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[English]
PESCADORCAMINO
People tend to go to Italy for a vacation of a week. They might go by car, lay in the sun and drive back. There are other options however. Our former mathematics teacher Jan-Willem Visser closed the door behind him now almost two years ago to hike to Santiago de Compostella [north western Spain] and beyond. VOX! talked to him and asked how he was doing.
Where are you now on the world and how do you travel out there?
What is Nairobi like?
Yesterday I have strolled a bit down town. What strikes me is that the place is so crowded. There are many several-store- buildings, it could be Rotterdam [the Netherlands] here!. What you see are well dressed women, men in toxitos, fancy restaurants, the latest state-of-the-art mobile phones, it seems you can find everything here. To me this all is very western like, what you see here is the same as in Europe: cafes, bars, the newest cars, ATM`s where you can pin, city parks and even garbage cans!. Only the holes in the gutter and wading through the mud caused by the rains remind me [luckily] that I am in Africa. The image I had from Kenya has become true: it is one of the most developed countries in Africa although this can change rapidly because after the elections of 2008 the country was balancing on the edge of civil war. The opposition didn`t accept its defeat and in the whole country hell broke loose often along tribal lines [violence between tribal groups] in which 1500 people perished and tens of thousands became refugee in their own country [IDP = Internal Displaced Person].
How long does your journey take until now?
On July 14th 2010 I departed so all together that is one year and ten months.
To where this journey has taken you?
As you can see on the map [the second photo from above] you can see in which countries I have been. Indicated with red is my journey so far, indicated with black is the itinerary I am planning to follow on my way back home.
What make you to do such a trip?
I find this a difficult question, a question I hardly can answer. It is a combination of factors like loving being outdoor, hiking, being tired of the daily routine working-sleeping-working and trying to break this tedious routine by making such a trip. Another aspect is the endeavor of seeing where this little project of something what you do with your own force may end [I never take the bus/ boat nor an aeroplane unless I am forced to, like the armed escort in norther Mali for instance: http://pescadorcamino.blogspot.com/2010/03/saludo-de-niamey-english.html].
I also don`t feel really at home in the Netherlands which made it easy for me to start a journey like this. The idea of closing the door of your home behind you for never to return again is exciting!.
Do you have a period you want to be back/ return or is everything still open?.
There is no thing such as a termin it solely depends on money [I am a spender and I don`t have any income]. offcourse this all must remain possible both physically as mentally. So, to answer your question, it is still open how long this journey will take.
So how are you doing and what did this journey teach you, about yourself, life and about the world?.
I am ok!. Today I managed to get an Ethiopian visa!. The idea of going to the magic country Ethiopia, a country which was never colonized by a western power and has developed a complete other culture of its own is fascinating!. What you learn yourself on such a trip is how far you can go both mentally as physically. How much can you tolerate before you loose control and run away hysterically?. Such a moment I had in Nigeria. In Nigeria I had constantly people around me the moment I stopped cycling to have a break. Very annoying when you are exhausted and just want some rest/ peace and right in front of is a whole bunch of people staring at you as if you are some kind of Weird Animal. One time I lost control and I hit an adolescent in his face. I must say I regretted this action immediately. I was there [in northern Nigeria] under pression because of the presence of many armed groups [/ roadblocks] plus the threat of the Boko Haram a violent religious sect.
Your horizon is absolutely amplified because of the sight of so many different landscapes, encounters with different peoples, the sight of how people can live under extreme [basic] circumstances. You learn to see things in perspective, to be humble and to think that life in a rich country like the Netherlands is after all not so bad. What I find special here in Africa are two things:
1. I can throw my bicycle somewhere, stroll around in the village, drink somewhere a waterly nescafe, return and discover that nobody has even touched my bicycle. I even tested some children to leave some biscuits on the steering wheel, but they were still there, untouched. Keeping in mind that biscuits are a luxuary good in northern Cameroon!.
2. Africans will always invite you to join them while they are having dinner [eating]. In the Gambia for instance people said to me: 'Grab a spoon' when I asked the way [to Casamance, southern Senegal] in a rancid petrol station where four guys were sitting in a circle on the ground around one plate eating beans with their hands.
Do you make frequently contact with local people or mainly other world travelers?.
Other world travelers I didn`t meet yet. Here in east Africa are mainly westerners coming by plane to `game` [visit] in a safari park One time in the western Sahara I met other cyclists, four Belgians. Hiking and cycling is in my opinion the most ideal way to interact with local people although the contact remains a kind of superficial because you are and remain traveller. In bigger places like Kampala [Uganda] I stay for a longer period of time. In Kampala I stayed two weeks just to rest, letting the body recover. Such a rest place gives you the chance to talk with other people.
To whom could you recommend such a trip and to whom not?.
- You have to be physically 100% [ you don`t really have to be superman/ superwoman] but just be healthy and able to deal with setbacks.
- You must remain calm if things don`t go the way you want and capable of being alone because the vast part of the time you will be alone.
- Luxury such as a warm shower, a good bed and a clean toilet must be completely irrelevant to you.
- You possess enough humor.
- You never become angry [people here love that, really!, sometimes it is as if you find yourself in class, teaching!].
- Time shouldn`t be an issue. This must be your motto and you have to `radiate` it to the people who surround you.
- You must be uncomplicated and be open to other ideas, life conditions, the way people think but don`t let yourself being walked over.
- Sometimes you have to be a bit mean. For example, the whole day while I am cycling I am screaming : `how are you my black brother/ sister?' as a reaction on the Swahili word Munzungo [= white man], something the little kids yell at me all day.
It is a bit hard to say who qualifies for a trip like this and who doesn`t. But if you meet the formerly mentioned criteria and you are a bit crazy it should work!.
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