Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa

From Malawi we spent a couple of days in the truck going through Mozambique, bush camping on the way before we got to Zimbabwe. We spent two weeks here, hiking and exploring various villages and finding out about the country's history. The people in Zimbabwe all dislike Robert Mugabe who has been president for over 20 years and is very controlling. All shops and businesses have to have a picture of him up. Despite various attempts to remove him from power he is still clinging on, and everyone is waiting for him to die so they can move on as a country. The economy has suffered massively from the violence and racism he has incited, especially the farming and tourism industries. Despite that the country and people are amazing. There was so much wildlife that we regularly saw big game in or by the road. 

We stopped off at a lion rehabilitation centre and had the chance to take lion cubs for a walk and feed them as part of their training for going into the wild. 

Later on we had a chance to ride and feed elephants which were very tame and friendly. We also went on a horseback safari. As we were not in a vehicle we were able to get up really close to the animals, and a herd of zebra even started following us! 

From there we went to the town of Victoria Falls to see the waterfall and sail down the Zambezi river. The waterfall was massive and could be heard for miles around. When we walked near it we got absolutely soaked and as it is the border with Zambia we all had our passports with us which alo got wet through.  

From Zimbabwe we crossed the border to Botswana (all these border crossings and visas are costing a fortune!). Botswana is one of the least populated countries in Afria with only 2 million people but is twice the size of the UK. As a result we drove for days without seeing people or villages. In Botswana we spent a few days in the Okavango Delta. This is a huge river system that takes up a massive area of the country and is a wetlands of reeds and islands separated by narrow channels. We were taken by local guides in wooden dug-out canoes to an island where we spent time learning how to punt the canoes, looking for wildlife such as zebra and gazelle and swimming in the channels. We cooked on open fires and relaxed with our books, and as a result were sad to leave. 

  

From there we stayed at a campsite called Elephant Sands which was situated around a water hole. In the evening we watched elephants bathing and drinking. Unfortunately they stayed hanging around the camp and settled next to our tents so we couldn't get near them and had to wait until they decided to leave so we could go to bed. 

After Botswana we headed into Namibia which was completely different to the rest of Africa that we had seen. As it was the rainy season the landscape we have been travelling through has been green and lush, but here it changed to desert and sand dunes. The roads are little more than areas of the sand where the larger stones have been cleared and we went days without seeing other people or cars. 

This area is known as the Skeleton Coast because any sailors that were shipwrecked here stood no chance of surviving. We found an oil rig in the middle of the desert and stopped for a play then finally reached the west coast, meaning that we had travelled from one side of Africa to the other. 

We spent a few days in the desert going sand boarding and skydiving from a height of 2 miles and falling at 150 mph before pulling the parachute cord. It was the best experience ever and I can't wait to try it again! 

The next day was my 29th birthday and we had a cake and drinks, however the desert lacked much in the way of nightlife! 

The next day we visited Deadvlei - a dried up oasis in the middle of the desert where all of the trees had died. It took a long time to walk over the sand dunes to get there but it was definately worth it - we also climbed up the famous Dune 44, one of the biggest in the world, which was worth it just for the run down! 

After crossing the border into South Africa we spent a few days of luxury in Capetown where we had our first hot shower for ages and our first beds for over a month! The tent was great but its nice to wake up without an aching back! In Capetown we visited Robben Island and the prison where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and some of the European-style parks. For my morning run I went up Table Mountain and struggled to see much through the clouds! 

Having a week to spare before my flight to South America some friends and I have rented a car and have been travelling along the South African coast and the wine growing regions making the use of the time by sampling local beverages and enjoying the views. 

We also visited the Cape of Good Hope and Point Algunhas which is the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and the most southern point in Africa. 

South Africa is so rich compared to the rest of the continent that we have seen that it's just like being at home with all the luxuries so its like a holiday within a holiday. 

Im leaving here to go to Ecuador on the 5th April and am going to work of a farm in the Cloud Mountains for six weeks in order to improve my Spanish. After that I have another two and a half months of travelling around South America before heading home to enjoy the summer holidays! 

Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Malawi!

I spent two fantastic weeks at home relaxing with family and friends and resupplying my bag (and body!) After such a great time it was hard to leave and get back to traveling, but I flew into Nairobi in Kenya and spent a couple of days relaxing and preparing for the next part of my trip - 56 days through 8 countries from Kenya to South Africa. I am traveling on a tour on a truck with 8 other people. 

This is our overland truck that will take us over 9000 miles through Africa!

                   

The sides roll up so we can see out and keep cool. 

We spend a lot of time driving through amazing scenery, passing tribal people living in mud huts built in circles with thorn bush fences to keep the wild animals out and their goats and cows inside at night.

                 

We have also seen many animals by the side of the road such as zebra, giraffes and elephants. We camp each night in tents, taking it in turns to cook on a stove. No bad experiences so far, except one person's shoes getting chewed by a hyena and someone else's being stolen by monkeys from outside the tent! 

 

Lunch stop by the side of the road

We left Kenya and travelled through Tanzania, spending 3 days in the Ngorogoro crater and the Serengeti in an open top jeep.

Out of the top of the safari jeep

The Ngorogoro Crater

The crater was formed millions of years ago and has very steep sides. As a result animals that go in never go back out so it is full of all types of species in huge numbers. In one day we saw giraffe, elephants, hippos, hyenas, jackals, ostriches, zebra, warthogs, buffalo, wildebeests, cheetahs, monkeys, baboons, lions and their cubs plus the Masai people in their villages. We camped each night among the animals but didnt get disturbed (or eaten!) 

                         

                         

     

Our Jeep broke down so many times and the brakes failed whilst going down the side of the crater!

                       

   

From there we took a few days to make our way to the port of Dar es Salaam, stopping to swim in waterfalls and kayak on the rivers to cool down. 

        

We caught the boat to the island if Zanzibar which is famous for producing spices such as cinnamon and cloves. (Plus it's the both place of Freddie Mercury!) After a couple of days in Stonetown, which has great Arabic architecture as it was colonised by Oman, we headed to the beach and had a few days relaxing and staying in beach bungalows. 

Sunset over Stonetown

                                     

The ferry at Dar Es Salaam is pretty different to the Torpoint Ferry! 

                    

Here we went swimming and snorkeling from a traditional boat called a dhow, although I stood on a sea urchin and the spikes had to be dug out of my foot!

                      

                     

We returned to the mainland and slowly made our way through the rest of the Tanzania, following huge mountains covered in trees and the roads got higher and higher, meaning it got a lot colder! We crossed the border into Malawi which, although it is landlocked, has a lake that is so big that there are beaches down the whole length of the country.

He caught 8 fish with a twig!

The view from our window! 

         

We slowly made our way along the shore of the lake, stopping on the bank each night to camp and see the sights. We also went on boat trips snorkeling to seethe hundreds of different types of fish and swam each morning as the water was as warm as a bath. 

                    

                         

After a week of relaxing we went to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi to send home any souvenirs that we had bought and have a couple of days of comforts before we head over the border to Mozambique and then Zimbabwe! 

Nepal and India!

I stayed at the school for 3 weeks teaching and spending time in the village, being invited to many of the children's and teacher's homes to have a meal because as Hindus they believe that to invite a guest into the house and show hospitality will bring them fortune.

I went to the Chitwan National Park with some of the teachers and we rode on an elephant through the jungle. Because the smell of the elephant masked our scent we were able to get within metres of a rare one-horned rhino and its baby (distant relatives of the unicorn I believe!), plus we also saw wild peacocks, deer and antelope. 

After the ride we went to see them being bathed in the river by their mahout - a keeper that stays with the same elephant for life.

Christmas was just like any other day as it isn't a Christian country but because I was there the teachers wanted to celebrate so the school was closed and the women made a Christmas curry with sweet rice pudding. After that we went down to the riverbank and made a fire which we sat around until late in the night. 

On Boxing Day I left the village and went to Kathmandu ready for my flight into Delhi. On the way to the airport I visited the biggest Hindu temple in Asia. It was next to the river and on the banks there were funeral pyres where bodies were being burnt using butter to help them catch fire. It was so interesting to watch the preparations and ceremonies but its not a smell I will ever forget!

I got to Delhi in India and met up with some friends and we spent a day exploring the city's spice markets, mosques and back streets. 

It was so busy and loud with car horns and shouting. There was people everywhere always touching or barging you plus there were cows all over the place which people aren't allowed to move because they are holy animals so the traffic just had to wait. 

The whole city was filthy and smelt terrible as people were going to the toilet on the side of the road and there was was litter everywhere. We were glad to leave before sunrise the next morning on the train to Agra where we went to see the Taj Mahal, a building I have always wanted to see. Its the most beautiful building I have ever seen and even more impressive than any of the pictures could make it look! 

It took 20,000 people 11 years to build and is actually a tomb for the Maharajah's 5th wife Momtaj Mahal. There are all sorts of myths surrounding it. When it was finished the Maharajah cut off the hands of all 20,000 workers so that they could never create something so beautiful again. Another is that the designers had their eyes cut out to make sure they could never make another. Lets hope they're not true! 

From there we went to Jaipur to see the old Amber fort with elephants carrying people up the hill and snake charmers. We also spent New Year's Eve there learning how to Bollywood dance from the locals. I now have an extensive collection of Indian moves. Just ask...

We also went to the cinema to see a Bollywood movie where the audience shouted and cheered every time it got exciting and the hero was beating the bad guys. The music and choroegraphy in it was amazing. I'm a convert and will try to watch as many as I can when I get back!

                  

We then went to various villages where we got to see how most of the billion people in India live, with traditional skills and building materials.

   

               

We also went to Pushkar and Udaipur to which both had lakes in the middle which are used for worship by the Sikhs and Hindus and for washing clothes and bathing just after sunrise. 

Mumbai (Bombay) was a shock to the system after visiting a number of small towns. We were taken on a tour of one of the biggest slums in Asia which is home to a million people in the area of 5 football pitches. 65% of Mumbai's 20 million residents live in slums which are built on any spare patch of ground throughout the city. 

There were tiny  factories in dark tin sheds, some melting cans to make aluminium blocks, some recycling plastics and another making leather which gets sold to Gucci to make handbags. Suprisingly all the people were so happy and friendly and lots wanted us to go into their houses. It wasn't the depressing place I thought it would be! Maybe we've got it all wrong with our luxuries! 

From Mumbai we headed down to Goa for a few days on the beach in a little wooden cottage and spent time swimming in the sea and reading before heading back to the British winter. 

On my last day I hired a kayak and went out in the bay where I read my book out in the ocean and then as I watched my last Asian sunset a pod of dolphins swam around me before it got dark! A perfect end to six amazing months, now to have a two week break at home before heading to Africa!