memories

Caitlin just sent us a photo we haven't seen before. This was taken in Dakar as we waited at the ferry terminal for a ferry to Ile de Goree. We can't wait for the next trip. Better get saving our pennies.

Toddling Tadhg

Some post travel thoughts

Steve and I are sitting here talking. We've been home a week and we've almost finished putting the photos onto our web album. Some friends and family have asked about our trip and we've told some stories. But now we're talking about the best bits, lowest moments etc.

Here are a few high points...
-Approaching Djenne at dusk and watching the sun set over the Bani River as we waited for the ferry.
- Old Segou with its long and layered history and friendly and genuine people.
- Brendan holding court and keeping a bunch of kids captivated with stories of big planes taking off and motorcycles. They didn't understand a word but showed total respect and interest.
-The Niger River crossing in a canoe which broke up a 24 hour public transport journey from Senegal to Bamako.
- Cresting the Bandiagara escarpment on our way to Dogon Country. We could see for miles and the sky seemed so huge.

And low moments/ difficult points...
- Arduous travel in a slow moving, utterly inefficient public transport system. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh but we had a couple of long, long trips. And the shear frequency of stops for one reason or another was irritating beyond belief.
- The heat, especially on those buses.
- Tadhg being severely dehydrated and me sending Steve out to phone the embassy and find a doctor. Thank goodness for rehydration salts and clean water- he perked up in no time.
- Slight frustration at never really being able to fully be in the moment because of the kids. So he says not that we'd have it any other way and we're not blaming the kids but it was just the circumstances.
- The hardest times were usually just before the boys went to sleep but as soon as they were both sound asleep we'd say, "wow, what a great day" :)

Although these low points might seem significant to some, they were usually far outweighed by something positive and pleasant. For example, although Tadhg was quite dehydrated, the concerned old caretaker man and the helpful nun were wonderful, as was the great hotel we found to hole up in while we recovered!

Prompted by a friend's interest yesterday, we've just asked ourselves, "was it life-changing?"
Well, not quite, but it has certainly got us thinking and talking. We think we got a taste of what life-changing could be. Steve's example is that one of his favourite parts of the trip was walking with Musa in Old Segou, his ancestral home, and talking about his life, family, his history, Africa and its problems etc.. He wished that that could have gone on longer but it seemed that moments like that, (with Diady too) were always too short. We look forward to the day we can spend more time in a place and immerse ourselves fully in another culture. We have a few years to come up with some ideas.

And lastly for now, here are a few other memories that must be recorded.

Billy: (quietly but with conviction) "Jo, stop eating" as a cute little green worm crawled across the lettuce on her plate.
Billy: "classic" Everything, especially every photo he took!

Being asked multiple times every day if I breastfeed the baby and getting big smiles and approval when I confirmed that I did. This also led to many a conversation with women about babies and mothering. Like Steve's chats with Musa and Diady, they were often cut short due to lack of time or my limited French. There was so much more to learn.

Scams-
stranded jamaican
diabetic in need of money for his prescription
1000 Francs to call my mum
Circuituous route to a different hotel than we wanted. Four right turns make a circle (I saw this coming before we even took one step by the way, hence my aloofness :)

That last was the only one we fell for, or rather went along with because, well, what the hell, we're not doing anything else... and it wasn't that bad. The hotel we had wanted WAS really being demolished and the hotel we ended up in wasn't too bad so no harm done except having to tip a greedy, dishonest man. Although there is the possibilty that he just had a really, really bad sense of direction.

The best pool was at the Rabelais in Bamako. Great shallow end for Brendan to splash around in on his own.

Taxi fare should have been 500 cfa. It is raining hard and we don't really want to walk because we don't actually know which way to go but can't let on to the watching taxi drivers.
We say 500. He says 3000, we scoff, walk away, he says 2000, we say 1000. He scoffs, prattles on about the rain and too much water, we say we just came this way half an hour ago, he says 1500 and is adamant, we say ok and get in. It literally is a 5 minute car journey but the driver goes on and on about the rain. Then the best bit... at the highest point on the road he turns left down a side street and drives 200 yards very slowly down a very bumpy dirt road, turns right, then right again and back 200 yards and emerges back on the same road about 100 metres down, still on a hill with not a puddle in sight and no other reason for a detour, all the while complaining about all the rain... Steve and I are in hysterics wondering whether or not to ask the guy if he really thinks we are that stupid when we arrive at our destination. He predicitably asks for more money because of the rain and presumably that rough detour being hard on the car :) Steve refuses and walks away, still laughing. So I can only guess that the guy has absolutely no sense of direction himself and assumes that everyone else must be the same. Man, that was funny.

Enough now. Better get to bed. Our two Canada World Youth volunteers arrive tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

The mosque in Djenne as the sun rises. We've almost finished putting a huge number of photos on our web albums...
http://picasaweb.google.com/siobhanandsteve

A day in Dakar

Steve and Brendan headed off to find a pirogue to take them out to the little island visible from our hotel room window while I went in search of the fabric market. I hired a nice (for a change) taxi driver for a couple of hours and explored the biggest fabric market I've ever seen. Anything you could possibly want for any sort of sewing project could be found here. There was also a large area filled with tailors, sewing machines squashed in so tightly that I guessed the tailor must have to clamber over the top of them all to get to his machine in the back corner somewhere. And they were all men. The sellers were about half and half, men and women. I tended to choose women vendors to actually buy from as they were a littel less pushy, seemed to be more honest and loved to hold Tadhg while I felt all the fabrics and tried to decide what to buy. I wondered around the sewing area with a plastic bag and waving a scrap of fabric to show that I was scrounging for scraps for free and I managed to fill a bag. I think I came home with about 40m of fabric with no concrete plans on what to make with it all. It was all just so yummy and very West African. One of my favourite parts of the trip was looking at all the clothing, especially on the women. One reason why I bought so much is that it is generally sold in 6 metre lengths- which is the amount required for making a complete outfit- bottom, top or dress and headscarf. In Mali, you don't buy by the metre but by "pagne". It's a french word used all over West Africa for a single piece of cloth about 1 metre by two metres. One pagne was roughly equal to the vendor's outstretched arm span- so buying from a tall gangly man might be a good idea if you want value for money I guess. Anyway, that size is good for almost anything- a skirt, sarong, table cloth, sheet, baby carrier, towel... whatever.

Anyway, enough about fabric. Suffice to say that I have plenty of fabric and now just need the ideas, time and energy to make stuff.

So continuing on with that day. In the afternoon after a nap, we decided to head for the Pointe des Almadies, the westernmost point of the African continent. On a map it appeared to be fairly close so we set off on foot along the beach. Outside our hotel the beach was surprisingly clean but it quickly became clear that only a small section of beach is cleaned and soon we were stepping over fish heads, plastic of all descriptions, dead mice and even one enormous bloated rat lying belly up on the sand. It was utterly disgusting but we carried on anyway. It started to rain as we continued walking through a very run down and dirty neighbourhood and I regretted wearing my flip flops. I was trying to resist thoughts of disgust at how filthy the place was because I hate to be negative or judge people or agree with stereotypes or let my own cultural baggage get in the way but this was unbelievable and I was completely baffled. Steve and I were both in utter disbelief already and then we suddenly emerged from the littered alleyways onto a little coastal bay and we stopped dead in our tracks. It was basically a landfill site right where a little beach should have been. As we stood there looking at all the rubbish and the piles and piles of plastic bottles on top of it all someone opened a back gate of a property that opened onto the bay and just threw a bucket full of watery rubbish out onto the ground. I was flabbergasted. I am still confused. You can say all you want about poverty, lack of education, no other options, poor governance etc etc, but even all of those problems together couldn't explain to me the lack of any attempt whatsoever to keep this place clean. Perhaps the local people were profiting in someway from allowing this place to be a dump, but even that doesn't explain the state of the streets. This is a seriously unhealthy place to live. At that time I was thinking that all that development work going on by Senegalese and foreign NGOs and whoever else, the education reform attempts, trying to end the daaras with their begging children... that none of that was even half as important as just cleaning some of the rubbish up and working out a way to keep it cleaner. And it wasn't just in this neighbourhood. Half of Dakar is the same, the fishing village was the same, Bamako is just as bad, maybe even worse. There is a neighbourhood in Dakar that is actually built ON rubbish. The locals are paid a bit to take it and they actually use it like you would use fill when building a subdivision in Canada. And during the rainy season people die when they fall through all the rubbish floating on top of the filthy water.

Anyway, to carry on with the day. We escaped from the filthy neighbourhood and reluctantly got into an ancient taxi driven by a very dim witted driver who was not all there. We tried to find a geocache but after the driver said about 10 times that it wasn't possible to drive up to the lighthouse, and about 10 times that is WAS possible, we decided to give it a miss and head for the point. When Steve's door opened of its own accord for the third time, while we sped along the road, the driver turned to tell him how to slam it shut properly and as a result of his wild gesticulating and total lack of focus on the road we drifted over onto the other side of the road and narrowly missed on oncoming truck. Steve luckily missed all that as he was focusing on the door. Actually it was a pretty good adrenaline rush. But not a fun one though, especially as the kids were in the car, not strapped in as usual.

The actual point was devoid of people due to the rain so we headed into the Meridian- the poshest hotel in Dakar for a look around and an astronomically priced drink at the bar. Little did we know that the next day we'd be staying at the hotel and living it up with an unlimited allowance for meals, swanky toiletries, a beautiful swimming pool, all compliments of Delta Airlines. They had cancelled our flight months previously but had failed to tell us.

That evening, our last in Dakar (before the plane delay anyway) Steve was again the target of a wannabe scam artist who was actually just a plain thief. When Steve had his wallet open to get a little money out to pay for the guy's scam (basically to get rid of him) the guy actually reached in a grabbed some money and then legged it. Steve chased him down and got most of the money back- I'll need to let him tell the details. But the upshot of it all was that we had had enough of Dakar with its money-grabbing con artists and seriously unhealthy rubbish problem. I almost cry when I think about the state of the ocean off that coast. Don't get me wrong, we loved almost every minute of our trip and met some great people but we were ready to leave Dakar.

Safari Time

Just south of Dakar by about 60km, there is the 40 sq km reserve, Reserve de Bandia. It was established in the 90's and is growing. During our trip through the park, we saw giraffes, a pair of rhinos (although they were hard to see, we did get within 15-20 feet of them), various antelopes, lots of different brightly coloured birds, zebras, monkeys, turtles and crocodiles. Brendan loved the trip and gets really excited whenever he tells us about his day at the reserve.

This is us outside the turtle area at the end of the trip.

Going for a walk to see the giraffes. There was a huge baobab here that we looked too, apparently a thousand years hold and final resting place of at least 125 people. We could see skulls and various bones in the hollow depths inside. Eerie.

Tadhg and mum with the zebras in the background.

Zebras were the newest addition to the park.

Checking out the giraffes.

From The Big City To A Small Fishing Village

Once we landed in Dakar, we quickly decided that we wanted to get out of the big city. Beach time sounded good and instead of hitting a big resort, we decided to spend a couple of nights in the small fishing village of Toubab Dialaw.

Having dinner at the Soba Bade, a cliff-top sea-side restaurant. Brendan running around as usual and Tadhg passed out for a nap.

Playing on the terrace.

Bring the boats back in after a day of fishing. The catch is sorted and sold right on the beach.

Going for a walk around the cliffs with B.

It was really fun watching the boats being launched through the surf. In the two days there, I saw 3 boats get swamped and dragged back to shore.

Siobhan and T on the terrace with the fishing boats and beach in the background.

Siobhan back in her element bargaining for jewelery.

Having some play and naked time in the room while hiding from the mid-day sun.

Having a banana on the terrace.

Some breakfast before a busy day.

Heading Back To Dakar

After our never ending bus journey to Mali, we decided to take an internal flight on Mauritania Airways to save time. Brendan loves planes but once the excitement of take off was finished, he passed out until landing.

Take off out of Bamako, Mali.

Siobhan and Tadhg enjoying the flight.

Me and my boys. Brendan passed out before we even levelled off.

Some convective activity and blue skies.

Turning base leg into Dakar, Senegal.

Dogon Country

Hi there everyone.

Quick update. Kids are doing well. Just got back from Dogon Country. Interesting people, beautiful scenery and an incredible history. Here are some pictures.

Exploring through an old village above Treli.The gang.

This is what travelling is all about. The old village above Treli.

Our Dogon guide Mumado and our driver Moussa.

Brendan on top of a house built out of mud in the first village we visited.

This was he view from the village of Ende where we stayed last night. I finally found a geocache after two unsuccessful attempts. This one was by the rick spire. Billy and I went up this morning to get it before we keft Dogon Country.

Brendan playing with some kids in Ende.

Siobhan in her element. Picking out different fabrics and negotiating a price.

Well, that's it for now. I need to get some sleep.

Bamako

We've been defeated by the heat and have opted to hire a car and driver for a few days. The 24 hour journey from Senegal to Bamako was a great experience and we are definitely glad we did it but I think having a car (with AC!) will make the next few days much easier. Tadhg was quite dehydrated this morning but perked up quite quickly, only to then be taken out in the heat again to catch a bus east to Segu. At the bus station just before we went looking for a bus I decided that I'd rather chill out in a hotel for another day till Tadhg was 100% again and I think Steve was pretty relieved! So we're in the hotel with the best pool, have been talking to a few expats, have eaten lots and watched a couple of movies and have managed to arrange a 4WD car with driver that fits all of us and is reasonably priced.

So a little bit about Bamako. The good stuff first. It is a small city with not too much traffic, lots of greenery, the Niger river flowing by, good fruit for sale and very few tall buildings. I liked it as soon as we drove in. The flip side is that it is one of the dirtiest cities in the world. Rubbish and rats everywhere. It's a public health nightmare. It really is food for thought and we've been talking a lot about it. It doesn't have to be this way, does it? So many problems and so few solutions. So far though, I have really liked the Malian people and having two young children with us is definitely a help. People either laugh hysterically or want to talk to us or at the very least they smile and stare with interest. We're looking forward to getting out of the city where things will likely be much better.

In teh city so far we have walked around a lot, been to the market, the National Museum, a high point overlooking the city at sunset, the Niger river, swimming in a hotel pool... We stayed a couple of nights in the Catholic Mission and had a six bed dorm to ourselves, did all our laundry, ate yummy street food, met soma interesting travellers. One girl has just come to Bamako fro, Scotland on a motorcycle with a friend and has got Steve and I all fired up and planning our own motorcycle trip (a few years away once the kids are old enough to stay with family for a few weeks) but there's no harm in dreaming :)

Tadhg was more or less back to his normal cheerful self this evening so we're heading off to rural Mali in the morning. More later.

I've just tried to get some photos on but this computer isn't cooperating. Next time.

Some more pictures!

At a checkpoint stop in Senegal. Tadhg was the centre of attention.

Sept place from Dakar. Nice and cosy.

A Dakar beach.

Brendan getting the hang of peeing in the hole.

Our first West African meal. Yassa poisson; fish, rice and onion sauce.

Outside the house that Paddy has been living in for the last few months. Brendan and Paddy in the distance I think.

West Africa Update #2

Well, how do I describe it. Awesome but emotional. We are all doing fine both in health and spirits. Brendan is loving the different environment and Tadhg loves his multiple daily baths. We are in Bamako, Mali and it is really busy. Lots of traffic. People keep pointing at use when ever we have Brendan in the big back pack carrier. Not sure if it is because it`s different (the carrier) or just because we are carrying a two year old. I`m sure it`s the first. It is even funier when they don`t notice Tadhg on Siobhan`s back until she turns around.

So, how did we get to Bamako... in a nutshell, a long bus ride from the border (different story for another time), a ferry crossing because the bridge was under repairs, the an even longer bus ride to get to Bamako (12hrs). All I know is that I`m glad we pushed on. Siobhan, the kids and I treated ourselves to a nice little hotel which had a pool. Brendan loved it. He kept going on about `Daddy swim to ladder and back`. So we did.

Side track, Brendan is really singing alot these days. Black sheep, twinkle twinkle, ABC`s and 1-2-3`s.

Today we moved to the Mission Catholic which is realy nice because it has a locked court yard so Brendan can have free reign of the courtyard.

Went up to Point G over looking the city at sunset. Had a nice view over the city.

Came back and had an excelent spag and bean diner and some frites. Yummy.

Anyhow, enough blabing. Here are some pictures as promised.

In Dakar on the street just outside the daycare where we slept for the first night.

Flat tire on our way to the ferry terminal for our stay on Ile de Gorée.

Tadhg struting his stuff at a beach in Dakar.

Checking out the surf.

Buying some stuff for the long trip to Bamako.

Monkey boy having a banana for a late night snack and a ride on Daddy`s shoulders.

Getting on the ferry at Kayes, Mali.

On the ferry. They actualy started bailing the boat qs soon as we casted off.

This is where we had to get off the ferry.

Tadhg getting lots of naked time.

Brendan pointing out some of the different carvings from a door from Dogon Country at the hotel.

Senegal

I don't know where to start. Please bear with us, short posts and lots of mistakes are quite likely qs this keyboard is very different;

Day 4, Tambacounda

It is hot hot hot, one man we met todqy guessed 37C but with the humidity it feels hotter; We spent about 8 hours in a sept place today, a type of share taxi that we had to ourselves as our group totals 6 adults plus Brendan and Tadhg. It was a very long hot day but everyones spirits are high, how could they not be given the amazing country we are travelling in? Brendan and Tadhg are doing well too, both were naked ,uch of the day having wet cloths draped over them but in all honesty I think Tadhg is the least bothered by the heat.

Our trip over here was an adventure in itself. We set of straight after Steve's exam, 3 hours driving, two hours sleep, flight to New York, tried to get a hotel room for 8 hours but none available at an affordable price so we headed oin to Manhattan instead on the Air Train and subway. Our mission was to buy a hat for Brendan and to chill out somewhere and take turns to nap. Eventuqlly found the hat but sleep proved to be more elusive. Back to the airport via a wrong train to find we only had 20 minutes to check in. Skipped the queues to both first class checkin qnd security qnd then ran about a mile to the gate, only to fiund our flight delayed. We eventuqlly took off about 3 hours late. Sleep remained elusive for Steve and I so thqt when we arrived in Dakar at 6 am we had had no ,ore than 4 hours in over 48 hours. No worries though, Paddy and his "brother" took us to our digs in a school in Diady's neighbourhood where we slept a lot and ate a lot for the rest of the day. The feeling as we drove the 40 min ride to the school was one of excitement and contentment. The most striking thing for me was that we were just surrounded by people, just humanity everywhere. I also felt instqntly at home in a way. Being at home with my family is of course wonderful, but for as long as I cn remember I havbe felt most myself when I'm trqvelling. I feel so alive and reqdy to soak in all the experiences co,ing our way.

We didn't need to venture further than the front step of the school because there was so much to see and take in right there in front of us. I couldn't possibly do it justice if I tried to describe everything we were witness to just in those first few hours. The sights, smells, sounds, the people, especiqlly the children, and all the goings on right there on that sandy street. And we ate our first West African meals, everyone sitting around and sharing from one giant plate, with so,eone picking apart the fish and chicken and giving us the best bits.

Caitlin, Billy and Jo were delayed by about 24 hrs having got stuck in Casavblanca; Luckily they arrived on the same plane the following ,orning and we headed to Goree Island, an old slave trading port and French fort and colonial admin post. Brendan enjoyed the ferry, Steve felt three pickpocket attempts on his wallet, we had our first downpour, everyone went swimming in the sea, Steve scraped his nipple on some barnacles, we had a lovely meal, stayed in a pleasant hotel, ,et an wonderful canadian couple who have invited us to visit their house (with pool) in Bamako, Mali....

After Goree we spent the night in Dakar City Centre. The boys had a dip in the ocean on a crowded beach, we ate more delicious senegalese food and got scammed twice. (both small, harmless scams that were very obvious and avoidable but hey ho, it was our first day in the big city)

Time is running out. I*ll post despite the mistakes; I hope it isn't hard to read;

We think we might head for timbuktu but aren't sure yet. One day at a time;

All well and very happy; Photos next time. Over and out;

Lariam dreams

Oh man, I have never felt anything like this.
We took our first Lariam pill at lunchtime on Friday. Everything was hunky dory until about midnight. I fell into a deep sleep much more quickly than usual and immediately started having very intense dreams. They became nightmares and I looked at the clock a few times only to see that time was passing v...e...r...y slowly and each time I went back to sleep the dreams got worse.

In one dream, I woke up to find horrific things going on in the house. There were black rats and birds with bleeding eyes coming into the house through cracks in the floorboards and above the windows. I have no problem with rats but in this dream I felt real fear. But even worse than seeing these horrible images were the feelings I was experiencing. I had no control over my mind or my body. I was angry and upset, I was flailing about and hitting the walls and floor and trying to scream but without making a sound. All the while, people, including Steve and Caitlin, were standing around me seemingly unaware of what was going on. In another dream I went to my doctor and said "get this drug out of me!" and she inserted a giant needle with a hose attached into my stomach and stuff started pumping through it and onto the floor, emptying my body of fluids from my toes up and I was rolling around the floor in agony.

Wake up... At about 3 am there was a noise coming from the hallway but I was too scared to get out of bed. I felt really extreme fear, something I rarely experience so it was all the more intense. I seriously expected to be attacked by a monster under the bed as soon as I put my foot on the floor so I just froze and waited while Steve went to check.

The dreams continued and for the next few hours I was in a weird state of wakeful sleepiness, sometimes asleep but dreaming I was awake... All things I have had before but not with the same level of anxiety. At one point I turned to Steve and said "I'm not taking that drug again!"

In the morning I felt awful. I was shaking, my legs and arms felt like jelly, probably all down to the adrenaline as it was not unlike after my first skydiving freefall and bungee jump. I felt totally out of it too, my mind was just mush, as Steve would say. When I saw Brendan and Tadhg sleeping peacefully I started crying and feeling terrible guilt for having given the same drug to them. I watched both of them for any sign that they were experiencing the same thing as me but they were fine.

I was back to normal by mid-morning but Steve continued to take the piss for the rest of day, explaining my fast walking pace at the market on the fact that I believed I was being chased by a buffalo, reminding me that the baby carrier was not a parachute and I should therefore not attempt to jump out of the window and warning me that there might a lion lurking around every corner... bla bla bla... oh it's just Alma and Bill, our cats. Very funny.

If anyone is wondering why we chose Lariam, it's for a few reasons. Of the drugs that are effective in West Africa, only two are suitable for children, Malarone and Lariam. Malarone is not okay for Tadhg as he's too small. Lariam only has to be taken once a week, whereas Malarone must be taken every day at the same time and I figured that we could do without that stress on a daily basis with Brendan. Also, there is evidence that it's extremely rare for young children to experience the psychological side effects of Lariam. (How this can be I have no idea) Steve and I have both taken Lariam before without any problems. And lastly, Malarone is about 5 times the price of Lariam, not insignificant when you are saving for a trip of a lifetime.

We have the option to get malarone for Brendan and for Steve and I to swap drugs, pending what the doctor says about breastfeeding and malarone on Monday. Or we can stick with it for now and see what happens next week. So the situation remains fluid.

Other news... Caitlin and Billy are now flying directly in to Dakar just a couple of hours before us. Caitlin's bouts of swine flu and shingles meant they had to abandon their plans to go overland but her blisters are now scabbing over and she'll be okay to fly by Thursday. Billy has survived his first Lariam drugging without any difficulty. Jo heads to Madrid on Tuesday? and then we all arrive in Dakar within a few hours of each other. So Paddy will probably just hang out at the airport for the night till he has gathered us all together. Can't wait!!

Only 3 more sleeps, 2 exams and a corn boil till we're off. Wish Steve luck in his exams. We're heading out this afternoon for a few hours without him to give him some peace to study.

Two weeks today

We leave for Dakar in only two weeks. Excitement is building.

Malaria prophylaxis is sorted after a delay with the pharmacy who said they couldn't do it and neither could anyone else in Fredericton. Thankfully they were wrong.

French practice is sporadic but happening.

The packing list is colour coded and scribbled on. Although I enjoy the list making it doesn't actually get the bag packed any earlier. It will undoubtedly be a last minute rush as usual. We work well under pressure :)

We have a footwear issue. What to take??

Steve has arranged to take his final exam for this term 3 hours earlier than the scheduled time. The exam is meant to start at 7pm and finish at 10, but we need to drive to Bangor (3 and a bit hours away) and get some sleep in a hotel before being at the airport for 3am ish. So he's allowed to start the exam at 4pm and leave just after 7 and then we can hit the road. What a relief that's going to be. Pheeewwww. Can't wait.

Caitlin and Billy leave a week earlier than us and will have an interesting trip overland from Morocco to Senegal. It will include a 24 hour bus journey so I hope Billy and his very long legs manage to get a decent seat. Maybe the one at the back in the middle? Or one right at the front? Good luck with that guys :) See you in Dakar. (Let us know what you decide on the footwear front)

Paddy is almost finished and will be off on a trip south to Guinea Bissau. I've emailed him a list of things to be on the lookout for just to give us a better picture of what to expect. Can we find nappies, bug spray, snacks for the kids... that kind of thing. And I've asked him what footwear we should bring but he hasn't replied yet.

Our mosquito nets have both arrived. One new one we ordered and Caitlin's old one. Just need to add some of the insecticide courtesy of Steve's work to our clothes. I think we've decided that a little exposure to an ugly neurotoxin is preferable to contracting malaria. Travel certainly gives you plenty of opportunities to weigh up pros and cons.

That's it for now. Must get to bed. Lots to do tomorrow including tidying the house before a playdate and some more dyeing action. More on the dyeing later.

Travel Health

We've had two medical appointments in the last 10 days. Other people's worries were beginning to rub off on me a bit so I was appreciative when both our own doctor and the travel health clinic nurse brought me back to my senses. If you listen to all the scaremongering you'd have a hard time travelling anywhere these days :)
So we are happy, healthy and will be fully prepared by the time we leave. There was not a hint of disapproval from them about going to Africa with a baby, and the nurse had recently been to Cameroon and was jabbering away about how wonderful an experience we were going to have.

So one of the costs of travel, and not only in money terms, was that we've had to have a bunch of jags (or 'shots' in Canada). For a mother who considered not vaccinating her children, I've certainly done a good job of ignoring all the research I did on the topic. Brendan had typhoid, Hep A and Yellow Fever vaccines at the clinic. He sat on my knee, facing me and cuddling after the first one, and he cried as I talked about how we needed to do this so that we could go and see Uncle Paddy and Aunty Caitlin in a big plane and see giraffes and monkeys in Africa etc. I was trying not to cry myself. I experienced a very strange tangle of strong emotions but thankfully it was very short-lived as he only cried for a really short time. Phew, thank god that's over with.

I had a couple that have lapsed and we got a Yellow Fever waiver certificate for Tadhg because he's too young.

So preparations are underway. I used an old cotton curtain liner to make a mattress slip for Tadhg's little tent today. We can use it on both sides and then wash it out every few days and it should dry in no time. I adjusted a shoulder bag I've had for a while but have already decided that I'd rather make a new one from scratch so that it's just the right size and has the right number of pockets and dividers in it. Ummm, we'll see if that can be brought to fruition. Watch this space.

West Africa (and why travel?)

We've done some research, made appointments with doctors, started a packing list and have booked our flights! We're off to West Africa in the summer!! Neither of us needed convincing that now is a good time to go, given that my brother will be working there for a few months this year and travelling with someone else will make it a little easier and more fun! And even better, Jo, Caitlin and Billy will also be coming.

When we tell people we are going, we get a mixture of reactions. Many think it's great, others worry about the wee ones. Well, each to their own, hey ? :)

Anyway, a couple of months ago I drafted a post about travel that I never actually published. I thought I might do it now in the hope it convinces Granny and Grandad not to worry, we've thought about what we're doing! :)

First though, here are a couple of websites about travel with children that I've liked recently. Here and here.

One of them has this saying on it, which I love...

Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.


Here's the old post, from back in February...

We are in the process of doing a drastic overhaul of our family's financial management system. So as part of that we've been thinking about what we spend our money on and what we're saving for. Obvious really. Anyway, travel is something we agree is very important so while driving the car earlier I was thinking about WHY travel is so important to me. Steve was doing likewise and I'll try to encourage him to write down his thoughts too.
I don't know whether I'll actually post this because it will probably make me sound like a pretentious know-it-all. Quite accurate then :)

So, why is it important that my children travel? I think it's all about having a broader perspective and better understanding of the world. I hope it will help them be open-minded, empathetic, more respectful of people's differences and excited by our similarities, less quick to judge or be negative, more sensitive to issues of social justice, more determined to make a difference in some way... And that's just to do with people. I also think it will help them feel a bit closer to nature and more engaged with the world around them and its awesome awesomeness, full of awe and wonder... And it will foster an understanding of the interconnectedness of eveything. Did I mention the awe and wonder to be found in the world?
Not to mention getting some street smarts and being travel savvy, and not viewing every little thing that goes "wrong" as a huge problem. It's often when faced with difficulties we learn the most and have the best experiences. And isn't that true of life in general??

So I hope we can introduce our children to the wider world and give them the tools to help them interpret it in their own way. If the travel bug doesn't bite then that'll be fine, but I'd like to encourage it!



What about all the problems inherent in travel? I don't mean that you have to carry stuff and sleep in beds with bed bugs, or that babies cry on aeroplanes or whatever. I mean the debate that continually bounces back and forth in my head. Travel is a luxury and it's unfair that I should be able to do it. Not to mention the awful consequences of tourism on many people and places in the world. I won't get started on that now. Suffice to say that we do our best to travel responsibly and ethically, to tread as lightly as possible and to share and learn rather than take and preach.