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'Round the World Recipes (36)
About Me (2) Cairo to Capetown (51) computer setup (26) events (5) hols (16) LIGHTHOUSE BLOG (7) Longboats (4) Neither here nor there (35) publishing (11) SE Asia (40) Tadley Times (31) The Whales of Trincomalee (47) Travel tales (4) Travels on my Doorstep (19) Whale watching (12)
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* The Ship
* The fool's errant * Paths * Trincomalee (part3) * Trincomalee (part2) * Trincomalee (part1) * The snake * Jerk chicken with rice & peas * Stray Dogs and Drunken Geckoes * On the Road again * A picture in 60,000 words * A day on the river -- with pictures! * The end of a long journey * A night at the precinct * Dying of Embarrassment * Mountain Oysters with Cockle Sauce * Scout Camp * Visiting a Friend * TAZARA * Winding up Business in Dar
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September 30, 2004The ShipI'll be away for a few days, so this is the last 'Whales of Trincomalee' instalment for a week or so. I'll see what's going on in London instead. Can't wait -- aaahh -- I can almost smell the smoke...Read this update September 29, 2004The fool's errantThe T-shirt was worth its weight in gold. It was light and airy and, more importantly, I now looked presentable. So at two, I set off on the freshly oiled bike to seek out the offices of the United Nations...Read this update September 28, 2004PathsSo far, I had gotten by with a mixture of English and sign language, but back at the bus station, I was out of luck. A group of young men tried their best to help me out, but they did...Read this update September 27, 2004Trincomalee (part3)The hostel was not as bad as I had feared. At dawn, I spotted only one geriatric cockroach which was slowly crawling towards the next room. It swayed and weaved because it was missing two legs on one side so...Read this update September 25, 2004Trincomalee (part2)As we approached Trincomalee, the vegetation thinned and the landscape became more arid. On either side of the road, large swathes had been cleared of shrubs and trees as an anti-ambush measure during the long war between government troops and...Read this update September 24, 2004Trincomalee (part1)This is a brutally honest blog entry, but then it is a brutally honest blog :} -- based on the actual travel journal. So here goes: I awoke from colourful dreams, swimming with whales and dolphins in an ocean world...Read this update September 23, 2004The snakeNot surprisingly, we needed to recover from our little stroll. My feet had swollen overnight, much to John's alarm who thought I had contracted a tropical disease. I told him that it was probably filiariasis which can make them swell...Read this update Jerk chicken with rice & peasJerk chicken with rice & peas are of course Jamaican; but for me they (and curried goat and saltfish patties...) will always be associated with New Cross, SE London -- the only place I ever called home as an adult....Read this update September 22, 2004Stray Dogs and Drunken GeckoesI blinked into the blazing sunlight and surveyed the lush tropical greenery from the bedroom window. We had arrived. Time to explore. John wanted a day of rest, but I was having none of it. "We have come half way...Read this update September 21, 2004On the Road againIt is disappointingly easy to adjust to being back. Already, the journey seems like a colourful dream. Now and then, when I close my eyes, I see flashes of sunlight so bright it is dazzling, silhouettes of palm trees against...Read this update September 19, 2004A picture in 60,000 wordsI have decided to serialise my travelogue on Sri Lanka: 'The Whales of Trincomalee' in this blog. Let's face it; it will never see the light of day as a book....Read this update September 16, 2004A day on the river -- with pictures!This story has recently appeared on BootsNall, but I have now unearthed the original slides from the loft and it works much better with pictures!...Read this update September 15, 2004The end of a long journeyRSA July 1984 It was nearly five in the morning and I longed for a cell to sleep in. I managed to convince the chief that I was dead tired and was finally taken to a room upstairs. I had...Read this update September 13, 2004A night at the precinctRSA July 1984 After about a week in Jo'burg I felt alright and ready to continue. It was difficult to find a spot to hitchhike, the highways leading out of town were dangerous....Read this update September 12, 2004Dying of EmbarrassmentRSA July 1984 This is perhaps the closest I have come to spending a night in hell. The story is written from memory (my mother never got to know about it) so my recall of the exact locations, names and...Read this update Mountain Oysters with Cockle SauceThe summer is gone, the hills are obscured by a grey veil of clouds and drizzle and I am planning my winter-getaways (Portugal and, possibly, the Miami Winter Music Conference -- watch this space). Already, it is time for nostalgic...Read this update September 11, 2004Scout CampBotswana, July 1984 Lusaka was expensive and I soon hit the road again, heading via the Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe (you guessed it, the notes are lost) into Botswana. Hitchiking wasn't easy here as most vehicles were full to...Read this update September 09, 2004Visiting a FriendZambia, July 1984 The journey into the heart of Zambia was completed in another train which waited for us a short way from the border. I shared a compartment with three cheerful Zambians and a man from Zaïre. One of...Read this update September 08, 2004TAZARATAZARA, July 1984 A brief, firm handshake, a heart-felt goodbye and I left Hamed and friends behind. Yet again I experienced this weird turmoil of emotions--choking yet prickly anticipatory--I get when leaving a place and embarking on a new adventure....Read this update September 07, 2004Winding up Business in DarTanzania, July 1984 We landed directly on the beach at Bagamoyo. Perhaps the ship was operated by smugglers. In the past Bagamoyo, roughly translated as "here I leave my heart behind", was a harbour from where the Arabs shipped slaves...Read this update September 06, 2004Paradise IslandZanzibar, June 1984 Riek and I took a bus to explore the interior of the island. We trundled past coconut groves, banana plantations and green fields of yams, manioc and sugar cane. Big breadfruit trees grew by the roadside....Read this update September 05, 2004Id al-Fitr on the Spice IslandTanzania, June 1984 The Indian owner of the ship was a scoundrel who had hopelessly overloaded the vessel. At least he too had been on board. He refunded the price of the tickets and hopefully resolved to be a better...Read this update September 02, 2004Peril at Sea(a shorter, edited version of this has appeared as a Boots story) Tanzania, June 1984 I awoke to the gentle flapping of my tent plane and the rolling of waves on the beach. Still groggy I crawled out onto the...Read this update September 01, 2004Shifty typesTanzania, June 1984 I had been trying to get a ship to Zanzibar for three days and still not managed to secure a ticket. For the third time in as many days I walked to the Zanzibar Shipping Company, a...Read this update Running into my teacherTanzania, June 1984 Dar es Salaam sprawled endlessly, dirty and flat. I walked the streets until dawn without finding a place to stay. Eventually, I reached the city centre and walked around a corner where I collided with a young...Read this update |
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