Reverse Culture Shock

Zanzibar red colobus monkey chewing on a leaf. Colobus monkeys have only four fingers on their hands - no  thumb.  Doesn't seem to slow them down one bit, though.

It's normal, I'm told, upon coming home after a long trip. That feeling that something essential has suddenly gone missing. (Or maybe that's putting it a bit strongly -- it's more like something's just a bit off.) Thoughts like, "I never smile at strangers on the street here!" Or "It's so boring to live in a city where I understand what everyone says." (And then, right after I thought that, two guys walked past me on the street speaking rapid Spanish. So, yeah, I really shouldn't be complaining. I get that.)

Anyway, to answer the question that people keep asking me, Africa was amazing. Incredible. So great and fun and eye-opening and jaw-dropping that really, there should be an adjective reserved just for it. And then I might have a chance of conveying exactly how mind-blowing it all was.

You know, like the time when I found myself dancing on a stage with some of the best dancers I have ever seen as well as a huge snake. Yes. Or the fact that I have certainly never seen so many sunrises in one month before. Or the time we were charged by the matriarch of a wild herd of elephants. I could go on.

Sure, sometimes it was hot. Sometimes it was incredibly dusty. We both got sunburned and mosquito-bit. We ate with our hands. We sat in a truck for 12 hours on bumpy roads. Most nights we slept on two inch pads in canvas tents we put up ourselves, in campsites we had only recently arrived in, and at the end, yes, we felt a bit like we might need a vacation from our vacation.

But I have to tell you something. It took me ten minutes to write that paragraph, because I had such a hard time thinking of anything negative about the trip.

I posted this photo in black and white on my Facebook page. I'd be interested to know which version you like better.

So, all of that to say, we're back. And glad to be back home. But I'd go back to Africa in a heartbeat, and I've spent the past few days trying to figure out exactly when we can make that happen. Until then, I have about 9,000 pictures to go through, cull, and edit, so expect more blog posts.

Lush vegetation in Ngorongoro crater. 

(PS It's driving me a bit crazy, but these last two photos refuse to center themselves, so I'm giving up. Sorry!)