Only a woman??

Following a tour of Tanzania and Zanzibar, I have now arrived in Malawi. As lovely as it is there is one thing I have found hard to accept while I have been in Africa.......The low status of a woman.....To quote "As a woman you as less important to a Masai than a cow."

I have always prided myself on being one of a long line of strong women, my mum rules the house and as kids she was the disciplinarian, the financial expert, the one who organises all the small things and she is given respect for it.

As a western woman I have always been treated as an equal, I am not lesser than a man, I can do anything i want, have any job I chose, have children if I chose or not.....Here your role is to have a child and look after your husband and be satifised with that. I have seen the behaviour of my tour guide having affairs with his western clients and then trying to justifiy his behaviour as ok because he is "Freelancing" despite being married but being unable to accept that a western woman can "freelance" as well if she choses.

Maybe I am finding it hard to accept another culture and only looking at it through the eyes of a western professional woman, maybe I should not be so resistant to other ideas?.......The women are so friendly and happy here.......Maybe I have no right to make judements on another culture??

Tourist Genesis....

So I although I have been enjoying my trip and have seen some amazing things..... There has been one thing that have managed to astound me over all others.........The stupid things tourists say......

Its 5am, we are all on a walking safari, the sun is rising over the Queen Elizabeth National Park and Zebra are running on the horizon......Suddenly someone spots a footprint.....A big and fat one.....We had spent all the previous day looking and photographing hippos....."Is it a hippo?" someone asks the guide..... Before he can answer, someone shouts "Is it a bear?????" Hmm, I'm pretty sure there are no bears here.....
The following day we are on a game drive and see our first giraffe.....Eating grass. Then we see Wilder beast....Eating grass. Then we finding some Zebra, we position ourselves, cameras at the ready....As we observe them unsuprisingly eating grass someone asks "What do Zeeeebra eat?" Genesis!

I decided to do a balloon safari over the Serengeti....Amazing! We watched the african sunrise and the colours spread out before us. As the the balloon flies higher and higher someone asks "Would we die if we fell from this height??"

Rwanda

So I have reached Rwanda "The land of a thousand views" and it is so right! We have been to the Genocide Memorial which was very moving.....It is strange to think everyone I meet who was alive in 1994 has experienced something so terrible and yet they still smile and are so friendly (especially to women) I have noticed some of the houses still have the red cross on the walls of their homes which indicated it was the home of a Tutsi.......Apparently it is how taboo to talk about it now but the memorial with its mass graves are now used to educate people.

We have been to see the Gorilla's today AMAZING! The best thing I have ever done! Even though I trekked for an hour and a half....I have some amazing pictures but the internet here is so slow so I can't upload them yet! boo!


Being eaten alive by the mozzies, so I went into a the pharmacy to get some cream but they only speak french here so after a misunderstanding about Malaria medication......I stuck my bare leg on his desk brandished my 30 mozzie bites on my ankle.....And the cream appeared!! Its amazing what a girl can get if she flashes a bit on leg! lol!

Story so far....

Its only been a few days and I have already done so much! Seen all of the big five already, been into a school where the children had never seen white people before and were convinced my hair was an umbrella! We have already travelled from Kenya to Uganda. Its funny because they are the same but very different! I found it amusing how many "Hotels" there are alone the roadside, its funny because they are little more that wooden hunts that look like they are about to fall down, but they all seem to be able to offer you the ability to "top up" your mobile phone on any network you can imagine.

Uganda is lovely, green tea plantations as far as the eye can see. The soil is so red and the people farm almost everything and anything. The children wave at you as our "Monster Truck" goes past and the adults nod or just plain share.

I went on a chimpanzee trek the other day......nearly killed me! I'm so unfit! We did eventually get to see two wild chimps but we were wondering around the jungle for two hours before we saw them. It made me laugh though because at first I couldn't see them as they were so high up, so I innocently asked the group "Where is it?" A german guy replied "There behind the green leaf!" Hmm........

Today we were travelling to another campsite on the "Monster Truck" for about five hours when we pulled into a garage for a toilet stop. Naturally they have petrol pumps, "Car Wash" "Air" and amusingly "Lubrication" after finding this funny and taking a picture. I then realised that a bunch of Ugandan nuns where having there picture taken right in front of it! Classic!

The Arrival.....

So I have arrived, feeling a bit fragile seen as though everyone else seems to be seasoned travellers and I'm not. Starting to think 60 days overland was to much for a first trip and I haven't even started yet.

I have made a friend though who appears to have all the same issues as me, "Did you cry on the plane?" I asked. "Hell yeah" she replied. She makes me feel so much better about all this, but it turns out she is only doing the tour for two weeks and I'm doing two months!

On the plus side there have been some amusing moments...like the fact the the electricity in the hotel keeps randomly going off...leaving us all sitting in pitch black until someone kicks the generator! I have also had my first experience of building African styley.....they just throw mud at the wall until it sticks in a very fun looking fashion! Also and most amusingly when I walked in to main reception on my arrival, who should they all be watching on the TV but a football match between Liverpool and Manchester City....I couldn't help it...."That is where I am from!" I said... a lot louder than I realised....(Crazy looks from random people!) Oops!

Tomorrow the tour begins, I have butterflies just thinking about it....Trying to stay as positive as I can and not think about home......

The Journey begins.......

Today is the today, I'm off around the world!.....Next stop Nairobi! I'm not excited, just nervous and I still have a million things to sort out round here first!

I have to say, I never realised what amazing friends and family I have until now! A girl could rule the world with the support network I have! My nan always says "Count your blessings" I never realised that my friends and family are number one!!!

Love you all,

See you very soon xxx

Weight Limit 10kg....Yeah right!

Well four days till the big trip, I have had the leaving party which was great, makes me realise what amazing friends I have! I have to admit though, I still feel like I'm not ready. I would say I am not excited, more apprehensive.....Is that normal?

I have tried packing my bag....Its sooo heavy and I have to sit on it to close it already! Some editing is required I think......The thing is I don't know what to take out! I'm thinking clothes.....but how many clothes do you actually need?
So far I have....

Waterproof trousers and jacket
Fleece x 1
Safari type shirts x 2
Vest top x 3
Trousers x 3
Shorts x 1
Bikini Bras x 3
Knickers x 7
Socks x 4
Cardigan x 1

Anyone any advice on what to take out?.....All suggestions welcome....

Also, I have had an unexpected bra issue....I know this is a girl thing, but how many bras do you take and what type? Sports, bikini, push up, wireless, under wired? My friend Alison laughed and said "Depends how sweaty your boobies get"......Classy! (Told you I would blog about it!)