travel - ilivetotravel's travel log

Boarding Pass Stories: Constantinople! OK, Istanbul

20 August 2013 by Raul 5 Comments

The destination, the when(s), and the reason(s)

My knack for taking one trip idea and expanding its scope is not a recent event. That’s how I ended last year exploring a country I may have never visited otherwise: Moldova. It pre-dates my travel blogging days by a bit. As I joined a group of friends last-minute on a trip to Egypt (literally, like two weeks before the trip), I wondered what else could I do as I had plenty of vacation time at work. I contacted a former co-worker who had moved back to his hometown of Istanbul and asked him if I could visit and he said yes, of course. I got a free ticket to/from Istanbul with Delta and then bought a separate ticket between Istanbul and Cairo so I had to fly through Istanbul to head to Egypt first and then I would come back and stop in Istanbul from where I would fly through Paris again (as the boarding pass above shows). This was in 1998, eons ago, it feels.

The airline

Air France offered great service as usual in those days for many airlines. I flew business class since I had plenty o’ miles and it was going to be a LONG trip. Class…

What fascinated me about this experience

I returned from Cairo to Istanbul to visit my friend and explore this “epically historic” city for the first time. I wait for my friend and nothing. An hour passes and I begin to get a little antsy (these days, cellphones were not what they are today and I believe you still couldn’t use a U.S. in Europe, had I brought mine along).

So I nervously wondered if my friend confused the day or time of my arrival. I realized I should call him at work and see. Since these were the days you could still find payphones, this would not be a problem. Except I first had to exchange money, hope for coins, figure out how much to pay for the call, etc. I called and it rang and rang. I kept trying and no answer. I was beginning to worry more now. I decided that surely someone was sitting around his desk or office so maybe I just had to keep calling until someone, in exasperation, decided to walk over and answer the darned phone. Someone sure did.

They plugged me through to my friend’s secretary and she told me she had been expecting my call (!) as my friend had unexpectedly and last minute been asked to make a trip abroad. So he left instructions with her to connect me to his girlfriend so she could let me in his apartment, etc. I rang her but in talking to her I realized his apartment was not near the city center which was the area I was going to be exploring and since my friend was not around, no point in staying far out.

I pulled out my travel book and found a hotel, the Pierre Lotti, which had availability and ended up working perfectly due to its proximity to all the places I wanted to see! What was great about this experience was that I explored Istanbul for 5 awesome days, met other travelers with whom I then did more social/less-touristy things, and had a great time! I did meet my friend’s girlfriend for lunch which was neat and which led to me getting lost on the way back to the hotel. But that, my dear reader, will be food for another post!

Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom, Istanbul, Constantinople, Byzantiu, church. mosque, museum, architecture, history, photo, mosaic, art

One of the mosaics uncovered in the Hagia Sophia – beautiful

Filed Under: Asia, Boarding Pass Series Tagged With: adventure, air france, airline, boarding pass, Cairo, Egypt, explore, flight, Istanbul, travel, trip, Turkey, Turquia

Reflections on Beginnings and Endings…

3 August 2013 by Raul 22 Comments

I was having a conversation with a dear friend who already has lost both her parents. It was a bittersweet conversation remembering parents gone on both sides and how parental relationships live on beyond that event called “death.” The conversation took me back to reflections I have been having this past week about how life, like travel, is a long series of beginnings and endings. Some endings are close to their beginnings and some are far apart.

In travel, for the most part beginnings are full of excitement and eagerness (except for some work ones…): ready to take a break, ready to see a new place, ready for a challenge (hiking Kilimanjaro), ready to see people I enjoy seeing and being with (family and friends), or ready to go to places I know well for a sense of “home” (Santiago, Paris).

Plane ticket, paper ticket ,travel, flights, nostalgia, no electronic ticket,

A plane ticket from days gone reflecting many beginnings and endings all in one

Endings in travel, on the other hand, sometimes are not the “funnest.” Of course, this is not always true. Sometimes I do long to return to my home base and see “my people” and enjoy being in my home (I happen to like where I live, I suppose!). Or sometimes a trip has been too full of action and its ending is a welcome break for rest. But who likes to leave, say, Italy and all that amazing food?? Or leave a beach resort where life is lazy, full of sun and fun?

But, like in many other things, without endings there would not be new beginnings. What would life be if it were a non-stop trip? (I can already hear some RTWers or global nomads disagree!) Of course, I mean this more in a philosophical way but the kernel of truth is the same. If there were no moments of sadness, the joy in joy would not exist, right? Same with travel beginnings and endings: much as I may not want to leave dear ones I am visiting or a destination I am so connected with, I would not get to experience the joy of reuniting with loved ones if the visit never “ended” or I would not get to experience the thrill of arriving in that awesome destination!

Easier written about than lived by but that is my aim: to always remind myself when those endings come, those endings bring an opportunity for new beginnings too.

May your life be full of exciting and sought-for beginnings (with some good unexpected ones) and may the endings be nothing but sweet…

Filed Under: Random Thoughts... Tagged With: airline ticket, beginnings, departure, endings, fun, leaving, life, musings, paper ticket, plane ticket, reflections, travel

Boarding Pass Stories: Little Rock, Arkansas

31 July 2013 by Raul 2 Comments

Boarding pass series goes to: Little Rock, Arkansas!!!

The destination, the when(s), and the reason(s)

A pretty unlikely destination, you may think, but I went there for a few months for business around 2001. Bill Clinton’s presidency had just ended and the presidential library would be located in this town which seemed to have gotten on the “national mindset map” when he first ran for President.

The airline

Delta was graced with my “passengership” as it was the only airline offering a direct flight. And ilivetotravel is fond of direct flights!

What fascinated me about this experience

Well, small town as it was relative to Atlanta, Little Rock positively surprised me (fascinated may be too strong a word). We stayed at the Doubletree downtown and it was neat to be able to run downtown by the Arkansas River and around the Central Business District early in the morning. The commute to work was not bad and we found a great place to eat Mexican food and enjoy margaritas. So, though not Paris or DC, we managed to find a way to enjoy this southern town while business took us there!

Filed Under: Boarding Pass Series, US & Canada Tagged With: airline, Arkansas, boarding pass, Delta, hotel, Little Rock, travel

My Top 5 Inflight Pet Peeves

27 July 2013 by Raul 22 Comments

As I flew back from a recent trip, having experienced a few random annoyances, my mind immediately sought to mentally catalog all my pet peeves about flying (I did have nine hours to kill…). A few months ago I shared my hotel pet peeves. I greatly enjoyed hearing from you on your own hotel pet peeves, so I thought I’d share what came to mind during that flight – and I hope I hear back from you on yours as I am sure five pet peeves cannot be all there is!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA, flight, plane, flying, blue sea, flyover, view, view from plane, Tampa Bay

Flying over Tampa Bay, Florida

Nota bene: I will even skip the obvious one: what passes for food (or snacks)… Too easy.

Let’s work our way to the number one pet peeve…

5. Poorly engineered entertainment systems

Ahhh… I sit down and get comfy. I turn on the entertainment system. How cool, I get to watch some movie I have not watched that I have been wanting to see. And then takeoff rolls around. Blip. Entertainment system turns off and when it finally re-starts, we start from scratch.

I have never really thought there was ANOTHER WAY. Until a recent flight where that did not happen. I was blown away! I was able to pick up the movie where I had left off. What a frigging concept! And then the system did not shutdown 20 minutes before landing – all that time to kill until I could get up to exit the plane. I have never understood why the cursed system could not keep me entertained up until the rows ahead of me had cleared out and my turn to walk out had come. Soup-to-nuts entertainment is what I want on a flight. Is it THAT hard? Some engineer somewhere must have the answer!

4. “8-track age” PA systems

Those public announcement (PA) systems on the plane used by the flight attendants to tell you 100 times during boarding to stow one carry-on under the seat in front of you to save overhead bin space… Is it impossible in this day and age to get clear sound coming out from speakers??? Please, give me a break!!! Feedback and noise are easily solvable these days, folks, come ON! Spend some money on engineering please! And then the pilot comes up during the flight and you can’t hear a thing. Really???

3. Continuing the entertainment theme

My next pet peeve applies to airplane configurations where there is a personal TV screen in the back of a seat and where said screen is a touchscreen. I imagine you can guess what this one is about… It’s about the fact there always seems to be a boxer behind me who thinks the touchscreen is a punchscreen. PUNCH. PUNCH. PUNCH. Hey, idiot, the force of the punch makes no difference. TAP IT! I normally do not confront people when they are being inconsiderate but on this one, after a few rounds of PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH, I will turn around and inform them tapping is preferred. I have a lot of patience to be sure it was not a one-off PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH but after a round of these, I do turn around…

2. Slingshot seat

Oh, boy, do I just HATE this… Especially when I am FINALLY asleep (it is hard for me to fall asleep when flying) and the moron behind me thinks the back of the seat in front of them is PURELY for leverage when they get up. It is one of the most inconsiderate things in a plane in my book… Added propulsion as I sit placidly, in turn, in a propelled metal tube… I will give said fellow passenger a look on the second or third incident and after that, if it is a long flight, I do speak up because I don’t want this game going on for hours…

And, drum roll please, …. the number one inflight pet peeve…

1. Parents behaving badly

Even more than the slingshot seat, parents behaving badly is about the most intolerable things in a plane. It is not the screaming child that annoys me. OK, that does, but I understand that toddlers are not always controllable and I can deal with it. However, it’s the dumbass parents who think the time we are all trapped in a metal cylinder being propelled through the atmosphere by combustible fuel is the time to demonstrate the ideal child-rearing parental behavior are just FREAKING RUDE. What do I mean about the ideal cihld-rearing parental behavior? Well, it is that behavior in which you don’t tell the child “no.” You just let them go on and on yelling (not crying) though it is an overnight flight because you don’t want to “traumatize them.” Well let me tell you, some day, someone will step up and yell at them and traumatize that child. It will not traumatize the child if for once you act like a mature adult and be considerate to others around you!

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So, there they are. What do you think??? But I don’t want to leave just thinking about why flying can be so annoying. Because flying also affords us great opportunities to see the world and some magical images of our planet and our sun – as this picture shows!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA, sunset, airplane, flying, airplane engine, reflection, sun, plane, flight

One amazing sunset and my plane all captured on the engine!

Filed Under: Travel Journal Tagged With: airline, entertainment system, hotel, inflight, pet peeve, transportation, travel, vuelos

Boarding Pass Stories: Delta Inflight Drink Options Circa 1985

21 July 2013 by Raul 6 Comments

I ran into this little memento going through old photo albums. It is a boarding pass from a flight from 1986.

Nothing peculiar about the front. But once you flip to the reverse… The menu of inflight drinks was conveniently placed behind the boarding pass! I guess so you could plan how to get your drink on while waiting to board the plane at the gate? Or, more likely, back then these were not in the inflight magazine -or- there was no inflight magazine to begin with… And note the rules.

Vintage, Detla, boarding pass, 1985, cocktails, airline, history, travel

Drinks and rules on the reverse of the boarding pass

I don’t remember much from those flights. Of course, I remember the smoking and non-smoking sections. I do remember getting a tray with a full meal (of airplane food, mind you) no matter how long the flight was. I remember being able to get a free deck of cards or my own wings. Those were the days, ey?

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Did you miss reading about my boarding pass collecting habit or the first in the boarding pass stories series or my boarding pass story about Christchurch, New Zealand??

Filed Under: Boarding Pass Series Tagged With: airline, airline history, boarding pass, Delta, Delta history, history, in-flight, inflight, inflight experience, travel, vintage

Boarding Pass Stories: Christchurch, New Zealand

7 July 2013 by Raul 1 Comment

The destination, the when(s), and the reason(s)

After spending two weeks there, I flew from Melbourne, Australia to New Zealand. My entry point: the very livable and lovely town of Christchurch. This was in 2009, so before the large earthquake that did so much damage to this beautiful town. I got to see it before it suffered such destruction.

The airline

Air New Zealand. The carrier that I chose to fly me from Los Angeles to Australia/New Zealand. I landed in Auckland where I connected with a flight to Sydney. After spending two weeks in Australia, I returned to NZ to explore it.

What fascinated me about this experience

Christchurch was a place I could actually live in. The neighborhoods, the city center – it all fit my likes. I found good restaurants and a charming bed and breakfast. It was a great launching point too to explore the south island of New Zealand and I sure hope to return some day!

Christchurch, New Zealand, cathedral, earthquake, destruction

Indoors at the main cathedral that, unfortunately, had to be condemned after the damage it suffered during the earthquake

I sure hope to return to Christchurch and explore it and the area more!

Filed Under: Australia & NZ, Boarding Pass Series, New Zealand - Southern Island Tagged With: air new zealand, airline, boarding pass, cathedral, Christchurch, earthquake, New Zealand, travel

Boarding Pass Stories: Las Vegas

30 June 2013 by Raul Leave a Comment

Welcome to a new feature for this travel blog As I shared in an earlier post, my history of travels is well-documented not only here but in the multitude of boarding passes I accidentally started collecting over 20 years ago. I think it is time those boarding passes stepped up to the plate and helped me tell the story of the trip, the place, and the airline… These posts will give short glimpses into these topics and I hope you find them a unique way to share the experience! And consider this your own boarding pass to share your own experiences – or dreams – about these places!

Without further ado, for this inaugural post, I have selected: Las Vegas, baby!

The destination, the when(s), and the reason(s)

I had been to Las Vegas once before with two of my aunts and their families. This time, 15 years later, I went for a friend’s wedding. A REAL wedding not an escapist one! Ceremony at the Wynn, reception at Maggiano’s.

The airline

Delta, of course! Leaving from home (Atlanta), Delta made the most sense. Note I was only a Silver Medallion in those days so no upgrade for ilivetotravel…

What fascinated me about this experience

My first trip to Vegas was a short overnight stay over on our way to explore the Southwest. On this trip, I got to live a little of the Vegas life. No, the details are not being left out because of that cliché (what happens in Vegas, blah blah blah…). Simply, we didn’t do anything crazy. I did get to see why people enjoy Vegas so much on this trip. Wedding events aside (at a Hofbrauhaus one night, at the Mandarin Oriental rooftop bar another, etc.), I enjoyed lounging by the pool of our hotel and I even got to see Cirque du Soleil‘s O at the Bellagio with my Godson. What fascinated me about this experience was finally “getting” that Vegas is more than bachelor parties and casinos: I am glad I went with an open mind and gave Las Vegas a second chance!

Filed Under: Boarding Pass Series, US & Canada Tagged With: boarding pass, Cirque du Soleil, Delta, destination, Las Vegas, story, travel, Wynn, Wynn Bellagio

Landing in Sao Paulo and Experiencing It

20 June 2013 by Raul 12 Comments

As a travel blogger, I read other bloggers’ blogs because, you could say, I like the topic. I always enjoy when one of them goes to Brazil for the first time and I get to read their writings about their experience. Those writings remind me I want to go back badly. I traveled to Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) a few times for business in the late 1990s and found it a mesmerizing country even though I spent weekdays working. But the cool thing was that Brazil was a great experience even while working – THAT’S how great this country and its people are!

Let me jog your memory – if you are old enough!

My trips to Brazil happened in 1997 – a LONG time ago: before the Internet was prevalent, email being a young thing in the consumer space, and when flights used PAPER tickets!

Airplane ticket old non-electronic flight memento souvenir antique

Who remembers these???

Landing in Sao Paulo

Arriving in Sao Paulo for the first time I remember looking out of my plane window and seeing high rises as far as my eyes could see on final approach. It was MIND-BLOWING!

Landing Sao Paulo Guarulhos airport city urban

This pic doesn’t show the true myriad of high rises!

I remember that the airport had bank machines right when one went outside after claiming luggage and going through customs. (Exit and make a left.) I was quite impressed by that (remember, this is the late 1990s and though bank machine existed since the 1980s, international networks connecting bank machines abroad to your bank at home was not commonplace yet!). I wonder if that bank machine is still there… Anyone??

Working in Brazil

One of the things I consider myself lucky to have experienced was working in Brazil. It is one thing to go to the beaches of Rio and things like that – all wonderful experiences. But it is another to be truly in the day-to-day hustle-and-bustle in a business environment. And one thing I learned is that Brazilians are just as warm and fun at work as they are out in the beaches or clubs. I got to speak “portuñol” at work with colleagues who did not speak English. It was a fun meeting when I met with the Marketing Director at my client and he spoke Brazilian Portuguese and me in my Spanish peppered with the few words in Portuguese that I had picked up that were different than Spanish (“acho” in Portuguese, “creo” in Spanish; meaning, “I believe”).

What number, obrigado?

Another funny thing from those days that I wonder if it still exists in Brazil in “this day and age”: I worked on a high-rise building on floor 10, 11, or 12, I can’t recall. When you walked into the elevator, you were NOT supposed to press the button for the floor you were going to. No, no voice recognition back then. See, in that building and -probably many others- there were “elevator ladies.” I know, I know, that sounds like a variation of the world’s oldest profession but it wasn’t – to my knowledge anyway. They had a stool to sit on, though they weren’t always sitting on them. Their job was to “man” the controls of the elevator. You know those complicated buttons next to those hieroglyphs we call “numbers.” Yes, I am sure a legacy of some nanny state period. And when they went home, guess what? The elevators would no longer run. I learned that the hard way one day when I stay beyond their working hours (which you can imagine, were not too many minutes after 5 or 6 PM – I can’t recall). So, I walked down the stairs that night. What I did get to appreciate was how quickly they learned the floor you normally went to such that you no longer had to tell them which floor’s button they needed to press. See? They were EFFICIENT!

A convenient bridge to Rio de Janeiro

Work was in Sao Paulo but I got to take the ponte aerea (“air bridge”) to Rio for the weekends :). The ponte aerea was a multi-flight per hour air-bus that enabled the passenger to just arrive at the airport and buy a ticket for the next flight with an open seat from whichever of the three participating airlines. If I recall, back then there were three flights per hour. I REALLY appreciated not having to stress over traffic delays for a scheduled flight time (and, boy, is traffic BAD in Sao Paulo!). Mercifully, this ponte aerea ran from Congonhas airport which was right in the city versus Guarulhos, the big international airport, which is way further out. I have read since that this arrangement ended as the domestic airlines decided to go their own way in terms of flight schedules and pricing.

ponte aerea air bridge congonhas airport sao paulo brazil

Three airlines that partnered in the late 1990s on the air bridge

In any case, Congonhas (site of a few plane crashes) is known for being a difficult airport to land and take-off from given it is surrounded by high rises (clearly the city grew without proper regulations) and short runways. Before 1985, when it used to be the main airport of the city, longer haul flights had to go to Rio and then passengers would go on a smaller plane to Sao Paulo.. At the time I was blissfully oblivious to all this and just enjoyed said take-offs and landings… In any case, more about Rio in another post!

Congonhas (Source: http://xtremefast.com/information/the-world%E2%80%99s-7-strangest-airports.html)

Food in Brazil

One thing I learned to love in Sao Paulo was pao de queijo. It is the small morsel filled with cheese that you get with that shot of espresso anywhere down any street.

pao de queijo brazil espresso morsel cheese

Mmm!!!!!

It is ADDICTIVE – as are the espresso shots and any coffee for that matter in Brazil. At work, there was a young woman who worked out of a mini-kitchen, almost a closet, whose sole job seemed to be to walk around the floor wearing a maid uniform serving rounds of coffee. It was a throwback to how things must have been long ago in corporate America, think Mad Men maybe.

One thing I learned during those trips was how good food was in Sao Paulo! I am not just talking local food, though “local food” there means a high diversity of regional cuisines like form Bahia (Bargaço on Oscar Freire was outstanding!) and others. I am also talking about French, Italian, Japanese, etc. Speaking of Japanese, did you know Brazil has the largest colony of Japanese outside of Japan? They migrated to Brazil starting in the early 20th century and it is said there over a million people of Japanese descent in the country. But I digress. I had many phenomenal meals. And I wonder if any of those places are still there… La Vecchia Cucina, Charló, Gero, etc. (OK, I just searched and they seem to still be open! Now I REALLY have to go back!)

Charlo Restaurant food Sao Paulo, Brazil

One of the many restaurants in Sao Paulo that I enjoyed. I just looked in the Internet and it seems to still exist!

The food in Sao Paulo is some of the best I have ever had in one city. PERIOD!

Sorry Sao Paulo, I can’t do you justice here…

This post will not get even close to do justice to this megalopolis (that feels like one for sure!). But, trust me, Sao Paulo is understatedly fascinating. Food, art, nightlife (oh yes, I had a BLAST!), architecture and people all make it a really interesting place to visit. It doesn’t feel like London, Paris, or its closest neighbor, Rio. Because this is not a city one explores – it is a city one experiences!

Ave. Paulista in Sao Paulo, Brazil architecture

View towards Ave. Paulista

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As I wrote this post, I was amazed at how good these photos look despite being 16 years old back in the day when all photos were, umm, not digital! Thanks to my faithful Canon EOS Rebel!

Filed Under: Brazil, South America Tagged With: air bridge, architecture, Ave Paulista, brazil., Canon EOS Rebel, coffee, Congonhas, espresso, food, Gero, Guarulhos, pao de queijo, paper tickets, ponte aerea, Rio, sao paulo, travel, Vecchia Cucina

Photo of the Week – ilivetotravel on the French Riviera

9 June 2013 by Raul 5 Comments

This photo of the shoreline of Nice, France is from a LONG time ago – when I was very fortunate to be on 2-week business trips to the French Riviera. It has been on my mind lately that I need to write about my trips there from those times. It all starts with a picture!

Nice, France, French Riviera, tourist, travel, model, photography, tourism

Enjoying beautiful weather in Nice, France!!

Filed Under: Europe, France Tagged With: France, French Riviera, ilivetotravel, Nice, photography, Riviera, tourism, travel, view, vista

Jordan’s Wadi Rum: Not Just for Lawrence of Arabia

19 May 2013 by Raul 24 Comments

Well, I assume I did follow some of his/his camel’s footsteps in the Wadi Rum in my recent trip to Jordan. My visit to the Wadi Rum was an amazing experience as I had never had been in such a landscape before. In an earlier post, I shared how I found color everywhere I went in Jordan. It is now time to focus on one of the places I explored during my trip.

The visit began at the well-set-up Visitor Center which has great information, a surprisingly good restaurant and an excellent view of the rock/mountain Lawrence himself called the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a reference from the Book of Proverbs.

Entering the Visitor Center, one immediately is rewarded by a view of the Seven Pillars!

T.E. Lawrence, his real name, became involved in the Arab Revolt in the late 1910s when the Arab peoples were revolting against the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence fell in love with the Wadi Rum area and now I can understand why. I hope sharing this adventure will also do the same for you and that you get inspired to see it in person some day!

Spending the afternoon exploring the Wadi Rum desert

We left the Visitor Center to find the vehicles that would take the group to explore the Wadi Rum well into the evening, prior to arriving at the Captain’s Camp where we would spend the night (and I will write about this in another post coming up soon).

Off we went in these pick up truck -type vehicles!

Soon we got deep in the incredible mountains/rocks formations characteristic of the Wadi Rum as well as have fun running up dunes and actually witnessing a rare rainstorm in the area (mercifully not over us!)

Sand dune soon to be “hit” by us visitors!

Note the Bedouin camp

Typical / iconic landscape the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan is known for

Amazing rock formations and colors in the Wadi Rum!

Barrah Siq where the large rock in the bottom has a carving of Lawrence of Arabia; alongside a Bedouin camp

Close-up of the carving of Lawrence of Arabia’s face in Barrah Siq

This photo offers a better sense of the scale of the place

The rare rainstorm in the distance – even lightning!

And then dusk began in the desert!

I thought we’d be done exploring as soon as it started getting dark and, while that was close to reality, we still got to enjoy dusk driving around – which made me appreciate the Wadi Rum in a different light, so to speak.

Sunset begins…

The magical sky at sunset

The clouds played nicely in the sunset scene

The ride is getting closer to ending as the lights come on. Still a beautiful backdrop!

And the method of exploring changes the next morning!

Our ride the next morning: Wadi Rum camels!

Riding camels! Yours truly in the blue shirt (via J. Festa – thanks!)

And to finish this, a shot taken by a fellow traveler about ilivetotravel in action!

Notice the tarp covering the back of our pick-up truck. And me so focused… (again, thanks J. Festa!)

During this trip, I was a guest of the Jordan Tourism Board. That notwithstanding, the stories I share were my real experiences and nothing else. As they always are!

Filed Under: Asia, Jordan, Travel Journal Tagged With: adventure, camel, desert, Jordan, nature, outdoors, travel

Of Kids, Water, a Fence, and Chicks – the Kili Centre Orphanage

3 May 2013 by Raul 17 Comments

Going to Tanzania was not just about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro though that consumed most of my energy pre-trip (and, heck DURING the trip!). I had done a hike in the Transylvanian Alps in Romania last summer with Trekking for Kids (TFK) and I was so impressed, not only with the excellent logistics planning for the hike, but also with the great care with which the orphanage had been selected and the projects chosen. So going to Kilimanjaro was also about having another opportunity to help improve the lives of orphaned children via TFK. Tanzania is far and doing this trek was a not-trivial use of my time and money (though TFK is much cheaper than many outfits who organize Kili hikes). But I understood that my efforts would really make a difference on these kids’ lives and that my hike would be safe and well-planned.

I have written a few posts about the planning of my trip and the hike itself (see links at the end of this post). So I wanted to focus this post on the orphanage we worked with in Moshi: the Kili Centre.

Kili Centre orphanage in Moshi, Tanzania

Kili Centre welcomes its visitors!

The Kili Centre orphanage

I posted in LinkedIn that I was going to hike Kili and work with this orphanage as part of the fundraising all trekkers commit to do (raise a minimum of $1,000). One of my connections replied that she had been there and that the Centre’s leader, Michael, was doing a great job with the orphanage and the kids. Though I know TFK does a thorough job vetting orphanages, it was still good to hear this. After finally meeting and spending time with Michael in Moshi, I have to agree with the assessment my connection had made. He had a great vision for the orphanage and the projects he had proposed were very well thought through in terms of sustainability, impact to the children and the future of the orphanage, and ability to demonstrate to the donors their money had been well spent.

The projects funded at the Kili Centre

The future site of the Kili Centre

The Kili Centre rents its current location but it is not adequate anymore for the needs of the orphanage or meeting its future plans to accept more children. Some of the changes that would make it more adequate may not be acceptable to the landlord so the Kili Centre needed to find, not only a new location, but a place where it can be owner of its domain, so to speak.

New Kili Centre location in Moshi, Tanzania

New Kili Centre location with Kilimanjaro covered by clouds (showing the new fence)

What’s in a fence?

So Michael was able to raise funds to buy a new lot (with a GREAT view of Kilimanjaro!! though maybe this is not hard in the area given its proximity to the mountain and the height of the mountain). But this lot sat empty and ran the risk of being taken over by others. In many places in Africa, having title to land is not enough. If people squat on it, or neighboring folks start farming it, at some point one runs the risk of losing it. In addition, I heard there are rules that a purchased lot has to have something built on it in a certain amount of or, otherwise, the government can take it back. So here came an opportunity for the first and main project funded by the trekkers’ fundraising and their generous donors: building a perimeter fence around the lot.

New fence on the Kili Centre's future home

TFK Executive Director Cindy Steuart and trekker Dave Hughart at the fence on our first visit

Guardhouse at the site of the new Kili Centre

Progress while we were there! The finished guardhouse (shown without a roof in the prior pic)

H20 – Water – A basic necessity we take for granted

Though not an immediate impact to the kids’ lives, it will clearly help the children eventually have a new place that will better serve their needs. For example the current location of the orphanage does not have running water. So water must be trucked in (at great expense due to the cost of the vehicle and gas). In the new location, not only did the project build the perimeter fence (and the gate/guardhouse) but it also connected the lot to the town’s water system!!

I was very excited to see the running water during my visit of the new site. Water is fundamental to progress in less developed locations as it is essential for good health. Without good health, the education of the children suffers. So having running water in their new location will be a real improvement in the quality of life at the Kili Centre.

One of the faucets installed connected to the water system – water, the stuff of life!

Clearly, just having a fence and running water will not be enough to give the Kili Centre its new home. However, the evidence that other donors saw the Kili Centre’s plan as solid will help it in fundraising to have the wherewithal to build the different structures that will be needed.

Chicks (not for free, contrary to what Dire Straits may say)

One of the Centre’s activities that provide both a food source and income is its chicken coop. However, the Centre had been forced to sell its chickens in order to pay for the schooling of the children. The chickens had been towards the end of their productive years so the decision to sell them for meat was a good one however, it set the chicken coop back. So, some of the budget TFK had for projects went to buy chicks to “replenish” the chicken coop and assure some income and food for the Centre.

Trekkers and kids given the thirsty chicks some water upon their arrival at the Kili Centre

Trekkers and kids given the thirsty chicks some water upon their arrival at the KC

The kids well-being

Another item on the project list was repairing the furniture in the kids’ rooms and getting them new mattresses with new mattress covers (to make them last longer) along with new blankets. Their rooms looked great!

Refinished bunk beds and cabinets

Focus on education

As alluded to, the Centre is focused on the children getting a good education. (I wonder if the children of the Centre are more “lucky” than the children outside the orphanage given the attention paid to their studies by the Centre’s staff.) The Centre had a computer lab with learning software but the PCs were ancient and they no longer were going to be good for supporting new/additional software. TFK’s funds supported the wholesale replacement of the computer lab!

Computer lab being set up at the Kili Centre

Computers being set up!

The focus on education does not stop at school and academics. The Centre had identified developing a sewing “program” to teach a potential income-earning skill to the girls at the orphanage. Once kids leave an orphanage, it is important to have given them education and skills to make it in life in terms of livelihood. So the Centre had proposed TFK fund a sewing room: from setting up the power outlets to the scissors and materials, and everything in between. With the funds provided, used sewing machines were acquired, brought up to par and installed in the new sewing room!

New sewing room

While these are not all the projects, I hope you can see why I was so pleased that my efforts to fundraise and my “investment” of my own time and money were well worth it. But enough about the projects and on to the great kids of the Kili Centre!!!

The children

The first time we got to the Kili Centre, the children were right there waiting for us. They surrounded our bus as we arrived for the first of 4 days we would spend with them (2 before and 2 after climbing Kilimanjaro).

Welcoming the visitors at the Kili Centre

Cheerful welcome!

That day, they had prepared a dance show for us. You could tell they loved dancing and putting on a show and, in us, they had an audience wanting to see all they had prepared. The kids who danced were definitely high energy and not shy!

Part of the welcome show put on for us!

Kili Centre kids show us traditional Masai dance at the Kili Centre in Moshi, Tanzania

Kids doing traditional Masai dance

Our time at the Centre was mostly spent with the kids. We had brought gifts for them (they are kids after all!) and it was a lot of fun giving each of them a backpack full of goodies and also distributing items like soccer balls, frisbees, and volleyballs. Of course, we then got to use many of those things in an afternoon of just “being.” I worked along with two kids and another trekker on a challenging jigsaw puzzle that, to this day, I hate not having had time to finishing!

One night, we ate at the orphanage during a party where again the children danced and neighbors of the orphanage were invited to come. I was so proud watching the kids’ manners. They lined up by section to go get the food, took everything back when they were done, etc. Just like I noticed in Romania, the children of this orphanage were very well taught by their staff. The staff was very much engaged with the kids and I do not recall any instance of the staff just bossing the kids around. All the engagement I noticed was warm and, at times, playful. It made me feel good this was the right orphanage to have invested myself in.

Trekking for Kids trekkers, Kili Centre staff and kids in Moshi, Tanzania

TFK photo of the entire group: Kili Centre kids and staff along with the trekkers!

One of the hardest moments in these trips is saying goodbye. You have developed, usually, a connection with some of the kids and you hate to leave. Unfortunately, the fourth day of being with the orphanage, I was bedridden with a nasty cold/infection that hit me once we came down from Kilimanjaro. I had forced myself on the third day to come along with the group but on the fourth day, I just slept all day. So I missed saying my goodbyes and I am saddened by that. However, I know the children now have a better home and are set up for an even better one in the future thanks to having been part of this trek.

To Michael and the staff at the Kili Centre: thank you for the great job you do with the kids and the Centre.

To TFK: thanks for another great opportunity to push myself (up a mountain) and to make a clear difference in childrens’ lives.

To my donors and supporters: thank you for your financial generosity and moral support to make this happen for the kids!

To the Kili Centre kids: keep studying hard, be good and stay cool!

Kids showing off their new backpacks and sunglasses!

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– Preparing for the hike is more than training and gear

– The Machame Route: our way up

– 7 things you will not see me without as I climb Kili

– Day 1 of the hike (starting the climb!)

– Day 2 of the hike (getting to Shira Camp)

– Day 3 of the hike (the Lava Tower and hail)

– Day 4 of the hike (Barranco Wall)

– Day 5 of the hike (getting to summit base camp, Barafu)

– Day 6 of the hike (the ascent to the summit – Uhuru Peak)

– Interview with fellow Kili climber and Ultimate Global Explorer

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: Kilimanjaro, moshi, Tanzania, travel, trekking, voluntourism

Top 6 Reasons Why It Is Hard to Break Up with Washington, D.C.

19 April 2013 by Raul 10 Comments

Oh, time for some sentimentalism around here… After 2 years of working in Washington, D.C. I wrap up this client engagement with mixed feelings. There is more excellent work to be done. Yet, I want to be home. But it’s also hard to leave DC because I just really like this city.

Why, you may ask? Here are some reasons why I love DC – and the photos to go with them!

1. Yes, the tourist “attractions”

Not because they are tourist attractions but because of one of any number of reasons: their architecture, their history, or their contents. The monuments, the Smithsonian museums, the landmarks of the federal government – all these qualify as do other like the Holocaust Museum (a must), the Newseum (surprisingly well-done; with a piece of the Berlin Wall and an antenna from one of the World Trade Center towers), etc.

The Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Don’t need a photo album of these… The Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial are among the most popular

The White House and the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

Everyone wants to see the White House – and they should! I loved walking by to watch tourists. Here undergoing preparations for the Jan 2013 inauguration.

Children visiting landmarks in Washington, D.C.

Little tourists…

2. The importance of the place

I just feel the energy of this city, center of power that it is. I was far and very close to that center. Far because I have zero access. Very close because I worked two blocks from the White House itself.

Most obvious in this category: The White House. Taken when the people had the right to tour it.

U.S. Treasury Department at night - looking at its columns

The Department of the Treasury is a less obvious center of power…

The Old Executive Building on the west side of the White House

3. Its history

Clearly so much history in the obvious places. But also in less obvious or lesser-known ones…

St. John’s Church across from the White House by Lafayette Square – the church of Presidents

Site of inaugural balls, residence of VIPs including pre-President JFK, and a hangout of J. Edgar Hoover: the Mayflower Hotel – my second home!

The Watergate Complex

Georgetown stairs made famous by the movie The Exorcist

The famous stairs from The Exorcist (that counts as history, right? film history?)

New South residence hall in Georgetown University

New South dormitory in Georgetown University. Never heard of it? Well, maybe not famous yet but it will be known as the place where a young ilivetotravel spent 6 weeks while in high school!

4. The incredible neighborhoods

Georgetown is likely the grand-dame (or is it masculine?) of the neighborhoods in DC but the city has so many unique areas like Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, etc. All worth walking around and just exploring and feeling their vibe. I wish I had explored even more but I definitely enjoyed walking around, especially the smaller streets with the brownstones and neighborhood places. I wonder if most tourists venture into the neighborhoods. If they don’t, they are missing out on the best part of the capital city of the U.S., in my humble opinion.