Our African odyssey had reached an end and so it was with one last long look back at this wonderful continent that we boarded the plane at Johannesburg international airport for our flight home. But the fun wasn't over yet as we had 36 hours in Hong Kong on the way home. Can you say shopping? All we have actually done with our 36 hours in Hong Kong is shop and sleep. At the risk of adding more to our already overweight luggage, we found it neccessary to replace the clothes that had served us so well over the last four [View Full Entry]

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After travelling through Muslim countries and countries where dress was fairly conservative, Karen commented as she left the hotel room in shorts and a singlet top that she felt quite underdressed. Two seconds later, we spotted a man walking to the restaurant wearing nothing but speedos and flip flops. And that set the tone for our second Vic Falls stay - laid back and completely comfortable. We were a bit apprehensive about coming back. I mean, we weren't sure if there would be water this time around. As the plane landed at Livingstone airport, we tried to spot the spray of [View Full Entry]

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From Dubai we flew to Nairobi, to meet up with Dotun. We will be spending just over three weeks in Nairobi. Our purpose for being here is to help Dotun and International Teams with the work they are doing with refugees. Rather than giving you a daily description, I have written down bits and pieces of what we have been up to. Shopping Centres Nairobi has two worlds - the East African world of matatus, fruit & veg stalls by the side of the road, massive potholes and restaurants selling ugali, chapati and sukuma wiki, and the Mzungu world. This world [View Full Entry]

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Whenever we had an icy cold shower or no shower at all, or got leg cramps from using squat toilets, James and I would say just one word: ‘Jumeirah’. The hotel was intended to be our little slice of luxury on this trip. It turned out to be a massive wedge of indulgence! We left our hostel and headed for the airport (reason: free pickup by the hotel only available from the airport, and it was cheaper to get a taxi to the airport than to the hotel). Once there we met our driver who loaded our gear into our transfer [View Full Entry]

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Back in Cairo again. Coming back to the King Hotel was like coming home again - the place was so familiar, even though we had only been there three times. We had two nights here before our flight to Dubai. The first night was our final night together as a group so we went out to dinner at a restaurant/pub recommended by our guide. The food was ok but the prices and atmosphere were not so great. Most of us drifted back to the hotel well before 10pm. The morning saw various members of our group head their separate ways - [View Full Entry]

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With the sun shining and the camel hire centre behind us we headed down the valley towards the coast and Dahab, with the road weaving between dramatic mountains the whole way. The parts of the Sinai peninsula that we saw on this trip were really spectacular, definately on the list of "Places to Come Back To" as I would love to explore it all a bit more. So we rolled into Dahab. Dahab is certainly a tourist town, being right on the edge of a branch of the Red Sea, and very popular with divers. The coral reefs are directly off [View Full Entry]

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Moses is awesome. I totally have respect for the guy now. I mean he was old when he climbed Mount Sinai. And there were no tea/coffee shops for him to stop at either. Fantastic. Starting nice and early in the morning we drove from Cairo to St Catherine, Sinai, stopping to view the Suez Canal and a couple of toilets. For those of you who are concerned, the toilets in Sinai are a distinct improvement on those previously visited. The other sight worth mentioning was the obvious increase in a military/police presence. Whilst in the Nile Valley and Western Desert we [View Full Entry]

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After leaving the laid back felucca, we spent 11 hours in Luxor, showering and shopping. From Luxor we jumped aboard the train to Cairo. The train took about 9 hours to reach Cairo, during which we discovered that toilets on Egyptian trains take a lot of courage to use. I was not that brave... Once in Cairo we got into vegetative travel mode - the state of mind where you are so tired from travelling that you just want to sit in your room and stare at the wall for a while. We did this for about an hour or two [View Full Entry]

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The felucca left us so laid back that we can't be bothered writing about it at the moment. A few points that James wants to mention: The smoke is from a sheesha. Not hash. Just flavoured tobacco. It is a popular part of Egyptian culture. James is not passed out. Just sleeping. The temple was interesting. The toilet stops were more interesting. Karen is working her way through the emotional trauma and leg cramps and will write about it soon. Check out some other photos or videos from Alison Spies . [View Full Entry]

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We were quite bummed to leave Luxor, particularly as we had to leave it at 6am. However, our destination held the promise of amazing temples and the start of our felucca ride so we were happy to be up at such a delightfully early hour. The reason for this departure time is that everyone has to travel in a convoy of buses. I don't understand the point as it is meant to be for our safety but what better to target than 20 bus loads of tourists with only one police car to protect them. Not that we had to worry [View Full Entry]

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