Nairobi......Kenya

  When I first landed at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi I viewed grazing giraffe's out of the plane window. My first thought was, where in the world can you land at an airport and see giraffe's by the runway; my second thought was that this was a tourism ploy...I never did find out, but it was neat to see. I was not able to get a focused photo of those large animals.

                                      

   From the airport I boarded a shuttle bus for the 16 km trip to the city ; many times cattle were taking up half the road, sometimes it was donkey's or goats. Once in Nairobi I made my way through the crowded streets and ended up to find a shuttle bus that would take me the 275 kms to Urusha in Tanzania. There were so many large and small buses lining the streets, many guys worked the crowds trying to get passengers for their bus.

   We soon left the metropolis of Nairobi with it's run down city buildings and found mostly red mud dwellings on the outskirts of the city. It was amazing how quickly the city changed from 6-20 floor building to suburbs with tin shops.

                      

                     

   After an amazing time in Tanzania I was back in Nairobi and making plans to get out of the city with the nickname Nairobbery as quick as possible.

                         


                        

                        



      I realized it was too late to go the almost 500 kms to Mombasa so I found a youth hostile in the downtown. I walked so many kms around the city so I could get familiar with it. I managed to meet so many nice people as I walked around, there was rarely a white person; I was told more than once not to go out at night. Nairobi is very dangerous, many local men do not even go out after dark; they are afraid. I had a couple of guys pull the trick of saying that they knew me, "hey man..how are you doing ?, remember I saw you on the bus" they were trying to lure me somewhere. Another common tendency in Nairobi is well dressed guys portraying themselves as cops, so they can extort money. I walked so far that I thought I should take the #46 bus back, which had passed me several times. As I waited at bus stop all the #46 buses were full, I finally asked a guy about it and he directed me to a street where people line up for this particular bus...there was a line up that was about 400 metres long. The city is very dirty; both for litter and air quality; it is also very congested.

  I was able to get out of Nairobi for what I thought was going to be about 17 days; unfortunately I returned early since I had problems with my passport (story in a previous blog). While waiting around for the Canadian Embassy to let me know what they were going to do I just walked the streets feeling dejected. At the embassy there is an in-ground pool and double tennis courts for the workers, I guess there have to be some perks for employees living abroad. When I traversed on a busy street I heard what I thought was two cars colliding; the noise was actually a man getting hit by a truck; when I looked over he was about 2 metres in the air. The pick-up truck driver stopped, dragged the body to the side of the street and then drove away; life does not mean so much to some.

  I managed to travel north for a few days with the lent money from the embassy, that I would repay once I got a new credit card. I boarded a bus in Nakuru to get back to Nairobi and the bus stopped in a bus station that was in a real slum area of the city; about 3 kms from the area I was familiar with.

                            

I tried to walk as fast as I could past an abandoned building with many homeless street people; so many children are without a home. My big backpack may have looked inviting, or my shoes for that matter, since most of the kids were bare footed. I wanted to take photo's but that was both risky and in bad taste.

  I got my passport and credit card which allowed me yet again to get out of Nairobi. In the morning I left the hotel to go to the familiar bus street, not really a station, and there were the usual street kids hanging around. These poor kids get beat by many adults because they are around the market area to steal food, I was shocked the first time I witnessed the abuse. What I tried to do when in this area was to make eye contact with some of them and then throw a bottle of water and a bun to them. Once the street child, for the most part boys, received the food there was a special look that we exchanged......it is hard to describe; a sort of appreciation and an understanding (empathy).

  There are extreme conditions in Kenya that can be hard to accept......one can go from the slums of Nairobi to the beautiful beaches on the Indian Ocean.

Boracay.......Philippines

  Arguably the most famous Beach Island in the Philippines is Boracay; my girlfriend (now wife) and I had already seen the 4km long White Beach on the west coast of this paradise when the outrigger boat we were on stopped to let passengers off that sailed between Mindoro and Panay. I am not much for tourist destinations but I was pleasantly surprised with our experience on this 10 sq km island in the Sibuyan Sea.We checked in to St. Vincent Cottages which sits on the middle road of the island around the 2nd station of White Beach. We swam in the warm turquoise water that was abundant with fish; the water was so calm and clear.


                       


                       

  After several hours on White Beach I focused on our main task while on the island....getting married. We had thought, while in Canada, about a good place to get married while in the Philippines; the choices came down to Baguio or Boracay. I walked from Manggayad to Balabag to look for the church to arrange the marriage, there are 3 catholic churches on the island; and one priest. The priest at Balabag was away until the Saturday but the replacement priest was said to be at the church 4kms south in Manoc-Manoc. I walked there and was told that I should go to the Borangay Office (local government office) to get a marriage license. I trekked back north, the temperature was very hot, and went into the office where I was told by the lady at the desk; that I would need to go to Manila to the Canadian Embassy to get clearance. I guess they needed confirmation that we were not both married to someone else.......anyway, a trip to spend 3 days in Manila was not happening; the marriage was put off until we got home.

  The next morning on Boracay I picked up a newspaper and read an article about a priest who had been abducted on the west side of Mindoro; the priest had said that youth recruits from the NPA (National Peoples Army) were guarding him; there is such a problem with NPA throughout much of the country, this really takes away tourist dollars.

  On this day we ate so many mangoes and then headed down White Beach to the end, it is such a nice beach.

                    

                    

   We crossed a bluff to get to Diniwid Beach and then walked the road to Pinaungan, which was a small village. We then proceeded to the east side of the island and the Lapuz-Lapuz Beach which was deserted. There were steel barges and other assorted things washed up on the shore....no people though.

                    

   We went into the Sibuyan Sea up to our waste to round the bluff and get to Sanbaloron Beach, it was another deserted spot with 2 small nipa huts.

  The water was too turbulent to go further so we climbed up the bluff and took the overland route to Ilig-Iligan Beach, the scenery was nice but boy was it hot; time for a dip in the sea. A couple of boys ran up to us calling out "bat caves, bat caves!!" We ended up going with our two young guides and for 25 pesos we went into the caves; there were thousands of screeching bats.

                       

   The caves were actually nice inside and although they were not large, it was worth the effort to check them out.

                                 


                                 

We met a vacationing couple and went to a restaurant with them, the east side of the island was expensive for Philippine standards; 4,000 Pesos ($110.00) for a one night stay. Our food was under-cooked and not so delicious but our new friends were delightful. After about 8 kms of walking in the heat we made it back to St Vincent Cottages and caught yet another nice sunset from the west facing White Beach.

                     

  The next day was a relaxing day on the beach with swimming and drinking many fruit juices. The locals here were very friendly and the customer service was exceptional. When one is staying on a tropical paradise island like Boracay it seems like there is not a worry in the world. In the coming weeks we would see many beaches that rival White Beach, for this the Philippines is truly blessed.

Mindoro + Panay....Philippines

  It was time to leave Luzon, the largest Philippine Island, and head for the island of Mindoro; we had gotten some good views from the Batangas area.

                        

   My wife and I loaded the fast ferry at Batangas and took the 3 plus hour trip to Calapan; the scenery was nice as the boat past a few small islands dotted in the Sibuyan Sea. We explored Calapan and Victoria which were polluted little cities, there were nice views of the High Rolling Mountains which contain Mt Halcon (2,587m) and Mt Baco (2,488m). We found a restaurant with friendly owners so we had dinner there and breakfast the next morning; they warned us of the NPA (National Peoples Army) problems on the island and an abduction of a foreigner a couple of weeks previous. In the morning we took a 2 hour jeepney ride to Puerto Galera and the White Sand Beach; I rode on the back of the jeepney, the scenery was excellent. We strolled the beach and swam for the day, it was an excellent location and very quiet at the far end of the beach, away from the bars and night life. The marina at Puerto Galera had some nice little sail boats.

                         

     The next morning we left our nice cottage and boarded a jeepney back to Calapan, I would never tire of that scenery, where we hit the bank and then loaded an old sweat bus headed south for Roxas. It was so hot and dusty in the old crate; the 120 kms seemed like it was 400 kms. There WERE nice views of Lake Naujan and the mountains, once the landscape flattened out the banana and coconut groves flourished. Once we got to Roxas we found a place to stay on Melco Beach,

                       

 and then took a tricycle ride into the "town proper", the people there were not very friendly; ones we came into contact with anyway. There is a lot of jealousy in the Philippines; in some ways who could blame the locals, who for the most part lead a very difficult life while the tourist has a comfortable existence.

  At 10:30 in the morning we left the dock on an outrigger boat and crossed the Tablas Straight to Tablas Island. Two young guys were standing on the extended bamboo floats to balance the boat, water kept splashing into the boat getting locals wet, I thought it was fun and a bit adventurous.

                          

 I did not have to use the facilities on the boat, squatting down in a plywood box where excrement just drops in the sea.

                           

We landed at Odiongan and boarded a jeepney for the 43 km trip to Santa Fe, I stood on the back the whole way and the views were awesome; many locals were waiving and yelling hello; what a sharp contrast from Roxas. The road was extremely dusty, my teeth were caked in dirt but a teeth brushing and a swim in the sea would solve that problem.........this was a great day.

  Our next day was very different, as is so common with the ups and downs of travel life. We boarded an outrigger boat for the 9:30 departure and it pulled away from the pier at 10:45...we were on "Philippine time". We passed close by Carabao Island so we got some good views; we then made 4 stops along the touristy White Beach on Borocay (we would return here soon). Once we landed at Caticlan, Panay the rush was on to get to Iloilo, which was 225 kms south. We boarded a bus to Kalibo which took one hour and then we took another bus, arriving in the big metropolis when it was dark. Our plan in this area was to meet friends who ended up to live 30 minutes north of Iloilo, they picked us up and we ate dinner.

  Next day, after a quick breakfast we headed out to the island of Guimaras. We went there for the christening of our friends son Joshua; after the christening we went to a large party where there was a roasted pig, we had a lot of fun. That night we stayed at a local resort which had 5 swimming pools and a very nice room for us to stay. In the morning we were picked up in a jeepney from our friends husband and taken to the ferry; on the other side we were picked up by our friends brother in a jeepney. We went to Zarraga to load some of his relatives, then proceeded north up the east coast highway to Conception; the scenery was very nice; there are many islands off the east coast of Panay. We stayed in a fishing village, which took a long time to get to since the jeepney had to crawl along for the last few kms; the people were very pleasant. That afternoon I swam out to Bananan which was a long swim; the skies were beautiful as the sun was setting.

                           

  While swimming back there was a rumble in the water like I had not experienced before; it turned out that there were some local fishermen using dynamite for killing fish, they then go along in their boat and pick the floating fish from the top of the water. This practice of using dynamite is supposed to be illegal since the explosives destroy reef and other fish habitat but people still do it. Many times in the Philippines the coast guards stand on land watching such infractions because there is no boat for them to use.

  After a night of listening to dog fights, cats meowing, roosters crowing, and snoring in the other room we headed out in a boat to tour around.

                           

The highlight of that day was stopping on a beach for lunch and a swim; the menu on this day was clams, jumbo shrimp, milk fish, and mango...tasted pretty good; there were so many shells on the beach.

                                          

   On the way back south to Zarraga we passed an overturned sweat bus, there were 2 ambulances there; the previous month an overloaded ferry sunk; it is dangerous traveling around this country. Our friends family was so nice to us on our visit, very hospitable. On the next day as my wife rested I went with our friends to do some business in Iloilo, the highlight for me in this city was visiting the Molo Church which was built in 1863.

                                      

                                      

       The following day we said goodbye to Zarraga and caught a sweat bus with our friend to Roxas, after Dao it was new territory for us. I had noticed 2 policemen get on the bus in a town but it wasn't until they got off that I noticed they had a prisoner in handcuff's with them; not something we would see in Canada. Once we got to Roxas our friend phoned a local friend who picked us up and took us to their place for lunch; this business owner has armed guards that travel with him for safety. These friends have 3 house keepers who made sure that we were treated like royalty. The next morning after having shrimp and crab for breakfast we were taken for a tour around Roxas; the highlight was the Santa Monica Church which was built in 1774. In the church was a bell that was known as the heaviest in Asia and 3rd heaviest in the world.

                                      


 We then went to the Capiz Bay Resort where we spent the day eating delicious food and swimming in the Jintotolo Channel off of Capiz Bay, that was just great. The next morning we caught the 6am bus to Kalibo and then transferred to a bus that took us to Caticlan; it was time to go to Boracay, probably the Philippines most famous beach island.

Egypt....The Last Days

  I had just arrived back in Cairo from the north; more specifically Mersa Matruh and it was time to make the most of every remaining minute I had left in this intriguing north-east African country. This Arab world experience was a tremendous opportunity for me to learn about one of the worlds most exotic and mystifying cultures. After covering about 4,500 kms by bus and visiting many historical sites; I got a good perspective of the Egyptian culture; including the history, geography, and behaviours of past and present citizens.

  I have many words written in my journals that are just my own thoughts, but there are also so many recollections of conversations with locals. At Rommel Beach (Mersa Matruh) there was an Egyptian guy who approached me with a basic command of English ; he asked me what country I was from, I said Canada and he said "Canada Dry"; he thought he was so funny. He asked if I was married and when I showed him a photo of my wife and daughter he asks me how many wives I had; before I could say one, he cuts in with a boast that him and his brother have two each. Before I could get away from him he offers me a cigarette; when I told him I do not smoke he tells me that smoking does no harm because he can climb up the side of a pyramid in under 10 minutes. I just told the guy that people are not allowed to climb on the pyramids and turned around to walk away...I had some negative interaction with many Egyptian men. Once I crossed the road I went into the little shop where I was buying my food supplies; I knew in that shop there was an incredibly nice guy and his two sons that ran the shop........they were awesome.

  Back in Cairo I found some security in knowing a city well enough to be self sufficient when you do not speak the local language.

                                  

                         


Getting back to Cairo was more comforting each time I returned because I not only knew my way around but as I walked the streets it was with confidence; this helped when I had to snub the cons who approach with lines like "hey man, where are you from?, or "hey, remember I saw you on the bus yesterday?". I won't be missing the calls for baksheesh (tip) from so many locals; even when a door is held open for you a person may ask for a tip.

   On this last full day I awoke at 1am because it was too hot in my room; I took to the streets and struck up conversations with locals who were out wandering around. I rented a taxi and driver about 6am and headed south; I would see a few deadly accidents on this day. The first horrific sight was an overturned bus with a squished van underneath it.

                          


About 100 kms south of Cairo we arrived at the Al-Fayoum Oasis and Lake Qarun, which is Egypts 3rd largest lake.

                         


At the end of the lake were ruins from the ancient town of Dionysus.

                       

When we finished there we drove into the city of Al-Fayoum to get something to eat and many police kept approaching the taxi so that they could try to get baksheesh for escorting us to sites. We got out of there quickly and proceeded to the Hawara Pyramid which was just okay.

                      


  We then moved on to the Medium Pyramid which has a unique shape because it had extensions over time and was never completely finished.

                      

                      

 An entrance, like the one shown in the photo above , can put the size of this pyramid into perspective. Going inside the pyramid corridor's, gallery's, and chambers is what gives a visitor some satisfaction.

                   

My last day was memorable because I was again out in the desert where I could approach different pyramids. I had to say goodbye to the sand twisters and the 50 degree temperatures. From this pyramid one can see the important green belt that runs west/east of the Nile.

                    

  Egypt is an intriguing country that entices tourists from all over the globe; there is so much to see. I hope that enough calm remains in the region to allow tourism to flourish.

 Alexandria and Mersa Matruh.....Egypt

     When I left Suez for the Sinai Peninsula I really had no plan but to explore; I did have thoughts of going to Israel from Taba but I feared that I would miss some other Egyptian sites. At 5:45 am I was out on the street in Katreen waiting for the bus to Cairo, it was very cool (10 degrees); the chant from the mosque was loud. On the way to Suez we experienced 2 police blockades when all passengers passports were checked; there were so many officers at these stations, many were sleeping in chairs or on the ground. The scenery on the 6 hour bus ride was nice; for some reason I was happy to get back to Cairo and use this capital as a base. I checked into the same 100 year old hotel as I had on my last stay and planned my next days itinerary.

  I arranged for a day taxi rental and met the driver in the morning; we were to discover some pyramids to the south of Cairo.

                         


 We got caught up in a traffic jam and yet again I was amazed as I watched women with their children risking life and limbs to cross the street. Our first stop was the Abu Sir site about 25 kms south of Cairo; I really liked the small town close by...the local citizens provided many opportunities for pleasure. There were 3 small children on a donkey,

                         

 ladies carrying an assortment of goods on their heads; small girls walked large bulls holding a rope, many donkey drawn carriages carried a variety of loads; I guess this was rural Egypt. At Abu Sir, 2 of the 14 original pyramids were evident, the others were either incomplete or dilapidated.

                         


  We then ventured to Saqqara which has the Step Pyramid of Djoser which was built during the Third Dynasty.

                           

This pyramid is believed to be the oldest stone building in existence, it was built about 4,660 years ago (2015). This step pyramid was the largest on site with 2 dilapidated structures close by; the limestone facing had long been removed as was the case for many Egyptian pyramids. Dahshur was the next stop on this venture, this site had 2 distinct pyramids; the Red Pyramid

                          



 and the Bent Pyramid;

                          


 although 11 pyramids were originally erected in this area. I felt that these sites were very satisfying since they give me a better insight into pyramids in general (you can find that info on-line). The experience of standing beside or entering these ancient structures is what going to Egypt is all about. I ended the day of touring by going to Memphis, which is one of the old capitals of Egypt. There is a museum at Memphis and some Ramses statues but not much else remains of this old capital.

                          


   That evening in Cairo I went on a boat cruise for dinner with an Iranian guy that I met. These lit up dining boats are all over the river; this particular one was quit fancy. I had a buffet dinner and watched belly dancers; I did not know a stomach could move the way these ladies were making theirs contort, also there were 2 male Egyptian dancers. The next morning I boarded a bus from Cairo to Alexandria; the second largest city of Egypt, and another past capital of this Arab Nation; it was very industrious.

                           



                                          

   We passed the large Cairo Air Force Base and arrived in Alexandria by 10:15; just in time for me to board a bus to Mersa Matruh at 10:30. The 300 km trip west followed the Mediterranean Sea; there were good views of the sea; a whole lot nicer than the garbage filled streets of Alexandria.

  There were no English speakers in this Egyptian tourist city of about 100,000 and it was a bit tough to get a hotel; the first 2 hotels had staff that could just manage to say "no foreigners", many hotels are for club members only. I found a hotel and looked out over the turquoise water, it was a beautiful sight.

                             


                             

     The beach across from the hotel was loaded with Egyptians on plastic chairs; their food rappers were strewn along the beach, some had blown into the water. I swam a bit in the sea and while bobbing around I watched as a lady in a full Arab dress with a hijab on, that had mesh covering the eyes, tried to play with her kids in the knee deep water. She kept trying to adjust her hijab so that she could see what rocks she was stumbling on and the wet full length dress was dragging her down......not exactly the most usual beach attire.

  In the afternoon I walked to Agiba Beach which was very nice; for the whole afternoon I only saw about 15 people.

                             

    The Mediterranean was a bit cool once I swam out from shore a distance; the water was more salty than I had experienced with any ocean. I went for a walk along the top of some cliffs at the end of Romell Beach and enjoyed the scenery.

                             

                             

    These days of serenity give a sole person plenty of time to reflect on what has been witnessed in the previous days travel. On this day I pondered the water quality for locals on the Nile when I viewed so many dead animals in the channels that feed the river; thrown in the water by the farmers. On the beach there were clumps of oil here and there; nobody could understand my questions of "when was there an oil spill."

  I found Mersa Matruh to be a lonely place because the people were generally not so friendly; the language barrier was obvious but the looks on peoples faces sort of reflected their mindset. At 5:45 am I was out on the street to catch a taxi to the bus station. I could see by the crowd that there were too many people for the one bus that left at 7am. Once the ticket window opened then 3 guys budded in front to get a ticket so I went up to the window and put my arm across telling others to get in line at the back. The people in front of me were just going to stand there and let guys reach in the window to buy their tickets. When I looked at the people behind me most of them had a cautionary smile of approval.....they just could not stand up for themselves. The bus driver was charging for bags; locals were 50 Piastres, for me he wanted 2 Pounds; I give him 50 Piastres.

  Once I arrived in Alexandria I found a taxi driver with a few words of English and hired him to tour this old capital. We first went to Pompey's Pillar which was uneventful; there are very few remnants of the Egyptian culture in Alexandria. We then went to the very satisfying Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa (tombs). These tombs were very impressive and are the largest Roman burial site in Egypt. It was worth it for me to tour around this northern city on the Mediterranean.

  My stay in Egypt was close to ending......back to Cairo I went.