S African Safari 1. Explained

I have always dreamed of going on safari in Africa, but believed it to be out of my reach: too far, too expensive, too difficult to arrange. Of course, I was thinking of the old idea of safaris that took the upperclass into the bush for weeks, taking with them all the trappings for a luxury camping trip. Most safaris are now more affordable, and easily booked online. Still, if it hadn't been for some friends planning a trip to South Africa for a safari over our spring break, I don't think I would have considered a budget 4 day safari. It didn't have a rustic appeal of Kenya or Tanzania, but I still believe if was the best option for us due to several factors, and  I would like to outline the advantages of this sort of safari for others, like me, who have always thought of an African safari as an unobtainable dream.

Getting there:   Johannesburg is a direct flight from Europe, or with a short stopover in Addis Ababa or Doha. We were even able to use our air miles to purchase flights, which made the whole trip even more affordable. Johannesburg has not much else going for it other than its proximity to Kruger National Park, which is roughly the size the nation of Israel.  Since the closing of the park due to COVID restrictions, the area has been hurting for tourism, and we found hotel prices very affordable. We could have checked into an airport hotel for a short nap and shower for $30, but we waited comfortably in one of the many restaurants and cafes at O R Tambo international airport. The safari had asked us to arrive early in order to be picked up at 9 am for our trip to Kruger, which took 6 hours with several stops for food and driver changes.   Originally, I had considered hiring a car at the airport and driving ourselves around. I know several others who did this, but out of Cape Town. I see now, that in order to see the Big 5 animals, you really need to book a tour safari that will take you to where the animals are, in a short amount of time. If we had more time, we could have driven around Kruger Park, but any animals we chanced to see would be far off in the bush. 

Game Drives: Our safari people offered transport to and from Jo'burg, accommodation, meals and game drives. These took place on private land where expert guides keep track of where the animals are. Recently there has been a move to remove all fences on private land that backs on to the national park, to allow animals to roam freely. The only exception are those game reserves for hunting purposes. Our drives took us across several private properties, but skirted the hunting zones. The first night we arrived at our lodge, we were taken out for a sunset game drive. There were 10 of us in an open sided jeep, bumping down dirt tracks, and off-roading through the grass. We immediately saw a lone male elephant, that ignored us and kept munching on leaves and branches. 

Then we started to see antelope which we wrongly identified as 'deer'.  The impala are the most prevalent, with their characteristic "M"  rear end markings, and the tiny slimbok are harder to see because of their size in the long grass. As the sun set we saw two giraffe, but our guide did not slow down or try to approach because he had just heard from another guide of the location of the lions. Sure enough, we encountered the pride lying down in the road, paying no heed to the several jeeps of tourists who were all trying to photograph them in the dying light. 

Accommodation:  The private lodges near the park give the experience of staying the night 'in the bush' due to the absence of fences to keep the animals out. There are monkeys always lurking in the trees ready to steal your breakfast or ransack your room. Impala and nyala antelope will wander poolside. The outdoor barbecue attracted two hyena which we picked out with our flashlights shining into the bush. The second night we were moved to even more rustic accommodation, advertised as 'tree houses'.  Due to their open sides, we had bugs, frogs, and rodents crawling around inside. Outside, along the pathways to and from the dining room, we saw giraffe and buffalo, while hearing the roars of lions nearby. 

Kruger National Park: Only one day did we travel into the park, where we had to follow the COVID guidelines of registering our name and temperature before entering. Here, our guide took us on a network of paved roads, occasionally stopping so we could watch groups of elephants, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and other antelope.  After a lunch stop we got a tip of where to find some lions, but they were lying down in the long grass quite a distance away and didn't really do much. The sheer size of the park, with its wide open landscape of bush and twisted trees, large groups of grazing animals and waterholes, birds and the occasional large beast on the road, makes the experience worthwhile. I hear that Kruger has more variety than other parks in S.Africa, but you won't get up close to them, like we did on private land.

I intend to write a series of blogs that look in more detail at our budget safari experience in South Africa, but I am convinced that we were fortunate enough to have a positive experience which is making us consider spending more time and money of another safari in the future!

To Stay or Go?

 This is a hard post to write.... and it may not make it to publication. I started teaching in the UK in 1987, and have been moving ever since. I have taught in ten American or International schools for sometimes less that a year, up to my longest stint of 8 years. So why keep moving? Why not stay in one job, in one home? There are several reasons:

It began by my tendency to be enamored with traveling and the expat life. Growing up, I admired my teachers' privilege of hopping from one international school to another, traveling the world and earning a living at the same time. I made that my goal, and took off to Brasilia as soon I was offered the job.  Looking back, I am surprised I left the UK.  I loved my job and probably would have been happy making a life for myself in Kent, but a part of me yearned for the international community I grew up in. It made me feel so sophisticated and independent. 

My first move was for better pay, for a better package. International schools vary greatly in what they offer their staff, and I was keen to make enough money to be financially independent and to be able to travel. I could not afford to be treated like a local hire without housing and a dollar based salary.

Then I met the love of my life, who just happened to live in another city and taught in another school. I moved so we could be together, and not have to make the 12 hour bus trip between Belo and Sao Paulo. Even before our marriage, I knew that this post would be short lived.  Jon was as keen as I was to travel and teach in other places, and was happy to have found a partner in crime. 

At this point I realized that a high salary is not always what makes for the best quality of life. Our first position as a couple was great for our bank account, but was definitely a hardship post. Our letters home from those early days in Bulgaria were full of adventurous setbacks that severely tried our capacity to cope in an Easter European nation where no one spoke English, there were shortages of everything, and no infrastructure.  After our first child was born, and we were down to running water only two days a week, we decided we needed an 'easier' place to live.

We were fortunate enough to secure teaching positions in the beautiful city of Rio, and I thought we would stay for many years.  But just when you think you are settled, with 3 kids and a sail boat, you start to yearn for a home of your own. I missed having my own house with my own things, and a quieter life surrounded by family. So we gave up our 'easy' life by the sea to take up residence in Minnesota.

Now Minnesota is cold, and flat, and jobs few and far between; but I loved our simple life in a small town surrounded by fields and the seasons.  I became a housewife and was truly happy for a time. Then financial concerns started to rear their ugly heads.  A teaching salary in the rural midwest just isn't enough for a family of five to live on. We were forced again to look for jobs overseas.

Then came our long stretch of 8 years in Kwajalein.  We were happy and truly settled. We loved our jobs and the children were happy. So why did we again feel the urge to move on?  We became complacent, and suddenly realized that life was passing us by.  There just might be some other school, in a place we have never heard of, that would give us a great opportunity to further our careers and travel some more. And with that goal, we took off to Europe, then Kuwait. Unfortunately neither of these places lived up to our expectations and we sorely regretted our decision to move on from Kwajalein.

There have been times when I have had to move because my job was cut, or altered to something outside my area of expertise.  But most of the time it was my decision to move on, looking for that dream job, that exotic location. At first it was easier to go.... now it has become so much harder to move on than it would be to stay.  I dread the job search, the rejections, the decision making, the packing up and selling possessions, the unsettled feeling of being homeless.

It might be time to call it a day, and put my still unfulfilled dreams to bed. I want to stay... 

Going Walkabout- Abuja, Nigeria

 

The hike to Dewaki hills on the outskirts of Abuja started at 7:00 am.  I imagine this was to beat the heat, but being the dry season, or winter, that wasn't a problem. The sun was barely up as we walked past the construction site being used to house cattle at night, and up the hillside. If I had been with my late father, I would have been on the look out for birds. As I grow older I am increasingly aware of my natural surroundings. I travel with only my phone in order to capture that rare sight, anything of interest that is new to me and might need further study.

Most of this area is new to me. Abuja lies in a flat savanna region of Nigeria, with outcrops of rounded igneous rocks left over from another age. These 'hills' provide interesting hikes to get out of the city and catch a glimpse of some wide open views.  Unfortunately harmattan has brought dust and haze, obscuring the views, and most of the bush is dry brown. A wild fire has passed through, scoring the land, but revealing the termite hillocks which are everywhere.  This made each find a pleasant surprise. 

There is an abundance of flowering cashew trees along the path. The delicate pink flowers will eventually grow into bulbous green fruit with an external nut. The nut is said to be poisonous, and only the fruit is edible at this point. How strange they look before they fill out, a huge nut hanging beneath a fleshy stem.

I catch a glimpse of a cluster of larger round fruit hanging from a plant with fuzzy leaf. A quick run of the picture through Google reveals it to be a giant variety of milkweed, often called Sodom's apple. There are stories galore of this 'apple' which is quite toxic and not at all edible. There is reference to this plant in the book of 2 Kings, where Elisha nearly poisons a group of prophets by adding it to the cooking pot.

The dusty ground is red in tint, due to the abundance of iron in the soil. There is also clumps of milky white and rose quartz strewn about. It is easy to see how these hills were formed.  All the ground around the rocky outcrops shows signs of erosion in the deep gulleys washed out by the last rainy season. 

The Lotus Bean tree fascinates me. This is a big tree whose flowers are pompom balls full of fluffy seeds. They appear during the dry season, which is winter, before the leaves come in. The individual seeds then mature into long broad bean pods that hang in clusters, or hands, from the end of the branches. 

Another tree was in bloom, with light creamy blossoms. I had to look this one up, and found it to be the Shea Butter tree. After the blossoms drop off a round green nut will grow in, which contains the material for shea butter. 

There were a large number of various seed pods strew around and hanging from the bare tree branches, as pretty as any flower. I started collecting them and filling my pockets, before I realized that most seed pods were much too big for my pocket. Although large in size, they are delicate and papery thin, with the seed lying between two sheets of cellulose... waiting for the next rain.

On the way down we passed several large trees in full leaf and some palms. A small dribble of water made a pool, a tell-tale sign that this is not a desert. The trees and shrubs are perfectly suited to this dry environment, and produce blossom, fruit and seeds. 

Once you start looking, you notice budding life everywhere.  A tree bare of leaves held bunches of berries that later turned out to be crow fig from the mulberry family.  I was not tempted to try eating one of the berries, as I am learning that toxins are a natural defense for these plants in the bush.

I saw another plant I recognized from gardens, the castor bean plant.  These beans, if ingested, are poisonous to humans. However, the castor oil has many usual applications, ethanol production for automobiles being just one.

I am in Africa, midway between the tropical forests to the south and the great Sahara in the north. This dry and parched land, in a few months, will receive more rain that it can absorb.  I marvel at the plants that have adapted to this harsh environment and continue to bloom.

Frosty End of Year Musings

 I hope this finds you looking forward to 2022 with hope. January starts tomorrow, a month named after Janus, the god of gates and doors. Janus had two faces in order to look forward and backwards at the same time. And as we move into the new year, we can't help but look back at last year and compare it with plans for the next. 

For me, 2021 started out with a total shut down in London and flight cancellations disrupting travel. School went back online, and I battled COVID throughout February and March. The summer hinted of normal times with family gatherings and nature walks in the great outdoors. In the fall school in Abuja continued as normal and we all appreciated the opportunity to travel for a week in October.  It wasn't until December that we started to feel the effects of the virus again.  Positive tests again disrupted travel, and we considered ourselves fortunate to make the trip to the subfreezing temperatures and warm celebrations in Minnesota. 

Plans for 2022 consist of a series of question marks. Will our travel plans go ahead as planned? How will the virus affect school this spring? Where will we be headed come June? There have been times when this indefinite future would crush me. However, I believe I am learning to live with uncertainty.  The trick is to see how events and plans stand relative to the bigger picture.

Another arctic freeze is blowing in to Minnesota. The world has turned white and frosty. With relatively mild temperatures, which means not too far below freezing, I decided to go for a walk in the winter wonderland.  The snow lacks color, but it provides contrast and emphasizes details of individual pine needles, twisting twigs, grasses and the tracks of each bird, rabbit and pet. And when the cold wind blows, each individual snowflake floats away. Ordinary objects are frosted and bedazzled. And the whiteness is all the more appealing seen through the windows of a warm kitchen.

I am not traveling on safari in South Africa, nor am I on a beach in the Seychelles. But I am with family, well fed and within reach of anything I might need.  Within days I will need to start navigating the COVID guidelines once again, and I expect to find delays and changes of plans. But I will take each setback one at a time, trying to find the silver (frosty) lining of each cloud. I can say, at last, " I am at peace."

COVID is a **** Nuisance

 

When the corona virus was first detected we hid at home and worried when the vaccine would come and let us out. With the COVID 19 vaccine, we had new worries: the anti-vaxxers and if the vaccine would protect us from the Delta variant. But most people's reaction to the Omicron variant is frustration.  

Our school went from distance learning, to a hybrid schedule allowing small groups of students on campus, to a total free for all. Not wanting to upset parents, the administration kept new cases concealed and assured everyone that a vaccine protected from exposure and masks prevented the spread of COVID.  Still, there was no real reason for inviting everyone back on campus for celebrations and sports events other than we had stopped believing in any harmful effects of the virus.

Omicron did throw a spanner in the works by affecting our travel plans for the Christmas break. Those planning a safari in Africa quickly changed their plans fearing they might get stranded when governments started banning flights in and out of certain countries. Nigeria was already on the banned country list (something that was reversed weeks later) and politics called for reverse banning of other countries into Nigeria. Most of the staff had decided to go home because, as one teacher explained, they can't prohibit a citizen from returning to their own country. Turns out, they can.

Both the US and Canada now require a negative test within 24 hours of departure on inbound flights.

This was nuisance #1: testing here in Abuja is expensive and can take anywhere up to 4 days before results are available. We have had to rebook flights and retake tests before, and it can make travel very stressful. Many of the staff were panic calling the clinic in order to get their results and make their flights.

Then the first positive test came in. We assumed it must be a mistake, there were no symptoms. But when the next 12 people tested positive, we accepted the fact that we would not be flying home. Nuisance #2: With severe symptoms like I have experienced before, I would not mind missing Christmas.  But the mild, almost nonexistent, symptoms of Omicron make our frustrated travel plans much harder to bear. 

So we sit in our apartment, bags still packed, no food in the refrigerator, and wonder how we will fill our days. I am not sick, but I'm told to stay indoors and cannot travel. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know we can't ignore COVID and hope it will go away. 

Happy Holidays? It will be a humble Christmas for me this year, not unlike that of the first one with a mother who couldn't get home and gave birth in a cattle shed.

Walking Tour of London

 

"The streets of London have their map; but our passions are uncharted. What are you going to meet if you turn this corner?” (Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room)

Part of this quote is displayed, word by word, in large letters in and around the streets near St Paul's Cathedral, inviting us to explore. I am not used to exploring London on a walking tour.  Attractions are fairly far apart, and with the changeable English weather, the underground is the easiest way to get around London.  There are several reasons you might want to tackle this walking tour:

You will see so much more of the Thames and London skyline. Look for good weather and put on good walking shoes. If you have already paid to enter the most famous sites, or want to keep outside to avoid COVID restrictions, you can see a lot for free on this tour. Personally, I was trying to avoid the £30 entrance fee!

I started at Rickmansworth station, which is on the Metropolitan line and bought an off-peak one-day travel card. That meant I had to leave after 9:30 am, but there was no limit on my return time. This gave me plenty of time to travel to Green Park underground station and walk across the Park towards Buckingham Palace before the changing of the guard. 

In June and July this is daily, but the rest of the year it occurs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays between 10:45am and 11:45am. It is a drawn out procession led by the Horse Guard and accompanied by a marching band.  I do suggest you get to the Palace about this time, as it is the main attraction, and otherwise the Palace is not much. Covid has not changed the ceremony, but you will find more barriers to contain the tourists into smaller areas and prevent you roaming back and forth to the Victoria Memorial. 

For this tour I chose to avoid Westminster Abbey, as I didn't have the time or money to do the mandatory tour. Instead I followed the lakeside path in St James Park to view the various birds and flower beds there. 

I arrived at the other end of the Park just in time to see the changing of

the Queen's Life Guard at the Horse Guard parade. Again, barricades were in place to keep the tourists at bay, but it was still possible to walk through archway without getting bitten or kicked by a horse. 

Walking south a short way brought me to the busy corner facing the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and the Westminster Bridge. This is a great place to grab a coffee and take in my first view of the Thames and the London Eye.  The London Eye appeared to be in operation, but the weather was perfect for a walk along the south bank of the river.  

Here I found a skatepark, galleries and several great places to eat outside. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is also right there, next to the Millennium Bridge. 

I planned to stop and view the exhibits at the Tate Modern, which is advertised as free with a ticket. Although I had booked and downloaded a ticket online, the gallery staff were not turning anyone away at the doors.  Some of the collections were off limits to non-members, and I don't recommend the coffee shop, but I was glad I finally made the visit. The eclectic displays have something for everyone... and its free.  I was hungry, but anxious to have something more than a packaged sandwich. 

The Borough Market is just around the corner, slightly hidden between a full size replica of the Golden Hind, a cathedral and railway lines.  I found lots to eat as well as fish and vegetable markets. Cheeses and fungi piled high next to busy pubs and toffee carts.  And all the time the

trains were running right over our heads. 

A pulled pork sandwich gave me the energy I needed to keep going. I crossed the river via the Millennium pedestrian bridge where there is a great view of Tower Bridge down the river. 

The crossing took me to the side of St Paul Cathedral which is clearly visible from miles away and across on the south bank.  I was tiring and looking for a place to sit and have a cup of tea. That is when I came across the large "what" and "are" letters on the pavement.  Around the front of St Pauls I found "you". While searching for a tea shop I found "going" and "meet".  I was reluctant to go home without finding the rest of the message on the streets of London, but I was just too tired to go on. I jumped on the fast train back to Rickmansworth and missed the "turn", "this" and "corner".  

My African Garden: Part 2

 

My last African garden blog was written before our summer break, when I had relinquished the reins of the school community garden to our HOS, and settled for a few pumpkin plants in an old bed.

Well, I arrived back in Abuja and snuck out of quarantine to take a look. The community garden was lush and full. True to his word, our HOS had picked out a variety of flowering shrubs and pretty annuals. I found moss rose, impatiens, coleus and marigolds. Others that I had to look up were Angelonia (snapdragon variety), globe amaranth (edible), jungle geranium, cockscomb and mussaenda (aka red flag bush).  I am sure quite a bit of money went into the purchasing of plants that will flower continually in

this environment and attract butterflies. 

My little beds, on the other hand, were overgrown with weeds, infested with snails, and the pumpkin plants were rotting away. My desire to make something on my own, without outside help, had backfired. The garden could not go 6 weeks unattended during the rainy season. 

I quickly pulled up all the weeds, relocated the snails, and planted some more seeds.  With a bit of luck I could resurrect the garden.

I was surprised to find my patio pots had produced a small pumpkin and two tomato plants while I was away.  I have a housekeeper who faithfully waters my pots, and the seeds must have been in the compost created from our kitchen scraps. This encouraged me seed some more pots with herbs, from seeds I had brought from the US.  I have tried this once before when living in the Marshall Islands, and failed due to the salt air. Only certain hardy plants would grow in that environment.

The first setback I found with this west African climate was the amount of rain/humidity. The tomatoes developed bottom end rot due to the calcium being washed away by the heavy rains. My herbs, such as rosemary and oregano, which like drier sandy soil, also struggled to grow to any size. 

The garden snails were attacking my beans, kale and corn. On closer inspection I found various other pests: caterpillars, grasshoppers and varieties of ants. I don't know which was responsible, but I would find anything I transplanted stripped bare of leaves the

next day.

In the beautiful community garden I was dealing with quite different issues. The plants were thriving and the beds were carefully tended by a full time gardener. But the teachers were questioning the whole design, which left little room for students to plant and grow their own plants. The HOS finally agreed to clear one bed, by putting the flowers into pots around the perimeter.  I ordered pots and dirt for this purpose but soon realized that this plan wouldn't work. The pots were far too small to sustain these shrubs that could easily grow into small trees. We finally compromised by replanting the shrubs into a border

outside the picket fence. The 1st grade was then able to plant their watermelon seeds between the anthills.

I have small victories, mainly due to luck rather than gardening expertise. My sunflowers are stunted, but flowering. I planted an early prolific straightneck squash that seems to be producing despite the snails.  The corn is stunted as well, looking like a dwarf variety. I have had great success with basil and mint, and have been able to give seedlings away to neighbors and friends.  I have ginger growing from root, and cuttings of basket plant and tradescantia that are taking over my veranda. 

I found some plant food in an unlikely corner of the grocery store and have been instrumental in the start of a small compost heap in the school grounds. Getting the HOS to agree to the compost was a feat in itself, but the daily contributions of kitchen scraps, paper and clippings from the grounds soon got out of hand. The site was starting to resemble a tip with cockroaches crawling over the trash. I shut the whole operation down after going through the piles and pulling out rubber gloves and plastic forks. 

On arriving here, I saw west Africa as a gardener's paradise, with rain and heat and sunshine. So much grows naturally and the streets are lined with nurseries selling all types of shrubs and trees.  Often, the green growth threatens to take over the city.  Every available yard is planted out with corn stalks and fruit trees...

....but it isn't only the plants that are thriving. The insects are alive and well, threatening to find and eat anything I put in the earth.  The rain not only waters the plants, but strips the earth of nutrients with its gully washers. Then when the dry season comes, the sun will bake what is left.  This is definitely a gardener's challenge.