The final countdown

“The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it” –George HT Kimble

On double-wide lined rule paper in pained cursive I wrote a report on a type of chameleon that inhabited Madagascar Island, when I was in the first grade. The allure of this island, part of a continent so removed and unalike my own, had great appeal to me as a child. How was it possible this other world existed? Was there a girl my age struggling to write in cursive a report for school while discovering new parts of the world? Did my parents know about it? The known world to me was limited to Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. I wish I could remember how I felt sitting at a table in the public library with an encyclopedias a librarian had looked up for me on the old filing system back when all the names of books were stored in a roldex, before it all become so impersonalized and technologized. Back when libraries still had that aromatic musky scent of wisdom and poetry. When at the end of summer you received a personal-sized pizza from Pizza Hut for every 10 days you had read.

I told my teacher and my mother with all that astute seriousness we feel as children, certain that we are the only ones that control our lives and that love, life, babies, cars, rent, and careers will never get in the way our dreams, that one day I would travel to this place. And it seems, 18 years later, that that time has arrived.

My service as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer on Santiago Island, Cape Verde ends August 31, 2011. On Sunday August 28, 2011 my counterpart Maria is planning a dispida, going away party, for me. It will be one last bittersweet time for me to gorge on the standard festa, party foods (Xerem-corn dish served like grits, bodi-goat, fejão-beans) likely be some traditional batuka, dancing and despite my insistency not to,the older donnas, women may wail in anticipation of my departure.

This was the plan until yesterday, when the results of the presidential election were counted. The original vote was two weeks ago but none of the 3 or 4 candidates won by a majority so there was a re-vote between the two candidates of the most popular parties, MpD and PAICV. The new President is a member of MpD which came as a shock to many people; as the Prime Minister who was elected in February 2011 is PAICV and because PAICV has been in control in Cape Verde consistently for the last 15 years (?) My town is a new concelho, city, created in 2005 and its city hall has always been administered by PAICV. The president of our city hall was harassed the day of the vote and he is considering leaving the country for a few weeks until things calm down. Maria is nervous as well as she is family of the city hall president. Peace Corps Volunteers are prohibited from having political views and truly I have no interest in what party is power, it just makes an interesting context for my departure.

The fleeting following days are going to be a mess of exit-interviews, good-byes, travelling back and forth from Praia (capital) to Orgãos (my town), and giving way all my tee-shirts, half-used lotions, and Peace Corps Volunteers fighting over my pillows (I have American pillows-they are a commodity).

I fly to the island of São Vincente on September 1, 2011 where I will spend one night in a hotel, not daring to challenge the gritty metropolitan capital by myself. On September 2, 2011 I will battle my seasickness- acquired while living in Cape Verde, on a boat across the choppy Atlantic Ocean to the farthest Northern island in the Cape Verdean archipelago, Santo Antão. Santo Antão is often referred to as the most specular, most beautiful island because to its dramatic mountain peaks and valleys. In fact it is impossible to fly to the island directly because the mountain peaks create too much wind. After a week of hiking and reflection on two years of service, I will fly back to Praia, the capital of my island, Santiago.

September 8, 2011 the adventure truly begins. With a mold-covered backpack covered and two friends, who will also be Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, we will fly one-way to Dakar, Senegal. For the last two years, Jon and Brendan have been critical parts of my support system in-country, tireless sources of sympathy and advice as well as drunken adventures (grog and milk?) and bad decisions. To put it into perspective any Volunteer in Cape Verde would understand, both have held permanent positions on my POWA (Cape Verdean cell phone calling plan that allows you to select a group of people to call at a discounted rate).

This is the beginning of our three-month tour throughout Africa. We have purchased return flights to Washington, D.C. for December 15. That means I anticipate friends around the D.C. area to be prepared for a reunion night out on Saturday, December 16 2011. The itinerary is rough, our spirits optimistic, pockets currently full with all that sweet readjustment allowance and cash in-lieu of flights home, and all is likely to change. Here is a very brief overview of our plan, if you are interested in a more detailed itinerary I’d be happy to e-mail you one.

99 days of travel. Ready? Go (and don’t forget your malaria prophylaxis)
THE WEST
September 8- 18 SENEGAL
Highlights: Dakar, Saint Louis (North)-Colonial feel, the former French capital, old architecture, jazz music. Possibly Palmarin (South) kayaking through mangrove swamps

September 18-24 GUINEA BISSAU
Highlights: Only other African country that speaks Portuguese Kriolu as Guinea Bissau and CV used to be one country, Arquipélago dos Bijagos- series of idyllic islands, saltwater hippos, and crocs

September 24/25-October 4 MALI
Highlights: Dogon Country-ancient villages carved out of rocks and cliffs, people known for elaborate rituals, river boat along the scenic Niger River, Djenne- large mud hut, World Heritage Site

October 4- October 12 GHANA
Highlights: Large out-door market in Accra, Cape Coast- Castle built by Dutch and Swedish “Hippie central, Mole National Park beautiful and secluded safari walk, huge slave quarters

THE EAST AND THE SOUTH
October 12-21 TANZANIA
Highlights: Ngorongoro Crater world's largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera, safaris, Mt. Kilimanjaro-Africa’s highest mountain, Zanzibar-former Arab capital in E Africa/important trading location, has beautiful beaches

October 18- 25 ZAMBIA
Highlights: Train from Dar Es Salaam to Victoria Falls, Zambia. Victoria Falls spans nearly 2km and drops over a 100m cliff. White-water rafting on the Zambezi River

October 25-November 1 MOZAMBIQUE
Highlights: Archipélago de Bazaruto - tropical paradise, turquoise waters and shoals of colorful fish, Montes Chimanimani - cool, dense forests shelter secluded valleys and traditional cultures

November 1-15 SOUTH AFRICA
Highlights: Cage diving with Great White Sharks near Cape Town, Simon’s Town to see the penguins, Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve-where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans were thought to meet, Garden Route along the coast, Kruger National Park. Possible trips to LESOTHO or SWAZILAND

November 15-22 NAMIBIA
Highlights: Namib Desert, Fish River Canyon, towering red dunes of Sossusvlei and Dune 45, Etosha National Park-one of Africa's most unusual national parks, where herds of wildlife congregate against an eerie bleached-white backdrop

November 23-DECEMBER 12/13 MADAGASCAR
Highlights: Village of Betafo in Antsirabe- interesting highland town, rolling mountains, fishermen use bamboo rods, thermal baths. Volcanic lakes, rice paddies, lemurs

December 13-15 SOUTH AFRICA
Return to Johannesburg, South Africa to fly back to Washington D.C. December 15, 2011