Off the Couch and On the Road

I don’t think many have asked why the grass is greener on the other side, or understood that unique human ability to want what we don’t have.

Probably they just crossed a wooden bridge, looked back over to the hillside they walked from, pushed their spectacles higher up the bridge of their nose, nodded and mumbled, ‘Yes, yes. Definitely greener. Must write that down.’

The greener pastures complex is, I think, at it’s most defining moment when you’re overseas and alone, in countries where you can’t wander aimlessly down the street or hang out in a coffee shop, and where you have nothing but time to sit and think about the hillside on the other side of the bridge. It is interesting to note the things one does miss at this time (barring the obvious family and friends) - the once neglected car? Job interviews and suits? Washing and vacuuming? Cash machines and paved roads? Clean feet, like, all the time? Insane.

I have realised  it’s not a long term dilemma, usually the appearance of some newfound friends, being amongst hoards of tourists, an episode of CSI or emails from home eases the ache to fly home and start cleaning the bathroom. And then there are the moments you pinch yourself and find it amazing that you are seeing the very best of the world that is privileged to so few.

I have often replied to the question, ’so why are you travelling overseas?’ with a wink and a wry, ‘Oh, it’s cheaper than therapy.’ But perhaps I should replace that with, ‘Well, there was a wooden bridge I decided to cross…’

Yes, yes. Definitely greener. Must write that down.

-Sarah

Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe was quite a strange place to visit - like a modern town that had suddenly vanished, leaving the empty shells of shopfronts, tiled pavements and streetside statues as a bleak reminder of what it had once been.

And ‘once’ must not have been that long ago - menus were still full of choices that weren’t available, shopkeepers still trying to stay in business - but their friendly greetings and apologies were full of the knowledge that they couldn’t help us with their empty shelves and bare coathangers, as much as we wanted to help them.

It was quite sad, and real, and there was hope that an upcoming election may change things, but most likely not. We ate at the hotel I was staying in post-tour, and had drinks down at the backpacker hostel, who could both afford to import food and drinks, though when walking at night we had to keep an eye out for wild elephants, apparently. I didn’t quite believe our tour leader when he said this, but considering both my close encounters with elephants on this trip have been terrifying, I thought best to lean toward caution.

The night after our tour officially ended, we made our way down to the river for a restaurant buffet meal and a performance of African music and dancing, which was beautiful, and relaxed with some wine (at $1.50 a bottle. A bottle. I thought it important enough to mention) before someone exclaimed that a hippo had made it’s way onto the lawn of the hotel and was munching away at the grass, minding it’s own business. It was huge, massive, and was apparently a regular visitor to the restaurant. We all mumbled about having had to pay money for the past month on cruises and hippo walks where we barely saw the animals, and here was a full-grown hippo out of the water, at the place we were spending $8 on dinner. Also, after seeing two buffalo in the Masai Mara, worthy of a dozen shots, we ran into a whole herd on the road back to our hotel. Typical.

I had a week in Zimbabwe after the tour ended, luckily with a few others that were staying a day or two longer as well, and spent my time on the internet, swimming, sunbaking and reading, until everyone else had left, and I was on my own bored senseless awaiting my flight to Cairo.

Which meant, of course, that I won Big Brother. Right?

‘Yes! You won, congratulations!’ a ‘housemate’ said to me as he left for the airport. I did always wonder what it felt like to be the last one in the house…

-Sarah

The following morning, everyone packed up the tents, with half the group leaving in the truck to cross the border into Zimbabwe and the rest of us staying behind to see Livingstone Island and the falls that afternoon. We were told ... [Continue reading this entry]

It was probably just as well I didn't have time to think about the adventure activites I had signed myself up for, settling for mumbling to my tentmate, 'mad, mad, what have you convinced me to do...,' instead. It turned out ... [Continue reading this entry]

We arrived in Livingstone to a plethora of activity choices and everyone's energy levels skyrocketed in anticipation of white-water rafting, bungee-jumping, elephant riding and flying in various forms of aircraft (or hung by a piece of rope) over Victoria Falls. I, ... [Continue reading this entry]

We crossed into Zambia from Malawi the following day, staying at Mama Rula's campsite that night to break the long journey heading down to Victoria Falls, with a second long drive the next day down to Lusaka, the capital of ... [Continue reading this entry]

If you have been reading this blog over the past 6 months (and I doubt you have. Maybe one or two of you. Hi Bel!) you may have noticed by blatant disregard of travel advice that I have ultimately regretted ... [Continue reading this entry]

We packed up the next morning, glad to be spending two nights at our next lakeside destination - Thintheche Beach. We could technically swim in the lake, I know many did, but those of us who were continuing to travel ... [Continue reading this entry]

Another border crossing, another currency, another stamp on the passport, and we were in Malawi. Malawi is apparently one of the poorest countries in Africa, with 20 per cent of it's land covered by Lake Malawi. I say apparently because ... [Continue reading this entry]

It took the rest of the afternoon to recover from the boat journey from hell, and we returned to our tents as Dar Es Salaam to have a relatively early night, ready for our 4am wake up call the next morning. It ... [Continue reading this entry]