Novice traveller in 'In at the deep end - a travel story'

The rest of my time in Africa - Port Elizabeth and the Kwantu game reserve volunteering.

travelling_tobin — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:18:00 GMT

So Sophie and i left the rest of the Acacia peeps and got on a night bus (16-17hrs) to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg. I was dreading this because my height is not usually condusive to comfortable sleep (if any sleep) on transport. However i was pleasently suprised with the space and comfort of the Intercape bus and was fine throughout the journey.

Sophie and i had a few days to chill in Port Elizabeth. A quiet beach town on the south coast of South Africa. The weather was scorching hot intially so we just relaxed in the sun before we would start our Kwantu game reserve experience. Sophie, randomly, actually had a friend in PE (Tim) who invited to a Fish Braii (that's BBQ for you back home) on the Saturday (the one day where the sun didn't shine. Was a lovely day with some great food and truly lovely hosts. I also got to blow a vuvuzela that was actually used at a world cup game!! The hostel we stayed in was very nice - Lungile lodge. Not a lot to do in Port Eliabth its;ef tho except chillout and walk the beach so it's a good drop of stop if you are going along the coast but not much else.

So on Sunday the 12th December we got taken to the Kwantu Game Reserve. We met the other volunteers and were shown to our accommodation which was lovely and after 31 days mainly camping a real luxury. So for the next 2 weeks we would be provided with 3 meals a day (courtesy of the lovely 'Mama Africa' our resident cook) whilst working Monday to Friday on a variety of tasks and get taken to Jeffrey's bay and Port Elizbeth to enjoy our weekends (no alcohol allowed during the week).

Our days were split into 3 work sessions and the tasks were as follows:

Lion tracking - using microchips and radio thingys to track the 2 lions on the resrve to check on them.
General craft work - building things such as platforms from scrap wood for the animal enclosures.
Tree chopping - with machetes and axes - i enjoyed this but it could be very draining in the intense heat.
Walking around the enclosed predators enclosure where they have Lions and Tigers that are part of breeing programmes. This also allowed us to enter the enclosure of the 2 lion and 2 tiger cubs (2-3 months old) and generally just play with them. The tigers did like to bite tho and i almost had a nasty experience when one on the tiger cubs sunk his teeth into my crotch area but luckily i had baggy trousers on and was saved from a nasty incident!!
Game drives in the reserve
Game counts - game drives but we had to count numbers of different animals.
Elephant santuary - weeding around the rea and then tracking the elephants before feeding them and riding them!!
Wilderness walk/fence perimeter check - this was a very nice long trek in the park checking the fences for holes from animals or poachers. The heat was scorching but it was a very enjoyable. Had to avoid the evil ostriches tho or they would run over and attack us - so our guide always had a big stick!!! They are stupid animals apparently with brains the size of their eyeballs. There's a fact for you!!
A team building sports day type thing that was actually quite good fun

I mainly enjoyed the time on Kwantu doing things i wouldn't usually do but wasn't what i anticipated. It was a private game reserve and it kinda felt like we were just a way of getting unpaid work done. I had hoped it was more animal interaction and rehab for animals in need not maintainence of a private game reserve. Still i enjoyed most of it but will read the details far more carefully next time i volunteer to do something like this.

The people we did it with were cool and good company so that helped. The weekends out were a good way to let of steam. I also spent Christmas with them in Port Elizabeth and had a lovely Christmas Buffet meal in a casino!! Was nice to spend Xmas with a group of people.

We finished the 2 weeks on Xmas day before Sophie and i had a few more days to chill in Port Eliabeth before flying to Johannesburg and then onto Singapore.

Acacia Overland tour - a few random muddled together thoughts!!

travelling_tobin — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:54:00 GMT

So the 31 day tour is over and I thought I'd right a few random thoughts down!!

Firstly I enjoyed every moment of the trip from the very early mornings, the camping with very little sleep, the long long truck days, the cold trickly showers with insects and of course all the wonderful activities we were lucky enough to do. What probably made it so enjoyable is the great group of people that i was fortunate enough to share the trip with. I've met some people i will keep in touch with for a long time and no doubt meet up again with in a variety of places around the world. I'm not sure whether i was just lucky and whether over tours may be less enjoyable dependent on the people. So if anyone from the tour reads this - thanks for a great time!!

A tour is a great way to experience a large area and do so many activities that would take so long and so much organising alone. It also provides good company for single travellers. I would definitely consider doing another one.

One quick line about Sophie (who i travelled with). It was great to have a friend there and we got on so well throughout the trip despite early mornings and late nights. We got through with no arguments and the same smile on our faces as we just enjoyed the whole experience. One minor note - i did get smacked in the middle of the night in our tent by Soph who just (whilst still sleeping) sat forward smacked me and lay back down!!

The parts of Africa i saw were just amazing. Such a naturally beautiful and varied continent with some wonderful people. You see both ends of the poverty scale here but you always see smiles (even with overly enthusiatic salesmen). The wildlife and scenery is spectacular!!

Highlights: (in no particular order)

some truly amazing animal sightings up close - all the big 5, an elephant in the campsite, a leopard with a kill up close, a large breeding herd of elephants playing in the river to name just a few
White water rafting - a truly exhilarating and terrifying experience all at once. I'm so pleased that despite my fear of water and lack of swimming ability that i did it. Truly memorable day.
Visiting the day care centre in Malawi. Such a good cause and good work being down here. Playing and singing with the constantly smiling children was truly humbling and amazing. Caused me to feel quite emotional actually. I will endeavour to run the great North run and raise money for the centre because what they do and how they do it is fantasctic!!
The fancy dress fake wedding night in Malawi - such a random night and so much fun. Also the only time (i hope) i will spend the night in the bar in essentially just my boxer shorts!!
Gorge swing. Stepping of a cliff into a 53m free fall isn't a natural expeience - but bloody good!!
The beautiful island of Zanzibar!!
Some truly fantastic people.

New Beers i drank:

Tusker
Kilimanjaro
Castle
Safari
Mosi
Windhoek
Kuche Kuche

Injuries sustained:

Far too many bangs on the head (including five on the same beam in the space of 2 hours!!)
The double whammy (back on door face on broomstick) in the truck
Banged up knee on a rock whilst rafting
Multiple cuts in from coral in the sea in Dar es salaam

I learnt many card games and mental challenge games which will come in handy for the rest of the trip.

Things i had never done before:

left europe
white water rafting
snorkelling
horseriding with a saddle
horseriding bareback in a lake
walked like a cowboy due to the above point
gorge swing
flying fox
abseiling
safari
been on a truck for 12 hours
camped in Africa
relied solely on hot water for fluid
bush pee in Africa
showered outdoors with many mosquito's
showered in salt water
met a masaii villager
gone to the bar in my underwear
been stared at by a hyena whilst walking to the toilet

Overall a truly wonderful 31 days that i was very sad to finish for many reasons!

The final leg of Acacia Overland - Botswana to Johannesburg

travelling_tobin — Wed, 8 Dec 2010 16:39:00 GMT

This chapter takes place in Botswana and South Africa between the 2nd and 8th of December. It involves our new truck and a few new truck mates. Our new tour leaders were Biggy and Lucas. We had to sadly say goodbye to; Amy, Bernard, Emily, Jade, Liz, Perry, Polly and Rodney who remained on Shashe and also goodbye to the lovely Andrew and Cara. So the remaining troops were ; Bec, Daisy, Dan, Frances, Jana, Jason, Lucy, Rob, Sophie, Vicky and I. The new people who joined we didn't really get to bond with in such a short period of time.

Our first day involved a short drive to our first campsite in Botswana - Thebe river lodge. We then went on a river safari along the Chobe and saw more hippo's then you can shake a stick at (i've never really understood that phrase!!). A few crocs and birds but then one of my highlights of the trip!!! We saw a breeding herd of elephants emerge from the trees and as they saw the water they all suddenly ran towards the river and proceeded t play happily for a good while. It was incredible to watch - therapeutic almost. There were about 13 in total including a wee baby who could be no more then 2 weeks old!! Cute!!!! We eventually dragged ourselves away and went back to camp where Shahse was also spending the night. The night in the bar was spent saying sad goodbyes to some great people!!

The next day we drove to our next camp - Elephant sands. Only a few notable occurrences today. Due to stringent roadside checks in Botswana to protect there cattle industry we were stopped occasionally to clean all our shoes. They also searched our truck and told us we had to eat all the food so we had an impromptu roadside picnic.

Then at our campsite an elephant walked very nearby to us to get to the watering hole for a drink - lightened what was an otherwise very wet grey day. Dinner was one hell of an experience. A beautiful spread was prepared for us and we sat down to what looked like a wonderful meal. However the lights above us attracted hundreds of flying termites and we spent the meal being dive bombed by termites and picking them out of our food!! Lots of shrieking girls made it highly amusing but i'd hate to think how many termites i ended up eating!!

the next 2 days were long drive days through to South Africa staying firstly at the bushman's camp where we witnessed a very impressive lighting storm. Vicky also got dive bombed by a very large bug which was very amusing and I'm not sure I've seen here move that fast before!!!

Our final campsite for 2 nights was the lovely Mikhwahte lodge. Beautiful campsite with a wonderful host but it constantly rained whilst we were there!!!On the second of our 2 days here we went on our final full day game drive in the Kruger National park (apparently as big as Switzerland - there's a fact for you!!!) First game drive in wet conditions but still saw plenty - 4 of the big 5 this time.Our final evening camping ended with some amazing food and marshmallows toasted on a fire. The 7th was our final day on tour and we drove to Johannesburg and the Backpackers lodge. The original Shahse members all got dressed up and went out for a last night of beers and a beautiful Chinese meal. The 8th was a very sad day as we said goodbye to everyone. Sophie and I then got on our 16hr overnight sleeper bus ride to Port Elizabeth for the next chapter of our journey.

Africa Overland leg 5: Zambia including Livingstone

travelling_tobin — Thu, 2 Dec 2010 20:16:00 GMT

The following takes place from the 26th November through to the 1st December 2011. It involves 2 long drive days through Zambia to our base for a few days in Livingstone and a few days of adrenalin activities!!

The 26th and 27th were 2 long driving days. We stopped at the Malawi capital of Lilongwe for a little shopping to replace supplies before crossing borders into Zambia. Our 2 campsites were Mamarulas and Eureka's and both came with a huge amount of insects and giant Christmas beetles!! Whilst playing cards at one campsite we got completely swarmed by a large swarm of moths - certainly an experience!! Also briefly stopped in the Zambian capital of Lusaka before heading to camp to watch England lose the Rugby to South Africa. This was our last night eating as a whole truck as our next few days in Livingstone we would have to sort out our own food and eat in the restaurant there. Also when we leave Livingstone we split - some off to Cape town and some of to Jo'burg.

On Sunday 28th we made it to our campsite in Livingstone called the Waterfront via a stop at the Victoria falls!! Walked by the falls - impressive in size but the water volume was low as it was dry season so it wasn't as mighty and impressive as I thought it would be but still impressive.

At the Waterfront campsite we were talked through all the activities we could take part in (and there were a lot!!). As we would be so busy Sophie and I decided to upgraded to a pre set up tent - slightly larger with beds a fan and a plug socket. Good investment. After doing this the activities i went for were - a day's white water rafting on the mighty Zambezi, an adrenaline day - flying fox, abseiling and the gorge swing. To follow that day everyone on the truck booked the sunset/booze cruise as our last real night together as a whole truck!!

Monday 29th began a few hectic but truly memorable days of fun, adrenalin, drinks and food!! Monday was our white water rafting day and almost everyone on the truck opted to do this. It consisted of 25 rapids graded 1-5 along the mighty Zambezi and would take all day to complete. This is the activity that I really wanted to do despite my before mentioned fear of drowning and inability to swim. Swimming ability wouldn't matter here because if you feel in no matter how good a swimmer you were you would be at the mercy of the river and rely entirely on your life jacket (my new best friend). My boat would be crewed by; Choongo (the guide), Vicky, Sophie, Amy, Jason, Jade and myself. Our guide talked through the basics i.e. paddle hard when he said and duck and hold tight when he said!! Jason and I chose to be at the front of the boat and i really enjoyed it there!! The first 7 rapids went by relatively well - no mishaps on the rapids themselves (even the grade 5's!!). Vicky managed to fall out on a calm bit and i was pulled out by a guide into the water!! We rescued a few evictee;s from boats that didn't do so well over the first 7 rapids. Our first drama came at rapid 8!! A grade four that our guide described as a 50/50 chance of staying in the boat. We took those odds and lost big time!!! We rode the first few undulations and then hit a particularly big waves which completely flipped our boat. Everyone overboard. I was under water for what seemed like a long time (again really not my favourite place to be) and finally resurfaced only to find myself under the upturned boat. Vicky and jade also appeared under the boat. We pulled ourselves out only to be pummeled by numerous waves - really hard to catch our breath! Our guide talked us through flipping the boat and we all on back in unscathed!! After that nothing in the rapids would scare me!! We walked past rapid 9 (a grade 6 you can't do commercially) and continued along the rest of the river. Pulled numerous people into the boat but one time i slipped when pulling Vicky in and got a mouth full of helmet and bit my lip!! Good move!! We managed to loose Sophie at rapid 13 - not for long before the guide pulled her back in. Luckily he saw her as no-one else had a clue she'd gone in as we were focused on surviving the rapid. Then I came to my nemesis - rapid 18 named Oblivion!!! This was another one we were given 50/50 odds for. I was now at the back to give Amy a chance at the front. We hit a whopper of a wave which ejected me (Back flip style - legs over head) and jades (head first) into the rapid. Jade popped up by the boat. I was once again under for what felt like ages and popped up way left of the boat and well away from any boat. So essentially i had to ride the majority of the oblivion on my own in my life jacket. I took a pounding from the waves but remained remarkably calm and actually enjoyed it - was quite amusing looking over to my boat to see the panic on the faces as they saw the non swimmer bumping along and paddling themselves frantically over to try and get me!! We got to the end without any further drama's and ended a fantastically enjoyable day!! Loved every second of if.

Tuesday would involve height related activities on the 'adrenaline day'. 3 activities: abseiling, flying fox and the gorge swing. Abseiling was ok but didn't overly enjoy it. The flying fox involved running up to a gorge edge and jumping whilst attached to a zip line and shooting across the gorge. This was fun but not particularly adrenaline inducing. The same could not, however, be said of the gorge swing. This involved taking a step of a platform and free falling 53metres/feet (i forget which one) in 3.5 seconds before the rope tightens and swings you across the gorge. I volunteered to go first (idiot) but didn't exactly do it correctly - you are meant to go feet first but as i took at step my following leg got caught and i ended up going down horizontally - scaring the hell out of the guides and the people i was with. I really enjoyed it - great fun. When i was told i did it wrong though i was a little more worried about the second one. But i took a much bigger step the second time and once again enjoyed it. The feeling as you stand at the edge is horrible though - thinking shit that's a long way down, at which point the guide said ' did i tell you to look down!!). The fall was over very quickly and an amazing feeling and swinging bit was quite fun actually and peaceful although the harness was very tight so slightly painful!! We all did the various activities (Vicky, Sophie, Jason, Jade, Rob, Bec and Anna) but had to get back for the cruise to leave at 4:30. So we told the driver of this open top jeep to 'drive it like he stole it' and so began a hairy high speed race on bumpy roads, wind in our faces back to camp. At this point i was thinking - 'if a bug hits me at this speed will it go all the way through my head?' Anyway the drive was almost as much of an adrenalin activity as jumping off a cliff!! We survived and hurried to our sunset/booze cruise which would be our last real night as a complete truck!! It proved to be a great last night as a truck and a great way to finish our journey as a 23 before we split up. It was a very enjoyable night!!

The final day in Zambia was a lovely relaxing recovery day spent in the sun!!. Nice and chilled. I did learn one thing though - if you are lying in your tent face up and see an ant don't smacked it as it leads to a shed load of ants falling all over your face!! Not a good move!! Anyway we met met our new crew as just over half of us from Shashe would now be joining a new truck whose name i forget, which is an indication for how little i cared for it compared to Shashe!!

Africa Overland Leg 4: Tanzania - Malawi

travelling_tobin — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:36:00 GMT

Disclaimer: Right!!! Thanks to a computer cock up I am writing this a second time!! Due to the rage I am currently experiencing this may not be as detailed or as enjoyable as the 1st attempt was (and i can assure you it was brilliantly written, well structured, funny throughout whilst being informative at the same time). This one is likely to be shorter and spattered with rage!!

The following takes place from the 20th November to the 25th November 2010(inclusive). It incorporates 2 long driving days to get from Tanzania to our first campsite at the north of Lake Malawi. Then 3 days midway down Lake Malawi and a final day at the south of Lake Malawi.

The 20th started by leaving camp in Dar Es Salaam at 05:15 for a 12ish hour drive day to our overnight camp site in Tanzania - Ringa farmhouse. Now let me just clarify what leaving at 05:15 entails. It means waking up, washing - in what ever way you see fit, but often a wet wipe is sufficient. Then taking your tent down, eating breakfast and packing the truck!! No rolling out of bed at 5:05!!! We then had a 12 hour drive day to look forward to!! At this point let me explain abit more about truck life. Driving days could vary from a few hours to 12 hours in the back of a 24 seater truck which for our trip usually hosted 23 bottoms. They would often involve very warm (non-airconditioned) and very bumpy roads - it was not unusual to get airtime from your seat particularly at the back of the truck. Now this may not sound hugely appealing but I actually enjoyed most of the truck drives and found they often passed quite quickly. This was mostly due to the fat that we had a great group of people on the truck to help pass the time. Time was mainly passed by playing card games (bumpiness allowed), mind games, story telling, reading, listening to the invaluable ipod and trying to sleep whilst being shaken about. We would stop for food at lunch times (mostly) and occasionally stop to replenish rations. Toilet stops would often be bush-pees, Guys to the left and ladies to the right of the truck!! Life off the truck would involve setting up and taking down tents, taking part in truck chores such as cooking, cleaning, washing etc. The rest of the time spent chilling at camp with a beer (or beverage of choice). I really enjoyed the truck life - probably because of the people i was with. It is also amazing how good the food was that we got from the truck (thanks to Mark and Lindi for that).

Anyway back to the trip. As i said before we arrived at the Ringa farmhouse campsite after 12hours. Some people upgraded to huts but Sophie and I decided to stick with ours tent for the night. The campsite was beautiful and a few of us went for a lovely walk to see yet another great sunset before being treated to a night off from cooking and having a brilliant meal cooked for use as we sat in a little hut with a beer sharing stories and warning people about the dangers of drop bears and honey badgers!!

The next day was our 2nd consecutive mammoth drive day to our first camp site on the edge of Lake Malawi. The drive included an uncomplicated border crossing into Malawi. Chilled out on our beach camp for the evening and looked around a local market (Malawi is the place for wooden products). Once again if it wasn't for a tight budget and long trip i would now own a well crafted chess board but i did not fancy lugging that around or paying to send it home.

On the 22nd we then had a short drive to Kande beach which would be home for 3 nights. Lake Malawi is a truly spectacular back drop and a wonderful place to camp!! There was evena small island you could swim to. First night we chilled out in the bar and on the beach before camping the night through a truly epic thunder and ligthing storms - never heard thunder so loud!!

Tuesday 23rd was one of my most enjoyable days on tour. Sophie got up to swim to the island with Jason, Amy and Anna. So as i was awake anyway i went for a run along the beach with Andrew and Cara. Very enjoyable but very hot. Also running on sand and on a slope is not easy but felt good for it. The friendly campsite dog (every campsite had at least one friendly dog) joined us for the last part of the run!! We all then went to a local day care centre which serve sthe local children who don't alwasy get a meal a day and provides a great atmosphere for them to play and learn english through singing. It was called 'Mphisto' and was set up by an Aussie lady who loved the area. We provided some baby formula to help them as they are getting alot of orphaned babies in. They have set up as much as they can afford to help grow there own food. The staff there were truly lovely happy people (happy shiny people if you will). The children were wonderful. Singing and dancing with pure joy and smiles on all their faces!! After a talk from the staff we went to meet the children and join in the songs and games. They all wanted to be picked up or to hold hands for the songs and games and as stated before were so happy and smiley. Wesang numerous songs including 'ride ride ride the pony' which would plague our heads for the rest of the trip. We played a variety of the game 'british bulldog' were we had to run from the 'hyena's' and not get caught or we would ourselves become hyena's. Most of the children pick a 'mzunga' (white person) to run with. I carried mine as she wanted to be pick up. After a few runs a near disaster!!! I was running, whilst carrying the child, on sand in flip flops and tried to avoid being caught when i slipped and feel forwards. This all happenend in matrix style super slowly motion as i saw the floor coming with the child in between me and the floor!! To prevent squashing a child i managed to slow motion twist (matrix style) and fall onto my back. Needless to say i held the childs hand for future runs after having a image of me landing on top of the child!! This was such a positive place doing some excellent work that Sophie suggested fund raising for it. I then decided that i would do the 2011 great North run to raise money for this centre. This was such a truly memorable and humbling experience that I could have gone back again and again.

We then went bcak to camp. We found out that we would be holding a fancy dress 'truck wedding' on the beach that night complete with homemade punch, for Andrew and Frances. We were all given roles to paly. Sophie and I were bridesmaid and groomsman along with Andrew and Cara. All we could use for costumes were 2 black bin liners. After some discussion between groomsmen, bestman and Groom we decide to go tribal - topless with 2 flaps covering our dignity (over underwear) and numerous leaves and straps on arms and legs (photo's will not be following). Costumes vaguely ready i then went of to my afternoon activity ; Horse riding!! This was great fun but i was a little apprehensive having never ridden a horse and proving myself to be quite accident prone in Africa. Luckily there was a helmet big enough to fit my head. I was originally assigned a horse called Glen who apparently was a little feisty and had a nasty kicking habit (that he couldn't kick - ba da boom!!) Anyway glen and i didn't hit it off as he looked to take advantage of a novice rider so i was then re-assigned to a horse called 'Happy'. Far more appropriate. Happy and i got on very well although he did like to eat and would stop to nibble frequently. He also decided to try and kick the guide twice (must be a history between them) but luckily i managed to hold on and it was actually quite fun. The ride was really cool throught the locals villages and forested area. We then got bak to camp where we would ride the horses into the lake for a swim!! Now i have mentioned that i'm not hugely fond of water but gave it a go anyway (the horse would hopefully be a good swimmer). Unfortunately for me this bit would be bareback!!!!! Now when we took Happy's saddle off it turned out he had a very prominent bony spine. Thus began a very uncomfortable 20-30 minutes. It was a great experince taking the horse into the river tho - Happy liked tthe water and went really far in but rather unsettlingly made a really bizarre noise - kinda like a creaky submarine (i know this from my many experiences with submarines!!). Anyway he plaed in the water and we got out - whilst doing tis a tetsi fly bit me and it bled!! Hopefully I won't get sleeping sickness - Sophie was warned to keep an eye out if i became unusaully sleepy!! I said goodbye to Happy and walked of like a cowboy - not because I just rode a horse but because i was in a fair bit of pain!!

Back in camp the guys adorned our costumes!! Essentially i was wearing bright striped boxers with flip flops and bits of black bag attached to me!! The gorls all manged to put together fairly decent looking outfits!! We had the 'ceremony' at he bar and went to camp to begin the punch and eat, thus beginning a very mesy night. The punch was strong but tasty and would take many a victim by the nights end. The night was very enjoyable with everyone getting at least a little tipsy. Most far more than tipsy. Lots more drinking at the bar once the punch was over and fun times were had by all. I managed to survive the night and be in the group that was still standing by the early hours of the moring : Myself, Vicky, Rodney, Anna and Daniel!! Sophie lost her camera twice (the second time 30 seconds after she had been given it back). Amy woke up with a large wound on her knee - and no memory of how she got it. Jason woke up outside the bar. I woke up still in costume but in my tent!! A success I feel!! All in all a great day!

Last day on Kande beach was very much a chill out/recovery day on the beach and in hammocks! Our last day we drove to Senga bay (south of lake Malawi but still on lake Malawi. Another lovely campsite complete with collection of Baboons and a beautiful beach. As it was a beautifully sunny and hot day it was spent chilling on the beach. This campsite however would turnout to be my most accident prone. Accident 1: in the back of the truck i dropped someting from my locker - bent down to pick it up and as i got up smacked my back on an open locker door only to recoil forward and smack my eye into a broom handle which floored me. Amy and Sophie very sympathetically laughed there heads off!! Accident 2: at the bar (no not drunk dad!!) i gave myself an almighty smack on the head on a wooden beam - hurt like hell, felt like i would almost pass out and gave me a good old bump. Still nothing chilling out on the beach couldn't help recover me from. Had an almighty infestation of ants in our tent - but don't worry we gassed those suckers!!

Malawi (what we saw) was beautiful. Lake Malawi truly spectacular and the local care centre we visited truly memorable. After a great time here we headed to Zambia!!

Leg 3: Acacia overland: Zanzibar (photo's to follow)

travelling_tobin — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:27:00 GMT

This takes place from the 16th of November to the 19th November on the beautiful island of Zanzibar.

We set of very very early (i think we were up at 04:30) to get a ferry across the Bay of Dar es Salaam and then the ferry to Zanzibar. The Ferry across the bay, whilst only 5-10 minutes was chaotic and mental - people running on and a huge crowd trying to get on. The ferry to Zanzibar was a far more sedate affair!

On arival in Zanzibar we drove to the north of the island to amazing accommodation near the beach front - Sunset bungalows 30USD a night. Beautiful beach, very hot and sunny so what else to do other then chill on the beach, few drinks and a bit of volleyball with Ryan, Brian and Vicky. Good Times!! Next morning, despite an overwhelming desire to sleep in in my beautiful bed (an actual bed which was a lovely change) it was an early start to go snorkelling off Mnemba island. Now this very much takes me out of my comfort zone - a non-swimmer (6 lessons before I left) with a distinct fear of drowning and very much not at ease in the water (particularly if I can't reach the ground with my feet). So I got into a wet suit (added bouyancy - apparently) and flippers and boated of to the island. I initially tried it sans life jacket and was ok for 10 minutes or so but then got a large mouthful of water down my snorkel which unsettled me no end so I went back to the boat and got my life jacket on so I could relax a little more. And relax I did - I enjoyed the experience a great deal and saw a lot - don't get me wrong I stuck to the surface with my head under - no diving under like the others, but for me that was enough. On the boat i also managed to fall asleep in the most unusual of positions!! The evening was spent chilling on the beach and taking many fun photo's and some great ones of what has to be the best sunset I have ever seen!! Complete with sail boat!! The night was Ryan and Brian's last night with us so naturally we said goodbye as a group in the best fashion - with a drunken send off. Great night dancing at the bar on the sand. There was Limbo (I came second - impressive considering how small some of the girls were and the fact I am 6'2"!!)

The next day we traveled south to Stone Town. On the way we did the spice tour on a spice/fruit plantation with a very charismatic guide with ever changing accents - 'Ali T'. Tasted a jack fruit and a custard apple - had a very off putting consistency but I actually really liked it!! Then a quick history of the slave trade in Zanzibar and a visit the slave quarters - very claustrophobic and just a slight insight into how awful the conditions must of been!! Stone town itself is a different experience - unique but enjoyable. We sampled the delights at the night food market - including the famous Stone Town pizza's which were amazing!! Not actually a pizza as you would think of it but thoroughly enjoyable. Another truly wonderful sunset viewed from the balcony of a bar - sunset, beer and good company - couldn't be happier!!

Unfortunately all good things come to an end so we travlled back to camp in Dar es Salaam before the next leg of our journey.

Africa: Acacia overland trip leg 2: Tanzania (photo's to follow)

travelling_tobin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:58:00 GMT

The following takes place in Tanzania from the 10th November up until the 16th November and includes lots of long drives with stops in Arusha, Serengeti National park, Ngorongoro Crater and Dar es Salaam.

Our first day on Shashe (our beautiful truck was a mammoth drive day to our first camp site - Snake Park in Arusha. One stop of note on the way was at a cultural centre selling a huge array of art works and trinkets. If I wasn't traveling on a tight budget for 6 months then a particular painting of a lion pride would be mine!!! Sophie (travel buddy for 2 months) was less restrained and purchased a Tanzanite ring (rarer then diamond apparently). However I am told this is a good investment and as Soph puts it 'it is very shiny and pretty' to which I reply 'but can you eat it or drink it?'.

Oh as a side point - finding ways to pass the time on the truck Amy had the following questions;

Can you name 10 body parts with 3 letters?

Can you name 10 countries with 4 letters?

Anyway back on track now!! Snake park was a great little camp site complete with - thats right - a snake park but more importantly after a long drive day - a bar. The campsite also runs a free health centre funded by the profits from the bar - so naturally I had to help out a good cause in the form of numerous beers - kilimanjaro and safari being my 2 of choice. The bar is also noted for it's leathal shooter 'mar's revenge' - rum, tequila and tabasco and I would succumb to its temptations a few days later!!

We would return to the snake part a few days later but the follwing day we drove to our campsite on that would be ur base for our game drives in the Serengeti. New game drive crew for Sophie and I: Rodney, Lindi, Anna, Perry, Polly and Daisy. Some truly amazing views on the drive to the campsite, looking out over the Ngorongoro crater. Also visited the site where some of the earliest human remains were discovered however writing this so long after means I have completely forgotten the name of the place/gorge. Lunch was a highly amusing experience. We pulled over for our packed lunch at what was essentially a clearing, however resident on this clearing was a particularly menacing looking Maribou Stork and a Kite flying above us which kept swooping down to try and take our food. Luckily I was not going to lose food to a bird and survived unscathed but it was amusing watching everyone suddenly run off when it swooped (myself included). We also managed 2 further breakdowns in the same day requiring a complete change of truck for the next day. So far Sophie and I have been on every truck that has broken down!! I blame Sophie!!

The games drives in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater were once again very good and we were very lucky with our sightings. Can now check off all the 'big 5'. Saw all the usual suspects in varying numbers. The most notable sightings being:

- Our first wild hippo sightings.

- a close up lion sighting looking like they were on the prowl for a kill (unfortunately we had to leave before anything actually happened.

- A huge herd of Elephants with a baby with a particularly short trunk!!

- A truly amazing close up, prolonged Leopard sighting. The leopard in question was a relatively small one walking casually past our trucks with half a gazelle in its mouth!!! Unbelievable sighting. We also got spoilt with another Leopard sighting later - this one lounging in a tree but with nothing in its mouth (what a loser)!

- Last of the big 5 - a Rhino sighting - at a distance but it still counts!

- Not an animal sighting but some pretty spectacular sunset scenery on the drives out of the parks!!

Our 2 campsites during this time were in the wild areas so we were warned that elephants, zebras, baboons, buffalo and hyenas could wander past so always toilet in pairs!! This made for entertaining walks to the toilet as we saw red lights in the distance convincing ourselfs it was a hyena but also that we are a big enough group if we stuck together to scare one of!! Oh and Amy had a toothbrush which she convinced us she coluld stab through the eye of a hyena with!! Sophie did get disturbed one night by a bush pig nudging her foot through the tent.

After all this was done we returned to snake park on the 13th for a very enjoyable night of drinks and darts with some of the truck team. This is the night I succumbed to temptation (and peer pressure) and had a 'mars revenge'. Amy, Jason and myself (previously Anna, Jade and Ryan had) did it whilst Sophie chickened out and went for a Sambuca - lame but wise. I won't lie to you - it wasn't pleasant but I survived unscathed!

The following morning (14th November), whilst feeling slightly jaded thanks to the previous night, we went on a tour of a Masaai village. Very interesting talk from one of the tribes men. Did you know that young males have to get circumcised without any medication and without showing any fear or pain or they are considered weak and will not mate with a woman!! They do this when the young male feels they are ready - although quite when one feels ready for this I do not know!! We then met the children of the village in what was a highly enjoyable experience and actually a good cure for a slight hangover!! Essentially we became human playgrounds for the children becomming swings and roundabouts - actually a good workout no gym needed just swing a child!! At one point one child scared the s**t out of jason and myself by proceeding to do a full swing 360 degree around!! For fear of dislocating the childs shoulder Jason and I had to react very quickly and adjust ourselves to unnatural positons!! We were then treated to a tribal dance and the men were invited to join in - and by join in essentially we just had to jump up and down but hell if thats considered dancing then I can do it!!

The next 2 days were long drive days to our camp in Dar es Salaam on the beachfront. This provided my first experience of salt water showers. I also managed to cut my feet fairly significantly in the sea!! I am becoming very accident prone in Africa. I think I hit my head 5 times at the same point on this camp site - but then I do have a large head!!

The 16th would begin our experience of the beautiful island of Zanzibar!

Leg 1: Overland Acacia trip. Kenya (photo's to be added soon)

travelling_tobin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:56:00 GMT

So i have finally gotten round to doing my journal online. Hopefully haven't forgotten much.

The Following takes place on the 6th November through to the 10th November and takes place in Kenya (Nairobi and the Masai Mara Game reserve). This is an accurate account of events as I remember them!!

6th November 2010

So Sophie and I arrive (finally) in Nairobi early in the morning and get to our hotel. The aim of the day - recover from sleepless flight and get ready for the start of our 31 day overland tour!! Bring it on. Slight mistake with booking - Sophie and I have 2 rooms and 4 beds between us so our backpacks had a very comfortable nights sleep!!

Didn't get to see much of Nairobi as we only walked around for a short while - a real hustle and bustle place. Road crossing was a case of find a local and follow closely enough to get over safely but not too closely that you look like a pickpocket!! Mission achieved!!

Only thing of note from today was that we had our pre-departure meeting with the tour leaders - Mark and Lindi - both seemed like cool people (later proved to be true) and got me really excited about the start of the trip. Only met 4 other people from the trip in the meeting tho; Amy,Jade,Jason and Vicky. They all seem cool (also later proved to be true). Had dinner with Amy, Jade and Sophie. Sampled my first Tusker (a very nice Kenyan beer in proper sized bottles!!)

7th November 2010

So the tour finally starts - early start to depart at 08:00 (but in retrospect this was a lie in!!) We got into our vehicles for 3 days in the Masai Mara game reserve and 2 nights Camping outside the reserve!! The 6 of us from the meeting the day before got in the same vehicle and were joined by a really lovely Aussie couple Rob + Bec (the brusier - more on that later!!!). Really great set of people on our truck - great few days.

We had a near 6 hour drive over a varying quality of roads to get to our campsite. 2 stops on the ways - one over a beautiful view of vast wilderness and small mountains (when does a big hill become a small mountain?) and one in Nurok. Got a suspected flat on our truck on the way - one of a few breakdowns over the trip. So pulled over whilst the crew fixed the Axel 9not a tyre after all). Had lunch at the campsite - met a few of the other people from the tour (23 in total - but 2 hadn't yet turned up). After lunch my very first game drive!!!

My first experiene of a gam drive was very enjoyable filled with the excitment of seeing each of the animals for the firt time!! So in first afternoon; Many giraffe, Zebra, wilderbeast, elephants, a few lions - including 2 just lying on the road in front of us, impala's and birds of varying description - including the very ugly maribou stork (sorry buddy but you are not a looker!!). One further truck drama(very amusing) before we finished the game drive. The weather had turned and a small collection of water collected in a ditch (i say small but it was big enough to trap a small truck). We managed to power through but one of our other vehicles was more cautious and therefore got well and truly stck in a raising water level. We attempted to tow it out but only succeeded in diggig a hole for us. Luckily we found a 4WD vehicle to come and help us. Drama/amusement over, then back to camp for dinner, beers and the chance to meet the rest of the people on the trip.

8th and 9th November

2 further game drives - one full day and one very early (pre-breakfast drive). Both drives were excellent as we continued to be very lucky with our wildlife spots. So sightings included; a massive herd of migrating buffalo - very impessive sight, a hyena rolling in mud, numerous Pumba's and baby Pumba's(warthog's) running around with their tails up like radio controlled car antennae. We saw a mother and child cheetah walking serenly past our vehicles. We also had a great close up sighting of a large pride of Lions resting I the shade of a tree, looking very fall. I noticed thay had a very high respiratory rate (definitely tacchypnoeic) - damn nurse in me!! I found it quite weird how completely unfazed the majority of animals were by large numbers of vehicle converging on them. We alo caught a brief glimpse of the ever elusive Leopard. We heard word through the grapevine (actually through the walkie talkie) that leopard was spotted in long grass, so our driver put his foot done and 'drove it like he stole it'. 3 vehicles were searching when one got too close - the leopard then jumped up, hissed and ran off into more long grass. We tried to search for it but it was like the hardest 'where's Wally ever'. P.s loving the bush peeing!!!

Our time in Kenya finished by driving back to a campsite outside of Nairobi where we first met our beautiful companion 'Shashe'. We also learnt how to put our tents up and settled down for our first tent night and ready for a very early start to drive into Tanzania.

So it Begins

travelling_tobin — Sun, 7 Nov 2010 01:36:00 GMT

Well i've finally begun my Trip. Arrived in Nairobi this morning as was taken aback by the hustle and bustle (and probably due to sleep deprivation). Not much to say yet other then i've finally started - tomorrow the overland tour begins!!