Travel blog by Päivi & Santeri Kannisto

We were reading an old Bangkok Post newspaper and saw news about the recent parliamentary elections in Finland. A nationalist party called Perussuomalaiset was translated in the news as True Finns. The translation is hilarious. More accurate alternatives might have been Simple Finns, Basic Finns, or Elementary Finns (like in elementary school). The logic would follow better the party’s ideology: We don’t want foreigners to live in our refrigerator, steal our food, drink our vodka and seduce our women. Go away evil foreigners!

Perhentian Islands are a paradise for swimmers and divers: water like gin and no poisonous jellyfish around. We were practically all the time in the sea swimming. We haven’t had many chances to enjoy jellyfish-free seas during the last years. Penang coast has jellyfish. In Mombasa, one jellyfish found Päivi right away when we went swimming for the first time in Diani Beach. Before that we were staying in the Mediterranean which is unfortunately also infested with the nasty swimming companions. Some days were OK to swim but many times we went to the beach just to see the warning flags.

We spent the last couple of months in Penang, Malaysia. The island is interesting with its Malaysian mix of people. There are the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians plus a lot of Western pensioners who are after warmer weather and cheaper living. The island is densely populated and touristy, much more than we expected. Some parts remind Spain’s Costa del Sol with ugly high risers and terrible traffic. It is a pity because the island itself is beautiful. There are only a few unspoilt places left.

There are many man-eaters dwelling in Africa, but the most dangerous ones are the mosquitoes. We decided to travel without preventive malaria medication and here is how we did it. The next twelve months will show how successful that was. There are many variants of malaria. The most dangerous and common species of malaria parasites is P. falciparum causing cerebral malaria. It is responsible for 80% of all infections and 90% of all deaths. Within 24 hours, it reaches the brain and can cause coma, which reduces the chances of survival significantly. A mosquito gets the malaria parasite by biting someone who has malaria and then transmits it to everyone she bites. The only effective way to not get it is stay out of Africa or avoid mosquito bites. We chose the latter option.

Santeri has accepted candidacy and runs for the Finnish parliament in the elections held on the 17th of April 2011. We are organising our haste return to Finland and preparing for the election campaign. Santeri is looking forward to working in the parliament making Finland a better country to live in. The candidacy was announced in the campaign kick-off together with the new electoral web site revealing the party he joined and his political alignment. You can help us and express you support by spreading information about the candidacy, and by donating money for the campaign.