If you still have some outstanding gifts to buy and all the holiday makers, tinsel and Jingle Bells are freaking you out, so that you cannot think properly, I have some quick and easy travel gift ideas for you – and no you do not have to spent a fortune to impress someone.  Think about the person’s personality and his/her love of travel and voila you have many options to choose from!  I am leaving some of my thoughts for gift shopping ….

• For the friend that loves travel into remotes places where electricity is not always an option – how about a power bank to keep them connected to the world and social media?
• For the loved one (friend or family)  who is an adventurous coffee addict – Veer from the well-known coffee brands and try something from the African continent.  You will be surprised on what is on offer and does not have to cost a fortune.  Shop around, you will find something interesting.
• An international travel plug for that wish list destination in 2019! That couple of bucks that they save can buy a cup of coffee at the destination.   When they enjoy the cuppa you will definitely be remembered.
• Create a music play list or some something inspirational for your travel buddy when he/she has to wait in a queue to buy admission tickets to a popular attraction or buy the tickets online for them!  You can even buy a train ticket or a day pass on public transport for the city that they are going to visit.
• A good pair of socks (a big plus point for me as I am prone to suffer from blisters on a trip!).
• Search for a favourite preloved book to read in many of the book exchanges or buy an e-book online. (Usually I walk out at the book exchange with a book for myself too …)
• You will surely be remembered if you gift wrap some favourite food nibbles to enjoy at sunset whilst admiring the view over the Victoria Falls, Kariba Dam, Serengeti, at the pyramids in Egypt or Kilimanjaro.
• A re-usable cup (with a lid) for all those coffee take aways.
• A multi-purpose bandanna – the uses are endless!
• A small hip flask for the hype of the season — craft gin.
• A small pocket knife or a multi tool to eat the biltong and cut the cheese when on a trip.
• And if you really feel generous buy your buddy a tank of fuel to discover some unknown places and make a wish come true.

I can add a lot more to the list.  So, eat your heart out and think out of the box this CHRISTmas!  Let us keep the commercial side out of Christmas and remember what CHRISTmas is really about – celebrating a special birthday and spreading love amongst all.  If you do wish someone a “Merry Christmas” this year let it speak from your heart.

—oOo—

Christmas is the spirit of giving, without the thought of getting — Thomas S Monson

—oOo—

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My first view (2007)

My first glimpse of Kili was in 2007 when we were on an overland trip to Khartoum, Sudan. Arriving in Moshi well after dark and pitching our tent at Honey Badger camp, where we had some interesting experiences, I had no idea what was waiting for me in the morning when I wake up.  When unzipping the tent the totally unexpected view of Kilimanjaro took me totally by surprise!     Being born and bred in Africa I have always dreamt about seeing Kili.  All my life I had this picture of the mountain in my head and imagined what it would be like to see it for the first time, but never ever did I expect this.  And there it was with its ice cap clearly visible on a cloudless morning!

Clouds moving in

According to the local people we were fortunate enough to have our timing right as most of the times the top of Kili is covered with clouds.  I think it was sort of a pre-order just for me!

The 2014 view!

My next encounter with Kili was seven years later during a Precision Air flight to Zanzibar – this time seeing a totally different view. and definitely not how I remembered Kilimanjaro from my first sight!  Although I was feeling queasy during the flight, due to a bumpy ride caused by bad weather, I could still appreciated the view.  Sadly, this time the snow cap was visibly and alarmingly smaller than seven years ago.  You always hear about global warming on the news and think that we will not experience it in our lifetime, but this time round I have seen it with my own eyes.

Seeing the dramatic effect of global warming on Kilimanjaro is part of my determination to recycle and contribute to saving the planet for the next generations to come.  From now on I will do my  part towards recycling!

A man should ever be ready booted to take his journey  

— Michel de Montaigne

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The picture I had in my mind of Ethiopia was of famine ravished people as thin as sticks living off parched land.  Sooooo wrong – well at least the parts of the country that I have visited.

Near Awassa

This was the first of the East African countries that we have entered into per vehicle on our trans African trip that drives on the right-hand side of the road.  This immediately says that there is a whole lot more surprises waiting for you.  When we entered at Moyale on the Ethiopia/Kenya border you immediately notice all the changes in yet a new country.  Suddenly you cannot read the sign boards next to the road as it is in Ahrmeric (only spoken in Ethiopia,) the Samburu women carrying barrels of water in a unique style on their backs with different looking cattle grazing in the harsh background,  coffee served in small cups which let all the hair on your body stand up straight and blue Fiat taxi’s all over the city in Addis Ababa.

A Samburu woman near the Moyale border post

Still driving without any brakes, after our breakdown in the Kaisut desert in Kenya, and only relying on the hand break we slowly progressed up along the Rift Valley while the rain came down in torrents.  At a nerve wrecking snails pace and with a  miracle or two we managed not to run over one of the 75 million people that live in the country.  Progress was slow and night was falling.  We need to get a place to sleep where we could fix the pick-up (in Afrikaans we call it a bakkie).  Until now nothing came up.  Late night we reached Awassa and our trusty Garmin GPS told us there is accommodation in town!  Up and down and up and down the street we drove.  Nothing looked like any sort of accommodation to us.  Out of despair we decided to park in front of a steel gate where the GPS said it should be and I knocked – what are the chances?    Well, the chances were good as the guard opened up on the knock.  After pitching and breaking up camp in the dark  every day for about 11 days in a row a bed and hot shower were appreciated.  This comfort was much needed to recharge our personal batteries before the challenges to fix the pick up the following day.

On a snail’s pace through a village in the Rift Valley

We asked the German owner where we can have the vehicle repaired and she directed us to a massive Toyota dealership in town.     Our hopes were high, but quickly hubby returned as they could not assist, because our specific model of Hilux was only built for the South African market and were never available in the rest of Africa so the parts they have do not fit.  Great – on to plan B or C or D …?  Luckily Plan B lead us to a local mechanic with a very primitive garage in his backyard.  This did not look good at all, but what are the choices?

The workshop

Worth to mention is that  the work that was done in this backyard workshop lasted for a couple of months after we arrived back in South Africa!   This was once again a friendly reminder to keep  a couple of back-up plans up your sleeve, because Africa is not for sissies!

In Awassa we were recommended to an establishment in Addis (which turned out to be not exactly what we had in mind) with hourly patrons coming and going.  So time for plan B – again!

We are now running out of time as hubby needs to be in Khartoum, Sudan to start working in four days’ time.  Now we have to make a decision whether I will drive with hubby (and take a chance to get entry into Sudan) or fly to Khartoum as a land entry visa was not granted by their embassy in South Africa.   They probably do not get many requests in South African for a land entry visa so they just issued the standard air travel entry – but we only found out in Nairobi there is a difference between the visas.  Lesson learned:  make sure you receive the right entry visa on  your application.    The decision was now taken:  I will fly to Khartoum and hubby will drive there.  We agree that if he is not in Khartoum after three days I will need to mobilize a search party as there is no cell reception on the road he is traveling.

What a welcome site in Addis Abeba

With my ticket bought we set off to Bole International Airport where I will be dropped and hubby will then hit the road to Khartoum as he really is pressed for time.  Staying about 8 km from the airport we reckoned this will not take long, but little did we now that it was Ethiopia’s millennium celebrations! They use a calendar which is seven years behind the Western calendar so it was the year 2000 for them.   We mastered the crowds celebrating their new millennium in the streets of Addis Abbaba on our way to the airport and I was dropped outside the airport building as only the traveler is allowed to enter the building on departure (unlike South Africa).  So off I go on my very first international flight ever on my very first visit to Sudan in the hope to see hubby again after four days!

Stuck in Addis traffic

The impressions of Ethiopia will always stay with me as a country full of surprises and what a privilege to add another smiley to my travel bucket.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Lao Tzu

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