A Few Months in Africa
With no particular plans
- A Few Months in Africa
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Barefoot in the bush of Sierra Leone
- October 10th, 2008
“There are many paths. It is hard to find the way and people will be very suspicious of you. White people never go there.”
I was speaking to a local man, Tommy, in the town of Bonthe at the eastern end of Sherbro, a 50 km-long sand island off the coast of Sierra Leone. Sherbro has no roads, no vehicles, no electricity and for the majority of people on the island, no schools or healthcare facilities within a practical distance of their homes. Just to reach the island I had travelled down-river for six hours on a cargo ship.
I had arrived in Bonthe as part of wider West African journey. Having set off from the Liberian capital of Monrovia I had so far spent 10 days travelling by bumpy road and winding river to reach my current location. I’d heard that there was a weekly boat that transported fish along the coast, leaving from Bonthe and stopping at numerous islands on its way to the Freetown peninsula. This would conveniently link together my journey.
But I quickly discovered that there was no such boat.
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…and a Taste of the Middle East
- December 24th, 2007
It would probably have been more conventional to fly home from Cairo after a big trip around Africa. But when I looked at my map of North Africa and the Middle East I found myself becoming intrigued but that small, yet highly contentious country: Israel. It wasn’t a pilgrimage for me, but more an attempt to rid myself of my ignorance of the situation that has dominated international relations and media attention for so long. I got more than I bargained for.
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Beaucracy with a Smile
- November 23rd, 2007
Within a few hours of arriving in Sudan I was feeling utterly overwhelmed. Not by heat or poverty or any of the usual factors, but by the incredible extent of the Sudanese hospitality. Shortly after crossing the border from Ethiopia I had met a guy called Mohammed travelling in my direction. We took the bus together and upon arrival at our destination of Gaderef he invited me to stay at a friend’s house. He refused to let me pay for anything, fed me, organised all my travel for the following day and gave me a bed for the night. I said goodbye to Mohammed the next day but he was not a one-off. I have a page full of mobile numbers of Sudanese people who I met for just a few minutes but told me “if you need anything, anything at all…”.
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The Best and the Worst of Africa
- November 10th, 2007
I don’t know where to start in describing Ethiopia. A few days ago I thought I’d had enough of the place but now I’ve changed my mind again. One thing that I can say without any hesitation is that it is the most unique and fascinating country I have ever visited.
Normally when travelling around Africa I have found countries to blend into each other. Typically, for a couple of hundred kilometers on either side of a border crossing, both countries’ national languages are spoken, the staple food is generally the same dish under a different name and the people are pretty much indistinguishable to my untrained eye. Crossing into Ethiopia was no such experience. The language, food, smell, clothing, music, religion and the people (in their complexion and their manner) are all instantly noticeable as entirely unique. I might as well have arrived in Ethiopia from England and I freely admit that the first few days were something of a culture shock.
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The Bandit Road to Ethiopia
- October 22nd, 2007
It’s hard to believe that the one and only road between two countries, even in Africa, can be in such bad condition and have such myriad of problems as the 500km road from Central Kenya to the Ethiopian border town of Moyale.
The town of Isiolo was the end of road for public transport and the beginning of this particular adventure. The place had an end-of-the-world feel about it and I could sense that there were challenges in store as I sat waiting for the afternoon trucks to arrive from the south.
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As Good as it Gets
- September 28th, 2007
I’ve tried not to write too much about fantastic, amazing, incredible, beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, amazing places because I think it’s generally pretty boring to read about if you weren’t there too. However, I have to write something about Linga Linga – an amazing (!) place I visited recently in Southern Mozambique.
Linga Linga is an inaccessible headland on the edge of a large bay, only practically reached by boat . On the inland side of the bay there are huge, untouched mangrove swamps. On the outside there are miles and miles of deserted beaches. A small backpackers’ place – actually more like a homestay – is run by a local guy called Lucio who lives there with his family. Lucio’s wife, Anna cooks up amazing seafood dishes and his kids are always on hand to make sure things don’t get too subdued.
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Being a Man in Africa
- September 9th, 2007
As I may have mentioned before, men and women play quite traditional roles in Africa, particularly in rural areas. What I might not have mentioned is how this affects the travelling experience. The choice is to conform to the stereotypes and save embarassment or to rebel and cause much laughter.
Small things such as letting a women carry a bag or pay for groceries sometimes cause quite a bit of confusion. The other day I was asked for some matches by a local guy. When I told him I didn’t have any he replied “Ah, my friend, it is a man’s duty to always carry matches”. Of course his box had just run out.
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Dust
- August 3rd, 2007
I would never have believed that I could have had so much fun in a country where most tourist attractions centre around dust. Namibia is a vast, sparsely populated desert, but incredibly beautiful and teeming with life if you know where to look.
I was joined for 3 and a half weeks by Rob (mate from Durham) and we hired a car to take some of the pain out of the long distances. By the end of the trip we had collected enough sand and dust to build our own mini dune.
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Bob-onomics
- June 27th, 2007
Nothing makes logical sense in Zimbabwe. A country that was booming just a decade ago is now on the rocks. 4 in 5 people are unemployed and inflation is now God knows how many thousands of percent (in the 4 weeks I was in the country the rate to the US$ changed by 500%). Robert Mugabe’s crazy policies – sometimes termed Bob-onomics – are plunging the country further and further into crisis on his drive towards his vision of a self-sufficient, indigenously run nation. I came here out of curiosity more than anything else. Surely is couldn’t be that bad?
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Mt Mulanje in the Buff
- May 30th, 2007
I’ve never been much of a naturist, but I have to admit that at the end of a 4 day hike on Mt Mulanje, stripping down to my birthday suit for my first wash in four days had a strangely alluring appeal. Perhaps there’s an exhibitionist within me that is bursting to get out. Or perhaps all that dirt was enough to make me throw caution to the wind. More likely it was the incredible view and the fact that I had not seen another person in hours.
The setting was incredible. After clambering down a rocky stream for half an hour I was confronted with a sheer cliff, on the edge of which stood a magnificent tumbling waterfall and a perfect natural bath-tub! At the end of 4 days of walking, climbing and scrambling in some of the most beautiful surroundings I have seen in Africa, it was perfect…
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There Are Border Crossings and Then There Are Border Crossings
- May 1st, 2007
I have now made a total of 10 border crossings by land in Africa and feel it is time to share some of the goings on. The concentration of crooks, drunks, corrupt officials and general drop-outs from society seems to be far higher at border posts than anywhere else. The result is a high frequency of sticky situations and a general need to keep on your toes with your personal possessions tightly tucked away. My most recent ordeal was from Tanzania to Mozambique and was by far the most eventful yet…
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Website Launched: The Mwelu Foundation
- April 7th, 2007
I have just launched a new website on behalf of Julius, the young photographer from Mathare Valley slum in Nairobi.
The site centres around photographs taken by Julius and the children he works with. The aim is to explain to outsiders how people live, the problems they face and in some cases the hope that they share. It is also a showcase of photographic talent – clearly evident from the photos themselves.
In return for putting the site together Julius has offered to be the photographer at my wedding! (Whenever that may be).
Here’s the link – please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions:
The Mwelu Foundation (www.mwelu.org)
Happy Easter,
Tom
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Brian and Lisa
- April 4th, 2007
The afternoon drive-time radio shows in Nairobi make interesting listening. Every evening a bizarre relationship crisis is masqueraded as an important social issue in the form of a listener phone-in session. Predictably, the male/female presenter duo each take on an extreme opposite opinion and then encourage listeners to call in to have their say. I was initially very surprised at the opinions that some people were prepared to air with no fear of repercussion. And that interestingly the debate is not usually in the form of Man v. Woman. Rather it is more often a battle between those with “traditional” views and those with a more liberated attitude.
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Entrepreneurship Programme
- March 3rd, 2007
For the past couple of weeks I have been working on a new project that has really captured my enthusiasm. In a nut-shell, the study centres around entrepreneurism in Kenya – looking for possible solutions to the problems that entrepreneurs experience when starting their businesses. The project is being conducted on behalf of the recently formed Google Foundation.Google have earmarked $1b for development work and are currently undertaking a number of activities to establish how best to use their effort and their money. Unlike other donor organisations, Google are not ruling out for-profit ventures as well as the almost universal not-for-profit approach.
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Mathare Valley Slum
- February 6th, 2007
Looking back, I’m not sure what I was expecting to see or feel when I travelled the short distance to Mathare Valley, one of Nairobi’s largest slums. I had heard the stories of the crime, domestic violence, drugs, alcoholism, gang warfare and overcrowding. I also knew the statistics: 500,000 people living in an area less than two square kilometres in size; 50% of Nairobi’s 3.5 million inhabitants living in slums like Mathare occupying less than 5% of the total land area. Yet none of this prepared me in the slightest for the sensory overload that I experienced on my first and subsequent visits…
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Working in Nairobi
- January 13th, 2007
I have just finished my first full week of a 3 month volunteer placement in Nairobi. I am working with Technoserve – a not-for-profit organisation that helps rural people to develop business skills. McKinsey (my future employer) put me in contact with Technoserve when it became clear that the VSO placement in Ghana was never likely to materialise.
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A White Christmas
- December 28th, 2006
I feel that before I can tell the story of my Christmas trek to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, I should first describe the equally grueling journey to reach its base. The multiple buses I took from Kigali (Rwanda) to Moshi (Tanzania) through the remote region of Western Tanzania together formed an event it itself. Below are the vital statistics…
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Climbing Mt Nyiragongo
- December 18th, 2006
My trip into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to climb Mt Nyiragongo was without doubt the most incredible event of my trip so far. The volcano last erupted in January 2002, destroying half of the nearby town of Goma in the process. Today the lava lake within the crater is still bubbling away and on a clear night the sky around the mountain glows red and can be seen for miles…
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Mountain Gorillas
- December 18th, 2006
I had been anticipating my trip to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda since long before I arrived in Africa, so I was like a child at Christmas when the day finally arrived. The species is incredibly rare, numbering only 700 in the wild. What’s more, this region is the only place in the world where they live. Tourism is tightly regulated with small groups visiting the families for a short time each day. Many of the groups have been habituated to human contact, so are quite comfortable to have groups come and watch them for a short while…
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How to Tell a Cheating Partner
- December 6th, 2006
I thought I’d start this entry with an extract from a Ugandan newspaper article entitled Sex Secrets: How to Tell a Cheating Partner [sic]:
The number one indicator that your partner might be cheating is a sudden change of behaviour… If she’s now jumping on your bones five times a week she might be getting off with you but thinking about him… On the other hand the opposite might be true… although you may simply have put on weight or developed body odour… Also, she may have stopped telling you about her everyday life, and worse yet, her feelings. At first you don’t notice this because you are so grateful that she’s not asking your opinion about what her sister really meant in her last email. But if she’s not talking to you, who is she talking to?… There are many ways to gather the information you need to confront (or divorce) her. There are currently a wide array of spyware technologies available to help you find out if your suspicions are true… Spying on your wife or girlfriend will help you feel more connected to them… Another reason is to protect yourself. Who knows what kind of sexual diseases she might be passing on to you after her torrid affairs? And lastly, spy on your partner just for the fun of it. After all, don’t we all like a little drama in our lives?
I found this pretty funny on the surface but the message highlights a big divide here between the sexes. Anyway…
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Hitching to Lake Turkana
- November 23rd, 2006
Lake Turkana – described as one of Kenya’s last true wilderness areas – is a colossal inland sea, lying 260km beyond the realms of public transport at the end of a long and hazardous road.
I had heard that the journey north would involve countless uncomfortable buses and trucks, not to mention hours or days waiting in dead-end towns for a lift to arrive.
I had also heard that the beauty and isolation of the Lake and the diversity of the local people would make the journey well worth the effort…
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How to Catch a Matatu in Kenya
- November 14th, 2006
Here is my quick guide to catching a matatu (public bus/minivan) from town to town in Kenya.
Before you arrive at the “bus station” you will need:
- to know exactly where you are going
- to have great strength of conviction
- to be feeling physically fit.
As you will now be feeling brave it’s time to take the plunge…
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I’m still here
- October 27th, 2006
Well what an anticlimax this is. Due to what I can only hope is simply the inherent bureaucracy of an African government department, I have still not been approved for my VSO placement in Ghana.
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Time for something different
- October 4th, 2006
So, in a situation shrouded in mystery, controversy and of course numerous tabloid headlines, I was ousted (read “made redundant”) from Vodafone effective Monday this week. On 16th October I will be flying out to Ghana for the first month of my African trip – undertaking a voluntary placement with VSO at a government department there. I’ll be redesigning a website for them. So far this is about all I know!
- About Me
24th Dec 07: After 50,000km, 29 border crossings, 19 countries and literally hundreds of journeys by bus, boat, bicycle, truck and car I am now back home. It's been amazing. Go to Africa!
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Date: 04/02/07
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