Day 88 Royal Natal Park 3.9.09 Today we did the only thing you can do on a mountain range, our laundry. After the laundry we went on a 2 hour hike. It was hard work but a nice way to waste some time and take in the scenery. Later, Benny, our driver cooked everyone a roast beef dinner, it was burned to a crisp but a nice thought. Day 89 Royal Natal Park - Johannesburg 4.9.09 Today we drove to the big bad city famous for a number of things including Nelson Mandela, Apartheid and the highest gun crime figures in [View Full Entry]

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Day 85 Aliwal North - Lesotho 31.8.09 We left the death camp at around 7am and stopped in town for a few supplies before heading towards Lesotho. Across the border it was like a different world again, reminiscent of east africa, in as much as there were lots of huts and very basic buildings not to mention run down shacks that would still be housing people. We climbed higher and higher in our truck until we reached our camp, Malealea Lodge, apparently "Lesotho in a nutshell" which is good considering we only had a nutshell's time to take it all in! [View Full Entry]

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Day 77 Outshoorn 23.8.09 Our second and only full day in Outshoorn felt similar to that of a school trip, I shall explain why. We awoke refreshed from a decent sleep, eager for a shower and to get our laundry done, this plan was immediately foiled by the fact that the whole of the eastern cape would be without power until 9pm... Oh yeah, I can't think if I've already mentioned this but Africa as a whole (inc Namibia & SA which are pretty westernized) suffers from sporadic power outings and relies heavily on generators, which make's simple tasks such as [View Full Entry]

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Day 69 Sossusvlei - Highlanders 15.8.09 Today we crossed the Namibia / SA boarder and it didn't take long to notice the stark differences between the two countries landscapes. From the arid dessert landscapes of Namibia to lush green mountains just past the SA boarder it's never been clearer that we were in another country. We drove most of the day stopping briefly at a town called Springbok to do a cook shop. We eventually arrived at Highlanders, a campsite set in the heart of a vineyard. Michelle was on cook group and made beefburgers whilst I joined the rest of [View Full Entry]

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Day 59 Bush Camp - Bush Camp 5.8.09 Another very long drive day was separated by a 2 hour stopover in Windhoek (Namibia‘s capital). Windhoek was a great place that had a Miami feel to it, palm trees, expensive boutiques and lots and lots of white people (mostly German)?! Apparently Windhoek was a German colony during the war and is still heavily influenced by their culture. During our short visit we had a look at their Meteor exhibit which is displayed in the town centre, it consisted of 32 meteor chunks that were part of a 57 piece meteor shower. It [View Full Entry]

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Day 53 Vic Falls - Kasane; Botswana 29.7.09 Today we leave Zimbabwe and head to Botswana. Zimbabwe has been pretty much unanimously declared our favourite country of the trip so far with so many highlights we may end up coming back here. We left for the boarder at about 9am and took only an hour to get there. After a pretty easy boarder cross we headed towards Kasane and our next camp. First impressions of Botswana are positive the first thing you see at the boarder is a big anti corruption billboard and in an effort to fight the Aids epidemic [View Full Entry]

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Day 46 Antelope Park - Great Zim Ruins 23.7.09 Today we left Antelope Park much to everyone’s disappointment to a chorus of “Goodbye from Antelope Park” from the kitchen staff / campsite African band, they then followed it up which an ad lib rendition of “Oasiiiiis need more fire!” which made everybody on our truck laugh. We made our way to the Great Zim ruins to check out Africa’s second largest ruins (second to some pyramids in Egypt apparently), as this involved paying an entry fee of $15 and perhaps learning a thing or two I was the first to dec [View Full Entry]

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Day 40 Tete Mozambique - Harare Zimbabwe 17.7.09 Another early leave from the bush camp as we headed to the Mozambique/Zimbabwe boarder and this was the longest boarder yet (not to get into Zimbabwe’s but to actually leave Mozambique) with people pushing and barging and bribing the guards to get to the front of the queue. After a while it was out of the city and to our next campsite, Bird Gardens. Bird Gardens is based next to a lake and was very scenic although it had a very run down and ghost town feel to it, partly because it is [View Full Entry]

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Day 33 Chitimba 10.7.09 An awful sleep for both me and Chelle (mainly due to me making noises and chucking the covers on and off all night) and I was still feeling really crap. Our tour leader takes me to the nearest doctors who inform me that I have Clinical Malaria and that I need Malaria cure medicine ASAP with plenty of rest. Luckily our truck has Malaria cure medicine and I start taking them, still feeling rubbish with my temperature hitting 39.5 (high enough to put me in a coma apparently). It’s decided that if my condition doesn’t improve by [View Full Entry]

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Day 21 Snake Park Arusha - Ngorogoro Crater 28.6.09 We had a free morning so we went to look at the snakes and crocs before heading out of camp to ride a camel, not the most comfortable experience but an experience none the least, after this we ventured into some masai shops/huts and purchased a couple of necklaces and bracelets (mike bartering to pay more than the lady was asking in a outburst of generosity/confusion from her sophisticated selling technique, “YOU BUY, BUY NOW!” ). After this we were picked up with our group and taken to a camp close to [View Full Entry]

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