Joburg was only a one-night layover and the start of a work trip that involved traveling to five East African countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. Once finished with the work trip, I had a vacation planned in Brangelina’s favorite African country, Namibia. I had been to East Africa before, but I was still nervous. Traveling in East Africa requires patience and composure, and if that doesn’t work, it sometimes requires bribes. So, after just under 22 hours in Joburg visiting friends and napping, I took my sorry self back to the airport and was off to Nairobi, Kenya.

Skyline of Jozi

We hear all these things about Africa being the “Dark Continent” and that it is full of sick, poor and dying people. That is not my Africa. My Africa is full of life, love, music, warm breezes and beauty. I have had the opportunity to travel to Africa four times in 14 months. “Africa” is too broad of a term—we are talking about an entire continent here. I have now been to seven countries (there are more than 50) and each country I go to is unique and each region within each country is diverse. It all started in June of 2006 when a South African grad school friend, Kelly, asked if I wanted to take a holiday with her and her family in Mozambique and the Kruger National Park, South Africa.  I couldn’t turn the opportunity down, and it has changed my life forever.