En route to Lake Malawi, we set up camp next to Ruaha River, which is pleasant scene (albeit we have to be careful with scorpions which are rife in the area). We have a couple of beers at a nearby bar where I chat with a former Zimbabwean Farmer; he was one of the first to be forced out by Mugabe's henchmen (i.e. by shooting his neighbours and then giving him the option to leave without any form of compensation). Some of the stories are quite frightening and disheartening of how Zimbabwe has now become. There are some positive signs ahead though; Zambia went through a similar uprising a number of years ago where the predominantly white farmers were removed and those that then occupied the land didn't have the skills to farm. Zambia then became ... read more

En route to Nungwi, we stop off at the spice plantations run by the local community. This is a great experience and is very informative of the various spices and how the are grown and used in different types of food. We are treated to a feast of fruit chopped and preapred before our eyes. The cocunut is prepared after one of the locals scales a huge tree with his bare hanbds and a rope between his ankles (and a few tricks to show off). We arrive into Nungwi with a similar unfortaunte sight - small rubbish dumps located near where the locals live (rather than being properly disposed / recyled at the beach resports and bars). Nungwi is quite probabaly the most idyllic beach I have ever seen - google some images and you'll see ... read more

We finally arrive into Dar El Salaam on the east coast after the mother of all drives. Dar is a place of chaos and we spend a few hours sat around in congested traffic. A few of us throw some goodies out of the windows to soem of the kids - it's a great sight to see how happy some of them are from just some simple gifts. We camp next to the beach and arrive early enough to catch the last of the sunlight for a swim in the sea - it's towards the end of the hot season so the water is between 28 - 30 degrees celsius, much alike taking a bath!...it's not that often that you have to leave the sea to cool down! We unwind from a long day in the ... read more

After the Serengeti, we hit the road for the Ngorogoro crater - a former volcano and now a conerservation area. The sunken area where the volcano was once active is now a haven to a range of wildlife attracted by the greenery and wetlands. It really is an amazing sight as the former volcano covers a huge area. We see wildebeast, zebra, flamingos and plenty of other birds. Perhaps the most impressive sightings are a lioness sat next to our safaris truck and a couple of rhinos (albeit these were in the distance but are still an impressive sight). We have lunch where I'm attacked by an African Black Kite bird - swopped down from long distance and aimed stright for me at eye level, just avoiding it's claws for my food! The illness suddenly kicks ... read more

After leaving Nairobi we head across the border into Tanzania and stay in Arusha at a snake park (some of the snakes are massive - they allow me to hold a tree snake, a large turtle and a baby crocodile - not so cute as they can still take your fingers off! We have a great first dinner with the group - a sheep cooked over a spit followed by a few beer, then our first night in the tents. We have an early rise and set off to the Serengeti National Park for some game viewing zebras, girraffes, elephants, baboons, a leopard etc (we were very pleased with the latter as it is a very shy animal). We stop off at a Masai Mara tribe and are allowed into their village where they greet us ... read more

Arrived into Nairobi for three nights and stayed at Kikuyu Lodge on the outskirts of Nairobi (apparently Nairobi city centre doesn't have much going for it and can be dangerous at night). The lodge is run by an English guy (Trevor) and his Kenyan son (Geoff) and his cousin (Catherine). Trevor was an interesting guy as he used to fly planes for the UN food programme in Sudan and then set up Rwanda airways with planes he had bought from the British military, so you can guess the type of stories he had to share! The lodge was a great way to start as I was the only guest at the lodge and so ate with the family and watched TV / had a few beers with them. I was also taken out by Geoff on ... read more