As I’m sitting on a long layover (which isn’t a bad thing) on my last leg of this Zimbabwe and East Africa Tour, here are some random musings that I’ve learned or confirmed from this trip:
Travel-related:
If you have a layover and it’s under an hour between flights, there is a very good chance your bags aren’t going to be coming with you.
Pack everything you need (especially multiple pairs of undergarments and a change of clothes) in your carry-on.
If you’ve never travelled to the Continent before, pack your patience. In more ways than one.
Travel within your limits and don’t exceed it. If you know you’re the type of person that can’t function without sleep, rest, and good meals, you may want to reconsider maximizing every second of your travels.
If travelling with a group for work, understand that everyone is on edge, is tired, and the littlest thing can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Be honest with yourself (and the group) when you know you need to take a break from it all. You aren’t anti-social, but just need to recharge your batteries.
Hold yourself accountable. Own your mistakes.
Find a hotel that will give you a toothbrush, toothpaste, and breakfast included. Especially if you’re jumping from hotel to hotel, city to city, country to country.
Try to book your flights to land in the late afternoon and early evening. Late night and early morning flights (we did multiple of those) aren’t worth the few hours of added work time.
Mind what you eat and drink. Gut rot is real.
Fanny packs and money wallets are a must.
Country-related:
What you see on TV, social media, and ‘stereotypes’ of Africa doesn’t tell you the whole picture of the heterogeneity of the Continent. Yes, there are some serious income inequalities, and people struggling to survive (I can give you legitimate arguments that North America is no different), but to tell a single-story of ‘Africa’ is a product of orientalist essential reductionism (in plain language: racism).
If you think you hustle and grind in Canada, you’ve never been to East Africa (I know West/South/North Africans will say the same thing).
Nairobi is no joke (and shout out to Sankara Hotel - the whole vibe there of Black ‘elitism’ was cool to see).
Most people I’ve met on this trip speak at least 3 languages fluently. The most of my second language (French) I spoke in 20 years was in Mauritius, and that was mainly Franglais. Canada should really promote at least trilingual language comprehension at an early age, including indigenous languages for non-indigenous people in Canada.
The hunger for education in this region puts a lot of Ontario/Canadian society to shame.
Capitalism is the (ugly) common denominator that unites us.
Joe & Jill Canada really need to understand that the US is no longer the world-super power. They/we also need a more nuanced understanding of ‘Africa’ and ‘China’ relations.
Kigali (I can’t speak for Rwanda as a whole), gave me faith in humanity, truth and reconciliation, and Black progress/‘excellence.’ You have to see it to believe it and this is a model for me to follow. Sometimes a military dictatorship is the best option for equity.
***For all those (Black) people that think ‘Africa’ is the panacea to your oppression: it’s not. And if it does, you’ve probably become the oppressor.
Me-related:
I’m blessed. I’m X years of age and never would’ve imagined being where I am.
I’m a work in process. I'm very secure in my identity, but know there is room for growth.
I’m good at what I do, but I can be better.
***I joke a lot about having maximized my ‘Self’ in Canada and moving away, but I think it might be time.
________
Side note: I put *** on these two points because it’s important for me to articulate that I do feel more valued for my ‘objective’ qualifications (e.g. the PhD, the AVP, and the wealth I have) while I’m on the Continent. It’s as if my class status gets an automatic Super Mario boost because of my institutional and individual power. And my colour (dark colour to boot) loses some of its negativity as soon as I step on the red earth.
But then, my dreads and beard take a hit (not so much the tattoos, oddly enough). As any Dread or Rasta would know, most small c-conservative ‘Black’ societies, do not look at us kindly. Listen to any Roots Reggae (or for those Bob Marley fans listen deep to his songs), and you’ll hear that Babylon (the State) doesn’t accept what locs represent. I’m not a Rasta, for the record, and I had convos in Kampala and Dar es Salaam about this. Rwandan, Ugandan, and Tanzanian immigration officials gave me the hardest times. Searching my bags, my hair, questioning my profession, taking me back in those little rooms for more searches. It wasn’t pleasant.
On the flip side, I do know (and was told) if I do move abroad to the Continent, I can do more for the (insert Black African country here) than I could back in Canada.
Why?
I’ve got White man qualifications and credentials, with Black man identities and respect.
And this isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Why?
I could do like all the other (White) expats and feed into the capitalism that drives the oppression of non-white people across the globe.
I could move to Kampala (just using this city as an example) tomorrow and get myself a driver, two or three servants, a big house in an exclusive neighbour hood, send my kids to some of the top international schools in the world, and become one of society’s ‘elite.’
My parents emigrated to Canada for a ‘better life’ and social mobility, and I could/should emigrate out of Canada to reach another level of socioeconomic ‘success.’
Funny, ain’t it?
It’s been a pleasure having this space to unpack my travels. It’s been a rewarding challenging the past couple weeks.
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