Africa Round Up

We have completed the Africa segment of our trip. 88 days and 9 countries. Countless memories and more stories than we will ever be able to tell. We have shared a small fraction of our experiences with this blog and have captured further sights with our pictures. Regardless, neither the blog or our pictures can holistically capture the experience we have had over the last three months. Words can't fully explain and most often cameras and pictures were not an acceptable thing with locals, so we will have the experiences in our mind to share with all of you when we meet again. We have put together the lists below as a summary of our experiences and we hope you enjoy!

Things We Learned
-Chad is an extremely hard name to pronounce for Africans, Colleen is rather easy (odd as there is an African country named Chad)
-Africans Love Enrique Eglesias (especially cab drivers), and Rihanna and Beyonce....a lot...other western pop music you will hardly hear but they love those three
-Rwandans in the capital of Kigali LOVE buffets
-If someone tells you to turn left you have a 50/50 chance of going the right direction (thank goodness for hand gestures)
-Che is idolized everywhere...he is currently pictured on a book cover in our hotel next to Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela
-African oranges are green
-Muzungu is everyone's favorite word (means whitey, and people reminded us we were white every chance they got)
-Just because you pay for a plane ticket, have a confirmation and receipt doesn't mean you actually have a ticket
-Your chances of surviving a Tanzanian bus trip are pretty low, they drive over 90 MPH and the busses look like something out of the Mad Max movies
-You can barter any clothes item if you run out of money
-If you are hungry enough lemons can be eaten as a meal
-Don't take a good pair of sandals for granted
-When there are no other options, your body and mind are able to overcome unthinkable situations
-Never underestimate the value of human kindness from complete strangers
-Never have more than 1 beer in a local bar (trust us, we learned)
-Only eat in restaurants that are crowded....high turnover means less chance of getting sick
-Word of mouth is HUGE in the travel circle in Africa, learn from other's mistakes...and try not to make them again yourself
-There is always room for one more on a Mozambique bus if they have money
-African babies don't cry. Our hypothesis is that they are conditioned to not receiving what they want.
-You don't need much to be happy in life...pretty much we were reassured this every day we met people

Top Africa Lists
Favorite Sight: Soussevlei (Sand Dunes), Namibia
Best Sunset: Addo Elephant Park, South Africa
Favorite Food: Zanzibar
Friendliest People: Lesotho
Best Beach: Kendwa Beach, Zanzibar
Favorite Big City: Cape Town, South Africa
Favorite Small City: Rhodes, South Africa (Chad enjoyed the small town fly fishing crowd more than Colleen)
Least Favorite Town: Nampula, Mozambique
Best Beer Selection: Mozambique...actually found something besides light lager there
Worst Touts: Nhkata Bay, Malawi & Tanzanian Bus Stations
Place We Wish We Had More Time In: Uganda
Place We Could Have Spent Less Time In: Malawi (that darn ferry)
First On Our List for Our Next Visit: Ethiopia
Cheapest Room: $4.22, Colleen's birthday night
Longest Bus Journey: 17 hours (honorable mention to the 58 hour ferry which does not qualify)
Number of times Colleen ate beef byproducts: 1 (damn beef gluten in South African jelly beans)
Countries we were awaken by the morning call to prayer: 9, every one!
Most Expensive Country: Botswana at $121.32 per day, this number is slightly skewed as we were only there 2 days and had the rental car and expensive lodging
Least Expensive Country: Mozambique at $60.58 per day, days are cheap when you cant find much food!
Current Average Cost Per Trip Day: $79.22, well below our $100 a day budget which is a relief

Currently we are in Goa, India and enjoying every minute of our first country in a new continent. Internet is more prevalent here than in Africa and we will be in touch.

-Chad& Colleen