Feeling the LOVE

I am prone to brood on occasion and yesterday I had given in without so much as an iota of resistance, I was just circling the drain. No, nothing happened per se, but I could not seem to shake feeling lonely and disconnected. Just then I received an email from my friend Michelle. She was saying that sometimes you get bogged down by the little things. What you need  in such a situation is someone with whom you can really chew through an issue with to get down to the gristle of the matter. She is spot on. I have been missing my girlfriends terribly and it was starting to get to me. You know how guys tend to offer up simplified remedies that seem like a logical ‘fix’ but they rarely allow you to ‘get to the gristle.’ I was feeling a bit depleted. I miss my ladies and nothing recharges my batteries like a good dose of girl time. Glenn is a lot of things to me, but he isn’t a girlfriend.

So this morning I woke early enough to give myself a good talking to before Glenn got up. New day, new attitude, was my mantra. I walked down to the lake where I had intermittent cell service, opened up Facebook and the first message on my home page was from Charles Draghi. It read:

Four weary, cold, hungry travelers spent over three hours driving to our restaurant from Maine this evening. We're closed for business on Monday nights. But I turned on the ovens, fired up some pans, and gave them four courses of Christmas cheer. I had more fun tonight than I have in some time. Man, I love what we do!Top of Form

Now talk about generosity of heart, Chuck, is the chef owner of one of my favorite restaurants. To those of you traveling through Boston, check out Erbaluce near the theatre district; I can guarantee it will be one of the tastiest meals you’ll ever eat. Chuck, you made my morning. I am honored to call you a friend.

Then, I opened my email and read a letter from Jessica, my sister-in-law (I really don’t like that term, it sounds so stiff. She is more like a sister so that is how I think of her).  Jess graciously went above and beyond helping us get Christmas presents out to our nephews on time. I am indebted.  

And if that wasn’t enough heart-warming generosity for one morning, my other sister, Darcy (same sentiment as above, different sister), calls her sister in DC to help procure our visas which have been collecting dust on the desk of an overworked and under enthusiastic agent in the Ethiopian Embassy for a week now (despite their next day turn around claim), rendering us stationary and waiting it out in Kenya for an extra couple of weeks.  Her sister in Washington made a couple calls and within minutes, we were receiving emails from DC saying that a guy is heading over to the Ethiopian Embassy (thank you O. H.) to “see what he can do.” It is a little nerve wracking to post your passports half way around the world with 4+ countries left on your itinerary, so you can imagine our relief when we learned that not only had the visas been acquired, but our passports were being posted directly from Washington DC back to us in Nairobi! B. M. S. you are the best; we are indebted to you. Thank you for helping us out, your generosity is so appreciated. Three cheers for you and your DC team! You’ve been instrumental in our continuing north and we can’t thank you enough.

So here you have it, just when I was beginning to wallow around in sadness, generosity, love and kindness dried up the muddy bog in my head.

These three examples are just a fraction of the love that has helped sustain us on our long journey. There are so many of you who have joyfully taken up the responsibilities we left behind. Michelle and Trent, I can hardly wait to see your beautiful, shining faces and soak in your love. Thank you for taking care of our house and running our cars, and charging batteries and everything else… and Trent, thank you so much for fixing the dishwasher. Holy smokes, what a blessing you have been and we haven’t even met yet. You love one of the most incredible women I know, for that I already love you and I so look forward to the day I get to thank you in person.  Jeff and Lisa, thank you for sorting through the endless supply of campaign fliers and junk mail, turning off the water so our pipes don’t freeze and jumping to our rescue at a moment’s notice.  Wow. You’re always there to help, we so appreciate you.

My girlfriend Mendy is responsible for keeping my garden alive, paying the bills I forgot about (oops) and keeping me abreast with pictures of the kiddos and updates from home. Your emails are always cherished. Thank you for blurring the distance between us. And to my dear childhood friend Jenny, you’ve been my recharge for months now. I would have never imagined reconnecting after almost 28 years, in Africa no less, but we did. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your letters, they were much needed. I can’t wait to hug your neck, slug down those bottles we’ve been writing about and meet your darling family. You are a delight.

Denise, my chicken savior, not only cared lovingly for my lady-birds - driving across town to do so - but moved them into a newly built Coop Mahal at her house and shepherded a new batch of chicks to boot! Under your watchful eye I have not worried about them one bit, thank you. Wow. I only hope to be able to repay you  with a regular supply of homemade bagels, preserves and weed pulling, because I know you are going to have you hands full come summer. I can't wait to see your farm. 

Aleeta and Dayl you are the best chicken rustlers I know…sorry about the poison oak.

Jessica, thank you for relaying all of my emails to Nana and Granddad. My Nana hasn’t been feeling well so knowing that my Granddad, Mom, niece Maria and Jess are stopping by and helping out while I am away has been such a comfort. Thank you all for your love and updates from home.

I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to expressing our gratitude for the love and kindness that we’ve received while here in Africa. Toni and Lee, you guys warmed our hearts, setting the tone for the rest of our trip, thank you. We love you and hope that we’ll be reunited one of these days. Megan, Ryan, Nicholas, Molly, Vince, Wayne, Jennifer, Russell, Georges, Chris, Lyn, Stan, The Frenchies, Craig, Nelson, Sophia, Greer we are so glad to have met each one of you. Not to mention the countless Africans from South Africa on up through Kenya, who have made us laugh, think and question our way of being in this world. You have had a tremendous impact on us, changing how we’ve approached this beautiful continent and I can’t imagine a more varied and colorful experience. Thank you. We’ve heeded your advice and you’ve pretty much dictated our entire path. We’ve felt your love and hospitality every step of the way…thank you.

And to our Aussies, the two devilishly handsome young men who made our year, we love you. We had so much fun with you and we can’t wait to continue the adventure, summer 2012: Burning Man!?! Our door is always open for you and we better get invites to your weddings. I know, I know, I am jumping the gun, especially for Steve-o (given you are single and all...ladies!?!), but I am just saying that we don’t want the distance between us to matter anymore than a plane ride.  Besides, we give good wedding presents.

And for the many, many kind letters, comments and messages from home. You know who you are but special thanks to: C. J., C. W., K. W., D. P., M. M., M. G., L. P., D. P., D. L., J. C., C. C., J. C., S. B., S.T., M. J., S. W., L. D., A. C., G. W., J. H., M. M., E. E., N. E., J. DM., R MG. and J. G. you’ve really touched our hearts.  Your enthusiasm for following along on our journey has made all of the failed internet connections, uploads and technological mishaps somehow worthwhile.

Louise and Bill, you’re always up for a challenge. We certainly put you to the test more than once but we really appreciate you jumping to our rescue immediately after arriving home from a cross Americas flight. We appreciate you so much. And thank you for sending our favorite toothpaste all the way around the world (among other Christmas goodies). I couldn’t imagine being married into a better family.

And to my Mom, thank you for your candid letters, you have no idea how much that means to me...you give me hope. I am excited to spend time with you and Dad when we return. Thanks for all of the photos, emails and checking in on our little casa. We really appreciate it. 

So my sadness, loneliness, longing, whatever you want to call it was quickly usurped with a good dose of love, unexpected generosity and goodness. I am extremely grateful for each one of you and don’t want you for a minute to think I have forgotten all that you do for us. You fill our hearts with love.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

C

If you want to see what 1.5 million flamingos look like click here. Here is another album of Lake Bogoria and surroundings. 

Africa 101

Glenn and I have a grading system for Africa based on ease of travel, amenities and the friendliness of the locals. South Africa earned preschool status while Namibia garnered a kindergarten rating. We figured Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to be somewhere around a PhD. and Masters respectively…just to give you an idea of scale. South Africa is set up for travelers, it boasts restaurants and hotels a plenty, the BazzBus will take you pretty much anywhere you want to go along the southern coast and the ability to communicate (given you speak English) with all but the most hard core Afrikaners and a few rural Zululanders is a definite plus. Easy. A novice traveler could do it.

The further north we drive, the more advanced our education becomes (literally and figuratively). Mozambique is a gorgeous country - on the cusp of a growing tourist industry (thwarted by a long standing civil war, but it’s safe for the time being) - but the reserve of the people, lack of infrastructure in the north and our inability to speak Portuguese earned it a fifth grade rating despite the ease of travel along the southern beaches.

The further north we go, the more challenging the exams. Now we are advancing to high school. It has been a quick transition in only 10 months, but we’re ready for it, or at least we thought we were ready for it. We received our first real life test a couple of days ago as we were heading north toward Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya. After 6 ½ hours of bumping slowly down a badly pitted and pocked dirt road we came across another traveler heading to Maralal, the halfway point between where we started and the lake. The driver of the other car pulled up alongside of us and asked if we were ok. Did I say we were driving slowly? We were driving very, very slowly. He told us that we might want to pick up the pace a bit in order to make it to camp before dark. “You don’t want to be driving in these parts after dark…” he continued talking but all we heard were: shiftas, bandits and AK 47s. A Shifta is a displaced Somali pirate for lack of a better description.

A quick google search of Shifta + Lake Turkana revealed this little tidbit. According to Frommer's Guide, northwestern Kenya is: 

"Remote, untamed, untamable -- the heat-drenched deserts that stretch north toward the Ethiopian border are rough and inhospitable. The roads north of dusty Maralal and Archer's Post -- considered by most to be Kenya's final frontiers -- represent instability, danger, and unpredictable trouble. Whether it's the shifta bandits; the harsh, sudden climate; or the savage pitted roads, this is a part of the world not to be taken lightly. Nor is it necessarily the Kenya of postcards and tourist brochures. Despite its patches of magnificence -- well-watered oases, densely vegetated wildlife preserves, and the immense green-tinged shock of water that is Lake Turkana -- Kenyans themselves remain immensely wary of this far-flung zone. Although the goal is often to reach Turkana, the world's largest desert lake -- splendidly isolated and surrounded by volcanic hills, lava flows, fierce winds, and a formidable mix of hardy tribespeople -- there's plenty of interest along the way, particularly for anyone searching for an alternative look at paradise. Here, in the deserts, topographical contrasts are all the more striking, and images of human survival will burn deeply into your memory. The going can be extremely tough, but there's adventure to be had along the way; which is why the north is a popular overland safari circuit favored by rough 'n' ready backpackers."

Within a minute we had flipped the car around and were speeding back to where we had just been. Fast. It was scary. We didn’t do our research. Despite feeling rather travel savvy at this point, we are still in high school; we think we know everything but we don’t.

Writing you from the safety of Thompson’s Falls Lodge,

Corrin

XoXo

For more photos from Thompson Falls check out: http://picasaweb.google.com/Corrincphillips/ThompsonFallsKenya#

How We Roll

Living in a tiny space is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Being organized helps, being patient helps but being tolerant is vital. Once you’ve mastered those three you’re golden. I posses none of these qualities. No, that isn’t totally true; I possess them individually, on occasion, but seldom at the same time.

I’ve learned to be more organized. If you also struggle with this handy skill, you might want to try living in a ridiculously small space. Downsizing is a remarkable teacher.  As for patients, I either have them in droves or none at all, depending upon the situation. If we’re talking injured animal, droves. If you’re talking incompetent egomaniac, none. Underdog, I have all the time in the world. Bully, none. You get the picture. And tolerance, the ability to just let go and carry on, yeah, this is probably my strongest suit (of the three) but it is still apt to fizzle out every now and again.

Fortunately, I am in love with our little home and love is the magic blindfold. When you’re in love things are rosier, experiences are more vibrant and the little things seem to somehow matter less. Much less. This little traveling casa of ours has enabled us to see the entire eastern portion of a very large continent. How could you not love that!? Along our journey our little home has provided us with: enough solar power to keep our batteries charged allowing us to roam long and far without the need to plug in, a kitchen when we are hungry, a bedroom when we are tired and the options to choose where we’ll call home each and every day.  We’ve been able to hoard trinkets like you can’t believe, speed away from charging elephants and tuck into safety when those strange night noises get a little too scary. We’ve had ice cold beer and sometimes beer ice when a wily bottle slips unnoticed past my layer of frozen mozzarella and Parmesana.  This car has been our little rolling refuge, what is not to love?

Of course we could bring her home with us – this model of cruiser isn’t imported into the USA and it wouldn’t be a big deal to ship her back to the Northwest - but that option seems selfish. We can’t take an African out of Africa and expect it to thrive. This car needs to be free, needs vast open savannas to roam and wildlife to harass. It needs a new family to love and shelter. It needs you to fly into Cairo and take her back home to Cape Town or wherever you fancy.

Go ahead, quite your job, take your kids out of school and sign them up for an education they'll never forget; come explore Africa. It really isn’t that hard. Everything is included, even the cloths off our backs (given you want them). And if anything should go wrong, there is always ice in the freezer and a chilled bottle of Amarula to ease you along.

For the details of how, what, when and where, go to our Toyota Land Cruiser for Sale to a Good Owner page: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/4wd-for-sale-wanted/2003-toyota-lc-4-2-a-52394

Parting is such sweet sorrow,

Corrin

PS: If you are interested in Tiny Space Living check out our friend’s blog at www.sprinterlife.com. Tree and Stevie make life on the road look goooood. Their epic journey is taking them through the Americas over the course of two+ years? Be inspired. 

If you’re still not convinced that you need to do this you can take a peek at our Aussies experience through Africa at www.findingemo.org but be warned, you may experience a radical perspective shift in the process.