SA and home...

Writing this from the comfort of my couch in Greystones with electricity, hot water, my bed and my jeans!!!.... what a wonderful trip...still zonked (just got home yesterday) and re-adjusting but will get there...

So South Africa...well flew out of Lilongwe airport on the 17th...were very happy to find a taxi with petrol to drive us to the airport and glad to leave before any protests/riots started.  Since we have left the Prime Minister has removed all his cabinet so does this mean a dictatorship??  MMmmm...not sure...

Delayed in Jo'burg airport for hours so arrived in Port Elizabeth v late on the Thursday night.  We were hoping to say hi to the Bennet family but time went against us unfortunately... left PE on Friday after an amazing nights sleep in a bed, with hot water, electricity, a lovely toilet and a TV...we didn't know ourselves... 
Drove to a small village called Jobertina (on the R62 route on the Garden Route) and stayed there for 3 nights.  It was a beautiful cottage in the middle of no-where... with no electricity again... so out with the torches/night-lights again...was kind of funny!  Met lovely people and the quote of the stay there was 'Jobertina is a one horse town...at the weekend the horse is dead'...when we asked if there was an internet cafe... .  At night all we could see were the stars...beautiful....also became friends with the biggest spider I have ever seen!!!! 
Drove then, on Monday, to Arniston Bay...about a 8 hr drive, down the beautiful Prince Alfred Pass, into Knysna for lunch and then across wine country to Arniston - a fabulous seaside town with lots of cottages, cliff walks, beaches etc... Unfortunately the rain came but that didn't put us off and as we sipped rum in the hotel, beside the open fire, we thought life wasn't too bad!! 
Then three nights in Camps Bay, just 15 min from Cape Town...what can I say - Out of this World..!  We were staying in absolute luxury, over looking the Atlantic, waves crashing (the only thing we heard)...just incredible.  After shopping in Cape Town we settled back into 'western life' with sundowners, fish and sleep... popped into a spa for a massage and fish eating our feet (all the rage apparently!)...and chilled... and then flew from Cape Town - Heathrow - Dublin arriving home yesterday...

Good to be home and cant wait to see everyone and catch up.... but what an amazing summer...have really been bitten by the travelling bug and would love to head back to Rwanda for a while... also maybe Zimbabwe and Mozambique (must learn how to spell it first!).... Have our Malawi Table and some other bits and pieces to remind us of an amazing summer.... You should all do it...!

Bye bye Zanzibar.....hello Malawi and SA

Hello all...sorry it has been 10 days +...really limited internet/electricity in Malawi and then in SA until today so here goes...hope I remember it all...

So Zanzibar, as I said, was just incrediable...really beautiful part of the world...sandy beaches, blue, transparent sea, amazing fish... Headed out snorkling, ate bbq tuna on the beach...where do you get it.... and all got burnt to a crisp...despite the large amounts of sun lotion (Eoin still peeling..looks like he has a skin disease!)...  Ended up at a semi-full moon party in Kendall Beach (dont ask!!!)... and spent the rest of the time recovering.....Got the ferry back to Dar Es Saalam and stayed one more night before leaving at 4am to cross into Malawi... (did I tell you - we got tuc tuck from the camp to theferry on the way over to Zanzibar...they are teeny little cars - like golf cars, and our driver was a lunatic...driving on the footpaths, practically knocking down people etc...! so we got a taxi back after Zan...I want to live a little longer!!)...

Malawi.... crossed the border into Malawi from Tanzania...just before we did we met Mr Cool...the blackmarket money exchange guy who was able to give us 1.80 kqatcha to the dollar (the banks have fixed it at 1.40 to the dollar)...was really wierd..meeting this guy with a large suitcase of money....at the side of teh road....but that seems to be the way things are done.... so just went with it...

Spend 5 nights at Lake Malawi...wow...one of the biggest lakes in the world - looks like the sea...honestly. amazing.  Spent the first two in Chitimba and then the last three in Kandi Beach.... A nasty worm thingy lives in Lake Malawi (Bilhowzie...or something...._..) and so as we were showering; paddling/swmming etc. we have to take these anti-bilhowzie tablets on the 23 sept..to stop these worms growing in our intestines - UUURRRGGGHHHH!!!!  Anyhow, Lake Malawi just fabulous...really nice.  Spent some time in the local villages with fabulous people.

Desperate poverty in Malawi - most probably the poorest country we have been in. There is a fuel crises at the moment; limited food (difficult to find potatoes etc.), 1 in 4 people have HIV/AIDS etc.. Awful poverty... yet the people are so friendly and nice.  Very few people saying 'give me money' as in other Countries we had been in though.. in one village... it was awful...one girl curtiosed (cant spell it) me... the perception of the white person is just awful... following us around, wanting to touch our hair, skin... feeling 'priviledged' to meet us... bowing at us .... and yet these people are malnourished, have absolutely nothing... something wrong with the world....

Left the Lake for Lilongwe and were there for 4 days... limited electricity, no internet but again lovely people.  Meant to be riots on one of the days we were there but they were cancelled at the last minute.  I believe the government have all been fired by the president now...

Anyway, have to run...internet crashing... will update again when I can... xxx

Zanzibar...what can I say...

So..left Arusha for a tough, bumpy 14 hour drive to Dar Es Salaam... however it was really worth it... stayed in a backpackers (Macaki Beach) right on the Indian Ocean.. absolutely amazing... blue 'picture postcard' sea, golden sand... cant believe we are here...  One of the couples on our trip are getting married in New Zealand in December so, in order to 'prepare them' for that we organised a 'mock wedding' on our lovely Oasis Truck 'Jozie'.  Well, it was just wonderful, all dressed up (well, with musty, sandy shorts etc... flowers in our hair..), and the Indian Ocean as the back-drop...

Next day we got the ferry over to Zanzibar Island and stayed in Stone Town for a night...did a Spice Tour which was incrediable... Vanilla Pods hanging from trees, Cinnamon Trees, Tumeric, Cardamon etc... great to see and experience... we also did a small tour of Stonetown, which played a massive part in the Slave Trade... and we were guided around the former Slave market etc..terrible what happened to so many people. 50,000 people per year were 'kidnapped, born into or cohersed' into the Slave Trade per year and that was solely in Zanzibar...

On a cheerier note, that evening we went to the fish market... woweeee.... just unbelievable sight (and small!)..there must have been 50 or more food stands selling all types of fish, meats, breads etc... so we tucked into tuna, kingfish, prawn, lobster kebabs...just delicious...and funny having to barter for our food too... You would all love it...even if you are not too keen on fish...

Up in Nungwi, North Island now for a few days... wet and cloudy (Nooooooo...) though still super hot...so hopefully the sun breaks through the clouds.  Leave here on Monday and then head to Malawi....

Keep in touch... x

Tanzania

Greetings from Arusha, Tanzania.  Here for 4 nights while some of the gang go to the Serengetti... as we were lucky enough to go to the Massai Mara we are just taking it easy... staying in snake park, about 30 minutes outside Arusha, with snakes and crocs - eek!!  Not so sure about that...  In town for a few minutes to buy dinner for the next 3 nights so took the opportunity to say hi!

Not much to say about Tanzania so far - much more barren and dry then any other Country we have been in so far.  A large Massai Community here, like Kenya, which is interesting.  Freezing at night and in the am and then a heat wave from about 11am - 4pm so getting used to this!!  Spent 2 hours handwashing all our clothes..oh I miss my washing machine!  Eoin's turn next..

Chat soon - should be online again in 5-6 days! x

Back in Nairobi

Hello from Nairobi... just back today for two days before we head off to Tanzania...

Had a great time in Uganda.. Eoin, as I mentioned, went off White Water Rafting and came back with a split lip, bruised and bleeding nose but a massive smile - he loved it. They were Grade 5 rapids (for those of you who know what that means... I think that means they are big and scary so I opted for a read the book on the banks of the Nile day!!)...

After a jet-boat up the Nile (Eoin again..I'm a chicken!) we headed off to Lake Navasha..a lake in Kenya where hippos live.  Well it was absolutely amazing. Went out on a boat to go hippo spotting and there were millions...ok, probably about 60 but wowee... incredible..and then, while eating dinner (we take it in turns to cook, 4 in a cook group) beside our tents we see hippos about 100 mtrs away from us (we are protected by an electric fence..thank goodness!);..it was incredible... so we fell asleep to the sound of hippos.

Stopped at Joy Adamson's house (Born Free) for afternoon tea and the Gariffe Santuary.. which was good and now reloading, washing and getting ready to head off on Thursday to Tanzania..

Half the group on our truck are finishing here in Nairobi tomorrow so that is kind of sad... and we will get another 12 new people... but I'm sure they will be as lovely as the last crowd...

Final words... you MUST come to Africa... honestly folks, it is just out of this world and you would all love it!!!

Catch up soon, hope you are all well and sorry for all the important birthdays, anniversaries etc that we have missed.... Miss you all xxxx

Kampala to Rwanda - arrived Rwanda 15 July. Days 14-17 in Africa

So, had a great time in Kampala - went into the city on a motorbike taxi - hillarious!! and had lunch, pottered around and really enjoyed it.  Really friendly city with less people staring at us muzungos (white people) then in other cities, which was much more relaxing.  Two of our group nearly got pick-pocketed which is not so good but things can happen like that in any city.  There are loads of vultures flying around which is slightly creepy ....


 So... left Kampala on 15th to head into Rwanda... What can I say about Rwanda.. the most AMAZING country I have ever ever been in.  Honestly, you cross the border (after bargaining with border control so that the Irish and Ozzies only had to pay 12 dollars for a visa instead of 60 - as you do!) and you are met with massive forests, tea fields and people picking tea everywhere, baboons in the trees, fields of crops and such friendly, warm people.. it keeps getting better.  Had no mobile/internet for the time in Rwanda nor access to ATMs etc.. it seems they have no international access at all....

arrived in Kigali, Capital of Rwanda to go to the Genocide Museum...absolutely heart-wrenching.. the genocide only took place in 1994 and so many people were murdered, injured etc.. absolutely horrific.  The museum is done really tastefully and definitely leaves you thinking about why the International Community sat by and let this happen...it put things into perspective ...  During our time in Rwanda we kept seeing people affected by the Genocide and when you think about it, everyone over 20 will remember it...

Spent 3 nights in a fully little hotel in a town called Rhuengehiri (or something like that) where we ate plantains, beans, rice, ground nut and other delicious local food... Upgraded to a posh (in inverted commas) room as I really wanted a nice toilet and a hot shower.. and my wish was granted.. amazing how you get used to cold showers and holes in the ground but every so often one needs a little luxury....  also, I really appreciate washing machines now... after Eoin and I spent 3 hours washing all our clothes... it is really hard work and they still dont look clean...

Tried to break into the Congo while in Rwanda... as you do (are we crazy!!..) but for various reasons we couldn't... a)too dangerous ... b) costs 300$ for a visa c)we'd have to exit Rwanda and pay re-entry visas for both Rwanda and Kenya as we had left East Africa... and so instead 6 of us, with a lovely border guard, walked up to the no-mans land, seperating Rwanda and Congo... the GPS on one of the girl's cameras said Democratic Republic of Congo... so we were happy... looking across at the Congo town of 'Goma' we realised how well off Rwanda is in comparision... the roads just stop as Goma appears... there is rubble, shacks, so many people with absolutely nothing, guys with very large guns, no roads, no sign of infrastructure etc.. really unsettling and a bit scary... again, makes you think a little...

Last thoughts of the day... in Uganda now camping beside the River Nile and will blog more once on a better internet connection.. Eoin currently white-water rafting and Im about to head into Jinga to post some cards... but Africa is an amazing Country, the levels of poverty are frightening, and then on the other hand the wealth, living side by side leaves such a bad taste in your mouth... Churches are everywhere, and are massive and stand out as sore thumbs when placed beside the shacks\slums that some people are living in... there are large guns everywhere... toilets are terrible... mozzies still love me... 15 bites and counting..no matter how much deet I apply...people are lovely and so friendly and somewhat a little crazy!!!

the journey to Kampala

So I think the last time I was able to update was when we were back in Nairobi..(should have checked before starting to write here - oops!)... anyway... after really enjoying Nairobi we met up with the Overland Truck last Saturday, 9 July in Karen, just outside Nairobi.  There are us and 22 other people... all really lovely, from all over the place - NZealand, UK, Australia, Canada and we are waving the Irish Flag!

Just by the way, I have never had so many conversations about toilets in my life... once the truck left Nairobi we seem obsessed... we are mostly met with holes in the ground or toilets which look like they haven't ever been cleaned, with dead insects etc.. yuck! so we all get very excited when we come across a nice clean, tiled bathroom... and it is a bonus if we can also have a shower... and occassionally we find a hot one too!

Left Nairobi and drove over the East Rift Valley to our first campsite, beside Nakuru national park.  Everyone was allocated a tent and a cook group (we take it in turns to cook dinner & breakfast) and off we went... Spent the next day in Nakuru National Park where there was fabulous birds, rhinos (black and white), giraffes and of course the Lion - amazing... 

Yesterday we drove through Kenya, across the Ugandan border.. the Irish didn't have to pay for a visa -  (however for Tanzania we pay twice what everyone else pays!)....and arrived in Kampala at 6ish last night.  The landscape has changed dramatically from the dry, barren land of Kenya to a lush, green, forestry Uganda...

We are having a brilliant time, the people on the truck are great, the Africans we are meeting are really friendly and welcoming, the food interesting and the sun shining... (most of the time...occassional tropical type downpours!)...

Having Goat Stew for dinner tonight... we'll let you know how we get on... and then up at 4am, take down the tent and head through Uganda to Kibale where I am on dinner duty - help!!!

Masai Mara

Well what can I say about the Massai Mara - it is one of the most amazing places I have ever seen... a 6 hour drive on TERRIBLE roads, through Kenya to the Massai Mara...a nature/game reserve where Elephants, Lions, Hippos, Giraffes, Black Rhinos, Zebra etc have made their home...

Let me start at the beginning.  We headed to the Massai Mara on Monday morning after stocking up on essentials - water, toilet roll and snacks!! 6 hours later, after meeting up with 6 other people, the 8 of us were driving through the Massai Mara, surrounded by Wilderbeast - who have just started their migration from Tanzania...  We were staying in a campsite, beside a Masai village, with Baboons running around everywhere. Apparently they are 'theives' so we had to keep our passports etc. close to hand!

Africa gets very dark, very quick... and by 6.30pm we needed our night-lights/torches and the mozzie spray  (only 5 bites so far.. not too bad)...

Day 2 - up at 6.30am and off we went (with sandwiches... because we are avoiding uncooked food we are living on banana / jam sandwiches for lunch...!) - after seeing Lions, lioness with 5 cubs, vultures etc.. our truck (an 1982 French Army truck) got wedged into the mud... so the 8 of us got out of the truck and for 3 hours Eoin, Ken (another guy), the driver and our Masai 'animal tracker' were digging out mud.  Our job was to 'watch out for something that looks like a cat but much much bigger... if you see one run into the truck and let us know'!  Three hours later, our driver's ego completely bruised... we were rescued by another tour truck...and our driver had to come back with a tracker to pull the truck out...

Day 3 - up at 6am and off again, spend the morning and evening in the Masai Mara and went off to a Masai village in the afternoon... was very interesting to chat with Masai people - did you know they have many wives and 1 wife is worth 7 cows!!!!!  and then.. the new wife has to build her own house... man oh man!!!  However, apart from the small chat it was really a money-making racket for tourists.. felt quite false and then there was sell, sell, sell, they were trying to get us to buy everything.. from a lion's claw to plates to stools... I understand they have such little money and so need to be a 'tourist' attraction... but it still leaves a sour taste...

Day 4 - up at 6am for a final game drive.  Saw 4 out of the Big Five - Elephants, Black Rhino, Buffalo, Lion - didn't see the Leopard... but we did see the Wilderbeast migration and wow oh wow.... !  Then 6 hours back on the truck back to Nairobi...

An amazing experience, fantastic people, beautiful animals, amazing sun-rises/sun-sets and worth every penny and bump in the road!

Joining up with the truck tomorrow (sat) to head towards Kampala (Uganda) so will be in touch from there... (around 12-13 July) if I can...

Africa is Hot!

Hot! Hot! Hot!! that is how we are both feeling at the moment... very hot!

SO, rumours that Nairobi is 'nairobbery' seem unfair and untrue.  We spent the day in the city centre, having walked the 40 minutes from the backpackers. Friendly people, lots of music and fun... Sunday is very religious - woke up to sounds of 'happy clappy' music from the 4 churches surrounding us.. nice and cheerful... went into town into the markets.. bought some little bits - Eoin was a whiz at bargaining... (we think..though we still got ripped off... ) all part of the experience.. Walked through a massive park off the main street - Kenyatta avenue - full of kids with their face painted and bouncing castles.. it was our turn to be stared at  - little kids couldn't get over the fact that we were white and their little heads were turning with huge eyes, staring at us.

Off on the Massai Mara tomorrow until Thursday evening so wlll be back in touch then ...

Arrival in Nairobi - 1 July

Hi there, updating you all from the Wilderbeast Backpackers in Nairobi, Kenya...

We had a great adventure getting here... up at 3.30am to Dublin airport where we were seated in the emergency exit seats (nice for legs!!) and then, from Heathrow to Nairobi we were in 'middle/business' class - what is going on?!?!?!?!?!?  We are not complaining though felt a little like fraudsters.. but we could get used to it...  (well, Eoin was lapping it up!!)..

Arrived in Nairobi at 9pm local time (7pm in Ireland) and had to go through immigration.  So...two hours later ...  we got to the top of the queue and got our stamps...and to our relief our wonderful taxi driver, Livingstone, was waiting for us...

So day 1 - we got here, we haven't even seen a mozzie... though there is a tortoise wandering around the garden..we have sampled the local beer and are now off exploring...

Few last bits and pieces and then we are off!

Well, here we are, Thursday evening, all set and ready to go.  Up at 3am to get to the airport for our 6.40am flight to Heathrow and then we fly off to Kenya, arriving at our backpackers in Nairobi at 10pm, just in time to miss the mozzies and settle in...

Sarah is very kindly cat/house sitting (she has promised the cat will be both fat and smiling upon our return!!)...

Ok folks, outta here.... Next posting from Kenya xx

Pre-Africa still....

Ok, trying to get this blogging business sorted so excuse me while I type.....

bags packed - check
Mozzie spray - check
Passports, useful bits of paper in bag - check

Waiting for the flight.... :)

Getting Ready...

Getting ready to go to Africa on our overland adventure - lions, tigers and bears...oh my....
first stop Nairobi, arriving Friday 1 July, 9pm...