In Transit- Joburg Bound.

In Transit

Johannesburg, South Africa.

August 17^th, 2013

Arrivals gate at Nairobi.

Ek is life vir jou Suid Afrika (Afrikaans for, I love you South Africa).

The first place I ever went to in Sub-Saharan Africa seems like a world apart from the rest of the continent at this moment.

The busiest hub in Africa. And they actually have fire trucks, lol.

Joburg has electricity, paved roads, high speed trains, a type of structure and punctuality that in some ways resembles Europe and in some ways Africa, it is a world apart from its brothers to the North.

Coming back to “The Burg” is always a pleasure, its sunny skies, colorful people, and the edgy danger that lurks in some of its more dodgy neighborhoods all adds to its charm.

Joburg from my hotel.

Although for myself, this stop in Joburg is merely transit, trying to make it from Madagascar to Cape Town. A feat that when written seems not so daunting, but when you actually put it together, factoring in a stopover in Nairobi, with its burnt down airport, well let’s just say, the shadow of Table Mountain seems pretty far off at this point.

But I am close! I am actually in the same country! And tomorrow I shall get a ticket and board that plane, fingers crossed.

This all started with a morning run in Tana, Madagascar. I got up at 7am, did a stretch on my balcony that overlooks a beautiful side of Tana, ran down the hill and jogged around the lake in the centre of town, taking in the sights and sounds of a Friday morning crowd. I got back, had my last French style breakfast, got in the taxi and headed for the airport.

Leaving Tana, as the locals press on with daily life.

It took an hour to reach the airport, where I was greeted by a lovely departure tax, one of my favourite things in the world of travel (Sarcasm). All I kept thinking as I handed over my 20 USD was which Malagasy politician will be spending that 20 dollars on his next shopping trip to Paris. But corruption is something one cannot avoid when travelling Africa, and at times it can work in your favour.

I kept telling myself, South Africa is almost there! The brandy, the wine, the beautiful shores, the Afrikaners, Braai’s, rugby, all these things that I love.

Air Kenya can get you to Joburg, albeit very slowly, lol.

The plane was needless to say, over an hour late. Very fortunately I had a scheduled 5 hour layover in Nairobi before transiting to Joburg, anything less and well I expect I would be writing this from an airport hotel somewhere near to JKIA.

The airport at JKIA, due to the fire has become quite an improvised miracle. When you arrive, you taxi to your allotted spot, get on a bus that takes you to a tent, where you wait for your flights turn to connect, where you will then be taken to the former domestic terminal, and then ushered onto your flight.

They managed to make a duty free.

I went through this whole process, which naturally was behind schedule by one hour, but needless to say, since this flight is bound for South Africa, I just had a renewed sense of confidence that the flight would get there! And it did! I made it, and in the morning I shall be bound for Cape Town.

A side bonus to visiting south Africa is that I love talking to Afrikaners, they always have the coolest stories, especially the ones working and living in different parts of Africa. And needless to say, this flight to Joburg had plenty of amazing people on it. I have always maintained that Afrikaners provide a bridge between European and African cultures, as they are a bit of both. And each time I speak with them, I feel I come a little bit closer to understanding this continent and its very unique ways.

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Anyways, I have some business to attend to in the morning, Cape Town bound! Let’s see what happens.

Cheers,

William Delaney

Magic in Madagascar.

Magic in Madagascar

Antananarivo, Madagascar.

August 16^th 2013

Frolicking with Lemurs, Madagascar is truly Magical!

A couple weeks ago, when the airport in Kenya burnt down, I had doubts that I would ever get to experience this portion of my journey, but despite the trip being cut down from 12 days to 7, this was one week I will never forget.

Easy to see the French Influence.

It all started with a flight into Antananarivo, the famed capital of Madagascar. I arrived from a cold Nairobi to a warm blue skied day on the tarmac of Tana, grabbed a taxi into town and marvelled at my surroundings.

The city has a distinct French feel to it, cobble stone streets, cafes, baguette stands, old colonial buildings and a mellow pace about it. I have to say, my first impressions of Tana were outstanding. After checking into my hotel, they informed me all the rooms were full except the executive suite, I inquired into how much it was, a whopping 21 dollars for my own balcony, large bathroom that featured hot water, beautiful art, and a view that cannot be beat.

Panorama of Tana.

 I realized right then and there that Madagascar is a place I could get used to liking.

I discovered that there is no VISA fee for people only staying in Madagascar for one month, this saved me approximately 80 USD, and so I felt that I needed to celebrate all this fine early success by taking in some Tana’s night life. My neighbor at the hotel, Abby Wills, a British conservationist who had been working in Madagascar for the last few months and I set about conquering Antananarivo, and with her knowledge of the wildlife in the country, and my enthusiasm for adventure, it turned out to be quite the night.

Provincial Madagascar.

The next day, I set about running around Tana, taking in some of the incredible views, the old castle, the slums, and the lazy streets on a Sunday morning. I then hopped on a Taxi-brousse, headed east, as Abby had suggested, if I wanted to see Lemurs I needed to go to Andisabe national park. The Taxi-Brousse experience is one I have not had since I left Cote- D’Iviore three years ago, and they are a staple of travel across all former French colonies.

Cruising in the Taxi-Brousse.

Tha land of Lemurs.

 They are slow, often break down, at times can be quite treacherous, but hey, they can also be fun as hell. It took me almost five hours to cross just over 120km to the national park from Tana. I realized that distances in Madagascar may not be as easy to reach as they appear on a map.

Now that is one friendly Lemur.

I eventually did reach Andisabe, and it is from here that I set about having the time of my life. I trekked in the jungle to see the rare Indris, did a canopy climb, zip lined across the jungle, visited an Island teeming with Lemurs of all kinds and met some extremely cool British school teachers in the process. This park has to be one of the biggest highlights from the entire trip, and it fulfilled my main purpose for visiting Madagascar.

Having seen plenty of Lemurs, lizards, Geckos and beautiful birds I felt that I needed to check out of the coast of Madagascar. I had originally planned to visit Isle Sainte Marie off the east coast, but with the trip cut short because of the fire, I had to seek out some alternative plans.

The ladies teaching English in the small village on the edge of the park.

I headed east for Brickaville, a canal town built by the French 100 years ago as a transport hub along the east coast. 12 miles from Brickaville lies a beautiful lagoon village, which requires you to walk 4 miles in the jungle from the side of the high way in order to reach it. But the walk was definitely worth it, and the small village town of Manambato was one of the most beautiful seaside experiences I have had.

Brickaville, a lovely little town.

I, along with a French couple that made the journey with me were the only tourists in this entire town. Not a person to be seen, even with a beach so pristine, food so good, and rum so strong. This is one of those rare places in the world, where you wake up in the morning to have your petite dejeuner and watch the locals wash their clothes in the lagoons fresh water, and fish for their lunch right in front of you, where the children of the village play games on the beach, and come to say hello, with nothing to sell, and wanting nothing but to make your acquaintance.

I have not seen a place like this for years, not since the beach side village of Busua in Western Ghana.

Trekking to the beach.

I left the village, on foot heading for the highway to hopefully catch some transit back to Tana. I managed a hail a construction truck along the way that took me to Brickaville, from where I hitched on to another Taxi-brousse, and after leaving the beach at 10 am, I arrived in Tana 10 hours later at 8pm.

An amazing place in the world, the East Coast of Madagascar.

I spent my final night in Tana catching up with the outside world at a web-bar down the street from my hotel, had my final “Three Horses Beer”, the local staple and pondered my short, but incredible experience here in Madagascar.

What a time it was! And I cannot wait for the time in the future when I can go back and explore it further.

As for now, I am South Africa bound!

Vive le Madagascar!

William Delaney

Stranded in Nairobi.

Stranded in Nairobi

August 10^th 2013

The two ladies that helped turn this stranding into one heck of a party!

I remember as a child when things would go wrong, I would often get frustrated, I would pout, whine and complain, as children often do. I look back now at the way my parents responded, telling me to keep my chin up, keep working, and keep believing. God always has a plan, sometimes you just gotta trust him, and do whatever is within your power to reach your goal.

And right now here in Nairobi, I am digging as deep as I can to keep that optimism alive on day 5 of being stranded.

4 nights at a five star hotel, thanks Kenya Airways!

This all started when I awoke up at 3:30 in the morning in Moshi Tanzania on the 6^th of August. I transferred to the airport to catch my flight to Nairobi and onwards to Madagascar. However, at the airport the ticket attendant could not issue my boarding pass for Madagascar, it seemed strange, but it was a small airport and a different airline, so I thought little of it. I arrived in Nairobi an hour later, went to the Kenya airways desk to get my boarding pass for Madagascar and was sadly told that the flight had been overbooked. They would put me up in a hotel down town, and I would take a flight the next day.

I thought, well, worse things could happen and it is a five star hotel, with a pool, fine food and a great opportunity to relax after climbing Kilimanjaro.

Making moves in modern Kenya.

I went to bed that night very satisfied and excited about going to Madagascar the next day.

I woke up in the morning to go for breakfast and saw the lobby PACKED with people, suit cases and the feeling of chaos all around me. I went up to one of the attendants and said, “sir, what is going on?”, he responded, “Sir, I apologize, but the airport is on fire”. I was baffled at this…. WHAT???? HOW???? NO WAY!!!??

Then I looked at the TV, and BBC was playing the images of the fire, and the whole arrivals terminal where yesterday I had been stamped in on my transit VISA was being reduced to ashes.

I went had breakfast and started to evaluate my options.

What would I do? Will I even get to Madagascar? The government surely must do something!? This is millions of dollars at stake, and the 4^th largest air traffic hub in Africa down!

Karaoke night, Kenyan style. Well done up there Katie.

The breakfast was lovely, and gave me a bit of energy to start making some plans. I fired off a few emails to friends in Zimbabwe and South Africa, as if worst case scenario means I must go by land to Joburg, then so be it.

Then while searching my options my friend Amanda signed online. We had a little chat about the situation, and she being one of the most well-traveled young women I know reminded me, it is all about the journey, something good will come of this.

Making the most of this event!

Amanda, a big thanks to you, and I cannot wait for the day when we can adventure together.

My optimism came back! And whatever comes of this, I know it was meant to be! Africa has been one heck of an adventure so far.

I have crossed the sands of Sahara in search of the lost pyramids of Sudan, climbed the mountains of Ethiopia, visited one of the least known parts of Africa in Somaliland, road motor bikes around Kenyan national parks teaming with animals, fed baby Elephants, and climbed Africa’s highest peak.

With this dash of inspiration with me now, I called up two friends from the USA who are living here in Nairobi, Kelly and Katie. I explained to them my situation and we managed to arrange a gathering, rocking out some Tusker, singing the finest of Disney songs, drinking South African red wine and embracing the situation upon us.

6 am, trying to get into the terminal, no luck, back to the hotel.

The burnt down international arrivals terminal.

I got up the next day, now August 9^th, to try and hit up the airport and board a plane to Madagascar. What I got to see resembled more of the Titanic sinking and people scrambling for life boats. It was after 7 hours of waiting, confusion, disorganization and chaos I was ushered back to my hotel room, lol.

But then, it hit me, I could attend Katie’s going away party from Kenya, as she is now heading back to the US to finish her law degree. I messaged Katie, and she said, dress your best; we are going out in style tonight! I laughed to myself, as all my clothes smell like I just climbed a mountain.

All my flight changes, lol.

 The only clean shirt I have, a pair of jeans and hiking boots made me look like one of the agents from Zero Dark Thirty. This party enabled me to see a completely different side of Nairobi, a young hip crowd of educated Kenyans, living it up on a Friday night in a city that I have discovered has one of the best party scenes I have seen in Africa.

Kelly and I managed to get a taxi back to the hotel, said our goodbyes and now I sit in the “domestic terminal” of the Nairobi waiting to board my flight to Madagascar, hoping and praying it goes! One more step and I will finally be on the Grand Island I have dreamed about for so long.

I am truly thankful and grateful for all that this trip has brought to my life so far, and in many ways as awful as this disruption was, it was a blessing in disguise. I had a great time!

The improvised international terminal. MADAGASCAR BOUND!

Thanks very much to all those that made this stopover in Nairobi so awesome.

William Delaney

Conquering Kilimanjaro.

Conquering Kilimanjaro.

August 6^th 2013.

Moshi, Tanzania.

The snows of Kilimanjaro.

WOW! WE DID IT!

The last week has been and may remain as one of the most grueling tests of mental and physical endurance that I have undergone on my travels.

Now, I grew up in the coastal mountains that surround Vancouver, I currently live in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, I have climbed the Himalayas in Nepal and Pakistan, I have crossed the Alps, transversed the Caucasus Mountains of Russia and ran every day in the highlands of Ethiopia. Yet none of these experience could prepare me for this climb.

Crossing the border from Kenya by bus.

The motivation was clear, my students this year had to hear about it almost every day, I have been determined to climb this mountain, and the whole trip in Africa has been centred around making this happen.

When I arrived in Moshi, met my guide, met the group I would be joining, and heard of the odds of making it up I began to get a little discouraged. Many people had just returned from the climb at the hotel, and many had not made it to the summit, some had suffered from altitude sickness, others got injured, and many just simply lost the will to finish the climb.

Edging towards the top.

But much like my last blog entry about Nairobi, a little bit of optimism can go miles in this part of the world. I met an Australian gal named Tiana who had just climbed the mountain. I invited her for dinner, and she gave me her altitude medicine, gave me a few tips on how to make it up and we enjoyed some of the worst South African red wine in the process. But after this dinner I felt a bit better and I knew when she told me, “You will make it Will, I can tell”, she was being serious.

Day 1: Trekking in the jungle, getting poured on the entire day. Not the most fun, but my optimism was not broken. We climbed up to nearly 2800 Metres the first day to stay at the Mandara huts on the first night.

Pouring rain on day one.

Day 2: We emerged from the jungle into an area of shrubs, which had be effected by a recent forest fire that our guides explained was caused by villagers trying to clear land for farming further down the mountain, but went out of control. As we moved further away from the rain forest we caught our first glimpses of sunshine and then we saw it! THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO.

We made our camp at what we coined the “base camp” at Horombo, which sits roughly just above 3700 metres elevation.

A little bit of Austrian Schnapps to help with the climb.

Day 3: Acclimatization day. We did a short hike up to what the guides call “Zebra rock”, getting up to 4100 Metres elevation and building our lungs up to the challenge that would await us on day four. I have to say, taking this extra day to acclimatize was definitely the right call, and anyone thinking of taking on Kili, make sure you take this extra day, it is worth it in the end, I assure you.

Acclimatization day at Zebra rock.

Day 4: We made our way from Horombo to Kibo, the final camp before the summit, standing at over 4700 Metres high. By comparison, this camp is higher than Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania, and the 5^th in all of Africa. It took us five hours to walk the near 10 kilometres to Kibo, and here we rested in preparation for the summit attempt, which was to begin at 11:30pm!

OK, now we are getting serious!

Day 5: Awaking at 11:30 pm after a short post dinner nap, I crushed some tea, a few cookies, watched the Japanese man on the bunk above me throw up, and  then it hit me, it was time to go!

This was where the climb turned to PURE HELL! The middle of the night was cold, the water in the pack began to freeze, people began to falter all around us, from the cold, the altitude, the pain of climbing 1200 metres straight up in the air. The guides say that they do the ascent in the night so that people do not get demoralized by the scale of the climb in front of them.

Up top as the sun rises over Africa.

I just kept saying, “One more step, one more step”, and inched my way to the top!

I made it up to Gilman’s point at the top of the mountain where I got my first up close look at the snows of Kilimajaro, and from there I began to walk towards Uhuru point, the highest peak in Africa. From here I watched the sun rise on the horizon, staring out at one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen.

I edged my way to Uhuru, celebrated with some Austrian Schnapps, and then it suddenly hit me, I MADE IT!

The descent was fast and swift, and we made our way back to Horombo, where we all mutually agreed that this climb was something we were all proud of, but would not likely do again for a while.

The sleep that night was one of the best I have ever had!

The highest point in Africa.

Day 6: We ran down the mountain at record pace, a place that had taken us days to climb up, we descended in only hours. We boarded bus back to Moshi, had a ceremony for our certificates, proving to the outside world that YES INDEED, we did it!

I bought some Tanzanian red wine for the group to celebrate, and I have to say, it may not have been the finest Pinotage of South Africa, but it was the best glass of red wine I have had in months. Well deserved group!

I think I need a shower.

We took our guides out for dinner at the “Chagga Grill”, as our lead guide is from the Chagga tribe, drank every beer on offer, tried the local “cognac”, which actually tastes like gin and rung in the night in style!

Tanzanian wine to celebrate.

Cheers to us! Well done group!

I have just arrived in Nairobi after discovering my flight to Madagascar was overbooked, and here I sit at the Intercontinental hotel, dining on fine foods, having had a hot shower, and staring out my window at the concrete jungle that is Nairobi. It all seems so surreal that only two days ago I stood on the roof of Africa, freezing, smelling, hairy, exhausted, and here I am in the lap of luxury.

Africa truly is a land of contrast. And the trip ain’t over yet!

Congrats to our group to all those that helped make Kilimanjaro possible.

Sincerely,

William Delaney

Dominating Nairobi.

Dominating in Nairobi

July 30^th 2013

Nairobi, Kenya

Kissing the Giraffe, a step in the right direction.

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I figured to arrive in Nairobi and set out first thing in the morning for Tanzania to make preparations for my climb. But when arriving back at the hostel I came to the realization that it was only myself and an Australian lady named Emily. Naturally I had to invite her to join me for a beer as my day had been just so outstanding! Emily I discovered is a good sales-woman, and convinced me to go with her to an Elephant Orphanage and a Giraffe sanctuary. So I postponed the bus to Tanzania by a day and went out dominating with Emily.

Emily using her negotiation skills.

Emily and I, both travelling on a budget decided to take public transport to the Elephant orphanage where viewing was only between 11am-12pm. Naturally in fine African fashion we were VERY LATE, by that I mean nearly two hours late. Emily was needless to say, not very impressed, I kept telling her, look at the bright side, maybe, just maybe there is a way we can see these Elephants. 

We spoke to the guard and came to an “Arrangement” whereby we would “Pay him” as opposed to paying the park, and could come from the “private” viewing later on in the evening. We set off for the Giraffe sanctuary with a bit more optimism and hope than earlier and fed those Giraffes with everything we had!

Now that is a fine Aussie Lass!

After having lunch and kissing countless Giraffe, Emily and I still had a bit of time to kill before our “private” viewing of the young Elephants. We went next door from the Giraffe sanctuary to an old Manor, hoping to get a coffee and relax. We were informed that the Manor is a private estate, that acts as an old style hotel, where people pay up to a thousand dollars a night to stay in the finest of style in Kenya.

Thanks for the coffee Giles.

Once again though, our luck kept snowballing, and the manager, Giles came out and turned out to be the nicest guy we had met all day, in fact maybe in all of Kenya. Giles gave us a ride to the main shopping centre, bought us a cappuccino, discussed life living as an expat in Kenya and helped us find our way to the Elephant Orphanage. Emily and I were just astounded.

A orphaned blind Black Rhino, part of the Kenyan authorities effort to save their Rhinos.

We showed up at the Elephant Orphanage, made our “Arrangement”, and went about feeding baby Elephants, and embracing this fantastic project aimed at re-introducing these Orphan Elephants back into the wild.

Now that is one awesome parade.

Hungry little guys.

Emily getting involved in the feeding.

Emily and I returned back to our hostel in nothing but the finest of Nairobi traffic jams, crushed a couple beers to celebrate our incredible adventure and made our arrangements to go further afield, as she will head towards Ethiopia, and I shall go onwards to Tanzania.

The traffic jams of Nairobi.

This day just goes to show, if you keep your chin up, bring out some optimism, and just keep trying, it is truly amazing what can happen.

Emily, YOU ROCK! This was a great day in Kenya!

Now, it is time for me to go and climb a mountain.

Cheers,

William Delaney

Kickin it in Kenya!

Kickin it in Kenya!

July 29^th 2013

Naivasha, Kenya.

Simon spotting some wildlife on our improvised Motorbike Safari.

How does one sum up a week of glory? A week full of amazing people and places, a land that is calm and cool by night and bright by day. A land where fields full of roses cover the horizon. A land where lakes teem with Hippos and flamingo’s. A land where the hills and forests are full of Buffalo, Zebra, Kudu, Mpala, and Hyenas. A land that has cities that are alive with some of the best food and beer in Africa.

Chasing some warthogs.

Well that land is called KENYA!

Swimming with Hippos in Lake Naivasha.

After flying in on a miracle from Ethiopia, I arrived in the middle of the night to Nairobi, where I ventured on to Manyatta backpackers and proceeded to lay my head to rest. However, I was interrupted by the meeting of a fine Scotsmen, Simon Ramsay. We proceeded to drink Brandy into the wee hours of the night and plan an adventure to Naivasha, and so the plan for Kenya was hatched, that night over some of the finest brandy!

Simon and I explored central Nairobi, only a short hop from our hostel, where we sat and had some Nyama Choma (A sort of barbequed meat dish) and beer for the entire afternoon. We caught some pretty entertaining street side gigs and popped around town, getting our bearings about us before our adventure northwards.

Bustling streets of Nairobi.

The next morning, we rose and went about making our way to Lake Naivasha, a lake about 2 hours north of Nairobi, full of Hippos and offering some pretty great opportunities for camping.

Simon and I met some excellent characters, the likes of Sarah and Ellie, two English girls that would in turn join us for some fine gin martini’s and watch the Hippos role in. Just an awesome spot in the world, but for me it was at times a bit overwhelming, as I had not seen this many white people in weeks. It took a bit of adjusting, but I was back to my own culture in no time.

A fine crew I met in Kenya.

Sarah and Ellie left us to head North towards Mount Kenya, meanwhile Simon and I relaxed by the lake, recovering once again from one of the wildest nights I have had in Africa. That lake side air does one well just before a Kilimanjaro climb.

That evening while having dinner I heard a familiar accent from across the lodge, two gals from America it seemed, I just had to say hello. And it was there I met two of the coolest young women I have ever come across on my travels or ever at home, KELLY and KATIE. These gals invited to join them for a camp fire by the lake, where we drank tusker and sang every Disney song we could think of, meshing “North Americanism” with our African experiences. What a night, and what a place!

Camera experts.

The next day while Katie and Kelly went Kayaking, Simon and I rented motor bikes and rode over to Crater Lake National park. We drove between herds of Buffalo, Zebra, Giraffe and every Gazelle we could possibly think of. Spotting birds, worrying about big cats and photographing beautiful Flamingo’s. I have to say, it may be one of the coolest things I have done in Africa to date.

Those are some mean looking Buffs.

I returned to the camp, hitched a ride with Kelly and Katie back to Nairobi, singing the whole way back on the Mutatu, not to the acclaim of the locals, but it was all in good fun.

North Americanism in Kenya!

I figure here now back at the hostel that this opportunity to come to Kenya and meet such astonishingly awesome people was a blessing, and it just seems that this trip is snowballing into something special.

Thank you very much to all the new friends I made in Kenya.

And god bless those back at home.

William Delaney