WANDERLUST WEDNESDAY - Luxury or Local

We have a great programme on our TV in the UK at the moment called "Holiday Hijack". It is where a group of people, usually two couples or a couple plus their older children, are sent to a luxury resort for 1 night. On the next day they are called to spend times with the locals and live with them in their own home. They are also shown behind the scenes at the so called luxury resort they are staying in.

This week is was based in Kenya. The family were put up in a 5* resort for the first day and night and then taken to live with the Masai tribes in a hut made of dung. They were made to live and work with the locals. They were also taken behind the scenes at the 5* resort and shown how a staff member who made their beds everyday, works for 3 months, 7 days a week, before they were given time off. They were also paid what we would see as a pittance.

On the last day of the holiday the family are given the choice of whether they remain with the family or go back and stay for a last night in their luxury resort. This week the family chose to return to the resort. I personally think that is an insult to the family who have fed them and put them up all week. Most weeks people choose to stay with the host family.

Over the weeks it has taught people how humble the locals are and not at all materialistic. It has brought people to tears to see how kind the locals are and how much they have to put up with from the tourists.

One that shocked me was the Maldives. People stay on a luxury 5* island and throw rubbish/trash away like they would at home. What they don't realise is that in the Maldives they have no recycling facilities as such and all the rubbish is taken by boat (after being sorted by hand) to another island away from the tourists and there it is left. The plastic is sold for a pittance but everything else is left there to rot. This shocked the family that were sent to the Maldives and was a real eye opener.

My question is "If having been sent to a 5* luxury resort free of charge, you were asked to then go and live with the locals after only one day, would you do it?" Luxury or Locals.

Would you swap this? Luxury 5* resort in The Gambia

I like to think of myself as being quite adventurous when travelling abroad and love to mix with different cultures and learn about them, their way of life and their religions.



for this?
Schoolchildren at Bakoteh school in Senegambia (The Gambia)

I loved my time in The Gambia. Our host Kabs, took us to his family home, where his sister was outside roasting nuts on the open fire for their dinner. We were shown around their "compound" where the whole family lived.

He took us to the local school where the children sang to us and chatted with us. I'm sure it was not just in return for the pens, pencils, books and sweets we took for them. They seemed genuinely delighted to meet us.

Could you do this or is it only luxury for you all the way?

Have a look at Holiday Hijack for yourself to see what you think and if it changes your mind.

This link will definately work for UK readers, but I am not sure about overseas ones. Give it a try.

Kabs and his wonderful family.

My love of books about other cultures

Having been a travel agent for 20+ years, I obviously have a love for other cultures, having visited a lot of different continents. I find the African cultures all very diverse and very very interesting.

Senegambia, The Gambia by Lisa Hardy

Whilst in The Gambia, we befriended a local man called "Kabs" who was a Tour Manager for a local independant company in Senegambia. He was so friendly and introduced us to his family, taking us to his home which was a compound, where he lived with his mother, and his brother and brothers family and his other siblings. They were so welcoming despite most of them not speaking English. We took with us a bag of rice as a gift. This cost us about £12 but would feed the whole family for a month.

Kabs and his family

Kabs took us to a local school where we went armed with books (of course) in English for their library, pens, pencils, paper and sweets. The children swarmed round us like bees around a honey pot. They were so lovely and so delighted to see the white people.

Children at Bakoteh school

Before I go anywhere on holiday I buy all the guide books, as I love to read about the country before I go, so I know what to expect. I am quite street wise on holiday and like to take my Husband and I off independently, although obviously being aware there are places you can and can't go on your own. We found that if we went with Kabs or his colleagues, he stopped people from pestering us.

I found one excellent book on Gambia whilst I was in The Gambia, called Tomkinsons Gambia. It was rich with colour and information.

Tompkinsons Gambia

This trip was the one that inspired me the most to read up about different cultures. I have since travelled to the Far East and been immersed in the sights and smells of Bangkok and the surrounding villages in Thailand. I have experienced the poverty in Malaysia. I have seen the way of life of the Aborigine people in Australia, how they eat from the land, all sorts of things we would turn up our noses at. I have experienced how in Mauritius, people of all religions live amongst each other quite happily and the rich live amongst the poor. That was quite eye opening and very humbling.

All in all these experiences have pushed me to read about the ways of life of other cultures. I love to read books like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, where the author, quote "brings to life not only a character but an entire culture, and a sensiblity so strikingly different from our own ... engrossing and completely convincing". If you haven't read this, I strongly suggest you do. It's a book that has stayed in my mind.

 I also love books like Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, about a young girl growing up in Afghanistan. I just wish the author would write more books!

I have just therefore bought from New Books Magazine The City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris. In it "The burkha-clad body of a young woman is discovered on the grimy sands of Jeddah Beach".

Overall I love books of all genres, but I would just say, if you are stuck in a routine of reading modern fiction, thrillers or historical fiction then broaden your horizons and read one of the fiction books I've mentioned. They really do enrich your mind.