Nairobi to Swakop

Well, we have reached the end of the road and arrived dusty, disheveled and sun burned in Swakopmund. Apparently some people (no names mentioned Nick) are suggesting that too many Windhoeks are being drunk resulting in a loss of blogging time! I would like to set the record straight, it is Tafel that is beer of the moment and not Windhoek, but in all other aspects you are right!!! After Rundu we travelled to Tsumeb where Zane spent four years of his young life. We spent the night in a lovely hotel and rediscovered German hospitality, food and beer! All excellent. Tsumeb is less of a one horse town and more of a very small and underdeveloped pony of a town. It apparently hasn't changed much since Zane lived there apart for the club closing down. ... read more

It is a long time (at least in miles) since I was last on this site! I am writing retrospectively since we haven't had access to the internet for some time, we are now actually in Rundu in Namibia having hotfooted it hear today. We left the rundown backpackers site (Mubuya), not recommended, very early in the morning and headed off towards Lusaka. Malawi is a vey beautiful country with a lot of poverty but very neat and organised people. Everyone smiles and, the poverty, illness and not to mention rain the lifestyle looks idylic!! Sitting in your dugout canoe floating out on the lake or relaxing under a fruiting mango tree, nice.... However, I would also aprreciate access to a proper loo, shower and clean water when I needed it. Leaving Malawi was relatively straight ... read more

We were all awake early today. Have ever been kept awake by ghekos before!! Noisy little buggers! They also kept throwing each other off the walls and then landing with a splat on my mossie net! Not really conducive to a good night's sleep! We drove most of the morning to get here to Lilongwe. The guidebook that I was reading on the way up said that not many people seem to stop off here.... Now I can see why. The lake area of Malawi is beautiful as are the mountains and forests but the cities leave a lot to be desired! The highlight was going into Shoprite and finding 'Body on Tap'!!!! Tonight we are staying at a backpackers place that has frankly seen better days. It will be cosy as Zane,Glen and I are ... read more

Well, many lessons have been learned in the past few days! Firstly, when it rains in Southern Tanzania, it REALLY rains! Not a good idea to try and put tents up in that kind of downpour! Also when you are warned that roads may be rough during the rainy season and that it might be better to stick to the tarred roads, listen!! Still we made it through Tanzania and stayed at a lovely place between Iringa and Mafinga (I LOVE that name Sal..almost better than De Aar!) Highly recommended to those following us. Called Kisolanza Farm. Comes complete with cottages etc for when it is really raining. Another lesson learnt in Tanzania was that police men own speed guns!!! 20,000 Tsh lighter we were on our way..... We crossed the border into Malawi very smoothly ... read more

Left Lake Manyara this mornign bright and early after a delicious breakfast of omelettes and tamarind juice. We were anticipating it being a long day as we had been informed by friends that have traveled it recently that the road surface is pretty rough.... An understatement and a half!! 11 hours to travel 260kms! Glen did the driving today and was brilliant. After 5 hours we hit a flattish bit of road and he managed to get into 4th gear! He was chuffed because he overtook 6 vehicles and 59 bicycles it the whole 11 hour trip. We are now in Dodoma. The weather is beautiful, if dartk. The hotel that we are staying in is basic but clean. You wouldn't believe that it is the capital of Tanzania. The people here are very friendly and ... read more

Well, we have finally set off! We left home at 06:30, not the anticipated 06:00 as the boys were investigating facebook! I was amazed that Glen's stuff fitted into the small hole left in the back of the truck, perfectly! Having said a last goodbye to the dog, and fed her the last Vienna Sausage, we set off through the Nairobi early morning traffic. Thankfully much quieter than last night when we braved it before rush hour was finished to pick Glen up from the airport! The road to Namanga (border crossing to Tanzania for those not in the know) has more or less disappeared! The last time we headed down this way it was extremely potholey but at least mainly tarred! Not these days. The Chinese are in the middle of building new ones so ... read more

Success! I have finally made it into the 21st Century and downloaded Skype! Had my first conversation with Nick last night, complete with moving pictures! We even managed a conference call with Mum, Dad, Nick, me, Lady, Ella and Murph. I impressed myself and can now communicate with them all whilst on my travels as well as via this very cool blog.... The next time you are reading my blog we will be in Tanzania (Inshallah!) So keep your fingers crossed, speak soon........ read more

Have managed to pack and re-pack the truck several times in the past 2 days! Nearly knee capping myself in the process... Next time I will carefully check the location of the full jerry cans before turning round with a heavy coolbox in my arms! I am now an expert at squeezing sleeping bags into the smallest possible crevices. Thanks to Phil Guest we now have a full complement of spares for the car, covering most eventuallities. Hopefully I will remember which screw needs to be undone first when changing a fan belt or all could be lost! (Actually, hopefully I will be able to pass all the spares to the workshop in Swakop and not need them on the road at all???) Today I have managed to track down the elusive 'biltong' so Zane will ... read more

Well, it is finally December so in 5 days time we are off! Can't actually believe it is finally here. There has been so much planning by Zane since February and a lot of running around, by me, in the last few weeks that it will be a relief to get on the road! I am chuffed that I have eventually managed to get round to setting up this blog as now I can keep all interested parties up to date with the adventures.....Watch this space... read more