Has it really been over a year?!

It’s hard to believe it has been over a year since I returned from Africa. As 2008 ended, so did “Kelly’s African Journey”… or so I thought. As best I could, I kept everyone up to date during my journey. What a journey… an adventure of a lifetime. Think about it, I touched and walked along side lion cubs in Zimbabwe, fed a herd of rescued elephants by hand, stood within 30 feet of white rhinos in the wild, felt the mist of Victoria Falls…one of the seven natural wonders of the world, tackled class five white water rafting on both the Zambezi and the Nile, went trekking with the rare and endangered mountain gorillas of Uganda and was even charged by a Silverback, hiked through the beautiful rainforests of Kibale National Park (which has the largest population of chimps and primates in the world), traveled alone on a public bus on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo, camped in the Serengeti, hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro, spent time with the Massai tribe, drove through the Ngorogor Crater in an open roof Land Rover, had a near plane crash (both engines were out at one point and we were instructed to put on our life jackets as we were hovering above Lake Victoria), lived out on Zanzibar Island for over a month where I participated in an International Coral Reef Clean-up program, went scuba diving with spinning dolphins and whales, rescued a dog from being stoned, drove along the coast of South Africa where you could see whales swimming in the ocean from your car window and visited a penguin colony, hiked the top of Table Mountain in Cape town and volunteered at iKaya Likababa, a home for abandoned babies and orphans in Kwazulu National South Africa.

Before leaving for this journey I was approached by many friends and family with concern over how I would adapt to living in Africa. Let’s face it, I was a fairly high maintenance and slightly spoiled American woman… use to designer shoes, business suites, air conditioning and frequent trips to the spa. I was giving it all up to follow my passion… to follow my heart. Did I adapt… very well, thank you very much. What I didn’t realize is my biggest challenge would be adjusting to life back in America.

I sort of abandoned my blog once leaving Africa. A final post to “Kelly’s African Journey” would have meant that my journey had ended. This was something I could not accept. During my time in Africa I was constantly receiving signs that this was exactly where I was supposed to be at this point in my life. I came across many opportunities and knew that somehow I would be coming back….. and now the time has come!

I am sitting in the lounge at Dulles International waiting to board a flight back to Uganda. I have been working in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda Tourism Association and tour operators to build their tourism brand and increase visitors to the National Parks. Tourism is one of the top revenue sources and provides many jobs for Ugandans and supports many conservation efforts such as protection of the endangered mountain gorillas. It has been an amazing ride… New York, D.C., L.A. London and now back to Uganda.

I plan to spend about three weeks in Uganda, and then I will head down to Durban, South Africa for Indaba… Africa’s largest travel trade show. I’ve also managed to squeeze in a one week visit with my friends from iKaya Likababa. I really want to visit my friends (and the lions!) from Antelope Park, the African Lion Environmental Research Trust and Zanzibar, but my schedule is just too tight. But that’s o-kay… I have a feeling I’ll be coming back again!