March 26, 2003
Lyons takes one backpack across three continents
By
Herald staff writer
Taking what he could cram in one backpack, Josh Lyons headed off for a five-month journey last October that would include visiting three continents.
Lyons, a 1997 graduate of Traverse City High School, had been planning the adventure for more than two years. The trip, set to coincide with the end of his cousin Aaron Boyle's two year tour with the Peace Corps in Kenya, would take the pair from east Africa, to Egypt, to southeast Asia including Thailand and Cambodia and on to Peru and Brazil in South America.
When Lyons met up with his cousin in Kenya, Boyle was anxious to show him the country that he had become so familiar with.
"We met in Nairobi which is a typical big city, it could be anywhere. Big cities are definitely not the norm. Jilore, the village where he had been living, is the real deal Africa," Lyons said.
While in the small northwestern village, where thatched huts are the standard home, Lyons was welcomed with a party.
"If you want to have a party in Kenya you kill a goat - and you eat the whole goat. Because I was the guest, they offered me some intestines. I did try them, and they weren't that bad - but I couldn't get past that they were intestines," Lyons said.
While his cousin finished his duties in Jilore, Lyons set out on his own when he discovered the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda was a day's bus trip away. Animal trackers took a group, including 24 armed guards, deep into the park and into the habitat of the mountain gorilla.
"We followed the trackers who pointed out a trail of broken bamboo. We came into one area and the gorillas were all around us, the younger ones would come right up to you," Lyons said.
"You have seen these animals all a hundred times, but it is a different experience to see them right there in front of you," said Lyons who encountered a charging elephant and had a lioness brush against the car he was taking photos from, during a three day safari upon returning to Kenya.
Experiencing old cultures was one reason Lyons and Boyle wanted to make the international trip.
"What trip to Africa would be complete without a visit to Egypt? We went into Cairo and took a camel trip out to the pyramids," Lyons said.
The next leg of the journey took them to Thailand, where Lyons, a professional rock climbing instructor, had spent the last two winters working.
"I wanted to show my cousin the country and how to climb. I have really enjoyed learning about the Asian culture," Lyons said.
From southern Thailand they traveled to northern Cambodia and the Buddhist temple ruins of Ankor Wat.
With two continents down and one to go, the pair hooked up with Chris Lyons, Josh's younger brother in Peru. There the threesome hiked into Machu Picchu, the ancient city of the Incas.
"Chris brought us warm clothes and rain gear. The tropics had been easy, we just needed shorts, sandals and a T-shirt, but this trip was serious enough that you want the right equipment," Lyons said.
The trip's grand finale, before heading back to the states, was spending Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
"You have never seen anything like it. That is one place I would like to go back to," Lyons said.
After 17 flights, countless bus and taxi rides and thousands of miles traveled, Lyons wound up in Traverse City visiting his parents Howard and Dianne Walker, before heading back to his job and home in Seneca Rocks, W. Va.
While glad to be back home, Lyons looks forward to donning his backpack again.
"The heart and soul of international travel is the madness of the situations you find yourself in. You have no idea who you will meet. Getting there is the best part."