Ouaga - Tom Griffith

Travel happens when I can fit it in, nowadays, but it will always be my favourite hobby. Here's my list of the best bits so far, in thirteen years of hopping around the world:

Asia Angkor Wat (Cambodia) Taj Mahal and Varanasi (India) Annapurna Range and Kathmandu (Nepal) Bagan (Burma) Koh Phiphi (Thailand) Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors and the Forbidden City (China) Peshawar and the Chitral-Gilgit road (Pakistan) Istanbul and Butterfly Valley (Turkey) Luang Prabang (Laos)
Americas Teotihuacan and Mexico City (Mexico) Lake Atitlan and Tikal (Guatemala) Roatan (Honduras) Cartegena and Tayrona (Colombia) Macchu Picchu, Nazca and Cusco (Peru) Los Angeles (USA) Salar de Uyuni, Rurrenabaque and La Paz (Bolivia) Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Africa Pyramids of Giza, Luxor and Cairo (Egypt) Chefchaouen, Essaouira and Fes (Morocco) Iron ore train and Chinguetti (Mauritania) Saint Louis (Senegal) Dogon Country and Djenne mosque (Mali) Masai Mara (Kenya) Butre Beach (Ghana) Zanzibar, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti (Tanzania) Lake Malawi (Malawi) Cape Town and the Wild Coast (South Africa)
Europe Paris (France) Prague (Czech Republic) Berlin (Germany) Pompeii (Italy) Liverpool (UK)

Where I've been, where I am, and where I'm going

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Africa 2007
March 28th 2007 -» January 27th 2008

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Joined on: February 7th 2007
Last Login: October 30th 2009

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Ouaga, order by Date newest first.

By Ouaga
January 25th 2009

...It'll Always Be Burma To Me! Asia » Burma » Yangon

Fisherman
A fisherman (or rather, boy) on Inle Lake.

Myanmar is not, as Cosmo Kramer mistakenly asserts, an American discount pharmacy. It is, of course, the country which is always referred to (parenthetically) as (Burma). It's coming on twenty years now since the military junta changed the name, so why does the world persist in sticking to the old label? This 'Myanmar or Burma' question continued to tax me throughout my fifteen days in the country. Because even the Lonely Planet refers to it as Myanmar (Burma), I resorted to the internet to track down the correct usage. It seems the Burmese generals changed the name for two main reasons [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
January 6th 2009

Turning Dirty Thirty in Thailand Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok

Hat Ton Sai
The stunning rock formations at Ton Sai.

Despite four years of startlingly bad luck - tsunamis, earthquakes, military coups, government corruption, nightclub fires, and the recent shutdown of the brand-spanking new airport by pro-democracy protestors - Thailand's tourist industry seems to be able to bounce right back. When we arrived in Bangkok just a couple of weeks after the latest setback - the closure of the main international hub into the country - you wouldn't have guessed that anything untoward had occurred. The main tourist drag, Khao San Road, was as happening and pumping as ever, even at midnight - in fact, that is [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
January 3rd 2008

34,280 kilometres later, Part Two: Tom's Top Five of Everything Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg

Flooded road
Crossing a very flooded road, with the most recent victim clearly in view. Burkina Faso, July.

Those who have been reading my blog are probably aware of my love of meaningless lists, and my trip wouldn't be complete without just a few more. So, here, in no particular order, are all of my Top Fives (and some Bottom Fives), to give you an idea of what I loved - and hated - about Africa. First, I'll do a ranking of the 18 countries I visited (I did pop into Lesotho as well, but didn't see enough to pass judgment on the place). Trust me, I did a lot of thinking about this, and took into account such [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
January 2nd 2008

34,280 kilometres later, Part One: Debunking the African myths Africa » South Africa » Gauteng » Johannesburg

Pyramid and camel
Amazing monuments and amazing animals. Egypt, March.

Africa has obsessed me since I was a kid. My dream as an 8-year old was to come to Africa, and kiss a wild hippo. Yes, weird, I know. Perhaps I shouldn't have revealed that little nugget of information. Nevertheless, the history, the mystery, and the tragedy of this immense land has attracted me for years. Finally, around ten months ago, I had the funds, the air ticket, and the time to launch my own exploration of at least part of this gigantic enigma. My aim was to challenge my own prejudices, and discover whether the stereotypes presented to us in [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
December 31st 2007

Christmas on the Cape Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town

The Table
Looking up at Table Mountain from Signal Hill, Cape town

What better place could there be for ending an African trip than the Mother City itself, Cape Town? This city has it all - a spectacular location, cool bars, fine dining, great shopping, (relatively sharkless) beaches, mountains, wilderness, a developed infrastructure, a (mostly) friendly vibe, and plenty to keep you occupied. It has to be the most beautiful city I've seen anywhere on the continent, and it has certainly been the most westernised, the most developed, and the most wealthy. You could be forgiven for forgetting that Cape Town is actually part of Africa at all, as the city [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
December 3rd 2007

Eleven countries in one Africa » South Africa » Eastern Cape » Jeffreys Bay

Racial harmony
The face of the new South Africa...one would hope...

I just cannot get my head around this Rainbow Nation they call South Africa. It is perhaps the strangest country I have ever visited. In fact, it is more like many countries, all overlapping and sharing the same geographical space, yet interacting very little. Sometimes it feels like Australia, sometimes it feels like the US, sometimes it feels like Britain, and sometimes it feels like, well, an African country. There are plush shopping malls full of affluent white shoppers, and barred-up corner stores selling mealie maize to queues of poor Africans. There are super-smooth highwa [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
November 30th 2007

Where disease stalks the land Africa » Swaziland » Mbabane

Kudu calling
OK, I thought this was a kudu, but it's a male nyala. Nice-looking antelope, though...

The average life expectancy for a Swazi is now 32 years old. Swaziland is a stable, affluent, and peaceful nation. So why are people dying at my age? Because of AIDS. Swaziland now has the highest infection rate in the world - a shocking 40+ percent. Why that is, I'm not quite sure, but it probably has something to do with the size and location of this tiny country. Sandwiched between Mozambique and South Africa, Swazi is about a quarter the size of Tasmania, and is home to a million people. Travellers and truck drivers pass through on their way to [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
November 26th 2007

Travels with Bandito Africa » Mozambique » Southern » Maputo

Dusk at Tofo
The nearly-full moon rises above Tofo Beach

Let me begin with a word of warning - never, ever, have anything to do with the Mozambican police if at all possible. They are bent, corrupt, rude, xenophobic, and vindictive - and that's just the nice ones. They are, without a doubt, the worst officials I have had anything to do with in the whole of Africa: most of the continent's border guards and cops have been surprisingly friendly and not bribe-hungry in the least. Then we got to Chimoio, in central Mozambique. Avoid this city like the plague. It sucks arse. It is a shitty place. It has no [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
November 14th 2007

Mister Nystrom, I presume? Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe

Ilala kids
Three cheeky siblings pose for a shot on the Ilala ferry, Lake Malawi

A more perfect African meeting place could not be found. It was on the shores of Lake Malawi, the very lake "discovered" by Livingstone 150 years ago, that I found him. Feared lost in the heart of Africa, here he was, immersed in conversation in the Butterfly Lodge. As I walked in, he stopped talking, and met my gaze. He was shorter than I had imagined, and his hair was longer, blonder - but it was definitely the man I was looking for. 'Bobbie Nystrom, I presume?', said I. Well, no, I didn't really, but I did say 'Bobbie?' After months [View Full Entry]

By Ouaga
October 29th 2007

El Cinco Grande Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha

Lion cub
A baby lion in the Serengeti

As I sit here, writing these electronic journal entries, I sometimes think to myself - why the hell do I do this? I mean, it is a bit strange, really. When I first went travelling back in 1998, I didn't even have an email address. Communication with home was via very expensive - and infrequent - phone calls from international call centres, or poste restante in big city post offices. Sometimes news from home - or from me - would be weeks old when either end received it. Dad would send me newspaper clippings, so I knew what was going on [View Full Entry]

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Ouaga - Tom Griffith

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