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Published: July 17th 2014
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We head home tomorrow and have had a most enjoyable and interesting month in Africa. Yesterday we walked alongside Victoria Falls which are far more spectacular than Niagara Falls, and we got very wet feet and trouser legs despite the voluminous rental raincoats. We also learned some of the history of the falls and that Dr. Livingstone married a Scots lass called Mary Moffat so perhaps she is a distant ancestor of mine. This morning we spent 3 hours 'canoeing' down the Zambezi River - one thing I said I definitely didn't want to do when we were booking our holiday and deciding on side trips. I was concerned about being on a river infested with hippos, crocodiles and snakes. Not to mention the travel advice about not going barefoot because of parasites. However Keith went ahead and booked it anyway so there I was standing barefoot on a dung/soil river bank and later with Zambezi river splashwater swirling around my toes, however I kept a close eye out for wriggly things and, apart from that, have to admit that it was a very pleasant way to spend the morning and see some lovely bee-eaters, lilac-crested rollers and other neat and
Ruaha River
The view from our Banda colourful birds. We did get splashed a little from waves but hopefully our clothes will be dry enough to pack by morning.
The people we have come into contact with have all been friendly and helpful and the food has ranged from good to excellent. At the Victoria Falls safari lodge we have finally been able to sample some of the local game such as wart hog (a cross between very tender pork and beef), Kudu (like other venison) and guinea fowl (of which there are great flocks everywhere we've been). Although we avoided leafy salads on our travels, there were lots of fruits and vegetables available and everywhere we've eaten had at least one vegetarian option and often more. The pineapples, mangos and passion fruits (my favourite) here are full of flavour and the avocados big and tasty.
Clothing advice from our travel agent was that we bring a light sweater for early mornings and evenings however if you are planning on visiting Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe during June-July (winter) as we have, you will need more than this to keep warm. We made good use of both warm fleece jackets and raincoats
Baobob Tree
Inspiration for the Hobbit (the latter to keep out cool winds). Many of the places we visited grew cold at night (especially Ngorongoro) and the tents and lodges have no heating while the dining rooms are all open air. Advantages to this time of year, however, are that it doesn't get unpleasantly hot and we saw very few mosquitoes either because the places we visited were too high (cold) or because it is the dry season. There were a couple of afternoons we spent more time swatting away tse-tse flies than looking out for game but out of 33 days that isn't bad. Although we did see people wearing shorts, we spent most of the time covered up to keep warm, to prevent sunburn, or to prevent insect bites.
Returning to the subject of clothing, I couldn't help wondering how the Maasai, with zero apparent body fat, keep warm dressed only in two or three thin cloths with bare arms, legs and feet in sandals. When I first saw sandals made out of sections of old motorbike tires that curve slightly up the sides of the feet, and with straps attached, I assumed it was a matter of being thrifty as the people
in some of the poorer communities we passed through obviously make use of every scrap of paper, plastic pail and tin can available. However a Maasai told me that western runners were not practical for them because they walk such long distances the runners wear out too quickly while the motor-bike-tire sandals last much longer. The Maasai cow dung huts we went in were cosy with a fire burning but with tiny windows they were also very smoky and gloomy.
On our final evening we dined at the local boma where we were entertained with local dancers and then given drums to participate in a communal drumming and dance session. It was an appropriate way to say goodbye to Africa.
We have seen some beautiful places during our travels over the past month and are glad we made the journey. I would recommend it to anyone willing to bump along dusty roads for hours at a time.
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Judy and Nigel Blagden
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Your trip
Lovely photos and sounds like you have had a wonderful experience. Safe trip home