The Pain of Childbirth Travel Tip

ash from has written 49 comments

In the Nepal Embassy, London, England, there used to be a slogan above where they wanted you to queue for a visa (there was noone there when I went, hehe)

The Mystical Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal... A place that lingers in your dreams long after you have left

Very true statement. My dreams remind me of the beautiful mountains and villages. My dreams do not remind me of squatting to crap for the 8th time in a day because of altitude, after trekking for 8 hours and your leg muscles screaming all the way through, threatening to drop you into the toilet.

There are some experiences that, even when youre doing them, you know your mind will blank out the crap and turn it into a sunny adventure for the grandkids. Some you dont expect so much. I didnt expect Id remember Goa fondly... 5 days of dissentry in the tropics with no water 3 hours a day, being woken up by crows smashing shellfish open on my tin roof at 5am...

I dunno... in my time traveling in Africa (West Africa, mind you... burkina, togo and ghana) I have found that travelers in Africa tend to be of two types.

Either they see everything through incredibly rose-coloured glasses. The people are smiling. The children are happy. Life is good. The culture is warm. Everything is beautiful!

Or they see only the bad: bad food, yucky toilets, harassment, slow public transportation, unbearable heat...

I think its dangerous to fall into either one of these categories, because it means that you are not getting an accurate picture. There is a lot of frustrating things Africa, but there is also a lot of beauty. Its important to see both.

I understand some of the frustrations that you have had. I certainly have had many of these. But I disagree that you are giving an honest picture of the place for those that are interested in traveling to Africa.