Welcome to Justin Lichter dot com current trip. Africa.
6/20/2009
This is really hard for me to say because I have never backed out on something before but I honestly no longer think this hike is safe for me. I seriously thought I was going to die 3 times in the past week or so and last night took the cake. The locals don't walk around alone or unarmed (they all carry spears and little swords) and it really just isn't safe for me to be out this part of the world by myself between the people and the wildlife........ The death situations listed in order of occurrance:
1) Near mugging which I ran from and avoided luckily, but could have been a lot worse now that I think about it.....I got back to the city now and I saw a white guy walking around with his head split open and a couple of black eyes. I didn't even want to ask him what happened.
2) Elephant charge, which somehow I got incredibly lucky also because there was a lion sleeping in the grass a little bit away that I didn't see and as I ran zig-zagging (as the locals had told me to do) away from the elephant the lion got up and ran in the other direction and distracted the elephant away from me. that was a close one and apparently elephants are a really big threat and the locals consider them the biggest danger. however for me this was the last straw and I don't want to push my luck anymore........
3) Last night I set up my tent and was about to go to sleep when I looked out my tent and saw a lion sitting about 20 feet straight in front of the tent watching me......not a huge problem, until I saw another one trying to be all stealthy and come from behind also. that is how lions hunt they distract you and/or chase you into another one. I didn't really know what to do, so I tried to scare it off by yelling and shining my headlamp and stuff. The lion from behind just kept getting closer until it just walked right up and past me within a couple of feet (see attached picture for how ridiculously close it came). For some reason it just kept walking and walked away, but it definitely showed me who was boss. I could have been gone in less than a second and I am not willing to push my luck anymore. I know this is the right decision for me and I know that certain areas that I would be headed into would be just as bad, if not worse.
It has been amazing and humbling to experience this first hand and I am glad to still be alive. I have hiked about 1200 miles through un-hiked Ethiopian and Kenyan territory and in some areas of Ethiopia I think I was the first white person they had ever seen. I hope I haven't let anybody down by not completing the hike as intended. I have re-evaluated the situation and I am still going to hike in Africa. I am going to hit the popular areas (Kilimanjaro, Mt. Meru, etc) and known trekking areas (many require a guide with a rifle) and should be safer. Hope everybody is doing well. ~Trauma
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6/9/2009
I have finished hiking in Ethiopia and am headed to my starting point in Kenya. I can't have a continuous route through southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya because they are very dangerous areas right now with almost complete lawlessness and a huge influx of Somalis hiding out.. Not a good idea for a solo white boy. I hiked to the tail end of the mountain range in Ethiopia to a town called Goba. The range continues a little more south but I wanted to hit the highlight areas, including the Bale National Park area, which was on the east trending ridge. It was a very nice area and I saw a lot of wildlife. Ethiopia was very different and an incredible place and very eye-opening. I have so much to mention that I think I am just going to run a list to make it easier. I'll warn you now some of the stuff is random. I have a lot of time to think about and notice stuff out on my own.
- In Ethiopia cows don't crap all over themselves like in America. Not sure if it is because of the lack of bovine growth hormone or maybe they just aren't fat enough, but it definitely seems a lot more natural than the American cows with filthy hindquarters.
- There are about 83 different languages in Ethiopia, Amharic being the main language. I have started to speak some decent Amharic......but now on to Swahili.
- I think I am the only person that I have seen wearing shorts since I left United States on May 19th.
- Ethiopians eat raw meat and often there is a lot of meat just hanging in the window of a shop all day. Refridgerators are definitely not common.
- I heard a stat yesterday that over 300 million Africans earn less than 1 dollar per day. Ethiopia is the poorest country that I have ever seen, but I am not sure the aid that we provide and the UN is doing anything really helpful or if it is just associating white people with money and free help and not spurring innovation, growth, and change. This is a long topic and probably too much to write on here because it gets complicated.
- A lot of people begged for money, some for pens, and a lot of others just for plastic bottles. I am not exactly sure why besides for maybe carrying there water around, but maybe we should just not recycle our bottles and send them over to Ethiopia.
- They reuse a lot of plastic bags, but in the long run they end up blowing around the fields, on the streets and in the rivers. There were places that i could not see the water running underneath because they were covered so thick with trash.
- A little story about this public bus I had to get on for a little bit after I finished hiking to get back to the city. The road was a bit bumpy so a lady behind me got car sick and started puking out the window, there were about 45 people packed into a 17 seater, a bunch of people were carrying chickens on which started to run and try to fly around the bus while it was going, one man carried a gas can on (so naturally the whole bus started to reek of gas) and the lady began vomiting all over again, and other people started shoving orange peels up their nostrils. It was pretty funny.
I think that is all for Ethiopia. I can't wait to see what Kenya has in store. I am going to start a little north of the Equator and work my way south to Mt. Kenya, over 17,000 feet tall, and onwards. I'll keep you all posted.
6/4/2009 Ethiopia
Everything is going well. I have already drank about 12 sodas in 300ml glass bottles and I think they are the best thing that I have ever had. They are moderately chilled, but by no means cold by American standards, but nonetheless they are cold enough that I can't get enough. The blackcurrent Fanta is amazing! It is a bit different than grape soda at home. I have also had a medium pizza. Yes Mom, I had pizza in Ethiopia and it was pretty good (everywhere I go my Mom can't believe that I eat pizza after growing up in New York because I grew up with great Italian food). One funny thing, after hiking for 2 weeks, mostly by a 1:900,000 scale road map through the middle of nowhere and not really getting lost. I got a little lost and disoriented in the city. I ended up heading the wrong way for about 20 minutes and had to ask somebody where the heck I was because there were no street signs.
5/22/2009 Text From Satellite Phone
It is pretty crazy over here I put in a good day. I'm at 14'05 by 38'18 now and started in a town called Aksum, Ethiopia.
5/2/2009 Africa Prep
I am about two weeks from departure and things are starting to get hectic. There is always a last minute rush to tie up a lot of loose ends and do some final planning before I head off on a trip, especially a trip like this. There’s definitely a bit of anxiety and nervousness about the trip, but that is all part of the excitement and fun of it. If there wasn’t a sense of learning, adventure, and venturing into the unknown, then it wouldn’t stretch the comfort level and be nearly as interesting and fun. It is also such a great feeling when I finally start the trip because then everything I have been rushing to get done drops away and it is just me and the things I have on my back and nature.
Each hike has its own little nuances. In Africa, the terrain, culture, and wildlife will be incredibly different than anything I have ever seen. It will have so many different aspects. I can’t wait to take it all in. I will also have an Iridium satellite phone with me, so I will be able to blog from the middle of nowhere and be able to keep you all posted on the trip as well.
I am planning to hike down through East Africa through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. I think the route will be around 2000-3000 miles. Because of the current political situation in Somalia I will not be able to make this trip a continuous walk. It is a little disappointing but safety is definitely the first priority and northern Kenya is reportedly very dangerous right now because of the Somali situation. I think it should take 2-3 months for the trip. I plan on going over most of the major high peaks along the way. This makes it a little challenging deciding what gear to bring since temperatures will range from hot and humid in the lowlands to cold and snowy up high. It also won’t be easy to mail myself different gear like it is in the United States, so this all presents another challenge to the hike that I am still trying to work out the details for. The key factors in the gear selection will definitely be versatility and durability, so that I won’t have to carry extra weight and I will know that my gear will last for the long haul.
I think that is all for now, so check back as the trip progresses.
~Justin Lichter