IndianaWoodward

As I sit here overlooking the sunbleached tarmac of Doha International, as planes come and go into the hazy blue sky and shimmering heat, I don't think things have really sunk in yet. Nothing quite seems real, like I'm stuck in a dream. And to tell you the truth, at times I don't even know how or what I'm feeling, or if I'm even feeling anything at all. I thought I'd be a barrel of emotions, bubbling over, but I feel like I'm in a trance, daydreaming and sleepwalking to Heathrow. But then, at other times, the realisation dawns on me. It sinks in that I've come to the end of the trip. It sinks in that I've already left Africa, that the UK is but a few hours away. And suddenly a cold chill grips ... read more

I was stood in the pitch black, in the middle of the main road in the village of Chimanimani, in Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands, and I was pleading to be allowed to go back to my hotel. After three days of trekking in the mountains, I was shattered, and with aching legs I could think of nothing but bed. The only person in my way was Livingstone, a drunk local who, while still clutching a scud of Chibuku (think: vomit in a thermos flask), wanted to buy me not one, but two, beers, and wouldn't take no for an answer. He had, almost literally, dragged me from the bar I was in, and I pleaded and pleaded, until almost to shut my new found friend up, I reluctantly followed him down the dark road, towards the thumping ... read more

It's rumoured - between travellers, in the guidebooks, and on websites -to be full of pickpockets, hustlers and con-men, and I'd hoped to bypass it by catching a dhow from Tanzania to Mozambique. But with the dhow non-existent, my only option was to cross the border via the somewhat notorious Rovuma River crossing. And it turned out to be everything it was rumoured to be - a beautiful place to be fleeced, but fleeced I was. The crossing began with a bent Tanzanian border official who demanded 2000 shillings (80p) to leave the country. I refused and bluffed, at which point he let me pass, only to point out, behind my back, my rucksack on the truck to one of his cronies outside. I took it as a signal to leave as quickly as possible, and ... read more

There can be few places in the world that are better for people watch than Jaws Corner in the centre of Zanibar's old Stone Town. An elderly gentleman has set up an impromptu coffee stall, and the junction, where four of Zanzibar's winding alleys converge, has become a meeting place for everyone on the island. The coffee is brewed is two stainless steel kettles, balanced precariously over a small charcoal stove. It's drank in the small handle-less porcelain cups so common in the Muslim world, from Cairo to the Indian Ocean. And when you're finished, the cups are washed clean in rainwater collected from an overflowing gutter that runs from the roofs of one of the surrounding dilapidated buildings,complete with rusty roofs, and rotting shutters hanging ajar on the last hinge. And as you sip the ... read more

Just as Africa was getting predictable. Just as Africa was become easy. Just as Africa was getting, dare I say it, dull. I found myself in Western Tanzania, and everything seemed to change. Rwanda was tarmaced, efficient, and regulated. Cafe's with air-con and leather seats charged European prices for cups of coffee, while the clientele read the latest daily. Journeys, though beautiful, passed without incident, and towns visited almost passed without interest. It was nice for a few days, but that's not really why I came to Africa. Burundi was better, more manic, more frantic, somehow more 'alive', but still somewhat predictable. And then I found myself in Western Tanzania and it all seemed to change. Western Tanzania, an endless land, where train journeys last for 24 hours, and boat trips even longer. Where six hour ... read more

I first met Hideki Ota, the Japanese man from the title, on the bus from Bujumbura to Kigoma - Burundi to Tanzania - a few days ago. After brief introductions, and explaining that he was travelling around the world for two years, he remained fairly quite, chipping in with conversations here and there, but just as happy to sit and let us talk the night away. That all changed last night, when he exploded out his shell, and spent the majority of a very interesting evening talking. It turns out, that he’s not just travelling around the world, content to avoid work for a few months like the rest of us, but at has three personal projects on the go as well. The first is to encourage Japanese professionals to follow suit, and to start working ... read more

An African peace now sits over the church at the edge of Nyamata, a town just south of Kigali. The creaking of the iron roof as it heats up in the sun, the birds singing in the trees, and the fluttering of flags in the wind - the only noises breaking the peaceful silence of the afternoon . But 17 years ago, this very spot was the location of a scene of utter horror. A scene that defies words, and left me in complete shock. Seaking an escape from the genocide that swept through the country, 10,000 people gathered here - 6,000 packed shoulder to shoulder inside the church, while 4,000 saught shelter in the shade of the walls outside. But there was no escape, as the army, the militias, and the Interahamwe, advanced on the ... read more