Well it is now coming up to two months since my African adventure ended. In fact, I am writing this post from beautiful New Zealand.
As promised this is a final post to give you a taste of the highlights (and low lights) of my time in Africa. You will see that it contains a mixture of things from my time in Uganda volunteering, my time travelling alone in Kenya and my time 'On Tour'. I wanted to allow some time to pass between leaving Africa and writing this final post so that I could truly reflect on the experience.
I have attempted to set out my top 5 and worst 5 experiences. In truth it is almost impossible to do so. I have so many good memories. I even reflect on the 'worst' experiences as good memories because they are vivid memories which I am sure I will remember and reflect on for years to come. Anyway here goes.
Top 5 experiences
1. HIV testing on an island on Lake Victoria, Uganda. An absolute eye-opener.
2. The general experience of volunteering in Uganda. Meeting local people, talking politics and gaining a small appreciation of life in Uganda. It was unlike any other travel I have done before and if you are a person who likes to get under the skin of a country, rather than just seeing the sights, I'd highly recommend it. It was one of the best things that I have ever done in my life.
3. Meeting my sponsor child, Lucy, in Kenya. It was very humbling to see where the $40 odd dollars that comes out of my account each month actually does.
4. Seeing the migration in the Serengeti. It was literally animals as far as the eye could see. In fact, the animals in general in Africa blew me away. Unlike many people I had not really gone to Africa for the animals, but seeing wild animals in their natural habitat was truly incredible. I also had a very lucky run of animal spotting: lions, leopards (including a cub), elephants, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, African wild dogs, jackals, water buffalo, hippos, rhinos, baboons, gorillas, impala, springbok, oryx, (plus many other hoofed animals), cheetah, alligators, I could go on...
5. Watching the sunset from the top of Dune 245 in Namibia. The colours and landscape in Namibia where absolutely stunning.
Top 5 'Worst' experiences
1. Having a boil lanced while staying in Nairobi with limited pain relief. If you have ever watched a YouTube clip of a boil popping you will get the gist of what this involved.
2. Enduring a bus ride from Kampala to Nairobi with said boil whilst also suffering an allergic reaction to the antibiotics I was taking to tackle the boil.
3. A very hot and looonnng bus ride whilst on tour from Arusha to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. We left at 4am. We arrived at 9pm. Enough said.
4. Generally the transport in Uganda. Often uncomfortable and almost always unnerving. Thankfully it only occurred to me after I left Uganda that my travel insurance probably wouldn't have covered any medical care for accidents on a motorcycle when not wearing a helmet.
5. Having an infected toe that required a trip to the doctor on Christmas Day. I think that people on my tour thought I was overreacting, but damn did it hurt.
Now two months on, as the memories begin to fade, the overwhelming thing that I have been left with from my trip is a sense of just how lucky and fortunate my life is. It is easy to lose perspective in life, to get stressed about the small things, but in truth, none of my worries even vaguely compare to those of the vast majority of people I met, particularly those people I met in my time in Uganda. I am always going to have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard - which is more than can be said for so many people in the world.
Many people have commented on how brave it is to do something like volunteering in Uganda. At the time I didn't consider that it was as all the foreigners I met there were doing similar things. However, as I slip back into my old comfortable world I can see, in a way, how for some people doing such a trip seems like a brave move. For me is was a no-brainer. All in all, I am very pleased with my decision to head to Africa. To anyone that has ever thought about doing something similar, don't hesitate. Life is too short.
I am currently in New Zealand and enjoying the comforts of home, catching up with friends and family and fully enjoying my lady of leisure life. I head back to the Northern Hemisphere in April and rather than enter the corporate rat race in London again I am planning and traveling and working my way around Europe for the next few months. Should you wish to read about my new adventures please tune in to http://lucyunderworldskies.blogspot.co.nz.
