Training Wheels

Today, I took a significant step towards conquering my greatest South African fear: driving.

My discipline in waking up at early hours proved to be improving when I only arose from my warm bed half an hour after my 7:30AM alarm. Of course, I was assisted by the rather loud packing by the people in my room headed off for their Kenya-bound Acacia Tour bus. Apparently I was awarded for my early rising with satisfactorily hot water in the shower. Before hopping into my car (I think I may take KT's suggestion of "Aslan" for the name, but I'm still open to suggestions) I checked out of my dorm room so that I could transfer to my $40 a night single later in the afternoon.

To get the car moving, it requires a process. First, I return the radio's faceplate to it's proper location, then I remove the lock that keeps the gearshift in reverse, and finally I take off the big "club" lock around the steering wheel. Usually I would be frustrated by such a slowing of what would otherwise be a split-second process, but considering the consequences of a stolen vehicle to my summer plans, I prefer to be on the cusp of paranoia. Once the process was completed, I started her up and started off toward Table Mountain. I had decided for the sake of a gradual exposure to Cape Town roads, I would not only make the attempt on a Saturday morning, but also take a coastal road that I had taken on the sightseeing bus yesterday. This proved to be a wise choice- I got to focus on the methods of driving rather than worrying about directions. Of all the differences that come with driving on the left, I have to say that the one that has proven to be hardest to overcome is not the opposite positioning of the steering wheel or the gearshift, but rather the turn signal! It's on the right side of the steering wheel and up is for a left signal. What ends up happening is that I will be wanting to put on a left turn signal, and end up with my window wipers going full steam ahead and no blinker engaged whatsoever. Though when it happens I don't have the presence of mind to see the humor, I do laugh at myself after.

I'll probably spend part of tomorrow figuring out exactly which route I will be taking to work, since it's a relatively long and complicated commute (40 min, or so they tell me). Once I get the hang of it, though, I'm sure I'll find some pleasure in it. Until then, practice practice practice!

After allowing my blood pressure to return to normal, I left the hostel on foot, unsure of what exactly I wanted to see and do for the day. To help myself make that decision, I took refuge in a coffeehouse I had spotted yesterday called Sundance Coffee. Its slogan, "Coffee that will make you want to dance," had caught my eye, and I couldn't resist. It was pretty empty when I got there, but I had the greatest chocolate muffin and large cappuccino that I've had for a while, and I came to some conclusions about my day's activities. I decided to walk towards the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town's only castle and oldest surviving building. They say "castle," but it's really more of a fort, but whatever. On the way there, I stopped at an internet cafe to upload yesterday's blog (hence the slight delay) and deliberately passed by one of the Cape's most beautiful buildings- the City Hall.


This building, though I don't know the dates that it was built, stands next to a huge open space, called the parade, and also is home to the balcony from which Nelson Mandela gave his inaugural address. As you can tell from the picture, it's quite impressive and very distinguished. I'm not sure if you can tour it, but I'll check- maybe for a weekend activity or something. To get to the castle I had to walk through the big plaza, in which the locals were having a huge market selling everything from clothes to food to toys. It was refreshing to walk through a place devoid of tourists (or at least from what I could tell).

When I got to the castle, I not only got a student discount for more than half off, but I also was just in time for the tour! Actually, it was more like the tour was just in time for me, since I was the only person on it. Luckily for me, all the tourists seem to have either already come in the summer or came later, because it ended up just being me and Stephen, the guide, walking around the compound for about an hour. He was a knowledgeable guide, despite his strong accent, and I enjoyed the tour immensely. I felt kind of bad having made him do the tour for just one person, so I tried to tip generously.

The exterior of the castle

The Governor's Mansion within the castle

Fountain

After I finished the official tour, I spent some time exploring the rest of the area, including the four points in the star-shaped outer wall. Being that there were very few tourists, it was a nice and relaxing experience. Next up, I explored the military museum that is a part of the castle which showcased the various amazing uniforms that officers in Cape Town have worn over the centuries. I thought it was really interesting how the various cultures of the area have had an impact on the military here, like a dress uniform topped off with a whole leopard skin draped across it. On the top floor, they had an exhibit dedicated to the Anglo-Boer War in the late 1800's. Apparently, a bunch of white settlers tried to break off of Cape Town and start their own nation, severing their ties with the British Empire, which was ruling the area at the time. Unsurprisingly, the British didn't like that and fought them into submission. Apparently, however, the British lost more people than the Boers, probably because of the Boers' use of guerrilla warfare. Ironically, I was sharing the museum with a group of South African army people.



I took a quick look around a small exhibit of period rooms and then surrendered to my hunger at the castle's restaurant, where I got a large lunch with a drink for about 6 bucks. As I was finishing, I noticed a group of about 30 South African army men and women arrive in the main area in the castle, and they started to do something I would never expect a military unit to do: they started dancing in a big circle, singing a traditional African at the top of their lungs, harmonizing and everything! It was such a pleasant and joyful sound and an amazing sight to see. To my surprise and pleasure, I saw more and more groups of military people arriving (not all singing and dancing), carrying flags and weapons. I asked around, and found out that there was a practice for the parade to open parliament today! Not having a tight schedule and not wanting to miss this elegant show of South African military might, I went back up the roof and watched the square fill up with more and more troops of varying type while reading even more of "Atlas Shrugged".

The singing soldiers

After about 40 minutes or so, it looked like the groups were getting ready to march out into the city, so I headed back down and chatted with Stephen (the tour guide from before) and waited for them to depart. Hilariously, the parade started off with the Cape Town bagpipe corps:



I watched a bunch of the groupings head out, and eventually I started walking with one of them, after I realized that they were probably walking to Parliament, my next stop. As I walked next to one of the military bands (quite entertaining) along the closed streets of Cape Town, I noticed the groups of people who had stopped what they were doing to watch this practice. It was encouraging to see the patriotism and gratitude on the faces of the people watching. At one point, there was a younger boy pretending to march beside them. After all that these people have been through, they have a right to be proud of their current government.




Though I enjoyed seeing the final result of all the soldiers lining up along the entire street with only a 4 foot gap between each of them, I decided to move on. I glanced at the parliament, since it was all closed with nobody in it (it's Saturday), I walked up Church Street, which was similarly deserted. I guess Saturdays in the winter are not the happening days here in Cape Town. Oh well, that'll just make for less traffic for Toukam's and my tours on the weekends.

Upon my return to Backpackers, I got checked into my single room, which is so luxurious compared to the 8 person room I've been in for the last two nights. It may not have a bathroom or heating, but it's nice to spread out and have good lighting. It's a short stay, though, since I plan on moving in to the apartment tomorrow sometime. I took a quick nap and charged up my laptop and iPod before heading over to the bar, where I had a great conversation with the girl from Harvard as well as two other women from the University of Minnesota who are here on a fellowship. It's funny how many people are here for internships or fellowships- a much different situation from Europe last year. All three of them are doing public policy stuff, which I found pretty interesting. For dinner, I got lazy and once again ate at the bar here, but it was really good and cheap as usual. I justified it by saying that I'll be going out to restaurants enough when Toukam arrives. Continuing my conversation with the others, I was actually distracted by a sports game on TV! Those of you who know me, you know that nothing disinterests me more than sports. However, for some reason rugby is actually interesting to watch- probably because each play lasts for almost a minute and it's full of passing, kicking, tackling, and dogpiling that leaves no room for a dull moment. Apparently there's a rugby championship going on in SA right now, and I think Pretoria just won it tonight.

I retired back to my room after talking a little more with the Harvard student and watching some National Geographic programming on deadly jellyfish. Tomorrow could either be a great or stressful day- I'm hoping that everything will be quick and painless regarding the apartment, but I can imagine it turning into a desperate search for the person in charge and my being without lodging. I'm praying it will be the former situation.

Well, perhaps my next post will come to you from the comfort of our new apartment! Thanks for reading!

Intrepid Tourism

As my first full day in Cape Town comes to a close, I can safely say that I now have a decent understanding of this town's layout. It's been a great day, and I think it's a great start to my long stay here.

Last night, I hung out at the hostel bar, which interestingly enough serves up a great chicken burger and ate with two American girls, who are both here for internships as well. One is going to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the other is finishing up a child development degree at the University of Alabama. It was nice to talk with them, and I found out about a program that they and a bunch of other college age Americans are a part of- Connect 123. Apparently it's a service that you pay to connect you with an internship, accommodations, and even special activities abroad. By the looks of the hostel, it's a popular program, and everyone seems to be very excited about starting their new jobs in the coming week. I think it's pretty rad that a company does that, but my qualms arise when I look at the charges that they have. I looked at a similar company, University of Dreams, back in winter and they were charging obscene amounts for the same privilege. I hope it was cheaper for my new friends.

Later that night I fought to stay awake despite my jet-lag to read Atlas Shrugged and accustom myself to the new time zone. Surprisingly, I'm 300 pages in and its still a riveting story- its paced wonderfully. As I was reading, some of my roomates arrived back, one of whom, upon further conversation, turned out to not only have grown up in Scottsdale, but went to Saguaro, my rival high school! This is particularly funny because the last Arizona resident I ran into abroad also had gone to Saguaro. We talked for a bit about how Phoenix has changed (he graduated in 1990) and about his current fellowship in Zambia. Amazingly, he hitchhiked down to Cape Town from there! It took him a week, but he did it. That, I think, is amazing. Due to time constraints, though, he's flying back to Zambia. I guess you can't always be an adventurer both ways. The other people in the room were either Australians or Brits, and most of them are heading back soon.

My alarm went off at 8, but I apparently didn't have the constitution to wake up before 9, and I was out the door by 9:30. I didn't really have a specific place in mind- I just wanted to get to know my home for the next two months. The hostel I'm staying at is about a 10 minute walk from the city center and about 10 minutes from the shore. I found it to be a pleasant walk, going through African markets, observing drivers for future reference, and taking in this highly diverse population. There are so many types of people here that it's rarely boring to people-watch. I ended up at the V&A Waterfront, a newly renovated hub of residential and commercial growth. There you can find a lot of fancy yachts, expensive waterfront properties, and a big mall with both South African and international brands. Just by walking there, I learned a lot about the layout of the city as well as how people drive (you can tell I'm spending a lot of time thinking about this driving thing). I was trying to find a cafe I read about in one of my guides, Societi Bistro, but it had apparently moved, so I settled with getting brunch at another cafe at the waterfront. It was a little pricey, but quite good. I got a big breakfast with two eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, and veggies as well as an iced tea for about 11 dollars. That may sound cheap already to you, but let me say that South Africa and Cape Town are known for their ridiculously cheap food. I'm sure once I weed out the touristy parts of town, I'll find the genuine and inexpensive places. Despite the price, though, I enjoyed the break from walking and the food.

Next up, I headed to the Two Oceans Aquarium, which my book had highly recommended. However before I got there, I passed by a kiosk for one of those big red Sightseeing Bus Tours, and I became curious. When the bus actually pulled into the stop just then, I made a split-second decision to do something obscenely touristy and take one of those buses. As it turns out and as I suspected, the bus tour gave me a view of the city that is hard to beat. We started out touring around just Cape Town the city, seeing all of the historical and culture landmarks that I am sure to visit again soon. We then continued on beyond the city and up the side of Table Mountain, by far the most defining landmark in Cape Town. Though we didn't make it to the top but rather only to the lower station for the cable car, I got a glimpse at a beautiful view of the whole city basin that I know will only improve when I take the cable car up to the top of the 3,500ft beast of a mountain. Then it was off even farther from the town into suburbs on the other side of the mountains.

Immediately upon making it to the top of the pass, I could tell that this other side would be just as beautiful, if not more gorgeous, than the first. As strong winds blow over Table Mountain, they make their way down the slopes into these suburbs, making for rough waters and cold days. Despite that, though, there is great wildlife, pristine beaches, and luxurious housing. I was so taken with the beauty of this beachfront area that I decided to take advantage of the "hop on hop off" feature of the bus and walk around the area for about half an hour. I got some great beachfront pictures as well as many invitations by street vendors to buy their chess tables and scarves.

Parliament, the view from Table Mountain, and Camps Bay:

Upon stepping on the bus for a second time, we continued along the coast back up to Cape Town, passing even more amazing beaches, more expensive (because of their being in "wind-free" areas) and even the yet to be completed Cape Town stadium for the 2010 FIFA world cup, which is being held in this country. I got dropped off back in front of the aquarium, more than happy with the value I got for the ticket. I was now empowered with the knowledge of the layout of this fine city and its surrounding areas. As an added bonus, the bus company gave me a coupon with a discount for the aquarium, which I then proceeded to visit.

I was quite happy with the aquarium from the onset. Though it was mainly geared towards children, I found their presentation of the marine life to be really interesting. In one of the tanks, a moray eel had completely come out of the coral, something I hadn't seen before. They had every type of water creature, and I liked observing each of them. Today also just happened to be the day in which they were releasing one of their large sting rays back into the tank. As one of the staff commentated on the process, I enjoyed seeing the divers expertly lower the animal back into its artificial habitat. The same cage had a bunch of sharks, which had an exhibit of their own telling of the fact that humans are killed by faulty toasters more often than sharks. I thought it was quite interesting to see such a large campaign for the sake of improving sharks' reputation. In addition to all the marine life, they also had an exhibit with South African penguins which, though smelly, was a good time. The rest about the aquarium will have to be said in pictures:


After I got my fill of marine creatures, I made my way back to the hostel, as it was about 4:30pm already. It was a pleasant walk, and I used part of it attempting to find the apartment building that Toukam and I will be moving into. Though at the time I didn't consider it a successful search, I have since rechecked the email and I'm pretty certain I know where it is. Sunday can't come soon enough- I'm looking forward to setting up my home base.


I got back to the hostel, where I spent my time meeting some of my new roommates, including young woman from Scotland, here for one of the most amazing trips I've heard of! It's with a company called Acacia Tours, and it consists of 45 days of driving in a big, modern bus with 15 other people from Cape Town to Nairobi, Kenya, camping all along the way and having a chef cook for you. It sounds AMAZING- I think I may have found the way I want to see other parts of Africa. Apparently, it costs only 3,000 dollars for the 45 days, but I talked to another girl who had been on a similar trip with another company for 70 days, which also included Uganda and Rwanda. Still, I'm pleased with our own planned "Old School Adventure" and the unorganized, novel, and do-it-yourself aspects of it.

For dinner, I hung out at the hostel bar with the two Americans I had met the night before and a couple of their friends- another American from Nebraska (doing the same internship program) and a British guy who is staying at the hostel. It was a pleasant time, even with my taking (and eating) another person's dinner order. They invited me to go out to a club/bar with them for the evening, but I politely declined, considering my lack of enjoying such outings. I prefer a mellow hang out at dinner or a quiet bar any day.


I think for tomorrow I'll try waking up early and taking the car for a spin, since I think a Saturday morning might be a little easier on the nerves in regard to traffic. Until then, keep it real, Readers!

China

And just like that, I find myself once again overseas and in the familiar surroundings of a youth hostel.

Despite the many differences between my two-month stint in Europe last year and the slightly slower-paced twist to this summer's stay in Africa, I feel like I'm moving into the same mindset. For those of you who haven't travelled alone or stayed in hostels, I'm afraid this feeling may not be familiar to you until you actually do it. When one is a solo traveler, he must be both introspective and ready to communicate with strangers. He must resist the temptation to shut down in panic when things are not looking up or playing out how he would like. He must make a decision about every aspect of his life- no delegation, no shirking responsibility. It is a truly unique frame of mind. I must say I am happy to be in it once again, but excited to see how it changes once Toukam arrives and I don't live from my suitcase.

The last 36ish hours have been pretty tiring, though thankfully not chaotic. I left the Crossmans at about 8AM on Wednesday, catching a subway to Penn Station, transferring to a Long Island Rail Road train to JFK, and made my way to South African Airlines. The first bit of news I got was disheartening- for the 14 hour flight, I was booked for a middle seat. Obviously, my long legs were not exactly enthused at that prospect. Anyways, I checked my big piece of luggage (just barely under the weight limit) and made my way through security. When I arrived at the gate, I put on my best manners and politely asked the person behind the counter if there was any way I could get an aisle- to which she replied that she would hold on to my boarding pass and see if anyone wouldn't show up. In a great sign of potential for the trip, I ended up being given an aisle! To really add a cherry to the top of the situational sundae, I found that SAA planes have generous amounts of legroom- my knees didn't even touch the person in front of me! Oh, the ecstasy.

The flight took off a little late after waiting on the tarmac for an hour, but it didn't really affect our arrival time. Though the ride was smooth and the chair comfortable, I found it nearly impossible to sleep. As an indication of my increasingly desperate boredom, I began to allow myself to watch films of decreasing quality. I started off with Slumdog Millionaire, which I found quite good and well done, digressed to Benjamin Button which, though entertaining, was not exceptional in its quality, and finally found myself in a pit of desperation watching Jim Carrey's Yes Man. Mercifully, it froze midway through, preventing me from rotting my mind any further.

Besides those THREE movies, I listened to a lot of music and made more headway into Atlas Shrugged. The plot is really quickening up, and I find it even more enjoyable and even more capitalist. Other than those activities, I ate the decent food provided by the airline and contemplated my coming fate, despite the clocklike intervals of a baby's piercing screams.

Upon arrival to Johannesburg, called "JoBurg" by the locals, we deplaned after a brief delay and I managed to get through customs without any suspicious looks or interrogations. The only unfortunate thing is that according to my visa stamp, I have to try my best to refrain from becoming an "undesirable," lest I lose the favor of this great republic. Because of the layover being the first port of entry in to SA, I had to collect my checked bag (they arrived!) and go through security again for the domestic terminal. Everything went swimmingly on that front and I boarded the plane to Cape Town. I sat down in my seat and the results of my lack of sleeping on the first flight took hold of me until I was awoken by a young South African woman politely asking to get into the seat next to me. We ended up chatting for a bit, and I learned a lot about South African life and culture from Sarah (I hope I remembered her name right!). She's taking a brief trip to Cape Town before starting a job at Seventeen- really interesting, I thought. It was nice to get to know a South African, and I look forward to meeting many more.

I arrived in Cape Town at about 2PM today (Thursday) and was pleased to find a man holding a sign with my name on it waiting for me outside baggage claim. It was Alex, the head of Drive Africa, picking me up to take me to my new car. I felt so important having someone waiting with my name on a sign in a South African airport, though it was a short-lived feeling of self importance. We had a very nice conversation in the car on the way to Drive Africa, in which we talked about starting businesses in SA as well as the history of Drive Africa. It turns out that Alex has been doing buybacks for more than 10 years. We got the office and proceeded to go through oodles of paperwork to purchase my first car! It's a glorious white Toyota Corolla:


To my grateful surprise, the car came with not one but two locks beyond the door locks- one to secure the steering wheel as well as one to keep the gearshift in reverse to prevent theft. The car seems to be in great shape, well maintained, and everything I want. I'm trying to think of a name for it, since I'll be spending so much time driving it. Perhaps Rocinante? Or some other literary reference? Readers, feel free to offer suggestions.

Next came perhaps the most stressful part of my travels thus far- driving the car to my hostel. Let me tell you- driving on the left side of the road is so disorienting at first. Alex was kind enough to guide me to the hostel in his car, but it was still hard to shift with my left hand, steer with my right, and maneuver around Cape Town. I think I'm going to do some thorough map-studying before I venture out again. We both made it safely to Backpackers, the hostel here, and I've checked myself in and started to get my bearings. It turns out that the apartment will be ready on Sunday, so I shaved off a $40 stay here and I'll be moving in then. Apparently, the apartment is in the dead center of the city with good furnishings, security, and parking! I'm hoping that it isn't too good to be true.

For tonight, I plan on grabbing dinner either at the hostel's bar or nearby and reading guidebooks before turning in. I am exhausted and I want to be ready for a day of exploration tomorrow. Thanks again for following my adventures!

A Deep Breath

On this, the eve of my departure to the southern hemisphere, I do believe reality has yet to knock on my consciousness. I may be packing, doing laundry, and reserving hostels, but in my mind it hasn't really clicked in that at 11AM tomorrow, I will be on South African Airlines flight SA204 to Johannesburg. The realization will come, though, and until that point I will continue chugging along with my preparations.

This weekend provided a wonderful distraction from African planning in the form of my friend Austin coming from Phoenix to visit. After many failed attempts to get on flights standby, he finally got on the red-eye on Friday night. I met him in Penn Station on Saturday morning and began a foot-breaking tour of the city with him. Starting off in Battery Park (the southernmost point of Manhattan), we walked all the way to 59th St and 5th Ave, seeing all the sights along the way. On that first day, during the 12 mile trek, we saw everything from Wall St. to Ground Zero, the Empire State Building to the Brooklyn Bridge, and Saks Fifth to NYU. Though our legs were perhaps less appreciative than our eyes, I enjoyed it immensely but have come to realize that walking a dozen miles and seeing almost all of NY's tourist destinations may not be my standard first day for guests. As the map suggests, the second and third days were a little more limited due to aching knees and feet. Overall, a fantastic weekend with great sightseeing, better food, and the best company.




Austin left yesterday afternoon, and since then I have been spending time with my hosts here in the city, the Crossmans. They are really generous and hospitable people, and always a blast to hang around with. I got to take part in the Making of the Rissoto last night for dinner- a long process that proves to be entirely worthwhile upon consumption of the rice dish. We kept our eye on the sunset after dinner while all reading our current literary pursuits. I finished reading Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent, yet another very enjoyable work by my favorite author from the second millennium, though not as fantastic as The Grapes of Wrath or even East of Eden. This one did earn him the Nobel Prize in literature, so it can't be that bad. Upon finishing it I decided, upon consultation with Mr. Crossman, to begin Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and hold off on The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. I'm 80 pages into the 1200 page monster and I find it enjoyable and thought-provoking. It seems to me that I will be having many a conversation with Toukam about what place Rand's principles have in a Christian life. Considering the summer ahead, I think we may get pretty far in that discussion.

I mentioned in my last post that we were having logistical difficulties with our apartment, and since then some more information has come to light. Because of the short amount of time before my arrival and the difficulties of trying to rent an apartment in the last week of a month, the people with whom Toukam is working have said that they will have the apartment ready on Monday. Being that I am arriving in Cape Town on Thursday afternoon, I found myself in need of lodging. This morning, I put my Cape Town and South Africa guides to good use and found a place to stay for the four nights. Though not the cheapest option, I found that The Backpack Hostel and African Travel Center fit the bill- it has parking, it's within walking distance of the city center, and it isn't expensive. For the first two nights, I'll be paying $10 a night for a dormitory style room with 8 beds- hearkening back to my European travel days. Then, for the second two nights, due to a lack of vacancies in the dorm room, I'm going to be in a single room (oh, the luxury!) for about 40 dollars a night. This hostel was about the fourth one I called, and I'm just happy that they had room for me. I'm expecting those four days to be used to orient myself in Cape Town, get some preliminary supplies, and recover from potential jet lag.

For today, I'm going to be doing a mongo-load of laundry, carefully choosing what to bring and what to leave behind, and saying my sweet goodbyes to this city, this country, and this hemisphere.

MY FLIGHT PLAN

I expect my dispatch will be from the Mother City. Until then, all the best!

Genesis

Like all good adventures, this one started out as nothing but a vague daydream. I can actually pinpoint exactly when the concept of driving around the unknown swaths of African countryside made its presence known in my mind. It was in February, while I was at my job as an intern with Columbia's Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement (CTICE). While plugging away at some piece of internly work, one of my coworkers enquired about what I wanted to do for the summer. As I explained to her that I was in the process of applying for a grant and was looking for a potential overseas internship, another coworker who had lived in South Africa happened to walk in when I mentioned that I was looking into jobs from London to Cape Town. He took this opportunity to mention the innumerable attributes of South Africa that make it absolutely amazing.

However, his next comment proved to be one that planted the seed of my present dream. He said that if I were to end up in South Africa, I would have t0 borrow his book on road trips in SA and that driving is very possible because one could procure a car for "less than a thousand dollars." The damage was done.

Admittedly, I may have been a little less productive than normal that day at work because inside my head this dream had been born and was growing at an exponential rate. "A road trip? In Africa?!" The concept, so bold at first glance, was too attractive to ignore. "What if it's possible? What if, this summer, I could find myself behind the wheel of an old Land Rover, wearing a khaki suit complete with wide-brimmed hat, courageously pushing back the bush and exploring pristine lands?" I tried to temper my excitement, in order to protect myself from exploded hopes or pains of dreams unrealized. However, through a blessed series of events over the course of the next two months, I was generously offered an internship with All Nations, a Christian nonprofit based in Cape Town that focuses on church planting and humanitarian educational programs. Having been given the position, I applied for the grant and after a gracious chance to submit a revised draft, was given the money I needed to go! I was bounding towards achieving the dream.

The next piece of blessed news came from my friend Toukam Ngoufanke, a friend that I met in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Columbia. He was a graduating senior from the engineering school, a native Cameroonian, and the posses or of a sharp mind and he was going to be interning in Cape Town as well! It was the greatest of news, and I began to lobby for him to get excited about the post-internship road trip that had, by then, taken up permanent residence in my mind. Startlingly, Toukam became almost as excited as I was upon my invitation! I have to admit- I was prepared to be met with an utter lack of enthusiasm. Imagine my joy when I suddenly had a partner in crime.

TOUKAM AND I

This all happened by about mid April. Since then, the practicalities have set in, the logistical planning has begun, and the realities are staring us in the face- and the dream is stronger than ever. Slowly but surely we have seen obstacles come and go, problems arise and be solved. One of the largest was the question of getting a car. Originally we had planned only to get a car for the three or four weeks of the road trip. However, I found out that if Toukam and I were to be sharing an apartment, we would have to have it in Cape Town proper, while my office was to be in a suburb. Having established that a car would be needed for the whole eleven week journey, the process of finding which method of finding a car became a burden.

Originally, I had thought that it would be easy and cheap to find an old used car, buy it, and start rolling. Unfortunately, problems cropped up. Getting to each car would be a bother because of lack of public transport. I would not know if the car was a lemon. It would cost a lot of money and time to worry about registration and insurance. There would not be any recourse upon a breakdown. Looking into rentals was just as dismal. There were age restrictions that would be prohibitive to my 19 year old self. Restrictions on daily mileage would keep us from having a quick pace. Travelling to other countries would be a huge hassle. And it costs a lot. Where could we turn?

Upon further research, I thought I found our solution. Drive South Africa, a rental company, also did Buybacks (a way of buying a car and having a contract stating that the company will buy it back at a certain time for a certain amount). Depressingly, I also found out that it had been a scam and shut down a couple years ago after leaving many customers in the dust with cars on their hands with nobody to buy them. Discouraged but not defeated, I persevered. I came across the suspiciously similarly-named Drive Africa.

They offered the same service, buybacks, but with many improvements and far less sketchiness. For one, they have been in business for 12 years. Two, they are bonded and insured through a large SA tourism organization, SATSA. Third, nobody has complained about them to SATSA since they joined it. Having looked through all other possibilities and finding nothing wrong with Drive Africa, I contacted them, got a quote, and liked what I saw and heard. As of now, I have a deposit down on a 2000 manual Toyota Corolla for eleven weeks with registration and insurance included. It can be taken to other countries, and there are no mileage limits. On top of that, they're picking me up at the airport and dropping me off there too, to save me hours of hassle! Put simply, it's a godsend. I've been as cautious as possible, and I'm praying that they aren't really great scammers.

The second relatively large issue now is the apartment. Because of some confusion with Toukam's internship, he will be arriving after me, though his people are finding the apartment. I'm not too worried, but I'm praying they will find us a safe apartment with Internet and secure parking. One thing is for sure- I'm so glad I did not have to find an apartment on my own. I'm confident it will be resolved, though. If worse comes to worse, I can live in a hostel for a week or so until I figure things out.

There will be more problems, more snags, and many long waits in airports, but this dream is happening. I will go into the specifics of the trip in my next post, but I hope this post has sufficiently caught you, Reader, up with how this whole summer formed itself. I plan on blogging this entire summer with pictures and everything, so please stay tuned and leave comments!

I'm ready for an Old School Adventure, and I want you to come along. Stay Classy!

CURRENT LOCATION