African Brew Ha-Ha: Cedar House Rules

African Brew Ha-Ha Reviews

'JOY AND HEARTACHE, despair and exhilaration, moments of sheer insanity ... Alan Whelan captures Africa to a T' - Travel writer Peter Moore - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'HIS WRITING ability is way above the norm and seeing Africa through his fresh pair of eyes was a delight' - Adventure Travel Magazine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'WITH A KEEN, predominantly optimistic eye, Whelan portrays his encounters poignantly' - Real Travel magazine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'AWESOME and inspirational' - Motivational Speaker Michael Finnigan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'A WONDERFUL book that is written from hard-won and well-lived experience; I cannot recommend it highly enough' - Author Steve McLaughlin - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'EXTRAORDINARY one-man mission ... with no shortage of adventures along the way ... the most physically and emotionally challenging months of his life' - Blackpool Gazette - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'THIS BOOK is a brillant read. It's very funny; it's educational; it's thought provoking; it's inspirational' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'A BRILLIANT book ... highly recommended' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'A FANTASTIC story of a real adventure' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'FUNNY, fascinating and full of life ... kept me gripped from cover to cover' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'SUPERBLY written, very easy to read and very difficult to put down' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'A STYLISH accomplished writer ... read it and be enriched by his experience' - Amazon Review - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'EXHILARATION, frustration and joy as the author takes you through his emotional journey. Excellent read' - Amazon Review - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 'A REWARDING READ not just as a travelog but as a journey of personal discovery ... Alan Whelan has taken up the torch lit by Ted Simon and carried it forward to a new generation' - Amazon Review

TALKS, EVENTS & BOOK SIGNINGS

COME ALONG to one of my talks and signings about my overland motorcycle trip from Lancashire to Cape Town in search of the ultimate cup of tea. Most of the events are in sunny Lancashire. Let me know if you would like to attend as some are not open to the general public. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2010 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MAR 28 Private Party, Lytham (2.30-4.30pm) - Tea & Cakes and Mike Finnigan! - APRIL 8 Forward Business Lunch - Talk @ Dicconson Arms, Appley Bridge (12-2pm) APRIL 16 Business Breakfast Club - Talk @ Marriott Hotel, Preston (7-9am) - - - - - - - April 27 Kirkham Probus - Talk @ Conservative Club, Kirkham (10-11.30am) - - - MAY 6 Preston North Rotary Club - Talk @ The Grapes, Goosnargh (6.30-8pm) - - - MAY 7 Pink Link - Talk @ Imperial Hotel, Blackpool (9.30am) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MAY 8 Lytham Book Fair - Meet and Book signing @ Assembly Rooms, Lytham (10am-4pm) - - - - - - - - - - MAY 12 Garstang Rotary Club - Talk @ The Pickerings, Garstang (7.30-9pm) - - - - - - MAY 14 University of the Third Age (U3A) - Talk @ UR Church, St Annes (10.30am-12pm) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MAY 14 Mystery Tea House - Talk @ 23 Cannon St, Preston PR1 3NR (3pm) - - - - - - - - MAY 25 Preston South Rotary Club - Talk @ Wellington Park, Leyland (7.30pm) - - - - - - - - - MAY 27 Plackitt & Booth Bookshop talk and book signing @ 87c Clifton St, Lytham (7pm, tickets £2.00) MAY 29 Irish Book Launch Talk, Guinness & Tea @ Kilnamanagh Family Recreation Centre, Tallaght Dublin (6pm) - - - - - - - - - - - - JUNE 3 South Lancashire Advanced Motorcyclists (SLAM) - Talk @ Hartwood Hotel, Chorley (8pm) - - - - - JULY 24 Waterstone's - Signing @ Preston branch (11.30-1pm) - - - - - - - - - - - - AUG 3 Poulton Probus Club - Talk @ River Wyre, Poulton (10.30am) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AUG 5 Cleveleys Probus Club - Talk @ Masonic Hall, Cleveleys (10am) - - - - - - - - AUG 7 Waterstone's - signing @ Southport branch (1pm) - AUG 14 Waterstone's - signing @ Chiswick branch (11am-1pm) - SEP 10 Talk, signing & curry @ Rainhill Centre, Barnoldswick (7.30pm) Tickets from www.bookshopcolne.co.uk - - SEPT 30 Lancaster Library - talk & signing @ Market Square, Lancaster (6pm) - OCT 6 Garstang and over Wyre Rotary Club - after dinner talk @ Garstang Country Club (7pm) - - - - - - - OCT 15 Round Table - after dinner talk @ Fylde Rugby Club (7pm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . OCT 21 St Annes Probus Club - Talk @ Pensioners Hall, St Albans Rd (10.30am) - NOV 2 Central Lancs Vintage Motorcycle Club Talk @ Bowling Green Pub, Charnock Richard (8pm) . . . . . . . . . . . NOV 4 University of the Third Age (U3A) - Talk @ Christ Church, Aughton (10.30am) . NOV 6 Waterstone's - signing @ Lancaster Cornmarket branch (11-1pm) . . . . . . . . . . . NOV 22 Original Tea Bag Designs - Talk @ Kronendal Office Park, Main Road, Hout Bay (7.30pm) contact for tickets R25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAN 20 Launch of the new Triumph Tiger 800 XC Book signing @ Philip Youles, Copy Nook, Blackburn (evening) . . JAN 25 Ladies Guild - Talk @ Victoria Congregational Church, Newton Drive, Blackpool (2pm) . . . . . . . . . JAN 29 Adventure Travel Live - Talk @ Royal Horticultural Halls, Victoria, London (1pm) FEB 5 - 12 Saga Ruby cruise ship Talk @ Maldives-Sri Lanka-Thailand-Singapore . . FEB 16 Porsche Club GB - Talk @ Garstang Country Club (8pm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FEB 23 Harley Owners Group (HOG) - Talk @ White Bull, Longridge (7.30pm) . . . . . . MARCH 3 Kirkham Rotary Club - Talk @ Ribby Hall, Wrea Green, (7.45pm) . . . . . . MAY 28 Globetrotters Club - Talk @ Grosvenor Museum, Chester (1.30pm) . . . . . . . . . AUG 2 Triumph Motorcycle Club - Talk @ Arden Arms, Stockport (8pm) . . . . . . . . AUG 3 Poulton Lifelong Learning - Talk @ Community Hall, Poulton (2pm) . . . . . . OCT 12 Retired Teachers' Association - Talk @ Chadwick Hotel, St Annes (12noon) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OCT 12 '41' Club - Talk @ Bedford Hotel, St Annes (7pm)

Original Tea Bag Designs

ORIGINAL TEA BAG DESIGNS was the inspiration for the African Brew Ha Ha. The brilliant idea of re-using old tea bags to create delightful mini works of art showed how one person with a simple idea and the conviction to make it work can make a huge difference to other people's lives. This project deserves to succeed (actually, it is!) in the face of many obstacles - both bureaucratic and personal - as it is bringing employment, purpose and, as one employee commented "a future, and my children's future". The artists from Original T-Bag Designs live in an informal settlement called Imizamu Yethu, in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. Their homes are simple structures to say the least — some are precarious structures made of odd bits of tin, wood and plastic nailed together for shelter. Although many do not have formal schooling, they do have grit and imagination and a desire to make their families' lives better. The artists, using recycled tea bags as their canvases, are painting themselves out of poverty. Used tea bags are collected and dried in the African sun. Then they are emptied of leaves, carefully ironed, and finally each tea bag is painstakingly painted. The artists work mostly at home during these early phases so they can care for their families while they work. Sometimes the little ones help by emptying out tea leaves. The project was founded in 1999 and continues to be run by Jill Heyes.

Township Life, Imizamu Yethu (New Year's Eve 2006)

The township in Hout Bay, Cape Town, has grown from a loose collection of shacks in the late 1980s to an established township known both as Imizamu Yethu and Mandela Park. Imizamu (sometimes Imizamo) Yethu is isiXhosa for "Our Struggle". Locals have joked that they prefer the appellation 'Irishtown', after a house-building charity - the Township Trust - that has transformed many neighbourhoods in the last few years with the help of Irish volunteers who come each November. Go here to see some of their work www.irishtownship.com The workers at Original Tea Bag Designs live in Imizamu Yethu. Most live in rudimentary shacks made from scrap pieces of wood, the ubiquitous corrugated iron (for both roofs and walls), and plastic sheeting to keep the rain off. Holding down a steady job and going home to a shack every night can't be good for the spirit. Shops, shebeens and cafes stock only the very basic staples. But there is hope. The Township Trust is coming to the end of its whirlwind building programme, which has shown the SA Government what can be done with some Irish application (and building skills). Some of the workers are, or are looking forward to, moving into their own houses. Some people are grabbing the opportunities that the New South Africa has allowed. It is these entrepreneurs, albeit in a small way at first, who will make the biggest impact on the lives of the previously oppressed and presently disadvantaged population. I have been told that the house building programme is intended to house all the 'original' residents of the township. This is easier said than done and there have been many accusations of corruption. Others believe that when some people are assigned a house, they immediately rent it to 'outsiders' or distant relatives and remain living in their shack - effectively adding to the housing problem. The situation, inevitably, is going to leave some at the bottom of the pile where they were in the first place. Historically, there is some tension in the township over illegal foreigners who work for less than the 'going rate' and others who sell drugs. I've seen this myself: it's a strange sight seeing a top-of-the-range white BMW making a delivery amongst the squalor.

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January 20, 2012

Cedar House Rules

I was in the Western Cape recently and found time to scoot out to the Cedarberg, or, more precisely, the Biedouw Valley which is just outside the official wilderness area.

It's a stunning part of the world for walking, biking, and soaking up the wilderness experience. I stayed at Enjo farm run by a European couple. An added attraction is that they have a couple of bikes - a Suzuki 200 and a Yammy XT 600. I took the Yammy out for the day. Even though the weather was uniquely crap, it's the only way to see the mountains and valleys. Wupperthal is worth a visit for the hand-made shoes alone.

It's only three hours from Cape Town, a direct route to wilderness if that's your thing.

Posted at 10:32 PM in Africa - other stories, Travel | Permalink

Technorati Tags: biedouw valley, cape town, cedar berg, Enjo farm, motorbikes, western cape biking, wupperthal

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