Untold

[anyone know what this is?? volker & i are miffed. spotted in katavi NP. not a wild dog. not a hyena.]
[The rice...ohh the rice]

[this the THE ROAD]

[The only way to pump petrol. By hand. In a Shimmering dress. And this lady was fetched from thr local village while we waited. Turns out it is a very rare skill that only she could perform. Ahhhh Africa.]

The untold tales of people you meet along the way that make a trip...

As Immanuel [a local Tanzanian] and I pulled off our shoes to cross a river we both turned and smiled at one another. We had both just ushered Anse [the 4x4] across a very dodgey bit of 'road'... sliding, hardened mud, crowned with a river.

Shoes off. He curled over shoulders first and slapped at his back for me to hop on. I suddenly realised it was this strong and skinny mans intention to carry me across the river.

That is moment I realised we were in good hands. And that our local guide, who would soon save Anse and ourselves from tumbling down a ravine & help us navigate our way down along small paths to remote Mahale opposite the Congo, was definitaley a good sort.

Immanuel did get us to Mahale. After helping us with his broken english get a local wooden boat to bump us along another three hours to the chimp tracking mountains. The mountains that are so inaccessable that no road leads there. As we headed off he proudly said 'Im car watchman', and a warm and serious smile spread across his sweaty coffee coloured skin.

Four days later [after Volker and I had hiked,tracked wild chimps in Mahale, lived off food rations] we returned to the little village we left the car in Immanuel's hands. We rushed up to us we approached the shoreline. Clambering onto the boat to pry the bags from our hand, and singing "I much love to see you! I much loving to see you!"

Anse was in perfect condition.

"Car good?" he asked

"Yes, perfect, perfect. thankyou so much"

"I sleep on roof every night. Car good"

We navigated our way back on 'roads' that actually werent roads. Photos show the cars width and the human sized path she was roaring over. Those roads although not worse than Mozambiques were so remote that it left my heart somewhere up in my throat. And my stomach seriously ill. We returned Immanuel back to his town, determined to be generous with him. $25, underwear, socks, shoes, shirt - a payment that left him glowering and walking off proudly with his friends that surrounded us. He couldn't thank us enough.

- This is the type of experience one encounters daily. It is the type of thing that doesnt neccessariy make the 'headline' of travel tales when people ask what you've been up to. But for me, it's things like this that make my trip in Africa. It's the heart. It's Africas way of doing things. Love it. Hate it. It's there. Unique. Determined. Alive.

Hope you are well

Love to you

Kirst

Tanzania's Greens

Life is good.
Well, everything is good now that we have beaten Mozambique's roads [or lack thereof].
Sitting in Tanzania right this minute.
Tanz = green, green, green, avocados, bannanas, coffee & tea estates, trekking extinct volcanoes, amzing mountains, dinosaur bones.
As we move north & then east it will hopefully = lions lions lions
Anyway, in my World pictures say more than words.
So here we go.

The view I woke up to from our tent on my birthday. The soft sounds of fisherman singing in the background, the threat of crocidiles crawling about and the mist floating by... Africa definetley turned it on for me!

The realities of life at the moment. I wont post the picture of the loos. Talking to local crabs... in their native language of course.
Beautiful Munhere who prepared our seafood every night while in Pangane, Mozambique. The bowl in front of her is full of freshly ground coconut - to boil our rice in.
Roads, People, Roads, People and more RoadsPeopleRoadsPeople. I never thought I'd say this, being the least car-road-oriented person imaginable. But seeing this photo I now believe the most beautiful part to be the glorious glorious tar in the foreground!



In heaven on Likoma Island in Malawi. Our first sighting of lettuce for 6 weeks! Where was this guy when I was doing my removals from sydney to wgong back in january!
The surrounding archetectiure of the oldest African Chapel, on Ilha Mocambqiue.

Pumping our water for the next few weeks - much to the locals amusement. This is bloody hard work, but a lovely lady gave me a hand.

Listening To The Water Lap Against The Shore Line In Malawi

Here I am sitting on an island in Malawi. The sound of the water purrs in the background and I am perched on a king sized bed looking out the bedroom window onto our private deck that falls away to our private beach. I’m in heaven and it all feels a bit surreal after four weeks of African camping.

Over the past two and a half weeks we have made our way up Mozambique and driven along a very rarely taken road. Zero tourist infrastructure in parts made for some interesting nights. One evening with nothing in sight we stayed in a local village – think grass huts, thatched roofs, chickens running around, hundreds of locals – we even had to ask the chief if we could stay the night!

Why were we driving in such hidden away places? Volker had the intrepid [crazy??] vision of getting to Malawi via a small town on the shores of Mozambiauqes side of Lake Niassa [a huge lake that sits between Moz & Malawi]. The Malawi side of the lake is quite touristy, while the mozambiqean side is the complete opposite. The roads are as dodgey as they come. Potholes galore. Bridges I wouldn’t want to walk on let alone take a 2tonne 4x4 across. 5 hours to go 80kms.
But one doesn’t mind going slow when you are passing through such amazing small villages and seeing such a completely different side of the world and humanity.
Volkers crazy idea of a route has certainly paid of – it is absolutely stunning on Likoma Island .. I’ve fallen in love with the place.

Later on today a small wooden boat owned by a local is coming to pick us up and we will head pack to Mozambique.

Hope all is well with everyone back home & others around the world.
Sending you loads of love and best wishes
Kirst
“Where you are, there you must be”

South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique

So, here I am driving down a dirt road in Mozambique.People on the streets wave and an energy buzzes from them. People tell you about the spirit of Africa, but I really 'got it' when we pulled off the side of the road and a few Zimbabweans came rushing up to the car and poured peanuts into my hands. No hidden agenda. Just exuberance and generosity. And the request to "please can we shake a white womans hand".
The rush out of Cape Town was hectic.
On my last day in Cape Town the place put on a real show.
My last morning saw my house robbed. Threatens of shootings. Cups of tea. Police. All was well. Just a soft shake to my feeling of safety in africa. Most probably a good thing to have happen before heading off on this journey.
My last afternoon: a city wide blackout while at the hairdressers. Quite amusing having Constantia mums [equiv of australia's Mosman mums] being wheeled out to the flurescent glow of the supermarket lights.
And then my last night: dinner and chats with my buddhist monk Pagpa.

I flew to Jo'Burg in South Africa with one hours sleep + with the advice from my chuaffer "when you find yourself in a new place, and feeling fear, dont think of it as fear, it is simply your senses adjusting to new surrounds on a very human instinctual basis".
Volker and his kitted up 4x4 picked me up from the airport and away we drove.

Over the past two weeks we have made our way through South Africa, Zimbabwe [we left the day before elections] and now we are sitting in Mozambique.

Getting into the swing of living out of a 4x4, sleeping in a roof top tent, and being on the move every day takes some getting use to. It's one hell of an adventure. Not a holiday. Hopefully in the next few weeks i'll have a few moments to sit down and write some of what i've been doing. But for now...I better just send all my love and best wishes to you.

And to answer most of the questions i'm getting.
Yes I'm safe.
Yes I'm loving it, and finding it hugely challenging.
No I havent shaved my head. Yet.
Yes I'm feeling very ALIVE and 24!

Ride it like you stole it
Love Kirst

Life In Cape Town

Candle lit dinner on the beach. Kayaking down Breede River. Dinner at a restaurant looking over a ferocious ocean, with the waves pounding against the window. Living in awe of the magnificent mountains that lean over the city. Weekly hikes with my CRAGS group and my Sunday morning girls. Running along Muizenberg beach. Swimming. Drinking. Eating. Meditation classes. Being amazed at how open and friendly people are – contrae to what people will have you believe. Being so welcomed and looked after by Craig and Nikki. Walking through shacklands. Braai’s [BBQs] in both Gugeleito [super poor area] and in Constantia [super rich area] – and being welcomed into each with open arms. African penguins at Boulders beach. Being amazed at how outdoorsy the people in this city are, wondering if it is a rebellion against the bars or the result of the mountains reminding them there’s something bigger. Wind. Wind, Wind! Loving working with genuine, loving, super smart people. Having the amazing oportunity of working on one of the most interesting & largest CocaCola/Soccer World Cup projects going. Dancing for 20 hours straight at my first trance party, absolute bliss, there will be many more to come! Jumping in the car, driving 140ks, steering with one hand, lonely planet in the other.

Struggling to learn to literally live behind bars. Living in a house with an ‘armed response’ sign on the front gate. The last sounds at night and the first sounds of the morning being the house alarm. Shopping at a supermarket that has a warning at the entrance 'no dogs, no thongs, no guns'. Looking at the color of my skin for the first time within the context of ‘what it means’. Reading doom & gloom, listening to people rag on about doom & gloom – at the same time as feeling completely happy and stable in the exact same country. Conquering a manual car [yes that one deserves a round of applause thankyou very much!].

That pretty much sums up my life in Cape Town over the past couple of months. Africa is getting under my skin. One takes the good and the bad. It buzzes. It's alive. I love it. "We are but one people" is a quote that got stuck in my head when being led through Nelson Mandela's old prison cell by an ex-prisoner.

I thought I would be staying longer, but in true Kirsty style I’ve decided 5 days out that I’m going to be packing up and moving on. I’m going to jump in a 4x4 and travel up the east side of Africa with my new friend Volker. He has just quit his job and is off for an epic adventure – driving al the way from Cape Town to Germany! Amazing and so inspiring. So, I’m going to join him for a while. The idea at this stage is… Cape Town through Zimbabwe, Mozambique along the eastern shores of Lake Niassa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia. I will be living out of the 4WD, digging my loos & burning my loo-paper [yah!], no blow dryers [arrrrghhhh!], showering out of a bucket on a tree. I am so excited about seeing Africa! I feel so hugely fortunate that I have the opportunity to do something like this. It’s not everyday someone opens their car door to you and says jump in :-). It also feels a bit surreal to be packing up so suddenly. The first two weekends of the trip will be Easter and then my birthday!

Ohh. And I’m thinking about shaving my hair! I’ve always wanted to. And now seems like it would be the time to do it if I’m ever to. But I’m scared. I’m sure mum would be happy to know that I’m more frightened of shaving my head than of traveling to these “crazy African countries”.

So that’s it for living, breathing, eating, sleeping in South Africa.
Now on to living [outside for at least two months], breathing [in the energy of Africa], eating [around a camp stove], and sleeping [in a tent on the roof of a 4x4...cant sleep on the ground, a lion might eat me, or i might get bopped on the head my an elephant! That's Africa baby!].

Ride it like you stole it.
Kx

My 2008

I'm off to experience some more of this world.

First up is working and living in Cape Town.
Then the general idea is to just go where my heart takes me.
Seize opportunities. Live. Love. Learn. etc etc.
The only thing I have in place is a plane ticket that takes me in the general direction of Africa-Europe-South America-Australia.

On new years eve day I saw a dodgey bloke wearing a t-shirt that said 'ride it like you stole it'.
That is my intention for 08.

Kx