I have seen a few friends since being home who ask, "how was it"? The best word to describe our summer was MASSIVE, for a thousand reasons. A big one is the distance traveled. Morocco, our starting point, is in the north west corner of Africa and South Africa, our end point, is in the south east corner. We feel like we saw so much of what this continent has to offer. We had 11 airplane flights and drove over 5000 miles. Yes. That felt like too much some days. Yes. We had to do it to get to the remote villages, mountain towns, beaches, and deserts we loved the most. For me, I could have skipped most of the big cities, except that you can't. You have to fly into big cities so you can drive to the small towns. So, the 5000 miles was totally worth it! I saw Africa, and I mean a lot of Africa, and I loved it.
Favorite big cities: Fes, Morocco; Amman and Aqaba Jordan; Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel; and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Israel and Jordan are the easiest countries to visit because they are the most developed. The tricky part of this is that the more developed the country, the more tourists. Most of the time I wanted to be were the tourists were not, which is why I preferred the remote locations.
Favorite little towns: Tangier, Chefchaouen, Atlas Mountains and Essaouria, Morocco; Wadi Rum and Petra, Jordan; The Usambara Mountains and Zanzibar, Tanzania; and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Morocco gets lots of high praise for little/cute places to visit that are relatively under discovered as tourist destinations. For this reason, I really enjoyed these parts of Morocco. Jordan was way more beautiful with open spaces which my family really craves. Petra, of course, is amazing. I loved being in the mountains in Tanzania. This required a really long drive day to get there and another to get out, but I thought it was worth it. This mountain town sees almost no tourists. Zanzibar was a great break for our family and the beaches were nice, but it and Victoria Falls are well known tourist destinations. This is because they are beautiful. Too bad the secret is out.
We had 6 different game drives sprinkled throughout our overland trek from Nairobi to Victoria Falls. In Tanzania we visited the Ngoronogoro Crater, Serengeti National Park and Mikumi National Park. All amazing and all different. In Zambia the South Luanga National Park. Yes we saw the Big Five and so much more. I loved every day we had viewing these animals. Africa understands these parks and the animals in them are worth protecting and vital to tourism. Throughout our travels it was clear that tourism is needed in these countries and has been very slow to recover post-Covid. I am so grateful we could visit.
Israel and Jordan are in the Middle East. They felt like very wealthy countries compared to the other African countries we visited so they can't really compare. Plus, David and I had visited both in 2020 when the pandemic hit so I already had some great memories from these two countries. So glad we could share them with the kids, especially the Holy Land. Just yesterday in church the scripture reading was about Peter at the Sea of Galilee. I made eye contact with Adelaide and you could tell we were both thinking the same thing, "I've been there". Yep. Their faith will be fuller and become more real because they can now connect those places to their understanding of the bible.
Our lone destination in South Africa was Johannesburg. Again, David and I had visited in 2010 so we knew what to expect. I would like the kids to return to SA again some day and visit Cape Town and other areas. It is a beautiful country and we didn't get to see much of it this time around.
Some of the biggest differences between the parts of Africa we visited and the US are: water, power/internet, roads, waste removal, unemployment, food, money, and religion. In Africa we never drank anything but bottled water. Water born diseases are significant in Africa. Access to water through wells is improving and I liked watching families work together to carry water and clean clothes. I am grateful for clean water.
Power outages were found all over Johannesburg and reliable internet connections and power sources were unreliable. We got really used to saying, "T.I.A., this is Africa". Most of the time I only charged my phone every other day because I didn't always have an internet connection and I didn’t really need it. I had my whole family together and wasn't working. Truth is, I just needed it to take pictures. However, I am grateful for power and the ability to stay connected to friends and family everyday.
We traveled the majority of our trip on the Great East African Highway. Unlike the US that has an interstate highway system which is well funded and well maintained, the roads in Africa are tough. Pot holes and damage are found everywhere and we joked about the "free African massage". I am grateful that my state is not a country; that Colorado works with Nebraska, that works with Iowa, that works with Illinois. Not just on roads, but for the greater good. It is difficult to be a small African country. They all function independently.
In the US we have scheduled trash and recycle collection. This is a luxury I have seen over and over again when I travel. Not just this summer, but all over the world. Africa is making progress and the National Parks are really clean. Zambia has made single use plastic bags illegal. I am hopeful this will improve. A current solution seems to be burning trash. This was tough as we were often driving through fields on fire or trash fires. Not a good solution for air quality. I am grateful for clean air, water, and streets. I will be picking up even more trash I find in my neighborhood.
I work with recruiters. I tell people all the time, "we find people new jobs". This is a concept lost on some of the people I met in Africa because most of the countries we visited had unemployment rates between 50-80%. That is tough to imagine. Government jobs and tourism seem to be the best jobs. After that, most people are subsistence farmers. The women looked like they were working all the time; babies on their backs, heavy loads balanced on their heads. Because we had to drive slowly through a hundred small villages we got to watch so many people working. Lots of fruit and vegetables sold near the road. I saw hand made furniture, lots of shops for mechanics, and tons of little handmade kiosks for the selling of sim cards. Even in Africa staying connected on cell phones is a big deal. I am so grateful for my job, for Dave's, and that my children are guaranteed a chance to work. For real! May not be their dream jobs at the start, but they can work and they will be glad for it when they reflect on their travels.
The food in Africa was great. We joked about all the tajines we ate in Morocco and Dave's favorite food in Israel was Knafeh which is a pastry with a sweet syrup and cheese. Africa's number one protein is chicken and we were usually disappointed when we attempted beef. Tons of fresh vegetables are grown and sold. Number one difference was that we had almost no desserts in Africa. They seem to be a luxury. If we were offered a dessert it was almost always oranges or melon. I am grateful for the abundant food choices we have at home and also very aware of how much we have.
We changed currency 9 times this summer. Maybe Dave and the kids can recall each one, but I can't. And I certainly can't remember the conversion rates. Each boarder crossing required a new mental math game of ensuring we spent all the currency for the country we were leaving and figuring out what a dollar represented in our new destination. This is a skill which was great practice for all of us. The dollar is strong and we spent a lot less money in Africa for food and snacks than we would ever spend in the US. That was a delightful byproduct and also a big reminder of how wealthy the US is. So much in fact, that Zimbabwe has abandoned their own currency which has been devalued so dramatically that now they only accept the US Dollar. Weird and tough. The number one souvenir we were offered on the streets in Zimbabwe was their Zimbabwe dollars. Only value is that they are collectors items. I am grateful that my country has a stable economy.
I loved the religious differences we were exposed to this summer. The first half of our summer we traveled through countries that were over 90% Muslim. This is new for all of us. The call to prayer takes place by loud speaker 5 times a day. The first call to prayer is before the sun rises and the last after the sun sets. Inevitably, we slept right next to the mosque from which these calls go out. We don't have this public call to prayer in the US, probably because of some kind on noise ordinance, so it was new for us. Muslims also do not drink alcohol. The first half our summer I didn't see a liquor store for weeks. We were only able to attend church 3 times this summer. This was a bummer because of our tight driving schedule. We always love visiting churches. All three services were LONG. The longest 3 hours. The Presbyterians we hang with keep it to 60 minutes and not a minute longer. My family stood out in a really obvious way at all 3 churches but I am grateful that I can find my people anywhere in the world and our collective prayers bind us together.
Time, uninterrupted time, was the biggest gift of all this summer. My crew is getting old and they are carving their own paths in the world. We will always travel together but very likely in smaller chunks of time. My crew has travel skills most do not. They will eat almost anything, sleep on the ground, use the eastern toilet or the "bushy bushy", and have compassion and understanding for people and places of different cultures and backgrounds.
Thanks for reading along and praying us home from our massive African adventure. We will be glad to stay put for a little while for family, friends, school and work. But not too long as my favorite place to travel is the next place I will go.
Jll
So happy for this chance for travel and abundant blessings. Thank you for sharing your adventures.
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