The band of crazies

Early 2014, I was in the process of planning an epic backpacking trip that started at the end of February. Thankfully I got all the visas I needed - and it was a wonderful 2 months in South America. Life as a Kenyan traveler is not always easy:-) 

As I planned this epic 2 month adventure, it reminded me that I need to document all that happened on another backpacking trip I did with friends in end of 2012. It was overambitious, it was hectic, it was fun! We went to 12 European countries in 6 weeks. The funny thing is that we actually cut out some countries a few hours before we left Kenya because most of us only had single-entry Schengen visas - meaning if we left the Schengen area we would not be able to get back in. We bid a sad farewell to Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. The countries that remained in our itinerary were as follows - Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Netherlands. 

Obviously when planning such a trip - one thing is key - you have to go with the right people. I love all my friends and family, but I am sure there are some people I would throw off a cliff in Hungary if I had to spend 6 weeks traveling with. 6 weeks of intense travel, close living quarters and communal tasks can either bring out the best or the worst in people. I have to say that the team we had was perfect!

For the sake of anonymity, I will give everyone in merry band of travelers a pseudonym. In total there was 6 of us. The first traveler, we will call "The Reluctant". The girl is reluctant at first, but when push comes to shove, she will get into the game. She is the type of girl who really wants to take that shot, but worries that she might get drunk and act silly. Thankfully by the end of the trip "The Reluctant" was cured of such worries that polite society places on us. The second traveler we will refer to as "The BARacuda". This name suits her best given her ability to always find the best bar wherever we were. She would sniff a bit, lick her finger and stick it out in the air and say "There! That basement. I can tell there is a fun club there." Her formula worked everywhere including in a random street in Bratislava, different parts of Budapest, quieter streets of Munich. This girl has a club radar! The third member of our merry band will henceforth be known as "The Little Toe." My cousin always tells us this story of how you are walking, and all your toes are apparently meant to be attentive to what the plan is - just keep moving forward - follow the rest of the toes. Somehow your little toe always goes against this plan. It is as if someone says, "Hey! Hey! Little Toe! Look here! Turn round!" Little Toe turns round and the next thing you know, you are writhing in pain on the ground. Your little toe somehow hit the corner of the couch! The Little Toe in our group usually seems to be going in a different direction from where the rest of the toes are going. It is never her fault, but she always seems to be following instructions that the rest of the band has not heard about. 

Ok. Almost there. Now you know half of the people. The other three are myself (not really sure what my code name would be - The Frat Boy? The Bunjee Jumper?). Who knows? The other two people were "The Lady" and "The Safety Cord." The lady was the one person in our group we were never really sure would survive the backpacking trip. She was the person who wanted fresh croissants in Paris while the rest of us were content eating our bread and cheese on the train. She was the one who looked petrified every time we got to a hostel and she realized that "hostel" is not synonymous with "hotel." By the end of this trip, The Lady had undergone a transformation though. We would get into a train and she would be the first to say "Little Toe, hand me the bread! The Reluctant, pass me that salami! BARacuda, do you still have that plastic knife from the other day? Ok, gang! I am making us some sandwiches!" The last member of the group was "The Safety Cord." If it wasn't for The Safety Cord, we would most likely still be in Europe - lost in some remote town or in a club where time would stand still, and we would only notice one day when we looked into a pool of murky water on the ground and saw the grey hairs on our heads. The Safety Cord is amazingly fun but always rational (at least almost always:-). She lets you go bunjee jumping, but ensures you don't end up hitting the ground. She is the voice of reason that would say, "I know you are having fun. Yes, yes, I know you think he looks like Eric Northman. In reality, he is a troll. He is saying him and his friends will make sure we get home after the club, but have you realized they can't even stand upright? They don't even have shoes on! It is time to go home! We have an early morning train." Despite our protestations, we always had her to thank many a headachy morning. 

Together with these lovely band of crazies, we went to take over Europe!

The packing list

This is one of those questions, people ask quite a bit. So, what do you pack if you are going to be carrying all your needed earthly possessions on your back for almost two months. The million dollar question. All of a sudden when you realize you will actually be carrying your stuff on your back, you end up having to make some compromises. Do you really need those amazing knee length boots? How often will you wear them? If you carry them, half of the backpack is full, what about all the other stuff you have on the ground that somehow must make it into the bag! 

Below is the list that we came up with for our backpacking trip to Europe. 

-       Toiletries- Such things as Shampoo, conditioner, Soap, Toothbrush, Razor, makeup, contacts etc

-       a shuka (to cover yourself, use as sheet, bathroom wrap)

-       Inflatable Neck Rest- For when you have trouble sleeping in tight spots

-       Small flashlight and batteries- for reading in the dark or just for extra light

-       Plastic Poncho - These are available in a lightweight pocket size

-       Swim Suit with plastic bag

-       Universal Plug Adapters

-       Wash Cloth & hand towel

-       Ear Plugs and Eye Mask, sunglasses

-       Warm Jacket that you will usually wear when you go out, sweatshirt

-       At least 2 pairs of pants+ tights

-       One pair comfortable shoes, slippers for showering, pajamas

-       2-4 Pair of long socks

-       2-4 Long Sleeve Shirts and at least one sweater, warm shirts

-       band aids, panadol

-       book, kindle/ ipad / galaxytab

-       Day Pack (to put things you will take with you during the day)

-       one pair of flats and cute tops for clubbing

-       Deodorant

-       Vaseline

-       Lotion and lip balm

-       Extension cable

-       Mobile phone charger

-       Tooth brush, tooth paste, mouth wash, floss

-       Combs, hair oil, braid sheen

-       Shower gel

-       Head scarf/ Bandana

-       Scarf and gloves

-       Small towel for showering

-       Journal and camera for chronicling

-       Water bottle

-       Cleanser, moisturiser

-       Pen

-   Gum/Tic tacs

If you think this list is complete, then you have revealed yourself as being one of those people who go commando:-) Yep, underwear needs to be on this list. Of course even with such an exhaustive list, there were a few extra items that still made it into our backpacks. I on my part, was guilty of carrying nail polish (nothing worse than having banged up nails,)  and a few lipsticks (every one has a vice, and this is mine.) 

I am sure most of you are looking at the list and thinking, "How can I survive with only that for 1.5 months?" We all had the same questions in the beginning, but by some point in the trip, we almost started throwing things away. I remember one particularly hard day in Paris. The place we were staying in was a small town 20 minutes away from the Paris city centre. We got to the town and found out that our place was half an hour walk away from the train station. We decided to take a taxi, but to our shock, it turned out there are no taxis in that place. Chelles had no taxis! We still don't know why this town had no taxis, but that was that. We were extremely exhausted. Some people told us that we could get a taxi to come from Paris, but we would be charged 40 Euros just for them to get to Chelles. We began the long trek to our place, and I am sure each of us thought, "Do I really need all these 18kgs on my back? Maybe I can survive with fewer clothes?"

One useful lesson I learnt from having few clothes with me, was that we waste a lot of water at home. Clothes do not actually have to be washed after every wear. We had a ritual every evening when we got to our hostel - people would change into their pajamas, air out their clothes by hanging them on cupboard doors, chairs etc, and in the morning each item would undergo the "sniff" test. "Does this top smell sweaty?" "Nope, it smells as right as rain." "Ok, top, you get to see another day." 

When I came back to Kenya, I must confess that it took me quite a few days before I got used to throwing clothes in the wash after only being worn once. My family was not having any of it though, "Put those clothes in the pile! You are not going to air dry them!"

Tigre island, Buenos Aires

After the little shower incident highlighted in my previous blog post, I had exactly 3 hours to sleep/sober up and head to a little town called Tigre in Buenos Aires. 

Tigre (Tiger) is a town to the North of Argentina. It lies on the Parana Delta and is a tourist attraction. The island was created by several small streams and rivers and was founded in the early 1800s.  The name comes from the jaguars that were hunted there in the past centuries. In modern times Tigre is best known for the celebrities who have homes there including Madonna. 

The idea to go to Tigre had been hatched the night before at the hostel - before my night of partying till 6am...As such, when I woke up I really debated with myself if I wanted to go. I was suffering - suffering. In addition, there was one person in this group who I had a serious aversion to. I generally like most people, but there was this one girl who I just did not like. The trip turned out to be ok. It wasn't the most beautiful island I have been to or anything. As such I would advise anyone going to Buenos Aires to skip it - nothing much to see. Buenos Aires itself had many more beautiful sites than Tigre.

We eventually got back to our hostel at 7pm and I went straight to bed. 2.5 hours of sleep after a long night out is no longer what it used to be:-)

Hibernation and partying in Buenos Aires

Sometimes it's easy to forget how exhausting backpacking can be. 24 hour bus rides, hours of walking round cities, nights of endless partying, living off a backpack - going up and down hills with an 18kg backpack:-) At some point your body reminds you that you are only human. I woke up at 4pm on my second day in Buenos Aires. No shame whatsoever. I found something to eat and wondered what to do with all my new-found energy. 

I made some friends at the hostel and we decided to go out clubbing. Every night the hostel had vouchers for different clubs. On this particular day, the deal was a discount offer at a club close to the hostel that would be playing hiphop, dubstep, electro etc. The best thing about Buenos Aires was that no one gets to the club before 2am. As such you can never run late. We first went to a place close to the hostel for some food and drinks. Hours later we walked to the club (yes, walked - it was that close and that safe.) In the club our tickets let us get quite a few free shots. We danced and danced. At some point everyone else decided they were tired and wanted to go back to the hostel. I was not the least bit exhausted (having woken up at 4pm:-) Left alone, I somehow made my way into VIP where I made some new friends - two Argentinian girls. We had a few drinks and off we went to another club. At 6am we were still partying hard and the girls said we should go to yet another club. By this point I was not in any state to be club hopping. I hopped into a cab to get to my hostel. The cab guy got on my nerves and I was yelling at him in my minimal Spanish. He knew I was a foreigner and was trying to rip me off. I knew we were 2-3 blocks away from my hostel, but he kept on driving round and round in circles to charge me more. He only took me back to my hostel when I threatened to get out and not pay a cent. Note to self: Cab guys will generally try to rip off tourists....I stumbled into my hostel, quietly tried to tiptoe past the 5 other people sleeping in my room and get to the bathroom - to take my lenses off and brush my teeth. I have a suspicion my tiptoe-ing was more like an elephant stumbling through the room. In the bathroom, I took my lenses off at the sink - then the strangest thing happened - the shower curtain grabbed me - from out of nowhere - it just grabbed me - I felt my feet give way and I landed butt first into the little shower behind me with my hands trying to grab the sink to hold my balance. 

Of course I was mortified the next morning when I woke up and was asked by one of my roomies if I was fine after falling in the shower in the morning as I was brushing my teeth in the sink. Of course I was mortified. Who would not be if a shower curtain had sabotaged your morning by trying to make you look like a drunk fool who falls in a shower as they are brushing their teeth in the sink.. Malicious curtain!

Heeee- so this is wine country!

Picking grapes off the "roof" at the hostel patio

The park close to our hostel in Mendoza

In my first official day in Mendoza I woke up at around noon. I was in a 6 person room and was woken up by the sounds of new people moving in. I jumped out of bed. This was late! I had planned to go on a vineyard tour that was to depart around 1pm. My two new roomies turned out to be a really great German guy and girl. We instantly hit it off speaking German and hearing from them about their adventures in South America. I believe the standard list of questions for other backpackers I had met along the way was 1. So where are you coming in from? 2. How long will you be in South America for? 3. What does your itinerary look like. We quickly got up to speed with Max and Barbara. The best advice they gave me was to change the hostel I planned to stay in Buenos Aires. 

Max and Barbara: It is a party hostel

Thekenyanexplorer: Sounds like my type of hostel.

Max and Barbara: No, really! It is full of 18 year olds who don't know how to drink. You will wake up to puke on the floor. You can never sleep as people party 24 hours a day.

Thekenyanexplorer: Uh huh! Ok. Time to cancel my "Milhouse hostel" booking and change to this Eco Pampa place you guys have recommended.

They also had plans of doing the vineyard tour, but we quickly discovered there was a nationwide strike that day. Everything was closed. This actually became quite common during my stay in Argentina - nationwide strikes. The weather was rainy, but we all decided to go to a park nearby that was meant to be quite pretty. We waited at the hostel for a Norwegian friend of theirs and together we went to the park.

It was half an hour's walk away, and we spent an hour or so walking around at the park. I was so thankful for all the speed-walking I have been doing at Jaffreys as this was no normal stroll in the park. We were walking quite fast - which I actually enjoyed a lot. I am one of those people who get irritated when I am in Nairobi CBD and people are walking slowly as if they are in a wedding procession. 

After our cardio session at the park we went back to our hostel and had a few beers as we waited for the 7pm free wine. Now that I think about it, I don't think we ate anything that day other than some yummy chocolates that Jonas (our Norwegian friend) bought us. After the beers, we had lots and lots of wine. More and more people streamed onto the patio and at "free wine time" was when I realized just how many people the hostel had. Friendships were quickly made - lubricated by bottle's of wine and cemented with memories that none of us would clearly remember at a later date. The patio was something from another planet. I only realized that the plants hanging from the patio "roof" were grapevines, when we were provided with bowls to grab as many grapes as we wanted to have with our wine...Yes, true story!

At some point someone mentioned there was a great buffet place that cost around $10. We all walked there - by this point we were a group of around 15 or so very loud tourists. We never found the place and ended up eating somewhere along the way - no real recollection of where exactly. At some point Jonas mentioned he knew a cool hip-hop club in the middle of Mendoza. Off we went! I was out till around 6am and clearly remember hearing Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby got back," in Mendoza:-) Wonders never cease. My one poor decision for the night was having a few shots of some Fernet - an Argentinian liqueur. It was a decision I would really regret all of the next day. 

Going to Argentina baby!!

With a heavy head (terramoto hangover) I left for Valparaiso in Chile for Mendoza in Argentina. I really should learn to read maps. My original plan had me leaving Santiago in Chile for Argentina with Buenos Aires being my first stop, followed by Bariloche then Mendoza (wine country). Anyone who can understand maps would tell you that this made no sort of sense. Mendoza was closest to Chile. While in Chile someone told me how cold and empty Bariloche was, and I scrapped it off my itinerary. My main reason for going there was because I read the beaches were amazing - I had no plans whatsoever to end up in a coastal town during winter.....I also realized that it made most sense to get to Mendoza first then end my trip in Buenos Aires.

From my hostel in Valparaiso I took a cab to the bus-stop around 7am. Within 2 minutes of getting on the bus, I was out cold. I slept all the way till we got to the Chile-Argentina border hours later. The border process was a jistier version of the Kenya-Uganda border. We all got off the bus, went to "exit" from Chile then went to a different queue to "enter" Argentina. It was relatively painless as these were 2 countries in my South America trip I actually had visas for......heeee heeee. Tulivuka border - crossed the border.

At 4pm I got to Mendoza. The hostel was decent and it's main selling point was that they served free Malbec wine every day between 7-8pm. Malbec is a type of red wine whose origin is in Mendoza in Argentina. Think of it as a type as "Cabernet sauvignon", "shiraz", "merlot" etc are types. It's a bit of a big deal, but not found in general shops in our parts of the world. I went out to a nearby restaurant - ate pork, got back to the hostel and enjoyed lots of free wine and made good friends at the hostel. 

I knew I would enjoy my time in Argentina!

Touring Valparaiso

After my late night at the hostel hearing of people's travel adventures, I planned to go on a free city tour the next day at 3pm. I could not believe it when I woke up at 2pm and realized I was very likely going to miss the tour. I jumped out of bed, showered quickly, possibly only oiled visible body parts (hands, legs etc) and sped off. I was extremely hungry, but because of foolishly waking up late, I had no time to eat and had to go for a 3 hour walking tour on an empty stomach.

The tour was great in that they told us a lot about modern Valparaiso - artsy town, large port, UNESCO World Heritage site etc, but the tour was severely lacking in historical information. I love history and learning about different countries' past. I was hoping to hear about dreaded former dictator Augusto Pinochet. I wanted to hear about the Chicago boys - a group of US educated Chilean economists who in the 70s and 80s were responsible for free market policies that are lauded for the positive economic impact in Chile. Unfortunately we didn't get to hear about any such things. 

The tour was useful though in many ways - I got to see a lot of Valparaiso in a short time. We went to a place that sells 60 types of empanadas. I stuffed my face given how hungry I was. We used a few of the town elevators - really ancient but interesting elevators. We went to the port, walked up and down crazy hills. I felt energized. When I got to my hostel I actually walked up the hill. It was exerting, but not too bad given altitude was not an issue. If this had been a hill in Bolivia, I would probably have given up the ghost after 5 minutes. 

I got to the hostel and sat on the balcony with my hostel mates watching the sun set. We decided we were going out that night. I always do stupid things like that when I have an early morning bus/plane/train. It's some sort of self sabotage thing. We had dinner and drinks at the hostel then went out to party. We walked around in circles for an hour or so, finally gave up on finding the specific club we were looking for and just went into the first bar we saw. We found a place that sold "Terremotos."

"Terremotos" require a paragraph of their own. It is Chile's national drink and translated to "earthquake" mostly because of what it looks like, but it is might also be a forewarning for what your tummy will feel like after drinking this. It is served either in a half liter or liter cup and is sweet white wine with pineapple icecream. It is actually quite sweet, which is why I would say it is dangerous - so sweet that you don't realize how much you have had.

As we drank our terremotos we told horror stories. I'm not quite sure why.

I really struggled in the morning to wake up by 6am to catch my morning bus to Mendoza in Argentina.

Aaaaaaaah Argentina! I will enjoy telling you about my time there in my future blog entries. 

Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)

I had only one main plan yesterday - to get to the Iconic Rio monument of Christ - Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). Most people have seen this monument when watching football games based in Rio, watching documentaries, Brazilian movies and soaps etc. You see Cristo Redentor and you know it is Rio. Kind of the same way you see the Taj Mahal and you know it's India. Cristo Redentor is the world's largest art deco statue and was completed in 1931 after 9 years of construction. Funding for it was mostly obtained from the local Catholic community. There had been plans to build some sort of monument on Mt. Corcovado from as early as the 1850s and requests had been made at the time to Princess Isabel of Brazil (known as Isabel the redemptress for signing the Golden law in 1888 that abolished slavery in Brazil), but none had been fruitful. Finally in 1931, Rio got the monument it had long wished for on the peak of Mt. Corcovado. 

Cristo Redentor is primarily built of reinforced concrete inside and soapstone on the outside (I see all the Kisiis here thinking about building their own statue:-) I was not quite sure what the easiest way to get there was. I spent some time googling it and I found a bus that left from close to my apartment in Gavea, and took me to Largo Do Machado. From there it seemed I would be able to buy a $20 ticket from the base of Mt. Corcovado, and then take a train straight up to Cristo Redentor. With my limited (non-existent) Portuguese and unlimited hand symbols, I asked the conductor to let me know when we got to Largo Do Machado. A sweet old lady came and sat next to me on the bus and said "something.....something....photo." I thought she was asking me to take a photo of her, but instead she took out her phone and took a photo of me - then put her phone away. Quite similar to Kenya, a guy got on the bus and started selling sweets, biscuits and chewing gum. He was speaking in Portuguese and started giving out candy. I couldn't tell it it was free samples or some Hare Krishnaesque type of trade (now that I gave you that flower which you stupidly thought was a gift, give me money!) I chose to error on the side of caution and declined the candy offer. 

But candy would not let me be. The kind old lady who had taken my picture, opened her handbag, took out some candy and gave it to me. I need to confess that I am generally very trusting. During this trip I have promised to put on my skeptic hat to make sure I don't end up in any tricky situations. My first thought was "aaaah. Sweet lady giving me candy. Such hospitable people, these Brazilians." My second thought was, "Do you remember that documentary you watched with your cousin? The one about the South American drug that takes away free will? The one you find yourself taking someone to the ATM and withdrawing all your money? Then taking them to your house and helping them pack your stuff? Why did she take your picture? Is it part of some identification process? Yes, this is the one I drugged on the bus to Largo Do Machado. We will call her "number 4." 

As my brain was doing all this crazy things, she opened up her sweet and ate it. That gave me peace that it was safe to eat it. All of a sudden I noticed that in the midst of all this candy drama, I had not paid attention to where we were. I suddenly saw "Cristo Redentor" off in the far distance, and I had a suspicion we overshot it. I asked the conductor and she said in Portuguese, what I believe was along the lines of "Oh snap! I forgot to tell you when we got there! Ok. Get out now, cross the road and take the bus in the opposite direction.) I hopped off and went to look for a bus heading back in that direction. I was now in the city centre and none of the bus numbers were similar to the ones I had written down. I must have asked at least 10 bus drivers, "Cristo Redentor, Cristo Redentor......" I think I must even have once said, "Cristo Dementor (hopefully no Harry Potter fans here.) It really was a tongue twister. Finally I got there around 5:30pm and it was magical.......

Ate mais!

Arrival in Rio!

Wow! That was a trip and a half. Who knew that my flight from Dubai to Rio would be 14.5 hours long? I really should know my geography better. So I left Nairobi at 11:30pm on Monday night and got to Dubai at 5:30am. It was a quick flight - around 4.5 hours. I left Dubai at 7:30am and knew I was getting to Rio at 2:30pm local time. I kind of forgot to look at the time difference:-) I got on the plane and I thought I heard them say 4.5 hours and I thought, "hmmmm, that's quick." Until I actually looked at the screen and saw 14.5 hours. 

My flight from Nairobi to Dubai was nice and quite uneventul. I decided to watch the Stephen King horror movie whose main character my Government name came from "Carrie." Heee. Heeee. Just kidding. I am named Carrie after my grandmother who was given the name by some missionaries back in the day. My stopover in Dubai was quite short. I remember getting to the gate for the Rio flight and thinking "Oh snap. Everyone here is speaking Portuguese. Maybe I really need to know some for Brazil." The only non-Portuguese language I heard at the lounge was either Punjabi or Gujirati. Not like I understood a word, but I took comfort in the fact that it was a familiar language. There was even a guy in Nigerian attire speaking in Portuguese. I later on confirmed that he was infact Nigerian when we were checking in and I saw his green passport.

There were also a lot of Chinese people on the flight. Perhaps they were going on to Buenos Aires via Rio (our flight's final destination was Buenos Aires.) I asked my hosts about the large number of Chinese travelers on the plane, and they said there isn't a significant number of Chinese people in Rio......hence my conclusion they were going on to Argentina. 

That 14.5 hour flight was the most fascinating flight ever. We left Dubai at 7:30am and for the next 14.5 hours every time I looked out of the window, the sun was still extremely bright. I am sure the directions the pilot has to Rio are "keep flying into the sun until you see the Jesus statue, then dip down and land......" It was so sunny at some point that we were all asked to pull down the blinds for at least 7 hours of the flight. Every time I peeked out of the blinds, I could imagine how vampires feel. "Oh no, the bright lights! Aaaaaaaaaaaargghhhhh, I'm melting........!"

The other strange thing about that flight was that we were only fed a real meal towards the last one hour of the flight. From the beginning we were served a light breakfast, then a light snack (veggie pizza), then some cookies.....At some point the African in me was about to cause some drama. "Just because time is standing still given our longitudinal motion, is no reason to stiff me out of a proper hot meal." Finally 12.5 hours into the flight we were served lunch. Amen.

Getting through customs in Rio was easy. The tricky part was all the stuff I needed to do at the airport after that - change money, buy a sim card, get a taxi to take me to my friend's place. Everyone spoke to me in Portuguese and I tried to do my best with hand signals. Due to language barriers, I didn't even realize there was a USD 15 commission for any currency exchange in the airport. 

I got out of the airport, saw a friendly looking cab guy and went to him with my notebook to point out my address. We negotiated a price (again with hand symbols) and off we went. On my way to Gavea, we passed the Christ the Redeemer statue. I was so excited. I got out of the taxi and took a mega-zoomed in pic:-)

The cab had one of those little DVD screens and we watched what I thought was a Brazilian soap with a Queen Latifah look alike. I kept thinking, "Wow. Queen Latifah has a Brazilian twin." Later on I realized that it was an American film once I saw Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes. I wonder if Queen Latifah knows she speaks perfect Portuguese.....

On getting to my friend's place I was warmly welcomed by his landlady and landlord with hugs, kisses and watermelon slices. Love it! Half an hour after my arrival, they asked if I wanted to go to the beach. That's a no-brainer for me. Jetlag can wait. We went to the beach then met up with my friend for dinner and drinks. It was a lovely night. 

I slept by 11:30pm and woke up today at 9:30am ready to discover Rio! I am off to the Jesus statue today then will head to the beach! Excitement!!

Ate mais!

South America Itinerary (part 1)

I was lucky enough to talk to a Kenyan last year who had once backpacked through South America. She is the one who convinced me that this was a great idea, and that it could be done easily and affordably even by someone who has little if any experience in the region. She also saved me from making one major mistake I made when planning the 2012 Eurotrip - being overambitious. In the 6 weeks we spent in Europe, we went to 14 cities in 12 countries. It was madness. Sometimes I would wake up so exhausted and have to remember what country I was in. Is this Czech Republic? Hungary? We would get off trains, rush into the city to see the main attractions, eat as we walked, head back to the hostels to quickly shower and change - go out and party like maniacs, and very likely go straight from the club via the hostel to catch our next train. Madness, I tell you.

I feel like my South American trip will be slightly less chaotic from a time standpoint, but probably more chaotic from an everything else standpoint given that I have traveled quite a bit through Europe, speak English and German, but have never been to South America, and I know only a few words and phrases in Spanish.

So what does my itinerary look like? I leave Nairobi for Rio via Dubai this Monday. I get to Rio on Tuesday afternoon. I will thankfully be staying with a friend, which is pretty great given I don't know any portuguese.......at all. I will be in Rio for 8 nights experiencing the sights and sounds, and more importantly going for Carnival:-) I have no words to explain how excited I feel when I say "I am going for Carnival." I instantly hear music playing, see people in exciting costumes and imagine all the fun we are going to have. Sigh...After that I somehow get to Salvador in Bahia - which is way on the other end of the country. When I am in Brazil, I will figure out whether the best option is to take a really long bus there or to fly. I heard I can get some pretty cheap flights if I look in the right places. You are probably wondering where Bahia is and why it is in my itinerary. Before 2004, I had no idea about Bahia.One day I was listening to my friend's Anjelique Kidjo CD "Black Ivory Soul" and the first song was titled "Bahia." It fascinated me and I started reading up on Bahia.

Bahia is the most African state in Brazil. It was the center of the early Brazilian slave trade and close to 80% of its current population has black ancestry. Yoruba derived traditional religions are still followed in some parts. It is the home of capoeira - a unique dance that consists of martial arts and minimal body contact (someone recently told me that the reason the dancers don't touch is because historically slaves could do capoeira only on Sundays and they wore white on Sundays. One had to avoid getting dirty..) Bahia is also the home of Samba and is also said to have one of the best cuisines in Brazil.

After Bahia, I will travel to Peru. This is the part I have little clarity on. I am sure the journey will entail something along the lines of a 24-48 hour bus ride and a 2-3 day boat ride on the Amazon river. I love traveling and I can sleep anywhere so I am not particularly worried about it. I am sure I will figure it all out once in Brazil. In Peru, I am most excited about going to Machu Picchu. I will be in the country for 8 nights so I am sure I will get to see loads. I have not booked any housing in Peru as I can't really predict when I will get there and what exact places I will be. I am toying with the idea of couchsurfing rather than staying in hostels when there.

After Peru, I will go to Ecuador. There is lots to see in Ecuador, but I am most fascinated with going to the Galapagos Islands where Darwin conducted quite a bit of his research on evolutionary theory.

That covers the first half of the trip, but I am sure reality will be more exciting than the plan. The one thing I keep reminding myself is that the best laid plans of mice of and men often go awry, but as long as I am enjoying the journey it doesn't really matter to me if I am not sticking to my itinerary.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and suggestions.

So I am compiling a list of some of the questions that keep coming up every time I say I am going to South America backpacking alone. 

1. Aren't you scared? Well, honestly I am a bit nervous, but I wouldn't really use the word scared. In fact my biggest worry is that I will not be able to pick up Spanish as quickly as I wish and I will be that person at the table who just smiles and nods.....because they don't understand anything. My other worries are more mundane - how do I actually get from Brazil to Ecuador? How will I make sure my gadgets (phone, samsung galaxy tab, kindle etc) don't get wet as I sleep on a hammock on the amazon river for three days? What is the longest I will have to go without wifi? What will life be like without whatsapp when I am offline?
2. Make sure you don't end up being given drugs to transport! While many have inadvertently become drug mules I think I am one of the least likely options. Seriously who thinks giving the lone African girl with dreadlocks and a funny accent your very expensive drugs is a good idea? I am sure I will be under close scrutiny at all entry points - if for nothing else, for kind of sticking out:-) I do however assure all that I will be extremely cautious. "No, I cannot carry your cute little bunny to Bolivia to give to your long lost niece." I will also ensure that my backpack is sufficiently disorganized so as to deter anyone from sneaking in drugs in there - for fear that they will surely disappear
3. Wow! South America! I hear the men are hot - like the ones on those shows on TV! I will have to report back on this. My previous experience abroad always makes me a bit wary of trusting TV. If we believe everything we see on TV then the average person on the streets in the US should look like Morris Chestnut or Angeline Jolie....
4. Your mum gave you permission to go? Yep, she's cool like that. I also don't like to think of it as "permission" but more of "her blessings" to go on with the trip. 
5. Bolivia? Why? Lots of reasons to go to Bolivia. First, it is the highest altitude country in the world. Rumor has it that I will need to take altitude sickness meds when there or have headaches and nausea. Apparently Bolivia has a terrible football team, but they always defeat other countries in their home territory.....cause they can't breathe:-) Second, it has the largest salt flat in the world (think Lake Magadi on steroids). Third, it is really really cheap - a consequence of being the poorest country in South America. Fourth, it has the largest indigenous population of any South American country with 60% indigenous population and over 30 ethnic groups (I guess in some books I am referred to as "native" and we have 42 tribes in Kenya.....so I can dig this.......support for my other indigenous people! Wooop wooop! 
6. Was it easy getting visas? No, not at all. It was a serious pain in the butt actually - and I only needed three of the six. There was one particular embassy I went to at least 7 times. I almost gave up when they asked for my great-great-grandmother's palm print.....just kidding, but really it was a process and a half for one of the countries while the other two were quite quick to get. I can't imagine if I had needed all 6 of them. Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador don't have embassies in Kenya so you get your visas on arrival.
7. Will you wear one of those Brazilian bikinis and tiny clothes people wear at Carnival? In public? Ngai, I wish:-) I have African parents though, I live here in Nairobi and I have a serious job too when I am not globe-trotting. I will have to live vicariously through the other revelers. Maybe I will wear thong sandals:-)
8. South America? Are there any black people there? Loads actually, but most did not get there on their own volition. 
9. Do you speak Spanish? Well, it really depends on what you mean by speak. I know stuff like "Hasta la vista baby", "Tengo la camisa negra", "living la vida loca" etc. I am listening to a few CDs and trying to pick up some basics in the mean time. I worry though since my first country will be Portuguese speaking Brazil. Will all these words and phrases I am cramming into my mind really survive through the two weeks of disuse? Only time will tell.
10. Wow, South America? You might even come back with a husband! A rich one with a huge cattle ranch in Argentina! No comment. 
11. I wish I could do a similar trip! You can. I am hoping that through this trip, I can show loads of people (especially Kenyans) that such trips are possible on a shoestring budget. Backpacking culture hasn't yet taken off here and so people always think that such trips are only for the wealthy. I will be staying in hostels (not hotels) and also possibly couchsurf in some of the countries. I will be using public transportation to get around, eat at the most local places (everyone knows that's where the good food is found anyway), drink the local drinks and ensure that I do not get charged "tourist prices" anywhere. I will bargain in my limited Spanish. I will walk, I will hike, I will travel on small boats........and you can too.