http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Weir-travels/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Weir travels en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:01:01 +0000 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 08:01:01 +0000 Reviewing my photos towards the end of five weeks in RwandaGomaBujumbura I realised that I had accumulated quite a number of entertaining shop signs and the like. Rather than put them into a wordless blog after all isnrsquot my erstwhile profession paid by the word I thought Irsquod accompany them with a prcis of some of the delightful quirks Irsquove encountered in daytoday lif http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/blog-453300.html Life or death.It was as simple as that.In 1932 the Belgian colonial authorities confirmed the divisions they were already using to their advantage in the population of RuandaUrundi by differentiating the ldquohavesrdquo and the ldquohavenotsrdquo the old ldquodivideandconquerrdquo chapter of colonial governance. The result for each person was irrevocably set out in his or her http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Ville-de-Kigali/Kigali/blog-447525.html Only an hour or so after Irsquod arrived I was scribbling delightedly in my diary ldquoOh I love Bujumburardquo Mind you as I rapidly admitted to myself it doesnrsquot take much. Irsquod found myself in the most charming centrallylocated and funky hotel the Saga Residence with an imaginativelydesigned semisunken room you descend a couple of steps from the far end of the li http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burundi/West/Bujumbura/blog-452159.html Irsquom going to do something I havenrsquot done before. Irsquom going to take you with me on my travels. Yes I thought you might like to join me as I take the bus from Huye formerly Butare Rwandarsquos erstwhile colonial capital and still the countryrsquos intellectual capital in the south of the country over the border and into Burundi to spend a few days in its fabulouslyname http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Burundi/blog-451319.html I broke a promise.Well the lawyer that still lives somewhere deep inside me despite my best endeavours to the contrary would rather say that actually I have refined my approach to this particular promise and while yes I did break the existing promise as then phrased I can now recast it more intelligently.Semantics.Sorry Mum.I walked across the border into the Democratic Republic of the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Congo-Democratic-Republic/East/Goma/blog-447524.html I saw gorillas today. As close to me from my seat at the bar as the barman is now with the silverback about as far away as the TV on the other side of the bar. And they were the most unfazed wildlife Irsquove ever encountered ignoring us even when the guides spoke in low voices. The youngster nearest me watched me change the battery in my camera at one point but that was one of the very http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Nord/Parc-National-des-Volcans/blog-447523.html Bush television. Watching Damara hornbills scrape at the sand and through the leaf litter in their patient search for insects. One dozily flies over my shoulder so close I could feel the air displaced by its wings to clatter noisily into the window behind me with a hornbillrsquos seemingly typical fascination for their image reflected in glass. How often did I look out of the windows at the http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/blog-441203.html Gabriel arrived at camp looking exhausted but with adrenalin still clearly pumping. He briefly confirmed what Femke had already radioed in. The two of them had spent the night with a newlyidentified pride of lion and wanted to collar the ldquomatriarchrdquo lioness as part of their research into large predator interactions. AnneLise somehow despite the early hour already brighteyed http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Moremi-Game-Reserve/blog-441201.html Sitting here in Windhoek listening to jazz on the radio and watching the dying rays of the sun on the hills of Avis our three weeks and 6200 km round northern Namibia and northwestern Botswana seems a very long time ago although we got back less a fortnight ago. Irsquove been procrastinating about blogwriting initially on the basis that I needed to sort out and ideally rationalise my http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/blog-441184.html Back into the warm comfort of my other life. Where the sky is blue and the sun shines all day longhellip at least at this time of year. Where the worry about my motherrsquos health is softened by distance. Where solving the latest problem with my house can be delegated or postponed for another six months. I wonrsquot thank myself then but therersquos little option now. Where I don http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/Windhoek/blog-429927.html Hushed silence on the email. All quiet on the blogging front. Whatrsquos happened to her Has she been sucked back into the real world Is she somewhere so remote that even her usually pretty resourceful ability to find an internet connection has failed Or is she struck down by some ghastly lurgy somewhereNo strange to say there have been multiple sightings of one Elizabeth Weir in the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/blog-420317.html My trip to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was brief but in the course of ten days I dipped into a millennium of history at some fascinating points. From the Gangas to the Hoysalas to the Wodeyars from the tenth to the twentieth century each culture has left us fabulous evidence of the skills it harnessed in celebrating its gods and its rulers. And of course the British left their mark on this p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-387838.html I fell out of love with India. Temporarily anyway. In Bangalore. Bangalore was my first stop in a fleeting trip around the southwestern state of Karnataka. The irony of visiting this capital of outsourcing more than three years after I resigned my job as an outsourcing lawyer initially amused me particularly as it wasnrsquot out of choice but necessity being also the state capital itr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-387829.html ...just a few more that I couldn't resist uploading too... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bhutan/blog-381828.html The second night of the trek we camped on a school playground. This was the school in the village of Adha the first sign of human habitation wersquod seen in twentyfour hours six hoursrsquo walk away from the nearest doctor and where electricity is at best generatordriven thatrsquos if someone has managed to get enough fuel for the generator here by mule. The schoolrsquos catchm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bhutan/blog-381812.html Imagine a Switzerland cut off from the rest of the world until very recently where internet and television have been permitted only in the last ten years where 19 languages are spoken by a population smaller than that of Glasgow where more than 600 species of orchid and more than 50 species of rhododendron grow where the monarchrsquos crown features a bird not jewels and where Buddhism suff http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Bhutan/blog-380114.html Remember the buzz of Asia the bustle of activity the panoply of trinkets and Tshirts and food for sale the maelstrom of trafficRemember the way the air in southeast Asia assaults you the humidity palpable even in this the ldquocoolrdquo season Remember the smells the chillies the frangipani the incenseRemember the lives lived outside the smiles the welcoming the generosityI h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-375893.html As usual I couldn't decide how I could further narrow down the collection of photos to illustrate the latest blog... so here's some more if you're interested... http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/-Kaokoland/blog-373887.html Christmas abroad rocks This was my third and on yet another different continent. I didnrsquot know what to expect although my Christmas cards and emails described my hope that at least part of the time would be spent in the company of the elephants I have got to know over the last few years. A couple of weeksrsquo earlier this looked like an empty wish the heavy early rains in Namibia http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Namibia/-Kaokoland/blog-373886.html ..and not forgetting my home country...With enormous thanks to Jen and Ross for a truly fabulous few days at Brodie Castle and to Lisa Lorraine and Bonnie for giving me several great excuses to explore and even go out in my home town for the first time in err more years than I care to remember... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/blog-337946.html