Our last couple of weeks in Africa were a bit surreal. Once we hit Namibia, it was like being in Europe again. It was kind of scary really; it was too much like home! I had to finally admit to myself that it was all nearly over. We crossed in to South Africa, on the 24th of September. Our last border crossing, our last passport stamp, our last currency change, our last country! We took in the obligatory wine tour in Stellenbosch. Of the 4 wineries we visited, Simonsig was my favourite and I was giddy from the bubbles of the [View Full Entry]

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While we saw next to no wildlife in West Africa, the stretch of East/Southern Africa from Kenya to Namibia was overrun with it! In this area, it’s not even necessary to visit a national park or reserve for game viewing. It’s common to see giraffe, zebra, baboons and countless stunning birds while driving along. In fact, some of our best wildlife encounters were in our campsites, and not on game drives! In our camp on Lake Baringo, Kenya, hippos wandered around our tents, snuffling and snorting throughout the night. In Flatdogs campsite in South Luangwe National Park, Zambia, [View Full Entry]

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A chain of eight volcanoes known as the Virunga Volcanoes forms part of the border between Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and Rwanda. These mountains are the last refuges of the 600 or so remaining mountain gorillas. We travelled to the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to meet one just of these amazing families. After 3 ½ hours of trekking and tracking gorilla spoor, our guides found the ground-nest our family had slept in the night before. Not long after, we heard a roar from the undergrowth alongside us and the eight of us [View Full Entry]

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Famous for the famine of 1984/85 Famous for barren land, desert and death Famous for images of malnourished children with distended bellies Famous as the inspiration for the world’s greatest charity effort, Live Aid Famous for conflict and war with Eritrea Forget everything you imagine Ethiopia to be and every preconception; it's nothing like the image you most likely have in your head! Ethiopia is full of surprises! Did you know that it was one of only two African nations never colonised? Or that it’s known as the “Cradle of Humanity”, where fossils of [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Cameroon on the worst roads I've ever experienced. Crossing the border from Nigeria on a Thursday morning, it was Saturday before we arrived in the city of Douala - a grand total of 400km in 2 and a half days! The dirt roads here are rendered impassable at times in the rainy season and one local described them to us as bad "beyond human comprehension" - he hit the nail on the head there! Miraculously, we only got bogged in the gluey mud once, when knee deep in slime, the truck had to be dug out and crumbled [View Full Entry]

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Well, this isn’t exactly how I’d planned to write my blog, but unfortunately it’s the way it’s panned out! Lack of internet access, lack of bandwidth when you do have the internet (one dial-up connection shared between four people anybody??), and lack of electricity through constant power cuts over the last 6 weeks or so mean that its been impossible to keep up to date with this blog. So rather than try and kill myself writing up entry after entry now that I’ve eventually found an internet café, I’m going to scrap the hurried bits and pieces I’ve sta [View Full Entry]

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Since I left you in Morocco, I've travelled south from Marrakech and on to Mauritania via the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Western Sahara, as I found out, was invaded by Morocco in 1975, resulting in a 16 year long guerilla war against the occupation. There's been a cease-fire for ages now, but for the last 15 years the locals have been waiting to vote in a referendum to decide on independence or integration. The Moroccan government spend upwards of US$2 million a day in the region, and it's not difficult to spot what this money is spent on, with [View Full Entry]

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Hello at last from Morocco!!! So, to fill you in on what's been happening since I left Ireland (if I can figure out how to work this arabic keyboard ... nightmare) I left Ireland just over 2 weeks ago and flew to Marbella, Spain where I was to meet my 15 travelling buddies for the next 6 months. A great mix of ages and nationalities, yet everybody has similar interests and seem to get on surprisingly well. To give you an idea, the youngest is 19 and the oldest is ... well, to be polite I'll not mention his exact [View Full Entry]

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According to the Cariocas (as Rio's residents are known), God didnt rest on the seventh day, he made Rio! And you can see where they're coming from - Rio is, without doubt, the most beautiful city I've ever visited. It's home to some of the most iconic sights in the world, from the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, to the towering Cristo Redentor statue, Sugar Loaf mountain, and the infamous favelas. Catherine, Patrick and I arrived from Buenos Aires, after a marathon journey, a few days before Carnaval kicked off. No sooner had we landed in the hotel, than we were [View Full Entry]

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Here's the Argentina and Uruguay entry, courtesy of Catherine and Patricks blog! In this episode, Cat and Pat are joined by Annemarie, Cats little sister. They visit the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Once arriving in Buenos Aires, after travelling up the east coast of Argentina, it feels like entering a whole new country. This city is all grand boulevards, huge colonial mansions and stunning parks. Nothing resembling what we had encountered on the east coast so far. The Portenos (por [View Full Entry]

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