Reflections on Africa

Whenever we flew from Africa to the UK to visit our friends and family there was always a strong sense of being disjointed, almost fractured. The two worlds are so entirely different that it is hard to reconcile them. As we travelled to the airport in either direction it seemed incomprehensible that we would be in the other world in just a few hours time.

This time, our return to the UK also brought with it a deep sadness. We were not just leaving our nomadic lifestyle for 3 or 4 weeks but for many months whilst we built the UniMog. And we were not just leaving Africa for a few months but for a few years.

We had had to take three flights to get from Windhoek to Birmingham – stopping in Johannesburg for 3 hours and Dubai for 7 hours

A total of 36 hours of travelling from the farm gate in Namibia to my Mum´s front door in Warwickshire. That in itself added to the sense of dislocation as we criss-crossed from Africa to the Middle East to Europe feeling as though the journey had no end.

But we finally arrived at Birmingham airport

Where we were met by my sister and were soon in the arms of the rest of my family – an overwhelming sense of love and comfort all around us

But despite that it was hard to make the change, the weight of what we had to get done over the next few months bearing down on us, the strangeness of staying in one place for so long and in a relentlessly cold, wet and grey climate.

But why does it feel so hard? James and I have discussed this numerous times – is it the travelling lifestyle that is so compelling or is it Africa itself? Hopefully a bit of both, otherwise our lives in the UniMog will be shortlived!

For the first few weeks here in the UK, my only consolation was this blog, finishing off writing about the last few weeks of our travels ready to post. I also found myself re-reading old posts. And as I did all of this I struggled to hold back the tears, the strength of my feelings and longing as I re-lived our memories threatening to overwhelm me.

So what is it about Africa that creates such powerful feelings? What is it about this vast, diverse and complex continent that has such a hold over me? There is definitely something addictive about this part of the world – but why?

Perhaps you could start with the vastness of it all

The diversity of its landscapes – from deserts

To snow-capped mountains

From lush tropical forests

To seemingly endless plains

The extraordinary range of climates, flora and fauna

The huge number of languages and cultures

The endless beauty and sheer scale of everything – even the skies seem bigger, higher, brighter

Certainly for me the wide open spaces, the deserts, the plains that seem to last forever and the warmth of the sun make me feel as though I can breath, stretch out, live

But there is beauty everywhere in the world. There are plains in Asia, deserts in America, diversity of language and culture in Europe. There is something else about Africa that you cannot find anywhere else.

It is the people. You cannot generalise about such a large continent – there are 54 countries in Africa, made up of thousands of individual tribes – and there is no one thing that is true of all of it. But in some way, wherever you go, there is a theme. There is a feeling, a sense of something that the rest of the world has either lost or never found.

Everything slows down in Africa – African-time is a well known concept. I read a story about someone waiting at a bus stop where the sign said that the bus left promptly on Thursday. When they asked a member of staff at what time it left the reply was ´oh, just now´. In South Africa there are three concepts of now – ´now´, ´just now´ and ´now now´. Certainly ´now´ is the later of them but no-one really agrees whether ´just now´ or ´now now´ is sooner. If you ask anyone they will just smile – because it really doesn´t matter. Now is now, it may be soon, it is definitely sometime. It is not never and as long as it happens at some point that is all that matters. The bus will leave when it leaves.

And what do people do whilst they wait? I don´t even think they feel as though they are waiting most of the time. Generally they are chatting, greeting friends and strangers, playing or making music. Living their lives

Always they are smiling, always they are patient. Never are they stressed or rushed or angry – why waste precious time being angry when there is so much to be joyful about?

If the rest of the world wanted to learn anything from Africa it would be patience, hope and infinite politeness towards one another. Some local languages may appear aggressive, often raised voices appear to be angry – but watch and listen for long enough and you will see the conversation end in slapping each other on the back, embracing, sharing broad smiles and sending warm wishes to each other´s family. They were never arguing in the first place, that was just an outsider’s perception, they were simply expressing different opinions or getting excited about something

I learnt very quickly to take the time to open any conversation with an enquiry as to someone´s health, a comment on it being a lovely day or a similar greeting of some sort – it started to feel rude to simply walk up to a shop assistant and ask where the rice was before ensuring that they were well and happy.

But this way of taking time to greet and welcome a stranger is not the American-style ´have a nice day´ with a fake smile that doesn´t reach the eyes. This is a looking-you-in-the-eye, empathising, sharing and caring greeting. A greeting from someone who actually wants to know the answer and to help if help is needed. African people will hold hands and embrace, share everything they have and accept similar back without any trace of self consciousness

We were humbled and honoured every day by the warmth of the welcome we received everywhere we went. The kindness, the generosity and the time that people freely gave. We felt that if ever we were in trouble we were surrounded by strangers all genuinely wanting to help us and make our day better

If I had to sum the people of Africa up in one word it would be – happy. But one word is not enough so I would add – contented, joyous, hopeful, generous, warm, fascinating, immediate, ingenious, respectful, spiritual. I suppose I have just thought of one other word that could sum up Africa – inspirational.

We have travelled through areas stricken by drought

Devastated by floods

Struggling against oppression and corruption, in dire poverty (from a material perspective)

And yet what we found were people with a strong sense of community and belonging, people who look after each other as second nature. People who are happy in the knowledge that they are surrounded by those who they love and who never, ever lose hope that everything will be ok in the end

I will never forget the man in Malawi who held up a large fish on the side of the road, grinning at me as though his life was about as good as it could get. He had caught the fish in the flood waters that had washed away his home and his village – but he had a fish that he would be sharing with his friends and family that evening and as far as he was concerned that was enough. The house and the village could be rebuilt, his life did not need to be.

Without the rushing around, the worry and anxiety, the discontentment of always wanting more – without all this pressure, the people of Africa live their lives fully, spiritually, intensely. And it is compelling and addictive. It feels whole, it feels bright and airy. I have often described our lives in Africa as being lived in full 3D technicolour and whenever I think back to our experiences over the last three years, that phrase comes to mind over and over again

We walked to a cash machine late at night under a fly-over in the centre of Abidjan and felt no fear from anyone.

We rolled down a mountain in Swaziland, nearly killing ourselves, and a dozen rangers gave up two days of their lives to pull Henry back up asking for nothing in return other than the joy of knowing they had helped us

I cannot count how many people helped us to find cash machines, supermarkets, fruit and vegetables, camping spots – often walking me around town holding my arm until they found me whatever it was I needed. Or sending friends to find other friends who would bring it to us

Everyone – and I mean everyone – smiled and greeted us wherever we went

The kindness of strangers. It is the African way.

From Morocco to Cote D’Ivoire. From Cape Town to Luanda. From Zimbabwe to Malawi. And from Kigali to Zanzibar. The continent of Africa is a remarkable, hopeful, warm and humble place. We have a lot of world to travel in our new UniMog but we will never leave behind the place where it all started and the place where it will, if we are lucky, all end.