January 8th 2003

Hi everyone,

I am back from vacation and had have a lot of fun. On this vacation I got to play in the water at the bottom of a waterfall, hang out in the beach, swim in two different oceans, go on a couple nice walks, bunji jump off of a very high bridge, went to a big game park and partied a lot. Seven of us Peace Corps Volunteers went on vacation. We rented a mini-bus and took off. During the course of about two and a half weeks we stayed in six different places. I was staying in dorm type style rooms with about six people per room on average and the bed in the room cost from about five to eight dollars a night depending where I stayed. We partied quite a bit and it sure seemed with all the intoxicants my friends did they all seemed considerably less smarter at the beginning of the trip than at the end of it but they had fun and I did too. I saw some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen in this two weeks. I now know why the Europeans came here so long ago and wanted to stay. Most of Africa might not be that hospital of a place but parts of South Africa are much like a paradise. I have so many pictures to send that I don't know quite how to send them but I am planning on trying. I thought going into this vacation that it might be up unto this point the best one of my life and it was definitely pretty close.

About half of the vacation was spent in Capetown. The city is one of the best I have been in. It has a grandness to it maybe like a mix between Washington DC and a New Orleans. The Street we were staying on was called Long Street and it designed in a style of Bourbon Street with it clubs, bars, and little shops all with balconies that over look the street but a lot cleaner. During the week of staying there our car did get broken into which put a bit of damper on the attitude of the day later on which proved to have another twist to it when the car broke down but we did finally get everything taken care of and we kept of vacationing. I am enclosing two pictures one of me at a waterfall which I am going to consider my first real waterfall which I got to even get pounded right underneath a quite considerable amount of falling water and one of me on Christmas morning early after having stayed out late on Christmas Eve dancing part of the night away at a club. Love ya'll. Jeff