Give up your day job - go on, pack it in
Posted Sunday, November 19, 2006, 3:29 PM by Lonely Planet
Jimmy Barret writes from Africa - a far cry from a construction site in western Sydney:
"I caught a tiny, bumblebee of a plane out of Maun a few days ago and landed in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Now I'm standing in the bottom of an empty swimming pool with a bottle of Milton disinfectant in one hand and a mop in the other, furiously scrubbing algae. The sun is belting down, I'm sweating bullets and swimming in my underpants.
I'm in the middle of the Kalahari desert, in Botswana, at a remote outpost called Jack's Camp which sits on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, the largest pan system on earth (about as big as Switzerland). It's so desolate that you can see the curve of the earth. Flamingo are wading through the last remaining water in the pan eating brine shrimp, zebra are grazing a few hundred metres away, and I'm being woken up by lions bellowing in the morning. Awesome.
I'm working here in a hugely important role as Back of House Manager, looking after the day-to-day running of the camp, making sure stuff gets fixed, guest tents look beautiful, ensuring we have enough supplies and that the staff are busy and on time.
The stunning scenery and great people certainly offset the more menial parts of my day (pulling and cleaning greasy, soapy old car tyres from festering soakaways, putting up with cr*p from overly wealthy, fussy, whinging tourists, reprimanding our employees for nicking cars and driving off to the local shebeen, shooting hornbills with bows and arrows, etc).
And it certainly beats fighting traffic and doing some cr*p job I don't like in order to buy stupid sh*t I don't need!"
Labels: Africa, On the road
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4 Comments:
ok, read your blog and now im undoubtly jealous and envy the crap out of your life.... that last line got me, dead end job i dont like just 2 buy myself crap i dont need is what im living.... you have inched me ever so close 2 doin exactly what the title suggests, pack it in and move on, good luck in what you do, one day i`ll be doin it too!
Maximus, i couldnt agree more! Was definitely the last line that struck cord for me. Think a countdown to a stupendous adventure may have just begun..... And thank you Jimmy Barret! About 2 years ago I spent 3months travelling round SA, Mozambique and Malawi - best, if not most challenging, times of my life!! Hope all things African, and beyond, continue to go well for you!
Jimmy Barret that is one fine story. Really takes you right into the middle of where you are. Keep it up.
I was just wondering if there are any girls who has visited tanzania, kenya or zanzibar. Need a little travel adivses.! What is safe? Where to stay, crime, culture...?
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