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Published: August 30th 2008
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Lusaka Traffic Jam
Capital city of Zambia I'm now out of Africa and in North America. I've added some photos to all the blog entries, and I'll write this final blog entry with a few final comments of my time on the dark continent. Perhaps dark is the apt word here because I knew little about Africa before I left. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know how safe I'd be, I didn't know how healthy I'd be, I didn't know how much I'd learn, and I didn't know how much I'd enjoy myself. In fact, I was completely safe and healthy the entire time. This is Africa, TIA, was the expression we adopted while our first truck kept breaking down when we left Cape Town at the begining of the trip. You have to adopt this state of mind when you travel through Africa. It doesn't matter, it's all works on African time. And it does work, it just seems to stop working when we in the west interfere. Hakuna Matata in Swahili.
This is the attitude we should all aspire to. And I think in this case, Africans have got it right and the rest of us have got it wrong. The Africans
Malawi School
This school has no electricity and only one teacher for every 150 students I met are resolutely both self reliant and neighbourly. In Africa, people make do with what they have, they help each other, they know their neighbours and they remain a part of their family. Travel through any African town are you quickly see that everyone is part of the community, everyone helps each other. Families are extended and everyone remains in contact. In Africa, people make do with what they've got, in the modern western world, we pursue more and more wealth and material goods.
I've noticed that in an African town, people belong to a community, while, I live in a large modern western city where the community is splintered. People live in apartments without knowing their neighbours, people walk alone on crowded streets, people drive alone in isolated cars. So why should you care about other people when everybody is looking out for themselves? A city isn't a large community, it's not even a collection of villages, it's the shattered remains of what used to be a community. The Africans I saw all belonged to a community. We in the west may have the technology and money, but I firmly believe Africa also has much to teach
us.
This trip has taught me a lot about Africa, myself and the world. It's been a tough trip, but with no regrets. This trip feels like a real accomplishment, although I couldn't have done it without Errol, Janet and Elbie. Camping almost every night for 40 days. Spraying for sandflies everynight. Dust and dirt. A shower every couple of days and a shave about once a week. A bone and organ shaker of a truck. Eating 8 or more hours apart. African roads with potholes that should be renamed craters. Rising before sunrise. Eating from my lap in the dark. Getting up in the middle of the night to pee by unzipping the tent and walking many meters sometimes with wild animals nearby. Spending all day with people you don't like. Not spending enough time with people you do like. Drinking more alcohol and pop than usual. Taking malaria pills everyday. Sunscreen goes on before sunrise. Spending hours on a truck wanting to go to the toilet on someone else's schedule. Haggling for items in the markets. Spending more money than planned. Eating too much junk food. Seeing the real Africa through a window.
This is Africa.
This is my African experience. I think I know Africa a little better now than before I left. There is still much to learn but the continent is certainly less dark. Indeed, it's brilliant.
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TinNiE
" Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness "
Africa
beautiful description ... i understand what you mean ... i used to live in a community, and now i'm living in a city ...