Welcome to the latest interview in my World Travellers series, which started back in 2012. Today we meet Ron Swilling From Follow My Footsteps, sharing stories where Africa has huge impact…
Who are you?
I am a fellow traveller on the dusty and sparkling journey of life.
Where are you from?
Home is both South Africa & Namibia.
Where have you been?
Meanderings in Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia, longer explorations in Africa, especially southern & East Africa.
Where are you now?
In a small village near the southern section of the Cape peninsula, tip of Africa. But ask me next week and I may be on the road heading north to pay tribute to the wild flowers blooming in Namaqualand and then continuing into ‘the land of big sky’ (Namibia).
What are the top 3 places you’ve visited?
I’ve found that journeys are not about destinations, but the many experiences and adventures you have along the way. It’s not about ticking off the list or getting the t-shirt. There are flip sides to the coin and high and lows on any journey: blown tyres and corrugated roads, holding on for your life on the crowded back of a bakkie (pickup truck), sitting squashed and sweating in an old bus with a chicken and a child with a runny nose on your lap, and scorching heat. And then there are places and moments that take your breath away and leave you in awe – like standing on the edge of the Fish River Canyon in Namibia or feeling the exhilaration of the thundering Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, being anointed by waterfall mist.
What is the best travel experience you’ve had?
I’ve had many wonderful travelling experiences, and you know what they say ‘Good gets better’.
I have loved exploring the remote areas in Namibia’s restricted Skeleton Coast where you may come across desert elephants following the ephemeral rivers or lions sleeping in the reeds.
I loved walking in Morocco’s Valley of the Roses, visiting the kasbahs, dipping bread in argan oil and sipping on mint tea.
Zanzibar is one of my favourites. Aaah, the romance of it: visiting the spice gardens and drinking coconut juice at the Forodhani food market, watching the dhows come in with billowing sails as they have done on the Indian Ocean for aeons.
Driving on the beach in southern Angola through the narrow strip dubbed DoodsAkker (Death Acre) between sand dunes and sea (only possible at low tide), passing thousands of seabirds flying up in a cloud of wings and sound that leave you gasping with the beauty and power of it.
Celebrating life among the thousands of Sandhof lilies in southern Namibia.
The small and charming Epupa Falls, northern Namibia, flanked by a grove of makalani palm trees, where the Kunene River tumbles down a rocky gorge studded with baobabs.
Watching a whirling dervish ceremony in Sudan, amidst women in colourful veils, after taking cover from a dust storm.
Reaching the crater lake after a long hike up the mountain at Mgahinga National Park, Uganda’s smallest national park in the Virunga Mountains.
Unexpectedly spotting the floodlit colossal ancient Egyptian sculptures of Abu Simbel from the ferry from Wadi Halfa (northern Sudan) to Aswan (Egypt).
Walking through the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia.
I could carry on . . .
What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?
On a ferry on Lake Tanganyika in a room below deck that came alive with cockroaches as soon as the light was switched off, cockroaches streaming over the walls en masse, in Fear-Factor style.
Some dodgy accommodation: a jail-like room in an unsavoury neighbourhood of Dar es Salaam, a makeshift room in Nepal with rats running around and not much between you and your neighbours.
Being threatened to be abandoned by a dubious guide (with possible malaria or mental condition) on a trip to Ngorongoro Crater, Kenya. (In retrospect that may have been a good thing.)
Being shipwrecked on a dhow that toppled over on the way to Ibo Island, northern Mozambique, as we neared the island. When I caught my sodden shoes in the water and grabbed hold of my pack, I swam and then walked to shore, standing on a sea urchin along the way. I pulled the long spike from my foot and continued plodding with my waterlogged pack to the beach as children taunted me, pulling off the legs of a live crab they were holding. All my gear was drenched with seawater, including two cameras that were ruined. I dejectedly put up my soaked tent and hung my wet clothes around me to dry. The next day, my throat was painfully raw with a case of tonsillitis.
On the same journey, I thought I had malaria twice, cut my foot on a shell at low tide and was bitten by a dog in the Transkei on SA’s east coast.
What is the funniest travel experience you’ve had?
When I was travelling by local transport in East Africa, I travelled on the back of a very full pickup truck-squashed in with people and luggage, on the way from Tanzania to Mozambique. (Part of this journey was crossing the Ruvuma River in a small boat, a crossing that Lonely Planet calls ‘one of the most exciting border crossings in Africa’.) The truck kept on overheating and the driver would stop, climb out and fill up the radiator with water, and then we’d carry on. One man could speak a bit of English. When we stopped at a small village in northern Mozambique I got out and went behind a tree to relieve myself. When I came back, he said to me that it was dangerous to go too far away. I asked “Why, because of landmines?” (thinking of the area’s war-torn past). He replied “No, because of lions.”
I had a very funny experience in Zambia. I had been in Malawi and had boarded the empty bus in the early hours at the depot to make sure I had a spot for the day’s trip. One of the first people to get on the bus came and sat right next to me, although the rest of the bus was empty. So, I was quite surprised when I got to Zambia and had a very different experience. The bus was filling up and everyone was avoiding sitting next to the ‘mzungu’ (foreigner). Eventually a man got in and came and sat in the seat next to me. When I looked over to say hello, I noticed that he couldn’t see who he was sitting next to, he was blind.
What is the scariest travel experience you’ve had?
Perhaps taking a bus once from Lusaka, Zambia. It was packed, the windows were painted black and didn’t open and I was told that the buses often broke down on the way and that sometimes food was drugged by men who wanted to rob you. These times of trepidation thankfully don’t last long because of the kindness of strangers who always befriend you, sharing their food and stories, and making you feel at home wherever you are in the world. I have often been blessed by the kindness of strangers.
In Uganda, I had an idea to visit the national parks, but because they are tourist destinations there isn’t much local transport available to get there. This meant that I had to take a boda-boda (small motorcycle taxi). I tied my backpack on the back and clung on to the driver as we careened across the countryside and through small villages, with locals laughing at the strange sight, dogs barking and children scattering in fright in front of us. (Actually, this sounds like one of the funny ones.)
Driving through a river coming down in flood, Kunene Region, Namibia. (We made it!)
Nerve-wracking moments with wildlife: being charged by a grumpy elephant bull in Etosha National Park, having a kudu antelope crash into our car in eastern Namibia, and having a troop of gorillas, including the silverback, pass by the tent in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.
What is the most random job you have had on your travels?
I don’t generally find work while I’m travelling. I’m often on work trips, however, researching and collecting stories.
How do you fund your travels?
I am a freelance writer.
What 3 tips would you give a new traveller before they set off on their adventure?
Exchange the best currency you can have, as often as you can, your SMILE.
Avoid the tourist traps, meet the local people and sample the country’s food (you can eat hamburgers and pizza back home).
Slow down (many other countries, especially in the third world, move at a slower pace), and show respect to others, the wildlife and the land at all times.
Share your good energy, walking as lightly as possible, leaving the place better for your having been there.
Step into the unknown with an open heart, a wide smile, a good sense of humour and an enhanced sense of wonder.
(Oooops, that’s more than three!)
What are your future travel plans?
Camping under the stars and dipping in mountain streams as soon as the weather warms.
I’m often on the gravel roads of Namibia, and will be there once again, being dazzled by the desert country, before the seasons turn.
Biography
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Thanks to Ron for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured , either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!