the thrill of flight

I have just returned from my spring/fall break trip to kwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland and Mozambique. I will save details for when I have pictures, but for now I can give just a few (of many) highlights:

-I got lots of practice speaking Afrikaans; despite being sort of drunk most of the times I spoke, native speakers gave me lots of compliments and told me that I "praat baie goed Afrikaans"
-My three traveling companions and I got lost in our rental car in Zululand in a dark rain
-I got asked on a date by a five-foot tall man at the Swaziland border; unfortunately I could not accept as we were only staying in Swaziland for a day and a half
-I ran on a farm in beautiful Swaziland and watched the sun set
-I went deep sea fishing and watched a wahoo be caught in Mozambique (although we didn't catch it ourselves, we enjoyed the fish braaied for dinner and it was amazing)
-Thanks to doxycycline and particularly strong Mozambican sun, I am nearly five shades darker than I was when I left Cape Town
-I drove on the other side of the road in the terrifying city of Maputo

the highlight of my trip, however, was handling the controls of the island-hopper plane over the Indian Ocean from Maputo to Inhaca Island. I asked the pilot (who turned out to be 22 years old and someone we ended up hanging out with a lot once in Inhaca) if I could sit in the copilot seat; when I told him I was interested in getting a pilot's license, he offered to take off and land and let me control the plane for the 10 minutes over the ocean. Whatever words I type can't describe how thrilling, incredible and exciting it was to hold each side of the yoke, feel the plane's nose rise as I pulled back, and look out the window at the ocean below me and REALIZE I WAS CONTROLLING AN AIRPLANE.

On our way back to Maputo, our pilot Simon offered us to take us on a little bit of a joyride where we flew just a few meters above the beach and got to experience levitating cellphones/hats/bodies through negative g-force. Unfortunately, due to afternoon turbulence and a complete lack of experience, Simon let me make the flight and approach into Maputo, but he took the controls for the landing (I was really happy to hand them back after feeling a big turbulent bump).

I am completely enamored with the idea of flying right now. After years of watching my dad fly, I have always kept it in the back of my mind that I'd like to get a pilot's license. The thrill of my short flight in Mozambique has given me complete determination to do it.