped us out of the boat and some ten minutes later, flushed us out the back side into calmer water. I can only thank Nyame, Nyame for sparing our feeble lives. We held our tongues for the rest of the day and managed to get flipped only once more by Nyame Nyame: it was a wild ride and I was super relieved to make it back on land-alive.
The rest of the trip mellowed out after the first couple days as we spent some time around the falls enjoying the incredible sights. We managed to catch a ride to Botswana for a few days to see some amazing animals while camping around Chobe National Park. We even spotted a lion family under a tree, which is supposed to be real rare in Botswana. The plethora of animals was just insane and I have never seen so many powerful species living in such close quarters. We left Botswana and headed back into Zim for another adventure on the Zambezi; this time a few hundred KM’s north of Vic Falls, where the river begins to dam and becomes Lake Kariba. We set up camp next to a “Beware Crocodiles” sign and woke up happy to find all of our limbs attached and a huge ferry boat waiting to take humans up the lake! It was a 24 hour ferry ride and one of the greatest boat trips I have ever been on. There were good people, incredible views and super sweet lounge chairs…nothing could be better! We cruised throughout the day and night and woke up to a beautiful sunrise coming up over the Kariba dam. 
Sadly we exited our dream boat and continued on, a little less lavishly via foot. Luckily, a nice lady in an army truck picked us up and delivered us safely to our next campground on the banks of Lake Kariba. We spent Christmas Eve in 110 degree heat, trying to stay cool by the Kariba campground pool. On Christmas day we celebrated by taking a packed eight hour bus ride from Kariba Town to the capital city of Harare. We were greeted by a good friend of mine from Wesleyan, the legend himself, Gazza Goviti. Gazza, born and raised in Harare is maybe the 2nd smartest man in all of Zimbabwe. He grew up in the biggest township in Zim, earned a scholarship to Wesleyan and is now one of the most successful and legitimate men I know. He currently works in Johannesburg but always finds time to come home for Christmas to see family. It was such a treat to get to hang with Gazza and his amazing family for Christmas. He showed us all around the town, introduced us to his buddies (one a player on the Zim national team!) and even set up a special street soccer game for us on Boxing day. Street soccer in Africa is intense and this game might have been one of my all-time favorites: The dudes skills were amazing, everyone was lightning quick and street soccer savvy. Funny enough, it was much like that scene in Waynes World; every twenty seconds a car would come rolling down the street we were playing on and the game would have to be paused until it passed. GAME OFF, GAME ON! It was awesome!
After soccer Gazza took us to a traditional Shona weeding reception for one of his friends. For not knowing a single person there, the family was uber welcoming and hospitable. All of us agreed, and I think anybody who has ever met a Zimbabwean will say that they are maybe the most friendly, warm and genuine people in the world. No matter what you hear or see on TV, Zim is truly an incredible country and hopefully one day will be recognized more for its wonderful people, culture and landscape then for its tyrannical leadership and political woes. We said farewell to Gazza as we boarded another bus to take us to Mutare, a boarder city and entrance point to Mozambique. After another amazing night of camping at the Vumba National Park (the southern most rainforest in Africa), we walked over our third boarder of the trip and into Mozambique. Mozambique is just as unique and beautiful as any country I have been to in Africa. A former Portuguese colony, Moz is fascinating to witness because of the blend of Portuguese language and culture into traditional African life. Being in Moz was the most foreign experience I have encountered since coming over to SA. You sometimes forget how important language can be for your overall comfort and for the short time I was in Moz I was generally lost and confused. Despite the language barriers and long, long bus rides through the country we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Moz.
We spent a few days in Villanculos, a sleepy little beach town in central Mozambique and another couple further south in a beach town called Tofo. Tofo is a popular holiday spot for both South Africans and Mozambiquians and has an incredible beach scene, not to mention amazing seafood! The Indian Ocean water was absolutely divine; warm, clear and delicious. I spent most of my time floating around in the goodness of the ocean and trying to keep up with my surfing buddy Mike. It was a glorious few days spent immersed in sun, surf and sand. I have never celebrated New Years on the beach and I have to say it is the way to go. I dreamt the night before I came back to Kimberley that the ocean would magically transport itself to the middle of the Kalahari so that I could visit it more often. Alas, I will have to hold onto a few shells and the sand stuck in my toes and clothes until my next visit to the ocean. I had a lot of time to reflect on the trip as I traveled slowly back to Kimberley. Overall, I spent about 34 straight hours on different busses trying to get back to the sparkling city. The traveling was all worth it to have a trip of a lifetime with great friends and a chance to see three beautiful African countries.
