Traveling in Africa by human foot
Enclosed are e-mail from a congenator about his trip in Africa . They are suspect .
PART 2
— – Original Message — –
From : KwaZuzulwazi Science Centre [ SMTP:kwazuzul@cis.co.za ]
Sent : Thursday , August 28 , 1997 4:57 AM
To : I@microsoft.com ’
national : unemployed welfare
HELLO ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I hope all is well with my many 8 - 5 desk home friends . ( Harvard , this does n’t mean that you ’re not my ally . You just happen to work sleep - in 60 minutes ) . Also , I hope all is well with John Mark Stein and soon to be John Mark Ricketts and John Mark Hjelm . I could n’t guess a more perfect name .
I speak with my mommy the other break of day and she state the grapevine ( Judi ) has produced no news to address of . Which is always good ! All I heard was the annual Labor Day tramp trip that Judi does each class . My aviate saucer tent is in the garage if you ask it again . It ’s in my Thailand bag . verify that it ’s all there . ( old brother public lecture )
So far this land is incredible . The citizenry are terrific and always willing to help . For backpack travelers I ’ve never seen a commonwealth so organised . They have tinny trips that go to anywhere you require . I ca n’t wait to see more .
I am currently in Durban , South Africa . A major surfing metropolis . The beaches are full of boarders and butt floss suits . The waterfront is one long water park for the Kid . All day long they go between the salt weewee and into the fresh water ballpark . There ’s even a 50 - metre pool adjacent to the beach . I ’m think of maybe move for a swimming later this afternoon . That ’s after I slay the beach for a few hours . The life of being unemployed is tough . I hope none of you have to go through what I ’m presently going through .
I did n’t get to see much of Hong Kong . They had a Class 3 typhoon warning when I was there . It pissed all three days .
From here I ’m heading along the seashore to Cape Town . I ’ll be gain all the beach communities between here and there . I necessitate to get to Cape Town on September 18 to hold back in for my trip . I ’ve been talk to other travelers about take from Kenya to Egypt . It looks like I wo n’t be able-bodied to go through Sudan due to the polite warfare , so I may fly out of Ethiopia to Cairo or ferry to Saudi Arabia and then through Israel . We ’ll see !
I ’ll taste to say “ HI ” again when I ’m in Cape Town .
Could someone call Judi and let her fuck that it ’s that sentence of the calendar month for her to shower down . THANKS
Catch you around ,
John
From : Esquire [ SMTP:esquire@mb.lia.net ]
Sent : Monday , September 08 , 1997 4:59 AM
To : Stephanie Williams
Subject : living of the unemployed
grandness : High
Hi Steph . I desire to thank you for getting my last vitamin E - ring armour sent around . By the way that ’s a great looking outfit that you have on today . These terminals in Africa allow you to see all . Could you please place this letter through the flock ? THANKS
Good Morning to all ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I desire this letter finds all to be tidy and happy in Seattle . Also , I hope the Labor Day hiking slip conk well . I ’m currently in the beach biotic community of Mossel Bay about 60 miles east of Cape Town . I ’ve been operate myself along the coast since leave behind Durban .
After Durban I went to East London . Wow , what a major surf urban center . The place I stayed was an sure-enough lifeguard center that the city decide they establish to far away from the swimming luck of the beach . So they fence in it up and leave it to the street vagrants to trash . Along came Chester at the age of 23 and contract a 10 - year lease on the position to apply it for back packers . I spent a total of four days there . The first duo of days I was instruct a couple from Austria how to boogie-woogie board . Chester has cockeyed suits , surf and boogie boards for the taking . The Austrians caught on reasonably tight . Another twenty-four hour period Chester and I grabbed his sand plank and direct for the dunes . He took a snowboard and screwed shoes to the top .
We climbed to the top of one of the dunes , applied floor polish to the bottom of the board and boarded down . I ’ve been finding sand in every opening since that day . I managed to get the hang of it by day final stage . It was quite unmanageable with the amount of mounting imply .
Chester also leases a house in the mountain top city of Hogsback ninety second out of East London . For those that have read “ The Hobbit ” or
“ Lord of the Rings ” you may remember reading about this town . It is read that J.R.R. Tolkin produce his brainchild during a sojourn to this city to publish these Christian Bible . The city was full of falls , forests , mountains , etc .
Most of the stores had a name relating to characters within the volume . I rise up to the top of one of three of the hogsbacks . I had to stop twice to avoid crossing paths with the local baboons within the forest . I heard that the males do n’t like humankind between them and their mates . From here I was off to Oudtshoorn .
Oudtshoorn is a coolheaded city also within the mountains . On my second Clarence Shepard Day Jr. their I hire a bike and decided to do a 45 mile loop with an optional detour of 22 miles to some water fall . Half way through the ride I make that the brake handles was vacate from those in the State Department ( I do n’t know why ) . I did n’t worry much about it . I ’ll get back to that after . Anyways , I lead to an ostrich farm for a tour of duty . This city has a population of 350,000 Struthio camelus . During the tour the guide demand if anyone want to ride one . I was very polite and thought I ’d let someone else go . No one had any interest . So , of course , my hand get going up . You mount the shuttlecock well behind its legs and snaffle its wing . They take off its face top and off you go . It was very hard to stay on . The bird goes about 100 cadence at 15 mph before it decides the hell with you and sit down . After that one other person went .
I asked if the bird ’s ancestors ever flew . The templet said that no one recognize which way on the evolution chain the bird is going . If the wings are develop or going forth . The bird does have a thumb and two small finger at the end of its wing . However , they do n’t utilize them . The egg has a bulk adequate to 24 stock egg and can hold a non - impact load of 300 lbs side to side and 600 pound peak to tip . I resist on a fecund egg to check it out .
After the farm I adopt the dirt route to the waterfalls . On the way back I was cruising ( not as fast as Rob can go ) down this hill and was approaching a street corner room to fast . From strength of drug abuse I squeezed the correct Pteridium aquilinum hard and found myself fly through the melody over the bars . It was a beautiful trajectory that the Wright brothers would have been gallant of . as luck would have it I land on the only part of my body I do n’t use , my head . I in reality think the lean in my neck opening is less .
The next day was the best of all . I went for a cave creep . I ply into some cavers the day before and speak them into taking me with them on a CRAWL . We went a deliberate 202 metre through an old water flow that I was told was approximately nine fundament full at the most and 12 to 18 in in height . They gave me coveralls , hardhat and a headlamp to wear . It was by far the beneficial thing I ’ve done . If you want to be frightened to pit this kicks butt on skydiving and bungee jumping . It take us 2 60 minutes and 15 minutes to make the crawl into a giant underground cavern . Of course we then had to rick around and go back . At one distributor point we turned off all light just to see what absolute total darkness is like .
From Oudtshoorn I get along here . So let me tell you why I ’m here . For only $ 75 dollars this companionship takes you out in their gravy holder near a seal island , throws blood in the water , throw a shark John Milton Cage Jr. over circuit card and then you in the cage when the great albumen come along . I was scheduled to go today but the pee is to rough in . I figure I ’ll give it two more Clarence Shepard Day Jr. before I move on . The proprietor told me that last month they had a 45 % ratio of great whites appearing . The painting in their shop looked great . I ’m going to bribe one of those disposable urine cameras for this trip-up . After the John Milton Cage Jr. dive ( I hope ) we tow a fake seal behind the boat and watch the shark assail it . Those pictures were the well . It ’s a full twenty-four hours head trip with nutrient , beer and all .
From here I ’m off to Cape Town to see how poorly the topical anaesthetic trashed the position after the I.O.C. ’s conclusion to harbor the 2004 Olympics in Athens and not Cape Town .
I ’ll be there for about eight days so I ’ll come up a blank space that will take E - post .
recite Judi that her wrinkled older brother is putting on his Oil O’lay with SPF 15 every morning .
Also , I promise that I ’ll get Emily Post cards out soon . Especially to those that have institutionalize them to me over the years .
Take Care , John
P.S. On my next E - mail I ’ll start my movie and book review .
GOOD MORNING to all ! ! ! ! ! ! !
So how is everyone doing this morning ? As you have sex it ’s Friday so I go for everyone has a great weekend . Again I hope all is well with everyone .
I do n’t have much time to go forth a content because it ’s getting dark here in Cape Town . I do n’t handle to be on the streets and I have a long walk home .
I did the shark dive . I ’ll talk about what it ’s like to have a 12 to 14 foundation swell white within affecting distance later .
If you have spare clock time please sent an eastward - postal service to the following address . Be sure to sent it to BROTHER JOHN and not Cowpie . I will come in by once a day to check for content and then reply back . I ’m in town till September 20 .
commit mail to : SORRYNOEMAIL@ROCKETMAIL.COM
Thanks
Catch you after , John
From : BROTHER JOHN [ SMTP : SORRYNOEMAIL@ROCKETMAIL.COM ]
send : Friday , September 19 , 1997 4:35 AM
matter : Last E - mail for a while
Hello to all ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I go for all is well at dwelling . This E - mail hooey has been better than I could have imagined . Thanks to Mom , Judi , Duncan , Gail , Deanna , Kathi , Nancy , Farhad , I m a , Ricketts and Harvard for your postal service . It ’s honest to hear from all of you . I hope I did n’t forget someone . Also , thanks go out to Stephanie and Carolyn for the mail they sent . If there is more mail the overland travelling group will send on it to Kenya for me . And special thanks to Nancy and the Ricketts for making sure that Judi is lavish .
GREAT news about niggling baby Alex . If he ’s anything like Greg you ’d better keep a immense first - aid outfit ready . You ’ll have to send me a picture at the Kenya address . Stephanie should have the name and address .
Time to catch everyone up on what ’s been happening . I sent out another E - mail this morning . I made a mistake the other day when I tried , so out it went again today .
Lets see , the tip at last slowed down a bit so I climbed to the top of Table Mountain . Great purview . It ’s a 4.5 hour round trip wage increase and go up an raising of 3,300 feet . They wanted all of $ 2.50 to take the cable tramway , but I fuck that if Nancy was here she would have hiked it so I did it for her . After the tramp I pip a Turkish bathtub for a massage . I just could n’t pass up the thought process of having a hairy Turkish Isle of Man rubbing me down . Steve , I ’m only joking . It did feel nice after a long days wage increase .
The day before a group of employment rented a railcar and work to the Cape of Good Hope . It was blowing up a tempest when we receive there . No wonder why so many ships have sunk in those H2O . Going through the parkland to the point we saw two tempestuous ostriches doing the dirty . An interesting site . On the room back we had to stop , because a group of about 30 baboon decided to warm themselves on the black asphalt road . Well barricade we had one brave individual leap on the cowl of the rental .
He used the toughie of the car the swoop back to the street .
So get this ! ! ! There ’s a young French pair at the place I ’m in with three tyke aged 18 calendar month , 3 and 4 eld . They pack up a van and while 3 calendar week meaning run into the road . They traveled East through Europe to Jordan where they had the baby nine months by and by . Went into Egypt to cross into Sudan but got turned away . So they move up and around into Saudi Arabia and caught a boat to Kenya . Now a total of two years subsequently they are in Cape Town . They leave today to vanish home to France . They of track sold the vanguard to other traveler . They are full of information to help me get overland to Egypt . It look like I hitch through Kenya to the border metropolis of Moyale in Ethiopia . Take public transportation to Addis Ababa and get a transportation Visa for Saudi Arabia and an Eritrea Visa at their consulates . Then get into Eritrea and drumhead for the port city of Massawa to capture the boat . The boat decease to Saudi Arabia , but then up the Red Sea to Sinia ( sp ? ) . This is good stuff and nonsense to live .
Anyways , I met my travel group last nighttime . I will be with these people for the next 50 days going to Kenya . They look like a good group . I ’d say we are all between 25 and 40 . Should be fun . I ’ll utilize my own collapsible shelter so that I have a place to run each day from the group . No one else has a tent for themselves . The group ply two person tents .
That ’s all for now . I ’ll contact you again when I discover an einsteinium - postal service service . It may not be until Kenya , we ’ll see .
Take attention , John
11/6/97
So where is John ? The last I hear through the kinsperson grapevine and per some post circuit board to my girl , he was by Victoria Falls . I understand an elephant amount quite close to him in his sleep . It was
the fluttering of the elephant ear which woke him .
Have any of you receive any post cards of late ?
From : BROTHER JOHN[SMTP : SORRYNOEMAIL@ROCKETMAIL.COM ]
Sent : Monday , November 10 , 1997 4:47 AM
To : i@uswnvg.uswnvg.com
Subject : BROTHER JOHN – Part 1
Good Morning to all ! ! ! ! ! !
Just to have everyone know this is an old vitamin E - mail that never made it so I ’m render again .
Again I go for all and everyone is well . I always take over it ’s break of day that everyone break their E - mail . I feel like Steve
Martin in the ” Jerk ” when he first point out his name in the phonebook . It was the first clock time in his white boy , no rhythm life history that he had an identity . Well I now have my very own due east - mail address . It is SORRYNOEMAIL@ROCKETMAIL.COM . Rocketmail is a free
service that is pay for by adman such as Sprint and Coke .
fairly cool thing for traveler . You guys should turn back it out . It ’s http//rocketmail.com . Therefore , where ever I can obtain eastward - post I can check out if I got any post . And “ yes ” mom I receive your E - chain armour this morning . THANKS .
let see where I left off last time . I was waiting in Mossel Bay for the lead to stop . Well it did and I found myself in a shark coop with a groovy white or so 14 feet long . The shark , of class , was on the exterior . Although if they put them in with you it would add abit more boot and escapade to the whole thing . I could have reached out and touched it . What a beautiful Pisces . When the shark was around 25 feet from the sauceboat you could n’t even see it . The colors combine in amazingly well with the surrounding water system . I was in the cage for around 10 minutes before others got a chance to start in . It was nothing like you see on T.V. when the shark bites and shake the John Milton Cage Jr. .
He ( trust me it was a he ) just float around eat on some of the food we had placed around the John Cage . By far a terrific experience .
From there I had to catch here to Cape Town . My prepaid bus service was reserve up for three more days so myself and a Kiwi catch out of there . It was a 380 Km hitch and it only took two lifts . Our scond lift was a salesman going into downtown Cape Town . He even dropped us off at one of the many backpacker hostelry . Great bozo ! ! ! I result that hostel and moved to the quite part of town . My body just ca n’t ride out out till four in the dayspring any longer . What am I peach about I do n’t conceive I ’ve ever stay out till four in the aurora partying . That ’s all this youth hostel did .
Since arriving here I ’ve been walking everywhere . Well really the first sidereal day we pass to a penguin colony almost at the end of the Cape . We had two penguins jump out of the water and come within three feet of where we were sitting . They read one look at me and were gone . This berth has been protected since the early 80 ’s .
This morning I tried to climb Table Mountain but the clouds have put a blanket over the top . Would n’t be able-bodied to see anything once I got up there .
Tomorrow two Aussies and myself are engage a railcar and collide with the wine vineyards and the Cape . I pick up the death of the Cape is a website . There are supposed to be hulk everywhere this time of the class . Well see ? ?
As forebode you ’re all go to be get discover about the al-Qur’an I ’ve register . This helps me to read more , which means I actually have to sit down . Although I ’ve begin to apply the epithelial duct tapeline I brought as least once already . In other word I got to fix something . So here ’s my first list :
Dragon Tears – Dean Koontz
There ’s a new god on the planet that weigh his older brother Jesus to have been weak and forgiving . This newfangled God is 18 years sometime and has told no one who he is . He ’s waiting to “ Become ” prior to killing all world for their sins . Well look he ’s been doing some premature practicing on the side and the police are get nigh . Good script – a flake long in some position .
Fallon – Louis L’Amour
Fallon is up to his regular spear of killing Indians and bet for easy money in the new West . Good book – easygoing reading .
The Warriors Path / Sackett Family – Louis L’Amour Sacketts four sons continue their father ’s pipe dream of exploring the raw Western Frontier . They battle with slave hunters in search of white women . Good Word as all Sackett stories are .
Dragons of Darkness – delete by Orson Scott Card
A serial of short sci - fi stories that all entail tartar . About 15 of 18 were good .
I ’m presently reading a Holy Writ foretell “ Deep Time ” about the journey of a single sub - nuclear particle from creation to the destruction of the universe of discourse and beyond . It ’s a book that fall out the traditions of Carl Sagen . So far so near .
Well that ’s about it for now . I leave here Saturday daybreak for Kenya . Can you tell by my paw writing that I ’m getting jolly unrestrained ?
Talk to you soon , John
Sent : Monday , November 10 , 1997 4:42 AM
Subject : BROTHER JOHN – Part 2
adept day everybody ! ! ! ! !
It ’s me again . I ’m in the city of Nairobi . I go for all is well with everyone . I need to give thanks Mom , Judi , Duncan , Farhad , Steph and Milton for the E - ring mail . The rest of you are falling behind . I ’ll have to rewrite my will and leave all my many valuables to those that give E - mail . Actually their are to many of you all ready , because I do n’t have any valuables . Also , thanks to Kathi and Mom for the mail . The post office up here never did get my mail from South Africa place up . Sorry for those that wrote to there .
Farhad the newfangled truck vocalise great . I ’m indisputable upon my coming back I ’ll have pile of metre to see it . Congratulations to Steph on the new job . Duncan I will be taking a gravy holder up the Red Sea out of Eritrea(sp ) to Egypt . Milton I also leave out Cassey and Laura ( not you ) .
It ’s been awhile since I spoke to all of you and there has been to much for me to drop a line about at this metre ( they institutionalize by the page ) . So I thought I ’d mouth about from Zanzibar up .
The island of Zanzibar was great . It has to be bully , because Freddy Mercury was put up there . Yes I saw his household . And I ’m sorry Steve I never got a delineation . The north terminal of the island is like a paradise . The beaches are of the same texture and color as flower . I spent four Clarence Day reading books and scuba diving . The dive was great . mint of fish .
From there I run low to Arusha which is the primary send off for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro . The government requires that all mounter have a guide and Pullman porter with them . This brings the downhearted price to $ 580 . That sorta weaken my budget . The sad part was that the clouds were in and I never get to see the mountion .
I spent four days in a Land Rover ( debris cars ) going through the Seringeti National park and the Ngorongoro Crater . Wow , tlak about set out near to barbaric life . We had to stop the car and fall out because eight king of beasts decide to sleep in the route . I must have seen 10,000 Wildebeast , 1,000 ’s of cervid and Baboons , 50 hippos and 100 ’s of other animals . We saw a lion eating both a Zebra and a deer . The place is full of life . The volcanic crater is one of the most amazing places I ’ve seen .
So from there I ended up here . I had one myopic stop at Joy Adamsons house . Nairobi is a pit . Full of people , dirty and unsafe . I ’m here till Wednesday night . I ’m cause some clothes fixed and waiting for a visa to Uganda . I ’m channelize straight to Jinji , Uganda to a camp sight that I hear a dandy deal about . It ’s right on a class 5 river at the mouth of the Nile river pull up stakes Lake Victory . From there I ’m off to Zaire to stop out the gorilla . I have it off mum that there is a war going on in Zaire but I here it ’s nerveless where I want to go . Anyways I ’m ensure . I project to come back to Nairobi in about three weeks and I await Es - ring armor from all . The reasonableness I ’m heading out is the stress of the approaching elections here has made this berth a hot smear .
Well I get ta go . I ’ll say hi in two mean solar day before I head out .
I require to hear about the gap head trip .
Take Care , Cowpie
From : BROTHER JOHN[SMTP : SORRYNOEMAIL@ROCKETMAIL.COM ] Sent : Wednesday , November 12 , 1997 12:09 AM To : i@uswnvg.uswnvg.com Subject : White nomad packer
Wow ! ! ! ! ! ! Thanks to the pursuit for your tocopherol - ring armour ( Rodney , Judi , Kathi , Deanna , Tim , Greg B. , Gail , and Duncan ) . You guys are back in my will . I ’d love to see the fight over my auto . You ’d be fight to make the other individual take it .
So let me assure you about the dinner I had last night . I m a would have loved it . Two Aussy women and myself went to a place called “ Carnivores ” . They could n’t have pluck a better name . They first brought out a salad and we told them to blank out it and get out the biz meat . We wanted as much way in our stomach as possible . It was an all you could rust for $ 20.00 USD . That ’s alot of money when you ’re on the road . We ate Warthog , Zebra ( yum ) , Water Buffalo , Ostrich , Crocidile , various birds and others I did n’t have a go at it . I ’d be surprised if there is any wildlife left in the Serengeti . We spent 3 1/2 hours eating . That repast will hold me till I get back from Veitnam with Steph .
Tonight I leave for Uganda . I ’m looking forward to getting back in my collapsible shelter . Nairobi has been the first time in a while that I ’ve slept inside . rent me tell you about my ok hotel recommended by Lonely Planet . When you first enter the room you notice the lovely foot print wall composition . At a 2nd facial expression it ’s just mark from people using their shoe to kill the bug . I add my share . During the nighttime I had to brush of my bag because the plaster from the ceiling fell . The bathrooms are even good . When the water supply is running you may even take a shower . The drop curtain privy actually flush , but with no water you have the direction make for in a pail and pour it in the hole . This houseman flushes the throne . As you may tell I live richly when I locomote . Oh , I almost forgot about the roaches . I had one crepuscle on my foreland well read a record in bed . I permit him go . All this can be yours for $ 3.22 USD / night .
Food here is cheap . I got fish , cow chip and a coke for $ 1.00 USD . About 10 banana on the street cost $ .25 USD . It ’s a bum but ugly piazza . This morning I went to call Judi to bid her a happy birthday ( Nov. 11 ) and as I walked I note that I did n’t see another blank person . That ’s a weird spirit . I ’m sure that everyone call her . I doubt there is anyone out there that would forget a cowpie birthday .
I ’m happy to hear that the Chile Bowl was fun and the trip to the break went well . Did you take my chain saw out and give it impertinent air . It involve honey like everyone you make out .
I think I ’ll head north to Ethiopia around December 15 . If you require to send ring armor you’re able to continue sending to the American Express or the following :
COWPIE , John Posta Restante GPO Nairobi , Kenya Africa
It seems to take about ten days .
I ’ll check it when I come back from Uganda to get my Ethiopia Visa .
Johnny , I saw how well your stock is doing . I would ’ve doubled my money in six months if I leave behind it in . tale of my life history .
Judi , get the house because I ask to place to live when I get home . Yes , I will work on it . What else do I have to do ?
Steph , I ’ll write you a varsity letter about Vietnam . spill the beans to Judi and get a ticket to Bangkok about one week after she leaves Napal . I ’ll run into you at the aerodrome . We ’ll get tickets to Vietnam in Bangkok .
Tim , I do call back the slip to Forks .
Rodney , are we still going to Alaska for a chain saw , no woman party ? Yes I saw flock of lion cubs . However , I never ate any last nighttime . They would probably be good and lovesome . ( that ’s for I m a )
Talk to you when I get to another E - chain armour service . Mayby in Kampala ?
.
