Notable Notes: 10 Interesting Things We Have Seen
1. HS “Class Of” T-shirts
In Africa, there are many people wearing “I graduated from ____ HS Class of 1995” T-shirts. This is funny when you know the HS is in the US. I guess this is a popular item to give to goodwill and where do they end up? Africa, apparently.
2. Topless Bathing With Geriatrics
In Greece, we went for a swim in the Adriatic. The beach we chose was a geriatric hangout. We witnessed many an old lady (and a couple of old men) changing on the beach. Shirt off, bra off, suit on, no worries.
3. Taxi Ride Hijacking
While in a taxi in Egypt, we were stopped at an intersection and two kids ran in front of our taxi, stopping the driver. They then tried to get in. This was not really a hijacking. In Egypt, it is common to share a cab. They were only asking the driver if he was going their way. However, it was pretty weird at first.
4. Matola Ride
In Malawi (Africa) they have “shared taxis” otherwise known as matolas. These are just somebody’s (small) pickup and everyone rides in the back. In the back of our matola, we had about 24 people, one guy with about 12 dozen eggs, that he didn’t break.
5. Hitchhiking Across Namibia
In Namibia, we hitched a ride with an 18 wheeler. In the course of our ride (about 17 hours and over a thousand kilometers) Mr. Lovely got to drive the truck and we got to listen to our new friend talk about how he wanted us to “see a F&^%ing Kudu man” (a kudu is a large deer with swirly horns). We also saw elephants and warthogs but did NOT see a F^%$*ing kudu.
6. Living With a Huge Beard
We have had a few arguments over the beard. We have been stared at and commented upon because of the beard. We have been offered hash and worse because of the beard. We have taken pictures of the beard and likened it to Zeus. It can almost be made into dreadlocks. The beard's name is Brodie.
7. Staying in Shitty Hotels
We have stayed in some bad hotels. Sometimes there are bugs. Sometimes there is mold or dirt. They are too hot; they are too cold. They are smelly. The toilets don’t work. They don’t have any hot showers. The worst one was in India, near the train station in Gorakhpur. It was called the Sunrise. When we stayed there, we got up before sunrise to leave.
8. Kids Carrying Goats
In the Himalayas, the porters carry everything. They carry roughly 80 pounds as far as we could tell. They carry kerosene tanks and Pepsi and cooking oil. But the weirdest one was one day as I was hiking I could smell blood. Fresh meat. I don’t know if you know that smell; it’s a little gamey. I smelled it and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Finally I realized the porters had baskets full of freshly killed goats. Cut into pieces.
9. Diving With Great Whites
In South Africa, we went into freezing cold water to swim with great white sharks. It was crazy; they were about 6 inches from our faces! One even bit the cage (I wasn’t in it at the time, but it was still pretty impressive).
10. Multiple Stick Carrying Tactics
We saw people carrying cords of wood on their bikes, on wagons that they were pushing, on their motorcycles and best of all, on their heads. I never knew there were so many ways to transport wood!
In Africa, there are many people wearing “I graduated from ____ HS Class of 1995” T-shirts. This is funny when you know the HS is in the US. I guess this is a popular item to give to goodwill and where do they end up? Africa, apparently.
2. Topless Bathing With Geriatrics
In Greece, we went for a swim in the Adriatic. The beach we chose was a geriatric hangout. We witnessed many an old lady (and a couple of old men) changing on the beach. Shirt off, bra off, suit on, no worries.
3. Taxi Ride Hijacking
While in a taxi in Egypt, we were stopped at an intersection and two kids ran in front of our taxi, stopping the driver. They then tried to get in. This was not really a hijacking. In Egypt, it is common to share a cab. They were only asking the driver if he was going their way. However, it was pretty weird at first.
4. Matola Ride
In Malawi (Africa) they have “shared taxis” otherwise known as matolas. These are just somebody’s (small) pickup and everyone rides in the back. In the back of our matola, we had about 24 people, one guy with about 12 dozen eggs, that he didn’t break.
5. Hitchhiking Across Namibia
In Namibia, we hitched a ride with an 18 wheeler. In the course of our ride (about 17 hours and over a thousand kilometers) Mr. Lovely got to drive the truck and we got to listen to our new friend talk about how he wanted us to “see a F&^%ing Kudu man” (a kudu is a large deer with swirly horns). We also saw elephants and warthogs but did NOT see a F^%$*ing kudu.
6. Living With a Huge Beard
We have had a few arguments over the beard. We have been stared at and commented upon because of the beard. We have been offered hash and worse because of the beard. We have taken pictures of the beard and likened it to Zeus. It can almost be made into dreadlocks. The beard's name is Brodie.
7. Staying in Shitty Hotels
We have stayed in some bad hotels. Sometimes there are bugs. Sometimes there is mold or dirt. They are too hot; they are too cold. They are smelly. The toilets don’t work. They don’t have any hot showers. The worst one was in India, near the train station in Gorakhpur. It was called the Sunrise. When we stayed there, we got up before sunrise to leave.
8. Kids Carrying Goats
In the Himalayas, the porters carry everything. They carry roughly 80 pounds as far as we could tell. They carry kerosene tanks and Pepsi and cooking oil. But the weirdest one was one day as I was hiking I could smell blood. Fresh meat. I don’t know if you know that smell; it’s a little gamey. I smelled it and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Finally I realized the porters had baskets full of freshly killed goats. Cut into pieces.
9. Diving With Great Whites
In South Africa, we went into freezing cold water to swim with great white sharks. It was crazy; they were about 6 inches from our faces! One even bit the cage (I wasn’t in it at the time, but it was still pretty impressive).
10. Multiple Stick Carrying Tactics
We saw people carrying cords of wood on their bikes, on wagons that they were pushing, on their motorcycles and best of all, on their heads. I never knew there were so many ways to transport wood!