Chris Anto

South America... after 7 months on the road, we'd finally made it here! Our South American journey began in Santiago, Anto's home city. The first couple of weeks were spent visiting the city and near by regions, and more importantly, preparing for Anto's sister's wedding. When the big day finally arrived, it went off with a bang. The ceremony was great, and the reception even better, until the Bride and Groom thought they'd be super heroes and try drancing on a table suspended in the air by Pisco-induced guests. Pisco being the locally made drink of choice here in Chile. Well, to say the least, both Bride and Groom ended up in hospital. no broken bones though, so all's good. It did bring the night to an abrupt end though. After the festivities and recovering, ... read more

They say you should save the best for last, and that was the intention with Mozambique. The promise of beautiful sandy beaches, warm water, great seafood, and even better diving. Well, I can gladly say, we weren't disappointed! We started in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The change from being in South Africa was huge, and it felt like the real Africa again, only with another small hurdle... they speak Portuguise! Luckily Anto's Spanish helped us out. So after setting up our tent at the hostel, we found out about the 'must do' fish market that everyone raves about, and we took our empty stomaches straight down there for a feed. The place was amazing! You bought whatever seafood you wanted, Prawns, Calamari, Lobster, Oysters, Fish, Fish, Fish, then took it to one of many restaurants ... read more

We were luckily enough to muster together a group of 5 of us to hire a car and see what we could in Namibia as the public transport stystem here is almost non existent. We got a Nissan Almera. Probably not the best car for 5 adults, but it was the only affordable one, so it had to do. We started off at Etosha NP. The park was big, but it was good having our own car as we could explore it at our own free will. We stayed in campsites inside the park, which were basic, but had all that we needed. The campsites also had a waterhole out the back, which they light up over night. These were great as you get to see a variety of animals come down for a drink once ... read more

So, from Lilongwe, we were heading into Zambia. More specifically, South Luangwa Nat. Park. This was supposed to take one day, but then again, this is Africa, and things never happen on time. We were lucky enough to make it across the border and into the first town (Chipata) by 7pm! We stayed in the worst guesthouse so far. No fan, ventilation, anything! But they did have mossie nets! So after a sleepless night, dying from the heat, we caught a minibus to Mfuwe, which is at the gate of the Park. The ride, which was supposed to take 3 hours, took 7, thanks to the slowest bus driver in history. In Africa, they either drive stupidly fast, or rediculously slow... there's no in between. We finally got to Mfuwe, and our driver gave us a ... read more

We arrived at the port of Zanzibar, called Stone Town, with the usual hassle of hawkers trying to drag you into their guesthouses, but we were having none of it as we know where we were going. The whole 2km trip to Jambo's, we had about 10 guys following us, argueing between them, and eventually fighting once we were in our place! Quite a funny sight to watch! Stone town is buil up with narrow alleys and was used back in the days of the slave trade, where slaves were transported to Arab countries, and it still has a large Arab influence to it. An uneventful night passed, and the next day we headed up north to the beautiful beack of Kendwa. This place was awesome, and just what we had been looking for! Beautiful white ... read more