Because this is Africa!
I am once again preparing my backpack, this time for a different continent: Africa and more specifically, Kenya and Uganda.
Africa means many things to me, it is the cradle of humanity (at least there are many scientists who claim that everything was born in the great Rift Valley), a destination full of contrasts and that was part of my life and my change a few years ago.
This part of Africa for me means going back: to the bottles of mineral water, to the hours in buses on dirt roads, to the haggling even to buy a lollipop, to the colours of the dozens of bracelets and necklaces worn by the Maasai (and to feel like a little dwarf next to them again!), to the mix of ethnic groups (in Kenya alone there are more than 37 different ethnic groups and as many in Uganda!), to the cold showers, to the power cuts, to the landscapes with wild animals that in our country we only see in the zoos, to the procedures that take hours (or days), to the pole pole rhythm (that is, the African rhythm), to the greetings and smiles of strangers, to all those wonderful fruits (mango, papaya, passion fruit...) at ridiculous prices, to all those wonderful fruits (mango, papaya, passion fruit...) at ridiculous prices, to all those wonderful fruits (mango, papaya, passion fruit...) at ridiculous prices, to all those wonderful fruits at ridiculous prices...) at ridiculous prices, to the curious looks of the children, to the women carrying buckets or baskets on their heads as if they were carrying nothing, to the most beautiful sunsets in the world (and for the record, I enjoy them all, but those in Africa are the most beautiful for me), to the kangas/kitenges of all colours worn by women and which are also multi-purpose (it will never cease to amaze me how a simple cloth can be used for so many different purposes: As a dress, as an improvised cradle for babies, as a nappy, as a compress, as a baby carrier, as a scarf....After observing details like this you realise all the needs that the society in which we live creates for us), to value toilet paper (you will laugh but toilet paper in many countries of the world is a luxury good that only Westerners use), to joy, to rhythm, to improvised music without the use of instruments, to the improvised music without real instruments (or with instruments used by letting your imagination run wild), to the hundreds of stars that it seems you can almost reach with your hand when night falls, to the majesty or simplicity of the dhows, to Tusker (the quintessential East African beer that uses the first letters of the countries as acronyms), to the joy, to the rhythm, to the music that is improvised without real instruments (or with instruments used by letting your imagination run wild), to the hundreds of stars that it seems you can almost reach with your hand when night falls: Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda), to waking up to early morning prayers, to palm trees, to ugali (staple food made from maize flour and water), to the delicious coconut milk stews I love so much, to karibu (welcome in Swahili), to freshly roasted cashew nuts, to admiration for the strength of its people, to soaking up values that I sometimes forget, to sharing, to learning to live each day and feeling lucky for it, to children dressed five sizes too big for their age, to women with bare breasts and sun-tanned skin, to men with a spear in their side (and a mobile phone in the other!), to any movement or movement of the body, to the fact that they are always in the same place.For all of these and a thousand other reasons, I can't wait...
Next stop: Kenya, one of the countries that has had a piece of my heart for many years 🙂
Sai Mena
Lovely post!!! I can't wait to visit it.... 🙂
Tumaini Travels
Thank you very much Sai Mena for your comment... You only have a few months left! We hope you enjoy the experience very much and we look forward to hearing about your experiences when you return 🙂