Not a lot of travel yet this year- I’ve been sticking closer to home. I’ve been busy though! In March I ran a half marathon, the DC Rock and Roll Half. Then a week later I visited family and friends in Texas for a week, and then flew back to Virginia, and welcomed Chris home two days later. We bought a new convertible and have been tooling around in that enjoying the nice spring weather. We hopped over to West Virginia last weekend and did some mountain hiking and enjoyed the area around Berkeley Springs. The trees are in bloom and it’s a great time of year up here. So happy to be able to spend it together!
Chris and I were able to meet in Israel for a week over the Christmas holidays. I arrived in Tel Aviv on Christmas Eve night, exhausted from almost 20 hours of flights.
The next day was Christmas Day, but being Israel, everything was still open. I walked all around Tel Aviv and down to Jaffa, exploring the Carmel Market, the beaches, and Old City Jaffa along the way. Great temperatures in the 70’s and lots of sights to see. Late that night Chris showed up, and the next morning I took him to visit all the sights I had seen the day before. Then we got on a bus for Jerusalem.
Deah in Tel Aviv
The next morning we returned to the Old City to see the rest of the sights- the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, David’s City, The Temple Mount- we were not allowed to go inside the Temple Mount to see Al Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock- (don’t even get me started on sites that exclude due to sex, race, or religion)- but we climbed to the top of the Austrian Guest House and could see Jerusalem from above. Later that day we took a bus to Bethlehem, where a friendly taxi driver showed us the Fields of the Shepherds, the Church of the Nativity, and lots of Palestinian street art on the wall that separates Israel from the Palestinian West Bank.
Jerusalem
On Friday we took a day trip to see Masada and the Dead Sea. Along the way we saw the Qumran caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. We took an aerial car to the top of Masada and learned about the siege by the Romans in 73 AD, which ended in the suicide of the Jews on the mountain. We went to the Dead Sea, covered our arms and legs with mud from the banks, and floated in the salty water. When we returned to Jerusalem, Sabbat had begun, so no trams, buses, and few restaurants open. We walked down to the Old City and found an Armenian place open and it was great.
The Dead Sea and Masada
On Saturday we paired up with two other people and rented a taxi to Haifa, north on the coast. What a beautiful city, or at least the part we explored! It was a bit rainy and we were pretty exhausted from our continuing jet lag and all our walking around, so we had a late lunch, walked around a bit, and went to bed.
The next day, Sunday, we went to see the Museum of Clandestine Immigration and learned about all the sneaky ways the Jews got people into Israel before the British left in 1947. They had artifacts and photos and even some of the ships they used. Very interesting, especially if you’ve read Leon Uris’s Exodus. Across the street was Elijah’s cave, a sacred site to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and open to all. Then we took a tram to the top of the Baha’i Gardens and took a tour down through the amazingly maintained green space. It was really lovely.
Haifa
All too soon it was time to take a train down to Tel Aviv, where we got a hotel right on the train tracks near the airport. Chris left late that night, and I flew home the next morning. At least I got a layover in Istanbul- mmmm, Turkish delight!!
One of the great things about coming back to visit the US is the chance to be a tourist in your own country. Some of the local or near-by sights that others take for granted have a new-ness to them that is refreshing. And the ease of public transportation and the efficiency of the US National Parks Services is a great thing.
Great Falls National Park
Chris on the C&O Canal
After leaving Chad, we stayed in the Washington DC for a month, looking for a house. During that time, we explored a lot of the hot-spots of DC, visiting monuments, museums, and restaurants. My parents came to visit, so it was great to see them and celebrate with them. We visited the Washington and Lincoln monuments on a beautiful April day when the kites were flying, the trees were blooming, and the flowers were at their most colorful. It was great to see my parents again- it had been almost a year since our last visit- and Dad and I enjoyed the Smithsonian together, while both my parents got to meet my new husband. (We also took advantage of a rare time when we were both in the US to get married!).
We got hitched!
In June, between Chris’s training and his deployment, we had an unexpected free week, so we split the distance between us and met in Charlotte, North Carolina. We spent a week exploring the city, as well as nearby battlefields, the US National White Water center, the Speedway, the Biltmore House in Asheville, and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The views were amazing and we learned so much about the area while we were there. Plus, it was nice to spend some quality time together before a lengthy time apart.
Chris and Deah in Asheville
Now Chris is on a nine month deployment, and Deah is job hunting for a librarian job in the local schools. Hopefully Chris’s work schedule will allow for us to meet for a long weekend in the early fall, or for a week at Christmas. Meanwhile, I’ve got some adjusting to the US to do! Reverse culture shock is a real thing.
First, a big thank you to Joy, for being my first visitor to come see me in Chad! It was great to have Joy visit us for a week and show her around town, and totally cool that on her last day, we took a boat ride on the Chari River and saw a HUGE herd of elephants drinking at the river!
Elephants in the Chari River
With Chris in the US visiting family, and Joy back to Sudan for work, I took off for Togo and parts unknown. As soon as I landed in Lomé I could see the ocean and smell the salt- and feel the humidity! The first two nights I stayed in a small hotel above a bar, called Le Galion, unfortunately in a non a/c room- big mistake. West Africa sure is sweaty!
Lome, Togo
I tried to visit the Lomé museum but it was closed, and after visiting the big marche, there wasn’t much else to do in town (except enjoy being out of Chad). So I hopped on a bus and went north to Kara, the gateway city to the Tamberma Valley. I met up with three Belgian volunteers and we hired a car and driver for the day to take us to see the traditional villages out in the hinterland. Very interesting architecture, but it made me sad to see the way the people live in the village- they seemed malnourished and out of step- and not in a good way, just listless and unprepared for the world around them. The next day, the four of us had the same taxi driver take us to the Burkina Faso border (a seriously bad road). After paying a whopping $190 for my visa, I entered Burkina and the four of us got a bus to Ougadougou. We arrived late at night and they invited me to stay with them at a friend’s unfinished house that night. We slept under the stars in what was to become a surprisingly chilly night!
Tamberma Valley, Togo
Camping outside in Ougadougou
The next day I dropped off my passport at the Ghanaian embassy for a visa, and took off for Bobo-Diolasso. I liked it better than Ouga- a bit quieter, more manageable. But both cities have this quality of a dusty, dirty, run-down city. I guess nothing on the edge of the Sahara desert stays pretty looking for long. I loved my little guest house, Villa Bobo, and sampled some great cuisine, especially a totally delicious local yogurt with honey. Mmmm. Had it three times.
Sand mosque, Bobo-Dialassou, Burkina Faso
Back to Ouga to pick up my passport and visa, and I stopped at the village of Sabou along the way to see my volunteer friends. We visited the sacred crocodile lake (animists in the village believe the crocodiles are the reincarnated souls of the chief’s ancestors) and we actually paid a visit to the chief himself, as one of the volunteers was new to the project and the chief likes to meet anyone new to the area. That night we slept outside again, as the volunteers’ house has no electricity. Living rough in Africa!
I stayed in Ouga for two days after that, recovering from some unfortunate stomach distress, at a beautiful little garden pensione called Jardin de Kouloubra. A great place to recover. Finally I was feeling ready to take the 8 hour bus down to Tamele, Ghana, where I spent the night at a Catholic guest house, then another bus to Kumasi (hello, humidity; I remember you!). There I visited the Asante palace and museum and learned a lot about the Asante culture. From there it was an easy bus ride to Cape Coast, where I finished up my trip with some visits to the beach, the slave castle, and a few good restaurants. The history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade was pretty interesting and very moving to see the actual places.
Cape Coast
From Cape Coast, I skipped right over Accra and took my flight back to Chad. Although I’m really glad that I went, because I had really wanted to visit West Africa before we leave the continent, I found the whole trip a lot harder than I had anticipated. The infrastructure, the (lack of) hospitality industry, the huge amounts of trash everywhere- all of it is just not ideal for easy tourism- definitely not for the faint at heart. The fact that Togo and Burkina both speak French, and even in Ghana, most people spoke a native language more than they really spoke English, made getting around and getting things done just that much harder. In the end, I felt like West Africa didn’t have the amazing animals like Kenya and Tanzania did, the fascinating culture like Ethiopia did, the stunning scenery like Rwanda and Uganda, or the general together-ness like Namibia and South Africa. West Africa has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to have tourism be a big draw for their economies.
After five years living in Africa, and twenty-some odd countries visited in the continent, I finally had the chance to accompany Chris to Central African Republic on business. Having visited southern, eastern, and western Africa, it was time to venture into the center of the continent- the very heart of darkness.
On our first night in Bangui, we wandered down to the Bangui Plage, a small outdoor restaurant on the banks of the Oubangui River. It was dark by the time we arrived, and we met up with two other travelers seated on the patio. Over wonderfully ripe and creamy avocat aux crevettes, and several ice cold Mocaf beers, the pilots told us stories of flying over the jungles of Africa (“Basically, this whole continent is on fire”) and the perils of trying to get fuel with a credit card in cities such as Bangui and Juba (“Headquarters does not like handwritten receipts written on a napkin and signed by an illiterate man”.). In the darkness beyond the restaurant, we could see an occasional kerosene lantern across the Oubangui River representing small huts in a Congolese village, but not the river itself.
Sunset over the Oubangui River
The next day was a hustle of activity for me as I set off to explore the small city- village, rather- of Bangui. The French called the city “La Coquette” (the beautiful), but the few signs still bearing the name were peeling, flaking, dirt-covered placards of a by-gone era. I set out to look for the Musee de Boganda, housing artifacts from “Emperor Bokassa’s” reign and more, but it was closed. I found the office for the Hotel des Chutes de Boali, a small hotel 100 km outside of town at the edge of a waterfall- the office was also closed, but helpfully listed a phone number to call to arrange a ride out to the hotel. I tried a small hotel listed in my guidebook (four pages dedicated to C.A.R.) that boasted a band on Sunday nights, but after finding the manager, discovered that the band in question no longer played in the hotel and had not for some years.
Banyan Tree, Bangui, Central African Republic
I walked along the red dust-covered streets of Bangui, shouts of “Cherie” and “Americaine” following me wherever I went. Small children walked next to me, practicing their few phrases in English that they knew, and tugging on my pants pockets for change. Around every corner, half a dozen young men stood, selling phone cards, making 2% profit on the face value of the cards. Taxis beeped their horn as they trolled the few paved streets, looking for a paying customer. Men carried flats of egg crates stacked a dozen high, only the top three flats cut and stacked with eggs to make a pyramid. Only the tops of their egg towers could be seen as they wound their way through a crowd.
For dinner that night we drove to the edge of town, to the property owned by the Oubangui Hotel (a Sofitel property in an earlier life). The tallest building in town, the Oubangui Hotel sits at the easternmost side of the city, overlooking the Oubangui River and Congo. A series of natural rocks juts out into the river, with a concrete walkway connecting them to the hotel. Atop the peninsula are a dozen covered tables, all bearing the names of French and West-African cities. We sat at the “Nice” table and sipped a cold drink, watching the sunset over the river. Sellers and workers drifted across the river towards Congo in their pirogues, calling out to each other in Sango. As the sun set, the river fell silent.
Central African Republic Ubangi RiverChris at the Oubangui Hotel
Having secured a ride to the waterfall at Boali, the next day we headed outside the city. The falls are not too far from the city, and the road was surprisingly well-paved, considering that few roads in the capital itself are paved at all. A little more than an hour after we left Bangui, we had arrived at the village of Boali. Bags of charcoal stacked alongside the highway sat next to piles of ripe papaya, waiting for a traveler with the coins to purchase one. As we passed into the village, the local outdoor church finished its services, the congregation drifting towards their homes, the women wrapped in brightly colored pagnes and the men wearing crisp white shirts, pressed pants, and freshly shined shoes. Once at the falls, a group of six young men attached themselves to us, eagerly offering to be our “guides” as we descended to the bottom of the falls, ascended the other side, and crossed back over the river upstream of the falls on a swaying, precarious vine bridge (reinforced by steel wire). Feeling rushed by our young friends, I rebelled against their hurried tour guide spiels and took off my shoes and socks, slipping my feet into the clear, cold water of the Mpoko River. Later we hiked back up to the top of the waterfall, and then crossed back over the river on a vine bridge- very scary! After our water adventures we had a lunch of grilled chicken, fried plantains, and cold beer at the water’s edge.
Walking across the vine bridgeDeah at Boali Waterfall, CAR
Chris and Deah, Boali Waterfall
Also while in Bangui, I got to try two tennis lessons. I hadn’t played since college, when I took tennis as one of my P.E.’s and pretty much was terrible at it. The two lessons went well and I’m hoping to practice some more once we return to Chad.
All in all, Bangui: interesting place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.
