12th October 2007 – Luanda International, Angola – 11:00

The departure lounge is a far cry from arrivals, it’s almost nice. I don’t think many of my fellow countrymen visit Angola, for a request to interline my check in luggage home was met with a blank stare and a immediate ‘not possible’. The destination code offered, soon sorted that out and I entrusted my bag over hoping to see it 12:30 tomorrow in Colombo.

So, here I am sitting in another airport, my tenth on the 41st day of my travels having done a whirl wind tour of Western Africa and Angola. My passport bears two new stamps, Senegal and this. Regretfully the Ethiopian one is not there in spite of the fact that I spent a night in the city – transit passengers are not considered to have actually been there! But I was, Scouts honour, and I have some pics to back me up too!

Impressions of Angola are mixed…. The people are not as friendly as I have found in the South, the East and West. Perhaps their many years of isolation, language difficulties are a possible contributory factor. But somehow I get the impression that they are generally rather suspicious… A smile is not often returned, something which is virtually unheard elsewhere, for Africans are quick to smile.

Things should change, and quickly too if the government allows it. But somehow, change when it comes, will not benefit the man on the street…. Certainly the infrastructure will improve, perhaps housing will too, but unless there is an effort to encourage the population to move out of the city, reduce congestion, develop local industry, it will remain difficult.

So, homeward bound I am…. Ah, my country, and its own difficulties. Life is becoming hard there, in what was such a beautiful place. The economy spiralling downward, inflation at levels never seen before. Making a living there is hard…. So little to show at the end of the day for all one’s efforts. I live a frugal lifestyle, and my earnings reasonable. Yet, the quality of my life is poor; for once the basics are paid for, utilities covered, there is nothing left, to enjoy life.

Thinking back, I suspect I did more when I was earning 3% of what I do now. Sure, housing was provided, domestics too, but 20yrs ago, my life style was of greater quality than now – for this I have successive governments to thank, most especially this one lead by a man I thought would make a difference. He has, he certainly has, but worsening our woes instead of reducing them.

Come Monday I shall be back, to deal with the daily drudge. My job has lost its glitter, only because of the kind of people guiding it, narrow minded, petty thinking.

My weekends I shall look forward too!!

A little bit more

A couple of more days and I am off, to leave for home.

My visit to Luanda has been, how do I put it, contradictory?

Its all that I expected it to be, and yet, not at all what I thought. Language a huge barrier, it does make communication difficult.

The streets that are there, are wide boulevards, no other word to describe them. The ones that run between them are gravel, dust and cratered like the bad side of the moon.

The majority of the houses are built of cement blocks, hastily thrown together, asbestos roofs, in every direction, as far as the eye can see.

Drainage systems seem non existent, I see many carrying waste water to chuck it into the drains that line the main thoroughfares..... and yet, everyone has a smile and walks to a rhythm that you do not see in Asia.

Pictures of the city I shall add later on, perhaps tonight. I confess to have become rather lazy...too long in harness.

Till then, a good night...

PS: new pic's on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/99124226@N00/

New horizons

Luanda, Angola a city of contradictions. Fly in and all that one can see is one shanty after another, and yet an expensive one.

For the first time on this trip I feel insecure, not in control of my surroundings. A new city, a new country, another language contributing to this sense of unease.

I was expecting a long drawn out process at the airport - but strangely, when other more seasoned visitors were held back, I was waved through. Perhaps the bundle of passports I carry had something to do with it, could not have been my smile.

A sense of loneliness fills me, melancholy and even mildly depressed. While I enjoy my solitude, I am a man who enjoys company. The past month has been difficult, and with each passing day, I find myself yearning for human touch.

This evening, as I watched the sunset upon the city, I looked upon the block of flats below my hotel. No different to the scores around me, all with a sense of poverty about them. All the tenants on the forth floor had gathered this Saturday evening for a brai on the walk way. As they prepared their meal, some cooked, others danced to music, it was a sight of such profound simplicity.

It also occurred to me that the less fortunate know how to enjoy life. I look at my own, and it's never enough at the end of the day. I am too worried about tomorrow that I forget about today....

I mean not to sound stupid, life is not easy and I have no doubts that mine is far easier than a majority of the people that I share this earth planet with. Greener grass on the other side? Perhaps. There is a story I read starting with a tramp, residing by the side of a building, and as the tale unfolds, it goes from his perception upward, from the doorman of the building, to the security, the mail man, the administrator, so on, so forth, ending finally with the chairman of the company, looking upon the tramp and imagining his life to be far richer than his own.

Accra, Ghana, 29th September 2007

Last night was, interesting. A night out to a club to see the action, Ghanaian style. Macumba is quite a suave place just off Ossu open “10pm till you drop”!

The music was quite alien to me, certainly nothing like the stuff that I can relate to, but it certainly did add to the atmosphere.

This was one club where the women easily out numbered the men, who were in the majority white, a couple of blacks, and as far as I could see, one brown – me.

The women, well interesting, in all shapes and sizes, from a questionable 21 all the way to what looked like a bad 35! The not so good thing was that all of them were probably there on a commercial basis.

The good thing? Well, some of them certainly were gorgeous. Black African women tend to be rather uninhibited, and you know, it’s quite nice to watch. The dance floor consisted mainly of the girls, all facing the far wall which was a mirror, dancing by themselves, totally unself-consciously. Five Smirnoff Ice’s and after watching a couple of girls doing a raunchy dance on the floor, I figured it was time for me to hit the sack – it was after all, closer to one than midnight by then and my hormones were raging! I wonder am I becoming a dirty old man, Black Stiletto’s?

A recommendation for anyone staying in Accra – The Blue Royal Hotel in Ossu is quite pleasant. The only minus point is that the damn Wi-Fi is buggered but everything else is good. I haven’t seen the single rooms yet – the day I checked in they were full and I was given a double out of which I am yet to be thrown out. The staff is friendly, the breakfast adequate, the atmosphere pleasant.

Sri Lankan women are generally un approachable, the attitude seems to be that any sri lankan guy who dare’s say ‘hello’ is either trying to get into their pants or is a psycho. What happened to social interaction, chit chat? That said, if a white guy happened to even sneer, well……!

Yesterday afternoon I met a woman, must have been in her late twenties, lovely legs – LOL. Well we got talking, and you know, I learnt a few things that I didn’t know. So you see, chit chat is nice, ladies, it doesn’t mean that every guy who says hi is trying to whatever.

I need a hair cut.

I need a nap.

I hate eating by myself.

I don’t like sleeping alone.

I go to Togo tomorrow – a three hour drive from Accra to the border. My clients have invited me to stay with them, decent off them, uncouth of me to refuse. Truthfully though, I prefer the anonymity of a hotel.

Bye bye SL – 27th September 2007, 1742hrs

I’m on my way out of Sierra Leone today, bound for Accra. Upstairs in the restaurant I’m sitting at the same table I sat at in December last year. Then I was with a colleague, going through a process of taking on a market that till then was his responsibility. I admit freely, my success these last nine months has been due to his initial efforts.
My journey, so far, has been productive. Some of the markets are doing well and show tremendous growth potential, a few have needed to be re assessed; all of them are doing ok.

I’ve enjoyed my stay in SL, but I say that of all the places I travel to! I wish that I could find something positive about Guinea, but so far, very little has really become apparent.

I like Freetown for it’s atmosphere, and perhaps because I feel closer to my client here. In second place comes Banjul, for its restaurants and bars provide some welcome distraction after a day’s work. Bamako next, the Accra followed by Ouagadougou and Lome. Dakar will eventually move up if I get opportunities in the future to visit it again.

And that future is a little murky. In spite of my efforts, I feel alienated from my organisation. It concerns me greatly, for I like what I do, and me thinks that I leave no real room for any concern about the end results. And yet, yet I feel unappreciated….

Last night I took sometime off. Ended up at what is supposed to be a landmark of Freetown, Paddy’s Bar in Aberdeen. It was awfully quite when I walked in late evening, and the first two hours were spent sipping beer watching CSI! But the place did pick up and it was quite an experience to watch the local life around me. T’was 1 am when I laid my head upon my pillow!!

Sierra Leone is another land with potential, and me hopes that with the recent change in government, it will be well on its way towards progress. The new president is reputed to be a hard worker, appearing at his office well before 7 every morning, making surprise visits to the various ministries – I wish him well.

By the way, I took my first Hovercraft ride today…. It was quite something. The motion once at sea is a gentle rocking as the craft skims over the waves, quite a relaxing movement marred only by the noise the mixture of low and high pitch sounds can be irritating after a while.


The trip lasted a little more than 15 minutes I think. Highlight was the moment the craft lifted
itself upon the aircushion, lovely!


On my arrival I used the helicopter service. I subsequently heard about the two crashes last year, both resulting in fatalities. That service is no longer functional and another one taken it’s place, supervised I was told by the UN. I think I will stay with the hovercraft though in future. – Occupational hazards I guess

I’m tired. This trip has been exhausting, one day running into another, the constant need to be alert, it can be quite draining. I think I reach home on a Saturday. I have HUGE plans for the Sunday – to do absolutely nothing, except to loll in bed, watch some TV, eat a buriyani for lunch and sleep some more.

Freetown - 25th September 2007

The last two days have been busy, walking the markets of Freetown, talking to wholesalers, retailers, consumers.... its been exhausting but so fulfilling!

The streets of Freetown, so busy, so full of people, everyone on their feet, some people selling, some buying.... no words can paint the picture as it is.

My days have been full, spent in the company of clients, reaching my room late, to take a shower before crawling in into bed... a bit of R&R would be welcome!

Bamako

Well, the cave never materialised, but I did get up to 'Point G' above the city.

Point G above the city offers a panoramic view of almost the entire city of Bamako, on both sides of the Niger.

The drive from the hotel took about fifteen minutes, through the city streets, past the museum and the zoo, gently climbing up. Past the hospital, along a gravel road to see Bamako below, stretching ahead and to both sides.

All the things that I want to do

Life's too short, and too much of it spent doing stuff that really is an awful waste off time.... I turn forty next year, which is really really strange cos I don't feel like I am THAT old. So what have I done so far? Well somewhere in cyber space is a list of the things that I wanted to do before I, well whatever happens when you die.

So, here's what I'm gonna do today - try and resurrect the list from memory, add in all the new stuff AND best of all, tick of what I have done!


1. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon - Did this and what an amazing experience.... to drift silently across the landscape, the wilder the better. If there is one thing that you will do in your life, let it be this, in the company of one thou loves and holds dear
2. Travel - Oh yes, 27 countries as of now, more to come I hope
3. Visit the Galapagos and Easter Island
4. The Carnival in Rio
5. Ride in a Helicopter - Done!
6. To swim with dolphins
7. Drive a Bugatti Veyron (currently the worlds fastest car for those of you who don't know)
8. Stand on the Equator - Done, in Uganda 2005
9. Swim off all four coast's of SL - Did, with the final one off the coast of Jaffna in 2003 (Chuti, thank you!)
10. A ride in a submarine - Done!
11. Have a blog - I do now
12. Learn another language - working on it
13. See a tornado up close
14. Build a retreat - its done!
15. See a Space Shuttle launch
16. Ride a Roller Coaster - Done
17. See Africa - working on it....
18. Take an awesome photograph
19. Do one, completely, utterly unselfish thing
20. Do one, completely, utterly selfish thing
21. See the Aurora Borealis
22. Stay a night in a five star hotel suite
23. Throw a piece of gum at a world map and go there
24. See an Emperor Penguin in the wild
25. Be friends with my Ex - unlikely to happen
26. Be able to just walk away from a job
27. Live in a place I love - I do now thanks to #14
28. Pull of the neatest gag
29. Send flowers anonymously - I do, and its quite pleasent to do too
30. Make one unaffordable purchase - I think I did that when I bought a Kayak, now I've run out of lagoon to paddle in....
31. Join the Mile High Club
32. Find my soul mate- I found her, but...
33. Get a tattoo - Done
34. Skinny dip - Done
35. Own an original piece of art - I did, for a few days, thank you Cherryville
36. To sing well, once
37. See the inside of a police station cell - errr, I did, not nice, once was enough
38. See a volcano blowing its top
39. Stand at the tip of Africa - Done. Cape Agulhas, South Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet AND now the Western tip in Senegal too
40. A threesome - Suffice to say "NC"
41. Ride in a hovercraft - Done (Sierra Leone Sept 2007)
42. Fly a plane
43. Swim in the open sea - would 100 feet of water under me do it? Done!
44. See the worlds tallest mountains - Kanchenjunga and Mt Kilimanjaro, so far....
45. Live to be a 100
46. Design and launch a product - Done
47. Ride a bicycle built for two
48. Play with a lion/ leopard/ cheetah/ elephant- Done, done, done and done!
49. Hold my breath till I turn blue
50. Get an upgrade on a flight
51. Get GOLD status on a frequent flyer programme - Done
52. Have my own little retreat - See#14
53. Fly with no luggage
54. Drink a vintage wine
55. Spend a night in a cemetery
56. Meet a Jade Peacock - hehe, done
57. Visit Timbuktu - DONE and in style too!
58. Drive across a desert
59. Sail in a Dhow
60. Sleep in a desert under the stars
61. Stand on a polar cap (Make it the Antarctica and I can cross out #23 too!)
62. Own my dream car (a BMW 320D)
63. Take a bath with bubblezzzz
64. Take a cruise on an ocean liner
65. Travel the Greek Islands - Black Stilletoes, sound good?
66. Sky-dive(?)
67. Have a house by the sea
68. Find Life, Hope, Wish and Desire
69. Find her, hold her, never to let her go again...
70. Become a decent man