Fruits (and foods) of the forest

There are a lot of fruits and few foods that can be found in the rainforest. Here' I'll go through a few that we found.

Afromomo, this is a red pod that grows in bushes. The outer layer is a bit like the skin of an old onion, but bright red and thicker. Once you peel this off you are left with three segments that look like spotted cocoons. These are the fruit, which is very tart, a bit sour and have the consistency of dragon fruit, but with watermelon pips.

There's also plantain and banana, which are both farmed (boooo). The easiest way to tell the difference is the size and shape as plantain tends to be straighter. Also, where the leaves branch from the trunk is white in banana trees and yellow in plantain. 

Cocoa is also grown by farmers and pods are yellow or red. They are about the size of an adult male hand but rugby ball shaped. You just crack them open and eat the stuff (I don't know what it's called) around the bean. This again is sour but sweeter. Don't eat the beans, they need to be dried out, powdered and added to milk and sugar before they taste like chocolate!

We also found mushrooms. Tonnes of mushrooms, both small and large. We only picked them under advisement from our guide who said that if they are big or grow in large numbers they are OK to eat, though I would always check with an adult if you want to pick mushrooms!! These were tasty and had a really high water content. We had them with garlic, ginger , onion and peppers...

Scotch bonnet peppers were also plentiful in the forest. We picked some and having accidentally eaten a chunk, I can tell you they are HOT! However if you eat chocolate it really helps :)

So those are the fruits and foods of the forest I found. I had no idea the breadth of food that we could get from the forest, but having thought about it, if our closest relatives live there, there must be stuff we can eat. 

Getting around Cameroon

Yep, just remember 'no vomiting'. Even if you really want to!

So in Cameroon you are going to end up taking a lot of different types of transport from private cars (a complete luxury) to public busses (a complete nightmare).

OK let's start with the planes and airports. I flew in on Air Maroc and it's fast becoming my favourite airline. The staff are friendly and the flights smooth. However when I landed and got through immigration I was met by a man who claimed to be part of the security team and said that he needed to deal with me specifically as I was from the UK (lucky guess). The guy had no uniform or badge, but pushed himself upon me as I got my bag and said that he was going to show me where to pay airport tax (there isn't airport tax for arrivals). I tried to call the people who were collecting me but my international phone wouldn't get any reception (thanks eKit) and my iPhone had no credit. So this guy calls from his own phone, but I could see him putting in the wrong number. That's when I started freaking a bit. I passed a security guard who checked I had taken the correct bag. I tried to ask him if this guy was his colleague but he ignores me and starts talking to someone else. I get downstairs and the guy then tries to get me to the back of the airport and is really insistent, but I hold on and find the person who was collecting me and we get rid of this guy, who has the gall to ask if I will give him money for something to eat after it becomes apparent that he is not a security guard. This was not a good first impression! 

On the way out of the country I check in my bag and as I am heading to departures I am stopped by someone working for the luggage company. They take me down to the loading bay (I have to leave my passport with a police woman on the way) and they start demanding 2,000 francs for the bag to be wrapped. I explain that I don't have 2,000 francs (why would I, I'm leaving the country) and that no other airport had demanded this. I also point out that they are basically extorting the money out of me, blackmailing me with the threat of not taking my bag. I put my foot down and eventually another member of the team says they'll take it. Thankfully the bag did make it.

All in all I'm very unimpressed with Douala airport. I'd avoid it if you can, it's crawling with charlatans.

So onto public transport. I think I'll start with the taxis. These are OK. Not very safe, but OK. They run on the principle that 5 seats is not an indication of how many people can get into a car, but more of a suggested bare minimum. As such you go to a central pick up point and wait for a car to fill up, which normally means six - eight people and then more people may get picked up on the way. One trip was two hours with ten people (seven adults and three babies) in a normal five door car which was physically painful. The upshot is it's really cheap. 

The busses are cheap too and we took a night bus between Chsang and Beua. This was hideous as we had booked out the back row, but then told that this wasn't possible and instead got two seats between the three or us and not the four seats we had booked. I wrote a rant on my phone about 45mins in. I think it explains everything...

So my trip was again marred by public transport. This time by a night bus between chsang and baua. I had agreed to take the night bus so we could spend some time shopping in Chsang where I hoped to pick up Christmas presents for my family and as we were to have four seats at the back of the night bus, ensuring we had room and could all sleep.

The day did not start out well as we couldn't get a car to Chsang from Menji until after the shops had closed, but by this time the seats on the bus had already been reserved... or so we thought

The Having gotten to the bus station we found out that the person who was booking them had ordered the four seats but hadn't chosen which ones as they had been faced with the apparently monumental task of selecting them by letter. This for some reason meant that we were no longer eligible for our four seats, instead getting two between three of us. At some point after losing feeling in my lower back from sitting on a half seat, I finally got a seat of my own. I use the work seat ironically as it was more of a shelf that collapsed into the gangway of the bus that had no real support and only a half back. The woman next to me was carrying a small boy on her lap, or rather both our laps as he spent most of his time kicking, pushing or resting his head on my legs. The people behind me have also taken to leaning on the seats in front of them and spreading out to lean on me.

Despite being a night bus, the driver seems to think he's in charge of a one man human livestock carnival and is playing oppressively loud music. No one has asked him to turn it down...

Also I found out what it sounds like when three men carry a live pig onto the top of a bus (the one I was in) and lash it to a roof rack like a piece of luggage. FYI it's horrific. I then found out what it's like for a second pig to be strapped onto the first pig. To say this country's view of animal welfare is backward is an extreme understatement.

Oh the child is now trying to grab my necklace. Still only 4+ hours to go. 

So basically I would suggest getting a private car when possible. That is unless you get the chance to bike it. Biking is awkward to begin with, but once you're used to being pushed up against some random guy on the back of a bike, and you get used to leaning forward into said guy when you go up a hill, then it's a lot of fun. You go places that cars can't reach due to the state of the roads and the scenery is amazing. You also get to feel the country rush by and wave to the local children or say hello to the local people who all greet you, well they do in the rainforest adjacent communities an smaller towns. 

Transport is one of the weak areas of Cameroon. It's nice to give it a go and get an insight into life in Cameroon, but long term it would definitely be wearing. This is something the country is working on and the topic of a lot of the radio programmes I heard while in the country. 

I'd say that Cameroon is worth putting up with the poor travel, especially if you're only here for a few weeks. The scenery, food and majority of the people make up for it. Especially if you venture away from the cities and into the communities. 

A different way of life: Besali, Cameroon

A simple, peaceful life in Besali

Besali is one of the outlying communities around the Cameroon rainforest and was our final stop before the expedition began. We stayed with our tracker/guide Solomon, his two wives and their children.

Having lived in London before starting my trip, I've been used to having all mod cons. Besali soon showed me a completely different way of life, living without running water or electricity and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Though I'm not sure I could do it on a permanent basis, I enjoyed the simplicity of it all and how trusting people are. You can leave your things anywhere and they would be safe, people say good morning to you on the street and everyone knows everyone, it's like a bygone era blessed with eternal sunshine.

Anna carrying provisions to base camp

Solomon's wives Anna and Constance looked after us really well and I got to try a host of new foods, which were delicious. Before heading into the forest we met with the chief of Besali who follows the towns traditional ways, part of which is the belief that the people's ancestors live in the forest. The chief was very welcoming and performed a ritual to let the ancestors know that we were coming, what we planned to do and asked for them to look after us while we were in the forest. 

With the ritual complete we then gathered our belongings. Solomon's wives, Joy, his eldest daughter and a local man took our tents and provisions up to the camp. I rather naïvely said I could take my own things, but Bedwin our biologist said it was best if they did it. After trekking two hours to base camp on tough terrain I was glad I wasn't carrying my things as I would have certainly injured myself. I am in complete awe of how Joy, Anna and Constance took all our stuff up in baskets which were strapped to their foreheads and rested on their backs.

I'll tell you all about life in the rainforest in another post as there's a lot to tell. However when we got back Bedwin and I did a tour of six local schools where I taught the children (often 100 at a time) about conservation. It was challenging for the most part as the kids didn't get my accent, but with some help from the teachers and Bedwin we got through. I also invented a game which was a variation on musical chairs in which the desks were rainforest and the children were gorillas. If we put books on the desks they became farms and the children could no longer sit at them. The game worked really well and the children got to see the effect of farming on the gorillas, however it did occur to me on day two that I was an ostensibly white man telling a bunch of black kids that they were gorillas... So that happened. Anyway the main thing is that it worked I suppose.

And on that note, I'll leave you with a video of my adventures

Cameroon... Wow

With Kelly, one of my new friends

Wow, I can't believe two weeks are over. I have done so much and learned even more in just a fortnight and now it's over and I get to tell you all about it.

I'm not going to lie, there were some challenges (the transport), but also some apparent difficulties that turned out to be huge bonuses (living without running water or electricity). Then there were the brilliant and rewarding bits (the conservation, the learning, the food and culture as so on). For taking such good care of me on this trip, I want to say a huge thank you to Bedwin, the biologist on the trip and Solomon, our local forest guide.

I had an amazing time and feel good that I took the opportunity to give back during my world trip. This expedition has definitely given me a taste of Cameroon life and makes me even more sure that I want to do more volunteering as I travel. It also reinforced in my mind, the need for people to take conservation seriously and help organizations like ERuDeF, which I worked with, to do the invaluable work they do.

I also met some great people, who I hope will be reading this. You know who you are and there will be a quiz (joke!).

There is so much to tell you that I am going to break it down into a few videos which I will post over the next couple of weeks.

Gran Canaria - Las Palmas and Maspolomas

This is going to be a short one. Due to some personal developments and some inclement weather, this trip didn't turn out as expected and I wasn't able to go surfing or paragliding. However that's not to say that I haven't fallen for the charms of Gran Canaria, or more specifically Las Palmas.

I arrived by a tiny propeller plane to Las Palmas. The flight was pleasant, smooth and the staff at Air Marroc were the best I've come across. I then checked into my hostel, The Little Surf House, which was amazing, clean, bright and welcoming  without feeling clinically put together like a chain of hotels - everything a hostel should be!

Rosa, the owner, met us and had learned from this very blog that I grew up in Ramsgate, somewhere she had lived for 9 months. For people from a small town this is a MAJOR NOVELTY, and I am nothing if not a victim of novelty. So we chatted about Ramsgate and what to do in Las Palmas. It has to be said that Rosa was amazingly helpful, even getting me signed up to an international hostel group to help me save money. 

Over the coming week I, along with a friend, did a tour of Las Palmas, visiting the old quarter, Vagetta, which holds a tapas night every Thursday. You can actually get tapas and beer for two euros! It's beautiful and full of large imposing Dutch architecture, I sincerely wish I could live in one of these beautiful period homes!

We also went to Maspalomas, which for my taste is too touristy. That being said I did pick up an awesome Back to the Future tshirt which I would have added a picture of if Blogger worked properly with Google Drive! Anyway, Maspalomas doesn't really have a soul or any Spanish spirit, but what it does have is night life. We ended up arriving for the last night of gay pride. While it's not my cup of tea, I did meet some great people from Albania who worked at one of the bars. I am still in touch with them, so that's good. I'd say they were my first new travelling friends. In that I met them and not that they wear sovereigns and bad fake tan!

The shopping in Las Palmas is good, they have a big shopping centre on the sea front with restaurants and lot of sports outlets, plus a gym and what's really great is that it's open late. I went there at 9pm and there was no sign of shops shutting, which is what I like to see. I also came across something I'd never encountered in European shops. If you go into the main supermarket with a plastic bag, you have to use a machine to seal another bag around it - one assumes to prevent shop lifting, though you could quite easily break this outter bag if you wanted and carry on your pilfering ways, if that's your intent.

All this aside, what I really want to talk about is the activity in Las Palmas. As someone who enjoys being active this place was amazing. Within a stones throw of the hostel I could go rock climbing, do yoga, visit several gyms, visit a dance studio. Plus, still within stones throw is the beach, where you can use a number of outdoor gyms or run the length of Las Canteras coast with the swathes of other joggers taking in the views of the sea, harbour and the island's biggest auditorium. Finally as if that wasn't enough, Rosa is on hand to arrange paragliding, surfing, wind surfing, kayaking, mountain biking and I'm sure a whole host of other activities. 

The eternal spring weather also means that activities are on most of the time, though there are still some times when they have to down tools to keep people safe. 

All in all, I'd definitely stay here again. In fact I plan to. Maybe a little earlier in the year, but not by much as temperatures still went up to 30 degrees at times, which is high enough when you're being active. I'll also be back to visit my new found friends and have a big night out in Maspalomas, though it will be Las Palmas I'll be returning to as the lifestyle has really captured my heart.

What to pack for travelling

So before I went travelling,  I thought I would take you through what I'm packing (oi oi)... In my bag. The video below gives a few highlights and some of the reasoning behind my choices, so do check it out and please do subscribe to the channel!!

So I've managed to pack everything I want and it's come to 16kg approx, which I'm pleased with. 

The first thing I have to cover off is my bag, the Osprey Farpoint 70, which I'm really pleased with. A few things I haven't mentioned in the vid are that the straps all pack away behind the bag to avoid damage while in the hold. It's also waterproof and one of the front straps has a whistle, which is fun if nothing else. As you'll be able to see the front casing straps can also be used to attach a sleeping mat, which is handy.

Onto the contents... Rather than list everything in the bag, which would be boring/exhausting, I'm going to just mention the bits that I found out about through research and suggestions, so hopefully some of these will be news to you. 

- a no pegs clothes line, there may not always be somewhere to drape your clothes so this apparently is a must

- quick drying clothes. I've got some regular clothing, but a lot is made of quick drying materials to ensure I don't need to pack any wet clothing

- zip lock bags. While my bag is water resistant it's best to keep your tech and docs dry

- lip balm. I'm not much of a beauty products guy, but the organisers of my dune boarding trip have suggested this is a must

- mosi bands. I have to thank Dorcas at my last place of work Kazoo PR (brilliant agency btw) for this suggestion and for lending me a bunch of stuff. She's one of the best travelled people I know, so if she swears by them then they're going in my bag!

- sleeping bag liner. This may seem obvious, but again Dorcas had the inside scoop and said that silk was the only way to go, something which my research backed up. It will be much easier to wash this than an entire sleeping bag!!

- A-Z multivitamins. It seems odd, but as one blog pointed out, you need to look after yourself if you don't want to contract some illness your body has never encountered before

- plastic bags - to separate clean and worn clothes in my bag

So that's a few of the more unlikely bits I'm taking. I haven't gone into the tech that I'm taking, as I don't want to invite any unwanted attention from pick pockets, etc (like this blog is that big haha). 

I'll revisit this post in a few months/a year, hopefully with the benefit of experience, to asses what worked, what didn't and ultimately what I would have packed if I had my time again.

Hope you enjoy the vid, which has more info and please do subscribe and share :)

Live long and prosper 

Ni 

Ten tips to do my trip of Morocco and sand boarding

I would definitely suggest Erg Chicaga and Morocco to anyone who wants to do something active and a bit different, with the opportunity to see some amazing natural sites. Some of these tips are a bit different to those in the vid, which gives you an excuse to look at both (and isn't because I was woefully unco-ordinated making this blog and Vlog haha) - enjoy...

1) Know your exchange rate and haggle. This one is pretty obvious, but worth remembering, people will try and rip you off if they can. Not the guys from the camp though, they were amazing! However in the souks and roadside shops, always remember to haggle and don't be corralled into buying things you don't want.

2) If anyone offers to help you, let's say to find your hostel, or to give you directions, THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY! They will be really forceful about it too, so be warned. There have been a few exceptions, but in general they aren't helping out of the kindness of this hearts. If you genuinely so need help, then go ahead, but be prepared to haggle and be firm afterward or agree a price up front.

3) Pack carrier bags, they are really handy for splitting out sand covered clothes from clean ones in your luggage.

4) Bring plasters, the chances are that you will fall off your board and cut yourself. I busted my
shoulder a bit and you can see pics Of one of my cuts here. Don't worry you shouldn't need anything more than a normal plaster, just to keep the sand out of any small cuts and grazes.

5) Pack warm night wear and a jumper. It gets cold at night so you'll want to wrap up to see the stars, sit by the open fire, watch the sunrise, etc.

6) On the subject of sunrises, be aware that the tents block out a surprising amount of light. I almost missed the sunrise because I hadn't realised that it has started getting lighter.

7) Take an action camera. I used my GoPro Hero 3+ Silver edition and I feel it's a better way to remember the feeling of dune boarding, plus they take great photos. 

8) Watch the stars, after a long day, and a big, hearty dinner (with wine included), it can be quite easy to slope off to bed, but take the time to sit out and see the stars, they are phenomenal and the camp has a telescope, should you wish to see more.

9) The food is spiced, but not spicy, which means it's full of flavour. My favourite dish was beef and prune tagine with couscous, which was served at the camp with red wine. In a word, DELICIOUS!

10) Visit in November apparently. I had a great time and the place wasn't overrun with other visitors, while the cities were still very lively. The weather was also just right during the day.

Hope you enjoyed my tips and as always suggestions, shares and comments are always great fully received :) 

World travel days 3&4 - Erg Chicaga: sand boarding and the sun

 I wake up lazily on my first and only full day at the camp, fighting the urge to lie in further,  having I the night freezing. The camp attendants let me know that breakfast is ready whenever I want it, but I decide to wash first and a bucket of hot water is brought to me five minutes later. I then have breakfast and see the only other guests leave - I now have the camp to myself. I request to ride a camel and go sand boarding.

Riding a camel isn't as uncomfortable as I thought and provided a great vantage point to view the endless array of dunes. We soon arrive at the big dunes and I try my best to make it to the bottom, which I don't (see the video for a collection of wipe outs). I noticed that I got better as the morning went on, but soon it was time to call it a day (or rather morning) and head back.

We get back in time for lunch and I spend the hotter part of the afternoon on a hammock reading while two new guests arrive. I then grab a board and take my second shot at the dunes. 

This time I do a lot better, getting to the bottom of several dunes. The key I find is to concentrate on something in the distance and try not to worry about how fast you are going. That being said I did hit my shoulder pretty hard, an injury I instantly knew would be with me for a few days (it's all better now though). While dune boarding I watched the sun set, which was magical. I thought I had captured it and the evening's activities on my GoPro, only to realise that I had been out of sync. turning the camera off before going down the dunes and back on when I reached the bottom. I also hadn't realised that I had put it onto a setting that took photos every few second rather than filming. This however turned out to be a brilliant mistake as I have some amazing photos of the sunset, which you can see on the video.

I then have dinner with the new guests, Ollie and Ellie, a really nice couple from Wandsworth who are doing a tour of Morocco. We exchange travelling stories and I learn that Ollie has recently become an economist and that Ellie works in marketing. They tell me that I looked pretty proficient with a dune board, as they had seen me while watching the sun set themselves. I put this down to the fact that the lower half of my dune was obscured to them, so they couldn't see my many face plants!

Day 3: I wake up during the night with a very sore shoulder in the freezing cold, though I had prepared and was in a sleeping bag under the duvets. I struggle to ignore my shoulder but eventually get up and soak a hand towel in cold water to use as a compress, which helps and I soon manage to get to sleep, but not for long as my alarm sounds meaning it's time to get up and see the sunrise. It's tempting to stay in bed, but I forsake my napping and go out into the very fresh, very cool and very still morning  and boy was it worth it. Just as with the sunset, I'm totally blown away, this time with how the landscape goes from twilight to bright sunshine in a matter of minutes, the dunes casting dramatic, dancing shadows as the sun pierces the horizon. It's also hard to quite explain the stillness and quiet of the new day, which is totally silent with the exception of the occasional chatter of birds and camels, the latter making rather bizarre but conversational noises.

I then head back to my tent and wearily pack my bag and head to breakfast. I am joined by Ollie, with Ellie following soon after and we chat about the previous night and the couple's plans to sand board, go trekking, camel riding and quad biking, all of which I am sad to miss, but, with breakfast now over, it's time to go. Hitcham is by the entrance and we head off toward Marrakech.

The way back is much clearer and having taken a different route, we soon stop in a dried up sea bed where Hitcham points out fossils. It's bizarre to think that at any time this dry landscape could have been under water. We then jump

Back in the car to a rug making co-operative where I have tea with the owner and then onto an Argan oil co-operative where the owner explains how they get the oil and how the business, which employs local orphans, helps the local people. I also take a look at their products and after a demonstration come out with very moisturised hands smelling of various local plants.

Co-operatives seem to be the largest for of trade between local people and tourists, with many people contributing to each store.

We then stop off at a small roadside restaurant where I have a tagine of beef and prunes, along with bread and local Argan oil and nut butter with honey. 

We make quick time and I get to the hostel early with the help of a guide. I memorise the route for the morning after. 

The next morning we head to Casablanca for my flight which I can't find on the boards. I'm then told the flight is going the next day. Something that had escaped my notice when the travel agent changed the flight time. I kick myself for not checking the details more thoroughly and indulge in a little panic before making a plan of action. I get the train into town and find an Internet cafe and arrange accommodation across town. I have to admit I didn't think much of Casablanca and decided to stay close to the hotel where I had dinner before getting an early night. At least it would have been if I had not come down with an aggressive form of the flu, which almost stopped me getting the flight to Las Palmas. I do have to say though that the staff at the hotel were amazing, bringing me mint tea and yoghurt to help my stomach free of charge throughout the morning.  

Oh and a Moroccan man stopped me in the street to say I had a very Moroccan face, which was nice. 

And that's it, my Moroccan journey is complete.

World travel day 2 - Road to the Sahara

Mists over the Atlas Mountains

I wasn't planning on making another video on my second day, after all I was spending 10hrs in a car... However I underestimated Morocco and it's amazing scenery, dramatic weather and very interesting people, for that Morocco I am sorry.

The day started at 6:30am, which I was surprisingly awake for. I was met by my driver Hicham and we quickly made our way through the winding back alleys of the souks to the car, a big 4x4 with a safari snorkel.

It was still very cold and just around sun rise. This meant that the mists were still low and hugging the Atlas Mountains when we got there, creating beautiful views and an unexpected rainbow, all set to the background of burnt red rocks and deep green trees. As the day went on the sun burnt the mists away and the vast views of the mountains and later on the wide expanses of desert were epic. 

En route we stopped at a few cafes and tourist shops where the local people were actually less pushy with their wares than I thought they would be. 

Throughout the journey Hicham highlighted points of interest, including the country's main filming location, where they shot Gladiator and some scenes from Babel. This and the ever-changing scenery made the journey pass very quickly and we were soon at the desert. 

The real fun started when we went off road. Hicham picked out the path with an obvious knowledge and understanding of the area, throwing the car around very safely over hills, along long since dried river beds and even through a sand storm that brought visibility down to a couple of feet. Hicham said that they were expecting a sandstorm as there had been snow and mists on the mountains that morning.

We arrived at 4:30pm and I was quickly shown to my tent, which far out stripped my expectations. I then unpacked did some video editing and was considering going to bed when I was informed dinner was ready, I then realised it was only 6:30pm.... It had been a long day and surprisingly tiring, but a lot of fun, which did bode well for the day ahead. 

If you want to find out more about sand boarding I'll be posting another blog with the rest of my experience soon, plus you can check out the camp's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ErgChigagaLuxuryDesertCamp

World travel day 1

So today has been the day. I woke up in London at my flat and now roughly 12 hours later, I'm sat in Equity Point, a hostel in the middle of Marrakech, trying to eat dinner while a random cat sits on my lap trying to get at said dinner.

It's been a strange day leaving everyone behind, but it's also a day of excitement, so it's a mixed bag.

It's hard to believe that this is the start of a trip that will take me round the world, but that's exactly what it is. I feel amazingly lucky to be here and excited to start this chapter of my life, what I'm not excited about is tomorrow's 6:30am start to go dune boarding...

I was also invited to have drinks with some American students. I had to politely decline due to that 6:30am start, but it has reassured me that I am going to meet lots of new people on my travels.

The cat just sneezed, it was adorable.

The World Is Not Enough - the first step

Hi, if you don't already know me (Hi mum) my name is Niall, though I mostly go by Ni.

I'm planning to take 18+ months out of my daily life to go back packing around the world, a trip I have been planning and saving for over the last year or so.

A world tour is one of my two main life goals, the other being raising a family. I'm hoping it's going to be a trip to remember, but to ensure it's a trip that I ACTUALLY remember, I'm starting this blog, with less than a week until I leave my life here in the UK behind.

So I suppose there are two things I need to cover off here, who the hell am I and what the heck am I doing...

Ten things about me
1. I'm 30 years old
2. I live in London, but grew up in Ramsgate, Kent (England)
3. I'm half Irish and half Sri Lankan (Go hybrids/mongrels)
4. I'm an identical twin (his name is Eddie)
5. I've sky dived from 13,000ft and bunjee jumped from a crane (can't remember how high that was)
6. I'm a public relations professional and was once named Employee of the Year by a former agency
7. I was the face of my university for a year (Luton, now Bedford University)
8. My interests include the gym/fitness, drawing, manga & graphic novels, films, etc
9. I am a victim of novelty - I'll give pretty much anything a go
10. I consider myself to be a bit old fashioned, as in I'll hold a door open for a lady or assist an old person with their bags, etc
Bonus. I was once nearly run over by Stephen Hawking in the London Science Museum

What I'm doing
Basically I'm backpacking around the world with the exception of Europe, which I plan to do when I get back to the UK and start working again. I'm not planning everything out too much as I want to go whereever the wind blows, but plan on Africa, India, Sri Lanka (I've never been) Nepal, East Asia, Polyneisa and down to Australia where I have a year working visa. I'll then do South and North America before going to Greenland and finally heading back to the UK.

My first stops will be; dune boarding in the Sahara Desert, surfing and hang gliding in Las Palmas, volunteering at a Gorilla and monkey sanctury in the forests of Cameroon before making my way to South Africa.

I'm going to be vlogging my experiences too and have created my first video which I hope you'll enjoy - even if it is a bit terrible - I promise to at least try to get better and all comments are welcome : )

Live long and prosper,

Ni