Kenya / Mombasa

Pulled up at the finish point hotel which I had already decided was too expensive for me, so dropped everyone there and I jumped back in the truck to head to Indaba camp. A few minutes later Trev and Suzie came running along wanting to join us which was great news! Indaba was nice, homely and we appreciated the chill out and no alarm clocks going off at 4/5am. That evening we had a last group dinner, lovely restaurant, said a sad goodbye to some people.

Monday 30th, we were ready for Mombasa, myself, Gp and now Jaco another trip leader I had just met set off to the coast on the overnight train. 15 hours to Mombasa and was great fun. We settled into our cabin and headed down the carriage for dinner, we got seated with a guy travelling alone and that's when the poker began. There was a guy watching us play and he wanted to show us some tricks, turns out he was a professional magician, the card trick still baffles me!
We did some sight seeing of Mombasa, visited Fort Jesus which was very interesting with the enthusiasm of our guide. That night we headed out onto the streets of Mombasa, crazy place, no other tourists to be seen. Ended up in a bar playing pool, soon realised it was more of an adult entertainment place and started to get some attention! We continued to play pool until the early hours regardless and ended the night with our first African tuk-tuk ride home.
The next day we got a local bus up the coast to Malindi in the hope of beautiful beaches and scuba diving, unfortunately it was low season so scuba wasn't possible. After walking around the town we came across Scorpio Villas which we had previously heard about so decided to check it out. It was amazing, 3 pools, lots of lounging areas, huge rooms and the biggest beds ever! I could of stayed all week but unfortunately we only had the one night there. Took a boat out the next day snorkeling and saw loads of fish.
The journey back to Nairobi had to be taken by bus as there were no trains that day, over night on the bus isn't so fun, we got into Nairobi at 5.30am tired and sleepy and headed back to Indaba for some proper sleep!

Spent the next week or so lounging around at Indaba taking in the last few months. Discovered a local riding school so Gp and I went for a hack, my horse kept trying to buck so I was trying to keep a controlled canter which isn't easy when people are trying to race! But it was all good fun!
With lots of people coming and going there's usually some drinking going on at the bar, my last night ended with many shots, I think the tequila was my idea though!

Serengeti National Park / Ngorongoro Crater

The jeeps came to collect us from snake park and we set off for our 2 night/3 day excursion to the Serengeti National Park . Best game viewing on the trip so far, we saw all the big 5 and many more. Highlights were the cheater kill, pack of lions sleeping and seeing another leopard because they're just so cool.

First night we slept in the Serengeti, we were served good food and didn't even have to wash up! Later on we sat around the camp fire looking up at the stars and listening to lions and hyenas in the background, apparently they were about 1km way but they sounded a lot closer. We were advised not to venture to the toilet in the night as we could find a lion outside the tent, scary!

More games dives the next day, loving cruising around in the 4x4's spotting wildlife. That night we stayed in the Ngorongoro Crater, 200 meters above sea level and was cold! I hadn't showered yet so decided I had to and heard there was hot water - but I didn't get any, so cold! Sat very close to the fire to warm up and dry my hair. We were told that the animals came very close to the camp but I didn't realise how close and soon enough the were Zebra and huge Buffalo grazing 10 meters away. Then I noticed the park guard standing near us with and AK45, not sure if this made me feel more or less reassured. A few of us stayed up until late watching them as they got very close to the tents, the guard scared them away at this point but when I eventually went to bed one came very close to my tent and was grazing only a few inches from my head, the noise they make is very loud, my heart was beating very fast at this point!

Zanzibar

Loved it! One of the highlights. Bit of a journey to get there but an interesting one. First stop Stone Town, visited the spice plantations which was interesting, fed various fruits and spices. The night started with dinner on the night market where I decided to stick to vegetarian food but it all looked great. Then we hit the bars, all got a little drunk which was well overdue.
The 2nd day we headed north to a beautiful beach area and played in the sea for hours. The following day 6 of us decided to go scuba diving, had 2 great dives, followed by a body massage then had dinner on the beach and sat round the fire until late, one of the best days so far.
Back to Stone Town for a sober night out, went to a lovely restaurant, food was great apart from the chili that nearly made me cry!

Tanzania

Crossed the boarder into Tanzania and stayed in Iringa, very small quiet campsite with a quaint bar and restaurant. The next day we drove through Dar es Salaam, scary place, glad to be in the truck. Another nice campsite with pool tables and a bar but pitched up quite late, couldn't be bothered to put my tent up and wanted to stay in the truck but soon regretted it, too hot and too many mosquitoes, won't do that again!

Lake Malawi

Very beautiful place, the lake is so warm, and theres scuba diving! Had to do a fresher course in the pool and had a little freak out with the mask and breathing exercises but after a few attempts got the hang of it again and went out into the lake for a dive.
Had a fancy dress party in the evening, very funny, lots of lions, pictures to follow!

Zambia

Livingston, said a sad goodbye to most the group and Kat & TJ. Met Gp the new trip leader and Peterson the driver, as well as 13 new members, a younger group this time mostly in there 20's.
Visited Victoria Falls which was amazing, the spray goes so far we got totally soaked without even being that close.
A couple of long days driving ahead, stopped at Lusaka then onto Chipata, there we took a hike to visit Livingstonia. Decided to take a taxi up and hike back down, was meant to be a 4 hour hike down. The taxi arrived to take the 12 of us up but to my surprise it was an open backed van, we all squeezed on, sat on the floor and held on tight for the one and a half hour bumpy ride up. The hike back down took a good 5 hours and was steep down hill off roading.

Botswana - Okavango Delta

3 day/2 night bush camping in the Okavango delta, one of the highlights so far! We packed the boats with all the camping and cooking equipment needed and a small bag each for ourselves and were transferred onto mokoros (dug-out canoe) to a campsite. No electricity no running water therefore no showers and no toilets. KT a local guide took us on a bush walk, we saw elephants and zebra about 15 meters way which was amazing, being on foot is a very different experience to the safety of our truck, there was no fencing around where our tents were either so they were free to roam, but luckily didn't. We took a swim in the delta on the second day and felt alot cleaner for it, later that day we took the mokoros out and spotted hippos in the water, the same water we swam in, only Africa's second biggest killers, mosquitoes being the first!! Oops.
On the last evening the locals sang and danced for us, we all joined in and some of our group had there own party tricks to show them which I think they loved, at one point we were all doing the limbo round the camp fire, best evening so far, magical!