Travel Rob - Rob Thomson

This journal is a place to record my travels and the adventures along the way. It may not get updated all that often since it depends on my a) finding an Internet Cafe or other connection, b) the connection speed and/or state of the equipment involved, and c) feeling like making use of it at the time. Time will tell.

I have travelled in Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East but my principle love is Africa. From the moment I first set foot there in 2004 I fell completely and utterly in love with the place. I feel very much as if I have left a piece of my heart there and I have to keep returning. As I write these words I have now travelled through seven African countries from Kenya in the north to South Africa and all of them I wish to revisit. There are also many, many more new places to see...

Comments and suggestions are encouraged, and indeed, deeply appreciated, but I may not always be able to respond quickly.

I prefer doing things myself - truly independent travel, i.e. me, plus a guide book, plus whatever transport I can find at the time. This year I'm taking my tent for the first time, and even more than ever, I'm not going to know where I'm going until I get there.

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Joined on: June 25th 2007
Last Login: October 8th 2009

Blog Entries: 15
Photos: 26

TB Code: [blogger=41683]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Travel Rob, order by Date newest first.

By Travel Rob
April 1st 2009

NamibRand Nature Reserve Africa » Namibia

My view!
I step out onto my porch in the morning, and this is what is presented to me. It doesn't get much better.

I’m on the road to Windhoek as I type these words. In the horse trailer behind me are two wooden crates, each containing a lovely young cheetah. We are all three en-route to the NamibRand Nature Reserve (NRNR) on the boundaries of the Namib-Nauklaft National Park. UK readers may recognise this reserve as the one featured in the Channel 5 documentary “Cheetah Man” that aired a few weeks ago. That programme showed the release of a coalition of five male cheetahs into the reserve, today is the first step in a process to release these two females. Since “Cheetah Man& [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
January 4th 2009

Bugs, Bogs, and Bottles of Beer. Africa » Namibia » Otjiwarongo

Sunrise over Boskop Dam
Who would believe this to be a desert country! It is though, and despite the view here, remains critically short of water.

After a brief sojourn in the UK, I returned to a Namibia far different than the one I’d left scant weeks before. The mild winter sun was gone and temperatures had risen into the mid thirties. Stepping from the shade to the sun now resembled a close approach to a blast furnace or blazing bonfire. It is no wonder nearby Zambia refers to October as “Suicide Month”! There isn’t really an equivalent to the season of spring here, nor is summer quite what a European would expect. As winter draws to a close, the temperatures get steadily hotter and hotter, and [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
September 2nd 2008

Sunday in the Wild Africa » Namibia » Waterberg

Roadside Oryx

Sunday dawned bright and clear, and I crawled out of bed far earlier than I’d have liked. Nominally a day of rest, some jobs still need to be done, and today I had agreed to drive our new cheetah keeper; Kate; on the rounds of all our pens, checking for damage to the fences. From the office it’s 24 km to the big enclosure on our neighbouring farm of Bellebenno, and the road wends its way through some lovely scenery. Away to the right rises the deep red of the Waterberg Plateau, while all around us are the browns and greens [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
July 19th 2008

Quick update Africa » Namibia » Windhoek

I'm afraid that this isn't really one of my usual entries, but just a real quick update about where I am and what I'm up to. First off an apology; the email address I had set up with travelblog has been having problems for the last few months so I haven't got any recent messages. I've set up a new one now, so future communications should get through. I've just had a short holiday (18 days) in the UK. It used to be that the leaving the UK meant going on holiday for me, but these days it's the other way [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
May 15th 2008

Saving the wild cheetahs - part 1 Africa » Namibia » Waterberg

Cheetah female
An orphaned female cheetah living at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia.

I’ve spent the last six weeks volunteering for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia. I’ve had a fantastic time so far, and the best part is that I’ll be here for six more weeks as well. CCF was founded in 1990 by American born Dr Laurie Marker and in the decades since has made one of the greatest single contributions to the future survival of the wild cheetah population of Africa. In 1900 there were around 100,000 cheetahs in the wild, but the twentieth century saw a sharp decline in their numbers due to the pressures of an expanding human [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
March 16th 2008

Gaborone is... Africa » Botswana » South-East » Gaborone

Gaborone Mall

Gaborone is an odd city. It was built from scratch as a capital, but despite it’s modern origins, it seems to have sprung up with little forethought or planning. The land area that it covers is vast, and long taxi or combi rides are needed to get anywhere. Much of the population live in the widely dispersed suburbs, now organised into numbered ‘blocks’ some of which are themselves as large as small towns. Dividing these blocks are major highways that cross each other at great ‘circles’ (the local name for roundabouts). In theory, all the streets have name [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
March 9th 2008

People, people, everywhere... Africa » Botswana » South-East » Gaborone

As I've mentioned in previous entries, I've stayed in pretty much every type of accomodation there is to be found during my African travels. I've lived in converted stables, family homes, mud huts, luxery lodges & hotels, plus most things in between. During that time, I've met a great many of my fellow travellers, and it really is amazing what a melting pot Africa is these days. Almost uniformly however, the most interesting people to be found are staying in amongst the cheapest accomodations. In the luxery lodges and the big hotels, all I seem to encounter are rich Americans on [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
March 6th 2008

Maun and the Old Bridge Africa » Botswana » North-West » Maun

I arrived in Maun on February 26th with the intention of staying four or five nights. Eight days later I finally dragged myself away with great reluctance to continue my journey south. If it were not for the fact that I have to be in Gaborone by Friday I'd certainly have stayed longer. In Maun I found a true home from home in the shape of the Old Bridge Backpackers. In four years of travels through nine African countries I have stayed in expensive hotels, flea pit hotels, tents, mud huts, tin shacks, the floor of a landrover and a miscellany [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
February 29th 2008

Out on the water in deepest Botswana. Africa » Botswana » North-West » Maun

Early on Wednesday morning a small group set out from the wonderful Old Bridge Backpackers in Maun, Botswana. We were bound for the Okavango Delta, the world's largest inland delta. The Okavango River empties not into the sea, but instead into the Kalahari desert and is home to an amazing collection of wildlife including over 400 species of birds. We took a high-speed motor lauch to the edge of the protected area and there transferred to Mokoros. These traditional fishing boats can seat two people in relative comfort, while the boatman poles them through the reeds, much like an Oxfor [View Full Entry]

By Travel Rob
February 25th 2008

A Shoestring for each foot... Africa » Zimbabwe » Victoria Falls

This morning I walked over the border from Zimbabwe to Botswana, and then caught a local bus into Kasane. Over the river I can see Namibia, but it will be weeks yet before I set foot there. I flew into Johannesburg last Tuesday, and stayed overnight at my favourite local hostel; Shoestrings. It's located close to the airport, in an area safe enough to walk about in, and the owners offer free pickups to and from the airport. There are a remarkable number of private rooms and dorm beds, plus a rather nice little pool in the back garden. The owner [View Full Entry]

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