Out of Africa:

After spending winter/summer . . . the month of January in South Africa and Namibia, it has been good to be back in the States. Mainly because of my constant access to Internet. Precious, precious Internet. Sure, I miss the warm weather, the beaches, the delicious meat, and the fine (yet inexpensive) wine, but in Boston there's . . . damn.

So, now that I'm back, here are the highlights of my adventures (Reader's Digest version)

After traveling for approximately 22 hours, we arrived in Cape Town. The next day, we took our rental car (Mercedes Benz, aka "Elegance") on our road trip to Namibia -- the land of contrast! And it certainly did live up to its name. Sure, some people know it for where Angelina popped a squat to shoot out a baby, but it's a vibrant, beautiful land. Maybe I'll get a beach house there. I saw quite a bit of undeveloped property. We also got to go on safari -- again taking Elegance -- where we saw 3 of the Big Five (we saw elephants, rhinos, and lions, but not buffalo or leopards). In addition, we saw other wonderfully African animals: giraffe, zebra, ostrich, kudu, springbok, impala, jackal, hyena, warthog, wildebeest. After our magical African Safari, we came back to Cape Town. We arrived in our apartment in Green Point (aka "don't go out at night"), just off of Tranny Hooker Alley. While my roommates worked at the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (or something like that), I worked at the National Prosecuting Authority. Yay, prosecutors! It was especially interesting because there has been a lot of political and legal drama in South Africa, mainly surrounding corruption charges against the President-elect and the Police Commissioner. I sure hope that all gets sorted out. Beyond the job, there was lots of free time and wonderful things to do! I got to see the penguins, at Boulders Beach; we hiked up Table Mountain (due to a late breakfast of bad eggs and the midday sun, I lost my lunch about halfway up); we toured the Winelands (which unfortunately, I did not get to participate in as fully as I would have like to because of my recovery from malaria -- while my diagnosis was not "confirmed" by a "doctor" I had a fever of 38º, nausea, and dizziness: all symptoms of malaria. I am a survivor.); and we spent many an afternoon to evening at the beach, enjoying the weather and our "sundowners" (drinks at sundown). Perhaps the best part of the trip was the food and wine. South African wine is excellent (especially the pinotage, a South African grape varietal that's a little different) and damned inexpensive. And the food is out of this world, especially if you like meat. Here it is, ranked in order of tastiness:

• Wildebeest
• Ostrich
• Springbok
• Kudu
• Warthog
• Oryx/Gemsbok

And they're damn cute, too! So if you like eating animals, drinking cheap wine (not Franzia or Sutter Home), wonderful weather, and political corruption, then South Africa is the place for you!