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Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala September 9th 2006

My last few weeks in Uganda were relatively uneventful. I spent most of my time the same as I spent the previous two months, working, reading, going to gym, watching movies, etc… The difference between this routine and having the same general routine in the States is in the details. I had been meaning to write about some issues that I faced while in Kampala and am going to touch on them in this entry as it is my last that will be specifically and only dedicated to Uganda. This is going to sound as if I am only complaining about issues living there, which is not accurate- I had an amazing time. It’s just that living in NYC for the past two years and before always having a car at my disposal I was completely ... read more

Africa » Zambia » Livingstone September 9th 2006

Livingston Zambia We awoke at 2.30 am to tackle the long drive back to Johannesburg airport. As we were getting our stuff together, we heard what sounded like a bloody huge animal in the stream bellow our tent. Not wanting to even see what it was we dragged our stuff to the car we half expecting to be mauled to death at super speed. Luckily we survived and began our slow drive though the reserve to get to the main road. We had to stop several times to let sleeping giraffes get off the path. It is surprising the evil look a giraffe, that has just been woken from a nice sleep, can give you. We also had to stop for three zebras; two adults and tiny baby one which pleased Sarah no end. I drove ... read more
Me at Victoria falls,
Some of the scenery on the down in the boiling pot
the monkeys, on way back to top of walk

Africa » Malawi » Central » Kasungu September 9th 2006

Day 4 - 9th September - Stranded in Kasungu I’m woken at 6.30 by Manasseh who has already been up for an hour, rented a bike taxi to go and wake the mechanic up and is now standing at my door grinning and thrusting car keys into my hand. “The mechanic has come” he beams. I followed him outside to see our car ready to tow with no power steering and no servo brakes. “He thinks the alternator is buggered”, chirped Manasseh clutching the crucifix almost as if demanding forgiveness for his language. “I need 2 hours to see if I can repair your alternator” came the voice from under the bonnet, “there are many many things wrong with your car”, he added. I knew this would be another long day. Four hours later after a ... read more
Almost Home
Killing Time
"Home"

Africa » Senegal » Cape Verde Peninsula » Dakar September 9th 2006

So the title of this entry reflects my feelings at precisely this very moment. The heat here is almost unbearable. i don't know that i have ever sweated so much in my life. Thankfully my fqmily put a fan in my room so i can at least sleep at night. the only problem is that one of the many phenomenons of living in a developing city is that the electricity is anything but consistent. it can go out at any time for who knows how long. so inevitably i've ended up fanning myself to sleep several of the nights i've been here. c'est la vie... As we speak I am sitting in a cyber cafe about 10 minutes from my house in the "cartier" or neighborhood next to mine. there is the constant sound of honking ... read more

Africa » Namibia » Windhoek September 9th 2006

So I'm now officially settled. We wrapped up our South African adventures and headed to Namibia on Wednesday. Besides the fact that there was awful turbulence right when we were landing, so it appeared that we were crash landing in the middle of the Kalahari desert, everything was great. I don't know why I didn't really believe that we'd be living in a desert, but I just assumed Windhoek, the capital where we are living wasn't. It was such a huge difference from Johannesburg. Coming from a city of almost 8 million to then driving through the desert for 45 minutes before we saw any real development is a huge change. It's gorgeous here...spring time and much warmer. I think I can safely put away the ski socks and sweat shirts. We even saw baboons on ... read more
more line and the fence.
one of these things doesn't belong.
world's biggest braai!

Africa » Tunisia » Tunis September 8th 2006

Last day in Tunis today before heading off down to El Jem, Gabes and then to Djerba! Taking our time to just wander around and shop in the Medina and take in the sights, sounds and smells of Tunis. Have really enjoyed the people and this place is such a mix of European and Arabic cultures and we are having fun making the Tunisians in the Medina guess our Nationality, mostly think we are Spanish, much to Iain's amusement, so we must go and shop!... read more
Ville Nouvelle
Shopping & Friends
Dar El Medina

Africa » Kenya » Nairobi Province » Nairobi September 8th 2006

I had the most interesting experience flying home from the Mara to Nairobi. I sat beside a woman from the UK who was with 7 other family members. They were having a hellish experience and were vowing never to visit Kenya again. I kept thinking how tragic and so not my experience. The family group had made their own arrangements to charter a plane and stay at a lodge in the Mara. All expenses were pre-paid. They were in Kenya for 7 days. All started out smoothly - they had a fantastic time at the lodge and enjoyed the safari. Getting out was when things started to fall apart. First of all they were getting mixed messages from the charter plane company about when the plane would be there to pick them up. First it was ... read more

Africa » Malawi » Central » Lilongwe September 8th 2006

Day 3 - 8th September - Patience Wearing Very Thin Up and away before the Kiboko overlanders awoke and a breakfast stop with Manasseh’s (Mr Chiumia and me were getting to know each other much better by now) daughter in a ragged suburb of Lilongwe. We rocked up to the Air Cargo depot at 8.30 and were immediately surrounded by clearing agents trying to get our business. A bit of negotiation and the promise of a big fat bonus of they could get the stuff in duty free later and we had secured the services of a guy called “Newstyle”. MRA wanted to inspect the goods to be sure that the batteries shown on the shipping papers weren’t actually there (we bought them locally in Blantyre). I pointed out that 12 batteries alone would weigh 240kg ... read more
Where it all happens

Africa » Kenya » Nairobi Province » Nairobi September 8th 2006

Nakuru to Tembu We got up very early in order to get a bit of game driving in on our way to Baboon Rock, a look-out point high up in the park where we planned to breakfast. Fantastic idea, as we were lucky enough to round a corner and stumble upon a pride of lions. We couldn't believe our luck - we parked up and all scrambled on to the roof, trying not to make too much noise, as four females lay in the grass virtually under the truck. There were two more a little way off, a male and female, and as we watched a buffalo approached them with a stick jammed up its nose, and then two rhino wandered across the horizon behind them. Just as we were absorbing all this, some more lion ... read more
2705
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Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam September 8th 2006

Aan het eind van mijn eerste week in Dar es Salaam, kwam ik erachter dat vrijdag helemaal niet zo’n slechte dag is. De woensdag wordt vaak gehyped, en niet onterecht, maar de vrijdag is helemaal zo gek nog niet. Vanwaar dit slappe verhaal? Ik zal het proberen uit te leggen. Eerst even wat nuttige achtergrond informatie: In Tanzania heeft nog nooit iemand gehoord van een 40-urige laat staan een 36-urige werkweek. De meeste mensen werken hier namelijk dagelijks. Dagelijks houdt in dit geval in dat je tussen 7.00 en 8.00 uur op je werkplek arriveert en deze zo’n 12 uur later weer verlaat. En ja, 7 dagen per week! Het hele jaar door? Nee hoor, maak je geen zorgen. De overheid van Tanzania heeft namelijk besloten dat iedereen 28 dagen per jaar vrij moet hebben. Wat ... read more
Kitu en Kiku
Sorry Ab!




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