So as the semester winds down to an end, I decided to look back on my semester to find some of the highlights of my time abroad. I went through a variety of categories and attempted to find my top 5 highlights for each.
*note: they aren’t necessarily in order of most favorite
Top 5 Places Visited:
1. Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town view from a walk to the beach
2. Windhoek, Namibia
Windhoek from the top of the Hilton
3. Livingstone, Zambia
Sign in Livingstone that showed the distances to various world sites.
4. Swakopmund, Namibia
Swakopmund
5. Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg
Top 5 Weirdest foods:
Yum! The nutty crunch of caterpillars
1. Caterpillar
2. Goat head (sorry, I didn’t get any pictures. I know you all wanted to see)
3. Every animal liver imaginable
4. Traditional drink (some sort of super sweet drink made with Mahangu grains)
5. Freshly slaughtered cow, goat and chicken
Top 5 restaurants in Windhoek:
1. Andy’s (Best pizza in Windhoek)
2. La Bricante (it’s a restaurant in an antique store with live music) Atmosphere 10/10
La Bricante
Live music at La Bricante
3. La Bonne (because French food is always fantastic)
4. Garnish Indian restaurant
5. Sardinia Italian restaurant
Top 5 Activities in Windhoek:
1. Ultimate Frisbee at University of Namibia
The obligatory Post-ultimate selfie with our friend Oscar
2. Internship at Physically Active Youth after school program
My classroom at Physically Active Youth
3. Walks around downtown
Meteorites found in Namibia that are displayed in Windhoek
4. Hiking in the hills
5. Markets: Craft Market, First Quarter Market, Informal Markets
First Quarter Market: home of the delicious kappana meat and fat cakes
Top 5 Concerts:
1. Windhoek Unplugged- Warehouse Theater
Fantastic duo called Blend that combines flamenco guitar and spoken word
2. Open Mic Night- Warehouse Theater
Accompanying my friend Kayla in her spoken word piece
3. International Jazz Day Concert- Franco-Namibian Cultural Center
Suzy Eises performing at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Center for International Jazz Day
4. Song Night- Warehouse Theater
A great group of up and coming musicians at Song Night
5. Live music at random bars and restaurants
Stumbled upon awesome music in Cape Town
Top 5 Adventure Activities:
1. Gorge Swing at Victoria Falls
The Gorge Swing
2. White water Rafting in the Zambezi River
Whitewater Rafting on the Zambezi River
3. Paragliding in Cape Town
Just floating over Cape Town
4. Quadbiking in the Namib Desert
Getting ready to quadbike over the dunes in Namib Desert
5. Surfing in the Atlantic Ocean
Pre-surfing Selfie
Top 5 most beautiful views:
1. Table Mountain, Cape Town, SA
The gorgeous Table Mountain
2. Victoria Falls, Livingstone, ZA
Victoria Falls
3. The Namib Desert, NADEET, NA
Standing on a dune looking out at the desert
4. The vast hills surrounding Windhoek, NA
The hills surrounding Windhoek at Daan Viljoen Game Paek
The hills around the Avis Dam in Windhoek from one of my last days in Namibia
5. The Atlantic Ocean
Hanging out at Muizenberg Beach and the Ocean
Top 5 things I will miss:
1. My amazing and unique group of 19 peers
Group photo in the desert
2. Being able to learn from so many different people and experiences
3. My wonderful, loving, and welcoming homestay families
Me and my two urban homestay brothers
My rural homestay family and I
My crazy homestay family in Soweto and my roommate for the weekend Dashawn
4. Deep conversations by the pool, at the bar, or around the dinner table
Hanging out at the pool discussing life
5. The breathtaking beauty of the land that constantly surrounds me
Southern Africa has challenged my personal beliefs, taught me to look at the world differently, given me the opportunity to grow and try new things, gain a better understanding of what my future might entail, and create a group of life-long friends.
One of my last sunsets in Namibia from the top of a mountain I forged a path up
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