Familiar Territory

The principle reason for choosing Africa to travel is because I was born in Africa.  Whilst I’ve been in Europe for over 30 years now, it is still very much a part of who I am, and where I feel safest.   An important factor when undertaking a journey like this.

As soon as we entered Zambia, I was starting to feel familiarity with my surroundings.  The Msasa trees and kids in khaki school uniform.  It had been raining, so the vegetation was lush and the ride in the truck down to Lusaka was dotted with abundant produce, there was so much I felt sorry for the sellers, I don’t think they could give it away and wondered about how much would rot before they had a chance to sell it.

Picking up bike from workshop – Me, Ginty Melvil and Bobby van de Merwe

The bikers of Lusaka gave as a warm welcome, and we were well looked after (esp. Ginty the President of FIM North Africa who accommodated us in his lovely guest cottage).  Bobbie did a fantastic job fixing our structural problem, in fact, he improved upon what we had been riding with, which was great!  and together they raise $1000 USD to help cover the costs of the fix, which left a little left over in much needed cash to help us on our way.

Our troubles were not to be so easily fixed however, and a new twin coil later we continued to Kariba for Easter, and a needed break on home turf of happy memories and great weather.  Crossing Kariba Dam Wall has been a bucket list item since I was a child and there we were in our less than reliable sidecar outfit actually doing it!   At the other side, I stopped to take it all in and were immediately surrounded by an audience, shocked to hear that we were travelling from England.  It is funny how the shock gets bigger and bigger the further south we go!

Easter was spent on the lake where Sofia landed her first fish, and for the first time actually put her face in water.  Something she has always been too afraid to do.  She was also very nervous about getting into a small speed boat, but once out on the waves bouncing she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

We set off from Kariba in time to make World Autism Awareness Day in Harare where the bikers were organising a ride out for us to visit local events.  But even this journey didn’t go without hitch as it was discovered that the rear wheel bearing that had been done in Lusaka had been done incorrectly!  the whole assembly had started to fall apart!

It took a while to work out what all the broken pieces of the assembly and where they belonged

Aside from being utterly livid because I had said that they should check the correct assembly before doing it as it was different, I was distraught at having yet another problem to deal with.  I was still running with an intermittent power problem that was a total mystery, so this was just about finishing me off.

Fortunately I discovered this parked outside a hotel where we had stopped for breakfast.  The manager as an absolute angel, and very calm and confident that a solution would be found.  He drove me around town find bits and people, and finally at 8pm at night we had finished the fix.

Well met by the bikers of Harare – such a huge relief after such a difficult journey!

So next morning, once again we set off. I was determined this time we were going to enter a capital city on our own wheels instead of a truck, like the last 3.  We stopped 3 times due to power, but persisted, and were happily met by Natalie and the bikers to be escorted in.  Such a happy moment, and wonderful that others could observe what was happening with the bike.  It was embarrassing then to discover that reason for the next to power losses, were due to no petrol!

The main things was, that we made it.  Limping as we were, we arrived in Harare on our own wheels, and even better, surrounded by new friends ready to help sort out our problems.  It was a time to celebrate!

 

 

 

A Mazungu in a Mutatu

We have now been in Kenya for almost a month and practically the entire time has been in Nairobi waiting for the the bike to be good to get back on the road. I hope now that in the next few days the wait will be over and we will no longer be mazungus (white skinned) in a mutatu (mini bus public transport)

The inside experience of a mutatu! blurred as it raced over bumpy roads, and packed to the rafters with people – thankfully it was only a short ride to the local shopping centre!

So what has happened in this last month? From an autism perspective, we have met with a couple of charities in Nairobi. The founder of Autism Society of Kenya and principle advocate in Kenyan government, Felicity, met us for lunch and we found out about the remarkable progress that she has made in the last 10 years in terms of getting recognition for Autism in the Education Ministry, and on the day we met, how she received her first email from the Health Ministry acknowledging the need for a committee to be established to identify the needs presented by autism. Felicity has also been involved with outreach programmes but is constantly struggling to find sufficient funding to continue this work.

Knowing the struggle to get any recognition for autism in Africa, it was nothing short of a miracle to hear her story. She puts much of her success down to her previous involvement within government (from a nutrition education standpoint) which has helped her to understand the process, and effectively identify the contacts, follow the right processes, and use her her existing reputation as an expert to ensure that she is heard. Behind all of this however, is her drive an commitment to establishing an effective support system for autism that springs from her grandson’s diagnosis. Indeed, it was only through taking him physically to the registration office to register the charity, that she was able to convince the registrar that autism was real so that the charity would be registered.

I also had the opportunity to meet (albeit briefly) another star on the autism scene in Nairobi, James. Having worked with children with autism in New York, he returned to Kenya committed to helping families affected by autism. Setting up the Autism Support Centre, James works to help parents by bringing them together, providing information, and helping to apply pressure to get more support for their children. I was kindly invited to attend a parents group on a Saturday morning to speak a little about what Sofia and I were doing. I wasn’t the only speaker, as other parents where also invited to speak with the subject of discussion being Autism and Sexuality.

A full house of parents in attendence

It was a wonderful experience and really interesting to hear about the cultural challenges that parents were facing and wonderful to see a couple of the speakers being fathers, as well as a number of fathers in the the audience. On this particular subject line major concerns included sexual abuse of the child due to their increased vulnerability, and accusations of harassment (perhaps hugging strangers, or staring inappropriately) in a country where very few people outside the community have any knowledge or understanding and the law does not take any account of disability when considering a case should it be brought to court. The primary message however was hope, hope for the mothers who’s husbands refused to be involved, hope for parents concerned about the future and how they will cope, hope that despite autism, that into adult life there was every opportunity for their children to experience normality – as one parent put it: I am still hopeful that my son will find love and get married, even if it means his wife will live with us I will be a very happy man.

 

All in all, this time in Nairobi has been about interesting people. We have been staying at a major overland rest stop and mechanic shop, and whilst Sofia has been doing her utmost to make up for lost TV time both past and future, I have been regaled with wonderful travel stories – from the guy who was asked for the police report for his stolen car because he may have stolen it from himself, to the couple who seemed to have more than their fare share of break downs and improvised solutions like using margarine as grease, draining a pond of water because they were stuck in it, and a ranger vehicle running out petrol on them as it was coming to rescue them from the bush! But the time has definitely come to leave, as I become more frustrated with the stagnation and concerned about the finances, and judgements are starting to be made about my lack of control over Sofia’s TV obsession by the longer term punters of the Jungle Junction establishment. Judgemental strangers is part of what it is to be a parent of autism, as few people take the time to find out more about why things might be the way they are and even less interested to accept autism as a valid reason to any behaviour that they personally disapprove of. Yes I definitely feel it is time to go! 😀

Taking the carburettors apart and fixing the issue of petrol flooding into the cylinders

Please donate to help us raise awareness from autism – with the cost of fixes to the bike we are now very low on funds, so please donate even a couple of dollars and it will see us getting a few extra kilometres down the road – http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?charityId=1005498

Stuck on the Side of the Road – Again!

Well what can I say, it seems almost repetitive to say we were stuck on the side of the road, but there we were, making a run for the border with a day to spare, and we lost all power.  First I thought it we had run out of fuel, but topping it up, it was clear that it wasn’t.  Then I thought is was compression, and discovered one of the cylinders was full of fuel.

Whilst I suspected all wasn’t well with the bike, I really believed we would make it to the border and didn’t top up the phone card and couldn’t even contact the mechanic to see what else I could do. So every vehicle that passed, I flagged down and asked for a tow to the border, but none were going that far, so the best option was to return to Yebello.  It eventually turned out to be the French tourists in their 4×4 with guide and driver who passed us on the road earlier, who we stopped to have a chat with, who had passed us again and were now on their way back to Yabello for the night, who towed our sorry bike to a place where a truck would be much easier to find should we need one to get to the border.

We were being well looked after by 4 local boys who helped flag down cars etc to get us a tow – and NGO that stopped was concerned about out location, but to be honest we were always met helpfulness.  Whilst I wasn’t keen to linger, I didn’t feel in any danger either.

Armed with phone credit, I got in touch with Mick our mechanic, who instructed me to clean carbs thoroughly, and check the timing device.  Carbs cleaned just as it got dark, and no improvement in the bike. The next morning, I checked the interrupter and that seemed fine too.  So without further consultation, I arranged a truck.  Getting across the border was a higher priority now.

Truck found, price agreed, I thought we would be on road to Kenya, but 3 hours later, we found ourselves outside the house of the local transport official where her mother was persuaded to allow the driver to complete the necessary documents and sign it in her absence.  The legality obviously questionable, but when you in a hurry, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Searching the back streets of Yabello trying to find the transport officer who wasn’t answering her phone!

Finally we were on the road to Moyales with Ethiopian folk music quietly playing in the back ground, whilst I tried to ignore the vulnerability of the situation we were in terms of crossing the border handicapped by a bike that didn’t work.

Yay! we are in Kenya.  The photo doesn’t show it but by this point of travelling 5 days of which two days off road and breaking down and trucking, Sofia’s last t-shirt looked like it had been washed in a dried out river as did all her others!   I wasn’t actually able to get washing done until Nairobi!  

As soon as we arrived, with 2 hours to spare, the haggling commenced on how much for a bunch of guys to get the bike off the truck and local fixer/guide/helper/money changer extraordinaire made himself known and pointed me in all the right directions to documents stamped, fingerprints taken and photos logged.  Surprisingly, Ethiopia customs and immigration processed us quickly, and by 4.30pm I was encouraging the bike pushers to push harder to get the bike up the hill to the Kenyan customs and immigration.

Parked out side the police station right by the boarder gate where I worked on the bike for a day.  The policemen where really nice and kinda took me under their wing a bit, making sure I got a decent mechanic, wasn’t over charged, and shooed away people if the crown got too big.

Finally we were in Kenya, and a feeling of safe in terms of visas!  The next day, I worked on the bike, still on the side of the road.  I sent the tank off to be cleaned, double/triple cleaned the carbs, and changed the oil yet again.  So back to the timer, and found that it had moved about half a cm.  Right on the border of Kenya and Ethiopia as not the place to find solutions, and despite the best efforts of the local mechanic, he clearly didn’t have tools or the right experience, and so another truck was arranged and it was time to go the Jungle Junction in Nairobi where a good mechanic and a great location beckoned us.

Crossing the Equator on our way down to Nairobi – in the back ground is the truck carrying Sofia ( who was tired and sleepy and not impressed with the occasion!) and the bike.  

 

Travelling With Autism: How is Sofia Coping?

A question I am asked most often since starting the journey is – How is Sofia coping?  I have tried several times to write a post, however, I always ask Sofia to read it and agree to it being published and I hope this time we get a thumbs up.

My approach with Sofia is to always keep her informed with what is going to happen, and be repetitive about those things that may be particularly difficult for her.  The first instance was the drive across Europe.  I knew that the time of year and expense would mean we had to push through with long and sometimes difficult driving conditions.  Whilst the weather was mostly good for us, there were a couple of days where it was particularly challenging and Sofia was able to recall my words of warning and explaining the necessity to push through and not prolong the pain.   After 10 months of planning, I think her desire to get to Africa supported her immensely, and I am so proud of how she handled herself.

Grumpy Weather for a Grumpy Day – but Athens is still one of her Favourites

Cairo was very difficult for Sofia to adjust to, in fact I can’t say that she every really did.  Museums and sites, normally crisis centres, suddenly became a refuge and will probably be on the only time we will enjoy sites and museums at leisure.  As part of her coping strategy for this journey as a whole though, Sofia had devised a new journey to take after this one in a couple of years, involving horses and Asia.   So now she was open to try riding, something she had been previously nervous about, and it as a pleasure to see her wanting to learn a new skill.

Overwhelmed by the time we got to Alexandria, Sofia became withdrawn and ill.  It wasn’t until we were in Hurgada, that she finally had time to recover her energy and be ready to continue south.  Her support system on the bike has been music, and one of the things I was hoping to see develop and help her on long journeys, was the ability to look at the world outside of the environ of the side car.  Through Europe I was drawing her attention to things like landscape or differences in house building styles, but it was our journey to Aswan where a Greater Spotted Eagle flew in front of us for about 20 seconds, that she slowly started to take real notice of what was happening around her.

Horse riding in Giza

With this break through, I started to introduce her to the idea of navigation.  Sofia had been very resistant to the idea, but once I knew she was starting to look ‘outside’ that she would be able to start feeling a degree of success.  It was in Sudan, leaving Gondola with only Google maps as a guide, that she had her first experience of navigation.  Really at this point she was just holding the phone for me, but in that way she became directly involved.  So when we arrived in Khartoum, I asked her to start giving me information about when the next turn was, and to watch the little dot, which was us, follow the blue line of our route.  She did really well, and since that time, with lots of trail and error, she is beginning to learn the process of following the route, recognising changes in direction, and is now slowly starting to process it in a way she can communicate which is turning into recognising the communication that I need to take the right action.    At the start of the trip, it was too overwhelming for her to even follow our progress, now she is becoming and active part in making the journey happen.

Photography is a problem for Sofia, whether it is photos being taken of her, or taking photos herself.  This whole area is something she is resisting along with a desire to not have photos published.  As you have seen most photos will be with her helmet on, as I try to compromise, and everything written about her specifically is only published with her approval.  I think it is important that she feels a sense of control over how much the world knows about her and sees her.

Helmets provide good cover from the Camera!

Since arriving in Ethiopia, children in particular have been very curious about us and especially Sofia.  Sofia has found this very difficult to cope with this as she doesn’t feel any sense of control over the interaction.  We have had a number of stressful moments, and at such times, I ask her to stay close to me and I become her barrier between them and her.  Over dinner a couple of days ago, she began to reflect on she felt like such a stranger in Africa, and I suspect this may be largely because instead of her being able to seek company, instead she feels she has to chase it away.

On the whole though, Sofia is enjoying the journey immensely.  She will say she misses home, and that she wants to go home, which I think is understandable.  However, these times tend to occur when we stay in a place for longer than a few days. Once we are back on the road again her wanderlust takes over and she seems to settle down again.  Yes we have had our relationship ups and downs, and autistic obsessions and misunderstandings are our constant companions.  But for both of us, our over all understanding of the role it is playing in her life is becoming clearer.  And whilst that may not mean a huge about to her now, I can see in the future that this understanding will faciliate her to accept challenges as an adult.

I am enormously proud of her and the accepting of new personal challenges she is presented with, whether it is learning navigation, or taking a risk and going to see a volcano before knowing what to expect – she has exceeded all my expectations.

Post Script:  Yay! this post has been approved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memories of Sudan

We only left Sudan a week and a half ago, and yet already it feels so distant.  Sadly it is a country of restrictions and I wasn’t able to publish any posts during our time there, so now I am playing catch up and will try to give as much of our experience in one short post.

Top memories included:

Staying with a Nubian family on the banks of the Nile.  It was only for one night, and even though we became the local attraction, it felt like all the people who stopped by to meet us became instant friends even though we didn’t speak the same language!  Our hosts where generous to a fault and will be one of our strongest memories of this trip through Africa.

Visiting JebaBerkal in Karima was like stepping back in time and exploring an Egyptian archaeology site 100 years ago.  The temples were only half excavated and the one cut in a rock needed a torch to see the paintings on the wall.  Karima itself was a lovely town with a colourful market and is where we spent our Christmas day.

Khartoum ended up being a 2 week adventure for us and included such delights as visiting a school for autism (will do a separate blog about it), staying with Hiba, the founder of said school, and her family for several days and going to a pre-wedding party that absolutely rocked

The desert wind was relentless and unfortunately not suitable for desert camping.  We did manage one night, our last night, and Sofia loved it so much she is always looking for an excuse to do it again.  The funniest thing though, was several people passed us and stopped and asked if we would prefer to stay in the local village (at least that is what I surmised) and they just couldn’t understand it when I kept saying no and walk away looking utterly baffled.

There are many things I’ve not included here that won’t be forgotten, like the USD story and the broken wheel rim, which have otherwise been faithfully recorded in Facebook.

In a nutshell though, Sudan is an interesting place that feels like a bit of a time warp.  On the one hand modernised, yet on the other hand, still some where stuck in the 70s and unable to move forward.  What was really nice was the people. So hospitable!  I have never felt so safe anywhere and leaving Sudan I was keenly aware that we would never be so safe again on our journey.