sierrrd

Good question. When travelling through Africa you automatically bump into that question. What is the real Africa? On the Zambian border a truck driver welcomed us to the real Africa. The Africa we might now from that chickflick with Meryl Streep. Elephants, zebras, lalala. Until Zambia we didn't see any kind of wildlife apart from lost donkeys and shitloads of cockroaches. We didn't go to the national parks in Kenya and Tanzania. To me the real Africa is a collection of Egyptians who can't find the answer after the Arab Spring, Sudanese bureaucracy, begging kids in Ethiopia, drunk businessmen in Kenya, perfect laziness in Tanzania, people who were chased away in Zimbabwe, fastfoodrestaurants in Botswana, Germans in Namibia and international students in Cape Town. As long as it happens in Africa, it is real. Every day was real.

I've had many weird encounters in my life, but it was really weird catching a ride with a 100% Afrikaner boer who would almost drive into a few black Namibians simply because of the fact they were black. He gave us a ride because we were white. I've hitchhiked through some parts in this world, but that was just too real to believe at first glance. So you light another cigarette, slowly nod to the Afrikaner equivalent of redneck music and you keep on going...

Northern African chaos, Eastern African laid back mentality, Southern African craziness (+ and -). It is a fucked up continent, but it sure is beautiful. I haven't seen West Africa, but now I am dying to see it.

I am not sure if we are truly missing something that you can find in Africa. What I am sure about is that I see a lot of people from a 'first world' nation who think they should somehow share some of their morals and skills for the African people to learn. But you didn't ask me that, so I could eloborate on that in another question.

So could you be missing from? Take it a little more easy. Take a little, micro, tiny bit from the 'African time' mentality. It gives you a much more pleasant morning. That however may only work if everyone is up for a change in time management...

Exactly. It's sensitive stuff you can't really tackle when somebody is showing his hospitality. It's a weird situation that you can only discuss with your next ride. So we did, and that truckdriver shook his head and pretty much suggested what you just suggested.

Very true. We've met the religious fanatic from the US in Nairobi. The gay man I met last year in Greece. It's quite interesting to laugh such awkward situations away. In total I've hitchhiked 35000 kilometres now and never have I laughed so much more than that moment when this Greek guy couldn't stop asking about sizes of genitals in The Netherlands. Fortunately you meet a lot more normal people.