East African Tour

Clockwise around lake Victoria from Tanzania to Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and back to Tanzania.. here are some pictures:

east africa

Things I learned while traveling in East Africa:

I don't mind riding on buses that are moving. I hate sitting on them when they are standing still.

The Avocados may be cheap and big, but there not as good as California (Mexico) Haas avocados.

2 things to see when you go new places: sunsets/rises and lakes/bodies of water (including waterfalls)

Borders don't have to be nightmares. The East African Community made it surprisingly easy for me to travel between it's member nations. And borders are helpful (despite their intangibility) at keeping one apart from wars (in places like the Congo and Burundi for example).

Energy level affects one's perspective. I had the worst cold of my life in Rwanda. two weeks! no place to lie on the couch and watch tv either.. Normally people harassing me on the street doesn't bother me very much, but when I am tired I am much more susceptible to the frustrations of being the only person with white skin on an African street.

Gin/Waragi/Cane liquor sold is sold in plastic bags..

Malaria is scary. I think this is mostly because there are so many theories about it going around. Other diseases (and there are many) are scary too but you hear so many different things about malaria that it has its own mystique. The incubation period is 14 days to a year (I don't think this is really true, I think some guy cheated on his wife in southeast Asia got malaria while he was there, but told her he must have gotten it on their trip to Brazil or whatever..) No one (even doctors) ever tell me the same things about malaria; how prevalent it really is, how bad it is, what anopheles mosquitoes look like, whatever.. I am taking my Lariam.

I don't think I changed as a person very much on this trip, but I am getting old and I have wised up to a few things.