Hi there.
I have just been searching the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree (the best place on the net for travel advice) and after following a few links was shocked and saddened to find that someone I met whilst travelling had passed away from cerebral malaria back in June last year. Shocking more so because I only realised today in January even though i knew her blog address. How could I have missed this? I am really struggling with that. I must have logged onto her blog and just misread, or gone straight to other posts... It defies belief really. Not very happy with myself right now.
I met Kinga, from Poland, when I was in Ouagadougou, only a couple of days before contracting malaria myself. Kinga was on a long hitchhiking trip through Africa, and did it in such a free way that i felt rather unadventurous. She didn't like to stay in hotels, but stayed with locals whenever possible. She was the true example of the traveller who had thrown away all the restrictions of life and just did what she wanted, how she wanted. The day after i met her i headed to Banfora, she was going to Niger.
Please visit these two sites to learn a little about her, an amazing person indeed:
http://www.kingafreespirit.pl/kingaen/index.php
(her blog)
http://www.digihitch.com/tribute/kinga
(a tribute)
When travelling I have met loads of others doing it there way. Some are more restricted than myself, others far less (like Kinga). Whatever their path, it seems we are all ships in the night, and i rarely no much about those i pass once we part company. So something like this comes as a shock.
'Travelling really does broaden the mind' (TB, circa 1977)
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