So this is it: my last travel blog! Nearly six months later and here I am, sitting at my parents' house in Winnipeg, with nothing more than a few souvenirs, a LOT of photos, and fantastic memories. It's a bit hard to reconcile starting "real life" again after such a phenomenal experience, but I suppose in time I'll be readjusted. Our flight back was fine, although we were stuck at the very back of the plane because I think we were likely the last people to check in (by a considerable margin, too!) The plane also held the world's loudest baby, [View Full Entry]

---

---

So we've now arrived back in London, and I think I'm in utter shock that we're going to be in Canada tomorrow afternoon... not sure how I can be in shock about it, since that's been the plan for months and months, but I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. On the one hand, it seems like yesterday that we left the UK, and on the other hand, seems like a lifetime ago. We crossed the border from Tanzania into Kenya relatively easily, although it did take a loooooong time for the border officials to process our visas. [View Full Entry]

---

---

We're in Arusha at the moment, just hanging around the town, waiting to cross the border into Kenya. The past week has absolutely flown by, and I think we're all a bit shellshocked that today is our last official today together. That said, every one of us is going to the Masai Mara on Sunday for three days, so although we won't be with our crew, we'll still be together for a couple of days. It's sad to think that we'll be going our separate ways after spending so much time together, but it's so easy to keep in touch and [View Full Entry]

---

---

We've got about another hour left on Zanzibar before we return to Dar Es Salaam, and I think we all could have easily stayed on for a few more days at least. Zanzibar is gorgeous - the water is incredibly blue and clear, and the weather has been fantastic since we arrived. We did a really good tour of the old Stone Town on the day we arrived, and went to someone's house for a traditional Zanzibar meal - it was great. Afterwards we went to a spice plantation, and it was surprisingly interesting, and really interactive (particularly when we got [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just a quick note to say that we’re now on Zanzibar, after spending the last week and a half travelling through Zambia and Malawi. I’ll do a full update hopefully tomorrow sometime, as we’re currently in Stone Town on the island, but head up north to the beaches later this afternoon for some lazing around. Malawi was awesome - absolutely gorgeous scenery, lovely people, and we’re the proud owners of some very nice wooden bowls, carvings, etc. Internet access has been thin on the ground, and I think it will continue to be so until we get to Nairobi, so if [View Full Entry]

---

---

The past few days have been fairly relaxing. We were able to take it easy while most of the others were at the Okavango Delta - and it was nice to be able to sleep in beyond 5am for a couple of days. We left the Delta on Wednesday and drove for ages and ages before we reached the town of Kasane, which is on the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe. As soon as we got off the truck we split into two groups: those of us spending a night camping in Chobe National Park, and those not. We’d opted to [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Botswana on Saturday afternoon. The border crossing was considerably faster and less annoying than into Namibia, where the customs officers acted as though we were inconveniencing them, plus most of them fled on their lunch breaks as soon as we arrived. Botswana is an interesting place, with one of the most stable, legitimate goverments, and strongest economies in Africa. We're currently in Maun, one of the main entry points to the Okavango Delta, and it's a nice little place. We left Swakopmund last Monday morning, after we heard all the tales of the skydiving and other adven [View Full Entry]

---

---

We've now arrived in Swakopmund, a reasonably largish town in Namibia after nearly a full week's camping. Camping has been okay (especially considering I've never camped in my life!!), but we're staying in a lodge this weekend which is pretty nice in comparison, ha. I'm quite impressed with the trip so far. It's very organized, and our trip leader, Kat, has been doing this job for four years and has a lot of experience, so it makes it easy. We've got a really nice cook and driver, and the food has been amazing. I don'tknow what I expected, but the food [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yesterday morning I woke up, wide awake, at 3am. This is normal for me at the moment, still going through the final paces of jet lag, but this time it was different. I felt like I had razor blades in my throat, and within an hour or two, had developed serious, shivering chills and cold sweats. A flu!! Excellent timing, two days before our overland trip. I spent the morning in bed, and managed to drag myself out at noon as we'd pre-booked tickets to Robben Island and they were non-refundable. I felt a bit better once I had a little [View Full Entry]

---

---

We've been enjoying a few leisurely days in Cape Town, attempting to finish picking up a few things (e.g. pillows and mosquito repellent) for our overland trip. I'm still feeling a bit jet lagged - on the mend, but I was awake at 3am for what seemed like ages last night, so I feel a bit sleepy now. Trying to press through to a reasonable time tonight, and hopefully things should be normal again in the morning. The weather hasn't been great the past few days, although today it was really sunny so we wanted to go out to Robben Island, [View Full Entry]

---

---