We are back home, after a 25 hour trip home that was filled with Germans.  Really, Germans are everywhere, they travel 300 days out of the year I swear.  At the Zambian customs, the guy was writing down the nationalities leaving.  He got his first Luxembourger, and I was the second American.  There was two Brazilians, two Japanese, and the rest were ALL Germans.

The trip was absolutely amazing, to the point that I have been sitting here for an hour trying to figure out the words that could explain it.  First things first, it made absolutely ALOT of sense, and I encourage everyone to do similar non-sensical trips if they can.  I really enjoyed our 9 days in South Africa, being with friends and then driving along the oceans from one quaint town to another.  I was in awe of the cliffs, the beaches, the seals, penguins and other animals, the trees and landscapes that caused me to gasp in awe more than once.  Our infinite to-do lists were easily forgotten.

Our time in Botswana and Zambia is what I am really struggling to describe.  Have you ever experienced one of those trips where every breath you take seems to fill your lungs with excitement, you are overwhelmed simultaneously by the serenity of nature and the full, vital force it provides?  We spent 9 days camping in national game parks and reserves, spending time simply observing the beauty of nature the surrounded us.  It was one of those surreal experiences, like watching Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, except this time I FELT it, I could SMELL it, and seeing it with my own eyes made all the difference in the world.  More than once I felt extreme gratitude for all of God’s gifts.

In desperation to capture those feelings, we took many many pictures, some of which I will post here.  On our way back I was already feeling the nostalgia for the trip, one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I will cling to for as long as I can.  It is not that I would want to live in the bush for the rest of my life, but I just want to hold on to that feeling for a little longer.

More will come later as we are leaving for Montreal on Friday and there is plenty to do.