Fun in Blighty

So having finished everything off, handed it over, packed up, shed a tear, said goodbye and got in the car I found myself at the airport. For once I got through the bag check and visa desk very easily and quickly, which was a surprise. I found the cafe airside - I say 'found', but there is only one. It was rather packed and a kind gent asked me to share his table, in true Namibian hospitality fashion within minutes he had kindly offered for me to stay with him and his wife should I ever pass by where they live in SA, who know a they might feature here in a few months!

"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves." - Amelia Earhart 

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." - Tennessee Williams 

I hit Jo'berg the day after Mandela's memorial, expecting it to be busy or full of media and officials I was pleasantly surprised. I did however, share my plane row with a new york journalist covering the memorial and a young girl who had been working on cruise ships all over the world, if plane seats were given out by interest and how you would bond with other long haul passengers I would have been very lucky. We landed in the UK and had hugs before going our separate ways - how weird is that after a plane journey?!

Finally I was 'home', or rather sat at Heathrow looking out at grey skies, exhausted and wondering where the sun was. Luckily I had a cabin room booked in a hotel, small enough to swing a cat in, clean and functional, Yotel! provided a small room with shower, loo, bed and TV and there I slept for about 5 hours, the main relief being able to be able to lie down after around 21 hours sitting. I then headed out to stay with a friend who put me up for the majority of my time in London (thank you!) and a few friends came round for a curry and to see my exhausted self! The first few days were focussed around a few nice lunches and dinners, walks on the river and visits with friends, meeting new babies and seeing old faces.

On one day we went down to see the Christmas markets on the south bank, it was so packed, I think there were more people there in that hour that I have seen in the last two years!



I was really pleased to have made it back in time for a black tie dinner with loads of old friends. We booked in to an amazing Japanese Supper Club with about 30 of us there for a seven course dinner, gin and tonic and gyoza to start, with a scallop sushi, spaghetti and caviare, broth cooked at the table as a communal dish, marinaded white fish, chocolate torte and another starter I can't remember, all washed down with fizz and white wine(s). Amazing. Having missed the last tube catching a final drink in a local pub we hit the joys of the night bus and crashed out about 2am. A few of the others headed to Mahiki, but for me African veldt to one of London's 'top' celeb clubs was a little too much, both energy and difference wise!

"Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

So good to see these people!!

The day after I caught up with more old faces and then headed back to watch (or rather talk over, as usual) a movie or two.

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." - Ralph Waldo Emerson 


My last night in London on the first stint was spent with old faces from my last London job, great to catch up with them, see where they are at now and see how everyone has made such a success of themselves.

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." - David Frost 

I headed back to Bolton on 17th to spend time with family. We cleaned and organised and shopped and put the tree up and decorated...

and cooked...

who's been eating those mince pies?!...

 and tracked santa via NASSA

and relaxed.

Oh and had lots of cat cuddles...

...and set the Christmas pudding on fire as is traditional (no eyebrows later!)

Apparently Kirsty Allsop asked for people to tweet in their Christmas trees and mum sent in ours expressing there was too much tinsel on it (my fault), Kirsty re tweeted us and shared the tree with the nation for their comments - mostly in my favour that there was not too much tinsel. So I share it with you now...

....no need to share your thoughts on tinsel levels, the nation has already judged it. Thank you.

Christmas was a quiet one at Grandmas, followed by a relaxing day at home, a singing gig of my cousins, a family party and birthday / new year at a local venue with a good dinner and a piper where (after a few babychams) mum was busting out the funky dance moves  - one in particular I had to query - upon which she announced that when she was at SHYC (pronounced 'shic' and short for "sacred heart youth club", the height of cool at 15) this is how she started a back drop in her youth, amazing what you find out after two glasses of champagne and half a bottle of cab sav.

"Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has." - Anita Brookner 

It's a very strange thing being away in such a different environment for so long and then come back to all the things that have been familiar to you for so long and yet are slightly different now. Nothing changes, yet nothing is quite the same. People age, get new partners, have babies, get married, split up, buy houses, get sick, recover, but essentially, for the most part your relationships remain the same. Yet somehow its you that is different, not so much that it changes your relationships for the worse or even at all somehow (at least I hope not!), but something has to be said for that passage of time and the difference in experiences you have had. I am lucky enough that a lot of my friends have lived and worked or some from overseas, or have travelled to rich cultural places and do understand how you return home somehow changed. Your perspectives are different, you handle things in different ways, think and do odd things for where you currently reside (like have a brief moment of concern about not taking your phone on a walk in case of a snake) and swear in another language. It has been so nice to see family and friends and I feel so lucky that my relationships remain the same, there is a me shaped piece that I slot straight back into without much effort, but sadly at the moment I am not ready to take back that place, certainly not physically and will be off again shortly to see more of the world. It's amazing how you realise that in some ways living back in what I am used to as a 'normal' life might not be a bad thing - steady job, nice wage, friends, family, restaurants, bars, handy transport, commuter trains, weather, rent costs, red tape, day to day 9-5, rat race....then you start to realise that despite missing people, missing the familiar and the convenient I am in no way done with travel, new experience and new people. This in turn means living day to day out of a bag, missing home and missing you who read this now (that is unless you are one of the people in Russia who read this and think its something to do with Lady gaga), but before I have any serious commitments I must go, maybe you will come and visit me on the road somewhere.....

...So into 2014 we plunge, excited to have new plans, or rather to be about to make new plans to travel. For those who know me well you will be pleased to hear the full 2014 project planner has been drawn up and is in force (thanks for the book bestie :0) and yes they are project tabs!

Some pins are in a map and this is where we start...

(nb the ones clustered around S Georgia are ones that fell out of places and need replacing. There really aren't seven places in S Georgia I want to see).

So after a week of a bad cough and cold it was back to London for some final catch ups, more new babies, a bad hangover after too much sake, and lots of walking round London and seeing how the skyline had changed. 

People keep asking me what my next plan is, so far it looks like I will head back to Namibia to pick up some stuff as I already had flights booked back in there that I did not want to waste, then head to SA for a few weeks, Cape Town and Jo'berg, followed by a short stint back in the UK to make some proper plans and then more travels of Lady G. 

Watch this space....

"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer." - William S. Burroughs 

"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float." - Alan Watts 

Namibia - The end and the future.

In late 2013 I made the difficult decision that it was time to move on to pastures new. Having already booked some Christmas time at home I chose to head back to the UK for around five weeks before travelling on to new adventures.

Having spent three months in Namibia in early 2011 I had had a great time. I returned home to a tough year which ultimately led me back to Namibia. 

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone elses plan, and guess what they may have planned for you? Not much" - Jim Rohn

"Much of the pain of life comes from having a life plan that you've fallen in love with, and when it doesn't work out, you become angry that you now have to pursue a new life plan. If you want to tame your inner demons, you must not become too attached to any particular life plan, and remain open to there being an even better, happier life plan." - anon

So, Namibia it was and what a great decision. Hot climate, wild animals, different people and cultures and making a difference at grass roots level. Having worked for a few charities it was really nice to be on site where the difference was being made, on the sanctuary, with the researchers looking into carnivore conflict mitigation, next door to the school and working with the doctor for the clinic directly. And yes, its true what they say about Africa it does somehow seep into your soul...

"Africa is cruel...it takes your heart and grinds it into powdered stone- and no-one minds" - Elspeth Huxley

Over the last couple of years I have learned so much about things I never knew I was so interested in. I have slept with baby baboons, hand raised two zebras and a baby donkey, been mistaken for a biologist by one of Nat geo's own, raised much needed funds, encouraged hundreds of volunteers, guests, agents and journalists to book our project and properties, support our causes and promote us, film TV shows which are now out across the globe, liaised with government ministers, been to Antarctica and, most importantly, made a difference. I feel that a wider world has opened up for me and that I have been very lucky. People often say to me 'I wish I could go and do something like that', well you can, take your skills, take your talents, shelve your fears and find that thing, it's worth it. I have been lucky, but I also made it happen.

"I've been lucky. Opportunities don't often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them." - Audrey Hepburn 

"We each have a destiny, a legend that only we can live. To embrace it is scary and dangerous, and most choose not to. Most put it off until tomorrow, until after highschool, until after college, until after establishing a financial base. Can't they see? We only get one shot at this life. Tomorrow may never come. The time is now! Not to drop everything and move to Africa, but to find the passion that is inside us and embrace it, to listen to its subtle whispers" ~ Erik Mirandette

Some of my favourite moments have been from the simple quiet time with my hand raised babies to braai nights with all the staff and volunteers to cuddles with Lala, Sheela's cheeky escapes from her walks in order to get cuddles, playing with the children from the school and the crazy and unusual times where things happen that you could not imagine!

"Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me." - Carl Sandburg 

Despite plans to move on I will miss it, the animals, people, lifestyle and experiences, however it's time now for something new, to take the things I have learned and passions I have and fulfil the dream I have had for so long to travel the world and find the ultimate place I want to settle.

"Moving abroad is more profound than traveling. It goes beyond curiosity to commitment. Moving abroad is full immersion in a strange country, being forced to make a new life there, using little more than whatever wit, wisdom, openheartedness, and evenhandedness you carry inside you. Perhaps the principal difference is this: To travel is to expect much of the places you visit; to move to one of these places is to expect much of yourself." - http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/26/navigations-leap-year/

There is only one photo I can use to sum up my time over there and that's of these two characters who I will miss terribly!

Wish me luck for the future...

Keeping up with the Joneses and driving Miss Daisy

This is a long overdue story for you that I have finally had the chance to write up in detail...

Back in May- July 2012 I was working on a  one off TV show which involved a certain welsh hottie (from T4) and his family. The concept was that they would head into the Namibian veldt with the San Bushmen in order to learn how to live like they do and see how they coped. The idea would be that they would eat only what they hunted, caught or gathered with the assistance of their guides and would live, hunt, sleep and eat as the bushmen did traditionally for a week and film this challenge. 

"Our pleasures were simple - they included survival." -Dwight D. Eisenhower 



They came to us as fixer and translator to organise the trip and communications. Aside from putting together all the logistics, permits, accommodations etc etc from our end there were a few common sense things I needed to learn, like how to put up a roof tent, put together a camping shower and change a tyre. Luckily between the entire team, and people being kind with their time and knowledge, we possessed enough skills and I learned everything I needed to know. 

"Common sense is not so common." - Voltaire 

The day before we set off everything was being loaded and checked. After watching two of our team put up a couple of roof tents to check them, I suddenly realised that these were not the tents we were using and despite half an hour of puffing and panting in getting them up my colleagues were very good natured, laughed it off and started on the ones we would be using! 

Having worked in events for years I suddenly realised this one was going to be somewhat different when several drums of fuel were loaded onto the back of the bakkie with a TLB!

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." -  C.S. Lewis

We set off early Friday morning and drove and drove until we got to Tsumkwe - about 12 hours in total. DJ Daisy was in the passenger seat and provided all the tunes that the radio was sadly lacking and I don't think we paused in conversation once.

We turned off the main tar road and after an hour hit the conservancy gates, convinced we were nearly there we felt a little more relaxed. Then, the villages petered out and we were still driving, and driving and driving. The north is very dry and there have been some problems with natural fire and fires set as land claims by different cultural groups of people that live in the area. So, its dark, we don't really know where we are and there are fires all around. 

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien 

Despite this we decided to stop for a quick photo-shoot of the surrounds...

Luckily its one road, you just keep driving and it takes you right into the town.  Unluckily we had no cell reception. However, we both agreed that if it came to it we felt safe enough to unroll the mats and sleeping bags and sleep on the back. Eventually we saw the mobile telephone mast - we knew we were in sight.We finally arrived (with a supply of wine which seemed to be much needed!) just before they sent out a driver to look for us. 

The first night started with a lovely buffet dinner and a few glasses of wine, and finished with a few more glasses of wine in one of the staff's houses. Everyone else had been there three days, we rock up and within an hour we are off consuming wine after hours with the staff. At this stage you realise we were well paired as roomies and going to have lots of fun and be a little tired by the end of the week.

"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body." - Benjamin Franklin 

In the morning we headed out and set up the first camp, about an hour from the lodge, not too far from the 'traditional village' where they were shooting the first day. We organised the camp, set up the shower, got the food ready and watched the guys spend an hour or two putting up the marquee (this was the only time it came out of its bag - after a two hour set up it was truly in disgrace). 

This first day filmed the family meeting the San community and learning about how to build a traditional hut. The family were all 6ft plus and the bushmen are generally about 5ft on tip toes, so their hut well and truly stuck out!

On the first night, as the family struggled to sleep they kept the fire burning all night to keep themselves and the dogs warm. The san were a little annoyed this used up much of the villages fire wood, however the family just wanted to keep the dogs warm - different cultures see things differently.

Every day the camp moved so they could film different experiences and areas of the conservancy, this one camp already had an amazing structure in place which we chose to build around.

Our hospitality manager did an amazing job of the camp set up, catering and looking after the crew, with us as her loyal, hard working team. The food was amazing, even in the middle of the bush and despite the running around and setting up camps I swear we all put on weight. 

Amazing menu considering being in the middle of nowhere.

"Any celebration meal to which guests are invited, be they family or friends, should be an occasion for generous hospitality." - Julian Baggini 

Most days we would get up between 4.30-5.30am and get to bed between 11pm and midnight, we usually had an hour or two to travel to and from the camp - the distances were not too far, but the speed you can travel over there is very slow with road conditions, bushes and animals. The cars were often packed with the full team meaning on one occasion about ten of us tessellated inside the double cab and a couple of others on the back! Before we set off and when we got back each day there were things to organise, safe to say at the end of the week we were refreshed from something different, but shattered from all the running around!

So off go the crew and family on the first day to get to the start location...

...and the filming and activities begin...

We were lucky enough to see some beautiful flamingoes on the salt pan whilst waiting for filming to wrap up one afternoon...

...and some elephants in the distance. As it was quite a dry season up there some of the team did run right into elephants at one point and were lucky to get away without incident. We were also aware that there were lions in the area and we needed to be careful in certain areas as we did not want to be snook up upon. 

After waiting for the filming to finish for a couple of hours so we could pull the car up we were eventually called in, they were hunting for porcupines and this was going to take some time. Porcupine is a San delicacy, highly prized, hard to catch and apparently delicious. We went up onto the hillside, all burnt out from the fires that had ravaged the area. The San hunters were digging holes to catch three porcupine who were burrowed into the ground...

...it's quite a complex process involving digging several holes and tunnels to get to the porcupines. We had to light a fire as the sun set and that involved going out into the veldt to collect wood, grass and twigs so we could see and continue filming. The director from the farm and I had to laugh as they sent us two women off into the bush in lion country to for forage for wood as they stayed nervously close to the hunting spot. I suppose we were just more used to being in that environment, but still we chuckled at chivalry in action.

Eventually they managed to catch one porcupine and the filming director was happy to go. Unfortunately the San hunters were not, a diplomatic translation took place between crew and hunters and despite the crews desire to leave, the hunters were not budging. 

"Gotta watch out for directors." - Stephen Sondheim 

After seven hours of digging they wanted all three porcupines. Fortunately the cast did understand and were happy to stay to catch the other two. An hour later, after falling down several holes in the dark but three porcupine richer, we left. 

That evening back at camp the porcupines were stripped of quills and roasted. To be honest it was a real nature in blood and tooth moment, having never hunted for food before and hearing the porcupines being slaughtered and seeing them roasted was not pleasant, one of the family cast was vegetarian and barely ate for the whole week, this part of the week genuinely upset him and being honest I wasn't 100% comfortable either. However, for me, despite the obvious harshness of hunting it was interesting to see that this is how some people live and also interesting to see people so close to nature, taking just what they need. They say porcupine is a delicacy, so I tried it, sadly for me all I tasted was sand and fat, but I am sure someone there was enjoying their meal.

"If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart." - Cesar Chavez 



Over the next few days as we drove through the bush one of the San guides stopped us and pointed out that he could see the site of where a leopard had killed and dragged an animal into the bush, we got off to look and film...

Here you can see the drag lines....

...and spatters of blood...

It's really amazing to witness the San seeing something you or I would totally miss and watch them read the land and tell you what happened there.

Here you can see one of the San hunters setting a trap for guinea fowl...

...this is one of the hunters now also involved in the ancient san skills academy on the farm.

We didn't get to see all the filming as there was plenty to do behind the scenes but some of the other scenes involved the attempted hunting of a kudu and a warthog and hiding in a hunting hole with the San hunters, there were also scenes of them walking long distances in the veldt and using natural roots and plants to survive from. As one of the family was vegetarian food for him in particular was limited, but he loved the water root and got little more than this.

One of my favourite evenings was where we were about a two hour drive from the camp, the family cast were out in the bush sleeping with the San guides and we had finished for the day. We ended up sitting round the fire and talking in a mixture of English, Afrikaans and San and a few of us received our San names - which included names for 'house-maker' and 'gossip', however mine was zebra, which delighted me greatly, of course.  

"Naming a baby is an act of poetry, for many people the only creative moment of their lives." - Richard Eyre 

This was also such an interesting evening as we were looking into ways in which to work closer with the community up there, so ended up having a meeting in the middle of the bush with potential supporters, a very unusual meeting (no powerpoint and conference calls)!

This was also the evening that after our happy campers had gone to bed there was a leopard round the campfire where the family were staying and one around the campsite. The bushmen stayed awake all night protecting the family. In the morning both the family cast and the crew were fairly freaked out as they saw the tracks!

Sadly there were quite a few skinny stray dogs in the area, one of whom (nicknamed Clara and who nearly came home with us) managed to get into our food stores on day one and eat a lot of the chocolate brownies!

It was amazing how much my Afrikaans improved - mainly my understanding improved, but I also gained a few choice words to my vocab! Not only did my Afrikaans improve, but so did my off road driving, especially when we had to drive straight through a field of long grass in a salt pan with clouds of dust everywhere you looked. My directions didn't fair as well though - as one night I set off across a field to camp sure I knew where I was going only to arrive back a the camp ten mins later!

After the filming had taken place and we had our last wrap up evening we had the opportunity to see the local area, from the shabeen that we (honestly) never went to...

...to the more important local women and children's shelter...

We said our goodbyes on the airstrip before their flights back and our long drive...

At the end of November I received the rough cut of the production, which due to internet speed I could not watch, however I am hoping it is good. This means it shouldn't be too long before its shown on TV in the UK - I hope you enjoy watching it as we enjoyed making it!