Well, the last week of my trip went pretty slowly – driving
for 3 days straight can do that. Coming
from Zambia, I stayed over one night in Lilongwe, and then, since I had seen
the lake before, I headed to the southern mountains. I spent three days hiking on the Zomba
Plateau and Mount Mulanje - beautiful scenery, nice people, and a whole lot of
hiking. Then after the 18 hours of
cumulative hiking, I decided I was ready to be back in Dar, and spent three
days driving
directly back (you can imagine how sore my legs were). I entered TZ and felt relief and
excitement. I successfully pulled off
the trip (meaning safely returning, with a functioning car, and having a ton of
great memories) and excited to see my friends and feel at home again. That feeling lasted for about an hour before
I was overwhelmed by crazy, nonsensical drivers, pedestrians who swarm the
streets and TZ police officers looking for bribes. All I can say is that integrity is expensive…
It has been a whirlwind three months, and I can’t even begin
to explain how lucky I feel that I was able to do this trip. I still don’t know really KNOW Southern
Africa, but I can say I’ve had a pretty good overview. And based on my experiences, I wouldn’t be
surprised to find myself back here at some point in the future JAnd now I’m back in Dar. While Tanzania can often be overwhelming, I’m going to miss it. It’s been a great home, and many of the people I’ve met here will be friends of mine far into the future. I have two weeks left to say goodbyes and make a few more memories. So here’s to hoping these next two weeks are as good as the past two years have been for me!
