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All About Africa
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The Journey So Far - Niamh O Riordan. So what is it like to have been travelling in Africa for the past seven months? You've read our articles and know about the things we've seen and done. But what is it really like? At this point, I am tired. I love all of the adventures we have but it is the day to day stuff that wears me out. It takes from all of the wonderful things we see and do and leaves me disconnected and disinterested from the fascinating world around me. Food and shelter are our biggest concerns and after that, transport. Every day we must find three meals. This is often very difficult and always very tiring. There have been many days where we settle for two meals or one and a half. When we do eat, we struggle between wanting vegetables and nutrients and not wanting food poisoning. It's often a tough call. Whenever we move, we must find new accomodation. Our primary concern is always whether or not the hostel is still open. Has it shut down? Will there be cockroaches the size of cars on our beds and in our sheets? Will the mosquito nets protect us from the assorted buglife or are they riddled with holes? Will we have running water? Are the staff likely to rob us the minute we leave the building? These are the sorts of things we have to consider every few days and we will often find ourselves lugging backpacks around town in the heat because we are unhappy because of one of the above. Often, we must locate a bus or train station or truck depot to organize transport. This can be quite nightmarish. We must often grapple with language barriers and fight over prices or try to not sit at the back of the bus, where we are sure to lose our lunches on African 'roads'. Every little thing is about money. The wealthy mzungus are expected to pay ferociously inflated prices for literally everything. We will be asked to pay up to five times what a local will pay, though it is very difficult for us to know precisely how much that is. We try not to pay too much but we are routinely cheated. Just today we were doing some photocopying and the woman printed double what was requested and forced us to pay for it. Just today a man selling coconuts tried to give us an under ripe one because we wouldn't know the difference. What is most frustrating about this is that often we are forced to not buy something that we really want (such as food) because we are not willing to be cheated. Imagine yourself in boiling, fuming Dar Es Salaam turning down a delicious fruit juice because you know you're being asked to pay ten times the price. It's infuriating and it's not the money, it's your own pride that gets between you and your juice. Can you imagine the likes of that at home? Someone would be prosecuted. Then there are the various illnesses and mishaps that occur. I'll never forget my first test for malaria. I was in sizzling Sudan with dysentary and trapped in my bed for three days. Then there was my third test for malaria. It was positive. I nearly died. Well I didn't actually because I'd been taking a prophylaxis but I certainly thought I would. We were robbed in Mombasa. Our room was broken into and thrashed; all our cameras were taken. That was no picnic. What's it like to travel with a companion? Don't get me started on the number of idiotic rows myself and Malachy have had. Over nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's extremely hard to do this kind of trip with someone else. People say it will make or break us. Wise words. You can have no secrets when you travel as we do. No illusions. No escape. It's been wonderful as well. It's great to have someone to share in the ups and the downs. And we are still talking and still having fun and we just hope we will come home on speaking terms. Despite all of this, I don't want to come home just yet. Because you see, Africa is wonderful. Egypt was full of mystery, history and adventure. Diving in Sinai, the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings. The people of Sudan were unforgettable - so friendly. In fact, people here are often amazingly kind. It pains me to think of the reception they would get in my country when I think of how well I've been treated here. Ethiopia was stunningly beautiful. The safari we did in Kenya was a delight and Mombasa was wonderful. We visited our friends in Londiani, doing great work on our way to Uganda. We did white water rafting on some of the world's best rapids and travelled to Lake Victoria. In Congo, we visited the famous silver back gorillas. In Tanzania, we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, affectionately known as 'Kili', before travelling to exotic Zanzibar, where we visited some of the world's finest beaches and snorkelled in one of the world's finest coral gardens. We are still little more than half way through our trip. I miss my home, my family, my friends and I can't wait to be back but in the meantime, I'm having a ball and if malaria, dysentary and robbery is the worst that happens to me on this trip, then I'll be doing alright. |
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