I’ve said this before, and I’m pretty sure this will be the idea behind the first sentence of every review post, but Wow, this gap year is going so quickly. I can’t believe I left the States three months ago. It’s been yet another exciting month of travel, and I’m pretty pumped about my latest adventures.

A review of countries I’ve stepped foot in:

Italy
Egypt*
Jordan
Qatar*
Kenya
Uganda*
Rwanda
DR Congo
Ethiopia*
Malawi
*Countries visited due to transit- only stayed 1 night in each of these.

Here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to this past month:

1. Traveled to Mombasa where I stayed in a treehouse and was greeted every morning by monkeys.
2. Took a 24 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Kigali via Uganda where an argument broke out over a man trying to steal a pair of shoes.
3. Made a failed attempt at the Kigali Half-Marathon (I’m trying to block this one from my memory)
4. Went gorilla tracking in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda
5. Headed over to the Democratic Republic of Congo to trek Nyiragongo Volcano, a volcano with a 2 km wide crater and an active lava lake that’s only been reopened for three months.
6. Had a miserable experience with Ethiopian Airlines. Never. Ever. Again.
7. Made a change in itinerary and headed to Malawi (via terrible aforementioned airline). Me? Bitter? Not at all ;)

It seems to have been the month of irresponsibility for me. I lost the following items just in the past month:

1. Ipod/Skype headphones: Left in hostel in Nairobi May 18.
2. Travel towel: Left in hotel in Kigali on May 26. Luckily I bought a laso in Kenya (thin piece of fabric) that works perfectly as a travel towel.
3. Contact solution.: It virtually all leaked out in transit to Kigali and I couldn’t find any to replace it. Geek in glasses here I come. Woohoo.
4. Stainless steel water bottle: Left in hotel in Kigali June 2.
5. Travel spoon: Threw it out in Kigali Airport accidentally June 3.

I tried to retrieve the travel towel and water bottle with a return visit but no luck. I was able to replace my headphones easily enough in Kigali and the contact solution took a week, but I finally bought some from an optician in Lilongwe.

Now for the sad news: I am about to lose internet. For several weeks! I have a modem that is locked to one specific company. I finally got an unlocking code for it, but the program I need to run in order to unlock, well I can only find a PC version. Boo. Internet access is very limited in Malawi outside of Lilongwe, so I just don’t think I have much of an option. Had I realized just how difficult the internet would be, I would have scheduled posts to publish during this time. Unfortunately, you will not be hearing from me for a few weeks. I’m heading to Monkey Bay tomorrow to volunteer for two weeks, then taking a ferry up Lake Malawi to visit Nkhata Bay for a few days. I promise I’m not falling off the face of the Earth, however if you feel the need, you can always email me to tell me how much you’ve missed me while I’m gone! Talk to you in a few weeks!

Interested in reading my last RTW travel reviews? You can find them here:
RTW Travel: Two Months In
RTW Travel: One Month In