Hi there. Well to be honest I completely forgot about this blog, but it seems that it is more just myself that follows it - so after an MSN dig in the ribs last night, I am now updating it :-).... So where were we? Well Zanzibar was a tropical paradise. We had a beachfront bungalow looking out over the azure ocean. Waking up every morning to the sun and the sound of the ocean was incredible. We did a spice tour, went sailing and snorkelling, and generally enjoyed ourselves. After that we went up into the Serengetti. Saw lions, elephants, rhinos, buffalos, flamingos - you name it. It was incredible. To literally be so close to a pride of lions that you can hear them yawning was amazing. To see an elephant so close that he was almost touching the 4x4 is fantastic - and I will stop there lest I run out of adjectives.
So after some nights in Tanzania we went on up into Kenya. Kenya was really a slice of Europe in the middle of Africa. I wasn't too impressed. I spent a couple of days relaxing and washing clothes etc. I took some time to go and visit a giraffe sanctuary (I french kissed a giraffe) and then I took a flight back to Europe.
....which is where I am now. Spending time in Paris relaxing and enjoying the sun - filling out insurance claims, chasing KLM for flight piss-up compensation - and trying to look for possible roles once I get back to work. Heading down to Nice next week for a couple of days in the sun with some friends, then on Friday we're flying out to India for a week's holiday. I'm going via Bahrain. All in all it will be a much needed post-holiday-holiday-holiday holiday. Which will be nice. And then....... as much as I hate to say it, it will be back to work. But to be honest I'm quite excited about it. I miss the excitement of work, the thrill of travel - and I also miss the salary going into my account every month. It's depressing to see a big fat ZERO on the bottom of your pay cheque every month.....
But hey ho - that's pretty much what has been happening. I will try and update this blog with the story of India - and then that's going to be pretty much it I'm afraid! Thanks for following it thus far. For anyone else thinking about takign a career break, I would say it's something you should definitely do - and for anyone considering Africa, I would say it will change your outlook on life.... permanently.
And on that note, ciao for now my friends
Rich xxx
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Zambia --> Malawi --> Tanzania --> Zanzibar
Hello all!
Well time for another post. If you're wondering why I'm so crap at updating my blog, it's for the perfectly salient reason that I'm crap at updating blogs... Also the computers here rarely exist, if they exist they don't work, if they work then the internet doesn't, if the internet does then it is slow and I usually end up losing half my e-mails half way through the session - ending up in a heated exchange of words with the owner of the internet cafe / campsite and a joint decision that no money would change hands.... (actually joint = my decision)
But now I am in Zanzibar - the historical capital of Africa's slave trade - and also one of the major spice producing areas in the region. But just to update you on the activities on the past few days. Well I am now fighting fit after my brief sojourn in hospital - although my bank account is probably not feeling as great - and after saying goodbye to Zambia, we headed on upwards into Malawi. We stayed for a couple of nights on the shores of Lake Malawi - one of the largest areas of fresh water in Africa - and possibly one of the most pristine, beautiful and peaceful places on Earth. Warm as a bath and as clear as.... erm.... well a bath - we went swimming, canoeing etc. etc. etc.
We spent the afternoon at a great market which was just outside the campsite. If you have ever had a trader persistently try to tell you something, I can tell you it was nothing compared to how this market was. I heard every sob story under the sun. In the end, I decided to have a little fun with them. I managed to barter on guy down from 4 dollars to 2 dollars for some jewellry - still a very good deal for what was effectively just copper wire and string. I gave it to him in US dollars. 20 minutes later he came up to him asking me to change it into Malawian Kwatcha for him. I said "Yes - but it will cost you" and promptly gave him a very poor exchange rate. He absolutely loved it! He said "ahhh - you are businessman like me!" and laughed his way back to his stall.....
So that was that - then we came up in Tanzania. We spent a couple of days going through some game reserves - and now we are in Zanzibar. It's sunny, quite humid and if you can get past the multitude of touts which approach me every minute asking me to come down a backstreet and visit their shops - or whether I want to take some of their tours, or whether I want to buy their wooden hippos which will supposedly bring me luck (my stock response is that they should keep it for themselves, then perhaps they wouldn't need to sell wooden hippos on street corners ;-) - then it's also a fantastic holiday destination.
We are here for 4 nights - then from here we head onto the Serengeti, and finally up into Kenya - then my tour of Africa ends, and my tour of India begins :-)
Until then my friends - ciao for now!
Rich xxx
Well time for another post. If you're wondering why I'm so crap at updating my blog, it's for the perfectly salient reason that I'm crap at updating blogs... Also the computers here rarely exist, if they exist they don't work, if they work then the internet doesn't, if the internet does then it is slow and I usually end up losing half my e-mails half way through the session - ending up in a heated exchange of words with the owner of the internet cafe / campsite and a joint decision that no money would change hands.... (actually joint = my decision)
But now I am in Zanzibar - the historical capital of Africa's slave trade - and also one of the major spice producing areas in the region. But just to update you on the activities on the past few days. Well I am now fighting fit after my brief sojourn in hospital - although my bank account is probably not feeling as great - and after saying goodbye to Zambia, we headed on upwards into Malawi. We stayed for a couple of nights on the shores of Lake Malawi - one of the largest areas of fresh water in Africa - and possibly one of the most pristine, beautiful and peaceful places on Earth. Warm as a bath and as clear as.... erm.... well a bath - we went swimming, canoeing etc. etc. etc.
We spent the afternoon at a great market which was just outside the campsite. If you have ever had a trader persistently try to tell you something, I can tell you it was nothing compared to how this market was. I heard every sob story under the sun. In the end, I decided to have a little fun with them. I managed to barter on guy down from 4 dollars to 2 dollars for some jewellry - still a very good deal for what was effectively just copper wire and string. I gave it to him in US dollars. 20 minutes later he came up to him asking me to change it into Malawian Kwatcha for him. I said "Yes - but it will cost you" and promptly gave him a very poor exchange rate. He absolutely loved it! He said "ahhh - you are businessman like me!" and laughed his way back to his stall.....
So that was that - then we came up in Tanzania. We spent a couple of days going through some game reserves - and now we are in Zanzibar. It's sunny, quite humid and if you can get past the multitude of touts which approach me every minute asking me to come down a backstreet and visit their shops - or whether I want to take some of their tours, or whether I want to buy their wooden hippos which will supposedly bring me luck (my stock response is that they should keep it for themselves, then perhaps they wouldn't need to sell wooden hippos on street corners ;-) - then it's also a fantastic holiday destination.
We are here for 4 nights - then from here we head onto the Serengeti, and finally up into Kenya - then my tour of Africa ends, and my tour of India begins :-)
Until then my friends - ciao for now!
Rich xxx
Friday, April 18, 2008
OK - how about a better post than the last one....
OK - so the last post was a pretty pathetic one. So how about a bit more detail.....
I don't know if anyone knows this, but I HATE camping. Why I signed up for 6 weeks of participation camping then is anyone's guess - but after 3 weeks of getting up at 4am every day, packing the tent away, sweeping away the scorpions and spiders, it's getting slightly wearing.... We're travelling in a 16 tonne truck which seems to have been built without the suspension in the back, and of course muggins here has the back seats. So of course when I'm not pulling my head out of the ceiling after the bumpy roads, I'm trying to get some sleep. And sleep I do - for the 9-10 hours a day we travel....
But there are some rewarding aspects. We are currently going through an incredibly rural part of Zambia. There is little infrastructure - the populus live a subsistence lifestyle, within a virtual barter economy. 1 in 3 people have HIV, public services are sparse to non-existant. Yet the people are so welcoming, friendly and happy. I walked through a Zambian village two days ago. A group of children ran up to us - a little girl took my left hand, a little boy took my right hand and they danced down the street next to me. The only English they know is "How are you!?" so they will run out of the houses when you walk past shouting it - then they will repeat it as the standard response to any question you ask them. It's quite endearing really. They generally have no shoes, rags for clothes - yet they smile as if they are the luckiest people in the world. We don't give them money, rather pens, water bottles, hats - we shop in their markets, we tell them stories, we ask them about themselves (obviously this is limited by their stock response of "How are you") - but all in all it has been such a rewarding experience and it makes me realise just how lucky I am, not only in my lifestyle back home, but also to be able to glimpse the "real" Africa and see how the people here live and survive in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
So today we are in South Luongwe National Park. Tomorrow we head into Malawi (Lake Malawi eventually) for a couple of days. Then as I said, we'll be heading into Zanzibar. We just bumped into a guy today in the swimming pool who owns a bar in Zanzibar - and if we all go he will get us 10% off - personally I think that is rubbish, so I think we can do better ;-)
OK - well I'm now going to go and relax by the pool and watch the hippos. They leave the water every night and wander aroudn the tents - it's quite amusing if they weren't the most dangerous animals in Africa. We were lamping hippos last night - running around the campsite trying to track them, quite funny really. We had some elephants come through today - but I'm hoping we won't see any lions - otherwise the next post might take some writing ;-)
Right gang - thanks for everyone who is following this post. My next one will probably be some point in Zanzibar - if I can drag myself off the beach
Ciao for now!!!
R
I don't know if anyone knows this, but I HATE camping. Why I signed up for 6 weeks of participation camping then is anyone's guess - but after 3 weeks of getting up at 4am every day, packing the tent away, sweeping away the scorpions and spiders, it's getting slightly wearing.... We're travelling in a 16 tonne truck which seems to have been built without the suspension in the back, and of course muggins here has the back seats. So of course when I'm not pulling my head out of the ceiling after the bumpy roads, I'm trying to get some sleep. And sleep I do - for the 9-10 hours a day we travel....
But there are some rewarding aspects. We are currently going through an incredibly rural part of Zambia. There is little infrastructure - the populus live a subsistence lifestyle, within a virtual barter economy. 1 in 3 people have HIV, public services are sparse to non-existant. Yet the people are so welcoming, friendly and happy. I walked through a Zambian village two days ago. A group of children ran up to us - a little girl took my left hand, a little boy took my right hand and they danced down the street next to me. The only English they know is "How are you!?" so they will run out of the houses when you walk past shouting it - then they will repeat it as the standard response to any question you ask them. It's quite endearing really. They generally have no shoes, rags for clothes - yet they smile as if they are the luckiest people in the world. We don't give them money, rather pens, water bottles, hats - we shop in their markets, we tell them stories, we ask them about themselves (obviously this is limited by their stock response of "How are you") - but all in all it has been such a rewarding experience and it makes me realise just how lucky I am, not only in my lifestyle back home, but also to be able to glimpse the "real" Africa and see how the people here live and survive in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
So today we are in South Luongwe National Park. Tomorrow we head into Malawi (Lake Malawi eventually) for a couple of days. Then as I said, we'll be heading into Zanzibar. We just bumped into a guy today in the swimming pool who owns a bar in Zanzibar - and if we all go he will get us 10% off - personally I think that is rubbish, so I think we can do better ;-)
OK - well I'm now going to go and relax by the pool and watch the hippos. They leave the water every night and wander aroudn the tents - it's quite amusing if they weren't the most dangerous animals in Africa. We were lamping hippos last night - running around the campsite trying to track them, quite funny really. We had some elephants come through today - but I'm hoping we won't see any lions - otherwise the next post might take some writing ;-)
Right gang - thanks for everyone who is following this post. My next one will probably be some point in Zanzibar - if I can drag myself off the beach
Ciao for now!!!
R
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Botswana & Zambia
Hi there - well typically I start these posts with "I'm sorry it's been such a long time" - and of course this post is no exception. There is a general lack of good internet access and I have also been a bit ill....
So, where to start? Namibia was great, Botswana was even better - though slightly polluted. Actually that is an understatement as it was probably the most littered place I have ever been to. Spent a few days there, then we crossed over the border into Zambia. And that's where I got....ahem... a little ill. Severe dehydration meant I was rushed to a Zambian hospital, had 2 big bags of saline drip intraveneously fed into my arm + valium and something to clear out my kidneys. This was after a night of hallucinations and fits which really put a crimp on that part of my holiday. Fortunately the Zambian hospital was impressively better than most British hospitals so no worries - and the travel insurance will cover the equally impressive bill.
But onwards I go. I'm staying in a National Park now - then I head from here over into Malawi, then Tanzania - spending a couple of days in Zanzibar - then finally I hit Kenya..... I'm covered in bites, bruises, cuts, scars - an impressive collection to say the least. I've seen spiders, scorpions, leopards, elephants, cheetahs, lions, wilderbeest, buffalo, rhino and a bunch of crazy crawling things which are generally brightly coloured and deadly.
But that's enough for now - until my next post! Ciao
So, where to start? Namibia was great, Botswana was even better - though slightly polluted. Actually that is an understatement as it was probably the most littered place I have ever been to. Spent a few days there, then we crossed over the border into Zambia. And that's where I got....ahem... a little ill. Severe dehydration meant I was rushed to a Zambian hospital, had 2 big bags of saline drip intraveneously fed into my arm + valium and something to clear out my kidneys. This was after a night of hallucinations and fits which really put a crimp on that part of my holiday. Fortunately the Zambian hospital was impressively better than most British hospitals so no worries - and the travel insurance will cover the equally impressive bill.
But onwards I go. I'm staying in a National Park now - then I head from here over into Malawi, then Tanzania - spending a couple of days in Zanzibar - then finally I hit Kenya..... I'm covered in bites, bruises, cuts, scars - an impressive collection to say the least. I've seen spiders, scorpions, leopards, elephants, cheetahs, lions, wilderbeest, buffalo, rhino and a bunch of crazy crawling things which are generally brightly coloured and deadly.
But that's enough for now - until my next post! Ciao
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
South Africa and Namibia
Hello all! Well sorry it has been a long time coming - you can blame the complete lack of internet access for most of the last week for that. But I am finally in a place called Swakupmond on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. It's Day 8 of the tour. I landed in Johannesburg nearly two weeks ago after my 1st class flight on my airmiles - never had a flight like it. They drove me to the plane in a private Mercedes-Benz, lie flat bed, massive duvet and proper pillows, as much champagne as I could drink (which is a fair bit ;-). Then I landed in Jo-burg and the royal treatment stopped. I was feeling rough as a bag of spanners, so I checked into an airport hotel for the night rather than face going into the city. The next morning I had an early flight out to Cape Town, where I then met up with Chris - a guy I met in Chicago on CCS (thanks for the all the help Chris!) and we went to MyCokeFest - an all day Rock Festival at Kennelworth racecourse. Of course I got very sunburnt - something which is only now beginning to be cured. After a couple of days in Cape Town we headed out on tour up through into Africa.
It's basically a camping trip - and I hate camping. Why then did I sign up for 42 days of "participation camping" you may ask? With get ups every day at 5am, taking down a tent in the dark, setting a tent up in the torrential rain, having to put up string around your tent to deter the scorpions who make a nice warm home under your sleeping bag. Sharing a cold shower with about 50,000 African bugs - beetles, spiders, scorpions, moths, birds - you name it - they all come shower with you - not being able to walk around in bare feet because of the danger of scorpions and spiders - having to bring your boots inside the tent because of the thieving nature of the friendly local jackals. Having a guy with a rifle patrolling the camp site, driving up to 10 hours a day through temperatures of 40 degrees plus, over dirt beds, getting up at 4am to climb sand dunes - walking through towns where the helpful local advice is "if you get stabbed, be sure to take your intestines to the hospital in a plastic bag......"
But it's all immense fun! And I never thought I would enjoy it so much. We spent a day yesterday helping out at beach cleanup - we were each given 3 bin bags and asked to go down the beach and pick up the rubbish. Some guy in the group was pricked by a syringe and had to be rushed to hospital - and he needs an HIV test in 3 months after he gets back. I contained myself to picking up cigarette butts - the least dangerous activity - and I am very happy to say the lack of gloves did not mean I was damaged in any way.
But tonight we are in paradise - i.e. some place with proper beds. A backpacker's hostel for 2 nights - the bar has a pool in it, there are shops, restaurants, bars, internet cafes - WOW! it's like all my Christmasses have come at one :-) I started my anti-malaria treatment yesterday as in a couple of days we are heading up into Etosha national park, a malarial zone. After that we travel up into Windhoek - the capital of Namibia, then crossing the border into Botswana - the Okavango Delta - 2 nights bush camping under the stars with only the animals for company. As our helpful guide suggested - "once the sun goes down - we have no light so I suggest you just drink until you pass out....." After that it's into onwards and upwards into Kenya.....
Ok - well my internet time is quickly running out and I need to arrange some onwards travel. Next update should be in Windhoek. I have the rest of the day free - and I'm going to reeeelax.
Till Windhoek! Ciao for now!
Rich
It's basically a camping trip - and I hate camping. Why then did I sign up for 42 days of "participation camping" you may ask? With get ups every day at 5am, taking down a tent in the dark, setting a tent up in the torrential rain, having to put up string around your tent to deter the scorpions who make a nice warm home under your sleeping bag. Sharing a cold shower with about 50,000 African bugs - beetles, spiders, scorpions, moths, birds - you name it - they all come shower with you - not being able to walk around in bare feet because of the danger of scorpions and spiders - having to bring your boots inside the tent because of the thieving nature of the friendly local jackals. Having a guy with a rifle patrolling the camp site, driving up to 10 hours a day through temperatures of 40 degrees plus, over dirt beds, getting up at 4am to climb sand dunes - walking through towns where the helpful local advice is "if you get stabbed, be sure to take your intestines to the hospital in a plastic bag......"
But it's all immense fun! And I never thought I would enjoy it so much. We spent a day yesterday helping out at beach cleanup - we were each given 3 bin bags and asked to go down the beach and pick up the rubbish. Some guy in the group was pricked by a syringe and had to be rushed to hospital - and he needs an HIV test in 3 months after he gets back. I contained myself to picking up cigarette butts - the least dangerous activity - and I am very happy to say the lack of gloves did not mean I was damaged in any way.
But tonight we are in paradise - i.e. some place with proper beds. A backpacker's hostel for 2 nights - the bar has a pool in it, there are shops, restaurants, bars, internet cafes - WOW! it's like all my Christmasses have come at one :-) I started my anti-malaria treatment yesterday as in a couple of days we are heading up into Etosha national park, a malarial zone. After that we travel up into Windhoek - the capital of Namibia, then crossing the border into Botswana - the Okavango Delta - 2 nights bush camping under the stars with only the animals for company. As our helpful guide suggested - "once the sun goes down - we have no light so I suggest you just drink until you pass out....." After that it's into onwards and upwards into Kenya.....
Ok - well my internet time is quickly running out and I need to arrange some onwards travel. Next update should be in Windhoek. I have the rest of the day free - and I'm going to reeeelax.
Till Windhoek! Ciao for now!
Rich
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Wow - has it really been 3 weeks??
Hi all. I'm not sure how many people are actually following this blog - it may be just myself - but in case the wider world has an interest, I apologise for not having updated this blog for 3 weeks. "And why not?" I hear you ask... Actually I don't hear you ask, but I will assume some of you are at least wondering those words... Well I've been in St Charles, Chicago. Quite possibly some of the best weeks I can remember. Champagne, stretched limos, hotels, dancing - what else could you ask for? No one fell through the ice into the pond, no one embarassed themselves (apart from the one poor sod who fell asleep in just his underpants in the middle of the hotel lounge...) - and above all we had a fantastic time.
But now Chicago is over - and the next trip begins. I've been in London for the past 2 days organising my visas. I spent 1 morning at the Indian High Commission, and another at the Tanzanian High Commission. Now, with my passport full of visas, stamps, innoculation certificates and visa waiver slips, I'm ready to depart.
I leave for Paris tomorrow night, then I have a 1st class trip to Johannesburg on Friday night. 2 days in Jo-burg, then an internal flight to Cape Town. All day Rock Festival there, maybe climb Table Mountain, then off up through Africa - starting with the Namib desert. 45 days through Africa, then we arrive in Kenya. After Kenya it's a month in India before flying back to Paris.
Well that's a brief update for the next couple of months - I will update more later on. Until then - ciao for now!
Rich
But now Chicago is over - and the next trip begins. I've been in London for the past 2 days organising my visas. I spent 1 morning at the Indian High Commission, and another at the Tanzanian High Commission. Now, with my passport full of visas, stamps, innoculation certificates and visa waiver slips, I'm ready to depart.
I leave for Paris tomorrow night, then I have a 1st class trip to Johannesburg on Friday night. 2 days in Jo-burg, then an internal flight to Cape Town. All day Rock Festival there, maybe climb Table Mountain, then off up through Africa - starting with the Namib desert. 45 days through Africa, then we arrive in Kenya. After Kenya it's a month in India before flying back to Paris.
Well that's a brief update for the next couple of months - I will update more later on. Until then - ciao for now!
Rich
Thursday, February 28, 2008
St Charles...
...is not, as some people readily believe, the Patron Saint of Drunks. Neither is he the owner of the Cadillac Ranch. Nope, eponymous St Charles does not exist, rather the name was conceived by a lawyer, once the inhabitants of the city realised that their preferred name "Charleston" was already taken.... by Charleston.
St Charles is a small town about an hour from Chicago. It consists of a couple of gas stations, a cheap outlet mall and a training centre. The local booze industry is kept running, even growing, by the steady strean of coporate trainees coming through the Q Centre (the aforementioned training centre).
And this training centre is where I have been for the past 3 days, learning how to teach the students who will be arriving here this weekend. Presentation techniques, conversation techniques, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are all being learned - a very helpful couple of days. Tonight is our first group night out at the Cadillac Ranch. For those of you who have ever seen "Porky's" - it's a similar bar, only Porky's had slightly more class, and much better music. It's going to be a killer of a night - however we're doing it in the name of teaching - so at least we know what our students will be in for on Friday mornings - it helps us to work more efficiently..... sound convincing? No - I didn't think so..... It's an 8am start tomorrow - with the opportunity on Friday morning to choose between the sedate wake up call of your alarm clock, or the rather more official wake up call of 2 big guys with batons, coming into your room at 8:05..... Personally, I'd choose the former.....
So that's a brief update from Chicago - it's been snowing, the rivers and the streams are frozen (there is a big pond just inches from the bar - frozen solid. Cue big "Rich-shaped" hole by the end of the week).......
Ciao for now!
Rich
St Charles is a small town about an hour from Chicago. It consists of a couple of gas stations, a cheap outlet mall and a training centre. The local booze industry is kept running, even growing, by the steady strean of coporate trainees coming through the Q Centre (the aforementioned training centre).
And this training centre is where I have been for the past 3 days, learning how to teach the students who will be arriving here this weekend. Presentation techniques, conversation techniques, verbal and non-verbal communication skills are all being learned - a very helpful couple of days. Tonight is our first group night out at the Cadillac Ranch. For those of you who have ever seen "Porky's" - it's a similar bar, only Porky's had slightly more class, and much better music. It's going to be a killer of a night - however we're doing it in the name of teaching - so at least we know what our students will be in for on Friday mornings - it helps us to work more efficiently..... sound convincing? No - I didn't think so..... It's an 8am start tomorrow - with the opportunity on Friday morning to choose between the sedate wake up call of your alarm clock, or the rather more official wake up call of 2 big guys with batons, coming into your room at 8:05..... Personally, I'd choose the former.....
So that's a brief update from Chicago - it's been snowing, the rivers and the streams are frozen (there is a big pond just inches from the bar - frozen solid. Cue big "Rich-shaped" hole by the end of the week).......
Ciao for now!
Rich
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