I have arrived at the Vancouver airport. On route to the beautiful Paris, France in the springtime. It has been a year since I left Europe (from a short fun Oceania cruise and week at lemon farm on Amalfi coast, few days walking in Greece and Rome) and since September 2023 since I have arrived back in Canada (from a month in Africa on safari – South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda). Since February 2024 since I arrived back in Victoria from a flight to Nova Scotia in the winter for visit to family.
It is a few hours pre flight, they tell travellers to arrive no less than 3 hours before flight time, to get through security and pick up boarding passes etc. This time I am checking no bags. Walking on the flight with all my travel gear with me, on my back. I have a beautiful Coach leather handbag over my shoulder, big enough to hold this lap top and strap around my shoulder. I have an Osprey back pack – no bigger than students carry to go to school each day. Wow, it has been a while and I guess I have learned a few things about packing light! A lot of practice and intention have brought me this far ….
Remember when I was one of those people who were pulled out of the line with baggage that was ‘overweight’ and I had to run things back to the car that would not make the flight with me. Also back then I had a rollie suitcase just for my shoes and footwear! I have been seriously trying to downsize the amount I carry on vacation. Intention, practice, repeat. Here I am.
Wearing a few extra layers, jacket, rain coat, sweater, t shirt – layer, layer and layer. My jewelry on my wrists, around my neck and in my ears … I did not set off the metal detector going through security, even that experience has improved over time.
Women cleaning staff wandering around the seating area not far from the Starbucks close to my departure gate, D something or other. About 1 out of every ten people wearing masks, left over from when the pandemic times required us all to stay home or wear masks, gloves and take safety precautions.
I am in the international departures area, my next stop will be Amsterdam and then Charles de Gaulle in Paris. Lucky me, I often can fall sound asleep on airplanes … not always but often. Maybe today will be the day. Yesterday I slept on Harbour Air sea plane from Victoria harbour to Vancouver harbour – ha ha – in little squishy seats. Today an exit row awaits me, leg room and maybe some comfort as I lean back and relax. Phone on airplane mode until the 23 April 2024 and my own thoughts to keep me company.
Stay tuned for more travel stories ……. “follow” along (I think there is a button where you can enter your email address and receive my blog posts directly into your email inbox – if you want).
Since March 2020, it has been in the planning to once again try travel, when safe to do so. Tours booked and cancelled, postponed and replanned … zooms to talk about ideas and possible dates, some common ground for friends and travel club members alike to set intentions and try to venture out in the big travel world again.
Why do we have the urge to travel? What compels us to experience the big wide world and its creatures and people, cultures and food … and experience the washroom facilities! Why do we wish to meet others and travel together…. What about us wants to call the big global world ‘home’?
For me, often my bigger vision, is to contribute to women holding hands around the world, to support one another, to talk about the state of global affairs for women everywhere, to support women serving agencies so they can prosper and help women to find more empowerment. Walking each other home, even the unseen women … even those I know very well. How can I best lend my support every day in each experience to contribute to a peaceful and successful outcome for women?
Over the past 6 months I have been travelling again, as you can see from this blog. First Europe for a short trip to Rome, a 7 night Oceania cruise to Athens and few day stay in Greece and Italy, finishing up with a 7 night stay local living Sorrento on Amalfi Coast, GAdventures tour at the agritourismo. I like to refer to it as the lemon farm. The mom of this family is the chef at the agritourismo. Luigi, her son, and Valentina, the daughter work with tourists to ensure the stay is memorable for all the right reasons.
The tour started out with 16 of us guests (friends and women travel club gals) on the cruise ship, and then people went on their way to their various other travel destinations.
GAdventures is a great Canadian small tour company to travel with. We come together as guests, sometimes barely, or not at all, knowing other travellers … meeting up for adventure, sometimes uncomfortable pushes outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes an easy day of rest or sitting all day in a safari vehicle or bus.
Most recently I have done two tours in Africa. Both GAdventures. One as an agent, one as a guest. As an agent, I travelled solo and met up with a fabulous agent colleague who resides in Quebec. We have never met before but became fast close friends and roommates. I would travel with Manon anywhere anytime. A kindred and fun spirit. The tour: Kruger in Depth. We met in Johannesburg and from there travelled to Kruger National Park for several safari days and enjoyed many wildlife experiences up close and personal. Many photos taken and exciting safari moments, my first ever of this variety. Seeking and finding the big five and including countless other creatures like zebra, elephant, cheetah, giraffe, leopard, buffalo, hippo, rhinoceros, wild exotic birds, lion, vultures and more.
As a guest, I travelled with some friends and travel club members on a safari adventure that was a lot more physically challenging. The women from Victoria, BC Canada (5 of us in total) met in Tanzania for 4 nights pre-tour in Stone Town in Zanzibar to relax, recharge from various travel experiences and enjoy some beach time before we head out on land safari in Kenya and Uganda (16 days East Africa in Depth). I had received a recommendation from the previous GAdventures guide to contact a business woman named Eliza. Happy to do business with a woman in tourism. We walked around town, we ventured to Prison Island and saw the giant tortoises. I loved the blue safari, where we spent the day on a dhow (small sailing vessel-boat) and swam and snorkelled. And Eliza helped us get a transfer to the airport to fly to Nairobi on our last day. Giving business to a woman in this country in this way, a good thing.
The first 8 of the 16 day GAdventures tour was set in Kenya and we did safari at three different national parks. We had excellent guiding and drivers. One activity was at a women’s center given a chance to support women to make a sustainable living in tourism. I loved the quilting and fabric crafts we saw. I made a small purchase and loved walking around and touching the creations and finished products.
The second part of the 16 day tour was in Uganda, with many activities including trekking chimps and gorillas in National Parks. In Rwanda on the last day of the tour we had lunch in a woman’s personal home, having paid for the service and food through our GAdventures payment. Also we attended the genocide memorial museum in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. This was a powerful and unforgettable community activity. We also stopped at a women’s centre and had time to do some shopping and make purchases to take back home, supporting women craftspeople and skilled artisans to make a sustainable living with tourism.
Last day, last tour, last two of us women travelling together in Kigali, Rwanda to the airport to begin our trek home to Victoria Canada. Once again, walking each other home, making sure we arrive both safe and with some comfort at having a travel buddy to share time and stories with.
It is what I love about the Women’s Travel Club and the GAdventures style of travel. We share the experiences, we personally grow in ways not visible to the other, we support and try to help each other to not feel so alone in the world when on adventure.
In each and every journey this year, from my individual meditation experiences to the last flight home from Africa and the stories of genocide and discrimination …. We offer tolerance, patience, kindness and care as we indeed walk each other back home. Thanks for being here to witness my journey.
I will be back with more travel stories one day, for now, some rest and comfort back home as I ease back to routine. As I relax into the privilege that is my life. Time to process and to evaluate what next for me in my life. Time with family and friends, catching up with work …. And always walking forward as best I can.
For now,
As always,
Pamela signing off from travels ….. thanks for the support.
Last evening I struggled to post on blog or photos.
The days trek was epic in every way … pushing farther out of my comfort zone and with my travel buddies who did the same. Somehow bonded more by the extreme exertion and then the close encounter with this magnificent gorilla family. We had a big “base camp” of support, tracked, guides, porters and each other to cheer us and help us reach the goal and then an hour with the gorillas. Then the trek out again and back to the camp. Showered, exhausted, adrenaline returns to normal baseline. I went to the reception area to try to post pics and this blog.
And then my right ankle quit working. I remember twisting it yesterday on the hike to gorillas. This was a delayed reaction, painful and I had to hobble using walking sticks and help. The hotel brought me hot water in a thermos and a cloth to ease my suffering before bed. Also they had a lovely hot water bottle in the bed which I kept on my ankle all night. Although tender, I am able to walk this morning.
The last day in Uganda. The last day on tour.
On the road and packed by 645 this morning.
Driving through the beautiful terraced mountains on dirt roads for at least an hour. Snapping photos and waving to children. Then paved road, through small towns setting up for markets, people on bikes, motorcycles and by foot. Often carrying large items such as containers of water, loads of sticks and farm produce.
We lost an hour for time zone. It’s now 945 am. Driving now on our North American side of the road. Slower speed limit. Cameras control giving speeding ticket. Country is wealthy, people are poor. Election every 7 years.
Used to be three tribes then genocide – we will go to memorial today. Now no differentiation between tribes. Uganda not same problem because 56 tribes. Hard for one tribe to rise above others.
Tea plantation we drive through. Bycicles as taxis. And some carrying large metal milk containers balanced on back. No rumble strips on road, more cameras and high fines for speeding.
Gorillas can be found and visited in 3 countries Rwanda Uganda. Congo. Rwanda charges $1500, Uganda $700 and Congo $200.
The vegetation and agriculture changes as we drive. More trees. Groves of bamboo. It’s beautiful. Growing rice in fields.
1115 arrive Kigali city. Busses. Traffic. 3 languages. French. English. Rwanda. We are going to Genocide Memorial museum.
7 April l994 over million Tutsi murdered under horrific circumstances in 3 months, killed. Www.Kgm.rw Although graphic and detailed in horrific stories and details, this is such a moving memorial and incredibly well done. Tears of grief are flowing. I won’t ever forget.
We went for lunch at a local woman’s home in Kigali, Rwanda. Fabulous food and she made me separate pots of food to ensure no cross contamination. Thanks Paul for arranging this.
Then the Nyamirambo Women’s Center (celebrating 25 years of empowering women). Beautiful shop and we wanted to help by making purchases. Following this, we were dropped at our final destination on this tour, Kigali View Hotel. They were not ready for us but we made it work. We said goodbye to some travel mates who are going on to other destinations.
Later in the evening I had a cry again as a few of us talked about our experience at the memorial.
Today, packing up and heading to the airport for the long flights and onward to Canada!
Greeted in morning by mist covering trees outside our warm comfortable lodge dwelling
We gather our belongings for the day ahead, gorilla trek. I have never done anything like this before …. What does one take on such an adventure? Water, tuck in pant legs so ants do not crawl up your leg and bite …. Neutral colors, bug spray, a hat to keep bugs off head, pack sack, money for the guide, porter and trackers, lunch, good walking shoes or boots, long sleeve shirt. Oh, and we are requested to wear masks to protect the gorillas and us … when we meet them later today. Walking poles …
Drive in our vans …. up up on nearly completely washed out roads of red sand and mud. Past very small villages, children, adults, walking to work? Working in their yards … riding motorcycles to get to work. Up up and more up.
We get to the briefing / Gathering area. As we are Waiting, we are greeted by local indigenous folks, mostly women, who dance and sing to entertain us all. Enthusiastically they dance. We applaud. Apparently they do this each morning. Visiting People offer tips. Since this place was made a protected area, they have started this activity for the tourists every single day (for tips). Very uplifting and energy building !
How many are we? Chairs are full. Guides, trackers, porters are gathered around doing official tasks for their day with us. A few young gals. Maybe 5 rows of 15 chairs per row. 8 tours today ….
Now we wait for further instructions. The park is approximately 321 sq Kms. Open since 1993. Over 300 bird species. Chimpanzees and gorilla live here.
You can check out the App: “my gorilla family”. Is about Bwindi gorilla families that live here.
This is the Mountain gorilla Conservation area. World unesco site. 1683 mtn gorilla in total. Half live here in bwindi.
These gorillas share 98.4 % dna with humans…our cousins. We agree we will take and wear mask. Our gorilla family name is Tinda tine. This name Means fearless.
Back to the lodge, exhausted after about six hours of trekking and walking and climbing, and stretching, and falling, slipping, climbing more …. Using walking poles. I hired a Porter to carry my pack and more importantly to help me walk on the slippery mountain slopes. Lucky me, a woman walked up to me and offered to be hired by me to help her, a young mom, lovely, competent and strong. Our guide was the head guide, a complicated name … he said we could call him expert. He was the expert! There were three trackers that stay with gorilla family all day and help us when we have the sixty minute of time within the family.
The scenery here is so beautiful…. The pictures barely do it justice but it is amazing. More comments later….
Already, elephants and sunrise brighten my morning as I leave this place, Simba Safari Camp. Safari journeys of the last month are over…. Almost.
As we drive along on the roadway through Queen Elizabeth park, we spy a few waterbuck. Then LIONS!! Mom with 4 very small cubs. We stop. Taking pictures. Looking through binoculars. And see a second female lioness. They are on the move. 7 of them are counted. Closer to us. We move. They move. We sit. They sit. Buffalo walk through. They watch. Two babies, 1 month old run out of bush. There is a few older cubs, one with a limp. The little tiny ones frolicking in the grass. Very sweet moment captured together. Lions, some with collar so they can be tracked. Community may poison them (reasons of revenge for killing the animals on their farms) so numbers do not increase naturally. Lions migrate to Congo and back.
Another herd of elephants in the tall grass eating from acacia… with a small young one with them. We drive on.
Mongoose on side of the road, we slow down. More elephants walking on straight line. Toward the village … for their garden.
Stop at Kyambura for a view picture down of the valley and national park. Nyunga crater lake from eruption 1000 years ago.
Baboons alongside of road. People stopped to view chimpanzees. Tea plantations.
Lunch stop :).
Off road about 4 pm. Up. Up
Goats. Other domestic animals, the view, the sun, the trees, the reddish dirt road, beautiful greenery, local people, women carrying loads on their head dressed in color. Motorcycles, kids in school uniform, goats on leashes, cows, eating alongside the road. Chickens. Fences. Terraced mountainside. Sheep. Children. Trees, rocks that have slid down the mountainside. In spots there’s not much to drive on. We keep going, through villages, by fallen trees, clusters of goats, tea planted in terraces on the mountain. Pigs. Cows. Goats. Young children tending them.
Twice a week it rains hard here. Evidence in the deep ditches in the roads.
Sweet young smiley faces and waving hands of children as we drive by. The adults don’t seem to notice or care much.
There are people, mostly young women and school aged children that I see, breaking larger rocks into smaller 1 to 2 inch rock cubes and stacking them. Apparently a truck will come by to gather the smaller broken rocks. If their pile is selected, they will get paid. At some point they will receive some money for the work.
According to our guide, every day there are people coming here to see the gorillas. He adds that 95% of the people who come to Uganda do so to see the gorillas.
We arrive at Gorilla Valley Lodge is our next accommodation for two nights for the purpose of gorilla trekking. For some on our tour, the reason if this trip.
2 Male Elephants on shore. Yellow billed storks. 2 water buffalo laying in water.
Tide kingfisher birds.
African bush Elephant good swimmers. Can go 50kms. Travels horizontally to get to river, he is in front of steep slope. 3.5 to 4.5 meters high. Cools body with ears. Tusks large and grow up. Good sense of smell. Bigger than forest elephants.
Yellow weaver birds – colourful are male
Hippos. 5000 in QE park. Along boat ride will see a lot of them. Aquatic during day, land at night. In water 16 of 24 hours to stay cool. Can go under 3-5 minutes. No sweat glands. Bigger is male. A school of hippos, pod or herd or bloat of hippos. Eat only grass. Cow, bull and calf. Same called elephant and buffalo. Honking. Albino is pink color. Drink 25 litre water in day. Territorial in water. Solitary on land. Don’t interact with other school. One dominant male. If he loses, he will be separated If more than 100 in school, called district.
Elephant eat 18 hours a day. 3 course meals. 300 km of grass per day. Way more water in day.
Nile Crocodile up to 2 meters. Live 70-100 years. Eats stone to keep it on bottom. Can go 2 years with no food. Typically eat fish.
Nile Monitor Lizard on rock. Forked tongue. Live 30 years. Tail is 50 x length of body.
Hadada ibis bird in tree. African fish eagle in tree. Palm nut Vulture also in acacia tree.
Lion and hyenas becoming extinct. Being poisoned by communities
Big 5 are most challenging animals to track down by foot.
Rhino extinct in Uganda.
Small bervis monkey and baby in a tree
Fish do well here feeding on poop of hippopotamus
Purple heron.
Fabulous optional activity offered in this area. Seeing wildlife from the river channel. Amazing. Pics to follow
We overnighted at Simba Safari Camp. Beautiful accommodations. Thank you GAdventures. Nets over the beds, full glass windows and doors to the pool area, private bathroom, huge walk-in shower, electricity.
On morning safari drive by 630 am to start our day. A few mosquitoes and a fantastic view of the sunrise.
A herd of elephants as the sun rises. We are not even at the gate to the park yet, driving down the highway with park on both sides of us, glistening in the bright sun. Munching on thorny acacia trees. Babes, moms, big herd leaders. Wow. What a moment. We take lots of time to enjoy them.
It’s 8 am and we are now off road Uganda kob in the tall golden grass. Family of warthog. Few family group Mangoon running group. They eat snake.
Red neck Franklin bird. Have red legs and beaks. Run on road. They can fly but are ground birds.
Beautiful grasses and trees, shrubs and cactus. Wow. Waterbuck females are Lions least favourite food. They produce toxins when stressed. Also thick hair as they go in water …. If lion can eat anything else they will.
leopard can only kill what can lift up tree
Eating popcorn in the van. Standing up in the pop up top.
Bastardy bird and wrap wing. Black headed weaver birds. Hippopotamus waddling by.
We stop at 10 am for a break, stretch, walk around tourist stuff (tshirts, hats, carvings of hippos and giraffe) and use facilities. Some sample the local food, egg omelet wrapped in chipati. Inside chopped raw onion and tomatoes. I can smell the ingredients in the heat.
It is 4 pm. I hope to see my favourite Africa animals, elephants, giraffes and zebra. I also love the birds. It is not the same as all other parks. We will see some of my faves but not all.
Heading out to the park for our first safari here. But first a stop for water and explanation at the Uganda Equator. Onward we go into the large park. We have our safari clothes and bug spray on … a hat and other protection from the sun and mosquitoes here. The park is on both sides of the highway … we start to see animals within the park… we pull over, then back in traffic.
We first see waterbucks grazing. Uganda Kob are national animal (Antelope family). Impala are a bit smaller than Kob. Female Lion with cubs in the grass. Elephant group way off in distance. Pumba, warthog. Crested eagle atop tree.
We stopped at the gate. Then enter the park and begin to drove on reddish dirt road …. Where others are watching a leopard in the tree, tail hanging down. My camera not good enough at this distance and Gail’s just quit. We watch with the naked eye. Back leg moves, head moves. He gets up. Lays back down. Watching from his perch. One leg on one side of branch one on the other. Through binoculars he looks so close. Fantastic. Beautiful. My first sighting. We won’t see giraffes or zebra in this park. This is a highlight sighting for sure. The big five complete for me on this trip.
Red neck spurfowl is a ground bird crossed the road.
Another bird on road African Wattled Lapwing.
Off road now. Big buffaloes. Warthog. Waterbuck. While racing to see a lion close to the road we zipped by the leopard and one of the fellow guests spied the leopard now on a rock mound, no longer up the tree. Resting. The sun is going down …. What a beautiful sight! Others stop to see what we are seeing.
Large Herd of water buffalo
Out of the park at sunset. The uncommon bush buck.
Herd of elephants by the road in dark just after dusk. Amazing finish to today’s safari
Hello and back on wifi while in restaurant but photos won’t upload. I think it is 12 Sep 2023.
We left Kluges Guest Lodge this morning after two nights in nice tents with full beds but shared bathroom so walked to shower and toilets. Some ants were annoying. Beautiful gardens and flowers and trees on site. Did a guided nature walking tour on day of arrival. Overnight listening to the rain and sounds of the night. I will post photos on Facebook when I can.
I stayed on site yesterday and enjoyed the pool, enjoying the flowers, trees, birdsong and other noises. …and sat in lodge lounge listening to the rain and chatting with other guests and the owners. I enjoyed the relaxing downtime and sounds of the birds and wildlife.
Ok. We arrived at Simba Safari Lodge around lunch time. I had a quick swim. Our shared room is lovely, spacious. Room is directly across from pool.
I had a bowl of soup for lunch. Food is great so far.
We are here for two nights and will be on Safari this evening. I think also all day tomorrow… we will eat at a different site. The Queen Elizabeth National Park is huge, second largest in Uganda. We will find some wildlife. Maybe elephant and ?? Not likely lion or other cats which are more camera shy. That’s ok with me. We will see what nature provides us.
Paul is a very accomplished guide and knowledgeable person from Uganda. He used to be a teacher in public schools on Ugandan history. For past years has been guiding with GAdventures. The CEO guides working with G are exceptional and I highly recommend this Canadian company that give’s wonderful opportunities to local people in destination. Yay for GAdventures!!
It sounds small … I had no expectations of this place. As we drove the last leg from Kampala, we travelled several kms on muddy washed out road that seemed like a vey long alley. Past homes, animals, trees, people with young children waving so hard their whole bodies were waving ha ha. It seems so friendly and they look delighted to see us.
A few signs along the drive indicate it must be a major place … then we arrive. Long driveway with a secure gate. We park, are greeted with a fruit beverage and our rooms have been arranged. Tents in the campsite are spacious, I can stand easily, two beds in each, a night stand between, large zipper windows and doors, with a tin roof overhead. A chair each and some woven mats on the floor. The only inconvenience is the toilet and showers are shared but not too far away.
The grounds are like walking through a garden …. the restaurant, the permanent buildings, cottages and guest houses are very well kept and painted a coral colour. There is a swimming pool that I look forward to trying out.
We drop our packs in our room and head out for an hour and half hosted nature walk to see some plants, birds and monkeys that are unique to this area. We saw it all. And got bit by a few ants …. Plentiful little fellas that apparently climb up your skin and pinch. The guide pinched them off my skin and no longer term consequences noted …. Keep walking, ha ha, don’t stand still!
Lots of photos, a beautiful place. Seems I can receive some emails but no texts or Facebook or messenger and I can’t send anything. Argh. I upgraded my iPhone and iwatch but otherwise, I keep writing and hoping for wifi one day again so I can post.
A meeting with our two CEO guides explaining the rules, outline the itinerary, each person introduces themselves. Next …..Dinner, was prepared for me especially to be consistent and careful with my food needs.
A peaceful night listening to sounds of the sky with rain showers and birds or insects or wildlife or all of these? all foreign sounds but interesting from my tent. i decide to take the next day off and rest here. That decision gives me some peace. I am missing my home. missing my comforts and contact with family. i am ready to be done and heading back to my life and home. a week to go.
going to have a swim and relax, maybe walk and read ? I wonder what this day will bring? stay present and notice.
Wifi will only let me email. No Facebook. No messenger. No text. Argh. I will keep trying
Love Pamela in Africa
LATER. It’s tomorrow now and we are ready to leave this garden home. I talked to other guests, I swam for an hour, I wrote and read some regards to my life / work / family plans going forward.
The owner from Germany bought the land 33 years ago, built all that we see, gardens, trees, buildings . With his wife who is from here.
It is so welcoming and beautiful in lush greenery, trees and flowers. A nice place for a down day.
I talked to owner for an hour or two. Also with a young man who has been motorcycling with small tent from the Netherlands for the past 1.5 years. He sold everything he owns. He has a dream to do guiding on motorcycles in Africa. Very interesting young man.
I talked to a guy about my age traveling for many years with a Land Cruiser with tent on top for sleeping. It looks amazing rig and a free life. He is a grandfather and keeps in touch with Facebook.
In high levels women are encouraged to participate but in local communities women remain seen as property. We talked about residential school legacy.
Queen Elizabeth national park. 1968sqkm. 13 villages in and border the park. Lake George in it. Only in Uganda. 25% of country is covered with water. Hippos. Elephant. Buffalo use the lake. Second largest park in Uganda. Some surrounded by electric wire fencing to prevent animals from going on road.
Orbit Trekker: Explore the World