An outdoor adventure to Canada’s great white north.
Tag Archives: Drinking
Professional Babes
14 JanI touched down in Brussels and it was a little colder than I was accustomed to in Africa, luckily I had my trusty beard to keep my face warm. After a little confusion I met up with my friend Claire who I had met in University. Claire is in Brussels playing professional volleyball for Barbar d’X-Elles. Claire gave me a tour around the city that hit the main sites including Grand Place, St. Machael and St. Gudula Cathedral and then famous Manneken Pis. We then hit the true sites of Brussels and stopped for some frites and beers. No stop in Brussels can be complete without *moules frites so we wrangled up Erin and Britt from the team and went out to a place called Au Vieux Bruxelles. The restaurant has been serving plates since 1882 so you know they weren’t going to mess anything up. The girls were all amazing in taking in this bearded bum even though they were a little nervous about having a hippie in the house. A huge thanks to them all and here is a quick story on the girls from TV Brussels.
http://www.tvbrussel.be/fr/node/21916
Foggy
*A big bowl of mussels with fries on the side.
Nairobi Nights
5 DecNairobi gets a bad rap as a dangerous city that you don’t want to spend a lot of time in but if you know the right people and places you can have a pretty wild time. I was lucky to make friends with a great local that loved to party so we naturally got along like a house on fire. Nairobi has something for everyone from cheap local shot bars to glow stick trance parties. Westlands is a great area to go out in as you can hit up a lot of bars all in one strip. All that being said Nairobi is still dubbed Nairobery so always have your wits about you as you can still get yourself into unsafe situations. Always take a taxi after dark no matter how short the distance as I learned from experience even the police can be out for the money in your wallet. Guys, also remember no matter how into you the girl seems to be make sure to ask if she’s a hired lady as it can make for an awkward night.
Foggy
The Iron Snake
3 DecThe train from Mombasa to Nairobi costs more than a bus, takes more time and is frequently delayed. One might ask why anyone would take it but it’s all about the experience. Make sure to not have a tight connection on the other side as the train can take an extra 8 hours on some trips. Once on board head to the dinner car and enjoy some ice cold Tusker beers. The stops will be frequent and long and you will never know when the train will start up again but it’s all apart of the fun. Also remember to bring toilet paper as 18 hours on a train without any can get interesting very fast.
Foggy
Photo Credit: Jonathan Fontaine
The Backpacking Trap
3 DecSometimes on the road you run into a place that it is very hard to leave but Mombasa Backpackers is a whole different animal. People arrive here expecting to stay a few days and end up staying months. I was supposed to stay here two days and ended up staying two weeks. Within the massive walls you have a very family feel as the backpackers itself is in an old family mansion. Don’t let the family atmosphere fool you though as bathing suits are forbidden after dark in the pool (for some reason only the guys follow this one). Beers are cheap and a few sunrises on the beach are always in the cards. Brush up on your beer pong skills as games are a nightly occurrence. I managed to finally peel myself away but I have the feeling I left numerous brain cells and a large chunk of my liver there.
Foggy
The Dutch Doctors
17 NovI had reached Zanzibar the place in Africa to drink copious amounts of beer and swim in the very warm Indian Ocean. The only problem was that I developed an ear infection essentially blocking me from these activities. I was a little bummed about it but figured it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I luckily bumped into 4 Dutch doctors all my own age down in Africa on their final internship. They went over my symptoms and informed me that beer and swimming in the ocean were both fine to do. I was of course ecstatic and waltzed up to the bar to grab an ice cold Kilimanjaro. A huge thanks to my Dutch friends for keeping my party going!
Foggy
Access Denied to the DRC
12 NovTried making a quick trip across the border into the DRC but got denied on the Congo side. Lucky for Mathieu though as they wanted us to pay a lot of money for us to come back into Burundi but he negotiated a much better under the table price.
Foggy
Avoid non-essential travel
8 NovThe Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has the following to say about Burundi:
OFFICIAL WARNING: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to Burundi. While the general situation in the country has started to stabilize as a result of peace agreements between the National Liberation Forces (FNL) rebel group and the Government of Burundi, sudden outbreaks of violence and civil unrest are still likely to take place throughout Burundi, including around FNL demobilization camps. There are large amounts of small arms and weapons in circulation, easily available to various groups. Violent attacks and ambushes by former soldiers, rebel forces, and youth gangs against humanitarian workers, including foreigners, occur frequently. These incidents include robbery and murder. The presence of refugees returning from Rwanda and Tanzania also continues to exacerbate tensions.
Like the sensible traveler I am, after reading this I decided to go anyways. I am definitely glad I made the decision because Bujumbura was an amazing city. I didn’t feel unsafe once and people were a lot more welcoming then they were in the neighbouring country of Rwanda. The one thing people in Bujumbura know how to do well is party and it doesn’t matter what night of the week it is, naturally I fit in quite well. The local drop was Amstel Bock and you can guess this traveler had his fair share.
Foggy
Foggy Travels Himself
