Melbourne, Australia

What a change it was to go from East Africa to Australia – I definitely experienced a reverse culture shock. When I took the shuttle from the airport to the hostel I was seeing McDonald’s, 7-eleven, etc. The roads were even and smooth! There were lots of white people!

At the hostel I met with Imran – a strange feeling to see him on the other side of the world. It was that and the fact that Melbourne is so much like Vancouver that made me feel at home. I felt like I could jump on the subway and go home.

That night we just hung out enjoying the ‘hostel experience’. I met some of his friends and then went to bed early. It took me two days to get here so I was thoroughly exhausted.

The next day we moved in to Imran’s townhouse and met his roommate Sam and his girlfriend Candice.

One weekend Imran, Giorgio (a friend from the hostel) and myself rented a camper van and travelled the Great Ocean Road. A must do if in Australia. It was a fun experience to travel in a camper van and stay at the camping spots along the way. I thought of it as the more luxurious way to camp. We saw the 12 apostles, did the tree top walk, and discovered an isolated beach along the way – where Giorgio and Imran acted like children who have never seen a beach before!

In the city of Melbourne I took a visit to the Melbourne Zoo. I figured if I was in Australia it would be a shame not to see a Kangaroo. I have to admit it was a bit boring, considering I spent the last couple of months seeing animals in their natural habitat. Anyway, at least I can say I saw a kangaroo!

We also took a visit to the Eureka tower. Every big city has their version of the CN Tower and this was Melbourne’s. It is on the 88th floor and you can see all of Melbourne. The city itself is very beautiful. It’s on the water, much like Vancouver, and mostly very posh.

Overall I had a wonderful time in Melbourne. It was my vacation within my travels. I met some fantastic people and made some great friendships. I was sad to leave.

Uganda

I was lucky enough to visit Uganda during my stay in East Africa. Harish Masa works in Kampala and so Sameer and I got a ride with him. Our first night we stayed in Kisumu, Kenya at the Kiboko Bay Resort right on Lake Victoria. It was pretty cool to have seen the source of the Nile because in March I will be on the Nile in Egypt! The resort consisted of tents, much like the ones at Sweet Waters. At night we watched the sunset and could hear the hippos nearby in the water.

It was a short visit in Kisumu but we were able to visit a sugar cane factory, which is owned by one of Harish Masa’s friends. It was interesting to see how sugar is made and to learn some useful facts such as the miniscule differences between white and brown sugar.

The next day we entered Uganda and went straight to Kampala to Harish Masa’s place, which is right at a conference centre and hotel. We had dinner, relaxed, and went to bed.

The next day I met up with some friends of Dadima. We went to a local coffee shop/ice cream shop/hang out and sat for a while before heading to a Thai restaurant for dinner. I spent the night at their house.

The next day they took me around to see the Baha’i House of Worship, the Gaddafi National Mosque, and the local JamatKhana. I was then dropped off to Harish Masa’s office – PetroCity. The visit was too short. Kampala was really beautiful and I would have liked to see more of Uganda.

Sweet Waters – January 24th to 25th

January 25th was not only Abeed’s champagne birthday but it was also Harish Masa’s 50th. So the entire family headed to a place called Sweet Waters – a tented resort right on a game drive in Kenya right at the equator. It is operated by Serena and very beautiful. It was nice that I could be there with the family to celebrate.

One of the first things we did was have lunch at the Ol Pejeta House, which is a famous mansion nearby. It was enormous, I felt like I was in one of those movies where everyone is a miniature version of themselves.

The night of Harish Masa’s birthday we had a sundowner at a nearby Hippo Hide. A sundowner basically means having drinks at the sun sets. We then headed back to Sweet Waters to have dinner and a cake, which was brought in by the staff who sang in Swahili.

The next morning right as the sun was coming up we had a great view of Mt. Kenya, another mountain I hope to climb one day. That day I took a visit to the equator. It’s nothing spectacular, just a sign on the road, but still really cool to say I’ve been there. Later we went on a short drive to see the animals. I was lucky enough to come across a white rhino which was tamed enough for me to pet.