MY 2 MONTHS ON A TRUCK IN AFRICA :) & :(

AN AFRICAN SUMMATION
My journey can quite neatly be broken up into 3 distinct parts.

Part (i): Kenya to Uganda and back; Lake Nakuru, White River rafting on the Nile and Bwindi Impenetrable Tropical Forest.
We started as a group of 3 which none of us were happy about, especially Gillian and Becs. They wanted and craved the après Safari as much as the safaris, whereas I was not fussed. My agenda was different from virtually everyone I met on this tour; I was escaping for a while to find myself and re-evaluate my awful life, since the break-up of my relationship with Julie and the enforced changes at work.
We had no choice but to make do and make this thing work, although Gillian was leaving once we returned to Nairobi from Uganda and it was obvious Becs would jump ship as well if we did not collect more passengers for the leg to Tanzania and Zanzibar.
We survived for the first week or so as a gang of three although it was not what any of us expected or wanted. Being positive, Lake Nakuru was a wonderful start; Gillian got to see rhinos and I saw the one animal I wanted to see above all else, a leopard. Once our first game drive was over in Kenya we headed for Uganda and The Nile where I was determined to experience my first extreme sport. I convinced the other two to join in and we had a fabulous day, rafting down The Nile. Grade 3 -6 rapids are no problem now – even though it was so obvious I would be the only one to get injured and draw bloodJ. The first and hopefully not the last of many thrills and spills coming my way!!!!
The low point and event which dictated a lot of what followed was Gillian losing her purse and camera. It was a turning point, as Gillian was the lively one out of three of us and she was now deflated and became obsessed with going back to Lake Bunyoni to see the kids school she had done voluntary work in, so that she could retake her photos. It was understandable but she lost her money and camera in a drunken stupor and then determined the course of the next week or so. Anyway whilst her stupidity irked me, I went along with everything.
After the rafting we became The Magnificent Seven with the introduction of Claire, Kate, Jo and Cat at the Red Chilli in Uganda. Now we headed for the hills and trekking for gorillas, which was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my two months here on tour. Coming face to face with one of the rarest and most magnificent creatures on our planet is breath taking. He is the King of The Jungle and I just stared open-mouthed at his magnificence. His eyes were piercing and you just knew he was in complete control of everything around him and that included us!!!!!!!! An hour, that went by so quickly and I will probably never do this again but will NEVER forget the whole experience of trekking, finding and watching these magnificent creatures. A special event, I shall never forget.
This band of seven was rather militant and whilst as a group of three we tolerated Beccs constant ordering us about, we now had strength in numbers and with some very strong characters in the group, rebellion was in the air. I did not give a damn really at this stage and if they wanted to get Beccs to change the itinerary I was willing to back them. Things got fraught between the group and Beccs. She really had no way of managing this. Her man-management skills were deplorable and she could not cope with people disagreeing with her. Nevertheless, we continued on our merry way and were whittled back down to three once the gorilla trek and a visit to Lake Bunyoni was over. Fortunately for tourist Becs, there was some good news; once back in Nairobi we would become a group of 23!!!!!!!!!! She would have company and lots of it. She was a relieved Kiwi!!!!
This first part of the tour was an exceptional start and despite my grave misgivings about our tour leader and the lack of bodies on tour, I felt it was a major success and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. At this stage we all mucked in, got the chores all done together, despite being treated as the tour leader’s slaves; I loved my time here.
Part (ii): Kenya to Zambia via Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Malawi, & Victoria Falls.
With The Nile and Uganda firmly behind us it was onto part (ii) of my adventure with 22 fellow adventurers, as we headed or the major game reserves in Kenya and Tanzania then some relaxation time on the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar followed by Christmas at Lake Malawi and New Year at Victoria Falls. Sounded idyllic, and for the most part was, despite our tour guide and some of the witches we picked up in Nairobi!!!!!
The safaris just about met expectations although Ngorongoro was like a holy grail for me and it was an emotional moment seeing the crater from its rim for the first time, another highlight. Game drives are all about patience and we all know I have an abundance of that NOT!!!!!!!!! But being fair, I thoroughly enjoyed most and had some excellent company, be it with Rick, Huani, Colin and/or Rose. I still believe there should have been earlier starts for the morning game drives and more opportunity for night time drives. Despite this minor whinge I can now say I have been to the major safari parks in Eastern Africa and seen the Big 5 – Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino & Buffalo plus so much more and even threw in a balloon ride for added effect. At times it was so much to take in but there was plenty of time to think about the days’ events and ensure the memory banks were full to over-flowing. It is difficult to compare these 3 great wildlife sanctuaries so I won’t bother!!!! They all have their own identities and should be appreciated for what they are. They are all so unique and that is what made the adventure even better. Seeing animals and people adapting to different environments and surviving everything nature can throw at them and in most cases winning. More great experiences to add to my ever-growing collection.
Zanzibar was our next stop and it was a great relief to everyone, as after all the travelling and some decidedly poor camp sites we needed a time for recuperation and relaxation. Zanzibar was perfect for that. White sands, scuba and snorkelling for all. We all relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves; with no roster and no tents we were in heaven. It was like being on a normal holiday for me again; a room with shower and toilet; a restaurant and bar facilities – I loved it here and could see myself returning for a two week vacation. Three days rest then after this island paradise it was back to the truck, tents and that bloody mad Australian barking orders at us constantly with her big toothy fake smile......
Lake Malawi was one of the low points for me. I started to feel very home sick; started to really dislike some of the characters I was travelling with and desperately rebelled against ridiculously unjust roster arrangements. It was ill conceived and badly put together by an inadequate tour leader and I was not happy at all. It did not help that my romanticised view of Xmas by a lovely lake with beautiful white sand under a baking hot sun with a bbq for Christmas lunch was totally ruined and to add to it I could not contact JuliaL. I did call Jo; it was great to hear a friendly voice and it was the only thing that brought a smile to my face that day.
Oh well onwards and upwards and the prospect of more adventure at the Victoria Falls for New Year. The Falls were a sight to behold and I now understand why they are one of the seven natural Wonders of the World. They extend about 1.5 km across the Zambezi but we could only see 0.5km, which was enough to give us an excellent idea of the scale and enormity of the falls. I have always wanted to see the world’s highest falls – The Angel Falls in Venezuela but this makes up for that – although I fully expect that Venezuela will get a visit from me in the years ahead. Back to Africa and as intended I did a gorge swing (twice in fact) and flying fox as part two of my extreme sports theme. Exhilarating does not adequately describe my feeling as I stepped off the platform for my first gorge swing. The second was totally different – I actually enjoyed it as the DVD shows. Recommend this to anyone although the walk back required a level of fitness I no longer had after over two months of no exercise. This was the absolute highlight in Zambia, but New Years Eve was again a damp squib. A complete wash out with torrential downpours, thunder and lightning. Again a low point, which was a shame after the awesomeness of The Falls, the jet extreme adventure and the excitement of the extreme sports day. I also had a lovely cruise down the Zambezi on New Year’s Eve which was delightful and thank God it was early evening because the rest of that evening was horrendous, weather wise. The group were also in low spirits as up to 12 had been feeling unwell recently; an amalgamation of too much alcohol, a slightly poisonous pool and generally over-doing it was my interpretation of events. Yes a damp squib again but probably partly due to over expectation on my part. Zambia was great and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there despite some awful weather.

This was a seminal moment in the tour as we were to split up with only seven of the original 23 carrying on from Livingstone to the final destination, Cape Town.


Part (iii): Zambia to South Africa via Botswana & Namibia; Chobe, Okavango Delta, Etosha, Soussusvlei, Dune45, Sky Diving & Fish River Canyon.
This was in many ways the best and worst of the tour for me. I was starting to tire now and became increasingly fed up with Beccs, the truck, the mileage we had to cover but most of all I missed some of the people we left behind at Livingstone. I lost the people I liked the most, Huani, Rose, Colin, Ben, Carina, Richard and Damien. BUT most importantly we lost our comedian and entertainer, Huani. A big fella and a massive loss to the tourL. What was worse was that I was left with all the people I least liked and had failed to gel with at all – Charisse, Candace, and the two Ems. Of the new people, we had three weeks together although they had been on tour together since they met up in Johannesburg and were a fairly closely knit group already. So we had a group of eight who were new to Tati, a group of 6 who were the remnants of the original party, Faith a girl from Zambia who was staying with us as far as Windhoek and me, who was becoming more and more reclusive. Added to this I hated the tent now, or should I say, getting mucky everyday from erecting and disassembling the darn thing; hated the roster and refused to take part if I was so inclined and had something more interesting to do (I know this was wrong but that’s me!!!!!); hated a couple of the people on tour although I did like Janine and Terri, two of the newcomers. On a positive note Terri, Janine and I all seemed to get on quite well and all being in our 40s helped us bond a little better than with all the 20 somethings.
There were other positives though - I do not want you to think this had degenerated into a nightmare it was just not as much fun now. Botswana was interesting and a big highlight was seeing elephants swim in the Chobe River. It was a wonderfully relaxing afternoon on the river watching the wildlife even though I have no photographic evidence DOH!!! The Okavango Delta was a delight and an unexpected treat although seeing it from the air would have been great but alas out of my price range and involved being stuck in close proximity to Charisse for a while ughL.
The biggest positive about this part of the tour though was NAMIBIA!!!!!!!!!! My favourite country by far................. I loved the open spaces and desert; its wildlife; loved its capital Windhoek; loved the scenery; the rock formations (one of which we slept on) were out of this world and the wonderful watering hole at Etosha. As you all know I am not one for staying up late into the small hours but sitting by a waterhole until 2am was one of the most satisfying experiences ever. I can now understand why television cameramen sit and wait for hours for wildlife etc. When there is action it is sooooooooooo worth the wait. Could I have found a new career – wildlife photographer / cameraman – nice idea but do I have the patience!!!!!
Finally I recommend sky diving from 10,000 feet. It is a must for everyone and is not scarey at all – trust me on this. I was told that it was not scarey at all, just an amazing experience and thought the person was talking bollocks (sorry about my French folks) but he was absolutely right. I thought I would be petrified, perched on the edge of the exit door at 10,000 feet but no way JoséJJJ. It was the most exhilarating and wonderful thing I had done on the tour thus far.......... only sex is better than this!!!!!!!!!! The feeling of complete elation once you have gently floated back to earth after 90 seconds of falling to earth at +100mph is something I cannot explain.......there are no words. Just do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK Swakopmund is not much of a city but the extreme sports more than made up for that and the best part was I had a room all to myself for three nights. In fact I had the use of any of the four bunks in my room and two en-suite shower rooms!!!!!! The Tug – a decent restaurant after all the garbage we had to eat – most thought the food prepared on the tour was good but even with my unrefined palate, I can say the food was a disgrace as was the chef – you guessed it BECCS!!!!!!!! It was pure heaven to be there and to have a fairly decent beach to sunbathe on or stroll along for ages. It was heaven for me and a fitting climax to what was becoming a very strenuous tour. This was not helped by the fact our tour leader and driver had fallen out to such an extent that Ben had asked to be parted from Beccs.....
The final two highlights were the Japanese lady at Soussosvlei and her wonderfully infectious and positive attitude. A very interesting place and one of the few chances I had to get some exercise. Yes Dune 45 at 300 meters was a great hike. Two of the three oldest people were first and third up the dune – kids today have no staminaJ. Great views and another worthwhile achievement in an amazing country that never failed to surprise me. And just as I thought Namibia had no more to offer, there was Fish River Canyon. Possibly the second biggest canyon on Earth and I was in awe. So much so I lost leave of my senses and decided to go on a 2mile jog in the heat of day – mad dogs and English/Italian/Spanish men!!!!!

The last two days were total non events and all of us just wanted to get to Cape Town and end this tour as it was becoming a pretty miserable truck. People were tired and frustrated and with tensions running high between some folk it was definitely time for us all to part company and so we did at The Backpackers after our final tour of a township area which was a major let down and really quite upsetting seeing the extreme poverty still rife in South Africa. A real eye openerL. Not a great way to end my 58 day extravanganza but nevertheless it brought a sense of reality to proceedings.


All in all the seven countries I visited were very different and all had their highlights. I have some fond memories of each and every one from that leopard at Lake Nakuru in Kenya on day one to the thrills of white river rafting on the Nile; gorilla trekking in Uganda and a nightmare drive down a mountain on some of the most awful roads ever; The Ngorongoro Crater and a dream fulfilled; my balloon flight over the Serengeti; snorkelling in Zanzibar; Victoria Falls and extreme sports on or over the Zambezi; elephants swimming in Botswana and finally Dune 45, Fish River Canyon, and sky diving in Namibia.
I have achieved certain goals both physical and mental. Most importantly I have learned a fair deal about myself and recognised a few traits in others that I have displayed regularly in the past which has been very revealing and educational. I have finally seen first hand, how horrible these can be and what a demoralising effect it can have on others in terms of undermining their self esteem and confidence. I now understand why Julie found some of my habits and actions so infuriating and why these ate away at her and were partly responsible for our split. It is too late for us now but I hope she can forgive me, like I have forgiven her. I have moved on and Julia is my priority now although this is a very dangerous liaison. But, with what I have closely observed and learned perhaps I have more than a fighting chance of forging a successful relationship one day and hopefully that can be with Julia – watch this space. Regardless of whether Julia and I can build something solid together, I will hopefully be a far better person thanks to the people I observed doing some pretty unsavoury things and in many ways I would like to thanks Candace and Charisse for being such wretched individuals - cheers girls!!!!!!!!! Time will tell whether I am a better person for my experiences on what was an adventure of a lifetime no matter how arduous it was at the end. It was still very fulfilling and rewarding. I have seen places and done things I never thought I would experience and am grateful to this wonderful planet for that. We need to preserve the treasures we have and not take them for granted so that future generations can also see and experience what I have during the past two months. We all have a responsibility to do our bit to save this planet and after seeing so much here I will definitely work harder at doing the best I can for this great planet. RANT OVER J.

I have made some friends along the way and would like to think I will see Ben, Carina and Terri again. Ben said Sydney has some great kebabs and I would like to have dinner with Terri and just chew the fat. Would also like to see Rose, Colin, Huani and Richard again but this most unlikely although I will try and access them from time to time via the internet. I liked the majority on tour but losing my favourite people two thirds of the way through the tour was difficult and I did not adjust well and caused myself problems.

I would NOT recommend a tour of 14,000 km over 58 days UNLESS you are a proven and dedicated traveller. This is not an easy journey and at times you think is it all worth it? It is worth it but be prepared for some very tough times ahead, some soul searching and head scratching. YES it was an amazing experience and I am glad I did it – no regrets. I tried something alien to me, to see whether I could cope and challenge myself. The kilometres involved and some of the living conditions were hard to cope with but I coped in my own way and at times rose to the challenges that lay ahead and at times I let myself down. Despite this and although I may have whinged and whined (some things never change), I made it from Nairobi to Cape Town, South Africa and am proud of myself for making it all the way, especially as there were times and opportunities to bail out i.e. Livingstone. I never had an argument or raised my voice, although stress levels were quite high on occasion I controlled my emotions and never acted in haste or impetuously as I have tended to. I may not have been the most popular person on tour but I certainly was not the most unpopular despite Charisse’s assertions. I was more controlled and calm than I have been in years although it did take an awful lot of effort. I think and believe it was all worthwhile, as I now know I can control my less admirable attributes. Still got a long way to go to curing all my problems but I certainly feel a lot better for my experiences and how I coped with the day to day trials and tribulations of life on tour. Just hope I can transfer these thought processes into real life when I get back to the real worldJ.

I now have 5 weeks in Cape Town and its surrounds to recover from a great, thrilling and at times arduous adventure, which I will always treasure. Africa is a wonderful continent; the people are colourful and surprisingly cheerful considering the poverty, AIDS, lack of things we talk for granted i.e. electricity etc, that they have to endure. But they know no different and have a wonderfully optimistic attitude, in general. As for the landscape, it is amazing and the scale and vastness will live long in my memory. I have lived on this tiny island and had no real concept of how massive the world is – that has certainly changed. I always joked before I left in November that I am flying 42,000 miles in a year, but now I fully appreciate just how far that is and what a massive undertaking this is. Even scarier now but it’s onwards and upwards to Table Mountain and those little fish – Great White Sharks – hakana mutata!!!!!!!!!!

Hope I have not bored you all too much but if I have then tough!!!!!!!!!!!.