Wandering Footsteps: Wandering the World One Step at a Time » A travel journal following a family on their overland trip around the world.

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  • Welcome to Wandering Footsteps, the travel journal of a nomadic family on an overland trip around the world. With thirty years of travel experience, a round-the-world trip already under our belt, a newly-converted bus, and a new baby in tow, this journey is bound to be interesting! Join us in our global wanderings - we've saved an extra seat just for you!

    - Brittany, Bruno, and Phoenix

In two-and-a-half years of traveling overland with Bruno, we’ve never driven 425km in a single day. Never been on the road for twelve hours straight. Never arrived after dark to our accommodation. And never fallen into bed quite this shattered. I’m lucky this is only my first time experiencing this kind of day, I decide. I’m pretty lucky in general, actually.

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  • Les Brown - Hello Brit and Bruno, your blog is truly a treasure of remarkable travels. Your quest for new adventure is both amazing and scary. While all I have to do is look out the window at 30 cm. snow and sip a nice wine in my warm apartment. How boring!
    Anyway, Leonie and I will be travelling to Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Dec. 1 and we can share in the traffic jam there, not quite the same as the ones in your pictures.
    I do pray for your continued safe journey and will keep reading. I will try to send you a picture from Florida in December along with our Christmas greeting.
    Much love, GrampaReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hi Gramps! Actually sipping wine in the warmth of a nice apartment doesn’t sound half bad, when you compare it to days like I described in this post! Travel sure gives you an appreciation for the simple moments of luxury in life!
      Speaking of travel, you’re on the road today so travel safely and I can’t wait to see your Florida photos!
      Much love,
      BBReplyCancel

Bizarre endemic animals, check. Bizarre lunar landscape, check. Bizarre climate, check. Three ingredients that make for an unforgettable trip to Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains!

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  • Laken - XX The lesser griefs that may be said, That breathe a thousand tender vows, Are but as servants in a house Where lies the master newly dead; Who speak their feeling as it is, And weep the fulness from the mind: ‘It will be hard,’ they say, ‘to find Another service such as this.’ My lighter moods are like to these, That out of words a comfort win; But there are other griefs within, And tears that at their fountain freeze; For by the hearth the children sit Cold in that atmosphere of Death, And scarce endure to draw the breath, Or like to noiseless phantoms flit; But open converse is there none, So much the vital spirits sink To see the vacant chair, and think, ‘How good! how kind! and he is gone.’ XXI I sing to him that rests below, And, since the grasses round me wave, I take the grasses of the grave, And make them pipes whereon to blow. The traveller hears me now and then, And sometimes harshly will he speak: ‘This fellow would make weakness weak, And melt the waxen hearts of men.’ Another answers, ‘Let him be, He loves to make parade of pain That with his piping he may gain The praise that comes to constancy.’ A third is wroth: ‘Is this an hour For private sorrow’s barren song, When more and more the people throng The chairs and thrones of civil power? ‘A time to sicken and to swoon, When Science reaches forth her arms To feel from world to world, and charms Her secret from the latest moon?’ Behold, ye speak an idle thing: Ye never knew the sacred dust: I do but sing because I must, And pipe but as the linnets sing: And one is glad; her note is gay, For now her little ones have ranged; And one is sad; her note is changed, Because her brood is stol’n away. XXII The path by which we twain did go, Which led by tracts that pleased us well, Thro’ four sweet years arose and fell, From flower to flower, from snow to snow: And we with singing cheer’d the way, And, crown’d with all the season lent, From April on to April went, And glad at heart from May to May: But where the path we walk’d began To slant the fifth autumnal slope, As we descended following Hope, There sat the Shadow fear’d of man; Who broke our fair companionship, And spread his mantle dark and cold, And wrapt thee formless in the fold, And dull’d the murmur on thy lip, And bore thee where I could not see Nor follow, tho’ I walk in haste, And think, that somewhere in the waste The Shadow sits and waits for me. XXIV And was the day of my delight As pure and perfect as I say? The very source and fount of Day Is dash’d with wandering isles of night. If all was good and fair we met, This earth had been the Paradise It never look’d to human eyes Since our first Sun arose and set. And is it that the haze of grief Makes former gladness loom so great? The lowness of the present state, That sets the past in this relief? Or that the past will always win A glory from its being far; And orb into the perfect star We saw not, when we moved therein? XXV I know that this was Life,—the track Whereon with equal feet we fared; And then, as now, the day prepared The daily burden for the back. But this it was that made me move As light as carrier-birds in air; I loved the weight I had to bear, Because it needed help of Love: Nor could I weary, heart or limb, When mighty Love would cleave in twain The lading of a single pain, And part it, giving half to him. XXVI Still onward winds the dreary way; I with it; for I long to prove No lapse of moons can canker Love, Whatever fickle tongues may say. And if that eye which watches guilt And goodness, and hath power to see Within the green the moulder’d tree, And towers fall’n as soon as built— Oh, if indeed that eye foresee Or see (in Him is no before) In more of life true life no more And Love the indifference to be, Then might I find, ere yet the morn Breaks hither over Indian seas, That Shadow waiting with the keys, To shroud me from my proper scorn. XXVII I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage, The linnet born within the cage, That never knew the summer woods: I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time, Unfetter’d by the sense of crime, To whom a conscience never wakes; Nor, what may count itself as blest, The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth; Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate’er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.ReplyCancel

  • Balance Bike - I read a lot of interesting posts here. You spend a lot of time
    writing, Thanks for sharing!
    King regards,
    Demir DenckerReplyCancel

  • Tim Snieder - Great post! I’m looking into a trip this may, wondering how many days I should schedule. Mostly keen on mammal and bird observation but also erta ale…ReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - Hi Tim, enjoy your upcoming trip – Bale is fascinating and beautiful! We only spent one night (two full days), mostly just because it was cold and we are major wusses, hah! But, if you are a nature and animal lover, you could easily spend a couple nights, allowing you ample time to appreciate the unique flora and fauna. You could do some trekking – up to the highest point, for example, for a sweeping view of the horizon. And be sure to drive all the way to the other end of the park, where the elevation goes back down and, once again, the flora and fauna change! ENJOY!ReplyCancel

  • Yvonne Levene - Hi Brittany and Bruno – I have just read your posting on the Bale Mountains and it was a great write up and very truthful too…. great photos. I was meaning to follow but we have been so busy at the Lodge with such an intermittent network that I have not had time, but am in UK for a few weeks and so catching up and will check out your other postings. It was interesting to have met you and you stand out in my memories with your beautifully decorated van and amazing life. Good travels, safe travels and I will be interested to see where life leads you. As they say in Ethiopia ‘Eyso – Eysosh’
    Yours Yvonne from Bale Moutain LodgeReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Yvonne, it is so very wonderful to hear from you so many months after our lovely chance encounter in Ethiopia. I certainly understand the network issues! 🙂 Reading your kind words brings us both back to the wonders of Bale, from the landscape and the animals to the drastic differences in temperature, and of course, the encounters we made. Thank you again for your generosity!! We hope that things are going very, very well for you, your husband, and your lovely lodge!
      Sending our best, and thanks for being in touch!ReplyCancel

  • Louise- Jones-Takata - Brit & Bruno, your post & pics of your three days in the Bale Mountain National Park most interesting. The Ethiopian Wolf is exquisite and the Bale monkey is different looking . Your notes on Shashamene peaked my interest as I am a big Marley fan.
    Keep up the good work guys and please be careful. LouiseReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Thanks Louise! I think you’d find Ethiopia fascinating! We’re about to head to the north to do part of the historical circuit. I’ll be sure to do my research and reporting as well as possible for you! Keep you posted! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Ans en Tom Schaap - Dear Brittanie and Bruno,
    We love to read your blogs on your beautiful website.
    Wow, you where so lucky by spotten the animale at Bale mountainpark.
    And with the cold so NOT Afrika. We will absolutely bring extra sweaters now!
    Last week we bought our visa for Ethiopië in Brussels. We hope to enter at the end of januari.
    Already looking foreward to your next blog.
    Keep safe and enjoying!

    Lots of love, Ans and TomReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Thanks for continuing to read and respond to our blog! We are sure you will enjoy Ethiopia (despite its challenges!). We are now in Djibouti and will soon have a blog on this magically beautiful and varied country. You should consider visiting also – you can easily get a visa in Addis Ababa.
      Best,
      BBReplyCancel

Ethiopia has been on my bucket list for a long time. It’s a country with a unique history, religion, written script, music, calendar, and food. But with all the challenges we are facing as travelers here, I wonder if Ethiopia is worth the trouble.

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  • Leslie Brown - Amazing story, I suppose Irving Oil could set up a “BIG STOP” with little competition around there.
    You two certainly have courage to see this part of Africa. Take care..
    Love GrampaReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Thank you for your words of encouragement, Grampa! We are living the life – it isn’t always easy, but I still appreciate it my luck every single day!ReplyCancel

Northern Kenya’s long, car-busting Marsabit-Moyale road, which cuts through arid plains violently fought over by tribal warriors, is legendary among overlanders. It’s also the only way to drive to Ethiopia, our next destination. Read on to learn about the current road conditions and to hear our surprising conclusions on the road trip.

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  • Muema - Wow!!! You have taken me through the jouney.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - Thank you, Muema! Best wishes and happy travels (armchair or otherwise!).ReplyCancel

  • Innocent - Wow …so interesting. Must personally do thisReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Thanks for saying hi! This road is a fascinating way to see a bit of Kenya!ReplyCancel

Bruno met Josu and Ana, a couple of Basques traveling overland around the world, in Nepal. They re-met in India. Then in Pakistan, Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia. And here, In a little campsite on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya, they reunite on a third continent. That’s just how it rolls with overland roadies!

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  • Iñaki Larrabeiti - Helow¡¡
    I´m Josu´s cousin. Im glade to heare about Josu and Ana. I envy how they live ¡¡. Best regards from Iñaki and BegoReplyCancel

    • Brittany - It was a great pleasure for me to meet your cousin, and we hope to see them again on the road soon! Perhaps we will meet you too one day? 🙂

      Thank you for saying hello!

      Britt and BrunoReplyCancel

  • ladepluzenplubellesoeur - Je suis ravie d’apprendre que vous avez partagé mon chocolat en bonne compagnie…. le chocolat n’est qu’une joie de plus.
    Au fait, il me semble que je suis aussi devenue TA (depluzenplu)belle-soeur!!!!
    B-B-B (Bisous Bonne route et a Bientôt)ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - T’as TROP raison ma depluzenplubellesoeur! J’ai de la chance d’avoir gagne une superbe famille de plus! Surtout parce que vous me gardez pleine de chocolat! 🙂
      Bisous bisous!ReplyCancel