Where Are Ron and Ellen?
Portugal (Ron and Ellen), Southeastern Africa (Ron), 19 September 2013 - 13 January 2014
Ron and Ellen in Porto, Portugal, October 2013
Kisumu, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda
7 November 2013
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Below is Ron's latest report from Africa. He's currently in Uganda, and plans to leave tomorrow (Friday) for Rwanda and then go on to Burundi.
I have now been through all the photos from Portugal and both photos and accounts of Portugal (and Africa to date) are now up posted to our Web page. For the index to our Fall 2013 adventures, see
http://personal.cfw.com/~renders/Fall13.html Once there, you can either look at the various reports (with appropriate photos linked from each one) or you can look at the photo index using the link on the page. I don't know if Ron will send any photos along the way (depends a lot on his Internet connections), but if not, we'll post Africa photos after he returns.
We kept meaning to comment on the economy while we were in Portugal, but never did. So here are a few (admittedly superficial) observations based on what we saw and on conversations we had with different people. On the surface, it seems like a relatively prosperous society, and we didn't see much obvious poverty. But there are many empty stores with for sale/rent signs in them, and many small shops of one kind or another in which we never saw a single customer over the several days we were in a place and walked past. The young woman in her mid-30s who was the housekeeper/manager for the 5-flat building in Porto where we stayed told us 1) she has multiple jobs to earn money (the flats, cleaning for two different women, and helping an 84-year-old man one day a week with bill-paying and shopping etc), 2) you can't get medical care unless you have money, and 3) her husband was in London working and they hoped to move her and their two daughters there in a few months because it would be a better life. A woman in Aveiro told us that she was lucky to have a good job, but that if she lost her job she would have a hard time finding another one because she is in her mid-40s and most places can hire much younger people for much less - but at the same time, it is hard for young people to find jobs. A man (mid-40s, I'd guess) we talked to at the next table in a restaurant in Monchique brought his family back to southern Portugal 4 years ago from working a good job in London (he is some kind of engineer) because he wanted to be near his extended family; he said that when the crash came in 2008 all construction of any sort in Portugal simply stopped, and hasn't started up again (indeed, we saw numerous partially constructed buildings that appeared to have no one working on them). He also told us that because Portugal is surrounded by Spain, Spain's economy has a huge effect on Portugal, and the unemployment rate in Portugal has shot up as Spain's has shot up, but that Portugal is still better off than Spain. Lastly, the woman, also mid-40s, who worked at our hotel in Tavira told us that her husband used to have a company that sold construction materials, and when the crash came and all construction ended, he tried selling various other things but was unsuccessful, so he is now working "on the land" with his parents. She considers herself lucky to have a job. And she said that in the south of Portugal the economy is totally dependent on tourists, so people work very hard April-October, and then manage as best they can for the rest of the year. But she loves Tavira, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. So - make what you will of those observations.
Since I've been back, people have asked me, "What was the highlight of your trip?" We really liked all the places we went, and I would be hard-pressed to come up with a clear favorite. I asked Ron, and he said, "My favorites were Sagres for the location, scenery and comfort, the town [Beja] where we went to the theater felt more in touch with the people, and the last place before Lisbon [Porto Covo] for the spectacular scenery where I could have just relaxed and looked for a week." I particularly liked the southern part of Portugal as well, but I think for me the highlight was more a concept than a specific place or thing. I'll try to explain. My return date (23 October) was planned so I would be home in time for Grandparent's Day at North Branch School, where our grandsons are in 6th and 8th grade and where I've been on the board for about 20 years. Serendipitously, Leo's 7th-8th grade class was just finishing a unit on the Age of Discovery, including the Portuguese explorers. So a few days later I showed the class photos of explorer-related places we'd been. My thoughts had been floating around unformed for a while, but talking to the kids helped focus my thinking. Portugal is justifiably proud of its history and heritage in navigation and discovery, and seeing the places and monuments first hand made me think about the immense curiosity and courage (and yes, probably a measure of greed as well) that made people set off into the unknown in small boats. It took me about 20 hours total to travel from our hotel in Lisbon to our house in Afton. How far would they have gotten in 20 hours in their caravels? I can stay in constant touch with distant friends and family - and with Ron in Africa - by phone or internet or even by old-fashioned letters, but once those explorers sailed away, there was no contact. When we were in Sagres, we visited Cabo de Sao Vicente, the southwestern-most tip of Portugal and of Europe. It would have been the last land the explorers would have seen as they began their voyages. What were they thinking as they watched it disappear, not knowing how long they would be gone, what they would face, and when -and most especially, IF - they would see it again? We forget how much of the world was completely unknown in the 1400s and 1500s, and even when we think about it, I think we in the 21st century cannot really have any concept of what that kind of "unknown" meant. I have a photo I took of Cape St. Vincent, cliffs and sea and lighthouse, and for me that photo reminds me of what must have been the great fear of those explorers, but also their staggering courage.
Love to all,
Ellen
Kisumu, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda
7 November 2013
Kampala, UgandaHello, my dear,
After picking up my passport with my Burundi visa and booking my Jaguar Bus ticket for tomorrow morning I am now having lunch at Fang Fang, supposedly the best Chinese restaurant in town: spring rolls, chicken wonton soup and vegetables with noodles.
Kisumu was a very different experience from Nakuru. Arriving in Kisumu by Molli Line (small van) I started checking my short list of hotels by locating them on my phone gps and walking to them in order of their closeness to the bus station.
The last one was near the lake and while I might have returned to the Duke of Breeze I was too tired so I stayed at Sooper Guest House which turned out to be a good choice since it was the backpackers' hotel of choice.
A Belgium couple was planning a trip and invited me to join them. We walked to the lake and watched all the vehicles being washed in the shallow part and checked out the restaurants along the shoreline and then explored the way to the harbor. Friday morning we got up at 5am and left by taxi at 5:30 to arrive for the 8:00am bull fights in Khayega, only to find they are now held only on Saturday. We then discovered the Bull View Hotel with a restaurant overlooking the bull fighting arena. (For those following it would be more logical to use the small vans from Kisumu to Khayega, saving the cost of the expensive taxi, enjoying the inexpensive hotel, getting up at a more reasonable time, and having breakfast over looking the bull fights.)
We then took motor scooters to the National Park to walk in the rain forest, going to the southern part which was managed by the local community rather then the Kenyan government. Our tour guide explained why this arrangement protected this part of the rain forest that was being destroyed by the local people because it was too far away from governmental control. It brought jobs as incentives to the local tribe to protect the forest. Around the forest the government planted a swath ot tea plants and the local people harvest and sell the tea leaves. They also plant trees and take care of the forest.
However, the protection is not complete, as we came on the sounds of someone chopping something down. The guide crept up the path to see who, but was obviously scared to be seen by whoever was there. As we walked away we heard the crash of whatever was cut down.
Back in Kisumu after my Belgian friends had left, their room across from mine was occupied by an unusual couple. He was English from Cambridge, a graduate in biology working in research on fibers and visiting his girl friend who was visiting her sister who was married to an English journalist stationed in Nairobi. His girl friend was born in the US of Iraqi parents while visiting, and who later moved to Ireland. She has at least three passports: US, Iraqi, and Irish.
On the rooftop terrace on top of Sooper Guesthouse with a great view of Victoria Lake (with a large buiding blocking the bright setting sun and the actual sunset but not the colors of the sky) we also met another very young German couple who told me they were not a couple. They decided to make this trip to Afica right after graduation from high school, which reminded me about my first travel experience when I hitchhiked to New Orleans and Key West right after I graduated from high school. When he returns home she is going to Vietnam, which gave us a mutual interest to discuss.
While the whole group was at dinner around the corner at the Green Garden Restaurant I was sitting next to the Iraqi woman and asked about what she thought about the US involvement in Iraq. Normally she was very reserved and quiet, but suddenly she was quite animated and I and the rest of us got quite an earful. She didn't think the US should have gone in, they left things in a worst condition, and they should have stayed till things were better.
In the 24 hour grocery store in the mall on the main street where I bought my water each day I met two Japanese who were volunteers at a local AIDS education project. We arranged lunch together on my last day and they took me to Kiboko Bay Resort where we had a wonderful lunch in very attractive settings overlooking the pool and the lake - and with WiFi. They are joining other Japanese backpackers at a resort on the northern tip of Zanibar Island for New Year's and and invited me to join them. Using their information, my touchpad and the WiFi, I made a reservation for December 28 to Jan 3. I have alway wanted to meet Japanese backpackers so this should be an adventure within an adventure.
The overnight bus from Kisumu to Kampala allowed me to arrive in daylight, which was much preferable to arriving in the dark. My room at New City Annex, my first hotel, was like a sauna and the private bathroom was outside my room, so I moved to Aponye Hotel which was cheaper and better.
While in Lisbon I remember there was a small step down from the bathroom to the main living room level. I seem to recall banging my heel against the floor one time coming from the bathroom when I was expecting a level surface and days later complaining about my heel being bruised. It seems to have gotten worse and hurts to walk. In Kampala I have tried to give my heel a chance to heal and have been walking less while riding motor scooters a lot. In my trips to get my visa, bus tickets, restaurants, museum and other sites I have seen a bit of the city which is greener then I expected. However my hotel is located right in the center of the wholesale business district crowded with large trucks, lines of men carrying merchandise on their heads, boxes stacked everywhere and very crowded sidewalks and street.
So three cities with very different experiences. One where I met many local people, one where I met lots of travelers and one where I made no friends but found the people friendly and perhaps a bit more laid back.
Next: Rwanda.
Love and miss you,
Ron
Forward to the African Queen on Lake Tanganyika
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Last updated: 15 November 2013
