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Published: August 15th 2010
I’M GOING THROUGH THE DESERT ON A HORSE WITH NO NAME
It’s been 3 months since we’ve been back and now I’m so ready to get going again. Being back gave me time to contemplate and remind myself what I originally set out to do. After traveling for a year I decided to take stock of my life. Was traveling what I’d expected? Was I enjoying myself and was it what I’d set out to do? I left with a passion to experience life and to see Africa and to feel alive. So what did I actually do and learn?
I’d learnt that spreading your cheeks under the blanket produces a soundless fart.
I’d learnt that South Africa is full of smiley black faces who wave at you when you drive past.
I’d learnt that the voice inside my head is real.
I’d learnt that drinking Theo’s home distilled Vodka gives you a babalas whether you are above sea level or below.
I’d learnt that the most important thing to pack is your sense of humour.
I’d learnt that you need to change more than your surroundings to change yourself.
I’d learnt that there are real live animals other than dassies in South Africa.
I’d learnt that I am because I am.
Unfortunately I only realized all the above (except the part about the dassies) after arriving back in Cape Town. I’d spent the last year in different provinces meeting different people doing different things which is a hell of a lot better than going to the same job and doing the same thing every day but that’s no guarantee of finding yourself, your clitoris or the missing link. Did I enjoy it - for fucking sure. Yes it was difficult at times. Theo and I are not always on the same page but we survived and lived to tell the tale. No, I hadn’t saved the world; I’ll do that next time round.
I feel different about life. I’ve been enlightened, so what now? Heading off to Namibia and the Kalahari sounded like a good idea. I’m keen to find this Hoeddia plant which grows up there and is the magic ingredient in diet stuff. There are signs of Theo’s love affair with food all over my body so spending time with the San people would surely help. Be it sucking on a succulent leaf to suppress my appetite or existing on a high protein diet of scorpions, I’m dying to try. Running around from bush to bush with little brown people in a euphoric state from the side effects of Hoodia and attempting to decipher clicking sounds really excites me. See, I do have passion. In the meantime Theo is stocking up the food cupboard with enough oriental goodies to feed us and the loin cloth clan with sushi and Thai curry for the next century. We have whole wheat, white, stone ground and rye flour so that every San man interested in stopping off and exchanging cooking ideas will be able to bake matzos, flapjacks, vetkoek or home made pasta, a particularly important survival skill in the Kalahari. Theo hoped to find a “Naba” (pronounced with a click in the beginning) to add to his exotic menu. It’s a mushroom which you dig up and I suspect would make him feel more worldly skilled than Jamie Oliver.
Anyway we are counting the days to getting on the road again. I’ll miss the deep conversations with Kyro, our son. He is arming himself with the most interesting knowledge required to confuse himself and Mr Einstein. My mom is happily arranging her tupperware in between her scrabble nights and line dancing and will no doubt outlive me. She has asked us to please stop off at Poffadder since 40 years ago, while passing through on holiday, she left her brown jacket behind which was handed in to the police station for safekeeping. My sister and Keith are coping with the responsibilities of family life, using their sick leave to the max by happily living each day as if it’s their last party. My friends, well they’re friends. You can flip in and out of their lives and stay friends forever.
It took us a year to do South Africa so we don’t expect to get further than the southern part of the continent this time round and hopefully cross a few more borders. If we make the Caprivi Strip I’ll be chaffed. The difference this time is we don’t have a course lined up, we don’t have friends or family to visit along the way and no WOOFING farms work that we know of to stay at. This time we are gonna wing it and see what’s out there. Africa here we come.
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Natalie Kelly
non-member comment
Hey
and you also found your way to my new lil' home... next time you visit - i'm kinda hoping it'll be in the same place, we'll have an addition to our family. like i don't have enough mouths to feed, but you know me, always room for 1 more... we're going to fetch George this evening, Lauren's birthday gift but an addition to the "family" none the less... he is a 9 week old german shepard cross something.... beautiful. there'll be pics of him on facebook soon enough i'm sure. xxxx