Day 3, Zuibri

Hi guys,
Well, who knows if I will figure this out again with a spanish keyboard and Spanish blog instructions. Kudus to me for getting here once.
After a drizzly morning the first day, the weather has been terrific. I guess that the past couple of weeks have been very wet for the people here. As backpackers, weather is of prime importance. First its more comfortable and then prettier to hike in the sun and for breaks and lunch are more pleasant in the sunshine. Day 1 was a gentle - no rather short walk to a great spoot half way up the mountain. A bit like extended family dinner - lots of talk, people all at the same table and lots of fun. Day 2 was 17 km and my introduction to a refugio. 100 people sleeping in the same room. All very clean though somewhat cramped. Still getting over jetlag though it seemed pretty quiet. I am pretty lucky as not much bothers me in the way of sound or beds. Today was great and up to 22.5km. I thought of going on another 5 but changed my mind. After all, I arrived at a great little town with a nice creek and sunshine. So I got a nice dorm room, managed some yoga by the creek, did my washing, read one of my newspapers (have to get rid of them soon as my pack is twice or at least 50% bigger than everyone else´s. Maybe I should have left those last couple of things out rather than adding them in.

I have walked alone for 3 days and I am totally loving it. Keep your eyes on the signs to keep on the route - a thing that we did with the kids in Brittany many years ago on the GR43. I tended to do the disciplined things today - walk one hour and rest (and stretch) for 10 minutes. It is wonderful and it is physically challenging. I am lucky because I can keep a reasonable pace and carry a pretty heavy pack. So as I relaxed this pm people were arriving all afternoon. Everyone does get here and most of them are older. So kudus to all of them. So many fit people in this world and so many travelling alone. I may choose to walk alone and then I choose to eat dinner with others. Always interesting and an international mix though I am surprised at how many Canadians there are. Met a flight attendant from Calgary tonight - plus a minister from England, a couple from Gatinaux, Quebec and an Australian German. Every day is different so far but I expect as time goes on that the faces will start to repeat.

Tomorrow I am off to Pamplona or beyond. Depends what I see and how I feel. Hey, one day at a time and enjoy every minute.

The reflection the night before

I may or may not write much after I get started but a few thoughts as I get started on an adventure that was a seed a very long time ago and it has gradually germinated until now. Initially it was thinking about who I would do this with. A few special people may really have wanted to do this and I would have loved their company. However as time passed, I realized that those individuals would not be able to come in my time frame. So I then wrestled with the decision of going alone - after all time passes and I feel that one must take the opportunity now as who knows what is around the next bend. It was last September that I mouthed the words that I would be doing the Camino this spring - recognizing that I might go alone. And so in my mind I became committed.

Why am I doing this and why alone? I am doing it for the physical challenge, to be in the outdoors, to meet people, to eat out, to spend time with myself, and as a spiritual and personal growth experience. I figure if you want to do a trek 'alone' that this must be 'the one'. After all tons of people do it and I expect to be alone mostly in the sense that I went alone. I will meet lots of people. I will make my choices and decisions.
Also last summer 7 days of backpacking with Georgina and Jamie made me realize that more days out in the mountains are even better than less. It was not a rush to get to the shower or to have real food and a beer after 7 days - though it was much appreciated but on previous shorter trips I was always more anxious for those things. Seven days seemed to establish a real rhythm.

I 'trained' more for this than most things that I do. I actually have walked with a pack on my pack for the past couple of months and the tight muscle that I have had for years in my shoulder is totally relaxed. I always said that I would never walk in the community with a pack on my back. So never say never.

I want to thank all the family and friends that have wished me well on this exciting venture. I will think of you often - its always great to go away and its always great to come back home.

Getting ready for the Camino

Every now and then take a look at something not made with hands; a mountain, a star, the curve in a stream. There will come to you wisdom and patience, and above all the assurance that you are not alone in the world. Sidney Lovett

Nov. 22, 2007 Home from Africa

Before I settle back into 'real life', I want to write a few words about South Africa. Now we went there mainly because it was at the end of a journey so very far away. With a little information and encouragement from Shelagh we extended our stay in the Cape region to a full 12 days. This was a great decision - it should have been a week longer (or a month - but then we really would start to miss home - and reality and winter and friends most of all!) Anyways if you have not travelled a lot this is a great starting region and if you have travelled it is a great region as well. We loved our 'sheltered' two weeks in the Cape region.

The food is great, the wine is great - and cheap, the accommodation is excellent (even the budget and backpacker is super), the scenery spectacular - the raging Atlantic breakers, the mountains, the vinyards and arid interior, the interesting plants and trees and beautiful flowers, the beautiful color and formation of the rocks, the up and down nature of the small 'mountainous' passes. It all combines for a wonderful holiday destination and good weather tops it off. We had warm and sunny weather most of the time though a few rainy days. We went from gortex to short sleeves. Weather is so important when thinking of holidays - since so much of the time is spent in the great outdoors.

South Africa has made huge strides since the end of apartheid. However there are lots of obstacles and problems to surmount including unemployment corruption, 500 police officers dead this year, housing and integration (the townships may be improving but people prefer to live where they have always lived and would appear to make improvements there rather than move. This means blacks are quite far from the centre, colored in another areas, Indians another and whites in the prime areas), education and training and opportunities for more people. Entreprenurial skills seem to be a definite asset here. Vigilance and care as to where and when you go are a forgone conclusion. The people that we met (mostly white people running the restaurants and hotels) seemed positive about South Africa and could not remember or seemed to erase the past misdeeds of the country from the present conversation. Of course, they appeared open-minded but then of course we never met the other people whom we sometimes heard about with their racist attitudes. We did hear several times that the unskilled black South African is a poor worker with a poor attitude compared to the thousands of refugees from Zimbabwe and the Congo. South Africa seems to be letting in all of these refugees. We even met a black with a good business (our tour guide to the township) that was concerned about the opportunities that some of these immigrating people had found instead of the black South African. I must say that there seemed to be openness and lots of criticism in the newspaper. South Africa has huge social issues but there is evidence that they are trying. We need to remember that we visited the extreme south where lots of wealthy whites live. 85% of the population of South Africa is black and 15% white, approximately. We also saw blacks and whites and others working the same jobs in the grocery stores and gas stations. Usually the restaurants and small guest houses were owned and managed by whites but the staff was mixed. We saw huge changes from 25 years ago when we visited for a short holiday.
(In Zambia we also saw lots of changes. The blacks were much more confident and doing quite well economically. We were not given preferential treatment or noticed like we were 25 years ago.)
So I hope that we will go back to South Africa and see another portion but still include the Cape and surrounding area for a return visit. Highly recommended! and then add a game reserve or two!

Nov. 6, 2007 CapeTown

Reached Cape Town after a wonderful trip. The part south from Swapkopmund was less busy and spectacular than the animal life in Namibia, but great scenery and interesting places on the way. Very easy to travel in Namibia - great camp sites, very well equipped and usually in beautiful places. Nice to be sleeping in a bed though tonight and not to have to cook!

We have passed well out of the tropics now and it is a lot cooler - have to wear sweaters in the evening! Cape Town is a beautiful looking city lying on the coast between the sea and Table Mountain. Soth Africa is very much different from our last visit here - a very multi racial society now, but struggling with crime.

Oct. 30, 2007 Swakopmund, Namibia

Well, we are back into civilization that is a smallish seaside German town on the Atlantic coast of Namibia. It is misty and coolish here compared to extremely hot only l km. inland. We are enjoying a couple of good restaurants here. It is a nice touristy town.

We have had our ups and downs on this camping trip for the past 2 weeks. The game viewing in Etosha was amazing - like absolutely amazing. We saw lions on a rhino kill - as our guide says that has never been documented before on film. We saw rhinos at night at the waterhole -5 - and one breaking a tree up, we watched an elephant break a couple of trees from only a few feet away, we watched lions just outside the vehicle and we watched the story unfold of lions watching the waterhole and how the giraffe listens into the wind and is alerted, how the zebra move back and forth quickly in fear and the springbok that is very skittish - all trying to drink and becoming aware of the lions in the background. Another evening saw a lion scared off by a rhino and the giraffe watching carefully. So interesting to see the interaction between the species. We saw great wildlife in Kenya but not the concentration and interaction that we saw here. And of course birds, interesting landscape features and interesting plants.

Our guide has not done his job to our satisfaction. He is very moody and somedays he is silent and controlling- makes decisions and goes who knows where. He also has no idea how to cook or shop so we feel like we are on tour - the 4 of us - with a driver. So 2 days ago after discussing from the beginning our concerns and he just getting worse we called the office in Cape Town. He seems a lot better and he has been given some instructions re communication and cooking. So hopefully the attitude will be good all of the time not just on certain days - like the days of superb game viewing.

We are off quad biking for an hour now in the dunes and tomorrow it back on the road further south into the desert.

This has been some of the most spectacular stuff that we have ever seen, since leaving Zambia!

Oct. 16 Livingstone, Zambia

We are doing well. It is roasting here - just like every october in zambia. We had a great train journey, ok bus ride and spent today viewing the rock and gorge and saw a couple of kids kayaking. The flow is minimal at this time of year so instead of falls it is rock formations. Reminded us a little of Western australia.

Saw where we lived in kabwe, where jenny and andrew were born and where dad worked. Certainly a trip down memory lane. Kabwe and Zambia generally have progressed so much and things in Kabwe look great. Food is available, a new generation has emerged, the roads are great and everything looked freshly painted and pretty tidy. Dad was really touched by the train journey - and I really enjoyed it. Dad loved looking at the bridges and the length of the train as it went around corners. Today as we walked we felt the dry parched earth and the intense heat of the hot African sun. We saw an elephant beside the road as we were in a taxi away from the falls! Monkeys were a problem at lunch at the restaurant - had to close the windows to keep the monkeys at bay. We were the only ones having lunch at the hotel - it is pretty hot and pretty off-season right now.

The house in Kabwe - the yard was so big - I knew that it was large but it appeared gigantic now. The pool is derelict and the garden has vegetables and the back chickens. The hospital looked clean and lots of staff and not too many patients on the day that we visited. Dad's worksite has been sold off and now they produce cotton bales there. Dad thought that was a great way to use the large space. I guess that the distribution system was actually a result of the government taking a bigger hand in managing stuff and not allowing the Asians to do it all. The streets in Kabwe are so wide and so many large trees as you walk along. It felt great to revisit - just never imagined that it would be possible.