Back on the Chain Gang

I'm back stateside, after enduring a 32-hour journey back (including two flights, one super shuttle ride, a MARC train, and a ride from my dad). It was endless.

Last Thursday afternoon, I traveled from Swakopmund back to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. I overnighted in Windhoek before flying to Cape Town to spend my last few days in Africa.

My time in Cape Town was lovely, if uneventful. This time I rented a car, which provided much comic relief, as I tried to drive on the wrong side of the road -- and with the stick shift on the wrong side of the car. There were a few close calls, and every time I tried to change lanes, I ended up turning on the windshield wipers.

Once I managed to figure out the driving, I took a jaunt down the peninsula to visit the Cape of Good Hope, revered as the most southern point in Africa and the place where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. In fact, as it turns out, it's neither. But no matter. It was a pleasant coastal drive, with cliff-side roads that snaked through the cape with beautiful views. On the way to the cape point, I stopped to see the large colony of jackass penguins at Boulders Beach. Cool. I also stopped at a seaside town of Simons Town for their annual penguin festival, after seeing two people dressed like penguins riding around in a pick up truck. (That turned out to be the only exciting thing.)

So it was a good weekend. The only hiccup for an otherwise perfect trip was my discovery that my cell phone had been pilfered somewhere between Zambia and Jo-burg, and the later discovery that several hundred dollars had disappeared from my bag. I was a little upset about both events; but, in light of the fact that I've been traveling for years and this is the first time I've ever had anything stolen, I'd say that overall I've been pretty lucky if that's the only really bad thing that's happened to me.

And now I'm back in the US, with major jet lag, no cell phone, and a vague idea that I should probably start looking for a job soon. Maybe next month. In the meantime, I'm going to revel in the memory of a fantastic trip.