Do they know it's Christmas time at all - well yes probably.

I was at my work Christmas party last night and at the end of the night, all of the usual Christmas cheese came on. I was very quite drunk, but got a little bit into the lyrics of Band Aid.

I was obviously at the point of drunkeness when I got a little too into the lyrics and started to think well actually they're a bit ridiculous. So I refused to sing along.

Now I realise all song lyrics are a bit ridiculous, but one one of my pet hates is people to referring to Africa as a whole. I have a friend who always says 'Oh when I went to Africa' and I always say 'You went to Uganda!'. He'd never say, oh I went to Europe, when he was off to France, so why should it be the same for Africa.

So it annoys me when the lyrics say things like 'There won't be snow in Africa at Christmas' as Africa is so massive, that it's entirely different in every country. And actually, there will in some countries. I've been to Morocco just after Christmas and there was plenty of snow in the mountains - we even went skiing.

(Skiing in Morocco)

Similarly the 'Do they know it's Christmas time at all?' Well yes. About 40% of the Africa population is Christian and so Christmas is one of the most important events in the Christian calendar. Even if they don't celebrate it in the same was as us, with a tree and presents, Christmas is still a time of family and giving and most Christians will try to go to church and celebrate on Christmas day.

(Christmas in Namibia - 2009)

Similarly, the bit about 'where nothing ever grows' only really applies to a very small percentage of Africa areas, and even Ethiopia, which is was written about, is very fertile in the west of the country.

(Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia)

(Eating wild peas on a walk in the Highlands in Northwest Ethiopia)

So there we go, rant over, but this is one Christmas song I won't be listening to if I can help it this Christmas.

...and the start of a new one!

So, following on from my previous post I am very impressed with the speed of the passport service. Forget the 6 weeks they say it may take, I had my new passport back less than a week after I sent it! How's that for service??

But - wow how passports have changed since I got mine back in 2004 - well and even since friends who have got them in the last few years.

Apparently they've added loads of touches to make them harder to forge - like 'canal' 'mountain range' along with matching illustrations on each page. The other new security features are a chip, watermark, biographical page and secondary image and new design theme. Colourful! The photo page has moved to the front, and is flimsy and a little blurred as there are so many holograms on it. 

I'm off to Cape Town again in January so hopefully it will be real and they'll actually let me in!