So Africa is a wrap after 50 odd episodes. This episode sums up my epic journey overland across Africa by car, truck, bus, boat, train, bicycle, horse, camel, donkey and on foot. I travelled from the top to the bottom of Africa. Over that journey, I had the most incredible experiences with wildlife, immersed myself in amazing cultures and viewed stunning terrain. This journey changed my life in so many ways including: i) to take every opportunity to come my way, ii) to be so grateful for what I was experiencing and yet somehow always remaining safe, iii) to open my mind to the diversity everywhere in this world, iv) to seek a new career pathway through my discoveries and interests that arose in my travels, and v) to stop searching for my place in this world but find it is inside me all along. To celebrate competing my African stories, I created this episode as a video to listen and/or watch - including some of the photos and videos I took on my journey.
Has this journey aroused your interests to travel? I am also a travel coach. If you planning on a trip to Africa and are on the fence, just do it. If you need help planning, get in contact with me and we can plan that African experience you dream about. Safe travels!!
Videos in order:
1. Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, Kampersus, South Africa
2. Nungwi, Zanzibar
3. Mountain gorillas, Mikeno Volcano, Buhumba, Democratic Republic of Congo.
4. Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo
5. Congo River, Zaire
6. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
7. Nigerian wedding, Kano, Nigeria
8. Samburu ceremony, Timau, Kenya.
Music played in order;
Solitude, Sand Take me to the Lake, Punch Deck - Magheda, Ambient Bongos by Alexander Nakarada, Bumbumchack by Alwin Brauns, Tribal joy by Alexander Nakarada.
https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
In this episode I recount my period I spent volunteering at a game reserve in the Limpopo Province in eastern South Africa. It was at the Enkosini Eco Experience (https://www.enkosini.org/) at Makalali Game Reserve, near Hoedspruit. Here I was involved in monitoring studies of predators and herbivore numbers, movements and behaviours. I also took part in the elephant contraception program, where elephant herds are monitored and females are given contraceptives to slow the density of elephants in the reserve. While I was there, we were lucky to be involved in removing radio collars off three bull elephants. This required watching the vet dart the elephants from a helicopter and being part of the ground crew. The experience was an amazing experience of morning and night game drives, walking safaris and bush camps. One particular encounter with lions was especially memorable.
I was also able to visit the Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre and Jessica the hippo. While these have become tourist attractions, they do play a vital role in educating the public and rehabilitating wildlife back to the wild. In light of this, I discuss the merits of zoos with animals restricted in their movements.
Lastly, I dwell on the lessons I picked up volunteering, including the gratitude I felt in being able to enjoy this experience and being immersed in this African landscape teeming with wildlife. I finish with my telling of my respect for the wildlife I encountered and suggest we should consider showing respect to the animals through keeping noise to a minimum when we experience these wildlife encounters.
In this episode, I describe my last trip to South Africa to Port Elizabeth (now called Gqeberha) in 2007. I describe my mixed feelings as I board the plane from J'burg to Port Elizabeth alongside people handing in their rifles in a permanently-designated gun lane. I was attending an international conservation biology conference while finishing my Ph.D. However, at the same time there was a hunting competition and a large game auction happening at the same time in the region. Such conflicting agendas - conservation, hunting and game farming - all big money earners in their own right.
While I was within the district, I visited Addo Elephant National Park. The third largest park in RSA is famous for >600 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo and nearly 50 black rhino. The park has the title of being the only park to host the Big 7 after it has picked up neighbouring marine reserves that also have whales and great white sharks and two islands of St Croix Island and Bird Island that houses penguins, seals and many Cape gannets and crowned cormorants. It is also famous for the largest population of wingless dung beetle (Circellium bachuss) that has an important ecological relationship between itself and the elephants - moving the incredible amounts of elephant dung deposited by over 600 individuals back into the soil along with accompanied seeds that have survived an elephant's intestinal tract. The dung beetles have a right of way in this park.
I found the region very pleasant with a the level of safety being much better than the bigger cities of Johannesburg and cape Town. Besides the conflicting areas of interest, this area is a definite place to visit on a trip to South Africa.
In this latest episode of my podcast, I discuss my journey back to Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. It was five years since apartheid ended and four years since my last visit, and South Africa had completely changed as the sanctions had been lifted and now the big commercial chains had moved into the country. I stayed with a Zulu friend, visiting the infamous Soweto township in J’burg and then went to Empangani near Richards Bay in Natal. We visited the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and Thanda Safari – Big 5 Game Reserve, where I enjoyed showing my daughter the African wildlife.
I also visited the Islandlwana and Rorke’s Drift battlefields which were major events in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. Islandlwana is famous for the first major loss the British suffered by an Indigenous tribe. Around 20,000 fighting warriors were able to sneak up close to the British camp and wipe out the camp even though the British had superior weaponry and the Zulu mostly only had their assegai (short stabbing spears) and a cowhide shield. Rorke’s Drift is famous for a handful of men holding off a Zulu attack. Eleven Victoria Cross medals were awarded for this one battle. Between 3000 and 4000 Zulu attacked 150 soldiers and injured left at the hospital and barracks. While there is a museum at Rorke’s Drift celebrating that British win, there is little evidence of a major battle was held at Islandlwana except a small memorial and some stone cairns.
When visiting places, it is always good to ensure you hear and understand the history from all perspectives so you receive a balanced view of events, and not be coloured by any inherent bias.
In this episode, I travel to Vic Falls in Zimbabwe and explore the gorge on the ground and in the air. It was an awe-inspiring example of the power of nature watching the sheer volume of water dropping off from the Zambezi River into the gorge. I enjoyed the 15-min helicopter ride over the falls to view the ‘smoke that thunders’. It was short but it gave me an idea of the sheer scale of the falls through this crack in the plateau. It made me consider what the explorer Livingstone thought when he came across the falls.
We then travelled south to Hwange National Park to observe large herds of elephants and then continued to Bulawayo, where we saw some great tribal dancing along with artistic examples of traditional costumes and masks. We also visited Matobo National Park to marvel at the unique rock formations, view the 2000-yeat-old rock paintings and visit the famous colonist Cecil Rhodes gravesite. I finish the episode discussing the ramifications of colonialism including my thoughts on its recent bearings of global issues and dealing with discrimination.
Today is International Women’s Day so I thought I would celebrate it by publishing this episode on ‘Travelling solo as a woman’. If you have been following my podcast, you would know I have done a lot of travelling as a sole traveller, including in areas off the regular tourist path through many countries and across continents. Travelling solo as a woman exposed me to some extraordinary experiences with different cultures and situations. However, being on my own also meant I had to take extra precautions and always be aware of my surroundings. In this episode, I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of travelling solo. I also give you 15 tips to help make your first or next solo travel journey be a wonderful experience. I focus on women with it being International Women's Day. However, these tips are just as relevant to men travelling alone although potentially the risk is lower. Provided you take some care and do your prior research and follow these tips, the world is yours to explore. Enjoy the journey, and if you want to hear some of the stories I mention, go back to the relevant episodes.
Photo: Author on a camel near the pyramids at Giza, Egypt (Episode 2).
In this episode, I continue on this short overland trip from Namibia into Botswana. We travel up to Maun and spend the next two days in Okavango Delta. Okavango Delta is two-million hectares forming an inland delta of the Okavango River in northern Botswana. it is fed by seasonal flooding from rainfall from the Angolan Highlands. The water levels drop by transpiration and evaporation and, therefore, the delta experiences wet and dry seasons along with wet and dry years. The delta is made up of lagoons and deep channels, surrounded by grassland and forested islands. The delta attracts a wide variety of wildlife, including the big five game animals and hippos, antelopes and many bird species. We spent our time being poled through the deep channels on mokoros (dug-out canoes), where I expected to meet head-on with a hippo at any moment. We also did a walking safari on one of the islands and disturbed an unusually flighty herd of elephants.
We continued towards Zimbabwe and stopped at Kasane and visited Chobi River National Park on the Chobi River of course. The Chobe River is the border between Botswana and Namibia. It is a stunning grassland with the river being wide and deep. Chobi is famous for its beautiful sunsets with large elephant herds drinking or bathing the water in the foreground. We viewed the wildlife along the water's edge on boats as a sunset cruise. There were also lots of buffaloes, hippos and different species of antelope. It was definitely a special place to visit.
In this episode I start my last whirlwind trip of the last countries I had not visited before leaving Africa. This episode describes my epic journey through Namibia. It is a land of incredible beauty, extreme weather and environment, and colourful landscapes.
In this trip I join an overland tour to visit Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We travel through the Kalahari Desert, admiring the desert wildlife and unique vegetation, including the quiver tree and the 2000-year-old welwitschia plants. We visit an old diamond mining ghost town and trek to the bottom of Fish River Canyon a 165-km long and 550 m deep canyon to swim in the cool dark pools at the bottom. I relate my experience at the incredible Sossusvlei area, the tallest sand dunes in the world at 350 m, and describe my arduous climb up the tallest dune 'Big Daddy', where you take one step up and slide two steps back in the loose sand. My heart was thudding so hard in my chest by the time I was 3/4 the way up, making me question again the wisdom of my actions at 6.5 months pregnant. However, I made it to the top and the views were well worth it. We finished the exploration of Namibia through a stay at Windhoek, the capital of the country. I explored the city admiring the German influence in many of its buildings and the nostalgia of ordering the German beer and food in its many restaurants.
Land of the Brave is the national anthem of Namibia.
Photos: View from the top of Big Daddy sand dune at Sossusvlei, Fish River Canyon and a family of cheetahs in the Kalahari Desert. Source: JMurray Pentax Z10, Rudi Bosbouer (FRC).
This episode continues my journey from Johannesburg to Cape Town, where I drop some horses off at the animal quarantine centre at Sanddrift on their way to France. I am then left with a few days to explore the region. I get the privilege of staying at a beautiful manor house with English gardens in Constantia, family of a woman that had a horse at the J'burg stables I managed. I visited the Cape Town pier and caught a harbour cruise, admiring the cape fur seals lounging around the harbour. I borrowed a car and drove down to the Cape of Good Hope and did the walk to the light house, admiring the view of the many peaks of the Cape Range along with the cloud and looking out to the challenging seas where the next place far away is Antarctica. I saw a few antelope and baboons along the way. I stopped off overnight at Boulders Beach on the way back to experience the jackass penguin colony. They are called "jackass" for a reason (their braying was deafening) and I did not get much sleep that night.
I also decided to go up and see the fabled Table Mountain. There is a cable car so I travelled up to the summit on it. However, being 6 months pregnant, it made me feel nauseous and so I decided I could not take it back down. I saw a sign and decided to trek down the mountain instead. It was 3 pm and the sign said two hours so I was sure I would make it. I did not realise the two hours just meant walking the circuit of the top of the mountain.
I ended up on a track past Maclear's Beacon to Breakfast Rock and then down into Skeleton Gorge. It was getting darker and I was unprepared. I lost the track and I ended up clambering down the rocks on the cascading waterfall and leaping from boulder to boulder. Somehow my new "Caterpillar" hiking boots managed to keep me solid on the slippery rocks as I scrambled down. There was nobody else on the trail. I was worried as I knew if it got dark, it would have been too dangerous to continue. I would have to stop and stay the night up there. I imagined leopards but also I did not want to worry my hosts where I was staying. And nobody knew I was pregnant. Somehow by sheer luck and determination I arrived at the bottom at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens just as the last light was fading. I found out later this track was around a 5-hour trek and many people have lost their way and fallen off and died on the trail - hence the name. Even today when I look up the walk, there are still deaths in most years even though they have added some ladders and chains to some of the rock scrambles.
On self-reflection of this part of my journey, I am yet again amazed that I survived another endurance feat with the added complication and weight of being six months pregnant. We do crazy things when we are young but this would have been one of my craziest. As I am currently in my 50's and nursing ankle injuries, I think besides the boots, how solid was my body, especially my legs and ankles to be able to withstand some of the situations I constantly faced. I look at the younger generations today lounging on couches and binge-watching shows while they waste away their youthful and supple bodies and lose these opportunities. Get out and enjoy the amazing world we live in!
Cape Town is a beautiful city surrounded by beautiful terrain and much safer than Johannesburg (although you still have to be cautious especially at night). It is well worth a visit although I suggest if you want to do a Table Mountain walk, go prepared and start early morning so you have the time. You should also not hike alone. Maybe I should listen to my own advice. :-)
Photo: View looking back up Cape Range from the Point of Good Hope. Source: JMurray, Pentax Z-10.
In this episode I share some vulnerability as I talk about a personal dilemma I had to face at this time in my journey. I question my pathway in life and relate my emotional rollercoaster I endured after discovering I was pregnant in South Africa with no one around me for support. I go through self judgement, denial and fear as I consider my dilemma in a country just emerging from apartheid, and people still had their views and morals embedded inside them from childhood. How do I make decisions in such a challenging environment?
I reflect on my life as a solo traveller and consider the downside of travelling for extended periods - that is of loneliness as you meet many people but you are always saying goodbye, or just not fitting in as a tourist, an expat or as a local. I discuss my endless search for my niche as I travelled from country to country having an amazing time but still continually searching as something was missing. I had to decide whether to go to France, stay in Africa of which I had fallen in love with the continent and its terrain, its wildlife and its people, or to return home after seven years of travel. I also had a very pressing timeline to make that decision.......
I reflect on sometimes it is not for what we search but it is who. Sometimes the seemingly biggest calamity in your life ends up being your biggest blessing. Never knock back opportunities as you never know what doors will open and what pathways will be revealed.
In this episode I take a break from my travel stories and discuss the issues associated with travelling during the covid-19 pandemic. I discuss the requirements for entering most countries when travelling internationally - proof of vaccination and a recent negative covid test. I give my views on the controversial vaccination as a scientist and compare it with other global pandemics in history. I also give my travel tips on staying safe while travelling during covid as well as some of the pitfalls to be prepared for, such as sudden lockdowns and border closures and forced quarantines if exposed.
With careful planning, practicing safe measures and becoming vaccinated, it is possible to enjoy travel again as we enter this new era of global travel.
Photo: Covid-19 - Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash
This episode recaps my arrival into South Africa from Mozambique. I get dropped off at the first big town Barberton over the border (I mention it was Komatipoort in the episode but I was incorrect) and am overwhelmed when I step into a supermarket and see wall to wall of overstocked shelves after 18 months of experiencing countries where they were lucky to have three items on a shelf. This was especially mind-blowing when the memories of a week ago when I had run out of food in Mozambique were still very fresh and raw.
Within a week, I had managed to go from no money, food or water in a neighbouring country to having a job as a stable manager at the beautiful Hartfield Stables, near Diesploot, Midrand in Johannesburg. It felt a bit surreal. I describe how my daily life changed looking after and riding the horses and managing the staff. On my days off I only felt safe driving to Fourways Mall and parking my buccy (a utility) under security and watching a movie. I recall the time I had to get ambulance to the farm at night for a nearby stabbing and I sat like a sitting duck at the crossroads waiting for them to turn up and noticing they carried guns. Car hijacking is a major crime in South Africa and we lived close to a township with local shabeens. The only time I felt safe to park and go explore the surrounds was when I set off by car to Blyde River Canyon in the northern end of the Drakensberg range and I camped with the safety of the stable dog. I also visited God's Window, the Three Rondavels and Bourke's Luck Potholes and marvelled at the sheer beauty of the rock formations and vistas.
My lessons include reflecting on my reaction to South Africa entering early 1995 when it was just coming out of the apartheid era and election riots were still occurring, especially in KwaZulu-Natal province. I had traversed the length of Africa wandering off in the middle of the night to drum beats, hitchhiking where needed, turning up in bizarre situations and experiencing so many amazing events, especially as a solo traveller.......but in South Africa I could not do it. I was not brave enough. I either thought my luck had been too good, or my intuition just warned me not to do it.
I also reflect on my reaction to entering a fully-stocked supermarket after such a long period of living only on essentials and what was the only fare available through each country. I was shocked at the excess and the stark contrast between a rich and a poor African country. We may have only experienced shortages recently in the western world as a result of panic buying in covid. But this is reality to many poor countries and it is amazing how simple it is to live when you are not spoilt for choice and you discover it is just over-indulgence.
Photo: The Three Rondavels viewpoint at Blyde River Canyon, Drakensburg. Source: J.Murray
This episode recounts my journey through Mozambique with my South African friend, Errol. We left Cape Maclear in Malawi and travelled south into Mozambique. Little did I know realise I was entering a frontier land.
Mozambique gained independence from over four centuries of Portuguese rule in 1975, then descended into a civil war from 1977-1992. Over a million people were killed between the two warring parties and five million displaced, with forced marches and child soldiers, and destroyed infrastructure across the rural region. The war ended with the collapse of Soviet and South African support with peace talks ending in the Rome General Peace Accords. The United Nations spent the next two years helping to rebuild the country.
We arrived in the country as the UN was pulling out. We travelled down to Beira and then along the coastline down to Maputo. During that time, we passed impoverished rural villages scraping a living on their farmland, and old derelict Portuguese buildings with no windows and bullet holes in the walls. We grabbed a lift with a guy who was tasked to find the remaining land mines buried in the countryside. He was slightly crazy but who wouldn't be with a job like that. I had noticed quite a few maimed people, mostly missing some of their leg. It was a sobering reality check of the realities of war.
At Vinancular, we went over on a boat to one of the islands close by, Magarque or Benguerra. When we tried to land, we were chased off by security guards and told it was a private island. However, we slipped away and moved to the other side of the island where we spent a couple hours of bliss. It made me wonder how these beautiful islands were not developed being so close to South Africa.
At Xai Xai (pronounced shi, shi) we went to a campground right off the beach and backed by dunes. The first few days spent here were wonderful. We celebrated my birthday with a couple of South African lads on a weekender and a huge yellow-finned tuna caught by Errol, stuffed with vegetables and cooked on the coals. It was delicious. Errol left to do some business in Maputo for a few days. I had enough food and money to last that time. Unfortunately, Errol was away for ten days. I ran out of money and food. I remember living on a small baguette a day until I could not even buy that. I had to choose between food and water so I ended up just drinking the local water out of the tap (something that is not advised to do at any time). I was feeling sick for quite awhile. I thought I first had malaria and took anti-malaria medication to stop it. Then I felt the lack of food and drinking the local water was the reasoning for being sick. But it did not go away.
I started looking around for how I was going to get out of my pickle. I could not leave as I had no money to pay for the camping. I thought of selling my camera. I had now run out of money to buy bread. At the local bar, some South Africans who lived there offered to smuggle me out on a boat at night. I felt uneasy with these people and did not trust them. I did not want to have to put my life in their hands but I was running out of options. Just when I thought I would have to escape with these others, Errol returned. I was so happy. Errol really was a saviour. We left the campsite and travelled to Maputo, where he found a lift for me into South Africa. But that is another story...
My lessons through Mozambique were immeasurable. Just going through Mozambique in the aftermath of a civil war was a sobering experience. Seeing the bullet holes everywhere, the maimed locals from land mines and the empty derelict buildings with a non-existent banking economy except for the blackmarket, was an eye-opener. My experience at Xai Xai was some of my lowest days feeling uncertain and desperate. Yet I somehow survived unscathed.
This episode continues the story of my travels through Malawi. I left off from last episode being stuck at the capital Lilongwe, where I spent a day in the bank trying to getting money wired from Australia. This was the days before internet so they relied on phones. It was explained to me that the bank had to make a call to the old capital, Blantyre, to South Africa and finally to Australia. They could not make that first call from Lilongwe to Blantyre so I was kicked out of the bank at the end of the day with no money and facing a weekend and Christmas in a very bad way.
A South African man, supposedly a diamond smuggler, came to my rescue and whisked me off down to Cape Maclear on the beautiful Lake Malawi (the longest freshwater lake in the world) to spend Christmas and New Year (1995) there. Cape Maclear was a fishing village but was used to South Africans and intrepid travellers coming to stay. The waters were beautiful and clear and it was like swimming in an aquarium as this lake is one of the Great Rift Lakes where African cichlids originate. I fell in love with the boldness of the cichlids and in later life kept a cichlid tank for many years. I spent the days swimming and snorkelling and did attempt a dive, but I panicked.
In the interim, I still had no money and had the South African guy, Errol, pursuing me around the area. I escaped in a dugout canoe across to the closest island, Domwe Island. At the time this island was uninhabited and had no development. The only activity would be fishermen landing at the small beach to cook their meal before heading out to a night of fishing. I spent three blissful days here swimming with the cichlids and watching the African fish eagles do amazing stunts overhead as they locked talons mid-flight in territorial displays and caught fish from the lake right in front of me. There were also blue or samango monkeys on the island that would come down to watch and play in the trees above.
This period in my travels, when money became an issue and I lost my independence when I had to rely on someone else, was a difficult time. It was the first time I felt uncertainty and a feeling of being trapped and I had no control of my destination. It was the first time I had started to stop just going with the flow and reacting to each situation or opportunity that was presented to me. I started to look within myself, a task I had been avoiding, to start thinking what I really wanted and who I really was. It is amazing that sometimes when everything you take for granted is taken from you, as a Westerner, it makes you start questioning yourself.
In this episode I leave Zanzibar and head to the Malawian border by boat, train, minivan and bicycle. There was a "no man's land" between Tanzania and Malawi of which you could walk or be "doubled" on a bike riding on the centre bar while the cyclist pedalled to the other side of Songwe River and the Malawian border post. I chose the cycle with another cyclist carrying my backpack.
At the border post I was very short on funds and the border officer asked to see my money, the first time I had ever been asked. I was very nervous as I showed him by equivalent of $20 in local currency. He stared at me for awhile then suggested "I better hurry to get to the bank before it closed". I did not argue and was out of there as quick as I could. I got a lift with a truck driver to Chitimba on the shore of Lake Malawi. I stayed at a campsite owned by the driver who had abandoned us when the overland truck lost its brakes and crashed in West Africa (see Episode 13 for that story). However, while we reminisced about West Africa, the conversation was a bit strained.
I then travelled to Livingstonia, an old missionary station on the highlands named after Dr Livingstone, a British explorer. It was founded by Dr Robert Laws, a disciple of David Livingstone after his third attempt to get away from the malarial zone down by the lake shores. I mention what I was told that this is where Stanley found Livingstone and said the famous saying "Dr Livingstone I presume?" However, this is not quite the case as that happened close by in Tanzania. However, Livingstonia, or Kondowe as it is called locally, was beautiful with the old colonial buildings and the views to the lake. See `https://www.malawitourism.com/regions/north-malawi/livingstonia-mission/ to read about the history of the mission.
I left Livingstonia and travelled to Llongwe, the capital of Malawi. While out wandering the town, I came across a political rally as protests from the May elections. The crowd was starting to get restless and build themselves into a frenzy so it was time to get out of there. I noticed how intense it was and how people could change within the mob atmosphere. It reminded me of when I saw a young lad being chased by a mob through the markets after being accused of being a thief. They nearly caught him but he managed to escape over a fence but not before a bit of rough handling. It made me realise that you should never yell out "thief" in Africa for the small amounts they steal as the people will chase and seriously injure or even kill someone when they catch them with the mob mentality, and it is not worth someone's life. `
I also reflect on my close brush with getting stuck at a border post. I could easily have been kept there as I did not have enough money to support myself. However, I just went with the flow, and things just turned out. Somehow I got out of that border post and picked up a lift as well. My positive outlook pulled me through yet again. I found it always allows you to see your way.
The black market money-convertors were also a common occurrence to negotiate through any of the African border crossings. Even though it was illegal, they seemed to be tolerated as they exchanged money in the open. The rate was often better than the banks and you did not have to pay commission. Regardless, you had to be careful and keep your wits about you, know the exchange rate and what the new currency was worth, and it was an easy deal. Sometimes, even the banks dealt with and passed on counterfeit money so you had to be careful. However, this is all part of the challenge and adventure of overland travel.
Photo: Old stone building that housed the missionaries, Livingstonia, Malawi (1994). Source: J Murray
This next episode is a wonderful interview with an amazing person Lungi Mchunu from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lungi is a sailor, a polar explorer, and a climate change activist. She was the first African female to sail to the Artic. What started out as a dare has led her to endless possibilities and to her personal legend. She has battled fear, pushed past her limiting beliefs and social conditioning, hitched a ride to the ends of the earth, came face to face with death yet she’s still filled with love, enthusiasm, and determination to continue her climate change advocacy and highlighting the importance of the polar regions to the rest of the planet.
I met Lungi as part of the amazing women’s global leadership program for women in STEMM, named Homeward Bound (www.homewardboundprojects.org ), that both of us were lucky to be chosen to participate. The program ends with a journey to Antarctica to find ourselves while seeing first-hand the effects of climate change. Covid has postponed our trip but I hope to meet this amazing Lungi in person either on the ship to Antarctica or around a campfire somewhere on this planet.
In this episode, Lungi tells us about her time when she joined a sailing expedition to the Artic, losing herself in the beauty of the Norwegian fjords, and including the time where she had to be winched to safety onto a helicopter and camping at Svalbard when an Artic storm hit for a week and she saw was surrounded by walls of sea water.
She’s currently working towards completing her Pole-to-Pole ambitions with her training commencing with the Arctic Circle trail in Greenland during the peak of winter in 2021 and sailing around the world solo in the next edition of the Vendee Globe.
Lungi expressed some great inspirational one-liners during the interview:
· What would you do if you are not afraid?
· There is no such thing as being cold, just wrong clothes!
· Find your limit and go beyond it.
· You go out to these crazy places, only to turn inward…….
· The world has some ways of opening you up.
· Do whatever makes your heart skip a beat.
And not to forget a saying by Lungi’s mother – When a child is born, their hands are closed in a fist with all their blessings and talent and then they open their hands. Then they spend the rest of their life finding it again.
It was a such a wonderful time spent with Lungi. I leant so much about exploring a realm I do not normally think about – the ocean. From learning you must give a lock of hair to King Neptune as you sail across the equator to not letting limiting beliefs stop your dreams.
I hope you enjoy this interview.
You can follow Lungi on @Lungisails on IG and Facebook.
This episode is again based in Nungwi in northern Zanzibar. I spent six weeks lazing at this idyllic spot wandering over the white sands and through the village and helping the women fish. I narrate the cultural events I witnessed while staying in this small fishing village over four consecutive weekends. This includes 1) a soccer match between two villages, 2) a visit from a Muslim child prophet, 3) a disco with associated ghetto blaster , and 4) witch doctors working on a cursed woman.
Zanzibar has been exposed to many cultures for the last two thousand years with known trading routes and external influence between the 16th and 19th century. This includes the Arab countries bringing Islam, the Portuguese and other Europeans, India and Persia.
I was blown away by the ease this village adopted cultural practices but still retained their traditions and belief systems as part of a melting pot of cultural diversity represented in one small population. With the pressure applied to this village later on with increased tourism expansion, I wonder if this plasticity has been lost or whether they have adopted new customs and lost others. These events that I witnessed will never be repeated again. I am so glad I got the opportunity to witness these amazing events. Once again, tourism leaves its mark.
Photo: Tanzanian witch doctor. Source - medicalaid.org
In this episode I introduce you to one of my favourite places in all of Africa - Nungwi on the northern tip of Zanzibar. This was "Paradise" - a small fishing village with limited tourist exposure with strong traditional and Muslim ties. At the time it was difficult to get there, 85 kms of rough potholed roads that took hours to arrive. Therefore, not many tourists arrived. The men of the village were fishermen and boat builders, sailing their dhows during the night and landing their catch in the mornings. The women fished themselves in the shallows using nets, noise and teamwork.
I spent six weeks at this village camping in my tent, lazing on the hammock and strolling along the white sand gazing out at the crystal blue water. Initially I spent time with a German girl also travelling solo but she had to leave after a few days. So I spent the time there alone watching the activities in this village and even joining in with the women in their effort to catch the small sardines with their nets and beating pots. The sunsets were some of the best I have ever seen. It was often made even better as you lay on the hammock, listening to the lapping waves and watching in the foreground of stunning colours, the fishermen raising the sails on the fishing dhows ready for a night of work.
Sometimes I would stroll up the beach, away from the village and sunbake. Often I had a group of village children trailing behind. At one stage a young girl asked me why I was sunbaking and it really made me consider the purpose and why women, and even some men, change the way they look to reach a prescribed beauty when really we should be happy in our own skin. The thought were so profound that I have never sunbaked again.
I discuss how Nungwi has changed from my initial shock seeing some tourists turn up scantly clad in a primarily Muslim population and showing no respect for the culture......to current day when the hordes of tourists have found out about Nungwi and it is now covered with huge resorts from the big hotel chains and it seems the occupations are ferrying tourists around on boats or working in the hotels to cater for their needs.
Is it progress or loss? Have they lost their culture in improving the village economy? And are they now immune to the way westerners disrespect other cultures and display their body for all to see. I am so glad I saw Nungwi when I did - a special place!
Photo: Fishing dhows getting ready to set sail J.Murray Pentax Z-10 200mm Sigma lens.
This episode describes the journey to Zanzibar and my time in the old stone town. The stone town is rich in history: 1) it was a slave port where slaves were captured on the African mainland and shipped via dhows over to the island. Here they were sold at auction and then transported to different destinations across the seas. ii) it was regarded as the spice island with a big trade in pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and coconuts, as well as a large ivory trade. iii) Because of its position, it has had a strong Arab, Persian, European, Indian and African influence over time, especially with the Arab and Portuguese influence on its architecture. The old fort was built by the Arabs to house the garrison and also used as a prison.
I spent three weeks in Stone Town learning Swahili and exploring the labyrinth of alleys surrounding the old buildings. The large stone buildings often had elaboratively carved and massive teak and mahogany doors that flung open in the afternoon after siesta to reveal shops. This was occasionally interspersed with a mosque or another official building. At night the waterfront would come alive with markets and all sorts of meat and seafood was grilled on sticks along with chapatis and mandazis. It was a wonderful place to immerse myself in culture, people watch and soak up the historic feel to the place.
During my time there, I saved a kitten from certain death. I discuss the merits of saving the kitten from an act of cruelty.
Photo by FlightTravels
In this episode, I recap my incredible journey to Ngorongoro Crater, on the edge of the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. I could not afford to pay for a safari as none went just to the crater but added at least two days in the Serengeti and charged hundreds of dollars. So I decided to catch buses and hitchhike. I must admit I did not put much thought into the planning, just the direction. I spent two days first in Arusha, where I went into the hills to see the Tanzanian Maasai. The reception was a bit frosty so I retreated and continued on my way.
I had to change buses at Karatu. I remember being told the bus had already been for the day and I had to find a hotel until tomorrow. I did not feel safe, so I stayed at the bus stop and the bus showed 30 minutes later. The bus trip was a memorable experience from the initial experience climbing over all the seats of a packed bus to my bought seat for the price of a beer, and finding the window covered in dried blood and the two Maasai sitting next to me staring with clubs in their hands, to a wonderful feeling of comradeship while they sang songs around me. When the bus broke down at the park gate, I had another stroke of luck and was offered a seat with a private safari company. I spent a day and two nights with them exploring the crater and camping on the rim, then they left me on the side of the road when they headed off to the Serengeti.
After waiting for awhile with about ten other people, a matatu showed up. There was a mad scramble and the matatu was full and I was left alone on the side of the road. I started to get a bit concerned as here I was standing in a national park with no fences and there were lions, elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, and lots more. I had no protection, no weapon and was completely vulnerable. I was pondering what to do for quite awhile, including whether I should climb a tree, when a tip truck turned up and offered me a ride. I gratefully scrambled into the back and was whisked out of the park and out of danger to where I could catch the buses back to Nairobi.
The lessons here are that I would not have had any of these experiences if I had meticulously planned my trip to the last detail, or if I had allowed a limiting beliefs that I could not afford the trip to stop me going to this amazing place. I had the will to see the area and to just do it, and things just seemed to come together and worked for me. Sometimes just going with the flow with no plans is so rewarding. Certainly there were huge risks with what I did. There are risks with everything in life. But I still listened to my intuition, including staying at the bus stop when I was told I had missed the bus and accepting the seats I were offered in the bus and the land rover without hesitation as they felt right.
It is good to plan, whether you are travelling or just on life's journey, but always leave that wriggle room so you can grab opportunities that show up and just go with the flow. I live by that and it has never seen me wrong.
Photo: Wildebeest on the crater floor, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Source: Justine Murray using a Pentax z-10 and a Sigma 75 - 200 mm lens.