Well I know you’ve all missed me lots hahaha.:) I’m back from my hols in Africa. It was ultimately one the best experiencies I have ever had from a holiday. I went to Uganda and did the safari thing (as u do) it was great to see elephants lions crocs hippos and the other wildlife in their natural habitat. I could have cried at the baby elephants they were just so cute. Safari however, has its downside. Even though we stayed in some lovely accommodation, it doesn’t stop the mosquitoes and spiders and other creepy crawlies coming in your room to visit.:eek: Urgh! I could never get used to them – ever! Lol Thank goodness for nets over the bed, that’s all I can say. Waking up to monkeys in the tree outside is just brill.
We went quad biking at Jinja Nile resort, and anyone that knows me even remotely, will know this is not my sort of thing. Getting all muddy and driving through bush dressed in overalls, wellies, goggles and a helmet is not my idea of fun. All I can say on this is? I am so glad I did it as this was the best part of my hols. Our guide took us through the small African villages, as we rode through we passed some of the poorest dwellings I have ever seen (imagine your garden shed, 50 years old, falling apart with rot and patched with mud) these were family homes. Every house we passed, the children came running out to meet us. Smiling and laughing and ready to hold our hands. OMG they were just gorgeous. I wanted to take them all home. Standing in rags (some of them) always with smiles on their faces. Makes me wonder what I have to whinge about. All the possessions we have, all the material things we absolutely need and can’t do without. What a load of rubbish. I envy their simple way of life in a way. If only their water was clean and the diseases were gone.
If I ever get there again, I will be taking lots of clothes for these lovely children xxx
Has anyone else been to Africa and experienced similar?
love dippy :nature-smiley-008:
Now come on dippy, you know the score..we like PHOTOS :D,
sounds like you had a brill time..lucky lass
(see , was that bit of geordie slang there :D)
Now come on dippy, you know the score..we like PHOTOS :D,
sounds like you had a brill time..lucky lass
(see , was that bit of geordie slang there :D)
Hiya fleurypops :wave: im working on the piccys.
As for the geordie slang :005:
sounds brilliant 🙂 I loved Safari...I've been to Tanzania twice and Zanzibar twice...
like you I saw a lot of poverty....I remember seeing a sign for a raffle, 2nd prize was an old car and first prize a bag of rice...show's what more important i think.
I remember we spent new years eve of the milenium on a secluded beach over there...no electricity or form of communication...we were all wondering whether the milenium bug hit and we never knew lol
I know people who won't even consider Africa as a destination as they think it is too violent and certain death awaits them...I feel they are missing so much....
Hey, Dippy - great to see you back on HP. Yep, pics definitely needed! Glad you had a wonderful time. Didn't it go quickly?
xxx
Thanks Sunanda. Its went so quick, i want to do it all over again x
Some piccys please excuse the baboon - there's always one lol
Well, the baboon obviously liked you, Dip!:p:p:p
xxx
oops didnt know it posted the first time lol
Welcome back Dippy...What a lovely holiday destination Africa must be !!.
Somewhere I would love to visit. Did you get close to any Lions ?.
Do you know oakey, i saw elephants, giraffe about six different types of monkey. impala (deer) bush buck, crocks, hippos and various other things but sadly no lions showed their faces in the whole time. typical :rolleyes: x
Hi Matey, so you're back at last, great to see ya girl! Glad you enjoyed it.
Like the helmet and jumpsuit!:D
Africa...Africa...Africa - It's driving me mad this week!
I've been on a training course this week and one of the ladies on it has just come back over to the UK after living in South Africa for 30 years.
Then it came to light that the tutor lived in Africa for 9 years.
Then, today I've logged on here to find Dippy has returned from there too.
Everyone has such amazing stories to tell, I really could sit & listen about life over there for hours, but......it's making me jealous! What a fantastic experience it must be, especially if you can get involved with projects over there. I think a lot of people would benefit from going to a poorer country and getting involved to make them appreciate just how much they have to be grateful for.
So, Dips, any more photos for us? You could get an HP album going.;)
Wonderful to experieince that !
Well being from South Africa all of that was literally on my doorstep. well about an hour or so drive away. Best to go during Autumn, Winter so you don't get the mozzies and flies and its cooler than Summer.
and the third world effect is everywhere too.
Do you know oakey, i saw elephants, giraffe about six different types of monkey. impala (deer) bush buck, crocks, hippos and various other things but sadly no lions showed their faces in the whole time. typical :rolleyes: x
" No lions and tigers and bears, Oh my"....hehe 🙂
Glad you had a great holiday Dippy......One to remember, eh.
" No lions and tigers and bears, Oh my"....hehe 🙂
Glad you had a great holiday Dippy......One to remember, eh.
oakey - you learn something everyday (Tigers are from India) wish i'd thought about that before i asked where they were lol
Treacs ive missed you matey :food-smiley-004: xxx
I've very found memories of our time spent in Africa, went on holiday for two months and stayed for 13 years! We didnt get on our flight back to the UK. A house came with the job my husband found after a newspaper was jokingly thrown at him and told find yourself a job and there happened two jobs he could do and he got both, but decided on the one that a house came with and the rest is history. We had a go at all sorts of things.
Saw and did as much as we could, the contrasts of people, places made us what we are today.
As for the animals fantastic, we did many safari's but as for the small creatures we had more than enough in our home. One vivid memory is of our son, only a few weeks old, I went into the bedroom to check on him as he was having a nap and looked up at the wall and there was a scorpion on the wall, I knew they could climb walls but not smooth and painted plaster ones!
As for snakes, many a time I've seen one and just bid it good day and waited for it to pass on rather too close for comfort.
Great to hear you had a good time, lots of memories for the future.
Fudge
How did I miss this thread? Welcome back Dippy - so glad you enjoyed your trip. Fantastic part of the world. Thanks for the sharing your photos 🙂 - made me feel all homesick (again) - Jinja was not a million miles from where I grew up! One day I must go back - it is the sounds and smells that make me well up!:(
Yes, we rarely appreciate all we have in this life in the West. I still appreciate fresh water - when I was a child ours was collected off the tin roof into a galvanised tank at the end of the house and at the end of the rains a padlock had to be put on it, (so none was wasted) as it was our only drinking water supply for the next six months. At the end of that time it also contained many wriggly additions which had to be filtered out! :016: Health and Safety would have had a field day now!!
Yes we also got close to many varieties of wildlife, including the smaller ones, hence my comments on another thread (spiders) about having a healthy respect for them. On the nearby mountain there were bird-catching spiders that spun webs between the trees - I didn't fancy inspecting them too closely:eeeK: - we got pretty nifty with the fly spray round the house though, which probably wasn't too good an idea either.
Not only were there mossies, but dung beetles, hornets, sausage flies and flying ants to contend with, not to mention safari ants. We had a fright with the latter one night when I woke to a strange noise and went with a torch to investigate (no electricity) to find a whole swarm of these giant ants passing in through one window, underneath our baby daughter's cot, and out through the opposite window :speechless-smiley-0 My husband calmly emptied some food out of some cans, half-filled the cans with paraffin, stood the cot feet in them and calmly went back to sleep. :002: The ants were gone by the morning.
As our bath water came from the river we often shared it with water-boatmen. We used to use the soap dish to catch them! Ah ... memories!!!
Ah thanks for that fudge and Caroline (wow) all those experiences. I’m adding a few more photos just to make you more home sick. The picture of the lion was taken by someone else, (after I left) I didn’t actually get to see any on safari, they were in hiding :rolleyes: but this is a gorgeous picture I had to put it in.
Caroline, I bet no one can teach you anything about recycling lol
Ah thanks for that fudge and Caroline (wow) all those experiences. I’m adding a few more photos just to make you more home sick. The picture of the lion was taken by someone else, (after I left) I didn’t actually get to see any on safari, they were in hiding :rolleyes: but this is a gorgeous picture I had to put it in.
Caroline, I bet no one can teach you anything about recycling lol
Well recycling was definitely a necessity, nothing was wasted - as all manufactured goods were so scarce - there were no rubbish tips! And we lived off the land almost exclusively. Treats were golden syrup to go with the maize meal porridge and very rarely tomato ketchup to have with the lake fish (tilapia).
Fabulous part of the world - thanks for the photos. The lion seems blissfully relaxed, as only cats can.
When I came to UK it took me ages before I could walk comfortably through green plants (particularly ivy) without wellies and not expect to be bitten by snakes or insects.
But I look at our beautiful countryside here, with so much colour, beautiful flowers, so many fresh different greens and rich textures and know there are few places in the world to match it in May. And it's here for everyone to enjoy!
Caroline