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AFRICA Bhutan-Katmandu-Dohar-Nairobi
01/11/2007
Exactly 9 days left of the first leg on this global journey. I cant actually believe how fast it has gone. It's been nearly a month since we left the western skies.
We've done so much in the time that we've been away and I've loved every minute of it. I haven't missed home as much as I thought I would. I know what it is to miss someone so being away from home doesn't seem to bother me too much anymore.
We travelled from beautiful Bhutan to Katmandu-Dohar then on to Nairobi. We spent 1 night in Dohar before we flew the next day to Nairobi. We were all in bed and zonko by 9pm.
We met our driver at the airport, who would be escorting us down south of Kenya to the Masai village. We had put all of our gear on top of the trucks, and bundled in. Brian, Bruno, Dave, Claire and I shared the same truck. It wasn't a tight squeeze, as the trucks were massive. I had a feeling at this point that we may be hunting Antelope, but thought it best not to think too much about it. I just wanted to appreciate the fact that we were in Africa. Again, the views were spectacular on our long drive down. Our driver Shady was really nice, he told us some history of Africa and all about the places we were driving through. We had to stop quite a few times as I needed a wee which gave us a minute to take it all in. The whole trip was moving so fast, so we took advantage of the "time out" bits to absorb in all of our good fortune.
1731pm we had reached Nairobi. I write about Nairobi as a dark, chaotic and brash place. I think this was because it was a riddled with poverty in a different sense to that of Vanuatu and the other places we had been. I was quite apprehensive and venerable as the night drew in. The driver locked our doors and his speed seemed to increase in particular parts. Many of the people who walked along the side of the road seemed to be in their own packs. Groups of school kids, men and woman. The men were carrying nothing but large knives, or swords, wandering around in herds for no apparent reason, or so it seemed. It all appeared to be twisted, bitter in desperate need, you could almost see anger in their hearts but sadness in their souls. It was a different kind of survival to anywhere we'd been. It reeked of fear and selfishness, not selfishness that was necessary though. These people had to be selfish in order to survive. The sheer presence of Nairobi felt unwelcoming, uncomfortable and somehow, almost sinister. I had been so open minded throughout our odyssey, that I was almost disappointed in myself for feeling this way. I put it down to the unknown. When you know very little about your onward journey, its hard to understand where and how you will develop as a person next. It brings out something special inside you. Strength. This was something I had actually really enjoyed, but I felt nervous in Africa. I brushed it off and let it go.
As our car ride continued, the flock of crowded people deteriorated and became less frequent, with lonesome randoms walking in one direction. I wondered how far they had to walk because on leaving Nairobi, there appeared to nothing for miles and miles. The only visible indications were that of the motorway, desolate shacks and very clear, bold signs reminding the passers by to "get tested for aids".
I'll admit, I did find this all bit intimidating, and Shady our driver was anxious to get us away from Nairobi at high speed. As night drew thicker, the roads got worse, that's if you can call them roads. Deep pot hole after even deeper pot hole, every time we went over one, Brian kept hitting his head. In the end, we all mastered how to react on approaching .......duck.
We arrived in the village on 02/11/08 and the Masai men came out to greet us. They huddled around us, began singing, chanting and jumping ridiculously high with no shoes on. They welcomed us into their community and together we walked into their world. The village was hardcore. Totally hardcore. The opening ceremony they performed to acknowledge us was hospitable but slightly wary. They looked indulgent with their wildly coloured robes, which looked so formidable in this isolated environment. I felt dubious, overwhelmed with curiosity and slightly conscious of my fleshy white legs! Here, they fitted us out with our Masai clothing similar to their own that we would wear for our time as part time Masai worriers.
In almost an instant the flies became a real nightmare. They would swarm towards you and land on every part of your body, even your dam eyelids. It alarmed me when a mother approached us holding her babe in arms who had a face full of flies. I actually couldn't bare to see this and felt constantly obliged to sweep them away from her face. At night, the flies would miraculously disappear, but it was only until I looked on the ceiling of our shack home that they were there. Resting their heads for the night. All that flying around and landing on everything in sight had worn them out. No, not even 'raid' could get rid of these little fuckers. We spent much of the time slapping ourselves for the flies landing on us. Hours on, we would end up with red bruises all over our arms and legs. Sleeping quarters were hardcore. It was necessary to have one of the Masai sleeping in the hut with us for protection, mainly against the wild animals. We would quite often wake up early with at least 3 other Masai members in the hut watching us and awaiting for us to wake up. It felt a bit intrusive but we were technically in their home, so you couldn't blame them.
The days rolled past but I remember thinking how slowly the time was going. Living and working with the Masai was the hardest thing to date. By a mile. The men don't do any of the work, so Claire and I had to do everything with the Masai women. We fetched water, collected fire wood, helped make the houses, which by the way, are made from carved wood and cow shit. It was when we went to get the water that I probably realised how lucky us westerns are, cliche as it sounds. We had walked for about 20 minutes with the Masai women until we had reached their frequent supply of water. The water or dirt mixture was totally black. It was when I saw the youngest girl of our little entourage lean into the stream and scoop out handfuls of the solution into her hands and immediately into her mouth, that I realised. It was a fight to get as much water as possible, not to drink it with their hands because this was deemed as unfair. We filled up the watering barrels and attached them to a leather strap which was then rested onto our foreheads. Carrying the water on our backs to the village seemed like an eternity, but this was the way it was for these women, everyday of their living lives.
The Masai wear brightly coloured robes, red being the primary colour. This is because the colour red is deemed a threat to the surrounding animals, lions in particular. The animal will associate red with death and for the Masai, it is to warn off the predator. The predator versus the predator...
Exactly 9 days left of the first leg on this global journey. I cant actually believe how fast it has gone. It's been nearly a month since we left the western skies.
We've done so much in the time that we've been away and I've loved every minute of it. I haven't missed home as much as I thought I would. I know what it is to miss someone so being away from home doesn't seem to bother me too much anymore.
We travelled from beautiful Bhutan to Katmandu-Dohar then on to Nairobi. We spent 1 night in Dohar before we flew the next day to Nairobi. We were all in bed and zonko by 9pm.
We met our driver at the airport, who would be escorting us down south of Kenya to the Masai village. We had put all of our gear on top of the trucks, and bundled in. Brian, Bruno, Dave, Claire and I shared the same truck. It wasn't a tight squeeze, as the trucks were massive. I had a feeling at this point that we may be hunting Antelope, but thought it best not to think too much about it. I just wanted to appreciate the fact that we were in Africa. Again, the views were spectacular on our long drive down. Our driver Shady was really nice, he told us some history of Africa and all about the places we were driving through. We had to stop quite a few times as I needed a wee which gave us a minute to take it all in. The whole trip was moving so fast, so we took advantage of the "time out" bits to absorb in all of our good fortune.
1731pm we had reached Nairobi. I write about Nairobi as a dark, chaotic and brash place. I think this was because it was a riddled with poverty in a different sense to that of Vanuatu and the other places we had been. I was quite apprehensive and venerable as the night drew in. The driver locked our doors and his speed seemed to increase in particular parts. Many of the people who walked along the side of the road seemed to be in their own packs. Groups of school kids, men and woman. The men were carrying nothing but large knives, or swords, wandering around in herds for no apparent reason, or so it seemed. It all appeared to be twisted, bitter in desperate need, you could almost see anger in their hearts but sadness in their souls. It was a different kind of survival to anywhere we'd been. It reeked of fear and selfishness, not selfishness that was necessary though. These people had to be selfish in order to survive. The sheer presence of Nairobi felt unwelcoming, uncomfortable and somehow, almost sinister. I had been so open minded throughout our odyssey, that I was almost disappointed in myself for feeling this way. I put it down to the unknown. When you know very little about your onward journey, its hard to understand where and how you will develop as a person next. It brings out something special inside you. Strength. This was something I had actually really enjoyed, but I felt nervous in Africa. I brushed it off and let it go.
As our car ride continued, the flock of crowded people deteriorated and became less frequent, with lonesome randoms walking in one direction. I wondered how far they had to walk because on leaving Nairobi, there appeared to nothing for miles and miles. The only visible indications were that of the motorway, desolate shacks and very clear, bold signs reminding the passers by to "get tested for aids".
I'll admit, I did find this all bit intimidating, and Shady our driver was anxious to get us away from Nairobi at high speed. As night drew thicker, the roads got worse, that's if you can call them roads. Deep pot hole after even deeper pot hole, every time we went over one, Brian kept hitting his head. In the end, we all mastered how to react on approaching .......duck.
We arrived in the village on 02/11/08 and the Masai men came out to greet us. They huddled around us, began singing, chanting and jumping ridiculously high with no shoes on. They welcomed us into their community and together we walked into their world. The village was hardcore. Totally hardcore. The opening ceremony they performed to acknowledge us was hospitable but slightly wary. They looked indulgent with their wildly coloured robes, which looked so formidable in this isolated environment. I felt dubious, overwhelmed with curiosity and slightly conscious of my fleshy white legs! Here, they fitted us out with our Masai clothing similar to their own that we would wear for our time as part time Masai worriers.
In almost an instant the flies became a real nightmare. They would swarm towards you and land on every part of your body, even your dam eyelids. It alarmed me when a mother approached us holding her babe in arms who had a face full of flies. I actually couldn't bare to see this and felt constantly obliged to sweep them away from her face. At night, the flies would miraculously disappear, but it was only until I looked on the ceiling of our shack home that they were there. Resting their heads for the night. All that flying around and landing on everything in sight had worn them out. No, not even 'raid' could get rid of these little fuckers. We spent much of the time slapping ourselves for the flies landing on us. Hours on, we would end up with red bruises all over our arms and legs. Sleeping quarters were hardcore. It was necessary to have one of the Masai sleeping in the hut with us for protection, mainly against the wild animals. We would quite often wake up early with at least 3 other Masai members in the hut watching us and awaiting for us to wake up. It felt a bit intrusive but we were technically in their home, so you couldn't blame them.
The days rolled past but I remember thinking how slowly the time was going. Living and working with the Masai was the hardest thing to date. By a mile. The men don't do any of the work, so Claire and I had to do everything with the Masai women. We fetched water, collected fire wood, helped make the houses, which by the way, are made from carved wood and cow shit. It was when we went to get the water that I probably realised how lucky us westerns are, cliche as it sounds. We had walked for about 20 minutes with the Masai women until we had reached their frequent supply of water. The water or dirt mixture was totally black. It was when I saw the youngest girl of our little entourage lean into the stream and scoop out handfuls of the solution into her hands and immediately into her mouth, that I realised. It was a fight to get as much water as possible, not to drink it with their hands because this was deemed as unfair. We filled up the watering barrels and attached them to a leather strap which was then rested onto our foreheads. Carrying the water on our backs to the village seemed like an eternity, but this was the way it was for these women, everyday of their living lives.
The Masai wear brightly coloured robes, red being the primary colour. This is because the colour red is deemed a threat to the surrounding animals, lions in particular. The animal will associate red with death and for the Masai, it is to warn off the predator. The predator versus the predator...
It wasn't long before our boys began to live quite literally as the Masai.
I was interested to know why a lot of the villagers had long hanging ear lobes or holes in the bottom part of their ears. It sounds silly but I could never quite understand it, and I wanted too. Mary, who was the wife to the head of the village Jackson, told us that it is done when a young person is ready to be circumcised. Thankfully, we didn't have to see it being done on a child, but we did witness a cow castration. During our time in the Masai village, we observed the strangulation of a goat which was quickly butchered, saw a very unusual killing of a chicken, and took great pleasure in watching the boys compete for the prize of a goat in the Masai Olympics. Full on.
I was interested to know why a lot of the villagers had long hanging ear lobes or holes in the bottom part of their ears. It sounds silly but I could never quite understand it, and I wanted too. Mary, who was the wife to the head of the village Jackson, told us that it is done when a young person is ready to be circumcised. Thankfully, we didn't have to see it being done on a child, but we did witness a cow castration. During our time in the Masai village, we observed the strangulation of a goat which was quickly butchered, saw a very unusual killing of a chicken, and took great pleasure in watching the boys compete for the prize of a goat in the Masai Olympics. Full on.
On the 03/11/07 we woke up to the usual sound and smell of cows and the silent stares of the Masai in our hut. It was about an hour into the morning when we drained some blood from the neck of a nearby cow and proceeded in drinking it. First thing in the morning. Blood. I had wished Amber to be with us that day.
Time pasted and we were soon to leave the village. On 05/11/07 we said our goodbyes and began a 2 hour trek towards the meat cave with a herd of cows in tow. The idea was to take the Masai's chosen cow to be slaughtered, but in order to do this it was necessary to take a herd. An individual cow will know that it is walking to its death if alone. On the way, we saw loads of Ghazal but not many other wild animals. I had pointed out a mass of fluff on the floor and it was in fact a giant hair ball belonging to a lion. I found this quite funny, I also saw the biggest poo in my life. The poo was elephant poo, I love elephants so I was more than ecstatic to see it! It was a great little trek as we managed to see lots of things, lion paw marks in the ground, lizards, parts of trees that had been mutated by tall hungry animals. I found it really interesting and got loads out of it.
We eventually reached the 'Meat camp' and it wasn't too long before the chosen cow was killed by the Masai and Leo. Once the animal had died, the Masai, Leo, Brian, Bruno and Dave all began to butcher it. I assumed that the thought of 3 stomachs, a mass of intestines the length of the river Nile, a horned head and some other very questionable organs whose remains were left hanging over the nearest available tree, would totally shit me out..... No, but I did find the smell a bit unforgiving.
The cave had 3 pieces of wood in the corner which I found puzzling. My inconclusive mind soon became validated, as this particular area was used for all the bits of cow that would later be cooked. I had no intention of sleeping that side. Night drew in, and I walked to the right hand side of the cave to look up into the night sky. I was convinced I'd seen a shooting star. Despite the blood on every ones hand, and the brutality of the cow killing, this was definitely one of my preferred evenings. There we were sleeping in a super cool cave which was like a massive hole in the side of a rock. Fire alight directly in the middle and the Masai singing their own symphonies. Throughout the night, everyone would gnaw into steak chop and brain....I couldn't eat too much, but not wanting to seem disrespectful or at all ungrateful I ate what I could. The Masai men, Jackson, Sampson and Thompson woke up throughout the night to eat more meat, 1am and then again at 4am. Crazy but oh so real.
05/11/08- 06/11/08 We left the meat cave and headed off to the next part of our journey in Africa. Leaving the cow nightmare and remaining bones behind, we said farewell to Mary and the other Masai women. Jackson, Thompson and Sampson came with us to our next stop. We stayed in a camp site that evening, and it was here that Dave found out his sister had given birth to 3 gorgeous healthy triplets. He was over the moon. It was so refreshing to hear something so lovely.
07/11/08 We woke up early at 7am and headed down at 9am to the rock that we were going to climb. Initially, I thought the climb looked fairly easy but it was only until Leo told us it was the other side of the rock we would be climbing that I was chewing my thoughts. The day was long but well worth it, it was a good climb and I really enjoyed it. I didn't find it as hard as I thought I might, but because I'd found something I really enjoyed doing, I was only too happy to get up there. In fact, once I'd got down, I wanted to go again. The Masai all had a go, and as tough as they are, all found it a challenge. Fair play to them.
It was this day that I knew what I wanted to do. Leave my current job for something more active and begin climbing but wrote "fat chance!" in my diary. I had finally found something that I really really enjoyed. It was almost a relief.
Everything was moving so fast. I could barely keep up with the time scale of it all. On the 08/11/08 we all began the slack line challenge. I didn't do mine until last which was fine by me. I was quite happy to watch everyone give it a go and it was such a funny day. Bruno was hilarious, he couldn't grasp it so he decided to run it-so fucking funny and Dave shouted out "my leg, my leg" because he couldn't control it from shaking. They both made me cry laughing and are both such entertaining people. I loved it.
For Brian, the slack line was a really important challenge to him. All the challenges were important to us as we all had our own meaning behind each one. For Claire, it was her battle with heights, for me, it was yet another thing that I wanted to conquer. I had an attempt and enjoyed every moment of it. I reached the other side and could barely control the tears. I was totally overwhelmed and dead happy. It was Brian's turn. This challenge was totally all about achieving something so awesome for himself. When Brian stepped up, he put everything into that slack line. It was hard to watch as we all so desperately wanted him to beat the line and make it. Step after step, he concentrated more and with each heartbeat we all felt the pressure of his endurance. On reaching the middle, Leo told us that it would get easier so we were expecting the pressure to drop. But for each of us that reached the middle, the pressure became more intense. The frustration of wanting to get to the other side was so overwhelming. After a few gruelling minutes of persistence on Brian's part and silent encouragement on our side, Brian made it. It was an emotional time for all of us, as we were all chuffed to bits for him and totally made up.
We all really did relish in the slack line, and it finished our time off in Africa with the Masai brilliantly. I loved all of it especially the climbing and I promised myself that when I returned to England, this was something that I had to get involved in. It was almost as if I had no choice, something I had to do.
Africa is an amazing place to go. It was an epic place to end our first leg of the journey. I was happy. I had finally found something in life that was for me, Climbing.
It was in Africa that I finally realised who I was and what I wanted to be. I had discovered a person who had been hiding away, but could now breath and live again. I felt alive and almost whole. I started to see a clearing in the distance that didn't seem a scary one, but an exciting one. I was happy with this person inside, and they say that no one will love you until you can learn to love who you are. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to like me and what I had achieved. I was content.
Time pasted and we were soon to leave the village. On 05/11/07 we said our goodbyes and began a 2 hour trek towards the meat cave with a herd of cows in tow. The idea was to take the Masai's chosen cow to be slaughtered, but in order to do this it was necessary to take a herd. An individual cow will know that it is walking to its death if alone. On the way, we saw loads of Ghazal but not many other wild animals. I had pointed out a mass of fluff on the floor and it was in fact a giant hair ball belonging to a lion. I found this quite funny, I also saw the biggest poo in my life. The poo was elephant poo, I love elephants so I was more than ecstatic to see it! It was a great little trek as we managed to see lots of things, lion paw marks in the ground, lizards, parts of trees that had been mutated by tall hungry animals. I found it really interesting and got loads out of it.
We eventually reached the 'Meat camp' and it wasn't too long before the chosen cow was killed by the Masai and Leo. Once the animal had died, the Masai, Leo, Brian, Bruno and Dave all began to butcher it. I assumed that the thought of 3 stomachs, a mass of intestines the length of the river Nile, a horned head and some other very questionable organs whose remains were left hanging over the nearest available tree, would totally shit me out..... No, but I did find the smell a bit unforgiving.
The cave had 3 pieces of wood in the corner which I found puzzling. My inconclusive mind soon became validated, as this particular area was used for all the bits of cow that would later be cooked. I had no intention of sleeping that side. Night drew in, and I walked to the right hand side of the cave to look up into the night sky. I was convinced I'd seen a shooting star. Despite the blood on every ones hand, and the brutality of the cow killing, this was definitely one of my preferred evenings. There we were sleeping in a super cool cave which was like a massive hole in the side of a rock. Fire alight directly in the middle and the Masai singing their own symphonies. Throughout the night, everyone would gnaw into steak chop and brain....I couldn't eat too much, but not wanting to seem disrespectful or at all ungrateful I ate what I could. The Masai men, Jackson, Sampson and Thompson woke up throughout the night to eat more meat, 1am and then again at 4am. Crazy but oh so real.
05/11/08- 06/11/08 We left the meat cave and headed off to the next part of our journey in Africa. Leaving the cow nightmare and remaining bones behind, we said farewell to Mary and the other Masai women. Jackson, Thompson and Sampson came with us to our next stop. We stayed in a camp site that evening, and it was here that Dave found out his sister had given birth to 3 gorgeous healthy triplets. He was over the moon. It was so refreshing to hear something so lovely.
07/11/08 We woke up early at 7am and headed down at 9am to the rock that we were going to climb. Initially, I thought the climb looked fairly easy but it was only until Leo told us it was the other side of the rock we would be climbing that I was chewing my thoughts. The day was long but well worth it, it was a good climb and I really enjoyed it. I didn't find it as hard as I thought I might, but because I'd found something I really enjoyed doing, I was only too happy to get up there. In fact, once I'd got down, I wanted to go again. The Masai all had a go, and as tough as they are, all found it a challenge. Fair play to them.
It was this day that I knew what I wanted to do. Leave my current job for something more active and begin climbing but wrote "fat chance!" in my diary. I had finally found something that I really really enjoyed. It was almost a relief.
Everything was moving so fast. I could barely keep up with the time scale of it all. On the 08/11/08 we all began the slack line challenge. I didn't do mine until last which was fine by me. I was quite happy to watch everyone give it a go and it was such a funny day. Bruno was hilarious, he couldn't grasp it so he decided to run it-so fucking funny and Dave shouted out "my leg, my leg" because he couldn't control it from shaking. They both made me cry laughing and are both such entertaining people. I loved it.
For Brian, the slack line was a really important challenge to him. All the challenges were important to us as we all had our own meaning behind each one. For Claire, it was her battle with heights, for me, it was yet another thing that I wanted to conquer. I had an attempt and enjoyed every moment of it. I reached the other side and could barely control the tears. I was totally overwhelmed and dead happy. It was Brian's turn. This challenge was totally all about achieving something so awesome for himself. When Brian stepped up, he put everything into that slack line. It was hard to watch as we all so desperately wanted him to beat the line and make it. Step after step, he concentrated more and with each heartbeat we all felt the pressure of his endurance. On reaching the middle, Leo told us that it would get easier so we were expecting the pressure to drop. But for each of us that reached the middle, the pressure became more intense. The frustration of wanting to get to the other side was so overwhelming. After a few gruelling minutes of persistence on Brian's part and silent encouragement on our side, Brian made it. It was an emotional time for all of us, as we were all chuffed to bits for him and totally made up.
We all really did relish in the slack line, and it finished our time off in Africa with the Masai brilliantly. I loved all of it especially the climbing and I promised myself that when I returned to England, this was something that I had to get involved in. It was almost as if I had no choice, something I had to do.
Africa is an amazing place to go. It was an epic place to end our first leg of the journey. I was happy. I had finally found something in life that was for me, Climbing.
It was in Africa that I finally realised who I was and what I wanted to be. I had discovered a person who had been hiding away, but could now breath and live again. I felt alive and almost whole. I started to see a clearing in the distance that didn't seem a scary one, but an exciting one. I was happy with this person inside, and they say that no one will love you until you can learn to love who you are. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to like me and what I had achieved. I was content.
