Here is a quick story of a typical day whilst traveling with Matt.
I woke up at dawn in my hotel in Francaistown and walked about half a mile through town to the bus station. Francaistown is the second largest city in Botswana. Imagine something about the size of Maspeth, Queens but without the tall buildings.
At the bus station I asked where to find the bus and was directed towards a mini bus across the parking lot. It was mostly full when I arrived but we waited an hour until every possible seat was full and three people were left standing. I would spend the next seven hours with no more than about 60% of my rear end actually on my seat and the rest on my body in the aisle. This would become more difficult as I realized the bus tilted a bit to the left which made staying my seat tricky.
As we were leaving town we passed an accident which caused everyone to gape out the window. I didn't pay it much mind until I glanced out and saw a mass covered by a yellow wool blanket. A limp forearm stuck out from under it.
The bus settled down eventually and I tilted my head back and tried to sleep. Within an hour I was woken up to find everyone dismounting the bus. The driver instructed me to take out any extra shoes in my bag and follow the group. We walked to a trench on the side of the road where everyone was either walking through or dunking the soles of their shoes into a hole filled with liquid. Apparently it was one of the check points set up throughout the country to stem an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Back in the bus I leaned my head against the seat in front of me went back to sleep. I believe one of the standing passengers took this opportunity to create a seat for himself between my lower back and the seat. Honestly, I didn't mind as his added weight kept me from falling into the aisle while I slept.
About an hour later I woke up to violent shaking.
We were on a one lane road that was being used as a detour as they rebuilt the actual road alongside it. The road we now drove on had the look of shattered pavement. Any suspension that my bus may have been built with was long worn away.
I sat with fascination for the next hour watching the road and the dense bushes stretching out as far as I could see. We were in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally the driver would get out and look under the hood or play with the tires. I was thrilled every time he got back in and kept driving.
It's the dry season around here which also means it wild fire season. I started to see smoke in the distance and soon brilliant orange flames could be seen in the bushes off the left hand side. I was surprised how clear and saturated the flames were even in at noon. Along the horizon large clouds formed that could easily be mistaken for actual clouds except for their brown hue. It occurred to me that unless you count the sandstorm in Dubai, the last time I remember seeing clouds was London.
Eventually we returned to glorious well kept pavement. The gentleman next to me got off and I spent the final hour of the journey staring out the window. I knew we were getting close to my destination when I saw a giraffe strolling around.
Kasane is a little town on the border of Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana know for it's great wildlife.
Once off the bus I enjoyed a good stroll around the parking lot. Two locals directed me to a cab which I took to the lodge where I would spend one night. The woman who ran it was a pleasant South African who showed me to my $80 tent I had reserved (that's on the cheap end for this town). I asked if there was anything near by to walk to. She replied that there wasn't, but if I decided to stroll around I should watch out for elephants. They were having "an elephant problem".
I did stroll around, but l guess I was lucky because I didn't encounter any elephants, but did have to dodge their droppings on the side of the road.
Eventually, I spent the evening at the lodge drinking windehoek (Namibian beer). Occasionally, the power would go out as the generator failed, but then I just looked up at the stars.
Out here in the middle of nowhere the stars are beautiful.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Botswana
I got into Botswana relatively painlessly. The biggest issue was probably walking between the South African border and the Botswana border after disembarking from my bus. There weren't any signs so my group sort of stumbled around in the night before finding customs.
Once in Gaborone (capital of Botswana) I decided to share a cab with a Zambian fellow I met on the bus. However, I didn't have any pula (Botswana currency). I asked a taxi driver where I could find an ATM and he directed me to follow him. We walked through a parking lot and in-between two office buildings where the only light came from the lonely ATM where someone sat in a chair next to it. It didn't feel like a great situation, but made an escape route in my head and went towards the ATM. Everything went fine and I walked back to the guy laughing saying I would never have done that in South Africa. He smiled and said "Hey man, this is Botswana not Johannesburg!"
At my hotel, I discovered a casino attached to it. I played a hand of blackjack for the hell of it. On the deal I got an eight and a six. The dealer had ten. When she hit me again I got an eight and decided that it was a sign I shouldn't pay anymore blackjack so I retired to the bar.
This was a good choice as I found myself in two long conversations while watching the Americas soccer tournament. First, a man from Zimbabwe who told me about as a child white soldiers would give him biscuits on his way home from school to try to get information out of him about guerrilla movements in the jungle.
Next, I talked with an insurance salesman who recounted a story about his time studying in London:
One night out with his friends a British girl starting asking him about Africa. She explained that her view of Africa was a place where everyone lived in trees. Without missing a beat his friend replied "It's true. The British high commission has the highest tree in Lusaka."
Once in Gaborone (capital of Botswana) I decided to share a cab with a Zambian fellow I met on the bus. However, I didn't have any pula (Botswana currency). I asked a taxi driver where I could find an ATM and he directed me to follow him. We walked through a parking lot and in-between two office buildings where the only light came from the lonely ATM where someone sat in a chair next to it. It didn't feel like a great situation, but made an escape route in my head and went towards the ATM. Everything went fine and I walked back to the guy laughing saying I would never have done that in South Africa. He smiled and said "Hey man, this is Botswana not Johannesburg!"
At my hotel, I discovered a casino attached to it. I played a hand of blackjack for the hell of it. On the deal I got an eight and a six. The dealer had ten. When she hit me again I got an eight and decided that it was a sign I shouldn't pay anymore blackjack so I retired to the bar.
This was a good choice as I found myself in two long conversations while watching the Americas soccer tournament. First, a man from Zimbabwe who told me about as a child white soldiers would give him biscuits on his way home from school to try to get information out of him about guerrilla movements in the jungle.
Next, I talked with an insurance salesman who recounted a story about his time studying in London:
One night out with his friends a British girl starting asking him about Africa. She explained that her view of Africa was a place where everyone lived in trees. Without missing a beat his friend replied "It's true. The British high commission has the highest tree in Lusaka."
Johannesburg
My last night in Cape Town I drank at the hostel bar (got to drink somewhere right?). Around windhoek #4 (Namibian beer) I got to talking to the brother of one of the hostel owners who lives in Johannesburg. I told him I would be there in about 3 days and he offered to house me. So... I accepted.
And I'm glad I did.
He and his roommate were good guys and I was introduced to their circle of friends. We traded music, travel stories and on my final night they send me off with a proper South African braai (bbq generally with sausages).
Good times.
And I'm glad I did.
He and his roommate were good guys and I was introduced to their circle of friends. We traded music, travel stories and on my final night they send me off with a proper South African braai (bbq generally with sausages).
Good times.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Cape Town
I left Cape Town a few days ago, but here is a quick run down:
I SAW A WHALE! I met some other travelers at my hostel and took a public bus down to one of the coastal suburbs. While driving along the coast I looked out the window and there was a whale tail flapping around in the ocean. The two girls with me were concerned that it might be stuck (kept flapping its tail in the same area) so they phoned a local they had met earlier.
He asked, "Is it in the ocean?"
"Yes"
"Then it's probably fine."
Also on the wildlife topic, I got to pet a (very fat) wild seal. Some guy in this town lured a seal onto the dock with a bucket full of fish guts so tourists could pose for a picture/pet it/ride it/etc. The animal is massively obese so I assume this has been going on for a while.
The city itself is very beautiful and walkable. Probably the best nightlife I will encounter for a couple of months.
Rising up directly behind the town are several iconic mountains that top out at around 1000m. I climbed one with a group from my hostel and survived although it was close. Don't have a good picture, but you can check it out on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion%27s_Head_%28Cape_Town%29
To put the climb in perspective at one point near the peak the trail breaks in two. On your left the sign reads "Recommended Route" on the right "Chain Route". Of course, I followed everyone to the right where the parks department bolted chains into the rocks so you could climb up about 40 ft. Halfway up there is a small plague that reads something along the lines of "Parks Department is not liable for structural integrity of chains". Weeeee....
I SAW A WHALE! I met some other travelers at my hostel and took a public bus down to one of the coastal suburbs. While driving along the coast I looked out the window and there was a whale tail flapping around in the ocean. The two girls with me were concerned that it might be stuck (kept flapping its tail in the same area) so they phoned a local they had met earlier.
He asked, "Is it in the ocean?"
"Yes"
"Then it's probably fine."
Also on the wildlife topic, I got to pet a (very fat) wild seal. Some guy in this town lured a seal onto the dock with a bucket full of fish guts so tourists could pose for a picture/pet it/ride it/etc. The animal is massively obese so I assume this has been going on for a while.
The city itself is very beautiful and walkable. Probably the best nightlife I will encounter for a couple of months.
Rising up directly behind the town are several iconic mountains that top out at around 1000m. I climbed one with a group from my hostel and survived although it was close. Don't have a good picture, but you can check it out on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion%27s_Head_%28Cape_Town%29
To put the climb in perspective at one point near the peak the trail breaks in two. On your left the sign reads "Recommended Route" on the right "Chain Route". Of course, I followed everyone to the right where the parks department bolted chains into the rocks so you could climb up about 40 ft. Halfway up there is a small plague that reads something along the lines of "Parks Department is not liable for structural integrity of chains". Weeeee....
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Stellenbosch
Here I am sampling a 1998 port. It supposedly portuguese varieties in a blind taste test. Delicious.
I tried to get the cat to come over to me, but I think it only spoke Afrikaans.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Apartheid
Obviously, the scars of apartheid are still apparent in South Africa. Here are two small but powerful anecdotes from the past that I've gotten:
First, in cape town I went to to Robben Island where Mandela was held for 30+ years. When you tour the prison former political prisoners give you an overview of prison life. My guide seemed as if he had enough to say to fill up a couple days but gave us a stream of thought for about twenty minutes. In prison they censored all his mail. He said the hardest thing for him was not the complete absence of letters, but the part of the letters that had been physically cut out. He found himself starring at the holes in letters from his family desperate to know what they were trying to tell him.
Second, I went to the district 6 museum which commemorates a district of Cape Town that was demolished to make way for an all white neighborhood. The museum is beautiful and concentrates on the individual stories of those directly affected. One of the plaques told the story of a man who was moved out but did his best to get through it. He said he finally broke down when he drove by his old home and found the pigeons he used to train sitting on the rubble. They starred at him and seemed to say "where is our home?".
First, in cape town I went to to Robben Island where Mandela was held for 30+ years. When you tour the prison former political prisoners give you an overview of prison life. My guide seemed as if he had enough to say to fill up a couple days but gave us a stream of thought for about twenty minutes. In prison they censored all his mail. He said the hardest thing for him was not the complete absence of letters, but the part of the letters that had been physically cut out. He found himself starring at the holes in letters from his family desperate to know what they were trying to tell him.
Second, I went to the district 6 museum which commemorates a district of Cape Town that was demolished to make way for an all white neighborhood. The museum is beautiful and concentrates on the individual stories of those directly affected. One of the plaques told the story of a man who was moved out but did his best to get through it. He said he finally broke down when he drove by his old home and found the pigeons he used to train sitting on the rubble. They starred at him and seemed to say "where is our home?".
Nelson Mandela's birthday
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Dubai
Here is my rough impression of Duabi:
First, it is hot. Like opening an oven when it is on.
As far as vibe, it was either:
B. 90% of the population is foriengn born, mostly working class brought from the Indian subcontinent or the Philippines. There is the other part of Dubai where they live and go out. This feels a lot more like a real place in the same way that a Pakistani neighborhood in Brooklyn is a real community.
The city can be expensive in the sense that simple things are expensive because they have to be imported.
Random story: At the Burj, I went up in an elevator with six giant athletic men in D&G vests that smelled of expensive cologne and were being followed by the paparazzi. They were the newest members of a UAE football club and were having a press conference on the observation deck.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Dubai newspapers
At my hotel I got a free copy of one of the main dubai newspapers, and i have made a habit of reading it. I won't touch the Israeli politics ( "Today in occupied Jerusalem, President Netanyahu...").
This week the emirs of the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is one) have bestowed voting rights on about 25% of the population (native born citizens) for the parliamentary elections next year. This is about 20 times more people than could vote in the last elections in 2006. They'll be able to vote for about half of parliament while the other half will be appointed by the emirs.
Dubai hasn't been hit hard by protests like other countries in the region, possibly because it is generally much more liberal and enjoys a cradle to grave welfare system. Still, there have been a few demonstrations in the past couple of months.
According to a political science professor at UAE university the new emirati dream is to make the UAE "the best democracy on earth".
The Editor in Chief of the newspaper I've been reading agreed today in his op-ed piece. He recounted explaining to his children the new civic duty they have been selected for. (34Most of those chosen to be eligible to vote are in their twenties.) It didn't seem to bother him much that he wouldn't be able to vote this time around. "I felt free when I saw my name not on the list. Free because I am free from any responsibility to vote and choose the right candidate. After all, elections are about picking the right candidate and not merely honoring someone".
This week the emirs of the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is one) have bestowed voting rights on about 25% of the population (native born citizens) for the parliamentary elections next year. This is about 20 times more people than could vote in the last elections in 2006. They'll be able to vote for about half of parliament while the other half will be appointed by the emirs.
Dubai hasn't been hit hard by protests like other countries in the region, possibly because it is generally much more liberal and enjoys a cradle to grave welfare system. Still, there have been a few demonstrations in the past couple of months.
According to a political science professor at UAE university the new emirati dream is to make the UAE "the best democracy on earth".
The Editor in Chief of the newspaper I've been reading agreed today in his op-ed piece. He recounted explaining to his children the new civic duty they have been selected for. (34Most of those chosen to be eligible to vote are in their twenties.) It didn't seem to bother him much that he wouldn't be able to vote this time around. "I felt free when I saw my name not on the list. Free because I am free from any responsibility to vote and choose the right candidate. After all, elections are about picking the right candidate and not merely honoring someone".
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Brussels Wrap Up
I like Brussels.
My hostel was amazing (St. Gilles area). It was a 4 story townhouse with a big old golden retriever and a backyard with a ping pong table. People were friendly and spent most of my time exploring the city with a fellow traveler from SF. We met up at a lambec brewery tour and after realizing we both liked Belgian beer, we made it our mission to drink it lots throughout the city. In Brussels every beer has a specific glass that it should be drunk from. In the more poppin' neighbhorhood you can just walk right out of the bar and go stand in the middle of the street with hundreds of drunken Belgians.
-Wonderful architecture, from gothic to art nouveau. The town center is stupid pretty.
-Every five minutes or so I stumbled on a mural on the side of a house featuring a Belgian comic character (tin-tin, smurfs, etc)
-I took a tour of the EU parliment in which they give everyone video ipods and then lead them around to two rooms where you watched videos about how great multinational governing bodies are.
-Cars always stop for pedestrians at crosswalks.
-What I drank: BEER!
-What I ate: French fries! and a couple waffles. (food was very expensive in Brussels)
-What I wished I new before coming: That Brussels can be confusing to find your way around. Getting into Brussels, I accidentally got off the train (international) at the north station instead of the middle. I walked around for twenty minutes in a turkish neighborhood before I realized my mistake. I took a train (subway) to my hostel, but got lost again. Eventually I swallowed by pride and walked into a hotel to ask for directions. Just before I was about to ask, I took a glance at the business cards and realized the hotel was on the same street and my hostel and bounded out.
This annoyance was cured with a pocket map.
That's all for now.
My hostel was amazing (St. Gilles area). It was a 4 story townhouse with a big old golden retriever and a backyard with a ping pong table. People were friendly and spent most of my time exploring the city with a fellow traveler from SF. We met up at a lambec brewery tour and after realizing we both liked Belgian beer, we made it our mission to drink it lots throughout the city. In Brussels every beer has a specific glass that it should be drunk from. In the more poppin' neighbhorhood you can just walk right out of the bar and go stand in the middle of the street with hundreds of drunken Belgians.
-Wonderful architecture, from gothic to art nouveau. The town center is stupid pretty.
-Every five minutes or so I stumbled on a mural on the side of a house featuring a Belgian comic character (tin-tin, smurfs, etc)
-I took a tour of the EU parliment in which they give everyone video ipods and then lead them around to two rooms where you watched videos about how great multinational governing bodies are.
-Cars always stop for pedestrians at crosswalks.
-What I drank: BEER!
-What I ate: French fries! and a couple waffles. (food was very expensive in Brussels)
-What I wished I new before coming: That Brussels can be confusing to find your way around. Getting into Brussels, I accidentally got off the train (international) at the north station instead of the middle. I walked around for twenty minutes in a turkish neighborhood before I realized my mistake. I took a train (subway) to my hostel, but got lost again. Eventually I swallowed by pride and walked into a hotel to ask for directions. Just before I was about to ask, I took a glance at the business cards and realized the hotel was on the same street and my hostel and bounded out.
This annoyance was cured with a pocket map.
That's all for now.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Berlin wrap up
Berlin didn't want me to like it. It rained to entire time, I broke my 80 gb ipod on the stone(!?) floor of my room, my hostel wasn't ready when I arrived and I barley spoke to anyone. But I did like it. Good beer, good food and lots to see (bauhaus!).
So here are my thoughts:
-i stayed in east berlin which is sort of the brooklyn of berlin. (Sorry for the nyc reference but its easy) Lots of art, bars and cafes.
-odd observation: the american embassy isn't behind barb wire fencing (unlike a lot of places in europe).
-bauhas museum is very small, but so well done.
-the subway is done by the honor system, but I didn't see a single transit cop checking tickets the entire time.
-food: currywerst! Yum
-beer: everywhere
-they have laid cobblestone where the berlin wall was, so if you want, you can follow it around the city.
-listened to: julian lynch
-wish I knew before coming: other than my hostel had a stone floor? I wish I knew that you have to manually open subway doors to get on and off. That isn't a really big deal (and I've seen it before), but I looked really stupid standing patiently in front of everyone as the train was stopped.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
So here are my thoughts:
-i stayed in east berlin which is sort of the brooklyn of berlin. (Sorry for the nyc reference but its easy) Lots of art, bars and cafes.
-odd observation: the american embassy isn't behind barb wire fencing (unlike a lot of places in europe).
-bauhas museum is very small, but so well done.
-the subway is done by the honor system, but I didn't see a single transit cop checking tickets the entire time.
-food: currywerst! Yum
-beer: everywhere
-they have laid cobblestone where the berlin wall was, so if you want, you can follow it around the city.
-listened to: julian lynch
-wish I knew before coming: other than my hostel had a stone floor? I wish I knew that you have to manually open subway doors to get on and off. That isn't a really big deal (and I've seen it before), but I looked really stupid standing patiently in front of everyone as the train was stopped.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Prague Wrap Up
I haven't spent long in prague, but here are my impressions:
-Beautiful. It helps that Prague escaped serious bombing by the allies, nazis, soviets etc.
-Almost as good is the blocky ugly yellow cement communist buildings that will abruptly appear in the middle of a block.
-Walkable. Both in size and compactness.
-Food: hearty. Different forms of meat and potatoes.
-Piegons don't get out off your way. You can prolly pet them if you want.
-Normal water can be hard to find. I'm currently drinking a liter of grapefruit flavored water.
-Beer: cheap. I didn't pay over $2.30 for a pint.
-Listening to while walking: Wolf Parade
-Thing that I wish I knew before coming: more about gothic architecture.
-Would I come back: Sure!
-Beautiful. It helps that Prague escaped serious bombing by the allies, nazis, soviets etc.
-Almost as good is the blocky ugly yellow cement communist buildings that will abruptly appear in the middle of a block.
-Walkable. Both in size and compactness.
-Food: hearty. Different forms of meat and potatoes.
-Piegons don't get out off your way. You can prolly pet them if you want.
-Normal water can be hard to find. I'm currently drinking a liter of grapefruit flavored water.
-Beer: cheap. I didn't pay over $2.30 for a pint.
-Listening to while walking: Wolf Parade
-Thing that I wish I knew before coming: more about gothic architecture.
-Would I come back: Sure!
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