Africa!

  Africa, a whole new continent to explore! As soon as we stepped out of the airport in Nairobi, I was impressed. The sweet smell of earth was surprisingly fresh after our time in India. It’s truly amazing what you can get used to! Su had made arrangements to stay with a local Kenyan family through ‘Couchsurfing’, but I was a little apprehensive. We’d had so many responses to our ‘couch request’ from tour companies, or overly friendly men, that I couldn’t help but worry that we might be drugged and robbed. Nairobi has a terrible reputation as the ‘most dangerous city in Africa’, but I couldn’t have been more wrong about Nancy and her husband Jorombo. They picked us up from the airport and took us to their lovely home. They both had some time off work, so we just paid for their fuel and they showed us around town. Our first stop was the giraffe rehabilitation center, where they take in orphaned giraffes. There is a feeding tower where you can feed them by hand, and one of the younger ones is so tame, it will gently nibble food pellets right out of your lips! Giraffe kisses! So cool, I was forever taken by Africa, and we’d  been here for less than 24 hours.

  The next day, we went to the elephant rehabilitation center. Again, a sanctuary for orphaned elephants, except here, they are eventually released back into the wild. It’s quite a commitment, as elephants rely on their mother’s milk for the first two years. After they are released to the wild, they are monitored for several years, to ensure they integrate into a ‘family’. We all enjoyed this rare chance to get so close to African elephants, which are considerably larger than their Asian cousins.  For lunch, we went to the ‘Bomba’, a cultural center dedicated to displaying the diverse tribes of Kenya. There are mock villages from every type of tribe, and in the auditorium, a troupe of dancer’s cycles through the traditional dances of each tribe. They perform 5-6 different tribal dances every day, cycling through all the tribes each week. This was a lot of fun, and no wonder it’s a favorite place for our host family to come for afternoon picnics.

  We only had a couple of days in Nairobi, but are so thankful to have enjoyed the hospitality and safety of a local family. I have enjoyed very good luck in all my travels, and have never been robbed, so I was naively confident. They would constantly remind me to roll up my window when we drove through rough areas, to discourage carjackers. Nancy’s son had been robbed at gunpoint not long ago, the same week that her good friend had been shot and killed during a robbery, so we were extremely thankful to have a trusted family chauffer us around. They dropped us off at the bus station and waited until we were safely aboard before leaving. Such wonderful people; thanks again Nancy!

  The bus to Arusha takes about 5 hours, including the border crossing into Tansania. I got my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro, and my heart started beating more quickly, knowing I would start climbing the iconic snow-capped peak the next day. Wow. Kilimanjaro. The bus driver dropped us off at an internet café, were we left our bags and cautiously went to a nearby ATM for some Tanzanian shillings. At 1600 shillings to the dollar, we had a huge stack of cash when we left. After Nairobi, were overly wary, and eventually took a taxi to Ujaama Hostel. After all of the small, dirty hotels we’d stayed at in India, this place was amazing! There are only two private rooms, but lots of dorm beds, several showers, a huge common area with couches and a TV, a self-serve beer fridge, and a massive backyard with avocado trees and resident tortoises, all inside a walled compound topped with electric fencing. A night, a Maasai in full traditional clothing would act as security guard. Incredible.

    We met with the safari company, who were also arranging my Kilimanjaro trek, and Su and Raven’s volunteer placement. They promised to ‘treat me like a little baby’ on the trek, and ensured me that the girls would also be safe and sound while I was away. They would be at a homestay just outside Dar es Salaam, and always under the watchful eye of a guardian. Dropping them off at the bus station was very emotional. This would be the first time in 7 months we would be apart. We have grown so close as a family, and being apart, especially in Africa, was uncomfortable, to say the least. There weren’t many options, though, and I was pretty determined to climb Kilimanjaro, so I swallowed my fears, and focused on the task at hand.

  Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak, at 5895 meters (19 341 feet), the world highest freestanding mountain, and the summit presents the largest visible horizon anywhere on Earth. On the summit, there is only half the oxygen available at sea level. Only 40% of those who attempt the climb are successful, and an average of 30 people a year die while trying. While it requires no technical climbing skills or gear, it’s not to be taken lightly. Even though I’ve been up to 4300 meters in Nepal, there is simply no way to know how your body will respond at higher elevation. I was signed up for a 7 day trek on the Machame route, which has one of the highest success rates, due to the amount of time spent at elevation. This is really the only way to prepare for a summit attempt, reaching a new high point every day, and then retreating slightly to sleep at a lower elevation. But would it be enough?

stay tuned

Thanks for your patience....we realize our faithful readers are waiting to hear about the end of our journey...stay tuned...it will come...

Egypt in one week

Because of my experiences with Middle Eastern dance and music, Egypt, even more so than the other countries we have visited, has been a land of my dreams. I remember going to Expo 86 as a teen and being enamored with the Egyptian exhibit. The romance has never paled.

Our fight from Kenya touched down briefly in Sudan before depositing us in Cairo. Somehow by flying North, we gained an hour, making it 10:30 pm. Entering the country was easy- 15$ for a visa stamp and filling out three forms. We had booked a hotel that included a free airport pick up. The driver was supposed to be waiting at arrivals holding a sign with our names, but we didn't see him. Our first con (fresh meat) was attempted by talking to a guy who had an official badge, telling us he was an official airport greeter. We told him about our missing pick up and asked him about a pay phone. He offered to call on his cel phone. He called the hotel for us and the hotel stated that they didn't have our reservation. We hadn't paid in advance, but had sent more than a few correspondences, stating our booked dates and arrival times. I took the phone and talked to reception, thinking this guy might be lying to us. Nothing. The guy with the phone tried to sell us a hotel room for a ‘great rate’ of LE400 ($60) a night- ours only cost $25, with breakfast! He then tried to sell us a taxi ride to our hotel (they did say they had room). I had lost trust with him so we were in the process of securing another ride when Heath luckily spotted our driver, outside in the throng of taxi touts, waving our names. He was late and apologized saying he had a hard time navigating the crowd at the doorway.

In under an hour we were downtown, on a wide awake Cairo street full of street vendors selling clothes, families with small children eating ice cream, people walking, talking, laughing, shopping. The clothing and shoe shops were open and brightly lit. The shoe selection was insane- strappy and glittery platform sandals to basic flats. The vendors had their racks right on the road, condensing two lane traffic into one. Our historic room was larger, cleaner and more beautiful than I'd have expected for the money we were paying. The 5^th floor balcony looked down on the busy street.

Raven's dream come true with the amount of shoe possibilities

Our room included breakfast, and we were fed a substantial one with rolls, butter, jam, cheese, a hard boiled egg and Turkish coffee. We walked around the old Islamic quarter on our first day, taking in the street markets, historic buildings and ambiance. Traffic is busy. If you want to cross the road, you can't hesitate. Like India it goes nonstop.

The second day we hired a car to take us to the pyramids. We went to three different sites outside the city including the nearest, but not the oldest, Giza. We were able to go inside two of them. We also kicked down and rented horses and a camel to get around Giza. The metropolis of Cairo just ends in desert. Boom. Suddenly you are off the road and sights of asphalt and apartments, then you can see endless desert. Sand blows everywhere.

Day three saw us walking to the museum. The first floor was a yard sale mix of ancient Egyptian stone carvings. We had no idea of what we were looking at as most of it was unlabelled and our guidebook was out of date and didn't correspond to what we were looking at. The second floor was much more incredible -a wealth of items removed from the pyramids and tombs; gold jewelry, sarcophagi, mummies and more. We didn't pay the extra ticket to go in to the mummy room. We had reached saturation by then, and tired of the “Extra fees to see the good stuff”. Why not just include it in the overall ticket price?

random shop of wares

That night I wanted to see an Egyptain folkloric group perform live music with dancers performing the Sufi dance – similar to the whirling dervish, but with more colourful costumes. Heath and Raven were tired after our pyramid day, so I jumped solo into a taxi for the 8pm show. Our guidebook said to arrive one hour early to secure a seat. The taxi driver wasn’t exactly sure where I was going, and dropped me off near enough. I started walking towards one building to get directions and realized it was the mosque of the neighbourhood. There was prayer happening at the time, and after being told I had lots of time “It doesn’t start until eight” by the caretaker, I was ushered inside, told to take off my shoes and was led up to the minaret. Luckily I had been wearing a scarf around my neck and was able to cover my head respectfully for the tour. I had small apprehension of being led through a dark mosque alone, with a man I didn’t know, but sometimes you just have to trust, and take the opportunity that shows itself to you. I am glad I did as there was a stunning view of the city at twilight. From the top he showed me where exactly I was to go for the show. After some baksheesh and my shoes back on, I carried on my way. Many of the seats in the show were full by now, but being alone enabled me to secure a most awesome single seat right at the middle front of the cultural center.

The music was awesome, the performers talented. Super tight tabla. My favourite was the zils player. He had such character. The performers were all male, dancers and musicians alike. Sufi dancers turn and turn and turn. At one time there were three of them whirling around the stage. They wear skirts which accentuates the spin, as well as acting like props, as they can raise them to cover their upper bodies, or take them off, spinning them above their heads before folding them neatly and giving them to a band member to keep, never stopping their twirling.

When we went to Alexandria, we had connected with a couple guys through couchsurfers. Islam was to meet us at the bus station. Unfortunately, after our 3hour bus ride on a super comfortable highway bus, we arrived at the wrong station- way out of town. When we called him (borrowing yet another stranger’s phone), he said he’d meet us. When we called him an hour later he said he was running late, and would be another half an hour. He was another hour after that. This has been the only problem we have experienced surfing- waiting long times for people to meet us. I think we expected him by car, but when he arrived, he walked us through the station and into a micro bus for half an hour, then onto another micro bus for another half an hour, before getting close to his house. He lives in an apartment and kindly gave up his room for us. We were exhausted, but had a late night socializing with the flat mates. It seemed rude to escape to bed, but all we wanted was to sleep.  

The next morning we woke and Islam took us by bus to a cafe by the sea. The Mediterranean Sea is a beautiful blue green. We marveled at the little fishies living in the rocky shallows that we were overlooking, then realized they were feeding off of whatever nutrients were coming out of a small drain-spout. Men were fishing in the traditional small boat net way, just off shore.

Next we walked to the new Alexandria library. The old one was famous for the amount of manuscripts held in ancient times. The ruler had made a law stating that any written material that came by ship was to be seized and copied and held in the ancient library. Unfortunately, that library had been destroyed a few times over in the past. This one was ultra-modern. We went to the small Egyptian Greco museum inside, which displayed a sarcophagus, statues and other various relics from the area. There was a map of the coastline of ancient Alexandria superimposed over the current coastline. The sea level has risen drastically since ancient times and most of the ruins are either well under the city or underwater. An underwater museum is being considered. What a feat that would be.

The same day we took cabs to the Pompeii Pillar, the catacombs and the ancient Amphitheatre. What a surprise to realize cabs only cost 5LE while we have been paying 20LE or more, in Cairo, without a local guide! We sure are getting tired of paying more than our fair share. Last stop for the day we attempted to go to the fort, but it was closed, so we had gelato instead. Islam’s friends met us so we picked up dinner at Gads and walked to a sheesha café. We all sat around a small table and socialized, drank lemon juice and a couple of the guys smoked the sheesha. We left for home reasonably early.

The next morning Heath and I ran down to the sea to take a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea. We didn’t have enough time to go to a cleaner beach. We paid LE 4 to get onto the beach, then got suckered into paying a bit more for table chair and umbrella that we didn’t really need as we weren’t staying. I think we thought it was part of the package with paying to get onto the beach to begin with. The water was colder than we expected. The guys walking along the shallows with a big net to collect all the garbage hadn’t finished the job, as we still swam in plastic bags and other assorted debris.

After bathing and changing at the flat, Islam gave us directions to the closest bus depot. We then took a mini bus along the shore, then walked till we found a coffee and breakfast spot. I walked to the station to get the beta on buses. I didn’t find any of the big comfortable ones, so inquired as to trains. We were in luck; one was to leave at noon, same price as the bus. I booked us 3 second class seats. The journey was perfect, and we arrived to Ramses station, walking distance from our hotel. Time to get our big bags out of the storage room and re-pack for England, get last minute ticket details sorted, etc. We did manage to sneak in a last dinner cruise on the Nile Maxim. There were a few cruises with entertainment to choose from, but we went with one that was a little bit pricier, so we’d ensure good food and entertainment. We were not let down by either. They had a salad bar with actual leaf lettuce and even a spinach salad. I must have gone back 4 times. Raven and I split a main course, and she had the desert. The first entertainment after the ‘muzac’ lounge lizard style player was a full Egyptian band, with tablas, accordion, recorder, singer. They played for both of the following acts. First up was the sufi dancer. I am really glad Heath and Raven got a chance to see this more traditional style, with its roots in religion. The third act was dancer Leila. I would guess she is from the States, most of the girls that dance for the upscale crowds are western, not Egyptian. She was highly charismatic and polished. She danced three shortish sets, a gorgeous costume for each one. True Egyptian cabaret style. She always danced on the little stage, unlike our restaurant dancers who dance among the tables for gathering tips in her hip belt. The dancer here gets paid well enough so she doesn’t have to troll for tips. Most of the tables were set in a semicircle everyone has a good view. Because we hadn’t reserved a table ours didn’t have the best view, but we moved closer to enjoy the dancers.

Karibu and welcome to Africa!

welcome to tanzania!

We had heard about and joined an online community called CouchSurfers- the website helps to connect host families and individuals with traveling ‘couch seekers’. Members add a fairly extensive profile that others can see and ‘surf away’. You can look for potential hosts anywhere, and see their ratings and comments as added by people who have stayed with them. We found and were accepted by a lovely family in Nairobi.

We called the family when we landed in Nairobi, Kenya, and they came to the airport to pick us up, then took us home for bread and tea. The couple had a son in university and a daughter one year older than Raven. We were happy to learn that the husband and wife work flexible hours, so we were driven to tourist sites around the city on our two night stay with them. Of course we filled their gas tank, (we actually stopped at a Shell Station- how crazy was that? I’ve avoided getting gas at Shell for over 20 years- after once hearing that the company supported apartheid and that we should boycott them-habits stick!) paid for their admissions (greatly reduced for locals, just like in most developing countries) bought them lunch and made a spaghetti dinner for the family. The family went over the top- helping us get a bit of internet time, feeding us meals, and the eldest son even gave up his bedroom for us.

The family was proud of their culture and seemed to be well off by African standards. They lived in a thousand square foot two floor concrete house in a gated community. A gate to keep the ‘bad guys out’ but still, picture a dirt road leading to a dirt driveway and the house having a bucket shower.  The little community pools their resources to pay for 2 men who live in a little shack and take turns opening the gates 24/7 for the residents.

We had thought that we may be cold once we arrived in Africa, but it was startling how quickly our bodies re-acclimatized to 20+ degrees. My body feels normal here, returned to its normal energy level as is doesn’t have to expend extra energy constantly cooling itself. My hair also appreciates the level of humidity, as it is not so awkward to tame and feels less dry here.  I noticed the bumpy red skin on my arms disappeared in India, but will probably return now.

On first impression, people don’t seem to dress up like they did in India. I loved seeing the women and girls in their colourful sequined saris. Here the poorer people wear what looks to be Goodwill cast off T-Shirts. Business men wear suits and we have seen a few  women dressed in outfits of patterned African fabric.

There are many similarities to both India and Canada that we have noticed so far. For one, this country appears to use flush toilets and toilet paper! This is mostly for the touristy areas, but we appreciate it. The surroundings look like India- tropical, hoards of people walking, many carrying goods on their heads, dirt roads and dirty traffic pollution. The traffic snarls to a dead stop in Nairobi. Men walk through the traffic selling things car to car- you could purchase anything from a banana to a laminated poster of Jesus. Commuting is much quieter, as people don’t use their horns as frequent communication devices, but there doesn’t appear to be as many smaller vehicles squeaking through the jams and continuously driving through red lights.  The town of “Nair-robbery” appeared smaller than I thought it would be. We drove through the city center in a short amount of time. Driving with the windows most of the way up is prudent, as it is not uncommon for a pedestrian thief to reach into a vehicle at a standstill and make off with what he can grab.

Heath and I were quite concerned about safety in Africa, and our fears weren’t allayed when we were told that their 20 year old son had recently been robbed of his backpack containing his laptop whilst walking home from university; and Nancy’s good friend had died a gunpoint a few weeks ago, as she was mugged.  The advice we were given in the event of an incident was “Don’t look at their faces”. If you struggle or look at them, they will kill you, as you may be able to identify them later. Scary, but good advice.

Extra security occurred by guards at the gates to the tourist sites. The guards would pass a mirror under the car to look for explosives, and it was not unusual to get metal detector-wanded going in to buildings.

We crossed the border in to Tanzania easily, as the small shuttle bus from Kenya stops and waits for us to walk through ‘exit Kenya’ and ‘enter Tanzania’. Visas are obtainable at the border incredibly easily- a cash cow for the country because they want the visa fee in US dollars. One quick computer cam photo, fingerprints and a stamp in our passports. When we arrived in Arusha, the starting point for our adventures, we got out at the last stop. Wanting to avoid taxi and safari touts, we asked directions to the nearest internet café. We also needed to confirm that there was a spot in the hostel, as we left Kenya a day ahead of schedule. We were prepared to walk-but the bus shuttle driver drove us the 400 meters to the closest hotel that had internet! That was incredible – talk about being taken care of! With all this chaperoning- I was incredibly nervous when Heath and I had to leave Raven alone to facebook while we walked 600 meters to the nearest ATM to take out Tanzanian shillings- as we had no local currency to pay for the internet service, or a taxi to take us to our hostel. I was worried about being followed and mugged- and in fact there was a young guy that walked with us to the bank (we faked walking into a school as a guise) but then he had turned around and followed us a ways back, too! As time has evolved, I feel a lot safer here- people are just precautious for us- which is nice.

The Ujamaa Hostel has been awesome, as it is targeted for the volunteer crowd. Welcoming, beautiful clean communal areas, with hot water showers, boiled drinking water available and two meals a day. Raven loves it as there are the twenty-something western crowd for her to socialize with. We connected with our tour operators, It Started in Africa for Heath.  Company representatives showed up at the hostel  to brief Heath for his Kilimanjaro attempt , take our extra luggage to be stored at their office, then drove me to buy Raven and my bus tickets to Dar es Sallam for our volunteering and home stay experience.

In the morning the company picked us up, ensuring Rave and I got on the bus, after wishing Heath a successful journey. Our bus ride was ten hours instead of the anticipated eight. The first pee stop was a slight bushy area off the highway. Most of the women on the bus got off and found a small bus to squat behind. A few hours later, we stopped at a spot for lunch. The choice was French fries with or without meat. Luckily there were also fruit vendors, so we could buy two oranges. The coolest part of the trip was the complimentary pop and crackers that were offered to the riders. It Started in Africa had ensured that I had the phone number of the person I was meeting, and the name of the bus stop, Matias- a few kilometers before Dar. When we got there, the bus let us off at the side of the highway-and a guy came up to us, but not the guy we were expecting, but as the bus was late, Baraja (the founder of  It Started in Africa) wasn’t able to meet us. We had to trust- he was a young guy and didn’t show any ID- but he knew who we were- so we followed along with a bit of trepidation.

The sights that greeted us along our twenty minute walk to our home stay weren’t super encouraging. To be honest, we were both near tears- Raven upset and missing her dad- she was worried about our safety without him, and emotional up after our bus was two hours late. The dirt road and wooden outsides to shacks was reminiscent of the ‘wild west’. We shared conversation along the way, veering off the main road onto a dirt pathway past concrete homes and small corn fields. When we arrived at the family’s house we were warmly welcomed with a Swahili “Karibou!” the family was lively and lovely. We sat in the living room making awkward small talk while waiting. Eventually a room was made for us, and we had a late dinner of rice and beans with a side fish dish. There was a father and a mother living in the house with a school aged boy and an adult daughter. It turned out that the daughter, Fatuma, who cooked every meal for us, lived in another house a little ways a way. Others congregated at the house- a college aged boy who was boarding and taking a driving course, and the aunties showed up at various times, sometimes overnight, sometimes not. We stopped keeping track. In the yard they raised chickens, chicks, ducks, and rabbits. Raven fell in love with the puppy of their neglected dog- both tied up on short leads in the dirt. 

the cutest puppy in Matias

Day 2

Last night I had expressed an interest to go to church on the Sunday. Alex, our guide came to collect us in the morning after breakfast of tea, white bread and margarine- on the label it is called “Medium fat spread”.  Yum. We walked across the highway to an outside tented catholic church. They had live singers, and I was hoping it would be more of a “Halleluiah and Amen” experience than it was. Church went on for 3 hours in Swahili- we understood none of it. I think we got off lightly, as we were told church can go for 8 hours! Raven was bored stiff, but the singing was worth it. 

 We walked back for lunch- a dish of unripe bananas, cooked in water and grated carrots. We also had a chopped spinach dish, cooked with onion. More rice and beans, as well. This meal will be eaten two times a day. Raven loves the food- she has been eating seconds, as well as thirds. Fatuma cooks and preps meals in the front yard or front steps, on an outside burner with charcoal. 

Fatuma's kitchen

In the afternoon we finally met Baraja and were chaperoned to the orphanage, via a micro bus along the highway. We were told we were going to take motorbikes the rest of the way- that sounded pretty fun. It turned out that the pika pika were motorbike taxis! This makes sense as the dirt roads are rutted and uneven. They are bone dry this time of year, I think the rainy season ended early this year. I couldn’t even imagine the passage in the monsoon. The ten minute (1000 Tsh = 60 cent) ride was super fun. The orphanage housed 27 kids from ages 3 on. They were super stoked to see us, play with our hair and hang out. It was similar to the orphanage in Nepal, but the kids have even less.  There are less volunteers and less support given to these very needy, unwanted and unloved kids. The woman that founded the Buloma Foundation is working really hard to get support for these kids. They have a real home here, the staff love them and their home is slowly improving, small donation by small donation.

 

bit of hair braiding fun

More soon!