Britain's got talent ....

In with the new

Apologies for the title change .... but i'm having a moving-on moment. Long story but hopefully you'll stick with me.

In vino veritas .... but also in Woodford, and Oban and Tanqueray ...

Those of you who know me well ... will know that part of my love for the countries I've lived in or visited .... is manifest in my enduring love for all the forms of alcohol of the region ... obviously south african wine, aussie wine .... english gin .... american bourbon ... peruvian pisco ... single malt scotch ... brazilian cachaca ... cuban rum ... sake .... etc etc etc .... the fact that my friend Lisa could make enough of a video of me drinking to the entire Bare Naked Ladies song (Alcohol ...) as a birthday present is testament to me ... and a little worrying ...

Anyhow - now I'm back in London and trying to be a grown-up ... i've been seeking advice from mates as to how to cut back a little .... one friend Matt has stopped drinking from Monday to Wednesday - but could be left miserable if something big came up early in the week .... Nicole only drinks before Thursday in the week if she is abroad (which she almost always is ... so frankly she's just cheating) .... my mate Saskia is more flexible - at least three days a week of no drinking, two days of moderate and two days heavy (and she taught me to drink ....) ... but then I know i'd find myself engaging in a complicated log-book scenario of carrying days over and using up days in advance ....

I'm weighing up options of a system that someone actually uses honestly ..... all suggestions gratefully received ....

Coming Home .....

Apparently i'm not the only returning back to native lands this month .... this is a really sweet story about 4 gorillas who were illegally gorilla-napped from Cameroon and taken to Malaysia .... somehow amazingly they didn't suffer the fate of most monkeys/apes that are sent out to the far east (very lucky indeed - i once went to a chimp sanctuary in kenya ... and it broke my heart what evilness is done to these poor animals)..... and even more luckily they were kept as a family and made it to Taiping Zoo ....

However three years ago - the endangered apes were semi-returned to Africa first journeying to Johannesburg ..... and now finally they've made it back to their home country .... where they were received by government ministers at the airport!

What really also amazes me is that the gorillas had to go via Nairobi ..... probably in part because South Africa really doesn't see itself as part of the rest of Africa - and so has no direct flights anywhere in the continent (barely) .... but any of you who have ever travelled through Africa will know that there are rules to flying here .... basically never check luggage if you can help it and especially never if you are transitting ..... (i learned my lesson once when i landed in Nairobi but my luggage didn't land with me - and so had to spend the first three days of my trip with no clothes or anything .... and instead had to resort to feeding people vats of whiskey to distract them from my increasingly filthy state) .... so it was very brave for the gorilla-movers to chance a stopover (i know i know - it would have been very hard to misplace 4 great apes .... but this is Africa ... and anything can happen) ....

Anyhow these poor gorillas after gallivanting around southern and eastern africa ..... are now settling in back at home (well - on a sanctuary at least) and getting their bearings back .... which is a lot like how i feel here in england .... especially the sanctuary part given i'm squatting at my friend sonia's .... almost like a rehabilitation camp to prepare my for my release back into the wilds of north london ....

Me and the monkeys .... rediscovering "home" .... and missing South Africa .....


(picture: me and chimp friend taking a sanctuary stroll)

Out of Africa ....

Life is a very odd thing.

I came to South Africa over two years ago really because i was chasing a romantic dream. Otherwise - i hadn't a clue what i was looking for .... i had no idea what i actually wanted to do ..... and i was desperate enough to accept the first decent job that came along from the week or so that i gave myself in Boston to find work in a hope to make some sort of career for myself .... and i didn't have the most auspicious start .... mugged at knifepoint on my first day .... it was just the fear of going home and admitting that i'd chickened out that made me stay .....

And so its funny that i'm finding leaving africa with far far scarier and unsettling and more of a step into the unknown than arriving here ..... it goes without saying that its been the most special incredible unbelievable experience .... horrific and disturbing in parts but mostly wonderful and without exception heartstopping .....and whilst the initial underlying reason i moved here hasn't sadly worked out .... i couldn't be more grateful that it inspired me to take the plunge, introduced me to a whole new world and way of thinking and spurred me to adventure ....

So naturally leaving has been difficult .... obviously - london can't ever really compare to one of the world's most beautiful cities with a mountain plop in the middle, beaches to go to after work .... and a different vineyard to visit every weekend and gourmet food at developing world prices .... safari and surf .... heaven and earth ..... and it was just the start of summer .... as i moved to england at the start of winter .... wristslitting ....

But of course - the real heartbreakers have been leaving a job that tangibly made a difference ..... work that really made me feel that i might just be fighting the good fight with purpose and that has definitely made me finally wake up to what i want to achieve in life .... and also leaving some of the bestest friends i will ever have to fortune to meet and that i thank my lucky stars i did (the best mugging ever!) .... that i can't even type about without getting all teary ... who saw me through some terrible lows and without question contributed to all of my highs .... and that i know i'll love forever and ever with all my heart .....


So now the leaving parties are over (thank you my gorgeous pedro and prawn for enduring a seemingly month-long continuous farewell) .... all my afro-trash bits and bobs have been packed and shipped .... and i'm sitting here in london ruefully shaking my umbrella and already missing South Africa truly madly deeply ..... so it seems the right time to start getting settled in ... and to change the name of the blog .....