An outdoor adventure to Canada’s great white north.
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