TR
AV
EL
Africa: The Trip of a Lifetime
by Candice Wiggum
Africa - what can I say I can only try to synthesize all that happened to give
?
you a taste of my experience.
Traveling: We rode on the back of a big truck down rutted dirt roads and tracks. We
bounced unmercifully (I went totally airborne a few times), were windblown and caked with
African dust. We went to bed early and were often up before dawn, packing up our tents, getting
dressed, and having breakfast in the dark. Most showers were cold dribbles - the occasional hot one
a luxury - and toilets were often squats with no toilet paper unless you brought your own. The food
budget was $4 a day for breakfast and dinner combined. We shopped in local supermarkets, cooked
over a two-burner gas stove or charcoal wood fire for fifteen people with unknown ingredients and
seasonings, and cleaned up after ourselves. In short, it was glorious.
People: We booked our tour, a two-week Nairobi to Tanzania to Nairobi circuit, through a low budget
tour company, African Trails. This was not a discrete tour, but part of a continuous tour where people
blended in and out. But we became family: when people left we mourned their loss; when new
travelers arrived we bonded quickly. The accents were broad and varied, ages all over the place, but
we worked together, helped each other and celebrated together. Everyone we traveled with will
remain as an important part of the total experience.
Animals and Birds: Michael and I went on five dif