Update

Hello everyone.

So so sorry I haven’t been able to update my blog. I have a new one, the link which is below, but then I haven’t done that either. Apologies.

I think the reasons are that some writing opportunities have come my way and also that I’ll be travelling soon.   This brings about a restless  if not enthusiastic, pent-up energy that guarantees I will not keep still for a moment. I can’t wait to return to the city of Kilimanjaro (Moshi/Arusha)  which is so beautiful and surreal and I have some good friends there now – it feels to me honestly, like a new life within my present old one.  I’ll be doing other things in Africa – this time definitely going into the Zanzibar and also Dar.

I am writing a work of non-fiction (a book) which a publishing authority has agreed to read with interest. This is someone I really want to please with my writing and so, it makes this little expedition of mine to Africa doubly eventful and important. What I have to do is to sit down in my friend Bashir’s motel in Arusha and write out my chapters.

It’s hard in Dublin because I need to be surrounded by nuances, the right intonations, dress sense, cultural and behavioral patterns and so on.  My book would still work but I want it to work better and I “live my moments “as you know, so I want to be  in Africa writing it all out quickly. My past years as a professional magazine journalist will help me to do this.

I will be making a Kilimanjaro climb – that’s customised for me with an all-male Tanzanian crew before Christmas. This means private lodgings, food and trekkings.  I believe I’m the only Asian woman or rather woman at all presently going with an all-male crew & regarded as solo. I’ve been told that in the past only 1% of Australian women would dare to do this, a fact I found highly interesting.The world of the Kili comprising rangers, guides, porters, cooks, officers, crew patrol & ambulance workers etc are currently 99.9% men.

With my present fitness level, I need 8 days to reach the peak without mishap. I do so much want to reach Uhuru peak (snowcap) and treat this as a glorious Christmas present for me.

My blogs are not gone. I just really need to be streamlined and focussed with what I want to write. Bear with me, please.