Visa time

After a week at home and two trips to Dublin we have obtained our Chinese and Indian visas.

On Wednesday we are off again and have a night flight to Dubai where we will be for a few days. There we will be staying with my cousin and his family. It's strange to think that we are beginning the 2nd half and it will be good to get back into shorts!!

A week of catch up

It's weird being home for a week and we are shattered with visits here there and everywhere. It has been lovely being away from the credit crunch and political goings on back home. I managed to get my Tooth sorted, we got our booster jabs and we finally met little Ruby. Grier, Ruth-Cheryl and Craig travelled from Norway, Simon, Bronwyn and Ruby came up from Roscommon. My family meet and greet is tomorrow and we have another trip to the Chinese and Indian Embassys in Dublin to pick up our Visa's. I'm still working on loading a few more photos. So far we've taken 14000 photos and bits and pieces.

Kenya...bouncy bouncy, bouncy

The final leg of our East African adventure and we head to Nairobi, Kenya for a hotel bed, shower and civilization. 24Hour shopping, pizza, burgers and no fear of being eaten in our tents by animals.

The Great North Road as the locals call it runs from Capetown to Cairo without the need to turn off. Unfortunately Kenya hasn't quite completed their section and instead of upgrading bit by bit, the've destroyed the road from Tanzania to Nairobi leading to a very bumpy, very uncomfortable and at times very painful journey.

After 10 hours of bouncing and bruising (starting at 5:30am) we arrived in a big city.

Nairobi, the little we saw of it was a big industrial city with the usual hotels. We didn't venture far except for food and a haircut. Barbers here are not used to cutting hair similar to mine so it was not going to be quick, but nearly an hour for a short back and sides! The experience was priceless. The outcome was...... lets just say it was worth the £2 I paid and nothing more.

It was great to meet another diverse group of really interesting people.

A final meal, lots of goodbyes to new friends and Jude and I were on our own again. Burning by the pool, we managed to recollect our past 6 months, plan a bit for a next 6 and finalise the people we needed to see when home. Doctors, dentists, opticians, architects, visa people, family, etc, etc.

Our next trip is 1st April to Dubai and we can't wait. It is nice to go home and get our washing done, meet our new niece for the first time and relax in familiar surroundings.

Picture problems

OK so we've typed lots of words and have hit a snag with getting the pictures loaded. Hopefully we'll get our last Kenyan post up within the next day or two and get the pictures to go with them. Monday morning is usually a busy day for the blog (i think everyone gets into work and checks all their mails and blogs at the start of the week. If I was working I would do that.....) We shall see what happens.....

Ngorongoro Crater

Our trip to the crater was certainly good, but we had been spoilt by the experience in the Serengeti, so we had a more relaxed drive today - despite the African bees in the vehicle.

We saw quite a lot of animals, Lions, Black Rhino (the completion of our big 5), wart hogs, Elephants with really long tusks and many, many Zebras.

I think everyone on the trip is happy that this safari to the Serengeti has been at the end of the tour as all our belongings are filthy and dusty, but also the scenery and animals we have seen, no other park or nature reserve would live up to it.

We visited a Masai village and Chris got to dance with the men and certainly enjoyed the singing and skipping!!! It was very commercialised, but we did see how the Masai live and sat in their homes, they spent more time trying to sell us their wares than explain their culture etc.

Tomorrow we leave Tanzania and enter Kenya which marks the end of our trip and the start of our journey home.

I'm ready to go home for the week. Clothes need washed, I need to eat simple food which I have missed. Last week I wasn't ready, but as it's only for about 10 days and our travels haven't finished, I'm excited to see everyone again. If this was the end of our trip, I'd be dragging my heels.

6 Lions watching, 5 Cheetahs standing and a Leopard lying in a tree.

It sounds like the 12 days of Christmas, but our trip in the Serengeti was truly the icing on the cake.

Our first game drive allowed us to see 4 of the big 5! I was enchanted by the Leopard in the tree - something I have wanted to see, but didn't think I would.We also got to catch the end of the migration from the Masai Mara to the Serengeti of some of the animals, and ours was of the Wildebeest and the Zebra. It was such a special sight to see that I don't think words was describe it. The sheer volume of animals was breathtaking and our photos don't do it credit at all.

I'm also pleased Chris and I did our Safari training course, as were were told nothing by our driver about the animals etc... and to know something about their habits adds to the moment.

Our second day in the Serengeti allowed us to see some of the beautiful birds, but we also got to see another Leopard in another tree, but it was nothing like the previous day.

We drove onto the rim of the Ngorongoro crater to set up camp for the evening, before our descent in the morning into the crater itself and the night proved extremely interesting.

Not only did we get a visit from a bush pig, but a herd of Buffalo and Wildebeest came through the camp during the night. The buffalo decided to graze around our tents, but the wildebeest just passed through. It was certainly different hearing the chomping of grass right beside your head in the early hours of the morning.

Kilimanjaro.

Today was a day you would like to scrub out and start again but also store and keep in my memory...It didn't start well with 5 members of the tour group (including Chris and I) being separated from the rest while going from the ferry to the truck. One guy was 

pick-pocketed... and it took one of the locals to let us know where the truck was, we got there in the end.

It was a day to commit to memory as the scenery which we saw was again breathtaking.
Anne thought I was crazy as I was constantly waving out of the window to the people we passed, but what she didn't see were the children running along the paths waving and shouting as we went along.I was listening to some great tunes while we were going along the road and one of them was the Take That song 'Never Forget' and it's words were extremely fitting. It was the first day I didn't feel like sleeping on the truck despite the journey being over 10 hours. the time flew in and excitement increased when we saw the sign for the Kilimanjaro mountain range. The thought and excitement of seeing the snow capped mountain was constant, but we needed to wait until the next morning to see that and it was a brilliant sight.

The next day we stopped off at a place to buy some Tanzanite - when in Tanzania eh? and then headed onto our next campsite aptly named Snake Park. We just had to visit the snakes attached to the park and watched some scared chicks evade the snakes attack. Yuck!
Chris and Levi went for a camel ride which cost $1 so they couldn't pass up the opportunity, it was literally up and down a field but an experience.

The next three nights where into the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater and then we're on the home straight for our first time round the world.

zanzibar cont...

From Stone Town we went up the coast to Nungwi via a spice plantation and a lady's home for lunch. The spice plantation was very informative but humid. We got to see how ginger is grown, took some bark from a cinnamon tree and tasted lovely coconut and jack fruit.
Lunch was an interesting event... we went to a local village en route to our hotel and we were cooked a lovely traditional meal. The children in the village all came to say hello and we were constantly handed little bouquets with flowers in a leaf cone. Some of the group played alongside the children and showed the kids pictures of themselves... and I just wish I had a second camera with me to have shown you their reactions. Chris was showing a little girl a photos of herself and she was so surprised and excited to see herself on the screen. It is an image I will never forget. (here is a photo of our fellow traveller Danielle doing the same).

From here we drove to our accommodation of the next few nights in Nungwi and where the sea is crystal clear and the sand white. We swan with some of the children in one area of the island and it was interesting to see that they were using the plastic water bottles tied under their arms for floats. They loved having us arrange games for them and taking the time to chat to them.

It was Simon's birthday while we were here (along with many other family and friends) so I called to wish him a happy birthday. He asked me if I was excited about coming home for a week and I can't wait to see family and friends, but I'm not ready to finish our travels yet.

Chris and I left earlier than the rest of the group on the Friday to get to Stone Town for Chris' dental appointment. Nothing could be done in the amount of time we were here, so instead, we had a walk around the place. Another trip to the market was in order and then some last minute shopping.

Zanzibar is a place which at night looks beautiful and exotic and during the day dirty and run down, but it's a place which will be remembered for its inhabitants who are helpful and friendly.

Zanzbar... Spice Island and Paradise!

I have been looking forward to a few specific places on this trip and Zanzibar was one of them and it certainly didn't disappoint.

The layout and style of the main town has been unchanged for many decades... as the town is a world heritage site, there are restrictions on the buildings etc... and this is obvious. Many of them lie in ruin and the charm of the side alleyways are slowly crumbling away with the damp and moss which grows on its walls. The architecture is a mix of styles with many of the doorways being Indian, complete with spikes to stop the Elephants leaning against them. 

Zanzibar doesn't have Elephants so this is purely decorative.

The area of Stone Town itself is a maze and you 

certainly need a good sense of direction in order to keep your bearings. There seems to be a secrecy in the streets with the people looking through their windows and children quickly running through the large doorways. But the locals all were extremely friendly shouting 'Jambo' to us as we walked past - meaning Hello and asking how we were etc... it was only the tourists who didn't smile or say hi!

Chris and I had a wander around the place, did some great bartering for gifts and made it back to the hotel in one piece for Chris' appointment with the dentist... this ended up being a consultation on the lobby couch in the hotel with an appointment scheduled with a dentist visiting from Cairo on Friday.

That night, we all headed to the market for some food and the choice was something else... barracuda, shark, Zanzibar pizza etc... we ate until we were nearly bursting and it was good stuff.

Tanzania

Another country, another timezone, another religion and squat toilets!!!!
This country is fascinating - from our first few hours on the road we passed a number of towns where there seemed to be some type of parade going on. Lots of ladies were dressed in matching outfits and everyone seemed to be enjoying their day together.

Our truck had a very long day... we left our campsite in Malawi at 5am and were arriving in our new one in Tanzania and about 4pm... but the scenery we drove past was lovely. The numerous tea plantations were scattered around and the rice fields were filling in the gaps.

The campsite in Irringa where we stayed was beautiful. We decided for $10 each to upgrade, so we got a lovely converted stable with a personal touch, flowers in the room and a lantern place outside the door in the evening.

The next morning, we all boarded our new truck and headed to Dar Es Salaam. Chris and I nearly didn't make it as we'd forgotten to move our clock forward the extra hour for country change, but as we'd packed the night before, we could grab and go!

The roads in Tanzania are interesting... lots of speed bumps and our road today was no exception. I ended up sitting at the back of the truck on top of the mattresses as Chris and I are the only people sitting side by side - everyone else has 2 seat to themselves! I was extremely comfy and also held on for dear life due to the sharpness of some of the turns!
We drove through a nature reserve - the main road ran right through - and we saw a phenomenal amount of animals... herds of Elephants, impala and the Masai Giraffe whose patterning is striking compared to the southern giraffe. It was lovely to be spotting animals again, but I was shocked to hear that some of the group thought travelling through Africa would have been like that, and if they didn't see any animals, they were bored.... everyone is different I suppose. I loved seeing the reaction of the people when they see you waving from your window, everyone waves at the Muzungu (white people).

We finally arrived into Dar Es Salaam and got ready to go to Zanzibar tomorrow. Our campsite is interesting with Masai guards patrolling the area... when the thatch of your accommodation is so low all you can see is from the knees down of a Masai guard, it is a mysterious site to witness. Their attire is something I have only seen in books or on TV, so to see a warrior in real life is great.

Woodcarving in Malawi

We had a camp site in a place called Chitemba Beach, and with us being here for 2 nights, we had the option of doing some woodcarving with the locals. As Dad likes to do some wood turning, I thought I would give woodcarving a go and see what the outcome was...
Chris, 

Anne and I arrived to our tutor Norman's house at about 9am and were leaving arround 1:30pm. We sat under his mango tree (lovely and shady) watching as he helped us (a lot) to take big chunks of wood and make them into managable pieces, Our works of art began to look quite professional and certainly something you would buy.

We not only got to chisel, but after 3 difference grains of sandpaper, our work was ok by Norman's standards to polish. Any of us would have been happy to keep the carvings rough and unfinished, but as Norman's reputation would be reflected in our work, he needed them to look as good as he would sell them. He took pride in showing us his skills and his family. As we worked, some of the locals came buy, sat and had a chat and also helped us out a bit. Many people contributed to our carvings and they will take price of place in our home. It was also lovely to leave the camping area and see some of the locals in their homes.

Anne made a mask, Chris made a hippo and I made a tokoloshe. Next time, it'll be chairs!

2 more countries for the passports....

Zambia is a very interesting country. The towns (you can't really call them cities) are small with most of the people living in small mud huts. It's their choice, what they want and we'll not get into the debate about poverty and forcing our western opinions of 'being rich' onto others.

Anyway, Livingstone, named after the great doctor is home to Victoria falls.. We joined our new trek team, met our accomodation for the next 3 weeks (a big box on wheels, pictures will follow) and set off for a little trip down the Zambezi. White water rafting is lots of fun if you have the right waves and boy did we have the right waves, currents, whirlpools and whatever else makes the water white. A flight over the great falls, again photos to follow, was another great experience. They were not as big as I imagined but certainly it was a magnificent sight.

Overland travel is long and tiring. many hours spent inside the truck looking at the countryside, reading books, listening to Ipods and talking to our fellow travellers. OK in reality we sleep a lot but it is nice to wake up and see the different villages pass by with Children and adults waving as we pass. Today brought us into Malawi which is the poorest country in Africa. Over 50% of the population is under 15 and the next few days will have us experiencing some of those conditions.. Our new group is starting to click together well and with excellent food, a few drinks and starlit skies we are enjoing ourselves. Internet access is limited and very slow (today anyway) but we shall see what we can do as we go along. Also for those who where worried, we have finally got our next 6 months booked. Details will follow but Dubai, Nepal, India, SE Asia, Japan, USA and Canada are all on the list.