January 8th, 2016. Happy New Year!

Dear Fans of the Blog,

I am so sorry I have not written in so long. I have thought about it almost every day, but have literally had almost no time until now. There is way too much to say for a blog post, so I will try to keep it short.

We have to go back almost two months ago when my friend Laura and I left for our trip in Africa. We successfully finished our semester at Stellenbosch, and planned a trip with a company called, Nomad. Laura and I flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, where we spent the weekend in a very artistic part of town. We enjoyed seeing the art on the streets, eating delicious food, and meeting new people. We also visited Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s house, and Desmond Tutu’s house.

Laura and me, Johannesburg. 

The weekend went by quickly and we left Johannesburg for Victoria Falls Airport in Zimbabwe. We both agreed the landing in Zimbabwe was one of the craziest either of us had experienced. We landed full speed ahead and shaking in all directions. We held hands hoping our trip would not end on the runway! We stepped off the flight into incredible heat. We had to wait in a line outdoors on our way to customs. They handed out free water bottles, which was a good idea because we all would have melted entirely if they didn’t. Laura and I got a dual visa for Zimbabwe and Zambia, and headed for our backpacker.

Our room at the backpacker was a hut with some bunk beds and mosquito netting. We walked in and then right back out because we thought if we stayed in there we would burn alive. We dropped our stuff and went to Victoria Falls. Besides the heat, we were there on an absolutely gorgeous day. We took lots of pictures and returned to our backpacker. It was so hot we just slept in our underwear, and woke up early the next morning to join our Nomad tour.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. 

Laura and me on the dry side of Vic Falls (which will be overflowing with water after the rainy season). 

When we joined the tour all the people on the bus had already been traveling together since South Africa on an even longer tour than ours. They knew each other, but were all extremely friendly and happy to meet us. We drove through Zimbabwe and went to Zambia where we spent some unbelievable nights and saw beautiful animals such as giraffes, hippos, elephants, and more! From there we went to Malawi where we camped out by Lake Malawi, went swimming, saw many fisherman at night, visited a school, village, and hospital. Slowly we made our way to Tanzania. I was the only American on the tour which meant I was the only person who had to pay $100 for my entry, everyone else had to pay $50. We were all told by our guides before the tour started, and suspected it was the relationship between the two countries, but I still do not know for sure. Our first sight in Tanzania was millions of banana trees. At our first stop there were about 20 people with bananas in baskets on their heads trying to sell them. I have never seen so many bananas. We got a lot. They are smaller than the ones I buy in the store in the United States, and they were delicious. Sadly we had to make our way through Dar es Salaam--which was terrible. The traffic barely even inched along, there was no air, and we sat for hours sweating and smelling the pollution of us, and the surrounding cars.

Hippo.

Laura and me. 

Tanzanian bananas. 

Zambia. 

Giraffe. 

Us and our tent in Malawi. 

Laura, Francis, and me by the Indian Ocean in Tanzania. 

Our trip ended in Dar es Salaam. We were jealous of the other Nomad members who would continue to Zanzibar, the Serengeti, and up to Kenya. We did not have the time or money to do this, so we said goodbye in Dar es Salaam. We spent the weekend at an Airbnb. The first day all we did was stay inside because moving a fraction of an inch made you break out in sweat. We swam in the pool in the afternoon. Later a nice man named, Francis, who works there showed us the Indian Ocean, which was less than a 5-minute walk away. Seeing the sun reflect on the ocean as it went down behind the trees was really spectacular. Finally it was time for us to leave. Sadly we got up at 5am to make our flight only to learn the flight had been delayed to much later in the afternoon. We waited at the airport over 8 hours, and then had to pay extra money for our flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town. We were not too happy about that, but at the same time happy to be home and take a real shower, wash all the dirt away, and sleep in our own beds.

Waiting, and waiting, and waiting more at the airport in Tanzania. 

We had less than a week in Stellenbosch before we were on the road again. Laura had to pack up all her stuff to move out of her room because she was returning to Austria for good, and I prepared for my trip to Austria and Germany. Laura was lucky because her flight was overbooked, and because she volunteered to go on another flight she got a free round trip ticket to come back to South Africa! That means she'll come back to see me next semester. Laura and I parted ways in the airport. I made it to Dubai, and sadly spent the night there in a rather cold airport. Then I was on the way to Germany. By the time we landed I was so ready to be there and so nervous. I was excited to see Michael in his home. I had to wait to get off the plane, wait for my bag, and wait in a long line to get the stamp for my passport. At this point I was ready to get out of there. Michael found me and we were both so happy to be together again. We took the train, and then when we got off Michael drove us back to his house.

Michael and me (he made the hat I am wearing for me for Christmas. It is beautiful)! 

When I first arrived Michael was still in university so I spent the second week in Austria with Laura. We had so much fun together, and it was great to see a familiar face since it was so strange to be away from Africa at first. It really was a culture shock. I got to see where Laura works, go to a nice Christmas market, see Mozart’s house, visit a castle, and the oldest bakery in Salzburg.  

Von Trapp House from The Sound of Music, Austria. 

Laura and me, Salzburg. 

Mozart's House, Salzburg. 

Julian. Laura. Me.
Happy birthday to Julian! (Salzburg)

After a week I went back to Michael’s where we had a lovely Christmas. Michael’s brother gave me some nice tea and German cookies, his sister gave me sparklers, bubbles, and a bag she made, and his parents gave me an English to German handbook with everything you need to know and lots of pictures! It has been fun to meet Michael’s parents, siblings, grandparents, pets, and some other family members. I am so lucky because they have been so unbelievably nice to me.

Merry Christmas from Michael and me!

Me, and Johannes (Michael's brother). 

Johannes (left), Caroline (Michael's sister), Michael, and their dog, Sally. 

Love!

Caroline. 

Exploring the woods and property of Michael's grandparents. 

Caroline, Michaels dad and mom, and me. 

Caroline. 

We have visited many places including Ulm, where Michael goes to university. We went to the Christmas markets in Ulm and in Augsburg. We visited Michael’s friends in Augsburg, and the city was quite beautiful. We spent a weekend at Michael’s sister’s flat in Munich and got to explore the city. After Munich we visited the famous castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein. Of course visited Michael’s village, Münsterhausen, where we have walked the dog, Sally, and I have been to the two churches in the village (and the village is very small). Michael and his family live in a beautiful place. They recycle everything. Any leftover food goes to their chickens, and everything else goes into the compost to fertilize their garden in future years. I have only been drinking water and homemade apples juice (they have about a thousand bottles in their cellar). So much delicious food from the garden, including one of my all time favorites….leeks! But they want me to visit in the spring and summer when I can see all the flowers.

Michael and me in Munich. 

Pretzel in Munich :)

This week Michael’s family got two new kittens. Their names are Simba and Layla. We are having quite a great time playing with them, and watching them and the dog, Sally, try to get used to each other.

I am sorry this is so long. It is my fault for taking so long to write. Enjoy a couple of pictures from each of my adventures I described above! Thanks!