<—– Continued from
Total distance covered: 47,000 km (29,205 miles) from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – Eilat, Arava, Israel
Total number of countries: 21
Total number of islands: 27
Total number of hitches on cars: 155
Total number of hitches on public transport: 28
Total number of hitches on trucks: 45
Total number of hitches on motorbikes: 1
Total number of hitches on trains: 1
Total number of hitches with police: 3 – Malawi, Uganda, Sudan
Total number of hitches with military: 1 – Uganda
Total number of hitches: 233
Total number of flights: 1 – Nairobi, Kenya – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (only way The Universe was letting me get a visa)
Total number of boats: 17
Total number of boat rides: 45
Total number of travel partners: 4
Wettest country: Uganda
Driest country: Sudan
Hottest country: Sudan
Most Mountainous country: Ethiopia
Flattest country: Sudan
Hottest temperature experienced: 45° C, Omdurman, Sudan
Coldest temperature experienced: 1°, possible 0° C, Mt Kenya, Kenya
Highest Altitude reached: 5,188 meters above sea level, Nelion Peak, Mt Kenya
Lowest Altitude reached: 116 meters below sea level, Danakil Depression, Afar, Ethiopia
Total number of hospital visits: 8 (2 motorbike accidents, 2 spider bites and multiple ear infections)
Total number of spider bites: 2 – Recluse (aka, violin spider), Kilifi, Kenya
Total number of wasp stings: 2 – Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda
Biggest spider encountered: Rain spiders, in the shower, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda
Most dangerous snake encounter: Boomslanger, WAG, Thuma Forest Reserve, Malawi
Total number of tropical diseases collected: 1 – H. Pylori (stomach bacteria). Still housing it from Madagascar
Total number of bats in the shower: 10 – Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda
Total number of festivals attended: 5
- Uluru Camel Cup, Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia
- Sedgfield, South Africa
- Vortex, South Africa
- Sauti za Busara, Zanzibar
- Kilifi New Year’s, Kenya
Total number of conservation\NGO projects volunteered: 8
- MYCAT Tiger conservation, Taman Negara, Malaysia
- ALERT lion conservation, Livingstone, Zambia
- Anti-poaching, Lake Kariba, Zambia
- WAG Thuma Forest Reserve, Malawi
- Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda
- Footsteps Through Africa, Uganda
- Cheap Impact, Kenya
- Musafir, Kenya (not an NGO but is a volunteer project)
Total number of volunteer jobs for food and bed: 24
Total number of art installations with Osotua Creative Collective: 5
- The Cave Mandala – Rubuguri, Western Uganda
- The Black Lantern String-art sign – Jinja, Uganda
- Mandalas at The Black Lantern – Jinja, Uganda
- Dreamcatcher living art, The Black Lantern – Jinja, Uganda
- Light & String-art pyramid, What’s Good Live Studios – Nairobi, Kenya
Total number of videos on Youtube: 14
Total number of kayaking white water: 1 – Savage Wilderness, Tana River, Kenya
Total number of white water rafting: 3 – Rafting Xtreme, Zambezi River, Zambia and Savage Wilderness, Tana River, Kenya
Total number of SCUBA dives: 1, Red Sea, Dahab, Sinai, Egypt with Sinai Gate – 21 meters
Deepest free-dive: 15 meters
Total number of bungee jumps: 1 – Victoria Falls Bridge, Zambia (Shearwater Adventures)
Total number of ziplining: 1 – Victoria Falls Bridge, Zambia (Shearwater Adventures)
Total number of gorge swings: 1 – Victoria Falls Bridge, Zambia (Shearwater Adventures)
Total number of places surfed: 8
- Desert Point, Lombok, Indonesia (not so much surfing as almost dying)
- Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
- Tangalie, Sri Lanka
- The Strand, Cape Town, South Africa
- Kalk Bay, South Africa
- Inner Pool, Mossel Bay, South Africa
- Dias Beach, Mossel Bay, South Africa
- Bukka, Mossel Bay, South Africa (last surf, two years ago)
Total number of mountains conquered: 12
- Chatauqua Peak, The Grampians, Victoria, Australia – 2,546 m
- Mt Kelimuto, Flores, Indonesia – 1,639 m
- Adam’s Peak, Sri Lanka – 2,243 m (including more than 6,000 steps)
- Mt Blanc, Madagascar – 420 m
- Mt Hedelberg, Cape Town, South Africa – 1,001 m
- Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa – 1,085 m
- Mt Mulanji, Malawi – 3,001 m
- Chombe Plateau, Malawi – 764 m
- Mt Meru, Tanzania – 4,565 m
- Point Nelion, Mt Kenya, Kenya – 5,188 m
- Point Lenana, Mt Kenya, Kenya – 4,985 m
- Mt Erta Ale, Ethiopia – 613 m
Total number of active volcanoes: 1 – Mt Erta Ale, Ethiopia (with ETT)
Total number of national parks: 54
Longest period in one country: 7 months, Kenya
Shortest period in one country: 10 days, Sri Lanka
Longest wait for a ride: 2 months, Darwin-Indonesia
Shortest wait for a ride: 3 seconds, Mulanji, Malawi
Longest hitch: 4 days with Harley and Em from Jinja, Uganda to Karen, Kenya
Longest distance hiked before getting a hitch: 10 K’s on the road to Lake Tanganika, Zambia
Most remote place to get a ride: Aberdares National Park, Kenya
Total number of Mohammeds met: 30
Total number of continents: 3
- Australia
- Asia
- Africa
Total number of oceans crossed: 1 – Indian
Total number of seas crossed: 1 – Timor
Total number of canals crossed: 1 – Suez Canal, Egypt
Total number of deserts crossed: 5
- The Outback, Australia
- The Namib, Namibia
- The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
- The Sudanese Desert, Sudan
- The Egyptian Desert, Egypt
Total number of gigs: 97
Total number of tattoos acquired: 1
Total number of articles published: 257
Total number of photos published: 6,165
Most camels in a single caravan: 49
Total number of attempted pickpocketers: 2 – Cape Town, South Africa and Mwanza, Tanzania
Best Coffee: Hailu’s mum’s, Ayat, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Best Tea: Mzee Baraka’s spiced chai, Kilifi, Kenya
Total weight of packs: 33 KG
Total number of packs stolen: 1 – Zambia Oktoberfest
Total number of nicknames collected: 18 –
- Jesus (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Moses (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Noah (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Funny Man (Caprivi Houseboat Safaris, Namibia)
- Guitar Jesus (by the British Army in Savage Wilderness, Sagana, Kenya)
- Pan (by the Gypsy Queen in Kilifi, Kenya)
- Kwizi (by Ruganzu Bruno in Kira Town, Uganda)
- Sami (by a Sufi priest in Sudan)
- Chuck Norris (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia)
- Jack Sparrow (by the crew of Wisdom, Zanzibar)
- Ntingo (means ‘someone who can survive anywhere’ in Ki-Swahili, Tanzania)
- Hamlet (in Malawi)
- Osama Bin Laden (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Robinson Crusoe (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Castaway (everywhere in Africa – except for Ethiopia, ironically)
- Sami (bestowed upon me by a Sufi priest in Sudan. Used throughout Sudan and Egypt)
- Rainbow (Dahab. Accused of being part of the Rainbow community. I’m not).
- Rasta-mun (everywhere)
Total number of hotels bartered with: 39
Total number of couchsurfers from couchsurfers.com: 31
Total number of near-death experiences: 12
- Desert Point, Lombok, Indonesia. 4-foot swell suddenly turned to 9-foot water mountains.
- Motorbike accident in Koh Phangan, Thailand
- First storm in open waters sailing the Malacca Straits
- Motorbike accident in Sri Lanka
- Multiple stings by Portuguese Man O’War, somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean
- Chased by hippo while river guiding on the Zambezi, Namibia
- Charged by ostrich, Lake Kariba, Zambia
- Slipped off a mountain hiking up to The Mushroom Farm Eco Lodge, Livingstonia, Malawi
- Almost slipped off a cavern wall at Menengai Crater, Nakuru, Kenya
- Almost runover by a matatu (mini-van), Nairobi, Kenya
- Head-on collision averted when oncoming car decided the ditch was the safest bet, Kenya
- Sucked under and momentarily trapped in a rapid on the Tana River, Kenya
Most amazing experience (cheese alert): Rising in love
Worst experience: Ear infection, Mbale, Uganda. Doctor did not go easy on me.
And, too end on a high,
Total number of acid trips: 4
- Sri Lanka
- South Africa x 2
- Kenya
Total number of ecstasy trips: 10 – 8 in Kenya, two in Uganda
Total number of bad trips: 1 – Kenya
Best Weed: Malawi Gold, Malawi
Strongest Weed: Shisha Mani, Ethiopia
Mellowest Weed: Bungo, Sudan
Originally published on The Nomadic Diaries
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