Blogs from Africa - page 3058

As a result of my flight from Lusaka to Johannesburg being delayed I ended up missing my connecting flight to Cape Town. This meant that I had to get a stand by ticket for a BA flight instead. Thankfully things improved from then on and I made it to Cape Town at 7pm. ... read more

It's been an eventful week, full of the unexpected - bumping into people, going to weddings, meeting up with AIDS consultants and gathering material for the library/reception at Kinshai. As ever, nothing ever quite goes according to expectations. So, having gotten to a conference in Swahili, one of the things I did was take advantage of the location and go for a hike in the Uluguru hills. These are about 3 hours south west of Dar. I was taken up by a guide - 26 year old James, who wanted to know why I thought some people are poor and some are rich. He asked me about education in the UK, social services, poverty and he also wanted to know what I thought about (the common practice here) of polygamy. He escorted me on the 16 ... read more

After visiting the Valley of the Kings we boarded our Nile Cruise Boat for the eagerly awaited 3 day cruise up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan. Our boat was actually a 4 star vessel called the Rosetta. It carried 90 passengers and according to the information sheet it had been renovated "at least once" (so twice??) since its maiden voyage in 1989. Nevertheless she was a beauty and with a pool deck complete with sun longers and a swimming pool we couldn't have been happier. Beside our group of 10, the rest of the passengers on the boat were Polish and some interesting cultural differences quickly became apparent. First of all, like most European men, Polish men shun boardshorts for tight Speedo togs, while those without their togs wear their undies. Gross gross gross. One ... read more

I like sleeping until 7h. That’s about the time the bedroom starts getting warm, the neighbors play music, and I have to pee. After two months, I have returned to that practice, except for those mornings I get up earlier to run. It’s not that for those two months I slept until 8h, oh no; for two months I was on my bike by 6h15 to go to work with Florent and Patrice, the two others at As.P.E.L. with whom I conducted the project “Competition: Cleanest and Greenest City.” This was quite the project. I committed myself to be in Athieme every morning for eight straight weeks. I love Athieme, but I also like to get supplies in Cotonou or visit the beach… I was able to fit in a couple days of escape. The project ... read more

I can understand now why crab is considered a delicacy. Sometimes I wonder why food inspires me to write, but with dinners’ such as tonite’s, I am not too surprised. There was an awful lot of thinking involved. But I am starting on the 23rd, and I mean to begin with the 1st… 1 Juin 2006, Jeudi TREE DAY! I started the day with a quick little jog around town. Very nice. I came home and brought Elisabeth to me by thinking the little twerp probably would pass by before 7h. Uh, honey, I love ya, but no way before 7h, and preferably not before 8h, and 9h if you can help it. Anyway, I stretched and bathed and finished the stew from last night and wrote a letter and listened to African news on a ... read more