Part of my student life was in Sheffield in Yorkshire, UK the other part was in Japan; both cultures were full of expressions and I believe this old Yorkshire one sums my feelings up totally!
I've come across so many fantastic people travelling in the sub-region or indeed settled here on a more permanent basis. We all exchange information, encourage each other, share food and drink and part on terms that feel like you've known the person for years. This is so true of quite a few friends of mine including some who were in Nigeria, arrived in Cote d'Ivoire for a holiday back in 2009; gave their daughter a beautiful name from a memory whilst in CI. I've since been to stay with them when they were posted to Bujumbura, Burundi.
THEN, there are the 'others', generally the minority but they do come past and leave impressionable memories; I've already mentioned a few in this earlier blog about
backpackers and volunteers in Ghana. However, the situation when I reflect back on it has become farcical in some respects, chatting to a friends online who also live in the region we've been exchanging notes. There are a few people involved in the tourism business in the sub-region who all know or know-of each other through another connection.
There were the Nordic overlanders who turned up unannounced, as usual I knew they were somewhere en-route, maybe a few days away, but they suddenly called and told me they were outside the gate!!! I, meanwhile, was at a birthday lunch with a few friends, I asked them to wait a few minutes and I'd return. No quicker than we said hello, one of them made a dash for our only 'throne' and proceeded to spend 30 minutes in there. It turned out that some sort of virus had joined the expedition, so a hotel was sought and with genuine hospitality I made sure they weren't short of anything. They left 2 or 3 days later without a word since our initial meeting and introduction at the hotel; I received a text after they'd left town to say goodbye ... and a very odd mention of their stopover on their blog!
The Europeans who were helped every kilometre of the way via WhatsApp (something I happily do for others regularly!) with any little query or getting past customs posts without paying. They arrived and made rather snide comments about the operation in Cote d'Ivoire via WhatsApp; they had no knowledge of the situation at that time apart from one of our members of staff giving their version. They left without explaining themselves, refusing to answer WhatsApp but creating their own unfounded opinion about the circumstances!
In New Zealand/Australia, you call them bludgers; I remember the word well and was proud to hear that I was as hard-working as an Kiwi and 'no bloody bludger' ...
In West Africa we could possibly re-name them "parasites". These parasites move from place to place, gathering information, using other people's names to get favours (mine in one instance after a 5minute chat in Casablanca airport when I suggested somewhere to stay in Accra, Ghana)! They lean on others to organise their onward trip, pleading poverty to avoid paying meals, internet, phone credit or a night's stay and in true parasitical fashion have other travellers pay their drinks!!! They don't bother to try to learn about the culture or local languages. However they don't think twice about splashing out for sports lessons or food shopping in a western supermarket under the noses of those who have helped them that have to shop in the local market as they can't afford to spend so extravagantly!
Travelling is all about community, in the sub-region the majority of travellers that pass through are open, friendly, keen to learn about the area AND it's genuine and reciprocal. Unfortunately the parasites that upset others, are talked about via messaging services and the word spreads prior to their arrival ...
There's nowt so queer as folk ...
