Lone Wolf, Google China, Bloody Em, Tidy Cat, & The Man Who Had Everything All To Himself

Throughout our travels Hung had a habit of nicknaming fellow backpackers. Usually this would happen just naturally in the course of referring to them since they were part of our daily encounters when we stayed in places catering to Westerners. The title here refers to some of those who stood out.

Lone Wolf aka The German Guy
We encountered Lone Wolf as he quietly joined us at the Evergreen Lodge in Zanzibar. He was clearly by himself, talked very rarely to anyone but we would see him out of the corner of our eyes enjoying a beachside bike ride or reading in the hammock at sunset. We saw him in Dar es Salaam at the infamous "Safari Inn" and learned that he had just been volunteering in Uganda and had tacked on this trip some downtime before he returned to Germany.

Google China
So named because in Pemba, Hung had a late night argument with him about Google China, which was in the news at the time, I guess. He was a youngish (late 20s) SF-based post dot.com boomer who had just quit his job & was travelling from Spain through Africa in 8 months. He was nearing the end of his trip & was full of digital photos and the casual confidence of white North-American males. I thought he was nice enough, but he rubbed Hung the wrong way when he revealed his ignorance about China, communism, and history. I think there was whiskey involved, but can't say how much as I retired early.

Bloody Em
Bloody Em and her friend were very young British girls vacationing in Mozambique after doing a 6 month stint teaching English in Dar Es Salaam. They were kind of dippy, but pleasant enough to be around. We met them at Fatima's Place in Maputo, an old BackPacker's haunt that has a communal kitchen and a friendly vibe. I gave her her nickname after she appeared at the house in bloody bandages one Sunday afternoon. She and her friend had takenm a wrong turn in the deserted fort area downtown, and were accosted by a man with a broken bottle who scuffled with the girls and managed to rob 1,000,000 Meticash (about 40 dollars). They were saved by some vacationing South African commandos who happened down the street & dropped them at the hospital. She was inexplicably cheery upon entering the hostel, and proceeded to tell the story of her attack ad infintum until they left the next morning.

Tidy Cat
Hung's favorite, and probably the most fitting his nickname, Alex was a 50+ multi-lingual gay Australian traveller. He was a butler by trade, and was simultaneously getting an extensive series of root canals while in Maputo and getting used to how jaded he had become about travel, now having travelled most of the world. He was *very* particular, but somehow also managed to be fun to talk to. We enjoyed his company, and his eccentricities (he never eats at restaurants, a real trick when travelling, was having his dental work done with no numbing agents, etc). When I told him he took a good picture, he responded with a story about when he lived in Cairo and got alot of work as extras on photo and film shoots where they needed a Western professor-type.



The Man Who Had Everything To Himself
This young American man was someone we only knew by overhearing his many stories about his travels overland in Africa over the previous 7 months. He befriended two young South African honeymooners at our lodge in Zanzibar and regailed them with stories about his time in Syria, Libya and the Sudan. One of his refrains was how pleased he was with himself for travelling alone through areas where very few tourists go. He often exclaimed in the midst of his stories "I had the [temple, mountain, beach, hotel, etc] all to myself." Later on during our trip when we were marvelling similarly at managing to reach a remote location and enjoy its beauty without the taint of other fellow travellers, we would recall how strange this value seemed when we heard him express it, and would laugh at ourselves.