An African Adventure

Five weeks, five countries, it should have been easy! I had not appreciated that the 6000 km of road that we would have to cover on the round trip from Nairobi to Victoria Falls would often be little more than dirt tracks and that the other traffic on the road probably proved more of a health risk than the mosquitoes. The truck that we were travelling was a converted Bedford truck. The tarpaulin which covered the truck was rolled up to allow us a panoramic view which unfortunately also meant that we were very wind swept and ended up covered in dust and sand. We were also plagued by a series of mechanical failures which meant that by the end of the trip we were driving for 19 hours a day in order to ensure we got back to Nairobi in time for our flights and for three consecutive days we had to push start the truck every time we stopped.

The large amount of time spent travelling prevented us from staying in any one place for too long. We were mainly either staying in campsites with other westerners on similar overland trips or bushcamping in the middle of nowhere so it was quite difficult to have and contact with the locals or learn much about the culture of the countries we drove through which was quite disappointing. We did get to see a wide range of landscapes from the mountainous terrain of Tanzania to the savannah of Zambia. We saw a variety of agriculture including rice paddies, neat rows of Sisal plants being grown for their fibrous leaves, Tropical Palm trees growing along the coast, by rivers and on rubbish heaps on Zanzibar and perfectly square patches of green cultivated land in the middle of the Zambian bush land. The main substistance foods were cassava (tapioca) grown for its spinach like leaves and powdery root and maize which is roasted and then made into a mash served with a little sauce. Meat in the form of cattle or goats was definitely free range looked after by children who would move them from danger to safety and direct them to new food. Some of the most interesting cowherds were the Masai who are legendarily the most caring towards their cows which have acquired an almost god like status in Masai culture.

Fruits such as mango, pineapple, coconut and bananas were plentiful and much more tasty than the perfect imported specimens we get in Britain. The best are grown on Zanzibar which although it is a small island has a variety of climates that allow year round harvest of the many fruits and spices that grow there. The first thing you notice on disembarking the ferry is the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the warm air. The island was ruled by Omani Sultans and played a important role in the trade in slaves and spices. The Omanis introduced fruits and spices from all over the world which thrived. We were taken on a tour of the spice plantations and then to a village to eat a meal prepared using many of the products we saw growing. We were also taught about other uses of spices as herbal remedies, cosmetics and aphrodisiacs. Zanzibar is still a Muslim island which has its own culture and retains some independence from mainland Tanzania by forcing tourists to go through passport control on entering the island.

In the evening we got to taste local food and culture by eating at the fish market on the seafront. The cuisine is inspired by the many cultural influences with Indian Chapatis, potato chips, roasted cassava and spicy prawn kebabs all washed down with freshly squeezed sugar cane juice.

I swam and snorkelled in the Indian Ocean around Zanzibar to see the beautiful coral reefs and tropical fish but didn't manage to see the dolphins that live along the west coast of the island or the sharks that inhabit the ocean to the east.

Bushcamps were necessary as there often weren't campsites anywhere near where we needed to stop. Putting up tents in the dark whilst trying to avoid snakes and scorpions and frantically spraying mosquito repellent everywhere is quite an artform. One which I only mastered towards the end of the trip. We often left before dawn the next day without really seeing where we had been camping. Being away from civilisation meant that there were no toilets or showers and we had to cook on charcoal. I most missed electrical light as this made it difficult to do much after about 7 p.m. and I often fell asleep before 8.30 due to exhaustion and the soporific effect of sitting in the dark. The lack of lights did however mean that the stars were often very clear and bright and so I had a good view of the southern sky and managed to spot a few shooting stars. This made up for all the hardships.

Malawi was probably the poorest country we visited and here the children by the side of the road demanded pens or Kwatchas as we passed in contrast to those in other areas who simply smiled and waved. Although the crowds of small hands often made me feel claustrophobic and annoyed at my lack of ability to do more than distributing a few biros we never felt threatened. In fact the people of Malawi were very friendly and invited us to look around their village and share a traditional meal with them. They have great respect for education and although school fees represent a large percentage of a families income most children are educated for at least some years and the schools are so well attended that they run morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate more pupils.

My main reasons for taking this trip were to see lots of wild animals and to see Victoria falls. I did spend about four hours in game parks and saw Baboons, Elephants, Zebra, Hippopotamus, Rhino, Giraffe, Warthogs and lots of Impala. I was quite disappointed at how few animals we saw when we were not in game reserves but then you don't often see deer or badgers in Britain without heading out especially to do so. Although the beauty of a zebra or the elegance of a giraffe is much better appreciated in the flesh there is always a disappointing feeling that you didn't get as close to them as David Attenborough and that they would often move out of sight after a few minutes.

The Victoria Falls were absolutely amazing. It was the dry season so there wasn't quite as much water falling as usual but it was still very wet and we probably got a better view of the falls with only the limited spray. This also made the river more rough for white water rafting which is supposed to be better. I chose to start off riverboarding the first few rapids which allegedly involves lying on your board and surfing the rapids. I just seemed to end up swimming with a large float tied to my arm. Because we were so buoyant we were carried with the current over and around the rocks and down the mighty Zambesei. We took the raft down the harder rapids but succeeded in flipping it so we could swim a little more. Our major disaster came after the last rapid but still a mile from the pick up point when we hit a rock and punctured the raft. Somehow we reached the end of the course and started the near vertical climb of 111m out of the valley.

I also decided to conduct some experiments on Hooke's laws of elasticity and the dissipation of energy by jumping off the bridge connecting Zambia to Zimbabwe in the worlds highest commercial bungee jump. I wasn't very elegant and just 'sort of fell of and flapped my hands' rather than jumping and gliding gracefully as instructed but the experience was incredible and I was already to jump again the moment I got back up only the queue had got rather long by this stage.

By the time we arrived in Mombassa for a final few days on the beach the area was experiencing riots and rumours were spreading of up to 50 murders and most of the Kenyan army being deployed in to protect tourists and restore order. Although we gradually discovered that tourists were not being targeted, and actually being protected by both sides, the atmosphere was strangely subdued. Army jets flew low over the beautiful silver sand beaches to assert their authority and our guard came back heavily bruised and cut for leaving the campsite without his 'papers'. I did meet an old school friend on the beach. Without knowing it we had flown to Nairobi within 24 hours of each other and were due to leave on the same day.

When I did leave Kenya I flew to Accra in Ghana. Again my geography let me down as I had not realised that travelling from one side of Africa to the other is about as far as flying to Accra from London. The only flight to make the connection flys from Addis Ababa, to Nairobi, Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Lome and finally back to Addis Ababa to start again the next day. As it is the only way to cross from East to West I met some very interesting people. A Nigerian businessman who was embarrassed by the state of his country's economy and crime rate accompanied me to Lagos. Whilst from The Ivory Coast to Ghana I spoke to the goalkeeper of Niger's national football team who only spoke French and even then with an accent most unlike that taught at school. I arrived at midnight dreading the notoriously corrupt Ghanaian officials. Perhaps it was because it was so late or because they couldn't face unpacking a rucksack of dirty clothes even for the chance of dash (a bribe) that they smiled at me, laughed a little at my passport photo and allowed me to pass into central Accra with no hassle. Luckily my friends were there to collect me and take me to their house on the hospital complex. I was looking forward to two things a soft bed and a warm bath. The first was lovely but although they assured me that if I had been there the week earlier there would have been all the water I could use a pipe burst and the whole area was forced to collect water from stand pipes. I would be washing in a bucket again!

I spent the first week staying in Accra visiting the hospitals and meeting various friends of my hosts. Being a successful surgeon Ben knew many influential Ghanaians and soon I realised I was being introduced to the man who ran the National Bank of Ghana for the first twenty years after independence and sipping coke at the tennis club with the American Ambassador's right hand woman. It was very difficult to compare this with the villages in East Africa.

I was made to feel very much at home with the family eating local dishes of fermented maize balls, fried plantains, yams, sweetpotatoes and cassava all served with a spicy tomato and onion Pepe sauce. I later discovered that it contained about five whole chilli peppers and this was just the mild version prepared especially for my soft European tastes after I almost collapsed in tears the first time I tasted some. I learnt to cook a few dishes however the deep red palm oil that graces almost every dish in overwhelming proportions is hard to obtain in Britain so the recipes have had to be modified.

They also insisted on having the seamstress make a Cloth (fashionable women's suit) for me. This consists of a long straight skirt which makes walking difficult and a fitted jacket with huge padded sleeves making you look like a poodle. The third piece is a square which can be wrapped around you waist, used to carry you baby on your back or twisted and turned to form a head dress. The whole outfit is made of the most amazing printed cloth. Mine is a relatively tame red and yellow paisley pattern but in the street it is not uncommon to see prints adorned with their employers logo, the national flag, wild animals, or anything else that one could think of. I also had my haid braided which involved sitting on the floor for about 8 hours but did mean I saved time brushing my hair till I had to spend another 4 hours unplaiting it all.

I visited the coast to the east of Accra and looked around the castles built by the Europeans for trade in spice and later slaves. I arrived just in time for Panafest a celebration of all things African. Many African Americans had returned to find their 'Roots' and visitors from neighbouring countries had come to join the celebrations. I was amazed at the sense of betrayal that many felt not just against the Europeans who sold them as slave but also against their own ancestors who helped round up slave to sell to the Europeans. The idea of arresting decendents of cheifs who profited from the slave trade seems barbaric to me but was being debated but some of the visitors. Part of the aim of the festival was to promote peace and co-operation in Africa there seems to be a long way to go.

I visited the huge Hydroelectric dam at Akosombo. This is Ghana's only power station, although more are planned, and provides electricity to Benin and Togo as a source of income to keep prices low. With the increase in the use of computers and more villages receiving power demand is rising as are prices much to the disgust of the customers who managed recently to stall a proposed price increase by refusing to pay it. Ghana is one of the most stable countries in the region. The first African country to gain independence it has forged a new way and although plagued by massive inflation the economy is surviving. Politically it is a democracy albeit a new and slightly unsteady one. President Rawlings has won two elections in a row without too many allegations of irregularities. He must now step down in the year 2000 after his two terms of office are up (he had been in power undemocratically for quite a while beforehand but this doesn't seem to count). This will show whether Ghanaian democracy will survive.

In all it was an exhausting trip. I saw lots of interesting places and met many wonderful people. It is perhaps a shame that I didn't get to stay in one place for any real length of time but I enjoyed myself and now have a better idea of which places are worth revisiting.