Cape Town to Nairobi 2012

“If you stand in the center, you will never be amazed. You will safely see what you have already seen, know what you already know. You will never start a fire in the mind of another or be party to the exuberant chaos of invention. But if you are bold - if you step to the edge - you can unlock the embrace of the familiar and open your mind to the daring notions of others. When you venture to the perimeter of your understanding, your eyes widen, your senses sharpen, your intellect becomes more agile”.

I don't think it has hit me that in just a few days my sister and I will be in Cape Town, a city that will be the start of our 2,500 mile through the beaches of South Africa to the sand dunes of Namibia, to the wilderness of Botswana, to the roaring Victoria Falls in Zambia, to the peaceful lake of Malawi, to the mountain shadowed lands of Tanzania, to the rastafarian island of Zanzibar, to the place that still has my heart: Kenya.

This will be my third trip back in Kenya, my second trip backpacking, but my first extensive trip through more than a handful of countries. I am excited to go on this adventure with my sister and hopeful it will bring us closer.

It is hard to pack for a nearly 4 month trip through what will be rain, winter in South Africa with the highs at and around 60 degrees, then desert, beaches, and as we inch closer to the equator, lots of sun and heat. I have filled what I can in my 35 liter backpack and am as ready as I think I will ever be.

I can already say a few things about this trip: - I will get sick, but I will get through it - Makayne and I will fight, but we will grow closer - I will be amazed and taken back by the pure goodness and generousity of complete strangers, many of whom have already offered to host my sister and I, even though I have never met them, as they are friends of friends. For example, one friend of a friend has already offered to pick us up at the airport when we land and let us stay with our family for a bit in Cape Town - I will have the chance to reflect on the past year, which has been one filled with intense stress, family health concerns, and broken hearts - I will learn, grow, and continue to feed my wanderlust!

Stay tuned for updates, thank you for following along in my adventure. It's been two years since I stepped foot on the continent that took my breath away and changed me forever, I can't wait to be back.