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By naming these blogs "African Adventures", I unintentionally gave myself an end point: leaving Africa or ending adventures. As long as I live I suspect my adventures will continue, but leave Africa I have done. So here it is, my last blog:
I walked out of our front door in Newcastle early July 2013 and have been walking in and out of various doors since. 16 different countries, 3 different continents and multiple aeroplanes, the doors have belonged to mud huts & mansions, homes & hostels, world famous sites & long forgotten hovels. Amidst mountains, cities, seas & towns, sunshine, storms, heat & cold, mopeds, lights, noise & life, laughter, love, loss & tears, chickens, lions, goats & turtles, music, dance, colour & smiles, and the hands holding mine as we walked through those doors have been the the hands of trusting children, disabled adults & unstable elders, friends, lovers & family. I have travelled from door to door, place to place, adventure to adventure, in (and on) every mode of transport imaginable, bumbling my way through countless languages and stumbling across many unexpected moments along the way. To describe it all is a task far too big for this little blog, but what I can say is this:
In the end it doesn't matter where you are in the world, it's the people you are with that make all the difference.
Aaah, I wish I could describe to you the beauty of what I've seen. The big soulful eyes, the clucking chatter of the Xhosa ladies as their language clicks amongst the cries of the children, the dancing, the drumming, the music everywhere, pouring from the rivers themselves. The ladies carrying baskets full of ancient tradition so easily, yet precariously, balanced on their colourfully cloth clad heads. And the open smiles and arms and homes of the people with such kind hearts.
I had a wonderful month in South Africa with Chantal, Fidelma, Ayesha and Markus; a month I wouldn't swap for the world. But it was Uganda that captured my heart, so I will finish these blogs with a Ugandan moment, and my highlight of these adventures:
It was shortly before I had to leave my beloved African home, and I'd been living with Os's family. I'd been playing shadow puppets with the children & candles and dancing with his mum the night before, and I was on my way to his, to help the kids fetch the water. 10 year old Linet, Os's neice and my dear little friend, was across the road playing with a tyre when she spotted me. Knowing I was leaving soon, we spent as much time as we could together, so she immediately set her tyre rolling in my direction. The tyre simply wasn't going fast enough for her liking, so dropping the stick, she ran full pelt across the road at me, the tyre rolling away in a gentle spiral, forgotten. She threw her little strong body at me and we must have stayed there, turning circles in a tight embrace for minutes, lost in time, just thankful for that moment together.
With that, I will say goodbye and continue my travels in Europe, unrecorded. Without such a solid and loving support network throughout my life I would certainly not be where I am now, so thank you all and take care!
- comments
Ute Bronner Liebe Helen! Danke,daß Du mich teilhaben ließest an Deinen intensiven Lebenserfahrungen und Du bist herzlich bei uns in Tullnerbach eingeladen und, wenn Du nach Wien kommst,freue ich mich über ein Wiedersehen.Du könntest Deine Blogs schon als ein Buch herausgeben.......Du schreibst gut und erlebst viel. Sei umarmt Ute
wilburg Gut zu wissen, dass Du heil und gesund heimgekommen bist. Ab 24. Mai kommen wir Erhard besuchen - bist Du dann noch da ? Das wär schön. Alles Gute weiterhin Wilburg
Helen Yasmin Dankeschoen. Es hat spass gemacht diese Blogs zu schreiben. Gut das ihr koenntet auch 'was mit mir erleben. Ich bin schon wieder weg, also dieses mal verpassen wir uns, aber viel spass in Devon!