Coming to our senses - ‘n bietjie pret

Dit het my (Ydi) gister getref dat ek baie lanklaas die geluid van 'n stofsuier gehoor het. Daar is baie 'alledaagse' dinge wat stelselmatig en amper geruisloos uit ons lewens verdwyn het en meeste daarvan mis mens nie regtig nie. Soms verlang ons na sekere smake, soos liquorice, of reuke soos fynbos in die berg met vriende.

Dit het nou 'n speletjie geword om aan dinge te dink wat ons lanklaas gehoor, gesien of geproe het. Veral Noord van Zambië waar die kettingwinkels van SA nog nie hul verskyning gemaak het nie. Die lys groei nog maar hier is 'n paar:

Kan nie onthou wanneer laas ons die volgende geruik het nie:
-'n coffee shop
-sigaretrook
-parfuum (of lekkerruikgoed) - ons gebruik net Tabard

Lanklaas of glad nie gehoor
- stofsuier
-'n haardroeër
-klank van 'n mikrogolf
-ons het lanklaas sirenes gehoor
-'n skoolklok

Lanklaas geproe of glad nie
-ys
-brood wat sout is
-brie of camembert, sien uit na die eerste happie!
-vars kruie, veral basil
-kortbeenhoender (Aug: normal size chicken thighs)
-jellielekkers
-ribs, skaaptjoppies

Lanklaas gesien of glad nie
- ons sien nogals min mense wat bril dra
- ek het lanklaas 'n skaap gesien
- KFC of enige franchises, hetsy hardeware, kruideniers of kitskos. Elke winkel is uniek
- 'n Bloemiste winkel of bos geplukte blomme
- 'n brandweerman of brandweerwa
- 'n Avo wat meer as R3 kos
- beeste met kort horings
- 'n insleepdiens of insleepkar
- 'n klein sakkie meel (30kg iemand?)
- 'n motorfietsryer sonder bagasie (hetsy meubels, passasiers, diere, pluimvee, boumateriale, charcoal sakke, doodskiste, fietse, glasplate, speakers, meelsakke, kleipotte ens.)
- 'n babawaentjie
- groente en vrugte in plastiek verpakking
- vroue met langbroeke en mans met kortbroeke
- mzungus
- 'n vulliswa of wheely bin. Mens waardeer hulle skielik meer
- active wear (die uitsondering was toe ons Uganda se padfietsspan sien oefen het, verder geen lycra of spandex vir maande nie)
-'n wasmasjien of laundromat. Ons het meer wilde honde as wasmasjiene gesien op ons trip

lanklaas GEBRUIK
- vyfde rat

PS dit gaan goed met ons, ons is tans in Tanzanië en hopelik binnekort in Malawi. Ons is nou 160 dae op die pad en het sopas 'n ander Suid-Afrkaner ontmoet - sy ry met haar motorfiets van Kaap tot Nairobi en terug - dapper!

Uganda is beautiful

We've been on the road for 150 days and the cruiser turned 400000 this week. It's been 7 days since we crossed the border into Uganda.

Uganda is a much smaller country than Tanzania, landlocked between to DRC and Kenya with the Victoria Lake covering a large part of it. The main highways are tarmac and well maintained, much better than 7 years ago when we were here. Still, getting to the beautiful spots takes time. Everything in Uganda seems, according to google maps, 6 hours drive from Kampala. The first two hours consists of getting out of Kampala.

So far area arount Mount Elgon was a definite highlight. We camped at the beautiful Sisiyi falls (lesser known than Sipi falls) and as the guide book claims, it must be one of the most idyllic camp sites in the country. Serpentine tree roots clasping mossy boulders, ferns and flowers growing on mountainous terraces with the mist of the 100m waterfall floating towards the sky. And then a deafening tropical thunder storm making the trees shake around you as its massive rain drops begin cascading from the sky.

A young guy called Rony took us for a guided walk the next morning to two other 50m plus waterfalls, some accessible only by trudging through the banana and coffee planted hills where local people dry coffee beans on large sheets on the ground. Along the way we were introduced to the village headman and to Rony's teacher from school days. With the rippling sound of their language in our ears and the breathtaking beauty of the place in the eyes, we felt like guests, not tourists.

Jinja was another highlight. Usually a backpackers and tourist confabulation of music, parties and beer, Jinja was nearly deserted when we came - an introvert's dream. Camping on a stretch of grass, we could sit and read on the deck overlooking the 200m wide Nile river, watch local fishermen with make-shift plastic paddles lowering their bait on hand held line. Or scan the banks for kingfishers, hamerkop, egrets and monkeys.

We got acquainted with three other foreigners, a kayak-and-adventure-junky-duo from the UK now working in Fort Portal, and a spunky UK-Aussy accountant working in Kampala but taking a weekend break at the river. Their hilarious and riveting stories about working and traveling in Africa (notably DRC, Gabon and Rwanda) made for great late night conversation.

Somehow David, the 40-something kayak expert and unofficial veteran of the local kayak scene, convinced me to run the rapids for a half day of 'beginners' white water. August had his own boat while David and I paddled a sit-on-top together (a hard plastic boat like a surf ski). Nothing prepares one for the size and the power of the Nile's water. Even the flat water is alive. In the waves, whirlpools and boils of the rapids (I dont know all the correct terms), one feels more or less like a paper plane in a gale, completely powerless but for adhering to the forces at work beneath you.

Other fun memories include the assortment of Ugandan passengers the cruiser has taken on board. Usually without warning. When a park ranger with an automatic rifle climbs in behind you, you tend to get a little bit nervous. And embarrassed, uhm, because of the underpants and other pieces of drying laundry scattered around his seat. Yesterday we had to do a 2h drive back on our own tracks (we misread the sign about the broken bridge). To help us find the correct route we took a Uganda Police Force officer on board as well as his friend with two live chickens in hand (claw). All our passengers has been super friendly, courteous and helpful. Even the chickens. They were all 'just back from church' so nothing to worry about. August compared our friendly ranger's gun control to 'a Western movie from the 70s'.

Below some pics from this week:

Change of plans, no Kenya

Ever since covid-19 we've been mindful that we might get stuck at a border post or have to change our plans on the fly. So this week, when Kenya turned us away, we weren't overly surprised. This was not because of covid, though, but because we didn't have a carnet de passage customs document and our form C32 wasn't accepted.

When traveling in Africa it helps to have an open itinerary, and an open schedule too. Things take time. A lot of time. Pole-pole. Our parents experienced this well during their visit. When we were trying to get a permit for Serengeti it took many hours standing behind many well worn wooden desks with many weary officials behind them. When we went to pick up the cruiser after its windscreen repair it took more than an hour to get the car. While August was sorting out the admin, going to the bank, waiting for the invoice, etc, my parents and I waited in the small waiting room, warm, tired and travel-weary. But we passed the time by having a really good conversation about the 1980s in South Africa and how going overseas with their dubious SA passport opened their eyes to how the rest of the world viewed us then. It was a more turbulent time than we can ever imagine.

Anyway. Everything from buying a sim card to entering a national park takes heaps of time and patience. It's a great (and humbling) antidote to the instant culture back home, where we have anything we want at our fingertips, and people to serve us when we please. Do we ever consider what a sim card actually entails, the IT back-end, the satellite and network infrustructure needed, the micro chip and plastic manufacturing plant where it came from? No. Maybe we'll go crazy if we had to always mind the procress and life cycle of everything we consume. People here, I think, are better at it. And they're not crazy, they're just realistic.

Anyway. Instead of circumventing Victoria Lake like we initially planned, we drove back inland about 1000km and entered Ug from below. The border corssing between Tanzania and Uganda was surprisingly stress free and quick, and we exited the building just in time for a mighty thunder storm and cloud burst to chase us back into the cruiser.  

Both of us have been in Uganda before, but doing it 'self drive' entails different challenges, charms and perspectives. We plan to spend the next two or three weeks retracing some of our 2013 steps as well as embarking on some new adventures.

It promises to be a challenging leg of the trip, with high humidity, more rain and muddy terrain, more road blocks and more mosquitoes. We're hoping that a good dose of travel stamina (and prayers) will sustain us, and that the feeling of being-alive-and-learning-so-much will make up for whatever comes next. One of our favourite travel quotes and personal maxims for overlanding is this one by GK Chesterton: "The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see". 

So onwards we go!