Sleep deprivation strikes again!

After our last blog post we were hurriedly rushed on to our plane for boarding. As the plane was loading Eric had pointed out a massive storm headed our way and as the last person got on and the doors were closed the storm had completely enveloped us. This meant that a great deal of ice started to form on the wings. Eric being as smart as he is had figured out that this would happen but apparently the crew at LHR wasn’t exactly on the ball. We spent the next two hours sitting on the ground waiting to be de-iced and sweltering because in order to de-ice a plane you have to turn off the AC. (You’d think someone would have figured out how to do it without frustrating a plane full of a couple hundred customers.)

Finally our plane took off and away we went to Beautiful British Columbia! To combat the expected Jet-Lag we both tried valiantly to stay up during the flight and Eric didn’t do all that well. By the end of the flight I was repeatedly pinching him trying to keep him awake and he was sleeping right through it.

We arrived at Heather and Glen’s around 2300hrs and by this time we were exhausted. I was so tired I was actually slurring my words and generally drunk on a lack of sleep. You don’t realize what sleep deprivation can do to you until you try and have a coherent conversation. The conversation didn’t last too long and we were all off to bed.

Today we went for a walk with Glen around his community and grabbed a Starbucks...mmmmm, good coffee is so hard to come by!

Dublin Whirlwind Tour

Friday

- Picked up Shray and headed for the Botanical Gardens which was MUCH bigger than any of us had anticipated. We walked around for a couple hours and saw most of what there was to see.
- Headed for Dublin Castle as it was the one thing Shray wanted to see this time. Got lost and got there too late.
- Headed to Christ Church Cathedral, got there too late to see the inside.
- Realized everything in Dublin closes early so that everyone who works can go drink.
- Decided we should go have a drink.
- Met up with Glenn to have dinner and walked until we found a place which took quite a while because we were all very indecisive. Dave and Bev had offered to buy us dinner and it was grand. Thank you!
- Went to bed

Saturday

- Picked Shray and then went back to Glenn’s house where we dropped the car.
- Took the train down town and didn’t get lost.
- Went to the Museum and looked at Irish History.
- Went to Dublin Castle and took the tour. Pretty interesting stuff even if it doesn’t totally look like a castle.
- Decided Royal People really like GOLD!
- Went to Christ Church Cathedral and tried to get inside. We were late again.
- Eric lied (kind of) to a Holy Guy and we got in anyways.
- Realized my husband may go to hell but the church and the crypt were pretty cool.
- Had a moment with God in front of some candles. Maybe that made up for the lying.
- Went to pick up Glenn from work.
- Went to some famous pubs and some not so famous ones. The Temple Bar sucks! Go to the not so famous ones.

Sunday

- Got home early, went to bed.
- Slept in.
- Picked up Shray and headed for Swords castle. It’s closed for renovation but was very funky and castle-ly. A pear tree on the grounds tried to attack Eric and he blamed it on Shray...not very nice of him or the tree.
- Shray spotted something cool looking from a distance and we drove in circles until we found it. Turns out it was a very cool, very old church and cemetery. Good thing we had her spotting skills and Eric’s driving skills!!!
- Said goodbye to Shray and dropped her at the airport. Sad to see her go but VERY thankful for the time we got to spend with her. She’s a great travel companion! Can’t wait for the next Red Deer Road Trip with the whole gang!
- Went to Glenn’s and hung out and then hit up a pub for dinner. Again it was supposedly famous and in all reality it was just ok.
- Went to bed.

Monday

- Headed out of town toward Kilkenny. Doug had told Eric there are castles everywhere there.
- Found a broken castle and took some pics.
- Continued to Kilkenny and found Kilkenny Castle. Bought tickets for the tour but it wasn’t until 1600hrs and so we headed out for another drive.
- Found a church and some great country side.
- Went back for the tour and thankfully Glenn had been before and apparently his tour guide was better so we got a secondary tour from him. Still one question unanswered...Why were the two girls in the paintings in the library topless?
- Headed out into the park around the castle to find some other old things we had seen but never found them and almost got locked out of the park.
- IMAGINARY (Then we had to make our way across a field being covered by snipers without getting shot in order to get to our car.) IMAGINARY
- Started home and stopped at a pub on the way home for dinner. It wasn’t great but at least the pub atmosphere was better than the Temple Bar.
- Went to bed.

Tuesday

- Got up early and finished packing and loading the car for the drive back to Belfast.
- Said goodbye to Glenn. Very Sad!
- Felt very proud of our friend and cousin for living halfway across the world by themselves. It’s not easy to be here when you have a travel companion let alone by yourself.
- Drove to Belfast without taking a wrong turn...a first for everything in Ireland!!!! It was very close though since Belfast has two airports and we almost headed to the wrong one.
- Experienced our first snow of the season on the way to Belfast. Nasty, blowing, wet stuff...gross. THAILAND WE MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
- Made our flight with plenty of time but were reminded again of how unbelievably pricey everything is here.
- Arrived in LHR and we’re on our way to Vancouver!!!!

It seems really weird to be leaving a country already. We’re not used to this. On the other hand, home is very quietly calling and we hear that at least it’s warmer there for the time being.

“You better come back home because I’m not coming here again!”

We did as promised in Bangkok and remained safe. What we didn’t do was catch our flight out of town. I misread our itinerary and as we were sitting in our hotel room at 0113hrs on Tuesday morning chatting with Glenn about when we would arrive in Ireland (Oh yeah, ps, on the way home we’re taking a one week detour to see Glenn Calderwood.) we both had a sudden realization that I had seriously screwed up and our flight had left Bangkok about 30 minutes ago. It’s really quite amazing what fear and panic can do to you, especially in a situation you’ve never experienced before.

We ran around the room simultaneously packing and calling the Calgary travel agent trying to figure out what to do next. After finding out that any customer service for BA is closed until 0800hrs the next morning the travel agent suggested we head for the airport and try and find someone there. In about 20 minutes we had packed and were seated in a cab for a very fast trip to the airport.

Upon arriving we spent about an hour wandering the airport looking for a BA desk and slowly coming to the realization there wasn’t one. We asked Customer Service and they referred us to the same Thailand phone number that we already knew wasn’t open until 0800hrs. So we found a quiet place, topped up our minutes on the phone and started calling. We had booked our flights with AMA in Calgary and they tell you straight off the bat that once you leave the city on your trip there usually isn’t much they can do for you until you get back home. Thinking back this now makes me wonder why the hell you would go through a travel agent (or at least that one), what did they do that I couldn’t have? Regardless of all this I called them for the second time on this Calgary afternoon and talked to the wonderful Kimberly. I told her what had happened and where we were now and asked for a number for BA in Calgary since it was obvious I wasn’t getting anywhere here. She put me on hold, actually, she put me on hold for a long time. I sat in the Bangkok airport wondering what the hell I should do while she put me on hold from Calgary for about seven minutes. Seven minutes seems like forever in this circumstance! As I finally started to convince myself that this was useless, I should hang up and go wonder the airport in search of WI-FI she came back on the line. She hadn’t gotten the number for me, but she had rebooked our flights for the same time the next night and she was working on rebooking our connector to Belfast.

With a moderate sigh of relief we headed back to the hotel where they graciously let us check back in for free. After an email to Glenn explaining that I’m an idiot and why we had suddenly disappeared off the chat we settled in for a VERY fitful sleep that was anything but restful. Stress is hard on your body!

By 1300hrs on Tuesday we were back at the airport and trying to check in and get the tickets we were told should be booked for us on the 0045hrs Wednesday flight (QF0001). We found the desk which was less hidden than the night before and started talking to a Lovely Thai Girl (LTG). It’s important to know that at this point we were certain we were going to have to pay for new tickets to London and Belfast but we weren’t going to offer unless asked. We explained our situation and she took our passports and looked up the information and somehow we walked away with new tickets to London for free! I don’t know how LTG did it or why but I’ve decided she must be close to a Saint. We now had just under 12 hours to waste in the Bangkok airport. It’s a big airport, but not that big. We couldn’t even check in until 1900hrs. We wondered, we ate, we slept on the floor, Eric fished, we got foot massages and pedicures, and waited! Finally 1900hrs came and we checked in with the same LTG we had talked to earlier. Unfortunately the flight had been delayed from 0045hrs to 0430hrs. We now had just under 9 hours to wait, but at least we knew for sure we had a seat on the plane.

After searching high and low for free wireless we decided the best option was to see if we could talk ourselves into the BA business lounge and send some emails from there. I had never tried this before and wasn’t convinced it would work but really what did we have to lose? We walked in and told the lady that we had been delayed four hours and needed to send some emails and she promptly gave us full access to the lounge during our wait. Pleasantly surprised we settled into the comfiest couches we’d seen in weeks and proceeded to enjoy ourselves.

The BA lounge at Bangkok is similar to most I would guess and along with internet and comfy couches you have a full buffet, bar, tv’s and fully stocked ensuite bathrooms to indulge in. Basically it’s like waiting for your flight at home, with butlers. I liked it. Should I ever have a flight delayed again I will certainly try this option first. It saved us lots of money on food and drinks alone during the wait and was waaaaay more comfortable than the metal airport waiting chairs! While in the lounge we learned that Kimberly had not been able to rebook our connector to Belfast and we would have to see what we could get done in London when we arrived.
Finally our flight boarded and we were VERY pleasantly surprised to find that the plane was no more than 25% full. As an airline I’m sure this isn’t a good thing but for those of us desiring a full row of seats to stretch out on it was great news. Within ten minutes of takeoff we were laid out and fast asleep. I think this was the most enjoyable flight I have ever been on, we both slept for about eight hours and this put us right in line with the time in Ireland which was a huge bonus. When we woke up there were bags of snacks and water waiting for us and of course some Two and a Half Men to watch. This show seems to be on every flight and has quickly become a huge favourite for us in the comic relief category and it was good to laugh.

In London we took the train to Terminal 1 and headed to the customer service desk to see about a flight to Belfast. Despite having some of the grumpiest Service Staff I’ve ever met we managed to talk our way into new flights for just the price of a change. This meant we had been rebooked on new flights from Bangkok to Belfast for a grand total of 50 Euros despite the fact it was all our fault. And to top it off BA had paid for us to spend more than 8 hours wining and dining in their lounge. How the heck we did that I will never know. I am certain God must have been in a really good mood that day.

30-odd hours late we arrived in Belfast, picked up our rental and started towards Dublin. After getting completely turned around we did find Dublin fairly easily, but the task of finding Glenn’s flat was still ahead of us.

Dublin is a really old city. I don’t think city planning is a skill that anyone here practices. We spent more than an hour searching for Glenn’s house and drove at least two streets that had three different names in the space of three blocks. And numbering doesn’t exactly work the same as Canada either. I haven’t figured out how it works, but it’s not the same. We did manage to get a map book but I haven’t decided if the book is just really bad or if the streets are just messed up because all too often you get to a round-about-type-intersection and think you can turn left only to find out you can’t turn at all.

When we did find Glenn’s house we forgot to bring the camera which was a total shame because the look on Glenn’s face after he realized who was standing outside his door was as priceless as anything I had ever seen. To say the least he was super excited and we got great, long hugs and hellos. After a quick dinner we were all off to bed so that Eric and I could get up early and go with Glenn to work in the morning.

We dropped Glenn at work and wandered around City Center for most of the day Thursday. It was a blustery day and after coming from Thailand I was positively frozen. I could feel my tan fading with every windblown rain drop that smacked me in the face. We had taken the train down to City Center and by the time we made it back to the flat we were soaked and shivery but had found a shop where we picked up fixings for lunch.

The plan was to meet up with Glenn after work and make our way to a going away party for a friend of his. This time we drove the car down and didn’t have too much trouble finding a spot to meet Glenn but decided quickly to park the car and walk to the party. It was great to meet Glenn’s friends here and it turns out a huge portion of the people who work at his shop are not from Ireland. Unfortunatly/Fortunatly Eric and I had to leave Glenn and head to Dublin Airport to pick up Sharaya who had taken the opportunity to come see us while here.

Shray’s flight was delayed and by the time we were back on the road it was almost midnight. Shray had taken instructions from Google about how to get to her B&B and they seemed to line-up with what the map we had said so we set out to follow them. Twenty minutes later we were lost and pulled over trying to find a taxi driver to tell us where the heck we were. Turns out we had actually taken a wrong turn near the airport and had headed north instead of south. Forty minutes and a few more wrong turns later we were actually dropping Shray off for some much needed rest and on our way back to Glenn’s party to pick him up.

If you’re doing the math you now know it’s about 0100hrs and we’ve been driving for the better part of two hours in the dark and rain with maps that don’t work and city streets that leave a lot to desire. (Oh, and since we have Belfast plates on the rental we got egged on the way to the airport.) We needed to go back through City Center in order to get to the party and what should have taken fifteen minutes took around thirtyish and included a great deal of muttering, cursing, wrong turns, turns we couldn’t take, and house numbering that was more than suspect. By the time we walked through the door we were tired, cranky, down-right pissed and frustrated by our conquests for the evening. We found Glenn who looked at me and asked how I was doing and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “You better come back home because I’m not coming here again!”

I had a glass of wine shortly after this outburst and have reconsidered my position. I may well come back here again but when I do I will have GPS in my rental (turns out even the taxi drivers need it to get around here). And more than that, there’s a big chance I’ll just walk. Ireland is not that big, how long could it possibly take to walk across it really?

We're alive but...

Hey all,

We're alive and in Ireland with Glenn Calderwood but we have limited access to internet so we'll have to wait to update you all.

Bangkok again

Upon arriving in Bangkok again we realized that the air smells most definitely nasty when you’re coming from a place that has a fresh ocean breeze constantly. This is not really a surprise as it’s a big city with a not so great sanitation system (at least they have one!). However we were somewhat disgusted when we realized that when we first got to Bangkok from Dar we actually thought the air here was great and so fresh smelling. Again we were reminded of how very lucky we are to live in a place with fresh air, forests and mountains.

We slept in this morning and basically spent the day hiding in the hotel room. In the evening we went for some eats and found a place for a massage before settling back in to watch some English television. It’s a luxury we haven’t seen since leaving Bangkok and it was rather nice to be able to sit for an hour or two and watch something we could understand.

It turns out that while we were sleeping in late this morning all in Bangkok was NOT quiet. Just half a block from our hotel on the Sukhumvit Road 100,000 people were protesting the government here in Thailand. We had no idea and wouldn’t have known except that while flipping through the channels before our massage Eric happened to catch a BBC report on the protests. This evening while walking about on Sukhumvit and all the neighbouring Soi’s there was no evidence that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. It’s somewhat of a surreal feeling to know that all this protesting and politicking occurs and yet as a tourist you see and know nothing of it really. I guess it pays to be a night owl every once in a while.

We are safe and promise to stay up late and sleep in again tomorrow!

Last day in paradise

Well my burn did fade to a tan by the next morning which was a pleasant surprise. It was a good thing because we went for some really wonderful massages. These also helped the sunburns as the oil helped rehydrate the skin. Next we had appointments to get some new tattoos and after finding out we could still swim the next day if we got an old fashion Bamboo tattoo we both chose to go that way. In general the Bamboo process is a little more pain during the tattoo because of how deep the Bamboo goes into your skin but by an hour after we could hardly feel them and they have healed fast and well. We are both fairly convinced it’s the only way to go in the future.

For those who care our new tattoos are in Thai and say ‘Adjust Your Expectations’. This has become our mantra over the last couple of months as you may have noticed from our blogs. In general it’s just a good thing to remember when you’re going through life. Our expectations are rarely accurate and being able to adjust them regularly means you’re almost guaranteed to be a happier person and less stressed.

We went on a picture drive with Terry and Nan (I asked how to spell it) yesterday and got caught in a down pour. We ended up having to pull over to a small store and wait it out before carrying on to a Buddhist Temple. Again despite my dislike for gold I found it absolutely stunning. My favourite part was the crematorium. I know that sounds weird but it was very elaborate and beautiful and I found it refreshing that they don’t hide death. It’s weird to me that our culture does everything in its power to hide death. Even when we have to put down an animal we call it being put to sleep and rarely will you find a family who involves the kids in this process despite the fact it’s a natural part of life. What happens when those kids grow up and have never really experienced death and then their parents or other loved ones die? It’s just not healthy in my opinion.

After our drive we met with Terry, Nan, Anna, Christoph, Yvonne and a whole bunch of people they met for dinner at the Korean BBQ. I just can’t get enough of that stuff, it is sooooooo yummy. It was also great to spend our last night in Koh Phangan with so many great people.
This morning was VERY laid back as we listened to the Flames lose (again) to Edmonton and packed. It was pouring rain for much of the morning and this made it nice and cool for the most part. After some long and sad goodbyes to the Austrians and the dogs we were off to Terry’s to drop our stuff and head for some breakfast. We were all tired and after breakfast (at 1300hrs) we headed back to the bungalow for a nap before catching our ferry to Koh Sumui. Before the ferry Eric and I decided to take one last walk on the beach and dip our toes in the Gulf of Thailand one last time before we left. Unfortunately this meant we had to book it to the ferry and I think they were within seconds of leaving without us. With quick goodbye hugs and hopes of returning soon for longer we were off. We have both become attached to this place and with the low cost of living it makes me wonder why anyone wouldn’t come back! Even if you had kids it would be a great, safe, low cost vacation. (No Grandma I’m not pregnant! It was just a thought I had.)

We’re now in Koh Sumui waiting for our flight to Bangkok where we’ll spend two days before heading to Ireland to see Glenn and meet up with Eric’s cousin Sharaya for a couple days. We are both feeling moderately excited about the fact we’ll be able to go outside for more than ten minutes without sweating. Although, it should be said that sweating this much does wonders for your complexion!

Been a while...

I actually don’t remember what day I posted last...that’s a good sign I’ve officially gotten into the travelling mind frame.

Here’s a quick run down of what we’ve done since then:

- Celebrated Thanksgiving by calling our families and eating fried chicken, spring rolls and rice noodle soup. Not exactly a Canadian Thanksgiving but ....

- Hung around the bungalow for a day and went and got massages. Eric ended up with a guy giving him the massage which might have been not horrible except, he had bigger calluses than Eric usually has. NASTY!

- Eric went snorkelling with Terry and Nhan. Nhan doesn’t like fish or sea cucumbers, apparently it was pretty funny.

- I got a pedicure and a facial, I think I had a better day but Eric would argue otherwise.

- Had dinner at Noot’s again with a French couple and surprisingly I understood more French than I thought. I let Nhan order for us and I didn’t die, I even had Som Tom (Papaya Salad) again!

- Eric told me it’s hard to listen to me talk because I talk in broken English when we’re around other people so they can understand what I’m saying. I think this means Eric can’t understand what I’m saying...but this really isn’t any different than normal!

- Went to a restaurant run by an Italian and had the very best Fettuccini Carbonara I’ve ever had and some Argentinean steaks that rival anything you can get at home. Spectacular!!!!

- Survived the Full Moon party. It’s basically 25,000 people on a beach with pounding music and a great deal of debauchery. Thankfully for my Grandma and Mom, I’m an old lady apparently and we were home relatively early.

- Listened to the Flames FINALLLLLLLY win a game against Colorado. It was really good to hear Peter Mahr say “and you can put it in the Win column!” We listened to the game inside for the most part so that we didn’t have to compete with the rustling leaf noise from the Coconut trees.

- Realized that we will no longer have ANY friends when we get home because they are all reading this and thinking ‘Coconut trees rustling, are you kidding me? What spoiled rotten dorks they are!’

- Went to the beach today and got a little sun burned, not bad, just toasty! Oh well, with base tan I’m sure it will be golden in days!

- Again with the no friends thing.

- Hung out with our Austrian friends (Christophe and Yvonne) and played with the puppies and other dogs. I’m still not allowed to take one home. Still Lame! Eric is starting to fall in love though.

- Talked about going fishing tomorrow, not really counting on it though.

- We’ve been watching the weather at home and chuckling about the fact that it’s currently 930am in Calgary and still 0 C. In the back of our minds we’re silently dreading coming home and freezing our butts off. Someone suggested we go to South America next instead of coming home, kind of seems like a good idea. Don’t worry, we miss our dog too much to do that...oh and all of our non-friends too!

I looked like a cartoon character!

Yesterday afternoon Nhan and I did a little shopping (nothing for you Andrea, sorry) while Eric and Terry worked on a boat. The guy who owns it doesn’t have a clue and would barely know how to start it if you asked him. When they opened the engine room door it was at least 50C and by the time they were done getting the engines started both of them were literally soaked in sweat and covered in dirt. Of course this meant it was high time to head to the pool and after a quick $1 lunch we headed back to the bungalow.

For dinner we headed back to Noot’s restaurant the Spicy Spoon for dinner. We ordered a whole bunch of stuff and Nhan ordered a Thai favourite, Papaya Salad. Now, I knew this was spicy stuff but I didn’t know that Nhan ordered the dish extra spicy. I’ve been slowly weaning myself onto spicier food while we’ve been here and I can handle a lot more than I used to, but it’s still not that much. I took a large fork full and shoved it all in my mouth. And then it started, first my head thought, “Oh My God I’m in deep crap now!” Then I said “Holy SHIT!” (Sorry Grandma, I panicked!) Then my mouth started to burn like NEVER before. Then I grabbed for the coldest thing near me (other than the salad) and chugged half a beer (Grandma, maybe you shouldn’t read this post.). That helped, while I was drinking it! At this point Eric looked at me and a look of panic struck his face, I knew this meant I was in real trouble. As the sweat began to pour from places I didn’t even know I had sweat glands and slowly the drops rolled down my face I looked around to see everyone looking back at me laughing. Eric told me later that I literally looked like a cartoon character and the look of panic was him seeing the bright red color rising on my face like a temperature gauge while my ears seemed to spew steam. All in all, I did survive the experience and the salad was really good, but, I don’t think I’ll try it again for a little while and when I do, it will be smalllllllll bites. Oh, and I wasn’t just being a wuss, Nhan even said it was hot for her and Eric had to eat it in small bites too.

This morning we listened to the Flame’s Home Opener during breakfast and were really excited after the first period...too bad they fell apart again after that. We better get home soon to straighten them out! Maybe I’ll give Mike a call tonight to give him some tips. The most annoying part of the game was the ocean breeze rustling the palm trees making it hard to hear!

Later we met the couple in the bungalow next to us for dinner. They are from Austria and have fallen in love with ‘my’ puppy too. At least they are allowed to buy dog food for it, me, not so much. Eric’s a hard-ass!

10 feet from the water at high tide, hmmm, can’t do this in Calgary!

Eric and I tried to go to bed early on Wednesday night because we had to get up at 0345 in order to catch our flight. Unfortunately we stayed up watching a movie until 2300 and then neither of us could fall asleep. I think our body clocks were rebelling again, they seem to do that a lot lately. But at 0345 the alarm went off and away we went to hustle our butts downstairs to meet Charlie (Terry’s friend and taxi driver) and then over to the apartment to get Terry and Nhan. We were at the airport by 0450 for our 0600 flight and even had enough time to partake of the free breakfast provided in the airline’s lounge. We purposely took the early flight because it’s half price and means you have the whole day to enjoy and explore.

Our flight to Koh Sumui was short and sweet and we reached the island in about 50 minutes. From there we hopped on the ferry for a 30 minute boat ride to Koh Phangan. As we jumped off the boat Terry was immediately bombarded by more friends who were happy to see him but wanted to know why he hadn’t called yet! I started to get the feeling that he knows almost everyone here. One of the friends loaded us in the back of her truck and off we went to find a bungalow for Eric and I. Terry knew of a place his friend had stayed at before and we headed to Woktum Bay Resort. After a little negotiation we had a bungalow for about $24 per night.
The bungalow is up on stilts and about ten feet from the ocean at high tide. We have a great little veranda out front to watch the world from and it’s quiet and relatively remote as there are only about ten of them at this resort. There is a restaurant serving Thai and some Western fair and most importantly a pool to cool off in after your time in the sun. Generally I think it’s paradise!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and learning how to drive the scooter that we’ve rented to get around town. Eric is fast becoming a pro and I am slowly learning to fear riding on the back a little less. I didn’t think I had issues with bikes after my dad’s experience with them but it turns out they kind of freak me out a little. One more learning experience.

On Friday we woke up at 0830 and ran to the store for some more cell airtime minutes in order to be back in time to catch the Season Opener for the Calgary Flames on the Fan 960. We spent three plus hours sitting on our veranda, watching the ocean, eating breakfast and listening to Peter Mahr give play by play of the Flames DISMAL loss to the Canucks. It was a great and surreal experience for the first period as the Flames were playing well and the day was not hot yet. However, when the Flames went down 0 – 3 early in the second it made me happy I hadn’t had to wake up early to listen. It was a disappointing start to the season but with any luck by Saturday night Calgary time I’ll be listening to them kick some BC butt.

After the game we met up with Terry and Nhan again and headed out for some touring of the island. We saw some beaches, had great homemade ice cream (the pumpkin wasn’t bad), and went to Noot’s Diner (no idea how to spell Noot, but it sounds like hoot) for THE BEST pork ribs we’ve had in a long long long time. I don’t know what she did to them but mannnnnn were they ever good. We also met her son whose name is Boy. I don’t think I’ll name any of my kids that but it really seems kind of brilliant. Eric wants to know what happens when he out grows his name. Boy has a cousin named World.

For dinner we went to a Korean BBQ and stuffed ourselves with as much soup, noodles, veg and all kinds of meat as we could manage. The total cost per person was $3.80. Nhan showed us how to use the cooking fire and plate to make a soup in the bottom while BBQ’ing your meat on the top. I think it’s one of the smartest ways to cook I’ve ever seen and it’s super healthy with no added fats or sauces (except a little hot pepper). Eric and I are already refining our plans for an outdoor Korean BBQ to work off of my parents propane three burner or something similar. I am most definitely doing more of this at home.

I have slowly realized over the last few days that Thanksgiving is fast approaching and we have no plans for it. It`s a very odd sensation. I don`t know what I`ll do without some turkey, potatoes, corn, stuffing and loads of gravy. And to miss out on a family event like that is pretty lame. On the other hand, in the spirit of giving thanks...what the hell am I complaining about!!!!!!!

Bangkok is ... interesting...

After a long sleep and a restful morning we met up with Terry and Nhan (I’m betting that’s more likely how she spells it) for some sightseeing. We headed to a temple for a few pictures and I must admit that despite my supreme dislike for gold and the Thai affinity for it, the temple was pretty amazing. Even more amazing was the commercial feel to the place with vendors all around the building while inside an older monk was teaching about 30 younger ones. His voice was broadcast over loudspeakers outside and it made it feel almost like the Dubai airport all over again. I’m sure the fact I couldn’t understand anything didn’t help matters. Either way, it was a really neat experience and I’m glad we went. I’m also glad I’m not a monk because it takes a special person to wear that much orange and still look good!

Next we headed to another part of Bangkok to see ‘The Largest Crocodile Farm in the World’ (Aaron and Noah eat your hearts out!!!). The trip there was kind of breath-taking in a way because I had no idea that Bangkok was soooooo big. Most of the other cities we’ve been in really don’t seem all that much bigger than Calgary in area (way bigger in people terms) but Bangkok is monstrous as far as I can tell! The sky scrapers, billboards, neon lights and three storey freeways just go on for miles and miles as far around as you can see.

In Canada I work with Humane Societies across the country and in general I’ve always had a softer heart for animals than for people as both my parents and Eric will attest to. I’m learning to adjust my expectations here. I simply can’t hold the people here to the same standards because it wouldn’t be fair. Before we left for Tanzania Eric and I were watching Departures (on OLN, catch it if you can it’s pretty neat) and Justin and Scott were in Malaysia and being treated to a village feast. However in order to have a feast you have to have a dead animal and the ceremony and manner in which they killed the cow was by our standards grotesque. Anyways, Scott said something really eloquent about not holding people to the same expectations as we would in Canada because it’s a different culture and what we do would look equally grotesque for many other reasons. Eric had to remind me of that today and now I’m pointing it out for your benefit.

We arrived at the Crocodile Farm just in time to catch a show touted as ‘man vs. man-eater’.
We found the stadium and took our seats and waited for things to begin. The first sights were enough to make me question even being there, a group of about 20 crocs were housed in a hockey rink shaped pool about 50 feet wide and 70 feet long. The water was no more than two feet deep and in there was a dry concrete divider through the middle where the show took place. The Star-wars music started and out came two guys who proceeded to grab bamboo sticks and antagonize the crocs into snapping at them by repeatedly poking, kicking and tapping them on the heads. It was really bizarre. Then they pulled some crocs up on to the concrete area and started getting the crocs to hold their mouths open while they stuck parts of their bodies inside trying not to get snapped. I do think the crocs were trained and the men were in no danger of losing a thumb or head but the poking and prodding at the beginning had already jaded my view point and the whole thing was more than a little much for me. I desperately cheered, in my head, for one of the crocs to finally get sick of this crap and clamp down for a death roll with someone’s head in his mouth.

After the show we wandered around for a while and checked out the other ‘attractions’ of the zoo. There were numerous animals all kept in cramped concrete kingdoms that make the Calgary Zoo look like the Serengeti. After the time we spent in Africa and seeing so many of them in the wild it was truly heart breaking. The final straw for me was the Leopard chained and waiting for folks to come get their picture taken with him. Eric’s was seeing a full grown elephant forced to walk a tight wire. After our fleeting glimpse on Mt. Meru seeing this leopard and a baby in a cage fit for a rabbit nearly brought me to tears.

Now that I’ve totally ruined your reading experience might I remind you again that we have no right to judge this. In our world we put our feet on coffee tables and point them to the front of our holy buildings and crosses with dirty shoes on which we get in trouble for not wearing if we try to be respectful, and to top it all off we sit on the same toilet seat as everyone before us. Thai people find each of these much more disgusting than any chained animal. My point being, tolerance and readjusting expectations has become a motto for Eric and I and I hope it does for you too.

Terry ROCKS!!!

Sorry I was overcome there for a second. Terry is the guy we go fishing with in Prince Rupert most summers and it was really wonderful to have the fortune of meeting up with him. We called him when we arrived at the hotel and soon after dinner while I was writing the last blog he and his girlfriend showed up at our door. We chatted for a bit and headed down to a sort of Irish Pub/Sports Bar for a couple drinks. On the way Terry told of the bombs ect that have been going off around town for the last two days and the tear gas ect that the police are starting to use and the possibility of Marshall Law. I know all you mom’s in the crowd are immediately thinking we should be headed back to the airport and on the next flight home but please let me assure you we are in NO DANGER!!! These things are happening down by the government house and nowhere near us, in fact the chances of a Thai person ruining their tourist income by bringing that here are lower than the chances of me not showering for 3 days. In other words, IT WON’T HAPPEN. Had Terry not told us, I don’t think we would have even known.

We’ve made a plan to do a whirl-wind tour of Bangkok with Terry tomorrow and also to get some pedicures ect, you know a little spoiling really is in order after all our hard work traveling! After that we’re hoping to head down to Ko Pha-Ngan on Thursday morning with Terry and Naan (I hope that’s how she spells it). We’ll spend a week there vegging and then maybe head to Chiang Mai before back to Bangkok. Everything is up in the air, kind of.

Anyways, be rest assured we are safe and well looked after.

PS – We totally get ripped off for cell rates in Canada!!

Travel Day(s)!

The Dar airport is kind of like, well, the Kelowna airport, but a littttttttlllllle bit bigger. For any of you whom have ever been to the Kelowna airport you’ll understand that this makes Dar’s airport moderately bigger than the cardboard box a refrigerator is delivered in. Ok, I’m being a little harsh. It was clean, safe(ish), well stocked with trinkets and there were even a few stationary air conditioners which made the sweltering day down right cold. When we got there we picked out two seats directly in front of the air conditioners to thwart any critical sweat overload, in doing so we found out that we must now be at least partially African because within minutes we were gritting our teeth and almost shivering. The worst part is we had been complaining about the heat for so long that we really couldn’t bring ourselves to move out of the line of fire. We were finally back in the ice ages!!

Our flight to Dubai was rather uneventful and neither of us slept because it was only 1700hrs when we left and only a five hour flight. We found ourselves feeling spoiled at only having to sit for that long. Given the flights we’ve been taking lately this was truly easy. We even felt bad for the stewardess’ having to get done everything in such a short amount of time.
You know you’re getting close to Dubai because there are neon lights flashing in the windows of the plane. The place is lit like a Christmas tree year round and all through the night. It really is the mid-east version of Las Vegas. The airport is even more astounding, when you fist walk in you would swear you were at Chinook mall, teeny-boppers and all. The AC is the same, the fake (realish) plants are the same, the stores look the same, the wads of cash look the same and, most importantly, the Starbucks and McDonalds are the same. There are throngs of people everywhere and since it’s a hub for Asia there are even more throngs of people sleeping on any spare piece of floor they can find, provided of course that they aren’t entirely likely to get run over. More interestingly, despite numerous No Smoking signs and Smoking Rooms, you still find people sitting outside the Smoking Room door puffing away. It gives the whole place a strong coffee/cigar smell. (My mom would love it...Just kidding.)

We walked the length of it first to see what we could find. Besides the normal McD’s, Starbucks and Duty Free Shops there were also Men Only and Women Only Mosques, loads of camel trinkets and an Irish Pub which looks remarkably similar to a pub Eric would build. They also have a LOT of gates, we know of 110, 50 of which we walked through (four times) but there is still a whole wing for Emirates Air being built which in our estimation will hold at the very least another 60 of them. This is a VERY BIG AIRPORT. After our quick perusal we headed to McD’s for a bite and kept walking until our flight boarded. It’s nice not to have to be at the gate at the right time. Here everything moves at it’s own pace, with in reason.

The flight to Bangkok was another 5ish hours and quite easy despite the fact Eric and I were sitting across the isle from each other. We both slept for about two hours but Eric had the unfortunate fortune of sitting beside three Lebanese guys who got on SUPER late and proceded to complain about their seats, delay the flight, crawl over Eric and one of them even slept on top of him for a short while. They were a joy.

The Bangkok airport is similar to Dubai in the sense that is it very modern. From the inside I would forgive you for thinking you were at LHR Terminal 4, that is of course if you couldn’t see all the GIANT Thai statues of guys dressed in old school fighting gear. It’s really pretty cool. After customs and grabbing our luggage we headed to the Federal Hotel in Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit is the more luxury western area of Bangkok were a great number of expats hang out. Our room is good and the first thing we did was hit the pool to cool down from the sweltering humidity.

Off to meet a friend from Prince Rupert....

Well it took a couple of tries.

Tej, Isiaiah, Noah and I wanted to get out fishing on the Indian Ocean. There was several tries to get out on the water; all of which were options that fell through. We contacted a guide/owner of a group of boats and he said that due to the short notice there was nothing he could do. The funny part of meeting this guide was that he also owned an Irish pub here in Tanzania (called “The Irish Pub” apparently there is only one). I felt right at home due to the fact that I am in the business of building Irish pubs, and yes it was surprisingly similar to the ones back home. So it came back to counting on the locals to find us an option. After a couple of calls by Marg and Tej there was a possibility of getting out on Sunday morning. By Saturday night we were going to be getting a call on Sunday morning letting us know if this option was going to work. So sure enough at 0800 we got the call from Tej’s friend and we had a boat and guides for the day; at a very reasonable price of $500.00 US. We were off to Slipway Marina to meet up and get out there on the water. All was going great, we arrived hopped in little skiff and made our way out to the boat. It was a beautiful forty five’ish foot sail boat. Not the best to fish off of, but it was out on the water and I must say that the teak wood work on the boat was nice to see.

It was only a couple of minutes out of the harbour when we realized that there was only one fishing rod. Maybe the guides thought that they were the only ones that were going to fish! After a painfully long and annoying conversation we turned around called the day off and made our way back to port. As we had just turned around Tej received a phone call from his friend and he tried to communicate better (he knew Swahili) with the guide. After another painful conversation we realized that they were planning on getting two more rods from another boat out on the water. So what do you say we turn around, again and try this one more time?

Rods in hand we were off towards the middle of the ocean. About one hour in we were starting to wonder when we were going to be fishing. So Tej asked and they said “now, why not, we have been waiting an hour.” Thanks for letting us know!!! No fish and four hours of trolling later we asked if we could do some bottom fishing and they said sure. We made our way to a shallower sand bar tried our luck. Did I mention that there was only three rods total? Oh ya and they were old and waaaayyyy to big for this type of fishing. So their option was to just grab a spool of lighter line and do a little hand jigging! After watching them setup their own rigs I setup rigs for us and we were now fishing.

The best part of doing the bottom fishing was that we had the boat to ourselves. No guides, no other people making noise, no music, no guides??! Yes I am serious, they went down in the cabin and had a sleep for a couple hours!! So I eventually said to Tej “let’s call it a day.” We started to make our way back to the marina and one of the guides asked me to take the wheel. So I did, I like boats and have driven them before so it was no big deal. The one thing that was a little weird was that after they had set the front sail they stayed up front and had another nap! I have never driven/sailed a sailboat before so it was a little bit of a learning curve for me. Back at dock safe and sound (they took over the driving for the last part) we owed them the other three hundred, which we withheld before. Needless to say we were not impressed with the overall day. With the most painful and annoying conversation of the day done and behind us we gave them two hundred more and that was it!!

I know that you may say that we should have given them the full amount and just not tipped them, but let me say this “ would you pay full price for a limousine with three tires that you would have to drive yourself?”

I did have great time out seeing the islands off of the coast and seeing the colors on the five small fish we did get. It was great see the beautiful blue/green waters in this hot tropical climate. It was just a little hard to focus in it in this shadow of the other down falls of the day!
Hoping that our next big travel goes better (and I don’t have to drive)we are off to Thailand through Dubai tonight. Two weeks of hot sun, and sand and cool rainforests and water here we come. Eric.

Trusting others can cause mixed feelings

The day’s mission was to make our way up North to a small town called Kaole. We(Tej, India, Noah, Lisa and myself) did make it there, but somehow when we navigated our way North from Dar we got a little mixed up. We ended our drive five kilometres North of Kaole, yes I know we were coming from the South! So we were now in Bagamoyo, but why waste the drive? We found a beach and went out to enjoy. The tide was down and there was a very flat sandy area that we walked out on toward the ocean for about a kilometre. It was great, there was crabs, fish and all the other little goodies that one would expect to see. When we left the car to go down to the ocean there was a very nice man that offered to sell us all sorts of seafood. Thinking that might not be a bad idea for supper I told him we would talk after being out of the water. Well sure enough he was by the car waiting for us 45 minutes later. We talked and worked out a price (25 jumbo Prawns for 5000 shillings, about $4.50) and I was off for a walk with him to go and see them and do the pickup. After we made it the 5 minute walk to his brother’s house, we found out that he was sold out for the day. So plan B, we started to make our way to his friends house to get some from him. About another 5 minutes in and I was starting to wonder just how far away “My friends house is not too far” really was. So after a little language barrier problem I figured out that he wanted to take bikes to this house and pickup the prawns. Well I was not ready to jump on a bike and follow a local into the village for 15 minutes with only a little money and nothing else. So plan C, I told him to take the bike and go to the house and get them and I would meet him back at the beach. So I gave him the 5000 shillings and he was off. I turned and made my way back to the beach and wondered if I had made a mistake. After meeting up with the others at the beach we waited for the seafood king! Twenty minutes later and we called it off. I truly don’t think that he tried to rip me off and I really don’t care if he did. The only thing that I hope did happen with the money was that it was used for him or his family for food or whatever else they need.

So back to the mission of the day, we made our way South out of Bagamoyo and after a little help from the locals and a couple of kilometres on rough roads we were there. Kaole is a small town that was founded in the 13th century. It was an ocean front town that was driven by the Slave trade and then was left to go north to Bagamoyo due to the better shipping docks. The main attraction we were drawn to was the ruins that were of a Mosque, some local’s houses, and a cemetery. These tombs that were in the cemetery were very different in the sense that they had vertical columns that indicated the importance of the individual inside. The higher the column the more important the person was. The construction of these buildings was out of hard corals (full size and shape), shell fish that had been crushed to form cement and water. Needless to say this did not seem like the most ergonomically friendly building process. The neat part of the ruins that we visited was that it had been taken over by Mangrove trees on the ocean side. These trees tell us that there must have been a great wave or other natural change. There is no reason that these people would have made the town in a location that was at risk of being overrun by natural causes.

So home ward bound, to our prawnless dinner. After a cooling shower it was time for a burger dinner, off to rest my full belly, goodnight. Eric.

The last few days...

Since our anniversary we spent some more time with Tim and Diane and lots more time looking at animals and taking pictures. We really enjoyed our time at Acacia and I really hope we’re back there soon. In the mean time please say a prayer or two for Tim and Diane as they are FULLLLLLLY overbooked for November and will need all the God help they can get to keep things running smoothly.

When we arrived back in Arusha we had set up to go for a couple tours and the first one was to Arusha National Park. I think it was a little more fly by the seat of your pants than we were expecting from the tour operator but it really was a great day. We started with a game drive through the park and saw all kinds of animals we hadn’t seen in Acacia like Flamingos, Water Buffalo , Hawks and many types of Ducks. For some reason I never pictured ducks in Africa. When I think of African birds, ducks just don’t come to mind!

After the drive we met up with a park ranger who was to take us on a walk around the park. When we booked this I figured we’d go down a couple trails and see a few things and that would be it...that’s not exactly what happened. Arusha National Park also includes Mt. Meru. This is the mountain that people often climb as a training course for Kilimanjaro. After taking us through a great meadow with all kinds of animals we started heading uphill. Now anyone who’s hiked with me knows I like hiking but NOT REALLY uphill. If I could drive to the top and hike down I would hike EVERY mountain. Two hours later we had climbed about a third of the mountain. I had a chest infection and I’ll be the first to admit I’m not in shape so on the way up I seriously thought it entirely likely that I was going to pass out and poor Eric was going to have to find a way of getting me down. I could hardly see straight, my heart was pounding faster than ever and I felt like I couldn’t get any oxygen into my lungs no matter how hard I breathed. It was pretty much hell and other than the fact I was constantly praying I really don’t know how my legs and lungs kept working. It was only by God’s grace!

HOWEVER, when we did FINALLLLLLY start going downhill and I was able to breathe again it did feel awfully wonderful and what happened next made it all worth it. We had been heading down hill for about twenty minutes when we started to hear a BushBuck barking just below us. We were following a raggedy road they use to restock the lodge part way up the mountain and suddenly a Leopard jumped out of the bush in front of us about 60 feet down the road. A LEOPARD!!!!!! At this juncture it’s important for you to understand two things: A, Leopards are VERY shy and are almost NEVER seen by locals let alone tourists. B, We were perfectly safe and the ranger had a gun if we needed it (moms that was for you). The Leopard was facing downhill and didn’t see us so Eric quickly tried to grab the camera out of the bag I was carrying, unfortunately this meant he had to hand his water bottle to me. (This is the part where you say “oh Lisa” in anticipation of me screwing up.) I was so enthralled in the Leopard that I literally didn’t take my eyes off him and when Eric handed me the bottle I dropped it. This of course made a noise, and that of course scared off the Leopard. It turned around and took one look at us with its massive head and took off down the road and rounded the bend. I felt horrible that I had ruined the moment but at the same time I was still speechless at the sight of this massive, gorgeous animal. I can still see it in my head, it’s maybe a better picture than we would have gotten with the camera! It takes my breath away, BUT IN A GOOD WAY!

After our fun on the mountain we did another drive and headed back to town where we met two Canadian girls who work in Quatar. It was wonderful to spend some time talking about home and everything we love about Canada.

The next day we took another small tour through a village east of Arusha which was interesting if only because we were followed constantly by small children saying either “Good Morning” or “How are you?” Apparently those are the first two phrases they are taught in English. From there we spent the afternoon relaxing and getting ready for the ride to Dar the next morning.
We’re now in Dar and we thought you might like to know the speed bumps and horns are just as prevalent when you go the opposite way! We don’t have any concrete plans for the next couple days but there are some things we’ve read about that we may try to find and Eric and Tej are searching for fishing options as we speak. Oh, oh, oh, and Eric got to drive (on the left side)...and he did well!

Our Anniversary

We spent the day with Tim and Diane. The night before Laura Card had been in an accident with a Matatu and needed to go get all the police and insurance stuff figured out so we dropped Diane off to meet her and headed out to run errands with Tim. Tim didn’t have many errands so in short order we found ourselves wondering what to do. It turns out that over the last couple days Kaleb (Tim and Diane’s son) had been feeling a little homesick and Tim had been contemplating a quick trip out to Rift Valley Academy to cheer him up and since we had multitudes of time on our hands and a Jamie Oliver Cookbook to deliver to Kaleb this was the perfect time.

The drive out was actually quite fast and Eric and I got our first taste of Kenyan Police when Tim got pulled over in a routine stop. We have learned a valuable lesson, know the law better than the police do and they will let you go very quickly. Tim’s pretty good at Kenyan law.
The road to the Rift Valley is more tropical and almost a rainforest compared to the other parts of Kenya we had seen and it was a delight to see all the trees, vegetation and farms. You can grow nearly every fruit and vegetable from Canada there and we saw huge piles of Rhubarb hanging on the sides of stalls. I almost wanted to get some until Tim started referring to it as Diesel Rhubarb because of the number of trucks that pass by.

RVA is huge and basically awesome! If I had to go to a boarding school I would have chosen RVA. They have two Rugby fields, a huge brand new cafeteria, dorm houses, an outdoor gym, and what seems to be a stellar music program as well as everything else you would normally find in a North American high school. All of it is set into the side of a mountain amongst a forest. The school is made up of mostly North American and Korean kids but they have over twenty nationalities represented.

Kaleb was surprised to see his dad and even more surprised to see us. He kept trying to understand that we had gone all the way home and back again, we understood it seemed a little weird, it does to us too. We were able to give him the Jamie Oliver cookbook I had picked up and he seemed excited about it. Apparently he cooks for kids in his dorm all the time so hopefully this will give him even more ideas. We also promised to send any recipes we pick up in Thailand as his favourites are Asian foods. He’s a kid after my own heart! He even goes to some Korean classes with his friends just for the food, sooooo smart!

After a short tour and many offers to Tim to come back and teach we headed back to Nairobi for lunch at an Indian place with Diane. And then home to Acacia for some relaxation, Cribbage and quiet. Not very exciting I know but I thought it was a great way to celebrate. As Andrea pointed out, who would have thought when we got married that we would spend our second anniversary in Kenya!

Home Sweet Home (in Kenya)

This could take a few days; or should I say this is a few of our days. Acacia Swara is a 23,000 acre wildlife reserve and this where we are calling home. To our enjoyment when our driver came to pick us up from Mayfair it was Michael; a driver from the trip that we took with our team a month ago. This was not a huge surprise because we had requested him, but the one problem that could have come up was a communication failure. It was all good and after a dusty drive we were here safe and ready to take some pictures and just simply watch the beautiful animals. Meeting up with Tim and Diane Bannister was great. Seeing these people that made our stay here so comfortable was definitely a highlight of the day.

On Sunday we went to Church in Machakos with Diane and then made our way up to Mitiboni to see the water tanks that we were helping with on that first trip a month ago. I should just mention for the Kenya Team we stopped off at the T Tot Hotel and Diner to enjoy a couple Samosas and Mandazies. It was great to see the progress that the community has made on the tanks. When we left a month ago the upper treating tank was about 75 percent done and the lower holding tank was just about to start the foundation. Well I would say that they really are doing it as a community because both tanks were totally done, painted and all and the main pipe to fill them was buried and awaiting the pump (within the next week). Then all they will be needing is that darn rain!!!

One of the high lights to the day on Sunday didn’t come until just as it was getting dark. About ten minutes before the night fell a herd of Zebras came through the camp and thought that they would be needing a drink from the watering hole. The watering hole that was just 120 feet away from where we were sitting. Well just by chance we were waiting and ready for them. Okay not by chance because the night before the watering hole had some visitors to it around sunset as well. So we were ready, cameras in hand waiting for an hour and a half to see just what was going to be rolling on through. We had almost called it a night in the waiting department when Lisa saw a momma and baby coming in to drink. It was very cool to see because Zebras are amazingly skittish. About one minute or less after the first two came through there was close to twenty of them getting a drink. Ten minutes later and it was all over, they had left and it was dark; a very cool way to end any day.

Eric ? Lisa ? It was a good night, we lost count.

Anticipation of quiet

Well we did get to the Java House and all the other places we needed to. The coffee was as good as before and I found a new drink to calm my coughing. All in all it was a productive day.

Though it was productive it was still a day in the city and there have been way too many of those lately. Both Eric and I are very ready for the peace and quiet of Acacia Camp. I think that in Calgary we often overlook the fact that wilderness is just moments away. In Africa those who don’t live in the country are not likely to visit the ‘wild’ very often and the thought of peace and quiet is I’m sure foreign. If nothing more this trip has absolutely solidified the fact that we value God’s natural wonders and more than that we value being there without other people. Not that we don’t love you all, but you’re noisy!

I can’t wait for Monday when we can spend the day exploring, finding animals and just basically enjoying God’s beauty. Of course, with my luck some loud bird or monkey will follow me around for the whole day and I’ll end up plotting it’s death (in the most humane way possible of course).

Tomorrow morning we’ll leave here for Acacia and we don’t expect to have internet access again until the 24th at the earliest so please don’t be concerned if you don’t hear from us. We’ll keep blogging and upload them all when we get back into Arusha.

Answer: Fastest Nairobi Tour EVER!!!

Question:

What happens when you add:

+ Two Mazungu talk/scam their way into getting the ride to the guest house they were promised

+ Shuttle driver is told the wrong place to go from supervisor

+ Rush hour traffic

+ Nairobi driving

+ Gas tank on empty

+ End of a long, long day

We left Arusha on Thursday morning on a bus that was much more like the traditional DallaDalla’s that you see traveling around the country. I don’t think either of us really knew what to expect on the ride and at the start it wasn’t very promising. We were sitting in the back row with no windows of our own to open and traveling on a very bumpy and slow road. With 32 people crammed in to a small space it soon started to heat up. Needless to say by the time we reached the outskirts of Arusha I was ready to pull a Paul!! (For anyone not on the Kenya team who doesn’t know what this means please talk to them.) Thankfully the man in front of me had moved over a seat and now only had his briefcase sitting in the window seat and I was able to trade with the briefcase. I spent much of the next hour praying and breathing in as much fresh air as I could.

The rest of the ride really wasn’t bad at all and we met some nice people and had great chats. I had to explain to the man who’s briefcase I’d traded with about ice fishing in t-shirts in the spring and I think he basically got the impression that Canada is a bunch of freaks who wear no clothes in the cold and sit on ice to fish, not my best work. Eric was sitting beside another Eric and a lady from Oregon and talked to both of them about their travels and the UN Visa Eric was in the process of getting so he could attend school in the UK.

The roads in Tanzania were a delight as they were basically all paved outside Arusha with very few holes but two goats who nearly made the ultimate sacrifice. The roads in Kenya were an entirely different case, dusty, full of holes and almost non-existent are the nice things we could say about them. This was expected by Eric and I given our previous experience here and there was some progress seen in the amount of new tarmac that’s being laid in several places, unfortunately none of it is ready.

We arrived in Nairobi just in time for the start of rush hour and true to form the last hour of our bus ride was spent in screech and floor-it traffic, that’s Kenyan for stop and go. When we did finally get to the stop we told the manager that we had been promised a shuttle to our guest house and he got frustrated because Mayfield is not in the City Center and their shuttle is for the City Center only. Now in truth they did tell us all this in Arusha but we assumed that Mayfield was City Center and the guy in Arusha (who didn’t have a clue) agreed with us. We eventually did get a shuttle that we didn’t have to pay for but the manager told him to take us to the Mennonite House and when we finally got there we had to tell the driver it was wrong and he begrudgingly started towards Mayfield. He was more than a little grumpy at this point and traffic was pretty snarly and this made for some of the most ‘interesting’ driving we’ve seen to date. We did make it through unscathed and the van even had working seatbelts so we were never in any real danger. I was more worried about the people on the sides of the roads.

Mayfield was a very welcome site when we finally arrived and we had no hassles getting our room and all the rest sorted. By this point it was about 1630 and Eric hadn’t eaten a meal since 0730. As you can imagine this meant he was more than a little peckish. We both collapsed on the bed and reminisced about our day while chowing-down on the snack food we had. While eating we began to notice the different shades of dirt that our skin, hair and clothing had taken on and decided it was time for a long, hot shower with a great deal of soap. Clean and relaxed it was a waiting game until dinner and we spent the time checking emails and chatting with my daddy.

On Friday we’ll head out to the Java House, bank, grocery and a couple other shops to stock up before heading to Acacia camp on Saturday morning.

Fly-catchers Galore!!!

After a good night’s sleep and partial recovery from our bus ride both Eric and I woke up feeling sick, tired and otherwise out of it. My cold and his flu/cold had pretty much thrown us both for a loop. However, this didn’t change the fact that when we didn’t find real coffee at breakfast there was a dire need to search it out. At Aunt Marg’s we had bought grounds and used a campfire method to make coffee every morning which Aunt Marg thoroughly enjoyed. No longer having a stove and grounds of our own we had to resort to walking the streets in search of a coffee shop. As we set out we had no real idea of where we might find this but at the corner a man named Nelson started talking to us and soon offered to show us to the nearest shop. This was a little questionable because in Arusha EVERYONE wants to sell you something or be your friend and so we weren’t sure of his intentions but it turned out he was a very nice man who gave us some other great tips and when asked said we could pay him whatever we liked for the service. Nelson eventually led us to The Patisserie, a great little bakery and coffee shop which is highly over priced in local standards but still cheap in ours. The coffee was hot, tasty and served with care.

We spent a few hours after coffee searching out the local museum, where Eric accidentally broke the law by taking pictures without paying. Thankfully we got the pictures we wanted before someone noticed and told us we had to pay. We then found the UN building where they are currently holding the tribunals for the Genocide in Rwanda. If we had more time here (and I wasn’t sick) I would most definitely love to go watch some of the trails which anyone can do. After this we followed some UN workers to a cafe in behind the museum and had pretty darn good lunch.

This morning we took a taxi to find a ticket to Nairobi on the bus and then again went for coffee. We walked back from the coffee shop and in doing so you have to go through the Clock Tower Round-About. This is where the fly-catchers congregate in hopes of catching you. They wait silently, sizing you up to see what approach will work and then they pounce, “Jambo, How are you? I have beautiful things, no? Are you looking for a taxi? Hapana Asante? Why no thank-you?” With their hopes dashed they scurry back to ‘their spot’ and the next one crouches in anticipation of the pounce. It’s an interesting game and you find yourself wondering how best to look completely unapproachable. Thankfully I have become moderately adept at the ‘been-traveling-too-long-to-fall-for-your-crap’ stare and it seems as if daily our quotient is much reduced.

We are both feeling much better but really aren’t that motivated as yet. I’m honestly ok with that as it’s kind of fun to do nothing. In the interests of not wasting all our travelling time in Africa we have made some plans to spend two days here on the way back from Nairobi. This will also allow us to break up the mind-numbing bus hours. While here, we’ll spend some time on a walking safari and a culture tour. The doorman here is Daniel and he’s been exceptional at finding us great people to make plans and help us out.

Tomorrow we go to Nairobi and stay at the Mayfield guest house which we were in with the Kenya team. We’re going a day earlier than expected but will be glad to see a familiar place. We’ll also get to see a bit more of Nairobi and hopefully Michael our driver. We’ve learned to value his adept skills of the road even more after seeing some of the alternatives. Luckily driving in Tanzania for the most part is actually quite tame compared to Kenya. On the drive here it was interesting to see the driving styles/roads change the closer we got to Kenya. I expect tomorrow we’ll see even more of this.

Tonight we’re off to a local ex-pat haunt for Greek food. EXCITING!!!!!

Things we didn’t expect to hear: A chain saw running all day for two days off in the distance.

Things we didn’t expect to see: An older Muslim man driving a VW Hippie Van adorned with large colourful flowers through the streets of Arusha.

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For every Horn there is a Speed Bump.

Well here we are in Arusha. We did make it and we do have internet, slow but it is here. The drive was well, interesting. We started out leaving Dar at 0830 and made our way North West to our sleeping grounds, ten hours after we started out. I never realized how much I like a drive with no music and no noise until today. It seemed to me that every time we came in to any small town (every ten minutes) there was a speed bump set out for us as a red carpet. The biggest difference with the driving that I noticed today was that when they pass somebody they don’t wait for an open space they just pull out and give a couple honks with the horn to tell the oncoming to get the h#ll out of the way. After we arrived at the bus stop we got a taxi and made our way to our pad, The Outpost. A nice quick dinner later and we were ready to stretch our legs unpack and enjoy the higher elevations cooler temps (24 degrees at 2100). For the first time in the history of Lisa and I knowing each other I heard her say thank god for that breeze and the cool air.

Off to rest my butt from the flat seated bus, goodnight.

Eric.

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A day of rest

Unfortunately it was a day of rest because I’m fighting a valiant effort against a throat bug. I slept for about an hour in the afternoon and I’m tired enough now at 2030hrs that I could easily go to sleep and sleep right through. This doesn’t bode well for my well being.

We went to church this morning with the Minhas’ and we both enjoyed the sermon a great deal. The speaker was a missionary who works with kids at the local university and his approach and message were invigorating.

We go to Arusha in the morning and you should all know that our internet access may diminish with the move. We’ll do our best to update when possible but I guarantee nothing.

Good night from Dar!

lisa

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Kariakoo

Uncle Tej took us to Kariakoo today and it’s was mind blowing basically. The basic description is roads and roads of vendors, bargain hunters, cars, bikes, and two white people with wide eyes (that would be us). There we massive stacks of dried fish and spices, numerous shoe and clothing stores, kitchen ware stores, vegetable stands, appliance and furniture stores, you could pretty much get anything you wanted. Of course the price depended on how good you were at bartering . We didn’t get anything today but when we get back from Arusha I expect to go again and see what deals I can get. Tomorrow we are going to the fish market early which should be all kinds of interesting. I can’t wait to get a bag of large prawns for lunch.

Eric and I are both feeling quite tired today most likely because of the heat and the time we spent out in it. We also went and bought a cell phone so I would say we spent a good four hours in the sun today.

lisa

I love mosquitos!!!!

I am covered in mosquito bites. I seem to have an almost allergic reaction to the bites and I’m now covered in welts anywhere from the size of a penny to the size of a toonie. It’s not like this is abnormal for me, I do it at home too, but it does make for an itchy time. I am getting sick of it now and I hope that our new mosquito net will help stem the flow of bites. Thank God for Mefloquin as it seems to be keeping me healthy for now.

We did get samosas for lunch and they were pretty good. And our burgers for dinner turned out quite well as well. It was nice to be able to find everything we needed for the burgers and to be able to cook. India’s party was loud, very loud. If anyone wants to volunteer for giving my kids birthday parties please feel free. I won’t be doing it, I’m not brave enough.

Tomorrow we go to the station to get bus tickets and then to the market with Isaiah to get a cell phone. This will enable us to stay in touch with the Minhas’ while we are away.

lisa

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Malls = Samosas

We did go to the mall on Wednesday. We actually went to two malls. They are more like blocks of shops really rather than malls as we know them. Aunt Marg dropped us at the first one (Shoppers) on her way out and we went and grabbed a coffee first from a small shop in a bookstore. The bookstore is pretty expensive but the coffee shop is not as bad, unless you compare the 3000tsh for a latte to the 700tsh for a Dalla Dalla ride. After the coffee we walked around and looked at the shops, grabbed some cash, groceries and of course some samosas. We then walked down the road past the shops to Mayfair. It too had numerous shops and a grocery story and also a couple of restaurants. One in particular is a Japanese restaurant which I hope we’ll be able to visit.

In the afternoon we started making plans for the rest of our time here. Eric has decided not to attempt Kilomanjaro this time and I hope that it won’t be long until we can plan another trip for him to try it, maybe even both of us. Instead we are both going to go to Arusha and take a couple days touring around the area and doing some hikes. From there we’ll go to Acacia Camp for a few days to celebrate our Honeymoon.

Today we went shopping with Aunt Marg again, this time at a different mall. My mom would be
happy to know I’m not spending all my money just enjoying the air conditioning. We found some more samosa’s that we decided we really should test to make sure they were good too. Turns out they were pretty good but needed a little lime. After getting home Eric and I both had a nap to try and get over his cold. He is feeling a little better but I think it will be a day or two still for full recovery.

After our nap Eric, Aunt Marg and I went to the beach. They are lucky enough to have a membership at a private beach which means they don’t have to be constantly guarding their belongings on the beach while trying to enjoy the water. It was really great to walk through the warm water and search for shells. The sun was actually shrouded a little by clouds so I didn’t even end up sun burned...very cool and unusual. After our fun in the sun we met Uncle Tej for some wood-fired pizzas. We will deffinetly be going back to the beach soon and often.

Tomorrow is India’s Birthday and Eric and I are going to make burgers for dinner after the party. I’m really excited to get to cook for everyone. I even think we should be able to find everything we normally use at home. Oh, and we’re having samosas for lunch!!!!

lisa

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Good old ZAIN

As we landed in Dar the first thing I saw was a slew of ZAIN (a cell phone company) billboards. Oddly enough it made me feel very at home due to the prevalence of them in Kenya, it was a very familiar feeling. It’s interesting to me that I feel so at home here, it’s very comfortable for me...well except the heat. We’re now getting to spring here in Africa and as in Canada that means the temperature rises. It’s currently 0930 and 30 degrees in our bedroom where we’ve been very careful to keep the blinds drawn and the heat out whenever possible. Usually I take three or four days to really get used to the temperature of a place and then I’m pretty much good to go, in Hawaii I even had to wear a sweater, nuts I know! All this makes me dread the thought of returning to Calgary in November. Not that I won’t want to see all your smiling faces but let’s be honest, it gets bloody cold in Calgary. My only hope is that we have a Chinook that starts the day we arrive back. Don’t be surprised to see me walking around with four (or more) layers on and a touque!!

Our flight was good and again Eric slept for most of it. He’s caught a cold and been stuffy since we got on the plane in London so it’s a very good thing he’s had so much sleep. By now we should be on the new time zone sleeping-wise but we made a critical error yesterday. We laid down for an hour nap in the afternoon which we set the alarm for but unfortunately Eric had a minor problem in setting it and set it for am not pm. Needless to say we slept for about five hours by accident and that made going to bed more difficult. We tried to stay up later and set the alarm for early but the long nap has really messed up ‘the plan’. I have forgiven Eric, but only because he’s sick!!!

Marg, Tej and the kids are all well and it’s been really great to see and hug each of them. Naomi in particular has been a real joy despite her inherent shyness, or maybe because of it. Our nap yesterday limited the amount of time we got to spend with the kids as they of course go to bed earlier in order to be up in time for school. All those kids in Canada who complain about getting up early for school really should be thankful, these guys have to be up at 0545 in order to get to school by 0715 when it starts.

Today we’re going to head off to the ‘mall’ and take a look around. It’s not a mall like you would have but at least it will keep us awake for a while. Also, India has ballet this afternoon and we might go watch that. Finally we hope to get Eric’s trip to Kilo figured out so we can book our trip to Kenya around it.

I think the thing we both miss the most about Canada right now is the changes that start to happen in the fall. The air get’s cooler but the sun seems to hit you just right to keep you warm and the trees start to change color. If you ask Eric I’m sure he’d tell you about all the different bugs that hatch on the river and the new flies you get to bring out when fishing. It will be sad to miss out on all those changes and most likely the first snowfall of the year...but, on the other hand...

lisa

London Again

We’ve arrived in London safely but are pretty much exhausted (Mostly ME). British Airways was nice for the most part but I think they were trying to make us feel at home by keeping the cabin temperature as low as possible and that kind of sucked. We’re in Terminal 4 again and for any of you who read the Kenya blog you’ll remember that it’s the one with the shower. We also found a NEW, BIGGER, BETTER shower while wondering today and as soon as I’m done her we’ll head that way, yipppppeeee!!!

The one frustrating part about BA is their inability to tell me what DATE we get to Dar. Even the lady at the counter in Calgary had no way of looking this up and it was seriously frustrating. I was pretty sure I had screwed it up in telling Aunt Marg we would be there on the 8th and it turns out I was right and we get there on the 9th. After a few frantic emails I think they understand what a goofball I am.

Here’s hoping I sleep through the next flight and start to think properly!

lisa

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