Latest news on the health front… All my blood tests and other tests were negative – or as the Danish doctor put it: Dit blod er fredeligt! Means that my blood is peaceful!! Which is good to know, I guess… haha! And I am feeling much better, just a slight cough to get rid off but otherwise good to continue my travels!

And as I am planning for my next adventures, there’s just time for a few reflections for 2016.

Although the last three months have been filled with some of the best and most wonderful experiences of my life, we are saying goodbye to a year which has been challenging in many ways- not only on a personal level but also on a more global scale including terrorism, wars, immigration/refugee issues, Brexit and Trump…

But in spite of all this I still have hope for a better 2017. I have met so many GOOD people who try to make a difference, try to help others to have better lives – Not immediately of course – but bit by bit…or as they say in Uganda ‘slowly by slowly’. It won’t be plain sailing and sadly there will still be struggles, war and despair for many across the globe in the new year, but I am hopeful that if we all pull together and do our bit we could take a step in the right direction and reduce the challenges compared with 2016. We must at least try, right?

Therefore, I challenge myself and all of you to help someone who cannot repay the favour, to support someone in need or volunteer in your community or just somewhere. Teach your children and others about respecting and accepting differences in people, about living together as one human race, about being good to the planet and to each other!

And with my 2016 New Years resolution of drinking champagne every Saturday coming to an end, I must think of a one for 2017…and it’ll certainly be a less selfish one…will report back when I’ve decided 😊

And with this year’s final thoughts, I wish you all a great New Year. May it be filled with plenty of moments of happiness, lots of laughter, good health and love.

I look forward to some new fantastic experiences across Africa – still some planning to be done, but take a look at the updated ‘schedule’ page for the latest on my January plans.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

After my Kilmanjaro experience I spent a few days in and around Moshi recovering, seeing friends and relaxing. I really enjoyed the sunny days and catching up with lots of people. But before I knew it, it was time to pack up and head to the airport… It was a sad taxi ride… Ngareza, who had been my driver so many times whilst in Moshi, left me to my tears and thoughts – we drove in silence.

Back in London…weird! I didn’t feel like being back in the city and the masses of people around town shopping, partying in Xmas jumpers and just generally racing from one place to the other made me long for the African pace of life. Don’t get me wrong, it was LOVELY to see and catch up with friends and I enjoyed a glass of champagne or three for the first time in many weeks…so not all bad! 😉

Christmas presents bought, suitcase packed again, off to Denmark where I arrived in Copenhagen on the 20th Dec. and met my niece, Kaisa, for the first time…She is totally wonderful and super cute (I am not biased of course!).

Sadly I got ill again just as I was leaving London, and since there were a few malaria symptoms, I decided to get it checked out. It turns out when you go to the hospital in Denmark to have any ‘exotic’ diseases checked out, they really go for it!

I had almost 20 blood samples taken over two days…not sure there was much more blood left in my body! Now waiting for the results – assuming I have just had the flu, but will keep you posted if it’s anything more ‘exciting’ than that!

In the meantime I am going to enjoy celebrating Christmas with my family and I hope you all get to do the same. I am sorry that I have/will not be able to meet or talk with you all individually whilst I’m back but please know that doesn’t mean I am not thinking about you …I hope you are all great!

And wishing you all a very…

🎄 Merry Christmas! ❤️

11th December – Day SIX – 3,100m > 1,640m – 10km walked

Normal morning routine…quick wash, pack the bag, breakfast (still no appetite) brush teeth, get water bottle filled…but then the routine was broken by the team starting to sing and dance to celebrate that we reached the top. It was great fun and a nice way to ‘end’ – we completed the ceremony by tipping all the porters, chef and guides. They had worked so hard for us, making everything so seamless in terms of accommodation and food – couldn’t have asked for a better group!

There was no chance of me getting back into my walking boots, so on with my trainers for the last 3 hour descent. It was nice being back walking I the forest, as usual I was a slower than the others, but I really enjoyed the peacefulness of walking on my own. The only sounds being the many birds, some water tricklingsomewhere deeper in the forest, my heavy foot steps and Joey’s much more light footed steps behind me…

Because of the less grip on my trainers I had a couple of falls, but luckily I didn’t hurt myself… The last half hour was a quick walk on a large path…and there was the gate! Bus was being packed, certificates collected and off we went with a present from our guides… cheers!

Back at the hotel, I had the best shower EVER! Followed by a cold Coke Zero and a plate of chips and another Kilimanjaro beer. Was amazing to feel clean again… Quick walk (in flip flops!) into town for a sunset beer at my favourite railway bar with Kara and Roberto to end the day and the experience.

We had a view of the top of Kilimanjaro…she looked incredibly beautiful…was quite unfathomable that just a few hours earlier we had been at the top! It was the perfect conclusion to the most special experience of my life!

10th December – day FIVE – 4,600m > 5,895m > 3,100m altitude – 26km walked

Midnight tea and biscuits, final check of day pack, final layers of clothing, a few more paracetamol and a couple of ibuprofen for good measure. Brush teeth and then we were off….headlamps on, one foot in front of the other. After just half an hour I had to remove a layer of clothing – 6 layers were obviously one too many. Legs were heavy, but had found that to be the case every day for the first hour so wasn’t too worried at this point. We kept moving…slowly…the skies were clearing to reveal the beautiful moon and stars. Quite wonderful to be able to see the stars by just looking straight ahead…

One step at a time, but the steps were becoming more laboured. There was really no energy in my legs or the rest of my body for that matter… I was using my poles (we were about to become the best of friends later in the day!) and even though they were a help, my arms were lacking the strength to use them properly.

As always Joey was walking a few steps behind me and he could see I was struggling…we had a quick chat, he took my day pack (he had anticipated that as he had not brought his own!) and calmly looked me in the eye and said ‘pole, pole – we will make it’. I must admit, at that time I did not believe him! My steps were getting shorter and shorter, the terrain steeper and steeper. I had to stop all the time to catch my breath – the thinner air and the fever was causing havoc with my lungs…Joey was there every time I stopped, encouraging me to keep going…’only short breaks, long breaks will make you cold’

Kara and Roberto were going at a faster pace than me (not difficult!) and they looked in great shape when I saw them at the half way tea break…their encouragement and positive nature helped me a lot – so grateful! We got moving again but the tea break had performed any miracles… I was walking so slowly I didn’t really feel like I was moving at all. I tried to stretch my legs, I hit them to get some life into them, but nothing helped. I was so frustrated – poor Joey, he had to listen to a lot of swearing and abuse… Him: ‘how do you feel?’ Me: Shit! Him: ‘remember to enjoy the mountain’ Me: ‘F*cking mountain, she’s a right bitch!’ Me: ‘whose stupid idea was this?’ Him: ‘yours’ (said with a wry smile) …. He was just amazing, he knew when to leave me alone with my frustrations and when to encourage me…he had so much more confidence in me than I did and he was there with a calm comment or two or a hand in my back when he could see I was losing balance or just needed a push to move forward. Had it not been for him, I would have just curled up in a ball and cried – not caring it was freezing cold on the side of a mountain at 5,000m altitude.

But finally…sunrise. The previous 5 hours had been the longest in my life… But this was spectacularly beautiful and Joey allowed me a longer break for a couple of photos.

Seeing the sun actually came me a bit more energy…so we got going again – one step at a time… Joey: ‘how do you feel?’ Me: ‘still shit!’ Joey laughed and said ‘we’ll get there, I know you can do it!’ I think he had worked out that whilst I was still swearing, there was still fight in me.

The last really steep stretch was to reach the crater rim, which was also called Stella Point at 5,756m…and that was so, so painful. My left hip had started hurting again and the stones underfoot were uncomfortable to walk on. Joey was behind me counting down the minutes to get to the rim… ‘Just 17 more minutes’….’15 minutes…’ I stopped, totally exhausted and in a lot of pain…Joey put a hand on my shoulder and said ‘don’t you want to be able to tell your sister that you made it to the top, too?’ One last deep breath and on I went, ignoring the pain and anything apart from just counting 100 steps at a time…told myself not to look up unless I’d reached 100 steps… ‘8 minutes…’ ‘5 minutes…’ I have no idea if Joey’s minutes were accurate at all, had lost all sense of time, my mind could only focus on counting steps.

Finally we reached Stella Point and how lovely to hear Kara and Roberto’s voices cheering me up the last few steps… And then I just collapsed on my knees, I had nothing left. Joey was there immediately to get me to my feet…’It’s too cold, come and sit away from the wind’ – he gave me a juice for some sugar (not sure where he’d kept that?) and allowed me a five minute break.

He then looked me in the eye and assured me that we were so close…just another 45 minutes to the summit (I didn’t tell him that I did not think that was very close at all!). It was cold and windy, but the sun was shining down on us…so on we went – and probably at the fastest pace for quite a while. I was determined to make it, I felt more energy in my body and more fight…although I guess the fight had been there all along otherwise I wouldn’t have made it that far…

One foot in front of the other…keep going…and there it was! The summit! It was over seven hours since we left camp…I turned around to look at Joey…who looked back at me with a ‘I told you so’ look. He put his arm around me and we walked to the famous sign together. I was so relieved, so exhausted, so emotional…I sat down and cried for a few minutes before I could take in the stunning views… It was really cold but I could finally take a moment to enjoy the achievement – I bloody did it!!  Then the compulsory photos…

After 10-15 minutes we were leaving the summit again…it was cold and we needed to be sure not to get altitude sickness by staying too long at the top…and just as we left the summit, reality hit again…and a few more tears because I had to walk all the way down again…it was almost too much to bear! But at least the scenery was amazing!

And the first part of the descent was actually not too bad…the fact that gravity was on our side for the first time in hours helped but it was also tough on the legs… Half way I was getting a lot slower, my big toes started hurting from the pounding they were getting against the front of the boot…but then I saw camp! It was still 45 mins away but it gave a boost…right until Joey started preparing me for the rest of the day. ‘We’re going to get to camp, then you rest for an hour, then lunch and then we have another 4 hour descent to the last camp…’ I stopped abruptly, turned around with tears in my eyes and said ‘ Joey, I really don’t think I can do that…’ He didn’t flicker, he just said: ‘Of course you can, because you have to!’

We reached back at Barafu Camp around 11am. I went straight to my tent which was really warm from the sun, removed all but one layer of clothes and just passed out on the mattress. I slept so well! Until I was woken an hour later (felt more like 10 mins) and it was lunchtime. Still feverish and with no appetite, I just had some watermelon (yes, someone had carried a watermelon to 4,600m!) before I went to lie down again as Kara and Roberto finished lunch. I just wanted to stay in that tent for hours, but the camp was being packed up around me, so had to find some energy to get dressed again…but I was feeling properly miserable!

The first half of the last walk of the day was good terrain, not too steep so could set a decent pace, but then the rocky part came…the poles helped keep me steady, but my big toes were really hurting…I asked Joey how much longer… ‘At this pace another hour and a half’ was his dry answer, leaving it up to me if I wanted to speed up to make it finish sooner, but I just couldn’t. I was in such agony and to Joey’s amusement I even had to start walking sideways to spare the toes a bit, the pain threshold had been reached! Auch!

Finally made it to the last camp…around 6pm. Putting on my flip flops was almost as an amazing feeling as reaching the summit (not really, but it was such a relief!). I was feeling more alert at the lower altitude but was totally exhausted at the same time. Quick dinner – still no appetite, so just had some plain rice and a bit of pineapple… Couldn’t wait to get to my sleeping bag and I fell asleep almost immediately.

At 3am I was wide awake, so wrote my diary and cried for a couple of hours again… It was just so emotional. One thing that struck me when I was writing about the day was that I did not have one toilet break on the way up or down from the summit? Very weird!

Final health check… Slight fever, runny nose, cough, sore sore legs, big toes painful (will lose the nails for sure!), tired back, aching shoulders, no nausea, no appetite, no headache.

Final relections before falling asleep again… A day that I will never ever forget and one that will never be repeated!

– Day five highlight: reaching the summit (of course!)

– Day five lowlight: being woken from my lunchtime nap

8th December – day THREE – 3,800m > 4,600m > 3,900m altitude – 10 km walked 

Acclimatisation day! And I woke to a frozen tent! No wonder I’d been so cold during the night. But it also meant that the fog and clouds had cleared and the views were just stunning!

Used the washing water for a quick foot bath to heat up my feet before the normal morning routine and then we set off with the sun on our faces. Bliss! I had taken a few pain killers for the aches and pains and it seemed to help with the hip, but the hamstring was still very tight. After about an hour’s climb we left the moorland climate and entered what is called arctic desert. The sun had gone by then and the clouds and fog were sweeping in over the rocky landscape.  Reminded me a little of a scene from Lord of the Rings…expected Mordor to appear any minute!

I had decided to use my walking sticks for the first time and although I didn’t hate them, we were not great friends when ascending – seemed to give me a bad posture and achy shoulders…

After almost 4 hours of climbing (felt shorter!) during which Roberto and their guide Mwinyi were teaching each other a few songs (not sure where they found the extra air to sing!), we reached Lava Tower at 4,600m. We spent an hour for lunch here, getting used to the altitude in preparation for the next day. And of course the porters and the chef had just carried the dining tent, cooking tent, food etc for us.

During lunch it started hailing, so on with the rain gear, as it was bound to turn to rain as we descended. The walk down started quite gentle and we were able to set a good pace, but soon it became steeper with a lot of rocks and the rain made it quite slippery.  Somehow I ended up walking most of the way down with Mwinyi and we started a game of naming all the countries in the world starting with A. His world geography was actually quite impressive, and it was a good distraction from the rain etc. But I was getting tired…my legs weaker so I had to slow down a lot to avoid slipping…which didn’t quite work – had a little slip, but landed on my bum which has great padding, so no harm done. Mwinyi’s comment ‘try not to fall’ – as if I was doing it on purpose! 😄

Just before we reached camp, it was toilet break time. Was complicated and a lot of hard work in rain trousers and with poncho over rucksack, but rather that than using the camp toilets… 😷 You’d think that there’d be a bit of money from the $800 park fees that each person pay to climb to pay someone to clean those toilets once in a while…?!

Anyway, I digress – the last 15-20 minutes I really did struggle, and finally I started loving my walking sticks! They really helped keep me steady… Mmwinyi called it four wheel drive! We reached Barancu camp almost 7 hours after leaving Shira Cave and I must say, I was beat! In addition to the general exhaustion, I had started coughing halfway through the day as well…not a great sign!

I considered a nap before dinner, but decided against it as I really wanted to have a good night’s sleep. Instead I started arranging the tent so I could sleep better… Put the mattress diagonally (the tent was not made for tall people) put a bag at the end of the mattress so my legs would not touch the tent walls. Put my ski trousers in the bottom of the sleeping bag for some insulation for my feet…and then I opened my advent calendar, listened to some music, watched an episode of The West Wing! Tent life was maybe not not that bad after all!?!

Health check… No nausea, no headache, stomach in good shape, hamstring issue still there, sore throat and a cough, aching shoulders, tired back, nose back to being blocked. The official health check showed low enough pulse and high enough oxygen levels to be given OK for the next day…

Last prep for my sleep was to get hot water in my flask to use as a hot water bottle…it worked a treat! But after a couple of hours of sleep it was time to pee – of course! And I woke up in quite a sweat…and that’s when I realised that I had a fever…slept OK after the pee break though, so not a terrible night at all…but…

– Day three highlight: good energy in the legs when getting to Lava Tower

– Day three lowlight: waking up with fever

9th December – day FOUR – 3,900m > 4,600m altitude – 10 km walked

6am start and we had great views with our breakfast… The night before had been foggy,  but now we had a fab view of the top of the mountain…spectacular and scary!

Had taken some paracetamol to kill the fever and I didn’t feel too bad as we set off. The first hour was a lot of fun, climbing the Barancu Wall… Was cool to really feel like we were climbing and not just walking slowly upwards all the time. There was the hugging and kissing stone and the most wonderful view above the clouds when we got to the top – breathtaking!

After the wall, it was similar landscape to yesterday through the arctic desert landscape. We were pushing to get to ‘base camp’ as quickly as possible to get as much rest as possible before summit day  but I was finding it difficult, my fever was getting worse and when we reached our lunch camp, I was already quite exhausted. Lunch helped a bit though – appetitive had gone, but managed to eat anyway…

…because of course we were getting served fried chicken and chips with coleslaw at 4,100m altitude! Beat that, Nando’s!!

The rest of the walk to base camp was a bit of a blur…just kept walking and was getting more and more nervous about what was to come. What if I couldn’t manage to get to the top? I know a lot of people don’t make it, but I really didn’t want to be one of them…

We finally got to Barafu camp around 3pm – giving us just a couple of hours’ rest before early dinner… I was exhausted, burning up with the fever – quickly swallowed a few more paracetamol. I had a bit of a cry in the privacy of the tent. The anticipation and fear was really kicking in…

I didn’t manage to eat much for dinner, but I was still given the go ahead to climb summit day as my oxygen and pulse levels were very good. I just had to manage the fever myself.

Back into the tent…four days of not showering, being ill and no proper toilets had made my tent smell… Felt like the only pleasant smell was my mouthwash, so I sniffed that for a bit whilst I did my own health check: fever, cough, sore throat, sore eyes, low energy levels, hip pain gone, tired back, sore shoulders, hamstring issue better, no nausea, no headache… not great, but I wasn’t going to give up and Kara and Roberto’s positivity was helping me keep focused on the task.

After a few hours’ sleep it was time…it was quarter past eleven, I readied my day pack, took some more paracetamol and tried to keep positive about what was going to be the most gruelling 18 hours of my life!

– Day four highlight: looking down at the clouds from the top of Barancu Wall

– Day four lowlight: fever!

Even though some of you had told me about your climbs up Mount Kilimanjaro, nothing had really prepared me for the challenge to come…

We started at the Machame gate (there are several routes up the mountain, the Machame route was recommended to me by many due to is beauty…) Earlier I had found out that I was climbing the mountain together with a young couple – Kara from Canada and Roberto from Mexico. I was relieved to know that I was not on my own… Of course there was also a big team looking after us – 2 guides, 1 chef and 11 porters. My guide’s name was Joey (although he spelt his name Joy!) and he has been climbing the mountain for the past 19 years… 300+ climbs, so I knew I was in good hands! He was a quiet guy, but very attentive and caring about my wellbeing…and at that time I didn’t know just how important he would be to me succeeding in my quest…

6th December – Day ONE – 1,800m > 3,000m altitude – 11km walked

First day we walked through the wonderful, green and lush mountain rainforest – a few sun rays were shining through the trees, making it a very pleasant temperature and climate for walking.

I had been told that the first day was the easiest, but at the end of the day’s climb I honestly thought that if this is the easiest, I’ll never make it to the top. Exactly the kind of pessimism and negativity which is not allowed when trying to climb the ‘roof of Africa’.

The first couple of hours were OK – a steady climb on a good and wide path – and we went ‘pole, pole’ (pronounced polé, polė and meaning slowly, slowly) all the way. After eating our packed lunch it started getting steeper and even though some of the weight in the day pack had now been eaten, I still struggled with heavy legs for the last hour. Think they must have forgotten to put the ‘energy’ into the energy bar I ate… but then I heard Joey’s voice just behind me saying “just 15 minutes more” and that seemed to help the energy levels and I set off in a sprint for camp…OK, maybe not a sprint, more like a slight increase in pace. And there it was; Machame Camp – altitude 3,000m (sign is wrong for some odd reason!)

I did a quick health check in my head… Back feeling good, slight ache in the left hip, tight right hamstring, no headache, no nausea, breathing good, slightly lightheaded, stomach calm…Not bad!

As we arrived in camp we got a bowl of hot water and soap for washing…wasn’t quite sure how to deal with washing anything but my hands and face…couldn’t really strip down to my bra and do a proper wash – well, I could I guess, but I chose not to – instead my pack of baby wipes was the only other kind of washing for the next 5-6 days!

After washing we were ushered to our dining tent (yes, dining tent!!) where there was tea and popcorn waiting for us…a nice chance to just chat and reflect on day one. Then it was dinner time – cucumber shop with a bit of a chilli kick (good for warming up our bodies) and battered fish with fried potatoes and vegetable stew – all very good! My appetite was great, which I was told was a good sign during the official health check that the guides did after dinner…they had this machine thing to put on the index finger to find out pulse and oxygen levels. All three of us were given the all clear to continue!

Time to get ready for bed – it was now pitch black, so dug out my head lamp as well to find the toilets. I use the term toilet loosely however… It’s just a hole in the ground with a small step either side to squat on… needless to say it was best to hold your breath and hurry! And no sinks of course!

After that ‘special’ experience I crawled into my sleeping bag?..struggled to get comfortable for a while (you all know how I feel about camping!) but after a while I drifted off…it could not have been later than 9pm.
Around 1am all the water I had been drinking during the day to stay healthy came back to haunt me – it was time for a pee… Clothes on, shoes on, head lamp on…it was cold to get out of the tent but I was rewarded by the moon and the stars, they were so clear, so beautiful and as I was standing there looking up, I realised that I couldn’t hear another sound apart from my own breathing…there were around 30 tents in camp and not a sound!?! Not even anyone snoring…very odd!

Back in the tent it took a while to warm up again – shouldn’t have spent so much time stargazing…so I had time for more reflections:

– Day one highlight: finding out I wasn’t climbing alone
– Day one lowlight: the toilet smell

7th December – Day TWO – 3,000m > 3,800m altitude – 6km walked

7am start – we were woken up my our young ‘butler’ Calvin – he was not just the wake up call guy, he was also the bringer of washing water, food, drinking water and generally just a helpful and cheerful guy! Of course he is a Manchester United fan wearing a Bayern Munich hat! 😄

Had a hearty breakfast with porridge, egg etc. in preparation for a steep climb through the moorland before packing up my stuff – trying to make my day pack as light as possible.

First hour was really tough – my hip and hamstring problems were getting a lot worse with the steep incline, but after the first ‘toilet’ break my legs started feeling better and I could focus a little more on the nature… The vegetation had changed from forest to smaller bushes and lots of rocks, and as we headed higher we were walking in and out of the clouds…magical! The air was so fresh and clean and seemed to easily reach the lungs which was good, they were working hard at the higher altitude.

One of the more humbling experiences by climbing the mountain is seeing the work of the porters. They are just amazing…they each carry 20kgs on their backs & heads as they climb…they leave camp after us, arrive in the next camp before us in time for everything to be ready for us when we arrive…

After four and a half hours we made it to Shira Cave Camp at 3,800m altitude, where the tents were indeed up and a hot lunch was waiting for us!

Quick health check…hip & hamstring still an issue, no headache, no nausea, stomach just about OK still, breathing well, nose unblocked for the first time in weeks, dry lips, lightheaded….feeling OK.

Then it was nap time – the entire camp was covered in fog and cloud, so no views anyway, so might as well just curl up in the tent and rest…the rain started falling shortly after and it was getting colder…but we did manage a quick walk to the Shira Cave (it used to be where the porters slept before they had tents to sleep in) before dinner time.

The night was super cold, waking up with a shiver every hour or so…my feet were as cold as ice – brrrr! But all in all I still felt very positive about the climb.

– Day two highlight: walking in the clouds
– Day two lowlight: terrible night’s sleep

F*ck that was tough! Earlier today I came back from six challenging days on Mount Kilimanjaro…it was the worst experience and the best experience I have ever had…and by far the proudest moment of my life when I reached the top.

My entire body is hurting, I haven’t had an appetite in days and I have never been this exhausted, but at the same time I cannot stop smiling…

I kept a day by day diary on the mountain – will spare you from reading all of it, but will post a few summaries in the next couple of days.

If all goes well, I’ll be back down from the mountain (she’s looking stunningly beautiful this morning btw!) on Sunday afternoon.

See you on the other side…

As will have been clear from my posts I was quite taken by Uganda… I actually think it is the most beautiful place I have ever visited and I have been reflecting on why it has been so special to me… (yes, another list!)

• The out-of-this-world nature… the mountains, the forests, the bird song at all times of the day
• The drumming from the local school, even though it woke me up every morning at 7am it became a comforting and familiar sound
• The gorgeous children, always staring, waving and shouting ‘haaaaalllloooooo, what is your naaaaaame?’ – Often I could hear them from the hills before I could even see them!
• Gorillas!
• Irish potatoes…I have always loved a good potato – prepared in any way – but these potatoes are super tasty! 😋
• The challenging walks – it always felt like an achievement to reach anywhere…
• The people in general…curious, unassuming, friendly, welcoming and funny – with big smiles even though they have very little..

Now of course there are a few things in the Ugandan culture that I cannot get my head around… I guess mainly the way that women are viewed and treated. I am by no means a feminist, but I could not accept that my husband could have more than one wife and that it would also be OK for him to have what was tastefully (not!) described as ‘side dishes’ as well as several wives… (description came from a man of course 😉). The fact that homosexuality is a crime is also something I struggle with…

But I guess nowhere is perfect – we only have to look at our own cultures to find flaws and things we’d change as well as things that other people would find unacceptable… So instead of focusing on the differences, I choose to focus on what we all have in common…

When you travel to Africa to do volunteering, you don’t expect any luxuries, and knowing that I was going to a pretty remote place with no power except from the solar panels on the roof, I was totally overwhelmed by the accommodation at Big Beyond. A beautiful place! I felt totally at home 😊

We had hot showers (almost) every day, we had proper flushing toilets and the garden was full of amazing plants, flowers and birds.

The people, however… I always have really high expectations when I travel in Africa, because I have yet to visit anywhere on this continent where the people are not super friendly, open, honest and generally fantastic human beings! And Uganda and BB was no different… I have found many new friends through the work we did and the social events we had… I already miss them immensely! Let me introduce you to a few of them…

Friday

Sunday

Gerald – uncanny resemblance to the name on his jacket!

From left to right… Friday, who safely boda boda’ed me to and supported me in the lodge hospitality workshops – such an infectious laugh and so many laughs! Sunday, my favourite gardner – he walks two hours each way to get to work, better than the M25)! Gerald, enthusiastic about health and birding, and an uncanny resemblance to a certain football coach – not! 😄  (zoom in to read his jacket!).

Again from left to right… Joseph, meat lover who cannot get enough of spice & pepper. Jennifer, chef and a wonderful and strong woman who has to ‘put up’ with Joseph as her husband 😉 Charity, mother of four and a fab dancer (and brother to Amos)! Joly, coffee-maker extraordinaire and a calm, kind and beautiful woman. Amos, the operations manager who has been with BB from the very beginning, he’s slightly grumpy at times (think it’s a macho thing 😉)! but he has a kind and big heart – his passion and drive for helping his local community is evident in all he does…oh and he likes red wine (randomly!)

We had some really fun evenings, including this goat BBQ event… I have however discovered that I do not like goat (which was not a surprise, as lamb is not a favourite of mine), so I only managed to finish the red wine…and left the meat stick to someone else!