By
Tony Giles

Author of Seeing the World My Way

Published by Silverwood Original, 2010 
Website: www.tonythetraveller.com

This trip began back in the middle of February 2012. I flew to Morocco, totally blind and partially deaf, but travelling solo.  My mission: to attempt to visit several countries in north and west Africa in about seven weeks. 

The focus of this article is a day on this trip, a day that will stay long in my memory.  I’d been travelling for just over three weeks, meeting people, walking around different towns, attempting to communicate with my poor French, but generally getting about with my white cane and the help of the kindness of strangers and the occasional fellow traveller – a rarer occurrence in this region.  I eventually arrived in southern Senegal after crossing the border from Gambia, using a shared taxi. 

I’d planned to meet up and stay with a fellow traveller I’d met on the internet.  I eventually arrived at the rendezvous and my friend took me to dinner and then to family to sleep for the night as the road to their village was closed.  The following day my friends and I drove to the coastal village of Abene.  I spent a day in the village just relaxing with my English friend, Simon, and his Senegalese partner Khady, who is lovely.  

The real event occurred a day later. On Friday 16th March I witnessed an amazing day and was reminded why I love and need to travel. 

The heat can be intense in West Africa and although we were on the coast, it still felt strong to me. Nevertheless, after a stroll to the local market with Khady, I sat amidst organised chaos, absorbing the fragrant aromas of fish, rice and fresh fruit and the clamour from women chatting and kids playing.  Later Simon, Khady and I headed to the nearby beach to relax.  This is where the spectacle began.  

I was offered a seat under a mango tree and introduced to the locals. The men had strong hands and happy, relaxed, friendly sing song voices. I placed my feet on the soft hot sand, kicked off my sandals, took a coke and lay back and listened to the delicious sound of sea rolling.  Then the magic of Africa began.  

I was given a musical instrument– a bowl shaped object made from a calabash, hollow inside with three or four saw blades half way across the hole cut into the instrument’s top.  When the metal keys are twanged, they produce different notes of varying pitch.  I felt the smooth texture of the wood and marvelled at the instrument’s light weight. I twanged a few notes, creating a basic rhythm, before letting the local experts take over.  Simon took pictures.

One guy played the calabash and was accompanied by fellow musicians tapping rhythms on beer and water bottles.  The singing began in accompaniment to the rhythm and I joined in with the sway/dancing. The combination of the music and singing coupled with the rolling ocean waves created a fabulous energy in the air and all around.  The trees and sand, sun and ocean and the local culture and music produced this powerful emotional electricity that I was able to feel through my skin and body.  It was what the Africans might call a spirit as they appear to be very superstitious in this region.   

It is one of the main reasons I travel. I’ve been on many long journeys to recapture those moments of magical energy or feeling when everything of warmth and happiness comes together and you feel wow, I’m alive in real nature or culture.  

This is pure and real. I can feel it and absorb it – no sight is necessary, just an open mind and sensitive body  It is a bit like falling in love for the first time over and over again. True ecstasy. Exaltation of recapturing that travel moment when the full picture of sound or smell or vision is realised. For me it is the moment of the energy flowing through my body, which has been created by the environment I find myself in.   

To finish the event off, I had a man come sit beside me with his pet monkey and I was stroked by a semi wild animal – what a cool way to end a day of real African culture and environment.   

Finally, I walked down the beach and entered the water. The coolness was delightful after the heat from the sand. I paddled and enjoyed the sound of the ocean as it rolled and slapped, rolled and slapped. The sun was setting: I could tell by the change of temperature on my body and the change of the sun’s rays on my face.   

A great end to a wonderful day.   

Tony Giles
Abene, Senegal
March 2012-03-17

Tony will be one of five travel writers taking part in this discussion session. The participants will discuss their very different styles of work.

Date: Wednesday, 13th March 2013
Time: 6.00-7.00pm, followed by a drinks reception
Venue: Portland Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth PO1 3AH
Entry: Free, but tickets must be obtained in advance from Eventbrite. Venue capacity is 250.

Details:
Travel writing has never been more interesting or more diverse than it is today. It has both broad appeal and literary import, with television personalities such as Michael Palin to be found in the genre alongside Nobel Laureates such as VS Naipaul. In this session we present five very different travel writers – from Portsmouth and beyond – with very different approaches to the craft. Drawing on their own enthralling travel experiences, their work spans poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and journalism.

My last few days in Colombia were spent travelling on buses from one large city to another, stopping a night in a hostel and continuing the journey. After leaving my wonderful American friends Katie and Nathan in Manizales, I headed first to Cali and then on to Popayan. I met a German guy and a girl from Switzerland. We went out for dinner and worked our way through the dense crowds and heavy traffic in Popayan’s small, busy centre. We crossed the main square and eventually found a local small restaurant where we had a meal which included soup, chicken, rice, black beans, fried banana and a local juice named Lulo, for the amazing price of 3,000 pesos, approximately EURO 1!

Early the next morning, after listening to more rain storms, I took the bus further south to the city of Pasto. I stayed one night in a nice inexpensive guesthouse where I was attended to by a lovely guy in his early 50s. It was here that I discovered my final problem of the trip – no entry stamp into Colombia! I was now heading to Ecuador, my final destination before returning to Europe for Xmas. I visited an immigration office in Pasto the following morning, but they told me to go to the border and see what might happen. I explained that things were complicated on the border in Cucuta, on the border with Venezuela, and I must have been driven passed the Colombian immigration by the taxi driver. Nevertheless, nothing could be done in Pasto, so I headed to Colombia’s most southern town and from there, jumped in a shared taxi to the border. Again, there were further complications. The taxi driver once again drove me passed Colombian immigration and I found myself on the Ecuadorian border. A lady in the immigration office told me I required an exit stamp out of Colombia and told me to re-cross a small bridge, get my exit stamp and return to obtain my entry stamp into Ecuador. At this point, I was technically in no country! I was in no man’s land between Colombia and Ecuador, having no entry stamp for either country. I walked over the bridge and eventually found someone to show me to the Colombian immigration. Luckily, I met an American guy who was entering Colombia. He spoke good Spanish and helped me explain the situation. After some negotiation, which included me explaining I had an exit stamp out of Venezuela, thus showing the date I must have entered Colombia and in addition my flight info from Ecuador to Europe. This helped solve the problem. I guess they just wanted to be rid of me so gave me an entry stamp into Colombia, told me to wait 20 minutes and then return to get my exit stamp out of Colombia. The entry stamp could have cost me $300 but I was lucky and wasn’t charged. Thus about one hour after arriving at the Colombian border, I was permitted to leave Colombia and get my entry stamp into Ecuador – my 81st country, and the last country to visit in all of South America.

Once across the border, I took a taxi to the main bus terminal of the town of Tulcan and a five hour bus to Quito, Ecuador’s capital – high in the Andes mountains.

I spent two days in Quito and stayed with a charming American couple, Julia and Josh from the US. They were teaching English to pre-college students. They’d been in Ecuador nearly a year and were just finishing up before hopefully heading to a new country. They were friends of friends and were great fun and gave me good directions for places to visit in Quito.

I spent a day wondering the main squares, such as Plaza Grande and Plaza de San Francisco, and also ventured into a few churches; most notably the church of Companions with its gold columns and décor and the church of San Francisco – Quito’s oldest and largest. I wandered up and down the hills along the old narrow streets absorbing the heavy traffic and busy pedestrians as they went about their daily activities.

On my second and final day, I visited the main market before taking the Teleferico (cable car) up one of Quito’s mountains for some fresh air and an impression of the vistas surrounding Quito. The ride up to the mountain was blissful and once up there, I breathed in deeply lungs full of thin clean air. It was delightful. I walked around a small platform that gave views of the surrounding mountain peaks before discovering a small trail and followed it. I met a lady from Venezuela and she helped me ascend some natural rock steps to another view point. I took some more photos, retraced my steps to the only café, had a couple of empanadas, a kind of pastry snack containing anything from chicken, beef or cheese, before taking the cable car back to downtown Quito. I later took a taxi back to where I was staying, collected my only backpack and took another taxi to the nearby international airport where I awaited my long haul flight to Amsterdam. Some 20 hours later, I arrived back in London, where I spent a night with a friend before returning to Devon.

So another journey has ended and five new and vastly different countries have been explored.

What a trip; from the rainforest of Surinam and French Guiana with its spider’s webs, wild trees and sloths to Venezuela with its hike to amazing Angel Falls, the World’s highest waterfall, Coro with its colonial Spanish history to Merida high in the Andes with a cooler climate and a more lively atmosphere. Then there was Colombia with its live music and friendly smiling people and variety of cities and towns. San Gil, with its tight narrow and steep streets where I did my 14th bungee jump to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast with its humidity and soft sand and collection of various beaches to charm one and all. Cartagena was the highlight in Colombia, despite its high prices and to many tourists. The history, the food, the kindness of many of its locals and, of course, the music of Café Havana and Colombia Caribbean are what made this magnificent old city worth three days. The mud volcano is a must if you like adventure and new and different experiences and Cartagena’s walls, squares and huge harbour create an atmosphere all of their own.

Guatpe is another unique location in Colombia’s complement of places to visit. Houses with various colours throughout its stonework and carved flowers, animals and people are a blind person’s paradise. The rock of Guatape is a must for any adventurer.

Also the city of Manizales with its students, steep streets and distant mountains, coffee farms and hot springs.

Ecuador was visited only briefly, but the people make me want to return and explore more.

So, I’ve now visited every country on the continent of South America – what an achievement – what a continent!!!

Tonythetraveller

Y travelling is great.

Travelling is great because it changes people’s minds and perceptions. Many people think negatively about sharing a room with one or more strangers. They worry about how many of their items may get stolen, instead of thinking positively and wondering how many friends they might make or what new cultures they might discover.

Meeting new people and learning about different cultures and languages is exciting, not frightening. This is why travelling is great. Through meeting new and different people and learning about alternative cultures, it allows us as individuals to also learn and become hopefully better people. Travelling can be positive not negative. Bad things can happen on the road, so also can good experiences be had. The aim of the game is to have a positive outlook, thus increasing the chance of more positive experiences. This is what makes travelling so fantastic.

Today I have just done my 14th bungee jump! and before that I did a paraglide. The travels of Tony are certainly becoming exciting!!

I am now in San Gil, central north Colombia, after taking three taxis and three buses on a 22 hour long journey from Merida, Venezuela in the Andes to Colombia. I arrived around 5.30 this morning and have since bungee jumped off a small bridge over the Fonce River. A forty metre (120 foot) jump after taking a zip wire to the bungee platform. Hopefully photos will come soon.

Before my crazy journey to Colombia, my 80th country, I went paragliding in the Andes near Merida. It was fantastic. Swooping like a bird over a valley canyon with the mountains of Bolivar, Lion and the other huge peaks around me. Half an hour of peaceful gliding with an instructor and just a parachute between us. Then it was back down to earth with a bump and back to the city of chaotic traffic and honking horns for more empanadas. I am off to Santa Marta, north Colombia next.