Getting lost

Whenever I visit somewhere new, it takes about two days for me to ketch mi bearings. 

After that, I venture out using public transportation.

Syntagma Square is the urban center of Athens and it is very near to our VRBO apartment. 

So we learnt how to just walk through the National Gardens to get there.

So all's well. (We thought).

Honestly expected!

The first thing we learnt on the trek to town, is how some people expect everyone to be honest! For we ran into a bunch of souvenir magnets on a board hanging on a tree with a sign bearing the price and inviting buyers to  leave the money on the stool beside the display!

Next, we discovered that the straight street leading to the Marble Stadium, had been transformed into a market overnight. 

It closed at 3 pm sharp, everything was  removed and the place cleaned up and cleared for the next day. 

This I hear happened every Friday.

Most of the fresh food and vegetables are grown on the adjoining Greek islands.

 The metro (subway) where we buy bus tickets, is beautiful, clean and spotless! (It is obvious not too many new Yorkers visit or live in Athens, as theirs is so disgusting.😫)

 Seriously though, American subway  operators need to learn a thing or two about cleanliness!

Some artwork displayed in subway station 

Everywhere at the subway station is spotless

We found our way to and from the Archeological Stadium, no problem. 

The problem arose when we entered the National Gardens through a different entrance, having no idea the place was  huge and had so many different paths.

That's how come we got lost, for we were .just browsing, not recognizing that night was fast approaching. Sonja and I even got separated and she was the one who had a working GPS😡.

I got separated when Sonja who was overwhelmed by the plants and me, the animals.

Lots of people speak English though, thank heavens.

 Interestingly, everyone who hears the Jamaican accent is shocked to learn  that we know about Greece, its Gods and its enthralling mythologies! However while they know of, and love Jamaica, they don't know where it is. 

The closest one came was guessing 'it's near to America'😊.

Anyway all were helpful in directing me towards the stadium.

It was on the way there, that I passed what turned out to be the official residence of the President, where I was just in time to get a glimpse of this intriguing scene.

Ever since we arrived in Athens and passed the Parliament building, we had seen hosts of tourists hanging around outside to witness the 'changing of the guards'.

 This ritual is done every hour.

People waiting outside to witness the changing of the guards.

Well if I didn't get lost, I wouldn't have seen the spectacle. 

Happy I did😁.

Exploring Africa!

I had the opportunity to visit the Motherland twice in 2023, but found it intriguing when quite a few of my fellow countrymen/women, asked incredulously  "how yu go a Africa so often?"

Had I visited Europe or North America twice in a year, it wouldn’t have seemed so strange to anyone.😥.

Snow-capped Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,
as seen from Kenya.

You see, we Jamaicans were brainwashed for decades (even after independence😡!) into believing that the European and North American  continents are the epiphany of civilization, whereas Africa is a dark undeveloped place that no one should visit.

Serious ting.

It may appear strange, but many Jamaicans even think of Africa as a country and not a continent made up of 54 diverse and independent nations!

This is because we have been fed so much negative crap about Africa as a whole, that most have not had the interest to research the facts for themselves.

Anyway, I plead guilty to belonging to the class of travelers who have avoided Africa for far too long!

I actually reached the south-western tip of the continent😊

So, for decades when traveling to faraway lands for pleasure, had chosen some exalted city in Europe, never a country in Africa!

 I was bitten by the travel bug from I was 14 years old, thanks to my parents. For it was at that age that they took me to places as diverse as Cuba (then highly developed and not yet communist), a few small eastern Caribbean islands, Montreal and New York.

So, it was from then that I decided that I wanted to see the natural beauty of the world, interact with every animal I could find, and relive history, but bypass cities and man-made edifices.

Playing with a 40-year-old seal in South Africa

But Africa was never in my plans, because of the negative press with which I had been bombarded for decades.

It was only when my Canadian friends who went to work in Kenya, invited me to stay with them after telling me how wonderful it was there, that I decided to explore.😡.

So, Kenya was the first country in Africa that I visited and it was a wonderful experience.

It was also then I  discovered what a fool I had been all along!

Quite frankly though, I was a bit surprised at how developed Nairobi was, because of the negative images that had been implanted in my brain for decades.(brainwashing is real and has proven to be super-effective for decades!)

Well, that's all behind me now, for it will be Africa every time when going on long-haul trips, for there is so much to see and do and so little time. 

On safari in Kenya with my hosts and friends.

Nairobi is very developed

The reality of Kenya certainly belied the propaganda that I had heard all my life. 

What impressed me immediately too, was how highly they respect their own currency, for that's the only cash they accept.

 Better, yet, they are so technologically advanced, that almost everyone pays with their phone. 

So whether you are buying an orange on the street or a car, just pay with the swipe of your phone.

Since that eye-opening trip, it's been Africa all the way for me.

Hanging out in a lobby in Botswana

My second trip to the Motherland took me to parts of Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisoned for decades), and Cape Town in South Africa.

With Wendy and family.

This was all thanks to my Jamaican friend Wendy, who lives in Lusaka. She has lived and worked in Africa for more than seven years and knows areas of the Continent extremely well. 

I learned so much just visiting museums on this trip!

She was therefore able to guide me on how to travel, where to go, where to stay etc.

 It was a wonderful trek and I am eternally grateful as I was able to travel to places and experience things I had only heard of, but never thought I could do in this lifetime.

A Mandela memorial on Robben Island

Up to now, I still can't believe I saw and did the things which had only been distant dreams for decades. 

Fact is, the education I received on these brief trips have been more valuable and memorable than I have accumulated in many years.

Sections of Cape Town, South Africa

More recently, I had the opportunity to visit Ghana and even got my new name, KORLEKi.

I felt so at home in Ghana for the foods, flora, city scenes, lifestyle, fauna and even the huge gap between the rich and poor, seemed so much like ours at home.

But boy is their culture deep.

Joan, my views: A cultural powerhouse (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

I now understand why Rita Marley made that county her home for some 20 years!

I understand that the properties above are part of the Marley portfolio I Ghana.

Ghanaians are also super-welcoming but interestingly, while I had been under the impression that most of the slaves that were transported to Jamaica had Ghanaian roots, on my visit there, I learnt that only 23% did. 

Joan, my views: Religion and slavery (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Although i  had long ago been told by my grandmother that our actual roots were in Sierra Leone with the Mandingo tribe, I still felt at home in Ghana and honored to be inducted into the Krobo tribe.😊

These school children reminded me so much of our own💓 

I also discovered that many Ghanaians are outstanding linguists, speaking French, and German due to their close association with Brussels where thousands live and work. 

Most also speak English very well as it is compulsory in school and they all speak many tribal languages as well.

The magnificent Mosi-oa-Tunya which spans sections of Zambia and Zimbabwe, is named among the top 7 natural  wonders of the world.

Because I am crazy about animals, I think the country I need to return to soon is Botswana, although I still have another 48 independent nations in the homeland to sample!

You can easily do both land and river safaris in Botswana 

So much to do, so little time.

Oh well, it was the insightful Lao-tzu who said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," so I should be grateful that I got the opportunity to take that single step a few years ago.

Now its on to the rest of the journey.

It's raining!

I have been very happy for a week in Ghana as we had been told it was the rainy season, but we never had a drop.

Well all that changed as we undertook the 4 hour journey to Kakum National Park yesterday, as it rained all the way there, non-stop after we arrived and all the way back!

It was a pleasant outing though.

This park covers approximately 145 sq miles and was the initiative nitiative of the local people

It has a canopy walkway which is over a thousand feet long, rising atop some of the tallest trees I have ever seen.

As one who is unashamedly scared of heights I refused to do more than one of the 6 walkways.☺

The theory is that you can see some Ghanaian wildlife from above, but the animals are smarter than us though, for they stay home on the rainy days, so we saw none.

There is a tree house there for those who want to overnight and try their luck the next day.

 I did see a mad human though.

He had his passport and wallet with money , credit cards id etc in hand while trying to take a picture with his phone.

Then somehow everything fell overboard into the thick forest below. 

 A guide did say he would go down (he marked the spot) and try to find it, but I would be shocked if they found anything under that thick undergrowth.

My daughter, her friend and and my granddaughter loved the canopy walk and did the entire circuit.

Good for them.

They didn't have a sign which says I 'partially' survived the walk, so I was allowed to stand under it anyway.😷

I learned a few interesting things on this trip though. 

1) Most of the trees, foods and plants they have, we have them too. (In Jamaica)

I didn't see any breadfruit though and in describing it, I concluded that they have never seen or heard of ii.

2) They make wine from palm but although am an unapologetic wine drinker, didn't try it and was told I was wise as it was bitter and tasted weird. 

And it explodes if you don't drink it right away!😡

3) They tend to use plantains more like how we use bananas and only use the banana as a fruit. (ripened)

4) Although we Jamaicans imported Anancy from them, they haven't taken scamming to heart wholeheartedly as we have.  So for example, praedial larceny ( stealing farmers' crops) is non-existent.

5) Ghana has no natural disasters. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no volcanic eruptions. 

All that happens is that sometimes they have a little landslide and some flooding during the rainy season.

We got a great experience in how disciplined they are as drivers. On our return trip there was a landslide that affected our side of the dual carriageway and all drivers simply  turned around and took the lane on the other side of the carriageway. 

No serious boring, no impatience, no honking of horns, no fights, no pulling of weapons, no cursing and swearing at others, no mishaps etc. 

It was an amazingly disciplined operation although there were no police there to maintain order or give directions.

I was  very impressed.