Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Little Things
Another incredible day! You may have noticed I spent the morning honing my blogging skills (if anyone knows how to rid my slideshows of those pesky ads please shout out). I'll paraphrase the next bit to protect assistant parties - but the afternoon was spent charming a local health clinic into giving me a certificate I need to more easily cross some of the borders ahead of me. It was a true insight into the workings of Africa.
For those who don't know, my rough itinerary is to spend a week here in Kenya with family before setting off for a month of volunteering and sightseeing in nearby Tanzania. I'll be based in Moshi, at the foot of Kiliamjaro and do trips to the Serengeti, N'gorongoro crater, camp with the Masai, and spend a few days relaxing in Zanzibar. I'll then head to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, to spend a month with family and volunteer there also. Then it's back to Zanziber for a 35 day overland trip through Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa. Notable sights include Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, Okavango Delta, the sand dunes of Namibia... but so so so much more! Well worth tuning into the blog, for a lunch-time break perhaps, as I plan to take you with me as best I can.
Anyway enough of plans, and more on present. One thing to know about Africa is that it can get COLD. I have worn and reworn the few cosy items I fortuitously packed and have a sneaking suspicion they'll be the first to need patching along the way. With no cloud cover the nights can get very chilly, but with the altitude of much of Kenya and Tanzania the days can be cool too. It is also a lush, green country so far - not the dry, arid landscape of my expectations. The colour here is incredible, in fact I'm tempted to allocate an entire slideshow to the myriad flowers in Wendy and Rob's garden alone. I'm talking fluro and vivid, and an olfactory buffet!
The people of Africa are just as colourful and take great pride in their appearance. I've noticed they often have matching tops & bottoms, and Wendy informs me they think white people are quite daggy sometimes! They have beautiful hair, intricately braided and often highlighted in all sorts of colours. They are friendly and extremely polite - no wonder my Grandma Marjie, who raised my Dad in Zimbabwe, was so big on her pleases, thank yous, pardons and you're welcomes - manners are essential here.
There is so much to tell you but I'd hate to daunt you with the length of each entry. I will save the maniacal roads of Nairobi till another day, except to say I'm yet to head out and not see an accident! Anyone who laments Bondi Road on a Summer Saturday would count their blessings after navigating Nairobi in peak hour.
The highlight of my day yesterday is best left to the slide-show above. Nothing could compare to the long, warm, slimey, blue tongue of a Giraffe. Beyond words. We visited Giraffe Manor, home of the famous Rothschild Giraffes who poke their heads in the window as you enjoy breakfast in the morning. Highly recommended hotel for any friends looking for a decadent and romantic holiday with a difference!
Give Harvey Bear a snuggle for me...
xx
For those who don't know, my rough itinerary is to spend a week here in Kenya with family before setting off for a month of volunteering and sightseeing in nearby Tanzania. I'll be based in Moshi, at the foot of Kiliamjaro and do trips to the Serengeti, N'gorongoro crater, camp with the Masai, and spend a few days relaxing in Zanzibar. I'll then head to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, to spend a month with family and volunteer there also. Then it's back to Zanziber for a 35 day overland trip through Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa. Notable sights include Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, Okavango Delta, the sand dunes of Namibia... but so so so much more! Well worth tuning into the blog, for a lunch-time break perhaps, as I plan to take you with me as best I can.
Anyway enough of plans, and more on present. One thing to know about Africa is that it can get COLD. I have worn and reworn the few cosy items I fortuitously packed and have a sneaking suspicion they'll be the first to need patching along the way. With no cloud cover the nights can get very chilly, but with the altitude of much of Kenya and Tanzania the days can be cool too. It is also a lush, green country so far - not the dry, arid landscape of my expectations. The colour here is incredible, in fact I'm tempted to allocate an entire slideshow to the myriad flowers in Wendy and Rob's garden alone. I'm talking fluro and vivid, and an olfactory buffet!
The people of Africa are just as colourful and take great pride in their appearance. I've noticed they often have matching tops & bottoms, and Wendy informs me they think white people are quite daggy sometimes! They have beautiful hair, intricately braided and often highlighted in all sorts of colours. They are friendly and extremely polite - no wonder my Grandma Marjie, who raised my Dad in Zimbabwe, was so big on her pleases, thank yous, pardons and you're welcomes - manners are essential here.
There is so much to tell you but I'd hate to daunt you with the length of each entry. I will save the maniacal roads of Nairobi till another day, except to say I'm yet to head out and not see an accident! Anyone who laments Bondi Road on a Summer Saturday would count their blessings after navigating Nairobi in peak hour.
The highlight of my day yesterday is best left to the slide-show above. Nothing could compare to the long, warm, slimey, blue tongue of a Giraffe. Beyond words. We visited Giraffe Manor, home of the famous Rothschild Giraffes who poke their heads in the window as you enjoy breakfast in the morning. Highly recommended hotel for any friends looking for a decadent and romantic holiday with a difference!
Give Harvey Bear a snuggle for me...
xx
Monday, August 30, 2010
Nairobi National Park
After a yummy breakky of criossants and lime-drenched paw paw Rob packed a picinic and off we went, bound for Nairobi National Park. At the gate to the park was a big meeting area where families casually lounged on the grass amoungst the... warthogs! A funny sight indeed, made all the funnier by a big sign that read: "Warthogs and Children Have Right of Way"! As we entered the park we were told there were six lions with a fresh kill at area 17 and so we had our destination.
Barely 2 minutes in and we stumbled on a herd of Zebra - about 100 of them. I couldn't believe the sheer numbers. Wendy is an invaluable source of information and commentated everything we saw. Apparently there are many theories as to why Zebras have their black & white coats (none of which is camouflage like so many other African animals) and one includes that a herd of zebra create a confusing optical illusion for predators who are unable to distinguish vulnerable individuals from the herd.
After unsuccessfully willing the nearby ostriche to do a mating dance, we moved on. Just round the corner and straight into a trio of giraffe! Wendy explained that the Acacia trees, to prevent the Giraffe eating all their leaves and killing them, emit tannins when the Giraffe starts to feast. After about 20 minutes the leaves become too bitter and Harold & friends must move on to the next tree. Amazing.
We stopped by a watering hole to eat our lunch & enjoyed the smaller animals at play. A turtle-like creature sunning on the rocks, a bird devouring a catfish half the size of itself. Major heartburn!
As the sun fought through the clouds we opened the top of the truck and I spent the rest of the day with a birds eye view and the wind in my hair, admiring everything Rob & Wendy pointed out (they have eyes like eagles!)
Those lions proved very elusive until finally we noticed a few cars gathered by a spot we'd only just passed. Sure enough, barely visible under a bush, was the head of a young female. Panting with contentment of a recent feed. As we watched, slight movement indicated another one a few feet away. And then another, and then another! We were barely 5 metres away yet they were almost impossible to spot. They had definitely spotted us though!
The national park is incredible and Wendy was pleased to see how many African families were out enjoying their backyard. The circling vultures brought land and sky together and made it a bit easier to spot where the lions might be.
We had a beautiful buzzy dinner at an Indian restaurant with Wendys lovely Aussie doctor friend Lou, and her stepdaughter. Was great to see the far reaches of good old Aussie banter.
Another deep sleep and it was up today for a day of rest. Well, till this afternoon when we'll visit the baby giraffes!
Flick Harvey a hair elastic for me...
Xxx
Sunday, August 29, 2010
An Introduction to Africa
Kenya is everything I imagined and more! I flew in with Mount Kilimanjaro rising out of the clouds on my right, and plains of flat-topped Acacia trees on my left. Iconic Africa.
Wendy and Rob picked me up at the airport and they couldn't be nicer. Fit as fiddles and beyond welcoming they seem very excited to have an Aussie relo to stay.
We took a short cut home along a bumpy road in their fantastic 4wd. Rob locked the doors as the road took us past the poorest slums on one side & the national park on the other. The slums were a sad sight to see, yet everyone we passed flashed us big bright white smiles & enthusiastic waves. This scene of the poor, burgeoning human population encroaching on the wilderness is typical of one of the great problems of Africa...
The house is stunning! The firendly staff greet us happily as do the eccentric dogs. I'm served a scrumptious quiche which we eat outside under the towering trees painted bright with bougainvillea. A squirrel stops by to say a cheeky hello, and then...
The monkeys come! Yes, monkey after monkey jumping from tree to tree above us, curiously checking what we're up to. I couldn't believe it, and Wendy & Rob seem amused by my awe. I try explaining that foreigners often think Australians have Kangaroos in our backyards & we think this is hysterical, but yet in Africa you actually DO have monkeys in your garden. Incredible.
We went out for a lovely dinner at a buzzy local hotspot & I had a delicious lamb tagine. Bit too much wine and I slept like a baby for 12 hours! Apparently this is due to the altitude of Nairobi - 5,000 ft.
We're about to set off for a game drive & picnic in the national park. What a welcome to Africa!!
Give Harvey a kiss for me...
X
Wendy and Rob picked me up at the airport and they couldn't be nicer. Fit as fiddles and beyond welcoming they seem very excited to have an Aussie relo to stay.
We took a short cut home along a bumpy road in their fantastic 4wd. Rob locked the doors as the road took us past the poorest slums on one side & the national park on the other. The slums were a sad sight to see, yet everyone we passed flashed us big bright white smiles & enthusiastic waves. This scene of the poor, burgeoning human population encroaching on the wilderness is typical of one of the great problems of Africa...
The house is stunning! The firendly staff greet us happily as do the eccentric dogs. I'm served a scrumptious quiche which we eat outside under the towering trees painted bright with bougainvillea. A squirrel stops by to say a cheeky hello, and then...
The monkeys come! Yes, monkey after monkey jumping from tree to tree above us, curiously checking what we're up to. I couldn't believe it, and Wendy & Rob seem amused by my awe. I try explaining that foreigners often think Australians have Kangaroos in our backyards & we think this is hysterical, but yet in Africa you actually DO have monkeys in your garden. Incredible.
We went out for a lovely dinner at a buzzy local hotspot & I had a delicious lamb tagine. Bit too much wine and I slept like a baby for 12 hours! Apparently this is due to the altitude of Nairobi - 5,000 ft.
We're about to set off for a game drive & picnic in the national park. What a welcome to Africa!!
Give Harvey a kiss for me...
X
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Kenya bound
I'm going to miss the cable tv (highlight: the smooth African voice that declared "celebrating femininity" every time a female-lead flick came on. Lowlight: the movie about the blonde haired, blue eyed girl who was kidnapped on a foreign tropical island). I won't miss the chemical milk, I will miss the aqua blue water.
Onward to Nairobi!!
Give Harvey a bum scratch for me!
Xxx
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
So Long, Farewell
Day one was a funny day. I was little hazy from the fun family send off at Kilimanjaro restaurant the night before, and then spending half the night packing and repacking my rucksack to include only the essentials for the next seven month. I still toppled over and lay defeated like a beetle on my back when I saddled up the huge load in the morning. Granted it was 4:30am and both mind and body will always stage a mutiny when woken at such an hour, but reality dawned - this was going to be an intense physical challenge!
The goodbyes at the departure gate were intentionally quick - Dad's hug lingered a little longer than usual and Mum and Grandmama's eyes started to well. A quick "ok, let's not make this the airport scene from Love Actually" and a wave and I was off… to Africa!
Utterly exhausted as I settled into my seat for the 14 hour flight to Mauritius, I exhaled to release the stressful months of planning, finalising, farewelling, and ceiling-staring behind me. And then inhaled again in contemplation of the enormity of the adventure of unknown ahead of me.
This trip is as much about knowing what I’m leaving behind as it is not knowing what I’ll find where I’m going. So many people travel to go somewhere, but I think fewer travel to leave somwhere. They aspire to destinations of promise with a pre-conceived notion of what they’ll find. But the mystery of this trip is in taking the few things I know for sure – who I am, how fortunate I am, that I am a social person whose life revolves around people and not things - and seeing how these traits transcend borders of all kinds.
I’m leaving a very good life. A generous and supportive family, friends so versatile and incredible I doubt scouring the four corners could deliver better people, a gorgeous dog, a successful job under a supportive mentor, 5 start travel, French champagne, overflowing wardrobe, glam parties… the perfect life really.
But I have outgrown it and I need to do more with my life. I need to settle my soul by doing something on my own, and by helping people. Watch this space for progress updates!
So… I’ve arrived at stop number 1. The trip was long and the in-flight movies many, but I made my destination safe & sound. Can you believe it - the cab driver I’d spoken to briefly during the 5 minute trip, and who I'd paid in cash, had friend requested me on Facebook by the time I connected to the wireless in my room! It seems some things are universal…
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