Errol.ca

I’ve promoted some photos instead of getting caught up on blogging.

http://www.errol.ca/photos/

The battery charger for my camera had gone missing. So, I’m leaving some memories here. Additionally, it’s nice to wrap up Tanzania with a quick reflection I planned on having this out before, but life made other plans.

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In the Serengeti I stand in our 4wd. It’s like It is like I am in a convertible, except my entire torso is exposed to the elements. My shades keep my eyes from tearing and my hat keeps the Serengeti sun off my face. The air is hot, the velocity of our vehicle keeps me cool. Scanning the plains I catch some movement, I call for our driver Stewart to stop - a warthog (a “Poomba”, for all you Disney fanatics) is taking her children out for a stroll.
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in Zanzibar, Jason just gave me his goggles, we are about 10 feet off the beach, swimming underwater, not 5 meters away is a rock outcropping, with a sea anemone housing a family of clown fish.
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Walking through the streets of Zanzibar, as the first energetic young tout tries to sell me the “Jambo Jambo” CD “the best song in Africa!” He cries, then he breaks out in Song “Jambo Jambo…”
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Walking through a farmers market in Dar surrounded by people going about their day. A man walks through to market trying to sell car mats. I resist the urge to explain “business in Location, location, location…”
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I’m going to Pemba on the speed boat the “Spedeh”. The ground is littered with the locals lying down. It seems they believe that by lying on the floor, they will feel less sea sick, I don’t know if this works.

I’m the only one watching a compilation of “Big B’s” dance numbers from Bollywood, thinking that I may have another reason to be sick. My newest friend Ahmed taps me on the shoulder and explains that he wants to bring me to the cockpit to meet the captain and crew.
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I’m in the Museum in Dar, and I see copies of humanities oldest footprints, I learn that the originals are in or near the Ngorogoro crater, and they have been covered up for future generations. It’s good to see that these have not been exported.
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Descending into the Ngorogoro Crater, from my usual perch standing in the vehicle, enjoying the velocity induced breeze. Then watching the landscape become alien as cactus trees are the only vegetation my right and on my left 25 meters down a cliff face is a prairie marsh landscape, with the prominent silhouette of a water buffalo in the distance..
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I’m in Dar and we (Jason, Marissa and myself) have just left the orphanage. We step onto a proper bus and it’s playing jay-Z, loud! The people on the bus chillout, as JayZ makes some noise.
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We’re in Lake Manyara, we’ve been following lion tracks for the last hour. Suddenly a swarm of flies invades the 4wd. to our left a male Impala rigidly perches on too if a large rock his massive horns announce his “fitness” (much better than bling-bling, in the animal kingdom) I ask our driver if we should stop, as the number of flies seems to indicate that there is a fresh kill in the area. His hand moves with superhuman speed and catches a fly. He shows me the carcass of the insect and explains that these flies hang around the animal and bother them constantly as they are alive.
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In Dar, a taxi driver dances a quick jig as he watches the wzongu get off the “Scandinavian Express”
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In anywhere Tanzania walking up to a sink, turning the tap, and having no water comes out.
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In the Serengeti, our cook spots a pride of Lions. We all pop out of the roof of the 4wd to watch, our driver doesn’t feel we are close enough and drives right up to the pride. A lioness stands up with a murderous look in her eye, her jaw drops open to show us her sharp teeth.
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Driving back from the full moon part in Zanzibar. Wondering if the cab driver is going to take my life, or if the local beside me is going to puke all over me. I’m suddenly very glad I took a cab as three sinister looking men are perched in the bushes as our vehicle careens by. They are patiently waiting for walkers.
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In Zanzibar, walking through the gate between the northern beaches, the gate completes a fence which marks the demarcation point between the opulent accommodations for the tourists, and the hastily constructed shanty town for the locals.
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The power is out at the full moon party - usually it would be no power equals no ice, no music, no lightshow, no festive atmosphere. This is not the case here drums appear out of nowhere and an African drum circle breaks out. The show must go on!

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Eddie a tout comes to disturb me when I’m online. He provides me with a phoney prescription and explains that he needs 10,000 shillings (10 Canadian dollars) to get a “shot” near his eye. He wants me to watch, never mind that it’s 10PM and nothing but bars are open.

Luxor is a ancient Egypt preserved, the temple complexes are among the best that I have seen thus far, (with the possible exception of Angkor Wat) it’s absolutely fascinating and overwhelming to contemplate that this is the work of everyday men. As I’ve been strolling through the ruins it fills me with the desire to be part of something great. I won’t lie, it’s awe inspiring to see what blood sweat and dedication can build, it breaks my heart to think that the names of so many of the contributors to these efforts have been lost. In my opinion the Pharaoh’s didn’t pay any homage to the intelligent people below them. This is what I pick up from looking at the art that I understand, people were appliances of the Pharaoh. However, I don’t pretend to be an authority on the matter.

This town (Luxor) is split in two, on one side there is the temple of Amun and the temple of Luxor (this is the side where I stayed on, this is the more ‘touristy area’) on the other side of the Nile lies the Valley of the Kings (cool!), the Valley of the Queens (which I didn’t see) and a number of other lesser but equally impressive temples, mostly dedicated to immortalizing what the great pharaohs of ancient Egypt accomplished. These ancient Pharaohs defined themselves through their accomplishments, and had no issues embellishing their role in history.

Now that I’ve explained this, I can move on with the true purpose of this story!

Jason and I had just negotiated our way onto the local ferry to head to the east bank (the other side), we could charter a boat ourselves, but the ferry is cheaper, and it usually has 50 to a 100 people, which makes it easier to get lost in the crowd. I scanned the boat and saw that there were no touts to be seen, and that nobody was interested in me. A moment of sweet invisibility, I can’t tell you how much I crave and appreciate these moments. Where nobody is looking at me, and nobody is concerned or interested in what I am all about. At times it feels like I’m a celebrity, and I simply don’t have a choice but to be friendly.

This is the time I get to feel the humidity of the Nile against my skin, it’s refreshing any humidity is a welcome break, I’m on the main floor of the ferry and the roof provides me with shelter from the hot desert sun. I can hear the dull hum of the engine and the occasional honk of the cars on the street above me. Somehow, this still manages to be really tranquil.

I lean against my bicycle, feeling the tension leave my body and felt my mind slip into calm meditation & introspection. As always these moments don’t last, I can see a man, sitting almost at a 45 degree angle to me staring into my eyes, not thinking I make eye contact with him. He asks me, “India or Pakistan?”

I can tell from his garbled pronunciation and the pace of his speech that he’s not looking for a pleasant banter. I gather my wits about me, and feel the awareness of my surroundings start to peak to its normal elevated levels. At the very least it’s show time again, and more people on the ferry are now watching me if I act like a jerk the people around me will judge me accordingly, I may need their help with something later, so I look him in the eye and say “My Mother is from Pakistan” and open up a wide smile… I know this is a wise decision as Pakistan is another Islamic nation and I’m betting that he will feel some sort of kinship with me.

Then, he swings the boom, this is what I expect, we wants something. “Pen” he explains

He wants a pen, for pens in southern Egypt seem to be a commodity. I think pens are expensive here, these are among the long list of items that Egypt needs to import.

I ask him slowly, if he wants to borrow one, or if he wants one. I can hear Jason chortle in the background. “Yeah, Errol he wants to borrow one.” he contributes sarcastically (they (the locals) almost always want something) (Jason is still invisible, lucky bugger)

In Arabic he explains something in great detail. Of course with my expansive Arabic vocabulary*, I don’t understand a word of it.

I open my bag carefully so I don’t expose the contents of my bag, and take out my guidebook check out the language section, and stammer out, something that sounds like “a-na mish faa-hem” ( translated:I don’t understand)

Then I reach into my bag again, and provide him with a cheap yellow pen. I explain very slowly that if he wants to borrow it, he can but I need it back. Of course he doesn’t understand, and he sticks it in his pocket. I indicate that it’s my only pen and I need it back, miming that I need to write. He looks at me a little disappointed, and hands he pen back and opens a discussion in Arabic with the fellow behind him, a pair of bright gray aged eyes swing around to meet mine and a wide smile breaks out, “Where are you from?” the grey eyed man asks quickly, clearly he’s has some degree of comfort in English.

“Canada!” I try to maintain genuine smile, I can’t wait for the ferry ride to end.
“Your parents?”
“Pakistan”

At this point he belows a translation to the group. The explanation seems far too long to simply convey what we are talking about. There is a stifled laughter from almost everybody around him. Finally he turns back to me and asks “Madame?”
“No” I should be used to marriage proposals by now… but, I admit I’m not
“Come to dinner at my house?” More laughter, but only from those who speak English, every eye in earshot is focused on me. There is much chatter as there is a flurry of translation happening. He has a daughter, I’m almost certain.
Half smile, “maybe later”

Thankfully he ferry ride is over, and as I pick up my bike to exit an extremely attractive local girl confidently makes eye contact with me blue eyes, olive skin, and a head wrap she smiles and says “Don’t mind him, he’s crazy”
I explain that I don’t mind a bit…

* 5 words

Camel Ride!Originally uploaded by Errol_B.

Well, I don’t have any more forward plane tickets, and I’m relying on inertia to keep me going. I can already sense that I’m going to be very sad to leave Egypt. I am firmly embedded in the tourist trail and not minding a bit, tourists are refreshing. At first it seemed very exotic to see gaggles of Caucasians, while the novelty has already worn off; I am astounded to see their ability to sit, on anything that is about a foot and a half off the ground. It’s just an observation, however, you have to understand – Asian people can sit anywhere, but they just sit on their haunches almost like they are squatting. So, while we would sit off a peer and dangle our legs off the side, in Asia (allow me to generalize) people would just plop down and sit on their haunches, and be perfectly comfortable. It’s something that struck me as novel.

You may be wondering, how am I feeling?
I am Elated, Egypt has taken the difficulty out of traveling, and in comparison to the places I’ve been Egypt is simple e-a-s-y traveling. Even the touts are well fed (we’ve seen some fat ones!), which is a far cry from Africa where they clearly don’t eat on some days, and different from India where they try bother you into submission (the touts think that they can break you, and in some cases they can!). Here (in Luxor) they come at you to get your attention however, you can have a great deal of fun with them as their English is really good. Their behavior gives you permission to be a bit of a jerk as they are following you, they instantly understand that you are having fun with them (which makes it een more fun!). I finally get to play the mirror game and they can’t run and tell Mom (the mirror game is when you repeat everything that they say (“Hey India!” they cry (they all think I’m from India) “Hey India!” I reply… I think you get the picture from here (I can do this for hours!)), needless to say they get exhausted quickly. It is fair to say that a portion of my brain power is dedicated to teasing touts. However, they deserve it. It’s fun… like a game show where the prize is when they leave you alone!

I know it snowed back home recently, here in southern Egypt it’s hot, damn hot, unrelentingly hot. I cannot sweat, as I am in the desert there is virtually no humidity water on my body disappears instantly, during the day it’s almost impossible to stay cool. So being the rocket scientist that I am, I’ve rented a bike for the next two days to tour the sites, and I’m just carrying a few liters of water with me at all times so that I don’t get dehydrated.

It’s amazing here, words can’t really describe it. For me ancient Egypt is a childhood fascination that I get to indulge as an adult. I spent about 2 days in the Cairo Museum getting up to speed, without a guide, and I’m picking up enough that I can look at the drawings (not the hieroglyphs) and make an educated guess about what is happening. I spend far too long in the different sites as I have the urge to disect every drawing, it’s tedious for people who are not me, I enjoy it! I’m going to have to learn how do behave like a normal tourist as people are starting to think I’m daft, apparently what you’re supposed to do is walk in to a temple, or site and “feel” what it would be like to be there, then leave. This is a frame that I struggle with  as understanding is not important. However, I’ll try it out tomorrow and see how I “feel” about it

 Missed blogs

- Heliopolis
- Cairo’s coffee houses
- Taxi drivers in Egypt  (lovable, crazy, dishonest, jerks)
- Giza’s Pyramids
- In Egypt you don’t book things through your hotel
- The Cairo Museum
- Liberal Islam
- Why call to prayer sounds amazing!
- The nuances of negotiation here

* for the record, I wasn’t holding onto the rope that tight, and I didn’t know the camel looked uncomfortable at all. The camels name was “Moses” which struck me as a deeply amusing name. He was fun and tempermental… I think the expression on his face is more an indication of his personality. He didn’t like me getting off him once I was on…  Camels, who would have known that they were cute!

Well, some script has a hold on my website, and I’m getting spammed with 50 to 100 comments on my site a day, which is more than a little troublesome. I don’t want to loose a real one!

So, I’ve enabled the registration engine on my site to try and stem the tide. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just turn it back off.

Cairo is great and is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in the world. The people are friendly, the city is fun -

 I’ll write something of substance soon,

E

Yes, I know it’s been a while since my last post.

Aside from getting locked in my hostel this morning, a bout of late night party hopping last night (Thanks Meto), My website being overloaded with nonsense from a spam engine (thank you administration tools), Going to Dubai, meeting Jordan from back home (A real highlight), going skiing in the desert, Going to Johannesburg, finding that the suburbs of Jo’burg are a wonderful place where I can walk around freely and play with the various types of electrical fences.

Not much has been happening.

What can I tell you about Cairo? I feel like I’m at home here.  The people are relaxed and friendly the touts are polite (Given I have skills on how to deal with touts now), there is an active social scene that is really wonderfully enjoyable, the architecture is amazing, the traffic is insane,  the tourist industry is developed and a little aggressive however a staggering  20% of this countries GDP comes from tourism- so you can understand everybody’s desire to get on board of this economic engine!

I’ll come up with something more cohesive to say later!

Peace and love,

E

Yep - in Egypt, in Giza specifically.  The hotel I’m staying in overlooks the Giza Pyramids.

I have a cell phone here I think the number is 002 016 35 24 987 (i think)

 Give me a ring if you want… the chager doesn’t seem to work on this phone, so… It may be burned out by the time you try to ring me

I’ve talked to them, and they have free time. They are the touts. These are generally unemplyoyed people who decide that they are in the “Tourism business”. They are not cab drivers, as a cab driver has to pick up a skill (like driving), then figure out how do deal with the capital cost of a car, and they are not tour guides, but they all do speak english, which they practice at every opportunity. They chose to fall into this business with all the consideration of me, tripping over my shoe laces.

So, they claim that knowing the tourists is their business.  Jason doesn’t pick up on the same vibe as me. He sniggers and accuses me of being more memorable. However, people remember me here, and know things that I don’t tell them.  Coming back from the Canadian High commission after getting my third round of passport photos in Dar – I had a guy wave me down “Hey Canadian!” he called out. I didn’t manage to control my orienting response. He then walked over, introduced himself and eventually explained “I’m an artist, come and look at my stuff…”

All the while my “creep dar” is going off. How does he know I’m Canadian? Was somebody following me? I didn’t see it. Man it’s enough to make me paranoid.

In Zanzibar, there was a particular tout that decided that he liked me.  His name was Ali. He had originally claimed that he knew all the tourists on the island, as that is his “business”, when Jason asked him what he knew, he described what we had been up to for the last few days.  Apparently I got noticed when I rented a pedal bike, and Jason had been noticed drinking coffee and being on the internet. He knew we were both Canadian even though this was my first discussion with me. Weird, in a stalker kinda way. 

Let me say that these eyes are not manevolent or benevolent, they just watch us keenly, to pry a dollar out of us, or the people who we deal with. They watch us and collect information, like a 10 year old looking at an ant farm I don’t sense a great deal of emotion when they look at the tourists, only idle curiosity. They are interested in what we do - but only as it affects their vision of the world. However, what I did learn that day, and it’s transferable to Dar is that these guys have nothing to do… and they track the tourists for fun.  It’s important to be nice to the locals here. They are watching you.

I think it is possible to isolate yourself from these eyes, you can stay in an expensive place, and they you can travel in a van or taxi to and from your location(s). From there you will be unable raise the curiousity of the touts as you are completely inaccessable to them.  But when you’re travelling like me staying in the less expensive places, it’s easier for you to become part of the locals world (not an accepted part of the world, just there…like a coffee table), and as they decide about you - it’s just best to be friendly and polite, but not that friendly.

I think touts this keen are a by product of the Tanzanian culture and a high unemployment rate. The only analogy that I can use to illustrate the point is that you can imagine that this culture is an ecosystem. I think all cultures are like ecosystems, except that this culture is much more closely meshed, given that people here have to put up with a great deal of hardship additionally and they have unbelievable amounts of free time, as the unemployment rate here seems very high.  So, these guys sit and talk all day. There is a level of community here that I have not seen anywhere in the world.
I theorize that this level of community creates a level a social controls, and as a tourist, it’s important to be part of the community or at the very least to show the right amount  of respect to the people who are locals, as it’s the community around you that will keep you safe.
So, now that I’m back in Dar and I can perceive the level of information about me growing, and the eyes are paying attention to me once again. As my information oozes across the Dar Eco system, I’ll be careful to be play nice, and stay safe!

Yes – exoticism again. Words that reek of adventure, and the National Geographic theme song.

The Serengeti is an amazing place.

To save money we camped, I did manage to sleep through one night where a lion crept through our camp less than soundlessly (I have a sneaking suspicion that I saved us all, the low growl of my snoring terrified the poor creature, while all my fellow campers owe me a debt, I chose not to make a big deal of saving everyone… nobody loves a braggart).

The next night, we were awoken by a bush pig (I awoke to having the animal breathing heavilly on top of our tent, all that went though my head when I could hear the hot breath of the animal leaving it’s lungs was, “that’s really big”) and then hyenas (I suspect the bush pig was eaten by the hyenas), additionally an elephant showed up at our campsite as well. It is astounding that we go out looking for these creatures during the day and they come and visit us at night when we’re sleeping.

The safari was more than a success as we managed to see three of the big five.
The big five are:
• Lions (saw at least 5)
• Cheetahs (saw 1)
• Water buffalo (saw too many to count)
• Rhinos (couldn’t find one)
• Leopards (they were hiding)

While the company that we eventually went with was a moderate disaster, we did have a great time in spite of their crappy equipment. (however, the cook we has was astounding, if you use Victoria Expeditions ask for Moshi to be your cook)… however, don’t use them for anything else.

I’m in Arusha and trying to schedule a safari.  I think we have found a company, however, I’m starting to realize that this is a complicated business for an uninformed tourist. I can see why people have so many terrible Safari’s (Safari actually means journey in Swahili).

There are a number of dodgy operators in Arusha who save money (charge less, or as much as the regular operators)

• by providing guides that are not guides,
• vehicles that are not 4 wheel drive,
• Drivers that don’t know the area
• and skimping out on water and other necessities for life, food ect.

As far as we can tell the biggest “savings” that these tour operators pass on to their customers are for using campsites that are not well furnished with the proper amenities.   If there was ever a reason to stick with the operators in the Roug Guide and Lonely Planet this is it. 

To combat this, we have developed a rather decent grid (Yes, I still have Excel skills) that covers off all the questions we need to ask, additionally, it’s helping us to work through the different operators that we are asking to quote on our business.

Missed Blogs

• The Ugandan mug victim, (Arusha is a rough town)
• getting 24 people into a Dahlla Dahlla (standard Van) in Dar
• Heading out to the Beach
• The Boona Boona orphanage
• Dinner with some Canucks
• The return of Jason, and why you shouldn’t eat a 14 course meal, in a strange country!
• Hanging with the Rastsa
• The full moon party
• The Music festival in Stone town
• Running through Arusha
• Skipping Kili it’s just too expensive!