Well, we're on our own now.
The group dwindled to half yesterday, and Anton and I sat around and moped for most of the morning, filled with the unmistakable feeling of a closure that came too quickly. Is everyone really gone already? Have those three months of our lives passed before us? As when anything ends, I am struck by the surreal feeling of wondering if everything that I remember even happened, if all the moving around were really miles in physicality, if all the connections made will stand the strains of thousands of miles.
Of course it all really happened, but it's staggering to know that it's actually over.
The last week and a half of the trip was spent -- for the bio side - back at the gorgeous coast, snorkeling around on the reefs and lounging in our beach front bandas and reading and eating. I got a horribly annoying infection on my toe while there -- I'm pretty sure that the flippers initiated it -- and I was land bound for about half of the time we spent there. I tell you -- there is nothing that makes you more homesick than being sick in a world where you are so far from home comfort; I spent a lot of the time that I was on land reading (finished Life of Pi -- so good! -- and Catcher in the Rye, which is also fabulous), sleeping, and trying not to stress over the foot situation. It got so bad that I could barely walk. Ugh.
But Thanksgiving turned out to be a moving experience, and one that turned my pysche back on the upswing.
We had three different types of locally caught fish, and the camaraderie of a group that we have all grown to love to sustain us through the missing of home traditions and American food. Later in the evening, after significant amounts of coaxing, Anton, Kai and I (and Sam too, after some pushing) got everyone to run into the tropical ocean -- sans clothing, of course -- and float on the small waves that rocked us along. Had so much fun, until Lydia got stung by a jellyfish as she was dong a handstand and her whole body became covered in bumps. She was fine, but it still spooked us a bit.
The next night we did a night snorkel out from the beach, and watching as bioluminescents flashed the water beneath us. I could only use one fin on account of the foot, so it was tough going for me, and I turned back to go in earlier than Anton and Kai did, who stayed out swimming to the far offshore reef until about 11:30 at night. Pretty amazing to be out on a beach where you can only see the light of the moon and stars -- nothing else -- and where you can fall asleep to the breeze and palm trees swaying. Slept outside on a cot with a foam matress nearly everynight, which included the nighttme activity of running inside as a monsoon came in over the ocean and slammed into you. There was also always the threat of vervet monkeys coming up to you and picking thnigs out of your nose while you sleep, but luckily our at the coast were not of that persuasion.
With the bio side of the group, the male-female ratio was the fairest its been the whole trip (in the large group, it's 7men to 17women), with five guys and seven girls, and the guys were all clustered down at the far end of the beach, tucked away by our lonesome selves, and we formed a "bachelor herd" which became the running joke for the rest of the trip. With animals like zebras and impala and many others, the non-dominant males form these so called "bachelor herds" which wader around and vie for dominance with the dominant male who protects his "harem" of females. We saw a lot of this interaction between the animals here, so the extension of the joke seemed natural. None of us have had too much luck wooing the ladies this trip....
Just kidding. Sort of.
After bidding goodbye to the coast, we headed up into the Amani Forest, an ancient range of substrate that is much much older than the mainland continent itself, and is home to a whole manner of endemic animals, plants, etc. Did a night hike to see some of the coolest chameleons ever.
Kai also bought ten entire litres of palm wine, which is locally made and extracted straight from the coconut tree, and is in an active progress of fermenting the whole time. Which asically means that it gets stronger and stronger the longer you wait. We all partook in a bit, but most of us couldn't stomach too much of it. He had to keep opening the bottle to let the CO2 out from all that it created in an hours time. Super funny.
Got back to glorious Arusha for our short one and half day retreat at the absolute nicest hotel I have even been to in my life. We had a
suite. And a
kitchen. And
eight pillows. What sweetness it is to return to luxury like that, even if it was only was three days.
We were reunited with the General Culture kids again for our short stay, and as expected, we jumped into each others arms and couldn't stop hugging and smiling and everything. So nice to be back around familiar faces in a foreign place.
The entire next day -- the 3rd -- was spent on presentations. Seven hours of them. All of the general culture students projects, and then all of the bio ones. Exhausting, but inspiring to see what everyone had pulled off in a short amount of time.
That evening rushed by in a swirl of final speeches, goodbyes to our safari staff, incredible food, and a rambunctious gathering of all of us in the pool to create a giant whirlpool. The only thing that I can say about the past few days has been the complete and utter surreality that comes with the closing of a chapter of your life, and the knowledge of that ending so far from your comprehension. We've traveled for so long that closure feels far far far away.
Played card games, listened to music, got a little schwasty, and reveled in each others laughter for what was going to be the last time for a long time. A night to be remembered.
The next morning the people who were leaving Africa right after the program - about half of our group - headed up to Nairobi at 7:30 AM, and the rest of us wandered around the hotel grounds with the unmistakable stride of those lacking a purpose.
And now -- well, we have to pay for everything ourselves. What is that?
The plan is to head for Nairobi tomorrow and then over to Kisumu on Lake Victoria, gradually making our way over to Uganda to raft the class five rapids at the headwaters of the Nile. Off to London on the 19th, and home on the 22nd. Very, very, very excited.
Safari njema, and I will see you all soon. I'll have internet from time to time, so keep in touch.
Love,
Zach
