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All posts by Mary

Oct 16
1

Update in the Life of the Wuths

By | Canada, Musings | No Comments

“Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.”

 

I read this quote recently, and it stayed with me. It stayed with me because it stirred things up, things that I have been grappling with for the last few months. I have never been afraid of letting my vulnerability shine through, of showing people who I am. I write and I share our life, and in doing I hope to inspire people to do things that may seem scary or different, I hope to show them that living differently can be done. I want people to see our craziness and laugh at our poor choices, all the while realising that they are not alone, that everyone has their moments, we all have our failings. I love sharing the crazy things we do as a family and splicing in the beautiful moments on the way.

Over the years though, as social media has got heavier, and the world has been so inundated with perfection, people constantly bombarded from all sides, I’ve wrestled with my sharing, worrying that I might also be falling into the category of only showing the good – despite this not being my intention. I have been overwhelmed by content myself, sick of the adverts and perfectly curated snaps, and I found myself stepping back. Day by day my appetite for taking it all in faded. Until I found myself here. Not missing it, not wanting to know, and finding how much happier I am not swiping up… up… up…
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Jun 12
0

Relocation in the Time of Covid

By | Canada, Musings, Uncategorized | No Comments

Three months in, and it dawned on me that I haven’t documented our most recent travel very well. In fact, I have been less than forthcoming on most of our travel for the better part of 18 months. Appalling when this is primarily a ‘what are the Wuths up to now?’  blog. So, I am going to assume here that most people know we have made a rather sudden leap across half the planet and are now residing in Canada. A beautiful little seaside town (not that different from the one we left behind in sunny South Africa in fact) called Victoria, on the south-eastern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Not to be mistaken with actual Vancouver, on the mainland, which is a 2-hour ferry ride away. Yes, that’s right, we have gone and holed ourselves up on an island, on arguably the most tectonically unstable piece of ground in the world, ripe for the ultimate in earth-shattering quakes to rock the planet in centuries. Because that’s how we roll. So I guess you could say we were ready, on some level, to be shaken out our boots. What we were not ready for however, was Covid 19.

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Jan 19
1

Malawi – Utter Beauty, tangled with the Raw Truths of Africa

By | Hikes, Our Travels, Parks | One Comment

The unsettling reality of Africa, when you look behind the beautiful façade, managed to take hold of me as we wound our way through Malawi. It had been gnawing at my ankles for the 4 months we’d been on the road, most of the depressing things falling under the heading “governments are not about the greater good”. But the disparity between the ‘tourist’ version and the ‘real’ version of Malawi was hard to stomach. It’s not exclusive to Malawi though, it is true of most African countries, I think I had just reached my quota. I want to paint a fair picture of Malawi, because it is without a doubt one of the most magical places we have visited. But I can’t completely ignore the emotions that were stirred up while we were there. So this is my shot at an honest account. Read More

Feb 13
1

Tanzania – Made Me Appreciate All We Have Back Home

By | Family Travel Tips, Our Travels, Parks | No Comments

I’ve been delaying writing about Tanzania for a few reasons. One, it’s been an absolutely non stop ride since we left there, and I feel like I’m only getting on top of life again now. And two, I am struggling to paint a happy picture of the place, and I didn’t want to let our brief experience taint anyone else’s travel plans. It wasn’t all bad, but let me explain… Read More

Dec 07
0

Rwanda – A Country of a Thousand Hills

By | Hikes, Our Travels | One Comment

As you trundle over the growing hills and across the Rwandan border, the countryside changes dramatically around you. The dry, flatter land of Tanzania gives way to rolling green hills, so fertile with rich volcanic soil that crops of all description bulge in size along the sides of the road. The biggest change is that everything is green. A change I welcomed with open arms. Read More

Nov 25
1

Rwanda, and the Power of Unity

By | Our Travels | 3 Comments

I’ve wanted to write about Rwanda since the moment we set foot in the country. It is nothing like I imagined it to be. This may be because I was 12 when the genocide happened, and in the back of my growing mind I filed Rwanda away as a war-torn African country with starving people and useless government. It is a poor excuse, and I feel embarrassed to admit it, but I knew little of the area, what it had to offer, and the history of what happened 24 years ago. It is going to be difficult to give you a full run down of events here, but I will try my best, because to understand the country now, you must know where it has been, and what it has overcome. So for those of you, who like me, did not know, here is a summary… Read More

Nov 11
0

Too Much of a Good Thing?..

By | Hikes, Our Travels | No Comments

The last few weeks seem to have screamed by in a whirl of muddy roads, border crossings and spectacular African destinations, but it has left me far behind in filling in the little details. As I sit here, looking out over Lake Kivu, I have to fight the urge to jump ahead and tell you about Rwanda, a country we have so far found truly remarkable – but I will get to this soon enough. I have our time in Zambia to recount, as long ago as it feels now, and a fleeting trip through Tanzania to get us to this point. Read More

Oct 28
0

I Left a Piece of My Heart in Zimbabwe

By | Our Travels, Parks | 2 Comments

Lake Kariba and Mana Pools

We left Victoria Falls after a really great stay and chartered a course across the country. We had to make it to Kariba town, on the Eastern side of the 220km long lake. Our next escapade was house boating on Lake Kariba, getting there was going to pose an adventure in itself however. Read More

Oct 16
0

Zimbabwe Off-limits

By | Our Travels | 2 Comments

My whole life I have heard tales of how incredible Zimbabwe is, the beauty of the country and the friendliness of its people – but sadly the state of the government meant the country was in a shambles. With fuel shortages, a currency so unstable you could flush million dollar notes down the toilet (literally), and almost no food in the shops, it has been a place off-limits to its neighbouring countrymen. But with a recent change in government and hope in our hearts, we decided now was the time to give it a go. So we left Botswana after a few days of getting on top of ‘life chores’ and work in Maun, and headed in the North-West side of Zimbabwe. The border crossing was a breeze, and the locals couldn’t have been friendlier. Read More