North/East Africa tips, anyone?

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Thanks again for your tips, everyone. I've now been out of Canada for a week, and have been located in Kampala, Uganda. The Ugandans are a lovely, gentle people. Kampala is also a wonderful, lush and green place (given the start of the rainy season), with daytime skies populated with teams of circling, flying "trash collectors"--the massive marabou storks. Kampala also has some of the most magnificent thunderstorms that I have ever seen. You can practically touch the clouds from which the lightning bolts come.

 

The conference that I'm attending here--the Association of Surgeons of East Africa Conference--is incredibly interesting. The surgeons in attendance tackle cases commonly encountered in North America, in addition to a liberal dose of those which are a little more wild and woolly. Opening ceremonies were attended by the Prime Minister of Uganda and although I've been on the conference circuit a fair bit this past year, few conference schedules rival the topics that are presented here. It's an array of the interesting, wild and slightly surreal in afflictions and surgical treatments. A sampling: "Thoracic Surgery Under Difficult Conditions"; "AIDS and Surgery"; "Fourniers gangrene"; "Bone and Joint T.B."; and "Post Circumcision Male Genital Mutilation".

 

I slip out of Entebbe (which is perched comfortably on the equator) this Saturday afternoon via Nairobi and Khartoum, en route to Cairo. Based on some of your advice, the trip down the Nile has already been arranged, as have two days packed full of visitations to the older structural inhabitants of Cairo. By the time next Tuesday afternoon rolls around, when I land back in TO, I hope to be able to unpack, not only the various necessary accoutrements within my suitcase, but also, an enlargened set of warm memories of my first trip to Africa.

 

Thanks again,

Kirsteen

[Guest mydream88]

sigh, Kirsteen, what a lovely adventure with a dose of medical conference too, who could ask for more. I am sitting here at my desk having a very 'underappreciated' day and this nice description sure reminds me not to be down I was born in South Africa though I have never been back since I came here in 1986, perhaps I should look into re-visiting and touring more of the continent while i'm at it!

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip

mydream88

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi again mydream88,

 

You definitely should book a wee trip over if you can--perhaps as a reward for gaining entry to meds next spring?! It's a beautiful continent, and up here at least, highly affordable. On one of the numerous Kenya Airways flights, I met a couple of really great blokes from Joburg, who had just spent two months working in Khartoum with the UN. Also, during the lengthy Cairo Airport layover I got talking to a fab couple, also from South Africa. You guys apparently get about!

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest mydream88]

We certainly do get about :rollin !

 

Buy some peppermint crisp chocolate bars while you're at the airport if you can! They are the greatest thing since sliced bread!!! Biltong (beef jerkey but way better) and Bourevors (sausage) are popular meats in South Africa, I dont' know if they have any where you're heading but if they have any of these foods I recommend them!! What about wildlife? have you visited game reserves? when I was younger I was literally asked if I rode to school on elephants!! I wish.

 

I agree that a trip over there is well worth it. The trip, if booked however, would not be 'wee' as it does require travelling literally halfway around the world!! I say that all of us go on a group premed celebration if we get in to med school. heck if we all get in, it's on me (just kidding, over zealous at the prospect of such a situation ).

 

Yah, the blokes from Joburg are 'Lecka' but be careful that they aren't 'chahfing'!

 

Have so much fun, for all of us

mydream88:smokin

 

p.s. I loooove the book 'doing right' , I commented on it in the 'medical school interviews' section

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi again,

 

I've actually had biltong. A previous boyfriend of mine's mum was from Cape Town and she used to keep a private stash of biltong in her kitchen. She'd chisel at the blocks she had, would share little wedges with me every once in a while and tell me to chew and chew... Hearty stuff!

 

I'll look out for the peppermint chocolate bars--are they available widely in Africa? On chocolate, I usually like to bring a supply of Dairy Milk when I travel, especially now that Air Canada are charging for icky snacks; however, the other day, here in Kampala, my supply ran dry. :x I ventured out to supermarket row here in one of the busy streets. It's quite the experience. A Kampala supermarket is about the same size as a small lottery outlet/convenience store in Canada, with roughly the same size of inventory, if not smaller. They carry an interesting range of toiletries, most forms of which are fairly alien looking. (I had to familiarize myself with the various types, forms and fragrances of African deodorant--Secret Platinum was nowhere to be found.) While in there purchasing just those, I came upon a small shelf of Dairy Milk wares. The chocolate bars were hilarious though: akin to our Hallowe'en candies--in bar terms, 2 squares by three (and the squares were the small sort).

 

As to traveling half-way around the world, depending on where you want to go, not necessarily. I was quite pleasantly surprised at the length of the flight from Frankfurt to Cairo--about three hours. Granted, heading down to equatorial Africa is a bit longer of a jaunt, but primarily because a few more flights are needed to get into the more interesting areas.

 

Cheers, and glad you're enjoying Hebert's book!

Kirsteen

[Guest mydream88]

Hi Kirsteen,

I am sorry to hear about your chocolate dilemma, I would be :x too! I am not sure about the widespread availability of peppermint crisp in North Africa, the airport would probably be your best chance.

 

I think it may very well be a 'South African' thing to force-feed such foods upon loved ones!! My boyfriend has tried it all, albeit with enthusiasm! His favourite is of course, the peppermint crisp cake that my grandmother's friend has trademarked and concocted!!

 

I don't know if you are returning to T.O, if so, peppermint crisp can be found here, I know this store 'Sedo Snax' carries them. But for now, never mind chocolate you are either in Africa or Cairo!! I hope that your book is keeping you company and your adventures are still unfolding.

 

have a great day,

mydream88

[Guest mydream88]

Dear Kirsteen,

I hope that you had a wonderful trip and safe return? You recently mentioned your chocolate requirements while travelling and our correspondance quickly turned toward my favourite chocolate...peppermint crisp. Well, I have some great news..if you are a hot chocolate drinker! Yesterday I tried a peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks and it definitely satisfied my peppermint crisp cravings! I know that this is off-topic (from med school) but I truly beleive that this piece of information may be very useful to the chocolate lovers on this site!!

 

happy indulging,

mydream88:D

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Cheers for the tip; that wee libation does sound yummy and I look forward to having some.

 

Yep, the haul back was a bit long (33 hours and five flights) but it certainly was worth it when I saw the sight of the 427, of all things. Oddly enough though, I've been knocked down with a whacky set of symptoms of as of yesterday, so I may be going in to say hello to the folks to whom I've been referring on another thread recently: the Infectious Disease folks at Mt. Sinai. Ah, souvenirs from Africa.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest mydream88]

Well Kirsteen,

I advise you to have one hot chocolate and get plenty of rest

 

seriously though, I really hope you feel better and that your symptoms are merely a form of delayed jet lag.

 

take it easy and get well soon,

mydream88

 

p.s. I am not familiar with the folks at Mt.Sinai, but if you have trouble seeing someone there, I know that on the 9th floor at TGH in the older part of the building (Eaton South wing) i.e from the entrance facing Elizabeth st. there is a center for 'tropical diseases'. best of luck