a birthday

... when roddy asked if there were any request on where we should be for my birthday, i said ' i'd like to be either somewhere i can go out hiking in the morning, or somewhere with internet so i can call home'. i got neither... i got a afrikaner's club/resort out in the middle of no where. i was surrounded by tons of greying caravan-totting, heated- pool-loving, white south africans. it was a cultural experience to put it lightly...
 

example: rachel and i politely chatting to someone at the heated wading pool...
man: ' you're all from cape town?'
rachel: 'yes- it's a great place'
man: 'i have friends that say it's getting really bad there now...'
rachel: ' ...bad how?'

man: 'they say it's getting really gay.'
me: 'terrible!'

but with two little girls that love preparing 'secrets', and rachel excited to prepare me for life back in the states, what more could i ask for?? ...and really, i don't have anything against afrikaners (even if the men walk around in speedos meant for smaller-shaped bodies and the women have 'flattop' haircuts). the old couple staying next to my tent were amazing- when they heard 'happy birthday' being sung to me in the morning, the wife rushed over with some home-made chocolate romany creams. if she knew how to cook anything without meat at the center of it, i'm sure she would have wanted to make me a full meal!



so for my birthday, i was kitted out with garlic peri-peri sauce, two different types of marsala spices, and a set of enamel bowls and coffee mugs (very much like these). we had scones, yogurt and fruit salad (and chocolate romany creams) for breakfast, and ice cream and a chocolate swiss-roll covered in mashed bananas and strawberries for cake after lunch. i should also add the two-liter jug of tussenberg's wine (aka 'tussies', the mix of left-over wines of wineries poured into one jug) to the list.



my gift to myself was watching the pirated copies of 'fantastic mr fox' and 'up' that i got in nairobi. if you haven't seen both of these films, do so now.... right now.
 

and thank yous out to my family and many friends that emailed, facebooked, called, or otherwise sent me messages on my birthday... i owe you all the world.
 

and if you want a little video fun, give a look to the video i made for a friend for her birthday (in response to her video for me)



now in johannesburg, and i cannot believe how little of the grand adventure is left. but between jo'burg and cape town, i still have a lot of ground to cover and things to do!!!

cheers to 44 days!

hope all is well,

tbk

cheers to zimbabwe

cheers to the country that keeps you on your toes. the history might be a lot to digest, the politics ugly, and the logic non-existent, but this country is beautiful and full of amazing people. i have to come back here to go to at least one place: mana pools. again and again, all of our great guides that are from zimbabwe can't stop drooling over it. but i can see why it is so amazing, and i have promised myself to return.

it is a tough country though- it's basically ruled by the a zimbabwean mob. pay-offs, huge trade deals, lawlessness and backward politics for personal gains. but for the people that have stayed, they all have
their reasons. namely: it's home, and it's beautiful.







let's be honest... this is impressive bridge for an african country...and it was copied bolt for bolt from a bridge built in australia. we found it on our way to great zimbabwe, 'great stone wall', which is the earliest site of civilization of this scale in southern africa, and the namesake of the country. fun for archeology, but i just really like visiting this and reading lord of the rings.














back on safari for the first time in five months.... you forget what it's like being in the back of an open vehicle on the highway... and add small children without any seat-belts, and rest assured that this
would never happen in america. sarita, the montster, lorien, the old woman.







bouldering trip anyone?






notice the 'shadow paintings' that can only be seen once covered in shadow... clever guys, those bushmen.





needless to say, we got out of our vehicle at a designated point. welcome to zimbabwe's parks, with poaching as a huge problem. a new trend is spreading from south africa: poison the horns of your rhino
so that they aren't poached. bad news for the chinese that end up consuming the horns as medicine, but when the fight against poaching can seem like a loosing battle, what else can be done? another sad
option tried here was to cut the horns off the rhino, making them 'worthless' to poachers. i wonder how rhino's feel about that. and how is that suppose to make you feel when you are out on safari and all
the rhino's have lost their horns? ... at least we found the one that still had his.





but now back into south africa, the land of extremes. what a whole new world; cross a river, and watch the world spin. from seeing people on their hands and knees digging out water from a dry stream bed to water- parks with water slides, multiple pools, fountains, and hot tubs. the development is staggering from what i've seen the past six months... it's nice, but i'm sure a part of your soul dies every time you are forced to listen to musac when you are shopping for groceries.

hope all is well,

tbk

southbound (...delayed post)

so what's happened since may? a lot... too much.... way too much.



my trip over land and water (malawi, zambia, tanzania) to see brad in bujumbura, burundi. our overland trip taking us through burundi, rwanda, uganda, and kenya. my departure from brad and reunion with rr&co. getting back to work with greatguides.org. heading south back towards cape town, south africa.

...too many people, places, stories, and not enough time to write them out. i will have to do it upon my return to america in december. for now, the photos are up on my flickr.

...so what's new?



for one, i got a new house. the old one broke... about 50 times. then brad and i sold the another one for gin.



and i have enjoyed getting back into lodges (...only one yet) that would be too expensive for brad and i to even thinking of visiting. fire's made for me at night with cookies and hot chocolate waiting nearby. delicious food during the day, all from the organic garden of the lodge. coffee, picked from the plantation of the lodge, hand-roasted daily over charcoal. see the entire process and taste it when it's ready.










[click above for full size]



we have covered a lot of kilometers, and while the scenery changes as we go, the roads carry the same bumps. and roadside carnage (lots of 18-wheelers on the sides).






and cooking with rachel again. our food has never been better... we are exploring making lots of soups.



and visiting odd places that are old and forgotten- like in the mountains of zambia, a guest house that looks like it had been there forever. and even has an attack guinea foul. zambia also has a curious fact- the trees grow their leaves red, then they change to orange, yellow, and green as the season 'wakes up' to the rain. i did not believe this 'autumn in reverse' until i talked to a dozen or so people that swore it really happened.



and where am i now? in mutare, zimbabwe- back to the land of uncle bob. only one more week until i'm back into south africa.... and i don't think i'm ready. i can feel the development, the politics, the chaos of south africa building. to be fair, i'll love being back in the culture and being able to get things like pecan pies in the shops. and it's one step closer to home.. only two months away.

and i promise- better blogs coming soon.

hope all is well,

tbk