http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Rach-and-Si/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Rach and Si en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:21:13 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 14:21:13 +0000 After our relaxing time spent on the lake it was time to hit the road again and next we were going to pick up a 5 day one way private trip which would take us all the way to Victoria Falls on the Zambia Botswana and Zimbabwe borders via the South Luangwa National Park and Lusaka in Zambia. It was going to be some very long driving but hiring our own vehicle was not an option and no other form http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Zambia/South-Luangwa/blog-268351.html OK sorry for another massive delay of getting this updated but determined to finally get at least the Africa portion of our adventures finished.If you can't remember where we were up to then you'll have to go back to the previous Blog but we had arrived at Lake Malawi for a couple of days rest after the trip down from Tanzania. We had two stops in Malawi centred around the wonderful Lake Malawi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/blog-267786.html Hi Rachel here interrupting our African adventure stories being sent months late sorry to say a quick hello for Christmas. Christmas is only a few days away which is very exciting. We got into the Christmas spirit with a visit to Munich on the first weekend of December where we visited our dear friend Vicki. We had a day skiing and looked around the beautiful Christmas markets. Of cours http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Berkshire/Maidenhead/blog-229815.html After a week in Arusha while the family went on Safari and we caught up with friends the trip proper was about to start. We were planning to fly to Dar es Salaam to save 10 hours on a bus and then catch the train to Malawi and make our way overland down through Malawi then Zambia and ending up in Victoria Falls. Of course plans sometimes need to change The train from Dar es Salaam in T http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Malawi/Lake-Malawi/Chitimba-Beach/blog-228109.html Well as you may have guessed we have been fairly busy finding a house and jobs here in the UK we have settled in Maidenhead in Berkshire which is just outside London in the West. Maidenhead is an average sized town with 'Royal Windsor' 5 miles down the road and many pretty little villages in between. We are on a 'fast link' into Paddington 20 minutes during peak time which is great for my w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-228080.html After last years birthday spent paragliding in Switzerland this year we were in Africa. We finished our Gorilla tour on the Saturday and spent Sunday relaxing at the hotel. We had booked to fly back to the UK on the Monday evening my birthday but during the day we went to see our World Vision Sponsor child Mbithe who lives about 3 hours out of Nairobi.We have sponsored Mbithe for 12 years s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-192497.html OK I know we have been really slack and left the blog hanging half way through the trip Sorry no excuses.After we left the Gorilla's in Rwanda we headed back to Kosoro in Uganda for the night before the start of the return trip to Nairobi with a few stops along the way at hopefully a more leasurly pace We had already covered a massive distance in the first 7 days and had an amazing e http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Uganda/Central-Region/Kampala/blog-192445.html Day 8 was Gorilla day the day we had been looking forward to and a real once in a lifetime experience although we were both a little nervous. There are 5 gorilla groups at the Volcano's National Park that range in size from 6 up to 32. Of course everyone of the 40 people trekking that day wanted to see the big group Susa Group they only take a small group of people and we didn't want to spl http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Rwanda/Province-du-Nord/Parc-National-des-Volcans/blog-178033.html As we mentioned in the last entry after leaving St Jude's we were booked onto an overland trip from Nairobi to the Gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda depending on permit availability travelling quite differently in an overland truck with six other people for 14 days. We left the school early on the Friday morning with Dan my trusty Accounting buddy who was also leaving the school on the same da http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Rift-Valley-Province/Masai-Mara-NP/blog-177262.html First of all for the keen eyed amongst you you may have noticed a slight change of location. Yes we have left St Jude's and are currently in Nairobi Kenya about to head off on another adventure.As Big Brother would say yes we are a bit TV deprived It's time to go.... After 6 months we have decided to end our St Jude's experience and head back to reality TV and Marks and Spencers. Like http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Kenya/Nairobi-Province/Nairobi/blog-169856.html Hi This is part 2 of Joy and Vanessa's trip a little late but we have had lots happening here recently stay posted for the next blog After arriving back from the big safari with Joy and Vanessa on the Friday night we had planned to have a semirelaxing weekend in Arusha before doing many of the day trip options available around Arusha. There are great African craft markets in Arusha and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-167372.html Update 27th May 2007. Yes thats right one month after I wrote this I finally got all the photos on to the site. God I miss REAL broadband and not what they think passes for broadband in Africa...they think that internet speed that registers over 1kb per second is fast. So after taking hours on culling the over 1000 photos taken on safari and then getting them uploaded to the blog at snail pace http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Serengeti-National-Park/blog-157998.html Ok we know itrsquos been 6 weeks since out last entry and people want to know what has been happening since our half term break in Zanzibar but we never seem to have much time to sit down and write so sorry it has been a while. We are both well and we are now on 2 weeks school holidays as the first term has finished. Rachel is a bit drained from a very full on term she has been sick again http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-151122.html Easter provided us with the opportunity to get away for the 4 day break but with distance and travel time here a big consideration we were never going to travel that far. We decided to go with 2 other teachers Louise and Lauren to the Usambara Mountains which are about half way between Arusha and Dar Es Salaam which is on the coast. We planned to do some hiking and relaxing in the mountains wh http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/East/Lushoto/blog-153103.html Now where was I Oh yes thatrsquos right we had just been on safari in one of the local national parks and had enjoyed our first taste of African animals. Well what followed after that was the last week of school before the 1 week half term break and we were heading of on our first African holiday yippeeThe last week of school saw all the kids do exams for the first half term which I re http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/Zanzibar/blog-134949.html Although we have been in Africa now for 6 weeks and whilst we certainly know we are in another continent we werenrsquot going to really feel like we were here until we had been on Safari. So needing a break from the school and time to recharge the batteries after what has already been a long 6 weeks we decided to head off to the local Arusha National Park to do a safari and spend the rest o http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-130363.html As you may recall in our last episode Rachel had a run in with the toilet all night after a dodgy pizza at Stiggy's. Well she was very delicate for a few days after that eating only very plain food to ensure that she didn't upset her stomach again. Well by the Wednesday night she was feeling a bit more adventurous and after a plain dinner decided to have some Indian snack mix which we have ha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-130331.html I wrote this last week but never got round to posting it as the internet is SO slow that it took another week to get the photos on so sorry this is a little out of date already.Mambo everyone and Shikamoo for the oldies out there mambo is hi to people your own age and Shikamoo is a respectful greeting for those older than you that literally means I will wash your feet. Based on the state of http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Moshono/blog-123048.html We arrived into Mount Kilimanjaro airport late on the evening of Wednesday 3rd January. We were able to see the school and surrounding area the next day when we did a tour of the school and went into the town of Arusha to get some basics. We are about 7kms out of the town of Arusha in the very small lsquovillagersquo of Moshono. The tarred road ends a couple of kms before the school so i http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Arusha/blog-118954.html After 4 months of living and working in London Christmas had arrived. We spent Christmas with Rachel's family followed by a few days back in London before heading off to my family for New Year. We had a good time and ate and drank way too much. For quite a while now I have been 'eating for Africa' and making the most of hearty winter and Christmas food. We leave for Africa in the morning http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-115554.html