South Africa

Kayci Baldwin

South Africa (ZASD)

Upon meeting my travel group at the John F. Kennedy Airport, I knew that I would be spending the next five weeks with some pretty amazing people. We were all so different from one another, but we were instantly pulled together by our sheer excitement to be there. As we got to know each other playing card games on the terminal floor, and blurted out our hopes and expectations for the whirlwind journey we were about to begin. I, for one, wanted to experience South Africa in its entirety. I wanted to hear, see, taste, smell and feel this nation and everything in it. I worried I was being too ambitious, but from the moment our plane landed in Capetown, my senses were set on fire.

To hear South Africa is the charming clamor of Green Market Square. The nation's twelve dialects could be heard everywhere and with a gorgeous South African accent, which just makes everything pleasing to listen to. I'll never grow tired of the music I was introduced to, nor will the echoes of our drumming ceremony in Capetown ever fade from my memory. The sounds of South Africa left my ears wanting for nothing.

To see South Africa is to gaze upon the magic of Capetown with the surreal natural beauty of Tabletop Mountain, acting as the perfect backdrop to the aesthetic metropolitan haven that lies below. The colors of the setting sun over the greenery of Kruger National Park are forever etched in my memory. My eyes were elated with all there was to see.

To taste South Africa is almost indescribable. The curry on the humongous sandwich called a Gatsby and the delicious cups of coffee that I practically inhaled at a little coffee shop on the waterfront, paled in comparison to the Cadbury chocolate and various biscuits I purchased at almost every pit stop. However, no chocolate in the world could match the mouth-watering breads and fatcakes that my home stay mom lovingly baked for my lunches each day. The delectable tastes were almost unreal.

To smell South Africa is to breathe in the best of aromas and the worst of odors. I inhaled the crisp salty air on the Western Cape, and wished that pictures could capture scents along with landscapes. It was hard to avoid an occasional whiff of baboon droppings during a hike, but that smell made the fragrance the laundry detergent left on the hotel sheets even warmer and more inviting each and every night.

To touch South Africa is to feel the wings of an ostrich fall across your lap as you grasp its furry neck riding the bird around a farm. It's hopping in the shower as soon as you get to a new hotel or road lodge, yes to wash your hair, but mostly to see how the water pressure here compares to the last shower you took. It's rubbing your 57 bug bites, trying hard not to scratch and wishing you'd remembered to but on your bug spray last night. It's a loving embrace from a homestead parent, when you've been craving a mom hug since you left yours teary-eyed in a New York City airport terminal.

To love South Africa is gaining a deep appreciation of its land, culture and people. It's learning of the horrors of apartheid, picking up the art of haggling in local markets and seeing the world in brand new light. It's discovering that even the most hopeful of experimenters had underestimated all that South Africa and the Experiment had to offer.