Words of encouragement sought

Hi Kendrick

I have found that breaking those bus trips up is helpful and preferable. Stop overs in smaller
villages if you have the time is not only helpful but a lot of fun. I love to get off
the beaten track and experience local life.

Adjusting to the conditions and being prepared go a long way. If it's hot, take a very
early bus. Always have water and food with you.

However... there is always the unexpected. Buses break down.... I was caught up in
a protest by Indigenous locals in Ecuador last year and my 5 hour bus trip turned into
11 hours and into the night . For awhile there it looked like we were going to be staying on the bus all night. Your friend is probably aware of all this. I am 57 (traveled solo) and don't feel like age had a whole lot to do with it. But.... I really wanted to go on the trip and accept the fact that stuff happens and it might not always be comfortable. Being prepared and just
going for it is part of the adventure.

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I am 60 and am starting to find that my appetite for doing it the hard way is waning. Dust, dirt, heat, humidity, dirty hostels, buses breaking down, uncertainty ...are all becoming less intriguing and more annoying.

I can understand your friend's trepidation. I travelled in Eastern Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) ten years ago at 50, on a camping tour ...but still a tour where we were taken care of. Even in that situation, traveling in old LandRover, sleeping on cots in tents ...there was a lot of dust, dirt, showering in an outhouse with half the slats missing and leering men nearby, longdrops that required strong knees, etc.

I would do it again, including the camping for sure. In fact we'll be doing it again later this year but this time we'll be driving a rental RV and having a little more comfort in Namibia and Botswana.

But I understand your friend's trepidation and I would not push her. Doing Africa backpacker style is doing it the hard way and many of us do start to lose our taste for that, no matter how fit and healthy we are.

There is a fellow who comes onto this board quite often called Packerjohn. I hope he reads your post and asks his wife to comment because before they married he took her on her first backpacking trip through Eastern Africa so her comments could be really pertinent. I know I thought the trip would be the end of the relationship but it was not - they married. But whether it was because PJ is such a magnificent catch or she enjoyed the trip so much only she can answer.

A small remark - IMO, an average bus in East Africa is of much lower standard than in Latin America (Central and South Am). Besides, on most routes in Latin America there's a choice of different bus classes and companies. In Kenya you'll often find one only.

Age shouldn't matter much. If your friend is in good health and fit, that shouldn't discourage her, if she really likes travelling. You can also keep flights in mind, as an option.

When I turned 60 I did the Royal Trek from Pokhara, in sight of the Annapurna Range. Admittedly, I was last all the way but I completed it successfully. Have also done very long train trips in China, but no long bus trips, the longest being from Kathmandu to Pokhara. I think that positive thinking, plus your health will get you anywhere. Now am in mid 70's and the spark that wants to travel is still well alight.

Our train ran about 37 hours late between NJP and Varanasi this October.
At 72 and 77 we held up fine. Amazing what you can do if you want to travel.

Thirty years ago in latin america, I think there were only chicken busses. Not any more. When I was in my mid sixties, i bussed through most of Central/South America. And yes, there are different classes of busses. I did use the first class ones for longer trips, chicken busses for shorter ones. but I had no problems on either class. I always did try to break long trips up as well, so I don't have to do all day or all nights trips.

When I was in my late sixties I bussed through Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali, and yes, it was quite a different kettle of fish. Ghana and Burkina are the bottom of third world countries, and aside from the heat, I really enjoyed it. Interestingly, some of the busses were a/c first class Chinese busses. As the only white face, I was watched over and taken care of by the other passengers... especially in the two French speaking countries (i understand a little french, but understood little of the African version). I don't know about Kenya, but even in these very poor countries there were 'first class' busses you could take. And they speak English in Kenya!!!

I was 64 years old when ‘PackerJohn” suggested we embark on a backpacking tour of East & South Africa and Namibia. I had never before backpacked and the idea of traveling in this way in Africa was daunting but, I must admit, exciting. The first hurdle was to confine my packing to the very bare essentials, something which was quite foreign to me.

We flew into Nairobi where we had a taste of what was to follow – tight security in all buildings, broken, dirty sidewalks, touts (people who pester you for money or to buy things), crowded, noisy streets, but people who were well dressed and well groomed. East Africa is a place of contrasts. We arranged a Safari to Masai Mara, for example, where we had to travel on public roads which were appalling – bumpy with many ruts. The Safari, however, was astounding – I would have put up with any kind of inconvenience to experience the magic of viewing up close so many magnificent wild animals in their natural habitat.

There is a certain amount of stress in traveling overland in East Africa, whether it be Matatu (mini bus), regular bus, or train, the absolute worst of these being the Matatus which are noisy and crowded with loud music blaring. If you can avoid traveling on the mini bus, do. The buses are all not the same. Some are old and uncomfortable, but we did take a Royal Coach from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam which was very comfortable, had air conditioning and snacks were provided. We had occasion to travel by train several times, namely from Kisumu to Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam to Kigoma. While the trains, which were established under British rule around 1964, have not been well maintained, they are reasonably comfortable, with running water and clean linen.

From the windows of the trains you can see the filth and poverty of the slums which is heart-rending but, at the same time, the children are happy, waving at the people in the train. Some of the people in the villages along the way have set up food stalls for the passengers – a very welcome respite from a long trip.

East Africa is an exotic country where one can experience the excitement of learning about a different culture and, while the going does seem to be a bit rough at times, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The important thing is to maintain a sense of humour and learn to laugh at your predicaments. And yes, ‘PackerJohn’ and I did get married at a later date and have enjoyed many more magical traveling moments.

Greetings

Husband and I happily spent 9 weeks in east Africa when we were 58. Over the years we have traveled in central and south America, SE Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Compared with these we found east Africa to be quite an easy destination (not as easy of course as Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico.

In Africa we visited Rwanda for gorilla tracking, Kenya for safaris and to spend some time on the island of Lamu. In Tanzania we did another safari, climbed both Meru and Kilimanjaro before doing some travel around. We used long distance buses, matutus and on one occasion bicycle taxis to cross one of the lower key borders. Buses and matutus were fine although slightly crowded. Roads were fine although I should note that we live in rural Australia and do off main road travel for bushwalking etc. People in bus stations were very friendly. We stayed predominantly in low key hotels (types where you signed the hotel register where there was a column for tribe. We found that all of these were very do-able although the standard was less comfortable than south and central America. In Dar es Saleem there was no electricity for the 3 days we were there.

Travel by plane not coach, visit Kisumu by the lake Victoria in west Kenya and stay at London Guest House in Kisumu City Kenya. See website and also visit the last page of the website to see all the things to do and visit.

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