So. The Zambia post never really happened, if for no other reason than I spent a bunch of time telling different people the tale, and I got a little Zambia'd out (as if that were possible, honestly.) The short version is: Zambia was INCREDIBLE. Basically, it was a free vacation with: a game drive, boat cruise, whitewater rafting on the Zambezi, standing about 3 feet away from elephants, and rowing against Oxford and Cambridge about 3k away from Victoria Falls, a boat club built in the 1900s by British colonists ("Northern Rhodesia," anyone?), Mosi (Zambian beer...yum), Kwacha (Zambian currency - 5000K = $1. They don't have coins, so they have a 50K = 1c note), steering away from hippos and crocs on the course (no joke, we were chased by safety boats with guys with rifles), a real African border crossing (-> Botswana on the way home...dodgy, bru) and a great chance to spend some time with world-class rowers (I shared a room with Rebecca Dowbiggin, Cambridge Boat Race cox, & then later Rika (Geyser) Diedericks, the SA women's single sculler who went to Beijing) - like I said: amazing.
In other news, Cape Town has been business as usual for the most part - classes at UCT are finishing up in the next 2 weeks (!), and my EPRI projects have really taken off, which is exciting. I finally have a bit of a handle on Excel & Stata, which is cool (well..."cool" being relative - but I think it's cool), and my exam schedule was finalized this week, so it looks like I will in fact be able to go to Vietnam! Other than that, I've been vaguely planning for two different trips - one between the end of classes & finals, to probably spend a day in Sowetu outside Jo'burg, and then head up to Zimbabwe (Vic Falls, which I somehow missed while I was in Zambia!) and spend a couple of days exploring the Zim side with Meira. The other will hopefully take place after my parents leave (can't wait to see you, mom & dad!) and before I head off to London - we're still exploring options, but current thoughts include: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Namibia. If you have advice, comment & let me know! With any luck, big cool update to come on Sunday.
ALSO - if you still read this, and are curious about anything South African, feel free to ask - I'd do a Q&A post if people have any interest. :>
I'll finish this post off with a few photos from Zambia:
Welcome to the Zambezi Boat Club.
Boat storage, anyone?
Rafting! Joe is going for a swim in the bottom left corner, I'm about to be bounced out in the top (that's me with my leg in the air). SO. FUN.
Self-explanatory. Up close!
The girls' race...but you get the idea. And that's only 1/3 of the Zambezi. You also can't see them, but there are hippos in the water.
Self-explanatory. Up close!
The girls' race...but you get the idea. And that's only 1/3 of the Zambezi. You also can't see them, but there are hippos in the water.