The most amazing day of my life!...
Friday, 29 January 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Unfortunate traveller....
So it seems that I am the most unfortunate traveller in the world!... If you can catch it, fall over it or fall down it.... then I'm your girl! It all started in Rwanda with what I thought was a lot of insect bites (little did I know what was to come) requiring me to march into a french speaking pharmacy on a mission for cream to relieve the itching......Only to have to stick my foot on his counter to show him the bites......
This was swiftly followed by an encounter with an uncovered drain, a bowl of dirty water and the dark.....Hence I fell unceremoniously down the drain covering myself in water and nearly breaking my leg in the process......All this being witnessed by my fellow travellers! ;-(
Following the drain incident there was the bungee........111ft of bungee........and a horribly blood slot eye! Which amusingly scared all the local children......
Then came Zanzibar....some leather flip flops, an evening in a food market, blisters and sand.....I was not happy.....walking along the beach in trekking shoes because you can't get sand in your wounds, was not my most attractive or enjoyable moment of my trip so far....I cried behind my sunglasses!
Then there was more insect bites, yes I did look like I had "The Pox" and they were as itchy as hell......thank good for "Peaceful Sleep" the African version of my crappy insect repellent.......Toxic ......but it worked! I will know doubt develop cancer in later life.....Oops!
The final insult came in the form of the constant deli belly, a feminine itch a couldn't scratch and a pharmacy called Fanies!.... Oh how enjoyable it was trying to explain to a "none English speaking" pharmacist that I had a fungus... How amusing it must have been for her to watch three female tourists pointing to their lady gardens while trying to do over exaggerated hand movements towards the itchy area......I'm sure she spoke English!
This was swiftly followed by an encounter with an uncovered drain, a bowl of dirty water and the dark.....Hence I fell unceremoniously down the drain covering myself in water and nearly breaking my leg in the process......All this being witnessed by my fellow travellers! ;-(Following the drain incident there was the bungee........111ft of bungee........and a horribly blood slot eye! Which amusingly scared all the local children......
Then came Zanzibar....some leather flip flops, an evening in a food market, blisters and sand.....I was not happy.....walking along the beach in trekking shoes because you can't get sand in your wounds, was not my most attractive or enjoyable moment of my trip so far....I cried behind my sunglasses!
Then there was more insect bites, yes I did look like I had "The Pox" and they were as itchy as hell......thank good for "Peaceful Sleep" the African version of my crappy insect repellent.......Toxic ......but it worked! I will know doubt develop cancer in later life.....Oops!The final insult came in the form of the constant deli belly, a feminine itch a couldn't scratch and a pharmacy called Fanies!.... Oh how enjoyable it was trying to explain to a "none English speaking" pharmacist that I had a fungus... How amusing it must have been for her to watch three female tourists pointing to their lady gardens while trying to do over exaggerated hand movements towards the itchy area......I'm sure she spoke English!
Cape Town
So who wins the prize for the slowest blogger in history??? Yes, that would be me!
In my defence though....this is Africa and the Internet connection here is crap (blog to follow) Thankfully though after 60 days camping in African bush I have reached civilisation in the beautiful Cape Town....and I LOVE it!
I have lots of stories to tell (good and bad) of my African adventures........However, as requested by Alison, here is last nights adventure......
So, in an attempt to be an "Independent and Cultured" traveller (and because I hadn't made any friends in my hostel yet and didn't want to look like I didn't have things to do) I booked a ticket to watch Anthony and Cleopatra at the Mayardville Open-Air Theatre, yes I am English but my understanding of Shakespearean English is somewhat lacking, but I thought that I was travelling to boarden my horizons......Bla, bla....
Anyway, so after spending two months overlanding in the same few items of none girlie clothes, I went out and bought a dress and was determined to wear it to the theatre......Wrong. So I arrive at the "Open-Air Theatre" very early because I wasn't sure where it was and discover that it is really a park and wandered around looking very silly and out of place.....
After failing miserably to hail a taxi back to my hostel to change, I decide to sit down in my seat......please note: the ticket people hadn't even arrived yet and the actors (who I thought were set people) start whispering to each other and one is sent over to speak to me....
In a very stupid and tourist fashion, I explained that I didn't realise how far away it was or how cold it gets in Cape Town at night, I explained the cab story and basically end up looking very silly....After being asked (in a nice way) to leave the theatre and go to the pub around the corner, I then spend lots of money in a cab going back to the hostel to change, luckily getting back to the theatre just in time for the first act....
On my return I find a blanket, a hat and a coat on my chair and three actors complete with bear bottoms (it was amusingly part of the costume) offering to take me back to my hostel after the show....
The theatre was great, the open-air thing really works and the trees seemed to blow at the most dramatic moments......oh and there was men with bare bottoms.......Did I mention that?...
After the show all the actors invited me to the pub for a drink and I spend the evening laughing with the boys whose bottoms I had just happily watched dance around the stage.... After the drinks we all pile into a van and head back to Cape Town......Parting ways at my hostel, leaving me smiling at how nice people really are.......
In my defence though....this is Africa and the Internet connection here is crap (blog to follow) Thankfully though after 60 days camping in African bush I have reached civilisation in the beautiful Cape Town....and I LOVE it!
I have lots of stories to tell (good and bad) of my African adventures........However, as requested by Alison, here is last nights adventure......
So, in an attempt to be an "Independent and Cultured" traveller (and because I hadn't made any friends in my hostel yet and didn't want to look like I didn't have things to do) I booked a ticket to watch Anthony and Cleopatra at the Mayardville Open-Air Theatre, yes I am English but my understanding of Shakespearean English is somewhat lacking, but I thought that I was travelling to boarden my horizons......Bla, bla....
Anyway, so after spending two months overlanding in the same few items of none girlie clothes, I went out and bought a dress and was determined to wear it to the theatre......Wrong. So I arrive at the "Open-Air Theatre" very early because I wasn't sure where it was and discover that it is really a park and wandered around looking very silly and out of place.....
After failing miserably to hail a taxi back to my hostel to change, I decide to sit down in my seat......please note: the ticket people hadn't even arrived yet and the actors (who I thought were set people) start whispering to each other and one is sent over to speak to me....
In a very stupid and tourist fashion, I explained that I didn't realise how far away it was or how cold it gets in Cape Town at night, I explained the cab story and basically end up looking very silly....After being asked (in a nice way) to leave the theatre and go to the pub around the corner, I then spend lots of money in a cab going back to the hostel to change, luckily getting back to the theatre just in time for the first act....
On my return I find a blanket, a hat and a coat on my chair and three actors complete with bear bottoms (it was amusingly part of the costume) offering to take me back to my hostel after the show....
The theatre was great, the open-air thing really works and the trees seemed to blow at the most dramatic moments......oh and there was men with bare bottoms.......Did I mention that?...
After the show all the actors invited me to the pub for a drink and I spend the evening laughing with the boys whose bottoms I had just happily watched dance around the stage.... After the drinks we all pile into a van and head back to Cape Town......Parting ways at my hostel, leaving me smiling at how nice people really are.......
Thursday, 24 December 2009
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??
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