I have so many stories from today I really don't know where to begin!
I began my day cycling at 7:30am. At 9:15 I decided it was time for my breakfast stop in a cute little village I found. I found a lady who made me some noodles with some chicken in soup. Yum yum. Nice and salty. Only problem was that the only utensils I had to eat it with were chopsticks. I can eat rice with chopsticks, no dramas, but noodles?! Now that's a mission and a half. Half the town came and ate breakfast with me I think just so that they could have a laugh at the white girl trying to eat noodles with her chopsticks!!! Finally someone produced a fork for me and that made my life much easier. I love this country - I can't speak much Khmer at all but I go to pay for my noodles - I have no idea how much they cost and it's obvious I don't understand a word of Khmer- but I give the lady a 10000Riel note (equivalent to 2.5USD) and she gives me back 8500 Riel. I somehow don't think she was ripping me off, and every time I go to pay for something & have no idea how much it costs I use the same method and exactly the same thing happens!!! It's great. I wish more places in the world were like this.
So I'm pedalling along and finally I see some more foreign cyclists, stopped on the side of the road (flat tyre). I ride over to them just because they're the first other long distance cyclists I have seen. They are loaded up much more than I am. When I talk to them I find out that they are two german doctors cycling from Germany to Singapore. I was impressed. (Don't worry Mum, I'm not going to try it!).
46km along my route to Sihanoukville I loose my shoulder (on the road I mean, I still have both the ones attached to my arms). It's a bugger because the traffic although is not really that heavy, it's not exactly light either. This means I pedal most of that distance in the dirt next to the road. I don't like it. It's getting on in the day, the sun is high, and suddenly I hit some hills! On the first hill I start to feel slightly dizzy, then slightly nauseous. And then I think that it's now 2pm and I haven't peed yet. Sweat pores out of everywhere possible. I look down at my water bottles and they're getting empty and I wonder why is there no person right here waiting to sell me some more??? The lack of lockout on my fork also doesn't help. It's not long before I'm off my bike, walking it up the hill, jumping back on again riding some more, off again walking... and then I meet Ben. Thank goodness at that exact moment I'm back on my bike again looking all hard core haha! Ben is a muscly French guy on a bike going in the opposite direction to me. He has only 9 days in Cambodia too. His plan is to get to the big intersection 30kms away. After I have a chat to Ben, I find the lady selling the water!!! Phew that feels better. The coke helped a lot too.
Sihanoukville is a huge place and I finally get to the dive place I'm booked in at... but I sure did take the long way. I meet a guy on a motorbike who eventually says he'll show me the way to Serendipity beach. I follow him, but I'm tired and he has a motorbike and I'm only on a push bike. Then he wants to hold my hand while we ride so we can get there faster but I pass on the offer. Never quite sure what that might lead to, as well as the fact that I'm worried about the safety component. I'm really good with safety. Helmet is on (even though the doctors from Germany I met didn't have helmets, and neither did Ben or any other Cambodian on a bicycle I have seen). Mine's saved my head before so definitely worth wearing!
Anyhow, I make it to the dive shop check in there, get the gear that I'm borrowing sorted and make sure it's all the right size. Then it's time to find accommodation for the night. Sihanoukville is huge, and definitely a tourist town, overpopulated for New Years. The place next door is all full up and then I learn that most of town is all full up. Gerard at the dive shop gives his friend Thida a phone call and she has a bed usually occupied by her niece who is currently away on holiday. Very handy!!! I can stay there again the following night when I get back from diving. She is very lovely, and has some lovely staff at the bar in the front of the cafe. And even though it is over priced tourist food (compared to local food on the street which I have been otherwise eating) I like eating there anyway just because they are so friendly!!! I also ask if there is somewhere nearby that will do laundry for me and one of the girls takes it for me, no worries. In exchange Thida says she needs me to help her text her husband who is currently in England, wanting to know if she needs any kitchen supplies. She doesn't know what lots of the words are and needs some help so that he will understand what she needs!!! She's very thankful for my help.
Anyhow, I'm off diving tomorrow and the next day so probably won't post again for a few days!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Cover your knees!
So I made it to Phnom Penh airport with no dramas. On the plane I'm sitting next to a lovely Cambodian lady who doesn't speak any English. She is very giggly and considering neither of us have any idea what the other person is saying, we manage to hold a conversation that consists mainly of giggling! I like this place already!
I get to the airport and change some dollars into Riel. Airports usually have bad rates, but it's already 6pm, and I want to get riding first thing in the morning, beat the heat, so I change some anyway.
Then it's time to find some transport to the backpackers I'm checked in at! No dramas there either. I find a man who has a 3 wheel motorbike thing (which they call Tuk-Tuks here- doesn't look anything like an African Tuk Tuk though!). Me and my bike manage to squeeze in ok. No dramas, just a little squishy. I get to the backpackers and unpack my bike - it travelled well. There's a few tears in the cardboard - as is the usual story with bikes in boxes on aeroplanes.
In the morning, the lady at the backpackers gives me a map of Phnom Penh so I can figure out how to get from there to National Highway 2 which should take me directly to the town of Takeo where I had been planning to stay the night - 80km away - a pleasant distance with the panniers!
I find the right highway ok. Somewhere I get to a big round about. There's no signposts so I assume that the highway must go straight ahead. I pedal along and the road becomes less and less highway like as I ride. I wonder if I'm on the right track and consider that it's time for a coke stop. I ask the lady (who doesn't speak English)
"Takeo?" pointing in the direction that I'm heading. She looks at me blankly.
"Kampot?" I try again saying the name of a bigger place that I'm spending the next night.
"Yes, yes Kampot" she agrees with me. And it sounds like she understands. It never ceases to amaze me how much you can understand from each other when you don't even speak the same language! She points down to my knees, and I realise that even though I'm wearing baggy shorts over the top of my lycra cycling shorts I must be exposing too much skin. Will have to ride with long pants on tomorrow.
I get to another big intersection and it's a road that looks a lot more like a highway than the one I have been riding along. I take a left like I'm pretty sure the coke lady told me too. Just in case I ask the policeman who i see near the intersection. He also agrees that Kampot is straight ahead.
And then I finally see the sign. National Highway 3. That was not part of the plan!!! I look at my map and it's actually a more direct route to Kampot than the way through Takeo. Because it's still early I think in my head that maybe I can do a super cycling day and get myself to Kampot! 9 hours later I had ridden the 170km from Phnom Penh to Kampot. I find a cheap hotel, flop on the bed, take a shower, then go for a wander in search of internet and food. The deep fried banana cooked by the lady on the side of the road is really yummy.
Because of all this I am a day ahead of schedule and have the whole day to explore Kampot!
I think I'm going to the markets, then to the waterfall not far out of town.
Tomorrows plan is 105km to Sihanoukville.
I get to the airport and change some dollars into Riel. Airports usually have bad rates, but it's already 6pm, and I want to get riding first thing in the morning, beat the heat, so I change some anyway.
Then it's time to find some transport to the backpackers I'm checked in at! No dramas there either. I find a man who has a 3 wheel motorbike thing (which they call Tuk-Tuks here- doesn't look anything like an African Tuk Tuk though!). Me and my bike manage to squeeze in ok. No dramas, just a little squishy. I get to the backpackers and unpack my bike - it travelled well. There's a few tears in the cardboard - as is the usual story with bikes in boxes on aeroplanes.
In the morning, the lady at the backpackers gives me a map of Phnom Penh so I can figure out how to get from there to National Highway 2 which should take me directly to the town of Takeo where I had been planning to stay the night - 80km away - a pleasant distance with the panniers!
I find the right highway ok. Somewhere I get to a big round about. There's no signposts so I assume that the highway must go straight ahead. I pedal along and the road becomes less and less highway like as I ride. I wonder if I'm on the right track and consider that it's time for a coke stop. I ask the lady (who doesn't speak English)
"Takeo?" pointing in the direction that I'm heading. She looks at me blankly.
"Kampot?" I try again saying the name of a bigger place that I'm spending the next night.
"Yes, yes Kampot" she agrees with me. And it sounds like she understands. It never ceases to amaze me how much you can understand from each other when you don't even speak the same language! She points down to my knees, and I realise that even though I'm wearing baggy shorts over the top of my lycra cycling shorts I must be exposing too much skin. Will have to ride with long pants on tomorrow.
I get to another big intersection and it's a road that looks a lot more like a highway than the one I have been riding along. I take a left like I'm pretty sure the coke lady told me too. Just in case I ask the policeman who i see near the intersection. He also agrees that Kampot is straight ahead.
And then I finally see the sign. National Highway 3. That was not part of the plan!!! I look at my map and it's actually a more direct route to Kampot than the way through Takeo. Because it's still early I think in my head that maybe I can do a super cycling day and get myself to Kampot! 9 hours later I had ridden the 170km from Phnom Penh to Kampot. I find a cheap hotel, flop on the bed, take a shower, then go for a wander in search of internet and food. The deep fried banana cooked by the lady on the side of the road is really yummy.
Because of all this I am a day ahead of schedule and have the whole day to explore Kampot!
I think I'm going to the markets, then to the waterfall not far out of town.
Tomorrows plan is 105km to Sihanoukville.
Monday, December 26, 2011
You're never on your own for long...
So I'm standing around Changi Airport at the moment wearing 3 t-shirts simultaneously, two pairs of shorts, one pair of long pants, two pairs of socks, and my sneakers. I'm carrying three jackets with me aswell because it's a little hot to have them on me right now. I'm a tad uncomfy!
BUT... I can't complain too much because I managed to get out of paying my excess baggage fees!!! WHOOOT!!!! Everytime I fly I seem to get swamped but luckily the lady at singapore airlines today had some Christmas Spirit left in her and didn't even mention it (and I had a special little letter all typed out for her too!) Or maybe she was too distracted trying to figure out how to print my Silk Air boarding pass for my connecting flight... anyhow, I had my lovely letter explaining why she shouldn't charge me for my bike on hand and ready just in case and didn't even need to use it!
So I'm on my way to Phnom Penh at the moment with an 11 hour stop over at Singapore, At least Changi Airport is not the most unpleasant of airports to hang out at. They do free tours of the city for people with long transfer times which I decided to go on.
Just while I'm checking in to the tour desk I hear someone calling my name. I look up and it's Francesca (a girl who I used to work with at Homes West last year). She's on her way from Perth home to the Phillipines for a wedding. It's great to have some one to hang out with. I also meet another girl (I don't know her name yet) who is also off to Cambodia for some cycling. She's doing a 19 day organised tour though and it's her first ever bike tour so I'm feeling really excited for her! So I have some friends to hang out here with which makes the time go faster. Because I left the airport I get some new stamps in my passport too (which still excites me!)
Ok so to update you all with the current plan (in case you don't know already):
I'm off to do a bit of bike touring in Cambodia - riding a circuit from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville (just my own thing). Do 2 days of diving and also do my advanced open water course while I'm at it, and then ride back again, before I head back to Cairo for TDA 2012. No return ticket just yet because I don't quite know for certain what I'm going to be up to next.
BUT... I can't complain too much because I managed to get out of paying my excess baggage fees!!! WHOOOT!!!! Everytime I fly I seem to get swamped but luckily the lady at singapore airlines today had some Christmas Spirit left in her and didn't even mention it (and I had a special little letter all typed out for her too!) Or maybe she was too distracted trying to figure out how to print my Silk Air boarding pass for my connecting flight... anyhow, I had my lovely letter explaining why she shouldn't charge me for my bike on hand and ready just in case and didn't even need to use it!
So I'm on my way to Phnom Penh at the moment with an 11 hour stop over at Singapore, At least Changi Airport is not the most unpleasant of airports to hang out at. They do free tours of the city for people with long transfer times which I decided to go on.
Just while I'm checking in to the tour desk I hear someone calling my name. I look up and it's Francesca (a girl who I used to work with at Homes West last year). She's on her way from Perth home to the Phillipines for a wedding. It's great to have some one to hang out with. I also meet another girl (I don't know her name yet) who is also off to Cambodia for some cycling. She's doing a 19 day organised tour though and it's her first ever bike tour so I'm feeling really excited for her! So I have some friends to hang out here with which makes the time go faster. Because I left the airport I get some new stamps in my passport too (which still excites me!)
Ok so to update you all with the current plan (in case you don't know already):
I'm off to do a bit of bike touring in Cambodia - riding a circuit from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville (just my own thing). Do 2 days of diving and also do my advanced open water course while I'm at it, and then ride back again, before I head back to Cairo for TDA 2012. No return ticket just yet because I don't quite know for certain what I'm going to be up to next.
Feeling pretty excited right now. I was feeling a little unexcited initially because I was actually just starting to settle back into Real Life as a Real Person in the Real World (and finally managing to enjoy myself at the same time!) and then it was time to pack up the car, move all my stuff back to Brisbane (thanks for the storage space Mum and Dad!), do Christmas - which was lovely to be able to spend the time with all the family again (I'm really sorry I just missed you guys Janey and Jim) before jumping on an aeroplane.
It's amazing how fast I can convert back into travel mode again though! It's exciting. I'm always paranoid of forgetting something important when I'm hanging around airports, but I have my passport and my credit card and with those two things I should be able to manage if I've forgotten anything vital!
Well, hope this message finds everyone reading it well after having a lovely Christmas. I'll be in touch writing stories right here for anyone interested :) xo
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Mackay to Airlie Beach and back again
There is 152km between Mackay and Airlie Beach and for me it's the first time I have ridden with the panniers on. I pack somewhat light - (change of clothes, second pair of cycling knicks for the way home, sleeping bag, swimmers and towel, toothbrush... and of course my snorkelling face mask - very important!), get on my bike and go for a ride. My housemate reckons I'm crazy.
One thing about cycling in Australia to be wary of at this time of year are the magpies. I got into a major kefuffle with one not so long ago... these birds really do not like cyclists. On the way to Airlie I get swooped once. Past experiences though have made me wise and I'm peddling along with a heap of 3ocm zip ties coming out at various angles out of my helmet. The perfect magpie repelling device!
50km into the ride and the wind picks up... it's a crosswind - sometimes a crosstail wind but definitely more noticable when it's a crrossheadwind! I begin to question why I'm doing this again? Something reminds me strongly of work in Africa on TDA. Only there's no other cyclists, no vehicle support, just me and my bike.
Plenty of sunscreen applied regularly through out the day but 10 hours in the tropical QLD sun means my sexy cycling tan is well and truly returned!!!
I spend 2 nights and one whole day in Airlie beach chilling out - sailing and diving - before jumping back on the bike and peddling the 152km back home. I put my feet up for a few hours, drink up, and then toddle off to work (night duty is calling)!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Time for an update!!!
I haven't written an update for a while and alot has been happening.
So I have found myself in a pretty awesome position. I'm currently just sitting here on holiday, between jobs in Perth. I have been on a road trip up the West Coast as far as Monkey Mia and caught up with an old friend Iain in the process. There's some beautiful places up there.
I have realised something I'm not sure a lot of other nurses know. There is a serious nursing shortage out there. Rural areas - it's the place to be. Forget the city. I have managed to resign my position at TPCH and get a short term contract for the exact dates that suit me in Mackay. Not a bad thing eh. All you nurses out there - I reckon you should all start spending a little time in the ED... the skills you learn you can take with you to any other nursing job and they will be very highly regarded!!!
Next week I leave Western Australia to spend a little time in the Snowy Mountains to do a short course in Expedition Medicine. I'm really looking forward to the course because even though it has an alpine focus, I'm sure I'll learn a lot of skills I can use and who knows what it might lead me to doing in the not so distant future!!! Mostly though I'm doing it because it sounds like some serious fun (and it has the added bonus of enabling me to keep the CPE hours up!)
When that finishes I have job lined up in Mackay Emergency Department. Seems like a friendly enough place and I'm looking forward to getting out of the hustle and bustle of Brisbane. Mackay is a rapidly growing centre with people constantly coming and going - sounds like they're pretty short staff and I'm sure i'll learn a lot of things working in the ED over there.
I finish up my contract on the 4th of December - just enough time to catch up with another old friend up in North Queensland and have some (more) fun. We're thinking it might end up being a dive holiday but nothings concrete just yet. Might end up being another road trip or a hike, we'll see what happens!
Home for Christmas and then somewhere around midnight on boxing day a plane is whisking me and my bike over to Cambodia for a few days... on the way back to Egypt to do it all again!!! If you're wondering why it's simply because it's a little more interesting and much more fun than the alternative which involves hanging out at the hospital all day!!!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hello Real World
Hello real world! I'm home - and somewhat missing Africa! It always does take a little while to adjust to the return to the real world. At least this time I was expecting it.
The hustle and bustle of the shopping centre, the traffic that stops at red lights, and then starts moving magically when the light goes green. The sun comes up and goes down again - but mostly it goes unnoticed. I can turn the "sun" on and off with the flick of a switch inside! Society holds many expectations - most of which I'm simply just not ready for!!!
I notice lots of old burnt out faces at work. I notice lots of new fresh faces. Lots of work mates have moved on. A bit has changed - there's a construction site right outside the front door. The people that were the "newbies" before I left are now oldies. Workplace politics are unchanged. This is the thing that frustrates me the most.
Outside of work, many friends are out of town, but there's a few still around, some have gone and come back just like me. Some will be gone for a good bit longer yet. Thank goodness for Skype and mobile phones!
The things I miss about Africa are much the same as last time I left. I miss the TDA family of friends, I miss seeing the sun rise and set every day, I miss the open air, the wide open spaces. I miss being a dirtbag. I even miss my tent a little. Combining the cost to replace the zipper and the pole added to excess baggage fees... it simply wasn't going to be worth it. So time for a new tent I guess!!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Capetown
So here I am safe and sound, finally in Capetown.
Of course the last 6 days haven't been without any dramas. A few days before we arrive we have a TDA disaster. One of our big support trucks brakes fail, the truck rolls. I don't know how the two staff members on board manage to get out of there unharmed. I think Disco Jesus saved them. Goodbye green truck. That's our second day this tour when things could have ended up seriously bad but somehow they didn't. Once again Sharita (a.k.a BB, or Fearless Leader) does an awesome job sorting out the disaster. We get everything off the trucks. Bicycles are damaged but the main thing is everyone is safe. Thankfully there were no clients on board the truck.
Disco Jesus came from Marsabit - he was a glow in the dark plastic Jesus originally hanging from a cross. One drunken night he gets removed from his cross and Mathias burns his arm so he can bend it downwards - he looks like he's dancing. He used to live above Ferdi's bed on the truck but the belief is that he saved Ferdi and Elvis. Unfortunately he was lost during the drama.
The next lot of dramas don't arrive until the convoy into Capetown. A rider falls and lands heavily. After the awards ceremony she's taken to the hospital for x-rays. Meanwhile another rider is climbing down the ladder out of the truck - the ladder slips and the rider lands awkwardly. Two clients with broken bones in the final day.
So here in Capetown how am I feeling??? The answer: Very Tired.
I don't think I've ever worked this hard in my life.
I also don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life.
It's the perfect way to end a journey.
Of course the last 6 days haven't been without any dramas. A few days before we arrive we have a TDA disaster. One of our big support trucks brakes fail, the truck rolls. I don't know how the two staff members on board manage to get out of there unharmed. I think Disco Jesus saved them. Goodbye green truck. That's our second day this tour when things could have ended up seriously bad but somehow they didn't. Once again Sharita (a.k.a BB, or Fearless Leader) does an awesome job sorting out the disaster. We get everything off the trucks. Bicycles are damaged but the main thing is everyone is safe. Thankfully there were no clients on board the truck.
Disco Jesus came from Marsabit - he was a glow in the dark plastic Jesus originally hanging from a cross. One drunken night he gets removed from his cross and Mathias burns his arm so he can bend it downwards - he looks like he's dancing. He used to live above Ferdi's bed on the truck but the belief is that he saved Ferdi and Elvis. Unfortunately he was lost during the drama.
The next lot of dramas don't arrive until the convoy into Capetown. A rider falls and lands heavily. After the awards ceremony she's taken to the hospital for x-rays. Meanwhile another rider is climbing down the ladder out of the truck - the ladder slips and the rider lands awkwardly. Two clients with broken bones in the final day.
So here in Capetown how am I feeling??? The answer: Very Tired.
I don't think I've ever worked this hard in my life.
I also don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life.
It's the perfect way to end a journey.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
6 days left
So I'm currently sitting at a campsite called Felix Unite where the Fish River meets the Orange River close to the border of Namibia/South Africa.
There's 6 days left.
It feels weird.
Somehow I'm looking forward and dreading going home simultaneously which is a very strange feeling. I wish I had a little more time to go and road trip with the troopers in South Africa but it's back to Brisbane I fly in 8 days time.
We've had an awesome time, but the team is tired. Half the team is on strike. 4 months is a long time - everyone is feeling it. I will miss the fresh air, the open spaces, the dramas. But mostly I will miss the people and the friendships - my TDA family.
I look forward to a life where I can go to work and go home again. I look forward to having my own room, my own space again. I look forward to seeing my real family again (the one that's known me for a little more than 4 months)... and I look forward to perhaps returning back here again next year if they'll take me!
There's 6 days left.
It feels weird.
Somehow I'm looking forward and dreading going home simultaneously which is a very strange feeling. I wish I had a little more time to go and road trip with the troopers in South Africa but it's back to Brisbane I fly in 8 days time.
We've had an awesome time, but the team is tired. Half the team is on strike. 4 months is a long time - everyone is feeling it. I will miss the fresh air, the open spaces, the dramas. But mostly I will miss the people and the friendships - my TDA family.
I look forward to a life where I can go to work and go home again. I look forward to having my own room, my own space again. I look forward to seeing my real family again (the one that's known me for a little more than 4 months)... and I look forward to perhaps returning back here again next year if they'll take me!
Kasane-Ghanzi
I haven't updated this blog since I was in Kasane and I apologise but I have not had a chance near a computer since then.
From Kasane I figured out how to get myself on a local bus to Ghanzi. It was surprisingly not to complicated. I first got a cab from camp early in the morning to the bus stop (left at 5am) then caught the bus to a place called Nata. From Nata a connecting bus goes off to Maun. I was expecting to spend a night in Maun but I didn't want to be there at the same time as everyone because it is only a tiny place and I knew I would bump into TDA people which would defeat the purpose of having a break! My plan was to hide in the first hotel I saw for a night but when I get to Maun there's another bus going to Ghanzi within another couple of hours so I hang out at the bus depot for a little longer. I manage to cover 1000km in a day on local transport. The only problem I had along the way was taking my tent down in Kasane - my tent pole had decided to fuse itself together and was refusing to collapse fully. Definitely not the end of the world - it just meant that I was on the bus with my extended tent pole - as if I wasn't attracting enough attention being the only whitie on the bus already!!!
I pitch my tent at the same campground TDA will be arriving at in a few days. It's completely empty - there's just me and my friend Olliver the Ostrich. The Ostrich is very friendly and he helps me put my tent back up. Some of the security guards come and have a quick chat to me but they don't speak very good English. They are also friends with Olliver Ostrich and show me he won't bite if he gets touched. So I stroke his back. Funny old bird!
The next day I spend wandering around downtown Ghanzi. I manage to check out the entire down town in a morning - including walking in and out of every shop. I buy a new t-shirt and new 3/4 pants because I felt like having some non dirt-bag clothes with me!
The rest of the afternoon I spend with my head buried in my book... and talking to Olliver. I have never ever looked so forward to going back to work in my life.
My second day in Ghanzi - I sleep in, have a shower, walk up to the kitchen get some coffee, read my book for a bit - listening very carefully for the trucks to arrive. I walk up to the lady at reception to pay my camping bill and find Sharita sitting there at reception. She gives me a big hug and a rundown on all the dramas that have been going on.
The trucks come in and there's more "welcome back" hugs - I am surprised at how much I have missed everyone. And surprised how much being back with everyone feels like family. And surprised at how I am feeling so much better and fresher after the break!
From Kasane I figured out how to get myself on a local bus to Ghanzi. It was surprisingly not to complicated. I first got a cab from camp early in the morning to the bus stop (left at 5am) then caught the bus to a place called Nata. From Nata a connecting bus goes off to Maun. I was expecting to spend a night in Maun but I didn't want to be there at the same time as everyone because it is only a tiny place and I knew I would bump into TDA people which would defeat the purpose of having a break! My plan was to hide in the first hotel I saw for a night but when I get to Maun there's another bus going to Ghanzi within another couple of hours so I hang out at the bus depot for a little longer. I manage to cover 1000km in a day on local transport. The only problem I had along the way was taking my tent down in Kasane - my tent pole had decided to fuse itself together and was refusing to collapse fully. Definitely not the end of the world - it just meant that I was on the bus with my extended tent pole - as if I wasn't attracting enough attention being the only whitie on the bus already!!!
I pitch my tent at the same campground TDA will be arriving at in a few days. It's completely empty - there's just me and my friend Olliver the Ostrich. The Ostrich is very friendly and he helps me put my tent back up. Some of the security guards come and have a quick chat to me but they don't speak very good English. They are also friends with Olliver Ostrich and show me he won't bite if he gets touched. So I stroke his back. Funny old bird!
The next day I spend wandering around downtown Ghanzi. I manage to check out the entire down town in a morning - including walking in and out of every shop. I buy a new t-shirt and new 3/4 pants because I felt like having some non dirt-bag clothes with me!
The rest of the afternoon I spend with my head buried in my book... and talking to Olliver. I have never ever looked so forward to going back to work in my life.
My second day in Ghanzi - I sleep in, have a shower, walk up to the kitchen get some coffee, read my book for a bit - listening very carefully for the trucks to arrive. I walk up to the lady at reception to pay my camping bill and find Sharita sitting there at reception. She gives me a big hug and a rundown on all the dramas that have been going on.
The trucks come in and there's more "welcome back" hugs - I am surprised at how much I have missed everyone. And surprised how much being back with everyone feels like family. And surprised at how I am feeling so much better and fresher after the break!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What it's like to be a medic on TDA
What is it like to work on TDA??? I get the impression that a lot of people would think it would be some kind of awesome working holiday. And awesome it is - holiday it is not.
We work hard. There's always stuff that needs doing. As the medic I run a medical clinic between 4-5pm every second day (Mathias the other medic does every other day). In addition to this I'm technically on call every night. If there's an emergency - my tent is the yellow one with the orange flagging tape on it. I am yet to be woken.
Then there's the general tour support. We go through an 8 day cycle of duties. Mine looks something like this:
Day 1: Lunch
Day 2: breakfast and sanitation
Day 3: Morning sweep
Day 4: Web and Waste
Day 5: Lunch
Day 6: off
Day 7: morning sweep
Day 8: kitchen duty
Here's what's included with all these duties:
Lunch: The main duty involved is running the lunch stop. Usually I'm up and packed up half an hour before breakfast starts. Triple check that you have everything you need - most of this you should be on top of the night bef0re. The food for the day is chosen in consultation with Kim our cook. You also need to make sure you have the lunch satellite phone in case of emergency and there's no cell phone reception, the lunch attendance clipboard, enough bread and food.
Once this is done help out with breakfast as required (topping up the cereal, thermoses, make more powdered milk for the coffee etc etc).
The lunch truck leaves when breakfast ends (sometimes when it starts if the road is dodgy and the trucks go slower than the riders).
When you get to lunch you help set up - put up the tarp for shade, pull out the tables, start chopping tomatoes and cucumbers, whatever protein is included with lunch e.g. luncheon meat, tuna, cheese, hommus)
Then as the riders come through you check them off on the attendance list, and keep the food, the energy drink, the water jerry can all topped up.
It's a big job but you have the "lunch sweep" person and Pajero the lunch truck driver there to give you a hand.
When lunch is over you truck to camp. Usually I'm on clinic in the afternoon between 4-5.
Breakfast and Sanitation: So with this awesome duty you are the first to wake up. You need to have all your stuff packed up an hour before breakfast starts. Then you help with getting the coffee on, setting up for breakfast, getting the porridge going, getting the chopping boards out, the bread and spreads on the table. While breakfast is happening you help keep everything topped up (bread, spreads, hot water, milk). You help break camp in the morning, wash up stuff etc.
Then you ride the truck to camp. If you're somewhere civilised with toilets then this is a great thing. Otherwise you help Steve the truck driver dig some holes in the ground and put up the toilet tents. Then it's your job to make sure the holes don't start overflowing and if they do - you have to organise for some new holes to be dug, close in the old ones and move the tents. thankfully we've got the system downpacked now and we don't need to move the tents anymore. After this you generally go into the kitchen and help with all the chopping and preparing for the nights dinner.
Morning sweep: So morning sweep is one of my favourite duties. It's usually a more relaxed start to the day. Riding gear goes on, tent comes down, into the kitchen, help with breakfast as required. You're the last one to leave camp on your bike. And it's your job to arrive last to lunch. So depending on how you feel you can either ride fast and stop alot, or just ride slow. I usually just ride however fast I feel like riding until I can see the last riders then I'll stop at the next coke stop, take some photos do whatever I can to not catch them, depending on who it is. Most riders do not like being "swept" so I try to stay far back enough so they don't feel like I'm doing this. Some riders like having a chat though to and there are some cool clients out there who are awesome to talk to. Once you're at lunch you help pack up lunch with whoever's on lunch, and the lunch truck driver. sometimes whoever's on lunch sweep will also help out. Then it's usually on the truck to camp, but sometimes I keep riding, once again depending on how I feel, if I have clinic in the afternoon and if I think I can make it to clinic in the afternoon. Usually 80km is enough for one day. Once at camp help in the kitchen is always appreciated in between the arrival of the lunch truck and the beginning of clinic. Then it's time for dinner.
Web and Waste: Another one of my favourites. Main duties include taking down the toilet tents, riding your bike for at least half the day so you can get some photos of riders, and then writing the blog update in the evening. Once again when you're done doing all these essential things help in the kitchen never goes astray.
Off: Sounds like an awesome day but the reality is that there's no such thing as a day off on TDA! There'll always be someone asking you medical questions, chances are someone will be unwell or on holidays and need their duty for the day covered for them. Technically you're allowed to ride your bike all day. You don't really need to help out but no one will complain if you do!
Kitchen Duty: One thing about these cyclists is that they eat five times as much as a normal person. You try chopping 15kg of onions, carrots, tomatoes, capsicums.... the list doesn't end. Have i mentioned help is always appreciated in the kitchen??? You help break camp in the morning, wash up the breakfast stuff, pack up the trucks. Ride the truck to camp. Into the kitchen. there's some days you're lucky if you leave the kitchen for 10 minutes. other days when it's relatively well controlled and you might be able to escape for an hour.
Generally somewhere betweeen 4:30-5 is a good time to wake up you're lucky if you're in bed by 2030.
If anyone is unwell enough to need a clinic then it's my job to take them there and someone else will cover whatever else I'm supposed to be doing.
So why is this job so awesome you ask??? Well... what other job allows you to travel across africa on a bicycle??? when else do you get to see the sun rise and set every single day??? where else do your colleagues start to become more like your family??? But mostly it's the unexpected things that'll happen along the way. I reckon if TDA was to become a reality TV show there'd be enough dramas to keep the entire world entertained!!!
We work hard. There's always stuff that needs doing. As the medic I run a medical clinic between 4-5pm every second day (Mathias the other medic does every other day). In addition to this I'm technically on call every night. If there's an emergency - my tent is the yellow one with the orange flagging tape on it. I am yet to be woken.
Then there's the general tour support. We go through an 8 day cycle of duties. Mine looks something like this:
Day 1: Lunch
Day 2: breakfast and sanitation
Day 3: Morning sweep
Day 4: Web and Waste
Day 5: Lunch
Day 6: off
Day 7: morning sweep
Day 8: kitchen duty
Here's what's included with all these duties:
Lunch: The main duty involved is running the lunch stop. Usually I'm up and packed up half an hour before breakfast starts. Triple check that you have everything you need - most of this you should be on top of the night bef0re. The food for the day is chosen in consultation with Kim our cook. You also need to make sure you have the lunch satellite phone in case of emergency and there's no cell phone reception, the lunch attendance clipboard, enough bread and food.
Once this is done help out with breakfast as required (topping up the cereal, thermoses, make more powdered milk for the coffee etc etc).
The lunch truck leaves when breakfast ends (sometimes when it starts if the road is dodgy and the trucks go slower than the riders).
When you get to lunch you help set up - put up the tarp for shade, pull out the tables, start chopping tomatoes and cucumbers, whatever protein is included with lunch e.g. luncheon meat, tuna, cheese, hommus)
Then as the riders come through you check them off on the attendance list, and keep the food, the energy drink, the water jerry can all topped up.
It's a big job but you have the "lunch sweep" person and Pajero the lunch truck driver there to give you a hand.
When lunch is over you truck to camp. Usually I'm on clinic in the afternoon between 4-5.
Breakfast and Sanitation: So with this awesome duty you are the first to wake up. You need to have all your stuff packed up an hour before breakfast starts. Then you help with getting the coffee on, setting up for breakfast, getting the porridge going, getting the chopping boards out, the bread and spreads on the table. While breakfast is happening you help keep everything topped up (bread, spreads, hot water, milk). You help break camp in the morning, wash up stuff etc.
Then you ride the truck to camp. If you're somewhere civilised with toilets then this is a great thing. Otherwise you help Steve the truck driver dig some holes in the ground and put up the toilet tents. Then it's your job to make sure the holes don't start overflowing and if they do - you have to organise for some new holes to be dug, close in the old ones and move the tents. thankfully we've got the system downpacked now and we don't need to move the tents anymore. After this you generally go into the kitchen and help with all the chopping and preparing for the nights dinner.
Morning sweep: So morning sweep is one of my favourite duties. It's usually a more relaxed start to the day. Riding gear goes on, tent comes down, into the kitchen, help with breakfast as required. You're the last one to leave camp on your bike. And it's your job to arrive last to lunch. So depending on how you feel you can either ride fast and stop alot, or just ride slow. I usually just ride however fast I feel like riding until I can see the last riders then I'll stop at the next coke stop, take some photos do whatever I can to not catch them, depending on who it is. Most riders do not like being "swept" so I try to stay far back enough so they don't feel like I'm doing this. Some riders like having a chat though to and there are some cool clients out there who are awesome to talk to. Once you're at lunch you help pack up lunch with whoever's on lunch, and the lunch truck driver. sometimes whoever's on lunch sweep will also help out. Then it's usually on the truck to camp, but sometimes I keep riding, once again depending on how I feel, if I have clinic in the afternoon and if I think I can make it to clinic in the afternoon. Usually 80km is enough for one day. Once at camp help in the kitchen is always appreciated in between the arrival of the lunch truck and the beginning of clinic. Then it's time for dinner.
Web and Waste: Another one of my favourites. Main duties include taking down the toilet tents, riding your bike for at least half the day so you can get some photos of riders, and then writing the blog update in the evening. Once again when you're done doing all these essential things help in the kitchen never goes astray.
Off: Sounds like an awesome day but the reality is that there's no such thing as a day off on TDA! There'll always be someone asking you medical questions, chances are someone will be unwell or on holidays and need their duty for the day covered for them. Technically you're allowed to ride your bike all day. You don't really need to help out but no one will complain if you do!
Kitchen Duty: One thing about these cyclists is that they eat five times as much as a normal person. You try chopping 15kg of onions, carrots, tomatoes, capsicums.... the list doesn't end. Have i mentioned help is always appreciated in the kitchen??? You help break camp in the morning, wash up the breakfast stuff, pack up the trucks. Ride the truck to camp. Into the kitchen. there's some days you're lucky if you leave the kitchen for 10 minutes. other days when it's relatively well controlled and you might be able to escape for an hour.
Generally somewhere betweeen 4:30-5 is a good time to wake up you're lucky if you're in bed by 2030.
If anyone is unwell enough to need a clinic then it's my job to take them there and someone else will cover whatever else I'm supposed to be doing.
So why is this job so awesome you ask??? Well... what other job allows you to travel across africa on a bicycle??? when else do you get to see the sun rise and set every single day??? where else do your colleagues start to become more like your family??? But mostly it's the unexpected things that'll happen along the way. I reckon if TDA was to become a reality TV show there'd be enough dramas to keep the entire world entertained!!!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Holidays
My tent is left standing as everyone else packed there's up. People rode away on their bicycles, the trucks drove away from camp leaving me left behind, all alone. For a moment I thought I was going to start crying - which is a weird thing considering I usually don't cry, I love my personal space, I'm ready for a holiday and I'm pretty ok at being on my own. The boys (Mathias, Cristiano, Ferdi, Steve and Gabe) all gave me a big hug before they left. I realise suddenly that I love these guys - they are all like brothers to me. Us staff are like one big family. Part of the working for TDA deal is that for the reasons of better work dynamics and for your own personal sanity, all staff get to take a break from the group for a week - obviously not all at the same time. So my place is here in Kasane, Botswana - an awesome little spot. Lots of I'm not planning on doing too much for the next week. Might read for a bit, write some postcards, check out the elephants and baboons that wander around camp. I can't remember when the last time I just stopped and put my feet up was. More than a year ago I think.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cholera.... or Malaria???
I am hiding in a little internet cafe in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Not so long ago we were camped at Chitimba beach which is right on the lake. Another awesome little spot. But we found out after we got there that there was a cholera outbreak in the village not far from the camp. There had been 2 deaths in the last 2 weeks. As long as people are good with their hand hygiene, and eat well cooked food we decide it shouldn't really be a big issue.
The next day 3 people are sick with diarrhea - usually I wouldn't be too concerned because people get diarrhea here in Africa all the time, it's part of Africa, it's part of the deal with excessively tiring out your body through excessive amounts of cycling. Because of the cholera outbreak though I decide that they probably should be taken to a medical facility to a doctor that hopefully knows a little more about cholera than I do. A cholera outbreak at camp would be enough to shut down the tour for a couple of weeks. Another 3 people come along aswell who have also not been feeling too well recently either.
The doctor is not concerned about cholera. Apparently a cholera bowel motion looks like a flakey rice water and it doesn't stop coming (if you were interested... sorry I'm aware that not everyone reading this works in the medical field so perhaps many of you are not that interested).
He's more concerned that we need to rule out malaria. So he does a full blood count and a blood film and... 3 cyclists get diagnosed with malaria.
Anyhow, I have only seen malaria once before. But the Indaba staff and some of the other guys I've met who make it a habit of doing lots of tour guiding through malarious areas have all never seen 3 such healthy cases of malaria, and question the diagnosis.
The two options would be
a) to treat it as malaria with some Coartem
b) to go and find another medical facility and repeat the test
We can't ignore a diagnosis like this, and I would like to think that the doctor knows more about Malaria than we do. Time is poor, it's too late for a repeat test tonight, the tour waits for no one. So I choose option a) and if they don't actually have malaria then it's not going to kill them if they have the treatment.
My impression is that because they were taking prophylactic tablets for malaria that they will not get anywhere near as sick as someone who doesn't take any prophylaxis so the doctors diagnosis is quite possible.
For all you families out there that read everyones blogs please do not be at all alarmed. All three of these people are perfectly fine, and have now recovered, and never even got off their bicycles because we got onto the diagnosis early and they were never really that sick in the first place.
Not so long ago we were camped at Chitimba beach which is right on the lake. Another awesome little spot. But we found out after we got there that there was a cholera outbreak in the village not far from the camp. There had been 2 deaths in the last 2 weeks. As long as people are good with their hand hygiene, and eat well cooked food we decide it shouldn't really be a big issue.
The next day 3 people are sick with diarrhea - usually I wouldn't be too concerned because people get diarrhea here in Africa all the time, it's part of Africa, it's part of the deal with excessively tiring out your body through excessive amounts of cycling. Because of the cholera outbreak though I decide that they probably should be taken to a medical facility to a doctor that hopefully knows a little more about cholera than I do. A cholera outbreak at camp would be enough to shut down the tour for a couple of weeks. Another 3 people come along aswell who have also not been feeling too well recently either.
The doctor is not concerned about cholera. Apparently a cholera bowel motion looks like a flakey rice water and it doesn't stop coming (if you were interested... sorry I'm aware that not everyone reading this works in the medical field so perhaps many of you are not that interested).
He's more concerned that we need to rule out malaria. So he does a full blood count and a blood film and... 3 cyclists get diagnosed with malaria.
Anyhow, I have only seen malaria once before. But the Indaba staff and some of the other guys I've met who make it a habit of doing lots of tour guiding through malarious areas have all never seen 3 such healthy cases of malaria, and question the diagnosis.
The two options would be
a) to treat it as malaria with some Coartem
b) to go and find another medical facility and repeat the test
We can't ignore a diagnosis like this, and I would like to think that the doctor knows more about Malaria than we do. Time is poor, it's too late for a repeat test tonight, the tour waits for no one. So I choose option a) and if they don't actually have malaria then it's not going to kill them if they have the treatment.
My impression is that because they were taking prophylactic tablets for malaria that they will not get anywhere near as sick as someone who doesn't take any prophylaxis so the doctors diagnosis is quite possible.
For all you families out there that read everyones blogs please do not be at all alarmed. All three of these people are perfectly fine, and have now recovered, and never even got off their bicycles because we got onto the diagnosis early and they were never really that sick in the first place.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Resting up in Arusha
So we are on our last of 3 days of rest in Arusha. Riders take off on Safaris, but for me Mt Meru looks like an attractive spot.
Kendra's ribs are healing up and although she hasn't been up to riding her bike yet, she also likes the look of Mt Meru. We're chopping up the tomatoes and cucumbers together at the lunch spot and we hatch a plan. Up and down Mt Meru in 2 days (normally a 3 day trip).
Kari and Jorg decide they want to come along aswell. We arrive in Arusha, organise some food, grab some dinner, pack our bags. First thing in the morning we're ready to head off on our hike.
The first day we hike up to the second hut (this takes a lot of convincing for the ranger that has to accompany us). It's a gorgeous spot. Down the bottom we see giraffes, zebras, warthogs, buffallo. A little higher we find some colobus monkeys. The vegetation gradually changes the higher we ascend.
We walk above the clouds.
Day 2 our plan is to wake at 3am and continue on to the summit, and then descend the entire way the next day.
3am arrives. Rain rain rain - go away!!! The rain is not the end of the world but because there is also thunder and lightning about we decide that perhaps ascending is not the best idea. Instead we sleep for another hour and a half. Then we hatch a plan to summit Little Meru instead (the smaller of the two peaks), and descend back and check out some more animals. We still ascended and descended 2000m... not a bad effort!!!
I love giraffes - I don't know how any animal can be so disproportionately elegant. Even when they run they do it elegantly - I think I could sit and watch a giraffe for hours!!!
Kendra's ribs are healing up and although she hasn't been up to riding her bike yet, she also likes the look of Mt Meru. We're chopping up the tomatoes and cucumbers together at the lunch spot and we hatch a plan. Up and down Mt Meru in 2 days (normally a 3 day trip).
Kari and Jorg decide they want to come along aswell. We arrive in Arusha, organise some food, grab some dinner, pack our bags. First thing in the morning we're ready to head off on our hike.
The first day we hike up to the second hut (this takes a lot of convincing for the ranger that has to accompany us). It's a gorgeous spot. Down the bottom we see giraffes, zebras, warthogs, buffallo. A little higher we find some colobus monkeys. The vegetation gradually changes the higher we ascend.
We walk above the clouds.
Day 2 our plan is to wake at 3am and continue on to the summit, and then descend the entire way the next day.
3am arrives. Rain rain rain - go away!!! The rain is not the end of the world but because there is also thunder and lightning about we decide that perhaps ascending is not the best idea. Instead we sleep for another hour and a half. Then we hatch a plan to summit Little Meru instead (the smaller of the two peaks), and descend back and check out some more animals. We still ascended and descended 2000m... not a bad effort!!!
I love giraffes - I don't know how any animal can be so disproportionately elegant. Even when they run they do it elegantly - I think I could sit and watch a giraffe for hours!!!
Isiolo hospital
It's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened... a few weeks ago now some of our clients encounted a nasty experience with shifters. For us as staff it sure wasn't an easy day ensuring everyone made it to camp safely.
So the day of the attack I was riding morning sweep - this means I'm last to ride, I have one of the three satellite phones in my backpack aswell as a first aid kit. There's another satellite phone at the lunch truck, and another in the runabout vehicle which is often ahead at camp.
I'm riding along, frustrated because I have dodgy back wheel (hubs wearing out, spokes are having issues, and I have somehow managed to bend the rim aswell) - i killed one of my slick tyres so now I am riding with a knobbly tyre on the pavement.
Up ahead of me I see James riding back towards me. Something must be wrong.
"Claire do you have the sat phone on you? You need to call Sharita" His words are rushed, he's out of breath. I calm him down and get more details. He tells me there's been a robbery up ahead, people have heard gunshots over the other side of the hill and people are scared for their own safety about continuing over the hill.
I am confused - I don't know how people hearing gunshots over the hill equate to a robbery. I pull out the sat phone and give the boss a call. She says that there is a military base up ahead and maybe it is just training.
James tells me people are waiting on the otherside of the hill, so I keep riding onwards until I catch up with the last 10 cyclists.
Then I learn that at least 3 cyclists have been held up at gunpoint. Shots were fired. No one has many details. I give the boss another call - she's already at the police station getting some police escorts in our car and military guys and heading back towards us.
One of our dinner trucks which had broken down catches up with us. Gabe jumps out and tells me someone has been shot. We don't know who. We know they have been taken to the nearest medical centre but no idea of their condition. I make another call to the boss.
We make a plan - the riders and bicycles are bundled onto the truck. The stage is over. No one will lose their EFI because of today. We make it to the next village where more riders have stopped.
6 riders have robbed - they have had mostly food and water stolen, but also some USD and cameras aswell.
The sat phone is ringing and it's Paul - he wants to know what's going on but everyone's trying to talk to me at the same time and I'm still trying to find out what's going on. I tell Paul I will call him back and he's very unimpressed.
Patrick tells me I must go and see Kendra. I give the sat phone to Gabe and tell him he must firstly call Sharita (who was requesting 5 minutely updates) and then call Paul at the lunch truck and let him know what's going on.
"Kendra has been shot?" I ask him.
"no it's just a rock they think" he tells me. "but she's been coughing up blood"
So Patrick takes me to see Kendra (Kendra has given me permission to share this story).
I am very relieved to see her sitting up and smiling and looking perfectly well. She has a small puncture wound on her chest. She tells me someone threw a rock at her straight in the chest, another person threw a spear which thankfully flew over her shoulder, a few moments later someone fired a rifle. The first thing I do is send Patrick back to Gabe to ask him to phone Sharita and tell her that no one has been shot and everyone is stable.
Kendra has some bruising, but mostly I'm concerned about the fact that she has coughed up a very small amount of blood shortly afterwards which would indicate some kind of lung trauma. She is thankfully in a stable condition. Another rider is also at the little medical clinic with a small amount of blood trickling from her ear - the wound from the butt of a rifle which she had pushed up against the side of her face.
Sharita eventually pulls up with the landcruiser and a few military guys. We organise for the remaining riders to be bundled into vehicles and taken to camp. Some of the riders that have already made it to lunch continue riding. Everyone has been accounted for.
We take Kendra to Isiolo hospital (really just wanting a chest x-ray) and check out the local Emergency department. It's a little cleaner looking than Moyale hospital at least. But still - some of the basic things we take for granted back home (like having oxygen and suctioning equipment on standby at the end of each bed) are still missing.
The person who sells the x-ray tickets is on their lunch break (which goes for two hours) so we hang out at the hospital for a while. Eventually we get the x-ray, and thankfully there's nothing serious on there (maybe a broken rib, but no major lung trauma).
At the end of the day I think everyone knew that we were lucky that no one was more seriously injured.
So the day of the attack I was riding morning sweep - this means I'm last to ride, I have one of the three satellite phones in my backpack aswell as a first aid kit. There's another satellite phone at the lunch truck, and another in the runabout vehicle which is often ahead at camp.
I'm riding along, frustrated because I have dodgy back wheel (hubs wearing out, spokes are having issues, and I have somehow managed to bend the rim aswell) - i killed one of my slick tyres so now I am riding with a knobbly tyre on the pavement.
Up ahead of me I see James riding back towards me. Something must be wrong.
"Claire do you have the sat phone on you? You need to call Sharita" His words are rushed, he's out of breath. I calm him down and get more details. He tells me there's been a robbery up ahead, people have heard gunshots over the other side of the hill and people are scared for their own safety about continuing over the hill.
I am confused - I don't know how people hearing gunshots over the hill equate to a robbery. I pull out the sat phone and give the boss a call. She says that there is a military base up ahead and maybe it is just training.
James tells me people are waiting on the otherside of the hill, so I keep riding onwards until I catch up with the last 10 cyclists.
Then I learn that at least 3 cyclists have been held up at gunpoint. Shots were fired. No one has many details. I give the boss another call - she's already at the police station getting some police escorts in our car and military guys and heading back towards us.
One of our dinner trucks which had broken down catches up with us. Gabe jumps out and tells me someone has been shot. We don't know who. We know they have been taken to the nearest medical centre but no idea of their condition. I make another call to the boss.
We make a plan - the riders and bicycles are bundled onto the truck. The stage is over. No one will lose their EFI because of today. We make it to the next village where more riders have stopped.
6 riders have robbed - they have had mostly food and water stolen, but also some USD and cameras aswell.
The sat phone is ringing and it's Paul - he wants to know what's going on but everyone's trying to talk to me at the same time and I'm still trying to find out what's going on. I tell Paul I will call him back and he's very unimpressed.
Patrick tells me I must go and see Kendra. I give the sat phone to Gabe and tell him he must firstly call Sharita (who was requesting 5 minutely updates) and then call Paul at the lunch truck and let him know what's going on.
"Kendra has been shot?" I ask him.
"no it's just a rock they think" he tells me. "but she's been coughing up blood"
So Patrick takes me to see Kendra (Kendra has given me permission to share this story).
I am very relieved to see her sitting up and smiling and looking perfectly well. She has a small puncture wound on her chest. She tells me someone threw a rock at her straight in the chest, another person threw a spear which thankfully flew over her shoulder, a few moments later someone fired a rifle. The first thing I do is send Patrick back to Gabe to ask him to phone Sharita and tell her that no one has been shot and everyone is stable.
Kendra has some bruising, but mostly I'm concerned about the fact that she has coughed up a very small amount of blood shortly afterwards which would indicate some kind of lung trauma. She is thankfully in a stable condition. Another rider is also at the little medical clinic with a small amount of blood trickling from her ear - the wound from the butt of a rifle which she had pushed up against the side of her face.
Sharita eventually pulls up with the landcruiser and a few military guys. We organise for the remaining riders to be bundled into vehicles and taken to camp. Some of the riders that have already made it to lunch continue riding. Everyone has been accounted for.
We take Kendra to Isiolo hospital (really just wanting a chest x-ray) and check out the local Emergency department. It's a little cleaner looking than Moyale hospital at least. But still - some of the basic things we take for granted back home (like having oxygen and suctioning equipment on standby at the end of each bed) are still missing.
The person who sells the x-ray tickets is on their lunch break (which goes for two hours) so we hang out at the hospital for a while. Eventually we get the x-ray, and thankfully there's nothing serious on there (maybe a broken rib, but no major lung trauma).
At the end of the day I think everyone knew that we were lucky that no one was more seriously injured.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Moyale Hospital
The other day I had the privilege of escorting a sick Mzungu (Swahili for white man) to the nearest hospital as we felt he required pathological testing that we weren't able to diagnose from the mobile TDA nurse and paramedic run clinic/lunch truck. I'm not going to share anymore details about his illness here as I have an ethical obligation to patient confidentiality but I will state that he is back to his normal self and there is absolutely no need for anyone to be concerned.
The sick Mzungu scored a 4 hour hospital admission to Moyale Hospital and the African health care system really hit me hard. I had an awareness that the health system was poor, but it's not until I saw it up close with my own eyes that it really made an impact.
There are two other men sharing the same room as the Mzungu. One speaks pretty good English and I learn the he has Malaria. He looks to be roughly the same age as me. The other is much younger - 14 maybe. He is very sick. I try and find out what's wrong with him and the man with Malaria tells me he has a sore throat and hasn't been able to eat for 3 weeks - but I know there must be more to it than that. He has IV fluids running. No one seems to care about taking a set of vital signs. His lungs sound terrible - he has a death rattle. His body is emaciated. Around him are his family who sit him up so he can breathe better. He vomits into a bucket, passes urine into the same bucket. There aren't many nurses. His family take the bucket away and wash it out.
The hospital is not very clean, everything is old, the assessment equipment is very basic. I'd be surprised to find a cardiac monitor, a defibrillator, a blood gas machine or any of these basic essentials that you would expect to find in a hospital at home. There's people sick with Malaria, yet no mosquito nets.
As I ride my bike through the countryside I notice that the people aren't old. 40 is considered old for the people that live in these parts of the world.
I clamp the Mzungus IV fluids myself when the bag empties because there is no one else around. He's doing ok and I think we can do a better job looking after him on the lunch truck after all. Time to push for a discharge.
The sick Mzungu scored a 4 hour hospital admission to Moyale Hospital and the African health care system really hit me hard. I had an awareness that the health system was poor, but it's not until I saw it up close with my own eyes that it really made an impact.
There are two other men sharing the same room as the Mzungu. One speaks pretty good English and I learn the he has Malaria. He looks to be roughly the same age as me. The other is much younger - 14 maybe. He is very sick. I try and find out what's wrong with him and the man with Malaria tells me he has a sore throat and hasn't been able to eat for 3 weeks - but I know there must be more to it than that. He has IV fluids running. No one seems to care about taking a set of vital signs. His lungs sound terrible - he has a death rattle. His body is emaciated. Around him are his family who sit him up so he can breathe better. He vomits into a bucket, passes urine into the same bucket. There aren't many nurses. His family take the bucket away and wash it out.
The hospital is not very clean, everything is old, the assessment equipment is very basic. I'd be surprised to find a cardiac monitor, a defibrillator, a blood gas machine or any of these basic essentials that you would expect to find in a hospital at home. There's people sick with Malaria, yet no mosquito nets.
As I ride my bike through the countryside I notice that the people aren't old. 40 is considered old for the people that live in these parts of the world.
I clamp the Mzungus IV fluids myself when the bag empties because there is no one else around. He's doing ok and I think we can do a better job looking after him on the lunch truck after all. Time to push for a discharge.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Arba Minch
Hi there from Arba Minch!!!
Well more interesting times arise as the wound infections start. We've done a few intravenous infusions out of the back of the lunch truck to try and get them better. Fingers crossed they keep getting better.
I have been for a morning walk around every single pharmacy that is open in Arba Minch trying to restock the antibiotics. The ciprofloxacin and the cloxacillin is easy enough to find... trying to get some oral clindamycin for those people that are allergic to penicillin is a different story however! I think I've been to every pharmacy and haven't been able to find anything. I ask for an antibiotic for someone with a wound infection who is allergic to penicillin - the man digs out the cloxacillin. "No - Penicillin allergy" I reinforce - so he finds some Augmentin (which also contains penicillin). I point out that amoxycillin is a penicillin too.
"Yes but this antibiotic is very good for wound infection" he says/
Not getting anywhere today.
Instead I find a heap of nice young local men who are waiting for me to finish my internet time because they really want to take me out tonight because they have a big celebration. It's the night before they start their fasting time - this means they aren't allowed to eat any proteins, they're not allowed to drink, and they're not allowed to have sex during this time. I tell them no - but it's never that easy.
Well more interesting times arise as the wound infections start. We've done a few intravenous infusions out of the back of the lunch truck to try and get them better. Fingers crossed they keep getting better.
I have been for a morning walk around every single pharmacy that is open in Arba Minch trying to restock the antibiotics. The ciprofloxacin and the cloxacillin is easy enough to find... trying to get some oral clindamycin for those people that are allergic to penicillin is a different story however! I think I've been to every pharmacy and haven't been able to find anything. I ask for an antibiotic for someone with a wound infection who is allergic to penicillin - the man digs out the cloxacillin. "No - Penicillin allergy" I reinforce - so he finds some Augmentin (which also contains penicillin). I point out that amoxycillin is a penicillin too.
"Yes but this antibiotic is very good for wound infection" he says/
Not getting anywhere today.
Instead I find a heap of nice young local men who are waiting for me to finish my internet time because they really want to take me out tonight because they have a big celebration. It's the night before they start their fasting time - this means they aren't allowed to eat any proteins, they're not allowed to drink, and they're not allowed to have sex during this time. I tell them no - but it's never that easy.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Sweeping in Ethiopia
I love Ethiopia. I especially like riding sweep in this country. Many riders don't like to be "swept" - I like to try and respect this. This means I try and hang back as soon as I catch up to the last rider if they look like they're doing okay. It means there's lots of time for awesome photographs. Lots of time for Pepsi and coffee, and it means lots of time for me to practice my Amharic with the local kids. I'm a bit limited to "what's your name" and "how are you" but I'm sure I'll learn a bit more as time goes on.
I was sweeping up a hill the other day and I met a group of 4 kids, one of which was holding out a baby goat. Of course I have to stop, and take a photo. Then they let me hold the goat too. It would have only been a few days old. A rider had already bought a goat and wanted to take it along with us on the lunch truck - but for infection control reasons the rules are "no goats on the lunch truck" - so I gave my little one back to the boy and continued on my way.
Surprisingly I don't get many rocks while I'm riding sweep - i think it's because I have the energy and time to talk to lots of the kids, try to greet them in Amharic, and remain pretty cheerful.
Medically we're still keeping busy... a bit of minor surgery in the back of the lunch truck, the wound infections start coming in, the gastro for the time being has been keeping at bay.
I was sweeping up a hill the other day and I met a group of 4 kids, one of which was holding out a baby goat. Of course I have to stop, and take a photo. Then they let me hold the goat too. It would have only been a few days old. A rider had already bought a goat and wanted to take it along with us on the lunch truck - but for infection control reasons the rules are "no goats on the lunch truck" - so I gave my little one back to the boy and continued on my way.
Surprisingly I don't get many rocks while I'm riding sweep - i think it's because I have the energy and time to talk to lots of the kids, try to greet them in Amharic, and remain pretty cheerful.
Medically we're still keeping busy... a bit of minor surgery in the back of the lunch truck, the wound infections start coming in, the gastro for the time being has been keeping at bay.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Rest Day :)
I am currently sitting at a little internet place in Gondar, Ethiopia. We have 2 rest days here and I feel like I have earnt them.
It has been a busy week medically. Tired bodies, increased heat, gravel roads make a recipe for more work! There's been lots of riders with heat stroke as they cycle through temperatures up to 49 degrees out in the sun. It doesn't matter how many times I remind people to keep drinking, adequate hydration is always going to be a hard battle. The explosive diarrhea has started, and there's been plenty of gravel rash to patch up.
Blessing the lunch truck driver has been having issues with his visa coming into Ethiopia so he's still stuck in Khartoum - which means Mathias is driving the lunch truck at the moment.
Yesterday, even though it was a "rest day" we were working for most of the day. We took the lunch truck to get fuel and to get properly cleaned. The trucks take a beating over here so we have to look after them. We visited the local hospital trying to get my suturing forceps sterilised which I had to use the other day... The theatre nurse exchanged mine for a sterile pair but then she was asking if we had a box to put them in... which would defeats the purpose of them being sterile in the first place. We came to the conclusion that perhaps the clinic/lunch truck is perhaps cleaner than Gondar University Hospital. We tried to pick up some supplies from the pharmacy here, and managed to find most of what we needed. There's no decent dressings here, but we've still got quite a bit of stock anyway. I was also trying to find a spacer chamber for any more acute asthma attacks that might arise on the way as I gave the existing one to a client already. We have one in the Emergency bag still anyway but it would be useful to have a second one on the lunch truck aswell. They don't know what a spacer is here though even when I drew a picture. Maybe in Addis.
The rest of the day we spent cleaning the inside of the lunch truck which was pretty dusty and disgusting after the unpaved section in Sudan. Then it was time for clinic... and finally time to party!
Miles goes back home to Istanbul today which is good for him, but sad for us because he is an awesome person to have around.
It has been a busy week medically. Tired bodies, increased heat, gravel roads make a recipe for more work! There's been lots of riders with heat stroke as they cycle through temperatures up to 49 degrees out in the sun. It doesn't matter how many times I remind people to keep drinking, adequate hydration is always going to be a hard battle. The explosive diarrhea has started, and there's been plenty of gravel rash to patch up.
Blessing the lunch truck driver has been having issues with his visa coming into Ethiopia so he's still stuck in Khartoum - which means Mathias is driving the lunch truck at the moment.
Yesterday, even though it was a "rest day" we were working for most of the day. We took the lunch truck to get fuel and to get properly cleaned. The trucks take a beating over here so we have to look after them. We visited the local hospital trying to get my suturing forceps sterilised which I had to use the other day... The theatre nurse exchanged mine for a sterile pair but then she was asking if we had a box to put them in... which would defeats the purpose of them being sterile in the first place. We came to the conclusion that perhaps the clinic/lunch truck is perhaps cleaner than Gondar University Hospital. We tried to pick up some supplies from the pharmacy here, and managed to find most of what we needed. There's no decent dressings here, but we've still got quite a bit of stock anyway. I was also trying to find a spacer chamber for any more acute asthma attacks that might arise on the way as I gave the existing one to a client already. We have one in the Emergency bag still anyway but it would be useful to have a second one on the lunch truck aswell. They don't know what a spacer is here though even when I drew a picture. Maybe in Addis.
The rest of the day we spent cleaning the inside of the lunch truck which was pretty dusty and disgusting after the unpaved section in Sudan. Then it was time for clinic... and finally time to party!
Miles goes back home to Istanbul today which is good for him, but sad for us because he is an awesome person to have around.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Story of the Lost Children
The other day I was riding afternoon sweep when I come across Kristian and Ram stopped by
the side of the road. With them are two very small Sudanese children - the boy aged maybe 5, the girl only 3.
These kids are in the middle of the desert, it's hot outside, and there is no signs of any civilisation or signs of life in sight.
Kristian and Ram are both very concerned about the wellbeing of the two children. I suggest we continue on our way. We can't take these two children with us to Cape Town! A vehicle passes about every 15 minutes. The kids do not look too unwell, dehydrated or sick, and I believe that once we are gone, the Sudanese people will look after these children.
Ram and Kristian don't like my plan so I discuss with Sharita (the boss) what we should do. She suggests we keep moving and says she will go back and check on them, but Ram and Kristian still don't want to leave them.
I eventually flag down a vehicle and a man gets out of it. I explain using a lot of gestures (because I don't speak much arabic, and he doesn't speak English) that the children are lost and we are concerned about them. He thanks us and starts walking with them away from the road and into the desert.
I am sure these people must have places, homes, hidden from our eyes where they live. Often we will see a person in the middle of nowhere just walking, or sitting next to the road - just usually not quite this small!!!
the side of the road. With them are two very small Sudanese children - the boy aged maybe 5, the girl only 3.
These kids are in the middle of the desert, it's hot outside, and there is no signs of any civilisation or signs of life in sight.
Kristian and Ram are both very concerned about the wellbeing of the two children. I suggest we continue on our way. We can't take these two children with us to Cape Town! A vehicle passes about every 15 minutes. The kids do not look too unwell, dehydrated or sick, and I believe that once we are gone, the Sudanese people will look after these children.
Ram and Kristian don't like my plan so I discuss with Sharita (the boss) what we should do. She suggests we keep moving and says she will go back and check on them, but Ram and Kristian still don't want to leave them.
I eventually flag down a vehicle and a man gets out of it. I explain using a lot of gestures (because I don't speak much arabic, and he doesn't speak English) that the children are lost and we are concerned about them. He thanks us and starts walking with them away from the road and into the desert.
I am sure these people must have places, homes, hidden from our eyes where they live. Often we will see a person in the middle of nowhere just walking, or sitting next to the road - just usually not quite this small!!!
Onwards to Khartoum
So I'm sitting here in a very westernised shopping centre at a little internet place typing away at my blog... seems a little strange compared to the very unwesternised world outside.
We have travelled from Dongola to Khartoum over the last 4 days. I've been lucky enough to spend most of that time on my bike.
The most important thing is that Kim the cook (who lost her passport in Cairo) has managed to get herself out of Cairo and safely to Khartoum. Even though I am not overly supersticious I plan to give her my lucky horseshoe I picked up in Luxor as soon as I see her - she seemed to just have one stroke of bad luck after another poor thing! We are all very glad that we are out of Egypt now that things are a little unstable there.
The cycling has been pleasant although this morning I was sweeping with Elvis and he got a flat tyre. Unfortunately he doesn't have his own pump and his spare inner tube has an unusual valve that wasn't compatible with my pump. This meant that we were sitting on the side of the road patching a tube so we could get going again and then had to work quite hard to catch up to the riders at the back when the wind changed direction just to make life a little more complicated!!!
Riding in convoy is often a painful procedure. I sit at the very back of the convoy so that if there is any medical problems I'll know about them and can try to help. Travelling is often slow, traffic is crazy, and we were grateful to the national sudanese cycling team for helping us out.
Today one of the riders fell off their bike riding across some railway tracks as part of the convoy. She was feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous afterwards so I jumped on the truck with her for the last 20km of the day. I was quite pleased to have an excuse to get out of the sun - the dizziness and nausous feeling soon resolved and the rider is perfectly fine.
I just had my first shower in 9 days so I'm feeling nice and clean!
Hope everyone up in northern queensland stays safe
We have travelled from Dongola to Khartoum over the last 4 days. I've been lucky enough to spend most of that time on my bike.
The most important thing is that Kim the cook (who lost her passport in Cairo) has managed to get herself out of Cairo and safely to Khartoum. Even though I am not overly supersticious I plan to give her my lucky horseshoe I picked up in Luxor as soon as I see her - she seemed to just have one stroke of bad luck after another poor thing! We are all very glad that we are out of Egypt now that things are a little unstable there.
The cycling has been pleasant although this morning I was sweeping with Elvis and he got a flat tyre. Unfortunately he doesn't have his own pump and his spare inner tube has an unusual valve that wasn't compatible with my pump. This meant that we were sitting on the side of the road patching a tube so we could get going again and then had to work quite hard to catch up to the riders at the back when the wind changed direction just to make life a little more complicated!!!
Riding in convoy is often a painful procedure. I sit at the very back of the convoy so that if there is any medical problems I'll know about them and can try to help. Travelling is often slow, traffic is crazy, and we were grateful to the national sudanese cycling team for helping us out.
Today one of the riders fell off their bike riding across some railway tracks as part of the convoy. She was feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous afterwards so I jumped on the truck with her for the last 20km of the day. I was quite pleased to have an excuse to get out of the sun - the dizziness and nausous feeling soon resolved and the rider is perfectly fine.
I just had my first shower in 9 days so I'm feeling nice and clean!
Hope everyone up in northern queensland stays safe
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Greetings from Dongola
It's been a few days now and I don't know what to write or where to start.
The boat ride accross lake Nasser was always going to be pretty eventful so it was not really surprising when I found myself making 7 trips on and off the boat (which has a very small entry door and lots of people trying to carry food, microwaves, refrigerators, and anything else possible on and off to load themselves onto the boat). After a lot of pushing and shoving getting my gear, my bike, all the medical equipment, some of the other staff equipment on board I was starting to get the hang of it.
It was a bit of a squishy nights sleep on board the boat, but after filling out much paperwork we were finally able to disembark and enter the Sudan.
I was chatting to rider Ruth the other day asking her how she was finding it.
"It's almost like we've landed on the moon" she tells me. I know what she means. There are no trees, just lots and lots of desert. And a few rocks in the landscape.
Medically everyone is doing ok - nothing new. No trips to the hospital yet (apparently we're doing much better than last year when 4 riders had to be taken to Dongola hospital to get their eye infections, abscesses etc etc checked out).
Today is a rest day - but not for us staff. Mathias and I work and clean up the lunch truck (also our 'Clinic'). There's plenty of paperwork to be done - writing up an electronic copy of all our medical notes, going through the medical inventory again now that we are with our trucks - we have a lot more medical equipment.
It's great having the trucks, the Indaba staff to help us out, everything just runs so much more smoothly in the Sudan - it is still one of my favourite countries in Africa.
Love to all - thanks for fixing up my car insurance mum and dad x0
The boat ride accross lake Nasser was always going to be pretty eventful so it was not really surprising when I found myself making 7 trips on and off the boat (which has a very small entry door and lots of people trying to carry food, microwaves, refrigerators, and anything else possible on and off to load themselves onto the boat). After a lot of pushing and shoving getting my gear, my bike, all the medical equipment, some of the other staff equipment on board I was starting to get the hang of it.
It was a bit of a squishy nights sleep on board the boat, but after filling out much paperwork we were finally able to disembark and enter the Sudan.
I was chatting to rider Ruth the other day asking her how she was finding it.
"It's almost like we've landed on the moon" she tells me. I know what she means. There are no trees, just lots and lots of desert. And a few rocks in the landscape.
Medically everyone is doing ok - nothing new. No trips to the hospital yet (apparently we're doing much better than last year when 4 riders had to be taken to Dongola hospital to get their eye infections, abscesses etc etc checked out).
Today is a rest day - but not for us staff. Mathias and I work and clean up the lunch truck (also our 'Clinic'). There's plenty of paperwork to be done - writing up an electronic copy of all our medical notes, going through the medical inventory again now that we are with our trucks - we have a lot more medical equipment.
It's great having the trucks, the Indaba staff to help us out, everything just runs so much more smoothly in the Sudan - it is still one of my favourite countries in Africa.
Love to all - thanks for fixing up my car insurance mum and dad x0
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Fun Times
I had a particularly good day yesterday as we travelled from Luxor to Idfu. I was on Lunch duty which means it's my job to help prepare lunch for everyone and then I get to ride sweep in the afternoon after we're all packed up!
So we find an awesome little place for lunch - a felafel man right next to a police check point, and Miles manages to convince the man to start cooking lots of felafel so the riders can have some for lunch. We're well prepared well ahead of time so I go and start talking to some of the local kids. I meet a man who I think is their dad as and I manage to score a free donkey ride. The kids want me to meet their mum as well and in the meantime it's clear that the man thinks that I should marry him (none of them speak any english but you can communicate a lot using gestures). The wives of the man also appear to think it's a good idea too. Time to retreat back to the safety of the lunch truck. It's only my third proposal so far.
The riders trickle in and out and there is a phone call of our first medical incident on tour. Thankfully the rider is now completely fine and back on the bike already today.
I ride with Elvis at the back of everyone where we can chat away enjoy the scenery, finally we arrive at camp.
One of the Egyptian truck drivers gives me a stick of sugar cane to gnaw on. Yum.
Then I go into town and try to find some drugs for the boss who is sick (not critically). I walk into three pharmacies before I find what I need. The man speaks good English and it is only a cheap drug so he gives it to me for free as a gift.
It's moments like these that really change your impressions of a place. Last time i visited Idfu it was a place filled with uncontrollable children - now it is a place of giving pharmacists!
When I walk back to camp I find a lucky horseshoe. I'm not particularly supersticious but I pick it up and keep it anyway. 65 Riders, 12000km... from moments earlier in the day I know we're going to need all the luck we can get.
So we find an awesome little place for lunch - a felafel man right next to a police check point, and Miles manages to convince the man to start cooking lots of felafel so the riders can have some for lunch. We're well prepared well ahead of time so I go and start talking to some of the local kids. I meet a man who I think is their dad as and I manage to score a free donkey ride. The kids want me to meet their mum as well and in the meantime it's clear that the man thinks that I should marry him (none of them speak any english but you can communicate a lot using gestures). The wives of the man also appear to think it's a good idea too. Time to retreat back to the safety of the lunch truck. It's only my third proposal so far.
The riders trickle in and out and there is a phone call of our first medical incident on tour. Thankfully the rider is now completely fine and back on the bike already today.
I ride with Elvis at the back of everyone where we can chat away enjoy the scenery, finally we arrive at camp.
One of the Egyptian truck drivers gives me a stick of sugar cane to gnaw on. Yum.
Then I go into town and try to find some drugs for the boss who is sick (not critically). I walk into three pharmacies before I find what I need. The man speaks good English and it is only a cheap drug so he gives it to me for free as a gift.
It's moments like these that really change your impressions of a place. Last time i visited Idfu it was a place filled with uncontrollable children - now it is a place of giving pharmacists!
When I walk back to camp I find a lucky horseshoe. I'm not particularly supersticious but I pick it up and keep it anyway. 65 Riders, 12000km... from moments earlier in the day I know we're going to need all the luck we can get.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Luxor Rest Day
Today is our first "rest day" in Luxor.
There is of course plenty of work to be done. Not much for us medics but the others all have plenty so I help out with the logistics of passport gathering, and figuring out the paperwork we need to do before we go to Sudan. It's a time consuming process.
At lunch we go and eat one of the two favourite egyptian dishes. It's like pasta and rice mixed together, tomato sauce, lentils and fried onion. Tastes good. The other options throughout most of Egypt is felafel and fool (bean thing). We've been eating plenty of both.
Adele and I take a wander through the local markets and we both buy a scarf and have fun haggling with the man that sells scarves to get a good price (even though he thinks his starting price is a good price!) The scarf will be good to keep warm in the dessert, and to double as a sarong later when it get's warmer.
Then I'm back to work running the afternoon clinic for riders. It's all just more of the same - ankles, knees, saddle sores. I've been seeing plenty of bums lately.
There is of course plenty of work to be done. Not much for us medics but the others all have plenty so I help out with the logistics of passport gathering, and figuring out the paperwork we need to do before we go to Sudan. It's a time consuming process.
At lunch we go and eat one of the two favourite egyptian dishes. It's like pasta and rice mixed together, tomato sauce, lentils and fried onion. Tastes good. The other options throughout most of Egypt is felafel and fool (bean thing). We've been eating plenty of both.
Adele and I take a wander through the local markets and we both buy a scarf and have fun haggling with the man that sells scarves to get a good price (even though he thinks his starting price is a good price!) The scarf will be good to keep warm in the dessert, and to double as a sarong later when it get's warmer.
Then I'm back to work running the afternoon clinic for riders. It's all just more of the same - ankles, knees, saddle sores. I've been seeing plenty of bums lately.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
`behind the scenes
A lot has happened since my last post. There are many stories and I don't know where to begin.
One of the clients asked me the other day - "you guys haven't had any problems yet have you?" James (the chef) and I burst out laughing.
"define what you mean by problem" is our response.
Nothing is easy, nothing is straight forward. It seems like we have had nothing but problem after problem. None have been too difficult for us to overcome.
Before we even start I am frustrated because it takes me 2 hours just to print out everyone's medical information.
Day one it was a mission to get the lunch ready on time for the first riders, a mission to check off all their names as they roll into camp in large groups when we're all still learning their names.
On day 2 I travel straight to camp with Sharita (the boss) to set up camp. We stop to fill up water at a fire station. We don't speak much arabic but it is clear that the man doesn't want us to fill up our water there. So we ring our in country support guy Rizik who talks to the man on the phone and eventually the man lets us fill up on drinking water. We continue on to camp and when we get there the pump on the tank has broken and we can't get the water out. Eventually Martin the bike mechanic rocks up to camp and fixes the pump, puts it back in the water but then the water got contaminated with all rust and grease that was on the pump. There goes our drinking water!!!!
The next day I am helping James with the cooking and as we're chopping up all the cauliflower we discover a tonne of afids all inside it.
Getting the Egyptian support crew to wash their hands before they go near the food is a big challenge.
Riding the first day convoy out of Cairo was a complete disaster with two flat tyres, people stopping to take photos, stopping for pee break during a convoy just not understanding the importance of not letting the convoy get broken up.
Medically there's plenty of sore knees, sore ankles, saddle sores to take care of. At the moment though the main concerns are the one client who's eyes has me pickled, and another client who is a bit feverish with diarrhea which I have encouraged to start her own antibiotics, paracetamol so fingers crossed it will be under control soon!
Greetings to all from Luxor xx
Friday, January 14, 2011
READY SET GO
I have been flat out over the past few days doing pre trip preparation, stocking up on medical supplies etc etc. I think we've been to at least 5 big chemists in Cairo, checked out the local ambulance service, dug deep for malaria tablets in this city.
Nothing is straight forward. You ask for one thing, something else is produced which is supposed to do the same thing but I don't know the drug so I'm reluctant to use stuff I don't know! The electric blood pressure machine we have is innacurate so we have to find a new one.
Decent painkillers are just about impossible to get our hands on.
Chasing people to get their details is frustatingly more complicated than it should be.
At the moment I'm trying to print out a few copies of everyones medical info but even that is impossible at the moment.
Despite all this, I'm having an awesome time, we've had the chance to visit some real local places, meet some genuinely awesome locals, eat good local food.
Looking forward to getting started with the ride tomorrow
Sending my deepest sympathies to everyone back home - good luck with the big clean up and I'm sorry I'm not there to help out. xx
Nothing is straight forward. You ask for one thing, something else is produced which is supposed to do the same thing but I don't know the drug so I'm reluctant to use stuff I don't know! The electric blood pressure machine we have is innacurate so we have to find a new one.
Decent painkillers are just about impossible to get our hands on.
Chasing people to get their details is frustatingly more complicated than it should be.
At the moment I'm trying to print out a few copies of everyones medical info but even that is impossible at the moment.
Despite all this, I'm having an awesome time, we've had the chance to visit some real local places, meet some genuinely awesome locals, eat good local food.
Looking forward to getting started with the ride tomorrow
Sending my deepest sympathies to everyone back home - good luck with the big clean up and I'm sorry I'm not there to help out. xx
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Aladin
So not long after I finished writing my blog update I go for a walk to try and find my camping mug.
While I'm walking I bump into a young man who introduces himself to me. His name is Aladin. He wants to know where I'm going.
"just for a walk" I tell him. Not really wanting any more marriage proposals from these Egyptian men.
He keeps chatting to me and because I feel like being polite I chat back. He is a Bedouin man, not from Cairo so that is a bit more interesting than the average Cairo man who wants to take me to his perfume shop. He's from somewhere just beyond the White Desert. He is not a guide, tells me he doesn't want my money, he just wants to practice his English.
Eventually I tell him that I need to find a mug because I forgot to bring my mug from home. And he is actually quite helpful and we go to four or five different shops until we find a perfect sized mug made from stainless steal. Perfect for camping. And only costs me 5 egyptian pounds (= about 1 AUD/1USD - love travelling when the dollar is so strong!)
Then of course he wants to have a cup of tea with me. I don't want to though (because tea with egyptian men never turns out to be just tea!) so I make some lame excuse about being very tired and needing to go back to where I'm staying. He wants to meet up again later but I apologise and tell him that maybe when he's in Australia and needs to find a mug I'll help him do that. I escaped successfully and hid in my room for a bit just because I get frustrated with all the men in this country.
While I'm walking I bump into a young man who introduces himself to me. His name is Aladin. He wants to know where I'm going.
"just for a walk" I tell him. Not really wanting any more marriage proposals from these Egyptian men.
He keeps chatting to me and because I feel like being polite I chat back. He is a Bedouin man, not from Cairo so that is a bit more interesting than the average Cairo man who wants to take me to his perfume shop. He's from somewhere just beyond the White Desert. He is not a guide, tells me he doesn't want my money, he just wants to practice his English.
Eventually I tell him that I need to find a mug because I forgot to bring my mug from home. And he is actually quite helpful and we go to four or five different shops until we find a perfect sized mug made from stainless steal. Perfect for camping. And only costs me 5 egyptian pounds (= about 1 AUD/1USD - love travelling when the dollar is so strong!)
Then of course he wants to have a cup of tea with me. I don't want to though (because tea with egyptian men never turns out to be just tea!) so I make some lame excuse about being very tired and needing to go back to where I'm staying. He wants to meet up again later but I apologise and tell him that maybe when he's in Australia and needs to find a mug I'll help him do that. I escaped successfully and hid in my room for a bit just because I get frustrated with all the men in this country.
The Sudanese Embassy
Well the big plan for today was to get my Sudanese Visa all organised but it hasn't quite gone to plan. Last time it was done in a day, this time it appears it might take 2.
It's a bit of a mission to get a Sudanese visa in the first place - especially in Cairo. There's a complicated process. Here's how it works:
Step 1 - Line up in the line that says "PASPORTS" (nb: spelt with only 1 s)
Step 2 - Answer the mans questions about why you are going to Sudan. "I need to ride my bike to Capetown and to do this I need to ride through Sudan" I tell him.
Step 3 - fill in the form the man gives you and take it over to the photocopy man who will copy that and your passport and your entry visa for Egypt
Step 4 - take these forms back to the "PASPORTS" line and line up again in the line
Step 5 - Get the PASPORTS man to squiggle something in arabic in red pen on the form
Step 6 - Go line up in the "Cashier' line and give the lady 100USD
Step 7 - Take the receipt back to the PASPORTS man (you need to line up in the line again)
Step 8 - Come back at 1000am the next day and line up into the PASPORTS line
Fingers crossed I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow without any issues and it will all be processed when I go back tomorrow at 1000am.
I met a sudanese man who has a brother who lives in Perth. I tell him my sister lives in Perth too. He wants to take me around the corner for tea but I have never gone and had tea with an arabic man that didn't end up in either a marriage proposal, or him trying to make me pay a minimum of 50 egyptian pounds to buy some of his perfume. Only it's actually called "essence" rather than perfume I learnt yesterday (when I found myself having a cup of tea with a random Egyptian man I met on my walk who got offended when I tried to call it perfume!).
So I tell the man I have to get my visa first.
It's a bit of a mission to get a Sudanese visa in the first place - especially in Cairo. There's a complicated process. Here's how it works:
Step 1 - Line up in the line that says "PASPORTS" (nb: spelt with only 1 s)
Step 2 - Answer the mans questions about why you are going to Sudan. "I need to ride my bike to Capetown and to do this I need to ride through Sudan" I tell him.
Step 3 - fill in the form the man gives you and take it over to the photocopy man who will copy that and your passport and your entry visa for Egypt
Step 4 - take these forms back to the "PASPORTS" line and line up again in the line
Step 5 - Get the PASPORTS man to squiggle something in arabic in red pen on the form
Step 6 - Go line up in the "Cashier' line and give the lady 100USD
Step 7 - Take the receipt back to the PASPORTS man (you need to line up in the line again)
Step 8 - Come back at 1000am the next day and line up into the PASPORTS line
Fingers crossed I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow without any issues and it will all be processed when I go back tomorrow at 1000am.
I met a sudanese man who has a brother who lives in Perth. I tell him my sister lives in Perth too. He wants to take me around the corner for tea but I have never gone and had tea with an arabic man that didn't end up in either a marriage proposal, or him trying to make me pay a minimum of 50 egyptian pounds to buy some of his perfume. Only it's actually called "essence" rather than perfume I learnt yesterday (when I found myself having a cup of tea with a random Egyptian man I met on my walk who got offended when I tried to call it perfume!).
So I tell the man I have to get my visa first.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Enroute to Cairo
Farout it's been a busy last few weeks with Christmas shenanigans, work, spending quality time with friends and family, moving house, and getting all ready to head away on my mission to cycle across africa for the second time (because doing it once is simply not enough!)
Managed to get away with a few moments of worry when the fire alarm went off at Brisbane International Airport and made everyone go stand outside for a few minutes until they decided it was only a falsey and the firies had reset the alarm.
As I step onto the escalator after saying goodbye to mum and dad (and thanks for the lift!) there's a few moments of nervousness where I feel a bit unsure, a bit lonely and a bit frightened. But it's nothing compared to the first time I travelled by myself over to Vietnam, and nothing compared to when I took off to Cairo in 2009. By the time I reach the bottom of the escalator I've taken a few deep breaths and the unsureness, the loneliness, the frightened feeling evaporates and gets replaced with extreme excitement!
I managed to get away pretty much on time and am now currently hanging out at Changi Airport, Singapore.
I have a 4 hour stopover here and then it's on to Dubai briefly to refuel and then finally to Cairo. I have organised for the man at the Australian Hostel Cairo to come and meet me and pick up me and my bike. Cairo typically shuts down on Fridays and Saturdays which is the weekend over there so I should be able to go and catch up on a few minutes of shut eye, head out for a wander, then go and sleep a bit more!!!
The only thing I realise I've forgotten to bring at the moment is my mess kit but I'm not too concerned as I should have time to figure something out when I get to Cairo without any issues!
Managed to get away with a few moments of worry when the fire alarm went off at Brisbane International Airport and made everyone go stand outside for a few minutes until they decided it was only a falsey and the firies had reset the alarm.
As I step onto the escalator after saying goodbye to mum and dad (and thanks for the lift!) there's a few moments of nervousness where I feel a bit unsure, a bit lonely and a bit frightened. But it's nothing compared to the first time I travelled by myself over to Vietnam, and nothing compared to when I took off to Cairo in 2009. By the time I reach the bottom of the escalator I've taken a few deep breaths and the unsureness, the loneliness, the frightened feeling evaporates and gets replaced with extreme excitement!
I managed to get away pretty much on time and am now currently hanging out at Changi Airport, Singapore.
I have a 4 hour stopover here and then it's on to Dubai briefly to refuel and then finally to Cairo. I have organised for the man at the Australian Hostel Cairo to come and meet me and pick up me and my bike. Cairo typically shuts down on Fridays and Saturdays which is the weekend over there so I should be able to go and catch up on a few minutes of shut eye, head out for a wander, then go and sleep a bit more!!!
The only thing I realise I've forgotten to bring at the moment is my mess kit but I'm not too concerned as I should have time to figure something out when I get to Cairo without any issues!
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