Rachel

I made it to the Denver airport and got my bag from the baggage claim. I made my way to the hotel shuttle pick-up area. I called the Quality Inn to arrange the shuttle but learned from the automated message that there was no need to arrange it and the shuttle would come every 30 minutes. I waited for what I believe was at least 30 minutes. I was considering trying to call the hotel and try to speak to a human to see what was going on with the shuttle. Just as I was about to call them, the shuttle arrived. There were two other passengers. They told me they were from Nebraska. The driver told us he went to Nebraska once. He had to retrieve his son's car that had been stolen. I sat in the front seat of the van. It felt weird to be on the right side of the road after six months of all but two days (in Rwanda) being on the left. I got to the hotel and checked in. By that point it was 7:30 p.m. and I was really tired from traveling. I took a shower and ordered food delivery. I got two shredded pork tacos and chips and salsa. My meal was supposed to come with a Dr. Pepper but my driver forgot it. Uber Eats refunded me for my drink. I ate and watched TV in my room. I went to bed by 9. 

I woke up around 6:30. I thought to myself that that seemed like a great sign for hopefully not having too bad of jet lag. I took my time getting ready for the day and I went down for breakfast. I had a waffle, scrambled eggs, sausage, and breakfast potatoes. I also had orange juice and several cups of coffee. Breakfast was delicious. After breakfast I walked 35 minutes to the train station. I tried to buy a day pass with my credit card but it didn't work. I inserted a $20 bill and got my change in dollar coins. My day pass for public transportation was $5.50. I took the train to Union Station. From there I caught a bus to the Denver Art Museum. In my opinion the Denver public transportation seems awesome. It was very easy to use and seemed clean and efficient. I got to the museum and paid the $22 entrance fee. I spent several hours looking at artwork. There was one exhibit that had lots of artificial plants. The idea was supposed to be that it would inspire you to spend time in nature. It seemed strange to me to go to an indoor museum and see artificial plants and then be inspired to be in nature. They also had a sign saying that if you spend at least one hour a week in nature it will boost your creativity. I thought it was a bit sad that people have to strive to spend that small amount of time outside. I finished looking at the art around noon. I then realized that there were two other buildings in the museum. I decided to take a break for lunch. I walked to Torchy's Tacos. I ordered at the counter. I got a cheese dip and a margarita. I thought about getting salsa but it was $4. There were automatic tip options on the screen and I selected 20%, not sure what the proper etiquette was at that particular restaurant. I took a seat. A worker quickly brought me my cheese dip. I asked for a glass of tap water. The worker told me I could get water from the pop machine. I hadn't noticed the machine. I got myself water and sat back down. I had almost finished my cheese dip by the time my margarita arrived. It had been over 15 minutes. My margarita and cheese dip were very tasty but it was over $25 with tip and I feel I'm still searching for a good Tex Mex experience to satisfy that craving. I went back to the Denver Art Museum and explored one of the other buildings. I only managed to explore 3 of the 7 floors and then it was time to head back to the hotel to meet my mom and brother. I caught a bus which took me to the train and then walked back from the train station. The journey took just over an hour and a half each way. My brother, Zach, and my mom were running a bit behind so I waited for them for about 40 minutes. I was tired anyway so I just relaxed in the hotel room. They got in and we all rested for a while. I hadn't seen my mom since she came to India in January, and I hadn't seen my brother since October. I taught them how to play a game, Bao, that I bought in Malawi. We went out for dinner. We went to a place called Wooly’s. It was inside of a hotel. My mom and I split a chicken shawarma wrap with fries and we had a glass of red wine each. Zach got a burger and fries. My mom and I shared a banana foster bread pudding for dessert and Zach got ice cream. The dessert was really tasty. After dinner we went back to the hotel. I was exhausted and fell asleep around 8:30. 

I woke up around 3:30. I couldn't fall back asleep. My mom woke up around 5. At 6 we went downstairs and had breakfast. I had a strawberry waffle, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and sausage. I also had orange juice and several cups of coffee. The strawberry waffle was good but tasted artificial. I preferred the regular kind. After breakfast we waited for Zach to wake up and have breakfast. Once he was ready we went for a walk. We walked about two and a half miles near the hotel for some exercise. Then my mom drove us into Denver. We went to Meow Wolf. It's an interactive art exhibit. We spent several hours there. We explored the city created by four alien worlds. It was cool! I'd wanted to see it for years but it hadn't worked out until now. We had paid $15 for parking at Meow Wolf plus a $1 convenience fee. We then drove to a pizza place, Marco's Pizza. We paid $3 for metered parking. Getting my change back in dollar coins the day before proved to be very handy. We shared a focaccia bread, a pizza with sausage, Vidalia onions, and bell peppers on it, a pizza with pepperoni and pesto, and a Nutella dessert pizza. I had Diet Coke. Everything was very tasty. They were able to make everything gluten free, which was good for Zach as he has dietary requirements. They brought us tap water without us asking for it and automatically brought refills of that and the pop. I have not experienced that in over six months. The food was tasty. After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum. Amazingly, they had free parking. We bought tickets to the museum and for the Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, show at the planetarium. We looked around for a few minutes and then it was time for the show. They turned off the lights and showed videos of glaciers, the solar system, etc on the screen as they played Pink Floyd songs. I enjoyed it. It was calm and mellow but really cool effects with the screen being so big and it felt like you were a part of what they were showing. My mom and Zach fell asleep during the show. After the show we looked around the museum for a couple of hours. Then we went back to downtown Denver. It took us a while to find parking. Parking was just over $10. We parked and walked a bit to a restaurant. The restaurant was busy and couldn't seat us. We were still full from lunch anyway and we decided to skip dinner. We were going to a show that started soon and didn't want to have to rush. We made it to the church that was holding the candlelight orchestra show. We got seated and got drinks from the bar. I got a local IPA. It was really tasty but unfortunately I didn't make a note of the name of the beer. My mom got a glass of wine and Zach got a Sprite. We waited about 15 minutes for the show to start. The orchestra covered Cold Play songs. Lots of people were filming the majority of the concert. I found it odd, as I think it's unlikely they'll ever watch those videos. There were fake candles everywhere around the church. The concert was very nice. I enjoyed hearing the music and enjoyed the atmosphere. After the concert we went back to the hotel. By that point it was around 11 p.m. We all went straight to sleep. 

I woke up past 8 the next morning. I was surprised to find it was so late. I had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. I also had orange juice and several cups of coffee. After breakfast we all put our things in the car and headed out. We tried to go to a farmer's market but couldn't find parking and gave up. We decided to go to a thrift/vintage market. We found parking and paid just under $5 for an hour. We walked about 20 minutes from the parking lot to the market. We saw lots of old tshirts. For example, I saw one that said Lion King, 2006, Toronto. I found it odd that that kind of thing is considered vintage and sold at $10-20 per shirt. I also saw some old school snowsuits, furry jackets, jewelry, etc. I bought a jean dress. Apart from that I didn't see anything I liked that much. After that we tried to find a restaurant with good gluten free options but struck out at several places. We had to add a second hour of parking. My mom and I got a Japanese mochi donut to share. We picked a pistachio matcha flavor. The donut was good. We decided to walk back to the car and look for a good gluten free option along the way to Estes Park. We found the Just Be Kitchen. We drove there and were lucky to find metered parking nearby. We put in $3 for parking and walked a few minutes to the restaurant. Everything that they sell there is gluten free and they cater to a lot of different dietary requirements. They were also featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. Zach got a lemonade, hot chocolate, and chicken and dumplings. My mom and I got chicken and dumplings to share. We got battered cauliflower wings with ranch, a Mediterranean hummus dip with carrots and crackers, a brownie, and a cookie to share. We had a feast! Everything was delicious. Zach really liked the brownies and cookies. I bought a packet of mix for both, so I have desserts to make the next two times he comes over. After lunch we drove to Estes Park. It was about an hour and a half drive. The view through the mountains was beautiful. We arrived at our hotel, the Blue Door Inn, around 4:45 p.m. We got checked in and had a few minutes to freshen up and rest. We then drove to my friends, Larry and Carmel’s house. They introduced themselves to my mom and Zach. Carmel made a mocktail for Zach out of Sprite and cherry juice. Larry had a beer. The rest of us had a glass of red wine each. Carmel gave me a belated Christmas present- a black Eddie Bauer pullover. It's very warm and it's perfect timing considering I lost my Columbia pullover a couple of weeks ago. Zach and my mom saw the catio- the indoor/outdoor area that my friends have designed for their cats. We then drove in two cars to dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Zach had gluten free pasta. My mom and I split a spicy eggplant and pasta dish. Larry, Carmel, my mom, and I split a bottle of red wine. We also had garlic bread. Dinner was delicious! After dinner we all went to the Stanley Hotel. Carmel showed my mom and Zach around the hotel, and Larry and I attempted to order drinks. The cheapest glass of wine was $20. I've been to The Stanley several times before and Larry and Carmel go often. We have never known it to be so expensive. We decided to get a drink at The Post instead. The Post is a chicken and waffle restaurant on the same property as the hotel. Our show was in the basement of the same building. We went over there and I got a beer that was brewed at the Post. It was good! By that point it was time to go to our show. We said goodbye to Larry and Carmel. Zach, my mom, and I settled in for a 90 minute magic show called Possessions. I enjoyed the show! It was mostly based around tarot cards. I struggled to stay awake for the last thirty minutes or so but somehow managed. After the show we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. 

This morning I woke up around 6. I laid in bed for a while before getting ready for the day. My mom woke up and we went to breakfast at the hotel. I had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and a raspberry yogurt. I also had a cup of orange juice and several glasses of coffee. It was

good! After we were all ready to go we went to Safeway and bought lunch and snacks for the drive. I got a Santa Fe salad with chicken on it and we got mandarins for a snack. We also got Diet Dr. Pepper and sparkling water. We got on the road on the way home! It should be about a 5 and a half hour drive from Estes Park to Kearney. In Kearney I'll meet up with my dad, who I haven't seen since October. Then he'll drive me to Grand Island and we'll have dinner with Steve- who I haven't seen in two weeks. I'm excited to be home soon! I've had an amazing trip but I'm also looking forward to being around friends and family and getting into more of a routine. This summer I'm planning to go to Arkansas with my dad and visit my grandparents. I'm also doing the Tour de Nebraska again with my dad the last week in June. If time allows I'd love to go to Wisconsin for a week with my mom and do a bike trip from Kansas City to St Louis with my dad. It just depends on when I start working again! This will likely be my last “journal entry” until my next trip. It's been a fun way to record my memories and also let people at home know what I'm up to. Until next time!

On the flight to Cape Town the person in front of me kept throwing up. The smell was pungent. We finally made it to Cape Town. We got our bags and took an Uber to our hostel. It was around 10 p.m. at that point. We got to our room. The three of us were staying in an eight person mixed dorm. There were only top bunks left. It was all late so we decided just to go to bed. At one point I was laying in bed and a man in his 60s came and stared at me for over a minute. I was not sure why he was doing that. He had a big scar around his neck and he seemed like he was drunk and/or high. The guy staying in the bottom bunk came in. He shook my hand but didn't say anything and then he blew me kisses and walked out the door. The guy staying under Jill's bunk came in. He smelled awful. I managed to fall asleep. 

I woke up in the morning around 8. Jill and Ale told me that the guy under Jill had made a phone call at full volume at 4 a.m. The guy staying under me had punched him when he did that. Somehow I managed to sleep through that. Jill and I were ready pretty quickly to go to breakfast. Ale took a long time to get ready but finally we were on our way. We went to the Egghead Diner. It was busy so we sat outside and it was a bit chilly. I had two Americanos. I also had a sandwich which came on a roll and had a fried egg, pieces of steak, and sauce on it. It was delicious. They had pasteis de nata there which I really love and don't see often, so Ale and I split one for dessert. Ale said she wanted to back to the hostel and pack before going out for the day. Jill wanted to do her own thing that day. I was not a huge fan of the idea of waiting around more for Ale so I decided to go out on my own too. I took an Uber to the V&A Waterfront. I went to a massive mall. I found a sun hat, a spork, a camping bowl, a buff, and a purple fleece pullover. I spent quite a while in the mall just walking around and window shopping. It was nice to get some steps in and it was chilly out. I went to the Time Out Market and got some masala chai and sparkling water from an Indian food stall. I tried to go to the Diamond Museum but they said you had to book a tour and the next one was in four hours. I decided to take an Uber back to the hostel. Jill was in the room. She hadn't gone anywhere since breakfast. She mentioned that the guy who was staying under Ale had been sleeping until 2:30. Apparently a woman and a kid came into the room and kept trying to wake him up before that. Jill said the woman told her that she's staying with a friend. Work is really scarce in Cape Town according to her and so the man was essentially living at the hostel. Jill said she thought that was the case for several of our roommates. Jill said that woman was making their kid drink wine and the man kept swearing and shouting at the kid. Jill said it seemed like the woman was scared of the man. I was glad that Jill and Ale were staying in the room too at least. Jill said she booked the night that we come back from AfrikaBurn in a private room because between the two of us it's actually slightly cheaper than the dorm and it would be nice to have our own space. Given the interactions with our roommates, I decided it might be better when I was on my own to book the private room also. I went to reception and booked a second night in the private room. I went back to the room and read in bed for a while. The guy staying in the bunk under me came in. He was clearly drunk and/or high. He chatted to me and Jill for a bit. Jill decided she wanted to go with me to meet Katherine for dinner. We messaged Ale on the group chat and she said she'd meet us there. Jill and I took an Uber to Katherine's hotel. We ate at a Korean fusion restaurant inside the hotel. We said hi to Katherine and ordered food. I got chicken spring rolls, Korean fried chicken, and egg fried rice as well as hot lemon tea. Everything was very good. We exchanged travel stories with Katherine. Ale was on her phone all throughout dinner. I understand we've had our ups and downs with Katherine but I found it odd that she chose to come to dinner just to then be on her phone. Katherine was very pleasant during dinner. We said goodbye to her and took an Uber back to our hostel and then went to bed. 

In the morning I woke up around 7:30. I got an Americano from the hostel cafe. There was no one else in there. I chose a seat with a good view of Table Mountain. I sat and looked out at the view. A few minutes later a girl came and sat on the couch in front of the window. She perched on the back of the couch and looked out at the view. At that point we were the only two in the cafe and she'd picked the one spot that blocked my view. After a few minutes she turned to me and told me she could never get tired of that view. I went downstairs and saw that the car rental guy, Brave, was there. He asked me to see if Ale was ready to get our car since he was there early. It was around 9 and we'd planned to get the car at 10. I went and told Ale and she came out to the front of the hostel. Brave said he actually had some customers before us so we could come back later. Ale went back to getting ready and I went back up to the cafe. I got a peanut butter and banana smoothie and another Americano. That girl had left so I went back to the same spot I'd had and looked out at the view. Around 10 Ale and I did the car rental pickup with Brave. Jill, Ale, and I put some things in storage at the hostel and loaded our things up in the SUV. We went to pick up Rayhan. Ale had arranged with her that we'd give her a ride to AfrikaBurn and she'd split the cost of the car rental and gas. We had told Rayhan we would pick her up around 10. It was around 10:45 when we finally picked her up. She was standing outside waiting for us. She loaded her things into the car. She then told us she was going to go buy a vape. We waited for her while she walked to a convenience store and bought one. She came back to the car and told us she still needed to pick up her boots from the cobbler. We drove her to the cobbler and she picked them up. Rayhan is 31 and she's from the Netherlands. She works in IT. She is in South Africa just for AfrikaBurn and then is going to visit friends in Mozambique. We drove to a shopping center on the way out of town. We each bought 20 liters of water in addition to other groceries. Ale and I decided to share a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly. I also got a bag of apples, dried apricots, dried peaches, peanuts, a jar of mixed dried fruit and nuts, two boxes of wine, crackers, and six cans of tuna. I spent around $100 for groceries but I thought at least I won't have to buy anything at AfrikaBurn. Jill, Ale, and I were done shopping and went out to the car. We waited probably 30 minutes for Rayhan to come out. She said she got lost inside the mall. We got back on the road and went to pick up our rental tent. It was from a guy's house. He let us use his bathroom. It was a struggle to fit everything in the car. There was no view out of the back and none of us could put our feet down. Apart from Ale, who was driving, we had to sit cross legged and we had stuff all around us on every side. We got on the highway out of Cape Town. Traffic was pretty heavy in town but as we got further out it cleared up. We stopped by a gas station about four hours into the trip. We filled up on gas. Some little boys asked me for food. I gave them some apples. I was nervous about giving them more than that because I didn't want to run out of food at AfrikaBurn. After the gas station we made it to a gravel road. We passed quite a few cars that had flat tires. It was starting to get dark. Everything had taken longer than we expected. In the end we drove in the dark for about an hour and a half. Miraculously we made it to the gates of AfrikaBurn without getting a flat tire. We were instructed by gate attendants to park our car and wait in line to get wristbands. We did so and got a parking pass for the car. There was a DJ playing music at the entrance. We drove

over a blind rise and saw “Tankwa Town”. Every year burners build Tankwa Town from scratch and the idea is that when AfrikaBurn is over, no trace is left and only the desert remains. It was cool to see the town in the dark. You could see lights and it looked like a real town. We stopped to ring the bell- it's a tradition for first time burners. We dropped Rayhan off. She said she was meeting two people from Facebook that she'd never met before. She was going to share a tent with them. She knew one's name and that it was a Japanese lady. She had one photo of that lady and no description of the second person. She said she knew they'd be staying somewhere around that street. One of Rayhan’s neighbors told her she could leave her bags with them and go look for the people she was meeting. Rayhan said she was fine and so we left her there. There's no cell reception at Tankwa Town, so we agreed to meet her where we dropped her off at 8 on Sunday morning. This was Monday evening. Rayhan offered that we could stay by her but Jill and Ale had met a guy when they were traveling without me and he told them they could join his camp and he would have showers and a camp stove. I'm not sure what this guy would have been getting out of this deal but Jill and Ale had the description that the camp was called The Dolphins and that the location would be written on the notice board. We drove to the main street in Tankwa Town. We parked and walked around until we found the notice board. There was what looked to be a drawing of a fish and it said “7-8 and Dopamine (street)”. Jill and Ale figured that was supposed to be a dolphin and that that was where we were supposed to go. We went to those streets and starting driving around shouting out the window asking if anyone knew where the dolphins were. We came across a group of Swiss people who said they were the dolphins. They told us we were welcome to camp by them. They said they hadn't seen Ben (the guy Ale and Jill had met) but he might not be there yet. We pitched our tent by them. It turned out to be massive. One of our other neighbors from across the street, Zierke, came and helped us put up our tent. He also saw that we just had steel pegs that came with the tent rental. He went and got rebar pegs and hammered them into the ground for us. We thanked him. It was around 10 p.m. at that point. We set up our camp mattresses and went to bed. 

I woke up in the morning and Ale was still sleeping. Jill and I walked around the town. We got coffee from Sunrise Coffee, which was one of the themed camps. All of the theme camps did events and handed out food and drinks at certain points. Jill invited me to go to a yoga workshop with her on Wednesday. I accepted. After drinking our coffee we walked around and looked at the different theme camps. We went to one called “Burning Mail”. They were gifting postcards and you could send them either within South Africa, internationally, or you could write one to the universe and it would be burned at the end of the week. Everything at AfrikaBurn is based on gifting and the idea is that nothing is expected in return. I did bring rings though and extra boxes of wine to be able to share with others and I did so throughout the week. We each wrote a few postcards. We went to a pancake theme camp. We had pancakes. There was a DJ there playing music and people were swing dancing. We went to a bottomless mimosa tent. We went back to camp and saw Ale was getting up. The three of us walked to a theme camp called Gin O’Clock. They were handing out cans of gin and tonics. I had a strawberry one. We ran into Ben. He said he hadn't been able to find the Dolphins the night before and he'd set up his tent on 3 and Dopamine. Jill met a guy named Mitch from South Africa at Gin O'Clock. Jill and Mitch left Ale and I. Ale and I walked around Tankwa Town together. We went back to the tent around 6 and I had tuna and crackers for dinner. Even though places gave out food, it was generally very small portions. At one point we'd been waiting in line for popcorn. Ale shoved in front of me which I didn't think was a big deal but then she got the last of the popcorn which was a bummer. Ale and I went to an Ethiopian Coffee House. They were doing tea tastings. We tried maybe six kinds of tea and there was a DJ and dancing there too. We went out to dance at some of the party theme camps and we looked at the art. All of the art pieces had dance floors with DJs by them. Around 7:30 p.m. we sat and waited to watch the burn. A piece of artwork shaped like a giant tree was lit on fire. The idea is that the art symbolizes how temporary life is and it goes along with the idea of leaving no trace at the end of the week. It was very cool to see. After that we went to more of the theme camps to dance. We ran into Jill and Mitch. Around 9:30 the others said they were going back to the camp to eat more but that they'd be back. They ended up just going to bed. I stayed out until 3:30. I met a group of 17 Dutch people and a Namibian girl named Anna and I hung out with them. When I finally went to bed my mattress was completely deflated but I didn't want to wake the others up by pumping it up. I slept with a few rocks in my side and it reminded me of the Princess and the Pea. 

When I woke up Mitch was at the tent. Jill, Ale, Mitch, and I went to Sunrise for coffee. We then went to Gin O'Clock. After that we went to a theme camp serving poutine. Jill got the last of the fries so Ale and I waited for more to be cooked. Jill asked to use Ale’s spork in the meantime. Ale told her no. Jill and Mitch left without telling us that they were leaving. Ale said she figured Jill was mad about not being able to use her spork. I had asked Jill if she still wanted to go to the yoga workshop together and she said I could come if I wanted but she was going with Mitch. Ale and I ate our poutine. We went to a theme camp giving out massages. We waited over an hour and then were told the massages were ending for the day. Ale protested as ideally they should have told us that before we waited an hour. They reluctantly agreed and we each got a 20 minute massage. I had two masseuses working on me and it was amazing. I told Ale that I had told Jill I'd go to a yoga workshop with her. We went to find it but nothing was going on at the place Jill had said it would be. We went to the Mad Hatter's Village. There were four theme camps in one there. They were giving out crazy hats. I got a felt watermelon hat. They were also giving out clip in colorful hair pieces. I got a turquoise one and Ale’s was bright pink. I tried to get water from what looked like a water dispenser. I even asked the guy standing by it if it was water. He commented “yeah, there's not enough tequila in it”. I thought he meant yes it's water so I started filling my water bottle. I was almost done filling it and another guy said “woah! One serving at a time!”. A moment later when I tasted my drink I realized it was tequila. Mixed with the third of a bottle of water that was already in my bottle. We ran into a South African guy, Michael, who we'd met the day before at the tea shop. There were cupcakes at the party and a DJ. When I finished my tequila I asked at the bar if I could get some water. At first they told me they only had soda water. I said I'll take it. They then found some water and poured it in my bottle and told me not to tell anyone where I got it. Later I drank it and it tasted like juice. I guess that's only fitting for a Mad Hatter party. Nothing is as it seems. Ale and I went back to the camp and I had tuna and crackers. We filled our cups with boxed wine. At AfrikaBurn (apart from Gin O'Clock), places would give you drinks and food but you need to supply something to hold them in. We ran into Jill and Mitch by the tent. I asked if they went to the yoga workshop. Jill said yes and she mentioned they happened upon it randomly because it wasn't where she thought it would be. I mentioned Ale and I tried to go. Jill shrugged her shoulders. Jill and Mitch said they were heading out again and they would see us later. Ale and I went to the Space Cowboy, which was a theme camp with a dance floor. That's where Michael was staying and Ale wanted to meet up with him. We saw Michael here and the three of us hung out the rest of the evening. We went to some different dance floors and looked at the art again. I went to bed around 9:30 but Ale stayed out with Michael. Once again my mattress completed deflated although I was able to get it pumped up enough to fall asleep. 

I woke up in the morning and Mitch was standing in the door of the tent. Jill asked Ale and I if we wanted to get coffee with them. We said sure and got ready for the day. We went to Sunrise for coffee. Mitch left to buy ice (the only thing for sale at Tankwa Town) and I stayed and chatted with Ale and Jill for a while. When we were leaving Ale and I got refills of coffee. They put amarula in mine. We wandered around Tankwa Town for a while. In the evening, Ale and I went back to the Space Cowboy because she wanted to hang out with Michael again. We walked around again and looked at more of the art work and went to the different dance floors. There was a theme cart giving out toast with condensed milk on it. There was also a theme cart giving out quarters of grilled cheese sandwiches with tomatoes. I had also had more tuna and crackers. I went to bed around 2 and woke up at 3 when Ale came in because she accidentally shone her flashlight in my face. 

The next morning Jill said she was going to the Mad Hatter's for coffee with Mitch. She did not invite Ale and I this time. A bit later Ale and I couldn't find our car keys in their normal hiding spot. We realized Jill had left the car unlocked. We didn't want to leave it unlocked all day and so Ale suggested that I wait in the tent and she would go find Jill to see if she had the car keys. The Mad Hatter's was on the opposite side of Tankwa Town. Ale came back some time later and had gotten the keys from Jill. We realized then that the car wouldn't lock with the key fob. Our neighbor, Rudy, came over and looked at the car. He said the battery was dead. He brought his car over and jump started ours. He said to leave it running for a while. He suggested that we come over and have coffee while we waited. We went across the street and saw Zierke, met a woman named Petra, and met a man named Tommy. All of them are from South Africa. We had coffee and chatted with them. They invited us to stay for mac and cheese. We agreed. What I did not realize was that it would be 3 hours before the mac and cheese would be ready. I kept thinking about saying I was going to go out and I'd see everyone later, but since I'd already agreed to stay for lunch I didn't want to leave in case it came across as rude. Finally we ate lunch. Tommy is paralyzed from diving off a cliff and landing wrong. He uses a wheelchair. Ale kept telling him she could totally relate because one time she was hit by a car and she couldn't move her legs for four days. I was getting restless by that point. I felt like if we were just hanging out at a campsite we could be anywhere in the world doing that. Zierke and Ale agreed to go out with me and explore. There was a bit of a sand storm and we wore swimming goggles to keep the sand out of our eyes. We went to the tea house. After about an hour of waiting, I went to ask an employee if could get some tea. She brought us one small cup of tea each. We waited but no more tea came. The others wanted to go back to the campsite. We went back. Petra said she was going to grill some bratwurst and we were welcome to stay for dinner. Ale wanted to stay but I already felt like I'd spent a large portion of the day doing nothing. I went out and explored by myself. I tried to go to a place giving out creme brulee but they weren't doing it that night. That was my third night in a row attempting to get it. I got a craft beer from a theme stall. I went to a French themed place and listened to the music. I stayed out for a while just enjoying the art and music. Ale and Jill were asleep when I got back. 

When I woke up Jill was gone. Ale said she'd told Zierke we could give him a ride back to Cape Town. I reminded her that we hadn't even had space to put our feet down on the drive to AfrikaBurn. Ale said we'll have more room on the way back because we won't have as much food and water. Ale kept saying it was up to me and Jill because it was us who would have to deal with the lack of leg room. I kept trying to explain to Ale that it wasn't really an issue of leg room as much as not being sure that we could physically fit another person into the car along with all of their stuff. Ale did not seem to get what I was saying. She said she was going to go over to the neighbors again to hang out. I wanted to go out and explore so we agreed to do our own thing. I ate some crackers and was going to put peanut butter on them but Ale said she gave our peanut butter and jelly away in addition to two of our boxes of wine. I left and I came across a theme camp giving out aero pressed coffee. I waited in line and got a very small amount of coffee. I went to Sunrise to get more coffee. I waited in line for about 20 minutes and when I got to the front they had just run out of coffee. I walked around a bit and saw that a yoga class was starting soon. I sat down and waited for it to begin. The instructor, Angela, was amazing. The class was about an hour and it felt great to stretch. I don't think I'd done yoga in over 4 months. After the class I came across a place called Whatever Bar. I met a Dutch couple in their 60s. I had palomas and margaritas with them and we played darts. I had a few hard pretzels and some peanuts and marshmallows there. I continued on and found a saloon themed camp. I joined for a craft workshop and then also did a dance workshop there. I met a couple of Swiss girls and a South African girl although I don't remember any of their names. We had champagne during both classes and there was a DJ. After that I went back to the camp and had some tuna and crackers and intended to take a nap. It was around 7 when I went to sleep. I woke up around 11:30 and Jill was coming into the tent. I talked to her for a bit and decided to go back to sleep. 

To my surprise I woke up around 6 the next morning. I had managed to sleep decently well despite my mattress being flat as per usual. At AfrikaBurn the party goes until 7 every morning with loud music playing. Quiet hours are from 7-11 a.m. The toilet situation is interesting as well. There were stairs leading up to individual toilets. There were drop toilets inside with a box around it for privacy. However, the box was not very high and so you could clearly see people's faces when they were sitting on the toilet. The plus side was you got a good view of the mountains when you're on the toilet. There was a bucket with toilet paper rolls in it in each stall. Moop stands for material out of place and refers to any litter. Apart from natural bodily emissions/toilet paper, which were to go in the drop toilets, you were expected to pack out any waste that you created that week. People would shout “moop!” if they saw anyone drop something and not immediately pick it up. Mitch came to our tent and jump started the car. He also helped us get the rebar out of the ground and take down the tent. Ale told me Zierke had found another ride. We went to pick up Rayhan around 8. We drove up and down the street shouting her name until we found her sitting by a guy. She told us she was going to get ready now. Ale told her we needed to hurry and we couldn't shut the car off because the battery was dead. Rayhan said she'd try to be fast. She took about 20 minutes to get ready. Ale said she didn't like that. I told Ale that's exactly what she does every day- she's always late. Ale said it's different because yes she'd be 20 minutes late but she'd be actively getting ready when people pull up. Rayhan finally said goodbye to the guy and got in the car. We drove for about ten minutes and then Rayhan realized she'd left her camp mattress. We turned around so she could get it. She got the mattress. She said she forgot about it because she never ended up using it. She couldn't find the people she was supposed to meet so she slept on a bean bag at a theme camp all week. She said that guy, Sean, and she had gotten married. AfrikaBurn did “weddings” every day that were not legally binding. She and Sean had met early on in the week and she said they were going to keep seeing each other and they are in love. In my brief interaction with Sean, he sounded American but he said he's from Thailand but lives in Australia now. He gave Rayhan a book that he said he wrote but it had a different person's name on it. I thought Sean sounded a bit fishy but I kept that opinion to myself. We got about 20 minutes down the road and Rayhan said she wasn't sure if she had her passport. We stopped so she could look for it and she found it in her bag. Also, I thought to myself it was good Zierke had found another ride because as it was we had no leg room still. The middle seat was full of things and the back was so full we couldn't see out the back at all. Ale drove a couple of hours down the gravel road. We saw quite a few cars with flat tires. I was crossing my fingers that we wouldn't get one. Ale asked if I could drive for a while because she was tired. I had originally been against the idea of renting a car and I had wanted to take the shuttle because of the notorious road conditions. Ale had told me she would happily do all the driving so I had agreed to rent the car under those conditions. She had added me as a second driver “just in case”. I was a bit annoyed about her then asking me to drive but I did it anyway and didn't say anything. I didn't love that I had a giant blind spot in the back. We stopped to get coffee and took turns waiting in the car so we wouldn't have to shut it off. I got a panini with pesto and bacon. I ate it while driving. I drove a couple of hours to Cape Town. We got to the tent rental place and turned in our tent. Ale took over driving in the city. We stopped to get gas. Ale asked if she could leave the car running and the attendant said yes. I went in to get a Coke Zero, partly to avoid being in the car while it was running during refueling. We made it to the hostel and Brave said we were good to go and would get our deposit back. Jill and I had a private room for the night and Ale invited Rayhan to store her things in our room and to take a shower at the hostel. Rayhan spent about an hour taking her braids out while sitting on Jill and I’s bed. It was a small room, just a full sized bed and no ensuite bathroom. It was pretty cramped with all of our bags and four girls in there. It felt good to shower after a week of just using baby wipes. I turned in my clothes for laundry service. I saw some clothes in the trash can in the room. I asked about them and Jill said she didn't want to take them back to the Netherlands but there was nothing wrong with them. I suggested that we ask the hostel if there was somewhere to donate them. Jill agreed and I pulled her clothes out of the trash and started a donation bag. Ale and I added a few things to it and then I noticed that there was a bin for donations to an orphanage in the hallway. That was perfect. Ale asked if anyone wanted to have one last beer with her. I agreed but Jill and Rayhan wanted to relax. Ale and I went to the hostel bar and had a beer each and chatted. Then it was time for her to leave. Rayhan and Jill came and said goodbye to her and she caught an Uber to the airport. Rayhan relaxed for a couple of hours in Jill and I's room until it was time for her to catch her bus to Mozambique. Jill and I then walked to an Indian restaurant called Maharaja. We split a fried cauliflower. I had a pot of masala chai. I got chicken biryani - hot. I also got garlic cheesey naan. Everything was delicious. We both took our leftovers with us and walked back to the hostel. We watched TV on Jill's iPad in bed the rest of the evening. 

In the morning Jill mentioned Mitch was coming to the hostel to have a coffee with her. I asked if she wanted it to just be the two of them, as several weeks ago when she booked her flight she had mentioned the two of us could have coffee the morning that she was leaving. She'd mentioned it a couple of times since then, too. Jill said I could join her and Mitch if I wanted. Jill and I ate our Indian leftovers for breakfast. I still had about half of my leftovers even after eating breakfast and so I saved them for later. We met Mitch and went up to the hostel cafe. We all had Americanos. Mitch offered to give Jill a ride to the airport. She accepted and Jill and I said goodbye. I took my unopened groceries to the nearest Pick and Pay. I hadn't opened several packets of dried fruit and a whole jar of nuts. They accepted everything except two packages of crackers. I got around $34 back. My backup plan had been to bring as much of that as I could with me to the US, as it seemed like a shame to leave that much behind. It made my day that I was able to return so much. I went souvenir shopping at the mall that Pick and Pay was in and I walked back to the hostel. I organized my stuff a bit. I put more things in the donation bin. I noticed some of the things I'd placed in there were still in there and some were gone. I thought maybe someone had helped themselves to the contents, however I guess either way it's going to someone in need. I saw quite a few of the same people at the hostel that I'd seen before AfrikaBurn. I then walked to my appointment at the Grotto Spa. I had reserved a four hour session at the spa. That included a steam room (which was not functional when I was there), a sauna, a hot pool, and a cold plunge pool. It was 400 rand. The hotel that the spa was in was extremely fancy. I felt that the staff was eyeing me suspiciously. I was wearing my zip off pants, a technical t-shirt, and my knock off Crocs in addition to my puffer jacket. I was getting my laundry done, but also I can't get that much fancier currently anyway. I got to the spa and the receptionist welcomed me. She showed me around. I changed into a very comfortable robe and slippers and put my things in my locker. My swimsuit I've been wearing on this trip is absolutely disgusting. It's got lots of mud stains and wine stains somehow. I was glad to have a robe to hide it. The pool was not quite as hot as a normal hot tub, which I think is why they don't call it a hot tub but I actually preferred it that way. I was the only one in the spa for a couple of hours. It was amazing. There were lots of nice comfy chairs around to sit on and complimentary lemon water. I ordered a Caesar salad and a dirty martini. Mostly because I think of those things as fancy and I wanted to feel even fancier. It was 170 total for those which I didn't think was bad given where I was. Both were tasty. The salad came with a Scotch egg. Two women came in at one point and they were pretty chatty with each other which did detract a bit from the relaxation but I figured that's just a part of sharing. They left after about an hour. Finally, I went and took a shower and then dried my hair. I walked back to the hostel and ate the rest of my Indian leftovers and watched TV on my phone in bed. It was a nice way to spend the day. Other than an annoying call to my credit card company because the sporting goods store double charged me the other day. 

I woke up at 9:20. I got ready for the day and put my bag in storage. I took an Uber to the observatory neighborhood. I met the Namibian girl who I'd met at AfrikaBurn, Anna. She's lived in Cape Town for the past eight years. She'd taken my contact information down the night we met but there was no phone service there and we hadn't bumped into each other again. She messaged me after she'd left AfrikaBurn and invited me to get coffee. I met her at a place she'd suggested, Mango Ginger. I got an Americano, an apple/ginger/carrot juice, and a salad with sunflower seeds/squash/sesame seeds etc. Everything was delicious, especially the juice. Anna and I chatted and I mentioned I was free for a couple of hours if she was. We walked around and looked at some thrift and vintage stores. I saw lots of cute things but tried to be really picky because I have so many clothes at home and limited space in my bag. I did buy a floral sweater for 150 rand. Anna didn't find anything that she couldn't live without. After our shopping spree we went to another cafe. It's like a speakeasy, you have to duck under a plank of wood and walk through what looks like a kitchen to get to the main part of the cafe. It was really cool. I got a black coffee there. After that we said goodbye. I went back to the hostel and got my bag. I took an Uber to the airport. I got my bag checked in. Security was very quick but the line for immigration was insanely long. Finally I made it through and had about an hour before my flight. I did some last minute souvenir shopping and I got some salmon sushi. I boarded my flight and found I was in the middle seat against a wall - so no possibility of reclining at all. There were guys on either side of me. The person in front of me reclined their seat as far as possible and kept it that way for the whole 12 hour flight. I did not have much space at all and my knee bothered me. Unfortunately I forgot to bring pain medicine in my carry on bag. I watched two movies and slept maybe four hours and the flight went relatively quickly. I had bangers and mash for dinner along with cheese and crackers, cheesecake, and red wine. I saw the guy next to me got Brewdog, which is a British beer. I want to get one of those on the way to Denver. For breakfast I had an omelet with spinach and tomatoes. It came with a side of fruit and a muffin. When opening the packaging for my muffin, I accidentally threw the muffin onto the guy next to me. He was sleeping and didn't wake up. The other guy next to me and I died laughing. I still ate my muffin anyway. I went through the flight transition at London Heathrow and thought I would have about 6 hours before boarding. I bought a travel sized toothpaste and toothbrush. I also got a Factor X lip gloss. It's a British brand I believe and I bought some last time I was here visiting my friend Lucy. I really liked it last time so I decided to buy some now since I don't know when I'll see it available again. I also bought a chocolate bar- Galaxy. It's not a brand I remember trying before and I had just watched Wonka on the plane. I got a coffee from Pret a Manger and a passion fruit juice. I then walked around the airport and got in my 10,000 steps. I went to the Gordon Ramsay restaurant, Plane Food. I tried to order lunch but the waiter told me they were just doing breakfast at the moment. He also dropped a knife on my foot at one point and didn't apologize, which made me wonder if I'd done something to offend him. It didn't cut my foot or anything but it hurt a tiny bit just having something drop on it. I got a single portion of eggs royale. It was like eggs Benedict but with salmon instead of ham. I also had an Americano. I had ordered black coffee and did not realize that they didn't have that but instead had Americanos. Which were 4 pounds 50. For a very small drink. No drinks were listed on the menu that I saw so I didn't realize it would be so high versus my 1 pound 50 coffee from Pret. Oh well. My eggs were 12 pounds 75 which I didn't think was too bad considering it's Gordon Ramsay. After that I walked around a bit more. I managed to nap for about 40 minutes. I ate an entire giant bar of Wedgewood almond nougat. I then realized my next flight was delayed by almost two hours. It got moved to a different terminal so I moved over to the new terminal. It turns out the first plane didn't pass the safety check so we had to move to a second plane, hence the delay. I bought a Coke Zero. Finally everyone boarded. I am extremely happy to be in an aisle seat and not against the wall either. We're having creamy chicken stew with polenta for dinner, which sounds tasty to me. Looking forward to that and to my Brewdog! This flight should be about 9 hours and then I'll be in Colorado for a few days with my mom and brother before heading back to Nebraska for a while! It's been an amazing trip with lots of cool experiences. Quite the adventure!

I made it to the restaurant where Ale, Jill, and Jolene were. I had my giant bag with me. I asked if one of them could come let me into the car so I could drop my bag off. I stood outside in the rain for a few moments waiting for an answer. A security guard came up and asked if I needed help. I told him I was meeting friends there but needed to drop off my bag at the car first. The security guard carried my bag for me to the parking garage. I thanked him. Ale messaged that they were done with drinks and they'd come meet me at the parking garage. I waited a couple of minutes and then greeted the others. Jolene drove us to dinner. On the way the others made a couple of comments about how they hadn't been murdered yet, and they kept laughing. I figured that was a dig at me as Ale had used almost those exact words when we've disagreed on how cautious we need to be about safety here throughout the trip. Jill had found a Korean restaurant online. We arrived and were told they were fully booked for the night. Jill and Ale begged the host and he said he'd see what he could do. He suggested we wait outside until a table opened up. We waited for a while and a table did open up. Jolene didn't order anything. She said she wasn't hungry. I'd been planning to buy her dinner or at least a drink as a thank you for letting me stay with her. Ale and I each ordered beef bulgogi bibimbap. I also got white grape makgeolli. Jill got gimbap and bibimbap and she shared her gimbap because she had too much food. Our food came with little dishes of kimchi and other fermented vegetables. Everything was delicious. Ale and Jill told me about the week we'd spent apart. It sounded like they had watched a lot of true crime shows and they went to a discount store called the China Center several days in a row. They figured out our excel spreadsheet of trip expenses and Ale apparently owes Jill 5,000 rand. I owe Jill 2,600 rand and I owed Ale 700 rand. We discussed that we still have several things to pay for on the trip. If I pay for Jill's portion of our SUV rental for AfrikaBurn then I'll just owe her 1,000 rand and we'll probably have other things to pay for on the way or I can figure out how to transfer her the money. For Ale we figured I could easily pay her back by paying for a couple of things. We went back to the apartment and those two showed me their math. I was a little skeptical of Ale’s math because I remember one day we sent her into the grocery store to buy water. She bought 2 1 liter bottles of water. She listed that on the spreadsheet as 137 rand. I remember her saying the night of “wow, the water was so cheap!”. However I thought it wasn't worth demanding to see receipts over. There were a few other things like that, like she wanted to split our bar tab from the Yellow and Blue bar 50/50 because we didn't get an itemized receipt, but she ordered dinner there and I didn't. I figured it probably wasn't worth starting an argument over. I got settled into Jolene's apartment. She has a one bedroom one bathroom apartment. It's very small. It has a small kitchen. She and Ale shared a bed and Jill had been sleeping on the couch. I asked Jolene if I could do laundry, I noticed that she had a washing machine and dryer. She seemed hesitant so I told her no worries and I'll do it some other time. Jill showed me the bracelets she and Ale had been making to trade at AfrikaBurn. They're just putting plain beads on string. That's the only thing they're planning to bring to trade. I am not sure that they will get as far as they think they will with the bracelets. I wanted to go to sleep but I waited until Jolene went to bed because I didn't want to rush her in her own place. The others stayed up until almost midnight watching true crime shows. I tried to read but every time I would get into my book Ale would talk. Jill made tea for us all. Jolene went to bed. I set up my camp mattress in the kitchen. Jill would have had to step over me to get off the couch if I put it in the living room. The floor was hard tile and it took me a while to fall asleep.

I woke up around 7. My mattress was half deflated. I was surprised actually that I'd been able to sleep as much as I had. I got ready for the day. Jill was up too. She said Jolene didn't have a coffee maker. I had instant coffee with me. Jill and I had two cups each of instant coffee. Jolene got up around 8. Ale got up at 8:15. We'd agreed the night before to head to a food market at 8:45. Ale’s suggested plan for the day had been to sleep in and then go to the China Center but she was outvoted. We got on the road just after 8:45. Jolene drove us to the market. We were then told it didn't open until 10. We drove to a nice area with different restaurants, shops, and cafes. We sat down at a cafe. I ordered a mocha. It was delicious. I also had a breakfast burrito bowl, which came with scrambled eggs, salsa, guacamole, halloumi, sausage, and shredded cheese. It was also good. Jill told our waiter she wasn't hungry. He asked “what's wrong with you?”. We all thought that was hilarious as we weren't really sure why he'd asked that in that manner. I paid for Jolene's breakfast and thanked her for hosting me. Ale asked Jolene if she wanted money from her because she's been driving her and Jill around all week and paying for gas and parking and they've been eating her groceries. Jolene said no, it's fine. I thought maybe Jolene was just being polite but I don't know for sure. After breakfast we went back to the apartment. We took an Uber to the Time Anchor Distillery. Jill stayed at the apartment because she's not drinking at the moment. Ale, Jolene, and I were seated at a table for 3. We had a welcome drink included in our gin class. It was a gin and tonic with gold flakes in it. It was garnished with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick. We had tasting boards with three kinds of gin and a can of tonic. Each had a different garnish and came with a piece of chocolate. Later on we tried gincello, which was the distillery's version of lemoncello. Our class was about two hours. Our instructor told us about the gin making process. We tried each gin without the garnish, with it, and then following a bite of the chocolate. Everything was delicious and we got a lot of interesting information. We got a 50 mL bottle to fill with our own choice of gin. I filled mine with strawberries and cream gin. Including all of that it was 275 for the class, which I thought was very good. Ale bought a bottle of gin to bring home. I bought hers so now I only owe her about 300 rand. We got an Uber back to Jolene's apartment. It was about 2:30 at that point. Our flight to Cape Town was at 6:30 p.m. The others seemed to think we didn't need to leave Jolene's apartment until 4:45. That made me nervous as it takes 20 minutes to get to the airport in ideal conditions, boarding was going to be at 6, and we all had bags to check. I would have liked to leave by 3:30 or 4 but I was outvoted. We sat around at the apartment. I made two bracelets. Ale mentioned she wants to get back her shirt she left at a cabin on our road trip. Jolene drove her to the post office so she could ask how much it would cost to mail her shirt. Jill mentioned Ale lost another pair of pants when it was just the two of them and had been hung up on it for days. Meanwhile when I'd told her about losing my pullover she said “oh well, at least you got it second hand”. At 4:30 I suggested we call an Uber because they'd been taking quite a while to come. Jill called one. It didn't arrive until 4:52. We crammed our bags into the car and said goodbye to Jolene. We got to the airport and dropped our bags off. We went through security. There were no lines and so we were done by 5:30 and weren't boarding until 6. I was glad to be wrong about needing to be there earlier but I still think it was a bit silly to sit around for two hours at the apartment rather than giving ourselves a bit more of a buffer at the airport. Jill and Ale were hungry so they went to dinner at Wimpy's in the airport. I ate my leftovers from dinner and breakfast shortly before we left so I wasn't hungry. I paced around the airport while they ate and got some steps in. I'm looking forward to being more active and getting my 10,000

steps the majority of the time when I'm back home. I only got to 6,600 but sadly that was better than most days the last few months. We boarded our flight. It's a two hour flight to Cape Town. Tomorrow we're planning to get any remaining things we need for AfrikaBurn. On Monday we're leaving for AfrikaBurn. We have a 4th girl riding with us. Her name is Reyhan and she's from the Netherlands. We've never met her but the others wanted to split costs further and they found this girl on the AfrikaBurn Facebook page. Apparently Reyhan is getting some shoes cobbled so as soon as those are done on Monday we'll leave. Katherine is going to be in Cape Town tomorrow evening. She and I are planning to get dinner together. Jill and Ale have not decided yet if they want to go. When we go to AfrikaBurn I won't have phone service. I'll be camping in a remote area of the desert for a week. Jill, Ale, and I are renting a 3 person tent that we're going to share. I doubt I ever make it to Burning Man in the US, so this will definitely be a once in a lifetime experience but I'm looking forward to it.

We got to Pretoria and our driver dropped off some other guests. Our driver told Steve and I that we were going to be moving into a different vehicle. We were surprised by the change and grabbed our things quickly. Unfortunately,I think that's when I lost my Columbia fleece pullover. I realized the next day I didn't have it. The good thing is I have warm enough clothes for the next two weeks and I have plenty of jackets at home. I also didn't manage to tip the van driver, I was too flustered by having to switch vehicles suddenly and I forgot. Steve and I got into a 4 door car with a new driver. He chatted with us on the way to the apartment that we were staying at in Johannesburg. He told us he's from Soweto, which is the most famous slum here. I noticed the background of his phone was a little boy. I assumed that was his son. He told us he's only been to two other districts besides Gauteng. He said he just started this job but he may have the chance to travel more with work in the future, which he's looking forward to. He dropped us off at our apartment and I tipped him 100 rand. He said he really appreciated it. Steve and I had to fill out indemnity forms for the apartment and I had to have my passport photocopied by security. We haven't been having to do that at most places here. We were shown to our apartment. The place was modern and clean but also soulless. It was a studio apartment with a small kitchen and ensuite bathroom. We were getting hungry so we tried to freshen up quickly and then called an Uber to take us to Marble restaurant. We were staying in the Rosebank neighborhood, which is supposed to be a relatively safe place in Joburg but we didn't want to chance walking the ten minutes to the restaurant in the dark. My current version of dressing up is jeans and a wrinkly button up shirt and a scarf. My footwear options are bright yellow sneakers or bright pink Crocs. I opted for the sneakers for dinner because it was a fancy place. We got to the restaurant and we were told the restaurant was fully booked but we could take a seat at the bar. We sat down and I ordered a clarified piña colada, which was like a piña colada except every single ingredient was fancier than normal. It came with what I thought was a graham cracker on top but it turned out to be a pineapple flavored wafer. It was delicious. The restaurant has an African influence supposedly but we were limited by the bar menu and didn't see any local influence in our options. We got pulled pork tacos, baked camembert with bread, and a small pizza with olives, basil, tomato slices, and truffle oil on it to share. Everything was very tasty. I got a second drink, which was a fancy margarita. A lemon verbena rooibos margarita. It was tasty too. It came with a dried blood orange in it which I tried to eat before realizing it was for decoration. After dinner we took an Uber back to the apartment. We watched TV and fell asleep early. 

I woke up around 6:30 a.m. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. Steve got up around 7. We got ready for the day. I had instant coffee. We put my giant duffel bag with our smaller bags in it in storage at the apartment. Steve wanted to try Wimpy's while he was here. He meant to call an Uber to the Wimpy's that was 280 meters away instead of the one that was 30 minutes away but that did not pan out. The further away one had a mall at least and we got to see more of Johannesburg on the way. We went to Wimpy's in the mall. I got a large coffee. We both ordered the lekker breakfast, which came with two fried eggs, two pieces of bacon, bratwurst, two corn pancakes, and a piece of toast. It was a lot of food but it was good. Steve was happy he got to try it. After breakfast we walked around the mall. I got a new screen protector for my phone. I was happy to learn that underneath my cracked screen protector my phone was in perfect condition. After a few laps around the mall Steve suggested that we have a spa day. We Ubered to another mall and walked into a spa. We asked about a couples massage. They had a package which was a foot soak, a one hour massage, and a facial for 850 each. Steve paid for my spa day, which was nice of him. Our massages were great although painful because of hard pressure at times. Steve had never had a facial before and I got the feeling he probably won't have one again but he liked the massage. I tipped our masseuses 200 rand to share. We got an Uber to a restaurant called Proud Mary’s, close to where we had stored our bags. I got a drink called the Hemingway Daiquiri. Steve got a whisky sour. The place was fancy but I didn't like my drink that much. I still drank it. We were going to get food there but time had escaped us so we went without. We took an Uber to the apartment. We had to wait ten minutes or so for a security guard to come unlock the storage room for us. We got an Uber from there to the airport. It was about a 40 minute drive to the airport. Our driver was extremely chatty and wanted to talk mostly about politics. I went with Steve into the airport and walked with him until the security checkpoint. We said goodbye for now. I walked back to the Uber area and called an Uber to take me to a restaurant to meet Ale, Jill, and Jolene. I've spent over $60 on Ubers today but I guess it's less hassle than renting a car for one day. I was really hungry by that point. I asked the driver if he minded if I ate in the car. He said no. Steve left the biltong with me because he can't take it back to the US through customs. I ate some biltong on the drive and shared it with my driver. I'm spending tonight at Ale’s friend Jolene's apartment. She has a studio apartment. Ale and Jolene have been sharing a bed the last few days and Jill has had the couch. I'm going to sleep on my camp mattress. Tomorrow we're going to a chocolate and gin making class and then flying back to Cape Town!

We stopped at a convenience store on the way back to Johannesburg. There were rhinos and ostriches by the service station in a big fenced area. I got sparkling water and some fruit gummies. We got back on the road. Steve and I skipped lunch and just had our snacks. When we got to Johannesburg it was rush hour. We managed to book a place close to the airport but with traffic it took over 20 minutes to get there. Our van driver through our tour drove us there without complaint. I tipped him 200 rand from Steve and I. Our host for the night, Attie, greeted us outside of the house. He gave us our keys and showed us to our room. We had one bedroom with a private entrance at the house. We had an ensuite bathroom, a tea kettle, tea and instant coffee, and a mini fridge. There were two metal folding chairs in the room and a small table. We had two bottles of water in the fridge and two pralines that were complementary. I had messaged Attie on the airport WiFi when we dropped some people off there. I'd told him we were on our way and that Steve's phone was almost dead and I didn't have data. Steve asked Attie if there was anywhere nearby he recommended for dinner. Attie recommended Flame Fast Foods but he mentioned maybe it would be a good idea to order UberEats instead since neither of us had a working phone. We said thanks to him and we got settled in. Steve charged his phone a bit. We debated whether to go out or to order in. It was starting to get dark. We were leaning towards going out. I started to pack a small bag to take with us. I took out everything except a bit of cash in case we were to get mugged. Upon seeing me do that, Steve suggested we order in instead. We ordered wine from a nearby liquor store. We also ordered food. We got ribs, grilled chicken, steak, and bratwurst to share along with a side of fries and shakalaka sauce. Our food arrived and we ate it in bed, careful not to make a mess. I thought everything was very good. We watched TV for a while and went to bed. 

We woke up around 7 the next morning. We didn't have a set schedule or anything, just couldn't sleep in any later than that. I had two cups of instant coffee and Steve had two cups of tea. We checked out and got an Uber to the airport. We went to the rental car area and picked up our car. I had picked Tempest because they had the best reviews and low prices but apparently their stand was shut and our reservation was moved to Europcar. I was the sole driver because it would have been 500+ rand to have two of us on the policy. Steve didn't think we needed additional insurance but I bought it anyway because the idea of not having it and driving in Johannesburg made me nervous. The deductible was almost $800 if we got even a minor scratch without additional insurance. We found our car in the parking garage. We had a Suzuki Celerio. It was in neutral when we got in and the parking brake was on. I later realized there was no regular parking setting on the car- you had to put it in neutral and use the parking brake. I'm not sure if I've seen that before in a car. It was an hour and twenty minutes or so to Hartbeespoort. The traffic wasn't too bad on the way out of Johannesburg, and once we got out of the city it was easy driving. The biggest issue was that the car did not accelerate well. Whenever I stopped it would shut the engine off and then take what felt like forever to get to a reasonable speed. It also often lurched or would slow down at random times. It rolled down the hill a bit when we were at one stoplight. I had to put the pedal to the metal for what felt like at least a full minute to get it up to 120 kph. We made it to a restaurant in a windmill. I'd seen it listed online under things to do in the area. The restaurant had Dutch food. I got a rooibos tea. Steve had a mango mojito. We ordered bruschetta to share. It came with ham and cheese on it, which I've never seen before on bruschetta. It was good but I probably wouldn't order it again.

We tried to order two of the same meal but our waiter thought we were just wanting to share one meal. It turned out okay though, we had plenty to eat. The bruschetta came with a small salad so I ate that one and Steve ate the one that came with our meal. We had a beef croquette, fries with mayonnaise, and a bread roll to share. Our main course was tasty. After we paid we walked around the shopping area a bit. Steve saw there was a Pick and Pay on the way to the aerial cable car. I drove us to Pick and Pay. It was in a big mall. I saw there was an MTN store in the mall, which is the phone service provider I've been using. I decided to check directly with them on rates. I was able to buy 30 gigabytes of data for 215 rand. Prior to that I'd been paying over 100 rand for 1.5 GB top ups at the MTN stand in Pick and Pay. Hopefully the data I have now will last me through the end of the trip. Steve and I went to the grocery store and got sparkling water and Coke Zero. I saw some chocolate-covered almond Wedgewood candies and bought them. I wanted to look for a suitcase while we were in a place that was likely to have them. We saw one shop with suitcases in the window. We went in and looked at the suitcases. It was $100 for the biggest one. I looked at duffel bags too and found an extra large one for $62. I decided to buy that. Ale and Jill still have my camping gear but I'm guessing everything will fit in the duffel bag. The nice thing is it folds down small into a little tote bag. It's made partially from recycled plastic bottles and it is supposed to be built in such a way that the tag on it said it'll last years and years. I suppose time will tell on that. Steve put the aerial cable car into Google Maps. I had failed to realize that it was closed on Tuesdays in the off season. We drove to the Cradle of Humankind Museum instead. We looked through the museum. It started off like a regular museum, with displays and information to read. It soon took a weird but fun turn. There was a timeline that was supposed to show the evolution of man and the earth. At the end of the timeline it mentioned the four elements. Steve and I then got on a small round boat and were taken on a roller coaster ride on a track through a tunnel with water at the bottom. We went through a room with ice all around us, one with what was supposed to look like lava, etc. It was dark most of the time and they had wind effects and spooky noises. It was totally unexpected. After the ride we went through the rest of the museum. There were lots of interactive exhibits. It was pretty cool and interesting. Jill and Ale had told me they were going to the museum that day. I told them we were there. They came and found us in the museum and they chatted to Steve for a couple of minutes. Jill said she's going to tell people's fortunes at AfrikaBurn as her thing that she's contributing to the community. Ale said she's going to give people running advice. They also bought a pack of 150 toe rings to trade. Jill was wearing socks and shoes but she took them off of one foot to show us the toe ring she was wearing underneath. Jill and Ale said they bought supplies for us to make bracelets to trade. Ale mentioned the caves at the Cradle of Humankind are temporarily closed because the owners are splitting up and fighting over the caves. I thought it was interesting that museum staff had told Ale that. Jill and Ale told us they had finished seeing the museum and they were going to go back to Johannesburg but they were glad to meet Steve. Steve and I finished looking at the museum an hour or so later. We drove to the Black Horse Brewery and Distillery. We parked outside the gate at reception. We went in and a worker came and greeted us. He showed us to our room. We went to the car and brought up our bags per the employee's direction and then he directed us to park in a different area. We did so and walked back to our room. The grounds there were amazing. There was ivy and other plants everywhere. There was a small pool, cats and dogs roaming around, a distillery, a brewery, the main restaurant, and a gift shop. Our room was the Stables room. We

had an ensuite bathroom, horse themed decorations, and our own balcony with a view of the mountains. We had a mini fridge with complimentary bottles of water and tea and coffee making facilities. We settled into the room and then decided to go to the brewery. We happened upon the distillery first and a wine tasting bar. Both of those were closed on weekdays during the off season unfortunately. That turned out to be the case for the gift shop and the brewery as well. The only thing that was open was the main restaurant. Our waiter seated us and told us he could do a beer tasting for us but instead of the five beers that they normally have they were down to three. He said instead of the 5 beer tastings for 45 rand he could do the 3 beers and a ginger beer for 40 rand. Neither Steve nor I were really interested in that option. Steve tried a pale ale. I tried a light beer. He later tried the third beer, a strawberry beer. In my opinion it was too sweet. The only beer I liked there was the light beer. Steve tried to order a cocktail but they said they only do cocktails on the weekend. Despite being limited on options, we both still really enjoyed staying there. It was a beautiful place. It was $68 a night and we agreed it was one of the fanciest places we'd ever stayed at. The main restaurant reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. The decor was French themed. They played French music and there was a real fire in the fireplace. It was a very cozy but yet sophisticated place. There was a family sitting outside and a couple sat inside, but other than that we didn't see any other patrons. Steve ordered pork belly with mashed potatoes and I got a steak with mashed potatoes. Both meals came with a bechamel sauce. The menu did not seem super French but the waiter told us the beef was grown on the property and everything possible was local and/or organic. Our food was delicious. I was tempted to order a creme brulee after dinner but both the staff who had shown us to our room and our waiter had mentioned the kitchen closes at 7:45. At that point it was 7:40 so I decided against it. Steve and I went up to our room and watched TV. We were both struggling to keep our eyes open by 9:30. 

I woke up around 7. Steve was still sleeping for about 30 minutes after me so I did some research for our trip. He woke up and I had two cups of instant coffee and he had two cups of tea. We looked out at the view from our balcony. We'd been told the restaurant didn't open for breakfast until 8:30. At 8:30 we went downstairs. We sat outside. We were both told there was just one meal available for breakfast. It was two fried eggs, one piece of toast, sloppy joe meat (although they called it something else), sauteed mushrooms, ham, and a grilled tomato. We both ordered breakfast and I got a real coffee. While we were waiting, a black cat jumped on my lap. I petted him until my food came and then gently set him down. Steve was jealous that the cat chose me. We ate our breakfast and admired the scenery. We saw a beautiful brown horse and a black horse. They apparently do weddings at the brewery and Steve was talking about getting married there. After breakfast we got our things ready and checked out. We drove to the Magaliesberg Canopy Tour. We got a safety briefing and joined an 8 year old boy and his dad as well as our two guides- Ishmael and Tee. We rode about ten minutes in the back of a truck to the start of the ziplines. We got instructions on how to position our legs and hands. Steve went first. I was going to go second but the little boy got excited and ran ahead of me. Then his dad went. Then I went. On the second zipline we changed order. The little boy went first, then his dad, then me, then Steve. Ziplines 1-6 we didn't have to brake. There was an automatic brake at the end of the line. The first couple I was a bit nervous but then I started to enjoy the view around me more. There was a beautiful view of the mountains. Ziplines 7-9 we had to brake

ourselves. I was a bit nervous about those ones due to being accident prone/clumsy. They went fine though and by the end of those ones I was feeling more confident. The 10th and final one was short and had an automatic brake. We then got a ride in the truck back to the office. Ishmael and Tee were awesome. They were very knowledgeable about local plants and animals and great at giving instructions. We tipped them 150 rand each. Steve had never done a zipline before. I'd only done a couple and haven't done a canopy tour like that. The little boy had never done it before either and he loved it. He and his dad were already planning their next visit. 

We drove to the Hartbeespoort Aerial CableWay. This time it was open! We bought tickets to go up. We rode the cable car up. It was a beautiful view. There were mountains and a lake down below. Unfortunately we couldn't see any animals because it was the middle of the day and too hot for them. It was still a nice ride. We walked around at the top of the mountain. By that point it was almost 3 and we hadn't had lunch yet. We ordered short ribs and fries with chimichurri sauce to share. We also each got a beer. We sat at a table with a good view. Our food was very good. We saw people up top ziplining. We hadn't realized that we could have done it there too but Steve said he was glad we did the canopy tour and not just the little zipline there. After we finished eating we realized some people were riding on what looked to be ski lift chairs. I asked the attendant if we could ride one of those down. He said we'd need to pay for an upgrade. We went to the ticket booth and got an upgrade. We waited for the ski lift chair to come up again. We rode down and admired the view and enjoyed the fresh air. I got a large Americano from Illy at the bottom and I drove us to the O.R. Tambo Airport in Johannesburg. The first part of the drive was fine. We stopped to get gas. I noticed the cash register there was behind bulletproof glass. As we got closer to Johannesburg, traffic picked up. Unfortunately we managed to get there right at rush hour. There was also some construction going on. For about 30 minutes there was bumper to bumper traffic. The most stressful part for me was that the car would randomly lurch sometimes and if I tried to leave space between me and the car in front of me then people would merge in and close the gap. It was the heaviest traffic that I've ever been the one to drive in. Once we got up to 120 kph again, Google Maps told me to turn left. It had been showing on the dash that I would go straight in 500 meters. I had no time to turn left because I couldn't slow down fast enough and I was several lanes away from where I needed to be. A second thing like that happened a few minutes later. Steve said it was definitely not anything I did wrong, the directions were very confusing. It was a bit of a stressful time but finally I made it into the airport’s car rental return. I accidentally bumped my left knee lightly on the steering wheel when getting out. I felt shooting pain then and had to wait for it to pass before I could stand. Ever since I fell in Stellenbosch my knee tingles if I sit too long and it feels like the tendon is being pulled sometimes when I sit too long. I'm hoping that feeling will just go away on its own but when I hit it against the steering wheel I was in pure agony. Thankfully the feeling passed though after a bit. A worker came and inspected the car and we were good to go. I didn't do any damage to the car, so I was relieved by that. By far the most stressful thing about those two days of driving though was the car being so hard to control. Driving on the left was okay, even being in rush hour wasn't that bad in comparison to the stress of that particular car. I hope to never drive any Suzuki Celerios ever again. I'll pay for an upgrade next time if I need to. After that Steve and I made our way to the airport’s Uber pickup. We got an Uber and it was about a 30 minute drive to our rental apartment. I'd booked it in the same neighborhood as before but

the first place wasn't available and Steve didn't like the bed in the second place so we went with a third option. A housekeeper let us in and showed us to our room. We had a washing machine but no dryer. Steve washed a few things and I washed just underwear because I didn't want to wash anything that wouldn't dry by the morning. By that point it was past 7:30 p.m. We were both tired and knew we needed to wake up early the next morning. We debated ordering in food again but neither of us was that hungry. I ate a few pieces of candy and Steve had some biltong and nuts and raisins. We watched TV for a bit and went to bed early. 

I woke up around 2:30. I tossed and turned for a bit but couldn't get back to sleep until 4:15 or so. I think maybe it was because I drank coffee so late the day before. I finally got to sleep but then needed to wake up for the day at 5. I had a cup of instant coffee and Steve had tea. We put both of our backpacks in my new duffle bag. It's big enough to fit all of our stuff easily. We were told the driver would be there between 5:30-5:45 for our day tour. He wasn't there until almost 6. I felt bad because the housekeeper got up early to let us out of the gate and then she was waiting with us. Our driver finally showed up. He helped Steve and I put our bag in the back. There were a few people already in the van when we got on. We drove to Pretoria. We picked up two Asian guys and an Eastern European man. The solo man put his suitcase in the car and then said he was going to go get a coffee. Everyone waited in the van for several minutes until he came back with a coffee. It was cool to get to see a little bit of Pretoria. We saw what we think was the capital building out of the window. We rode about an hour and got to a service station. I had had a liter of Coke Zero, peanuts and raisins, and biltong for breakfast because that was what Steve and I had with us. When we stopped I bought an Americano from a coffee machine. It didn't give me an option to choose if I wanted milk or not and my coffee automatically came with milk. I was disappointed but it was still tasty anyway even if it was not my first choice. We drove another hour to Pilanesberg National Park. We switched over into a safari vehicle. Steve and I were the last to board and so we ended up with the middle row. He had the very middle. The guy next to him smelled of bad body odor. Thankfully for our morning drive the guy wasn't close enough for me to really smell it but Steve definitely did. The eastern European guy realized he was going to miss his flight later that day if he went on the game drive. He stayed back and talked to our van driver. There was also a family from India on the truck. The sister and brother seemed around my age and the parents seemed around my parents' age. During the day we saw vultures, lots and lots of elephants, lots of hippos, lots of wildebeest, a few red hartebeest, quite a few giraffes, some baboons, maybe 6 white rhinos, one yellow billed hornbill, some kudus, 3 cheetahs, waterbucks, 2 crocodiles, lots of guinea fowls, lots of warthogs, some zebras, impalas, a crowned lapwing bird, a kori bustard bird, springboks, a secretary bird, and a squirrel. Our morning game drive was about two hours. It was already hot so I was skeptical about seeing any cats. I was thrilled that we saw three cheetahs! I've only seen them in the wild on one other game drive and that was from much further away. Steve had not seen them in the wild. That was awesome. It was cool seeing so many elephants too and so many hippos out of the water. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of wildlife in the morning. We stopped for lunch at the visitor's center. We'd all pre-selected our lunch. Steve had a prego sandwich with fries. I had a chicken noodle wrap. It had egg noodles, chunks of chicken, and a creamy chili sauce in it. It was really tasty. The fries that came with it were decent too. We each got a beer with lunch. We were expecting to pay for

them but it turns out any drink, including beer, was included in our tour. That was a pleasant surprise! We saw a Tunisian soccer team eating lunch at the visitor's center. They were definitely having some beer and were getting rowdy. Steve said he'd noticed they were drinking beer in the safari truck when we'd driven by them earlier. We looked around the gift shop and Steve bought a few souvenirs. I was tempted by a couple of bracelets but didn't buy them in the end. We had an hour and a half for the lunch stop so Steve and I ended up pacing around in the parking lot for a while just to stretch our legs a bit. We got back on the safari truck. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our driver to come back. He explained he'd had to deal with the soccer team because they were getting too rowdy and causing problems. He said none of them liked their food and were giving the kitchen staff a hard time. For the afternoon game drive the stinky guy sat in front of me. Depending on which way we were going etc I could really smell his body odor. I tried to just breathe through my mouth. We got close to some rhinos. Our driver kept telling the group to be quiet. The Asian men kept talking loudly. The rhinos turned and looked at us. The men continued talking at full volume despite the driver asking them not to. I finally felt an urge I couldn't resist to shush them. They quieted down and we avoided being charged by a rhino. We didn't see nearly as much wildlife in the afternoon but that's to be expected with the heat. We still saw quite a bit. Our afternoon game drive was two hours also. Steve and I tipped the driver 200 rand. We got back in with our original driver. Tonight we're staying in Johannesburg. Most of the trip we've used it as more of a base and have stayed in the outskirts. We're staying in one of the few neighborhoods where it's said to be safe to walk around at night. Not that we plan to do that. Steve found a fancy restaurant with nice food and cocktails. We're staying at an apartment with good ratings. We're planning to freshen up at the apartment and go out for dinner. Tomorrow Steve leaves in the evening. We'll probably explore the nice neighborhood during the day. The apartment owner has said we can store our things there. Ale’s friend Jolene lives close to the airport so my plan is to Uber with Steve in the evening and then take an Uber to meet the other girls. It's been a great time with Steve! He's already said this has ruined zoos for him. He said he'd love to come back and explore more parts of Africa every year if we can!

By the time Steve got in it was almost 9 p.m. I gave him the snacks and served bobotie. He wasn't hungry enough to have the premade salad I'd bought in addition to the bobotie so I saved it for the next day. We shared a bottle of wine and I brought out his piece of cake and put his number candles on it and sang him happy birthday. We went to bed fairly early. 

We got up at 5:45 a m. We got ready for the day and ate yogurt and grapes. We had been told our driver would pick us up for our tour at 6:30. When we got to the front gate it was exactly 6:30. The driver made a comment that he'd been waiting for us for a long time and he was starting to think he had the wrong address. He said it had been at least ten minutes. I apologized but while we rode in the car I saw in my messages with the tour company they had told us 6:30 and I hadn't gotten any calls or messages that morning to say our driver was there. It was just Steve and I in the van. Our driver said another driver was refusing to let him merge. He said “I hate white people!”. Steve and I thought that was an interesting comment for the person with our lives in his hands to make to two white people. We didn't know what to say and after learning more about the racial tensions in South Africa from the Apartheid Museum I could kind of understand where our driver was coming from. We picked up some more passengers from apartments and then picked several up from the airport. Two Malaysian men sat in the row behind Steve and I. It seemed like they were constantly snacking. Whenever they ate they slurped loudly and smacked their lips. They also kept burping and farting. One of them fell asleep and started snoring. They both kept coughing and sneezing. I worked on one sudoku but my new puzzle book is really hard. It took me over an hour to work on the one and I finally went to the answer key for hints. I had solved two of the puzzles before that, so I figured it's two points in my favor and one point to the book. We stopped by a gas station a couple of hours in. I got a large Americano. Steve and I bought some macadamia nuts, wine, chips, and some of those Wedgewood Nougat candies. This time I got an assortment box that had cranberry, orange, and mint nougats in it. They're all covered in dark chocolate. My ranking for best to worst is orange, mint, and then cranberry although they're all good. None are as good as the macadamia ones though. We got back on the road. Around one we got to a town and our driver had us move to a different van with a different driver. Our new driver is named Great. He said we had about a twenty minute drive left to our camp. He asked if anyone wanted to go by a grocery store to buy things for lunch that day. We said yes please. He asked if we had a preference between Pick and Pay or Spar. There was silence for what felt like an extended period. I had just run out of data and I have been topping it up at Pick and Pay. I thought to myself if no one else had a preference we may as well go to Pick and Pay and I could get more data. I said “Pick and Pay please”. Immediately a woman in her 40s, who I later learned was named Ina, said “actually, I prefer Spar!”. I was confused why she hadn't voiced her opinion sooner. The driver offered to go to both stores but I told him we could just go to Spar. I figured if we were already going there to shop I didn't need to make everyone wait for me at Pick and Pay. Steve and I had the salad from the night before plus snacks so we didn't need any more food. We stayed in the car while a few people went into Spar. Once they finished, we drove the rest of the way to camp. We were shown to our tent. It was a glamping tent. We had our own porch with two lawn chairs. Inside we had tall ceilings, we could easily stand inside. We had a dresser for clothes, a nightstand, an electrical outlet, a fan, and a comfy bed. The bathrooms were communal. There were two showers and two toilets. I really liked our tent. We had about

an hour and 30 minutes to relax. Steve and I got forks from the kitchen and shared the salad. Our game drive started. We started driving in the same van we'd came in. For some reason no one was opening their windows and I didn't have one by my seat. Everyone had been quiet all day. Apart from the woman saying she'd rather go to Spar, no one apart from Steve and I had talked all day. I didn't know anyone's names. I was disappointed that it seemed like our game drives were going to be from a van with the windows closed. We drove about twenty minutes to a private game reserve near Kruger. We got in the park and arrived at a lodge. We had to sign indemnity forms (we also signed them when we got into the first van, and for every game drive after that). Our driver introduced us to our game drive driver and showed us that we'd be in an open air safari truck. I was happy to hear that. The lodge was really nice. I helped myself to a bottle of sparkling water from the front desk and everyone else did the same. We piled into the safari truck. Steve and I sat up front. Our game drive was three hours and I didn't hear any of the five people besides Steve and I and our driver and guide say a word. We saw buffalos, giraffes, kudus, wildebeest, nyala, impalas, a hammerkop bird, baboons,white rhinos, warthogs, a gray heron eating a red poisonous frog, hippos, a fish eagle, vervet monkeys, a red billed hornbill bird,an elephant, and Delta deer. Our driver told us that giraffes sleep only five minutes per day. I had never seen nyalas before. They're like furry deer. I had also never seen some of the birds. Steve hadn't seen most of those animals in the wild before. Our guide told us we had to give the one elephant we saw space. He said that elephant is very aggressive and would flip our car if he got the chance. He said the elephant came from a neighbor's place and had broken through the fence to the park. He said all the park’s elephants are not aggressive but this one was probably abused at some point and elephants never forget. Once we were safely away from the elephant we stopped to watch the sunset. Our driver set out Coke, Sprite, and bottles of water. He also set out corn nuts, pretzels, and chips. I had some snacks and a bottle of water. After the sun set we got back in the truck. I was hoping to see aardvarks but we didn't see any wildlife other than impalas after dark. We made our way back to the lodge and then from there back to camp. We were told dinner would be at 7:30. We had about 30 minutes to relax. Around dinner time Steve and I went out and were told that we could pull up chairs to the fire and sit around it. We did so and we were brought our one free daily glass of wine. I finally officially met the others in the group. They were all sticking to themselves but I introduced myself and asked their names. Alexandra is from Belarus but lives in Germany and is doing her PhD. She's probably in her late 20s. She was there alone. Ina and Katharina are from Germany. They're volunteering at a school in a slum near Cape Town. Ina is in her 40s and Katharina is probably 19. Steve and I thought they were mother and daughter before we found out that they just met volunteering. We met the two men from Malaysia. I think they are both in their mid 40s. They work for an oil and gas company and have traveled all over the world for work. One is named Fata and I don't remember the other one's name. They live in Borneo. We were notified that dinner was ready. Steve and I tried to wait until the Malaysian men were seated to pick our spots but unfortunately they moved their chairs after we sat down. They moved by us. We had grilled chicken, salad, and plain pasta for dinner. The chicken was good. Other things were as expected. The men kept up their typical table manners, although they did seem like nice people. Steve and I went back to the tent after dinner and stayed up talking for a bit and then went to bed.

I woke up at 4:40. Steve had been up for two hours already due to jet lag. I got ready for the day and we stood at the dining pavilion at 5 a.m. Others filed in. Our driver arrived around 5:30. By that point there had been a fair bit of grumbling by people about missing out on sleeping longer. Fata started a fire in the fire pit because he said he was cold. He kept scratching his butt and armpits. Our driver arrived and said thanks for waiting. He introduced himself as Lance. He told us to go ahead and get in the safari truck and he was going to put the fire out. There was one other person on the safari truck when we climbed in. His name is Mo and he's a professor from Calgary. He's on sabbatical. Steve sat next to him in the back and I sat on the end. We got a breakfast box from Lance. Inside was the most artificial tasting strawberry yogurt I've ever eaten, two pieces of white bread with a fake cheese spread, an apple, a rotten orange, and a juice box. Not that I'm complaining, it was about what I expected for a grab and go breakfast other than the rotten orange. We drove about 40 minutes to Kruger Park. A few minutes later we pulled up to a coffee shop and gift shop. Lance told me not to order coffee yet as I was walking toward the counter. I waited. Lance showed us all into the gift shop. He said now we could buy coffee. Confused, I walked out to the coffee stand and tried to order coffee. They explained I needed to pay for it in the gift shop and then bring my receipt. Steve said he heard Lance say to wait and he was going to show us where the coffee shop was. I was confused and thought maybe there was a second coffee shop. I went to ask Lance if I should order coffee there or if we were going somewhere else. Meanwhile the coffee shop employee shouted that I should go inside the gift shop and order. Lance said yes I could get coffee there. I went in and bought coffee and brought the receipt to the counter but it was one of the more confusing ways of ordering coffee that I've come across. We continued onwards. We had an all day game drive. We saw giraffes, blue wildebeest, impalas, zebras, a hyena, a Machild/Marshall eagle, a tony eagle, elephants, hippos, Maribou storks, a buffalo, and parasitic falcons that take over buffalo weaver's nest. We saw water bucks, which are furry. They emit a fear odor when scared that makes their meat poisonous. We saw a Crowned hornbill, which our guide said is the rarest bird in Kruger. We saw a Golden ox spider, a secretary bird (the second rarest bird to see in Kruger) and a lizard. Our driver got a tip that lions had been spotted so he asked if we were okay with having a late lunch and going to see the lions first. We said yes. He drove to where the lions were. There were at least two females and three cubs, although they were fairly far away and hidden by the grass. One of the females stood up for a few minutes. I was glad that Steve got to see some lions. I was hoping to see leopards but no such luck. In Africa I've seen rhinos, elephants, lions, and buffalos. I'm just missing leopards out of the big five. I've seen all of the ugly five: wildebeest, warthogs, marabou storks, vultures, and hyenas. I've seen three of the small five: a leopard tortoise, elephant shrew, and buffalo weaver. I'd love to see leopards before I leave Africa but it's seeming less and less likely. We stopped for lunch around 1:30. We all dispersed. There were two restaurants in the park shops. One was a steak restaurant and one was more casual. Steve and I picked the more casual place. They had mostly western food but there was a small traditional section. I ordered pap with sausage and a tomato sauce. Steve got a brat in a bun with grilled onions and a side of fries. Both were under the traditional meals section. We also each got a beer. After lunch we looked around the gift shop and paced back and forth in front of the stores just to get a few steps in. I saw Ina take her shirt completely off in the middle of the bathroom to apply sunscreen to her stomach and back. This was the second day in a row I'd seen her do that.

Also all day Katharina applied spray sunscreen approximately every twenty minutes. She didn't do it when we were stationary, she'd wait until the truck was moving. She sprayed a lot. I think because of the wind not much was actually get on her but it was like she was constantly macing Steve and I. On the way out we saw a sable antelope, which our guide said is the rarest animal in the world. It's a big black antelope. We saw the aftermath of what looked to be a fatal car crash on the way back to our campground. We got back to camp. The staff had cleaned our room. They did an amazing job. They organized everything, including stacking books on top of each other. They took out our trash. I was really impressed because most places post COVID don't clean every day and if they do normally it's not so in depth. The staff have been really good at the campground. They seem to go above and beyond. I took a cold shower. There doesn't ever seem to be hot water at the campground but I guess that's to be expected given the location. We had about an hour to relax before dinner. We opened a bottle of wine. When it was dinner time we moved our chairs by the fire. Steve and I just talked to each other because no one else seemed interested in talking. The staff, Megan, brought us each our nightly complimentary glass of wine. We moved to the dining area for dinner. We met two new guys, one was from the Netherlands and one was from Australia. We chatted with them during dinner. They seemed much more talkative than the rest of the group had been. For dinner we had steak, beef sausages, pap with corn, and shakalaka sauce. The steak was overcooked and both the steak and sausages were sweet. I still enjoyed the meal though. I asked Megan what time we needed to be up for the panorama tour. She said it would start at 8 but we'd have a “cereal breakfast” at 7:30. After dinner we went back to our tent. We went to sleep around 9:30. 

To my surprise we woke up at 7. I didn't expect to sleep that late. We got ready for the day and sat down with Alexandra. Everyone else was leaving that day from our group. Alexandra has been really quiet. I've barely heard her speak. We sat with her for breakfast. She mentioned there was yogurt and granola and cornflakes. There was also instant coffee. I had yogurt and cornflakes and coffee. I'd gotten enough yogurt for it to be my full meal. Much to all of our surprise, when we were almost done with our yogurt we were brought a full English breakfast. We all did our best to finish it but it was a lot of food and especially after eating yogurt. We all said we wished we would have known there was more food coming. Lance sat down with us and gave us an explanation of the day’s activities. On the way to Blyde Canyon we saw black impalas. They were beautiful. We also saw baboons and regular impalas. A guy was following us- Lance said it was his nephew and he needed directions to a fuel station so he was going to come with us that far. We got to a fuel station and I got a Coke Zero. We stopped by Blyde Canyon. We looked at the view. Lance told us that Blyde Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world. He said the Grand Canyon is first and the Fish River Canyon is second. If that's true then I've been to the top three largest canyons in the world, but I googled it later and saw conflicting information. I got an Americano from a cafe by the parking lot. We went to a place called Pot Holes. It was like little pools in waterfalls. We admired the view and took pictures. We went to a place called Berlin Falls, a place called Lisbon Falls, and God's Window. Lance’s debit card got denied at God's Window. He called his boss and we all waited a few minutes. He explained after he paid that the issue was because he'd used that card to pay for “that guy’s gas” there wasn't enough money on the card. I was confused as he'd told us that guy was his nephew, and as far as I knew he didn't work for the tour company. We hiked up God's Window.

It was a short walk and very easy even in my current status of sedentary. We heard strangers complaining about the hike and our guide kept telling us we could go back to the car if it was too hard or we could stop and sit for a while. It was less than a five minute walk to the top. We took pictures up there and then walked back down. Lance drove us to a silk worm museum and restaurant. I ordered a “chicken mayo” sandwich. I'd seen it on several menus here but hadn't tried it. It turned out to be a toasted chicken salad sandwich. It came with fries and a salad. Lance ate silk worms and pap for his lunch. He offered us all some but we declined. I attempted to talk to Alexandra but she would answer questions and then end the conversation. She was very quiet all day unless asked a direct question. Lance was on the phone most of lunch. I got a sparkling water. Steve got samosas, which he'd never tried before. After lunch Lance suggested that we go into the museum while he went to get gas. Steve and Alexandra said they weren't interested in the museum and I figured it was a thinly veiled attempt to sell us silk so we declined. The three of us walked around together downtown while Lance went to get gas. People kept trying to sell us macadamia nuts and wooden carvings. When Lance returned we waited in the car while he went to buy avocados. We drove back a different way than we'd came. We got back to the campground just before five. I tipped Lance 400 rand between Steve and I for the two days he guided us. Lance seemed very happy with his tip and thanked us. Steve and I went to our tent. Steve took a nap until dinner at 7:30. I read outside until it was too dark to see. The WiFi wasn't working and no one else was outside to talk to so I was a bit bored until he woke up. We sat by the fire a bit before dinner. We then moved to the dining area. For dinner we had chicken with vegetables and sauce, mashed pumpkin, yellow rice, and salad. We had our complementary glass of red wine with dinner. We met a new lady from New Zealand. She was extremely talkative and told lots of stories about wildlife to the entire table. The guy from Australia was there again and the Dutch guy. There was also a Dutch girl and Alexandra. No one else was really able to say much though as the Kiwi woman commanded everyone's attention. She was probably in her mid 60s and her short dyed black hair stuck in all different directions as though she'd been struck by electricity. After dinner Megan told us we had the option to pay for a bush walk or a game drive for the next morning. Otherwise we would just have breakfast at 9:30 and then head out. Steve and I talked about it and decided to sign up for another game drive. It was 1,250 rand each. I was hoping to see leopards. We figured who knows if we'll ever be back to Kruger so may as well try to see leopards. We were told we would need to be ready by 5:50 a.m. Megan asked me if we wanted to leave a tip on the safari booking. I said no and was a bit confused why I would, there's a tip box for campground staff and we've been instructed that tips can go to the safari staff directly. We went back to our tent, had some more wine and packed, and then went to bed. 

We woke up at 5:25. We met our guide, Eddie, at 5:50. Steve and I walked to the safari truck, assuming we'd be in that. Eddie went up to a guy in a four door guy and told him we were going to use his car. We got in the car. When Eddie got out to unlock the front gate I asked Steve if we just carjacked someone. Eddie drove us 20 minutes or so to the private game reserve we'd gone to the first day. We were offered drinks, I chose a guava juice and it was delicious. We got onto a safari truck along with a couple from India and a South African woman. We had the same driver and spotter as the game drive the first day. We saw mongooses, impalas, wildebeest, black backed jackals,and nyalas. We came across three lions sitting in the middle of the road.

Our guide said it was a mother, father, and cub but the cub was a year and a half old and was almost as big as the mother. We watched them for quite a while. It was a much better view than we'd had of lions in Kruger. Steve said he thought it was worth the price of the safari just to see the male lion up close. Finally it was time to move on. We continued on and saw four hippos, the top of a crocodile’s head, vervet monkeys, cape buffalos, lots of giraffes, vultures, hammerkop birds, and water bucks. We stopped at one point and had coffee and breakfast cookies by the truck. There were bottles of water too and I got a sparkling one. We drove back to reception. I tipped our driver and spotter 100 rand each and they seemed excited about it. Eddie picked Steve and I up. We rode back to the campground. We took our luggage to the van. Megan served us breakfast. We had omelets with bell peppers, cheese, and sausage served with a piece of toast. I paid Steve and I’s tab for water refills, which was 48 rand for 4 days. Megan asked if I wanted to leave a tip on that. I told her we were planning to put cash in the tip box but I could put it on card if that was better for her. She said no, cash was great. The tip box was a bit out of sight so I tried to make a bit of a production out of having Steve put the tip in there but Megan didn't acknowledge seeing him do it. I left a 300 rand tip for campground staff. Eddie told us it was time to go. He drove us 20 minutes or so to the pickup point for our shuttle to Johannesburg. We tipped him 50 rand, which was the last of my cash. Steve doesn't have any ZAR yet. We met our new driver, who to our relief so far has not verbalized hating white people. Today we're riding back to Johannesburg. We should be getting back around sunset or just after. We'd like to book a place by the airport so we don't have to wander around Johannesburg at night but I still don't have data and Steve's has been working intermittently. I did manage to book a car for tomorrow and the next day. We're planning to do a mini road trip, do some hiking, hopefully go to a winery. Then the day after that we're planning to book a day trip to Pilanesberg Park and do two more game drives. We get 20% off day trips if we book with the same tour company that we used for our glamping trip and we want to go there anyway so it seems like a good way to do it. Steve doesn't feel comfortable driving here so I'm planning to drive us the next two days. At least I've got two weeks of practice. I'm hoping the traffic around the outskirts of Johannesburg isn't too crazy. Ubers are pretty expensive around Johannesburg. I spent over $30 to go to and from the Apartheid Museum the other day. The rental car is about that cost per day so between two people and for going out of town it makes sense to just rent a car. There's a cable car that goes up Magaliesberg Mountain. You can potentially spot game on the way up and there are restaurants at the top. We'd love to do that in addition to some hiking. Then Steve leaves on the 26th so potentially we'll go into Johannesburg for part of the day and check out one of the safer neighborhoods. It's been a great time together so far!

In the airport I got a meal to go from Wimpy's. It's a fast food chain that I've seen in several countries in Africa but have never tried. I got bangers and mash. I took my food to go and sat by my gate. My food came with fried onions and brown gravy in addition to the pork sausages and mashed potatoes. It was delicious. Hands down the best meal I've ever eaten in an airport and only 70 rand. I made a mental note to go back to Wimpy's before I leave South Africa. I boarded the plane when it was my turn. I had the middle seat towards the back of the plane. My new sudoku book is pretty tough- it took me the entire 50 minute flight to solve one puzzle. I did enjoy it though. There were no included drinks on the flight and I didn't purchase anything. The plane landed and I got my bag from the baggage claim. I went to the Uber pick up area and got an Uber. It was a ten minute drive to the apartment Steve and I are renting. I rang a bell at the front gate and staff came to let me in. The place is really nice, it far exceeds my expectations given that it was $27 a night. There's a swimming pool, a small dog, a cat, and my apartment is a studio apartment with a small kitchen and an en suite bathroom. Everything seemed very clean. I was just settling in and there was a knock on the door. A different staff member asked if I needed anything. I asked if I could drink the tap water. She didn't really give what I thought was a conclusive answer but she came back a few minutes later and handed me a couple of bottles of water. I asked her if there was a grocery store nearby. She said yes. I asked if it was safe to walk there. She said I could if I wanted but it would be safer to take an Uber. I thanked her. A bit later I called an Uber to go to the grocery store. I got groceries for meals for the next two days and I bought a piece of cake to put number candles in for a belated birthday celebration for Steve. I also bought some wine and biltong as well as local snacks and I figured I could give them to Steve when he gets in. The lights went out at one point in grocery shopping. I had a moment of panic thinking I might get mugged in the dark but then I remembered I had the ability to walk outside and stand in the daylight. The lights came back on after a couple of moments anyway. I took an Uber back to the apartment. The driver told me earlier that day a cyclist had ridden their bike into the side of his car and damaged it and then ridden away. I went back to my room. I changed into my pajamas and I cooked my dinner- pork sausages, samp and beans (I'd bought that in the deli and just reheated it on the stove), and a salad. I had some sparkling water. There was Netflix on the TV which I was excited about. I ate my dinner in bed and watched a movie. I ate a macadamia nut nougat- the Wedgewood brand. I had low expectations for my dessert but I had seen it everywhere and wanted to try it. I was pleasantly surprised, it was delicious. I intend to buy as many of those as I can fit in my bag before I leave. I watched movies the rest of the evening and went to bed around 11. 

I woke up around 7 despite my best efforts to sleep in. I had a banoffee pie flavored smoothie in a bottle. I had three cups of instant coffee and some sparkling water. I had an upset stomach and I took some medicine but it was a 40 minute drive to the central parts of Johannesburg so I had to wait until I thought I could go on that long of a drive. I watched another movie. I had the same thing for lunch as I'd had for dinner. Around 12:30 I started to feel better. I called an Uber and rode 40 minutes to the Apartheid Museum. I spent 2 and a half hours there. There was so much information in the museum. It was a really interesting place and brutal to hear about the living conditions for black people during apartheid. There was a temporary exhibit but the theme was Nelson Mandela and it was the same information that had been in the Nelson Mandela Museum. The same photos and graphs and everything so I just walked quickly through it. There

was a section in that building about Desmond Tutu so I read through that. I then called an Uber to take me back to the apartment. I wanted to make sure to get in before dark. When Steve comes in I'm planning to bake a bobotie. I picked up a premade one at the grocery store. I am also planning to serve salad and give him his snacks and birthday cake. Looking forward to seeing him! We are being picked up early tomorrow morning for a four day safari tour. We'll be glamping, which I think should be fun!

As we got closer to Port Edward there were big potholes in the road. Ale was driving and we hit a couple of potholes despite her best efforts to avoid them. It was also dark and it was raining, which made it difficult to see. We saw lots of people standing by the side of the road or sitting in bushes. Jill kept saying frantically that she hoped we didn't get a flat tire and get robbed. We finally made it to our apartment just before 8 p.m. There was a full sized bed in the living room, a sofa bed, a small kitchen, and then a room with a queen sized bed and a bathroom. I think it was my turn for the good bed. Ale suggested I take the full sized bed and she said she and Jill would share the queen sized bed because neither of them wanted to sleep on the sofa bed. Our host told us there had been flash flooding nearby the night before and five people had died from it. She told us there might be a flash flood again that night. She suggested that if we were going to go out to eat to go right away. She suggested a place called the Wreck. She tried to call ahead for us to ask if they were still open but they didn't answer. We drove to the Wreck. I had thought about staying back and having instant noodles but I thought it might be rude to do so because Ale had been talking all day about wanting a beer and I thought we'd need a designated driver. We passed by a bar on the way to the restaurant and Ale mentioned she really wanted a beer. We got to the Wreck and Jill ran in to see what time they closed. She came back a few minutes later. She said they were closing. She'd asked about the bar we'd seen and was told they only serve drinks. The staff had suggested KFC or Debonair Pizza (a chain here). Ale was driving and she accidentally took the ramp onto the highway instead of turning into the KFC parking lot. We drove a few minutes on the highway until there was a good spot to turn around. Debonair Pizza looked closed. We went to KFC. I ordered two pieces of fried chicken with pap (that's what they call ugali in this part of Africa) and gravy. I also got coleslaw. It was 58 rand. The others ordered food too. My food took 20 minutes to be ready. Jill's took 26 minutes and all she got was an ice cream and fries. Ale’s took 34 minutes to be ready. She ordered two chicken meals. She ended up throwing one away (the next day after it had been in the car all day and wasn't safe to eat) and she threw away her Nando's chicken sandwich too. Ale admitted that at home she never eats leftovers and she throws a lot of food away because she tends to order too much food. Also at home she's admitted she goes out for the majority of her meals. She said she's saved so much money on this trip versus what she would spend at home. We ate our food there. After we finished it started pouring rain. Ale decided against going to the bar (I was relieved because I was tired). I changed into my pajamas. Jill made a comment that we needed to eat a lot of eggs the next couple of days. She said once I left she thought it was unlikely she and Ale would cook them for themselves. Ale said well we could boil them. Jill said you're definitely not going to do that. Jill later mentioned that her and Ale’s tour guide’s last full day with them was the next day. Jill said once I left she thought they were going to get nothing done and see nothing. She said it in a joking way and Ale jokingly agreed. I got a message from Steve saying he was on his way to the airport. I reminded him his flight was on the 16th. He turned around. He said he'd made it five miles down the road before he saw my text. He'd forgotten and thought his flight was on the 15th. Ale poured a glass of boxed wine for herself but she fell asleep in front of the TV before she could drink it. She'd been asleep for 20 minutes and I was struggling to fall asleep because my bed was in the living room and the light was on and the TV was on. I got up and turned both off. Ale woke up and said “hint hint!”. I told her she was welcome to watch TV. I just thought because she was asleep for the last 20 minutes she was done with it. Ale said “it's fine!” And took her wine to her bedroom. She fell asleep without drinking it there. 

I woke up around 8. I took a shower. Jill made instant coffee and she cooked scrambled eggs with spinach for both of us. We also had rolls. Ale was still sleeping. I ate my breakfast in bed. I had a second cup of instant coffee. Ale got up around 9. She was still getting ready at 10 and the apartment manager came to hint that it was time for us to go. Ale was ready at 10:30. We drove to the world's smallest desert, the Red Desert. There were lots of potholes on the road there. We parked and there was a local man that was walking into the park. He told us no one knows why nothing will grow in that desert or what caused it to form. He pointed out a crop circle to us and then he said goodbye. We walked in circles to the center of the crop circle and took a selfie. We walked around the desert. It's about 200 meters across. That took us maybe ten minutes to have our fill of the desert. We got back in the car and drove to Beaver Creek Coffee Estate. The road was gravel and parts were muddy. There was also a narrow bridge at one point in the road. I thought we were really putting our car to the test again. We made it to the coffee estate around 11:30. We checked in for our tour at noon and looked around the gift shop. We were given cups to use for bottomless coffee (something I have not seen anywhere else in Africa). There were five kinds of coffee out to try. There was also a mocha liqueur and a coffee liqueur you could help yourself to. Ale ordered a bran muffin. Around noon our tour guide, Dix, introduced himself. He also introduced another person who was joining our tour, Anisa. Dix was elderly and from South Africa. Anisa was probably in her mid 50s and was also from South Africa. She's from Pretoria and was in Port Edward for the week visiting family. Dix and Anisa sat at our table. Dix told us about the history of coffee. Anisa has one coffee plant and she interjected a lot with her own knowledge and opinions. Dix got side tracked several times talking about politics and I thought he and Ale were going to get into a serious argument. Dix was against communism and apparently Ale is for it. I internally willed her not to get into a fight with our elderly tour guide. Dix told us lots of interesting information. He said that most instant coffee is actually chicory and doesn't have caffeine. He said it's all marketing ploys. We walked with him and he showed us coffee beans. We tried the coffee fruit. He told us you can eat the red fruit but the green fruit isn't ripe. He told us about the process of harvesting. He said it's all done by hand because that creates a lot of jobs. He showed us the drying racks. He said farmers used to dry the coffee beans outside but it would rain and they'd lose up to a third of their product. Now they have drying racks that stack on top of each other and they're able to dry them inside. We saw where they roast the coffee. On the way in he asked what kind of coffee we wanted, and he suggested a cappuccino. All of us got cappuccinos except Jill wanted a double espresso. Dix placed our orders and led us to the roaster. Dix said the only difference in coffee grades is the size of the beans. He said the difference between light and dark roast is a matter of seconds in roasting. Our coffees were ready. We sat at a table. The staff brought out our cappuccinos and also espressos for us to try. The tour had been 85 rand each and the bottomless coffee alone went for 35 rand on the menu. We were not charged anything extra for the coffee. I thought that was an amazing value and it was a really interesting tour. It had said on the website it was 30-45 minutes for the tour although our confirmation email had said an hour. It turned out to be over two hours but we learned a lot. After the tour Anisa asked for Ale and I’s contact information and told us to contact her if we have any issues in South Africa. For some reason she did not offer the same thing to Jill. After the tour Ale, Jill, and I ordered lunch at the cafe. I ordered a salad with chicken and macadamia nuts. Dix had told us that Port Edward grows the best macadamia nuts in the world. I didn't see any nuts for sale in the shop but I thought I'd at least order something with macadamia nuts in it. It was very good. Jill got a piece of carrot cake after lunch and it was giant. Ale and I each tried a bite of it and it was very good. In total I had five cups of coffee. I figured the instant coffee that morning was probably actually chicory and didn't count towards my total. I considered a sixth cup of coffee but thought it might make me jittery. Ale mentioned her brother's truck had been stolen in Toronto. She said he lives in a safe neighborhood and she was really surprised. Ale was distracted on her phone and Jill and I mentioned a couple of times that we needed to get on the road to get to Durban before dark. Ale probably took 30 minutes after finishing her food before going to pay and then saying she was ready. I drove us to Durban. We had to stop once for gas. The attendant only pumped the gas and didn't wash the car, which was perfectly fine by me as we were trying to beat the sunset. It was a little over a two hour drive. Most of the drive was easy. There were two lanes on each side of the highway so it was easy to pass people. As we got to Durban it got a bit more stressful. There was more and more traffic and the sun was setting. Ale mentioned her friend Jolene is originally from Durban and Jolene's dad had been mugged a few days before. He'd gotten a flat tire and was mugged then. Ale said to make sure to avoid driving through the townships. I was in the process of following the Google maps directions and didn't have a way to safely check if we were avoiding townships. Jill looked and we were on the highway most of the way through Durban anyway. I got to our exit. Jill was in the passenger seat. Jill is terrible at giving directions. She frequently gets confused between right and left and it's very common for her to say to turn when it's not actually time or to direct us down the wrong road. I was just trying to follow Google maps but Jill kept interjecting with her own instructions with little notice. I ignored her instructions and followed Google maps and we made it to our apartment. It was dark by that point. We checked in. Ale got her own bedroom with a queen sized bed. Jill and I shared a room with twin sized beds. I was a bit stressed from the drive and wanted some alone time. I organized my things for the flight the next day. I didn't get a chance to buy a suitcase or bigger bag so my plan was that I'd leave some stuff in the car with Jill and Ale and then I'd pick it up from them in Joburg since we're all going there anyway. I'll just have to buy a bigger bag before we fly to Cape Town. I left all my camping gear with them. Jill brought me a glass of boxed wine in the bedroom, I was laying in bed looking at my phone. I joined Ale and Jill in the living room. Jill took a phone call out on the balcony. Ale and I chatted for a while and we ate instant noodles and drank wine. I ate some cheese and crackers before I realized there was mold on the cheese. Jill came back in after about an hour and the three of us had a nice time chatting. I got a message from Steve that his flight was delayed and he wasn't going to be able to make his connecting flight. He said he was going to spend the night in Omaha and he would have to take a flight an entire day later. Thankfully we'd built in one day as a buffer in Joburg - more because I thought he'd be tired. I was not thrilled about the idea of spending a day in Joburg by myself. I tried to message and call the airline to see if I could change my flight to a day later so I could spend the day with Jill and Ale instead. The customer service center was closed and I wasn't able to get through to anyone. Jill went to bed. Ale and I stayed up talking. It was going well for a while but Ale made a couple of comments that I really didn't agree with. We got onto some topics in which we both had some strong opinions and neither of us wanted to back down on them. I told Ale I was going to bed. She said good night and smiled and I guess maybe to her nothing happened. For me I was livid and going to Joburg by myself didn't seem like such a bad option after all. 

I woke up at 7. Jill reminded me to try the airline’s customer service. I messaged them and they told me I could change my flight for 204 rand. Steve and I had paid for our apartment in Joburg already and I'd have to pay a third of an apartment in Durban if I stayed an extra night. If I'd really wanted to stay I would have just paid the extra money but I was still irritated with Ale. I got ready for the day. Jill made instant “coffee”. I made scrambled eggs for the two of us. I was going to put in spinach but it had wilted. Ale got up after 9. We all assumed that check out was at 10 because it has been most places. Ale was in the shower at 9:45. A cleaning lady knocked on the door and told us that the check out was at 9:30 and she was there to clean. Jill shouted this information to Ale through the bathroom door. We got out of there just past ten. I wanted to leave for the airport no later than 10:30 anyway, so it made sense for the others to just drop me off then. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the airport. Ale and Jill gave me a hug goodbye. I'll see them in just over a week again anyway. I checked my backpack. The counter agent seemed confused at why I'd want to check a small bag. I have liquids over 100ml in it though and I had already paid to check a bag. There's a bookstore in the Durban airport. I went in in hopes of finding some sudoku. I have finished all my puzzle books. There were lots of options for sudoku! I debated buying one or not because I figured I could just play it on my phone but I figured the joy I felt when I saw the sudoku books was my sign it was worth the 59 rand. There were some pretty designs on some of the books, which I found interesting. I just went for function with mine. I've got about an hour flight to Joburg. Ale kept telling me it's fine to wander around Joburg by myself and that lots of people live there and haven't gotten murdered. She keeps saying her friend Jolene has lived there for eight years and hasn't gotten murdered. We'll see how it goes but worst case scenario I don't leave the apartment and just read and do sudoku for a day, and actually that doesn't sound too bad to me!

I tossed and turned throughout the night, my sofa bed turned out to be rather lumpy. Thankfully I didn't see any cockroaches by or on my bed. I woke up around 8. I got ready for the day and had two cups of instant coffee and some yogurt. Ale slept until 9 and laid in bed until 9:30. She got ready for the day and we checked out just after 10. Ale mentioned around 4 a.m. she heard a weird noise and it lasted about five minutes. She said her best guess was it was a cockroach dying/trapped somewhere and trying to get out. I was kind of glad I hadn't heard it. We headed out to the Nelson Mandela Museum. There was no parking right by the museum- all the spots were taken. I was driving and I mentioned we could park at the grocery store across the street. Ale said to just circle the block and that the museum’s website had said there would be plenty of parking. I circled the block. Halfway through Ale told me to circle the block. I told her that was what we were in the process of doing. There were still no spots so we went to the grocery store and parked. There were lots of pedestrians out and about and all seemed to want to go at unofficial crossing areas and without giving much prior indication that they were going to cross. At the grocery store a homeless man came up to our car. We told him no. There was an attendant in the parking lot and she said she'd watch our car. I was glad for that at least. Ale wanted to go by McDonald's to get a coffee. Jill and I had had some already so it was just her. Jill was going to hang out at McDonald's while we went to the museum because she doesn't like reading but she decided she didn't want to be by herself in that area so she wanted to go with us after all. On the way across the street to the museum someone shouted “hey! I see white people!” And pointed at us. We made it into the museum. We were at the museum for about two and a half hours. There was a ton of information about Nelson Mandela and some about Rosa Parks as well. It was interesting and it was a free museum but you could leave a donation. Ale and I left 100 rand. Jill got bored part of the way through and decided to go back to the shopping center. When Ale and I finished at the museum we met Jill in the car. Jill said she felt like everyone was staring at her in the supermarket. We drove to Nando's. Jill ate her food from the supermarket. Ale and I got Nando's. I got a festa roll, which was a bun with pulled chicken, sauce, cheese, grilled onions, and french fries in the sandwich. I got extra hot sauce. I ordered a side of peri peri fries and a Coke Zero. Ale got the hot pot like I'd had the night before. She was still hungry after so she ordered a chicken sandwich and an ear of corn. She and I both had ice cream after our meals. Mine had the Bar One candy bar on it. I really enjoyed my food. After lunch we started to head out of Mthatha. There were still tons of pedestrians crossing the street everywhere in town. Some of them moved very slowly and reminded us of zombies. We drove through some areas that appeared to be very impoverished. Ale made a comment that I found very interesting- she said Mthatha was more like the other countries in Africa we saw at the beginning of the trip whereas the rest of what we've seen in South Africa has been modernized and western and feels more like back home. I think that was a good observation and very true. We had just gotten out of town and a man wearing a yellow high vis coat waved us over. Ale pulled over for him. He told us we needed to go to the Caltex service station and buy a pass for the toll roads that way. He said we wouldn't be able to pay for the tolls electronically because Google maps would direct us a different way than normal because of construction. He said another tourist was going to Caltex and we could follow them. Ale followed the car in front of us for a 15 minute drive to Caltex. A guy came up to our car and asked if we were there to buy the toll pass. Ale said yes. She and Jill followed the guy. They suggested I wait in the car so we wouldn't leave it unattended. Ale came back. She called her friend Jolene who is from South Africa. Ale told Jolene about what we'd been told and she said the guy at the gas station was telling her to just put her card in his “multi purpose ATM bank machine”. He was telling her and Jill it was 70 rand for the toll pass and that the machine would print out a pass for them. Jolene told Ale she'd never heard of such a thing and it was likely a scam. Ale said maybe she'd just pay in cash just in case and it was only 70 rand. Jolene agreed with Ale on trying that. Ale left and Jill came back to the car. Jill told me she went into the gas station and talked to the manager. She asked about the toll pass and they said that is definitely a scam. She asked me where Ale was and I said paying the man. Jill ran and stopped Ale. Ale hadn't paid yet. We drove away and drove past the traffic man. He didn't attempt to pull us over again. We had/have a little over a 4 and a half hour drive. Animals and people kept darting across the road, there were giant speed bumps in the road, there was heavy fog at one point, there was lots of construction, and we drove through some very impoverished areas. On the plus side we're staying at a place that was rated 9+ stars on booking tonight. I'm excited for a real bed!

We drove to East London. We stopped to get groceries and I bought a cold Coke Light. We were debating whether to stay in East London or check out Chintsa. We decided to drive to Chintsa. Ale said she'd heard great things about it. She didn't specify from who and when we asked what there was to do there she said she didn't know but she thought it would be nice. We drove to Chintsa. We saw a monkey holding fruit and crossing the road. It looked like he was smiling. He darted in front of the car and Ale wasn't able to stop in time and we ran him over. I think we all still feel sad about that but the good thing is he would have died instantly and not suffered. We made it to Chintsa and walked along the beach for a bit. There was a bar nearby, the Yellow and Blue bar. We went in and Ale and I ordered beers. Jill got a Coke Zero. Ale ordered dinner but it was only 5 so I wasn't hungry yet. We played cards for a bit. Jill talked to the bartender and asked for a recommendation of where to stay in town. He said there was only one place to stay, the cabins across the street. Jill offered to go over there and see if they had availability. Jill came back some time later and told us she had booked the cabin for that night. We thanked her for taking care of it. It was almost six by then. Ale asked Jill if she was going to order food. The bartender overheard and mentioned the kitchen was closing at six. Neither of us ordered food, figuring we'd go to the cabin fairly soon and could eat dinner there. Also I had eaten an entire bar of chocolate on the way from East London. We ended up staying at the bar until midnight when they closed. We met some girls that were there for a bachelorette party. They sat with us for most of the evening. They gave me jewels to stick on my face. They were from South Africa. The bride to be was dressed in a white dress and had a veil. We had fun hanging out with them. We walked over to our cabin when the bar closed. I ate an entire bag of olives, Ale and I ate a whole bag of chips, and we had lots of cheese and crackers. We had a bathroom and two bedrooms in our cabin. Jill got the one with the queen sized bed and Ale and I shared a room and had twin sized beds. 

I woke up around 8:30. I noticed there were several wasps in the bathroom. I took a shower even though I was a bit worried the whole time about potentially getting stung. Thankfully I managed to avoid that. I toasted a bun for breakfast. We've been lucky with having a French press at every apartment rental so far on this leg of the trip. We didn't have one at this cabin. Thankfully we had brought instant coffee with us too. I had three cups of instant coffee. Jill was awake but was spending time alone in her room. Ale was still asleep. They both came out around ten. Checkout wasn't until 11 at this place. It had been 10 everywhere else. Ale wasn't ready until noon anyway but no one came to kick us out. After Ale got ready I drove us to the beach. Right after we dropped our keys for the cabin in the drop box, Ale realized she left an earring at the cabin. She had been wearing one earring most of the morning and had said she was too tired to put the other one in. Ale tried messaging and calling the manager of the cabins. She finally got ahold of the manager. The manager was out of town and said she could mail Ale the earring. Ale said yes please. Ale admitted to us that the cost of postage would probably be more than the cost of the earring but she wanted it back anyway. We walked along the beach for a while. Ale was grumpy about not knowing if she'll get her earring back or not. Jill had bought a bag of giant gingerbread cookies but she ended up not liking them. She offered them to a little girl and a woman. They seemed grateful for the cookies.

After our walk we drove to Mthatha. On the way we stopped for gas and I bought a Coke Light. We didn't see the monkey on the way out of Chintsa. We thought maybe a poor family ate him or an animal ate him. Ale said that made her feel better if that was the case. We almost booked a place that had good reviews before we realized it was inside of a township. I was very glad we noticed in time. It was pretty tough finding a good place to stay in Mthatha. Several places were in bad neighborhoods and/or didn't have good reviews. We considered driving to Coffee Bay after all because Jill had found an affordable place that looked nice. We had decided against Coffee Bay because it's supposed to be a nice beach side town but we weren't sure it would be worth going an hour and a half each way for. Thankfully we managed to find a hotel with availability. I didn't really want to drive 3 hours extra if we wouldn't have time to do anything in Coffee Bay anyway. On the drive we ate cheese sandwiches for lunch. We made it to Mthatha. I told Ale I'd read it has the highest rate of murder in the eastern cape. I meant it more as a conversation piece than anything because I knew we were staying in a safe place within the city. Ale kept saying she thought it would be fine. She pointed at people and said “look! There's more people who haven't been murdered!* She told me she runs by herself at night all the time (she lives in Toronto) and nothing bad has ever happened. I managed to bite my tongue. We checked into our hotel. There was a bit of confusion because I'd accidentally booked for May 15th instead of April 15th. Thankfully the hotel let us change the reservation with no problems. We have a fridge, kettle, instant coffee, etc and two twin beds, a sofa bed, and an ensuite bathroom. I volunteered to take the sofa bed. It folds out so it's on the floor. It seems pretty comfortable so far. The receptionist helped us make the two twin beds. They'd been joined together but were able to be separated and she helped us put bedding on them. Ale realized she left a shirt at the cabin. She said maybe they can mail it to her when they mail the earrings. The shirt she left has giant holes under one armpit and on the front. It did not come that way. Ale asked if there were any restaurants nearby that we could walk to for dinner. The receptionist was adamant that we should drive and not walk to dinner. After we got settled in we drove to Nando's. I got a hotpot bowl, which was chicken, rice, and vegetables in a bowl. I asked for it to be extra spicy. It was really tasty. I just had water from my water bottle. After I finished my food I was still hungry. There is a Portuguese dessert that is a custard tart with a burnt top. I love those so much. At Nando's they have a shake that's supposed to be the same flavor as those pastries. I ordered the shake. It was delicious and creamy. After dinner we went back to the hotel. Jill and Ale shared a load of laundry. I put mine on after them. I don't think the hotel is charging us for laundry, which is really nice. Ale saw cockroaches and cockroach eggs in one of the kitchen cabinets. That made me less than thrilled to be sleeping on the floor. Tomorrow we're planning to go to the Nelson Mandela Museum!

On the way to Mossel Bay we stopped to get gas. I went in to use the bathroom and I got sparkling water, Coke Light, and a pack of gum. Two attendants washed our windshields and a third attendant pumped gas for us. Later we stopped at a picnic table by the side of the road. We had our leftover charcuterie supplies and leftover pesto pasta. It was extremely windy, although maybe not that bad by Nebraska standards. We had to hold all our containers down so they wouldn't fly away. We went bushy bushy there. We were two hours into the 3 and a half hour drive so I swapped with Ale. The drive was beautiful through the mountains. I'm feeling more confident each day about driving on the left and I think I am doing better about staying in my lane. We made it to Mossel Bay and got to the apartment we were renting. The owner let us in the gate with a remote. His name is Chris and he's from South Africa. He said Afrikaans is his first language. He is elderly. He showed us around the apartment and gave us some information. It was a very detailed introduction. He told us to message him if we had any issues and he left. We got settled in. There were two bedrooms. One had a queen sized bed and one had two twin beds. There was a full kitchen, a living room with a TV, a nice patio with a grill and a view of the ocean, and one bathroom. The place was modern and seemed very clean. I was extremely happy with it. I suggested that Jill take the queen bed because I had a twin bed the night before instead of sharing and before that Ale had the real bed when Jill and I slept on the couch and lounge. Ale chose her bed in our room and I took the one that was left. Jill made tea and we sat and drank it and relaxed. After that we decided to go downtown. Jill found a restaurant with good ratings that looked really affordable. Ale drove us downtown. There was hardly anyone around and lots of businesses were closed for the night. This was a Saturday night around 6:30 p.m. We parked in front of the place Jill had found. We went in and saw it actually seemed to be more of a bar. Heavy metal was playing and people were playing pool and drinking. It smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. There were no empty tables. We decided to see what our other options were. We went to an Irish bar and looked at the menu. It was calmer seeming but also smelled like cigarette smoke and the food options seemed to me they'd just be reheated from frozen. Which I suspect many restaurants do but it seemed more likely than most places. I suggested we keep looking. We went to the third and final place that we'd seen open downtown. It was called Blaize Barrel Family Restaurant. It looked so much better in my opinion. It didn't smell like anything other than food. We got seated and I ordered tap water and a hamburger with jalapenos and cream cheese. Jill said she talked to a guy up by the bar who said he'd give us some tips on where to visit along the Garden Route. She said he just went to his hostel to grab something but he was coming back. I told Ale if she wanted to drink I could drive us home. Ale ordered a beer. We tried to do a bit of Garden Route planning while waiting for our meal. We got our food. There were a couple of hot sauces brought out too. The fries that came with my burger were thin and crispy. They were by far the best fries I've had in Africa. Usually here they've been thick and undercooked. My burger was overcooked and dry but I still enjoyed it. I really liked the hot sauces. I think we were all pretty happy with our food overall. My food was really messy and we didn't have napkins. Our waitress offered Ale a bowl of hot water because she'd had chicken wings. I asked for one too. We noticed that on the blackboard someone wrote “Emil” and some hearts. I saw on Larissa's Instagram story that it said she was in Mossel Bay. I messaged her and told her we were there but she said she wasn't there anymore. I wondered if Larissa had written Emil's name and if she secretly had a crush on him. After dinner we waited for the guy Jill had talked to to come back. We waited quite a while but eventually we thought he probably wasn't actually coming back. We paid and left. My dinner was $7 with a tip. I drove us back to the apartment. We stayed up for a bit. Jill went to her room. I read my book. Supposedly Ale was reading too but she kept talking to me and I found it hard to concentrate on my book. After a while Ale went to bed. I stayed up until almost midnight reading and enjoyed the rare alone time. 

I woke up around 7:30. Jill was already up and had made coffee in the French press. Ale was still sleeping. I got ready for the day and had some coffee. I read a bit. Ale’s alarm went off at 8. She didn't get out of bed until 8:30 when Jill and I reminded her that we'd agreed to leave the apartment at 9. Jill and Ale suggested that we throw away the rest of the pesto pasta. I ate it for breakfast instead. Jill wanted to throw the rest of our bread away but I said I'd eat it later. It was windy and a bit chilly out. We all put on jackets and raincoats. I prepared a snack bag. I made a second French press full of coffee and we all had some. Ale finished getting ready at 9:45. We headed out the door. I drove us downtown and we parked and headed to a cafe. Jill had eaten an apple and had some coffee so both she and I were content with our breakfast but Ale still needed to eat. We found the cafe that Jill had located on Google. We realized there was no indoor area, it was just a coffee stand. Ale got a muffin and a coffee. There was a little seating area outside that was sheltered a bit from the wind. Ale had a piece of plastic from her muffin that blew away. I suggested that she pick up a piece of trash for karma but she said it's fine. The hike we were planning to do says it takes 4-6 hours. I had my water bottle, which holds about a liter of water. I suggested that the others bring water. Jill never carries water but every walk I've ever been on with her she drinks everyone else's water. I told her I didn't think I'd have spare water and she should buy some. She said she would be fine without water on the hike. Ale went to buy some water from the coffee stand. She came back empty handed. She said she'd asked how much water we needed for the hike and they said not to do it that day because there were 80 kph winds predicted and parts of the walk are on the ledge of a cliff. Ale said they said we'd be blown away. She asked them what else there is to do in Mossel Bay and they said stay home and watch Netflix. I suggested that we walk around just a bit anyway. We walked up the path just a bit. We saw the world's longest zipline over water. I'd messaged the company about doing the zipline but they weren't operating that day. I guess with the winds it was obvious that they wouldn't. We came across a man who was looking for his phone. Jill got his email address in case we found it on the path. We went up just a bit further and saw a cave with information about whales. We looked out at the view and then turned around. We came across the man at the bottom who had lost his phone. He had found his phone and was kneeling down and praising God. It was nice to see a happy ending to that story. We walked around a bit more and then Ale drove us to the mall. We went to Mr. Price, which is a discount clothes store. We looked for clothes for AfrikaBurn. We all tried some on. I bought a few crop tops, an 80s style jacket that I really like, a case to organize charging cables, an extra type c charging cable, and some hair ties. All of it set me back about $30. Ale and Jill also found some clothes that they liked and purchased. I think I'm going to buy a suitcase soon because I don't have one at home anyway and I've been slowly increasing the amount of stuff I'm carrying with me. Some things, like my wool blanket and pillow, I'll try to donate right before I leave Africa but I'll need to be able to bring them with me to AfrikaBurn so I probably need to buy a suitcase to be able to take everything. After Mr. Price we went to the grocery store. Jill decided she was going to eat nothing but mushrooms, green beans, spinach, and eggs for the next few meals. Ale and I picked up bacon mac and cheese, yogurt, fancy cheese, and more bread. I got a kombucha and some Coke Zero. We also got some cooking oil and salt and pepper to take with us as we travel. I had suggested that we could make a stir fry or make chicken breast and vegetables. I was excited about the idea of eating healthy ish food. Ale said she didn't want to do anything that involved cooking. I would have offered to cook it myself as the things I was proposing were easy, but so far I've been washing all of Ale’s dishes because otherwise they don't get done and Jill or I are the ones who make coffee and tea so it was more the principle of it that I didn't really want to cook for us if she wasn't willing to do the same. We checked out and went back to the apartment. Ale and I considered driving to George (about 30 minutes each way) to watch a movie in the theater but Jill had no interest in that. 

We worked on planning more of our trip and got a rough outline. I put our Mac and cheese in the oven. Ale said it was good but some parts tasted like poison. I would agree with that as some parts had a weird chemical taste. Jill made tea for everyone. I took a shower and attempted to read again. We shared a load of laundry and Jill hung it on the drying rack. Later on we had leftover mac and cheese but I had a couple of pieces in a row that tasted weird so I threw mine out and Ale and I decided to throw the rest of the tray away. Jill mixed together cabbage and salad dressing and we ate that and she cooked green beans. I did the dishes, including Ale's that she hadn't washed over the last day. Ale went out to get some wine. I said I'd share some. She said she felt fine going by herself. I thought to myself okay, that makes up for the dishes, although I don't quite understand why she's not doing her own. Ale messaged and said they don't sell alcohol after 5 p.m. on Sundays. She came back later and brought sparkling water and cranberry juice. We mixed those to make our own mocktails. She also brought sheet face masks for the three of us and a chocolate bar to share. We watched the movie Sleepover and used our face masks and drank our mocktails. Ale wanted to watch another movie after that but I didn't find it interesting so I went to bed early. 

I woke up around 7:30. I put on makeup but Jill told me I looked like a geisha so I washed it off. Jill had made coffee already. I had a cup and then made a second French press full. Today we have about an hour drive to our next destination. We're hoping to hike today. Fingers crossed for better weather!

Ale was in the bathroom and I noticed Jill crying. She told me about a fight she is having with her partner. I tried to help her talk through it. She stopped crying after a while. We left our apartment right before 10. Wle drove the 45 minutes to Stellenbosch. It's a bit scary still being in the passenger side as it appeared we were getting very close to other cars on the left on the highway. We made it to Stellenbosch safely and went to the hostel we'd stayed at the week before. We talked to the staff and they got our cheeses for us. We had a South African olive feta, a South African black pepper feta, a blue cheese, and a small jar of ginger preserves. Amazingly we got them all back. Ale asked if we could leave the car there while we went shopping. The staff said yes. We walked down the street to the mall. Ale saw a sporting goods store and she tried on some clothes. I went to a makeup store and bought a few things. I'd run out of most of my makeup months ago but thought it might be nice to have the option to use it when going out somewhere nice. The three of us went to a grocery store. We picked up more charcuterie items and things to go with the cheese. We also picked up pesto and pasta to have for dinner that night. We checked out and walked back to the hostel. We Googled parks as by that point it was 12:30 and we hadn't had breakfast. We decided to drive to a nearby park. We got there and there was no parking around the park. We circled the park a few times and then decided to go back to the hostel and ask if we could eat there. The hostel staff agreed and we sat at the tables outside and ate our cheeses, bread, olives, mango slices, hummus, and for Ale and I salami and ham. I had Coke Light left in a 2 liter bottle. Ale had gotten a coffee from Starbucks in the mall and she grabbed two cups for Jill and I to have the Coke Light. We enjoyed our lunch. 

When we left I took a turn driving. My biggest concern in Stellenbosch was that there are gutters on the side of all the roads. Very deep gutters. It would be easy to drive into one on the side especially because Ale and I tend to drift to the left here. I tried to be really cautious and made it out of Stellenbosch. I drove us an hour and a half to Hermanus. We got on a highway, had to go around some big semis, went through the mountains, and had to go through some construction zones but I think it went okay. Ale reminded me a few times that I was too far left and we've been giving each other reminders of which lane to go into at turns. We made it to Hermanus safely. We pulled up to our lodging. Ale messaged our host that we had arrived. She came out and opened the gate for us. There was a big wall to the left and a big tree to the right. I asked Jill to get out and guide me in parking safely. Jill suggested I back into the spot. It was a tight area and I can barely do that in a car back home so I said no thanks. I managed to park in our assigned spot although I had to back up a few times and get more straightened out. Our host showed us to our room. We had a little apartment with a kitchen, a table, a mini fridge, and a twin bed in one room. We had a bathroom. The other room had a queen sized bed and a shower but our host said not to use the shower because water will go everywhere. The apartment had a weird smell that seemed to be a mix of sulfur and sewage but otherwise was pretty good for $24 total. I requested the twin bed because after a night in the lounge chair I wanted a good night's sleep. Jill and I both toss and turn a lot in our sleep but Ale is a deep sleeper so Jill and Ale agreed to share the other bed. I figured Jill will get the better bed next time. I was ready to go out again but Ale said she wanted to rest for a while. I suggested we set alarms for an hour from then and then go out. Ale and Jill agreed to that. We all took a nap. Jill and I woke up to our alarms. Ale wanted to sleep more but we suggested she get up. We got

ready to go out. I backed out carefully and opened the gate with the remote. I drove us the ten minutes or so to the downtown area. I parked and we got out and looked around. We stopped by an art gallery. We saw that there was an event going on. A gallery employee told us that they were doing an art walk and there was free wine at all of the galleries downtown. He gave us a map of the galleries. I looked around at the art and next thing I knew I saw Ale with a full glass of wine. I guessed that meant I'd be driving us home too. Jill is taking a break from drinking until AfrikaBurn but she's not driving here. She lived in Australia for two years and drove there but still didn't want to drive here. We looked around at all the different galleries downtown and Ale had several glasses of wine. It seemed to be an affluent area. I saw some jewelry made out of snares - they'd been taken and made into jewelry as an anti poaching effort. I thought about buying some but didn't think I'd realistically wear it long term. I did think it was an awesome idea though. Part of the money for the jewelry goes to anti poaching efforts. We spent a couple of hours looking around. We decided to buy some water on the way back to the apartment because the water from the taps smelled weird. I drove us to a grocery store but they were closing at 8 and it was 7:45 and the parking lot had barriers to prevent people from entering. Ale said she'd run quickly and get water. Jill and I saw several police cars around and I thought we may get in trouble for being parked there. I backed up onto the road and circled the block. Ale called and said she had the water. I told her to be quick getting into the car. I pulled up and she was very slow getting into the car. I told her to hurry and it seemed like that slowed her down even more. I told her to come on because there were lots of cops around. She asked why they'd stop us and said there's nothing illegal about a person with water getting into a car. I said well but we're parked in the middle of a busy road. Ale was still standing by the side of the car then but finally she got in and I drove away. We got back to the apartment and I parked carefully. Jill made dinner- I offered to help but she said she could do it. I thought maybe that was mentally her contribution for the day since Ale and I had driven. Jill boiled our bottled water and cooked some pasta. She drained it and added cherry tomatoes and premade pesto. We ate dinner and after that we had tea. I started on the dishes but Jill went to take a shower and apparently the water became scalding hot in the shower if I did the dishes at the same time. I waited until Jill was done and then finished the dishes. Ale mentioned she'd seen a Mr. Price Sport in the mall that we'd driven by earlier. She wanted to go there in the morning. She said the mall opened at 9. I reminded her our breakfast reservation was for 10 but if we went right at 9 we could go before breakfast. I said in that case we should wake up at 8. Ale agreed to that. Ale seemed to want to stay up talking. Jill went to bed. I got ready for bed and tried to hint that I was going to bed but Ale continued to talk for a while. Eventually we were both able to go to bed. 

Jill and I woke up at 8. I took a shower. Ale was up but laid in bed until 8:30. I reminded her we had a reservation at 10. She said it wouldn't take her long. Jill and I were ready before 9 but Ale was out at 9:15. She said she wouldn't be long at the mall. She asked Jill and I to pick up an aux cord and a phone holder for the dashboard of the car. Jill and I went and picked that up. We had agreed to meet at the car by 9:45 at the latest. We went into Mr. Price Sport and found Ale trying on clothes at 9:35. She said she was almost done. At 9:45 she wasn't out yet. I messaged her. I called her at 9:55 and she didn't answer. She came out to the car at 10. She did buy two pairs of leggings so at least I'm hoping that's our last stop on the search for athletic pants for her to replace the ones she lost. Jill told Ale she needs to be on time. Ale said the restaurant isn't

going to not let us eat there because we're late. I said they might. We got to the restaurant at 10:10 and they did seat us. We went to Bientang Cave Restaurant. It's a restaurant in a cave with a view of the ocean. It was really cool! We each had two Americanos. I had an omelet filled with bacon, cheese, and vegetables. Ale ordered breakfast too but Jill just stuck with coffee. Ale is a slow eater and very talkative so I finished my food about 45 minutes before she did. When she finished we got on the road. I asked Jill to take a turn in the passenger seat navigating and I asked Ale to take the first turn of driving. Today we've got about a three and a half hour drive! This should be our longest drive day for a while - we'll be traveling along the Garden Route and there's lots of fun stops along the way.

After resting a while I went to the hostel bar to see if any of the others were there. I saw one of my roommates and chatted to her. Her name is Kati and she is from Germany. Flo came after a while and we played cards. We invited Kati to join but she said she'd just watch. Larissa and Jill came later and we played cards with them too. We headed out for Larissa's goodbye dinner. It was pouring rain. I ordered an Uber for Emil, Flo, Larissa, Jill, Jill's hostel roommate Celine, and I. We got to the restaurant and I got out of the car. The driver told me I'd clicked cash for the ride and he asked for payment. I stood in the street in the pouring rain trying to get my cash out. I accidentally knocked my heavy steel water bottle out of the side of my backpack and it rolled onto the street. I saw cars coming and was worried a car would run over it and the bottle could potentially damage the car. I ran and grabbed my bottle and got out of the road. I went to the passenger side of the car and handed the driver 100. It was 68 rand for the Uber and my driver gave me change. I ran inside with the others. Flo asked me to please change my default Uber settings immediately. I think it's because one of my credit cards is expiring or maybe because I was in India and had to pay with cash for Ubers there. 

I sat by Celine and Jill for dinner. Katherine, Ale, and Matt were already there. Our waiter brought out free hot green tea and I had a beer, sparkling water, miso soup, a spicy salmon sushi roll, and a spicy tuna sushi roll. The food was all good. We all talked about our good memories of the trip throughout dinner. I tried to explain inside jokes to Celine and tried to make our stories make sense to her. I thought it was a bit odd that Jill had invited her roommate to a goodbye dinner for our group but Celine seemed very nice. There was no one else in the restaurant. After dinner we sang the Easter song I'd written that day and Celine took a video for us. The song was 3 minutes and 30 seconds long. After that we settled the bill. We'd talked about going to the hostel bar after that. It was a 15 minute walk and Ale kept saying she thought we'd be fine to walk in a group and didn't need to take an Uber. Most of the rest of us said we'd rather take an Uber for safety. Ale asked the waiter if it would be okay to walk to the hostel since we had a big group. He said definitely not. A second waiter shouted no from across the room. We needed to order two Ubers because there were too many of us. Most of the group went in one and Flo, Larissa, and I waited for a second one. The group was in the car and said they'd wait until our Uber arrived. We told them it was fine and the Uber was one minute away. As soon as they left a homeless guy came and started talking to us and he was swaying from side to side. We ran back into the restaurant and waited there. We got to the hostel and the others said their Uber driver was really reluctant to leave us waiting there and had said to them we should wait inside. Something to note for next time, I suppose. 

We all hung out at the bar. I actually had a nice conversation with Katherine about travel. We were talking to Celine too and again I had to give a lot of backstory on some of our shared memories. Katherine left to go back to her hotel. I continued to talk to Celine for a while. I got her contact information in case we end up at the same places when we're doing the garden route. Celine went to bed. I joined Matt, Ale, and a South African woman named Xander. We chatted for a while and I went to bed around midnight. 

In the morning Jill and I met for breakfast at 8:30. I had yogurt, boiled eggs, and I bought an Americano. Jill said she was debating ordering a coffee. I said I thought she should because it was our last breakfast there and the coffee was good. Jill had several courses of breakfast. I was going to leave to get ready for the day but Jill asked if I was going to leave before she ordered her coffee, in a tone that implied I should not. I said no and sat back down. Two Dutch girls joined us at the table and I chatted to them and Jill was on her phone. After Jill finished her coffee I went and finished getting ready and packed up my stuff. We checked out at 10 and messaged Ale. She had rented an apartment for the three of us and had been staying there with her friend Jolene before that. We asked Ale if she was up and ready for us to come over because she would need to let us in the building. We called and messaged Ale but she didn't respond. We went back to the breakfast area and sat for a while. Ale messaged at 10:45 and said she'd just woken up but she was ready for us now. Jill said she was just going to call her mom first. Jill video called her mom and introduced me to her. Jill's mom gave me a tour of their house and her garden and showed me the different plants. I didn't want to be rude but I was ready to move over to the apartment so after ten minutes or so I nudged Jill. Jill said goodbye to her mom. Jill downloaded Uber. She said she'd never used it because normally other people pay for rides. I had suggested that she order it as I'd ordered several recently. She called an Uber. Our driver was from Cameroon and was a woman. Jill told our driver she was excited to see a woman Uber driver and she'd never had that before. Jill is thinking about volunteering with chimpanzees in Cameroon after South Africa so she chatted with our driver about it. We got to the apartment and let Ale know we were there. Ale came down and let us in. The building is nice and it's in a good area. We have a studio apartment with one regular bed and a sofa bed. We settled in and I suggested we do some trip planning. Ale kept saying she didn't want to plan anything and just wanted to drive and see what looks cool. I tried not to be pushy but still wanted to communicate that I thought we should at least look up things we'd like to see and book things a couple days in advance. I wanted to make the most of our time in South Africa. Ale kept saying we'll just see what we find on the way. She'd also messaged the hostel in Stellenbosch about our cheese and apparently they found it. Ale wanted to drive back to Stellenbosch to get our cheese. I told her I'll buy her new cheese instead but in the end we decided that we will go back. We also talked about buying a tent and a camp stove. We decided against camping other than at AfrikaBurn because it's chilly at night here and with three of us it's pretty cheap to get an Airbnb most places. That also took the rush off of having to get camping gear. All we'd established was that we were doing the garden route with a stop in Stellenbosch and that we weren't going to camp. Ale wanted to go for lunch. I said maybe we should get more planning done first but Jill also said she wanted to get lunch. Matt came and met us to go to lunch together. We walked to a Thai restaurant but it was closed. We walked to an Indian restaurant. I had sparkling water, mango lassi, rice, and Ale and I shared chicken kadai, a curry dish with paneer, cheese stuffed bread, and garlic naan. Everything was good although both curries tasted sweet. For all my food and drinks it was about $12. It was much cheaper than some of the restaurants we'd been to in Cape Town. After lunch Matt left and the three of us went to the grocery store and got laundry detergent, coffee, snacks, shampoo, and yogurt. We wanted to get eggs for breakfast but the only cartons we saw had 60 eggs in them and we didn't think we'd eat that many. I asked how we should split the cost as we were all sharing these items. Jill and Ale both said they didn't have cash and we could just pay for a couple things each. I ended up with the bulk of the items and Jill said she'd pay for the shampoo (I paid for shampoo last time anyway). Ale paid for milk and honey, both of which Jill and I had told her we wouldn't use. After that we went to a liquor store and Ale did pay for gin and tonics. I gave her money for a third of it. Ale wanted to walk home but I told her I didn't think it was a good idea since we were carrying plastic bags of things. She was insistent she wanted to walk but I said I'd pay for an Uber and so she agreed. Several homeless people approached us while we waited. I felt bad for one and gave him a bag of popped popcorn. Ale told me I should have given him an apple instead because popcorn isn't really filling. I thought to myself apples really aren't that filling either. Jill told Ale not to criticize me when I'm doing something nice for someone. Unfortunately after that several homeless people saw me give that man popcorn and they came over and asked for food. A security guard came over and told them to leave us alone. Thankfully our Uber had just pulled up anyway. 

We got to the apartment and put our groceries away. Jill did a load of laundry and then I did one. It's very nice having our own washing machine and we have a drying rack. Matt messaged and said he wanted to book the shark cage diving for the next day. We booked it but then we got a message that they weren't doing it the next day but were doing it on the third. We agreed the third would work -that day is Matt's birthday. I brought up the planning again and we at least agreed on our first stop along the garden route and agreed that we'll be leaving Cape Town on the 5th. Ale agreed to drop me off in Durban on the 17th so I can fly to meet Steve. Originally she was saying I could take the bus from Port Elizabeth but it's 13 hours and I told her I don't feel comfortable being in a bus in South Africa for that long with all of my stuff with me. I was able to book my flight. We got ready for dinner and took an Uber to meet the rest of the group at Mojo Market. It is yet another upscale food market. There was loud karaoke going on and lots of international food stalls. There were cool neon lights and plants everywhere. It was a very nice place. Katherine, Flo, Emil, and Matt arrived and we walked around and looked at our options. I got a Korean fried chicken wrap and charred corn on the cob. I also got a draft beer. We went to sit upstairs as far from the music as possible. Ale and Jill disappeared at one point and didn't come back. The rest of us sat and chatted while we ate. Flo, Emil, and Katherine had gone on a penguin tour that day and they told Matt and I about it. After a while we started walking towards the music, figuring Ale and Jill were dancing. We came across the two of them sitting at a different table. They said they'd wanted to be closer to the music. We sat with them and they went on their phones and weren't talking. Katherine said the music was giving her a splitting headache and she wanted to go back where we were. The rest of us went back with her and sat where we had been sitting. 

After a while Ale came and invited everyone to come to our apartment. Everyone accepted our invitation and we split into two Ubers. We got to the apartment and shared our gin and tonics with everyone except Katherine (who only wanted water) and sat around chatting and listening to music. We had a really nice time with everyone. Katherine left around 11 and we told her goodbye. She was leaving the next morning but we will be in Cape Town on the 28th so may get dinner then. Her tour leader told her she can bring up to 6 bottles of wine in her carry-on luggage, which we all thought was wild. Everyone else left after midnight. Ale had been sleeping in the real bed and so naturally she slept in it again. Jill and I couldn't figure out how to open the sofa bed, which we'd been planning to share, but she slept on the lounge and I slept on the couch. 

In the morning I got up and got ready for the day. I had some yogurt and grapes and Jill made coffee in the French press. Ale and Jill decided they didn't want to meet the others at the beach, they just wanted to relax that morning. Emil, Matt, and Flo said they were still planning to go to the beach. I took an Uber and met them at Clifton Beach. We stopped by the public restroom. There was a coffee mug sitting on the sink and Flo accidentally knocked it into the sink and it broke. We didn't know why it had been there in the first place or whose it was. When we came out Matt asked if there were any bog trolls in there. He elaborated by saying that's what they call bathroom attendants in the UK. We said nope no bog trolls. We sat on the beach for a while. We all wanted to do a polar plunge in the ocean. We took turns. Flo and I went together and held hands and ran into the ocean. Emil filmed us. We submerged our heads in the freezing water and then got out quickly. Matt and Emil went together. After that we laid on the beach for a while longer. It started to sprinkle rain around 12:30. We walked down the street and looked at the beach and the restaurants. We told Flo to pick the restaurant because her flight was that afternoon. I messaged Ale and she said she and Jill would come but needed to shower first. Flo picked a cafe and we sat outside. I had a bloody Mary, a salmon poke bowl, and an order of thin cut fries. Everything was really good. I had lots of food left over and at first was thinking maybe when the others got there they could eat it. I then remembered that we had a fridge and I could take my leftovers to eat later. I got a to go box. It was almost 2 and Flo needed to leave soon. I hadn't heard any updates from Ale. I messaged her and she said she needed at least 30 more minutes and she probably wouldn't make it before Flo needed to leave. I could tell Flo was disappointed about not getting to say goodbye to Ale and Jill. She shared a tent with Ale on our overland trip. Flo and I said goodbye to each other. I said goodbye to the others as well but we were planning to see each other later that day anyway. I got back to the apartment and Ale and Jill had just gotten ready. They left soon after I got there, they said they were going to go to lunch and go clothes shopping. Tonight we'll meet Emil and Matthew for dinner. It will be Emil’s goodbye dinner because he's flying out tomorrow afternoon and Jill, Matt, and I will be shark cage diving then. Tonight we're going to go to a Mexican restaurant. We have to be picked up at 4:30 a.m. for shark cage diving. Looking forward to seeing the sharks!

In the morning I met Emil for breakfast. Everyone else was running late. The hostel breakfast was amazing. There were lots of different fruits, yogurt, honey, toast, peanut butter, butter, cheese, tomato slices, boiled eggs, coffee, and tea. It was one of the better breakfasts I've had at a hostel! I selected two boiled eggs, yogurt with honey, a plum, cheese, and tomatoes. I also had three cups of coffee. Two of my roommates, Nadine and Johanna, came into the breakfast area and joined us at our table. We had an amazing view of Table Mountain from the breakfast table. We sat and chatted. Jill, Larissa, and Flo came out later. Larissa wasn't feeling well and the others were on their phone. I felt a bit bad that my friends were all being antisocial while I chatted with these two very nice and talkative girls. After breakfast we took an Uber to the V&A waterfront. We met Ale and her friend Jolene as well as Matt. We all boarded the boat. Ash, Alex, and Debra boarded later but there were no seats by us so we sat separately. We saw an otter out the window and some seals. It was about a 30 minute boat ride to Robben Island. There were TV's showing a documentary about the island but the speakers were messed up and there were loud screeching noises coming from the speaker box and the video wasn't working well on either TV and kept flickering black. I tried not to look at the TV because it made me feel a bit nauseous in conjunction with the waves. We made it to Robben Island and met up with Alex, Ash, and Debra. We boarded a big bus. None of us had realized that the island was so big that we'd need to drive around it. Our tour guide gave us information as we drove. We saw the leper cemetery, Irish cemetery, and the prison. We saw a couple of penguins. We got out and got a tour of the prison done by an ex convict who'd spent a few years on the island. We saw Nelson Mandela's cell as well as our guide’s cell. The tour lasted several hours. We then boarded the ferry back to Cape Town. We were all hungry, it was past 3 at that point and we hadn't eaten lunch. Flo asked if I had any snacks. I had some caramels and a bag of peanuts and raisins in my backpack. I shared my snacks with everyone. We arrived at the waterfront. Ash, Alex, and Debra left and the rest of us went to a seafood restaurant. We'd been talking about doing a free walking tour but it would have started at 4 and we'd need to Uber there plus we still hadn't properly eaten. We decided against it. At the fish market the waiter gave us all vouchers for a free glass of wine. I had red and everyone else had white. I was tempted by the sushi, I'd been craving it for over a month but every time I tried to get it there was some reason I couldn't, such as the group changing their minds about where to eat or the restaurant being out. I ordered the sushi but was told it would be a very long wait so decided against it. I tried to order healthyish and I do really like oysters so I ordered four oysters and a side of steamed vegetables. I messaged Jill where we were and she and Katherine came to meet us. Katherine ordered a dessert and Jill had her free glass of wine. 

After lunch I wanted to get more steps in. Jill and I walked back from the waterfront to our hostel, which was about 3 miles. The city center reminded me of European cities. There's a lot of wealth in Cape Town but also a lot of homeless people. There were a lot of amazing looking restaurants from all different kinds of cuisine that we saw. We made it back to the hostel and rested for a bit. I met Jill, Flo, Emil, and Larissa at 6:45 and walked to a place called Our Local. There we met Fin, Amos, Tom, Ellie, Rosa, and Katherine. Katherine arrived after I'd sat down and she added a chair next to mine. I debated between two dishes. Katherine told me to get the one that has corn because she knows how much I love it. I did go with that one. It had quinoa, cooked vegetables, miniature corn, almond slivers, and tahini on it. Amos ordered nuts with honey and a side of olives for everyone to share. I had a sparkling water. Katherine got into an argument with Amos over whether or not someone can get all their nutrients in a vegetarian diet. Amos said you can and he's done it. Katherine said you absolutely can't. I knew Alex, Ash, and Debra were doing their own thing for dinner but they wanted to meet us for drinks. I messaged and asked what their ETA was but didn't get a response. After a while I decided I would just go back to the hostel and rest unless I heard from Alex. About half the group had been feeling sick and said they were going to go to bed early. Most of the group had been quiet at dinner and it really didn't seem like it was going to be a night to party. I said good night to everyone. Jill and I walked back together. I read in bed for a while and then Alex started messaging saying they were almost done. I mentioned the group was at the restaurant but I was at the hostel. Alex said she'd meet me at the hostel and we could go from there. Alex and Ash arrived at the hostel around 10:30. The bar at the hostel was really bumping- there was good music going and lots of people dancing. We decided to stay there for a bit. We chatted and had some drinks. We had springbok shots, which are creme de menthe and amarula. After that we took an Uber to meet the others. They had moved to a bar. Katherine,Tom, and Amos had left already and the group seemed tired. Emil, Flo, Fin, Larissa, Matt, Ale, and Jolene were at the bar. Alex, Ash, and I ordered drinks but the others left shortly after we got there. Alex and I said to each other that the dads (Tom and Amos) were more fun than the kids. We stayed at the bar for a while. Alex started talking to a local woman named Amanda. She recommended a club called the Stack to us. We went there and I think it was the worst club I've ever been to. It was a grunge music bar. I hated the music and no one was dancing. People were either playing chess or sitting at tables talking. We stayed for a while and then went back to Alex and Ash’s Air BNB. It was super nice. They had a really high ceiling and even a chandelier. There were multiple claw foot bathtubs in the apartment and a library with a moving ladder like in Beauty and the Beast. We sat on the balcony and had some wine. I slept in the spare room because we finished talking around 4 a.m. and none of us thought it would be a good idea for me to take an Uber by myself that time of night. 

In the morning I met Jill, Emil, Larissa, and Flo for breakfast. I put crushed Oreos in my yogurt and had some cheese, pineapple, and a coffee. I also had a tea. Jill cried at breakfast but insisted she didn't want to talk about it. We had been planning to meet the rest of the group to go on the cable car up Table Mountain but they were saying the line was estimated to be two hours. We decided to go later in the day and to go to the Old Biscuit Market first. We went to the market. Larissa said she didn't realize we were going to the market and not the cable car. We'd all been talking about it during breakfast and she was sitting with us but I guess she was lost in her own thoughts at the time. We told her she could still Uber to meet the others if she wanted to go on the cable car with them. She said no, she didn't want to do that. Larissa kept crying at various points throughout the morning. We all asked if she wanted to talk about it and she said no. We weren't sure if it was because she really wanted to go with the others to the cable car or if there was something else going on. 

The market was amazing. There were food stalls with all different kinds of food - sushi, lobster rolls, Malaysian food, etc. I got a sweet and sour lemonade and a sushi roll. We looked around at the shops in the area too. Jill saw a jacket she liked but it was $230. We looked at a couple of free art galleries. I got a coconut and drank the water and ate the coconut meat. After lunch we took an Uber to the Greenmarket. We looked around at the vendors but none of us bought anything from them. I got a sparkling water from a convenience store. We walked from there to the place that Amos, Tom, Ellie, Rosa, and Fin had been staying. Emil, Flo, and Larissa had really wanted to see them one more time before they left. They hadn't been communicating well about what time they'd be back at their hostel. We got there and then got a message they were going out to eat. We walked to the restaurant. I wasn't hungry so I said goodbye to the family and Jill and I walked back to our hostel. I took a 45 minute nap. 

When I woke up I met the others and Katherine at the hostel pool. We sat and chatted for a few minutes and then Larissa, Flo, and I took an Uber to the base of the Table Mountain cable car. We waited less than five minutes in the ticket line and were able to get on the cable car right away. There were only a few other people on the cable car with us. It was very big and it made a full rotation on each ride. Parts of it were open and it moved pretty fast. It went up the mountain and we admired the view. The three of us looked around at the top and then admired the sunset. After that we took the cable car back down. Flo tried to get an Uber but it wasn't working. We decided to take the free shuttle down the mountain and try from there. We got onto the shuttle and it started to pull away right as Flo got confirmation that someone had accepted our ride. Flo tried to cancel it but she lost connection to WiFi. Larissa let her use her hot spot but Flo was unable to cancel the Uber. We got to the bottom of the mountain. Flo tried to message the driver and call him and ask if he could pick us up at the bottom. He didn't answer and drove past us. A man came up and asked if we were okay and if we needed a ride. I think if anything that added to our anxiety about being out in the open clearly stranded. We told him we were fine. Flo cancelled the ride because even after talking to the driver he didn't understand what we were saying. We were charged a cancellation fee. Larissa ordered a new Uber. We hid in some bushes in the dark while we waited for the new Uber. Finally our Uber arrived and we went back to the hostel. We met Emil and walked to a pizza place. Jill was on the phone but asked us to bring her back some pizza. We walked down the street and decided to get a pizza to share. We got half mushroom for Emil and Jill and on Flo and I's side we got margherita. Larissa didn't want any pizza. The only thing I'd seen her eat in three days of having all meals together was a sandwich earlier that day. She claimed she wasn't hungry but eventually she ate one piece of pizza. After dinner we walked back to the hostel and sat by the pool. Jill came out to eat her pizza. We hung out for a bit by the pool and then I went to bed early. 

I woke up in the morning at 7 and met the others for breakfast at 7:30. I had a boiled egg, yogurt, watermelon, and an orange. The water for coffee hadn't boiled yet and it was in a giant pot. I ordered an Americano from the bar. We sat and ate breakfast and met Jill's roommate Celine from Switzerland. Celine decided to join us for a hike up Lion's Head. Larissa was going on a penguin tour so after breakfast (where she ate two pieces of watermelon) we said bye but had plans to have dinner together. Celine offered to drive Emil, Flo, Jill, and I to the start of the hike. We piled into her rental car and went to the start of the trail. Matt was waiting for us there. We greeted him and started the hike. There was a part where the paths diverged. One way was the “recommended route” and one warned about using ladders and chains at your own risk. Given the amount of times I have fallen when just walking on an even surface, I didn't feel comfortable going the ladders way. No one else wanted to go the recommended way. I thought about going with them because I didn't want to hike alone but I also didn't like the idea of hiking where I needed to rely on a chain. There were lots of tourists around due to being a holiday weekend so I went the recommended route by myself. There were still places I needed to climb up rocks. I went slowly and carefully. A guy carrying his dog passed me at one point. I met the others up top. We sat for a few minutes but it was really misty so we couldn't see anything. Everyone said the hard way actually wasn't hard or scary at all so we went down that way. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd expected. I tried to be really careful and managed not to fall. After that we drove back to the hostel. I ordered another Americano while people were changing clothes. We walked from the hostel to Bo Kap, which is the Malaysian area of Cape Town. We looked at a couple of art galleries and admired the colorful houses in the area. We thought about going to a Pakistani restaurant in the area but they didn't have many vegetarian options (for Jill and Flo) so we decided to go somewhere else. We decided to take an Uber back to the Old Biscuit Market. They had a DJ again and we walked around and looked at the food vendors. I got Japanese inspired fried cauliflower with noodles, a rose strawberry tea, and a Malaysian donut. The diet is not going well but the food was delicious. The drink was too sweet but I drank it anyway because I didn't want to waste it. After that we took an Uber back to the hostel and are resting for the time being. We're planning to go out to dinner as a group tonight. Matt, Ale, Jill, Jolene, Larissa, Flo, Emil, Katherine, and I are planning to go in honor of Larissa’s last night here. The group asked me to write an Easter song so I did and I think we'll sing it tonight. Ash and Alex are doing things with Alex's mom tonight but I'm hoping to meet up with them after dinner. They're leaving tomorrow. I think Jill, Ale, and I will move into an Air BNB for the next few days. Ale’s friend Jolene will leave tomorrow and then we'll probably stay here until after Matt's birthday on the 3rd.

We stopped for a bushy bushy stop on the way to our campground. Rosa had said she couldn't hold it until the next service station. Fin suggested that everyone put their Crocs into sports mode in case we had to run for it. We used the bathroom and a car pulled up. We all thought we might be being hijacked but it turned out Laurine had a friend who was driving by and saw her. Laurine chatted to her friend for a couple of minutes and we got back on the road. We made it to our campground. Jill and I set up our tent. I put on my swimsuit and went to the pool. The water was cold. I put my legs in. A big tile fell off where I stepped beside the pool and I almost fell in. Katherine said I have all these ridiculous stories about breaking things but then when she spends time around me she sees these things actually happen. I sat by the pool for a bit and then took a shower. There was a nice view of the mountains through a window in the shower. Flo suggested that I borrow a dress from her for the wine tasting. I borrowed a dress but my options for shoes were pink Crocs or yellow running shoes. I wore Crocs. Katherine's cook group was making dinner that night. They all wanted to go to the wine tasting except for her so Katherine agreed if they prepped ingredients for dinner she could finish making it by herself. Katherine made a lentil Bolognese. The rest of us went to the campground winery and had a tasting. We had several kinds of white wine, red wine, and a port. We also had a cheese board. The tasting was $10. All of the wines and cheeses were very good. I sat next to David and Jill. David said on all the trips he's been on he's gotten along with everyone, but he finds Katherine quite challenging. One person from each table was nominated to give a speech. Amos gave a heartfelt speech and I gave a joke speech. I told people twice that I didn't want them to film my speech but two people did anyway. After that we all went to the campground and ate lentil Bolognese. I'm not sure why Katherine wanted to recreate the worst meal we'd had on the trip. After dinner we went back to the bar. Ash, Alex, Emil, and I split a bottle of wine and the group danced for a couple of hours in the bar. We all went to bed around midnight. I woke up at 5:45. Katherine made bacon - there was enough for one piece each. I also had one fried egg, two pieces of toast and a coffee. We got on the road at 7. We drove until 2 p.m. or so and stopped for a couple of toilet stops. We got to our hostel. We looked around and saw that we had been given three dorm rooms. Alex's mom was there- we got to meet her. Her name is Debra. Debra had her own room with a double bed and a set of bunk beds so Alex and Ash roomed with her. The Australians roomed together. The boys got one dorm room, except Matt, who said he'd just camp. The girls got the third dorm room. There were 8 remaining girls and 7 dorm beds so Larissa went into the boys dorm. Our room was tiny. There was barely enough space for all of our bags even with trying to put things under our beds. Jill was planning to sleep in the girls dorm but the first night she ended up camping. She said it was because she didn't like how crowded the room was. After that I went to lunch with Katherine, Matt, Jill, and Ale. We went to a place called Casa Cerveza. I was hoping they would have Mexican food. They ended up having a lot of different kinds of foods but very little Mexican. Ale admitted it was her birthday. I bought her a beer with lunch. We sat outside. It was around 3 at that point and we were hungry. We had flatbread, grilled eggplant with cheese, and bitterballen to share. I got nachos as my main. Katherine started to bring up Lynne and the cook group drama. Ale also said that Lynne was rude to JB one time and that she was rude when she thought we couldn't go on the helicopter ride. I really did not like the direction the conversation was going. I tried to get it to be more positive. I said it was really impressive that Lynne was doing a trip like this at 68 years old. Katherine asked why that was impressive. I said because I think Lynne rarely complained and she was pretty fit to be able to do a trip like this. Katherine said she disagreed. She said Lynne lives on a farm and is used to roughing it. I thought to myself that doesn't mean that it's not still impressive. Lynne lives in a house and sleeps in a bed normally. Katherine was very adamant that it was not impressive that Lynne was on a trip like this. I managed to change the subject. Katherine wanted to go to the Bureau de Change after lunch but she was tired so we offered to change her money for her. I needed to change some too. I had leftover nachos from lunch. I got a to-go box and asked Katherine to put them in the hostel fridge for me. Matt, Ale, Jill and I walked to the Bureau de Change. The worker said they were out of cash. We went to Starbucks and Ale got her free birthday drink. We were walking back to the hostel and I tried to go around a car parked on a driveway. Instead I tripped on the gutter and fell into the street. One of my Crocs went flying into the street. Jill rescued my Croc. Everyone gathered around me and asked if I was okay. I was in shock and in a lot of pain. Everyone yelled at me that I needed to get off the road. We went onto the person's driveway and sat for a bit. I finally felt capable of hobbling to the hostel. We ran into the Australians on the way back. Michelle told me she had some antiseptic cream and bandaids at the hostel that she could give me. I skinned my left knee, skinned my right ankle, and skinned a bit of my left elbow. We walked back to the hostel. I took a shower and put on the bandaids. I laid in bed for a while and rested. 

I got up for dinner and all of the girls put on dresses. Katherine suggested I wear her flip flops instead of my Crocs. I did so and we all walked to dinner. Ellie had braided several of the girls' hair- including mine. Ale was in a bad mood. She asked Jill to tell her a joke to cheer her up. I asked Ale what happened. She said Katherine took her purse from the common area without her noticing and rifled through her bag to find her passport. She looked at Ale’s passport to find out her age and then went around to people telling them how old Ale is. Ale said she would have been less upset if Katherine did it in front of her but the fact that she was sneaky about it made Ale mad. 

We went to a German restaurant for a group dinner. I had German Mac and cheese with spaetzle and bacon. I sat by Alex, Ash, Deb, Ellie, Ale, and Jill. I also had peach iced tea. We all chatted at dinner- it was a noisy and busy restaurant even on a Monday. The food was good. Laurine bought two birthday cakes for Ale. The waitress brought out the cake and we sang to her. After dinner several of us went back to the hostel. I went to bed early. In the morning I got ready for the day. I had been planning to get up at 8:30 but the other girls were up at 7:30 so I woke up too. I put back on my one dress. Several of the other girls put on makeup but I didn't feel like it. I realized my nachos had gone missing from the fridge. I had seen them there the night before. I'd been planning to eat them for breakfast. Jill offered me some of her breakfast- garlic bread and couscous. I accepted her offer. Matt brought me a coffee. He brought Ale a breakfast sandwich. He refused to take any money for either. We all headed out on the winery tour around 9:30. Everyone in the group went. Larissa and Katherine went along but they didn't drink. We went to four different wineries and had wine tastings at each. We had an included lunch. I chose bobate- it is ground beef with eggs. It was served with rice. It reminded me of meatloaf. We also had a cheese pairing at one of the wineries. Ale and I bought some cheese to have later. My knee was hurting throughout the tour and I hobbled along. Our tour ended at 5:30. I laid down for a nap at the hostel. 

I woke up at 9:30 p.m. I hadn't meant to sleep so long. Katherine and Ale were getting ready for bed. Katherine asked if I wanted something to eat. I said yes and she brought me her leftover quesadilla from dinner. I ate it and went to get my Coke Zero from the fridge. I had an unopened liter bottle. It wasn't there anymore and I knew I hadn't drank it. I settled for water. Ale and I's cheese was missing too. I messaged Alex and she said she was at Casa Cerveza. She sent Ash and Ellie to come get me so I wouldn't have to walk alone. I went to Casa Cerveza and had a glass of wine. My knee was miraculously feeling much better. Flo, Alex, Ellie, Rosa, Fin, Emil, and I went to a club called Fool's Gold. We danced for about 30 minutes and then the place closed. We went back to the hostel and went to bed. 

I woke up around 8 and saw Jill had moved into a bed in the dorm. We all got ready for the day. I went to a cafe down the road and got a coffee to go. I asked about bagels but they said they would take ten minutes and I didn't have much time. I went back to the hostel and got on the truck. We all rode about an hour to Cape Town. We chatted on the way. Once in Cape Town we got checked into our hostel. Flo, Emil, Larissa, Jill, Ale, Katherine, and I were in one dorm room. Everyone else paid to upgrade to a private room. Laurine said anything we didn't want to take we could leave on the truck and she'd take it to an orphanage. We all spent some time getting our things organized. My stuff has expanded significantly over the past five months of traveling. It didn't really matter when we could throw everything in the truck but now having to carry it is ridiculous. Some things I'll donate when I go back home but I need them for the next month and a half of travel- like my wool blanket and pillow. After we got organized I went with Katherine, Flo, Jill, Matt, and Emil to the V&A waterfront. We took an Uber ten minutes or so. We went to a very fancy food market- they had an Indian food stand, a burger place, an ice cream shop, a ramen place, etc. You ordered at the counter and then sat at long tables in the dining area. I ordered ramen with fried chicken on the side. The noodles were supposedly hand made and my meal was delicious. I also had a Coke Zero and ended up getting a scoop of lemon sorbet for dessert. My ramen was $14 and the ice cream was $2.60. I thought that was a bit pricey for ordering at the counter. Katherine ordered a chapati, ramen, two scoops of ice cream, and a chocolate dessert that came with dry ice on the side for photos. The group has said at various points that Katherine eats more desserts than anyone else we've ever met and she spends a lot on food. 

Ale and Matt had gotten beers and they were taking a long time to finish them. Katherine, Emil, Flo, and I decided to go walk around. We went into a craft market and looked around. I bought a card with a painting of a Caricol on it to give to Laurine. Flo mentioned that on Easter Day the botanic garden is playing Shrek 2 in their outdoor theater. We agreed we'd like to go to that. Katherine and I looked for suitcases because her stuff has also expanded significantly. We did not find any. Emil wanted to get a coffee. We sat at a cafe on the waterfront and had just gotten menus. I didn't really want anything so when I saw Jill, Ale, and Matt walking by I leapt at the chance to go with them. We walked around together and looked at a couple of souvenir shops. Ale was still pretty upset about Katherine going through her things and she was in a bad mood. Jill is in an on and off relationship that's only been going on for 3 months and is long distance. They were fighting and so Jill was morose. Matt and I were in good moods anyway but I think we were trying to tread lightly with the others. We ran into the Australians while walking around and we said hi to them. We got an Uber back to the hostel after an hour or so. We all rested for a while. The lock to our dorm room was complicated and I had to keep getting up to let people in.

We got ready for dinner. All the girls wore dresses. We took taxis to a place Laurine had reserved called Marcos. We sat at two tables and were told about the specials. The specials were things like sheep's head, goat brain, etc. I went for a fish fillet with beans. Music started playing and we could hardly hear each other talk even when shouting. A band played pop songs but slowed down and with an African twist. I had a glass of rosé. Our food came and I'd eaten half before Ash realized I was eating the kind of fish he'd ordered and not what I'd ordered. When the waitress had brought it Ash had thought it was the other way around so he'd suggested at that time that we swap. We swapped back. His fish had been much tastier than mine and the beans were really bland. My bill was $20, which is probably not much cheaper than what I'd pay for that at home. The overall consensus was that the food had been bad and the music was enjoyable but too loud and too long. Debra mentioned she forgot not one but two pairs of shoes in Stellenbosch. 

We went back to the hostel and went to the hostel bar. I gave Laurine her card and tip and the feedback form and I gave JB his tip. JB said he wanted my contact information so he could stay in touch. I told him it was in the group chat. Laurine and JB gave us speeches about the trip and the great time we've had. We then stood around talking at the bar for a couple of hours. Laurine said someone hadn't paid for their meal. We were over 1,000 rand short. No one admitted to not paying. I remembered paying. I've never seen Laurine lose her cool before but she was clearly annoyed about the missing money. The restaurant had called to ask her to pay our remaining balance. The money was coming out of her own pocket if no one would confess. The bar shut at midnight so we all went to bed. 

In the morning Ale told me that Katherine had grabbed her bag and rifled through it again to show someone else Ale’s age. Ale said she was very annoyed by it and told Katherine she didn't like that. She later heard Katherine telling Penny that Ale had chewed her out. Katherine messaged the group and suggested we all chip in 50 rand for the restaurant bill- no one had confessed to not paying. Katherine came into the room a bit later and started listing people that she knew had paid. The only people she didn't list were Ash, Alex, Debra, and I. I told her I know all of us paid. I was behind Ash in line and saw him pay for himself, Alex, and Deb. Katherine said she didn't know who it was then. I logged into my banking app and showed her that I paid. She said she trusts me and didn't mean that. Jill said it was a busy restaurant and she thinks they got us confused with another table. 

I went upstairs to the bar/restaurant. Laurine was up there. I said goodbye to her. Jill and Ale came up and ordered coffee. I had two Americanos and toast with pesto, tomatoes, mushrooms, and feta. My food was good. Jill and I decided that our diet would officially start today. The three of us talked about travel plans for the next couple of weeks. After breakfast we put our bags in the luggage storage. Ale taught English in Korea ten years ago and she has a friend named Jolene who lives in Johannesburg who taught with her. Jolene came to Cape Town to spend the next week with Ale. Ale left to meet her friend. Jill and I waited for the rest of the group to come back from breakfast. We saw an ad looking for stock models and saying they'd pay cash and do photo shoots all over Cape Town. Jill and I emailed them and told them we're interested but they haven't responded. We went to the grocery store and bought snacks for the day. We'd been sharing shampoo, I was going to buy more but Jill said we have enough to last until we leave Cape Town. We walked back to the hostel and waited for the others to be ready.

We split into two Ubers and went to the botanic garden. Amos, Emil, Larissa, Fin, Flo, Jill, and I went on a hike and Katherine, Ellie, Rosa, and Tom stayed in the botanic garden and looked around. We had to pay for the botanic garden in order to get to the start of the table mountain trek. We went up the Skeleton Gorge way. At points we had to climb ladders and at other points we had to climb up rocks. I could picture myself tumbling down the hill and tried to be especially careful. Larissa seemed concerned about me and insisted on offering me a hand at sketchy points and warning me about loose rocks and low hanging branches. We made it up about a third of the mountain, which took us an hour and a half. We ran into a couple and asked if we were almost at the top. They said it would be at least a three hour hike from where we were to the cable car. It was foggy and we couldn't see much for the view anyway. The couple told us there was a beach up just a bit that was worth seeing. We thanked them and went up to the beach. It was so misty we could barely see 5 yards in front of us and there was white sand everywhere. It felt like we were on another planet. We stayed up there for a bit and had some snacks- peanuts and raisins and dried mangoes. Fin went bushy bushy and Amos suggested hiding from him. We all hid but much to our disappointment Fin didn't have much of a reaction to that. It was cold and windy up there. Emil had an extra pair of long wool socks with him. He lent them to Larissa and she put them on her hands. They were not clean. 

We hiked down. I managed not to fall. I ate a banana. The others in the group messaged they were leaving the garden. The hiking group went to the restaurant in the botanic garden. I had a cup of tea and a bowl of soup. Jill didn't order any food but I gave her some soup. We ate lunch around 4 p.m. Amos ordered scones and they only brought him one when it described it on the menu as coming with two. Amos asked about the other scone and they said they ran out. They offered him a muffin instead, which he accepted. We found it odd that they didn't say anything about not having enough scones and it had seemed they were just hoping he wouldn't notice. After lunch we walked around the botanic garden for a while. Flo was cold and she and Larissa shared one of the socks on their hands. They tried to speak at the same time and act like they were conjoined twins. They did that for several hours. We finally got in two Ubers to take us back to the hostel. Flo, Emil, Jill, Larissa, and I had booked at the same hostel but it was a ten minute walk from where we'd stayed the night before. I'd wanted to move because the other place had free breakfast and looked nicer. We got our things from the luggage room and walked to our new hostel. I'd booked a 4 bed female dorm, Flo booked a six bed female dorm, Emil booked a 6 bed mixed dorm, Jill booked a 4 bed mixed dorm, and Larissa booked a 4 person female dorm. We all ended up in different dorm rooms. We talked afterwards that we should have all booked together or even gotten an AirBNB together. Our new hostel is nice. I've booked here for the next four nights but I'm guessing we'll stay in Cape Town through at least April 4th because Matt’s birthday is April 3rd and because quite a few of our friends from the group will be in Cape Town through then. My roommates are two German girls who are students and a model from Botswana who is here in Cape Town for a modeling job. They all seem very nice. We don't have bunk beds, we have nice sturdy beds that are individual. I'm excited about that. I met Flo, Emil, Larissa, and Jill at 8:20 and we went out for dinner. We were going to go to a Tex Mex place but it was really crowded. We went to Nando's instead. I got a bowl that had corn, rice, bell peppers, chicken, hot sauce, and spinach and I had sparkling water. Jill and Flo both ordered veggie wraps but both were served chicken and are pescetarians. Jill didn't notice in time and accidentally ate some chicken. They both sent their food back once they realized.

Everyone seemed really tired at dinner and wasn't very talkative. We came back to the hostel and I worked on writing this. Tomorrow Alex, Ash, Debra, Flo, Emil, Larissa, Matt, Ale, and I are going on a tour of Robben Island. It should last three hours and then Flo wants to get lunch on the waterfront. There's a free walking tour in the afternoon that I'd like to do. I'm excited to sleep in a nice bed tonight and for the free breakfast tomorrow!

We stopped by a convenience store and used the bathroom. I bought sparkling water, a Coke Zero, and some caramel chews. I attempted to buy a healthy snack but there was no fresh fruit. I bought some dried guava. We got to the border of Namibia and South Africa. We went through immigration on the Namibian side and then the South African side. We had to give our passports to JB for a bit. We all tried to convince JB to let us look at Ale’s passport to find out when her birthday is but Tom wrestled the passports out of JB’s hands so no one could get them. We know her birthday is either the 25th or 26th but she's been very secretive. We got back on the truck and drove less than twenty minutes to the campground. I insisted on waiting until Jill was ready to put up the tent with me. I refused to put it up by myself but I think she was trying to get out of it by waiting until I had put up the tent before getting out of the truck. Finally I out-waited her and she came and helped me put up the tent. By that point people were eating lunch. Ash and Alex had set out chunks of boiled potatoes with an herb and yogurt sauce as well as a salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and feta. It was 3:30 by the time we ate lunch. JB started washing the truck with a spray hose while we were eating and everyone got at least slightly wet. I had a big helping of lunch but justified it to myself by thinking at least all the ingredients were pretty healthy. I'd also just had a bit of the guava and had offered the rest to share. After lunch I helped wash up. I asked JB if he could help me fix my mattress when he got a chance. He said he was busy but he could help me later. Alex suggested that we could go for a walk. I was interested but Laurine said if we did that not to take anything valuable with us and not to go far. We decided against a walk. I changed into my swimsuit and went to the river. Laurine had told us we could swim across the river to Namibia if we wanted. Most people did that but I thought I might drown if I tried so I stayed closer to the South African side. The current felt pretty strong. We all stayed in the water for an hour or so. Several people accused me of pinching them but actually there were little fish that were biting us. People also accused me of putting small rocks in their swimsuits but actually it was just the motion of the river that was doing that. After a while we all got out. JB told me he was ready to help me with my mattress. There were several people around at that time. I blew up my mattress. JB put water from the tap all over it. The water coming out of the tap was also from the river and was yellow. We found a hole. JB marked the spot and said he'd wait until it dried and then he'd patch it. I thanked him and I went to shower. One of the bathrooms didn't have running water but I'd heard a further away one had it. Also the closer shower used unfiltered river water for the shower when the water was working and the further away one used a filter for the river water for the showers. I walked to the shower and saw Alex walking back from it. Alex warned me the pressure in the shower was terrible and not to put shampoo in my hair or to use too much soap. With that in mind I went to the shower and rinsed off. The water was barely more than a dribble but I tried to brush the small rocks off. The view from the shower was amazing - I could see across the river to Namibia. The bathroom was interesting. There were several signs warning that petty theft is rampant in the area and not to leave valuables unattended and not to take them into your tent overnight. After my shower I put on my pajamas and went to the bar. I sat with Ellie, Rosa, Jill, Ale, and Alex. We played three games of Skip Bo and then chatted for a while. I had a beer. The cook group would come and tell us that dinner was going to be ready in 30 minutes- but they did this several times so the time got later and later. I turned down all the snacks offered because of my new diet but I was starting to get hangry. Jill kept snacking and drinking beer but she said she wants to lose weight too and that we'll try to eat healthy when we're traveling together after the tour. Finally, just after 9, dinner was ready. I had seen rolls earlier and thought meh I'll resist the rolls and just have soup. What I didn't know was that they were making garlic bread with the rolls. That I found hard to resist. I had two pieces of garlic bread and some bean soup. It was very good. JB and Laurine gave us a briefing during dinner. JB said we won't be doing any bushy bushy stops anymore unless it's a true emergency. He said we'll try to wait until we get to service stations. He said the reason for this is there's a chance of getting hijacked if people see our truck by the side of the road. He said people know there's lots of money on these tourist trucks. He said if we don't give these people money they'll kill us. He said he's been hijacked before in a truck like this. Laurine made a couple of comments about as long as we're cautious we'll be fine. JB kept interjecting “they'll kill you” and he made slitting motions across his throat. On that note I got ready for bed. Jill went back to the bar. My mattress had deflated a bit but I pumped it up again right before going to bed. I slept through the night. 

I woke up at 5:45 and my mattress was fairly deflated but had held some air, so that was much better than it had been. Jill asked if I heard the commotion the night before. I said no. She said some guy had been underneath the truck and a security guard came along and was shouting at him “I'm gonna get you!”. Later, talking to people about it, the theory was that either he was hanging out there waiting for someone to leave the truck unlocked or he was about to break in but had hidden under the truck because he heard the security guard coming. Flo’s group was on cook duty. I had two pieces of toast with peanut butter and a coffee. We got on the road a few minutes after our scheduled departure time of 7. We drove a couple of hours to Springbok. We had an hour to shop and do errands. Laurine said she wanted to get a South African SIM card. I wanted to get one too so I went with her. That took us about 35 minutes to get set up. The SIM card cost 1 rand and I loaded it with about $10 worth of data. I then got some snacks and drinks. In an effort to be healthier, I bought a mixed bag of peanuts and raisins, a mixed box of red and green grapes, dried mango, and a liter of sparkling water. I also bought a bottled peanut butter smoothie and a Coke Zero. By the time I checked out I had ten minutes left. I got cash out of the ATM and went back to the truck. I felt like I had low blood sugar at that point. I chugged my smoothie. Someone spilled a drink on my things before I got on and they hadn't cleaned it up. It ruined about half of my remaining puzzle pages and I had a reusable grocery bag I was using to keep my stuff for drive days organized but I threw that away because it got sticky and gross. Thankfully I didn't have any electronics in the bag at the time. Today we're driving down to wine country. We're staying at a campground where we'll have a chance to sample wines made on site. The next day we're heading to Stellenbosch for more wine tasting and Alex's mom will join us on the trip! In Stellenbosch I think a lot of people wanted to upgrade from the dorm but there's no availability so Laurine said if we want we can camp there instead of staying in the dorm. I'm only one night behind Jill on the least amount of upgrades, so potentially I'd camp there if she is or even if she's not maybe I will so I can pull ahead of her. On the other hand, sleeping in a bed sounds nice!

We stopped by the Tropic of Capricorn and got a group photo with us sitting/standing on top of the truck by a sign. We stopped by a town called Solitaire on the way to our next campsite. It is the smallest town in Namibia and it looked like something out of a Wild West movie set with desert as far as the eye could see and an old gas station with carboys. It was hot at that point. Laurine told us there was a German bakery that's supposed to be really good. We all looked inside but opted for ice cream from the convenience store in the end. I had a chocolate one. We all piled back onto the truck after a while. We continued on to our campground. We camped in a place called Sesriem. It was right at the edge of Dune 45. We set up camp around 4. It was very windy and sandy. We had to put on the fly sheet and use pegs. We waited until Matt and Tom had chosen where to sleep and then pitched our tent as far as possible from them because of the snoring. I blew up my air mattress. I thought about asking JB to help me fix it but I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention from him. Ale had mentioned he messaged her and said he likes her and there was a heart and flower emoji. She showed me the messages. That made the third girl I know of who has had weird interactions with JB. Instead I changed into my swimsuit and went into the pool. I saw Ellie and Matt and we got in around the same time. Larissa and Katherine came a bit later and Larissa got in but Katherine stayed on the side. Jill came along and got in. We all hung out around the pool. Amos, Tom, and Flo came a bit later. There was a brick wall around and so there was protection from the intense wind. Katherine left for a bit and then came back. She said she had talked to 12 out of 17 people and they had all agreed to eat at the campground restaurant instead of having her cook group cook that night. She said she thought because of the wind the food would get really sandy. She said her group would cook the next time. She said she just needed to see if the rest of us agreed because it would mean Alex and Ash were cooking less than the rest of us because their turn would be skipped. I thought to myself I'd really rather just eat the food that's included instead of pay extra for a likely mediocre and overpriced meal from the campground restaurant. I figured I was outvoted as it was so I didn't say anything. I was internally fuming about Katherine phrasing the stuff about Alex and Ash in that way. They also cooked an extra meal in the delta, and Katherine didn't cook last time with her cook group- she had gone and rested while they cooked. Also Katherine hadn't included Jill in her statement even though Jill was in the same group as Alex and Ash. Most of the time Katherine leaves immediately after dinner and Alex and Ash always stay to help clean up. It's been a common theme with Katherine trying to say they don't do as much as her to help but it couldn't be further from the truth. We didn't have Wi-Fi and Alex and Ash were still in Swakopmund. I was dying to message them. I managed not to say a word about the situation to anyone at the time and kept my frustration to myself. I thought it was odd from Katherine as we'd just spent the day before together and she'd been saying she hoped we would all stay in touch. I stayed in the pool a bit longer. It started to rain- there was thunder and lightning. I got out of the pool and got my stuff to take a shower. The pressure was good and the water was warm. By the time I finished my shower the storm had stopped. I went to the truck and saw lots of the group sitting on the truck talking and drinking beer and wine. I had bought a two liter box of wine a few days prior and had only had one cup and had given one to Jill. I looked around for the box and asked people if they'd seen it but there was no sign of it. Jill had been missing her water bottle and I found it when I was looking for my wine. I went to the bar and sat with the Australians and Jill. I talked to David and Michelle for a while about travel. We all sat down at a big table with the rest of the group for dinner at 7. I felt really hungry but had

realized my two desserts a day, big portions, alcohol, and mostly sedentary lifestyle, should probably be reigned in at some point. The restaurant was out of salads. Most of the other options were some kind of fried meat and french fries. I chose a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for my main and I got a big bottle of sparkling water. I sat next to Penny and she insisted I eat her french fries because she wasn't going to eat them (they were very undercooked). I ate them and thanked her, not mentioning the reason I ordered something small was my brand new diet. We had a chili sauce with our food. It was really spicy. I warned Amos but he said he likes spice. He poured a bunch on his food and shortly after that he started to hiccup. We finished dinner around 8. I got ready for bed and went to bed early. I heard noise coming from the bar. The same Madventure group that had been at Swakopmund was at our campground. They stayed up partying for a while and our tents were right by the bar. It was also really hot and we had to keep the fly sheet on because of the wind and sand. My mattress had deflated completely. I tried to reinflate it but it took less than five minutes to deflate completely again. Jill stayed out for a while and when she came in she still needed to pump up her mattress. I slept off and on at various points in the night. 

I got up at 5 and got ready for the day. Laurine had told us we'd have breakfast after our visit to the park. We got ready by 5:45 and got in the truck. We drove to the park entrance to be there right at the opening time of 6. We drove about thirty minutes into the park and got to Dune 45. We put on our sneakers and hiked up the hill. I was behind Dennis and Michelle for a good chunk of the walk up the dune and they were going slowly and kept stopping to rest. I kept debating passing them or not, the main reason not to being there was a steep decline on either side of the narrow path. I finally decided to pass them and continued up the hill. I got up the hill and sat by one of the Madventure group guys and some of our group. It had taken about 45 minutes to hike up the dune. The sand was soft and it was easy to slip back a step or two when hiking up. We all watched the sunrise and looked out at the desert. We had been told we could run down the hill if we wanted. I asked Flo if she thought we could roll down the hill. She said go for it. I handed Fin my phone to take down for me. I rolled down the hill sideways. A couple of people took videos of me. It was fun! I got very dizzy and sandy but it was worth it. No one else ended up rolling. I walked back to the truck and Laurine had made breakfast. I had one fried egg and one piece of toast with marmite and margarine. I had a second piece of toast but had it with peanut butter and I had a cup of coffee and looked out at the view. Penny took one of our truck mugs and filled it with water for some ravens to drink from. Ale told Jill and I she had found a copy of her driver's license renewal and so we were back on for being able to rent a car. She'd had that with her this whole time. Ale also told me Katherine was shouting at me while I was rolling that we wouldn't get a shower that night at the campground. Ale said she told Katherine I 100% knew that before rolling down the hill but Katherine didn't think I did. I rinsed off with the dishwasher when we were done with breakfast.

We got back on the road and drove to a sand dune called Big Daddy. We had a chance to take a shuttle further into the park for about $10 per person. All of us decided to do it and we split up onto two safari trucks. It was only about a ten minute drive but the truck had to go into four wheel drive to get over the sand. We saw an SUV get stuck in the sand. We saw an oryx on the way and stopped to look at it up close. We walked from there to see some trees and more sand dunes. It was a little under a 2 mile walk round trip. We were told we could see wildlife there but we didn't have luck with that. By the time we got back to the shuttle pickup point it was blazing

hot. Laurine said someone died from heat exhaustion when she was at that spot in 2017. We all waited in the shade for the shuttle and drank some water. We took the shuttle back to the truck and got back on the road. Katherine said she thought my cook group should go that night because we had dairy products that would go bad if not. She said Flo’s group should go the night after because they had fresh produce. She said her group would go last because they were using dried lentils and pasta and tomato sauce. While her thinking made sense, I was a bit annoyed about her finding a way to put off cooking even further. We stopped at a gas station around 12:30 and picked up Ash and Alex! I was very glad to see them. Ash said he thought his interview went well but he wouldn't know the results for a couple of weeks. He was visibly relieved to be done with it. He and Alex had gotten a shuttle from Swakopmund to meet us. I told Alex about Katherine's antics. I bought a cold sparkling water from the gas station. We stopped for lunch around 2:30. Katherine's group set out things for sandwiches. I had one with a roll, one piece of cheese, two pieces of deli ham, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. We had a bushy bushy stop while we were there and then got back on the road. We'd been told the best case scenario for getting to camp would be 7 originally, but due to taking longer than we were supposed to at stops it was looking more like we were going to get in at 8. Given that my group planned to make potatoes and carrots, I thought we'd be eating very late. The roads were pretty rough and there was absolutely nothing around that pointed to us being close to civilization. No wires, no buildings, nothing for as far as the eyes could see. Laurine told us Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country in the world- Mongolia is first. I played some games with Ellie, Emil, Larissa, Fin, Flo, and Rosa. Fin asked Larissa if she'd ever kissed anyone. She said no and then she started to cry. She cried for about an hour and Fin comforted her and told her she'd meet the right person some day. It led to a bit of a somber atmosphere on the bus. We stopped for one more bushy bushy stop. We got to our intended campground at 8. We'd been told we'd have a drop toilet and lights but no other amenities. The gate to the campground was closed. We stayed around there about 15 minutes- we could see JB pacing around and trying to call someone. Finally he backed up and we got back on the road. We had no information about what was going on. We drove until about 9 and got to another campground. The campground was spooky, lots of old rusty cars around and people said it looked like the kind of place a cult would be. Laurine talked to the owner and we could see he was drunk. Ellie really needed to go to the bathroom but refused to get off and go because she said she didn't want to be murdered. The owner agreed we could stay there. We drove to a different part of the campground and I helped Jill set up the tent. Everyone agreed potatoes would be a bad idea at this point. Laurine helped Amos, Rosa, Larissa, and I with dinner. We put together a dinner of spaghetti sauce with garlic, fresh tomatoes, carrots, etc in it, spaghetti, cheese on the side, and lettuce (no dressing). It was actually fancier than I thought we'd go given the time of night. I'd half jokingly said people could just pick a tin from the pantry. Everyone ate around 10:15. We washed up from dinner. We had an actual toilet and shower at the campground but there was no door. We just had to loudly ask if anyone was in there before going in, and you could hear whoever was in the bathroom while you were in the kitchen area. I borrowed Jill's yoga mat to sleep on but it was still very hard sleeping on the ground. I struggled to fall asleep. 

I woke up in the morning to Jill shaking me and asking what time it was. I told her it was 6:55. I'd set my alarm for 7. She told me about her dreams and asked what I'd dreamed about. I said I couldn't remember because she'd shaken me awake in the middle of it. I got ready for the day

and put down the tent by myself. Ash, Alex, and Jill had agreed to make breakfast and lunch since their turn had been swapped around and with us going out to eat by the dune they weren't going to have a turn on the rest of the trip anymore. I had told them my group could still do it but Alex insisted. Jill cooked me two fried eggs and a piece of toast. I had some coffee. My whole back and neck hurt from sleeping on the ground. I asked Ale to rub some Tiger Balm on my neck and back and thankfully she did. We got on the road at 8. We drove a couple of hours and stopped by an actual bathroom and convenience store. I considered buying a sparkling water but decided against it. They had WiFi! We hadn't had WiFi in a couple of days and hadn't seen anywhere to buy a SIM card in Namibia. Laurine had to drag us all away from the WiFi. We continued a few minutes to Fish River Canyon. It's the second largest canyon in the world. We took photos by the canyon. Larissa did a handstand right by the edge for photos even though people told her that was a bad idea. Thankfully she was fine. We walked one kilometer around the edge of the canyon along the path and the truck picked us up at the end of the path. We drove by the same bathroom as before. People had thought we'd stop at it on the way out but when we drove past Katherine frantically hit the buzzer to stop. Laurine got out and Katherine told her people really needed to use the toilet now. Laurine said we could do bushy bushy but not to go to the convenience store because we needed to stay on track for time to cross the border today. Everyone but Katherine resisted the urge to go to the WiFi. We all went bushy bushy but Katherine walked to the convenience store. We all waited on the truck ten minutes after we were done until she returned. We got back on the road. Today we're going to cross into South Africa! I was most looking forward to this out of everything on the trip so I'm very excited. We're supposed to be staying at a nice campground tonight by a river that we can swim in!

We stopped by a bar on the way to Spitzkoppe. Alex bought 3 bottles of vodka (the bar’s entire supply) and a bottle of gin for our punch. We had gotten juice and ginger ale from the grocery store earlier. We were excited that the party was still happening! We rode a short distance to camp. We camped in the middle of the desert, no buildings in sight except an outhouse with two long drop toilets and no sink. I think we were all excited about the toilets because we'd expected a bush camp. There were lots of red rock formations around. It made me feel like we were on Mars. Laurine told us we could go up on the rock formations and sleep if we wanted. She suggested we wait until we were going to sleep to set up to avoid creepy crawly things going in our sleeping bags. A few people set up tents but I think most people wanted to sleep under the stars. I overheard Katherine talking about her cook group drama with Lynne. I stayed out of it but wondered again why Katherine keeps bringing it up. Ellie lent me a green skirt and I wore my black tank top with it and my pink Crocs. Alex was wearing almost the exact same outfit so we took some photos together. We looked around the “campground”. We came across a cave and some of us did the Irish jig in it. We hung out in the relative coolness of the cave until it was time for a tour of the cave paintings near us. We all followed Laurine for a twenty minute walk to the paintings. Larissa wore an oversized t-shirt like she normally does but put a green bra on over it for St Patrick's Day. We met our guide and she pointed out the cave paintings to us and said they were at least 6,000 years old. She told us about the clicking noises that some languages include here and she demonstrated the different clicks for us. We had each tipped 20 Namibian dollars as per Laurine's suggestion. We walked back towards the campground. Alex, Ash, Jill, Ale, Larissa, and I went up on one of the rock formations and looked around. Larissa wanted us to record several videos for her. We went back to the campground and then climbed another rock formation, where we found everyone except that night's cook group and Jill. We sat with everyone and looked out at the view until sunset. I slipped on the way down but managed to avoid falling completely - I had kind of a surfing stance though when I stopped so people teased me that at least my recovery looked somewhat graceful. Alex and I made the punch, we used a big pot and put in 7 liters of fruit juice, 2 liters of ginger ale, and the 4 liters of alcohol. We used mugs from the truck for the punch. The cook group for the night was Ale, Dennis, Tom, and Penny. They made Mac and cheese, one without meat and one that had ham. They also cooked pumpkin with onion. We had a cabbage salad and some raw vegetables on the side. The food was very good. Jill and Ale were missing. Supposedly Ale had gone to tell us that the food was ready but she hadn't done that. We figured she'd gone to meet Jill. Those two arrived thirty minutes after dinner had started. Laurine gave the briefing for the next day. After that we started our party. We sang the song I'd written. Fin decided to write his own rap and not incorporate it into our group song. It was a bit disappointing that he didn't tell me earlier because I'd been waiting for him so I could make adjustments to the song etc and he just told me right before the party he was doing his own thing. Overall though of course a silly song isn't a big deal. We all performed my song, we added in an Irish jig in the middle of the song and at the end. I think we all had fun with it. Fin then performed his rap for us. We then got the broom out of the truck and played limbo. Larissa won. She's very short and she's a gymnast so it was no surprise. At one point Larissa said something to Alex about not wanting people to think she's a weirdo. Alex said “don't worry about it. Rachel's a giant weirdo and we all love her.” We had some music playing throughout the party. We briefly played leap frog and then switched to dancing. After an hour or so of that we decided to move the party to the cave. Everyone 50 and over went to bed. Matt, Ale, Jill, Katherine, Ellie, Larissa, Alex, Ash, Fin, Rosa, Flo, Emil, and I went to the cave. We brought the punch and danced for a couple of hours in the cave. We could see the moon and stars through a gap in the roof of the cave. We went to bed around midnight. I didn't feel like walking far so I just put my sleeping bag right by the truck. I didn't bother with my mattress because it has a hole anyway.

I woke up at 5:45 and the cook group was making breakfast. I moved to the “beach” on the truck and slept for a few more hours. Jill joined me up there. We got to an actual restroom and used it. The water wasn't working and I saw Katherine and Rosa put soap on their hands and then not be able to wash it off. We drove a few more minutes and got to a seal colony. The seals stunk and people kept saying it was unbearable. I thought honestly people were being dramatic and it wasn't even as bad as driving by a feed lot in Nebraska. We saw a baby seal in the process of dying. Laurine said if seals have twins the stronger one survives because it's too much for the mom to take care of both. We watched the seals for a while. It was interesting to see how they moved. They were very cute. After 30 minutes or so we got back on the truck. We made it to Swakopmund an hour or so later, around lunch time. We had an activities briefing right away and watched a 10 minute video about our options. We realized our shoes smelled like seals and the room we were in stank of seals. We all debated which activities to do. They said if we wanted to skydive to do it that afternoon at 2 because the sky was clear. They couldn't guarantee it would be clear the rest of the time we were there. Alex wanted to do skydiving but it was 12:45 at that point and she wanted to have time to shower and relax rather than rushing right into skydiving. I preferred to wait until Alex could do it and agreed about not wanting to rush it. I didn't sign up for any activities for that afternoon but signed up for sand boarding and skydiving for the next day and a dolphin and seal cruise for the day after. With that settled, I went to the dorm. Oasis was given two dorms. Alex and Ash got an Air BNB because Ash had an interview scheduled for the time we were there and he needed good internet. The Australians upgraded to private rooms at the hostel. Tom, Matt, and Amos ended up in one dorm because Tom and Matt snore. Matt uses a CPAP at home but didn't bring it with him. Rosa, Ellie, Flo, Fin, Larissa, Katherine, Ale, Jill, Emil, and I ended up in the other dorm. I got the bottom bunk and Rosa was above me. We got our things from the truck. JB was taking it to be deep cleaned so we wouldn't have it nearby for a day or two. Our beds were nice and soft and we had big fluffy comforters. My legs were covered in dirt. I asked if anyone was waiting for the shower. Flo said I should have first priority because I was filthy. We had two bathrooms in our room. I took a shower and it was hot and had good pressure. After that I tried to get my stuff organized and dropped off a bag for laundry service. We all waited until people were ready for lunch. Ellie, Rosa, and Fin went for a family lunch with Amos and Tom. Katherine, Ale, Jill, Matt, and I ended up going out to lunch together. Emil, Larissa, and Flo went with us and had said they wanted to eat lunch with us but they stopped to get a coffee on the way and they ended up staying there for lunch. Larissa borrowed a dress from me and people kept jokingly calling her Rachel. By the time we got to a restaurant for lunch it was 3 p.m. Katherine kept saying she was going to murder someone if she didn't eat soon. We entered the restaurant and saw Ash and Alex. We waved at them and asked if they wanted date night or if we should join them. They said to join them but we awkwardly sat at a different table that was very near to them. I ordered cubes of pork with spaetzle and I had a German beer that was on draft. Ale didn't order food and took scraps from people's plates. Katherine had a seafood platter and then a chocolate mousse. She says the mousse was the best dessert she'd had in Africa. She ordered a second chocolate mousse. Ale and I ordered chocolate mousses. It was good. Katherine canceled her second mousse because she thought it might make her feel sick. Ash and Alex left and Katherine brought up the pizza drama. I said let's not talk about that. Matt pressed Katherine to tell him what happened. Katherine told him her version of events. She kept it fairly neutral which I think was because I was there and she knows Alex and I are close. I kept my mouth shut but again I wondered why Katherine was bringing this up. Matt and Ale ordered another beer but Jill, Katherine, and I were ready to leave. The town is like the set of Edward Scissorhands or maybe The Truman Show. There's a lot of German influence in the town and the buildings look German. There are lots of soulless seeming boxy buildings as well. We didn't see a single person on the ten minute walk back to the hostel. That was the case a lot of the time we were there. We'd see people at activities or restaurants but we wouldn't see a single person when walking. Other than the few times we were asked for money. We did walk by a rottweiler who was thankfully behind a fence but barked quite aggressively at us. We saw lots of perfectly manicured lawns. Nothing in the town that I saw looked to be run down. We made it back to the hostel. Penny had lent me her nail polish. I sat outside by myself and painted my toenails. I went into the dorm and five people were napping. I took a nap too until it was time to leave for dinner. We all walked to dinner together at a place called Napolitana. Emil had asked about where to get local food and Laurine had said it was pretty much impossible to find African food within the area we were staying. I ordered garlic bread as a starter and I had a sparkling water. I ordered a s'mores pizza for my main. Penny ordered a game platter, which came with oryx, zebra, springbok, and kudu. She apologized in advance if she had offended anyone. Fin said she had actually. Emil said he was going to have diarrhea on Penny's bed for revenge for ordering it. I had no desire to try the game platter but to each their own. Alex, Larissa, and Ale tried some. After dinner some local people came and performed songs for us. Some were songs we knew and some were in the click language. We then went to the bar attached to the restaurant and did karaoke. The restaurant gave us free caramel shots as a thank you for our business. Amos danced like no one was watching. Tom said one time Amos and Rosa were at a music festival and Rosa was asleep. Amos was dancing frantically like he normally does. Paramedics came over and said sir, does your girlfriend need to go to the hospital? Amos said no I'm just dancing and my daughter is asleep. Tom said the paramedics probably assumed Amos was on drugs but he was sober. I stayed out for karaoke much longer than I wanted. I was tired but didn't want to walk back alone. I was waiting for Amos and his crew because I heard Tom say after this drink let's go. I foolishly assumed I'd notice them leaving and could walk back with them but they disappeared at one point. I asked Matt if he was ready to go. To my relief he said yes. We walked back to the hostel together around midnight. I went to bed as soon as we got back. 

In the morning I had set my alarm for 8:30 but people were talking in the dorm at full volume at 8. I got up and got ready for the day. People were saying that the hostel breakfast wasn't very good (and it wasn't included) and they were going to walk to a grocery store and get breakfast. I walked with Flo, Emil, Fin, Larissa, Ellie, Katherine, and Rosa to the grocery store. I got creamed spinach and rice for breakfast. On our walk back some guys approached us and kept asking for money or food. I told them no. The grocery store hadn't had cups of coffee. Flo, Emil, and I stopped by a place called the Wooly Cafe on the way back to the hostel. It turned out to be a yarn store and they said they didn't sell coffee. We went back to the hostel and I asked if I

could pay for just a cup of coffee. The receptionist told me it would be 20 Namibian dollars. I opted for that route. Those of us who were going sand boarding left at 9:30. Katherine, Matt, and Ellie chose to do the lie down boarding. Emil, Fin, Larissa, Flo, Alex, Ash, and I decided to do the stand up boarding. The instructor asked probably ten times who hadn't signed the indemnity form as she was missing one person. Everyone said they'd signed it. We were halfway up the dune and Rosa realized she hadn't signed it. We were joined by some people doing an overland trip with Madventure Overland. I had originally booked with Madventure but they didn't have enough interest in this route so they cancelled and recommended that I go with Oasis. I was very interested to hear what the people said about their trip. I talked to a guy from the Madventure group named Matthew. Matthew said he wouldn't recommend Madventure. I talked to two other people from the group and they said the same thing. Their trip started in Morocco and goes down to Cape Town and then back up to Egypt. The whole thing takes 11 months- there are two people in their group doing the entire thing. Matthew is on for five months, he joined in Ghana and is on until Tanzania. All of the people I talked to in their group were pretty negative about west Africa and about the trip itself. Apparently their driver got malaria (Often did too after he left) and they had to wait for two weeks until he was well enough to drive. Then because they were making up time they had long drive days every day for a week and didn't have any time to stop and see things along the way. They do 5-8 bush camps in a row and then will have one night of camping at a campground to break it up. They had a week detour because one border closed and they had to go way out of their way to go a different route. They said there wasn't much to see in west Africa and the people were really pushy about trying to get money from them. It was interesting to hear their experience. I've thought west Africa sounds really interesting so now I think I'll have to look into it more before planning any travel there. It also sounded like their group didn't get along well and there's lots of drama. We hiked up the biggest sand dune in the area and got instructions on how to sand board. It was similar to snowboards. We got chunky boots and had to strap our feet onto the board. The dune was really steep. I went really fast on the board and several people said they weren't expecting me to be good at it. I was one of the better ones out of our group (apart from people who had snowboarding experience). I went down the dune three times on my board, each time having to lug it up with me afterwards. I did fall quite a few times but that's to be expected during sand boarding apparently. There was also a ramp we could choose to go over but I didn't want to do that. After the third time, we got a chance to try the lie down boarding. We got on sheets of plywood and went down the hill face first. There was no steering involved. There was time for the stand up boarders to try the lie down option twice. The first time I got up to 44 km per hour. The second time I got up to 56 km per hour. <Note from Rachel’s dad, 56 kph is approximately 35 mph> Alex went the fastest out of any of us at 73 km per hour. After that we had our final turn on the stand up boarding. It was fun! We then had sandwiches, we could build our own with a roll each and cheese, ham slices, mayo, onion, and tomato. There were also drinks in a cooler. I had a Coke Zero. There were drinks left later so I tried a cream soda but it was disgusting. It was bright green and very artificial tasting. I offered it around but no one else wanted it. I poured it out and got a Coke. We saw a dark gray chameleon on a rock. We had been told skydiving was still on. It was supposed to be at 2 but at this point it was 2 and we were still in the desert. Our instructor called the skydiving place and they said they'd send someone to the hostel to get us when we were back and not to worry. We went back to the hostel and then got on the van to go to the skydiving center. Katherine had signed up for skydiving but she cancelled last minute because she'd said she was too tired after sand boarding. Ale had been talking about going skydiving but said she didn't want to anymore because she thought the scenery was boring. Jill, Matt, Ash, Alex, and I went to the skydiving center. We had wanted to shower because we were extremely sandy but we had been told we didn't have time. We waited around the airport until 5 before we could jump because people from Madventure were there and they went before us. We were a bit annoyed that we weren't able to come in later and take a shower first but it wasn't the end of the world. We sat around and just hung out. Matt bought the video package. It was $60 so he was the only one for that. It was $240 for the typical skydive, which included 30 seconds of free fall time. It was almost double the price if you wanted 60 seconds of free fall time. Apparently that was the highest drop zone in Africa. We all opted for the lowest option. Alex had been skydiving when she was in Namibia before but the rest of us had never been. As we were getting our harnesses put on Jill asked one of the workers if anyone had died skydiving there. The worker said no not at that location. The other three made comments along those lines too. I don't think it was intentional but I suggested that we stop with those kinds of comments before the jump. Jill, Matt, and I went into the plane together. It was a small Cessna. My instructor was named Mark. He was probably in his mid 50s and was from South Africa. I had to sit on his lap in the plane and he strapped my harness to his. One of my biggest fears was that the harness wouldn't be fastened properly. We got up in the air and I could see the skeleton coast and the ghost town down below. Mark and I were the first to go. I had to put my legs under the plane and put my head back. He pushed us out of the plane and we were free falling. I put my hands in loops at the front of my harness and put my legs back like a scorpion as instructed. The first few seconds were terrifying but then I started to enjoy it. I looked around at the scenery and enjoyed feeling like I was flying. After 30 seconds Mark tapped on my shoulders to indicate that it was time to open my arms. I opened them out and Mark deployed the parachute. We floated over the town and looked at the scenery. It felt like I was in a dream. The float felt slow and controlled. After a few minutes we landed. I put my legs up as instructed. Mark told me I did very well following everything I needed to do. I got unclipped and said goodbye to Mark. Ash and Alex got onto the plane we'd just left. Alex went with Mark. I waited by the landing area and Jill and Matt went into the airport. They came back and Matt was holding five beers. I inwardly groaned as I knew Alex doesn't like beer. I was surprised Jill hadn't told Matt that. I was hoping Alex would make an exception and drink the beer anyway. I thanked Matt for the beer. We waited for Alex and Ash to land. They landed and I saw Alex sat down when she landed. She told me she kept kicking her legs around during the free fall and they spun around in all different directions. Mark finally told her she needed to keep her legs still. She also said she hadn't followed his instructions for landing and that's why she hadn't been able to stand. Matt offered Alex her beer. She said she was just going to get a gin and tonic but thanks anyway. Matt drank both beers. We all sat outside in front of the airport and drank our drinks. Katherine messaged and asked if I wanted to go out for sushi. I asked the others what they wanted to do. They said they didn't want to go for sushi. I felt bad because Katherine has rarely if ever messaged me personally to invite me to something, but I preferred to go with more of the group. I told Katherine we were going to do something else but to have fun. Jill told Alex that Katherine had been talking about pizza-gate the day before. Alex became upset with Katherine and said she's glad we weren't going to dinner with her. I bought the next round of beer for Matt, Jill, and I. I offered to buy one each for Alex and Ash but they said they'd just get their own. Matt's video was ready. We watched it on the bar TV. You could kind of see me in part of it so I asked him to send it to me when he gets a chance.

The skydive company drove us back to the hostel. Alex and Ash went back to their Air BNB. We each took a shower and got ready for dinner. Ale wanted to join us for dinner. I borrowed a black bodysuit from her and she borrowed a green bra from me to wear as a top. The bra was originally Jill's but she didn't like the way it fit so she gave it to Alex. Alex wore it once but decided it didn't quite fit her so she gave it to Larissa. Larissa wore it for St Patrick's Day but then decided she wasn't going to wear it so she gave it to me. I lent it to Ale. Ale, Jill, Matt, and I walked together to a restaurant called Ankerplatz. We met Alex and Ash there. We sat inside. It was past 8 p.m. at that point and I was really hungry. I asked if anyone wanted to get a cheese board. At first Jill said no because in Holland cheese is served after dinner, not before it. Everyone else was interested so we ended up splitting one that had meat and one with no meat. There were olives, candied figs, prosciutto, salami, ham, several types of cheese, mixed nuts, jam, and a couple of loaves of fresh bread and butter. Jill said she was glad we ordered it after all. We all split two bottles of red wine. I ordered a beef steak with french fries. Everything was very good. I was going to order a dessert but it seemed like the place was closing so we all went without it. We wanted to find a bar. None of us had data and the restaurant hadn't had wifi. We walked back to the German restaurant. I had worn my sandals on the way and the strap broke again. I figured those are trash now. We didn't see anything else on the way that looked open and we didn't see any people around. We sat at the bar inside the German restaurant. Alex and I tried to order submarines - beer with a shot of Jaeger upside down at the bottom. Alex had had hers with cider before. We'd been told that's a very Namibian drink however our bartender, Daniel, didn't know what it was. He just had little bottles of Jaeger but he put that in our drink glasses for us. We all played truth or dare. Ale got dared to go behind the counter. She went behind the counter and Daniel told her to grab out five mini bottles of Jaeger for us. She did that and we thanked Daniel for our free shots. Matt was so scared of getting kicked out and kept vetoing dares. We ended up doing really tame ones, like I dared him to keep my hair tie in his mouth for a minute. Jill kept trying to request songs but Daniel said they had to go with the kind of music that the regulars (old men) like. Daniel gave us snuff, it's powdered tobacco and it goes on a hook at the end of a small seesaw type thing. Daniel hit his end of the seesaw at the count of three with a gavel and the powder would go up your nose. It felt like a combination of having pool water up your nose and Vicks vapor rub. There's a German shot that helps with digestion. Alex and I each got one of those. Some guy from South Africa talked to us. He asked where we're from. I said we're all from Nebraska and we're a family. I said Ale is Jill's mom and Matt is Jill's stepdad. I said Alex is my sister and we're cousins with Jill. The guy said Jill looked like she could be Ale’s mom. Jill was pretty offended by the guy saying that but everyone went along with my story. The bar closed at midnight. We asked if there was anywhere else to go but there wasn't so we walked back to the hostel. 

In the morning I woke up at 7 and got ready for the day. Our dolphin cruise mentioned including a champagne breakfast so I didn't eat, just got a coffee from the hostel. Katherine was using the wifi by reception too so I sat with her. Alex came along and said Ash had decided not to go on the cruise because his interview was that evening and he was stressing too much about it. She was told she'd have to pay 100% of the cost for last minute cancellation. Alex messaged the group and asked if anyone wanted to go in Ash's place but no one did. Katherine, Alex, and I got in the van that took us to the cruise. We drove out of town and saw desert as far as the eye could see. It was a 45 or so minute drive. We saw we were getting on a catamaran that was much too small in our opinions for the amount of people getting on it. We got on and all of the good seats had been taken. We sat inside the boat and didn't have much of a view. After a few minutes we decided to go stand on the deck. We stayed out there and saw many seals and dolphins. We were served coffee mugs full of sherry. They looked really similar to the mugs we have on the truck. I'd never had sherry before. Katherine didn't get any. They had beer in the cooler as well as “orange flavored drink” and small bottles of water. We stood and chatted and admired the view. We got to a seal colony. Katherine said the view was nice other than the dead seals in the background. I told her that commentary was exactly what that moment had called for. By 11 we were all pretty hungry. The food was finally served. We had two fresh oysters each. There were platters of food, we had pizza, deviled eggs, chicken nuggets, etc. Everything except for the eggs seemed like it had come from frozen packaging and then hadn't been cooked long enough. It all was cold, soggy, and undercooked. I think (not including the oysters , which were good) it was the worst meal I've had so far on the trip. We also had champagne. Katherine mentioned that I'm the clumsiest person she's ever met. I wasn't sure how to respond to that so I just nodded. The boat ride ended around 1 and we went back to the van and back to the hostel. The three of us decided to go for lunch. We went back to the German restaurant. Ash met us there. I ordered some garlic fries and a beer. Katherine had pasta and then a chocolate mousse. I ordered vanilla ice cream with berry sauce. It was good. Katherine went back to the hostel after lunch and Ash went back to the air BNB but Alex and I stayed at the restaurant all afternoon chatting. Ash called Alex at 5:52. His interview was scheduled from 5:30-6:30. Alex answered and Ash told her the internet at the air BNB wasn't working at all. Alex went back to comfort Ash and she invited me to go with her. We went back to the air BNB. Ash looked very stressed. He said they were trying to reschedule his interview for the next day. He was worried about missing part of the trip but Alex tried to assure him that they'd figure out how to catch up to the truck and not to worry about that. Alex and Ash decided to stay an extra day in Swakopmund and move the interview to the next day. They figured they'd have better luck with internet in town rather than risking it at a campsite. I borrowed Alex's orange silk pants and a black tank top. She lent me her Birkenstocks and I left my Crocs there rather than taking them to dinner. She and Ash had booked a fancy restaurant for dinner and I had told Katherine I'd meet her for dinner and I'd invited Ale, Matt, and Jill to join. I told Ash good luck and I walked to meet the others for dinner. Some kids came up to me on the way and they asked me for money several times but I forcefully told them no. I came to the restaurant, the Tug, as the sun was setting. I admired the view of the sunset on the beach. I joined the others at dinner. I ordered a mojito and it was excellent. I got fish in a cream and butter sauce and a side of spinach. I got creme brulee for dessert. Everything was delicious. Katherine wanted to go back to the hostel after dinner and the others wanted to go back to the German restaurant. I walked back with Katherine, it was about a 20 minute walk. Alex's shoes were a bit big for me and I had to hold the legs of the pants up so they wouldn't drag on the ground. Katherine and I chatted on the way. I had been drinking the tap water. Katherine told me it's desalinated here and might give me a stomachache because I'm not used to it. I said now you tell me. We got ready for bed. I was in bed before her and couldn't hear her well at first because I had my ear plugs in and eye mask on. I realized she was asking for tooth paste so I got up and got her some and then went to sleep. I heard the rest of the group come in around 2 a.m. 

I woke up at 7 and got ready for the day. I had a cup of coffee at the hostel and used the internet. We left at 8. Laurine told us right before leaving that the cook groups for the next three nights needed to buy groceries. Cook group 3 had cooked last and I'm in cook group 2. Ash, Alex, and Jill are in cook group 5. We realized we'd need to move around cook groups so Jill wouldn't have to cook for us all by herself. On the five minute drive to the grocery store my cook group realized we'd be cooking and we had to try to think of what to cook. None of us had data or internet. I knew cook group 4 was making lentil Bolognese and cook group 1 said they were making bean soup. We tried to think of something simple and that we knew how to make already. We settled on pan fried potatoes with a yogurt sauce and cheese. We only had 45 minutes to shop and we had to buy our own lunch for that day too. Larissa kept trying to suggest complicated dishes but I said we should keep it simple and we only have two burners. Also she didn't have a recipe for these things and we didn't have a way to look up the amounts we'd need of different ingredients. Amos wanted to buy fancy cheese. We gave into him but it was more than double the cost of the regular stuff. We had 850 Namibian dollars for our budget. Larissa wanted to make multiple sauces to go with the potatoes and she wanted to buy fresh herbs and butter. We have margarine and dried herbs in the truck and we didn't have the budget for that. There was no sour cream or creme fresh anyway so Larissa agreed to go with just one yogurt sauce. We had a lot of discussion over what vegetables to serve. We didn't want to buy lettuce or cabbage for a salad because we just have two coolers and thought they might go bad in the heat. I have the same concerns about all the dairy products but was outvoted. Carrots were cheap so we bought a bag of carrots to cook for a side with the potatoes being the main course. We got cucumbers, tomato, and feta for a salad to serve for lunch the next day and decided we'd make a potato salad to have for lunch too. Larissa kept trying to suggest desserts - she wanted to buy skewers and roast grapes with syrup on them. I said let's keep it simple and also we don't really need a dessert every day. Amos was on the same page as me, especially because we only have two burners and we're going to be cooking 14 kg of potatoes as is and 3 kg of carrots. Larissa begrudgingly agreed to forgo the dessert. We came in 34 over budget, which Amos said he'd pay. Amos kept saying it was hard because no one in the group wanted to take the lead. I thought to myself that when we formed the group he'd agreed to be the lead so I'm not sure why he'd stopped now. By the time we finished shopping it was 8:55 and we were leaving at 9. I was left alone to check out with our groceries. Once I did that I saw Amos checking out with his lunch so I pawned the cart off on him to take to the truck and I hurried to the deli. I got a chicken peri pie and a strawberry lemington. I also got a hazelnut yogurt to have for breakfast. I was worried about being late but it looked like everyone else from the group was in line too. That included Jill, who hadn't even had to do cook group shopping. We got on the road about ten minutes late. We drove along narrow dirt roads. We went over a bridge that looked like it was just barely bigger than the truck. We stopped at a scenic viewpoint and took pictures. It looked like the moon with all the rock formations. Today we have a fairly long drive and then tomorrow we'll see some sand dunes!

After our bushy bushy stop we entered Etosha National Park. We saw giraffes, antelopes, and zebras. We stopped at a restaurant in the park. Laurine had told us the animals would be in the shade trying to beat the heat and so we were going to do the same in the hopes of seeing more wildlife later. About half of us went to the pool and half went to the restaurant. I went to the restaurant and sat by Ash, Alex, and Katherine. Jill and Ale also sat nearby. The Australians sat at the other end of a long table. I ordered a chicken salad. Ale didn't order any food but ate scraps from people's plates. She finally got a small plate and Penny gave her half of her wrap and Katherine gave her part of her steak. Katherine said JB had been privately messaging her good morning and good night the last couple of days. I wondered to myself if that was because Jill had declined his invitation to come to his room and I made a mental note to be careful around him. Jill hadn't wanted the rest of the group to know about that so I didn't say anything. Katherine had mentioned she thought it was odd that JB was messaging her. Amos came in towards the end of lunch. He showed us a video of Larissa doing backflips in the air above the pool. Apparently she's quite the acrobat. Amos got a cup of coffee. I was going to get a cup but that was the last of it. It felt cool in the restaurant and there was WiFi. It was a nice break from the heat. We had about an hour and a half there and then got back in the truck. We started our game drive, which lasted four hours. We saw giraffes, zebras, red hartbeest, jackals, blacksmith stork, an oryx deer, wildebeest, antelope, and maribou stork. The jackals were really cute. One of the zebras was a baby. We stopped halfway through for a bathroom break. The toilets were appalling so Flo and I wanted to do bushy bushy instead and the other girls said they'd just hold it. Laurine said to just go behind the truck because it wasn't safe to go far from the truck. She said one time she was leading a tour and a lady decided to do a bushy bushy there instead of use that toilet and she came across lions in the bush and had to be rescued. We made it to the campground. Jill and I started to set up a tent but a guy we didn't know came and told us he was planning to camp there and to move. We moved our stuff to a different spot. We were right by a charging outlet in the new spot and had a tap for water too. Jill and I climbed a tree and then later were sparring again. We went to the bar and I changed into my swimsuit. I sat by Alex and Ash and was talking to them for a while. Jill had wandered away. Rosa came and sat by us for a bit. Ellie came over and asked me to go swimming. I said I'd just put on sunscreen and was waiting for it to soak in. She came back in ten minutes and asked me again. Rosa and I joined Ellie in the pool. We swam for a bit but Ellie has had a dodgy stomach lately so she had to get out of the pool. Rosa and I were trying to think of a game to play. She didn't want to do the spinning competition again and the handstand competition wasn't as fun with just two of us. I decided to tread water for ten minutes since she'd done it recently. Rosa timed me and I treaded water for ten minutes. Penny and David were in the pool and we chatted to them too while I was treading water. Afterwards we hung out in the pool a bit. I got out and sat with Ash and Alex again. I had a beer and two flies and a gnat landed in it at various points. Jill came and joined us and offered to buy Alex and I a drink. Ash had disappeared, his stomach had been dodgy and he and Alex had decided to upgrade. I'd heard the rooms were amazing- en suite bathroom, air conditioning, a mini fridge in the room, toiletries and breakfast included. It was $30 though and I had a camping streak to continue. Jill kept joking about sneaking into Katherine's room because Katherine had upgraded but I don't think Katherine would have been keen on the idea. I told Jill she should do it though so I can win our camping competition. Penny came over and was telling us her ideas for Irish food. Ale came over and had Doritos. I had some and dropped them on the floor but said five second rule. After that Ale fed me chips just to be safe. Jill wanted to do the game where you tap a knife between someone's fingers and try not to cut them. I said no and she asked why I don't trust her. We got told dinner was ready around 8:45. We went to the truck and had a veggie stir fry with rice. I've noticed Larissa sits until everyone has gotten food and then she goes and gets some. I put too much hot sauce on my food and all I could taste was the heat. I had a mug of boxed wine and gave one to Jill. After dinner it was my group's turn to do the pots and pans. Flo apologized as she had used literally every pot and pan that we had and hadn't washed up as they went along. She said they'd cooked each of the eight kinds of vegetables individually. That also explained why dinner was ready three and a half hours after Flo’s group had started cooking. They had also made multiple batches of rice. We were washing dishes and I heard someone say dessert was almost gone. I took a break to get dessert. There was custard and cooked apples for dessert. Flo was getting the last of the apples. She asked if I had had any yet. I said no. She offered me some apples. I said no it's okay but she said well this is my third serving. I accepted some of her apples- she gave me 4 slices of apples. Ash had been doing work stuff and Alex came along and said she needed to get dessert for Ash still and to give him the apples. I told her Larissa and I hadn't had our firsts yet either. Alex apologized and said she assumed we were getting seconds. I put one piece of apple each in a bowl for Larissa and I and left two slices in the bowl for Ash. Laurine came along and I asked if she'd had dessert. She said no. I offered her mine and she said she'd just have plain custard and it was fine. I scooped a small amount of custard into each bowl. Larissa and Laurine argued over who would have the apple - they were both trying to be polite and insist the other person have it. Flo said to Alex that she thought some people couldn't really see in the dark and didn't really realize how much dessert they had gotten. I thought this was funny coming from the person who had three bowls of it. Not that she didn't deserve it, as she was the one who made it. We had our spoonful of dessert each and then went back to doing dishes. Laurine said there were 7 rhinos at the watering hole. I convinced Larissa to take a break from dishes, I could see she wanted to go but felt obligated to finish first. I was concerned that some of the rhinos might leave by the time we were done cleaning up. I tried to tell her she could go but I could see the only way she was going to go is if our whole cook group went. Larissa brought the custard pot with us and some spoons and while we watched the rhinos we scraped the last bits of custard out. We saw jackals and hyenas at the watering hole she at saw two rhinos fighting. After a while Rosa said she was going to head back. The rest of the dishes had been nagging the back of my mind. I went back with Rosa. Larissa tried to come but I insisted that she stay and watch the animals. I got the feeling she just didn't want to shirk her dish duty but I told her it was fine. I took the custard pot from her. Rosa and I ran into Katherine and her cousin on the way back to the truck. Katherine's cousin has been on an overland trip in Africa too the past two months but neither of them knew the other one was in Africa until they saw it on social media. They finally happened to be staying in the same place at the same time. We continued on to the truck and I saw Alex. She asked why I was coming back from the watering hole holding a pot. I told her Larissa had suggested bringing it so we could scrape out the custard. Rosa and I finished the dishes. Jill gave me the rest of her wine that I'd given her. She said she was going to bed. I thought my wine had tasted like greasy hot sauce. Jill's wine tasted much better. I convinced Amos to taste both. He said he liked the chili one much better. Alex tried both and said Jill's one was better. Matthew tried both and liked both equally. We figured the mug mine had been in was washed in dirty water with food and not rinsed well. I lost my interest in drinking it but Matthew said he'd drink it. I went and set up my mattress. I took a shower, it was a good pressure and temperature. The showers have been nice on this leg of the trip. By the time I got back to the tent my mattress had deflated completely. I didn't bother to blow it up again before bed. I struggled to sleep between being on the hard ground and hearing Matthew and Tom snoring nearby. Jill had an upset stomach and was up many times throughout the night to use the bathroom. 

I “woke up” in the morning at 6 and got ready for the day. I waited a while for Jill to get up. She was awake but said she didn't feel up to moving yet. Finally she got up and I put down our tent. I had a bowl of cornflakes with milk and sugar. I made a tumbler of coffee. We'd left out a pot of rice the night before, Laurine had said she'd offer it to the security guards at the campground. The rice hadn't been touched. I scraped out the pot. It was probably enough rice that the whole group could have eaten three more times. I felt bad throwing the food away but I thought in a way it was a good thing that the security guards had enough to eat that they could turn down our rice. We got on the road about 15 minutes late because Jill needed to use the bathroom again. 

We headed through the park and saw red hartbeest, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, springboks, antelope, oryxs, and dik diks. Apparently the springboks can spend their entire lives (up to 14 years) without drinking any water. They've evolved to not need it and feed off of lots of succulents, however when they have access to it they will drink it. We stopped in the middle of the desert and took photos. Flo, Alex, and I ate a pinch of dirt each because Laurine had said it's good for you. Jill and Laurine competed to spit impala poop the furthest. We took some jumping photos and then some group photos on the truck. We continued on our game drive and had to stop for the bushy bushy once. The girls had to go behind the truck again because it wasn't safe to venture far. During the drive Rosa is saying she can't see any wildlife because she packed her glasses in her bag and put them at the bottom of her locker. I thought that was rather shortsighted of her. Today we're going to a cheetah farm and tonight my group is cooking savory pancakes and sweet pancakes!

On the way to our next campground I heard Tom ask Amos if it was too early to press the buzzer for a toilet stop. I assumed they pressed it but about thirty minutes later we still hadn't stopped. I asked Tom if he'd pressed the button. He said no, but he could if I wanted. I had no choice but to end my streak of never having been the one to request a toilet stop. We stopped and the others watched me go into the bush with the truck shovel. I felt a bit feverish after that and my stomach was cramping. I was worried I was going to need to stop again but I took some medicine and started to feel better after a while. I played Spy again with the people sitting in my area. We stopped to get groceries. We had an hour and a half. I was really hungry because I'd run out of snacks. I spent $18 on snacks. Later people were saying that supermarket was really cheap and they'd spent $2-3 on their snacks and lunch. I went and sat in the truck and ate a chicken curry pie and pasta salad from the deli. I had a sparkling lemon water too. It was blazing hot in the truck. I asked Laurine if there was a place nearby to get a SIM card. She said just down the road but I'd need my passport. My passport was in the safe and the people who had the keys were nowhere to be found. Jill wanted to get a SIM card too but the people with the keys didn't come back until ten minutes before we needed to leave so we didn't have time. I had to use the bathroom- it was through the grocery store deli. There was no toilet paper in the women's bathroom. I told the staff and they gave me the key for the staff toilet, which had paper. As I was leaving the grocery store I saw Ash, Alex, and Jill talking. They were cooking that night so they were discussing the budget. They told me they had leftover money and they were thinking about using it for a box of wine for the group to share. I said I thought that was a great idea. They said they were just worried it might upset some people if they didn't ask them first. Ash and Alex needed to buy their own groceries so Jill and I went to the truck and asked if people were okay with using the leftover money for wine for the group. Katherine scowled and was silent so we decided not to do it. 

We got back on the road. We stopped a couple of hours later for the bushy bushy. We made it to the campground around 3:30. We stayed at Roy's Campground in Namibia. Jill and I purposely picked a spot far from everyone. Larissa came and set up right by us. This has been happening a lot that we go somewhere and people follow. Katherine has been going to look at the upgrades every time that we get to a new campground so Larissa sets up the tent by herself or with my help and then Katherine decides not to upgrade and comes back to a tent that's already been set up. Ale does the exact same thing to Flo. The upgrades lately have been $40+. Katherine said she asked and there will be no more inexpensive upgrades. I think it's interesting to get upset about not being able to cheaply sleep in a hotel room when you've booked a camping trip.

Jill said she heard from Alex that she and I were in competition to camp the most. She said she didn't even know it was a competition. She was saying now she'll camp even when we're supposed to be in dorms because she's going to beat me. We fake sparred. Jill said she'd pay for me to upgrade that night. I told her I'd believe it when I saw it. Jill wandered off. A bee flew into the tent. I tried to get it off but eventually called Laurine over to help me. In the time it took me to go get her, a second bee had flown into the tent. Laurine got the bees out but accidentally killed them in the process. Jill came back and asked what we were doing. Before Laurine could close the tent flap, a third bee flew in. I went in and got that one out. I walked to the pool but found there was a WiFi area just before the pool. I sat and caught up on my messages. I went to the pool after and Penny had a drink called a Cuban Affair. It was fruity and sweet. I tried a sip and it was good. I ordered one and so did Alex. We sat by the pool with our legs in. We took a picture together. Shortly after that we started being mobbed by bees. I went into the shallow end of the pool. I tried to protect my drink from them but they were relentless. Laurine told me to chug it. I tried it but bees kept crawling in there somehow. Everytime I'd remove the glass from my mouth, bees would dive bomb my drink. I took my straw out and used it to alternate between scooping bees out of my drink and swinging my straw at bees trying to get them to fly away. I said I felt like Harry Potter waving my wand around. I was shouting at the bees to go away. No less than six bees died in my drink. I finally managed to down my drink. Ash said he got stung by two bees. Flo said she got stung by one. Rosa got stung by one. Ale said she got stung by one. She said she is allergic to bees. Katherine asked how allergic. Ale said the last time she was stung was when she was ten and she spent a week in the hospital. She said she saw an allergist as an adult and he said as long as she took an antihistamine and got to a hospital she'd probably be fine. Katherine asked if Ale needed to go to the hospital now. Ale said no, she wanted to see what would happen because it had been so long since she'd been stung. She said she was just curious. Katherine told Ale to go take an antihistamine. Ale said she was going to wait out of curiosity. Tom said he'd been stung too and was also allergic. He took an antihistamine. He had his epi pen with him and showed me how to use it, just in case. I later heard JB say he got stung a couple of times. The bees kept landing on people, even in the pool. As far as people could tell they weren't doing anything to aggravate the bees when they got stung. Matt brought over a plastic bottle full of boxed wine that he was drinking. People said they were cold in the pool, which I found funny. I brought it up to Alex later and she said people get out of England for one week and think 35 degrees Celsius is cold. Alex mentioned to the group she was using wine in dinner. Larissa said she doesn't drink so she'd like a Coke instead. Alex explained that the alcohol was going to be cooked out of the food and it wasn't being served with dinner on the side. I thought it was interesting that Larissa thought she could order a Coke from the cook group. 

Everyone apart from Larissa and Matt got out of the pool. I went and sat by myself in the WiFi area for a while. I looked on Ale’s Instagram and figured out her birthday and birth year. I saw her sitting in a different part of the WiFi area. I went to her and said hey, I figured out your birthday. She tried to deny that that was right but I know it was. She's turning 40 on the 26th of this month. I invited her to go back to the bar with me and get a drink. She accepted my invitation. I tried to buy her a birthday beer but she said “it's not my birthday anytime soon! I don't have one!”. We sat with Amos and Tom. Tom works at different major festivals across Europe. We talked about that and about AfrikaBurn. Amos told me a joke: if you have a bowl of pasta with ten weevils and one with pasta and twenty weevils which one do you pick? The one with ten because it's the lesser of two weevils. It started to rain and all of us had the fly sheets off of our tents. We hurried to put the fly sheets on. I heard Alex telling Laurine they needed to move the kitchen because there were too many bees where it was currently set up. On the way back we saw a dik dik! When I got back to the bar my seat had been taken. Katherine, Flo, Emil, Fin, Matthew, Rosa, and Ellie had come over to the area we'd been sitting in. Matthew asked specific people very random questions. We listened to their answers until dinner was ready, at 7:40. We went to the truck and the cook group had made a chicken curry and mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage. The vegetarians had a chickpea curry. The food was very good. The cook group for the next night did the dishes for the pots and pans and the rest of us just washed our plates. I've really enjoyed that system because it seems more fair for everyone and I've been doing the dishes way less than I was. Laurine told us all not to bring our own alcohol to the bar. I think that was specific to Matthew. Alex and I went to the bar. Tom and Amos were at the bar when we arrived. They invited us to sit with them. Alex asked what we should drink. We saw some shot bottles on the bottom that I know make you have to use the bathroom. I told Alex about those. The bartender told us about a different herbal shot. We took one of those each and convinced Tom and Amos to do one too. You had to take it without hands. The bartender told us about a local drink called a Submarine. It's beer with an upside down shotglass of Jaeger Meister at the bottom. As you drink it the Jaeger Meister slowly leaks into the beer. Alex doesn't like beer so she ordered one with cider. I drank one with beer and I thought it was good but the others said it tasted disgusting. We watched the camera footage of the watering hole at the campground. We saw hyenas and wildebeest. After that we got gin and tonics and went to sit with Flo, Emil, Ellie, Fin, Larissa, and Jill. Everyone was talking about the St Patrick's Day song we'd started on the bus. People kept saying I'm talented at song writing. I thought they were being sarcastic but I guess they were serious. Fin said my stage name can be Pool Shots because I keep joking about drinking pool water. Alex forcefully told Emil he needs to give up snuz. Snuz is tobacco in a little pouch that goes under your lip. Emil uses it all the time. He's only 22 and he already has gum damage. We chatted for a bit and then the bar closed so we all went to bed. I took a wrong turn on the way back from the bathroom and ended up seeing a lot of dik diks and rabbits. I was pretty close to both and they didn't seem scared. I had to reinflate my mattress before bed because it had deflated quite a bit during the afternoon. I woke up after an okay night of sleep at 5:45. My mattress was almost completely flat. Jill was on breakfast duty and she told me to put up the tent ASAP because the bees were starting to wake up. I put up my stuff and tore down the tent and then got ready for the day. I put my stuff in the truck. A bunch of bees followed me. Laurine came and pointed some spray at them. I went to the WiFi area for a while and saw two dik diks on the way back. Jill made me two pieces of toast with fried eggs on top and I made coffee in my tumbler. We got on the road at 7. My cook group talked about what we're going to make next. Larissa suggested savory pancakes and sweet pancakes. We agreed to that. I tried to put together a list but everyone said we'd just do it when we got in. We got to a grocery store and my group spent 30 minutes debating how much of each ingredient we needed. I thought to myself we should have made a list earlier. By 30 minutes in we hadn't put a single item in our cart. I had in the back of my mind too that I wanted to get a SIM card. I told everyone let's just grab stuff and we can figure it out based on the budget as we add things. People were still being really indecisive about which vegetables we should buy etc but finally we got our shopping done. We had an hour 30 minutes to shop and ended up with 20 minutes to spare. I ran into Ash and Alex and they said the network was down for SIM cards so they hadn't been able to get one. I went back into the grocery store and got a box of wine and some Coke Zero. The deli selections were underwhelming so I thought I'd get lunch from the resort later. We got back on the road and continued on the way to camp. Flo threw up in the trash can on the truck all of a sudden. She said she'd suddenly been feeling motion sick. We stopped so she could get some fresh air. We've all been planning our St Patrick's Day party. We'll be at a bush camp then, so it should be perfect because we'll have nothing better to do!

After writing last time I went to bed around 4 a.m. I woke up around 6:15. Jill asked where I'd gone and I told her. We had the canvas open and could see Larissa struggling to put down her tent. I debated going out to help her or not but JB came over. Larissa kept trying to help but from the looks of it she's never seen a tent before. I got ready for the day and JB and I put down my tent. I had two pieces of toast with peanut butter and some green apple. I was going to have margarine but it has separated and looked really questionable. Ellie had gotten some chunks of green apple but didn't like it so she gave it to me. We all packed up the truck and got on the road. I felt fine and Laurine said the tap water is okay to drink here. We drove 20 minutes or so to the same strip mall as the day before. Alex was looking and feeling a lot better than she had the last few days. She, Ash, and I walked over to the pharmacy. I was able to get contact solution! I bought the biggest bottle they had. I also got some iron supplements. We went to a grocery store and looked around. The food at the deli really didn't look good. I got a Coke Zero and a Powerade. We walked over to a fast food place called the Hungry Lion. They had a similar menu to KFC. Alex and I tried to order chicken nuggets but they didn't have them.

Neither of us really wanted fried chicken. The only other restaurant in the strip mall was a pizza place and I'd had enough pizza for a while. We looked in the other grocery store but the deli looked very similar to the other one. In the end we went back to Hungry Lion. I just got a coleslaw. We got back on the bus and Jill showed us new shoes she got. They were bright yellow Croc type shoes. She said they were $3. The three of us decided to get some. I'd tried to find super glue at the strip mall but hadn't been able to find it yet. Jill showed us the shop she got her shoes from. They only had white, orange, and yellow ones. Ash got some white ones. I thought about getting yellow ones but they didn't have my size. Jill said they had another store in the mall with the shoes. She showed me the store and they had hot pink shoes too. I bought a pair. I got back to the bus. Alex said she wished she knew about the pink ones. We told her to go get some. She went and got some and Ash gave me some super glue - they had been able to get some at the shoe store as it sold lots of other random cheap things. We continued on the road and I ate my coleslaw. We stopped for one bushy bushy stop. We sat in the same seats as the day before. Larissa laughed an excessive amount in my opinion and so far I find her very annoying. She seems like a nice person though but she's always asking for a lot of photos and videos. We all take pictures of each other but hers are more like a photo shoot. On the way I had a bun with cheese and some Doritos. We had to go through a vet checkpoint and clean our shoes. We were not allowed to bring any fresh produce through the checkpoint.

We got to Elephant Sands campground around 1:30. We had to sign an indemnity form because there were elephants roaming freely in the campground. There were big spikes around the buildings so the elephants would stay out and also electric fences. It was blazing hot so Laurine suggested that we wait a couple of hours before setting up our tents. I asked at reception about laundry. They said it would be 60 pula for a small load. I went and got my laundry and changed into my cleanest clothes (apart from cold weather clothes, which I haven't been needing). I wore my button up green shirt and my zip off pants. I unzipped the bottom and wore them as shorts. My swimsuit had gotten very stained somehow so I put it in my laundry bag. I joined Ellie, Fin, Rosa, and Emil in the pool. I wore my clothes in the pool. Later Flo, Ash, and Alex got in the pool. Ash asked if he should wear his shorts in the pool or go change into swim trunks.

Alex pointed out that I was wearing full safari gear. The water was really cloudy. We could see maybe a foot into the water and even that wasn't clear. We all agreed it wouldn't be a good idea to put our heads under water. We started a competition of who could spin around the most times in a row. I won- at 23 spins. Katherine got in for a few minutes before I decided to get out. The sun was beating down on us and I didn't want my face to burn. I sat in the shade for a while.

There were lots of elephants in the watering hole right by the bar and pool. I watched them for a while. I ordered some fries and a Coke. I asked the group if anyone wanted to play cards.

Katherine, Ellie, Flo, Larissa, Emil, Fin, Alex, Michelle, David, Ale, Matthew, and I played a game and we had to get three decks of cards. After two games several people left. Just Alex, Ash, David, Ale, and I continued playing. We played one more game. After that it was around 5:30 and it was still very hot but much more bearable than it had been. We went to set up our tents. Jill picked up Impala poop with her bare hands. I knew she was not going to wash her hands (based on past behavior). I suggested she wash them. She said the poo was clean. She said she's heard of a game where kids spit Impala poop as far as they can. She wants to do it and record a video. I reminded her the water around her has cholera and it could be transmitted via poo. She rubbed her eyes and licked her hands in response. Jill left and I looked for the broom and dustpan in the truck. I couldn't find it and I asked everyone around if they had seen it. No one had. That's been a struggle with the new people is it seems to me as though they're sticking things in the most random places ever. There's also been lots of trash and things laying around the bus. There are just so many people and lots of stuff that's come with them so I think that's a big part of it. I'm trying to stay positive but I definitely preferred our smaller group.

Everyone seems nice though. It's not a big deal just definitely a lot of people in a small space. It's definitely a once in a lifetime experience though to be able to travel like this in Africa and it's been a great trip. We had a lot of dirt in the tent so I used almost a whole pack of my baby wipes and cleaned it out. After that I set up my mattress etc and then went back to the bar. I sat with the others and watched the elephants. Miss Universe was on at the bar- apparently Ms. Botswana was doing really well.

Around 7, dinner was ready. We'd redone the cook groups. We were told each cook group should have at least one person who's been on the trip for longer. I am now in a cook group with Larissa, Amos, and Rosa. Flo, Fin, Emil, and Matthew were cook group one and so they went first. I felt bad for them as there was no shade at all in the kitchen area. They made vegetarian chili and rice. Dennis broke a wine glass during Laurine's briefing about the next day. On a side note- during the booze cruise I did in Victoria Falls no less than five people broke a glass on the boat. No one in our group did that time.

We ate dinner and cleaned up dishes. I picked up my laundry. It was really clean! I was excited about that as half the time when it's hand washed it still has dirt when I get it back. My swimsuit was as good as new. I went to take a shower. Larissa wanted to go too and we walked together as both of us had only been to the toilets in the bar and not the shower house. Bugs kept flying into us and there were lots of stickers in the ground. I was glad about the timing of getting the Crocs. The thick foam came in handy with the stickers although I kept getting them in my shoes anyway. I'd also had a sharp branch go all the way through my shoes during the bushy bushy stop. I was grateful at that point that it had gone through my shoes and not my foot. I'd also stepped on one of the elephant spikes at one point. We saw two creatures - I'm not sure if they were jackals but that's what they looked like to me. Larissa and I made it to the showers. There was a giant bug in one of the two showers. It was probably as big as my fist and it had pinchers. We decided to take turns using the other shower. I offered Larissa to go first but she insisted I go ahead. I took a quick shower and then Larissa went. She apologized because she realized there were lots of ants in the shower when I went in but she had told me to go first. I told her no worries at all and I didn't take it that way that she wanted me to deal with the ants. Katherine came in. I told her about the big bug in the second shower. Larissa was still in the other one.

Katherine said the bug didn't bother her and she'd shower in there anyway. When Katherine was showering the spray from that shower went into both of the toilets. She said that shower was very bad quality. It was probably good we used the other one anyway. I went back to the tent and went to bed early. There was nothing between the elephants and any of our tents. It was still hot and it took me a bit to fall asleep. Jill came in after a while and needed to set up her mattress still. Once she was done I fell back asleep. Jill woke me up at 2 a.m. and shouted to look at the stars. I could see them from the tent so I mumbled at her and fell back asleep. I woke up at 6 and saw the light from the sunrise and elephants in the background. I saw Katherine in the bathroom and told her she could keep my South African plug (which she's had for a week now) because Roy gave me one when he left anyway. Katherine said she'd bought one now but maybe one of the new people need one. Jill had asked me not to put the tent down until she said so because she wanted to get pictures of it. I couldn't see her when I got out of the bathroom but I tracked her down at the pool. She was scooping dung beetles out of the murky pool water with one of our shared drinking cups. Jill came and helped me put down the tent.

Katherine and Larissa are sharing a tent. I heard Katherine ask Larissa if she's ever seen a tent before. Larissa said she had.

Flo’s group made breakfast. There wasn't that much to go around but I managed to get one fried egg and one piece of toast. I put marmite on it but I think we really just need to cut our losses at this point with the margarine. JB had boiled water from the tap for coffee and tea. The water tasted so salty it was undrinkable. Also the water from the jerry cans has had quite a bit of sediment in it lately. We washed up and packed up the truck. Emil mentioned the water shut off mid shower last night. Laurine said they shut the water off at night because the elephants will break the water pipes otherwise. During the day Elephant Sands pumps fresh water into the watering hole. They shut it off at night and if they don't shut off the camp’s supply of water the elephants can smell the fresh water and will break the pipes to get to it. I could relate- given my experience trying to get water the night before.

Penny was taking ages to get on the truck. She was trying to pull the stickers out of her shoes. People tried to remind her we were ready to go but she insisted on taking several minutes to clean her shoes. I thought to myself she should have done that earlier or wait until we got in. We finally got on the road- about 15 minutes late. Today we're heading to Maun. We have one night at this next campground and then we'll have a chance to do a 45 minute plane ride over the Okavango Delta and/or so an overnight canoeing trip. The canoeing trip we'll bring our tents and our food and cook for the group and camp. It's supposed to be one of the best places in Africa to see wildlife. It's $200 for the flight and $180 for the canoeing. I think I'll just do the canoe trip as it's a once in a lifetime thing and for less than the flight you get an overnight experience. I had a mental image prior to Laurine's explanation of the canoe trip that it was going to be a houseboat like the one I went on in Kerala. I was picturing sleeping in a bed and using non-camping plates. Prior to that everyone had been referring to the trip as an overnight river cruise. I've been camping the last twelve nights in a row, I believe. Sounds like it'll be at least two more. I thought about upgrading at the elephant place but they said the rooms didn't have AC. I'm sure I'll just keep camping as long as rooms aren't included. The dorms tend to feel just as hot as camping in my opinion.

Flo took Larissa’s spot on the truck from her today. I felt a bit bad for Larissa as she's pretty timid and I could tell she really wasn't okay with giving up her spot. I thought about saying something to Flo but also didn't want to seem too bossy around the new people. We're supposed to get in around lunch time today. My cook group is cooking tonight. Penny is allergic to MSG. We have 7 vegetarians in a group of 21 (including JB and Laurine). We have five cook groups now so I'm looking forward to it taking longer between turns to cook!

On the way to Victoria Falls we all tried to enjoy the space on the bus, knowing it might be the last time we could lay out for a while. We stopped by a place that had Pizza Inn, Creamy Inn, Chicken Inn all in one. We were all a bit apprehensive about going to Pizza Inn as that had been the place we'd gone when all the pizza drama had happened the night before. Laurine told us we didn't have time to order actual food anyway, just ice cream. We all ate ice cream for lunch. We got to Vic Falls and set up camp. I had started setting up my tent and Georgia and Ale came separately and asked if I wanted to upgrade. They said if I went in it would be us and Katherine and we'd get a 4-bed room with a bathroom and a fan for $8 per person per night. I declined the offer, mainly because all the times I've upgraded it's felt way more uncomfortable and hot than being in a tent in my opinion. If there had been AC I would have been tempted. I felt a bit bad as both Ale and Georgia looked disappointed. They decided to camp too as without me the rate was $15 per person per night. Roy, Joseph, Alex and Ash, and Katherine upgraded to private rooms. Jill and I were able to get our own tents. A woman named Joy came to tell us about our options for activities. Laurine warned us that the monkeys at the campground know how to open tents. She warned us not to leave anything valuable inside. After setting up my things I went for a walk with Alex, Ash, and Georgia. We ended up at the River Brewing Company. We had flights of beer and split an order of vegetarian nachos (neither Georgia or Ash eat beef). Ash had put in the group where we were. After a while Joseph joined us. An hour or so later the rest of the group other than Roy came along. We ended up eating dinner there. I had bacon mac and cheese. It was piping hot and very tasty. After a while Ash and Alex wanted to go somewhere else to eat- they hadn't wanted to eat at the brewery. Ale, Jill, and I joined them. We went to the Three Monkeys restaurant. Ash ordered chicken and Alex ordered a steak. We all sat and chatted for a while. Eventually we walked back to the campground and went to bed. It was really hot. I slept with the canvas open on my tent and struggled to fall asleep because of the heat. The mosquito netting was still zipped shut.

When I awoke in the morning there were ants everywhere. I went to take a shower. Laurine was sitting outside the bathroom and told me to wait for a while because there was a male janitor cleaning the bathroom. We waited for probably ten minutes and then finally he was done so we went in. I probably would have just gone in anyway if it was just me. Laurine had been hyping these showers up all trip as the best ones on the tour. The water pressure was good and the shower was hot. Apart from that it was a typical camp shower. Flo commented later she thought the floors were polished marble from the way Laurine talked about it. I enjoyed my hot shower anyway. I had talked to Ale and Flo about doing something together that day. Most people had chosen to go rafting apart from us. Joy had described the rafting as a full day of rapids. I didn't want to be in the sun all day and didn't feel like I had the energy or desire to battle rapids all day. I pictured flipping lots of times, as my group had flipped twice during the Ugandan rafting. It turned out Lynne was free too. Jill also hadn't gone rafting but I wasn't sure if she'd want to do something as the day before she'd told me she's fed up with the group and the trip and needs some alone time. I ran into Ale in the bathroom and she said she'd be up for going out for breakfast. I sat in the shade and waited for her for about an hour. During that time Flo came along and set out some guavas. I went into the truck to grab something and came out and monkeys had grabbed all the guavas and they had gotten into a pack of cookies I had too. I put the rest of the cookies in my bag. Jill witnessed this. A while later I was still waiting for Ale. She messaged that she, Lynne, and Flo were at the campground cafe. I walked over there and tried to order shakshuka but they were out. Instead I ordered a quiche which came with a salad and I ordered a coffee. Ale was almost done eating. I wondered to myself why she hadn't messaged earlier. After I finished eating my breakfast, Jill arrived. She said she didn't want to spend money on breakfast. I offered her my cookies. She asked if those were the monkey cookies. I said yes and she ate them anyway. She said she wasn't sure what kind of diseases she was going to get from that. It's come up recently that Jill may have to pay a fine because she has more than 36,000 Euros in an Australian bank account that she didn't declare on her taxes. She also gets 850 Euros per month in unemployment benefits and she has her mom's credit card- which she uses often. Her mom has told her she'll pay for skydiving for Jill in Namibia. Jill is so tight with money that it was surprising to learn all this information.

The five of us decided to walk into town. We went by a supermarket. I got a few snacks and toiletries. I was running low on contact solution but couldn't find it. We went to a couple of curio shops to look for Savage Santa presents. There were guys on the street trying to sell us souvenirs. They were relentless in their attempts. Ale went to a police officer on the street and asked her to help her get the guys to stop bothering us. The police officer said just to not engage at all with the guys. In one shop Ale knocked over a whole rack of clothes. I helped the saleswoman pick up the clothes. None of us bought anything from there. I considered buying something as an apology for knocking over the clothes but it wasn't even me who did it. We went to the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. We got a slip of paper saying we were just visiting the bridge, so we didn't have to get our passports stamped. That little stretch doesn't belong to either country. Jill said after seeing the view from the bridge she thought she'd just save money on the park fees and not go as she'd seen it well enough. We went to a cafe on the bridge. I asked about the bungee jumping but this was just after 1 p.m. and they were closed for lunch until 2. In the meantime I decided to order a snack. I asked if anyone wanted to go in on some fries. Everyone said no. I purchased some fries for $5. Ale said she wanted some fries. I suggested that if anyone wanted fries they should order some as I was hungry and didn't plan to share. Ale did not order any. When my fries came she and Flo ate just as many fries as I did.

At 2 I went to the activities desk and signed up for bungee jumping. They had to take my weight and they wrote it on my arm. I hadn't weighed myself since November. I'd gained 8 pounds. This wasn't shocking - especially as many of the days the last two months I've been sitting on a truck the majority of the day. I tried not to worry about it too much as I'm sure I'll be active when I get home. I went to check in for bungee jumping. Jill stayed at the cafe. Flo went to a lookout point to get a video of me. Lynne and Ale went with me for moral support. Ale told me only one in 500,000 people die from bungee jumping. After I'd gotten my harness on she gave me a hug and said it was just in case that was the last hug I ever got. Later I tried to tease her about how unhelpful she was in that situation at I thought surely she was doing it on purpose but she got defensive about it and claimed she was trying to help. There was a guy in front of me for bungee jumping. I watched him go and then it was my turn. I started to wonder if it was too late to back out. There were thick towels wrapped around my legs. I had to hop to the ledge. The workers stressed to me how important it was to jump out as far as possible. Ale kept making comments that that was a long way to jump and was I sure I could do that? Finally they counted down from 5 and I felt I had no choice but to jump. The feeling of falling was terrifying. I then rebounded and went upright at one point. After the initial shock wore off I admired the scenery and enjoyed the bounces. A worker came down the line to turn me upright. I then had to hold 

the rope while we ascended. I found that almost as scary as the initial bungee. I was worried I'd somehow accidentally let go of the rope and end up in a free fall. I think there was very little chance of that actually happening but it went through my mind. Finally I got to the bottom layer of the bridge. I had to climb a ladder to get to the next level. I then had to walk along the middle part of the bridge and could see the river rushing below. I found the whole thing scary but I was glad I did it. Lynne and Ale greeted me with hugs. A random couple had filmed my jump and they later sent Lynne the video. I went to see my photos and videos from the professionals. I'd been holding a GoPro during the jump and I said after seeing that footage I'd probably pay money to have that video destroyed. It was possibly the least flattering video of me I've ever seen. The other videos and photos taken by the staff were nice but I decided not to buy them because the other girls had gotten their own photos and videos. I got a certificate saying I jumped. We all sat in the cafe for a bit after that and Ale and I each ordered a beer. I washed my weight off of my arm. Ale said weight is nothing to hide. I said I wasn't hiding it I just didn't particularly want it on my arm. Ale said she had no clue what she weighed. She decided to weigh herself on the bungee jump scale just to check. She kept saying she really didn't care about weight and it's all about how your feel. She got her weight and realized she and I weighed exactly the same. She started making weird comments about how she couldn't believe it because I'm so much taller than her. Flo weighed herself and was 8 pounds lighter than us. Ale commented she was jealous. I thought to myself I thought she said it didn't matter. After we were done we started the walk back to camp. We stopped at more curio shops on the way.

Lynne and Jill got impatient and walked back together. I bought a bag for the Savage Santa exchange. Flo bought an apron. Georgia called me. We'd discussed going to the Angel's Pool in Zambia together the next day. I had thought that it was $125 for the breakfast spot or $145 for the lunch spot with a six course meal and wine pairings. Katherine had wanted to go and she doesn't like wine. Georgia told me Katherine was going to go the day after us because she'd signed up for other activities for that day. I asked Georgia if she'd want to do the lunch option then. Georgia said yes. She called back later and said it was actually $120 for the breakfast spot and $200 for the lunch option. We decided we'd stick with the breakfast option after all.

Georgia asked when I was coming back and if I wanted to go to the pool. I said I was on the way. I thought at the time I was, but Ale wanted to go to another supermarket that was further away. We went there and then she took forever inside. Flo and I had sat outside waiting for her. She came out and had a giant muffin. She sat and slowly picked off piece by piece of her muffin. Flo asked a couple of times if Ale could walk with her muffin but Ale said no. We waited for her to finish her muffin. Finally we walked back to the campground. It was blazing hot. Jill said she thought for sure we'd found a bar and had stayed there because it took us so long.

I got changed into my swimsuit and went to the pool. Katherine was in the pool already and Georgia was sitting by it. They both said rafting was good and they hadn't fallen in. Katherine said she'd thrown up throughout the day and wasn't feeling well. She also said she'd seen a crocodile caught in some fishing line and she'd wanted to get out of the raft to go help it. She claimed that she would have done it except that Alex was so against the idea. Later talking to Alex about it she thought the situation was ridiculous. Katherine is not an expert in wildlife and there's no reason for her to put herself at risk like that. Alex didn't think Katherine would have done it anyway and was using her as an excuse. Flo and Ale came along and got in the pool. Jill came along and sat by the pool. I stayed in the pool for about an hour and enjoyed the feeling of not sweating. I got out and showered and put on a dress. Alex and Ash had decided to do a date night. Georgia, Flo, Jill, Ale, Lynne, and I went to a restaurant nearby. Everywhere in Vic Falls seemed to be very western prices and menus. I got a sparkling water and a salad with chicken Kiev. The food was just okay. After dinner Flo, Lynne, Georgia, and I shared a slice of chocolate cake and a slice of carrot cake. My meal cost $17.

After dinner we walked back to the campground. It was around 8:30. I had thought I would go to bed early but there was music coming from the bar next door- the Cotton Club. The music was really loud and there was lots of shouting along to the music. I attempted to sleep but it was so hot. I tried to get the ants out of my tent but I realized they were pouring in through the big hole in the tent. JB had slapped a piece of duct tape on the hole when I'd told him about it. I gave up on the ant situation. I thought about taking the canvas cover off of my tent to help with the heat but I thought a monkey might see something in my tent that they wanted and come in so I decided against it. That was the worst night of camping I've had so far on the trip. Finally I fell asleep.

I woke up and got ready for the day. Georgia and I walked to the Zambia border. I kept making wrong turns and I said it was because I hadn't had coffee yet. We got a taxi from the border to Livingstone Island. We arrived at 8:15 and waited until 9 for the other participants to join. We were joined by three Argentinian men. They're business partners and they mentioned two of them have daughters right in our age range. We took a boat to the island. We saw Devil's Pool, which was closed because of the water levels. The staff told us how to pose and we entered Angel’s Pool. At one of the photo stops there were little fish biting our feet and legs. I was a bit nervous about the rushing water and the certain death if I slipped and fell over the edge of the water fall. I got some photos on the edge of the waterfall and was just held by the ankles by a staff member. There was a rope to hold onto for one of the photo spots. The whole thing made me think of America's Next Top Model and some of the crazy photo shoots they do. The water felt nice and after a few minutes I started to relax. After the photos we went to breakfast. I had a pork burrito with hollandaise sauce and a side salad. I had two big glasses of juice and two coffees. We talked to the Argentinian guys during breakfast. We then took a boat again. The Argentinian guys got off and I started to follow them. I was confused about why Georgia wasn't following suit. She pointed out to me that we were at the guys hotel and not back to the office.

She mentioned I'd had two cups of coffee and asked what my excuse was now? I put my lifejacket back on and we went the rest of the way to the office.

We had been talking about going into Livingstone but upon talking to our guide, David, he really didn't have much positive to say about the town. We went to the Zambian side of the park instead. We paid $20 to enter the park. We saw Flo and Lynne inside the park. Flo wanted to repeat one of the paths she and Lynne had done and Lynne wanted to rest. Flo went with Georgia and I to see the falls. We got drenched while walking near them. It was beautiful. I think Victoria Falls may be the most beautiful place I've ever seen. We admired the view and walked back to where Lynne was. We said bye to her and Flo. Georgia and I spent a couple of hours walking through the park. Georgia mentioned she thinks Jill takes advantage of everyone but especially of me. When we'd had our fill of the park we walked back to through immigration and to the campground. I showered and got ready for the river cruise. Initially the whole group had said they wanted to go on the cruise but in the end it was just Ash, Alex, Georgia, and I. The cruise was open bar and it lasted two hours. We had some wine and admired the views.

 We saw a lot of hippos, including some hippos mating. We saw some cool birds. We'd been told snacks were included in the river cruise. We did not realize how minimal those snacks were. I had two chicken wings, one meatball, one vegetable samosa, and two pork sausages. Georgia doesn't eat meat and Ash doesn't eat red meat and do those two had even more limited options. Georgia only had two veggie samosas to eat. I didn't bring my backpack like I normally do and so it was the one time on the trip I've been caught without snacks. Ash said seeing me without my backpack was a bit like seeing a turtle without it's shell.

After the cruise we went back the campground for our going away party for Lynne, Roy, Georgia, and Joseph. It took a while to get everyone to gather at the pool. We all put our presents in the middle for Savage Santa. I ended up with a tote bag and a big bar of chocolate. I was happy with my present in the end. Georgia and I split a margherita pizza from the campground restaurant. We were going to order more food but the kitchen closed. Ash went to the Pizza Inn to get pizzas. We all danced for a while. Ash came back and I had some pizza with bologna and black olives on it. It would not have been my first choice of pizza toppings but I was hungry. I said goodbye to all the people who were leaving just in case I wouldn't see them in the morning, apart from Lynne as we'd booked a helicopter ride together. We went to bed. It was quieter but still very hot and there were still a lot of ants.

I woke up and Ale, Lynne, and I walked to the helicopter operator's office. Ash and Alex had booked a helicopter ride for the same time but with a different operator. Ale, Lynne, and I sat and listened to a man called Lovemore tell us that he couldn't take us on the helicopter ride because Joy had found out about him giving us a discount and about us booking directly with him and she was going to cancel his contract with Oasis if he went ahead with our flight. Joy had quoted $175 for the helicopter ride but Ale had negotiated it down to $100 with Lovemore directly. Lynne started to raise her voice she say when she'd paid $100 that was her contract with the helicopter company and she would like her ride please. Lynne was leaving later that morning. I called Alex and asked if there was any way we could join her helicopter ride. She said the guy had never turned up at the campground. By that point it was around 8:15 and he was supposed to come at 8. I told her what was going on with ours. I hung up and Lynne was still arguing with Lovemore. I asked Lovemore when he had found out about this issue. He said the previous afternoon. I told him he should have contacted us when he found out and then we could have booked with someone else. I said since Lynne was leaving soon it was too late now. Lovemore said he could refund our cards and he could take us on the helicopter if we each paid $100 cash. We were all excited to still be able to go. We all did what he said. He said we couldn't tell anyone about the helicopter ride and he was going to show Joy the canceled transactions. I messaged Alex and Ash. They walked down and Lovemore agreed they could join the ride for $100 each cash. They paid and we took a ten minute ride to the airport. We got weighed and had a short safety briefing. We boarded the helicopter. We got a stunning view of the falls from the Zimbabwean side and the Zambian side. We were literally somewhere over the rainbow. There's always lots of rainbows in the falls. We had a 15 minute ride and went back to the airport. We were all glad to have been able to do the ride after all. We went back to the campground. We said goodbye to Lynne. She gave me some pegs for laundry. Roy had given me a South African plug that takes two USB cables. Georgia had bought a big bar of laundry soap and she'd given me a chunk of it. Joseph had given me my current water bottle and a bar of soap. That's the bright side of people leaving! After our goodbyes Ale, Ash, Alex, and I walked to the same cafe that I'd eaten at two nights before. I wasn't thrilled with it but Alex wasn't feeling well and didn't want to walk further and there weren't many other options on the main street for sit down breakfast. I ordered a bun with a fried egg and bacon on it and I had a coffee and an apple juice. The apple juice was fresh. The food was decent. Ale told a really long story about work. Ash later said that that story had made him question his will to live. Alex started to feel even more sick during breakfast and so she left early. I wanted to leave when I was finished eating but didn't want to be rude. Ale invited Jill to the cafe. Jill arrived right as I was about to suggest that we go. Jill was being indecisive so I finally excused myself and paid. I was surprised to learn that my apple juice was $5. Alex had ordered one and I thought it sounded good so I ordered it without looking at the menu. I begrudgingly paid for my $9 worth of breakfast drinks and my sandwich. I walked back to the campground. I took all of my stuff out of the truck and spent some time organizing it. I listened to music and enjoyed having 30 minutes or so of alone time. Jill came back. She told me that Lynne had showed her a trick to take care of the ants. She said to put some ant poison on baby wipes and wipe around the tent with it. I tried her suggestion and also cleaned the tent. Jill told me JB had offered her his spare room in his chalet at the campground. I thought that was odd but figured Jill could make her own decisions. I saw Katherine by the truck. She told me she went horseback riding that morning and it was fun but it was all she could do not to poop herself. She said as soon as she got back from horseback riding she tried to rush to a toilet but couldn't make it in time and pooped her pants. I found it interesting that she volunteered that information. She said her room was pretty hot so she'd just been hanging out in the pool all day.

After a while I went to the pool and so did Ale and Jill. Katherine wasn't there when we were. Jill sat at one end of the pool and Ale sat at the other. I was swimming. They were shouting back and forth about travel plans for South Africa. A morbidly obese South African man was in the pool. He said he could verify Ale’s driver's license for her so she wouldn't have to have the actual thing. I thought it seemed a bit convenient that this man supposedly had the ability to do this. I think Ale didn't take him too seriously either. After 45 minutes or so I got out of the pool.

Ash and Alex and I had discussed going to the Zimbabwean side of the falls at 2. I messaged Alex and asked if she was feeling up to it. She said yes. I met her and Ash at reception. Ale went with me and we stopped by the helicopter place. Lovemore had messaged Ale and said he wasn't sure if the refund on cards had been successful. He said at first we'd have to dispute the transaction on our credit cards. I started to think we'd been conned into paying double. Ale messaged him more about it and he said we could come get our cash back. We went by the office and he did give us $100 cash each. Ash and Alex had gone to the ATM while I was doing that. I called Alex and she said to meet in five. I went to the grocery store and bought a Coke Zero. I went by the pharmacy and ran into Ash and Alex there. I asked about contact solution but they didn't have any. They only had one tube of sunscreen and it was tiny and $8. I passed on that but the cashier told me to try a place across the alley. There I was able to get a 100 ml tube for $15. The three of us went back by the cafe from breakfast. Alex ordered a smoothie to go and a sparkling apple juice to go. She was feeling a bit better and especially after she took some medicine. We walked to the park. It was $50 to enter. We looked around at the falls. It was beautiful. It started to pour rain. We went to the park cafe to wait it out. I tried to order coffee but the electricity was out. I was a bit chilly because of the rain so I didn't order anything else to drink. We got two plates of fries to share. The rain subsided and we finished our walk through the park. Alex started to feel unwell again so we got a taxi back to the campground.

I saw the new people by the truck doing an orientation. I heard JB say that if there were things in lockers people could just move them. I knew people were very particular about their lockers, Flo in particular. I also overheard two older men saying they'd accidentally left their bag with their camping gear in Johannesburg. Instead they'd brought a bag full of toys and school supplies that they'd been planning to donate to orphans. I was still soaking wet from the rain. I grabbed my things and took a shower. Ale and Flo both messaged me and invited me to the River Brewing Company. I was seeing it a bit late and didn't want to have to rush back for dinner. I went to the campground bar but it looked closed. Ash was there. He offered me a beer from the cooler. I walked to the truck to get two beers for us. It was quite a walk, probably 5 minutes or so. Amos and Tom - two of the new people, were in the bar when I got back. They're brothers and they're traveling with three of their adult children. Amos’s kids are named Rosa and Fin. They're 19 and 27. Tom’s kid is named Ellie and she's 19. The overweight man from the pool earlier was at the bar too. Seemingly out of nowhere he fell to the floor. We all asked if he was alright. He said he was fine. We saw his chair had broken. He got up and moved to a different chair. We'd been told dinner was at 7. We walked over to the truck. I met several of the other new people. Dennis, is probably in his late 60s. He's from Australia. He said he's been to Nebraska for work and he's going again for work in a month.

Laurine made rice and chicken stew. She also made a vegetable stew for the vegetarians. Ale asked me if that meant she shouldn't take the veggie one. I said at least let everyone get food first. The food was really good. After dinner we all helped wash up. There's a guy named Matthew - he's probably early 40s and from the UK. Dennis is traveling with his wife, Penny.

They're also traveling with another couple who are similar ages. Their names are Michelle and David. There's a guy who's probably in his early 20s named Emil. He's from Sweden. There's a 19 year old named Larissa from Austria. Everyone but Katherine decided to go out for a drink. Alex didn't go either because she still wasn't feeling well. We went back to the Three Monkeys place. I sat by Larissa at the end. Larissa said she doesn't like the taste of most alcohol. She asked what drinks were sweet and don't taste like alcohol. I recommended a strawberry mojito. She didn't seem too sure. I told her if she ordered it and didn't like it I'd buy it and drink it. She decided to get a lemon soda instead. I chatted with Larissa the whole time we were there, mostly just because it was loud and hard to chat with anyone else with being at the end. I came to the conclusion (at least so far) that Larissa seems like a nice but extremely boring person.

After our drink we all walked back towards the campsite. Ale had heard that Thursday night was the night to be at the Cotton Club. Ale, Flo, Larissa, Jill, and I went to the club. Everyone else went to the campground. I thought they were all being lame and I was surprised Larissa out of all people joined us. We all danced at the club but there were only 3 other people in there. There was a couple but they moved to a different table that was far away from us after a bit. Some random local guy was there by himself. He came and sat by us and was talking to all the girls.

Jill left. I was going to tell the guy to go away but the other girls seemed to be okay with him being there. Flo said she didn't want to get a beer because of the cost. It was $2. I bought her a beer. After our one drink we walked back to the campground. We all went to bed.

In the morning we all packed up our things. I had two pieces of toast with butter and some coffee. We all got onto the truck. It is definitely way more crowded with 19 people. I sat by the family of 5, Flo, and Emil during the drive. I mostly spoke to Ellie. She seems very nice. We drove about two hours to the Botswana border. We had to go through the yellow fever checkpoint. Those who were just now joining the trip didn't have to have the yellow fever vaccination because they weren't in a yellow fever country. There was a bit of panic at first because several of them didn't have the vaccine and didn't realize at first that they didn't need it. I thought to myself it seemed pretty daft to not research the requirements of each country before booking something like this. Larissa said she would refuse to get the yellow fever vaccination, which I also thought was dumb. Thankfully it wasn't an issue after all. We were told in advance we'd have to take our shoes through sanitation. We carried shoes through immigration but they didn't do anything to sanitize them. It was just another hoop to jump through. Laurine asked who wanted to go on a game drive later. I was on the fence about it because we've been on so many and I spent over $500 just in Vic Falls on activities (including park entrances). Laurine had said we'd see elephants in Botswana regardless. Only 4 people had signed up for the game drive at that point. Ellie asked if I thought she should do it. I said yes because when are you going to be back here, plus $50 is the cheapest I've seen for a game drive on this trip and you may as well go rather than sit at the campsite. I think I convinced myself to go by the time I finished saying that to Ellie. Everyone but Ash, Alex, and Katherine signed up for it in the end. I'm not sure how much what I said factored into people's decision. We drove a bit further and got to a supermarket in a strip mall. I bought some snacks and lunch. Flo's card was declined. I paid for her stuff and she gave me cash right away. I asked at the store about contact solution but they didn't have it. They had a sign on the front window advertising SIM cards. I asked about that and they didn't have those either. I hadn't had any snacks that morning and was starting to feel ravenous. I saw Jill in a pizza shop. I went in and ordered some cheesy potatoes and a jalapeno pizza. While I waited I tried to go to an ATM but it wasn't working. There was a long line for the other ATM. Instead I changed money. I then went back to the pizza shop. Jill gave me a cookie to eat while I waited for my food. Finally it was ready. I gave Jill one slice of pizza but ate the rest. I then went to the pay toilets. I'd tried to use them earlier but didn't have local money. I found Alex in there. She asked if I had money for her to use the toilet. I thought I had more coins but I didn't. Alex looked really sick and she said she still felt awful. I walked towards the liquor store. I ran into Ash and he said he had plenty of booze and we could share. I said that worked for me. We went back the truck and headed on to the campground.

We pitched our tents and I helped Larissa with hers. Based on the way she was trying to set up I'm not sure if she's ever seen a tent before. We didn't have time to set up our mattresses etc, it was time for the game drive. I stood in line to pay for the game drive. Six people from the group cut in front of me. I've noticed them cutting at meals too but have been trying to give the benefit of the doubt. It got on my nerves when waiting to pay because we were all going to leave at the same time regardless, plus I don't know why they thought it was so important to go ahead of me. I was the last to pay and got stuck with a middle seat. There was enough space that everyone else was on an aisle seat. I sat between Larissa and Jill. We headed to Chobe National Park. Right away we saw two female lions. We continued on and saw kudu, hippos, elephants, southern giraffes, spur feathered birds, sable antelopes, etc. I think we were all really glad we'd decided to come on the game drive after all. Our drive was 3 hours. We got back to camp at 2. We thought we were leaving at 3 for our river cruise but actually we were leaving at 2:30. I set up my mattress etc. I realized Ash and Alex probably didn't know about the cruise being at 2:30. I didn't have Wi-Fi or data. I went to reception and asked for their room number. They and Katherine had upgraded to rooms. I found their room and knocked on the door. I told them about the time for the cruise. Alex and Ash argued about whether to go or not while I stood there. Alex wasn't sure about going because she didn't feel well but Ash wanted to go because it was his birthday and he felt fine. In the end they decided to go. We got onto the truck and rode a short distance to the pier. It was hot out. Ellie asked if I had poured a bottle of water on myself to cool down. I said no, it's sweat. People looked a bit shocked at that answer but it was the truth. None of us knew where Jill was but we realized later JB had invited her to sit in the cab with him. He's never invited anyone else to do that.

We got to the pier and boarded the boat. I wanted to sit by a new person so I could try to get to know them more. I walked to the back of the boat but unfortunately realized too late that all the new people were sitting by someone already. By the time I realized that, all the chairs had been taken. I sat on the cooler. The captain asked if everyone had a chair and I said no. He got me a chair but the only spot it would fit was at the very front and it had to be sideways. I sat up there and baked in the sun. The positive was I got a good view of wildlife. The cruise was included in our tour but it was BYOB. We saw lots of hippos, a kingfisher bird, fish eagles, elephants, water buffalo, snakebirds, etc. I asked if anyone would like to trade chairs. I could feel myself burning. I didn't have any takers. Jill and I went on the roof and admired the view. I went back downstairs because I felt like I was getting too much sun. I sat back on the cooler and had to get up every time someone wanted a drink. Laurine had arranged a birthday surprise for Ash. He got a cake, candles, and balloons. We lit the candles and sang happy birthday. Alex was feeling really unwell and she was stressed because the captain had said the bathroom was for pee only. The cruise was three hours. We got back to land and headed back to camp. Laurine made dinner.

She made chicken stew and ugali, plus a veggie stew for vegetarians. Everything was really good and we helped wash up after dinner. My sandal fell apart. No one had super glue but I'm planning to buy some tomorrow to fix it.

I suggested that we all go to the pool. Laurine, Flo, Ellie, Ash, Amos, Tom, Emil, Fin, Matthew, Rosa, and Jill came to the pool but no one went in but me. Ash joined after a while and we pulled Jill into the pool. Finally everyone but Laurine got in the pool. We played chicken and did competitions for forward and backward somersaults and who could walk on their hands the furthest. We did the Georgie Washington hairdo. We swam for what felt like a long time. People were talking about playing cards but by that time I was tired. Ellie was saying there were ants in her tent. I explained Lynne’s trick to get rid of them. I took a shower and then I tried to get water from the truck but JB said Laurine was sleeping and not to go in there. I asked Fin for some of his water because I'd heard him getting things ready in his tent. He didn't have much but I drank what he had. Jill didn't have any. I don't know if anyone else was up and I didn't want to bother them. I thought I'd just such it up and hopefully get uninterrupted sleep and get some in the morning. Jill woke up me an hour later and said I had been snoring and to turn on my side. I was so thirsty. I tried to go back to bed but my thirst wouldn't let me. I walked all around the campground trying to find staff to ask if they had drinking water. I was willing to pay for water too if I could just find some. I spent probably 30 minutes walking around and couldn't find any drinking water (apart from some at the restaurant but they had locked the fridge). I managed to get on the WiFi at reception. I Googled if Botswana's water is safe to drink. The first answer I read said yes so I put my mouth under the faucet in the bathroom and drank a bunch of water. I then read more results and got mixed answers. I guess we shall see how this goes. I've been up writing this. I wanted/want to get to know the new people so I thought I won't have much time for writing on the truck the next few days. I didn't particularly feel tired either and I enjoy writing so I thought I'd just catch up from the last few days. Tomorrow we're heading to the Okavango Delta. There we'll have a chance to do an overnight trip on a boat. I'm looking forward to it!

On the way to Gweru we stopped at a curio shop. Most of the group bought colorful bucket hats. I couldn't see myself wearing it apart from this trip so I didn't buy one but later felt a bit of fomo. We also stopped for the bushy bushy. We also went to a grocery store in Gweru. Jill, Alex, and Joseph shopped for their cook group for that night and Flo, Ale, Katherine, and I bought groceries for dinner for the following night. Ash bought juice for our party punch. We had some communal cane spirit and konyagi in the truck. We had decided to use that for our punch and just buy juice with the leftover budget from the day we went out to eat instead of cooking. That was nice as no one had to contribute additional money for the punch. Cole and Ivy had left the konyagi and the cane spirit was leftover from our booze cruise in Zanzibar. My cook group bought things to make a bean soup. We were going to use black beans but they weren't available so we settled for kidney beans. There was no cilantro and no corn that we could find. We bought tomatoes, lemons (no limes available), etc for the soup. The prices were in Zimbabwean currency but none of us knew the exchange rate. We Googled it and it said 322,000 for one USD but that didn't make sense with the prices we were seeing. After a few minutes Laurine messaged that the current rate was 16,000 to one dollar. It was a confusing way of listing prices. When we checked out we were able to pay with USD anyway. We went back through and did our own shopping. I got a pine nut soft drink, Flo and I agreed to share it. I bought a cheap water bottle. I got some snacks and then bought some chicken and rice from the deli. Flo and I put our groceries on the truck and went to the pharmacy. We each bought two packs of electrolytes, they only had unflavored ones but we hadn't been able to find those in over a week of looking. They only had four single packs in the pharmacy. We figured we'd save them for really hot and active days. We got small Lunch candy bars. We used the bathroom in the strip mall area and went back to the truck. I ate my lunch. Multiple people commented separately when they got on the truck that they were surprised I hadn't gotten ugali and greens. Georgia asked if I was feeling okay. 

We got back on the road and drove 20 minutes or so to our next campground. The last few minutes of driving was extremely bumpy. We got out at the campground and saw elephants in the river. We went and watched them for a while. We saw a man come and lead the elephants out and we watched them cross through the campground. We were really close to the elephants. Laurine said we were lucky to see them in the river like that. Jill chose the spot for our tent and it was right where the elephants had walked. I told her I thought we should move it. She asked why and I said because I don't want to be trampled by elephants. We asked an employee the likelihood of that and they said they wouldn't lead the elephants that way with us there. We stuck with that spot and set up our tent. We had a nice view of the river from there. We got a tour of the campground. There were some very chunky cats there - I'm guessing 20+ pounds each. We got a description of the activities available. We could do a game drive by car or one by horse, we could see lions, rhinos, snakes, elephants, etc. Each of those animals was considered a different experience, they were all in captivity and each activity was about $1 per minute. I later saw Ash yelling and throwing his phone. He was upset because he has an interview for a cardiology training program and there are very fixed interview times. He wasn't able to get a time slot that will work well with the trip and he was worried about his career. Later he came to the conclusion that he'll skip the Okavango Delta overnight trip and do it then. We had been told laundry was $5 a load. I didn't have much laundry but didn't mind getting it done when it was so cheap. I also thought I may as well wash my dirty stuff when I had a chance. Ale and I decided to share a load because she didn't have enough for a full load either. We dropped our laundry off and then went to the gift shop to look around. My water bottle fell out of my backpack when I bent over and the lid shattered on the ground. I had had it for less than an hour. I cleaned it up. I bought a shirt. It's light green with a colorful elephant on it. It has the Zimbabwe flag on the sleeve and says Antelope Park on it. I liked the shirt anyway but it was perfect for our party as it had an animal on it and was green. I also bought a cloth headband- it's pink, orange, and blue. I bought a couple of small souvenirs for people back home. Ale and I ordered coffee with ice cream. Flo joined us and we sat outside. Katherine then joined us. My coffee wasn't that sweet. I asked for sugar and they brought a giant bowl. Georgia and Jill came along and joined us. We were all having good and interesting conversations. Lynne came along. I had been feeling tired and wanted to go nap but I thought I didn't want Lynne to think I was leaving because she'd just gotten there. Lynne launched into a 15 minute monologue about how she uses Excel for business. I tried to listen but finally when it seemed she was done I excused myself and went and took a nap. I napped for an hour or so and then went to the “kitchen”. The cook group had started. I sat in the kitchen and finished writing our leap day song and sent it out. Steve booked a flight to Johannesburg for April 16-26th. I told Jill we could travel together from March 28th when the tour ends until Steve gets here. I also mentioned that Afrika Burn starts on April 29th. Jill and I are very interested in Afrika Burn if we can get tickets and Ale wants to go too. I was excited that now I have more of a plan for after the tour. 

The campground staff made a bonfire. I went and sat with the others by the fire until dinner was ready. It wasn't ready until about 8. We had fritters made of carrots and batter. We had buns for them and the cook group made cole slaw with purple cabbage and a salsa to go with it. Everything was very good. We decided to go around in a circle and each say something we're grateful for and something we wanted to happen on leap day. Georgia and I convinced everyone that that's an American leap day eve tradition. I said I'm grateful for a great trip and a great dinner and great group. My wish was for my knee to stop hurting. My cook group did dishes after dinner and then we sat by the fire. Laurine told us lots of interesting things about Africa. I went to bed early. 

I woke up around 7:30 the next day. I laid in bed until Jill woke up- around 8. We got ready for the day and headed to breakfast. I had two cups of coffee. We only had enough eggs for everyone to have one each. Flo had wanted us to save 4 eggs so our group could make pancakes the next day. Alex fried the fritter batter and we ate that and toast for breakfast too. Ash was still being moody about his interview and so he and Alex did their own thing most of the morning. We had signed up for horseback riding at 11:30. Georgia and Lynne went horseback riding at 9:30 but the rest of the group wanted to go at 11:30. Roy was the only one who didn't go at all, but he did do the elephant experience and he rented a canoe. It was a bit chillier that day. It reminded me of fall in Nebraska. It was a bit windy and gloomy too. I went and laid back down in the tent and started researching more about traveling in South Africa until it was time for horseback riding. 

We all walked over for the horseback riding. There were lots of volunteers at the stables - about one volunteer per one of us. There was also a guy we didn't know who joined us. His name was Peter and he was from Zimbabwe. He was probably in his early to mid 20s. He was wearing a checkered suit and dress shoes. He wore a fedora and a full length white leopard print fur coat.

He was also wearing a lot of statement jewelry. Ash had seen him earlier and joked that he was a famous Zimbabwean rapper. We'd said we were going to invite him to our party and we could perform our song for him and then he could perform his for us. We didn't expect to see him at horseback riding. Our guide, Ted, told Peter to take his coat off because he thought it would scare the horses. Peter obliged. Ted reminded me of Ma from the Snake Park. They looked very similar and his mannerism were like her too. Everyone said they thought so too and we started referring to him amongst ourselves as Pa. Pa was from Zimbabwe as well and was white. We got on our horses. The tack was English. The only other time I've ridden English was in Uganda earlier on this trip. I talked to a volunteer, Sky, who was helping me. She said she's from the UK and this is her second gap year. The group started riding. Ted was the only one guiding us. Alex and I both said we thought it was odd they didn't have at least one other guide since 6 people in the group had never ridden a horse before or had done it but it had only been once or twice and it had been years ago. We started our game drive and saw zebras and rhinos. We crossed a river on our horses. My feet got wet. Katherine kept intentionally cantering. I thought to myself that was a bad idea as it may have been scaring away wildlife. We saw lions in their enclosures. Unfortunately we weren't able to see giraffes, wildebeest, etc that we knew were in the game park. It was still fun riding. Jill got kicked by the horse in front of her. It was Ale’s horse and it was named Lollapalooza. Lollapalooza was trying to get Jill's horse to back up and accidentally kicked Jill instead. Jill fell off her horse. Katherine jumped off her horse and grabbed Jill's horse’s reigns. We all asked Jill if she was okay but she just laid there and didn't respond. Ted got off his horse and went to check on Jill. In the end she was okay, she was just so shocked and scared. She has a pretty deep cut on her leg and she thinks her leg and hip will bruise. Overall though she was okay. Jill said she didn't want to get back on the horse but Ted told her she needed to ride to somewhere that she could be picked up by a vehicle. Jill reluctantly got back on but both she and her horse were really anxious at that point. We rode a few minutes and Jill got picked up by park staff. Ted walked with his horse and Jill's horse. We made it back to the stables without further incidents. Flo told one of the volunteers about our leap day party and then apparently heard them talking to each other and they had taken that as an invitation but they thought it was a lunar party. We said the more the merrier anyway. We walked back to the campsite. It was almost 2 p.m. at that point. Everyone wanted to go to the cafe at the campground. I Googled local restaurants but it looked like we were pretty far out of town. I wasn't thrilled about the Western food at the cafe but I was hungry so I settled for it. I got one of the pine nut soft drinks- I actually really liked the one I'd tried the day before. I got a chocolate cupcake and a chicken pizza. The pizza was served on the same dish pattern that my mom has. The cupcake was good. The pizza was just okay. Jill was at the cafe when we arrived. She said she was upset because her pants ripped when she fell and they had cost 120 Euros. She said overall she was okay though but she didn't think she'll ever get back on a horse. She'd had a scary experience the one other time she's ridden a horse. Alex, Ash, Flo, Laurine, Katherine, and Ale all were at the cafe too and we ate together. Ash left after he ate because he had a mock interview. The rest of us hung out for a while and chatted. Finally I was getting restless. I asked if anyone wanted to go for a walk. Flo and Alex said yes. We walked down the road and found a trampoline. We took turns jumping two at a time on it. Alex took a video of Flo and I jumping and sent it to the group and said leaping into leap day. She reminded everyone about the party and said it started at 5. We walked down the river and across the bridge. We looked at the lodges over there and saw a swing set. There were two swings. We took turns swinging and then went back to the campground. Ale had picked up our laundry. I put my clothes in my tent. My cook group started making dinner around 4:30. Flo made tortillas from scratch and we made the bean soup. I put on my pajama pants as everyone told me they'd match my new shirt and also they had lilypads on them which was perfect for our theme. I made the punch with 4 cartons of juice. Most people came and got a cup of punch and they sat around the bonfire. We weren't done cooking until almost 8. I had no clue the meal would be so labor intensive. We bought cubes of cheese but they were already moldy. I picked out the moldly ones that I saw. There were also insects in the flour, which we picked out. Everyone ate dinner. By that point the punch was gone. We decided to go to the bar instead of playing games at the truck. We heard music coming from the bar. First we all sang the leap day song. We then headed over to the bar. I was still wearing my pajamas. Other people were wearing sweatpants or silly animal costumes - Laurine wore a koala bear onesie. The volunteers were at the bar and they were all dressed nicely and the girls were wearing makeup and their hair looked nice. Our group laughed about the contrast. We all introduced ourselves to the volunteers. We danced together. Katherine kept drinking directly from a bottle of cane spirit. I didn't have cash- it was all the safe which I can't open easily. Flo and Alex lent me money for cider. We joked about singing our songs rather than the music that was playing at the bar. Joseph begged us not to do that. The bar closed at 10. The volunteers invited us to come to their lodge and continue the party. Katherine, Alex, Ash, Joseph, Flo, and I accepted the invitation. We walked across the bridge to their lodge. They took the back door off of the railing because they had such a hard time opening it. We joked about breaking in. We all sat in the living room and played a game called G’day Bruce. We then played King’s Cup. The volunteers told us they pay 150 euros a day to volunteer at Antelope Park. Our group thought that was insane. One of the girls was named Susana and is from Brazil. Sky was there with us. There were four guys there who's names I don't remember. They were all white Zimbabweans. The oldest of the group was 27 and the youngest was 18. Flo is 18, Joseph is 24, Ash is 31, Alex is 32, Katherine is 29, and I'm 27. Around 1 we finished the games and our group walked back to the campground. I woke up at 7 and took a hot shower. My group made pancakes for breakfast. I helped Jill put down the tent after breakfast. She hadn't wanted to put it down when I left because she wanted to keep resting. We all paid for our activities. The horseback riding was supposed to be $45 but the person who had told us about the activities had said $35. The campground staff agreed to charge us just $35. Jill still had to pay for hers too even though she fell off. I paid for the laundry. Several of us had borrowed towels from the campground. We turned those in and packed up the truck. I tripped going up the truck steps and skinned my elbow. We were 15 minutes late getting on the road. Flo fell off her seat on one of the particularly bad bumps in the road and hurt her shoulder. Today we're heading to Bulawayo. Roy is drinking his wine from the bottle already. We're supposed to get there around lunch time. We ended up with leftover bean soup so we have the option of having that for lunch today. I think I'll do that. The third cook group is cooking tonight so I'm sure we'll go by a grocery store. JB and Laurine are cooking the night after that. Today I don't think we have much going on when we get in. Tomorrow we have the option to do a rhino walk. I'll plan to do that. JB and Laurine are both from Bulawayo so they're going to be able to see their families while we're there. I'm excited to see the rhinos!

A couple of hours into our drive we stopped at a bridge - one of the longest bridges in Africa. We were supposed to stop for just a photo but half of us used the bathroom there even though there wasn't much cover. Jill gave me a banana that she didn't want because it was pretty mushy. I ate some cookies. We were all asking random questions to pass the time. I asked if people had to eat one legume every day for the rest of their life what they would choose. Katherine said she'd rather kill herself than eat legumes every day. The way she said it, it was the funniest part of the day. We joked about it all day and said we needed to keep an eye on her because we've been eating a lot of legumes. 

I laid up on the new truck’s beach area. It's has a huge window so you can get a really good view. It was raining out and I laid in bed on the beach and read for a couple of hours. We made it to a grocery store around noon. I bought some snacks. We had leftover spaghetti and lentil Bolognese sauce so we were given the option of eating that cold or buying lunch from the grocery store. I opted for the leftovers but also bought a mixed berry yogurt to have with lunch. My total was $8.25 and the grocery store didn't accept credit cards. I handed the cashier $9. She said she didn't have coins and asked me to add on something to bring my total to $9. Alex was behind me so I grabbed her Fanta. That was 50 cents for a bottle. The cashier suggested I add on a sucker but I didn't really want one. I added on a ballpoint pen. I think having to round up all your purchases would get old quickly. There was no bathroom in the grocery store. Katherine said she'd heard we could use the bathroom at the gas station across the street. I crossed the busy road and had to ask an attendant to unlock the bathroom for me. I went back to the truck and ate lunch and waited for the others to finish shopping. Flo bought a drink made with fermented ugali. I didn't like it. Flo commented she'd never heard me say I didn't like a food or drink before. No one on the bus ended up liking the drink but apparently Laurine likes it so Flo gave the rest to her. There was a man who appeared to have a disability who was begging on the street. After we'd all eaten, Jill filled a plastic bag with our leftovers. For some reason we'd saved the salad and it was just 90% oil with a few pieces of lettuce floating in it. We'd finished the pasta but had leftover lentil Bolognese. Jill put the oil and the lentils in the bag and handed the man the food and a disposable fork. He seemed grateful and said thank you to her several times. We got back on the road and drove 20 or so minutes to the next campsite. Apparently rooms there were $120 so no one was really interested in upgrading to a room. They did have a glamping option which was tents set up with actual beds in them. It was $15 for a twin tent or $20 for your own tent with a double bed. Roy upgraded to a private tent. No one else upgraded. Lynne was upset that her tent was still wet. She said JB had told her in the morning not to worry about it and that it would be hot and dry it out later. It was still raining and Lynne said JB was wrong. Jill and I’s tent was still wet inside so we both chose not to set up our things inside yet and just set the tent up and do the rest later. We had about an hour of down time and then got on the truck to go to Great Zimbabwe. We got a guide and saw the museum and the ruins. We did a hike up the hill and saw where the king used to live. He apparently used to have up to 400 wives at a time. He'd use the echo from the cave to call down the hill for the wife he wanted to come up for the night. It was raining the whole time we were there. Katherine, Roy, and Joseph went along for most of the tour but didn't go up the hill. We went back down to the truck and Katherine and Roy were waiting but Joseph had decided to walk back. I realized the lid to my water bottle was missing when the truck had started to move. We buzzed for JB to stop and Ash and I got out and looked for it. We couldn't find it. We got back on the truck. We started talking about a leap day party. Ash and I started writing a new song. We said when Alex's mom comes we'll have enough songs to do a musical. We also talked about doing games, like leap frog, hopscotch, and the limbo. 

We made it back to the campsite and Jill and I's tent was mostly dry. We put our things in there. I went with Alex to the bar. Katherine, Joseph, Jill, Flo, and Ale were already there. Alex and I went up to the bar and waited probably 20 minutes to be served. There was a French woman at the bar. She had the same rain jacket as me. I commented on that and then she talked to us nonstop about her travel plans while we were waiting for the bartender to come in. Eventually the bartender came in. He explained he was having to work as a waiter in the restaurant and also attend to the bar. We each got a glass of wine. Alex invited the French woman to join us but she declined our invitation. We joined the others. Katherine had gotten fries which we all shared. I noticed it seemed a bit tense and everyone was just looking at their phones but I thought maybe they were just wanting down time. Joseph left after a few minutes and Alex asked what was going on. Katherine said while we'd been waiting to order Joseph had been talking about looking for an apartment and he'd said he'd put on his profile that he doesn't want to live with gay people. He apparently was laughing about it and said he wanted to make it crystal clear. Jill had apparently said “you know I'm gay right?” And Joseph responded he knows and he doesn't want to live with her either. Jill was pretty upset about it. We changed the subject to a lighter matter. Katherine ended up talking again about how cooking with Lynne was such a nightmare. I kept my mouth shut but was thinking that was several weeks ago and it's not like you were a joy to cook with either. 

We eventually got a text that dinner was ready. We went back and Ash, Lynne, Georgia, and Roy had cooked bubble and squeak and shakshuka. JB made a bonfire. It was still drizzling slightly. We sat around the fire in the rain and ate. The food was very good and the cook group made warm custard with mangoes and bananas for dessert. I washed a few plates but then it was the other cook group's turn for the main dishes so I sat and relaxed. My cook group discussed what we'd make for our next meal. We decided on black bean soup with homemade tortillas and s'mores for dessert. Several others went back to the bar after dinner but I was tired. I got ready for bed. Flo, Jill, and Georgia all were in the bathroom and had glowing reviews of the shower. They all told me I should take a shower since it was hot. I'd just taken one that morning so I said I'd just do it in the morning. Flo and Jill said they were going to wake up early to take another shower just because it was so nice. There were only 4 showers and 8 girls in our group plus Laurine plus other people camping. I thought to myself that seemed a bit greedy of them. I went to bed around 9. 

I woke up at 5:45 and took a hot shower. Flo and Jill did take second showers and other people who hadn't showered yet were waiting for the showers to be free. I put up my things and Jill and I put down the tent. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter. Flo bought a tub of marmite. I tried a piece of toast with butter and marmite and I liked it. I think I've had Vegemite before but not marmite. There was a giant beetle on the breakfast area. I saw Roy and Laurine both pet it. I made a big tumbler of coffee and shared it with Ale on the bus. Jill has bought her own travel mug now. Today we're traveling to Gweru. We'll have two nights there. We have the chance to go to a game park on horse- which I plan to do. We're going to stay in Antelope Park. Roy said he saw a python the last time he was at Antelope Park. I really want to get the hole in Jill and I's tent patched today. We've all been planning the leap day party. We've decided you have to either wear green (to be like a leapfrog) or dress like an animal. We're also all going to pitch in on a punch. As of today we only have a month left on the tour. The trip is going so fast but it's been amazing.

We drove to Chimanimani. We stopped for three bushy bushy stops but otherwise kept on driving. We drove along the Christmas Pass Highway, which is known as one of the most scenic roads in Zimbabwe. We saw the mountains and fields. It was beautiful. We compiled a list of Mandy facts and Katherine facts and played a game. People had to guess if the fact pertained to Mandy, Katherine, or both. The new truck is nice-, it's got a big front facing window so we can really see the scenery up ahead. That's scary at times (when we see cows in the road just up ahead etc), but it's also cool. There are two separate sitting areas but both areas the seats face each other so it's still pretty social. This truck is more run down than Chui was. There aren't individual charging ports at the seats, dividers between lockers, drink holders, etc like there were in Chui. I think we're all missing Often more and more as we realize how much he really did go above and beyond both with us and the truck. 

We made it to the campsite and set up our new-to-us tents. Jill and I got one called “Appropriate”. We didn't have a bag for our tent poles, our pegs were in a bag labeled Rwanda, and the big tent bag was named Zimbabwe. We got the feeling JB is not super organized. We had a ground sheet to put under the tent, which was the only other real change. We faced our tents facing the future sunrise and the mountains. Lynne made a comment to me when I was getting my stuff from the bus that JB has a second strike against him now. After getting set up I joined Ale, Lynne, and Flo in the bar. I ordered a Zambezi beer for $1.50. Lynne said the first strike against JB was that when she'd gotten out of the bus the night before he'd insisted on walking while steering her by holding her shoulders like she was a geriatric. The second strike was that day- he'd said he would help her flip her tent to face the sunrise but after they'd set it up he'd just walked away. I thought to myself that was a bit of an overreaction and he'd probably just forgotten but I tried to be supportive. Later on in the conversation Ale said she thought she was too nice until she met me and she said I was next level nice. Lynne concurred with Ale. Joseph and Ash had made a comment earlier when those two weren't even there that I was too nice. I found it interesting everyone was saying that to me on the same day. Alex, Jill, and Joseph cooked dinner. They made a vegetable curry and rice. It was very good. Lynne said it was the best curry she's ever had. I wouldn't go that far but it was good. My cook group did the dishes because we're trying a new rotation system. I mentioned I'm happy about the new system because I'll be doing the dishes less. Katherine and Flo said they've noticed I do the dishes every day and I'm too selfless. I was a bit flattered that six different people made comments like that over the course of the day. 

Katherine made a skillet cookie in honor of Mandy Day. It puffed up way bigger than she anticipated. The edges and bottom burnt and the rest was liquid. We finally decided to eat it as is. Several people chose not to try it. I got a bit of judgment for finishing my portion as most people said it was disgusting. I didn't think it was good but it was sweet so that's something. Ash asked Laurine if we should save the leftovers. Laurine said oh no, we're not saving that. One of the first rules she'd told us on the trip was we never waste food. She said we could afford to waste the cookie soup. Flo and I sang a short song to Katherine that we'd made up quickly. Alex recorded it and it was really just Flo singing while I laughed the whole time. Katherine went to bed. Some of us stayed up talking but eventually we all went to bed. Katherine and Ale had upgraded to a dorm and it was just the two of them in there. The rest of us were camping. We had one male toilet and one female for 13 of us including Laurine and JB. There was also a family of 6 running the campground and we had to share the bathrooms with them. I had to go last for the bathroom as I have the longest bedtime routine. Finally it was my turn and I was able to get ready for bed and go to sleep. 

In the morning Joseph, Alex, and Jill were in charge of breakfast. Joseph cooked fried eggs for me. He burst the yolks. I ate it anyway and had toast and beans that they'd cooked and I had two cups of coffee. Alex and Joseph got into an argument about how fried eggs should be cooked. Both thought their method was right and it got a bit heated. Joseph thought you should definitely flip the egg and Alex said you just cook it on one side. Later I saw Alex's eggs and the white was runny. I thought to myself I'd prefer Joseph's eggs over Alex's but I didn't say that. Roy came in during breakfast and said “hello creatures”. He was speaking to the kittens and puppies that were all around the campground. He had brought treats for them. Joseph responded “hello foul beasts”. 

We were all planning to do a hike to Bridal Veil Falls. Joseph made it clear he wanted to hike by himself. Katherine wanted to go but her broken toe was too painful. She cried out of frustration from not being able to go. My right knee was hurting quite a bit but I figured my options were to hang out at the campsite and do nothing all day or go on the hike anyway. I took pain relief and decided to try it. Roy said he was going to take some photographs and do his own thing. The rest of us walked into town together. We asked Jill if she had water and she said she was just going to drink from everyone else's. I said I didn't have enough to share. Everyone else said the same. Jill went back and got her bottle but asked Ash to carry it for her. Laurine walked with us to show us where to pay for our park entrance fee. We paid $10 each for park entry but we all went on one ticket to make it faster. Apart from Joseph, who wanted his own receipt so he wouldn't have to stay with us. I saw a sign in the parks office that said wildlife doesn't start fires in your home, don't start it in theirs. It reminded me of some eagles that Katherine told me about that live in Australia and purposely start wildfires. 

Lynne, Ale, Jill, Alex, Ash, Georgia, Flo, and I headed together towards Bridal Veil Falls. About 30 minutes into the hike there was a fork in the road. Georgia wanted to go one way and Ale wanted to go the other. The group was starting to get argumentative about it. Finally Georgia and Flo decided to go the one way and the rest of us went the other. 

We hiked for a while and made it to the waterfall. Some parts of the trail were steep and my knee was bothering me quite a bit. The group wasn't in a rush though so I don't think I was slowing us down. Ash examined my knee as he's a doctor. He said it's likely tendonitis. We stopped at a couple of viewpoints along the waterfall. We went swimming at the base of the waterfall and then laid in the sun for a while. We started walking back to town and ran into Joseph. He walked with us the rest of the way. We saw a guard at the park exit and showed them our receipt. Ash gave a description of Flo and Georgia to the guard and explained they'd paid with us but had gone a different way. He described them as “very little. One has black hair and one has orangish yellow hair. Both very pale. Very small girls”. We said maybe the names would be a better way to identify them. We gave the guard their name too and continued on our way to town. We went to the hotel in Chimanimani, which Laurine had recommended for lunch. It was a large building and looked like it had once been grand but was now run down. I ordered a Coke. Alex tried to order a cider but they didn't have it. She wanted a gin and tonic but they didn't have tonic. She then asked about Fanta but they didn't have that either. She just got a water instead. There were two beers left at the bar and Ale ordered them both for herself. We found Katherine and Roy sitting outside. Katherine had ordered a pork chop and fries and Roy had an egg and tomato sandwich. They said besides that the only thing on the menu was chicken and fries. They were out of everything else. I was really not excited about a western meal and especially what seemed to be a mediocre one. Alex, Ash, Jill, and I decided to venture out and try to find local food. It was a small town so we weren't sure if anything would be available. We headed out and stopped by a local grocery store. I got a big bottle of water and Ash asked if there were any recommendations for where to eat. The cashier recommended a place just up the road. We went to the place she suggested. We were told they had ugali, beef, and greens. Jill and Ash don't eat beef so they just had ugali and greens. I decided to do the same and Alex got that plus beef. I tried to ask for the beef sauce but the employee misunderstood me and gave me a second scoop of ugali. It was $1 per person for our food. Katherine had paid $12 for hers. We ate with our hands. We sat at an outdoor table and I was sitting right next to Ash. Ants kept biting him but they weren't biting me for some reason. We sat there for a couple of hours and talked. We figured our options were hanging out there or at the campgrounds anyway and we'd already gotten in 20,000+ steps for the day. We finally headed back to the campgrounds. We played Skip Bo there, which I won. We talked about what we would choose as a name if we couldn't have our current names. Alex said Sarah, which would make her name Sarah Ferrera. Jill said Morrison which we all thought was odd enough but Joseph overheard and thought she said Moss. Which would have made her name Moss Bos. (Pronounced like boss). 

It was my group's turn to make dinner. We got started and I chopped all the things for the salad. We put in red onion, tomato, carrots, lettuce, and snap peas. I had to throw away a fair bit of lettuce because some caterpillars had gotten to it. Flo made a vinaigrette that seemed to be 90% oil. The salad was drowning in oil. Ale suggested that we made croutons to combat the oil. Flo toasted some bread in a skillet and put chunks in a bowl that people could use as croutons. Katherine and Flo cooked a lentil sauce that they wanted to use as a pasta sauce. They also cooked spaghetti. I started in on cleaning the dishes we'd used. We found some dirty dishes in the truck that I think had been in there before we got there. I washed those ones too even though they were disgusting. I let people know it was time for dinner. The salad was decent although very oily. I didn't really care for our pasta sauce but of course ate it anyway. We ended up with a lot of leftovers which we hadn't planned on. We figured we had lunch then for the next day even though the plan had been to buy it on our own. The next cook group was responsible for dishes so after dinner I didn't do any and just relaxed. Katherine went to bed right after dinner but the rest of us besides Roy stayed up chatting. Ale said she'd had a warm shower. Everyone else said they'd had a cold shower and they blamed Ale for using all the warm water. She changed her story to say actually it was lukewarm but better than cold cold. People were still giving her a hard time and she changed to say actually it was lukewarm for a minute and then it was cold cold. Georgia said the guard at the park had recognized her and Flo based on Ash's description after all. Eventually everyone else went to bed but Alex and I stayed up talking. It started pouring rain. We tried to wait it out but eventually realized we'd just have to go out in it anyway. I ran to my tent to grab my toiletries. My hair got caught in the zipper. I tried to get it out. Meanwhile I was getting drenched in rain and some rain was getting into the tent. Finally I asked Jill to help me get my hair unstuck. She helped me and I went to the bathroom. I saw Alex was in the men's bathroom with the door open. I went in to tell her about getting my hair stuck. Joseph came along and had to use the women's bathroom because we were using the men's. I saw Georgia was in the bar as I was going to bed. She said she was scared of getting electrocuted in her tent. She said she was going to wait a while and see if it stopped lightning. I passed on the responsibility of shutting off the lights and closing the doors to her. I went to bed. 

In the morning I woke up at 6. On my way out of the tent I got my hair stuck in the zipper again but I was able to get it out by myself. My cook group was responsible for breakfast. I set out cereal. There was already water boiling on the stove- I think either JB or Laurine had started it. I wanted to take a quick shower. Flo was in the bathroom. I waited for her to come out and Alex came along. Alex wanted to do her morning routine before me since she wasn't showering. I let her go ahead. Ale came along and wanted to go before me. I let her go ahead. Georgia came along and wanted to go before me. I let her go ahead. Katherine came along. I finally gave up on using the women's bathroom to shower. I'd been waiting over 20 minutes at that point. Joseph had been in the men's room and then Ash. I saw it was finally free. I went and showered in the men's room. I had a freezing cold shower and was accompanied by 3 giant spiders. I got dressed and was out of there within 5 minutes or so as I tried to be fast. Roy was waiting for the bathroom when I came out. I put away my things from the tent and noticed a quarter sized hole. I pointed it out to JB and Jill. Our tent hadn't gotten wet but I thought the hole should be fixed as soon as possible so as to not let in spiders etc. We packed up our tent and I helped pack up from breakfast. I made a tumbler full of coffee but didn't have time to eat anything. I got onto the truck before our start time of 7. Lynne told me JB got his third strike because he helped her put down her tent without asking if she wanted help. I thought to myself she was being a bit sensitive about that and we should all keep an open mind to JB but I didn't say anything. When we left it was still raining fairly heavily. Today we are supposed to get into Great Zimbabwe around lunch time. We have the option to go a 2 and a half hour hike. I'm planning to do that, although my knee does still hurt. It's been beautiful so far in Zimbabwe!

About an hour into our drive we stopped at the border of Malawi and Mozambique. Three people had to stay on the truck for security. Georgia, Jill, and I volunteered. Lynne was taking ages to find a pen and Jill said to her “you know we have to cross the border today, right?”. Lynne finally found a pen but said she'd just stay on the truck until others came back so we could all walk together. People were gathered around the truck trying to sell us things, shouting up at us. A man tried to open the truck door. Lynne ran towards him and shouted “don't come in here, go away!”. The man ran off. Lynne stood in front of the door from then until Laurine came and told us it was okay for us to go. People were standing on the truck stairs looking at us through the window but no one else tried to open the door. 

We walked over to immigration and handed Laurine our passports. We waited with the group in front of the immigration building for close to two hours. I used the bathroom at one point. It smelled horrible. The toilets were overflowing and didn't have a toilet seat and no way to flush them. There was no running water for the sink and no toilet paper. Katherine asked me how the bathrooms were and I said horrible and to only use them if it was an emergency. There was a man who seemed to have a developmental disability who kept standing by our group. He kept wanting fist bumps, which we gave him. He kept asking for money but we all said no. We discussed later how we felt guilty about it but thought that would attract too much attention if we were seen handing out money. We were on the lookout for food vendors but for once there didn't seem to be any around. Laurine told us we needed to get the cholera vaccine because there is an outbreak in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. She said we could get it at the border for $7 per person. She paid for all of us to get the vaccine and then we were instructed to pay her back when we could. Joseph and Jill didn't want to take the vaccine but they were told they didn't have an option if they wanted to enter the country. The vaccine was in a small plastic tube. It was a liquid that we ingested. It tasted foul but I was actually very happy to get the vaccine as I hadn't been able to get it in Nebraska. Everyone was teasing a bit about me being the only one happy about having to get a vaccine. Laurine had told us that sometimes Mozambique charges $10 for entry and sometimes $50, it just depends on the person working and their mood. In the end we just had to pay $10. Katherine is from New Zealand and for some reason for her country they charge $100. Finally we got our stamps and went back to the truck. 

We were all hungry by that point. It was around 11:30. Roy started drinking straight from a bottle of wine while we drove. We stopped after an hour or so for lunch. We stopped in the bush and Laurine set out cold pasta with tomato sauce. She and Often cut up melon, papaya, and pineapple. Sometimes I think papaya tastes really watery but this was really good and flavorful. We sat on the truck and ate rather than messing with getting out camp stools and putting them up again. We washed our dishes and got on the road again. We stopped at a gas station in the afternoon. Laurine had told us we didn't need to exchange money at the border and so we were all a bit concerned about if the convenience store would accept credit cards. Thankfully they did. Jill used the toilet and said it was really gross. Several people decided not to go but I didn't want to wait. I used it and didn't think it was nearly as bad as the one earlier. I bought a Coke Zero and a bag of pesto and cheese chips. My visa card worked at the gas station, oddly enough. We got back on the road. We got to bush camp around six. Jill and I set up our tent. Ash, Roy, Lynne, and Georgia were in a cook group. I sat on the bus with Laurine, Flo, Ale, Alex, and Katherine. Flo was talking about our water challenge and everyone was telling her 3 liters of just water is too much. Flo was adamant she wanted to keep our water challenge at 3 liters.

Katherine pointed out that she had two doctors and a nutritionist telling her this. Flo stayed firm in her beliefs. Often made a bonfire. We sat around it even though it was really hot even without the fire. The cook group served chips and guac as an appetizer. It was good! We all heard Georgia yelling at Lynne about needing something now (for the cooking). I felt bad for Lynne that she was being yelled at again. She seems to have a bit of cognitive decline and people get frustrated with her for that. She's elderly and I don't think she can help it so it's actually pretty sad. 

For dinner we had spaghetti with a peanut butter sauce and soy meat. The cook group had wanted to use Asian noodles but we were out. We also had a cabbage salad with ginger. The salad was good. I don't think the noodles were that popular and we ended up with a lot of leftovers. We weren't supposed to have lunch included but we all said we could eat that the next day. We've all been teasing Katherine about essentially being the same person as my Aunt Mandy. Ash asked who we think gets teased the most on the bus and everyone said they think me normally although with the Aunt Mandy stuff maybe Katherine the last few days. Katherine said she doesn't mind the Aunt Mandy comparison. We decided that the 25th would be Mandy (Katherine) day and we'd do something special. 

We'd decided on a new system for washing up where the cook group who's turn it will be next will do the washing after dinner for the current cook group. I'm excited about this system as I think I'll be doing a lot less dishes, and other people who hardly do any dishes will finally do their fair share. It was the third groups turn next so I sat by the fire while that group did the dishes. There was a fire nearby. Often and Joseph went to investigate. When they came back they just said it was rubbish burning and there were no people there. They didn't seem concerned about this- I think Often was more worried about if there had been other people around. Ale mentioned that we were in the bush and it was hot and isn't that how wildfires start? I thanked her for putting that in my mind. We all went to bed fairly early. I was doing my nighttime routine by the tent and was squatting. Everyone kept joking that I needed to go further away from the tent if I was going to use the facilities. Alex half jokingly shouted that I need a shorter nighttime routine for bush camp. I finally went to bed. I slept okay overall. In the morning others complained about Joseph's snoring and Flo had apparently pumped her mattress in the middle of the night because she hadn't closed the valve properly. Neither of those things had woken me up. Laurine said she had a nightmare about a wildfire. I had a piece of toast with peanut butter for breakfast and filled my travel mug with coffee. 

Jill and I shared the coffee. We got to the Mozambique Zimbabwe border. We had to go through the yellow fever checkpoint and then immigration. It took maybe an hour or so, much quicker than the previous border. We were given the option of getting a single entry visa, or a double entry for $15 more. I opted for the double entry because then I can do a day trip to Zambia when we go to Victoria Falls. This brought my total to $45. Georgia and I have also decided we're going to do a tandem bungee jump in Vic Falls. 

After I went through immigration I went back to the truck and waited for the others. Flo, Ale, Georgia, Katherine, and Lynne were done around the same time as me and we all started writing a song for Often since he was leaving soon. Often was orphaned at 9 years old. He grew up in the Kabara slums of Nairobi. After his parents died he went to live with his uncle. When Often was 13 his uncle could no longer afford to care for him. Often dropped out of school and started doing odd jobs. Eventually he went through training to be a mechanic and worked his way up to doing overland trips. He supports many relatives now who still live in the slums. Often is an amazing person and our new driver will have very big shoes to fill. We'd all discussed doing something special for Often but we thought money would be the most useful, and he doesn't seem to be materialistic at all. The tour company website recommends $1 a day as a tip which would have been $45 or so. I decided to tip $80. Alex and Ash had decided to tip the same each and the others decided on $50 or $60. We worked on the song for a while and when the others came back we tweaked it some more. 

We saw Roy drinking wine straight from the bottle at 8 a.m. We ate some of the leftovers from the night before and put our dishes back in the cooler, thinking we'd wash them when we got to our hostel. 

We stopped for one bushy bushy stop. When we got to Harare, we all gazed out the windows at the apparent wealth. We saw so many mansions and manicured yards. We saw lots of modern and sleek looking businesses. It appeared to be a big city. It seemed like we were driving for quite a while before we got to our hostel. We pulled up to our hostel, which was called Small World. We went on a tour of the property to see the upgrade options. Roy, Joseph, and Alex and Ash upgraded. On the tour after seeing the first room Roy said he'd take it. Alex said to him that she and Ash might want it, since they're a couple. She asked that Roy wait and see if there are multiple rooms available before claiming it. We continued the tour and there were at least two rooms. Alex said “Roy there are two so you can have the other one if you want it”. Roy responded “oh so I have your permission, do I?”. Alex said “well we need to work as a team! You need to think about other people!”. Roy responded “so you're a superior human being and deserve the room more than I do?”. Alex responded “well we’re a couple”. Those two stormed away from each other. Ash tried to console Alex. I reminded Alex that Roy was drinking wine at 8 that morning and clearly he has some inner demons. Ash said he thinks Roy is autistic and doesn't think about things the way she does. Alex said “well you two can defend him all you want but I did nothing wrong”. She started to cry and I hugged her and told her I understand her perspective. 

The rest of us were going to be in a dorm rather than camping anyway for the next two nights so the rest of us were fine with the dorm room. Especially since Joseph had upgraded and wouldn't be in the dorm with us. We were in a 16 person dorm and it was just our group in the dorm. Each of us was able to get a bottom bunk, so that was nice. I brought everything but my camping stuff in so I could try to get organized. 

Pretty quickly, people wanted to leave to go to the mall. I walked with Jill, Katherine, Ale, Flo, Georgia, and Lynne to the mall. I saw a Nando’s, which I really like. The others wanted to go to a place called Chop Chop. Chop Chop had grilled chicken, burgers, etc. I looked at the menu but was really not excited about it because not only was it not Zimbabwean, it also looked like something I could get in many restaurants around Grand Island. I asked if anyone else would be interested in Nando's. Jill said she was. We went over to Nando's. Jill had a bag of laundry with her. She'd wanted to get it done at the mall. She's been holding out on getting her laundry done because she wants it machine washed. She said she doesn't like the idea of anyone but her touching her underwear. She asked at the mall about the machines but it was going to be $1 per item. Jill said she probably had 50 items so she was going to hold off. I wondered to myself when she'd washed her underwear last. I never see her doing laundry.

Jill wanted to stay with her laundry so I went to order first. I got a boujee bowl - it had pulled chicken, rice, hot sauce, and avocado slices. I also ordered spicy olives and a can of Coke. It was $8. Zimbabwe widely uses dollars because their currency has inflated so much it's impractical. After I ordered Jill went up. Apparently they were out of veggie burgers. Jill said she was going to check the supermarket and then come back. She came back and said the supermarket didn't have much for veggie options either. Jill ordered coleslaw and fries from Nando's. Even though Nando's isn't local, we don't have it in Nebraska and I really like it. The others had been talking about Italian for dinner, which I really wasn't excited about eating in Zimbabwe so I was glad to at least get one meal that day that I couldn't get at home. By the time we ate it was around 3 p.m. Jill and I went into the mall. She saw a dress she liked. She went into the shop to ask how much it was. The shop attendant said “it's 300.”. Jill asked “dollars?”. The woman responded yes. Jill said “okay thank you” and walked out of there quickly. We went to the phone store in the mall and ran into Lynne, Alex, and Ash. We all bought local SIM cards. As we were leaving we saw Joseph and Katherine. Joseph said he'd tried three ATMs and none of them had cash. Jill and I went to a liquor store and bought some seltzers. We put them in our backpacks after paying and walked the ten minutes or so back to the hostel. On the way we were followed by a guy who I believe was high on drugs. He followed us and was shouting at us to buy him bread. We crossed the street and he kept following us. I held my phone up to my ear and shouted while looking back at him “help! This man is following us and won't leave us alone! Please come quickly!”. The man walked away from us quickly when he heard me say that. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

We got back to the dorm and changed into our swimsuits. Jill and I went to the pool and saw Ash and Alex there. They were sharing a bottle of rosé. Katherine and Flo came shortly after that and sat at a separate table. Jill and I drank our seltzers. I went swimming in the pool. Flo 

and Alex dipped their legs in for a bit but the water was cold. Alex was still fuming over the situation with Roy. We kept getting bitten by ants. We moved under an awning and Alex, Ash, Jill, and I hung out for a while. Ash and Alex found a restaurant they wanted to try. They invited Jill and I but we were still full from lunch. The rest of the group was going to the Italian place. Apart from Roy. 

Ash and Alex left for dinner. I went to the bar to get a beer. I saw Roy sitting by himself. I invited him to join Jill and I. To my surprise he did. We spent several hours talking to him. He showed us some amazing photos he's taken. He loves wildlife and has participated in quite a few volunteer projects. I will say that the conversation was very heavy on us asking him questions. Roy admitted at one point in the evening that he's been considering suicide. Jill and I told him not to give up hope and there are lots of reasons to live. 

Jill had mentioned earlier that Alex is really bossy. I'd made a comment that I really like Alex but she does freak out at times about small things. I got a message from Alex saying we could come join them at a bar if we wanted but don't worry, she's not going to freak out if not. I wondered to myself what Jill had said to her. Finally Jill and I went to bed. In the morning I woke up around 8. Flo said she, Katherine, Lynne, and Georgia were going out for the day. She invited Jill and I to join. We had two bathrooms for everyone not in private rooms to share. Or so I thought. Both were full. Katherine told me there was a third bathroom around the corner. I saw it was an outdoor bathroom. There was a toilet and a shower but no door so if anyone walked up I'd be completely exposed. I used it anyway. The sun was shining so it was nice in a way having an outdoor toilet but the drawback of it was ants kept biting me. Jill and I joined the others and we got a taxi to a brunch place. It was $20 for a maybe ten minute taxi ride. Flo had set it up through the hostel. The others were pretty upset about feeling ripped off but I thought it is what it is and it wasn't that expensive between all of us pitching in. The brunch restaurant was called the Bottom Drawer. It was beautiful. There was a giant garden with lots of outdoor seating. There were lots of beautiful flowers and other plants. I think we were all very pleasantly surprised that it was as nice as it was. I was glad I'd worn a dress that day rather than my zip off pants and a t-shirt like normal. I ordered a chocochinno and a feta and spinach quiche. The quiche came with a full plate of salad around it. After I finished my first drink I ordered a filter coffee. I then shared a pavlova with mixed berries with Georgia and Flo. I tried a bite of Jill's banoffee pie. Everything was very good. I looked around the gift shop and bought a lotion balm. It was lavender and baobab scented. We all paid and looked around a local farmers market. Several of the girls bought secondhand clothes. I didn't see anything I really loved and I'd have to potentially leave behind something I have now if I bought something new. The market seemed very upscale. 

Several people asked if we were from Zimbabwe or just visiting. I think there's lots more white people in Zimbabwe than we've seen in other places in Africa. We walked for 20 minutes or so to a botanic garden. We paid $5 to enter. One of the employees gave us a tour of the gardens. Georgia changed into a new dress and I took photos of her and Jill separately with the flowers. 

We got a tour of the mini game park inside the botanic gardens. We saw zebras, dyger (small African deer, similar to dik diks), and impalas. The zebras seemed to hate Jill. Everytime she'd walk closer to them they'd run away and the same wasn't true for the rest of us. Jill and Katherine kept drinking from my water bottle. They hadn't brought one. The staff told us we could drink from the water supply at the park. I refilled my bottle with cold water from the pump. The staff told us we could exit by following a path through the garden. We walked through a miniature forest and were very confused about where we were. We got to what looked like a house. We debated turning around or continuing on that road. Flo was adamant we were going the right way. We continued that way and came to another entrance for the garden. We showed the staff our receipt as they asked for payment. They said we'd been ripped off and entrance should be $2 not $5. Flo, Lynne, and Georgia wanted to go downtown. It was around 2 at that point and I wanted to go by an ATM and get my bags organized. Katherine and Jill wanted to go back too. The park staff flagged down a random guy who had a kid with him in the front seat. I hadn't been able to see any cars available on Uber and there were no taxis driving around nearby. The guy agreed to $6 for a ride to the mall by our hostels. We got in the car and rode to the mall. We were able to withdraw money from the ATM and we stopped for ice cream. Katherine got a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of honey in a waffle bowl. I got a scoop of granadilla and a scoop of mulberry in a waffle bowl. I got a second spoon so Jill could share with me. We ate our ice cream and went by the grocery store to grab a couple of things. I was getting a coke zero. It was $1.30. The grocery store staff asked if I wanted to get something that was 70 cents because they didn't have change. I got a small bottle of water. They don't seem to use coins much in Zimbabwe. 

We walked back to the hostel without issues. I got my stuff organized and donated my costume from the fancy dress party to a box at the hostel that said it was collecting items to give to orphans. I thought maybe they'd enjoy dressing up. I mentioned to the others in the dorm that I was doing that and suggested they could do the same if they wanted. 

I'd messaged the group (individually, so as not to tip off Often) about meeting at 3:30 for rehearsals. Georgia, Flo, and Lynne came at 3:45. Roy was there on time but he told me he didn't want to sing. We made some changes to the lyrics. At 4 we went to reception. We saw several others from the group and decided to run through the song together. Several people then had input for the song but we said if you weren't at rehearsal you don't get a say in the song. Alex mentioned she'd accidently drank some tap water the night before without thinking about it. 

We loaded into our truck- named Chui after leopards, and drove for the last time in it. We rehearsed along the way. We got to the Oasis house- it's where Oasis staff stay before and after tours getting things ready and then cleaning after tours. They also store trucks that are not in use there. The truck smelled terrible on the way. When we got to the house we realized we'd forgotten to clean out the noodles and dirty dishes from the other day. We were getting ready to get out dish washing buckets but Laurine said not to worry about it and Oasis staff would handle it. We all felt bad about it. 

We met our new driver, JB. He's from Zimbabwe. He's 60 years old. He showed us around our new truck- the Windows Truck. On first impression we thought the layout of the new truck is nice but it's not very clean and there's no drink holders. We moved our stuff over to the new truck. I have my own locker now instead of sharing with Jill. There's only 11 of us and the truck can hold up to 25. A woman named Irene who works for Oasis cooked us dinner. We had ugali, greens, and beef stew. The vegetarians had soy meat. Jill and Flo used some of the beef sauce for their ugali because they said it was too hard to eat without it even though they're pescetarians. Ash, Roy, and Georgia ate it without sauce. The food was excellent. I had two Savannah ciders. Joseph tried to open one with his key but the majority of it overflowed. Jill shared her Savannahs with me. Joseph paid me back the $40. I'd paid Laurine back for the cholera vaccine with a $10 bill so she owed me $3 and Katherine owed me $2 for the taxi but apart from that I was all settled up. 

After dinner we performed our song for Often. He said in 20 years of driving a truck for overland companies he's never had a song written for him. We gave him our tips. Ash and Alex accidentally bought a funeral card for him because they hadn't read it closely. They crossed out the funeral parts and made it more relevant. Irene washed our dinner dishes for us. We each had a piece of baobab fruit. We took a couple of group pictures and said goodbye to Often. JB drove us back to the hostel in our new truck. We decided that the next day would be Mandy Day We could only address Katherine by Mandy. We would all wear pink if we had it- I was guessing it's Mandy's favorite color. Katherine agreed to make a chocolate chip skillet cookie for dessert on Mandy Day. We said Katherine could wear her pink tank top with the fur for Mandy Day. Katherine said she donated it to the orphans. We all asked why she would donate lingerie to children? She said she'd thought it was a bit weird but I was the one who suggested it. I said I meant costumes in general, not lingerie. We all laughed over that. 

It was around 8:30 when we got back to the hostel. I took a shower - it was hot which was nice but the shower was basically just a hose with one stream of water. Jill asked me to give her a massage before bed. I gave her one and she played Chinese massage music on her phone. All of us in the dorm went to bed early.

In the morning I woke up at 6:45 and got ready for the day. Most people wanted to walk to the mall and have breakfast at a cafe. They wanted to put their stuff on the truck and then walk because we were going to the mall anyway to go grocery shopping. We found out JB was going to be 30 minutes late. The breakfast group waited for him so they could put their bags up. I decided to order breakfast at the hostel. I asked for a fried egg sandwich but the restaurant staff, named Teacher, said he was busy and asked if I'd go for something easy like scrambled eggs and toast. I agreed to that and a coffee. I sat with Lynne for breakfast. I settled my tab from the last two days. For breakfast, two bottles of water, a Fanta, and a beer it was $12. Teacher told me Ash and Alex owed $8. It was time to go so I just paid their tab and figured they'd pay me back. I messaged Alex about it. She came to the restaurant and said they'd paid as they went. We found out in the end it was Roy’s tab. Roy insisted he'd paid but Teacher finally convinced Roy that he'd paid part of his tab but not all. I told Roy he owed me $8. Roy gave me a $10 bill and I owe him $2 now. I started an IOU tracker as many of the others have done. We got to the mall and I found Katherine and Flo in a cafe. Katherine paid me back the $2. They were just finishing breakfast. I messaged Ale where we were as the four of us are in a cook group together. We're going to Chimanimani for the next two nights. Tonight Katherine will make a dessert but another cook group is cooking. The night after our group will cook. We're making lentil spaghetti Bolognese and a salad. Katherine and Flo said they'd ordered breakfast and then went to get most of our groceries. They said we just needed to get chocolate and the salad stuff. I ordered a coffee, a steak and pepper pie for lunch, and two fancy chocolates. Ale came along and we all sat together until Flo and Katherine finished breakfast. Ale had gotten an iced coffee and she said they'd filled it up halfway with ice cream. She insisted that I take several sips to pay me back for always sharing my coffee. 

We walked over to the grocery store and got the rest of our supplies. I got some Coke Zero and some precut pineapple for myself. I had 60 cents to use or lose as they didn't have change so I got some gum as well. We went back to the truck and started on our journey. Almost everyone is wearing pink. Georgia wore a jumper today, which she realized was a terrible mistake as we'll have plenty of bushy bushy stops today. We sang the tune of happy birthday but replaced birthday with Mandy Day. Alex said her mom has booked on for the last week of the tour. I said I'll invite my dad. Everyone joked about us being in the Parent Trap and being long lost sisters. They asked if we know we're not really sisters? We have so many similarities that people have been saying we're like long lost sisters for several weeks now. 

Everyone has been calling Katherine Mandy so far today. I think in Chimanimani there will be lots of options for hikes and several waterfalls. I'm excited!

On the way to Lilongwe everyone kept complaining about the condition of the roads. To be honest the roads in Nepal were 100x worse so I really didn't think the roads here were too bad. However, we took several hours longer than anticipated to get to Lilongwe. We stopped for a bushy bushy stop. We also stopped at a gas station around lunch time. They didn't have any hot food, just snacks. Georgia joined in on Flo and I ‘s water challenge and we're keeping track on a blank sudoku page. I got two small chocolate bars and a Coke Zero. Ash and Alex got into an argument in the store about whether or not to buy Pringles because they were expensive. I felt embarrassed even just overhearing the argument. In the end they did buy them. Apparently there's a garlic flavor of Pringles, which I'd never seen before. We all continued on the way to Lilongwe. We stopped at a grocery store. The only thing I needed was dental floss. I'd been looking for it for a couple of weeks, but no stores have had it that I've tried. I knew Flo needed some too. Alex and I went shopping together and I finally asked an employee about dental floss as I didn't see any with the tooth paste. The employee took me to the aisle that had aluminum foil and toothpicks. The dental floss was there. I don't think I ever would have found that on my own. I bought two packs and gave one to Flo later. I also bought some school supplies to give to kids. Alex and I didn't see anyone from the group in the store and we were confused where we went wrong. We looked and saw another grocery store across the parking lot. We went over there and found lots of the group. I got a chicken samosa and Alex got a beef one and some veggie ones for Ash. We left the grocery store and I wanted some ice cream. It was blazing hot. We went into an ice cream shop and saw Flo and Katherine. Apparently the shop only had strawberry and coconut ice cream left. I got strawberry ice cream on a cone. Ash came in and said he'd gotten medicine to kill any parasites from swimming in the lake. I asked if he thought I needed to buy some, as by that point it was almost time to get back on the truck. I didn't want to be late. He said it was just to be safe and I'd probably be okay without it. Katherine googled and couldn't find any recent conclusive information about it. But she didn't think it was necessary. She wasn't taking any and she's a doctor. I went without it and got back on the truck. We drove to our campsite. We toured the hotel on the campground. It was really modern, one of the most modern looking buildings we've seen in Malawi. We saw a Marry Me sign lit up and some candles and rose petals. Upgrades were $110 per night. We joked that if they took the $10 camping fee off of the room for each person we could get one free room and all share it. In the end everyone camped. Katherine has said she's very over camping already. I think the rest of us like it for the most part. 

Jill and I tried to find a spot that was far away from Joseph since he snores loudly and that was far away from ants, which were abundant at the campsite. I told Ash and Alex about the snack ants on a log. They'd never heard of it and said it sounded disgusting. I drank a warm cherry Sobo soft drink. It was a lot less tasty when it was warm. I couldn't find my sleeping bag anywhere. I remembered taking it to the truck that morning but I couldn't remember if I put it in my locker or not. I'd been carrying a lot of stuff and I thought maybe I'd set it down near the truck. No one had seen it by the truck and Often said he didn't think I'd left it there. It crossed my mind that someone lurking around the campgrounds could have taken it- especially since Alex's sandals had gone missing. She did find her $50 though. Alex and Ale checked their lockers because theirs are on either side of mine. It wasn't in their lockers. I figured at least I had my blanket and it's been too hot to sleep with anything covering me lately anyway. I thought maybe I could buy a cheap sleeping bag in Harare if we didn't find it. I'd about resigned myself to that reality and then Alex came out from her tent and asked Ash why there were three sleeping bags in there. She took one out and I saw it was mine! We laughed about it as that was a two part goof up- I'd apparently put my sleeping bag in Ash and Alex's locker without realizing it but then Ash had also managed to take three sleeping bags to the tent without realizing. There was some discussion about going into town for dinner. The group had decided on an Indian restaurant for dinner. I was disappointed by that because I wanted local food. I googled Malawian restaurants but the closest one was 3 miles away. I didn't want to go that far by myself because I didn't feel safe doing that. No one else was interested in the idea of a local restaurant. I went with Katherine to check out the hotel menu. I saw several Malawian dishes on the menu and lots of Indian dishes. We went back to the campgrounds and told the others about that option. People were still being indecisive and it was around 6:30. We went back to the hotel restaurant and had craft beer. I hadn't had craft beer in probably a couple of months and was excited to try local craft beer. I had one pilsner and I bought Jill a beer. After the beer people were still being indecisive about what to do. I knew we were leaving at 6 the next morning and I was hungry. I went ahead and ordered Malawian food- chamba fish from Lake Malawi with rice and vegetables. I asked if they had ugali instead of rice and was told no. I got a lot of judgment from others about my love for ugali. They said they can respect how much I want to try the local food but they think the ugali is the most bland thing ever but I seem to love it. We were all laughing about it. Katherine, Lynne, and Georgia also ordered from the hotel restaurant. Roy ordered from there too but was sitting separately. Ash invited him to come join us and he did so. Joseph opted to eat by himself. The rest of the group eventually left for the Indian restaurant. Lynne is really soft spoken and the restaurant was loud and I could not hear a word of what she was talking about. Roy is nearly silent just in general. Katherine excused herself as soon as she was done eating. I held out as long as I could but eventually thought everyone was eating so slowly I just needed to get out of there. I paid with my debit card. I was out of cash and my credit card was declined at the grocery store. I need to call Bank of America next time I get wifi. I think it's because the spa on Zanzibar charged me twice so I'd disputed one of the charges. Online it doesn't show that anything has been declined. 

I took a shower - it was hot which was really nice. It was a mixed bathroom, which so far I have not come across here. I went to the tent around 8:30 but struggled to go to sleep so early. I had a bit of regret over not going out with the others but thought maybe it would be good to rest. I think I had a hard time falling asleep just because I knew Jill would be coming in later. We'd put our sleeping bags sideways because we'd realized we were on a bit of a decline. Finally Jill came in. She seemed tipsy and when she saw I wasn't asleep yet she was super chatty. I tried to be quiet because I knew others were trying to sleep. Jill said the food was very good. We went to sleep. 

In the morning Alex sent me a picture of the restaurant menu from that night, they had a dish called Ants on a Tree, which was apparently a stir fried dish. She said I should have come because I could have ordered that. We got ready for the day. I had a bowl of cornflakes and made my tumbler of coffee to share with Jill. Today we're crossing the border into Mozambique and then will be bush camping. Flo kept saying we had no more long driving days but we're not sure where she's getting her information. It's supposed to be a 12 hour drive today if everything goes well. We pointed out to her we still have to get across Africa somehow. I expect to not have Wi-Fi or a SIM card for at least the next two days. We'll then cross into Zimbabwe and I plan to buy a SIM there. I think we're having pasta salad for lunch. Fingers crossed for no weevils!

On the way to Kande Beach we stopped by a grocery store. My cook group bought supplies for grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and salad for dinner. We stocked up on snacks. Flo and I got a bag of apples to share. A guy was following our group and every time we'd say to each other we were looking for something (ice, lettuce, etc), he'd tell us he had some in his truck to sell us. We told him no thank you. We checked out and the others went to put the groceries in the truck. I hadn't been able to find sunscreen in the grocery store. I checked in the pharmacy and they had one kind but it was around $10. I thought I guess if I need it I need it. I tried to use my credit card at the pharmacy but it was declined twice. I'd used it just a few minutes earlier at the grocery store with no issues. I paid for my sunscreen in cash. I went back to the truck and dropped off my things and then went to get clothes for the party. There were men selling these clothes by the gate at the grocery store. When I came over they started holding up items to show me. I realized quickly that these were all joke clothes. I had drawn Katherine's name. I bought her a floral mini skirt with fringe on the bottom and a pink tank top with fur on the top. She's not girly at all. When I got back on the truck Katherine wasn't in there and so I showed the others the outfit and they all said it was perfect for her. I had gotten a steak pie and a strawberry yogurt for lunch. I ate lunch and Lynne and Georgia bought supplies for our punch. We paid 4,500 kwacha each for our portion of the punch and the outfits were 5,000 each. Joseph told me he'd tried the ATM but it was out of cash. We got back on the road and drove a few hours to Kande Beach. I mostly read- the group has been quiet lately. We stopped at one point for a bushy bushy stop and to see rubber trees. Some people were selling rubber balls. Lynne bought one and said the group could use it. 

When we got in, we looked at the upgrades option just to see what was out there. It was $8 for a private room. Katherine, Roy, Joseph, and Ale each upgraded and got their own room. The rest of us decided to camp. We pitched our tent under a wood platform that provided a bit of shade. We were on sand and I thought it would be a nice cushion. We set up our tents and saw some men sitting by the truck. We assumed they were there to talk to us about activities. We went and sat by them and listened to our options. We were told the dive shop went out of business and so there was no diving available. We all settled for snorkeling for the next day. After that Alex, Ash, Flo, and I went swimming in the lake. Georgia was planning to come but she looked at the water and said it was gross and she didn't want to swim after all. The rest of us swam for a while and then each took a shower. The bathroom was nice, it had bars of soap at the sink and toilet paper in the stalls. There was lots of natural light, there were plants and a skylight in the middle. By that I mean it was just open there, there was no glass or anything. I couldn't find my ring but knew it was somewhere in the tent. I was glad I'd brought a fake just in case. After showering I went to the bar and Jill gave me a friendship bracelet and a beer. We sat with Alex and Ash and chatted. We went to the truck around 6 and Georgia had made the jungle juice. She put mango juice, pineapple juice, cherry juice, gin, and vodka in a big pot. It didn't taste like alcohol at all. Flo played some music on the truck speakers and we started our party. We took turns giving each other the goofy outfits. Joseph started and came out from behind the truck wearing his outfit. He had bright green silk pants, a brown button up shirt with G’s on it, and a floral shawl over it. He gave the outfit he bought to the next person. We continued on like that. Alex had me and she presented me with a silver mini skirt, an American flag tutu, a green sequin top, a Superman cape, and fingerless gloves with silver sequins. I put on my outfit and came out to the music. Katherine went and put on her outfit. We all laughed about everyone's outfit. Lynne had

Flo and somehow managed to find a very nice dress and jacket for her. They looked really good on Flo and she said that's going to be her clubbing outfit when she goes home. Everyone else looked very goofy. Laurine and Often bought clothes for each other. Laurine had a sequined dress and Often wore a cheetah print skirt with fringe at the bottom and a silver glittery tank top. Jill really liked my top and wanted to trade me one of her clothing items for it. I asked about her black athletic shorts and she agreed to trade me those for the top. Roy was the only one in the group that hadn't wanted to come to the party. After our fashion show we had dinner that Laurine and Often had cooked for us. We had steak, green beans, and baked potatos. We also had grated beets. Everything was very good. After dinner we all danced by the truck. There were men at Kande Beach who were there to wash our dishes. It was the same as what we'd had in Rwanda, where the men did the dishes and we were expected to tip them a bit. I find that arrangement a win win. We were told the men doing our dishes had made a bonfire for us on the beach. We went to the beach and some local people performed dances for us. We discussed later that we realized they'd all chosen to speak to each of us, it was like each of us had one local assigned to us and they were asking us exactly the same questions. We all found that a bit odd. They told us we could buy beer there for cheap but we all just went back to the campground. We told them thanks for the fire. Alex, Jill, Ale, and I stayed up talking. Joseph and Ash sat at the other end of the table having their own conversation most of the time. Alex told me to put some music on. The bar staff told me I could play music over the speakers. I didn't have good phone service so I was restricted to my downloads. I looked up Halloween music around Halloween this year and my phone “smart downloaded” a bunch of Halloween music. About every other song I had to run to the bar and skip the Halloween songs. Finally we all went to bed. 

I found the sand really wasn't as comfortable as I thought it would be. My mattress is hit or miss on being comfortable, some nights it deflates more than I find ideal. Jill and I slept without the canvas on our tent because we wanted the breeze. I woke up and had two cups of coffee. Often made omelets and toast. Georgia mentioned she kept throwing up overnight but was feeling better now. A guy was sitting by the truck asking people to change $6 for kwacha. At first I thought that must be some kind of scam but I asked Often and he said the guy was probably a guide and got tipped in USD but that local currency was more useful for him. He might live nearby and not have transportation to go to a bureau de change. We all got ready for the day, and everyone but Roy went on the snorkeling tour. The boat was parked right outside of the campground but we were walked through a market on the way. We all boarded the boat and rode a few minutes to a small island, Kande Beach. The beach was full of big rocks, we had to crawl to go up on the island. Alex mentioned her haviana flip flops had disappeared from in front of her tent. She also swore she had $50 in her wallet but it had gone missing. She wasn't sure if she'd dropped it or what but I thought to myself that I need to keep a closer count of what I have in my wallet. 

Everyone had the option to jump from the cliffs. We all jumped and then swam in the lake. The staff passed out masks. They only brought 4 snorkels for 10 people and 2 of the snorkels were leaking. Katherine got a snorkel and so did Flo. There were no fins and no life jackets. We all swam near the island and looked at the fish with just our masks. After a while most of us swam in a shallow area and hung out chatting. We said we thought we'd ask for a discount because the snorkeling equipment had been so minimal. One of the guides kept hitting on Katherine. At one point I felt nauseous. A bunch of us were sitting on rocks with our legs in the water. I shouted at everyone to get away from me so I could throw up. Everyone swam away quickly. The urge passed, it was a false alarm. I laid on a rock in the shade for a while and then eventually rejoined the group. Alex, Ash, Lynne, and Joseph went fishing for part of the time that we were at the island. Joseph caught one fish. No one else caught any. We spent about three hours on the island and then got the boat back. When we were back at the truck Often mentioned that the guides we'd gone with were just random guys and not affiliated with the campground. He said it would have been more polite to use the campground staff. We were all confused about why he didn't tell us sooner, as we'd just assumed those guys were official and Often hadn't said a word prior to the snorkeling trip. We had also all negotiated with the snorkeling company that we'd be willing to pay $15 and not $20 as originally said for the snorkeling since they hadn't had much gear. 

Alex, Ash, Jill, Flo, Katherine, Ale, and I hung out most of the afternoon. We ordered lunch from the campground restaurant and sat in the shade by the lake. I got chicken fried rice and a Coke. There weren't any local food options that I saw on the menu. Flo and I talked about our water challenge. She keeps saying “this is disgusting” whenever she drinks water, and she refers to it as “that clear beverage”. Roy joined us for maybe an hour or so but didn't participate much in the conversation. He did show us a photo of a cat from the morning. Lynne joined off and on. Joseph chose to sit in a hammock near where we were but he read all afternoon. Around 4 I went and took a shower. When I came back, Flo suggested sand volleyball and frisbee. I went to check on Georgia, she'd been in her tent all afternoon. She said she was okay and she wanted to join for volleyball. Georgia, Ash, and I were on a volleyball team and Flo, Jill, and Joseph were on the other team. I did very badly. We also played frisbee. After a while we needed to go start making dinner. Flo, Katherine, Ale, and I cooked dinner. We made grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and salad. One of the loaves of bread wasn't sliced. Some of the slices that we did ourselves were questionable. We had to ration the butter. We were making 13 sandwiches and only ended up having bread for 12 and a half. Flo dropped a piece of cheese in the dirt. We didn't have a way to wash it off properly- she used my bottle of water and got the cheese wet and rubbed it a little bit and put it on a sandwich. I thought that was a bit questionable but she claimed we're building immunity here. Often helped us with some of our chopping. He said we should have bought more bread when we went grocery shopping. Flo said she'd just assumed we'd have enough. Laurine and Often questioned how the group had used a whole tub of butter in three days. I went to let the others know we were ready for dinner. I took the half sandwich. Katherine gave me about a 4th of hers when she was done eating and said she was full. I told Katherine she reminds me slightly off my Aunt Mandy. I've shown the group pictures of my aunt and it's the running joke that she and Katherine are basically doppelgangers. Some people have said they see it and others don't but I've said it's more in her mannerisms and it's only a little bit. Everyone has said that Mandy looks fun from her photos. After dinner the guys were there still to do the washing up and that was very nice. Often said he had an announcement. I thought maybe it would be something to do with us using all the bread and butter or maybe that we'd used the wrong guides, or that people kept forgetting to lock the truck when no one from the group was around it. Instead he announced that in three days he'd be leaving and we'd be swapping drivers and trucks. We're switching to a truck with individual windows. It has front facing seats in most of the bus, just one set of two benches that face each other. We were all really sad to hear that Often is leaving. He said it's because there are 7 drivers for Oasis in Africa and the overland trips haven't picked up much since COVID. He said this was the company's decision so another driver can have some employent. We talked about it later that it's really unfortunate for Often that he's out of over a month of pay. It's unfortunate for us too as Often goes above and beyond. He's very helpful around camp and he's been awesome. The atmosphere was pretty gloomy the rest of the evening. Alex, Ash, Jill, Flo, Ale, and I went to the bar and paid our tabs. We sat for a while and talked about doing something nice for Often before he leaves, maybe getting him a present and cake. We also discussed we should tip well because he has been amazing. Flo and I talked about our water challenge and decided to add a punishment if we don't get our water goal. We decided on 50 sit ups or 100 jumping jacks, we can pick which one. Flo did 100 jumping jacks in the bar because she didn't want to finish her water. I did the same. Ash said after seeing the jumping jacks and the volleyball he thought I might be one of the most uncoordinated people he's ever met. Alex said that I am clumsy. People started giving examples of times they've seen me do clumsy things. Just earlier that day I'd fallen when getting out of the boat. On that note I decided to go to bed. I saw a spider in the tent but it crawled away and I couldn't find it. Between that and the hard ground I struggled to fall asleep. 

I woke in the morning and got ready for the day. My cook group set out cereal for breakfast and hot water. There was no bread for toast. I helped Jill put down the tent and then helped Georgia with hers. I tipped the guys who'd been washing our dishes. I gave one of them two packs of pencils to give to a local school. Jill found my ring in the tent. I came out of the bathroom and she was on one knee and holding my ring. 

Everyone was on the bus at our scheduled time of 7 apart from Ale. Ale was 15 minutes late. She finally arrived and we got on the bus. Today we're going to Lilongwe. We're supposed to get in relatively early. We were going to have dinner at the truck tonight but a lot of people said they wanted to go out to eat so we're doing the instead. I'm not sure if this is how it works but people were saying the cook group for tomorrow should get double the budget and we can have a really nice meal since we're not having our included meal tonight. I would have preferred to eat on the truck but didn't want to be the only one and it would be nice to try more Malawian food. We all had a lot of fun at our party. We've agreed to do a White Elephant exchange in Victoria Falls the night before several people leave the trip. We've also talked about other ideas for parties on the truck and want to make it a regular thing. It was a cheap and fun thing to do. I'm excited for Lilongwe!

After leaving the border we drove for several hours to camp. We stopped by an ATM. I noticed Joseph stayed on the truck. I got out the equivalent of $100 in local currency. When I got back on the truck I asked Joseph if he was planning to use the ATM. He said he didn't think so. I mentioned that at dinner the night before he told me was going to get out cash at the ATM to pay me back. Joseph said he thought he'd wait until we get to Zimbabwe because then he could get out USD instead of local currency to pay me back. Zimbabwe is in another week or two and it had been a week and a half since I'd lent him money. Also, he's leaving the trip when we get to Zimbabwe. I felt livid at that point. He asked if I really needed the cash sooner? I said no but I'd like it sooner rather than later. He said he didn't have enough money in his account to take it out at the moment I chose to end the discussion but was internally fuming. We got stopped by the police at one point and had to show him our passports. Often gets stopped by the police multiple times a day usually and has to bribe them. He's not doing anything wrong with his driving, it's just normal here from what I gather. We got back on the bus and headed to camp. We stayed at Chitimba Camp at the north of Lake Malawi. The lake is beautiful. We went on a tour of the campgrounds to see the upgrade options. I just went out of curiosity. It was $10 for a room upgrade and they had twin beds available so I could have shared with someone. There was no AC. I think if there was AC I may have been tempted but overall I want to camp whenever I have the chance for it on this trip anyway. Jill wanted to camp too but she wanted her own tent. We set up our tent plus she borrowed Ash and Alex's tent since they were upgrading. Flo wanted her own tent too but she made a couple of hints about it and Ale seemed like she was offended by the idea of two tents. They ended up sharing. Lynne had her own tent. I considered offering to share with Lynne but she's had a cold the last couple of days. I hadn't had my own tent up to this point in the trip. It was nice to be able to spread out my stuff and not have to limit my liquids to try to not have to go to the bathroom overnight. Everyone other than the five of us upgraded. I took a cold shower but it felt nice because I'd gotten so hot and sweaty. There were ladies there to do laundry service. I took over my clothes and they quoted 12,000 Malawian Kwacha. I put on my leggings and wore my Indian kaftan because my clothes I've been wearing were so filthy I didn't want to miss out on any of them washed. I felt self conscious about wearing Indian clothes when no one else was. I warned Laurine I was going to be wearing a really weird outfit. She said “ooh, can't wait!”. Actually though when I was wearing it I got quite a few compliments. I sat in front of my tent and I clipped my nails short. They get filthy and I've found keeping them as short as possible is the least disgusting option. I used a compact mirror and my phone flashlight to pluck my eyebrows. Flo came and sat by me on the grass and plucked hers with my mirror after I was done. We then walked to the bar and came across Katherine, Ash, Ale, and Georgia. We sat and chatted while the cook group, Jill, Alex, and Joseph made dinner. Katherine had fallen off of the truck bench that morning. We'd gone over a particularly big bump and she'd been laying down. She fell down onto the floor and her metal water bottle. She said she'd bruised her ribs. We also discussed that there was another overland truck at the campsite. It was a G Adventures truck. We all said Ash and Alex had a doppelganger each in the other group and it was like seeing an alternate reality when we looked at the group. We got into a fairly heated debate about gun control. Joseph came and let us know it was time for dinner. They'd had to cook what was in the truck already and Laurine cooked corn on the cob. We had noodles with lots of different canned vegetables. I put lots of chili flakes on mine. We ate dinner- I ate three small pieces of corn. It wasn't like Nebraskan

corn- it was tougher and not as flavorful or sweet but I was excited to have corn on the cob. Some men came to do a presentation about the different activities for the next day. After they presented them we all discussed what we were interested in. There was one that took you to a waterfall, church, and museum that sounded great to me but the only thing I was concerned about was that it was on a motorbike. No one else was interested in that anyway so I settled for my second choice, the village walk. Georgia, Ale, and Flo signed up for it too. Several people didn't sign up for any activities, they just wanted to chill the next day and Joseph wanted to go to church for the 4th time in his two weeks on the trip. It was actually the best presentation of activities that we've had and I felt bad for the guys that more people didn't sign up for activities. After we cleaned up from dinner Alex, Ash, Flo, Jill, and I went to the campground bar. Ale wanted to go to a local bar with the guys who'd come to talk to us. She was trying to get the rest of us to go but we didn't want a big night out. Ale went with those guys anyway. We were all worried about her going off with three guys we don't know and no one else from the group. Laurine said she trusts those guys, which I think made us all feel much better but still we were worried about Ale. We've been to places in Africa where security said we needed to get a taxi for a one minute drive because it wasn't safe to walk at night. The rest of us who were at the bar played Skip Bo, other than Jill. Jill doesn't tend to like games. Jill sat and watched. Joseph came over at one point, he'd been in the bar writing in his journal. We all talked for a while. Joseph, Jill, and Flo went to bed. Alex and Ash and I stayed up for a while talking. Ash said Roy was really rude to him. I defended Roy. Ash said that I'm the kindest person on the trip but sometimes you need to call a spade a spade and even if Roy is really depressed it doesn't give him a right to be rude to people and to not help out around camp. We all got ready for bed, there was a camp bathroom with three female showers, three toilets, and one sink. That was the only women's bathroom on the property. I assume the men's bathroom was similar. I heard Ale talking to Flo and was relieved that she'd made it back. Loud music was playing from a bar outside of the campgrounds but I eventually fell asleep. 

In the morning I woke up around 8. I'd had to get up a few times in the night and use the bathroom, my stomach was upset. I was grateful we were not bush camping. I got up and saw Katherine in the bathroom. She told me Georgia had been really sick overnight and kept throwing up and needing to use the bathroom. I went for breakfast by the truck and Flo said she threw up twice that morning. I felt very nauseous and thought I might throw up but I think that's a side effect of my malaria medication and so that has been very common for me here. Laurine cooked a fried egg for me. I had set it to the side because a man had come to do SIM cards for anyone interested. I'd wanted a SIM card to keep in touch with people back home. I paid 10,000 kwacha for one. I realized afterwards that Jill had eaten my egg. We realized what happened and Jill cooked me two fried eggs. Jill said she felt like she had a hangover but she hadn't drank at all the night before. Lynne was still sick with her cold. I realized I'd drank some of the dishwashing water the day before instead of drinking water. Other people had as well. We discussed maybe that was what was making people ill. Laurine said she thought it may very well be dehydration. None of us have been drinking much water at all or replacing our electrolytes. Flo and I had started challenging each other the day before to drink 3 liters of water a day since it's been so hot. Laurine said not to do just water and to make sure we're putting electrolytes or at least salt into some of our water. Before that, Flo was drinking almost no water. It was kind of a running joke but also not very healthy. I was probably drinking roughly 40 ounces a day. The problem is none of us want to be the one requesting lots of bathroom stops. Laurine said the next day we'd have a chance to go by a pharmacy and buy electrolytes. I had my fried eggs and toast and coffee and pineapple. I helped clean up from breakfast. We didn't start our tour until 10, which I thought was very late but it was nice to have a chill morning. I thought about canceling the walk because I didn't feel good but I felt bad because Ale was really excited about it and Flo and Georgia had cancelled. Ale and I went on the village tour. Our tour guides were named Mr. Vegemite, Freeman, and Robert. I thought it was interesting we had three tour guides for two people. We went by some wood carving shops right by the campground. There were some really cool carvings but I managed to get away with saying I'd be back later and didn't want to shop at the time. We went to a local elementary school. We met the headmaster and he told us a bit about the school. Kids go from 6:30-1:30 Monday through Friday. They don't get any meals provided at this school. The government pays for the school but kids have to take standardized tests once a year, which have a fee. These are 2,000 kwacha per test. Many kids dropout of school because of that. That's under $2. The school doesn't have electricity. We saw a classroom and there was graffiti all over it and a blackboard. The other classrooms were being used for church services because it was a Sunday. Lots of kids came and wanted to hold Ale and I’s hands. They asked us for pencils but unfortunately we didn't have any with us. I gave them some cookies. After seeing the school we walked down the road. We saw a dead goat hung up. A guy was frying goat liver and intestines. Ale tried some. I was still nauseous and couldn't bring myself to try it. We continued walking and Mr. Vegemite bought us bags of cold water. We punctured them with our teeth and sucked the water out. We walked by some fish for sale. We continued walking and made it to the witch doctor. Mr. Vegemite said the witch doctor wouldn't be dancing today because there are usually drums and a lady had died nearby just 30 minutes before, when giving birth and so because of her family being around we wouldn't be having music. We said that was perfectly fine. We heard lots of wailing. Mr. Vegemite said when someone dies they call a village leader to come do a ceremony as soon as possible and all the family comes and then they can wail. Then they usually bury the body the next day. The G Adventures group was at the witch doctor too. We waited for over an hour because they were in front of us to see him. We could hear wailing the whole time. We sat under a tree and it was in the shade. I started to feel much better. Finally it was my turn to see the witch doctor. He had a translator, Sam. The witch doctor said that I'm away from work right now but I'll return to work soon. He said I'll get married soon and have three kids, two girls and a boy. He said I'll move abroad for work. He said my family misses me very much. When I came out of the witch doctor Ale told me her fortune and it sounded pretty similar to mine but Ale firmly believed that the Witch Doctor can really tell your future. She'd bought a love potion from him and she said she's hoping she meets someone this trip to use it on. We started walking back to the campground. We ran into Ash and Alex. They said they were going to lunch and invited us to join them. We went to a local place and had whole fish with beans and I had ugali while the others had rice. I had a Coke with my meal. Mr. Vegemite ate with us. We ate with our hands. Lunch was very good and flavorful. It was $6 for the meal per person. We walked back to the campground. Freeman ushered me into one of the wood carving places. I was not planning to buy anything, they had beautiful carvings but I don't have space in my bag. I have thought about buying a suitcase when we get to South Africa so I can take back more things, plus neither Steve or I currently own a suitcase. The main drawback of that is having to lug around a suitcase for the last leg of my trip. Freeman showed me a Malawian game. It's a wooden box that opens and has little divots with two rocks in each one. It's a two player game and you try to be the one to have a rock left at the end. I couldn't resist playing a round of the game. Freeman won but it was close. I asked if he wanted to play a second round. We did and I won that. I said we needed a third game, but on the third one we had a draw. Freeman said I'm really smart and good at strategy. Ale had been playing the game with Mr. Vegemite. She overheard that and said yes I am and that I'm very good at sudoku, too. Freeman said he didn't know what sudoku was. I told him I thought he'd like it. Freeman said he's the best in the village at playing that game, which they call Bao after the Baobab trees because in the past people would sit under those and play the game. He said I'd given him a run for his money and he was impressed. This definitely could have just been part of his sales tactic but I guess it worked. It was a fun game. I decided to buy a set. I bought one that had the big 5 carved on it. I got Malawi 2024 carved on the side too and Freeman added a latch to it and threw in some “marbles” which were actually just rocks. Ale owed Mr. Vegemite for lunch and the tour. She had kept saying she didn't have cash with her but I didn't offer to pay for hers and eventually Mr. Vegemite had offered to loan her the money. Mr. Vegemite told Ale and I if we had anything to trade for the wood carvings they'd accept that too. He said shirts, socks, medicine, etc. I didn't really think I had anything I wasn't using. We went back to the campground. Alex and Ash had gone ahead because they'd already bought a bao set and didn't want any more wood carvings. I grabbed some sudoku pages from my bag and went back to the wood market. I taught Freeman how to play sudoku and gave him the pages. We sat in the grass and I was dripping sweat, it was hot out. I went back to the campground. My laundry wasn't back yet. I went to the lake and saw Alex, Ash, and Katherine in the water. I took my leggings off and went swimming in my kaftan. We swam for a while and the water was really nice. It was a beautiful place. After that I showered. The electricity wasn't working but there was a window in the bathroom that gave enough light to get by. My kaftan smelled fishy to me so I washed it in the shower. My laundry still wasn't back so I put my wet kaftan back on. When I came out one of the G Adventures girls asked me how showering in the dark was. I said there was enough light to see. I thought to myself the group probably thinks I'm really bizarre, from wearing a kaftan for two days, to showering in the dark, swimming in a kaftan, and then wearing a very clearly wet kaftan that looks like I showered while fully clothed. Not that anyone thinks about other people as much as they worry that they do, I just thought it was funny. It was around 5 then and we were meeting for dinner at 7. I looked around for someone to play my new game with. I went on the truck and saw Roy, Lynne, and Ale. I asked if any of them wanted to play bao. They all said yes. I taught Lynne and Roy how to play it and we all took turns. We'd just cleaned out the truck and we had a little bit of boxed wine left. We had one cup and the four of us shared the remainder of the wine. After two rounds each the others had had enough of the game for the time being. I put it up and went to the bar. I saw Flo and she asked if I wanted to play a game. I went and got my game out again and we played it until it was time to leave for dinner. We all took our camp stools and walked a few minutes to Robert’s house. Laurine carried our plates and silverware. Ash and Alex brought a bottle of gin and we'd each bought pop. I bought a piña colada one and a cherry one to mix with the gin. Both of the pops were really good. Some of the best soft drinks I've ever had. The brand is Sobe. We had rice, cassava fries, beef chunks, greens, and tomato sauce for dinner. Robert’s sister made the meal. She made soy meat for the vegetarians. We sat outside and ate our meal. My cook group is making tomato soup for our next dinner that we're making together and we'd been discussing it before dinner. Katherine shouted that she hates tomato soup. Robert then gave a description of the food and said we were having tomato soup. It was really more of a sauce but Katherine said later she felt bad then about shouting that she hates tomato soup. The group discussed the G Adventures group. Apparently G Adventures has wifi and air conditioning on their buses and their tour leader makes their meals for them. These comments were said with a certain degree of judgment but I thought to myself everyone on our tour would probably like those things too if they were included. Robert and Mr. Vegemite collected our dishes in a bucket and carried them back to the campsite. They washed them there for us which was very nice. Jill, Flo, Alex, Ash, Joseph, Lynne and I went to the bar. Joseph taught us how to play Perudo. It's a six person game and Jill sat out. Ale came and after our round had finished I felt obligated to offer her to take my spot. She played and I sat out for a round. I was tired so I went to bed early, around 9:30. It was really hot so I took the risk of rain getting in and left my canvas flap open. 

I woke up at 6 and got ready for the day and put down my tent. I had two pieces of toast with peanut butter and a coffee for breakfast. I put the coffee in my portable mug to drink slowly on the bus. We all put things on the bus and headed out. We've got a 4-5 hour drive today to Candy Beach. Often said if we want we can have a party tonight on the beach. We can each buy an outfit for someone, we'll draw names out of a hat and buy a fancy outfit for each other. He said the outfit should cost no more than 5,000 kwacha. We can then each pitch in for a bottle of liquor and make a bowl of punch. I think everyone but Roy is interested. I also need to sew a button onto my gray zip off pants. The button fell off five weeks ago, right at the start of this trip and I sewed it back on. It fell off again this morning. I thought I might enlist Jill to help me sew it back on. She has her bachelor's degree in fashion design. Tonight Laurine and Often are cooking and we'll have our party. Tomorrow we'll have lots of activities to choose from on the lake. I'm leaning towards diving and then tomorrow night my group is planning to cook tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner. So far Malawi has been beautiful! I'm looking forward to our party and fancy dresses!

Yesterday we continued to the bush camp. We stopped for one bushy bushy stop. There we were able to see the baobab trees and Laurine told us a bit about them. We stopped for lunch in a convenience store parking lot. My cook group and I assembled our pasta salad quickly with the leftover pasta and chopped vegetables. Flo made an olive oil vinaigrette to put on the pasta. In the daylight we could see lots of weevils in the pasta. Flo put lots of ground pepper in the pasta to try to disguise them. There were no diet drinks in the convenience store so I settled for water from the jerry can. The pasta salad was pretty good. We'd set out tuna too for protein for whoever wanted it but it looked more like cat food and I couldn't bring myself to try it. Also there were mystery black chunks in it. After lunch we washed the dishes and put things back in the truck. I couldn't find my phone so I ran to the bathroom and couldn't see it there. I was afraid someone had taken it from the bathroom but I went back to the bus to get my watch, which was charging, and use the find my phone feature. When I got back to the bus, however, someone had found my phone in the truck. We continued on towards camp. I did some puzzles, messed around on my phone, read my book, etc. There was one word search where I never managed to find one of the words. Flo searched for it, then Alex and Ash. None of us could find the word. We looked in the answer key and the word wasn't even in there. Alex told me I should write a letter of complaint to the puzzle company. We made a bushy bushy stop in the afternoon. We were still driving past 7, which is unusual for us. We all wondered when we'd get in. Often pulled the truck off into the bush. After a while we were at a dead end. Often reversed and went back onto the main road. We tried two other spots and had to reverse back from them too. This took at least 30 minutes. Several people mentioned needing a toilet stop but Often got out at one point and was looking around stressed and rubbing his bald head. Also Often has been sick the last few days since we've been back from Zanzibar and he seems to have pink eye in both eyes. None of us wanted to stress him out but some of the girls were saying they might try to go in the trash can or out the window if we took much longer. I didn't need to go really so I wasn't in a rush for that but did wonder when we were going to have dinner. At one point Often stopped kind of on the main road and lots of cars were honking at us. He's never done that before and we thought he must have been really panicking. Ale got out one of the communal wine boxes and poured herself a cup. She accidentally also poured some all over the floor. She said her wine tasted gross because there was something in the cup already but she drank it anyway. I put a bit of water in my coffee mug and threw the water out of the window. I poured wine in there and the rest of us used my cup for the wine. Tree branches kept smacking people through the window. Georgia's hair got caught on one and the truck was still moving. She said she thought she'd lost a chunk of hair. We finally made it to our campsite. We were close to a main road. Often later explained there were too many people around at the other spots they'd tried or the path was overgrown and the truck couldn't pass. It was around 8 that we'd gotten to our campsite. We set up tents in the dark. Jill was moping because she'd gotten an email that day that she didn't get a job that she'd applied for. I mentioned to her a couple of times we should go ahead and set up the tent. She ignored me and so I started helping Katherine with her tent and then she helped me with me and Jill's. Roy and Lynne have solo tents and they were cooking that night so the rest of us helped set up their tents. Georgia and Ash were cooking with them. I found a beetle on Jill's shoe in our locker and I dumped the beetle outside. A few minutes later I was setting up my stuff in the tent and found a beetle in my things too. I put that outside and hoped for no more indoor beetles for the night at least. After I'd gotten my things set up I changed into my pajamas and closed toed shoes. I sat by the truck on a camp stool and talked to Katherine, Joseph, Flo, and Alex until dinner was ready. Roy sat apart from us and he drank directly from a bottle of wine. No one else was drinking. He had done the same thing the night before. We had rice with squash for dinner. We were supposed to have a salad too but the lettuce had rotted already since our last trip to the grocery store. We ate dinner at 9 p.m. We ate in the dark because Laurine said light near the main road would attract thieves. After dinner I helped wash dishes and got ready for bed. The ground was super rocky and I worried about being able to get comfortable. The nice thing was it was a much cooler temperature than the night before. The bad thing was there wasn't much flat surface nearby and so we were all right next to each other. Joseph's tent was right next to Jill and I’s and I know he snores really loudly. To my pleasant surprise, I got a decent night's sleep although not enough hours. I slept through a thunderstorm. Jill and I woke up at 5:10. We got ready for the day and put down our tent. Flo broke the toilet shovel because the ground was so hard. Anyone that needed to use it had to try to use just the spade without a handle. Ash, Joseph, and Alex helped Roy with his tent. This was at 5:55 and we were leaving at 6. They'd noticed his stuff was still inside when they'd went to put it down without him. Once he arrived they had him take his stuff out and they helped him. Afterwards I heard Alex said “you know, you can say thank you sometimes Roy. Actually, it's pretty rude not to!”. A couple of minutes later I heard Alex complaining to Ash that Roy never does the dishes and he doesn't help out around camp. I'd noticed that too and got Alex's point but felt a bit bad for Roy about the delivery. It seems to me that he's going through some kind of mental struggle just in general. 

We boarded the truck and were actually ready right at 6. We got on the road. We stopped around 8 for a bushy bushy stop. Joseph used the good bush and the girls had to pee in an open field. Georgia half jokingly told Joseph to stop hogging the good bushes. We stopped an hour later to buy corn from a vendor by the side of the road. I had to use the bushy bushy facilities and needed the shovel. Joseph was using the one good bush. Often saw me carrying the broken shovel and he fixed it for me. I think we're all over shyness around each other but it still isn't my preference for everyone to know my bathroom usage. Often told me to cross the road to the cornfield since Joseph was using the bush. Laurine called me back across the road and said to just wait for Joseph and I could use that side. I did so and we got back on the road. We stopped at a gas station later and used the bathroom. They had squat toilets there, which was nicer than using the bush and having grass in places it doesn't belong. There was no Coke Zero. I bought a small Coke. A guy came to do money exchange for us. I had 4,000 Tanzanian shillings left. I changed those to Malawi currency and changed $20 US too. Joseph has said he'll get out local currency from an ATM to pay me back, so if that's true I should have enough local currency for the meals etc that are not included over the time that we're here. If not, I should be able to use USD. Joseph had said something about giving me my money back in Mozambique but we'll be in Malawi first for five days. At that point it would be 2 weeks since I loaned him the money. If he doesn't pay it back I guess it's not the end of the world, just very annoying. He still owes $85 to Alex and Ash from the same day he borrowed from me. We got into the safe at the gas station and got out our passports and yellow fever vaccination cards. Several people announced reminders about bringing your vaccination card. We drove a short time to the Malawi border. Joseph then said he needed to get into the safe to get his vaccine card. People were not happy at all with him.

We weren't sure if we'd needed a visa or not at the border. The requirements had changed the day after 7 of us had applied for and paid for our visas. Four of us hadn't done the visa application as the website said you didn't need to anymore. Those four went first in line in case there were complications. It turned out to be true that it wasn't required anymore. Roy, Georgia, Flo, and Katherine didn't do their visa applications and as a byproduct of their procrastination, saved $50 each. I went through immigration and went to a local toilet. I had to pay 200 local currency. It was a squat toilet with a very wet floor, no toilet paper, and no lock on the door. There was a bucket of water for hand washing but no soap. Often had a lengthier process to go through for the truck so we waited over an hour on the truck. We ate leftovers from dinner the night before. We talked about how society has evolved and how people used to live etc. Ash said he thought here all this time he thought I just thought about puzzles. I used the bathroom another time and a different guy from before was there. He told me it was 1,000. I argued with him and said I paid 200 before. He kept insisting 1,000. I shoved 200 at him and walked away. We've got about a three hour drive from the border to our first campsite by Lake Malawi. We are staying there for two nights. I think at this spot we'll have a chance to do some hiking. I'm excited for that and to take a shower!

On the way to our bush camp we stopped once at a gas station. Most of us bought small tubs of strawberry ice cream and I also bought a cold bottle of water. Joseph said he didn't have any cash and he asked if anyone had shillings. There were several other people on there and everyone was silent. I considered offering him some but given that he hasn't paid me back in over a week for the Kilimanjaro hike I decided not to offer. No one else offered and Joseph quietly left without purchasing anything. We all got back in the truck and did a crossword together. Between all of us it didn't take long at all. We went back to silently doing our own thing. I started reading a book called Shake Hands With the Devil. It's about the Rwandan genocide. We made it to bush camp just before six. I said jokingly that now we just needed to hike an hour with our tents. Ale believed me and the others started adding into the joke. We were saying we were going to have to do 4 to a tent so we could carry all of our stuff. Laurine came on the truck to tell us the plan for the evening and Ale asked her if it was true we were hiking. Laurine dispelled that rumor and we all laughed, including Ale. Jill helped Lynne put up her tent. I tried to select a good spot for our tent in the meantime. The first choice had lots of ants. The second had some bumpy spots in the ground. The third choice would have been perfect but after I started setting up, Often said my tent was too far from the others. Jill came and we moved the tent closer to the others. She wanted to do it right by them but I mentioned there's been snoring coming from one of the tents but from what I'd gathered it was Joseph. We tried to get as far from his tent as wel could. Joseph then shouted and asked “hey is there any room over there for my tent?” I shouted back “No!”. Even though there was lots of space around us. Jill told me about a bicycle ride from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth we could do. I told her I'll think about it. It depends on if Steve comes to meet me in South Africa and also I have not been training for a bike trip. I got my mattress set up and then Katherine, Flo, and I started cooking dinner. I was on the truck ten minutes into cooking and was getting ingredients out. Ale asked if we were going to start cooking soon. I let her know we'd started. She came and joined us. We made a salad out of purple cabbage with grated carrots and a sesame oil dressing. We made a spaghetti sauce with onions, garlic, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, cream, and water. We also made pasta. We made five bags of pasta because we were making some pasta salad for lunch the next day too. We cut the hot dogs and cooked them. I attempted not to get my dripping sweat on the food. Flo was getting something out of the cupboard and found maggots. Someone had left a bowl of food behind the box of dishes. After we'd finished the initial gagging, Ale and I started cleaning out the maggots. Flo and Katherine refused to help. Flo said she'd eaten a banana with maggots in it a week earlier and was traumatized by that experience and couldn't help for that reason. None of us had heard a word from her about that prior to this and so I personally found that story hard to believe. However, I kept that opinion to myself. Katherine said she couldn't help because of her broken toe. Ale and I scooped out the maggots and wiped down the area with disinfect. We scooped the maggots into the trash can and could see them wiggling in there. We went back to cooking. There were weevils in some of the bags of pasta, we realized. We scooped them off of the top of the pot. A moth flew into the boiling water and we scooped that out too. During all the commotion the sauce got burned. We'd just been talking before this about how we seemed to be a pretty good cooking team and things were going smoothly. I guess we jinxed ourselves. Dinner was ready around 8. Most of the group had been hanging out on the roof of the truck. Flo had been using her phone to play music but I was DJ. We didn't have phone service so we were stuck with her downloads. I was trying to pick upbeat sounding playlists but they were all depressing sounding after the first song. I was getting a lot of criticism for choosing those songs but finally Flo realized it was her settings because she'd queued those depressing songs and they were overriding the playlists I had been picking. We ate dinner and finally listened to something that was overall upbeat, the Lion King soundtrack. After dinner I helped with dishes even though in theory the cook groups don't have to. Several people had excused themselves to bed and Jill has a habit of disappearing whenever it's time to clean up. I saw Laurine doing dishes and so I helped. I helped pack up the truck and got ready for bed. I overheard Alex telling Ale she owed her $14 for drinks from the other night. Ale insisted she'd paid for her drinks at the time. Alex was insistent that Ale hadn't. I was there and I remember Alex paid for Ale’s drinks but I decided not to interfere. I'd also asked Joseph and Ale about the money they owed me and both said they didn't have it yet. Lynne had paid me back that day. 

People had kept talking about snake bites while we were eating, which I didn't necessarily think was the best conversation topic when it was such a real possibility. Laurine had warned us to wear close toed shoes and make sure to use our flashlights to look at the ground ahead of us. I tried to go to sleep but it was suffocatingly hot. It took hours to fall asleep. I woke up at 5 and got ready for the day. Anyone who needed to use the bathroom needed to use the truck shovel to dig a hole. The group had decided the night before that we didn't want to bother with breakfast so early. We just grabbed a bag and put in bread, jam, and peanut butter to have whenever people were ready. Laurine boiled hot water and I filled my coffee cup. Jill and I put down our tent and I helped Roy put down his. I was on the truck before our start time of six. A couple of people were running late and we left the campsite at 6:10. We rolled up both sides of the windows because it was already hot at that time of the day. Jill and I shared the coffee and Ale had some too (although Jill kept mouthing at me not to share with Ale). Ale also gave me the $20 she owed me, so now it's only Joseph who owes me money. Jill has “forgotten” to pay me back for a few things here and there over the past five weeks but I've realized at this point to just accept that from her for small things. Jill gave me a few pieces of caramel to have with my coffee. An hour or so in we opened the roof above the relaxation area of the truck, “the beach”. We were going through Mikumi National Park. Often drove slowly and we were able to see hartbeasts, wildebeest, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, baboons, a jackal, vultures, maribu storks, an eagle, etc from the truck. We weren't allowed to stop in the park or else we would have had to pay a conservation fee because it would be considered a game drive. Shortly after we stopped at a restaurant and put the roof back down. People used that as their chance to try to avoid having to dig a hole later if they could and Often got chapati for everyone. Today we're driving to another bush camp in Tanzania. The day after we'll cross the border into Malawi.

The first few hours of the drive to Dar es Salaam we rode in silence. Most people slept, I spent the time writing. We'd left the sides down on the truck. Several hours into the trip it became unbearably hot. I kept thinking about asking if people wanted to put the sides up, but I didn't want to be the one to request a stop. Finally Flo asked if we could stop to roll up the windows. Everyone enthusiastically responded yes. We pressed the buzzer and Often stopped right away. We had a bushy bushy stop and rolled up both windows. We got back on the road. I finished the mediocre book I was reading and started a new book called Cross Her Heart. The new book was really good. The group has been quiet lately on drive days. I'm not sure if it's completely because of people coming and going from the group or if it's that and the newness wearing off from the drive days and people being tired. Normally on the drive days I could barely read a sentence without someone talking to me. We stopped at 10:30 for brunch. We had leftovers from dinner and there was tea and coffee but it was too hot for that in my opinion. We set our camp chairs in the grass by a gas station and ate and did the dishes and then got back in the truck. We stopped at a gas station at one point and used the indoor toilets. I bought a Coke. There was no Coke Zero available. Roy was spotted taking swigs of wine throughout the drive. As we got into Dar es Salaam it was really hot. We considered opening the front window but we'd been told by Often it would get extremely windy in the truck then so we ended up not doing that. We arrived at our campsite in Dar es Salaam. I thought to myself I'm going to for sure camp but I may as well see what the upgrade options are. I toured the property and saw bungalows on the beach. They didn't have bathrooms in the bungalows, there were communal camp bathrooms. The bungalows were cute and right on the water. I learned upgrading to a bungalow would be $12, or $6 each if we shared. Jill went back and forth on wanting to get a bungalow or not. There were 4 rooms with twin beds. By the time Jill decided to do the upgrade the twin beds had been claimed. We got a bungalow with a full sized bed. Flo was the only one who didn't upgrade, but I thought my spot as upgrading the least after Jill is still safe for a while because the others (including Flo) have upgraded quite a few more times than me. We settled into our room. I was feeling cranky after the long drive so I just sat in a chair on the beach in front of the bungalow and did sudoku on my phone until dinner. Jill was cranky too and she sat by me in a chair and played on her phone until dinner. Dinner was included in the tour. We had roasted chicken, french fries, rice, a vegetable sauce, and roasted vegetables. A soft drink was included so I had an orange Fanta. After dinner Jill suggested that I take a shower since we were sharing a bed. The showers were outdoors, they had privacy fences around them but were open air. The water pressure was good. The shower was cold but it didn't feel bad in the heat. After my shower I tried to go to sleep but it was unbearably hot. There was also a military bar right by the campsite that was playing loud music. It was so loud I could feel the vibrations. We only had one outlet and Jill was charging her phone and so we weren't able to plug in the fan. I was up for hours trying to sleep. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke to Jill's alarm. We got ready for the day and packed our things. Laurine had told us 6:15 for breakfast and leave at 7. She and Often didn't start making breakfast until 6:30. We started to suspect that they've realized the group is usually late and that they told us an earlier time to make sure we were all there earlier. Laurine and Often made scrambled eggs and I had a piece of toast with Nutella and some coffee. We all had to get into the safe to get our passports and we were told that we wouldn't have access to an ATM in Zanzibar and some places wouldn't accept cards. We were told to bring USD for activities. I brought $400 just in case although I would have preferred not to be walking around with that much cash. We were all waiting at 7 and then Ale showed up and asked to get into the safe. It's a bit of a hassle to get into and I think the group as a whole was annoyed about Ale being there 45 minutes after the suggested breakfast time and still having things she needed to do. We had been told we'd be taking a tuk tuk to a small ferry and then taking a bus to the big ferry. Laurine said that was going to take too long so now we were just going to be taking tuk tuks to the big ferry. Ale, Georgia, and I got in a tuk tuk and rode about 40 minutes to the ferry terminal. Everyone went into the terminal and went through security. We managed to get chairs and waited for about an hour until it was time to board. There was AC on the ferry and it felt amazing. It was the most comfortable I've been in weeks. I sat by Jill and we bought snacks. There was no pop so I settled for a mango juice. I read my book on the journey over. I immensely enjoyed the AC and reading my book. The ferry ride took about an hour and a half. We had to go through immigration in Zanzibar and get a stamp in our passports, it's semi independent. Ale was in the bathroom for about 15 minutes after we arrived and everyone was waiting for her. We separated into those who were going to the spice tour and those that were going to the hotel. Ivy, Cole, Lynne, Ale, Roy, Flo, and I went on the spice tour. We got into a van. It also had AC, which was a pleasant surprise. A minute in, the driver, named Steve, said Roy had requested to stop at a liquor store on the way. We stopped so Roy could buy beer. We drove about 30 minutes to our guide, Daniel's, house. We took our shoes off at the entrance and sat on the floor. We had rice, cooked greens, chunks of beef, and a vegetable sauce. We each got a bottle of water too. Flo asked me if there was meat in the sauce. She's a pescetarian. I tried it and told her I didn't think there was. She ate some and told me she thought it had meat in it. She (as discreetly as possible) scraped it onto my plate and I ate it. The food was good. After lunch we rode about ten minutes to see the spices. Daniel asked if we wanted a short or long tour. He said the only difference is how long we walk, not the actual content of the tour. We all agreed to do the shorter tour because it was hot out. We saw cinnamon, cloves, ylang lang, peppercorn, nutmeg, etc and heard about the uses of each and the process of harvesting them. We were also able to eat the spices, although some didn't taste very good in their original state. We saw coconuts growing and a man opened them with a machete. We had three coconuts to share. One was young, one medium, and one older. We tried the water and flesh from each. A man climbed the coconut tree while singing and doing an acrobatic dance. We watched and cheered him on. After he came down he asked if anyone wanted to try climbing the tree. Cole tried but wasn't very successful. Cole and Ivy were crowned the king and queen. Cole was given a crown and tie woven out of grass. Ivy was given a crown. I saw Roy sitting in the middle of a field. I asked if he was okay and he said yes, just tired and hot. He looked very sunburned. I asked if he had water and he said no but he had beer in the car. We went to the outdoor gift shop and looked at the spices for sale. We sat and were offered fruit. We tried mango, pineapple, banana, jackfruit (which I declined), and several other types of fruit. Each time I thought we were on the last kind of fruit they would bring out something new. After we'd had our fill of fruit, we loaded back into the van. I was sitting in the middle row next to Cole, he was in the middle seat and Ivy was on the other side of him. They both started reading so I figured they didn't feel like chatting. We had about an hour drive to the hotel and so I read too. I finished my book right as we pulled up to the hotel. The hotel was very fancy. It was a drastic change from the campgrounds we've been staying at. It was right on the beach and had a pool, a restaurant, a spa, and a dive shop. It had a boardwalk that went through the resort and connected it to other resorts with lots of shops and restaurants and bars along the way. Georgia happened to walk by reception when I got in. She said she had our room key and she showed me to our room. We were in the K9 room and Georgia made a lot of dog jokes. Our room had AC and a fan and two twin sized beds. We had an ensuite bathroom. We had rose petals on our beds. At first I imagined everyone had rose petals on their bed but upon talking to the group we realized we were the only ones who'd gotten those. Georgia told me there was a meeting going on for diving, and to come to that when I got settled in. Flo had also suggested that I change into my swimsuit right away and meet her at the pool. I messaged Flo and told her I had a meeting to attend but would meet her after. I tried to rush to get my things put away but I wanted to make sure to find a good hiding spot for my cash and passport. A few minutes later Georgia came back and said the meeting was over but she'd signed me up for two dives on the 13th (which we'd previously discussed). I thanked her and headed to the pool. Cole was sitting by the pool. He said he was waiting for Ivy. I messaged Flo I was at the pool and she responded that she was washing some clothes but she'd be there soon. I got into the pool. The water was really warm. Cole bought me a beer and we chatted. About 20 minutes later Flo arrived and 10 minutes after that Ivy arrived. Cole had ordered calamari and it came around that time. It was cut into big rings. He gave me and Flo each one, which we ate while still in the pool. Cole and Ivy left. Flo had never heard of doing the George Washington hairdo in the pool so I showed it to her and we did somersaults in the water. After a while Manny came and so we went back to normal ish behavior. We chatted with Manny and then after a while decided to get out. I showered and then met Flo at the resort restaurant. We saw some other group members in the restaurant and we sat with them. It was happy hour on cocktails so we all ordered those. It took more than 30 minutes to get our drinks. I had probably the worst margarita I've ever had. Ash and Alex left to do their own thing. The resort restaurant had terrible reviews, I think 2.6 stars overall or something. We decided to go out for dinner. By this point it was past 8. We walked to a nearby restaurant that had good reviews. It was Laurine, Flo, Georgia, Manny, Jill, Lynne, Ale, Joseph and I. We sat at an outdoor table on the beach. Roy came along at one point during dinner and joined us. I ordered the catch of the day. It was under the Swahili portion of the menu and it said it came with a local sauce and you could choose rice, ugali, or fries. I ordered it with ugali. It was past 10 when our food came. I was getting tired and hungry. When the waiter brought our food he told Flo the octopus was going to take a long time to cook, and suggested she pick something else. Flo said she didn't want to order something else then because it was going to be midnight by the time it came out. She asked why they hadn't told her that hours ago. My food came out but it was served with rice instead of ugali. Several other people had mistakes with their orders. I asked about the ugali and the waiter apologized and said it would come out. It never came. Flo didn't have food then so several people gave her some of their fries. She ate half of my rice. My fish was really overcooked and I wasn't sure if it was actually fish or if it was chicken. I didn't want to offer any to Flo because if it was actually chicken I'd feel bad, especially given we'd had a similar incident at lunch. I was still hungry after I finished my food. Jill said she'd paid for hers and was leaving. Several of us decided to do the same. Manny and I walked back to the resort together. I was going to go to bed right away but Georgia and I ended up talking until after midnight. We finally went to sleep.

In the morning, Georgia's alarm went off around 7 because she was going diving. I'd decided to have a chill day. I didn't fully go back to sleep after her alarm but kind of relaxed and was half asleep for a while. I messaged Ale at 9 and asked if she wanted to go to breakfast. She said yes and she was going to shower first. I got ready for the day and started doing some clothes washing in the sink. At 9:30 I messaged Ale that I'd meet her at the restaurant whenever she was ready but I was going to go ahead and go since breakfast ended at 10. I saw Flo and Lynne at the restaurant. There was an amazing breakfast buffet. They had an egg station, an assortment of breads, breakfast potatoes, veggies, etc. I loaded up my plate and sat with Lynne and Flo. Alex, Ash, and Ale arrived. The restaurant was over the ocean and the water looked beautiful. After we finished eating, Flo suggested exploring the village. We walked into the village and I saw on the way there was a horseback riding place and a yoga place. I wished to myself that we had more time there. We looked around the village at some shops. I bought some sunglasses, mine had broken. We came across a spa. We negotiated down the prices to $10 for a pedicure and $20 for a massage. Ale, Alex, and I made an appointment for 4 p.m. Ash and Alex were getting impatient with the group and said they wanted to walk back to the resort. Flo kept saying we were going to walk back right away but she'd been saying that and we kept stopping so she and Ale could buy things. Alex and Ash left and the rest of us continued our very slow journey back to the hotel. Flo wanted to stop at every restaurant along the way and look at the menu and ask about happy hour. An hour or so later we still hadn't made it back to the hotel. I heard someone shouting my name and looked up and saw Ash and Alex sitting at a restaurant. We went up to join them. None of us were that hungry but we ordered a drink each and played Skip Bo. Someone messaged Joseph and he showed up at one point. Katherine showed up towards the end of the time we were there. After that Alex, Ash, Joseph, and I stayed on the beach and the others went back to the resort. Ash put our valuables into a dry bag that we could all take with us into the ocean. I was nervous about water potentially getting in there but it seemed safer than leaving it on the beach unattended. Thankfully the dry bag functioned as intended. We all stayed in the ocean for about an hour. The water was warm. I wished I had had more time to spend on the beach. We went to a bar and ordered cocktails. Ash and Alex realized they didn't bring money. They had a contactless card on each of their phones and had been able to use that at the previous place but it didn't work at the current bar. I paid our tab, which included Joseph's drink. I was annoyed about paying for Joseph's because he still owed me $40. Alex and I needed to rush to make it to our appointment. We met Ale there. We were a few minutes late but the spa employees weren't ready for us anyway. They got out two plastic chairs and a stool for us to sit on. I sat on the stool. They got out buckets and boiled water. They poured in the hot water along with some room temperature water. We sat and got our pedicures. We then had our massages in the same room as the pedicures, the employees moved in some tables. The massage was excellent. Great pressure. I paid for Alex’s spa services because she hadn't had time to grab money. We got nail polish on after our massages so as to not chip it. I chose a dark pink color. Alex had to urgently use the bathroom and there wasn't one there so she opted for no polish and ran out of there. Ale didn't want to pay the card fees and so a spa employee agreed to escort her back to the resort so she could get cash. I didn't want to wait for Ale, I suspected all that would take ages. The group had messaged they were at the bar I'd been to right before the appointment. I went back to the appointment and met up with the group. At this point it was 7:30 or so. Lynne was in the group and Ale was trying to call her. Lynne didn't have good service so she wasn't able to hear Ale. I mentioned Ale was going to the resort to get cash from the room. Lynne said she had the key with her. There had only been one key per room. Lynne walked back to the resort so she could let Ale in to get cash. We all waited until Ale and Lynne got back before heading to dinner. It was Katherine, Lynne, Laurine, Joseph, Jill, Ale, Georgia, Flo, and I at dinner. Each of the couples had decided to do their own thing. Roy hasn't had a phone charger and so he's been unreachable. Joseph told us at dinner that after the bar he'd walked through the high tide to get back to the resort and had ruined his phone. There was also a walkway, where he wouldn't have had to wade through chest high water. Ale and I decided to share a Greek salad and fried fish with fries. The food was good but it didn't come out until past 9. I mentioned to Joseph I had paid for his drink at the bar. He paid for my beer at dinner and I offered to buy Jill a beer, which she accepted. After dinner, Alex messaged me to join her and Ash. I went to join them and Ale followed me. Alex offered to buy me a drink since they owed me money. I tried to order one but the restaurant was closing. We walked back to the resort and saw Roy in the resort bar by himself. We asked if he wanted to get a drink. He said yes. We asked about a bottle of wine at the resort but it was going to be $30. We decided to go out and try to find a bar. We went back to the same one as before but it was closed. We stood outside of another bar and were debating what to do but that one seemed sketchy. We found a bar called Africana. Roy didn't want to go there because it was loud. Ash walked him back to the hotel. Ash returned and said Roy had seemed really drunk. We ordered gin and tonics. They came in red solo cups and the gin went about halfway up the cup. We had been sitting outside but decided to go inside. The entry fee was 5,000 Tanzanian shillings. At first the waitress had told us we could go in, but when Ash got back she said she was going to have to ask a manager. We figured 3 foreign girls were a lot more appealing to them than us plus an Indian guy. Finally they decided to let us in. We sat at a table and watched people dance. We saw lots of Masai men dancing. We had heard that almost all of the Masai men you see around Zanzibar are sex workers. In the bar we saw many older white women dancing with young handsome Masai men. One lady in particular seemed to be really enjoying herself. The bar played Swahili music and after a while the four of us danced but made sure to avoid the Masai men. Several tried to approach Ale and I. There were two Indian guys dancing in a very goofy way and they shoved money at some Masai men who were dancing and told them to jump. The men did jump but we all said that seemed rude of the Indian guys. Around 1 we decided to leave and walked back to the resort. I tried to get ready for bed as quietly as possible. Georgia's alarm went off at 6:50. I sang happy birthday to her. We got ready for the day and had the buffet breakfast. We went to the dive shop and waited with Jill and Manny and a girl we didn't know, Sylvia. We waited for over an hour for our dive equipment to be ready. Katherine had messaged the morning of and said she and Joseph were canceling. I thought that was pretty rude the morning of and especially on Georgia's birthday. We finally got onto a small boat and rode about 45 minutes to the first dive spot. I'd been planning to dive with Joseph because I think we're both relatively inexperienced and wouldn't have to hold other people back then. Since he canceled, we were all put into the same group. Georgia, Jill, and Sylvia are at the advanced diving level and I'm just open water. Manny has his dive master certification. Jill and Sylvia were paired as dive buddies, Manny and Georgia, and then me and one of the guides, Dominic. We were all told to stick together in the water. I was feeling nervous and started to panic a bit but told myself to just do it and it would be fine. We got into the water and started to descend. I had issues with my ears equalizing and water kept getting into my mask. I started to regret my choice to come diving and considered asking to ascend. I stuck it out and was able to get my ears to equalizer and my mask to clear. I made it to where the others were and we swam around looking at coral. We saw flounders that blended in with the sand, colorful coral, and lots of fish. We dove for about 50 minutes and I started to feel more and more comfortable throughout the dive. It was time to ascend. We did a 3 minute safety stop and then swam to the boat. I took off my equipment and then was told that was my chance for a toilet stop. I was using the facilities (the ocean) but the boat was getting further and further away. I tried to swim to it but every time I tried it would still get further away and I was being carried by the current. I didn't have anything on to help me float and waves were going over me and I kept swallowing water. I yelled out and asked for help. Manny jumped in the water and swam with me back to the boat. I caught my breath and sat on the boat for a while. The staff passed around a tray of fruit and some water. After our snack we descended for our second dive. Manny made a couple of comments about me needing to start descending and then the rest would catch up to me so they don't waste air waiting. Dominic snapped at Manny that he didn't have to just stay in one place and could swim around at the bottom while he waited if he wanted. We descended and it went a lot better than the first dive. We looked around at colorful coral and fish. We spent about 50 minutes at the bottom and then ascended. I held onto the side of the boat while I was at the surface. We got onto the boat and started heading back. We had glazed donuts on the way. We'd been told we'd be back by 1:30. We arrived around 3. Georgia and I each took a quick shower. We hadn't eaten lunch yet. Georgia wanted to go to a sushi place next door. We each ordered sushi and a cocktail. It was really good. I hadn't had sushi in a while. We headed back to the resort to meet the others at 4 in front of the dive shop for a booze cruise. The cruise was supposed to start at 4 but it was about 40 minutes before the staff were ready. While we were waiting I paid for my diving. It was $100 for two dives. It would have been 5% extra to pay by card so I ran to my room and grabbed a $100 bill which I used to pay. Alex paid the $30 for my booze cruise since she owed me money, and at that point we were pretty much even. We boarded a small boat that took us to a sailboat. Ivy, Manny, Jill, Alex, Ash, Georgia, Flo, Katherine, Joseph, and I went on the cruise. We climbed on board and we had a cooler full of drinks. You could go on top of the boat or stay on the bottom level. It was a simple boat, just wooden planks and a sail. We had fruit and cashews. We recorded a video for Richard saying “We miss you Richard!”. The staff tried to teach us African dances. We were on the boat for a couple of hours and chatted and danced. I noticed Ivy seemed to alternate between the top and bottom floor pretty much the reverse of when I would. At one point I sat near her on a bench and she said with what I thought sounded a bit like panic in her voice “Jill! Or someone! Anyone! Do you want to sit here? Sit here!”. She was wildly gesturing at the spot between us. Jill came and sat. I thought to myself, man, Ivy really does not like me. Towards the end of the boat ride we had a chance to jump in. We all jumped from the second floor and swam in the ocean. We'd all jumped at least a couple of times. Some people were still swimming and some were in the boat. One of the staff pointed out a shark fin in the water. Some people continued to swim. Katherine decided she wanted to swim back to shore. We continued on the cruise and 20 minutes or so later we were almost to shore and didn't see Katherine. We started searching for her and yelling her name. Finally we found Katherine swimming. She was uninjured and was actually just enjoying swimming. We rode on the boat until the water was chest deep and then we were able to get out and walk to shore. We'd made dinner reservations for 8 at a place called the Fish Market but the cruise had gone over an hour later than we'd expected and it was 8 then. We all said we had 15 minutes to shower off and meet in front of the dive shop. When we went to the dive shop Georgia was presented with a cake that said “Happy birthday Georgia!”. She forgot to bring the cake to dinner but thankfully the dive shop put it in the fridge for her for later. Some people were running behind so I walked with a smaller group. Flo said she knew where the place was and we all blindly followed her. We walked for ages and finally someone looked the place up on Google Maps. It had been less than a 10 minute walk to the Fish Market but we got there past 9. The rest of the group was there and questioned where we went wrong. We had pre ordered lobsters for those who wanted it. We had 6 ordered but when we got there they said they only had one lobster. I'd mentioned when we put in the lobster order that I've never had a whole lobster, just chunks in Mac and cheese etc. The group said I could have the one lobster (I tried to insist that someone else take it). I ordered the calamari because I was really hungry by that point and I thought it was an appetizer and that it would come out quickly. It came out at the same time as the rest of our food, over an hour later. It came with fries and rice, as did my lobster. I made sure to eat all the seafood and did what I could with the sides. We then all walked to a nightclub called Istanbul. We stayed there for a while but it didn't have AC and it was hot. Georgia was ready to go to bed so we walked back around 12:30 and went to bed. In the morning we had the buffet breakfast and waited in reception. Katherine said she broke her toe the night before. She said she'd gone to kick a clump of sand and instead kicked a rock and broke it. We had a bus coming to pick us up supposedly at 8, but it didn't arrive until past 8:30. A lot of people were running behind and we were actually all there when the bus did arrive. It was a small bus and had AC. I sat by Lynne and she talked to me nonstop on the hour and a half long drive and someone was blasting Celine Dion the whole time. We made it to the hotel in Stone Town. Eleven people had confirmed that morning that they wanted to do the Prison Island and snorkeling tour. After getting to the hotel 6 people dropped out of the tour. The guide, Daniel, was there. He mentioned he'd already bought lunch for 11 people. Some people offered to pay for lunch. Daniel said it was okay and that he'd sell whatever we didn't eat. Flo and Georgia are pescetarians and they were going on the trip. Lynne doesn't eat beef. Apparently Daniel had gotten beef samosas for lunch. Ale and I said we'd eat them. Daniel said he'd try to get a vegetarian option too. We walked with Daniel to the beach and boarded a small wooden boat that had a motor. We rode about an hour to Prison Island. We got out and looked at the giant turtles. They're apparently the second biggest in the world after the ones in the Galapagos. They can grow up to 200kg and can live more than 200 years. It was crazy to see such massive turtles. We also looked around the Prison Island museum. At one point Flo told me to squat with my heels down (we've all been trying to squat more to help with mobility). I squatted and heard a ripping noise. The seam on my pants came loose but thankfully they didn't rip. I decided not to squat in my gray zip off pants anymore. We got back on the boat and drove a bit to a spot to snorkel. It was 1:30 or so and the guide told us we could snorkel then. We asked if we could have a snack first. Ale and I had the beef samosas and Daniel had gotten vegetarian spring rolls and samosas for the others. We went snorkeling for about an hour and a half. I wore my clothes because I didn't want to burn. My back is already sunburned. We saw quite a few squids , some colorful coral, and fish. We ate some more samosas on the boat and there were also potato balls with ground beef in them. We also had chapati. We also had pineapple, mango, and watermelon which we were happy not to share with 6 other people. We got back to Stone Town around 4. I owed Lynne $24 for my dinner the night before- the restaurant didn't take cards. I paid for Lynne's snorkeling and my own. It was $30 each so then I asked Lynne for $6 change. She didn't have it on her and said she'd give it to me later. Ale asked me to pay for hers too. She had a $10 bill so she gave me that to give to the guide and I got $20 back from my $100 bill. Ale said she'd give me $20 later. Joseph still owes me $40. I'm getting annoyed about the $40 because at the time of writing this it's been a week since I'd loaned him the money. 

We'd signed up for a walking tour at 4:30. We agreed to shower quickly and meet in reception at 4:30. 11 people had signed up for that too but only Lynne, Ale, Flo, and I went on it. Georgia wanted to lay down for a while. I was downstairs on time. Ale was 3 minutes late. Lynne was 10 minutes late. We met our guide and went on a walking tour. We saw an old hammam, the traditional style doors, a Hindu temple, several mosques, etc. We went by a slavery monument and were given the option of going in to see it or not. It cost $5 each. When we asked if it was worth it our guide seemed ambivalent. I asked if it would take a long time and mentioned we were meeting our group at 7 for dinner. Our guide said no, he'd factored the time into the length of the tour. Everyone seemed really indecisive about it. I said let's just do it because who knows if we'll ever be back here. Ale and Lynne didn't have any cash. I only had a $20 bill and the group asked me to pay but I said then I won't have cash for dinner. Flo begrudgingly paid as she had more cash than me. We saw two cellars where slaves were previously held and we saw a monument. We looked around the museum and read about Zanzibar's role in the slave trade. It was a super interesting museum and we were all really glad we went but it took longer than we thought it would. It was 6:45 when we finished at the museum. I looked on Google Maps and saw the restaurant where we were meeting the group was an 11 minute walk from there. I suggested that we end the tour and walk that way. The others said they wanted to finish the tour. I didn't want to be late to dinner but thought it might be blown out of proportion if I left early and others didn't and I didn't want to cause drama. Ale messaged the group to say our tour was still going and they could eat without us. We walked by the night market and saw lots of people selling cooked food. We also walked through the fish market and saw uncooked food. We saw the outside of the Freddie Mercury museum as well as a fancy hotel. Our tour ended in front of our hotel at 7:40. Flo and I had discussed that we would use my $20 bill as the tip for our guide from the two of us. She would then give me $5. I was feeling annoyed about the situation because that meant I only had $5 and probably couldn't eat dinner with the others unless the place took a card. Meanwhile I had $66 in loans floating around. I had two $100 bills in the room but I doubted most restaurants would have change for that here. Ale also didn't have cash and she messaged the group to ask if the restaurant accepted cards and Laurine responded yes. We said goodbye to our guide and started walking to the restaurant. Ale was on her very last malaria pill. She wanted to stop at every pharmacy along the way and ask about prices and go back and forth between them trying to negotiate. She finally bought one box of 12 pills. I thought there's no point in going to dinner if we're already an hour late. The others disagreed with me. We got to the restaurant at 8:20. Roy was sitting at a table by himself and the others were outside. They said Roy had been sitting with them but had said the music was too loud so he'd moved inside. They said his sunburn had blistered up around his feet and he was walking really slowly that day. There was live music playing and everyone said the cocktails and food were really good. I had a cherry cocktail, it was excellent. Lynne asked if I wanted to share something - the place was a bit pricey. We agreed to share a kingfisher ceviche. I had asked the waiter which dishes were the fastest to cook. Our ceviche came out quickly and it was very good. Flo didn't order anything because of the cost and Ale got ceviche too. It was Manny, Ivy, and Cole's last night of the trip. Georgia had also brought her birthday cake to dinner. Our waiter cut it for us and we each had a piece. Flo had several pieces of cake because she was hungry. We all sang to Georgia but apparently our waiter didn't hear us singing and a minute later he came out and started singing so we did it again. We were all planning to walk back together but I was waiting for people to finish paying. Some people walked off without us. The waiter said Joseph hadn't paid for his meal. I'd seen him pay for it and said as much. Cole called Joseph and asked if he paid and Joseph said yes he did. Finally the waiter found his copy of Joseph's receipt. With that settled Ale, Flo, Ivy, Cole, Lynne, and I walked back together. The others had gone ahead already. We went by the night market again and Flo bought some food and ate it there. She had a drink that was fresh pressed sugarcane, ginger and lemon juice. I tried a sip of it and decided to buy one too. It was good. There were so many stray cats along the way back but no dogs at all. We made it back to the hotel and I went to bed. The hotel was a lot more basic than the resort had been and there was a fan but no AC. I still tried to enjoy my last night sleeping indoors for a while and I did like the place. It was 10:30 or so when I went to bed. I woke up at 5:10 and got ready for the day. I felt exhausted. Georgia and I went to breakfast on the roof. I had crepes and a piece of breakfast cake and passion fruit juice and some orange slices. I was pleasantly surprised by the breakfast spread. Ale came up at 5:55. Katherine told Ale rather forcefully that we were leaving at 6 and not to make us late. Ale said she just wouldn't eat then. We were downstairs at 6, Ale included. Roy was a few minutes late. Even Laurine was late but she's been feeling sick the last couple of days. Laurine went to find Cole and Ivy because they weren't downstairs by 6:10. She knocked on their door and apparently the phone they were using for an alarm had shut off overnight. Laurine said we could head to the ferry terminal and they'd meet us there. Manny is staying on Zanzibar so at dinner the night before we'd said goodbye. We walked to the ferry terminal and went through immigration. The majority of the plastic chairs in the terminal were badly cracked - to the point of not being good to sit on. We waited for a bit and then were able to board the ferry. After a while Cole and Ivy joined us. I overheard Ivy during the ferry ride saying it hadn't been her best vacation ever but it is what it is. I think the trip has been awesome so I was wondering to myself what the reasoning for that was but thought I'll probably never see Ivy and Cole again. Unless I happen to be in the same place at the same time as Cole and he and Ivy have broken up. Which maybe they will. We've all overheard some arguments coming from their tent. Either way I'm okay with not seeing them. I guess you're just naturally closer to some people than others. During the ferry ride Jill offered to buy everyone coffees, which were 1,000 Tanzanian shillings each. I then saw her go to Ale and ask for money, which Ale handed her. I thought Ale didn't have any cash, as she'd borrowed 2,000 shillings the day before from Flo for a pop. After the ferry ride we all walked about ten minutes to the truck and said goodbye to Cole and Ivy. We drove about 20 minutes to a mall. We'd reconfigured our cook groups. Now we have less people, and I think Lynne and Katherine being in a group together isn't a good idea. Lynne's feelings are still very hurt from our last turn cooking with Katherine. I'm now in a cook group with Katherine, Flo, and Ale. We were told we need to cook tonight, and then another cook group will cook tomorrow night. We decided to make pasta tonight and pasta salad for lunch for tomorrow. Breakfast will either be eggs or nothing, depending on what time we are leaving in the morning. We made a shopping list and consulted with Laurine to see what we already had on the truck. We had one hour to shop. Everyone was being so indecisive and it was excruciatingly slow. We were going to buy chorizo to have on the side for the pasta sauce for the meat eaters, but there was none available. We then decided on chopped chicken but at the cash register they couldn't figure out how to ring up the chicken and so we weren't allowed to buy it. There was a second supermarket in the mall and we'd been unsure about the vegetables in the first shop- they looked pretty wilted and were pricey. Ale and I ran ahead to the second supermarket to get a head start. Ale got distracted by an electronics store on the way. She said “ooh do you mind if I look in there?”. I didn't have time to respond before she'd darted in there. We only had 30 minutes left to get on the truck and still had groceries to buy. It was pure agony waiting for her. We tried our luck at the second supermarket and the vegetables looked much better. We'd agreed to make a cabbage salad and we got some vegetables to put in the pasta salad. There were only hot dogs at the second supermarket, no chicken or beef. There were nicer sausages but we didn't have enough money. We had 63,000 shillings to make dinner, breakfast, and lunch for 13 people (including Often and Laurine). Ash doesn't eat red meat so we really only needed them for 8 people. I thought about saying I'm okay without hot dogs but I didn't want to come off as snobby. We bought one pack of hot dogs. Laurine had told us to get lots of baby wipes because we'll be bush camping the next two nights. I got a big pack of baby wipes. Alex had agreed to buy toilet paper to all share. I grabbed a couple of cans of Pringles, a Coke Zero, and a passion fruit Fanta thinking we probably wouldn't be by a store for a couple of days. I got two chicken spring rolls from the deli for lunch today. Check out took a while. I'd brought a reusable shopping bag and Flo asked to put her groceries in there. Ale then asked to put hers in mine too. I had already paid for mine and was waiting for her to pay for hers so we could go. She decided a yogurt was too expensive and she wanted to put it back- the cashier had already rung it up and so she was having to call over a manager to void that part of the transaction. I felt like I couldn't wait anymore and also I needed to use the bathroom before getting back on the truck. I left my bag with Ale and told her I'd see her at the truck. I used the bathroom and met the others at the truck. We were 15 minutes late. Today we're driving to a bush camp in Tanzania. The group isn't sure if we're crossing into Malawi today or if it'll be tomorrow. We expect to have a couple of long drive days either way and then we'll have three days on Lake Malawi. There we have a chance to go scuba diving, among other activities. I'm interested in diving again but we'll see what the other activities are as well. The bus is definitely roomier with only 11 people on it.

On the drive back to the Snake Park we came across a car accident. We waited for a while until it was clear to pass. Our driver asked us to review the trip and he turned on a wifi machine so we could do it from the car. The wifi wasn't strong enough, so our driver took us to a very touristy gift shop and told us to use the wifi there to do it. Several of us did it. Flo accidentally left a 4 star review so she has to delete it and write a new review. Lynne has an old phone and it wasn't letting her submit her review. Roy didn't bring a phone charger on the trip and his battery was dead. Our driver asked Flo and I to make sure Lynne and Roy submitted reviews later. I mentioned this to the other group later and they said their driver had asked them to write reviews but he'd just made one comment about it and then hadn't taken them to that gift shop. We made it back to the Snake Park around 6. I blew up my air mattress and put my things in Jill and I’s tent. Jill said she was feeling much better but she was glad she didn't go because she'd been sick most of the time we were gone. She said she'd been very bored the last few days. It didn't sound like she'd been up to much and it didn't sound like she and Joseph had spent much time together. I think they're pretty different from each other. Jill is 32 and has spent the last 7 years traveling the world and doing whatever jobs she can find in hospitality. Joseph is very religious and he's in the army and he's in his early 20s. 

Alex, Georgia, and I headed to the bar. There's a cider in Tanzania called Savannah and Georgia ordered one. I told her that was very fitting. We sat and chatted until dinner was ready. Laurine and Often made greens and rice. I got a small portion to start so everyone could get some and when I went back for seconds thete wasn't much left. I told myself that was good for the diet at least. After dinner everyone was invited to come to the bar to celebrate Cole's birthday. Everyone but Roy accepted the invitation. We got to the bar and the owner, Ma, presented Cole with a homemade birthday cake that said “Happy birthday Cole” on it. She'd also placed a 4 and a 3 candle on the cake. Ma gave Cole a Snake Park t-shirt. She lit the candles and we all sang happy birthday. Cole gave a speech about how he'd been apprehensive about group travel but it's actually been a good experience overall. Ivy cut the cake and wet each had a small slice. I bought Cole a double of whiskey. Alex, Ale, and I were chatting and Jill came up. I told Jill we'd each shared a secret and she had to share hers to hear ours. I was totally joking but right away she told us a secret so then we all actually had to come up with one to tell her. The four of us ended up hanging out talking until past 1 in the morning. Finally we went to bed. 

In the morning Jill was hungover so I put down the tent by myself and I helped Lynne with hers too. I had toast with jam and some coffee. We were supposed to be on the road by 8 but the group as a whole was 15 minutes late. Richard had left a bag of things on the bus. We divided them up. I got a pair of Loop ear buds. I've just been using foam ones so I was pretty excited about these. Ale has been late so far every day. We drove first to an art center. They recycle glass there from bottles and use it for different art projects. For example they're able to melt it down and make beads for necklaces out of it. They also blow glass and do weaving in addition to painting. We saw demonstrations of each of these things. The center is run by people who have disabilities. Some of the people we met used a wheelchair, some were deaf, etc. I thought of my former clients back home even though I don't think most people at the center had a developmental disability just a physical one. I thought it was such a cool thing on so many levels. For one thing they're helping out with recycling bottles, they're creating something beautiful, and it's providing employment and potentially meaning to quite a few people. We looked in the gift shop and I bought souvenirs for a couple of people back home because I wanted to make it a point to support the business. They also had a cafe. I ordered a hot honey lemon ginger drink, a quiche with tomatoes and spinach, and a lamb samosa. We got back in the car and headed to the African Art Gallery. We only had 30 minutes there. We looked around at the paintings and then got back on the truck. There were some very realistic looking pictures. There was one of the big 5. Ale said she liked the cheetah in it. I told her it was a leopard. She disagreed with me but I said why would they paint 4 of the big 5 and then a cheetah? She disagreed with me and was adamant that it was a cheetah. I dropped the subject but later she said she'd googled pictures of leopards and saw they can look similar to cheetahs so maybe I was right. 

We drove into Arusha and were told we had an hour and a half at the grocery store. My cook group was cooking that night so we needed to shop for our dinner plus breakfast and lunch the next day. I hadn't realized until the day before that Roy was also in our group. It was Katherine, Lynne, Roy, and I. We had 100,000 Tanzanian shillings to use to feed 16 people for 3 meals, although the supplies in the truck didn't count towards our budget. We were trying to be very careful with our budget and we got things for sandwiches. We already had bread and we got enough cheese slices for non vegetarians to have one slice of cheese per sandwich and vegetarians to have 2 slices. Deli meat was 10,000+ shillings so we got a pack of chicken thighs instead and said we'd cook that and shred it for sandwiches. We thought we'd boil eggs for the vegetarian sandwiches. We had eggs already on the truck. We'd agreed to make lentil dal and rice. We had lentils and rice in the truck. We got yogurt to make a sauce. We crossed the street and went to a local vegetable market and bought fresh produce to put in the dal. Lynne was getting confused about the exchange rate and was walking away from people telling her they wanted 500 shillings for something, she was saying that was too much. Katherine was losing her temper and kept aggressively telling Lynne that that's not much money. The market was crazy. Local people kept coming up. One guy said I was beautiful. People were really in my face trying to sell me vegetables. We finally got our vegetables and went back to the truck to count our money. We'd gotten all the supplies by that point and we had 49,000 shillings left! We didn't want to just turn it back in. We went back into the grocery store to see how we could make the meal better. We bought a second pack of chicken, more cheese, a pack of deli ham, and an apple each for people to bring for lunch. We only had a little over 1,000 shillings left and we were pretty happy with our purchases. I bought some snacks for myself and wanted to use the bathroom just in case before getting back on the road. We'd taken nearly the full hour and a half to shop and Katherine had loudly pronounced throughout “I hate cooking!”. I was told by grocery store staff to use the cafe bathroom. The cafe was within the store. I saw a sign saying for customers only on the bathroom. I bought a refresher. I had no clue what that was but it turned out to be fermented and very sweet. I would not purposely order that again. I also got a pastry stuffed with spinach and potatoes from the grocery store deli. I got back on the truck a few minutes before our scheduled departure. Laurine came and told us that Often had gone to buy oil for the truck and was running 20 minutes late. We all said no problem and we waited patiently. Often arrived and we got back on the road. We arrived in Marangu around 4. The staff offered to show people the upgrade options. I knew I didn't want to upgrade so I started setting up Jill and I’s tent. Much to my surprise, Jill went to see the upgrades. When she came back I asked if she was actually considering upgrading. She said yes she'd thought about it because she was very tired but the upgrade was $35. She mentioned we only had 3 nights of camping anyway before we go to a hotel in Zanzibar. We got settled into our tent and then a guy came to talk to the group about activities for the next day. There was a village tour or an option to hike to Kilimanjaro base camp. The hike was $140 but Ash negotiated it down to $120. The park fee alone was $80 so to be honest I thought $140 was reasonable but I wasn't opposed to saving $20. We were asked to pay the $40 right then and then pay for the park fee by card the next day. I went into the safe to get USD. So did Joseph. I had $60 or so in local currency but thought maybe I should save it just in case. I had a $100 bill and so did Joseph. I think some other people paid with hundreds. Joseph tried to pay for his but the staff wouldn't accept his bill because it had a small mark on it and was wrinkled. Joseph said to me “why don't you just pay for mine and I'll pay you back”. I thought it was a bit presumptuous of him but I obliged. As of the time of writing I haven't gotten my $40 back. I'll remind him before we go to Zanzibar. The staff gave me a $20 bill for change. My cook group started on dinner. 

Katherine was in a terrible mood and said repeatedly “I hate cooking with every fiber of my being”. Lynne was trying to offer suggestions for what we could do. Roy and I were busy chopping things etc. Katherine said Lynne needed to give her more guidance. Lynne told Katherine she'd never made dal before and then told Katherine what she thought would make sense for the next steps. Katherine yelled at Lynne and said she forced our group to cook something that we didn't want to cook. She said since Lynne had never cooked dal before it was stupid for our group to cook it. Lynne mentioned Ash had said he'd help us if needed as his family is from India and he's made dal many times. Lynne also said Often had offered to make the rice. Katherine yelled at Lynne and said she couldn't be asking other people to make our meal. To be fair, Often has made rice for everyone whenever we've had rice. He's very good at it and it doesn't take him long. Ash had also offered to give us advice on the dal before we'd officially decided to make it. I thought to myself that it was really unfair of Katherine to yell at Lynne. Lynne is in her 70s and is sweet. She had given a suggestion of what to cook and Katherine had agreed to it. The time to object was when we were discussing it a few days before, or at the very least at the store before we bought supplies. Katherine could have made suggestions of what to cook. I thought that while cooking dinner was not the time to object to what we were cooking. Also I thought that the fact that Lynne hadn't made it before wasn't a problem. We had a recipe to follow, and Lynne had said when discussing it several days ago that she'd never made it before. I also thought that shouting that she hates cooking wasn't doing any good. I thought it could have been a fun thing, we could try something new together, maybe play some music and chat. Instead Katherine was making it a miserable experience for everyone involved. Roy and I stayed quiet. I strongly considered telling Katherine the above points. The thing that stopped me was that Katherine is so headstrong I thought me saying anything might make things worse and cause a divide in the group. I kept my mouth shut but later assured Lynne that she did nothing wrong. In retrospect maybe I should have stood up for Lynne at the time, although I talked to Alex about it and she also thought it would have just caused a big divide between me and Katherine and not really changed Katherine's behavior for the positive. We finally finished making dinner and I walked to the bar to let everyone know it was ready. They came over and all ate. We'd also made a salad with cabbage and other vegetables mixed in. Everyone said the food was good. Katherine said she found it barely edible. We also had pineapple for dessert and Roy has suggested serving it with honey. I tried mine with honey and it was good. After dinner we all went to the bar to use the wifi and apply for our Malawi e-visas. I had told Roy the plan. He told me he doesn't have a credit card or debit card on the trip. He asked if he could do his visa and use my credit card and give me cash. I agreed and he came with me to the bar. He then said his phone was out of battery. He needed a copy of his passport etc and so we suggested he charge his phone and then try it. I filled out my visa application and paid the $50 fee. I was sitting at an outdoor table with Alex, Ash, and Manny. I went inside to say goodnight to those sitting in there. Lynne was in there and I reassured her again about dinner and told her we'll probably change up cook groups after Zanzibar. I said goodnight and went to bed. 

I woke up at 6:30 to my alarm and got ready for the day. Lynne, Roy, and I started making breakfast at our agreed upon time of 7. We boiled water for tea and coffee. We got out cereal. We toasted bread. I fried dozens of eggs and Roy stood beside me and watched. He's said he has no clue how to cook anything. Katherine came out at 7:45, which was when we'd agreed to serve breakfast. I don't think any of us missed having her cook with us but I think Lynne was a bit upset about the principle of it that she didn't help with breakfast. We set out things for lunch, we'd cooked the chicken the night before. I cut up tomatoes and cucumbers and set out cheese and mayo. Lynne boiled some eggs. We told people they could make their own sandwich. I overheard Ale complaining she had to make her own sandwich. I was a little annoyed because to be honest people would probably complain if we made their sandwiches that we didn't put what they wanted on it. I put mayo, cheese, tomato, and chicken on my sandwich and took an apple. I had two fried eggs and peanut butter toast with honey and a banana on it for breakfast as well as coffee. I helped clean up after breakfast and then at 8:30 it was time to leave for the Kilimanjaro hike. Ash, Alex, Jill, Cole, Ivy, Manny, Ale, Joseph, Georgia, and I went. There was a van and a car to take us. We rode about ten minutes to Kilimanjaro National Park. It took an hour for us to all the pay the $80 park fee. The process was so long. Several people chose to pay in pairs or groups to avoid paying as much in credit card fees. Georgia suggested that we pay together and then I Venmo her. She also mentioned while we were waiting that she's got an 18 month interest free credit card and she gets a bonus when she starts her job next February and those two things are funding her travels over the next year. I venmo’d her right away. Half of the fees was $5.50. When we'd finally finished paying we started our hike. We were required to have a guide for every 3 people so we had several guides. I talked to one of them for a while on the way up but he didn't have a good understanding of English and it was a bit difficult for us to communicate. I had been towards the front of the group but we stopped to use the bathroom and I realized Ale was way behind. I decided to wait for her. I ate some Pringles and drank some water while I waited. One of the guides (not the one I previously mentioned), Kelvin, waited with me. We waited over 15 minutes. Finally Ale arrived and after she used the bathroom and caught her breath we headed up together. We chatted on the way up. Finally we got to base camp and everyone was almost done with their lunch. It had been a mostly uphill walk (obviously). We sat in the grass and I put Pringles on my sandwich to make it more palatable. Lynne had also made extra boiled eggs so I had one of those. Ale apparently hadn't grabbed an apple even though I'd told her they were for lunch. She mentioned she wished she had an apple like everyone else. I gave her mine. There was a very cute and chunky monkey nearby. After lunch we hiked a loop to get a view of Kilimanjaro and see a crater lake in the distance. The way up had taken 2 hours and 20 minutes and the loop took an additional 20 minutes. On the loop we saw a hrax. Kilimanjaro was a bit cloudy so we couldn't get really good pictures. We saw a field of grass that looked extremely soft and fluffy. We all said if we saw a painting with grass like that we would think the painting wasn't very realistic. 

We started the way down and I stayed in the back with Ale. We chatted along the way and talked some with Kelvin, too. Kelvin had asked what my favorite American food was and I said chicken fried steak. I tried to explain what it is and apparently even Ale had never heard of it. Both of them couldn't seem to grasp that it's steak and not chicken. I finally gave up trying to explain it. We saw a giant white slug on the path. We made it to the bottom. I asked how long the others had been waiting. Ash said 20 minutes but there were others that got there way before him. Also Kelvin had suggested we take the porter's route, which was supposed to shave off 30 minutes from the walk. I had quickly accepted the suggestion and didn't say it to him or Ale but had been thinking the others would probably be waiting for us because we'd gone so slowly, so the 30 minute shorter one would be good for that reason. We were all waiting for our cars to come anyway. I got a Coke Zero and we all sat and chatted. Ale and I tipped Kelvin directly. The other guide had mentioned to get a wife you need to pay 100,000 shillings, which he said was a lot of money. I tipped Kelvin 20,000 shillings. I thought he'd been very friendly and patient. Our cars came and we headed back. I felt drained and wanted to have a snack and rest. I was walking to try to have some alone time, I was thinking I would sit in the outdoor kitchen in the shade. It was hot and I knew my tent would be boiling hot inside. I walked by Katherine, Often, and Flo sitting in the grass. I didn't really want to talk to Katherine at the moment but I said hi to them and they asked how the hike was. I told them and then felt obligated to ask how the village walk was. They gave me the very long version of what they did that day so eventually I sat down in the grass too and ate my Pringles while I listened. I felt better after snacking. Georgia came by and asked me to go to the pool with her. I went to the tent to change into my swimsuit. Jill was in there and was playing some melancholy sounding music. I asked if she was okay and she said yes but she looked grumpy. I changed and left figuring maybe she needed some alone time. Ivy and Georgia were in the pool when I arrived. I jumped in the pool but only stayed in a few minutes because the water was cold. Both Ivy and Georgia had apparently fallen on the way down during the hike and they showed me their cuts and bruises. I was surprised other people had fallen and I hadn't, but maybe it was because we took the porter route. I got out but continued sitting by the pool. Alex, Ash, Jill, and Manny arrived. They were all in a bad mood. Apparently Malawi had announced that morning that they weren't requiring a visa anymore for people from any of our countries. The group was upset about having gone through the hassle of applying and then needlessly spending $50. The group said Katherine and Flo were going around telling people the news about the visa and neither of them had done theirs yet and they were celebrating like they'd won the lottery. Georgia hadn't submitted hers yet either so she was excited but I could see she was trying to keep the celebrating minimal as the others were annoyed at Katherine and Flo. Jill told me the reason she was upset was that she didn't think the hike we did was worth $120 and she thought we'd have gone further up the mountain and that the information about it had been misleading. I disagreed with her but tried to be supportive. She also said she'd heard about the Malawi visa news before going to the tent and so that was upsetting her as well. Jill swam a bit and then it was her group's turn to cook. Jill was waiting in the kitchen for the others in her group. I sat with her and talked to her about the situation. I suggested that she say something to Laurine or Often about the hike if she feels that way and I reminded her who knows if we'll ever be back here, and money's not everything. I also told her I know the visa timing is bad but to try not to let it ruin her day. Jill said she felt a bit better after talking to me. Alex, Joseph, and Ivy arrived and their cook group started making dinner. I got out my puzzle book and was doing a word search thinking maybe I'd get some alone time. A minute later Ale arrived and was talking a lot. I offered her a puzzle and she took a sudoku page. Also the other day she borrowed the book and now the pages are falling out. I think she damaged the binding. Not that it's a huge deal. I thought the sudoku would quiet her but she still wanted to chat. I gave up on my alone time idea. Ale left to go to the pharmacy and I thought finally, alone time. Often came and sat by me and told me he did some of my puzzles when we all went to the Serengeti. He said he'd been bored without all of us. I told him he was welcome to do some. Nearly everyone on the truck has borrowed the book at times. Lynne came and sat by me too and then Often left. Lynne wanted to chat as well and she mentioned she'd told Laurine about Katherine's behavior and told her to keep an eye out on her. I went to take a shower before dinner. The water was hot and it was good pressure, both of which were a pleasant surprise. After my shower it was time for dinner. We had rice and a mixture of beans, corn, and tofu with tomato sauce. We also had homemade salsa and guacamole and shredded cheese. It was all really good. Cole had a box of wine and shared with whoever wanted some. After dinner I helped clean up. Most of us stayed up chatting. Eventually most people went to bed but Alex, Ale, and I stayed up talking. Finally I went to bed. 

I woke up at 4:15 and got ready for the day. Jill had almost put the tent completely down by the time I got back. I apologized and she said don't worry about it and mentioned that I'd done the tent by myself several times recently. I realized my puzzle book was missing. Jill unrolled the tent and found it in there. I put my stuff in the truck and filled my giant coffee cup with coffee. I told everyone they could have some if they want and I filled a big plastic bottle of water too in case anyone runs out. We were supposed to leave at 5 and Laurine and Often had had a chat with us last night about being more on time. Even so, the group wasn't ready to go until 5:10. I was on the bus on time at least. We have an 11 hour drive today to Dar es Salaam but Often said he expects we'll get in around 7. We're having leftovers from dinner for a brunch around 10. Often and Laurine are going to make dinner tonight. Tomorrow we'll catch the ferry to Zanzibar and there we'll be in double occupancy hotel rooms for 4 nights. Jill wants a private room so I was planning to room with Lynne but last night at dinner Georgia said to Lynne that she (Georgia) and I would be rooming together and Ale and Lynne will be together. Apparently Katherine and Flo decided to room together in Zanzibar. I think those of us that were not involved in the rooming discussions were a bit put off by being told in that manner who we're rooming with. I don't mind sharing with whoever though in the group but I am hoping Lynne isn't offended or thinks I've requested not to room with her or something. I'm planning to talk to her privately later and tell her I don't mind rooming with her and I wasn't aware of the change until dinner last night. People have been really hyping up Zanzibar. It sounds like there's lots of options of things to do. I'll probably dive one day, maybe go on a scenic boat ride, maybe go on a spice tour. World's my oyster.

On the way to Arusha Ale remembered she hadn't paid her tab at the campground in Nairobi. She was laughing about it and said “oh well”. Later she talked to Often and he mentioned he had paid her tab and asked that she reimburse him. Ale asked if anyone had Kenyan shillings leftover that they didn't want. People offered to lend her money but she said “no no just if you have any shillings you want to get rid of”. No one offered her any. We ate lunch on the bus while driving, just whatever we'd bought from the grocery store. We stopped for the border crossing and for a couple of bushy bushy stops. At the border Flo, Manny, and I stayed on the truck for security. Once we got the go ahead we went through immigration. People had been saying the visa was $50 but apparently for Americans specifically it was $100. Thankfully I'd brought $200 to immigration because I was planning to change money. I begrudgingly paid the visa fee and then changed the rest of my cash to Tanzanian shillings. I owed Richard $31 for the slum tour, which he'd agreed to be paid for in Tanzanian shillings. Flo and I went to the restroom together. A woman cut in front of me to use the toilet and then the same woman body checked Flo out of the way to use the sink that Flo was washing her hands at even though there were two sinks. We walked back to the truck and saw a crowd of Masai women around the truck ladder. They were trying to sell souvenirs. Laurine had warned us if they put a bracelet on you etc you've essentially agreed to purchase it. I managed to dodge dozens of women attempting to put jewelry on me and I tried to tell them no thank you. I said excuse me and I asked them to move so I could get onto the truck. They chose not to move so eventually I went and stood on the sidewalk with Ivy, Cole, and Flo. I saw the truck door was open. I shouted at Ale to close the door. She did so and soon after the women left. As soon as they left, the rest of us boarded the truck. Ale had a big stack of papers and it got really windy on the truck at one point and the papers went flying everywhere, some out the window. It also started to rain so we asked for a bushy bushy stop and then put down one of the side windows while we were stopped. We got to Arusha around 5. Jill wasn't feeling well. She'd slept almost the whole car ride which is unusual for her. She looked flushed. Ash got her some medicine and told her to drink lots of water. I set up our tent by myself. Jill napped until dinner. Cook group 3 was responsible for dinner. We were staying at a place called Snake Park. They have a clinic that treats snake bites and people come from as far as Uganda to be treated. They also have snakes and crocodiles in enclosures that people can visit. They also have a bar and a Masai museum. Several of us went to the bar. Katherine, Georgia, Joseph, Lynne, and I sat outside at a table and Katherine taught Lynne and I how to play a new to us game. We played cards for about an hour and then dinner was ready. We had noodles with cabbage and hot dogs for dinner. Afterwards some of us went back to the bar and chatted for a while. Jill said she was feeling much better. Jill stayed out later than me and I didn't fall asleep until she was back. 

In the morning we'd been told we would leave for the Serengeti at 1. Jill and Joseph were the only ones in the group not going. Jill started to regret not signing up and she debated going if there was room. The only issue was she was not feeling well. She was really tired again and still looked flushed. She ended up sleeping most of the morning and she decided she wasn't going to sign up for the excursion. Cook group 3 made fried eggs and toast for breakfast and I enjoyed sleeping in until 7. I chatted with Roy at breakfast and came to the conclusion that he's actually a very nice person, just reserved and quiet. I felt the group including myself had judged him unfairly. He's from the UK, he has a cat named Lucy and no children. He was married for 30 years but his wife wanted a divorce because she wanted her independence, which Roy said he could never understand. He said 5 years after the divorce he was in Australia traveling and learned his wife had passed away. He cried a bit as he told me that. He's mentioned her as his wife in every story I've heard him tell about her since then. I invited Roy to join the group in going to see the snakes and then going for a walk. He accepted although he said he'd already seen the snakes. The group looked around at the animals, there were some birds as well but we were told the birds are released once they're healthy enough. They had a black mamba exhibit. The staff said they call it a one cigarette snake because the amount of time you have to smoke one cigarette is the amount of time you have left to live if you get bitten by one. Apparently the green mambas are not nearly as dangerous. They also had a giant python and pictures and stories of people who had been eaten by pythons. We also saw one alligator and some crocodiles. After that everyone said we should go back to the campsite because we'd been told to have our tents down by 11. I felt bad that we didn't go for a walk since I'd invited Roy under that premise. We went back to the campground and the group members there said Often said not to take our tents down yet. We all waited around for about an hour. We weren't sure where Often and Laurine were or why we were supposed to wait to take down our tents. We all thought that was really odd. Finally they arrived and asked to have a group meeting. Everyone gathered and Often said that the company taking us to the safari had gotten confused and thought we were coming the next day. Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to go that day after all, and so we would be spending an extra day at the Snake Park. Joseph and Jill were going to be spending the next two nights at the Snake Park anyway while the rest of us went to the Serengeti, and then the group was going to come back to Snake Park and we'd all spend the 4th night in the Snake Park. With the new plan, the whole group was in Snake Park for two nights, then the Serengeti trip for two nights, and then a 5th night in Snake Park. Often said that to avoid missing anything on the itinerary, instead of stopping for the night between the base of Kilimanjaro, Marusha, and Dar es Salaam we were going to be driving straight through and it could be a very long drive day. We didn't have anything planned between those two cities, it was just a stop to break up the drive so I think we were all happy with that. By that point it was noon or so and we'd realized we had a whole bonus day in Arusha. I decided to get laundry done. I think laundry service is really a win-win in this part of the world, I don't have to wash my clothes (people in the group have been using buckets and doing it by hand), and I am providing employment for someone. It's been under $10 per load nearly everywhere that I've had it done. It's a no-brainer in my mind. Those who were interested in going into the town of Arusha decided to meet at the bar at 1. It was Cole, Ivy, Manny, Richard, Joseph, Ash, Alex, Lynne, and I who decided to go into town. We piled into a church van. It was supposed to be a 45 minute drive but we stopped several times and the snake park staff got off the van for a couple of minutes and then came back. We were half joking that it was the one trip into town a week and the campground staff were doing all their weekly errands on the way. We made it to town and Ivy and Cole took off on their own. Richard was acting strangely and wouldn't answer us when we asked if he wanted to come with the rest of the group. I'd also heard Manny earlier telling Richard just because he was in a bad mood didn't mean he needed to ruin everyone else's day. I'd also heard Richard ask if he could nap in Manny's room and Manny said no because then he'd have to let everyone do that. Manny had told Richard if he wanted to upgrade to just pay the $15 for his own private room. We left Richard after a couple of attempts to include him. The rest of us walked around trying to complete various errands. There were no ATMs working that we could find. We tried 3. We tried a couple of phone stands for SIM cards but people were trying to rip us off significantly. Nearly an hour had passed with walking around trying to do errands but not accomplishing any. Alex was getting irritable. We found a phone stand that offered $15 for 10 GB of data. I'd been on the fence about getting a SIM card because I'm always with a group and it's nice to disconnect when camping at times anyway but I decided it would be worth $15 to be able to message people when I want. The Snake Park doesn't have Wi-Fi and I wasn't sure how the other campsites in Tanzania would be, especially at the Serengeti. Most of the group got SIM cards then and we gave up on the ATM idea and went to find a bar. A couple of men grabbed my arm at different points on the walk. I shook one off but one insisted on holding my arm. Finally Ash came and put his arm around me and Joseph and Manny walked in front and behind me, respectively, and Alex and had us in the middle. No one tried to grab Alex though. Alex said later she'd seen the more persistent man motioning to a friend at me and the friend had pointed at the guys and shook his head no but that guy had grabbed my arm anyway. This was around 3 p.m. on a Sunday in a group. We also passed by people begging. We made it to a bar called the Picnic. It looked to be a much more touristy area, which we didn't mind at all. We sat outside and had a beer each and chatted and then it started to rain. We moved inside and saw there was meat hanging and it looked really good. We agreed to get a fish and a chicken to share. Staff brought a bucket and some water and soap around to the table so we could wash our hands. We got our food, the fish was served whole but we had pieces of chicken. We were going to ask for silverware but Manny said that was why we'd washed our hands was to eat with them like the locals do. We ate chunks of fish, coleslaw, and chunks of chicken with our hands. Afterwards we were able to wash our hands again. The food was very good. We walked back to the place where we'd been dropped off and we met the others at our agreed time of 5. Richard looked distraught and Alex was about to try to talk to him but Ivy mouthed to leave him alone and he needed time. We rode back to Arusha and didn't stop at all this time. We went to the bar and I found out that the bar had a Skip Bo deck. The owner of the Snake Park is called Ma and she's from South Africa originally. She's lived in Tanzania the past 30 years. I'd guess she's in her 90s. Ma lended us her Skip Bo and asked if we'd let one of her staff, Fernando, play. Fernando joined us and I taught Katherine, Alex, and Ash how to play. Everyone said they enjoyed the game. Another set of people from the group were playing a different card game at the next table over. Cole came in during the middle and said he wanted to make an announcement. He said he'd spoken to Richard and he's told Cole what's going on and wanted Cole to share with the group. Cole said Richard's grandpa is in the hospital with terminal cancer and they don't know how long he has to live. Richard is torn about staying on the trip or going back to be with his family. He has some things he wants to say to his grandpa that he feels like are going to be lifelong regrets if he doesn't get to say them. On the other hand his grandpa is refusing visitors and Richard's family has been punishing him in a way saying that because he's been traveling during this he doesn't deserve to speak to his grandpa. Ale asked if Richard's grandpa has cancer and it's going to be a while or if he's actually on his deathbed. She and Alex got into a shouting match over this because Alex said there's no such thing as your deathbed and there's a lot of variables, and Ale argued that yes there is. Alex shouted “Well actually I'm an oncologist so I think I should know!”. Ale was quiet after that. Ash told Alex he'd never heard her use the “I'm an oncologist” line in an argument before. We finished our game of Skip Bo and went to dinner.

Oasis had provided dinner at the Snake Park for us. I imagine it was due to the Serengeti being delayed a day. We had a buffet just for our group. We had coleslaw, chicken, garlic bread, sausage, pork chops, etc. I sat by Roy and we chatted for about an hour after dinner. I've realized he's hard of hearing and he's soft spoken, both of which I think have contributed to the group misunderstanding him. After Roy left, Ash, Alex, Jill, Joseph, Ma, and I played a game of Skip Bo, which I won. Ma gave Alex and Ash a brand new pack of Skip Bo when she heard they're newlyweds. Ash and Alex and I stayed up for a while chatting. I got a beer that tasted like hot sauce. Ash and Alex thought I was joking but they tried it and agreed it did. Ma gave me a replacement beer. Ash had had one that staff in Arusha had opened and then taken back and replaced and Ash hadn't tried the original one. We wondered if that one had had the same issue. 

In the morning, Laurine and Often made breakfast. They made pancakes and I had coffee as well. I put down Lynne's tent for her. We were going to be sharing it in the Serengeti because Lynne normally has the tent to herself, but Jill was staying behind in her and I’s tent. Ironically, all of the tents are named after African parks and Jill and I ‘s is named Serengeti. We learned we were going to be split into two vans for the safari and then a third van would take our tents and have the cooks in it. The Serengeti trip was an add on - it was 700 GBP at the time of booking for the 3 day two night trip. We had all thought we were going to be staying in lodges because that had been the rumor, then the rumor was that we were going to be in glamping tents and have actual beds. The reality was we were going to be in our regular tents. The only changes from normal were the staff were going to set up and tearing down our tents for us in addition to cooking our meals and doing our dishes. I think some of us were starting to wonder why the add-on had cost so much. 

I heard Ivy say she wanted Alex and Ash in her van and to make sure they got a good group in there. I was standing right by Ivy so I waited a minute or so to see if she was going to invite me to their van but she didn't say anything so I went and got in the other van. Roy, Lynne, Katherine, Flo, and Ale ended up in my van. Our driver introduced himself as Immanuel. We drove about two hours to our campsite for the night. I ended up chatting to Ale the whole drive. She's worked in government most of her career so far so we mostly talked about government jobs. The tent truck had gone before us and after a while our tents were all set up. I put my stuff in Lynne and I ‘s tent. Most of the group listened to some information about things to do in the area. A guide told us we could do a village tour or otherwise we could ride bikes, take a tuk tuk, or ride a motorbike to a lake and then walk by the lake. Ivy, Cole, Georgia, Richard, Ash, Alex, and I signed up for the bicycle tour. No one else signed up for any activities, they decided to do their own thing. The price for the tour was $40 but Ash negotiated to $30 each. This was around 11:30 and we decided to meet for the tour at 1:30. Manny, Georgia, and I needed to go by an ATM. We walked about ten minutes down the road to the nearest bank. When we got there, the ATM was out of order. We waited in line inside the bank for about 30 minutes. When we got to the front of the line, they said they couldn't do any withdrawals from inside the bank for non Kenyans. I didn't have any USD on the Serengeti trip to exchange. I was $10 short for the bike tour and they'd said they wouldn't take cards. Katherine owed me $14 so I was thinking maybe I could get the remaining ten for the tour from her. I was about to ask Manny or Georgia if I could borrow money if they exchanged but around then we were notified the bank had been refilled. We also were told there was a form we'd need to fill out if we wanted to exchange money and then we'd have to go back to the end of the line. We decided to use the ATM and thankfully it worked. We walked back to the campsite and had pasta salad that Laurine had sent for us. Hot tea and coffee supplies were also included in the tour. I had hot tea even though it was sweltering out. There was a lot of pasta salad leftover, I think more than half of the group ended up deciding to go out to eat but I have a hard time turning down food that's included in what I've paid. After lunch those of us who were cycling met out front. Georgia crashed her bike almost immediately and she then admitted she'd only learned recently to ride. She attempted to ride around the front to practice but she had a hard time getting started and when she would get going she was very wobbly. She told us to all go on without her and she'd just stay back. Our guide said she could go on the back of a motorbike if she wanted. It seemed almost instantaneous that a motorbike appeared to pick her up. Georgia rode around slowly beside us the whole time we bicycled. I tried to give Richard a wide berth. I saw he was zig zagging quite a bit. At one point I didn't manage to give him enough distance and he stopped suddenly. I managed to stop in time but Ivy was right behind me and she also stopped in time but seemed annoyed. I apologized but she didn't say anything really in response. We rode about 20 minutes at an extremely leisurely pace. We got to a park and walked to see wildebeest, which are part of the ugly 5. We could see the lake in the distance, it looked brown from where we were. The lake was saltwater and the grass was all crunchy from the salt. After ten minutes or so we walked back to the bikes and rode a short time to get closer to the lake. Up close the lake looked pink. We saw petrified trees, maribu stork (part of the ugly five), and flamingos. We walked around the lake a bit. We had just gotten on our bikes and then Cole noticed he had a flat tire. Our guide bicycled while pushing Cole’s bike with one hand. Cole got on the back of the motorbike behind Georgia and the driver. We rode a few minutes up the road and stopped at a local cafe for drinks. I had a cold Coke and we sat and chatted. There were local men watching the Tanzanian equivalent of the Discovery Channel. They were watching it intently, I wondered to myself if they had TVs at home. A man came on a motorbike and had a bicycle perched on the back of it. He traded out the new bike for the one with the flat tire and went back on his way. We rode back to the campground. We were all impressed by the level of service involved. I tipped the guide 33%. 

It was still scorching hot out. I decided to go swimming at the campground pool. Flo joined me in the pool and not long after Lynne and Alex joined me. Katherine got into the pool briefly but said it was too cold. The rest of us thought it felt nice and it was really hot out. After the pool I took a shower. Whenever Flo and I happen to be taking showers at the same time she wants to talk the whole time. I find it takes away a bit from the relaxation of the shower and it's hard to hear over the water but I don't see a good way out of it once we're already in that situation. Flo and I chatted and then I sat with the group under an awning. There were small tables so I sat with Katherine and Georgia. We chatted for a while and then Katherine went to shower. I taught Georgia how to play Hell's Bridge. Halfway through our game, Katherine came back and wanted to play. Georgia and I agreed to start the game over and I taught Katherine the rules. I ended up winning. After the game the three of us chatted until dinner. For dinner, we had vegetable soup as an appetizer and then local roasted vegetables, pieces of chicken, a homemade roll each, and for dessert we had pineapple. I had a cup of tea also and was sweating between the tea and the soup. I felt almost sick from the heat, although the food was good. Richard announced that he was going to fly home the next day after the crater tour as he wanted to try to be with his grandpa. We all told him we'll miss him, and he said this has been the best group he's ever had for a tour. I attempted to carry a conversation with Roy although it was loud and he's hard of hearing. After dinner some of us stayed up chatting just a bit but I was in bed by 9. 

I woke up at 5 to the sound of my alarm. I got ready for the day and joined the others for breakfast at 5:30. We had crepes with jam, eggs, and I had half a banana and coffee. We got on the road a little after 6. I had bought a metal coffee cup and filled it with coffee to go. I shared it with Lynne and Ale on the drive and we all had a conversation about taxes for about an hour, which I enjoyed but thought was a bit intense for so early in the day. We stopped at the Ngorongoro Crater visitor center for a bathroom break and then stopped at the overlook too. We went into the crater and spent the morning on a game drive. We saw flamingos, hyenas, elephants, warthogs, lions, wildebeest, zebras, birds, the crown crested crane, antelopes, hippos, Thompson Gazelles, Grand Gazelles, and black rhinos. We ate all my snacks in the morning and I considered buying some Pringles when we stopped for a bathroom break but they were $5 a can which I thought was extortionate. We ate lunch in the park. The Serengeti company, Safari HQ, had prepared a boxed lunch. We had a single piece of cheese between a hamburger bun, a piece of chicken, a square of chocolate, a boiled egg, a pack of three cookies, a juice box, and an apple each. The eggs had been cooked so long that the yolks were white. We said goodbye to Richard. After lunch we drove to the Serengeti National Park. We stopped to see the site where some predecessors to humans had been found. We also stopped by the park sign to take photos. I don't think any of us were expecting to stop as much as we did. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing but we were saying that would have been the day to rehydrate. We had a jug of water with a tap on each van. In the Serengeti we went on another game drive. At the entrance of the park we saw quite a few wildebeest and zebras. They're usually found together because the zebras have good eyesight and the wildebeest have a good sense of smell, so together they can detect predators from far away. The zebras stand shoulder to shoulder facing away from each other to keep guard. The zebras also help the wildebeest by eating the grass first so the wildebeest get the shorter grass that's easier to chew. In the actual park we didn't see that much wildlife on our way into the campsite. We did see some hippos. We did see lions with cubs, giraffes, and lots of birds. We were spending the night in the Serengeti. The campsite had a kitchen building, a dining room building, and a bathroom building all relatively far from each other. Our tents were all set up by the time we arrived. Ash and Alex's tent had been mixed up with one from another group so they were given the other person involved in the mix up’s tent to sleep in for the night. The tent was bigger but they said it smelled musty. Lynne had a beer in her bag and it had broken on the drive. All of her clothes were soaked in beer. She hadn't realized before setting her bag in the tent, so our whole tent smelled like beer. After getting my mattress blown up and stuff put away I went to the dining room. A tray of popcorn was sitting out for us. I had some popcorn and a cup of tea. Georgia came in and we stood looking out at the view and watching monkeys in the trees. Others arrived and we realized we could buy cold beer and other drinks from the mini fridge in the dining room. I had a Safari beer. Lynne said it might help me forget the beer smell in the tent. For dinner we had potato and leek soup, beef and cooked vegetables and rice. A moth landed in the vegetable pot and died during dinner. The main course and the soup were good. We had pineapple for dessert, although it wasn't ripe. Everyone besides Manny, Ale, and I went to bed by 8:30. I wasn't super tired. We chatted until 9 and then the other two said they were going to bed. We'd noticed a group in the dining room getting a briefing and they were all very quiet and didn't interrupt each other. We wondered amongst ourselves where they were from and we commented on the difference between them and our group. I think I much prefer our group. When the others went to bed I decided I may as well too. I got one of the best night's sleep I've had while camping. I think I was worn out in the end. I counted and I think that was my 12th night in a row camping. I've decided I'm not upgrading for the rest of trip unless it's the same price as the camping. I've only upgraded twice so far, once when it was the same price as camping, and once when it was $4 and we were leaving early the next day. I want to hold down my spot as upgrading the least in the group (other than Jill). 

In the morning others reported hearing what sounded like lions and hyenas. I was kind of glad I hadn't been awake for that. There was no fence between the park and the campground. We had eggs with carrots in them and crepes with honey for breakfast in addition to some watery papaya. I made coffee to go again and shared it with Lynne and Ale during the game drive. During the drive we saw zebras, giraffes, hippos, lions, a secretary bird, a vulture (part of the ugly five), wildebeest, elephants, dik diks, antelopes, gazelles, and we even saw cheetahs! We got to see the cheetahs really close up and for probably a full 20 minutes! We were told that was really rare. The only bummer was we didn't manage to see a leopard but we were very happy about the cheetahs. In the afternoon we exited the Serengeti and ate a packed lunch. This time we had a hamburger bun with a piece of cheese, a piece of white bread with a slice of ham in the middle and no sauce, a piece of dry cake, a square of chocolate, a piece of chicken, and a juice box each. I bought a pop after lunch and we got back on the road. It's Cole's birthday so I tried to pay for his coffee when we stopped but he insisted that I not. He said he'll accept a birthday beer later though. We're on our way back to Arusha. We should arrive sometime this evening and will have the tent service again, although I plan to be back with Jill unless she's still sick. Everyone was a bit worried about her because she's not taking malaria medication. She doesn't have data and the campground doesn't have wifi so we haven't heard any updates. Laurine and Often are cooking dinner tonight and then tomorrow we have a relatively short drive to the base of Kilimanjaro!

We all rode back to Nairobi. We stopped to pick up two people at one point. Our driver passed people on the shoulder of the road when we were on a mountain, so that was interesting. We made it to a pick up spot and the driver of the other Oasis van came and got us from there. We got into Wildebeest Eco Camp in Nairobi. Alex greeted us and gave me a hug. She and Often and Laurine all said they were glad we were okay. I went to find Jill, she was at the bar and hadn't set up our tent yet. She and I went and set up our tent. Alex mentioned she had met one of our new group members, Roy. Roy is in his 70s. She said Roy had been rude to her. She saw him sitting near the campsite and she asked if he was joining the tour and he said “well obviously.”. Alex did not think he was joking. She told him her name and he said “I don't do names.”. I saw a man sitting by the tents and he looked to be in his 60s but I thought maybe that was Roy. I'd noticed him watching me and Jill set up our tent and I'd helped Richard set up his too. I went over to introduce myself but was a bit anxious as I thought it could be Roy. I asked the man if he was on the tour and he said no. He introduced himself as Yon. He said he's from the Netherlands. He rode his bicycle from Cape Town to Nairobi, and that's his end point. He's spent the past ten years working half the year and cycling half of the year and he's ridden his bike all over. He said he never wears a helmet and he's never had a problem. He free camps everywhere he goes unless there's an established campground along his route. Ash joined for part of the conversation too. I invited Yon to join us at the bar but he said he was just going to rest and go to bed early. I said goodbye to Yon and headed to the bar. I joined the others. I had the buffet at the restaurant and others in the group either had the buffet or ordered a la carte. After dinner Alex, Jill, and I did our makeup. It was our first time wearing makeup during the overland trip. I borrowed an outfit from Alex, long orange silky pants and a black tank top. The three of us as well as Ash, Cole, Ivy, Manny, and Richard headed to downtown Nairobi. We had to split into two different taxis. I rode with Ash and Alex. It was about a 30 minute car ride to Alchemy nightclub. We went in and met the others from our group. We danced there for quite a while and eventually went to a second club where we danced until 1 a.m. Richard got a video call from his family, his grandpa, who he currently lives with and who helped raise him, is in the hospital. Jill, Richard, and I shared a taxi back to the campground. In the morning we went to a giraffe center to feed giraffes. I was in a van with one of the new people- Joseph. He does train maintenance and is from the UK but is going to Australia after this for a working holiday. He's in his early 20s. I was also with Flo, Angela, and Georgia. There was also a new person named Ale (short for Alejandra, pronounced like Ali). She's from Canada and just left a job working for the government in the transportation department. I think she's in her mid 40s. There was also a lady named Queen in the van. Angela asked where Queen is from and she responded “I came from my parents”. Angela said “I mean where do you live?” Queen responded “London”. She wore a disposable glove on just one hand and washed her hands no less than six times in the hour we were at the giraffe center. Apparently even when we were just at the campground she was still spotted wearing a single glove. Queen said she didn't bring a sleeping bag because she thought one would be provided. Later I was told that Queen is a vegan and doesn't eat pasta, rice, or beans. According to Flo, Queen threw a fit around Laurine about not having food she can eat and about not telling her she'd need a sleeping bag. Even though the food and camping supplies are clearly listed on the Oasis website. At the giraffe center we were given pellets of food to feed to the giraffes. Afterwards we got some information about the giraffes and then went to the cafe. I had a flat white and a burger and fries. I got it to go and ate it in the van. Queen said “that's very American” which I didn't take offense to but later Flo told me she thought Queen was being rude to me. I wasn't sure what Queen’s name was at the time or if she'd said it to all of us before and I'd missed it. I asked “what was your name again?”. Queen said “you mean what is my name? It's Queen.”. After the giraffes we went back to the campsite and I took a nap. At 1:30 Flo, Angela, Richard, a new person named Lynne, and I met for a tour. Lynne is from the UK. I think she's in her 70s. She farms sheep. Richard called an Uber for us and we went to a mall to meet our tour guide. Angela, Flo, and I used the bathroom at the mall before leaving and the toilets had toilet paper, they flushed, they had soap, and there was even a hand dryer! We were all blown away by the luxury and said that it was definitely a fancy mall. 

We met our tour guides and they took us to another van where we were taken to Kabara slums. It's the second biggest slum in the world and the biggest one in Africa. We were shown around Kabara and given some information. We were told the unemployment rate in Kabara is 97%. People use electricity illegal and so there are quite a few fires and the homes have been known to wash away during heavy rains. People salvage second hand clothes from dumpsters in rich neighborhoods and resell them in Kabara. There was trash everywhere. I saw one of the tour guides drop an empty plastic bottle on the ground when she was done with it. There were goats and other animals drinking water with trash floating in it. Lots of kids wanted to give us high 5s. We went to one of the schools and the kids there danced to three songs for us and gave us a tour of the school. They asked us to teach them a dance too. Flo and I danced the macarena for them and the kids danced along. After that we saw a place where they were carving keychains and bracelets out of animal bones. Some people bought keychains but the idea of it I found a bit gross. I also was not sure if the animals died of natural causes. After the tour the tour company gave us a ride back to camp. A lot of the group went to dinner together out of camp. They were going to walk but the security guards told them it wasn't safe so they took a one minute taxi. I was invited but I ordered food at the campground. Jill was on the phone and it sounded like she was going to be quite a while and the group was waiting for her but I'd just placed my order and then Jill got off the phone. Georgia and Joseph didn't go out either so I ate with them. I had a caesar salad with chicken. There was only western food at the campground but I haven't had many salads the last few months, I normally don't trust that the produce has been washed well but it seemed okay at the camp so I decided to risk it. I'd been missing salads. I also had sparkling water and some vanilla tea. I chatted with Georgia and Joseph for a while. Joseph went to bed and Georgia and I went to reception to pay our tabs. It took forever for us to settle our bills, there was a line and things were moving slowly. I'd spent $30 for the two nights on food and drinks. I went to bed early, around 9:30. Jill came back at one point and I woke up. She needed to organize her stuff so she was up for a while. After that I kept waking up throughout the night, the campground was fairly noisy with people coming in and out and my mattress didn't feel as comfortable as I would have liked. Jill woke me up at 6:20 and she wanted to put down the tent right away so we could get breakfast right when the restaurant opened at 7. We put up our tent and I got ready for the day. We had breakfast included at the campsite, although I'd slept too late for it the day before. I had pancakes with banana on it and some coffee. Jill was teasing me about the way I hold my fork and she tried to get me to hold it properly. We were cracking up. After breakfast we all said goodbye to Angela. Richard had been considering going home early because of his grandpa but he said he's decided to stay on for now and see how things go. We learned that Queen had dropped out of the trip and I think we were all relieved as it didn't sound like it was going to be a good fit for her. I picked a new book to read and we got on the road. We stopped by a grocery store and only had 30 minutes. I got snacks and stuff for lunch. I'd broken my sunglasses the day before when I accidentally sat on them so I bought a new pair. Jill asked me to buy her a juice and said she'll pay me back for it. Roy has not said a word to anyone on the bus today yet. We started at 8 and are expecting to get into Arusha around 5 tonight. We need to cross the border into Tanzania. The bus feels way more crowded with the addition of Lynne, Ale, Joseph, and Roy. I've got people sitting directly on either side of me rather than being able to stretch out. We'll see how Roy is but I think we're all very happy that Queen isn't coming with us. We've all said we're going to protect Richard from the new people and make sure he doesn't get bullied. Ale, Lynne, and Joseph seem very nice so far. We'll see how the rest of the trip goes!

Our drive ended up being what I would consider a long drive after all. We had started at 7 and didn't get in until 6 p.m. On the way I started reading another book from the truck library. I also did sudoku and we all chatted. We got to the border crossing back into Kenya. Ash, Alex, and I waited on the truck while the others went through immigration (for security purposes). When it was our turn we went through and had to show our yellow fever vaccination cards again. We got back to the truck and bought vegetable samosas from a guy near the truck. Katherine had asked a guy if he had any ice cream to sell. She had given 300 KSH to him and he said he'd be back with ice cream. The others saw him get on a motorbike and drive away. Katherine wanted to wait at the border for her ice cream. The group was of the general opinion that that man had taken Katherine's money and run. Katherine was convinced that he was coming back with ice cream. We agreed to wait up to 10 minutes for her ice cream but people were getting impatient. Katherine talked to other men around the truck and they said that the guy that sold her the ice cream is called Mr. Business and he was going to a grocery store to get the ice cream. We finally told Katherine she was going to have to cut her losses because we were tired of waiting. We pressed the buzzer to signal to Often that we were ready to go. We had just started driving and Katherine saw Mr. Business pull up. Katherine shouted at Often to stop the truck. He did so and she grabbed her ice cream out the window. Mr. Business said he'd bought a second ice cream and he asked if anyone wanted it. I said I wanted it and I handed him 300 KSH. Flo looked disappointed so I asked if she wanted to share. The ice cream came in a plastic tub and was strawberry and vanilla. We had a small wooden spoon and Flo and I shared. Later on we stopped at a grocery store so the cook group could buy supplies and so we could buy lunch. I had had the samosas and ice cream so instead I just got a fresh ginger lemon juice. I bought some snacks for later. When I came out of the grocery store I got back on the truck but Often had apparently chosen that moment to move the truck slightly. The ladder was still down. I clung onto the rope by the ladder while Often reparked. As soon as it was safe I hurried into the truck. We got back on the road. We arrived at the campsite at 6 and I realized it was a different campsite than I thought. It was actually the second campsite we'd been to as a group, Lake Naivasha not Lake Nakuru. Internally I was a little disappointed because I had wanted to see the wildlife from the first place again but to be honest all the campsites we'd been to in Kenya were really nice so I shouldn't complain. Jill wanted a night to herself, she had been broken up with that day. That meant I was sharing with Katherine for the night. Katherine is perpetually grumpy and argumentative so I wasn't thrilled about the prospect. Katherine asked if there were upgrades at the campsite but they were more than she wanted to pay. I had a moment of hope when she asked followed by a moment of disappointment when she declined. Katherine said she'd just “suck it up and camp”. I wondered to myself if she knew she'd signed up for a trip listed as 90% camping. Katherine tends to go to bed right after dinner and she sleeps a lot on the bus. She talks a lot about how happy she is to have her own tent and how she doesn't want to share. Due to all those factors I felt a bit like I was invading her space. We got our tents set up and cook group 2 started making dinner. I took a cold shower and had the company of a slug. There almost always seems to either be a slug, millipede, lizard, etc in any shower I have had here. Manny had bought a box of wine for the group to share so after my shower I joined the others and we had some wine. Since Antoine had left, it was just Ash and Flo in the cook group but they'd said they were happy with that. Ash was born in India. They made two kinds of veggie curries and a yogurt sauce and rice for dinner. They gave up on the jackfruit idea because it had smelled so bad on the bus and because recipes online said the jackfruit should be unripe when making a curry. I think we were all relieved. The food was really good. I helped with dishes afterwards and then Jill, Manny, Alex, Richard, Ash, Flo, Angela, and I stayed up chatting. Richard is very interested in finding his first girlfriend. He screamed really loudly when a moth went near him and we told him he can't be doing that on a date. Finally we all went to sleep. In the morning we tore down tents and Ash and Flo made masala scrambled eggs and toast. I had coffee as well and cherry tomatoes. I washed dishes and was sitting on the truck at 9 which was the time we'd planned to start. A few others weren't on the bus until 9:18. We were told we were going to be picking up the new person at a meeting spot after an hour and a half drive. It was really more like 2.5 hours in the end. On the way we blasted the Lion King soundtrack and talked about ways to prank the new person. We talked about fake jobs, mine was going to be that I sell vases. We also said we could say we're all related to each other and we came up with an elaborate backstory. We finally got to the pick up point and picked up the new girl, Georgia. Flo was visibly excited to see that it was a young person. It's been cute, she seems really excited about Georgia joining. Georgia is 22, she just graduated in December from Harvard with a degree in psychology. She's going to be working as a credit card analyst but her job doesn't start until February 2025 and it's in Washington DC and pays 6 figures. She leads Model UN conferences all over the world and they pay for her flights and hotels. She went to Morocco and Spain earlier this month to start off her gap year. She was on a family vacation and then did a solo trip from there to Belgium and the Netherlands before flying to Nairobi to meet us. She's joining this trip until Victoria Falls and then she'll fly from there to Nairobi to lead a Model UN conference. Then she'll fly to Indonesia and is planning to spend the rest of her gap year there becoming a divemaster and teaching diving lessons. She's beat cancer before and she's traveled quite a bit. She's got a goofy sense of humor, for example she said by me being too nice and doing the dishes all the time it makes her look bad and makes her cry and so every time I do them too often she's going to cry on my towel and leave stains. We split into two vans at the meeting point. I heard Ivy tell Alex she wanted her and Ash in their van and Manny and Jill. I found that a little cliquey that Ivy was choosing for people. I've been trying not to take anything like that that anyone says to heart though. I ended up in the car with Richard, Katherine, Flo, Angela, and Georgia. I was glad to be in the car with the new person so I could get to know her. I tried to go through with the pranks we'd come up with as a group but I couldn't keep a straight face. I started telling Georgia we are all related and I'd only started by saying “Angela and Flo are mother and daughter” before I started cracking up. Later people teased me because that part was actually true! 

After a while we stopped at a supermarket. We had an hour for lunch. Ivy, Cole, and Manny ventured off on their own. The rest of us decided we didn't want to eat at the supermarket and we ventured off too. We ended up at a butchery. There weren't a ton of other restaurants nearby. Georgia, Angela, Flo, and Jill are vegetarians. Ash eats vegetarian 90% of the time and he doesn't eat red meat or fish. Katherine and Richard are picky eaters. Everyone agreed to try the butchery but I noticed Georgia looked uncomfortable. Katherine said she was thinking about going back to the supermarket and Richard and Georgia quickly said they were too, and they bolted out of there. The rest of us stayed. Jill said she wasn't that hungry but she ended up eating half of my food rather than ordering something for herself. It turned out fine because I had a big portion anyway. I got ugali and greens. I had seen meat just hanging in the heat so I wasn't too sure about that either but the place seemed clean enough. My food was good and I had a Krest, which is a lemon bitter soda. Lunch was 300 KSH per person. I went to the bathroom, which was a squat toilet. When I came out a girl around my age asked if she could take a picture with me. I said yes and then asked if I could take a picture with her too. She said yes and then she saw the picture on my phone and she said it was better than the one she took. She asked me to send it to her on WhatsApp and I did. I rejoined the group and told them about my new friend. 

We walked back to the supermarket and Angela and Jill wanted coffees. It had almost been an hour and the rest of us reminded them of that. Angela was determined to get her coffee. I went into the store and bought a Coke Zero because I knew the coffee would take a while. Alex and Ash had bought a bottle of sparkling water for each van to share too. Flo and I got impatient and walked back to the van while Angela and Jill were still waiting for their coffees. Angela and Jill arrived at the van a few minutes later and then Ivy and Cole and Manny finally arrived. We all piled back in the van and continued onwards. I mostly read during the drive. We got to the campsite in the Masai Mara around 5 p.m. Since we now had an even number of girls, I was back with Jill. We set up our tents and everyone sat in the bar area and hung out. We'd gotten spoiled by all the nice campsites so far and the one at the Masai Mara was the most basic that we've visited so far. The bar was completely open, just a roof and just one wall, otherwise open air. It was still a nice campsite just more basic than we'd become accustomed to. We had cookies and juice provided to us. We were all sitting at one table talking but it started pouring rain. We moved to another table. The rain was so loud it was hard to hear each other talk. We split into two groups and played cards. I taught my group to play Hell's Bridge. It was me, Richard, Jill, Alex, and Ash. We only played to 8 cards each before it was time to eat. The cook brought out spaghetti with a beef sauce, a lentil sauce, bread, squash soup, and cabbage. We had been told by the driver that our meals would be prepared for us but ideally we should help with dishes afterwards. Georgia, Katherine, and I did the dishes. It took us quite a while. The cook offered us hot water afterwards and I made some tea, expecting to rejoin the others. I found everyone had gone to bed. I sat and drank my tea by myself and then went to bed too. Thankfully by that point it had stopped raining. Manny and Richard had been given no choice but to share a tent because we were asked to bring as little as possible on the small vans. Jill and I could hear Manny instructing Richard on how to blow up his mattress and hear Manny chastising Richard on other things. Jill said jokingly “guys! Be quiet! I'm trying to sleep!”. We laughed a lot over the situation and then went to bed. Everyone has said Richard is like a son who's never left the house and Manny is like the ex military father who's trying to teach the son but his patience only goes so far, and it's not far at all. We've realized some of the things Richard does are to get a rise out of people so he does them intentionally and when asked he says he's having a great time and the teasing doesn't bother him. I think it's also gotten a lot less mean spirited since Antoine left. 

In the morning Jill and I woke up at 5:45. We got ready for the day and had big sausages (more like brats), mango, orange slices, baked beans, and toast as well as coffee for breakfast. There were also supplies to make sandwiches to bring with us for lunch. Lots of people were crowded around the table trying to make sandwiches at the same time so I decided to eat my breakfast first and then go back and make a sandwich. By the time I did that there weren't many supplies left. Cole and Ivy went up at the same time as me and Ivy asked if we thought there was more deli meat somewhere. I said probably not. I mentioned I'd been waiting until the crowd died down to make my sandwich. Cole said “that's not how it works here. If everyone took 1/14th it would work perfectly but that's not what happens”. I thought that was an interesting comment as normally we actually have leftovers and give them to the campground staff or eat them the next day, so I wasn't totally sure where this was coming from but I didn't ask Cole to elaborate. I do know the group tends to fight over people wanting to be first in line but I think that's true of human nature in general. We've had plenty to eat most of the time, however that breakfast we ran out of fruit and ran out of beans quickly. I made a sandwich with one piece of ham, a few sprinkles of cheese, mayo, a piece of lettuce, and some red onions. We also had chicken legs and with so many vegetarians I was able to take two and we had boiled eggs to pack too. We were allotted one each but Jill doesn't like eggs that much so she gave me hers too. We also had different boxes of juice to choose from too. I picked one that was lemon mint mojito. By then it was time to go and so none of us helped with breakfast dishes. We walked through the property and over a bridge. We were told to watch out for snakes. We got to the vans and got back into the same groups. I finished my book as we were driving to the park. Once at the park we spent the morning looking for wildlife. We saw zebras, giraffes, warthogs (called pumbas in Swahili), baboons, kori bustard birds, lions (simbas in Swahili), a secretary bird, crowned cranes, water buffalo, jackals, hyenas, mongoose, elephants, hippos, a turtle, ostriches, topi antelope, grand gazelle, tompson, Impala, and hartbeast. We saw more lions than we could count! We saw adult male and females, juveniles, and babies. We got really close to the animals and were able to observe them in their natural habitat. We stopped for a couple of bushy bushy stops, stopped to see a sign by the Kenya and Tanzania border, ate our lunch together while sitting in the grass, and stopped for a scenic overview. During one of the stops we did a minute and a half plank and during some of the others we did push ups and stretching. It was amazing seeing all of the wildlife. We were able to alternate between standing- the roof lifted up, or we could sit and observe the animals. We were on the lookout for the big 5, the small 5, and the ugly 5. We were disappointed to not see leopards or tigers but none of us expected to see that many lions, so I would say that more than made up for it. At the end of the day Alex asked me which part of the day I enjoyed more, seeing the animals or making animal puns. 

We got back to camp and needed the gate to be opened to exit the bridge. There was a man coming to unlock it but Katherine was impatient because she said she wanted to shower first so she could have hot water. She climbed over the bridge and scaled the gate to get out. We were all shocked because Katherine often talks about how bad her level of fitness is and about wanting to get back in shape. Ivy said out of everything we saw that day Katherine doing that was the most surprising. We had all thought the electric shock on the gate might be active and also Katherine was above the river which was quite a ways below. I've never seen someone more determined to get a hot shower. 

When we arrived at camp some tea and coffee was sitting out. We all thought it was for us and Georgia and Ash poured themselves a cup of tea. I was waiting in line and staff came out and told us that it was actually for another group. Ash and Georgia still drank their tea since they'd already poured it and the rest of us waited about 45 minutes before tea and cookies were brought out. I asked if anyone wanted to do a workout and Alex took me up on it. We did circuits again. One minute of planks, one minute of sit ups, one minute of squat jumps, one minute of lunges. We cycled through each move for three rounds and then I spent an additional 15 minutes or so stretching. Between the sedentary days, lots of carb heavy meals, etc, weight gain seems inevitable on this trip. Trying not to worry about it too much but be more active and get smaller portions when I can. After the workout I took a shower that started off as hot but about a minute went cold. It was hot out anyway. 

By that time it was practically dinner time. The other group still hadn't arrived and hadn't touched their tea and coffee. We were all confused where they were. We'd also seen a G Adventures Overland group staying at the same campsite, but they were dining in a separate area from us so we didn't interact with them much but it was one of the first times that our group hasn't had the campground to ourselves. Everyone was already seated when I arrived and I ended up sitting at the end of the table, by Katherine and Richard. Angela gave me a glass of wine but I spilled it almost immediately. We had vegetable soup. The cook brought out the main course and we had beef stew, rice, mixed vegetables, and cabbage salad. Cole made an announcement to everyone that they need to think about other people and not take so much food. His delivery was pretty abrupt. I was at the end of the table by the food and several people whispered to me when getting their food that it looked like we had plenty. After that it was a bit of a tense atmosphere and we ate mostly in silence. We had watermelon for dessert and Richard kept spitting the seeds onto his plate as he was eating. Katherine likes nothing better than a debate, in which she is always certain her view is right. I tried not to engage either of them in conversation. After dinner I offered to do dishes but Ash and Alex said they'd do them. I went to the bathroom and when I came back some people had started playing cards and some others were chatting. Ivy and Cole were in the chatting group and I have gotten the feeling they don't like me. Especially given Cole’s outburst, I thought it would be better if I didn't sit with them. I sat by myself at the table and did some sudoku until Ash and Alex came back. Ash and Alex and I stayed up until 10 or so talking. Richard joined partway into the conversation and it became all about his wish to find a girlfriend and his wish to move to the US. Eventually we all retired to our tents. I heard Manny chastising Richard again. 

In the morning Jill and I woke up at 6:20. We'd set an alarm for 7:15 but neither of us were able to sleep in. We got ready for the day and took down our tent and then helped others. Other than Cole and Ivy and Katherine and Georgia, everyone had taken down their tents and was sitting in the dining room by 7:30. We weren't leaving until 9 and breakfast was to be served at 8. We chatted until breakfast was ready. Ivy and Cole put down their tent. I offered to help but they said no thanks. Georgia came out. One of the rules of the trip is you have to put up your tent before you eat breakfast. Georgia knew that but she said Katherine was still sleeping and she compared waking Katherine up to waking up an angry bear. We had fried eggs, toast, bananas, watermelon, bacon, and purple yams as well as coffee for breakfast. We all ate, Katherine woke up and she and Georgia put down their tent. Jill, Flo, and I did the dishes. Flo made Richard clean the bacon pan because she was grossed out by the smell. After breakfast we got back into the vans and headed to a Masai village. We paid $20 each. We saw the people in the tribe and their village. They did a traditional dance for us. They said in the past a man would kill a lion if he wanted to marry a woman without paying dowry. Now that's not allowed so instead they have competitions to jump the highest, and whoever wins gets their choice of wife. They can also have more than one wife. Our guide said his father has 12 wives because he's killed 12 lions. The guide said in the village they only consume milk, blood, and meat. The boys attend school until the age of 15 when they're circumcised and sent to live in the jungle for five years. When they come out they can pick a wife (if they jump well or pay the dowry). Female genital mutilation still happens in the Masai communities but is illegal now. If people are caught they could face jail time but some people consider it a cultural thing. We saw the inside of a house, there was a small kids room and two bigger rooms. The house was really more of a hut with a thatched roof and the walls partially made of cow dung. After the tour we were escorted into a souvenir shop area where we each had one warrior following us and encouraging us to buy things. I was completely out of Kenyan shillings so I didn't buy anything. I was tempted by some bookmarks that looked like safari animals. We drove for a while and stopped at a souvenir shop for the bathroom. We stopped at a police checkpoint for quite a while. We were all curious after a while if everything was okay but in the end it was. Often gets stopped by the police multiple times a day here I'd say. It seems to be different from our police stops in the US, more of a routine thing here. We stopped at a supermarket for lunch and were told to make it quick. I bought some ugali and greens from the deli. I looked for sparkling water but couldn't find any in the supermarket. I decided not to buy a second pop. I ate my food in the car as did everyone else. I thought I was almost done writing this but then suddenly we started swerving all over the highway. We narrowly missed hitting 3 different cars head on. The thought went through my mind to call Steve and tell him goodbye. I was attempting to do so but didn't have time. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and neither were the other passengers in the car and it looked like we were going straight for a ditch. We caused a motorcyclist and his passenger to go off the road. There was a passing lane on the right and so instead of 2 lanes there were 3 on that part of the road. We managed to stop just at the end of the road without going into the ditch. After a moment we all realized we were still alive and we called out to see if each of us was okay. Miraculously every single person in the car and the two people on the motorcycle were uninjured. It turns out that a ball bearing had come undone in the front and the tires were moving in different directions which is what caused us to crash. We sat in the yard of some strangers. They came out to greet us. Katherine was chatting to them, it was 3 women and 3 children. One of the women said her brother is single and suggested that Katherine marry him. She said they have a lot of land and so Katherine would be rich. We saw the shack the people lived in from where we were sitting. Georgia played with the kids. The rest of us sat under a tree, a little shell shocked. Alex, our driver, called Often and told him what happened. I was one of the only ones who had data so I tried calling Alex from our group and then Ivy. I finally got ahold of Cole and told him about the accident. We were just about to tour the house when our driver said he got a ride for us. We all piled into a van back to Nairobi, I think we technically are hitchhiking now. The plan later was to go out for dinner and drinks, it's Angela's last night of the tour but she is staying tomorrow night too at the same place as us. We're also supposed to get two new people on the tour tonight. I think we're all just so grateful right now to be alive and uninjured.

On the way to Jinja we played trivia, I read, did sudoku, and we chatted.  We stopped at the equator for lunch and were asked to get take away food. I ordered rice and beans.  Three people in the group ordered pizzas and it ended up taking over an hour to get our food. The pizzas came out last. We finally got back on the road.  We didn't stop after lunch at all until we reached our campsite, about 8 hours later. We've all been saying we need to be drinking more water but we don't want to have to be the one to request a stop or wake up a lot during the night. We played the headbands game towards the end of the drive and had a lot of fun acting out clues and saying them too.  We got to the campsite around 10:30 p.m.  Jill looked like she was considering upgrading to a dorm but I told her let's camp.  Everyone else upgraded. It was the same campground we had been to before in Jinja.  Jill said she was going to take a shower. I requested that she help get the tent started at least first but she said she wouldn't be long. I waited for her to shower and was annoyed because I wanted to get all my stuff set up and I needed to put in my American SIM to get a text for Steve to log into H&R block but I'd have to go to the campground restaurant for WiFi and this was delaying all that. Finally Jill came back. We set up our tent and I went to the restaurant and got the text so Steve could help with my tax return and then I went to bed. In the morning everyone else had breakfast included in their upgrade. Laurine and I ate boiled eggs from the day before and toast. Jill and Often had toast and we all had coffee. We got on the road around 8.  I did sudoku, read, and chatted.  After a while Jill needed a bushy bushy stop.  We stopped at an actual gas station!  We were all very excited about the real toilets, even though they were squat toilets. There was even toilet paper in the stalls and they were clean!  There was also a convenience store attached to the gas station, which is rare here too. A bunch of us bought things from the service station. I got a pack of peanut m&M's, a small Pepsi Max (desparate times), and a bottle of South African pinotage wine for later. There were no prices anywhere and it was 65,000 Ugandan shillings for my stuff which I was thinking later was pretty expensive but oh well.  We continued on to Sippi Falls and arrived around 1.  The campground was right across from the waterfall.  Several people were dismayed to learn there was no upgrade option at this campsite.  

Jill and I set up our tent and we went to the campground restaurant.  Often and Laurine had made lunch. They made a “salad” out of different kinds of canned beans, corn, bell peppers, etc and we had bread and watermelon.  We all ate lunch together and then a man came to tell us about activity options. We all were interested in the short hike down to the waterfall but thought $25 was too much. Ash negotiated the price down to $10 per person. Ivy, Cole, and Jill decided to just relax at the campground but the rest of us decided to do the hike.  The staff suggested that everyone wear good walking shoes.  Three people wore sandals anyway and struggled with the hike. Several people fell. Thankfully I managed not to fall this time and I was wearing sneakers.  It was about 45 minutes down to the waterfall. We were warned that a common scam is for kids to show you a chameleon and then when you take a picture of it they demand money. We passed by several kids on the way but none tried that. We got down to the bottom and Flo and I went into the water.  Everyone else was saying it was too cold.  Flo and I had been swimming for about ten minutes and then Alex and Ash came in. Finally Richard and Manny joined. Katherine and Angela didn't come into the water. I said the waterfall is nice but the pool around it needed a little TLC.  

We hiked back up a different route than we'd come. There were rickety bridges and a ladder we had to climb.  Richard was so scared on the ladder he kept farting loudly and Alex was right behind him. When we got to one bridge Richard's foot went through the rotting wood and he screamed but he was fine.  Katherine asked for pain medicine and I gave her what I've been taking when I have a headache or whatever and I'd been given it by a pharmacist in India when I asked for pain relief.  Katherine took it and then Ash was looking at it and said it was actually a very strong antibiotic that most pharmacists wouldn't prescribe unless you had a severe infection like MRSA or something.  He said it was most definitely not for pain. We all laughed that between 4 doctors no one realized until later what that was and that I'd said the medicine had been working very well for headaches.

Part way into the hike Katherine said she was having chest pain.  She was out of breath and she said she was seeing black spots. Manny carried Katherine's bag and we made sure to take lots of breaks. I offered her some snacks but she said she didn't think that would help. We made it back to the campground and Katherine felt much better once she had a chance to catch her breath. The way up had taken about an hour and 15 minutes. Cook group 1 started to cook dinner and the rest of us relaxed and hung out in the campground restaurant. Jill said she'd really wanted a drink and she'd thought about breaking into my wine. She ended up taking half of my beer instead. I was a bit annoyed about that whole exchange. There's been another time she had half my beer and she “borrowed” 5,000 Ugandan shillings last week and I haven't gotten it back. It's uncomfortable though because it's such small things that it seems petty to say anything and we do all share with each other but it's more of a thing of the principle. I had also heard Manny telling her she could sneak into the dorm in Jinja if she wanted to save the $8. Small things I should probably just let go but for some reason it's hard. I do still really like Jill and we get along well.

We had stir fried noodles with a small amount of beef for dinner. It was good. I did the dishes and tried to get Richard to help but not with great success. I opened my bottle of wine and shared it with Ash and Alex. I offered some to Ivy and Cole but they declined. I tried to do it somewhat secretly because it was an expensive bottle of wine and if I shared it with everyone none of us would get much. I didn't really feel like sharing it with Jill.  The wine was very good.  Richard and Flo came and sat with Alex and Ash and I. Richard was saying he has a camp mattress he just hasn't blown it up.  He said he didn't want to put his mouth on it. We all told him to just do it and it'll make camping so much more comfortable. I had wanted to take a shower but we had been given the key to one room and were all sharing the bathroom in there.  Everyone else had wanted to take a shower too so I finally gave up on the idea. I'd taken a shower that morning anyway. I got ready for bed using the outdoor sink at the restaurant.  I crawled into bed and couldn't find my eye mask or earplugs. Jill likes to keep the canvas open for fresh air which normally doesn't matter because I use my eye mask but without it it took me a bit to fall asleep and also the rushing noise from the waterfall was a bit different too. I kept thinking it was raining but it was just the waterfall.  Finally I fell asleep.

Jill's alarm went off at 5:50 and so I got up then too. She's in cook group 1 so she was partly responsible for breakfast.  She grabbed most of her stuff but she forgot a shirt, a water bottle, and one of the keys to our group safe.  I grabbed her stuff and put up my mattress etc.  I put down the tent by myself, the first time I've done it completely alone.  Ash got up and I knew Alex was also in cook group 1 so I helped him put down his tent. By that point it was 6:40 and we were supposed to be leaving at 7. I still needed to pay my bar tab and get ready for the day. I did those things and did some dishes even though I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.  I grabbed two pieces of toast and peanut butter and got on the bus. I was annoyed I hadn't had time for coffee.  Thankfully, for the first time on the trip, someone had put coffee in a thermos. I had put my dirty wine cup on the bus the night before with the intention of washing it at breakfast. I pulled out that cup and Angela was pouring some coffee in and I was paying more attention to that than the surroundings. I got whacked by some tree branches that came in through the window.  I was fine but everyone seemed concerned.  I drank a small amount of coffee. It tasted weird with the remnants of the wine flavor in the cup and I would have liked more but at that point I was expecting to go without coffee so I guess I'll take what I can get. We had had jackfruit the night before after dinner. The whole bus reeked of jackfruit this morning. We rolled up both sides of the windows even though we knew it might be chilly. It still reeks of jackfruit honestly.  Cook group 2 is planning to make a jackfruit curry for dinner and I think the rest of us are a little skeptical.  Today we've got a “medium” drive back to Narusha, where we camped the first actual day of the trip. We know it's over 5 hours but Laurine won't tell us the actual length.  We all liked that campground so we're excited to go back there but none of us are expecting to do much once there.  Tomorrow we'll go to the Masai Mara and spend two nights there and do a big game drive. I think we're all excited about that. 

Yesterday the group had a long bus ride to our next stop in Uganda. We stopped along the way for breakfast at the truck. Laurine and Often made baked beans and toast and coffee. We stopped at a store that said its proceeds went to help children who have AIDs. I bought a few candy bars there.  We saw a demonstration with water north and south of the equator and saw it spinning in opposite directions.  We had a few bushy bushy stops and we stopped by the side of the road and had pasta salad for lunch. We also stopped at a grocery store and I bought snacks.  They said they didn't have contact solution. I finished my book, did 20+ sudoku, chatted with everyone, admired the scenery, attempted to nap, etc.  We finally pulled into our campsite a bit before 6 p.m. Laurine and Often cooked again for everyone since we were getting in late.  Jill and I set up our tent.  The campground has a big lake and bungalows on the lake as well as a hotel and dorm rooms. Several people upgraded to a dorm.  Jill and I set up in front of the lake at first but moved our tent to be under a dining pavilion as some campground workers suggested that since it was supposed to rain. We all sat down at a real table for dinner and had real chairs and a view of the lake. Often and Laurine made spaghetti with a vegetarian and non vegetarian sauce and they cooked purple cabbage. It was excellent and I was excited that my turn to cook keeps getting postponed. After dinner Laurine and Often gave us some pointers for the next day.  Everyone but Antoine had signed up to do the gorilla trek.  It was $820 and you had to sign up for it in advance because you have to have a special permit. We all signed up when booking the overland trip.  Apparently mountain gorillas have never survived the transition to a zoo and the only way to see them is in the wild.  The only places to see them are Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda offers the least expensive option.  Often told us to wear long pants and long shirts.  He said not to wear bug spray because it attracts wasps but to make sure to cover up to avoid mosquito bites. We were also told we needed to bring face masks. Most of us didn't have one with us but thankfully Jill had a few extra and gave me one. We were told to eat breakfast and be ready by 5, and we'd make a packed lunch before leaving for the day.  Transportation would be $30 each and it was a 2.5 hour drive each way.  A worker named Mike came and told us about the chimpanzee trek. It would be the day after the gorilla trek and was $130 per person plus $60 per person for transportation.  He said it was also 2.5 hours each way but was in a completely different place than the gorillas. We all said we'd think about it and let him know the next day. We all discussed later that we thought $60 each for transportation was steep. We decided if we could negotiate it down to $30 each that would be much more doable and we agreed to try the next evening.  We all helped wash up after dinner and Richard cut his finger on a knife while washing dishes. It was a small cut and Antoine took over for Richard after that.

Everyone but Katherine, Cole, and Ivy went to the campground bar and hung out for an hour or so. Jill disappeared at one point without saying anything and when I went to bed I didn't see her in the tent and I called her name but she didn't answer. We all got ready for bed and I mentioned I hadn't seen Jill. We looked around the campground for her but didn't see her. Everyone figured she wanted some alone time and was reading in a quiet corner or doing yoga somewhere. We went to bed. At one point I heard something rustling in the tent and I realized Jill was there next to me. The next morning she said she'd gone straight from the bar to bed, I just hadn't seen her because it was dark and she had her sleeping bag over her head.

We were all up at 4:15 other than Antoine, who apparently planned to spend the day relaxing (from what he said).  Laurine and Often made boiled eggs and toast. I had two boiled eggs and a piece of toast with butter and a banana. I made a sandwich with mayo, deli meat, and a slice of cheese to take for lunch and I quickly drank a coffee. We all piled into two vans at 5. I was in a van with Angela, Flo, Alex, Ash, and Jill. It was still dark out most of the drive. We ended up not getting to the Windy Impenetrable Rainforest until just past 8. We saw some traditional dancers walking down the hill. We took an educated guess that we had missed seeing the dance. We had to give our passports to staff for our permits and we sat down for a safety briefing. The briefing said to tuck your pants into your socks to avoid ants. Unfortunately I'd only brought short socks and didn't realize this the night before to be able to borrow some long socks. We were also told there were stinging nettles to avoid, and what to do if a mountain gorilla charges.  After the briefing, a couple were added to our van group. The woman was from Italy and the man from Colombia and they live in Dubai. We were told the hike could be between 1-8 hours, it just depended on where the gorillas were located.  Angela hired a porter to carry her bag.  She just had a small bag but she mentioned she thought it would be nice to give someone some work. We hiked about an hour and a half through slippery mud and up and down hills. Throughout the whole hike I fell 4 times, Jill fell 5 times, Flo fell twice, Ash fell twice, and Alex fell once.  Angela’s porter helped her a lot with the tricky parts and Angela didn't fall at all. Her porter also helped me quite a bit and helped the others some too. We saw the biggest earth worms any of us had ever seen along the way.  We were also told if we needed to have a bowel movement to let our guide know as they would need to dig a hole for us that was at least a foot deep.  We all said we really wanted to avoid that as that was even more embarrassing than having to take the truck shovel during a bushy bushy stop.  The mountain gorillas share 98.4% of DNA with humans so they are able to pass diseases to us and we are able to pass diseases to them. That was why we were instructed to buy a face mask and to use such a deep hole.  After a while of walking the guide said he had talked to the trackers and they'd been evidently following wild mountain gorillas rather than the habituated ones.  The trackers found the specific family we were planning to see and we walked a bit further to see the gorillas.  We saw a silverback resting on the ground. We sat and watched him for a while.  After a bit we moved to view a mom and a one year old. Later the mom and baby moved to cuddle with the silverback. We watched the baby eat leaves and move playfully between his parents. It looked like he was smiling.  After a while the family moved on and we followed them. We saw several more of the family members.  We were able to watch them for a while and then the hour we were permitted was up.  We started the hike back and stopped on the way to eat our packed lunches. We made it back to the start and got certificates saying we successfully completed the gorilla trek.  I tipped the guide $20, which was the suggestion Often had given us. I wanted to tip the porter something fairly small for helping me avoid falling more than I did. I didn't have anything small so I ended up giving her a $20 bill too which she seemed very excited about and she said “God bless you and your family”. The other group had already left. This was 1:15 at this point. We piled back in the van and started the ride back to the campsite. On the way we stopped because there was a truck that came over the mountain and crashed on the road below. It has already happened and cars were stopped by the time we got there so we couldn't see at first what had happened. None of us had phone service and our driver said there had been a fatality.  I think we were all a bit worried that it could have been the other van with our travel mates.  We were stopped on the road for a while and finally our driver was told he could go around the accident. We saw it was a semi truck that had crashed.  There was no ambulance there yet and no police. 

Laurine and Often made a leg of goat, beans, vegetable stew, and garlic bread. We all sat and ate dinner together.  In the end about half the group decided to do the chimpanzee walk the next day and half decided against it.  I decided not to do it because I felt drained and another early wake up and long day in the car for only an hour with the chimpanzees didn't sound good. After dinner most of the group hung out and chatted until it was time for bed.

I woke up after 9. I was excited about being able to sleep in. I had a bowl of cereal and milk and a cup of coffee.  Antoine, Jill, Manny, and I went for a walk around the lake.  We went for about an hour and 20 minutes and Antoine and I had had enough.  Jill and Manny wanted to keep going. We parted ways and Antoine and I walked back. On the way back kids kept saying “mazunga, give me money!”. One kid told us that grandmothers tell their grandkids that all mazungas have money and to ask for it.  Some kids followed us for about ten minutes and repeatedly asked for money.  We walked along the dirt roads.  There was trash on the roads and livestock. It was a Tuesday afternoon and there were lots of kids not in school. We finally got back to the campground and ordered lunch. It took an hour and a half for our orders to come out. Others from the group joined us when they got back. I had African beef stew, it came with boiled vegetables, rice, and chapati.  It was just okay. The beef had a lot of tendons attached.  We all chatted and then I went and had an hour and a half long nap. I felt like I could still sleep when I woke up but I thought it would keep from getting a good night's sleep later.  I got up and sat with the group at the bar.  Jill wanted to share a beer.  Ash and Cole gave Jill, Flo, and I a lesson in chess with the giant chessboard at the campground. The whole group including Often and Laurine ate at the campground restaurant for dinner. There was a buffet and the staff assumed we would all want that. Some people were very adamant they wanted to order off of the menu. I was sitting by Often and the staff came over and told him they made a lot of food for the group.  Often suggested that the staff reduce the price.  The staff offered 35,000 Ugandan shillings instead of 45,000.  I didn't want food to go bad so even though I wasn't that hungry I accepted the discounted offer.  Often and Laurine got the buffet and a couple of people got the buffet also but the majority of the group still wanted to order off the menu.  I had cream of mushroom soup, rice, roasted potatoes, chicken, beef, cooked vegetables, and a bread roll.  For dessert I had passion fruit and pineapple.  After dinner a few people went to bed but Alex, Ash, Jill, Manny, Cole, Ivy, and I stayed up and chatted until it was time for bed.

Jill and I woke up at 7:30 and tore down our tent. I had a bowl of cornflakes and a piece of french toast and a coffee.  We all put our things away in the truck and hit the road around 9.  We drove about 30 minutes into the nearest town and stopped for snacks.  Cook group 3 got groceries.  We found out the radiator was leaking so we were told we were going to be in town for a few hours.  We walked to a food market and looked around and then found a cafe to hang out at.  I got a rolex, which is a tortilla with cooked eggs and vegetables inside and I had African spiced tea.  We all hung out and chatted until Often let us know the truck was ready.  We got back on the truck.  The group tried to do one of my crosswords together but it was a bit too tough for us. I did some sudoku, started reading Gorillas in the Mist, and chatted with the others.  Antoine and Katherine got into a heated debate at one point and Katherine said she wanted to throw Antoine out the window.  We stopped for a couple of bushy bushy breaks. We got to the border crossing into Rwanda. Ivy, Manny, and I waited in the truck while the others went through the crossing. Laurine let us know when it was our turn to go.  We waited in line to get a stamp at the Ugandan exit and at the Rwandan entrance.  Our truck was searched by the police.  We'd been warned plastic bags are illegal in Rwanda and not to have any in the truck at the crossing. It seemed like the police were in there forever but finally Often got the go ahead to drive through.  Rwanda drives on the right whereas Uganda and Kenya drive on the left, and everywhere I've been since mid November has been on the left.  We drove about an hour into Musanze, where we were spending two nights.  We kneeled on the seats and had the windows up and waved at kids as we drove. The roads were paved and smooth.  The houses seemed well maintained and there was virtually no trash on the road.  We noticed lots of kids wearing school uniforms. We got into the campground. It was at a catholic church and the campgrounds also had a bar.  We were told it was the same price to camp or to sleep in a dorm so we could upgrade for free. I found that hard to resist. Flo, Angela, Katherine, and I shared a dorm. Manny, Richard, and Antoine shared a dorm. Ash and Alex upgraded to a private room as did Cole and Ivy.  Jill was the only one who decided to still camp.  I helped her set up the tent. We were in the middle of town and there was music playing nearby. It was very different from the other campgrounds we'd visited so far. We got settled in and cook group 3 started making dinner. The group had bought 12 avocados a couple of days before. It was 62 cents for all 12 combined.  We had been using them more slowly than expected and Ash made guacamole so we'd use them before they went bad.  Ash, Alex, and I shared some gin and Alex and I walked to the bar to buy more tonic. We saw Laurine there and she walked back with us. The boys made pumpkin stew, chicken, and rice. It was all good. After dinner Alex, Ash, Richard, Manny, Jill, Angela, Flo, and I went to the bar. We helped Richard create a dating profile and played Would You Rather.  Laurine joined for part of the time too.  Finally we all retired to bed. 

All the beds were very soft and folded in like a “v”. I managed to sleep until 5 or so and then dozed on and off as it was difficult to get comfortable. I saw Angela get up at 6:30 so I decided to get up too. Rwanda also had a time change from Uganda so it would have been 7:30 for us normally.

I sat and had a coffee and Flo made ginger tea for me, herself, and Jill. Cook group 3 cut mango, pineapple, and bananas and we ate that with yogurt and cornflakes. After breakfast we separated into groups based on the activities we'd picked.  Manny and Jill had signed up to do a 7 hour hike up a mountain and for a boat ride. Katherine, Antoine, and Richard signed up for a flat scenic walk and the boat ride.  Alex, Ash, Ivy, Cole, Flo, and Angela signed up for a cultural walk and cooking class in the morning and a banana beer demonstration in the afternoon.  I wanted to mix and match and thankfully was able to. I joined Antoine, Richard, and Katherine for the scenic walk and then was able to join the other group for banana beer in the afternoon.  We walked around the Volcanoes National Park and saw lots of sheep and black and white cows. The scenery reminded me of New Zealand, it was beautiful and green. We also saw 5 golden monkeys. A golden monkey tour had been another option that we had for activities but everyone had said they were “primated out” other than Katherine and I. We were excited to happen across golden monkeys. We saw a chopper flying low and quite a few military personnel. The park is in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.  The military presence is to keep people from crossing the border illegally, or so our two guides, both called John, told us. Antoine kept saying he didn't want a tour and didn't want all this info, he just wanted to walk, and he kept running ahead. Katherine fell at one point during the walk. The walk was about two and a half hours and we ended up at the Beyond the Gorillas headquarters.  Lunch and a drink was included in our tour. I had a Coke and we waited for our food. Antoine had a beer and Richard and Katherine each chose mango juice.  Staff came and told us the food was delayed and would be 30 minutes or so.  The others started to say something and looked mad but I said okay thanks, great.  I shared my cookies, nuts, and chocolate bar with the others. No one else brought snacks and Antoine kept saying he was so hungry. 30 minutes or so later we were brought onion soup with little pieces of chapati.  It was good but we were still hungry. Antoine and Katherine got into a heated argument about abortion and Richard and I sat quietly. Katherine ended up apologizing to Antoine. Finally our food came. We had cooked vegetables, french fries, chicken, and rice. It was pretty average. After lunch we had a 30 minute walk back to the car.  The others said they were going to cancel their boat tour because it had started to rain. I was driven to meet the others and we drove to the banana beer demonstration.  The guide, Esther, translated for the banana beer maker.  He had our group plant two banana plants.  He then chopped down a banana plant that had sprouted and he made a hat with banana leaves and placed all the bananas on top of it. Flo wore the banana hat.  We then peeled ripe bananas and took turns mashing them by hand with banana leaves used to help mash too. We were told we needed to mash until juice came out. It was hard work for a small amount of juice. Finally we were given a sample of banana beer that had been made. It smelled like rubbing alcohol and was thick and chalky. I drank mine quickly to get it over with. Esther said “oh, you really liked it?” And insisted that I drink a second cup.  Everyone thanked the farmer and piled back in the van. Everyone thanked me for taking one for the team by drinking the rest of that concoction.  We drove back to the campsite and I read for a bit. Alex and Ash invited me to join them for a workout. We had 4 stations. We did a minute of planks at one station, minute of squats with a band, minute of push ups, and minute of jump roping. We went through the stations twice each and then traded the squats for lunges and the push ups for sit ups. We went through each station on the second set two times each. We had decided HIIT would be safer and easier than trying to do runs on this trip.  We agreed to try to do a HIIT workout together at least three times a week. We had some guys at the campground who were washing our dishes and it was suggested that we tip them $1 a day.  This was a good chance for them to make some money and it was nice for us to not have to do our dishes.  I also had my laundry done by them so I ended up giving them $20 to share. I think it was on the high side but I wanted to be more on the generous side for it because I think it was a great idea that they could get some work and it was convenient for us as well. 

After my workout I took my second shower of the day. To take a shower at this campground we had to go to reception and ask for a key and we had two hotel rooms assigned to our group. I got the key and opened one of the doors and Richard was inside. He said he was working and the internet was better in the room.  He told me I could still shower. I thought that was odd but I figured it was no different than when you shower when you're staying in a dorm. I locked the bathroom door and showered.  I was walking back to the dorm and came across Flo, Angela, Manny, Jill, and Antoine. They wanted to walk to look at the church and invited me to join them. I walked with them while carrying my toiletries etc. We looked at the church and saw it was packed full of people for a sermon. We also saw they had an outdoor area which we presumed was for sermons. We saw there were only a few cars in the parking lot, which Angela pointed out would never be the case if you had a church full of people in the US or Canada.  Jill also pointed out that in Rwanda there are hardly any stray cats and dogs.  I realized I was missing the shirt I'd worn over for my shower. Everyone helped me look for it and we found it on the walk back to the campsite.  Ivy and Cole went out for a dinner just the two of them and Alex and Ash did the same.  Everyone else walked to dinner together including Laurine and Often.  Laurine and Often had picked the restaurant and we'd all put in our orders in advance. I had a glass of red wine and a Rwandan vegetable stew. I also ate a giant plate of vegetables, which we later realized should have been Antoine's but he refused to take any of my food and said he was full. Everyone else had western food apart from Laurine and Often. My food was pretty bland honestly but I was glad I tried local food. Katherine ordered a banana split and it was one of the most pathetic ones any of us had seen. It was just a banana with a small amount of chocolate sauce and a block of chocolate ice cream. We all died laughing about it and said Katherine needs to order a banana split now everywhere we go and compare them all. We walked back to the campground and went to bed around 9.

We woke up at 5:50 and got ready for the day. I helped Jill tear down the tent and I packed up my stuff. I scarfed down two pieces of toast and drank part of a coffee but had to pour most of it out because it was time to go.  We left at 6:30.  It's Antoine's last day of the tour.  We stopped at a mass grave- 3,000 people. We're on our way to the big genocide memorial in Kigali and we'll drop off Antoine and then head back to Uganda for the night.  In Uganda people have to wear helmets on motorbikes and they aren't allowed to carry more than one passenger.  We haven't seen those rules be broken. It's a big change from Uganda and Kenya but they've all had their own charm. 

The genocide museum in Kigali was really interesting. We all went through the museum quietly reading at each exhibit. The first floor was dedicated to information about the Rwandan genocide. They did a good job of presenting information in a really neutral but informative way. The second floor focused on genocides from around the world in history. It also had an exhibit that showed the last words, cause of death, favorite food, etc of children killed during the Rwandan genocide and had the last known picture of the children next to their information. There was also an exhibit predicting many genocides to come as climate change continues. The museum had information predicting that land in some countries will become uninhabitable and there will be mass emigration to other countries, causing food insecurity and resulting in tension between the locals and the immigrants and eventually leading to genocides all over the world. The third exhibit was outside and was a wall of names, some mass graves, and a rose garden. About half of us finished the museum around the same time. It was Alex, Ash, Manny, Flo, Angela, Katherine, and I. We figured the rest had already finished and that they had gone into town to explore. We got a van taxi to the city center. Angela asked that we be dropped off at Hotel Rwanda. We looked at it from the outside and then walked over a couple of streets to explore the city center. We only had about 45 minutes to spare at that point. We got pictures with the Kigali sign and it was hot so we decided to get iced coffee. By the time we all got our coffee we only had about five minutes to spare. Some people looked at the souvenirs and I bought some fresh popcorn and peanuts. We split up into two taxis to go back to the truck. We waited for the other group to get back to the truck. They finally arrived and we all said goodbye to Antoine and got back on the road. We had sandwiches that Often and Laurine had picked up from the restaurant we'd eaten at the night before. There was a single slice of cheese and single slice of tomato in each sandwich between thick, dry slices of bread. We all choked down our sandwiches. At one point on the drive Katherine opened a pineapple Fanta. She apparently didn't like the flavor so she gave it to Flo. Flo drank a bit of it and didn't want any more so it went to me. I tried to pass it on too but by that point people were asking what was so wrong with the drink. I just didn't want to be the one to request a bushy bushy stop so that was my reason for not wanting to drink it all but I did in the end because no one else said they wanted some. We've been sharing everything on this trip. If one person opens a snack everyone is eating some of that snack. If one person has data everyone demands they Google things for the group and share their hot spot. It is nice actually overall that we're all in this together and all sharing with each other. It's also an interesting environment just spending so much time together. I think even if we were in hotels and doing this length of tour we wouldn't get to know each other nearly this well. Jill has been traveling the world doing different jobs, waitressing, teaching diving lessons, etc for the past seven years and she's very chill and hippieish. Alex is a doctor and always wears cute dresses and is very kind and organized. Ash is her husband and he's also a doctor and he's good natured and smart. Flo is going to study engineering in the fall and she's only 18 but I know she's smart and mature for her age. Angela was a doctor but retired from that and runs her own travel agency now. She's one to take charge in any situation. Katherine is a doctor but also kind of a child at heart. She orders dessert pretty much everywhere we go. She always has a strong opinion on things. Cole owns a couple of wine shops and has been a James Beard food critic and a level 3 wine sommelier. He also is not one to shy away from a debate. Ivy owns her own business and does website design for wine companies. She's kind and always willing to help out. Manny sails yachts and has lived all over. He's got lots of interesting stories and perspectives as well as telling jokes that are often potentially shocking or un-PC. Richard works in finance and has been very sheltered but is trying to push out of his comfort zone. The group teases him to the point that it's borderline bullying so I've starting reminding people to back off a bit and try to chime in and stand up for Richard at times. Antoine was the worst about taking the teasing too far. 

We got to the Ugandan border yesterday and crossed back over. I changed a bit of money and there were unofficial money changers there too trying to pressure us into changing money with them. I wasn't sure if that was legal so I went with the official stand. After we all finished at the border we drove another hour or so to Kampala. We were staying at a different campsite than before because the other one was outside of town and we were leaving early the next day. We drove through a massive amount of water on the road, we weren't sure if the truck was going to be able to make it through. We got to the campsite and lots of people were interested in the upgrade options because of the early morning the next day and because the grass was wet. The campground employees didn't seem to know anything about the upgrade situation and people asked about it a few times. Angela suggested that she and Flo could get a private room and two people could put their camping mattress on the floor since there were no dorms. Jill seemed like she was considering it but I already felt like a wimp for not camping the last two nights so I told her let's camp. She agreed quickly and we were told we could pitch our tents under the awning outside the resort as there was a chance of a thunderstorm and also the ground was very wet. The campground was by a river but it was completely brown. There were 4 available bedrooms at the resort and 1 other bedroom that was occupied by someone not in our group. Alex and Ash decided to pitch their tent next to us and Angela and Flo went on the other side. Katherine went for a private room, Cole and Ivy got a room, Manny got a room, and Richard got a room. There's been some discussion about if Richard and Manny will share a tent now that Antoine is gone but Manny said “I refuse to go that low”. Manny and Richard have also both said they don't like camping and they want to upgrade every chance they get. Richard didn't even bring a mattress so when he has been camping he's had to sleep on the ground. We've all suggested he buy a mattress but he said he'd rather spend the money on upgrades. Richard suggested he and Manny could share a room but Manny said no thanks. Jill and I got our tent set up and faced it into the dining room because there was a steep staircase on the opposite side. Angela and Flo pitched their tent facing Jill and I’s. Alex and Ash faced the opposite way of the dining room with their tent. After getting set up with our sleeping arrangements, Katherine, Angela, and I started cooking. We'd been spared the tasks of grocery shopping and budgeting because Laurine said to just use what we had already on the truck. The groups so far have been alloted $2.50 per person for a dinner, breakfast, and lunch. All the groups have talked about the difficulty of shopping with that amount. However, there are canned goods, pasta, and rice that we are able to use as well that don't take away from the budget. Eggs and milk are also provided and some fruits and veggies. We made pasta with a sauce made from 7 types of veggies we had on hand. I helped with chopping and got conflicting instructions from Angela and Katherine throughout cooking. We also cooked green beans with onions and kidney beans and we had a side of cabbage and carrots. I noticed people kept watching us through the gate as we cooked but I thought it was likely just curiosity at what we were doing.

When dinner was ready I let the others know. We all ate dinner together outside and then cleaned up. We boiled eggs and put some bread and peanut butter and fruit and Nutella in the main part of the truck to eat the next day. A few of us chatted in the dining room for a while and then went to bed. Those of us in tents agreed to set alarms for 4:20 a m. I heard a tent unzip at some point in the night. I assumed it was Ash or Alex using the bathroom because it had come from their side. I went back to sleep. I woke up at 4:20 when alarms started going off and shortly after I heard Alex say her backpack was gone. She started noticing more and more things missing and she announced “we've been robbed!”. We all looked around our tents and I only had my toiletries and a change of clothes with me. I had left everything of value in the truck, which is locked overnight and very secure. Laurine and Often sleep on the truck. I was relieved that I hadn't had anything of value in there although I did have my phone on the floor of the tent between me and Jill, but thankfully that hadn't been taken. Jill had left her toiletry bag on a table in the dining room. That had been taken. She said she had thought about leaving her phone in the dining room to charge but had thought better of it. Thankfully she still had her phone too. Alex and Ash were missing their day bag, which had a camera, a phone, clothes, and toiletries in it. Alex's purse was also missing with her passport in it. Angela and Flo weren't missing anything. It was still dark out. Ash and Manny went out to look for the missing things. They found Ash and Alex's toiletry bags and the missing clothes and sunglasses. We slowly found out more and more information as the morning progressed. The resort had had a TV, laptop, and camera stolen. Jill, Alex, and Ash were taken to the police station and filed police reports. They returned with the police and the police had a black Labrador as a sniffer dog. The dog sniffed Alex and Ash’s things and it was getting light out. The police found Alex's tampons and said “what are these?” And threw them at her and Often. Alex said when giving her police report they also hadn't known there what tampons were when she was listing out the things missing. Alex's purse was found and apparently she didn't have any cash in it to start with. Her cards and passport were still inside. The only thing that Alex and Ash were unable to find were their camera and Ash’s phone. Ash has two phones because one is old but he hadn't finished transferring everything over to the new phone yet. Thankfully it was the old phone that was taken. Jill's toiletry bag was found but she couldn't find a few of her toiletries. I've offered to share mine with her and Katherine said she has a spare unused tooth brush that Jill can have. I cut a pineapple and passion fruit and mango to add to breakfast but the mango had gone bad. I had two cups of coffee while waiting. We all talked about what had happened and the information we had and theories. We thought maybe because Ash and Alex's tent was facing away from the building it was the one targeted. We also talked about how weird the whole thing was. There was an iron gate that was locked at night and two overnight security guards. There were different theories about maybe it being multiple people or maybe it was an inside job. The resort had a camera and they saw it was just one guy and they were able to see his face but didn't know who it was. We were told they were sharing the picture around town to see if anyone could identify the man. The man came in at 1:35 a.m. and made a second trip at 3:30 a.m. Ash had gone to the bathroom 3 times in the night and Angela had gone to the bathroom 2 times. We talked about that we heard the tents being unzipped at different points but assumed someone else was going to the bathroom. We all talked about that we were glad we didn't see the thief as who knows if he would have been violent if we startled him. Ash and Alex were understandably disturbed by someone being in their tent without them waking up. They said the day bag was up by their heads on the opposite side of the tent from the entrance. This was the first time that Oasis had been to this campsite and Laurine said it would definitely be the last. We went to the police station and waited in the truck as Alex, Ash, and Jill had to answer further questions and get copies of the official report for their travel insurance. We waited about an hour in the truck. Laurine and Often brought us fresh chapati. They finally came out and we got on the road around ten instead of our intended start time of 5. Today we've got a 13 hour drive to Jinja and then I think the next day we have an early start. I think everyone else is planning to upgrade because we expect to get in late and leave early. Jill wants to camp so I'll likely camp with her but definitely not taking any valuables to the tent!

As we got closer to Port Edward there were big potholes in the road. Ale was driving and we hit a couple of potholes despite her best efforts to avoid them. It was also dark and it was raining, which made it difficult to see. We saw lots of people standing by the side of the road or sitting in bushes. Jill kept saying frantically that she hoped we didn't get a flat tire and get robbed. We finally made it to our apartment just before 8 p.m. There was a full sized bed in the living room, a sofa bed, a small kitchen, and then a room with a queen sized bed and a bathroom. I think it was my turn for the good bed. Ale suggested I take the full sized bed and she said she and Jill would share the queen sized bed because neither of them wanted to sleep on the sofa bed. Our host told us there had been flash flooding nearby the night before and five people had died from it. She told us there might be a flash flood again that night. She suggested that if we were going to go out to eat to go right away. She suggested a place called the Wreck. She tried to call ahead for us to ask if they were still open but they didn't answer. We drove to the Wreck. I had thought about staying back and having instant noodles but I thought it might be rude to do so because Ale had been talking all day about wanting a beer and I thought we'd need a designated driver. We passed by a bar on the way to the restaurant and Ale mentioned she really wanted a beer. We got to the Wreck and Jill ran in to see what time they closed. She came back a few minutes later. She said they were closing. She'd asked about the bar we'd seen and was told they only serve drinks. The staff had suggested KFC or Debonair Pizza (a chain here). Ale was driving and she accidentally took the ramp onto the highway instead of turning into the KFC parking lot. We drove a few minutes on the highway until there was a good spot to turn around. Debonair Pizza looked closed. We went to KFC. I ordered two pieces of fried chicken with pap (that's what they call ugali in this part of Africa) and gravy. I also got coleslaw. It was 58 rand. The others ordered food too. My food took 20 minutes to be ready. Jill's took 26 minutes and all she got was an ice cream and fries. Ale’s took 34 minutes to be ready. She ordered two chicken meals. She ended up throwing one away (the next day after it had been in the car all day and wasn't safe to eat) and she threw away her Nando's chicken sandwich too. Ale admitted that at home she never eats leftovers and she throws a lot of food away because she tends to order too much food. Also at home she's admitted she goes out for the majority of her meals. She said she's saved so much money on this trip versus what she would spend at home. We ate our food there. After we finished it started pouring rain. Ale decided against going to the bar (I was relieved because I was tired). I changed into my pajamas. Jill made a comment that we needed to eat a lot of eggs the next couple of days. She said once I left she thought it was unlikely she and Ale would cook them for themselves. Ale said well we could boil them. Jill said you're definitely not going to do that. Jill later mentioned that her and Ale’s tour guide’s last full day with them was the next day. Jill said once I left she thought they were going to get nothing done and see nothing. She said it in a joking way and Ale jokingly agreed. I got a message from Steve saying he was on his way to the airport. I reminded him his flight was on the 16th. He turned around. He said he'd made it five miles down the road before he saw my text. He'd forgotten and thought his flight was on the 15th. Ale poured a glass of boxed wine for herself but she fell asleep in front of the TV before she could drink it. She'd been asleep for 20 minutes and I was struggling to fall asleep because my bed was in the living room and the light was on and the TV was on. I got up and turned both off. Ale woke up and said “hint hint!”. I told her she was welcome to watch TV. I just thought because she was asleep for the last 20 minutes she was done with it. Ale said “it's fine!” And took her wine to her bedroom. She fell asleep without drinking it there. 

I woke up around 8. I took a shower. Jill made instant coffee and she cooked scrambled eggs with spinach for both of us. We also had rolls. Ale was still sleeping. I ate my breakfast in bed. I had a second cup of instant coffee. Ale got up around 9. She was still getting ready at 10 and the apartment manager came to hint that it was time for us to go. Ale was ready at 10:30. We drove to the world's smallest desert, the Red Desert. There were lots of potholes on the road there. We parked and there was a local man that was walking into the park. He told us no one knows why nothing will grow in that desert or what caused it to form. He pointed out a crop circle to us and then he said goodbye. We walked in circles to the center of the crop circle and took a selfie. We walked around the desert. It's about 200 meters across. That took us maybe ten minutes to have our fill of the desert. We got back in the car and drove to Beaver Creek Coffee Estate. The road was gravel and parts were muddy. There was also a narrow bridge at one point in the road. I thought we were really putting our car to the test again. We made it to the coffee estate around 11:30. We checked in for our tour at noon and looked around the gift shop. We were given cups to use for bottomless coffee (something I have not seen anywhere else in Africa). There were five kinds of coffee out to try. There was also a mocha liqueur and a coffee liqueur you could help yourself to. Ale ordered a bran muffin. Around noon our tour guide, Dix, introduced himself. He also introduced another person who was joining our tour, Anisa. Dix was elderly and from South Africa. Anisa was probably in her mid 50s and was also from South Africa. She's from Pretoria and was in Port Edward for the week visiting family. Dix and Anisa sat at our table. Dix told us about the history of coffee. Anisa has one coffee plant and she interjected a lot with her own knowledge and opinions. Dix got side tracked several times talking about politics and I thought he and Ale were going to get into a serious argument. Dix was against communism and apparently Ale is for it. I internally willed her not to get into a fight with our elderly tour guide. Dix told us lots of interesting information. He said that most instant coffee is actually chicory and doesn't have caffeine. He said it's all marketing ploys. We walked with him and he showed us coffee beans. We tried the coffee fruit. He told us you can eat the red fruit but the green fruit isn't ripe. He told us about the process of harvesting. He said it's all done by hand because that creates a lot of jobs. He showed us the drying racks. He said farmers used to dry the coffee beans outside but it would rain and they'd lose up to a third of their product. Now they have drying racks that stack on top of each other and they're able to dry them inside. We saw where they roast the coffee. On the way in he asked what kind of coffee we wanted, and he suggested a cappuccino. All of us got cappuccinos except Jill wanted a double espresso. Dix placed our orders and led us to the roaster. Dix said the only difference in coffee grades is the size of the beans. He said the difference between light and dark roast is a matter of seconds in roasting. Our coffees were ready. We sat at a table. The staff brought out our cappuccinos and also espressos for us to try. The tour had been 85 rand each and the bottomless coffee alone went for 35 rand on the menu. We were not charged anything extra for the coffee. I thought that was an amazing value and it was a really interesting tour. It had said on the website it was 30-45 minutes for the tour although our confirmation email had said an hour. It turned out to be over two hours but we learned a lot. After the tour Anisa asked for Ale and I’s contact information and told us to contact her if we have any issues in South Africa. For some reason she did not offer the same thing to Jill. After the tour Ale, Jill, and I ordered lunch at the cafe. I ordered a salad with chicken and macadamia nuts. Dix had told us that Port Edward grows the best macadamia nuts in the world. I didn't see any nuts for sale in the shop but I thought I'd at least order something with macadamia nuts in it. It was very good. Jill got a piece of carrot cake after lunch and it was giant. Ale and I each tried a bite of it and it was very good. In total I had five cups of coffee. I figured the instant coffee that morning was probably actually chicory and didn't count towards my total. I considered a sixth cup of coffee but thought it might make me jittery. Ale mentioned her brother's truck had been stolen in Toronto. She said he lives in a safe neighborhood and she was really surprised. Ale was distracted on her phone and Jill and I mentioned a couple of times that we needed to get on the road to get to Durban before dark. Ale probably took 30 minutes after finishing her food before going to pay and then saying she was ready. I drove us to Durban. We had to stop once for gas. The attendant only pumped the gas and didn't wash the car, which was perfectly fine by me as we were trying to beat the sunset. It was a little over a two hour drive. Most of the drive was easy. There were two lanes on each side of the highway so it was easy to pass people. As we got to Durban it got a bit more stressful. There was more and more traffic and the sun was setting. Ale mentioned her friend Jolene is originally from Durban and Jolene's dad had been mugged a few days before. He'd gotten a flat tire and was mugged then. Ale said to make sure to avoid driving through the townships. I was in the process of following the Google maps directions and didn't have a way to safely check if we were avoiding townships. Jill looked and we were on the highway most of the way through Durban anyway. I got to our exit. Jill was in the passenger seat. Jill is terrible at giving directions. She frequently gets confused between right and left and it's very common for her to say to turn when it's not actually time or to direct us down the wrong road. I was just trying to follow Google maps but Jill kept interjecting with her own instructions with little notice. I ignored her instructions and followed Google maps and we made it to our apartment. It was dark by that point. We checked in. Ale got her own bedroom with a queen sized bed. Jill and I shared a room with twin sized beds. I was a bit stressed from the drive and wanted some alone time. I organized my things for the flight the next day. I didn't get a chance to buy a suitcase or bigger bag so my plan was that I'd leave some stuff in the car with Jill and Ale and then I'd pick it up from them in Joburg since we're all going there anyway. I'll just have to buy a bigger bag before we fly to Cape Town. I left all my camping gear with them. Jill brought me a glass of boxed wine in the bedroom, I was laying in bed looking at my phone. I joined Ale and Jill in the living room. Jill took a phone call out on the balcony. Ale and I chatted for a while and we ate instant noodles and drank wine. I ate some cheese and crackers before I realized there was mold on the cheese. Jill came back in after about an hour and the three of us had a nice time chatting. I got a message from Steve that his flight was delayed and he wasn't going to be able to make his connecting flight. He said he was going to spend the night in Omaha and he would have to take a flight an entire day later. Thankfully we'd built in one day as a buffer in Joburg - more because I thought he'd be tired. I was not thrilled about the idea of spending a day in Joburg by myself. I tried to message and call the airline to see if I could change my flight to a day later so I could spend the day with Jill and Ale instead. The customer service center was closed and I wasn't able to get through to anyone. Jill went to bed. Ale and I stayed up talking. It was going well for a while but Ale made a couple of comments that I really didn't agree with. We got onto some topics in which we both had some strong opinions and neither of us wanted to back down on them. I told Ale I was going to bed. She said good night and smiled and I guess maybe to her nothing happened. For me I was livid and going to Joburg by myself didn't seem like such a bad option after all. 

I woke up at 7. Jill reminded me to try the airline’s customer service. I messaged them and they told me I could change my flight for 204 rand. Steve and I had paid for our apartment in Joburg already and I'd have to pay a third of an apartment in Durban if I stayed an extra night. If I'd really wanted to stay I would have just paid the extra money but I was still irritated with Ale. I got ready for the day. Jill made instant “coffee”. I made scrambled eggs for the two of us. I was going to put in spinach but it had wilted. Ale got up after 9. We all assumed that check out was at 10 because it has been most places. Ale was in the shower at 9:45. A cleaning lady knocked on the door and told us that the check out was at 9:30 and she was there to clean. Jill shouted this information to Ale through the bathroom door. We got out of there just past ten. I wanted to leave for the airport no later than 10:30 anyway, so it made sense for the others to just drop me off then. It was about a fifteen minute drive to the airport. Ale and Jill gave me a hug goodbye. I'll see them in just over a week again anyway. I checked my backpack. The counter agent seemed confused at why I'd want to check a small bag. I have liquids over 100ml in it though and I had already paid to check a bag. There's a bookstore in the Durban airport. I went in in hopes of finding some sudoku. I have finished all my puzzle books. There were lots of options for sudoku! I debated buying one or not because I figured I could just play it on my phone but I figured the joy I felt when I saw the sudoku books was my sign it was worth the 59 rand. There were some pretty designs on some of the books, which I found interesting. I just went for function with mine. I've got about an hour flight to Joburg. Ale kept telling me it's fine to wander around Joburg by myself and that lots of people live there and haven't gotten murdered. She keeps saying her friend Jolene has lived there for eight years and hasn't gotten murdered. We'll see how it goes but worst case scenario I don't leave the apartment and just read and do sudoku for a day, and actually that doesn't sound too bad to me!