Nairobi - Lake Nakaru, 18 July 2012 After leaving Nairobi at 8.30am after a briefing from Wilson our Kenyan guide, who is from a coffee farming Kenyan family, we loaded up our bags into the new 4x4 bus. It has a couple of tables in it as well as power. We have a group of 16 of mixed ages. Two people have completed the trip we are just about to commence after this 14-day gorilla trek. They are from Ireland, England, NZ, Copenhagen, San Diego, Switzerland and we are the only ones from Aust. We drove for a couple of hours and stopped for lunch at a beautiful tree-covered picnic area. We had to have several guys on guard as there were baboons there who won’t give up re trying to get food. They can be ... read more

Have a look at the photos of Dubai... read more

It's 10 hours before we catch a cab to the Brisbane International Airport for a 2.30am Emirates flight to Dubai for 3 nights. The 'to do' list is nearly all done and dusted. It's cold and wet in Brisbane today so look out Dubai (at 45 degrees C), here we come.... read more

Well we are back in Australia after the most amazing holiday. We have been very lucky to have experienced all that we have and did. We had a really interesting trip home. After leaving Sao Paulo in Brazil, flying out at 5.40pm on the Wednesday, we arrived in Santiago, Chile. Before our departure time to Auckland, there was an announcement that our flight was cancelled until Friday. However, a short while later we found out that LAN Airlines was trying to arrange another solution. This change was due to the volcanic ash from the Chile volcano that was creating havoc for all airlines scheduling, particularly around the NZ area. After a 3 hour wait, we boarded the plane to fly back to Australia via Tahiti. After 9 or so hours, we arrived there only to sit ... read more

When we were dropped off at our Hotel in Manaus by the Amazon Village guide, Alex, we found they were servicing the air conditioner in our room so we decided to find a restaurant for lunch. We received excellent advice by the hotel and had a pleasant lunch. Manaus is a Brazilian city of about 2.5 million, located on the Rio Negro a few miles before it meets the Rio Solimões to form the Amazon River proper. At Manaus the Amazon rises and falls almost twenty metres between seasons. In May and June it's at its peak, full and very wide, spreading way out into the trees. In November and December it's low but still massive. A bit about the food of Brazil: The Local cuisine is rich and varied and can be found in many ... read more