After another long journey we arrived at Sitatunga Campsite and crocodile farm, a nice combination eh? This place was owned and run by Graham, a Kiwi. I think that the majority of the population of New Zealand can in fact be found in Africa. This campsite was great, we upgraded to a little cabin, the bar was cool, good music, nice pool, just a great party atmosphere. We had a brilliant dinner that night provided by the campsite, of chicken cooked in Coke, strange sounding but lovely. Early to bed again ready for our trip to the Delta the next day.... read more

Across the border into Botswana and a short drive further on we arrived at the town of Maun, we were given a couple of hours to grap lunch and stock up on water and then onto the Thebe River Safari campsite. The campsite was on the banks of the Chobe River, surrounded by electric fencing in order to ward of inquisitive hippos. We set up our tents and had a lovely BBQ before hitting the sack ready for an early start. Up early we were loaded onto an open sided safari truck and went off on our Chobe game park safari. We must have been spoilt in the Serengeti, Mara and Ngorongoro because Chobe was pants in comparison, those whose first safari it was really enjoyed it. Back to the campsite and a quick lunch was ... read more

Livingstone is hot, and I mean HOT! Every day we were there it got hotter. It was easily in the mid forties. The heat made it hard to do anything between 11am and 2pm except put your feet in the bar swimming pool and sup ice cold Fantas. On the first night at the Waterfront campsite we took our sunset/booze cruise down the Zambezi, great food, free drinks, just gotta make sure you don’t all into the river as the crocs follow the boat waiting for snacks. We all carried on the motion at the campsite bar, much craziness followed as is evident by the dodgy photos. On the 10th we went to visit Victoria Falls, it wasn’t really there (dry season you see) so we went to the curio market instead and bought a wooden ... read more

We stopped en-route to Livingstone, a nice campsite with a pool, good bar and a family of lovely fox terriers, a nice change from the psychotic Jack Russell of the last place. After a couple of drinks at the bar we headed back to our tent followed closely by the mummy fox terrier. As soon as we had opened our tent she was in and getting comfortable on our sleeping bags, she ended up sleeping on Charmaine until dawn.... read more

After another long day in the truck and laborious border crossing we arrived at the first transit campsite en-route to Livingstone. This site was covered in lovely grass making a change from the usual dustbowls we stay in. The only notable moment of our stay here was the whole group playing with the totally crazy resident Jack Russell. This dog would fly headlong at anything he fancied chewing, like a snarling, tooth filled missile.... read more

Our last stop in Malawi and it is a beautiful one. Selima campsite is in the grounds of the lovely Meridian hotel. Lunch of bacon cheeseburgers was had on the veranda, they were awesome! After lunch and a bit of a rest we retired to the lake for a game of impromptu water volleyball (sort of), even Charmaine joined in! Darren stayed in the lake with Mark watching the Kingfishers dive into the lake around them as Charmaine had a shower and beautified herself. The sunset was lovely; this has to be one of the nicest places we’ve stayed. After much insistence by Charlie during our BBQ that night, we went to bed early, ready for the awesome sunrise the next morning. The wind woke Darren up at 4am, it was blowing a gale. Charmaine stayed ... read more

Recovered from our mysterious illness (probably from drinking Lake Malawi water when snorkelling) we set off for our horse riding trip. The ride around the village was ok ut the guide didn’t really pay much attention to peoples riding skills or even if people have ridden before. The ride was made all worthwhile, though, when we took our horses for a swim. It was a strange experience sitting on a horse while it is swimming. Charmaines’ horse was someone afraid of getting to wet and headed back to the beach early. Darrens horse was loving it, as were others which was evident from the impressions of outboard motors some of the horses were doing (seriously!). The rest of our day was spent jut chilling out on the beach, sleeping and generally relaxing.... read more

After an eventful journey of being stopped by Malawi police to search the truck and a stop at a rubber plantation were the workers had the biggest balls we’ve seen and a very scenic drive we arrived at Kande Beach campsite, what a gem! Straight into the lake for a swim and snorkel, even Charmaine braved the water and got right into snorkelling. The lake is just teaming with fish (Cichlids don’t you know?). Darren, Lloyd and Koen decided it would be fun to play the locals in a little 5-a-side, the final score was 3 all but playing in the heat and sand is definitely not fun aginst the locals who are used to it and hence run rings around you. A quick shower and its on with the glad rags for a fabulously glamorous ... read more

Another typical road journey and we’re heading for Malawi. Across the border we have just two hours till our first campsite and we stop for lunch at a petrol station. A rather battered Honda Dominator sat next to one of the pumps straddled by a guy who has just ridden from London! He’s been on the road for 55 weeks at this point and is headed for Cape Town. NUTTER! We arrive at our campsite, it’s in a nice area, next to Lake Malawi but its rough, tatty, full of rabid dogs and if you swim in the lake here, you’ll be pissing blood for the next few weeks! This in mind Darren was well chuffed when he got a bit of the sharp and hot sand stuck in his eye. Charmaine tried with all her ... read more

Up again early and on the road again, we were heading quickly toward the Tanzania border with Malawi, before we crossed we had one more night in Tanzania, this was to be like a dream come true. After about 9 hours of more great roads we arrived at our home in the mountains for the night. Being 1800m above sea level (equivalent to a ski resort in Europe) the sun was blisteringly hot and the night was bitter yet refreshingly cool. We, or Charmaine, decided that we were upgrading, and what an upgrade it was. The hut had two beds, an oil lamp, fresh linen, fresh flowers and was just lovely. The site showers were toasty warm, local water was drinkable and to top it all, Charlie the little minx had kept secret the restaurant on ... read more