Email to Friends: Back In Seattle

Hi Everyone,

Well, I returned home Friday night, about a month early. The volunteer opportunity in Arusha turned out to be a sham, as was the "Program Director", Titus Tossy. Long story, but I was rescued by a woman named Elizabeth and her business partner, David. After some discussion on whether to continue my travel, I decided I was done with Africa and was no longer enjoying it in the way that travel is meant to be enjoyed. Traveling alone to countries where I don't know a soul is one the most liberating things that I get a chance to do. It allows me to be more open to people and experiences than I think I would if I had the comfort of someone I already know with me. And I think everyone should try it, at least once. But it is also tough. There is the obvious occasional loneliness (which, for some reason, seems more pronounced for me in larger cities). But there is also no one to watch your stuff if you end up stuck in a city bus terminal at O' Butt-Thirty and you are exhausted and in need of a cat nap. Or if you want someone to hold your passport when you see a beautiful beach and really want to go for a swim. And there are never days that you can just let someone else do all the planning of things like how to get from one place to another while barely knowing the language or walking all over town with all your stuff while looking for a safe, clean-ish place to sleep within your budget.

So after 3 exhilarating months of it, I threw in the towel. There is also an upcoming election in Kenya that has seen some violence in Nairobi, and I was warned that I might not be able to fly out if it gets worse. The trip home took two long days. There was a seven hour shuttle bus from Arusha to cross the border into Kenya. The bus ride was beautiful. It went along the Rift Valley and it was lovely to look out the window and see the Masai Mara goat herders. It almost made me want to stay and explore Kenya, but instead I caught my eight hour flight to Heathrow with an eight hour layover in Heathrow Airport and then an eight and a half hour flight from Heathrow to Seattle).

Still really jetlagged since it is an eleven hour difference in time for me. Still having a bit of a culture shock. Why is everyone driving on the wrong side of the road? What is with all these Christmas decorations when I still haven't had Halloween and Thanksgiving? Why is there HOT water for me to shower in every day, and why is the ratio of blacks to whites in public the exact opposite of what I am now used to? But VERY glad to be home and still trying to relax and let my guard down after my experiences.

Africa as a whole is a beautiful continent, full of wonderful people. The red earth, the gorgeous sunsets in colors I am not even sure I could have imagined, the music and sheer energy, the wildlife that was truly wild and not even in a game park all were absolutely amazing. But there are also painful stories and experiences that people shared with me, massive poverty, lepers begging on street corners, refugee camps, and things that my head and heart can't process that truly exist, as well. Africa changed me in ways that I may never be able to describe. That said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend solo travel by hitchhiking and using public transport to anyone (especially females). I am sure it would have been great if I did organized tours. But as we all know, that just isn't my style. Not sure what I could have done to make it an easier trip, besides the obvious "more research/planning". It is just a bit hard to process everything right now.

So what are my future plans? I have no idea. I am going to try to look into the nursing thing some more. Need to check out Seattle Central to get some of the core pre-req classes taken (or retaken like chem, bio, organic chemistry and such). Would like to find a healthcare volunteer job somewhere in the area. And I guess I will have to look for a job some time in the near future. Oh, and finish some of the work I have been meaning to get to around the condo. And I suppose ordering groceries is on the to-do list as well! I do know that I am not planning any foreign travel in the near future.

If anyone is heading to Tanzania, the woman who saved me and was absolutely wonderful works at a safari/tour company called Nature's Gift Safari. I have her contact info to pass along, should anyone need it. And SOMEONE should go and get the African safari experience that I never got a chance to do!

My pictures are now up and available (or you can view them as a slideshow)

Thanks to all of you that sent email notes of news, greetings, and responses to my ever so lengthy updates. I read and loved each and every note from home. I also owe a huge thanks to my parents, D, and especially L who helped me get me back safely after a frantic email and for keeping me sane(ish) through all this. Now who is up for some Pan Africa food... I am awake any time between 1 AM and about 11 AM?!?!?

Hope to see each and every one of you soon (if I haven't already run into you).

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: Vacation Time Is Over And Now It Is Off to Work‏

Jambo!

Just got back today from Zanzibar. The island is beautiful with spices and yummy food and tea galore. But it is very expensive! It wouldn't have bothered me so much if I was just vacationing in Zanzibar or relaxing after a safari like most people, but after spending time in Mbeya and Dar, I knew what things should cost and knew I was getting burned most of the time (and they only accept US dollars at the hotels so you have to take shillings out of an ATM and then pay a high exchange rate to change to dollars).

There also seems to be quite a bit of government corruption. I was told that is because it was the low season and school fees were due soon. Watched drivers have to roll up money in their papers when handing them over at roadblocks and things like that. I also had the customs office (I am still unsure of why they have their own customs office, since they are part of Tanzania) pull me out of line and lock me in a room with two officers trying to get me to pay another $50. I was fed up with all this TIA crap and flat out refused. We argued for 20 minutes or so and I finally lost it and gave them my phone and told them to call the doctor in Arusha and let him know that I would not be able to volunteer with him since I wouldn't pay another $50. Of course, that changed their tune and they quickly said it was okay and let me through. As I was leaving, I saw another couple being pulled in with US passports. When I saw them later that evening, they had been locked in the room for three hours and had to pay $100 each and when they first reached the US Embassy, the Zanzibar people hung up on them.

Wait, I guess I should back up. It turns out I don't have Malaria. Most likely, I was just dehydrated from trying to not drink too much fluids on bus travel days (they often don't stop for women to go to the bathroom). Relaxed and ate several times at my favorite little restaurant across from the mosques. They had homemade feta cheese and fresh veggies in an amazing salad (it is hard to get fresh greens around here and I have been craving them). They also have hookahs, and I have spent many lovely evenings sipping mint tea, having great conversation, and enjoying a hookah. Also went on a wonderful day trip to Kipepo with some guys who are also staying at the YWCA. Just a short ferry trip (very chaotic and packed, unlike Seattle ferries) and dala dala trip away, the beaches are beautiful and you can pay $5 at a resort to crash their beach.

Anyhoo, once I left Dar, headed to Zanzibar on the slow ferry, and had the little altercation with customs, I spent several days in Stonetown walking around the old crumbly architecture. I loved the carved wooden doors and narrow winding streets. Went on a spice tour, visited a few museums and went to the slave cave. Then headed out to the east coast for some beach time in Paje. The beach was amazing with sand as soft and white as powdered sugar. Also had a nice breeze to cool things off. Got to do a day of diving and loved the reef. Saw huge stingrays, moray eel, large schools of fish, nudibranchs, and lionfish. The dive company wasn't the safest I have been on, but I will save that story for another email when my mom doesn't have to read it :) Met some awesome people and we hung out pretty much every night. It was nice to have a group of 11 people from all over that got along so well together. It was also nice to not have to be by myself all the time and to have people to eat meals with.

Thanksgiving Day was hard to be so far from home. And I am the only American staying at this hotel, so I had to explain to many what Thanksgiving even is. To cope, I decided to spend the day with monkeys. Because, really, who can be sad around monkeys? I hopped a dalladalla and headed to Jozani to see the red colobus monkeys. They are supposedly very rare and endemic to this area. So cute! There were lots of them and you could get really close (just had to watch that none peed on your head). And after a day of monkeys, I headed back to see what type of Thanksgiving meal I could scrounge up off the hotel bar menu. The closest I got was spicy coconut pumpkin soup with my meal of... yep, you guessed it... goat.

I was in Paje for the full moon (we had all been dragging each other on midnight swims for the few days before) and one of the locals invited me to a full moon party in Jambiani. I asked if I could bring "a few friends" to split the cab fare and wrangled up 9 others. We all shoved into a minibus and had a great time dancing on the beach under the full moon. Yes, I danced but only because this adorable seven year old, who was one of the best dancers I have ever seen, wanted us to dance with him so he could be with the adults instead of by the fence with the rest of the kids.

Very relaxing but lots of very late nights. I am back in Dar for the night and am getting ready to head off to Arusha tomorrow morning on the bus. I am suppose to start at the hospital on Monday morning.

Signing off for now, as apparently running 20 computers off one line and charging us all an arm and a leg to use the world's slowest system is totally working for the post office, but my patience is running out :)

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: Habari! Five Countries Down, Two to Go

Let's see... where was I last? I think I wrote last when I entered Malawi. By the way, people really look at you funny when they ask you why you came to their country and you say "I heard you have great tomatoes" (and man, they really are great -- and cheap! They taste like sunshine and I have probably eaten about 50 of them). Malawi is really a beautiful country. Lilongwe was pretty sleepy, but I ended up hanging out there for a bit. Just walked around, read my book, played some volleyball in some tournament at a local bar (we lost but I swear the line judge was drunk... in fact, I did shots with him so I KNOW he was drunk). Met a guy that worked for the cellular phone company who offered to let me hitch a ride to Nkhata Bay. It was a really fun day, as his job is to go around and inspect the cell towers in small villages to make sure the workers are maintaining them correctly. So we went to all these cool villages and I would get out and play around and he would go through his checklist. The drive also heads through the mountains and the timber industry pine forests. Very relaxing ride... and beats a minibus any day.

Nkhata Bay was nice, but not what I was looking for. I really just wanted a peaceful place to relax, but it was quite the party village. The dorms were loud, people were drinking until four in the morning and then up again at eight to drink. Not that I am against it, but it wasn't what I needed at the time. Oh, and I was awoken every morning by a room full of CHICKENS (the door didn't close and the chickens and baby chicks seemed to like wandering around in all of our stuff). Met up with a woman who I had met in Livingstone who was traveling to Tanzania. We tried to make a plan to head out together.

I started not feeling well sometime Saturday. Not great by Sunday, but made the decision to try to get to Dar es Saalam in Tanzania (better medical clinics and I would have two travel partners to help me). Typical travel day across the border which included a hike from the hostel to the minibuses, a minibus from Nkhata Bay to Mzuzu. Another minibus from Mzuzu to Karonga, where I was squashed between two seats for three hours or so. Then a taxi from Karonga to Songwe, the Malawi border where we walked across, changed our money, and then walked through Kyela on the Tanzania side. Paid some kids 50,000 shillings (50 cents) to let us ride on the backs of their bikes uphill with our backpacks to the daladala stands. Caught a daladala to Tukuyu and then took another daladala to Mbeya. With a high fever, this was a huge accomplishment for me.

Found out the train from Mbeya to Dar did not leave for several days. It is strange... everyone tells you to take the train, but absolutely NO ONE knows when it runs. I must have asked 40 people, and each and every one of them had a different answer. It is kind of frustrating that no one will actually tell you when they don't know the answer to something. They will just make something up and tell you. But every single child in every single village that we passed seemed to know when the train comes, as they were all sitting there waiting to wave to everyone. So cute!

I enjoyed relaxing in Mbeya, waiting for the train. It was much cooler and after our horrible $2 a night hotel, we got a nice hotel room. I found a great food stand that made yummy grilled bananas served with salt and a spicy tomato salsa. Far less people speak English in Tanzania. I have learned early not to ask any yes or no questions because the answer will ALWAYS be yes. I guess what they really mean is "Yes, I do not understand a word you are saying". So instead of asking things like "Does the train run today?" I have to ask "What day does the train run"? to make sure they understand the question. I did see my first chameleon just sunning himself on a great big poinsettia bush on one of my many trips to the train station.

Finally, the train showed up and I got on board. Well worth the wait! The train chugs along through little villages. I also had a chance to practice my Swahili on the train with several people. They all were pretty entertained, and we all had fun. In fact, I may go meet the family of one the guys today or tomorrow. Oh, and I learned how to use a squatty potty on a moving, jerking train... no small feat! The train goes through several game parks so I saw all kinds of animals: antelopes, warthogs, baboons, monkeys, wildebeest and GIRAFFES! Unfortunately the train was moving too fast and I was too spastic to get any good pictures.

Now I am in Dar, trying to get better. The clinics here, while better than the villages, are kind of suspect. But I have been up and around today. I met a guy last night who has done much of the same route I have and he knows of a place to get good food tonight. I NEVER thought I would say this but....I DO NOT WANT ANY MORE FRIED FOOD!!! Chicken and chips is the staple. Or fried fish and chips. Or fried dough balls.

The plan is that I will stick around here until I am 100% sure I am better before heading to Zanzibar for some spice tours, monkey jungles, diving and beach relaxation. I have a bus ticket from Dar to Arusha for my November 30th start date for my volunteer work.

My new phone number is: +255 078 281 3894. It will be the same until January 7th when I will head to Kenya. Just in case you have had problems getting through, each village/town has a cell tower but some are the company I use and some aren't. So if I am outside of the very small signal area on a travel day, you will get a weird message and I have no voice mail. If you text me, I can call you back when I get back inside the calling area.

If I don't talk to you beforehand, Happy Thanksgiving! Eat some turkey and mashed potatoes for me (as I will probably get more goat or fried something, or the maize mush stuff known as pap or nshima).

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: I Hate Buses (But I DO Love Tomatoes!)‏

So I have left Zambia. I would not rank Zambia up as my favorite and things are somewhat expensive, but I did enjoy myself. In Livingstone, I took a sunset booze cruise down the Zambezi where I saw hippos and a big crocodile. I visited Victoria Falls. It is the dry season, so the Falls are not as raging as they sometimes are. But it was fun to be able to walk around on the rocks and look over the edge of the Falls (not possible during the wet season). Looking across to the Zimbabwe side, you can see Zimbabweans queuing up to leave the country. I have seen refugee camps set up in every country. One of the guys from the hostel wanted me to go kayaking under Vic Falls, but that didn't sound like the best idea ever -- even in the dry season. So I opted to go whitewater rafting down the Mighty Zambezi (I still have great bruises and a lump on my head to show for it).


The weekend was spent at Mombova Fishing Lodge. I had met these guys at a Halloween Party and turns out one of the guys named Richard owns a bush lodge in Kazangula. He and his parents moved from a farm in Zimbabwe and built it all themselves. His dad died of Malaria while building it an his mom has moved to Australia, so now he owns it with a guy named Gary. He invited me to come stay there for free and hang out and go fishing. The lodge was really rustic but nice. I got my own chalet right next to the Zambezi River where you could hear the hippos. Gary and Richard gave me the heads up to yell really loud if a hippo or elephant wandered into my open air chalet. They took me out on their boats (tried to teach me to drive the boat) and taught me to fish. I only caught a small tiger fish and a squeaker, so we threw them back. When it got hot, we would just hang out on the sand dunes, play in the water (trying to avoid hippos), and dig in the river bed for snails to use as bait. Had a BBQ (brai) each night around the fire. Very relaxing and fun (although very guy-like Crocodile Dundee-ish fun, as everyone was a fisher or hunter and had lived in the bush for long periods of time).


Richard was heading to Lusaka Sunday night to charter a flight to Luangwa Valley. One of his clients got her car stuck when there had been some rains, so he was going to go hire some cattle to try to pull it out. We took the night bus to Lusaka, which SURPRISE SURPRISE...left late. So that put us into the bus station at 4:30 AM. It was actually good that it left late because there was a "traffic jam" on the highway from Kazangula to Livingstone caused by a herd of elephants trying to cross the road. They ran into a fence, so turned back and just stood in the middle of the road. We were the first car, so I got some good photos (everyone else seemed way less enthused than me and they tried to get me to get out of the car since "once the smell a human, they will move along").

No hostels were open for me when we got in to Lusaka, so thankfully, Richard stayed with me at the bus stop. Around 7:00 AM, we headed to his friend's cement factory. Hung out there for a bit and then they drove us to the Soweta Market to this awesome butcher that had the best biltong ever. You get to pick yours and then they shave it fresh. It was down a back alley, so I never would have found it myself. Then we went to the dump to look for a part for one of the cement factory tractors. Sorted through this huge John Deere graveyard pile of parts and found what we were looking for. Richard invited me along so I could see the South Luangwa park, which I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I had to get a visa for Tanzania in Lusaka and missed the flight by an hour or so. Lusaka is pretty boring and the hostel I stayed at had was having a water issue (and after a night bus, a cement factory, and playing at the dump, I REALLY needed a shower). So I decided to not spend much time there and went to buy a bus ticket for the 6:30 AM bus.

I got in to Lilongwe, Malawi late last night. I should have arrived in the afternoon, but the day was full of a seedy bus company trying to shove two full bus loads of people on to one bus. Everyone complained and made them bring another bus. Then they tried to charge me 20,000 extra to take my backpack with me. Nobody else was charged, even the woman with 8 comforter sets that she brought with her as luggage. I had to argue with them for half an hour, and they finally relented when I said I was going to head to the ticket office and ask for a refund to book with someone else. Apparently, they were just going to pocket the money. Bus left two and and a half hours late so we got to Chipata late. All money exchange places were closed, so had to try before crossing the border. Ended up getting scammed and had my money stolen instead. Walked across to the Malawi border. Then got scammed for the last of my money by a cab driver to get to the minibus area in Mchinji. Others on the minibus saw it and were angry. I told them not to worry about it, but one of them flagged down a police officer who wanted me to get out of the bus and tell him what happened. Since he had no uniform or anything, I refused to go with him (and leave my luggage on the bus). Finally, after yet another difficult travel day, I am hanging out in Lilongwe.

Not much to do here in Lilongwe, but I was not ready to bus around again this morning, so I am going to relax here for the day and then take the bus to Mzuzu early tomorrow to try to catch a minibus to Nkata Bay where I will relax for a week or so before moving on.

I think I need a break from all this moving around. I need to unpack my bag and do laundry the proper way (instead of in the shower or sink). I dread my travel days and I think I need to take a break as all the scams and hassles that seem to occur mainly on the travel days.

My new cell phone for Malawi is +265 05 417 288....I think. I will have it until I head into Arusha, whenever that may be. Apparently you all had daylight savings time (sorry for the early call, Mom!!!) so now I am 10 hours ahead of you.

Hope all is well with you. I love receiving your emails, but the internet is expensive and slow so I don't have time to respond to most. Sorry! And uploading pictures is sure to take forever and cost a fortune, so you will have to wait for me to get home. Also, still haven't sent out postcards yet. I haven't seen many places to buy them yet. But I will keep looking!

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: TIA (This Is Africa)‏

So I am now in Namibia. The last few days have been very rough. The hostel I stayed at in Namibia had an owner who was being very persistent in hitting on me to the point that I couldn't sleep that night and had to push a chair in front of my door since he threatened that he had keys to everything. Got on the bus the next day to head to Livingstone, Zambia. Left around 5 PM Monday night and was due to arrive in Livingstone by 1:30 PM Tuesday.

The sunset on the bus out of town was the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen, and I was glad to be moving on. Unfortunately the bus broke down a bit before 8 AM Monday morning in the Caprivi Strip. They said the mechanic would take 2 hours to get there, so we all waited by the side of the highway in the hot desert sun, miles and miles from any town. Nobody had food or water left, since we were on our way to the next stop for supplies (I had had a bit but gave most of it out to others). Stood there for six hours when the mechanic showed up... with no tools. But hey, he said "we pray". I am sure THAT will put the wheel back on the bus! People were beginning to get angry and fight with the driver. So seven of us convinced a nice Cel-Tel man to give us a ride to try to get to the border before it closed. I felt terrible because we left a bunch of people behind, including this couple and their infant baby who I had been holding who was crying all day in the sun.

The driver that gave us a lift didn't have his passport, but we convinced the border people to let him drive us across. The hostel that was suppose to get my visa waiver screwed it up, so I had to shell out $100 to cross. Overnighted in some small village and then caught a minibus this morning. Finally in Livingstone. At 4:00 PM, some of the other people on the bus just arrived and said they had been out there all day and night. The mechanic and driver didn't do anything... just prayed. They sent another bus for them this morning, but they still had not eaten or gotten water. So I feel pretty lucky. I will never get on a bus without food and water again.

Today I treated myself to a sunset dinner/booze cruise and got to see lots of hippos and a crocodile. Tomorrow I am going to Victoria Falls from the Zambia side and may try my luck getting in on the Zimbabwe side since there is not much water from that side. Friday I booked a white water rafting trip down the Zambezi River and then heading to Lusaka on Saturday.

Oh, and all those cool animals I wrote about like zebra, ostrich, springbok, and oryx... they all taste really good. Especially Springbok. So now it is a different reaction when I see them. Instead of "oh look at the cute little springbok" I think "Mmmmmm... springbok in Madagascar sauce tastes goooooooood".

New country so new cell phone number. Not positive I have it right, but I think it is +011 260 97 889 8447. If it doesn't work, L has it, since he kept my head together after my little meltdown last night. We are 9 hours later than Seattle.

Don't worry about me...better days are ahead!

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: Dumela From Botswana and Namibia‏

Howzit?

I am alive and well and hanging out in Namibia waiting for a bus tomorrow night to take me to Livingstone, Zambia. I had to wait a bit, as buses only leave twice a week, and I heard I might be able to get a visa waiver by doing a little groundwork first.

Since I last wrote in Gaborone, I took the sleeper train to Francistown and then caught a public bus to Maun. Everyone laughed at me on the bus as I saw my first wildlife (an ostrich) standing by the side of the road and called it my budget safari. They then were kind enough to point out every donkey, horse, cow and goat for me and then laugh (there are a bagazillion of those wandering the "highway"). Stayed right outside the town of Maun in Matlepang (or something like that) at this awesome river lodge called Okavango River Lodge. I signed up for the dorms, but since they weren't full, they let me stay in my own chalet for the same price. Super friendly people that run it and work there.

I took a makoro boat day tour which is a little dugout canoe with two people and a poler. Neil, from the hotel, took us by motorboat out past the buffalo fence and we hopped into the dugout canoe to explore the Okavango Delta. Saw several elephants and herds of zebra, but no hippos (Neil later said that you really don't want to see hippos in a makoro). Ended up hanging out at the lodge way longer than I thought, as Maun was so relaxing and fun.

The bar has a great view of the river and had lots of locals who stopped by and it was a great place to learn tips and more about where to stay in other countries. They also offered up free or discounted spare seats on whatever they were doing (safaris if I wanted to ride along and help set up, scenic plane flights and such). Unfortunately, none of them worked with my "schedule". Watched South Africa win the World Cup Rugby game which led to many Springbok shots and lots of partying. Met a German entomologist who was doing research on the tse-tse fly nearby and ended up helping him and a few of his friends at the University of Botswana research lab down the road from the lodge.

Neil, the lodge manager/bartender or Colin from down the road took me out on the boat every afternoon for a few hours when they were picking up tourists from tours or water skiing. Neil and the owner Marie ended up offering me a job. They said I could stay for free and bartend. No real money, but if I wanted to hop on safaris or trips, they would pay for it. I seriously considered it, but I had heard of a great tour in Nambia that I wanted to check out and had been waiting around to see if I could catch a ride with someone. Finally found three guys (2 Austrians and a South African) driving across and hitched with them. They dropped me in Windhoek on Wednesday evening.

Took a three day camping tour of Sossusvlei, Namibia the next day. It was amazing. If you have ever seen the movie "The Cell", it is those red sand dunes in the middle of the desert that you can hike on the ridges of. Also filmed there is that shot of the kid playing with his sailboat amongst dead trees in white sand surrounded by red sand and blue sky. Early in the morning, you climb the dunes to watch the colors of the sand change to every hue of red you can imagine. It was also a full moon. so the camping was great. Saw springboks, oryx, MEERKATS!!! and the glowing eyes of jackals invading our camp.

And now just chilling out back in Windhoek and trying not to head back to Maun instead of volunteering :). Met some guys who are in law school here from Ethiopia and we were chatting about food (big surprise there) and they promised to bring me homemade lunch today! So I am off to get ready to grub. Oh, and almost forgot... saw the Tropic of Capricorn on the way out to Sossevlei. Far less celebrated than the Equator in Ecuador.

I will pick up a new SIM card for the phone in Zambia in the next few days and will email that out once I get the new number. Although, I guess the Botswana number didn't work for most of you (could have been how far I was out of town)

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: In Gaborone, Botswana‏

Hello Everyone!

It has only been a few weeks, but it feels like it has been months. Long plane flight into Cape Town. All my luggage made it, which was a total bonus. The hostel was really nice. Signed up to go great white shark cage diving the next morning, as they said the weather was going to be getting bad and they may not be going back out for several days. Headed to Gansbaai to meet up with the boat. It was pretty amazing! I didn't get as much cage time as I wanted since the weather started getting too bad to stay out, but even sitting on the boat deck and watching them come up and chomp around is pretty good. I didn't get many pictures, but hope to have a few good ones.

Back to Cape Town, I checked out the District Six museum and Robben Island to see Nelson Mandela's cell. Also went to Stellenbosch Gardens, the World of Birds where I made me a few little squirrel monkey friends in their monkey jungle and went on an impromptu Township tour. Cape Town is pretty, but I really actually hated it. It is sterile and touristy and something about it doesn't feel right (above the obvious racial issues and massive disparity of wealth).

So I took off and headed to Durban. It is a relatively cool city. Lots of yummy Indian food to be had. There is this thing called Bunny Chow, which is a hollowed out loaf of bread full of curry and it is delicious! I had heard there were whale sharks swimming around between Durban and Mapatu, Mozambique. But the weather sucked, so I didn't get to do any diving. I did get to go to the aquarium, which was pretty nice. Also met a very nice man in the hostel who helped me out and gave me the contact info for him and his wife, should anything happen along the way. They live in Johannesburg, so I would just have to fly back there. They also invited me on their Christmas holiday in Mossel Bay with the family, in case I get lonely. Good to have a back up plan. Oh, the only bad thing that happened in Durban was the first night, I had no hotel and got talked into going to this bed and breakfast. Turned out to just be this woman's house and I was the only guest. Although she was really, really sweet, it was way far from the city, the price was not what was agreed upon, and she left me stuck in her house with no phone to call a cab or anything for several hours when she went to pray. At least a colorful lizard hung out with me in her backyard while I waited.

Left Durban and bussed into Johannesburg. I instantly liked the city. I know it is dangerous, but it had the gritty feel like cities are SUPPOSE to have. People hawking stuff on the streets, noise and buzz. It may have also helped my opinion that my hostel had a bar WITH A JACUZZI IN IT. Oh, and a bar that had adult beverages with a hot tub AND a pool table....awesome! And even better, I got to watch South Africa win their playoff game to get into the Rugby Championship game. Man, people went nuts and was privy to one of the largest street parties I have EVER seen!

Yesterday, I caught the bus to Botswana through Gaborone. The bus ride was very beautiful... flat land spotted with trees and occasional mountains. Saw several rainbows and then at night, you could see strikes of lightening, a bagazillion miles away. Last night kind of sucked, as it was another late bus. By the time we all walked across the border, I found myself without a hotel. Oh, and no money since they use Pulas and I forgot to change my Rands at the border. Strange taxi driver who took me to some sketch ATM, which didn't work with the card I had in my pocket. My credit card was buried in my bag and I didn't want to pull it out. He kept insisting that it should work and wanted me to "give him the card to try for me". Uh, whole bag of NO. I just told him that if the cab ride was 30 pulas, I would give him 60 rand instead to just get me to a hotel. He agreed and took me to some random place that wasn't on my list, so I insisted he take me to one on my list. After about 40 minutes of all of this, I get to where I want to be and check in. When we go to get my backpack out of the taxi, we realize he has locked his keys (and my bag) in the car. So we then get to hang out and wait another half hour for his brother to bring the spare keys. Oh, good times. TIA (This Is Africa).

After all this, I have finally realized that not having a cell phone is a real issue here. It means I can't call ahead to book hostels and arrange transport and stuff. So I just picked up a phone. If any one is itching to chat, my new number is 00-267-74-39-4510. You should probably check in to calling cards for cheap rates to Botswana numbers. I think that number works in each country and I just buy new SIM cards or something. But I really have no idea how it works.

Anyway, the plan is to head from here to Maun and try to get in on a mokoro boat tour of the Okavango Delta. May pop into Namibia to see Sossusvlei since I heard it will be a full moon, if I can figure out how to do it without hitching (If I knew how to drive, this trip would be WAY less stressful...except the driving on the wrong side of the street and carjacking thing). Going to try to find a way through the Chobe National Park to get to Vic Falls on the Zambian side. But tours are expensive, so we will see. Although I just went and talked to the Zambian embassy and they are trying to get me to give them $100 for a visa when I was told it should be no more than $40. She kept claiming it was good for five years, and I kept trying to tell her that that really does nothing for me for about 4 years and 50-odd months.

Anyhoo, I am still alive and well (although sometimes frustrated or irritated... Gee, what's new?!!). Hope you are well.

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: Ecuador Recap

Hola!

So I am back. I sent out one email and not sure if you got it or not, since I didn't have everyone's email. Anyhoo, here is the recap trip report:

Flew in to Guayaquil. Not the nicest place, so grabbed a local bus the next day and headed to Cuenca. Goofed off there, ate some guinea pig and headed out to go hiking in Cajas National Park, which was absolutely beautiful.

Took a bus to Riobamba where all the tourists get on a train, but decided to just goof off in town and sit in the park to practice my non-existent Spanish with the locals. Met a nice family and helped them translate paperwork that was in English and they tried (to no avail) to teach me Spanish. Hung out with them for a few days as they bribed me with helado (ICE CREAM!). They have already sent me a few emails, all addressed to Patty since no one seems to be able to pronounce my name when I tell them it is Betsy... others called me Pepsi. The emails are a bit hard to read since they are in Spanish, but I have tried to respond, thanks to internet translation pages. Took the bus to Quito and stayed for the night before heading to Coca, an oil town in the Amazon rainforest.

Took a two hour motor boat ride and then switched to a dugout canoe for another two hours to get out to a beautiful lodge in the middle of the rainforest. Spent several days getting woken up at 4:30 AM to hike (after staying up until one or two in the morning drinking rum and some kind of moonshine-esque sugar cane alcohol out of a jug with the tour guides and the crew at the lodge). Saw tons of monkeys, parrots, parakeets, toucans, caymins and bugs. But NO GIANT RIVER OTTERS OR PINK DOLPHINS (Joe...now I am back to being a non-believer)! Headed back to Quito for a few days, which is where my last email left off.


So I spent three days in the old city of Quito. I went to some of the churches and climbed a bagazillion ladder stairs to the top of the Bascillica, high enough up to make me shaky. But the views were spectacular and it was well worth the two dollars. Found an artist named Guayasamin that I had seen a few paintings of in Riobamba, and found out that he was a local from Quito and died in 1999. His family ran a beautiful museum in Quito with his a bunch of his work that I went to visit. It was amazing! They also had an exhibit with photography of the effects of the oil industry on the local rainforest tribes that actually made me cry. Pictures with children that swam in the polluted waters with skin peeling off their bodies, rivers that ran full of sludge, and patients dying of cancer caused by contamination. Before leaving, I bought a signed seriograph of Guayasimin's work as a treat to myself (more info on the artist at http://www.ecuador-travel-guide.org/art&culture/Guayasamin.htm).

That afternoon, I was getting prepared for my flight to the Galapagos and knew I had to get my $100 entry fee in cash so I set off to find an ATM. They were all in horrible locations such as the trolley station, the bus stop and other heavily crowded areas that I didn't want to pull money out. The one place I could find was on the side of the bank on a narrow sidewalk on the street. I pulled out the cash, put it in my pocket and was getting my ATM card out to put back in my bag when four guys were suddenly behind me. They kept saying something to me in Spanish and I kept saying "Que? No entiende" which agitated them even more, as they pointed to my bag. They finally snatched the bag and took off. All I could think was "Man, that must have been frustrating to rob someone that doesn't know what the heck you are saying!" and "Oh well, at $0.25 cents a cone, I still have enough for ice cream". Since I didn't know enough Spanish to tell the cops, and they were all busy with some political protests that had been going on all day (some kind of swearing in of a bunch of political folks), I ran back to the hotel and canceled my card.

The Galapagos were incredible. The boat was small with 15 people and the food was wonderful. It was as close to clean as a boat with a kitchen could be. There were several roaches in my small cabin and the cabin was loud below deck. Also, there were no locks on the door and I kept finding the crew milling about it my room asking me about husbands/boyfriends and such (like after I got out of the shower). They seemed pretty harmless, but I ended up sleeping on the deck with my sleep sack on the lawn chairs every night. There were two guys from Belgium and a guy from Switzerland that saw that the crew was making me a bit uncomfortable and they helped me out by having one of the slept on the deck each night to keep me company. It was actually really nice to fall asleep under the incredible southern hemisphere stars every night. Oh... and no diving, since apparently two days before I got there, a new law was passed that no diving could be made outside of full dive boats that did not make land hikes. But I did get to snorkel once or twice a day. After our guide miscounted the number of people and actually left someone's husband stranded after snorkeling, I guess it was probably for the best.

I feel very lucky to have been able to experience something that I think in the years to come will not be as accessible. It is so unfortunate that the people that want to visit such a place (me included) are really contributing to the ruin of the islands. Tourism has lead many illegals to come live there to find work and they bring animals and things that end up changing and harming the environment. I saw huge cruise ships pulling up to the small islands, tourists touching the giant tortoises, people walking around with their video cameras through the bird breeding areas and accidentally stepping on nests, and other hugely idiotic things.

Then back to Quito where I knew I had a cash shortage and no ATM card. I decided to leave the city and find somewhere cheaper since I calculated out that I had about $8/day in order to buy a few souvenirs and pay the departure tax. I looked at a map and randomly chose either Nanagelito or Mindo since they had fun names and sounded somewhat non-touristy, close and relatively cheap to get to, so I headed off to the bus station. After much confusion, they got me on a bus that I was told would get me to there. Two and a half hours later, the bus driver tells me "Mindo" and unloads my backpack on the side of a highway. It is now dark and there is no town in sight.

The bus pulls off, leaving me and my backpack alone on the highway in the pitch dark. A guy in an unmarked, beat up car with no windows pulls up and says "taxi?". He tells me it is 8 km down a dark windy road to the actual town of Mindo. So I get to make the decision of whether or not to walk alone in the dark for 8 km or trust that this guy really a taxi driver and will get me there safely. I decide that either way is slightly risky, but at least trusting the guy does not involve lugging my heavy backpack around before getting kidnapped :) Turns out he was super nice and found me a great hotel that I was the only guest and I talked them into a $5 a night room. Several relaxing days in the small town of Mindo where the people were super friendly, spent hiking and visiting waterfalls, watching birds and butterflies, and taking the hotel owners' son (who I think had Down Syndrome) to town for ice cream. Perfect end to my trip. I never got to take my dancing lessons and I didn't get to visit everywhere I planned, but all the places I visited were beautiful.

Some things I learned on this trip:

• Ecuadorians eat LOTS of potatoes and we all know I LOVE potatoes!!!!
• Graffiti about Nazi skinheads (which was in many towns I visited) and swastika patches in stores is still extremely baffling to me, especially in a country full of Ecuadorians. Not sure if it is a religion thing or if it is a misunderstanding with what appeared to be a prevelant punk culture?
• Some buses in Ecuador come complete with a "anti-parasite vitamin salesman" who will educate the entire bus with a lengthy lecture on parasites (complete with gross pictures of tapeworms and things) and then try to sell you a cure to parasites that comes in a packet that looks like Pop-Rocks or Fizz-Whiz for a dollar. Or if you are really smart...you can get THREE packets for two dollars.
• Travelling solo means no one to watch your back at an ATM and robbing someone in a language they don't speak must be pretty frustrating for the robbers.
• Just because a hotel says is has hot water, do not believe it unless you actually test it out.
• Electric showers may have hot water, but when all your guide book says is "wear rubber-soled shoes in the shower to avoid accidents and ask someone to show you how to work them" does not bode well if you do not speak the language. And REALLY?!?!? Does mixing electricity and water sound like a good idea to you?!?!? I mean, I am no rocket scientist but.....
• No one in Ecuador speaks much English, and yet there was a full flight home of English-speaking people. Made me want to ask "where the heck were you when I only had my backpack to talk to for weeks on end?" (Most people I talked to just head to the Galapagos or doing missionary work)
• Just knowing how to say the word "ice cream" in multiple different languages does not help you get a bus ticket, order food, ask for change, or any other daily task.
  

So for those of you that read all of this mess (or even if you cheated and just scrolled down), here is a link to my pictures or the slideshow. I had a new camera and I am still getting used to it.

This trip wore me out, so I do not foresee another trip for a while. Although another day like today of meetings and sorting through 380 work emails may accelerate the travel bug. We will see. Hopefully Africa will be the next up?

Glad to be home, and if I haven't seen you yet... hope to see you soon!

Love,
Betsy

Email to Friends: Hola from Ecuador‏

Greetings,

Still alive and checking in from Ecuador. I am having lots of adventures here, but this has been my hardest traveling experience so far. Only because no one speaks any English and my Spanish is horrendous. I can understand about 1 in every 8 words and then attempt to decipher the rest through hand gestures, facial expressions, etc. But this country is absolutely, incredibly gorgeous.

Guayaquil was indeed awful. My flight was an hour and a half delayed in Houston so we got in really late. It is extremely easy to get from the touristy, safe areas to the bad areas. The flight attendant for the airline was all worried about me and made me take off my ring and my earrings. He said he has seen several people have their earrings ripped right out of their ears. So that freaked me out enough to get out of there the next morning. Took the bus to Cuenca which was a beautiful town with Colonial architecture and tons of churches. The buses here are actually nice (although sometimes crowded). They use real luxury buses instead of old school buses. I am getting the hang of how to get a ticket and how to get on without knowing Spanish, but the first couple of times were a bit confusing. The people on the bus to Cuenca were all very friendly and even played music in English for me. Too bad they seem to like the worst music (Rick Springfield, soundtrack to Grease, Michael Jackson, etc.)

From Cuenca, I went on some great hikes in Cajas National Park. The park is extremely pretty... lots of mountains, cool plants, lakes, and funky tree forests to look at. Also a couple rockslides! My guide seemed to not really like Americans, and he scolded me for using the term American, since he is also American (just South American). I guess he is right, but I don´t know of another term to replace it with. Oh well... after my hike I went and ate guinea pig. It was huge and pretty tasty. They roast it on a spit over fire.

From there I took off on the bus and headed to Riobamba. I was going to just stay the night and then catch the bus to Banos, but I liked the laid back vibe of the town and decided to skip Banos and just hang out. They had lots of parks and I just sat around, ate good street food, went to the local market, took pictures and had Span-glish conversations with townspeople. Eventually, I ran into a man who owned a store who sent me over to a cool, local art museum while I was on siesta. He told me to come back after, so I did. He spoke about as much Spanish as I speak English. Met his wife and kids and hung out with them for the afternoon. Turns out he wanted my help with some kind of issue with his Grandfather, who has since passed. Money he thought the EximBank had records of have disappeared and he had a huge book of correspondence dating back to 1946 that he wanted me to help him sort through. I figured, what the heck, I had nothing else to do. So I hung out there the next day, sorting through the paper trail. Turns out he didn't actually qualify for a loan and ended up getting scammed along with another company (they wanted to build a cement factory, which eventually they did, after losing the 2,000 to the scam artist). Since he couldn't understand what I was trying to tell him, we called his son-in-law and I told him what the papers said and then he translated to his father-in law. Anyhoo, then the wife tried to teach me Spanish using the kids' school books. They bought me ice cream (I do seem to know the word for ice cream for every country I visit) and then gave me a pair of huge plastic earrings with a crown on them from their store. Very sweet, but I doubt you will see me wearing them around Seattle. Hmm... they might make a lovely Christmas present for one of you ;). The family took me to the bus and I headed to Quito.

Just stayed in Quito for a few hours before catching my flight off to the Amazon rainforest. The lodge was beautiful (and very expensive), but there were tons of monkeys and a bagazillion birds. Unfortunately, my guide was very into birds and I kind of got tired of looking at birds and wanted to see more bugs and stuff. But seeing toucans, parrots, parakeets in the wild was kind of cool. The monkeys move too fast for most pictures, but I got some. Red howlers, capuchins, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, PYGMY MARMOSETS and several I still have to look up when I get home. Even though they were on the river, I didn't see giant river otters or the pink dolphins because it rained pretty hard in the afternoons. Mom, you would love all the bird-watching and orchids, and the lodge is as clean as can be in the wilderness. It was a bit foofy for me, but the wildlife was worth it. The only hard part was getting up at 4:30 AM to leave on our treks (I suppose it didn't help that I was drinking in the bar with the tour guides since they brought all kinds of local and Cuban rums along with them).

Got back from the rainforest yesterday and had a hotel mix-up where the girls who were in my room were suppose to check out and by 4:30 hadn't returned. Also, the ATM machines here don´t take Star... only Cirrus, so my ATM card doesn't work. Had to figure out my code to get money off my credit card, which I have never used for cash. But after a small panic and 14 dollars to my name, I got more cash and headed for the old city and grabbed a 7 hotel room which was pretty bad. This morning I switched since I couldn't figure out how the electric shower worked. Stopped and had an unidentifiable breakfast (rice, egg, potatoes, avocado...and some kind of boiled thing....could have been some kind of stomach lining based on the texture?) They really wanted me to like it, so I ate as much as I could. Now I am off to see the basillicas and things around the old town for today and tomorrow and then off to dive in the Galapagos. After that, I have a few days to goof off and then back home. So this will be my only email until I get home! But no worries...I am doing muy bueno (or something like that).

I don´t have everyone´s email address, so please pass this along to anyone I left off (this keyboard is a bit wonky and I am having some difficulties figuring it out....not to mention there is a huge parade or protest or demonstration of some sort going down the street outside the internet place).

See you soon! I will send out pictures on my return.

Love,
Betsy