After officially hanging up my hat as a Peace Corps Volunteer (spending a week in Pretoria having medical exams, meetings and finishing final reports), I was officially “sworn out” and am now what they call an RPCV (a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). It was bittersweet. Too much emotion to write about now. Maybe later.
Instead, I will write about my lovely vacation in the Eastern Cape. I went with friend and fellow volunteer, Megan. We took an overnight bus to a town called Mmtatha and sat in the pouring rain for many hours waiting for a shuttle to pick us up and take us to the starting point of our hike in Port St. Johns. I’ve never seen so much rain. This did not bode well for an upcoming five day hike leaving in less than 12 hours. But we woke up the next day to sunny skies and left with our fantastic guide, Lloyd. He would be with us as we traversed ~60 kilometers over the next few days along the Wild Coast. We stayed in local villages with families in their rondavels, sleeping on the floor, taking bucket showers, and eating amazing Xhosa food. Although I’ve been in South Africa for a couple of years, the differences between where I stay and the area where we hiked were very distinct (language, people, land, homesteads) so I was glad I had the opportunity to visit this area. It’s truly spectacular (pictures to be posted soon). Due to the rain, we had lots of water to maneuver around. At some river crossings we were met by “ferry men” with small boats while at other river crossings we simply had to get wet (sometimes up to our chests). Overall, we were successful at staying dry (except for the one incident in a tipping kayak) and we made it to our destination in Coffee Bay where we played on the beach for a couple of days and ate some lovely ice cream and amazing pizza.
I then parted ways with Megan as she left to go meet friends and I headed to the mountains. I had heard/read about a quaint little town called Hogsback and was determined to get there before leaving South Africa. It was a bit of a logistical challenge with no car but I found my way with a couple of buses and shuttles. And it was definitely worth the effort. It was almost like being in Colorado again. I was a bit unprepared for the cold though and had to layer most of the clothes I had brought to keep warm (and stand incredibly close to the fire). But I took some beautiful hikes (with the most amazing waterfalls) and met some great people while hovering around the fire at night.
And now?! I am back in Joburg packing up my stuff getting ready to fly back to America. It feels quite strange. I am incredibly sad and anxious and happy all at once. South Africa has become my home for the last two years. I love so much about this place and it is going to be hard to say goodbye. But I suppose that wherever you go there you are.
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| Ugh, look at those ugly feet... |
