No prize like a surprise!

Hello and good afternoon!

I recently heard someone say that there is "no prize like a surprise" and it's very true. For my next set of shows, I was meant to fly to Angola via Ethiopia. I'm all packed and set to leave when I get a phone call.

"Your flights have changed. You're now going to Saint Helena via London, Brussels, Kigali, JoBerg, Windhoek and finally Saint Helena."

My immediate thoughts were "this is going to be a nightmare journey". All those flights and I have to try and get my guitar on 5 times as hand luggage!!! There's no denying, I was absolutely DREADING it! I down graded to a back pack and made my way to Heathrow.

The next 4 days were something I'll never forget.

The flight to Kigali via Brussels went by in a flash. I had a hotel booked for the day and my driver was there ready. I was in Rwanda and couldn't believe it. I had no real reason to come here and this was a "wow" moment. My flights to Angola were booked ages ago and I had that itinerary in mind for a while. This spontaneous change was magic.

The roads were so clean, the people so friendly. I couldn't believe I was in Africa! The fruit...ooo the fruit, was out of this world!

Here's the view from my hotel.

The sound of the wildlife was enchanting. Different bird sounds all around. So beautiful. I sat there thinking to myself that this experience wasn't real. It was so far out. This new route to the ship happened less than 10 hours ago. I sat there soaking it all up. Looking around and thinking "this wasn't part of the plan" and loving it. After my food I went to sleep for a few hours and then did some guitar practice.

Next flight to Joberg and Namibia.

The flight times were horrible but I did manage to sleep on the plane and had my guitar with me the whole time. The crew were so good to me, thank you! We refuelled in Namibia and had my baby right next to me (my guitar) :)

Soon enough, Saint Helena was in the distance...

I was picked up at the airport by the hotel owners (The Consulate Hotel) and there was another guy also in the car with me, a pilot from Botswana. The drive from the airport is a bit of a mission, the roads twist and turn all of the time but soon enough we were in Jamestown. The hotel was stunning and nothing like I'd seen before. The views were out of this world. I was in one of the most remote parts of the world. I thought back to when I was cleaning caravans and the slog that I have gone through. This was a "wow" moment.

The next day we went on a drive around the island and I was simply stunned. The silence. The nature. The scenery. Here I was in the middle of the Atlantic, a 3 hour flight from mainland Africa. I'd never seen such vast ocean before. Tiny little bright red and yellow birds, stunning colours, flew majestically around the green. Banana plants everywhere. People saying hello. There are only 4000 people here. I started thinking about their economy and how it works. Is it not the same ten pound note doing the rounds?

It felt liberating to not have 4G. Only internet when you log in. I liked this. No emails, no notifications. Back to the 90's...I liked it a lot.