As luck would have it, I was offered a great opportunity at the end of November to attend a Foreign Service housing conference in Johannesburg. When I heard a close colleague that was previously in Nouakchott would be attending, we quickly connected and planned a girls adventure to compliment our work related activities. Having never ventured this far South in Africa, nor been on a Safari, that’s how we started off the trip.

Actually, it started by getting to South Africa, and wouldn’t you know it, travelling in Africa isn’t easy. You might remember a post from Nick a few months ago where he went to Cote D’Ivoire, a 2 hour flight as the canary flies, that turned into a 3 stop Africa bus experience on Air Mauritania that took 7 hours. Well, to fly to South Africa from Mauritania, you actually have to fly north to Paris, then back down to South Africa. This is because outside of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, there aren’t really any connected hubs to the rest of this huge continent, so it’s usually faster to fly to Paris or Istanbul and then fly back down elsewhere. I guess it makes some sense when you consider how big Africa is. Sitting here in Nouakchott I am closer to America than I am South Africa.

Once in Johannesburg, we hopped on a small plane to Kruger National Park, that is nestled along the border with Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which combined with the other two countries makes the largest game reserve in the world.

We stayed in a lovely B&B and the tours of the park didn’t disappoint. We were able to see lions, leopards, elephants, hippo’s, giraffes, and a plethora of other animals during our tour, and it really was a once in a lifetime experience.

Following the safari we went back to Johannesburg for our work conference, which was so informative. I still am blown away how much the State Department has invested in me, far more than any other job I have ever had. Being an employed EFM sometimes has a stigma of being a second class citizen in the grand scheme of operations, but that has certainly not been the case in Nouakchott, where I feel like we are and treated as essential members of the operation.

After the conference, we took a brief trip down to Cape Town, where we enjoyed the fine wine and wildlife there as well (PENGUINS!!!). Although Johannesburg didn’t really appeal to me as a city, Cape Town was absolutely wonderful, and I would definitely come back. It aesthetically was absolutely lovely, the people were friendly, and there wasn’t a pervasive culture of fear in the city that felt palpable in Johannesburg. 10/10 would recommend.

The end of the trip featured me heading back to Paris, only to come back down to Africa, but the long journey gave me a lot of time to reflect on how lucky I have been to have these opportunities, and how fortunate I am to work with great leadership at our embassy that values our training and development. It was an unforgettable experience. -Angeli