It's been four years since we started the process of moving to South Africa. Almost
Four Years in Paradise. And now
our Great Migration to Africa is coming to an end.
But we're not returning to the USA quite yet. We are off to our next adventure in ...
Singapore!
Yep, we are on the move again. A new city
and a new continent! I have mixed feelings about it actually. I have really enjoyed our time here in Africa. As a matter of fact
I've loved it! And I haven't seen or done nearly everything I wanted to do while we were living here. There are still some 550
wine estates alone that we haven't
visited! And I never made it to Ethiopia or Madagascar as I'd hoped. (But guess what? They will still be here for a return visit.)
But we have had some
incredible experiences and
exciting adventures. We have seen many
natural wonders and
marvelous forces of nature and we've had up-close and personal moments with
rhinos,
penguins,
meerkats,
nesting turtles,
gorillas and
sharks. We have explored
the heavens above and crawled deep
below the earth. We have challenged ourselves
in the sky,
on the land and
in the sea. We have scaled
a few hills and
high mountains, but we still know our
limits!
This has been a unique time to be living in South Africa too. In
Johannesburg, we have seen first-hand the
amazing renaissance happening right now in the Joburg CBD and while
living in Cape Town, we have seen it bloom as a
world class design and
tourist destination. We have been here for so many important historical events like
the passing of Nelson Mandela and the discovery of
Homo naledi as well as historic cultural events such as
Trevor Noah taking over the Daily Show in the USA and the first ever performances in South Africa by
Bruce Springsteen and
Dave Matthews.
We have really tried to
"dig" into the diverse cultural landscape here, whether it be
Ndebele,
Zulu,
Akrikaner,
Cape Malay,
Indian,
English,
Khomani San, or even the
lost culture of Mapungubwe. We have met so many
inspirational,
amazing and
lovely people along the way and even made
dear friends. It will be sad to say goodbye but saying au revoir is still better than if we hadn't made
their acquaintances altogether,
n'est-ce pas? (I think so.) We have
expanded our pan-African palate and shown some South Africans
how it's done where we hail from. We have
tried to fit in ... but
we know who we are! And there was just enough
art,
music,
theatre and
dance to keep this self-professed culture whore
relatively satisfied.
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| kangaroos! |
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| wombat! |
I will especially miss having the African bush at
our doorstop. We will be trading in
our beloved safaris to see the African Big Five -
Rhinos,
Lions,
Cape Buffalo,
Elephants and
Leopards - for
new safaris to see what I am calling the Asian Big Five plus Orangutans - Sumatran Rhinos, Tigers, Water Buffalo, Asian Elephants, Snow Leopards plus Orangutans. Living in Africa has certainly
changed me and I hope I've changed Africa a little for the better with
my conservation volunteering.
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| Vince in Phuket |
But the good news is there is still much of Asia left for us to explore.
Vince's beat will stretch from India in the west to Japan in the east,
China in the north to New Zealand in the south. We will get a deeper
understanding of the cultures in the parts of Asia we have already visited and there are
plenty of new destinations to explore. (For instance, I have always wanted to go to
Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Borneo - all a stone's throw
from Singapore.)
Not to mention some of the best scuba diving in the world! (Good thing
Vince got all his paperwork in order for the
Sardine Run in June and
Zanzibar in September.) For me, Asia has
whales! And Singapore is only a Pacific Ocean away from our sons on the
west coast of the United States with plenty of islands in between for us to meet up for holidays. Christmas in Hawaii next year?
Blogging has been a great experience and the results will serve as a comprehensive journal of our time here in Africa. But I will definitely
not be blogging from my new digs in Singapore. For one thing, just about the time I am settled in Singapore I am committed to embark on a new blog where I will chronicle my
Antarctica adventure as part of the 2041 Foundation's International Antarctic Expedition in March.
And secondly, I won't need it.
I started The Great Wildebeest Migration blog to help me manage my own feelings about pulling up stakes and moving to the other side of the world far away from
family, friends and the familiar. I am not in the same place moving from
South Africa to Singapore, both literally and figuratively. So I will wind this blog down over the next couple of months and say good-bye to blogging about my expat adventures as well as living in South Africa!
We're off on our next adventure on the "Road to Singapore."
The crew of Hokule'a made landfall on the African continent in mid-October arriving in Maputo, Mozambique. From there, they made their way to Richards Bay in South Africa before stopping in Mossel Bay where they visited Pinnacle Point, an archaeological site where some of the oldest known hominin fossils have been unearthed. From there, Hokule'a rounded Cape Agulhas, the southern most point on the continent of Africa. 
I would have loved to have been there to see Aloha meet Ubuntu in person, but unfortunately the timing was just not on my side. I am encouraged though to know that at least it did happen. 
Blogging has been a great experience and the results will serve as a comprehensive journal of our time here in Africa. But I will definitely not be blogging from my new digs in Singapore. For one thing, just about the time I am settled in Singapore I am committed to embark on a new blog where I will chronicle my Antarctica adventure as part of the 2041 Foundation's International Antarctic Expedition in March.