AND IT'S HERE: INTO AFRICA, WEEK 1.

Africa
I don't think I could have prepared for the trip even if I wanted to. I began in the Richmond Airport, continued to Detroit, then to Amsterdam, next to Johannesburg (with an overnight stay), and finally a short hop to Livingston, Zambia. I left on Tuesday at 4 PM, and arrived in Livingston on Thursday at noon. The ten days since have been a blur, and rather than cover everything chronologically, I'll try to lump stuff together. This does not bring you up to present, only week 1.

Victoria Falls
When I rolled into Livingston, and took my shuttle to the resort where my parents and I would meet my sister, I was blown away. Slight clarification--I was blown away by the resort (at that moment, I was completely unconcerned with the Falls). The Zambezi Sun is right along the Zambezi River, with its own private entrance to Victoria Falls. All of our accomodations would not be so luxurious, but it was a pretty sweet way to start off the adventure. We saw the falls from every angle. First, we walked directly in front of the Falls, across a bridge that must have been at least 150 meters above the Zambezi river. I couldn't hear anything, water was all over me, and I couldn't even see the edges or bottom of the water fall. They say that something like a million liters of water travel over the Falls per second (or is it minute?), and it was completely overwhelming. I haven't been excited to see a rainbow since I was nine, but I saw two overlapping rainbows. One of the rainbows was so full I could have sworn I could find the hidden treasure. Once we were a bit dried off, the four of us hiked down (i mean hiked in the intense sense, wading through water and such) from that bridge to a place at the foot of the River called the Boiling Pot. Its called the Boiling Pot because the water swirls together. To be sitting in a canyon, look up 150-200 meters to where I had been standing before, and then stare down the winding river, it was a rare moment when I felt like I had just discovered a part of the world for the first time, as if I was the first and only person in the world to have been lucky enough to see it. Even after these two angles, I had not seen the Falls in its entirety (i.e. from the angle that you see in a postcard). Each of us dished out some dough, and went microlighting (sp?). This basically involved flying above the Falls, where the only thing between the Falls and myself was a motorized bike with wings. No glass windows, just a bike. Okay, so I think people expect the Falls to be amazing, but even for a cynic like myself, this doesn't make the place any less striking.

Animals
First, let me note that the resort in Zambia was also a wildlife preserve. I'm not sure whether these animals were trained, medicated, or what (the employees said they were free roaming, but a bit less afraid of humans), but I got within about fifteen feet of giraffes and zebras. Let me say that giraffes are huge. I mean, I knew they were big, but I thought I could take one if it came my way. No way. From Zambia, we travelled to Botswana, where our fall from luxury would begin. We stayed at a fairly nice lodge outside of Chobe Game Park, where there are two elephants per square km of the park. For reference, the park is 11,500 square km. It was here that I crossed elephants off the list of animals I could fight. We went on a wildlife boat cruise, and a game drive. The game drive was basically a safari at 6 AM, and, although we saw more animals than I could describe (Hippos, Elephants, Jackals, Impala, Kudu, Bulls...the list goes on), this is where I had my National Geographic moment. We came across four lions (a mother and three cubs), and watched them as they quietly spread out and stalked a group of impala. Cross lions off the list as well. At this point, we had seen animals up close, but now we proceeded to Okavango Delta, Botswana. I think this site was rated the #1 place to see in 2006 by National Geographic, and we saw it in a very hardcore way. We took a motorboat three hours into the delta, camped next to a local village (albeit with some extra luxury for my parents...chef=crucial), took dugout canoes through the delta to the main wildlife reserve, and tracked animals on foot. I learned more about droppings than you'd ever want to know, but if you're ever not sure whether and/or when a giraffe shat on your lawn, I'm your man. For a bit extra, I'll even tell you if it was a male or female.

Other
So I realize this has been hella long (and it's just the first week, I'll save some of this week for later), but a couple general observations. First, there are no clocks here. It is horrible. and fabulous. and horrible. I didn't realize how obsessed I was with time, and I'm not even a remotely punctual person. Still, it has been a tough adjustment to not be so concerned about using every minute, but I'm slowly making it work. Getting up at 6 am is pretty standard, and last night I even went to bed at 7 pm. Dean, note for APT: Mother nature said I should get eleven hours of sleep, and who I am I to say no? Second, I retain some pride to be an American. We met an Indian guy at Vic Falls who was getting real uppity about America, saying shit like "well, I don't think I'll ever be that way, I hope I never have to visit America!" I was actually quite offended. My sister made a good point. You can insult the policies and even American tendencies, but to generally dismiss the country and it's people is just disrespectful, and let's not forget who give Namibia,Zambia, etc. money for free HIV testing (survey says...AMERICA!). Anyways, so I realized that I actually will defend America abroad. Bizarre, but maybe not so bizarre.

Anyways, this has been too long, so I'll post from now on in the blog, but PLEASE keep in touch. I'll be gone for some time, and I hope to still have friends when I return, so let me know what you're up to (jobs, nothing, school, whatever).

Amar

P.S. Reading list update: Atonement=done and quite good. Divisadero is in progress and seems promising.