It took just 1.5 hours to reach Gisenyi, which is Rwanda's version of a seaside resort, (just like being back in Blackpool:-). They are not on the cost but they do have the beautiful Lake Kivu - a freshwater lake. I was supposed to be in Gisenyi for one night as I was to depart for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the next day - best laid plans though. I stayed at the Auberge de Gisenyi which is the place in the town, it is packed with diners every day and the buffet is always busy, especially for 1,500 RWF - my plate was always overflowing with the usual, chips, platain, rice and beans and some chilli sauce for good measure. As a price comparison a 750ml bottle of Primus, the best beer in Rwanda ... read more

I spent a day chilling in Arusha, then took the plane from Kilimanjaro airport to Kigali in Rwanda. The rest of the afternoon I spent in the bank of Kigali trying to obtain some money for my gorilla trek. Kigali is very expensive and unremarkeable I was planning on staying for 2 nights but bailed out early and headed off to Musanze for the Gorrila Trek. There are not many whiteys in Kigali and during all my bus journeys so far I have been the only one!! Everybody in Rwanda refers to me and other whiteys as Muzungu, which is good cos at least you know when they are talking about you. However, before leaving I had to visit the Rwanda Genocide museum. During the genocide nearly 1 million Tutsi's and moderate Hutus were killed in ... read more

During the previous E-mail we had an elderly group of tourists join us from Germany and there were ruptions as the camp has no hot water and only squat toilets. Apparently one of the group had a dodgy hip and he couldn't squat - yikes!!!. Our last day in the Serengeti and we were up bright and early for a 7am start. As usual it started off a bit slowly and we spent an hour driving round just seeing the obligatory elephgant and giraffe and the impalas. It's amazing how nonchalant you become at the sight of these creatures. As we had seen all the anim,als we hoped to see we then starting badgering Andrew that we wanted to see a kill, we originally said we wanted to see a Rhino kill a lion but eventually ... read more

After a good night's sleep in the tent we set off for the Serengeti. The previous night a couple from Chile joined our safari - Andreas and Coti so that made 5. The original 3 of us were worried about the space in the land rover but that turned out not to be a problem. We arrived at the entrance to Serengeti NP at lunchtime and after a pack lunch we went for a wander up a trail for a view of the park. The view from the top affords a view of the savannah that makes up most of the Serengeti and gives you an idea of how big it is - 14,763 sq km. On my way down from the top an elephant was wandering round and a number of tourists were wandering round ... read more

On the Friday night the hostel had organised a trip out to "Trannie night" which was an infamous night in a club called the Middle East in Cambridge, on the other side of the river from Boston. In total there were about 10 of us who ventured out into the wild side of Transvestite entertainment. Coming from Blackpool it wasn't the first drag show I had seen (I'm not saying I've seen hundreds though - don't want you getting the wrong impression:-). One of the guys (Paul) from London was decidedly nervous and had never encountered anything like Becka Da'Bus who certainly did look like a back of a bus, he was around 6 foot 5 - 18 stone and had the scariest make-up on I'd ever seen - the trannie not Paul:-) . The acts ... read more