I am clean. What can I say? I smell good. I sleep in a comfortable bed with pillows and fresh white sheets, a fluffy duvet, and have a fully equipped bathroom just next to my room. In the morning, after hitting snooze 16 times, I join hordes of commuters on the Tube (pending no strikes of course), pressing into the sardine-like crowd, taking care by all means to not make eye contact with anyone and to apologise if someone steps on my foot. This much I have learned since moving to London
It’s hard to believe, but I only have three more weeks of work before I am off on a ten week climbing adventure in Africa. First stop: Namibia, where bed will mean the floor of my tiny one-person tent with dirty clothes as a pillow. Evening entertainment will consist of gazing at stars (do they really exist?) and waking to something other than a scorpion, I hope. I’ll be joining a giant red Scania truck that has been refitted to equip 20-30 rock climbers, crossing Africa overland in 2008 and the Silk Road in 2009. They probably smell. And so will I.
The Big Red Truck (BiRT)
I’m not just giving up my bed and shower, but the comfortable job. I sit at a pleasantly cluttered desk and read email and nod dutifully during meetings. Then there’s the odd pint after work, joining colleagues for a chuckle over emails sent for the day. I can’t complain. I actually like my job for the most part, which is a rare thing these days. And as a bonus, I get paid regularly.
Did I mention I am clean? Smell good, and alll that? Maybe I am too comfortable.
The Hot Rockers have already started the trip and are currently in South Africa. Just thinking about that, that right now there is a group of people in a giant red truck with a bouldering wall hanging off the back and that soon I will be there too, is a bit nuts. It feels so abstract when I’m sitting under fluorescent lighting.
I’ll be part of the crew from Windhoek, Namibia until Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Countries we will pass through in that time include Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. This will be my first major undertaking in Africa and I don’t quite know what to expect. Include smelly climbers in the mix and it adds to the… flavour. I only hope this doesn’t become Big Brother on a Big Red Truck.
A big red truck, fondly known as BiRT. Hey BiRT, I look forward to meeting you.
This article originally appeared on MSN UK Travel. View screenshot here.
