The 13 months of Encircle Africa circumnavigation really only had one
aim inherent in the idea of circumnavigation: to get back home. Almost four
months after my return, I have managed to complete a first draft of what will
hopefully become published literature. I am also still asked what it is like to
be home. The truth is it feels very normal – back to business as usual – almost
as if I had never left. Life in London is easy: things work, and seats have
cushions. It feels no different than returning after a short holiday, though I
was infinitely more tired. Within hours of unpacking I was back to resting on a
sofa – a bit of a treat I must admit – and drinking cups of tea I was able to
make myself, with real milk.
It is difficult to know where to begin telling people about
the trip. Talking for hours about it is easy, but how do I sum it up in a
single sentence answer for relatives calling from afar? How do I sum up 31
countries, 13 months of travel, something in the realms of 25,000 miles in just
a few words? Perhaps that’s the point.
Take your pick of
countries, and expect the unexpected. School map, Lamu, Kenya
Africa is big. It is also the most diverse
continent on earth. Anyone who has been to one of Africa’s 54 nations knows the
continent defies the world of television snap-shots. Africa is not just
malnourished children in conflict zones, a herd of elephant in the background.
Most of Africa’s children probably haven’t seen an elephant.
There are cities that rival European capitals,
countryside that rivals any of our national parks, and public transport that
needs just a little bit of work. Certainly the contrasts to life are more
exaggerated in Africa than in Britain. In Africa there are millionaires’
mansions next to shanty dwellings. There is no shame in being poor, and I felt
no embarrassment in being ‘rich’. The people of Africa see this for what it is,
down to hard work, luck and quirks of fate like the place in which someone is
born. But perhaps the most startling difference between Britain and Africa is
the volume. Africa is loud.
Bodging
like you’ve never bodged before. It always seems to work. Pennywise Guesthouse,
Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone
What made Encircle Africa a joy for me was the
warmth, generosity and ingenuity of Africa’s many people. They are the best
bodgers I have ever come across, just trying to make a decent living like
everyone else.