In fitting style, after waiting for a boat that sailed six hours late, I have left Africa. During the eight and a half months I was there, almost getting from one end to the other overland, I have been constantly surprised, astonished and amazed by the people and their way of life, and the landscape and the animals that populate it. What stands out are the people - my motto for Africa is great people, terrible government - the list of friendly people that I have met goes on for pages. The thing about Africa is that despite there being almost no reason for it you get infected with a sense of the joy of life and feel hopeful about the future. Perhaps when you have had your hopes dashed so many times you have to revel in the small things and when things are so bad life is a grind you have to have hope that it will improve. So I am a little sad to leave but I can console myself with some great stories and photos as well.
A little list of the highs and lows:
GENERAL
Best country: Rwanda, Rwanda, Rwanda
Best local insight: Rwanda, Godwin the journalist
Biggest achievement: Tanzania, surviving Kilimanjaro in the Volleys
Most awesome experience: Rwanda, spending an hour with mountain gorillas
Coolest cat: Felix, Zambia, the guide who took us to Angel's Chair above Victoria Falls
Worst touts: Tanzania, Zanzibar, you blokes can keep your bloody island
Strangest question: Kenya, Do you want warm or cold beer ?
Best alcohol innovation: Zambia, spirit sachets (AKA Headache in a bag), cheap and nasty, the way alcohol should be
Most colonial moment: Mozambique, Tofinho, sitting on the balcony drinking a GT whilst the boy cleaned the house
Best market: Zambia, Livingstone, it's not what you buy but who you buy it from
Best backpackers: Zambia, Livingstone, Jollyboys, nice space, nice view, nice pool, nice people
Best view: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, looking down from above the clouds on the roof of Africa
Most impressive monument: Egypt, the Pyramids, they are big and they just sit there but sometimes that is enough
Worst room: nameless hotel , Ruhengeri, Rwanda - dank room with no window, a bed that fell apart, music all night and you had to ask for the key to go to the toilet - which was a smelly hole in the ground - and it was expensive !!1
TRAVEL
Most crowded vehicle: Mozambique, 31 people (and various animals) in a Toyota Hiace
Longest waiting period for shortest ride: Uganda, Masindi to the chimps, 6 hours waiting for 2 hour ride
Worst road: Kenya, north of Archers Rest to the border with Ethiopia, more corrugations than bandits
Worst driving experience: Malawi, on the sinuous Lilongwe-Nkhata Bay road at 110km/h
Most dangerous trip: Kenya, Marsabit to Moyale on the top of truck, through bandit country
Best free ride: Tanzania, Overland truck from Malawi to Arusha
Biggest wait: Kenya, Maralal, Four days to get a truck to Lake Turkana, never arrived
Strangest driving system: Egypt, make up the rules as they go along
Skankiest toilet: Megab, Ethiopia, it still makes me queasy thinking about it
WILDLIFE SECTION:
Best Free Experience: Zambia, Watching an elephant swim across the river
Best Too Close to the Wildlife Experience: Zambia, Leopard almost jumping in the back of open jeep
Best animal on destruction: Tanzania, Ngorogoro Crater, the elephant that tore apart the water tank
Most unforgettable moment: Tanzania, Watching cheetahs and a gazelle starting the dance of death
Best is this really happening moment: Tanzania, the Serengeti, despite all the hype and the people, three lions decided to lie down in front of our car
Most underrated animal: Uganda, the hippo, they are bit, fat and waddle, like a big wombat in water
CULINARY SECTION
Best bit of meat: Mozambique, Parrot Fish - who would have thought the beak would be so tasty
Best Coffee: Ethiopia, Yabelo - my first coffee ceremony
Best Indian Meal: Uganda, Masala Chat House, Kampala - northern and southern thalis
Best soup: Zanzibar, Spicy Broth
Best fast food invention: Tie between Uganda, The Rolex and South Africa, Bunny Chow
Most enjoyable staple: Egypt, koshari, cheap, filling and delicious
Most boring staple: Tie between Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Nsima or Ugali
Best Vegetarian: Ethiopia, no meat for a whole month just fantastic vego food, almost got religion back in my good book
A travel blog for the thinking clown who has drunk a little too much of the local tap water
Pictorial tour of Egypt - Part II (Luxor)
Karnak temple, Luxor. The area covered by these pillars, shaped like papyrus reeds is big enough to fit in St Peter's Basilica twice (and up to 150 buses of sunburned tourists from the coast at a time) This is just one of several gates - stretching inland from the Nile. When everybody left around midday and it was silent it was awe inspiring
Just a simple boy from Dandy
How can I resist ?
Even Dandy gets gentrified, then exported.
Is nothing sacred ?
Notice the moccos in the front window !!
A tenuous link
Back in Cairo again (third time) for a few days. Spent a large part of today wandering around trying to find a pocket notebook, to replace my torn, tattered and full old one. I concede that I am in downtown, and that I probably didn't cover an area much bigger than 20 blocks by 20 blocks, but I did not see one newsagent or stationary shop. It got me wondering about how despite having a Nobel Prize winning authors Egyptians aren't particularly literate. According to UNICEF the literacy rate amongst adults is 72% (I think the test is whether you can read and write a full sentence about yourself, describing what you do) I have seen a few bookshops in Cairo, but elsewhere I haven't spotted one. I haven't seen anyone reading a book - other than the Quaran, and when you do bust out a book in public people look at you like you are committing a crime.
Browsing the stats I found some other interesting numbers - the average income in Egypt is $1580 or $130 a month. The government spends 9 percent on defence, 3 on health and 15 on education- and despite this the average life expectancy is 72 years !!!
Browsing the stats I found some other interesting numbers - the average income in Egypt is $1580 or $130 a month. The government spends 9 percent on defence, 3 on health and 15 on education- and despite this the average life expectancy is 72 years !!!
Egypt in party mode
Egypt is in party mode - on Thursday night the Egyptian soccer time beat Italy - the World Cup Champions as Egyptians now constantly remind you - 1-0. I didn't watch the match but from my hotel room on the 7th floor I could hear the collective ooohs, aaahs, sighs of relief, screams of joy and polite clapping through out the match. When the goal was scored, one of the older guys who works at the hostel and whom I have never seen walk at more than a snails pace was running laps around the hostel shouting Allahu akbar, allahu akbar (God is great, God is great) When the match finally finished and the tension all of Egypt was feeling could finally be released, the streets were filled with noise horn tooting, screaming, singing, clapping and general merry making. (It is the only noise louder than the badly amplified call to prayer that echoes from the seemingly sixty mosques all within a stone's throw of the hotel that appear to be in competition with each other) The celebrations went on all night - Cairo is almost a completely nocturnal city, nothing opens in the morning unti 10 or 11, and nothing shuts until well after midnight, even on school nights.
As I wander the streets in Cairo more people than usual think I am an Italian (which makes me laugh as it reminds me of the time somebody called me a dirty wog when I was playing junior football) I simply don't nose why !! They seem keen for a chance to rub salt in the wound for the Italians, and when I tell them I am Australian they smile broadly, ask me if I saw the game, and proceed to tell me about the triumph regardless of my answer. Today during lunch the TV was on in the restaurant and in the space of twenty minutes I saw the goal replayed at least one hundred times from every possible angle, and then the celebrations at the end of the game, followed by some players being interviewed. I can't understand a word of what they are saying, but then it is sport so you don't really have to.
The amount of interest in football throughout my African journey continues to surprise and perplex me - and in Egypt it is three fold. In all the other African countries I have been through there is no real interest in the domestic league, and whilst every now and then the national team will have some success, the real interest lies in European football leagues. In Egypt there is this interest in European football, and in the national league (I watched the final earlier this month and the streets were full of supporters after the final) and in the national team - the Egyptians are two time African champions - and have now beaten the Italians !!!
Tomorrow night the last game is against the Americans, a victory that one suspects despite a local guy telling me about how much Egyptians love America, would be cherished even more.
As I wander the streets in Cairo more people than usual think I am an Italian (which makes me laugh as it reminds me of the time somebody called me a dirty wog when I was playing junior football) I simply don't nose why !! They seem keen for a chance to rub salt in the wound for the Italians, and when I tell them I am Australian they smile broadly, ask me if I saw the game, and proceed to tell me about the triumph regardless of my answer. Today during lunch the TV was on in the restaurant and in the space of twenty minutes I saw the goal replayed at least one hundred times from every possible angle, and then the celebrations at the end of the game, followed by some players being interviewed. I can't understand a word of what they are saying, but then it is sport so you don't really have to.
The amount of interest in football throughout my African journey continues to surprise and perplex me - and in Egypt it is three fold. In all the other African countries I have been through there is no real interest in the domestic league, and whilst every now and then the national team will have some success, the real interest lies in European football leagues. In Egypt there is this interest in European football, and in the national league (I watched the final earlier this month and the streets were full of supporters after the final) and in the national team - the Egyptians are two time African champions - and have now beaten the Italians !!!
Tomorrow night the last game is against the Americans, a victory that one suspects despite a local guy telling me about how much Egyptians love America, would be cherished even more.
Iran, I can - not
I went to the Iranian embassy today to ask about a visa - the gate was closed and it was all very quiet. Looks like I might have to postpone my plan - no green eggs and ham !!!
The cartoon is from the Atlantic Monthly
President Cool II
Answer to rhetorical question - yes, you can get cooler.
It seems everywhere I look there he is, Hosny or as I like to call him Ho-Mub, is staring back at me. And none of those boring vain dictators with the same picture everywhere, Ho-Mub likes variety - well as long as the photo takes 20 years off his age.
Here are some of the finer works:
It seems everywhere I look there he is, Hosny or as I like to call him Ho-Mub, is staring back at me. And none of those boring vain dictators with the same picture everywhere, Ho-Mub likes variety - well as long as the photo takes 20 years off his age.
Here are some of the finer works:
Half way around the world to learn what my brother had already taught me
Perhaps the only food that isn't fried in Egypt is koshari, most aptly described as creative leftovers. I was introduced to koshari four years ago when Dan used to cook it up for us to feast on after yet another near loss (in the lowest grade) by the Brothers Renkin basketball team, without realising that it would one day sustain me through six weeks in Egypt.
In Egypt koshari is served in huge bowls in which pasta, noodles, rice, lentils and chickpeas are combined and then covered in a thin, savoury tomato sauce, topped with fried shallots. You then season this with a garlic vinegar and hot chilli oil to you preference. The servings are gigantic, one large plate is enough food for the entire day - even for someone with a bottomless pit stomach like myself. And the cost for this filling gourmet delight - a measly one dollar - and I had a few Egyptians tells me about how the prices have jumped a lot in the recent months. Every little town has a koshari place, and they are easily identifiable by huge silver pots in the windows. Egyptians really do treat this left-over special as gourmet - argument rages over which is the best koshari place in Cairo. I don't know about its gourmet status but I ate it almost every day I was in Egypt and I can testify to its ability to keep a stomach full for the whole day and give you enough energy to ride around on a bicycle for 10hours in forty degree heat.
So for those of you who lament not being able to experience the joys of loitering across the globe and sniffing out meat free comestibles along rubbish strewn streets in restaurants of questionable hygiene,
give Dan a call - he is probably whipping up a batch of koshari as you read this - I heard it is Aegean's favourite.
A day at the beach in Egpyt
After spe
nding so long in the hot, hot desert in the south of Egypt I was dying for a swim, and so ended up going to the beach near Alexandria. At first we went to a private beach, which front a private park about 10 kilometres to the East of town. After paying to get in to the park you then have to pay again to get in to a beach (which were all more crowded than the nearby public beaches we had gone past in the bus), but all the best - and most empty beaches - are private private - you can't even pay to get in. (We asked one nice security guard who wandered off and asked the owner who was sitting fifty metres away. The owner took one look and shook his head !!!) So I wandered out on to the point where some guys were fishing, after the security guard caught us wandering on to a private beach after jumping the wall, and when the security guard wasn't looking I slipped in to my swimmers, ran to the edge of the rocks and jumped in. Of course, all hell broke loose - as soon as the security guard saw me in the water he started blowing his whistle, ran over and screamed (mainly with his hands) for me to return. The subsequent conversation, captured in the photo, centred around how he would be taken off in handcuffs if his boss caught him with me in the water.
Not to be deterred we walked out of the park and along to the nearest public beach, just past the Hilton beach, which cost a measly $20 to get in to. The municipal beach instead cost a solitary dollar - for which we got access to the beach and an umbrella - we scrimped on the chairs and table - meaning we only got the second row, behind the umbrella line. As the photo shows, paying to get in to a beach doesn't put anyone off, we had the pleasure of sharing the beach with half of Cairo. Everyone was packed in a single row on the shoreline under their umbrellas as far as the eye could see. Coming from a city of twenty
million, all packed on top of each other in dense forest of concrete towers they call home, I guess what I experienced as a can of sardines was in fact for most locals wide open expanses. When I swam out to the depths and turned back to look at the coast line for as far as I could see the entire sweep of the bay - at least 10 kilometres back to Alexandria - was filled with the same line of umbrellas and swarms of people.
The beach itself was quite nice, however it was littered with rubbish, mainly plastic bags and food containers. Likewise the water was filled with rubbish from about the first five metres from the shore, and then the deeper you swam the more sporadic the appearance of rubbish became. Most Egyptians seem to have selective blindness when it comes to rubbish. They appear content to sit in it, walk through it and swim in it as if it weren't there.
A day at the beach for Egyptians has little do with either the beach or the water and more to do with bringing as much as you can to the beach and consuming likewise. Sitting on the beach not more then a minute passed without somebody coming past to sell something - beach clothes, inflatable swimming aids, photos of you and your loved ones, nuts, drinks, fresh fish, shampoo, newspapers, food, flip-flops, ordinary clothes, chocolate bars, board games and on and on and on. Surprisingly I witnessed quite a few sales. There was plenty of eating going on, a fair few people smoking sheesha - the hubbly bubbly water pipe, a few
people strolling up and down the beach, but only the kids got in the water. As soon as we got in the water we were surrounded by people, somehow the water seemed to break the ice, and we faced a machine gun round of the same questions over and over - what is your name ? where are you from ? what is your name? Fortunately most people couldn't swim that well so heading for the depths provided for a bit of solitude.
Most people were content to sit on the beach, and with most women who ventured in to the water completely covered, or at least in jeans and a long sleeved shirt, you can see why. Wouldn't be much fun if this was your swimming costume !!!
nding so long in the hot, hot desert in the south of Egypt I was dying for a swim, and so ended up going to the beach near Alexandria. At first we went to a private beach, which front a private park about 10 kilometres to the East of town. After paying to get in to the park you then have to pay again to get in to a beach (which were all more crowded than the nearby public beaches we had gone past in the bus), but all the best - and most empty beaches - are private private - you can't even pay to get in. (We asked one nice security guard who wandered off and asked the owner who was sitting fifty metres away. The owner took one look and shook his head !!!) So I wandered out on to the point where some guys were fishing, after the security guard caught us wandering on to a private beach after jumping the wall, and when the security guard wasn't looking I slipped in to my swimmers, ran to the edge of the rocks and jumped in. Of course, all hell broke loose - as soon as the security guard saw me in the water he started blowing his whistle, ran over and screamed (mainly with his hands) for me to return. The subsequent conversation, captured in the photo, centred around how he would be taken off in handcuffs if his boss caught him with me in the water.Not to be deterred we walked out of the park and along to the nearest public beach, just past the Hilton beach, which cost a measly $20 to get in to. The municipal beach instead cost a solitary dollar - for which we got access to the beach and an umbrella - we scrimped on the chairs and table - meaning we only got the second row, behind the umbrella line. As the photo shows, paying to get in to a beach doesn't put anyone off, we had the pleasure of sharing the beach with half of Cairo. Everyone was packed in a single row on the shoreline under their umbrellas as far as the eye could see. Coming from a city of twenty
million, all packed on top of each other in dense forest of concrete towers they call home, I guess what I experienced as a can of sardines was in fact for most locals wide open expanses. When I swam out to the depths and turned back to look at the coast line for as far as I could see the entire sweep of the bay - at least 10 kilometres back to Alexandria - was filled with the same line of umbrellas and swarms of people.The beach itself was quite nice, however it was littered with rubbish, mainly plastic bags and food containers. Likewise the water was filled with rubbish from about the first five metres from the shore, and then the deeper you swam the more sporadic the appearance of rubbish became. Most Egyptians seem to have selective blindness when it comes to rubbish. They appear content to sit in it, walk through it and swim in it as if it weren't there.
A day at the beach for Egyptians has little do with either the beach or the water and more to do with bringing as much as you can to the beach and consuming likewise. Sitting on the beach not more then a minute passed without somebody coming past to sell something - beach clothes, inflatable swimming aids, photos of you and your loved ones, nuts, drinks, fresh fish, shampoo, newspapers, food, flip-flops, ordinary clothes, chocolate bars, board games and on and on and on. Surprisingly I witnessed quite a few sales. There was plenty of eating going on, a fair few people smoking sheesha - the hubbly bubbly water pipe, a few
people strolling up and down the beach, but only the kids got in the water. As soon as we got in the water we were surrounded by people, somehow the water seemed to break the ice, and we faced a machine gun round of the same questions over and over - what is your name ? where are you from ? what is your name? Fortunately most people couldn't swim that well so heading for the depths provided for a bit of solitude.Most people were content to sit on the beach, and with most women who ventured in to the water completely covered, or at least in jeans and a long sleeved shirt, you can see why. Wouldn't be much fun if this was your swimming costume !!!
Foot fetish
Despite the gigantic size of some of the temples and statutes in Egypt everything was carved out with the finest detail and has stood the test of time. There is no better example of this than feet. Check out the work on these:
Pictorial tour of Egypt - Part I (Cairo)
The sun sets on Cairo, obscured by the ever resent smog, to the accompaniment of about seven thousand mosques, all with loud speakers, calling the faithful to prayer
Cairo's current architectural style is described as concretism - started in the 1950's and not looking like it is going to stop anytime soon.
Only Wonder of the Ancient World still standing, a bloody lot of large stones cut precisely, put together even more precisely and after three thousand years still impressive. Sadly can't climb 'em like in the good old days.
Left: Even before they were finished there were tourists and the next day there was guys with camels insisting you take a ride.
Right: It is smaller than you think (that's what they say about the Mona Lisa as well) but it is all about location, location, location.
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