Exotic Christmas
Post 12 in Connie Ragens 30 Days Blog Challenge.
Today is December 20, and Christmas Evening is just four days ahead. (In Denmark we celebrate Christmas the 24th in the evening). I have been thinking which Christmas has been my most special and exotic one.
And I have a clear winner!
Exactly ten years ago in December 1999 I was in Tanzania, Africa. As some of you might know I’m a passionate birdwatcher, and I have been to many places in the World to watch birds. This time I was in Africa as a volunteer working for Birdlife International.
Our “mission” was to estimate the population of one of the rarest birds in the World: The Uluguru Bushshrike. It only lives one single place on Earth: The rainforest of The Uluguru Mountains. This rainforest is seriously endangered because the local people are cutting it down to make space for agriculture. The small amount of forest left is protected.
If the forest dissappears, so does animals and birds like the Uluguru Bushshrike.
At first we stayed in the rainforest for three weeks. It was pretty tough, and very wet! And the stay included Christmas Evening.
We had some local African people to join and help us. December 24 in the morning one of them was heading for the nearest village to buy supplies. It was a long walk, and it wasn’t until we sat around the fire in the evening that we heard the sound of feet against the forest floor, and he was back.
He was bringing some sodas and a chocolate bar! We shared the chocolate and had our sodas while listening to a Danish Christmas Carol (Sweet World/Dejlig er Jorden) played from a walkman with loudspeakers. Around us were all the sounds from the rainforest, and the smell from the fire. We all had tears in our eyes, and sad for a moment without speaking each one of us thinking about our families back home in Denmark.
Do I need to say that the chocolate and the soda tasted REALLY good?
What is your most “exotic” Christmas?
I would be honored to have you share it here.
Christmas in the Jungle!
Our “Christmas Camp”
[...] Exotic Christmas. No Comments [...]
What a beautiful story CD,
I was living with my daughter and her family. On Christmas morning I was touched by a very special present from my son-in-law. (a non-believer) He had purchased me a copy of The Art of Happiness by the Dali Lama. The story of how he chose that meant as much as the gift. He and my daughter had gone Christmas shopping and when it was time to purchase a gift for me, my daughter went in to the routine of “I don’t know what to get her”. He suggested that they go to the bookstore. While they were browsing he continued to ask her for ideas. She seemed stumped and finally he figured it out. He picked up a copy of the book and asked her what she thought. She seemed stumped. She mumbled something like we never know what to get her. To which he replied, Are you serious? Your mom has three bookshelves in her room filled with all the same kinds of books.She reads every single day. Do you mean to tell me that it never occurred to you or your father to buy her a book.
While I have had many wonderful Christmas’s, they have always been pretty traditional and most often a little too commercial.
The year after my escape
She now buys me a book every year.
Kat~
Now that’s a beautiful story too, Kat! Sometimes we need some help outside of the family….
Thank you for sharing!
Wow, Claus!
That is an exotic Christmas. I had no idea you were such an avid birder! I got into it for a while, but never to such a dedicated extent. Sounds like it was a wonderful Christmas!
Hi KK, well, let’s go birding together!
Pretty cool my friend, Thanks for sharing!
Trap
My pleasure, Trapper.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by cdjensen: My most exotic Christmas ever: http://www.clausdjensen.com/exotic-christmas.html/ What is yours?…
“Exotic” Christmas? I had to think about that term. Christmas has never seem exotic to me. It is always so wrapped up in traditions.
I would have to say that my most exotic Christmas was the year we broke tradition and took off on a trip to Mexico.
We traveled most the day on Christmas, heading for sunshine and warm weather. We ended up in Laughlin Nevada. It was really fun to see people out and about. I had never imagined that people hung out in casinos and gambled all day on Christmas.
We had a great time. We took a river walk, gambled and ate good food.
Sheila
That sounds pretty cool and exotic! I hope you won in the Casino!?
Thanks for sharing, Sheila..
Ahoy Claus,
How do we celebrate Christmas on the sailboat?
Well, we do celebrate Christmas, but it is scaled down. Jonathan always goes to Maine to visit family, so it is just me and Cheri on the sailboat. We put lights on the boat and have a small tree inside.
On Christmas day, we exchange presents, and have a nice Christmas meal, either a ham or a small turkey, with all the extras. We just hang-out together as a couple….
Here are photos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/flyer-rob/nightlights3christmascard.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/flyer-rob/christmaslights003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/flyer-rob/christmaslightsBdock.jpg
Merry Christmas!
Rob
Wow, thanks, Rob! That sounds and looks really beautiful!
Thank you so much for sharing!
I don’t have an “Exotic” Christmas. My Christmases have been pretty traditional through the years.
I guess the most “Exotic” would be the year we flocked the tree Pink. It was the first Christmas after I was married. Oh my gosh… it was ugly… but we loved it. We laughed and laughed about it.
LOL, that sounds like a real fun Christmas!
HI CD,
What a name. 
You really got me thinking about Christmas and how even though I have many wonderful Christmas memories, I have never really done one that I would call exotic.
I thought about a “vision statement” that I had done a few years ago. I talked about and saw myself experiencing Christmas in Hawaii (more specifically Kuaii)and one of the highlights is a trip to a secluded area of the island to see “The Red Breasted Boobies”
Perhaps 2010 will be the year that “vision” manifests.
Kat~
That sounds like a great “vision”. Thank you for your comment, Kat!
I probably shouldn’t put all the details of my most exotic Christmas here, (be assured I will write that story down someday) but it was my first Christmas in Los Angeles, I was broke and depressed. It involved Disneyland. Yes, it was exotic.
Looking forward to that story!
[...] day ago a friend posted a note about his most exotic Christmas. He spent it in Tanzania while studying birds. I don’t have any Christmas stories as [...]
[...] Day 12: Exotic Christmas [...]