Graham Williams & Louise Jones Travel Blog

The Last Post

willlou — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:36:00 GMT

After our trek we arrived back in Pokhara and then traveled on to the Chitwan National Park. We had an eventful journey there as there was a road block on one of the main roads. This had been set up by some villagers because some children had been hit by a bus and their parents wanted compensation. So this led to a long negotiation between the police and the locals before the traffic was allowed to move again.

Chitwan is a National Park known for it’s Wild Elephants, Tigers and Rhinoceros, and it’s possible to go on foot into the park to find the animals. You have to take two guides, one to tell you what you’re looking at and one with a big stick to fend off animals that might want you for lunch. We didn’t see any of the large creatures, but we did see lots of birds, some of them very beautiful. Also at Chitwan is an Elephant Breeding Center, where you can meet and touch some of the small ones (see pic), and can also go on Elephant rides, which we know from experience is not a comfortable experience, but very worth while as we did see rare Asian Rhinos out in the forest. For some reason they don’t mind being surrounded by Elephants as they’re used to them, even though they have contraptions full of tourists on their backs.

From Chitwan we headed to Katmandu, a very nice city but very like India it’s become very hectic with lots of motorbikes charging through the streets. We were there on the weekend of Holi, a Hindu festival. During this festival people throw water and paint at each other (we’re not sure why) and this is a license for youths to go around and cause mayhem. All day you have to avoid paint and water (some of it thrown off the tops of buildings in plastic bags) and it all gets very wearing. As most things are shut, most tourists’ shelter in their rooms until it’s all over, although a few enter into the spirit of things and get completely covered in paint.

To read more on Nepal, click here. Click here to see our pictures.

From Katmandu, we flew to Calcutta, one of our favourite Indian cities, where we spent a few days. This hasn’t changed that much, rickshaw men still pull people through the streets and there are still families living in makeshift tents on the pavements.

For the last few weeks of our trip we decided to go back to Goa for some sea and sun. We flew there on one of India’s new start up airlines, Kingfisher, which is owned by a brewing company. This has to be one of the best flights we’d been on for years, real luxury when you compare it to what you get in Europe these days, a very pleasant experience.

In Goa we have been relaxing on Anyuna beach, watching the sun go down and planning our return to the UK. We shall be heading back to Delhi for a few days before flying back to London on March 30^th. Two years to the day from when we first set off on our journey. See you all soon.

To read more on India click here.

Gallery: Nepal

willlou — Fri, 9 Mar 2007 17:27:00 GMT

Northern India and into Nepal

willlou — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:29:00 GMT

From Jaipur we went to the bird reserve at Bharatpur and had a pleasant day cycling and bird watching. But the fabled spoonbills, Siberian cranes and other migrant water birds have deserted the reserve due to a lack of water. This is a big issue in India where farmers, households and small industry all compete for water supplies.

We then visited Emperor Akbar's model 16th century city of Fatehpur Sikri, designed to mix Hindu and Mughal architecture, and built in striking red stone. Then on to the beautiful Taj Mahal, in nearby Agra. A marvellous contrast to the grubby streets outside and just as impressive on our third visit.

A train took us up to Delhi where the major change from ten years ago is the superb metro. Here we arranged flights, stocked up on books and visited the grand Lutyens buildings of governmental New Delhi. The house where Indira Gandhi lived most of her life, and where she was shot in the garden, is now an interesting museum with photographs and personal items on display. Some of the rooms - including a comfy library - have been preserved as they were before her assassination.

We had three long days of train and bus travel to get to Pokhara, in Nepal, with its lovely setting by Fewa Lake with the Annapurna mountain range behind. Nepal is quieter, cleaner and more relaxing than much of India and, after some years of violence in rural areas associated with the Maoist insurgency, it is now relatively problem free for travellers.

We spent a week trekking in the mountains, walking between villages and staying in tea houses. An unusual amount of snow made the higher sections of the trek slow going but very pretty. When we were here ten years ago tourists were predominantly European; now the majority are Asian, mainly Chinese and Korean. As European tourism fell, the Nepalese cleverly relaxed visa requirements for the Chinese. On our trek we met many Chinese, some on their first foreign holiday; they had good jobs, spoke English and were keen to visit other countries. This is probably one of the future trends for world tourism.

Temples and Palaces

willlou — Fri, 2 Feb 2007 23:31:00 GMT

Lou and I met up in Mumbai on January 12^th and after a couple of days set off to the Deccan Plateau to explore the Ajanta and Ellora caves. The Ajanta caves were cut by Buddhists into the side of a river canyon, and contain complete temples and prayer rooms, many decorated with paintings. The caves were ‘lost’ for hundreds of years before being rediscovered by a British hunting party. At Ellora there are even more caves cut out of a cliff face, created not only by Buddhists but also Hindus and Jains. They also have the Kailash temple, an amazing creation, a huge building with statues, friezes and statues cut straight out of the cliff face.

From the center of India we took a train (which don’t seem to have changed since we first came here eighteen years ago) to Rajastan. Our first stop was the wonderful city of Udaipur, which is centered around a lake in which sits a palace, now a flashy hotel. There is another massive palace on the lake side which you can look around, with part of it being another up-market hotel. While we were here we had some Indian cookery classes, to learn the basics and to sort out which spice is which. The base of most dishes is quite straightforward, and we also learnt to make snack food like veg cutlets and samosas. At the end we got to eat the results for lunch. Udaipur’s big claim to fame is that ‘Octopussy’ a James Bond film from the mid 70’s was partly set here. Most restaurants show it every night and you can’t leave town without seeing it. Its one of Roger Moores more forgettable outings as 007, the baddies are the Soviets which dates it immediately.

More unusually, we saw a performance of ‘Twelfth Night’ in the grounds of the Palace, preformed by a group of English actors. The players had to cope with the Indian setting; dogs and children wandered across the ‘stage’, and they had to compete with the sound of blaring Bollywood music from the town. It was also an auspicious day for weddings, over 300 couples had tied the knot that day, so at the end the play was almost drowned out by the sound of fireworks going off.

From Udaipur we took a bus to the town of Jodhpur, which gave their name to the riding trousers and is known as the ‘Blue City’ as the walls of houses in the city are painted blue, for religious reasons and to keep the place cool. The main attraction here is the magnificent fort that dominates the town, which has yet another palace inside it, and which made for an interesting day out. The Rajastanis seemed to spend a lot of their time engaged in intertribal feuds so there are lots of forts in the state. It seems the most peaceful time in history was when the British ran the place and put an end to the internecine warfare.

From Jodhpur we traveled onto Jaipur, which we first visited in 1989. A few new buildings have gone up but little else seems to have changed. This is the case for the whole country, lots of people have mobile phones and there are newer cars on the road but that’s about it. There may be lots of news stories about how India is taking over the world, but it’s going to take a very long time before the majority of Indians or tourists notice it.

From Jaipur we are heading to Agra, for another look at the Taj Mahal and then onto Delhi to finalize our journey back to the UK.

The Pampas, the beach and Patagonia

willlou — Tue, 9 Jan 2007 03:11:00 GMT

In mid December my sister Anita flew out to join me (Louise) here in Argentina for a two week holiday. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires and then went to an estancia for three days of horse riding and country living. The ranch was enormous with a lake, 90 horses and also cows, sheep and llamas, all presided over by an eccentric lady owner.

We watched the three year old horses being put through their paces as part of their training to become show jumpers; others are trained for polo. The ranch hands all still wore baggy pants and knitted caps - reminiscent of their gaucho ancestors who opened up the vast area of the Pampas, although they all use mobiles now to communicate between different parts of the ranch.

Anita and I then headed to the laid back beach resort of Villa Gesell and had a week of good weather sunbathing, walking along the miles of beach, swimming and eating liberal quantities of beef, salmon and ice cream. For Argentines, it was the start of their long summer holidays and the town had a very happy atmosphere. On Christmas Eve we went to a candle lit church service and then had a big Chistmas dinner. Argentines celebrate on the evening of the 24th; nurse their hangovers on the morning of the 25th; and by the afternoon everything is back to normal and the shops are open.

My sister then flew back to England and I took an internal flight 3000km south to Tierra Del Fuego and the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia. It has a beautiful setting with snow capped mountains above and the Beagle Channel below. I walked up to the Cerro Martial glacier on a chilly day and took a boat trip through the Beagle Channel with its rocky islands that are home to birds, sea lions and penguins. The busy port has big container ships making their way from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice versa; and also cruise ships heading out to Antarctica.

I stayed in a small B and B run by a local couple. The husband was in part a descendant of one of the four original tribes of Tierra del Fuego. They were all devastated by the arrival of European colonists and missionaries who brought disease and took their land for cattle farming. Three of the tribes have no descendants atall.

I celebrated New Year in Ushuaia, which is so far south that at this time of the year it does not get dark until 11.30pm and it is light again by 4.30am.

To get to the Chilean national park of Torres del Paine I flew and then caught a bus - distances in Patagonia are vast. This park has world renowned hiking and I spent a great four days in good weather walking up to the granite towers, along lakeside paths and up glacial river valleys. The park has lots of guanaco (wild llamas) and I also saw ibis, southern parakeets, Chilean hares and condors.

Tomorrow I fly back to Buenos Aires and then catch a long flight to India to meet up again with Will in Bombay.

Louise

Gallery: India

willlou — Tue, 2 Jan 2007 22:53:00 GMT

Christmas in Goa

willlou — Tue, 2 Jan 2007 22:47:00 GMT

A Happy New Year to all our readers!

I (Will) arrived in Goa about three weeks ago after flying from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania via Dubai Airport (a shock return to the first world) and then onto Hyderabad in Central India. Since I was last in India a number of budget airlines have been created one of which was flying directly to Goa that afternoon, saving me a two day journey by bus.

I traveled up the coast to the village of Anyuna, which is well known for its Wednesday market and for being a Hippy hangout, although the guidebook says that ‘its days as a place to see and be seen are virtually over’. Still it’s a very pleasant place and I have a nice, quiet room surrounded by palm trees and gardens. Close by is a small Portuguese church which was newly whitewashed for Christmas. My room also has cable TV, which is good for catching up on old movies and watching the Premiership, though some of the matches are played at one o’clock in the morning.

Goa attracts a mix of people, from the package holiday crowd to the backpackers. Most of them are British or German, with a strong contingent of Japanese. For some reason at Christmas time, it is particularly popular destination for young Israelis who live together in rented houses where they can cram in as many people as possible. This year the Israeli government issued a terrorist warning, apparently there was a threat that one of the many raves or parties might be attacked at Christmas or New Year, mainly because of all the Israelis here. Security was apparently tightened although I haven’t seen a policeman since I got here, and to date nothing has happened. Perhaps the terrorists went to Bangkok instead? As a wag on one travel bulletin board put it, ‘A Jewish state issues a Muslim terror warning about an attack in a Hindu country during a Christian festival, it’s a wonder the Buddhists don’t feel left out’. It has meant that business before Christmas was very slack with the locals complaining bitterly about this ‘terrorist hoax’. The place has filled up since, but it’s been a poor season so far.

Easily the biggest threat to life is not terrorism but motor scooters which are hired by most travelers, who then race them around the narrow lanes and footpaths. Any experience is not necessary nor even a driving license. As no one has a helmet or even much clothing on, any accidents would be messy affairs.

There is a large group of ex pats living here, nearly all Europeans; many are old hippies who came here years ago and then came back, and many of them do look like Jerry Garcia. Goa is the new Littlehampton for the sixties generation. One thing that makes me stand out from the other travelers here is that I am one of the very few who doesn’t have some kind of tattoo. Everyone male or female and of whatever age seems to have at least one.

The beach at Anyuna is small and lined by bars and eating places. Cows wander along the beach and hawkers offer massages and fruit. The sunsets here are wonderful, the sun drops like a large orange into the sea. Girls pester tourists with ‘You want to look in my shop?’ If you say no, they ask ‘Why not?’ As if you are being quite unreasonable. If you do walk in they will pursue the deal with the tenacity of terriers with their teeth in your ankle, which is quite unnerving when you consider that some of them are only ten years old! The market at Anyuna is large but it consists of a selection of ten different types of stalls, selling clothes (usually big brand knockoffs), spices or CD’s; which are then repeated about twenty times. It’s difficult to see how they all make a living.

Christmas itself was very quiet, the family who run the guest house put up some lights and made a nativity scene. On Christmas Day they all put on their best clothes and went to church and when they came out, everyone shook hands and wished each other a Merry Christmas. New Year was a lively affair with fireworks going off most of the night all along the beach, lots of music and people having a good time.

I will be in Goa for one more week before traveling up to Bombay (Mumbai) where I will meet Lou (who will be flying in from Buenos Aires via Rome) at the Airport and we will continue our travels through India together.

On to East Africa

willlou — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:35:00 GMT

After a short stay in Livingstone I took the bus to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I should have stayed in Livingstone longer as the day I traveled was one of the very few I’ve been ill on this trip, with very bad guts. A most unpleasant journey which somewhat put me off anymore long bus trips.

Lusaka itself was fairly pleasant. The center had a few concrete tower blocks that were beginning to crumble away but the rest of it was green and well laid out. It also had a lot of Aid people so every other car seemed to be their preferred mode of transport, the white land cruiser. It also meant that you could buy almost anything you wanted in the shopping malls, from South African wine to the latest books from the UK. It must be a tough life, saving the worlds poor.

As I wanted to get up to Dar es Salaam quite quickly I flew there as it was very cheap to do so and I didn’t fancy days on buses or trains. What a contrast Dar es Salaam was, hot, humid and wet, probably the most unpleasant climate you can imagine. It is also congested and everything takes place very slowly. I came here to get an Indian visa and a flight there. In contrast to African countries that let you in on the spot, getting an Indian visa takes a week and several visits to the embassy. The airline offices are also about as far away from internet one click ticket buying as you can get. Everyone queues for hours even to get to talk to someone and the people behind the desk are usually do three things at once, including organizing their social lives on their mobile phones. Some airlines will only accept payment in dollars cash. I did manage to sort everything out which meant I could go over to Zanzibar for a few days.

On the afternoon I arrived in Dar I was waiting to cross the road when I saw a familiar green truck. It was in fact the truck I’d come up from Cape Town on. I jumped aboard and had a reunion with my friends who had continued the journey. I also met up with them on Zanzibar at the beach resort of Nungwi a few days later, where we went to a Full Moon party together. This was along the coast and we went there by boat. Coming back in the early hours of the morning with the moon lighting up the sea was magical.

I have written an article on traveling through Africa by Truck (view it here ) which has been well received, with a couple of African travel websites asking to reproduce it. I’ve also written a follow up article (view here)after meeting with my fellow travelers again, as they had a very different experience.

Zanzibar is a wonderful island. Walking around Stone Town is like arriving in a complete Arab city, a maze of narrow streets, with small shops and mosques tucked into the corners. The beaches are also wonderful, the sea is turquoise and the sky blue and even though Dar may have had unpleasant weather, the sun always seems to shine in Zanzibar.

Today I am leaving Africa and flying to India via Dubai to spend Christmas in Goa.

Gallery: African Wildlife

willlou — Fri, 1 Dec 2006 01:27:00 GMT

These pictures were taken in the game parks in Nambia,Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

willlou — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:01:00 GMT

The final destination of my overland truck was Victoria Falls, which is on the borders of three countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, and our truck spent the weekend on the Zimbabwe side.

Zimbabwe has a reputation as being one of the basket cases of Africa, run into the ground after twenty-five years of mismanagement. Certainly the exchange rate for the US Dollar shows how the black economy of the country has almost taken over from the real one. The ‘official’ rate for one US dollar is 250 Zimbabwe dollars; the black market rate is 1500! There are lots of young men hanging around on street corners wanting to change money, the penalties for which are in theory quite server. In reality you ask at the hostel you are staying at and they always know a ‘man’ who will do the deal. If you were dumb enough to change the money at the official rate, staying here would be incredibly expensive.

The Falls themselves are one of the world’s great wonders, though it’s not the best time of year to see them as it’s the start of the rainy season and there is little flow on the Zambian side of the falls. They are at their best in March at the end of the rains; but even now, at one point you are bathed in spray from the falling water and the spray can be seen clearly from the centre of the town. A constant feature of Victoria Falls is the constant whine of sightseeing Helicopters which starts early in the morning and continues all day, often with three in the air at the same time. As you walk down to the falls young men try to sell you woodcarvings at ridiculous prices, some of the ‘sculptures’ being so ugly their only value is as firewood.

From Victoria Falls I went on a safari to Hwange National Park which was an add on to my overland tour. This park is the size of Belgium and little visited due to the situation in the country. On the way there our group stopped at the coal-mining town of Hwange to get petrol. The petrol stations in Zimbabwe don’t have prices; they just have signs that say NO! On the outskirts of Hwange the queues stretched out along the road and they looked like they’d been there for some time. Our guides went off to buy petrol on the black market and they managed after a couple of hours to fuel the vehicles and get a couple of spare jerry cans. Driving along the cars have that distinctive smell of very low grade petrol.

The National Park itself was outstanding. We went on four game drives in the early mornings and late evenings and saw lots of animals around the waterholes. On the first evening we saw a group of Giraffes drinking, which is quite a sight as they have to ‘do the splits’ with their front legs in order to get their necks down to water level. They are very vulnerable to attack by Lions when they do this and are very nervous. The Park is also home to lots of birds and I saw some spectacular ones like the Southern Ground Hornbill, a large Turkey type bird as well as the rare Chanting Dark Goshawk.

The camp we were staying presented me with a unique problem, bats in the room. The roof was very high and made of thatch, a good place for bats to ‘hang out’; I saw one crawling under the door to get in! They were quite small, about 15 cm and for some reason used to fall off the wall with a ‘plop’ onto the floor. I got a broom and managed to shoo the ones I could see out of the room. Lying in bed later I felt the whoosh of wings going past my ear, so I had to get up and evict another one.

From Hwange I went back to Victoria Falls and from there crossed over to Livingstone on the Zambian side. Zambia seemed like the land of plenty after Zimbabwe.

Northern Namibia and Botswana

willlou — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:02:00 GMT

Since my last update I have traveled across Northern Namibia and Botswana to Victoria Falls. Along the way our overland truck visited a couple of National Parks, which were full of the most spectacular wildlife.

After leaving the Skeleton Coast our overland truck headed through the desert to the Etosha National Park in the north of Namibia. This Park which surrounds a Salt Flat was one of the first National Parks created in Africa and it is full of wildlife. Almost as soon as we entered the Park we saw Elephants and Giraffes close to the road. At the side of our camp site was a waterhole which was floodlit at night, and on the evening we were there a group of rare Black Rhinos came to drink but despite their size they moved away when a pride of lions turned up. Jackals roamed through the campsite going through bins and one of our party was bitten by a ground squirrel, for which he had to have a Rabies jab!

Our journey continued into Botswana where we visited the Okavango Delta. This is a huge swamp with islands within it on which the animals live. To get there we were poled out on canoes, rather like punts, through the reed-covered delta to a wild camp on one of the islands, where we stayed for two nights spending the time swimming in the delta and going on game walks looking for wildlife.

In the North East of Botswana is a small Park called Chobe. This Park is home to thousands of Elephants and we saw large numbers of them when we visited. We also came across the carcass of an Impala which had probably been killed by a leopard but which was now being devoured by a large group of Vultures. While we were in Chobe, we had the first downpour of the rainy season, the kind of rain you only get in the tropics, with streets turned to rivers. Some of our tents were washed away by a river of water that poured through the campsite and one of our group dislocated his shoulder when he fell over trying to save them!

Covering all this ground has involved lots of early starts, up at 0430 some days, packing up the tent and the camp in the dawn light. We have also covered thousands of kilometers, a lot of it on dirt roads with often five or six hours of driving a day. The landscape is now very African, endless areas of trees and scrub forest, conical huts made of thatch and goats and cattle wandering across the roads. I was lucky to be traveling with a great group of people, mainly British and Germans, who made the whole trip a really fun experience. It was with real regret I said goodbye to them all this weekend.

We have ended our tour in Zimbabwe, in Victoria Falls. Next week I will be visiting another game park to the south of the Falls and will then probably travel on into Zambia.

I cannot add any pictures at this time due to the very slow connection speeds. This is also my second attempt to write this article, as my first attempt was lost when there was a power cut, which are quite frequent here

Staying in Buenos Aires

willlou — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:34:00 GMT

I have been in Buenos Aires for the last seven weeks working on my Spanish. I am staying with a delightful local couple, Geno and Eduardo, in their large house in the north of the city.

On weekday mornings I take a Spanish class and then spend the afternoons trying to practice what I have learnt, chatting with my conversation friends, visiting museums and drinking lots of coffee in the multitude of cafes that this stylish city boasts.

Living here is quite different from passing through as a traveller and has allowed me to get to know people as individuals, discover hidden corners of the city and understand a little of life here.

Quite a few "porteños" (inhabitants of Buenos Aires) learn some English and want to practice it, so three afternoons a week I meet people for a conversation exchange: we speak in English for half an hour so they can improve their English and then in Spanish for half an hour so I can practice my Spanish. A pleasant way to practice and get to know people.

I´m getting used to the loud kiss on the cheek with which porteños greet anyone they know. As a traveller, I had not taken part in this ritual so was not used to it. At first when people´s heads moved towards me I almost involuntarily took a step back, which was rather embarrasing. Now I am on kissing terms with my teacher, my conversation friends, the couple I live with and all their friends, the man who runs the laundry, the waiters in my favourite cafes etc. etc.

Buenos Aires is one of the greenest of South American cities with a string of parks running the length of the riverside. I have taken up running again and within 5 minutes of the house I am in a park. At weekends the parks are full of people enjoying the sunshine - it´s late spring turning into summer here and the weather is warm and sunny.

The city is very big but it´s distinct barrios or neighbourhoods give it a manageable feel. I´m living in Nuñez which still has lots of small local shops and cafes, family houses in tree lined streets and a very European small town air. The southern areas are poorer and more cramped but overall the standard of living here is noticeably higher than most of the rest of Latin America (apart from certain parts of Brasil and apart from Chile where instead they have a big gap between rich and poor.)The financial crisis of 2001 seems a long time ago and most people here seem to feel positive about the growing economic prosperity of their city and country.

One big topic of conversation here, however, is personal security. To me, Buenos Aires seems one of the more safer cities in this continent but many people here worry about safety. As in England, it is hard to distinguish between the objective risk of crime and the subjective perception and media portrayal of it. There is a tradition here of demonstrating in the streets when one feels aggrieved and there are frequent marches and rallies, both organised and ad hoc, which have a tendency to get out of hand and turn violent. Violence on the streets between opposing fans after football matches is also common and is taken by the media here to indicate both a passion for the game itself and an undercurrent of violence in the working classes. People have been very keen to tell me what they believe the reasons are for this and their suggested remedies. I´m happy to listen and talk to anyone here (as long as it´s in Spanish) so I feel I have heard a good range of opinions.

My diet has become fully Argentine now: meat and salad, fish, fruit, ice cream, wine and coffee! Geno cooks lovely dinners and we always have a bottle of wine (well this is Argentina!). In the house we also have two American students for the next two weeks who are also learning Spanish. Over dinner we talk a mixture of English and Spanish as both Geno and Eduardo speak good English.

At the weekends I have been visiting old towns out in the countryside, with their 19th century buildings, rural tranquility and gaucho (cowboy) museums, and taking boat trips in the nearby delta region.

All in all, I cannot think of a more pleasant place to "work" on improving my Spanish.

Louise

Gallery: Namibia

willlou — Sun, 5 Nov 2006 21:26:00 GMT

Into Namibia

willlou — Sun, 5 Nov 2006 21:20:00 GMT

Last Saturday I started my three week overland tour that will take me through Namibia, Botswana to Victoria Falls. I am travelling with twenty five others on a converted lorry which has a comfortable bus like interior with large storage areas underneath for all the camping kit. We have a Kenyan driver and cook while our tour leader is an Austrailan woman who seems to spend her entire life on the road. We first travelled up through South Africa camping the first night amongst orange groves. As we headed north, the towns became smaller and the countryside wilder, bare flat topped mountains and scrub like vegetation. Our second night was spent on the banks of the Orange river and the border of South Africa and Namibia.

Namibia is a wild, empty place. In the last few days we have only passed through a few tiny towns which are surrounded by vast expances of nothing. The few people you see look distinctivily different, wide faces and narrow eyes to cope with the bright landscape; they also speak the distinctive 'click' language. In the first few days seeing Sprinkbok and Ostriches from the bus was quite a thrill, by the end of the week they were so common hardly anyone bothers to look anymore.

Towards the end of the week we arrived at Sesriem, a village on the edge of the Namib Naukluft National Park. This park is famous for it's large sand dunes which strech 55 km inland and which we explored with a local guide. He showed us where the animals lived (under the sand) and told us how the orginal San people survived in the desert. We climbed to the top of one large dune to watch the sunset, the sand is a beautiful orange colour due to it's high iron content.

We have now reached the coast and are in the resort town of Swakopmund. This is a German town, in fact the Germans in our group think it is more German than the real thing. All the shop signs are in English and German and German is heard everywhere. It's quite a pleasant place to recharge the batteries and to have luxuries like sleeping in a bed and eating food off a table, before we head off into the wilderness again.

In the next week we will head up to the north of Namibia and the Etosha National Park.

Cape Town

willlou — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 21:29:00 GMT

“The fairest cape in all the world” said Sir Francis Drake.

With the backdrop of Table Mountain Cape Town must have one of the most distinctive profiles in the world. I have spent most of the last two weeks here, partly because there is so much to see and do and because it will be my last taste of civilization for some time. I am staying in the district of Gardens, which has Table Mountain backing onto it. It’s like a South African version of Islington, lots of nice places to eat, bookshops and Art house cinemas but with sunshine, less traffic and young men with big sticks sitting on every corner guarding the flashy cars. It joins onto Long Street, the rather sleazier backpacker area.

Some of the places I’ve visited,

Table Mountain. I climbed the mountain rather than taking the cable car up, it’s surprising how although you are very close to a large city it’s quite wild at the top, with sunbirds and lizards darting about and the wonderful and distinctive Cape Flora (click here to see examples). The views are also outstanding as you can look down on each side of the city.

Robben Island. One of South Africa’s newer attractions which is managed very well. You take a boat out to the island and are then driven around the island to see the nature reserve, the limestone quarry where the prisoners worked and the township where the guards lived. The prison itself was much smaller than I imagined; a former prisoner describes life inside and the tour includes seeing Nelson Mandela’s cell, which is left as it was. One of the surprises is just by the jetty is a colony of Penguins! What is also interesting is that most of the visitors were my age or older. I suppose that Apartheid for most young people is ancient history and Nelson Mandela even more so.

Kirsenbosch Botanical Gardens. One of the finest gardens in the world which conserves the unique flora of the Cape region, much of which is endangered. Some of the plants there are extinct in the wild and only live on in the gardens. Hugging the sides of Table mountain the setting is very dramatic, a very beautiful place.

I have also been down to False Bay and the villages of Simonstown and Muizenburg, lots of birds to be seen but no whales. I also went to Cecil Rhodes seaside cottage which is now a museum and is where he died.

Overall, Cape Town has been a wonderful place to enjoy ‘normal life’, a place to spend time in bookshops and cafes before I head north into Africa proper.

This week I will start my overland trip up through Namibia and Botswana to Victoria Falls. As internet connections will be rare and expensive, these updates will be shorter and less frequent in the months ahead.

Click here to see Cape Town pictures.

Written by Will

Gallery: Cape Town Flora

willlou — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 21:20:00 GMT

Some pictures of some of lovely flowers found at the Cape

Gallery: Cape Town

willlou — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:55:00 GMT

Gallery: Hogsback

willlou — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 01:05:00 GMT

To the Mountains and the Sea

willlou — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 00:59:00 GMT

From Kimberley I went to Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State, formally the Orange Free State and the capital of Afrikaanadom, It has some impressive public buildings and a great museum but there’s not much there to hold a traveler for long. Interestingly it is the birthplace of J.R.R Tolkein, but the locals seem to want to keep that a secret. I had intended to go from there to Lesotho but as ever transport is a problem if you want to go anywhere off the beaten track so I decided to head for the coast at East London.

East London is regarded as a seaside resort but due to the Indian Ocean breakers that crash onto the beach it’s hardly the sort of place you would go for a swim. There were quite a few surf dudes riding the waves but there is only a very narrow strip where it’s safe to go in the sea. Instead I headed up into the Amatola mountains about 120km from East London to a lovely little village called Hogsback where I stayed a few days. The village has some great walks in rain forest which had a number of waterfalls running through it. The forest is inhabited by some exotic birds, including the rare Cape Parrot which I saw, there are only 500 left in the world, so see them now before it’s too late. I stayed in a great hostel called ‘Away with the Fairies’, which is run by a young English couple. The hostel had a couple of dogs that used to come with me on my walks, some strays used to come too so after I stopped somewhere I had to count them all to see I had everyone before going on. The hostel had a brilliant Scottish chef who used to serve up meals like Kudu (an antelope, see my last entry) and Warthog. Hogsback is certainly a very special place, to read more about it click here.

One of the great pleasures of South Africa is that they play very good Rugby and every Saturday since I’ve been here I’ve made a point of watching. The last few weeks has seen the semi finals and final of the Currie Cup, the SA domestic league. The final was played in Bloemfontein and I saw the fans queuing for tickets outside the stadium there, as it was played between the Cheetahs, the local team and the Blue Bulls from Pretoria. It was a good game and one minute from the end the score was 25 points each. It was then that Hogsback had one of it’s epic thunderstorms for which these mountains are famous (hence the rain forest) and cut the satellite link. By the time the signal was restored they had played extra time (no score) and were handing over the cup. Instead of going to a plenty shoot out, with the Currie Cup the captains can decide to share the cup, so both teams ‘won’. How satisfying that is depends on your point of view.

From Hogsback I went back to East London and from there on a night bus to Cape Town where I am now.

Click here for pictures of Hogsback.

Written by Will

Gallery: Pretoria and Kimberley

willlou — Sun, 8 Oct 2006 21:46:00 GMT

Kimberley

willlou — Sun, 8 Oct 2006 21:40:00 GMT

This week I left Pretoria and took the bus to Kimberley. The bus headed down the motorway to Jo’berg, passing lots of distribution centres and multinational headquarters before reaching the leafy suburbs of North Johannesburg. Every building is heavily defended by razor wire and electric fences; even electricity substations at the side of the road have electric fences around them, presumably to stop them being stolen or tapped into? The CBD of Jo’berg had a very 60’s feel, there are very few new buildings and it had the air of a place you only go to if you have to. To the south of the city the landscape is of factory units and the gold mines of the Witwatersrand, with their winding gear and spoil heaps. Here also are the townships, which look like thousands of brightly coloured little boxes covering the landscape. Further out the houses are more like shacks made out of pieces of corrugated iron.

The bus took me across the High Veld though small Afrikaans country towns. Only the occasional mine and spoil heap breaks up the flatness of the landscape. There was a fantastic sunset of the kind you only get in Africa, where the yellow orange glow lingers across the horizon long after the sun has departed.

Kimberley has a very pleasant feel, it is not as tense as Pretoria, there are fewer razor wire and electric fences around and some people do venture onto the streets at night. It reminds me of a provincial English town, lots of brick 60’s public buildings, gardens with rose bushes, and a fine Cathedral and War Memorial. This town is very much off the backpacker route and I had been inspired to come here after reading a Wilber Smith historical novel (Men of Men) which describes how diamonds were discovered here, how the town was built up around the diamond diggings or Big Hole and how Cecil Rhodes took it all over. Surprisingly, no one I have so far met in Kimberley has read it.

There are still some fine colonial buildings in the town including the Kimberley Club, which at one time was one of the most exclusive in the world but which is now partly run as a hotel and where anyone can go and have a drink, which I did. Across the road from it is the Africana Library a wonderful building, now a research library, where I was given a guided tour and shown the some of the original documents related to the diamond diggings including the original map showing the patchwork of claims on the big hole, most of them very small indeed.

The Big Hole was a disappointment as the site is closed for redevelopment. All I could see from climbing a small hill and getting as close to the wire as possible was the rim. Still a sense of history and all that, especially as I had a drink at the ‘Star of the West’ the original diggers pub which is right next to the Hole.

On one day I took a trip outside Kimberly, out to the Boer War Battlefield site at Magersfontein. On the way, we went though the local township, which has a mix of houses that have been renovated with electricity and running water and corrugated iron shacks. Even with the renovated houses there is no escaping the fact that these are two room dwellings no larger than the average Western garage and this is what the majority of South Africans live in.

Outside Kimberley you realize that you are on the edge of the Karahari desert. The landscape is semi desert, grassland with a few low growing trees, the sort of bush country that ones imagines most of Africa to be. Along the way I saw some Kudu (a large antelope), a small herd of Spingbok and some Ostriches, which in this area have all escaped from Ostrich Farms that were set up to provide feathers for the hat trade.

The Magersfontein Battlefield is dominated by a small range of hills or Koppies. The Highland Division was advancing on these to relieve the siege of Kimberley and had expected the Boers to be on top of the hills. Instead, the Canny Boers had dug trenches at the bottom of them so when the Scotsmen advanced at dawn, the Boer jumped up and shot them down. From the top of the hills there are great views across the countryside, and the Boer trenches are still visible below. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, there is a fine museum which shows a film about the battle.

After Kimberley I plan to move down to Bloemfontein in the Free State, and may go from there to Lesotho.

Written by Will

Pretoria - South Africa

willlou — Wed, 4 Oct 2006 01:22:00 GMT

After over a year in Latin America, last week I flew to South Africa to continue my trip in Africa. The plane flew via Cape Town and I got a glimpse of Table Mountain as we came into land, before heading onto Johannesburg. I decided not to stay in Jo’berg or Jozzie as its reputation for crime goes before it but to stay in the comparatively safer Pretoria.

I’d been to South Africa before, in 1998 but had only travelled in the area around Durban. The Jo’berg/Pretoria area is the richest part of the country and the first thing to strike me was the amount of conspicuous wealth on display, every other car is BMW or a Mercedes. There is lots of building going on too, especially ‘security villages’, housing estates with very high walls and electric fences around them.

The hostel I’m staying in is in the very pleasant area of the city called Hatfield, which is the University and Embassy District. There are lots of wide roads and nice suburban houses, the quite a few have been converted into Backpacker Hostels and B and B’s. The only problem with it is that although the centre of Hatfield is only ten minutes walk away, it is not recommended that you walk between the two at night. People either drive or you have a lot of quiet nights in. Anything outside the high walls and electric fences are considered fair game at night be they parked cars or people.

The centre of Pretoria has a very 50’s 60’s feel, not many new buildings have been built since then. Although it is the capital of the country and the heart of Afrikanerdom, there are almost no white people about and even fewer walking about, so tourists like me stand out. White people drive everywhere and shop in the suburbs. There aren’t that many sights to see, the Colonial Union Buildings which you can no longer walk around and Church Square, the heart of the Transvaal which is surrounded by grand buildings.

After so long in the Latin world it’s been a real pleasure to be able to speak and ask for everything in English. There are also lots of little things like the plaques and memorials scattered around the city that remind one of home. Another delight is to be able to walk into a bookshop full of English books and have a real choice of things to read. Even doing things like writing this is easier as the software is not in Spanish.

My intention was to make a short visit to Mozambique. Unfortunately, this week the Mozambique government has decided to increase the visa fees for British Nationals to the amount we charge them, which is a lot. No doubt fair but not something that will help their tourist industry. Instead I am heading into the heart of South Africa, to Kimberley.

Forward Plans

willlou — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:32:00 GMT

For the next few months our paths will diverge; for the rest of the year we´ll each be pursuing different interests.

Will is flying to South Africa to spend a month before heading up through Southern and East Africa to Tanzania. Lou is going to stay in Buenos Aires, live with a local family and work on her Spanish.

Our site will continue to be updated with our respective impressions of Africa and Buenos Aires life.

We´ll be back together again in January, when we´ll meet up in East Africa and then continue our journey together.

Gallery: Over the Andes to Chile

willlou — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 09:07:00 GMT

Over the Andes to Chile

willlou — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 02:35:00 GMT

This week we crossed the Andes twice, going from Mendoza in Argentina to Santiago in Chile and back again. The snow covered mountains dominate the views in both cites and the route between them is one of the most spectacular in the world. The road climbs up from the Mendoza plain, up a river valley with a great view of the highest mountain in South America - Aconcagua, until it confronts a rock face through which a 3.2km tunnel, ‘Christ the Redeemer’ has been cut. The road then emerges on the Chilean side and Chilean customs which are very thorough, as the Chileans are very paranoid about any food, particularly fruit being bought into the country. This is all done in a very chilly (sic) shed at 2,800 meters surrounded by snow drifts and ski lifts. The road then drops straight down a hillside, the bus tackling 40 bends with no crash barriers before following a river to the central valley of Chile. A railway line follows the same route, much of it now covered with snow and rock. A few weeks ago the two governments agreed to reopen it to aid trade. When its working it will be one of the worlds great train rides.

We went to Chile with an open mind, this is one of the richest countries in South America with a growing GDP based on copper sales and of course it’s wines and apples. The reality was something of a surprise; it’s certainly one of the most Americanized countries with a large disparity between rich and poor, huge mansions out in the countryside but lots of beggars on the city streets. The quality of life was also lower than we expected considering how expensive it is, the food is particularly dreadful; Santiago is the fast food capital of the world as well as being in the top ten for graffiti. The cold and murky weather didn’t make it look much better. Many people are in a sort of time warp, the Salvador Allende 70’s intellectual look is still very popular for young men, long hair, wispy beards and thick glasses; while Punks and Goths are commonly seen.

We did a day trip to the Pacific coast and the city of Vilparaiso. This is port city where the docks are right in the centre of the town, while the land rises steeply up around them. Many of the houses on the surrounding hills are brightly painted giving the place a cheerful, seaside feel. In the last century several funicular railways were built on the hillsides to transport people up and down and some are still functioning although few people apart from tourists travel on them. They are now very rickety and the cars and buildings are made from wood, Health and Safety haven’t been around recently. The short rides are great fun and the views across the town and port are wonderful.

We chose a bad time to go to Chile as the forthcoming weekend was the National Day holiday, four days off and all the buses to anywhere booked up. Given the topography of the country where you can only go up or down this meant we were stuck in Santiago, an expensive and unpleasing prospect. So we decided to head back to the comforts of Mendoza. On the return trip the weather was bright and clear, a very memorable journey.

We are now back in Mendoza, where we have been followed by hoards of Chileans on holiday who are filling empty suitcases with cheap clothes. As it’s such a lovely town we staying here for a few more days before heading back to Buenos Aires. Spring has arrived and the weather is wonderful, ideal for sitting outside and drinking coffee. Real coffee - not Nescafe which is what they serve up in Chile, say no more!

Written by Will