Traveling Cat

I’ve been back in the country since last summer and haven’t done any international travel since my return. (Unless you count exotic Canada 2 hours north of town). Well, the time has finally come and the exciting travel planning feeling is back. I love the excitement of learning about a new place, dreaming about the trip, immersing myself in the possibilities. Thankfully I’m surrounded by fabulous people who love me and the options are opening as we speak!

Coming up first: Vietnam
Mez invited me to join him for the long awaited bicycling across Vietnam trip! He’s been talking about it forever… maybe even mentioned it on our first date last September. Well, I’d be a fool not to accept and I’m super excited to join him, Leo, and Mae on the upcoming adventure! We met this week over dinner at Pho Cyclo for some bun noodles and travel talk. In less than two hours we’d discussed bikes, picked a route, and chosen dates for the adventure. So excellent! Let the dreaming begin! And concurrently, time to get cycling! I’ve only been out a few times this hectic crazy summer and now it’s time to begin to train in earnest. Traveling to Vietnam, with the boy I love, and getting healthier, all in one fabulous trip? How could I resist?

And in January 2010: Festival in the Desert
I truly love my friends. I send an email to some good folks and never in a hundred years would I haven’t thought it’d be so easy to assemble this beautiful group of my heroes for a trip on camels to a desert in West Africa for a concert by a band of nomads. But fitting though, yes? Here’s the who’s who of those who expressed interest: Susie from Seattle (my fabulous travel partner in Africa), Caroline of Seattle (of film and photography fame), Cindy from Seattle (my fabulous roommate in Kenya), Elwin from the Netherlands (business man/funny man/traveler extraordinaire who I met in Kenya), and Brett from New Zealand (on and off travel partner in Africa now living in Panama who we met in Namibia). The thought of it just covers me in warm fuzzies! Love it!

Today the new “Seven Wonders of the World” were announced. On my continual quest for places to visit, sights to see, and cultures to explore, I’m posting the new list as well as a few others I compiled way back when on my old site. As always… if you’re up for exploring and traveling, I’m always looking for great travel partners to visit new places! For the places I’ve already been lucky enough to visit, I’ll mark them with a *.

New Seven Wonders of the World
(decided globally by 100 million votes on www.new7wonders.com)

* The Colosseum in Rome
* The Great Wall of China
* India’s Taj Mahal
Jordan’s ancient city of Petra
the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru
Brazil’s Statue of Christ Redeemer
* Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid

Seems a little odd for South and Central America to have three when Africa doesn’t have a single wonder, especially when Africa is the birthplace of humanity and is home to the oldest of all civilizations. We don’t even get the Egyptian Pyramids or Great Zimbabwe or anything? I guess when it’s compiled by online votes instead of scholars/experts, we get what we get. Not that I’m complaining… I’m just surprised that’s all. Besides, I couldn’t complain even if I wanted to since I didn’t actually vote. (Consider me current events-challenged after my time in Africa without access to fast internet and English language newspapers).

Anyway… enough babble. On with the rest of the lists! Enjoy!

50 Places of a Lifetime (from National Geographic)

1. Urban Spaces: * Barcelona
2. Hong Kong
3. Istanbul
4. Jerusalem
5. * London
6. * New York
7. * Paris
8. Rio de Janeiro
9. * San Francisco
10. * Venice
11. Wild Places: Antarctica
12. Amazon
13. Canadian Rockies
14. Galápagos
15. * Grand Canyon
16. Outback
17. Papua New Guinea Reefs
18. Sahara
19. * Serengeti
20. Venezuela’s Tepuis
21. Paradise Found: Amalfi Coast
22. * Boundary Waters
23. British Virgin Islands
24. Greek Islands
25. * Hawaiian Islands
26. Japanese Ryokan Kerala
27. Torres del Paine
28. Seychelles
29. Pacific Islands
30. Country Unbound: * Alps
31. * Big Sur
32. Canadian Maritimes
33. Coastal Norway
34. * Danang to Hue
35. England’s Lake District
36. * Loire Valley
37. North Island, New Zealand
38. * Tuscany
39. * Vermont
40. World Wonders: Acropolis
41. Angkor
42. * Cyberspace
43. * Giza Pyramids
44. * Great Wall
45. Machu Picchu
46. Mesa Verde
47. Petra
48. * Taj Mahal
49. * Vatican City
50. The Final Frontier: Space

Another List: The Wonders of the World
I’m not really sure who came up with these older lists, but I’m posting anyway.

Ancient Wonders of the World
* The Great Pyramid of Giza (the only remaining ancient wonder)
A gigantic stone structure near the ancient city of Memphis, serving as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
A palace with legendary gardens built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
An enormous statue of the Greek father of gods, carved by the great sculptor Pheidias
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
A beautiful temple in Asia Minor erected in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
A fascinating tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria
The Colossus of Rhodes
A colossus of Helios the sun-god, erected by the Greeks near the harbor of a Mediterranean Island
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
A lighthouse built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos off the coast of their capital city

Natural Wonders of the World
Angel Falls in Venezuela
The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada
* The Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Iguaçú Falls in Brazil/Argentina
Krakatoa Island in Indonesia
Mount Everest in Nepal
Mount Fuji in Japan
* Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
Niagara Falls in Ontario (Canada) and New York State (USA)
Paricutin Volcano in Mexico
* Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe

Modern Wonders of the World
The Channel Tunnel
* The Clock Tower (Big Ben) in London, England
The CN Tower in Toronto, Canada
* Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
* The Empire State Building in New York City, USA
* The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, USA
* The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA
* The High Dam in Aswan, Egypt
* Hoover Dam in Arizona/Nevada, USA
Itaipú Dam in Brazil/Paraguay
* Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, USA
The Panama Canal
The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Statue of Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* The Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA
* The Suez Canal in Egypt
The Sydney Opera House in Australia

Forgotten Wonders of the World
* Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt
Angkor Wat in Cambodia
The Aztec Temple in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), Mexico
The Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines
Borobudur Temple in Indonesia
* The Colosseum in Rome, Italy
* The Great Wall of China
The Inca city of Machu Picchu, Peru
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
* The Mayan Temples of Tikal, Northern Guatemala
The Moai Statues in Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile
Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
The Throne Hall of Persepolis, Iran
The Parthenon in Athens, Greece
Petra, the rock-carved city, Jordan
The Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar
Stonehenge, England
* Taj Mahal in Agra, India
The Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, Mexico

Currently listening to: The Who

After six months on the road in Africa and Seoul, I’m now on a month long tour of the States. I’ve done Austin, Houston, and Chicago, and am getting ready for Asheville and the cross country road trip from Texas through California to Washington. In honor of all this time spent traveling, I offer you a selection from my iPod. I don’t actually have a playlist called “Songs for Travelin,” but I probably should. If I did, this song would definitely be on there. Gotta run… my plane leaves for Newark in less than 12 hours! Enjoy the lyrics!

Simon and Garfunkel, Only Living Boy in New York

Don’t get your plane ride on time
I know you that you’re part of those flyers
Fly down to Mexico
And here I am, the only living boy in New York

I get the news I need on the weather report
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report
Hey, I’ve got nothing to do today but smile
And here I am, the only living boy in New York

Half of the time we’re going,
But we don’t know where, we don’t know where

Don’t get your plane ride on time
I know you that you’ve been eager to fly now
Hey, let your honesty shine, shine, shine now
Like it shines on me
The only living boy in New York,
The only living boy in New York,

Here I am

I’ve been busy since getting home so posting hasn’t really happened lately. I’ve had lots of family time and am enjoying catching up with old friends. Am also doing some long awaited errands like trying to get the virus from a Nairobi cyber cafe off my (now dead) laptop. Let’s hope they can ressurect my laptop and preserve my journal and photos from Kenya and not bankrupt me in the process! Tomorrow’s the long awaited doctor’s visit where I go to a specialist and try to get them to cure me of whatever is lingering in me since my second bout of malaria. I’m not excited about the $200-300 bill that’s sure to ensure… wish I still had insurance! Why must everything cost money? When are the choice jobs going to magically appear? :)

What else to report? My luggage eventually arrived – that was pretty swell. There was a welcome home party this weekend (with a convieniently timed call from Susie!). It was great to see lots of folks all in one place and lots of babies too! A serious amount of babies have arrived on the scene in the year and a half since I’ve been MIA. It’s pretty wild. There have been lunch dates, coffee dates, dinner dates, multiple trips for live music, lots of salsa and queso, mutlipe visits to Amy’s ice cream (congrats on City Council!), and some shopping squeezed in there too. Seems my suits, trousers, and t-shirts made it to Texas for storage, but it appears as though my skirts and shorts ended up in Erin’s basement in Seattle. Texas heat rather begs for shorts so I’ve had to spend even more money and now have two whole pairs. Totally worth it though to wear shorts and tank tops, and even sandals!

Let’s discuss footwear for a moment, shall we? I’m excited to have a new pair of Walky sandals to add to the rotation with my rat-eaten Walky sandals that have journeyed with me across Africa day in and day out, hiking, beach, dress up attire, and everything else in between. Yay new Walkys! And I’m also excited to add a pair of Reef’s to the rotation. (I’m not usually a fan of flip flops as they tend to hurt my feet, but I recently tried the pair my friend Meg gave me and they’re super comfy! Who knew? Thanks Meg!). Oh, and did I mention there were a pair of Crocs waiting for me too upon my arrival? Not sure when plastic shoes became cool again (I had my jellies back in the 80s), but I’m willing to give them a try. They seem pretty popular in Austin… I see women and men both sporting them… often even striaght men wearing them in reds or maroons. Whoa. And people say Texans are conservative! Not our Austin men and their red shoes. Okay… enough about my three new pairs of shoes… Time to end the long list of random updates and get ready for dinner. Take care!

I know many of y’all think Brett’s a cutie so I thought I’d share an email for Brett’s fan club and for the rest of y’all who love a good travel story. It’s a story that makes me squeamish and want to say ewwww!

ok kids well i left africa but it came with me….yes today i became one of those stories you hear about……those dinner time fables…….i have just come back from the hospital.

the reason for my visit was the extraction and removal of some 500 or so eggs i found lodged in my little toe, doctors and nurses alike were amused and had no idea what they were doing but it seems they were only fly eggs of some sort and i’ll have a follow up on wednesday to try and see if anything else needs to be done apart from that which has already been carried out, i.e. numbing me up, cutting me open and flushing all my little friends out

YUCK.

Brett subsequently found out the cause of the eggs: fleas.

ok kids it seems it was a flea, here is a link for some gruesome photos from google, mine was very very low key and not nearly as interesting but for those of you looking for something interesting check it out. so it was a flea which came from South America to Africa in the 1700’s in some sand that was used as the bilge in a boat which dumped it off the shores of Angola, so maybe when i was running up and down the dunes in Namibia or the shores of Zanzibar i picked up my little friends.

For some gross pictures of other people’s feet (not Brett’s feet), check these out:
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&hl=en&q=tungiasis

Yuck. Let’s hope they got Brett all patched up and let’s hope doctors won’t have to pull any eggs, worms, or other fun stuff from my body anytime soon.

Hi all… I’ve been getting a lot of comment spam this week, so I changed the comment permissions. Comments are great for sharing your own perspective and/or for stroking my ego so I know people still remember me and come here to catch up on occasion, so by all means you’re still welcome and encouraged to leave comments. However, you’ll need to register first. It only takes two seconds and requires 1) a nickname and 2) your email. Then you’re done. Just click on the “comments” link of any post to register, or go directly there and register now: http://www.travelingcat.com/wp-register.php. Thanks!

Well guys, we’ve made our way from Tanzania to Kenya (home sweet home!) for a few days, and are now in Kampala, Uganda for the reunion tour with Brett, our fabulous Kiwi friend and former travel partner from Namibia to Malawi. We’re not entirely sure of our plans, mostly because time is getting very short. I know we hope to see chimps, raft the Nile, hike in Murchinson Falls National Park, have another beauty day, and eat plenty of ice cream. The rest will come as it comes. Afterwards Susie and I head to Kenya for a visit to my village, Kisumu, Kakamega Rain Forest, Lamu, and who knows what else we can pack into the schedule.

In the mean time, I’m sad though excited to announce I’ve bought my plane ticket home. I’m really not ready to leave yet. I’d very much like to stay in Africa much longer if I could. This is not to say I don’t love my friends and family, or that I don’t love hot showers, dating, good food, new music, or a comfy bed to sleep in. It’s just that I’ve also grown to love my most recent home: Africa. I kept delaying buying my plane ticket, debating whether or not I could stay a few months longer, but in the end my (quickly diminishing) bank account won out (as did Suzan’s wedding date on July 1). Guess it’s time to come home and look for a job. (Have leads? Send them my way!)

Happily, I was able to find a ticket that would let me extend my travels just a bit longer. I’ll layover in Seoul for two weeks so I can visit my college buddy Laura. I’ve been to Seoul twice, but both times for only a day each where I didn’t do much besides a bus tour, food, and hotel. It’ll be great to have two weeks to explore, especially with someone like Beal since she’s been there teaching English for the past year. I look forward to crashing on her couch, like she did on my couch for that fabulous summer in Seattle back in my Capital Hill efficiency apartment. I know we’ll have a grand time, even if it’ll be more than a bit surreal being in big city Seoul directly after spending a year and a half in small town Africa.

After Seoul I fly through Hong Kong and Houston on my way back to Austin, where I’ll arrive overwhelmed, stinky, tired, and jet lagged on June 12th. I’m going to need lots of loving when I get home… I know my brain, heart, and emotions will be working overtime for a while. Hey Texans – I hope to see all of y’all for a few weeks before I leave for the wedding! Hey Gus – happy birthday little guy! Can’t wait to meet you next month! Hey Seattlites – I plan to move back by early July. I haven’t been to Seattle since Nov 2005 and I’m excited!

I also plan to road trip from Chicago to the Great Northwest sometime after July 2nd. Anyone up for a road trip, maybe stop for some national parks along the way or dive bars or large balls of twine or mechanical bulls or star gazing? Can you tell I’m not ready to stop traveling just yet? My Honda loves road trips and you could be the lucky one to join me for the final hurrah before arrival back in Seattle. Applicants for road trips should send emails or comments. People with road trip advice and suggestions and free couches should do the same.

Lots of love from Kampala,
excitedly yours,
Cat

Trying to make up for the last month of not posting. Enjoy, in all of it’s unedited, problematic space bar glory.

Many people told me when I moved I’m not the Americans love to quit good jobs and go travel. .. here are some of the great people we’ve met recently:
Mike from Atlanta: www.travelblog.org/bloggers/farrell
Jamie from San Francisco: www.peacepedalers.com
Dawne & Daryll from Brooklyn: www.trackourtrek.com
Conor: conorinmalawi.blogspot.com
David C: www.travelblog.org/bloggers/dmax

Cindy’s family caught the travel bug too…
Andy’s Africa to India trip: andrew-tarter.livejournal.com
Billy is moving to Indonesia to teach: www.lifeincontrast.com
As is his lovely wife Denise: www.migratorydreamer.com

It’s brilliant here… so much happening all at once. Read all about the WSF online. WSF is the biggest progressive event in the world, and this year’s WSF in Nairobi is the biggest event of any kind to ever be held in Nairobi (apparently). Desmond Tutu spoke yesterday, as did Danny Glover, Wangari Maathai, and tons of activists on any and every imaginable topic:
right to water
globalization
EPAs
street youth
reproductive rights
nanotechnology
neoliberalism
regulation of American NGOs in Africa
migrant rights
sexual minorities in India
war and the media
Iran nuclear crisis
re-enslavement
how to mobilize effectively and get Coca Cola plants shut down when they pollute and kill people
Palestine
etc

Miss you all. Wish you were here!

After a year of not making money, I’m somehow ready to start spending my trip savings. My two weeks in Lamu over Christmas were a good trial run for the upcoming long backpacking trip across southern and eastern Africa. But I’m not entirely content with my travel pack (even though it was generously lent to me from a friend, it’s lacking pockets, straps for storage, no expandable space, etc). And the idea of bringing my now broken and scratched camera makes me a little fearful. (Seems 6mp tiny Canons online only cost $200? Perhaps it’s time to retire my current little camera. It’s served me well for four years which is notable for digital cameras. It accompanied me to India in 2003, and in later years to Guatemala, Canada, Egypt, across the country, and finally on a lovely year in Kenya. But the broken lens thing could become more of a problem. (Dumb thieves breaking my camera… no wonder Nairobi is nicknamed Nairobbery).

And in other news… the World Social Forum 2007 starts this weekend! And next week I fly out to Joburg, meet up with Susie, and we begin our adventures in greater Africa. Wohoo!

[start mini rant]

Africa is not a country. Yes, I know that you know this. And I know this. But I’m always a little surprised when I still hear people from the States say something like “Oh, you know, Africa is a country I’ve always wanted to visit.” And quietly in the back of my head I’m saying to myself “Um, don’t you remember from elementary school that Africa isn’t a country?” It’s a continent, and a very large one at that. And in fact, it actually has over 50 separate and diverse countries. Egypt in the north has a very Middle Eastern and Arabic culture, and has pyramids and amazing history. South Africa in the south is a first world, developed modern country with nice beaches, wine country, roller coaster theme parks, sushi and Thai food. Kenya in the East is still developing, where 80% of the country doesn’t have electricity and where many still live in traditional mud huts.

Anyway, it’s not so much a pet peeve of mine as it is a little disappointing that many folks are still a bit ignorant on some very basic geography and Africa knowledge. Or maybe it’s just a little funny to hear. Either way, guess when people say something that’s what we would call a “teachable moment.”

[/ end mini rant]