Jabe - John McCabe

Getting away from the office grind, to take a look at what's going on in the rest of the world. First stops were India, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, China again, Mongolia, Russia, Indonesia again, Argentina, a brief incursion into Chile, Argentina again, Chile again, Argentina again, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina again, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, a dip into South Africa, Madagascar, another dip into South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa again. Now in England - the travelling's over.

I've started to limit my photos per blog entry to a maximum of 42, i.e. 2 pages' worth, but I take a lot more photos than that. You can view the rest at my Flickr account, which I'm using as an online backup service.

India
October 27th 2005 -» March 19th 2006 Australia (part 1)
April 27th 2006 -» August 3rd 2006 Australia (part 2)
September 15th 2006 -» December 19th 2006 Southeast Asia, China, and Trans-Siberian railway
January 23rd 2007 -» December 21st 2007 South America
January 30th 2008 -» January 27th 2009 Africa
January 30th 2009 -» December 31st 2009

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Joined on: August 24th 2005
Last Login: February 9th 2010

Blog Entries: 457
Photos: 11413
Recommended by 32

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Jabe, order by Date newest first.

By Jabe
December 5th 2009

Waiting for Jules Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

Staircase

Cape Town is an ending for me several times over - the end of the Cairo->Cape route, the end of my African jaunt, and the end of this period of travel that has occupied the last four years of my life. Sadly it also finds me beyond the end of my travel energy and the days I spend there are lazy in the extreme. I'm reminded of Australian cities - the pedestrianised zones, the sunny weather, the cheery but not ingratiating people, the rounding down of prices to the nearest five cents. Table Mountain provides a startling backdrop, and there's some [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
November 18th 2009

Drankwinkels and mansuitrusters Africa » South Africa » Northern Cape » Upington

Wish I could always buy my booze from a drankwinkel ...

I have little in the way of Upington accommodation info, and of course Tourist Information's not open when the Intercape disgorges me at 6:45AM, so I head to the one place I have an address for. The guy who lets me in looks surprised to see me, partly due to the hour and partly due to the room tariff being several times higher than my appearance would suggest I can afford. It's more than I want to pay but I'm tired and frankly just want a shower and a nap. Fortunately the room's the best-equipped one I've had in Africa, the [View Full Entry]

... and my clothes from a mansuitrusters

By Jabe
November 17th 2009

Millimetres away from a desert Africa » Namibia » Kalahari

Oryx/gemsbok

It's a strange feeling being the only person on a tour. Both you and the guide have only one person to talk to, meaning the guide/group relationship is broken down and it's more like two friends together. Not being a particularly chatty person, I can't say this arrangement necessarily appeals but fortunately my guide/driver/cook T is fond of monologues requiring no input from me. He's a white Namibian whose English comes with intriguing rolled r's. His several decades in tourism mean he has plenty of information to pass on, as well as enough connections to mean he knows 50% of the [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
November 11th 2009

Adolf's town (no, not that Adolf) Africa » Namibia » Luderitz

Bay View Hotel

Luderitz is described as a German colonial relic, and I am expecting it to be like Frutillar in Chile, but it has quite a different character - possibly because the Germans were invited to go to Frutillar, whereas they imposed themselves here. There's plenty of German architecture in evidence, coupled with bright colours recalling La Boca or Valparaiso, but my nostrils twitch in vain for the scent of sauerkraut on the breeze. The small port reminds me more of Whitby, a dearth of fish and chips shops notwithstanding. There's not much going on in Luderitz, so I catch up on the [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
November 9th 2009

A night at the Wimpy Africa » Namibia » Keetmanshoop

Quiver tree

Heading south in Namibia turns out to be another bewilderingly difficult southern African journey. I want to hit Keetmanshoop in order to then head west to Luderitz, an uber-German town on the Atlantic coast, but the bus leaves Windhoek in the evening hence will arrive in Keetmanshoop just after midnight, and the train arrives there at a more reasonable 5AM but takes twice as long. I opt for the bus. The company is Intercape Mainliner, whose name always puts me in mind of drugs. The bus is a double-decker and pulls a trailer, similar to Intercape vehicles I've seen as afar [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
November 8th 2009

Windy corner Africa » Namibia » Windhoek

Church

Windhoek reminds me a little of Alice Springs, a small, generally flat town surrounded by a ring of hills. Its wide streets are orderly and a few examples of European architecture point to its Germanic colonial history. It's also very dead on the Sunday I arrive. I'm pleased to see a street named after Frankie Fredericks as he's the only Namibian I'd heard of before starting this trip. The first hostel I try has a door that requires a key combination to get either in or out. They're full, and as I tramp to my next potential hostel I notice the [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
November 7th 2009

Blissed out in the desert Africa » Namibia » Sossusvlei

Camelthorn trees

The Namib desert is the world's oldest and contains some of the planet's tallest sand dunes but I have high hopes that these dry facts won't be the most interesting things about it. I haven't seen a decent desert since Dunhuang 1.5 years ago and, having bypassed the Sahara, I have some serious sand yearnings. By paying for a mid-range tour, I strike exactly the balance I was hoping for, with just two other guests (a pair of friendly Swedes - E, rocking a Bjorn Ulvaeus beard circa "The Singles", and V, who shows no compunction in criticising my English) and [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
October 31st 2009

Trying to cross the border without a hitch Africa » Botswana » Ghanzi District » Ghanzi

Sign

Apart from hitching, there's no sensible transport option for getting from Maun to Windhoek. The senseless options for this ~800km leg include flying or taking an overpriced shuttle bus (~$170). Though hitching has little appeal, more because of its unpredictability than any safety issues (especially with it being a common way of travelling in Botswana and Namibia), I realise I'll have to exercise my thumb for at least part of the journey. However I can get a bus from Maun to Ghanzi, just over half way to the border, and I'm told the best approach will be to overnight there then [View Full Entry]

By Jabe
October 30th 2009

Delta blues Africa » Botswana » North-West » Maun

Lilies and pads

There's a crow-flies route from Kasane to Maun through Chobe National Park but the road is poor, so I find myself having to use Botswanan public transport to traverse the other two sides of this 300km equilateral triangle. We leave before 6AM, the fiery newly-risen sun a Stop sign for the passage of night. The leg to Nata has been described as "appalling" but this is by Western standards, not African ones, and the average speed of 80km/h that we achieve is essentially warp factor 3. For free, we see buffalo and the largest herd of elephant I've ever set eyes [View Full Entry]

German postgrad student avoids the reeds

By Jabe
October 26th 2009

If you ain't got no money, take your broke "ass" home Africa » Botswana » North-West » Kasane

Lightbulb moment

Information regarding how best to get into Botswana has been tediously restricted by self-interest on the part of the people I've asked, but the most economical option would appear to be a shared taxi to the border. Unfortunately I need a taxi to get to the shared taxi departure point, but I then have a piece of luck - a bus belonging to one of Vic Falls' whitewater rafting companies is about to head to the border to pick up a group of customers, and my taxi guy tells me that the bus driver will take me for a "very low [View Full Entry]

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