Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad

Just got back from my first real African vacation. Many adventures that I'll try to wrap up in blog-form. Hopefully without causing too much concern for my past well-being.
SOUTH AFRICA
We began (and ended) our travel in Bloemfontain, a small city in the Free State where I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone version of America. There's malls, shopping centers, franchise foods, movie theaters, and affordable hotels. We rented a car at the airport, saw a movie, and packed up for our journey to Swaziland. It felt great, but strange. No butter on the popcorn? What?
SWAZILAND
No offense Lesotho, but I LOVE SWAZILAND. Beautiful landscape, friendly, chill people, well developed capital (with a Super SPAR). We stayed at a backpackers in Mliwane Nature Reserve which hosts many animals including zebras, hippos, crocs, and monkeys. We took a game drive up to Execution Rock and hiked up to watch the sunset over the mountains with beer in hand. A first sure to be repeated. Riding on the Land Rover back through the reserve, we got the low down on the Zimbabwe crisis from NGO volunteers forced to flee; incredibly interesting and concerning. Craft shopping was another major highlight. Beautiful crafts and easy bargaining in the off-season. However, while driving to the craft center, we discovered we had a flat tire. No worries though. I climbed a tree and sat in the shade waiting while warthogs and impalas strolled by. On our way out of Swazi, we stopped at Hlane National Park and took another game drive; come on, I'm in Africa. We spotted lions (complete with adorable cubs), elephants, white rhinos, hippos and impala. Take that San Diego Zoo visitors!!
MOZAMBIQUE
I like to compare my time in Mozambique to a bad first date, but eventually romance. The chill Swazi atmosphere immediately changed upon crossing the border. The Portuguese influence and coastal breezes gives the country a Latin vibe but the civil war not so long ago left parts wrecked. Like the roads... which we unfortunately discovered when we drove over a huge pothole and dented the rim. Note to anyone travelling abroad: don't let anyone help you unless you're prepared to give them money. We managed to get the spare on and four-wayed our way through the capital with only a slight scuffle handled by our male counterpart. We arrived at our hostel in major need of drinks and showers. The next day we started anew and explored the capital. I was determined to find the ocean and get my fill of the Indian waters. We spotted some beaches and decided we should hang near other people. Shortly after unloading, we discovered the people we decided to sit near were some kind of religious group that bounced in ocean waves, spoke in tongues, and sacrificed live chickens. Luckily I got a quick dip in before the carcass floated by. It was around the time when a wet, tongue speaking man washed up in front of us that we decided it was time to explore the fish market. Here we were bombarded with waiters requesting our presence (money) at their table. We gave up and found a table in the shade. Our waitress took us into the fish market where fishermen bring their catches of the day and the fish are stacked on tables for perusing. We picked out some fish and prawns which the restaurant cleaned and cooked for us. Delicious. The next day we explored the municipal market full of fresh fruit, vegetables, and crafts. We bought the biggest avocado I've ever seen and enjoyed it back at the hostel with Mozambique beer.
A long drive across South Africa ended the journey. I drove through Joburg where I aged about 15 years. But it goes on my "I can't believe I did that in Africa" list. But I'm back. Safe. Happy. Tired. Going to enjoy our Peace Corps Olympics on the fourth. Look forward to the wrap up of events like donkey basketball. Enjoy the holiday. Happy birthday America - you're awesome. I miss you're deliciousness.