The Artsaypunk

Saturday saw me, once again, engaged in my favourite quarterly distraction of obtaining a visa extension. It really seemed to sneak up on me this time around. I just can’t believe it’s been three months since I was in Africa; almost two months since my birthday; and almost a month since the play. Time is [...]

Of my whole trip to and from Africa, out of 18 total hours of flying, by far the most irritating part was the last leg from Dubai to Karachi. I don’t know what it is, but any flight between Dubai and Karachi, or vice versa, is really annoying. I think part of this is based [...]

8:05 AM, June 6, 2005 – Dubai, UAE – Approx. Temp. 36 C I arrive at that Pakistan Consulate. The lobby is blessedly cool and air-conditioned. Ben explains my situation to the man at the desk. I am expecting a work invitation letter faxed to this office. I’m told that although the office opens at [...]

As best I can remember from Kampala’s Capital FM radio: Woman: We told him not to Dig! Man: But he would not listen. Woman: We told him to watch out for power lines! Man: But he just kept digging. Woman: We told him to check with the power company! Man: But he would not listen, [...]

After some advice from friends, and a little research with my friend Google, I realized that I might just need a yellow fever shot to reenter Pakistan. Uganda itself is not endemic, but Kenya is, and since I had a stop over in Nairobi (even though I wouldn’t be leaving the plane) there was a [...]

Know what I just remembered? In Uganda, nose picking and crotch scratching are totally not taboo at all. I suppose this leads to a lot of trouser bogies. Although, most often, I saw the actions simultaneously, like the ole “pat your head, rub your tummy” trick. It’s a strange sight though, to see a man [...]

After a restless night in a tree house and a morning tracking chimps, Anna and I were pretty beat. Still, we figured that since we were there, we might as well try to take in a hike at a nearby wetland reserve. We struck off down the road, confident that soon enough someone would come [...]

Despite our fatigue, my sister and I were understandably excited to go tracking chimps in the rainforest, especially since we had travelled a helluva long way in a stinking mini-bus and paid a lot of money to do so. As we ate breakfast, I looked at the other tourists that had signed up, We seemed [...]

I have to admit that after the Great Black Mamba Scare of 2005 I was slightly skeptical about spending the night in a tree. Especially a tree in the middle of a rainforest, ten minute’s walk from the main camp, guarded by a slithering, black poison repository. Now, if we had almost stepped on some [...]

Just so you know. In the middle of a rainforest, in a National Park, in a country with two official gradations below “Outhouse,” is just about the worst possible time to get the shits.