Cruising Down The West Coast No. 25

After having an adventure filled few days in Swakopmund we hit the road on the morning of Tuesday 15th June and headed for our next destination, Sesriem, a campsite just outside legendary Sosousvlei. Along the way we passed through an area that is dubbed the "Moon Landscape" due to the fact that the landscape consisted of wide open expanses of bare rock and sand. It gave us the perfect opportunity to stop and take same photos with our newly purchased South African flag.For our lunch break we stopped on the Tropic of Capricorn, which is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth.We eventually arrived at Sesriem to a howling windstorm that didnt help when it came to trying to cook our dinner. A few hours later we were all munching on our sandburgers and fries in the truck and getting excited about our early morning start to climb Dune 45 in Sosousvlei.

To be the first people up Dune 45 and to see the sunrise we were up at 5:30 the following morning. The trip there was in darkness but when we arrived at the foot of the dune and started our climb the sun started to rise. Unfortunately the wind was blowing a gale which made it even harder to ascend the dune as with every 2 steps forward our feet would slide 1 step back. We both eventually made it to the top but only after our camera decided to stop working due to some sand getting into the lens. So sadly we dont have any photos of us at the top of the dune together, although I think the fact that we made it up is a great memory. After getting down we had a hearty breakfast and then headed off to the Dead Vlei (translated as the Dead Marsh) also in Sosousvlei.
The Dead Vlei is a white clay pan which has a number of dead acacia trees, which are believed to be about 900 years old and are now black because of the intense sun. It was quite surreal seeing all these stark gnarled trees that looked like something from a fantasy film against the backdrop of the brilliant white and orange sand dunes. Our local guide for the walk told us how the dunes and the vlei were created and how the local bushmen have learnt to survive in the harsh conditions. He also showed us one of the local spiders called a trapdoor spider which digs a tunnel down into the sand and then covers the entrance with a finely made "webdoor". After our guide used a stick to gently fold the door back, it was so cool to watch the spider slowely creep out of his hole to pull the door shut . I bet you the spider was thinking how many times do I have to perform for these @#&* tourists!

After our desert walk we packed up our tents and made our way to a campsite near a town called Bethanie. That night we headed into Bethanie to find a place to watch the South Africa vs Uruguay game. We eventually found a small nightclub that was showing the game with a handfull of locals, who were all of course supporting South Africa. As you all know SA lost 3-0 which caused for some rather colourful language from our fellow supporters. The temperature dropped down to -3C that night which is definately by far the coldest we have had to endure. Everyone woke in the morning and made a beeline to the fire to try and get back some of the feeling into our hands and feet.That afternoon we spent an hour walking along the Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world and the largest in Africa. The view was totally breathtaking and made us feel so small and insignificant. The magnitude and scale of the canyon reminded us of what it was like to see Vic Falls for the first time. Our campsite for the night was at Ai-Ais Hot Springs meaning 'burning water' in the local Nama language. Pronounced "eye-ice", the natural hot-spring oasis is situated at the base of the mountain peaks at the southern end of Fish River Canyon. We all changed into our swimming costumes and revelled in the lovely hot water. A few of us got out of the spa, ran down to the river which was freezing, had a very quick swim and then got back into the spa.

The following day we headed for the Namibia/South Africa border where we crossed the Orange River and spent the afternoon at a great campsite situated on the river banks. We had the afternoon to ourselves so we did some much needed washing (I think by this stage everyone's clothes smelt a bit but nobody really cared) and just lying in the sun and reading.

Our second last day was spent travelling through the lush mountainous region of the Western Cape. For our last night we stopped at a place not far from Cape Town. The majority of the group did some wine tasting while the rest of us got the fire going and dinner ready. Needless to say everyone came back a bit merrier and hungry. The other overland truck in our campsite joined us around our fire and people partied late into the night. Our tour leader, I wont mention any names, had to retire to her tent early as she started partying before everyone else. Our Canadian friend Grayson indulged just a little too much and the following morning had to rush off the truck clamping his hand over his mouth to avoid a mess on the truck.

Our trip ended in Cape Town that day, where we were met by Kim's sister Heidi and her husband Marq. It was great to be back in Cape Town and with the World Cup in full swing the atmosphere was great. After dropping off all our stuff at their place we headed down to Muizenburg beach where Kim and Marq went for a surf. It was Kims dad birthday on the Tuesday so we managed to find a carboard box big enough for Kim to hide inside, which we then wrapped. His dad and mom, Dave and Marlene, came around for dinner on the Tuesday night and opened up the box much to their surprise as they had no idea we would be back in Cape Town.

We immersed ourselves in to the world cup vibe straight away by meeting some of our friends from the truck and heading down to the Cape Town stadium. That day Portugal were playing North Korea and we saw all of the fans making their way down the fan walk towards the stadium, some dressed in crazy outfits whilst people were blowing their vuvuzelas. When England played Slovenia we went down to the Fan Park, where the game was being played on the big screen. There was a great atmosphere and that was the most English people we'd seen in one place for a long time. As you know England won that time but the less said about the rest of their games the better!

Nats is now back in England after receiving some sad news from home, but Kim will be staying on in Cape Town until the 20th July. Kim will fly to Durban on the 20th July where he's spending time with his mom and his aunt and will then head back to London on the 30th July. If anything more exciting or interesting happens whilst Kim is in SA he will update the blog.

Well we hope you have all enjoyed following us on our travel blog and who knows maybe in the future we'll have another one for you all to get engrossed in.

Love
Kim and Nat

Next Stop...Namibia No. 24

On Wednesday 8th June we entered Namibia and on the drive to Windhoek, the capital city, we started to notice a considerable difference in the landscape. As we looked out of the windows of the truck, we saw large rocky mountains, with an endless land of dry shrubs. When we arrived in Windhoek, it instantly reminded us of South Africa, with its main street crammed with retail outlets, restuarants and cafes and a German feel. Along with with our new travel buddies, Greyson (from Canada) and Beckie (from Australia), we set out to explore the city, but with very little time due to having to stick to our very tight schedule. One of the best bargains of the day was Nat purshasing a pair of knee length black and white fluffy socks to keep her feet warm, due to the coldest winter Namibia had seen for 25 years!

That night all of us from the tour went out for dinner to a restuarant called 'Joes Beer House', famous for its game meat and had a unique decor of Namibian memorabilia collected over many years. One of the guys ordered a large piece of Kudu, which when it came out looked like it belonged on the table of King Henry VIII....it was huge. Pretty much everyone around the table tried a piece and there was still meat remaining.

The next morning we were back on the road heading up to Etosha National Park in the North of Namibia. As we drove through the park to get to our accommodation, we were fortunte enough to see pride of lions lazing around a watering hole. The campsite we stayed at had a watering hole with benches around it and a light reflecting on to the water.

That night, wrapped in a blanket and holding a cup of hot chocolate, we saw giraffe awkwardly drinking from the watering hole, as well as well as a black and white rhino arguing over whose turn it was to drink next.

Friday 11th June - WORLD CUP 2010 STARTS. Before heading out on our early morning game drive we popped down to the watering hole and saw a large group of zebra, drinking in sync with each other. On the game drive we saw the Etosha Pan, which is a large flat area where nothing grows due to the extremely high quantity of minerals in the soil. When we got back to the campsite everyone was anxious to watch the opening game of the World Cup, South Africa vs Mexico. Due to being in the middle of nowhere we knew this would be a challenge but luckily one of the staff hooked up his TV outside his house so that we could watch. By the end of the game we had half the camp site watching along with us and cheering on Bafana Bafana.

Our next destination was a place called Spitskoppe, in the west of Namibia set in an area called Damaraland. Spitskoppe translates 'sharp heads' due to the dramatic shape of the rock formation rising out of the ground. After arriving we went on a walk with a local guide who taught us about the local 'click !!!' language, how the Damara people lived off the land and bushman paintings of animals and tribal dances. We climbed up on the rocks and took in the beautiful scenery as the sun melted in to the distance. After watching a very disappointing England play in the local bar, we all slept out under the stars around a fire that mananged to burn throughout most of the night.

On our way to Swakopmund the following day we stopped off at the Cape Seal Colony which was very smelly and noisy. It was quite a sight seeing so may seals all together, literally lying on top of each other and also barking at each other to get out the way. The town of Swakopmund is often described as being more German than Germany as this became apparent after driving through the town and seeing all the German architecture and German flags. We were very lucky enough to have a dorm to ourselves at the backpackers as alot of the group decided to upgrade to a twin room after so many nights of sleeping on the ground in our tents. That afternoon we went out to the place where some of our group were going to do a skydive, which was pretty much in the middle of the desert. Everyone had a go at hitting a golfball into the desert while we waited for our friends to come back down to earth. In the evening we grabbed a few pizzas and along with Greyson and Beckie watched Germany demolish Austra;lia 4-0 (us English now know how that feels!).

Most of our group had decided to go sandboarding, so the next day after a hearty breakfast we all headed out to the dunes filled with excitement and also a bit of apprehension. We had a choice of either standing up or lying down so we both chose to stand up as with that choice we could try the lying down after trying the standing up. The dune we had to sandboard down was fairly steep and for a beginner it was definately no nursery slope. As Kim had snowboarded before he strapped on his board and headed down wiping out a few times and getting sand everywhere. Nats being a beginner slowely snalied her way down the sand dune toppling over every few seconds. Unfortunately the walk back upto the top of the dune was so tiring that you had to wait a while to catch your breath before attempting to surf down the dune again. We both tried the lie down boarding which was pretty hair raising and fun and Kim managed to reach a speed of 70km/h. After getting back and having a shower to try and get rid of all the sand we took some time to wander around the town and post a few postcards. That night we had dinner with a few of us from the group and shared our stories from the exciting events of the day.

As we did so many exciting things in Namibia we are going to split it into 2 blogs, so this is it for now. Hope you are all well.

Love
Kim and Nat

Botswana by Bus (sorry...truck) No. 23

At a campsite situated on the Zambezi river, above Vic Falls, we met up with the rest of the travellers and crew who we would be spending the next 19 days with. The truck we would be travelling on, called Mara named after a river boardering Kenya and Tanzania, started her journey in Nairobi, Kenya and Livingstone was a hop on hop off point for some of the travellers. Five of the original people would be travelling down to Cape Town and the rest were heading to Johannesburg. After a night of getting to know our fellow travellers we headed off on Thursday 3rd June to cross the Zambian border into Botswana, known for its teaming wildlife and vast open expanses.

For the second time on our journey we were crossing a river to make our way in to another country - except this time minus the goats, chickens, crying babies and plus lots of leg room. Our first stop was Chobe National park and we were excited to see what wildlife Botswana had to offer. After a disturbed nights sleep trying to get used to sleeping on a very thin mat in a tent, we were up at 5.30am ready to set off on our game drive. As we all huddled together in the game vehicle wrapped in our blankets and sleeping bags, this was the first realisation that Africa is NOT always hot. The bitter cold wind hit our faces, and it felt as if our noses were going to fall off. After the sun rose we all gradually started to thaw out we started to appreciate the surrounding beauty and aniamls. Although we weren't lucky enough to see any of the big cats this time we still came across a large herd of cape buffalo, giraffe, elephants, warthogs and a small family of banded mongoose. In the afternoon we all went on a boat safari along the Chobe river, with a drink in hand, and managed to see a large herd of elephants drinking and playing in the mud of the river banks. There was a baby elephant that was still learning to use its trunk to drink water, so it had to emerse its whole head in the water to drink. As the sun started to set we got very close to a school of hippos who would regularly open their mouths and yawn to ensure we didn't get too close.
We were up early the next day and headed for our next destination, Maun. Although most of the day was taken up with travelling we managed to take in the stunning sunflower fields and wild elephants roaming along the side of the road. This is definately the image of Africa every child dreams of. That night as normal we all helped with our daily chores, from cleaning out the truck to helping make the dinner. We all sat around the big fire eating our scrumptious dinner and chatting the evening away.

Another very early start (as you can see there is a theme here) where we quickly packed away our tents and gobbled up some breakfast before heading in to the Okovango delta. The Okovango delta is created by the water which runs down from the mountains in Angola and when it gets to Botswana it spreads like fingers to create the worlds largest natural eco-systems. Our real journey in to the delta started when we got in to our 2 man makoro, which is a wooden dugout canoe. Each makoro has a poler who stands at the back and pushes and guides you through the reeds and lilies (very similar to punting for those people who have been to Oxford and Cambridge - but with even more breathtaking views). We sat back and enjoyed the ride, as we watched the world go by. Our poler, Miriam guided us safely to our island in the delta, which was to be our home for the night. After putting up our tents, we spent the afternoon having a go on the makoros on our own trying not to land up in the water. The polers definately make it look a lot easier than it really is. At 4pm we were taken out for a guided walk around the area trying to track different animals and from a distance we spotted a group of zebra and a lone wilderbeast. In the evening we had a traditional south african dish called potjie (a stew brewed in a pot over the fire) and watched our polers and guides put on an entertaining display of singing and dancing.



The following morning after seeing another stunning African sunrise we went on our final bush walk in the delta and managed to see some lion tracks from the night before, which made everyone that much more alert. We packed up camp and had another leisurely ride on the makoro back to our truck. It was very relaxing until the last few minutes when we saw and heard a large male hippo who was warning us to stay clear.

That night we celebrated Neelam's 30th birthday, with some good food and a chocolate cake around the camp fire. Although some people wanted to party in to the wee hours of the morning, Kim (grumpy old man) got up and told them to keep down the noise, as some of us were trying to get some shut eye. Needless to say no one remembered a thing in the morning, even the birthday girl who saw her birthday cake for the second time all over the bathroom floor!

Our next destination was Ghanzi, a small town near the Botswana/Namibia border in the Kalahari desert. We camped in a quaint campsite with replica bushman huts. Some of the group went on a bushman walk, with people who continue to live off the land and learned about various plants which they use for medicinal purposes. After a relaxing evening roasting marshmallows on the fire we headed to bed, ready to wake up nice and early and cross into Namibia.

The next installement of our overland trip will follow shortley. I have to add we are both dissappointed with England crashing out of the world cup but very proud of bafana bafana.

Love
Kim and Nat

Livin' it up in Livingstone No. 22

On 11th May we waved farewell to Tanzania and set off on our 45 hour long train journey to Zambia. The Tazara train described as being slower than a snail, chugged its way through the rugged Tanzanian countryside. We decided to treat ourselves to our own compartment, which had four beds, a table and not much else, but meant we didn’t have to deal with the grunts and snores from people at night. We did however have four traditionally built (big mamas) Zambian ladies in the compartment next to us, who chatted to each other in a volume matching their waistline! This was a good time for us to reflect on the parts of the journey we had been through and what was still to come. The first part of the journey took us through the Selous national park, where we were told we may catch a glimpse of zebra, giraffe and elephants. Due to the fact we were passing through at night we weren’t fortunate enough to see any game. We did however see some baboons and ververt monkeys sitting in the trees watching the train go by. The train journey was a pleasant alternative to some of the long, bumpy and cramped bus rides we’ve taken.

Our first stop in Zambia was the bustling capital Lusaka. The city had a really good feel and reminded us of being back in Malawi. This part of our trip we were supposed to be spending 2 weeks staying with a friend’s parents who run a lodge in Kafue national park. Due to their very busy schedule and being in South Africa we decided to venture on down to Livingstone early.

The town of Livingstone is synonymous with the seventh natural wonder of the world – Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means ‘the smoke that thunders’. Named after the famous explorer, David Livingstone who was the first European to set eyes on the falls. We stayed in a backpackers called Fawlty Towers for the first few nights, and for those of you who have seen the comedy series, we were glad it wasn’t run by someone like Basil! On our first day we ventured to the national park to view the mighty Vic Falls. We were free to roam around the park to gain a number of different views of the falls, along with many baboons that came hurtling down the paths towards us (and we quickly jumped out of their way)! The sheer scale of the falls left us awe-struck and speechless (something that doesn’t happen very often to Nat). Due to the high water levels of the falls after the rainy season, the rising thunderous mist and spray completely drenched us to the bone. There was a bridge we walked across to get a good view of the falls, which felt like walking through a tropical thunderstorm and wearing a raincoat was pretty much useless.

After speaking to some fellow travellers we were advised that one of the most exhilarating activities would be to get a microlight flight over the falls. So with this in mind we set off the following morning to experience the falls from a totally different perspective. For those of you who don’t know a microlight is pretty much a go-kart with a propeller at the back, attached to a hanglider. So with our jumpsuits on – attempting to look like someone from Top Gun, we headed off individually with our own pilots. Reaching a height of 1500 feet we flew right over the falls and were amazed at its sheer scale and magnitude.
A circular rainbow floated over the falls and we really felt privileged to get a view of the falls that Livingstone could have only dreamed of. Even though the flight was only 15 minutes it felt like a life time and we were lucky enough to view a herd of elephants, buffalo, hippos and even a crocodile lazing in the sun. As we landed the huge smiles on our faces said everything and we both agreed its one of the best experiences we’ve ever had.

Another item on the must do list in Livingstone is to visit the Royal Livingstone Hotel, which sits on the mighty Zambezi river close to the lip of Vic falls. Along with our American friend Steve we'd met at our backpackers we went to the Royal Livingstone to have sundowners. On the grounds of the hotel we passed a group of zebra, which looked as natural as cows grazing in the field. After feeling lucky enough to get so close to the Zebra, our luck continued when we spotted a giraffe with its baby grazing no more than 30 metres away from us. Whilst sipping our G&T's on the deck overlooking the falls we saw another beautiful African sunset melt in to the river. After a very civilised evening, on our journey back to Livingstone our taxi had to stop for a herd of elephant that were crossing the road in front of us. This topped of our day.

We decided as our final treat here in Livingstone we would return to the Royal Livingstone Hotel for a spot of high tea. The hotel transports you to a bygone era of British colonialism, with piano music being softly played in the background, zebra skin rugs and large oil painting of David Livingstone. The afternoon tea spread of mouth-watering cakes and scones was indulgent to say the least. Afterwards we joined a group of English friends we had made to go and view the highly recommended lunar rainbow over the falls. The lunar rainbow only occurs when there's a full moon and a large amount of mist and spray coming off of the falls. The light from the full moon illuminated the rainbow over the falls which was magical to see as this is usually the type of natural phenomenon you only get to see in the day.

Due to the vastness of Botswana and Namibia (the next countries on our itinerary) we decided to book an overland trip, which would take in a lot of the sights we wanted to see. As the truck only leaves Livingstone on June 2nd, we've spent a lot more time here than we originally planned but have kept ourselves busy as you can tell from all the things we've written about above.

We’re not sure when we’ll next get to update our adventures so we hope your all keeping well and getting ready for the World Cup. Cmon England!....and South Africa.

Love Nat and Kim xxx

Exotic Zanzibar No.21

Our second stop in Tanzania was at a small town called Mikindani, just a few miles north of Mtwara on the coast. Mikindani is full of history linked to the famous explorer David Livingstone and also the slave trade. There are buildings such as the slave market and the house that Livingstone resided in for some time, which have over the years fallen in to ruin but are now being restored with the help of a local charity.

In our last entry we mentioned how postive our initial experiences of Tanzania were, however sadly so, this was short lived. We were warned by many travellers that Tanzanian's are known to try and relieve you of alot more money that is deemed fair (commonly known as 'being ripped off'). This inevitably happened to us when buying our bus tickets to a place further up the coast called Kilwa, which was a 3-4 hour journey. After buying our tickets and chatting to some locals we discovered that the amount we had paid could have gotten us to Dar-es-Salaam (Dar), atleast a 10 hour journey!! This was later confirmed when at 6am we got on to the bus and everyone going to Dar had actually paid less than us - to say we were annoyed was an understatement. We decided in the end to miss Kilwa and head all the way to Dar that day and managed to get some of the money back owed to us.

We realise a recurring theme in our blog entries is writing about the challenging and bumpy bus rides - but really this journey was the worst we'd had so far. We arrived very tired on 27th April to Dar after 16 hours on the bus, and were very glad to crash in a nice clean bed. Although we realised it was still the rainy season in Tanzania, we hadn't quite expected the roads to turn in to rivers as the rain continued to fall for days. One of the hazards of trying to wade through the water on the roads is the many drains and potholes that are hidden, as Nat soon discovered when she found half her leg stuck in a drain with water past her knee - much to the amusement of some locals!

We soon made our way over to Zanzibar by ferry,which we were really looking forward to as we'd heard many great things about it. For the first couple of days we stayed with a friend, Luis, we'd made whilst travelling in Mozambique, who showed us some of the nicer bars and restaurants Zanzibar has to offer. One evening we went to Mercury's bar with his ex-pat friends, which is named after Freddie Mercury as he was born and grew up on Zanzibar; with Queen music playing in the background we won the quiz and celebrated with a couple of drinks.

We wandered through the historic Stone town, which has a mix Arabic and Indian buildings, and got lost exploring the narrow alleyways with people selling food and their crafts. Zanzibar was the first touristy place we'd really been to on our travels and on one hand this meant there was amazing food and all the ammenities you need which was a treat for us, however on the other hand this meant we paid inflated prices and got hassled alot by people trying to sell tours and their crafts.

We made our way north to a beach village called Nungwi and we made this place our home for 4 days as we were hoping to relax on the beach and get in some snorkelling. Despite the rain we still managed to enjoy our time there, as we met a good bunch of people to hang out with. We were extremely lucky to choose a great day to go on a snorkelling day trip along with the friends we'd made. A dhow (small local sailing boat) sailed us for a couple of hours to a gorgeous island called Mnemba, where we spent some time snorkelling with the tropical fish amongst some beautiful coral. We even saw the fish Dorey from the film 'Finding Nemo'. After having a lunch of freshly bbq'd fish and salad on a stunning stretch of white sandy beach we headed back on the Dhow. Being a sunny day out in the ocean unfortunately Kim got extremely burned and turned the colour of some of the bright red fish we'd seen.

Along with one of our friends we'd made Beth, whose from California, we decided on a change of scenary and headed for a small village called Jambiani on the south-east coast of the island. As its low season its very quiet, which suited us as we swam in the ocean and relaxed reading. After being approached by a local who we thought was trying to sell us another day trip, we stopped ignoring him when he mentioned the word food and all of us ears pricked up. He was inviting us to his home for dinner, for a small price to experience some local cuisine and hospitality.

After some chill out time on the beach it was time to head back to Stone town and before we had to leave we all managed to squeeze in a spice tour on our last day on the island. We were all pleasantly surprised how interesting the tour was and made us realise how little we actually knew about where our food comes from. Our vibrant guide encouraged us to guess what the different spices were and even have a taste, with cinnamon by far being our favourite.
We were all made elaborate accessories from coconut leaves such as crowns, earings and glasses. We even got to watch one of the locals scale a coconut tree within minutes, chop off some coconuts, cut them open and give us fresh coconut juice to drink.

We said our goodbyes to Beth and got on the overnight ferry ride to Dar, which was one experience we don't ever want to repeat. The ferry sat in the port for 6 hours hours before heading off, and to say the ocean was choppy is an understatement. Hearing people vomiting whilst the ferry was rocking vigorously, we were extremely happy when we eventually reached the port in Dar.

The last 2 days in Dar have been spent recovering from the ferry ride and we have booked our train tickets to Zambia, for the next exciting leg of our journey.

Lots of love,

Nat and Kim xxx

Life's a Beach No. 20

We left the historic and quaint Ilha de Mozambique on 16^th April and started our long journey north along the Indian Ocean coast. After parting ways with our Swiss friends, we headed to our next port of call, a small town on the coast called Pemba. We were warned that Pemba was home to many bizarre and unusual characters so we were a little apprehensive when arriving as to what or whom we would encounter. Luckily when we arrived at the lodge we were staying at, we met some friendly fellow travellers who we soon swapped stories and travel tips with. One couple, Michael and Michal from France and Israel respectively, had been travelling by public transport all the way down from Egypt and had experienced the real rough side of African travel. This put our minds at ease about our ‘road less travelled’ route that we were undertaking. Our time in Pemba was spent exploring the town and cooling off in the ocean along with all the local children who had their own method of recycling by making toys out of rubbish and plastic. Another common sight on the beach was seeing men carrying their days catch slung over their shoulder on their way to the fish market.

For some reason in Mozambique they like to travel early so we were up at an ungodly hour of 3.30am again for our onward journey. We decided to head off the beaten track to a small fishing village, called Pangane so the route to get there was once again more challenging. The last 60km of our journey was in a pick-up truck on a bumpy road and took 3 hours, but luckily as we are Mzungus we were given the front seats, but I’m sure for this privilege we were charged double the price! Pangane is set on a long palm lined sandy beach and looks like a paradise getaway. Our so-called beach bungalow was a small room made of stones and bamboo and great air-conditioning (holes in the walls), with no running water or electricity. However, having an amazing sea view and being metres away from the sea made up for our basic standard of living. We thought we’d spend our days lying on the beach, however due to it being soooooo hot we couldn’t lye out for longer than 15 minutes so we spent most of our time in the water, which was more like a bath. One day whilst swimming we noticed one of the local men stroll along the waters edge to these caves, which were exposed at low tide. We could see him crouching down and after some time he exited the cave and we soon realised this was the local toilet! High tide was their version of flushing the toilet so whilst swimming we were constantly on the look out for floating brown objects!

Something commonly seen in the northern region of Mozambique is women with their faces painted white called musiro as a mask to beautify their skin, and there were lots of women with this mask on their face in Pangane. As you can see from the photo one woman was happy to pose for us. As we were the only tourists in the area people were very interested in us, including some smaller creatures (a mouse and a large crab) that would rustle around in our bags at night. The crab we suspect was a little lost, as all of its friends were scuttling along the shoreline.

We were apprehensive about the next leg of our journey as it was going to be two solid days of travelling to make our way over the border to Tanzania. Both days were filled with hair raising and bum bruising bus rides. On the 4x4 truck that took us to the Tanzanian border we were accompanied by lots of locals and all their belongings and produce. Including one lady who was moving house so we had to make room on the truck for her bed, pots and pans and her luggage (all we didn’t have was the kitchen sink)! We’d heard the Mozambican immigration officials could be awkward to deal with. Kim was soon called in by one official who asked for any Mozambique currency we had left as a gesture of kindness (this ladies and gentleman is what we refer to as a bribe!) Luckily we only had a few coins left over, which he seemed content with.

To get from Moz to Tanzania we had to get a small boat over the Ruvuma river, and due to being the only border crossing, the captains of the boats thought they could charge whatever they wanted. We eventually managed to barter down to a reasonable price and by this point we just wanted to get to the other side. We were pleased that we’d made it to the border as we were warned it was an adventurous route to take so we felt a sense of achievement. But we were happy to be going to a country where they could speak some English, and because of our limited Portuguese we found this the biggest challenge so far.

After standing on the back of a pick-up truck for 2 hours we finally made it to Mtwara in Tanzania. Our initial feelings about Tanzania were positive as on our first night we were assisted by a local guy who helped us to order a meal and give us some travel advice.

A local form of transport in Mtwara is a three-wheeled motorbike, and for those of you who have travelled to Asia, they are exactly like motorised rickshaws and a great, cheap way to get around.

So we have made our way to the second country of our Southern Africa adventure and we’re looking forward to experiencing what lies ahead of us.

We hope you are all well and please keep us updated with your news back home.

Love Nat and Kim xxx

Lakeshore to Seashore No.19

We arrived to Mozambique in style, as we were lucky enough to catch a ride on a speed boat, which was leaving Likoma island for Cobue our first port of call in Moz. We had to sit back and relax in African time as we waited in Cobue for a lift on a truck (the only means of transport out of there). Luckily we were staying in a beach hut on the Lake so we made the most of the good weather and mingled with the locals. Due to the fact the immigration officer in Cobue was on holiday, we had to pay the local policeman a vist at his house and get a letter from him as confirmation we had arrived in Moz! After two nights of waiting for the truck we finally left and headed down to Metangula where we managed to get our offical entry stamp in to the country. From there we continued on the dirt road down to a town called Lichinga. This was the part of our jounrey which was long and uncomfortable as we slowly made our away across the country towards the coast.

One of our most memorable and uncomfotable jouneys so far has been from Lichinga to Cuamba. After waiting 2 hours for the minibus to leave we eventually headed off on a supposedly main road, which was actually a dirt road with potholes and lots of other obstacles. The driver flew over the bumps and holes and unfortunately over a goat which he killed and sped off quickly much to the dismay of the herdsman. We arrived in Cuamba with very sore bums and covered from head to toe in red dust! After 2 nights of stopping in this small town we got a 12 hour train ride at 5am to Nampula. This was a more enjoyable and comfortable journey as we looked out the windows watching the locals go about their day to day life. Every time the train stopped we were mobbed by people trying to sell their local produce which ranged from garlic to bananas. People would exchange the produce and money through the window and as the train would soon depart the seller would be running alongside the train trying to catch their money in time.

After a night in Nampula we headed straight to Ilha de Mozambique where we knew we had a relaxing and travel free 4 days ahead of us (plus Nats Birthday to celebrate). Known as Ilha to the locals this tiny island is very historic as it used to be the gateway and capital city to Mozambique. Due to the Portuguese colonialism since the 15th century the island has lots of fascinating architecture, which has now unfortunately been neglected. Although in the area of stone town, large colonial buildings still line the small quaint streets. We are staying in a sea view room, so we wake up to the smell of the sea air and the waves crashing against the rocks. We have walked around and explored the island, greeting the friendly locals with our very poor attempt at portuguese. We have met two swiss girls and a guy who have been fun to hang out with and spend the evening eating good food and chatting. I was lucky enough to celebrate my 26th Birthday in this idylic setting on Wednesday 14th. In the morning we went for a long, lazy breakfast and spent the day wandering around the small streets of the Island. In the evening we went out for dinner with our new Swiss friends to a rooftop restaurant and they even got me a small gift as they knew I was away from all my friends and family.

So here we are sitting in front of the computer whilst being on this beautiful island, so its time for us to say goodbye until next time.

Love Nat and Kim xx

All aboard... to Likoma! No.18

After bidding everyone at Open Arms farewell and wiping away the tears our first stop was in Liliongwe where we stayed with Julie and her family whom we met during our first stint in Malawi. After a weekend of relaxing and great hospitality, Julie and Hugh gave us the use of their car in return for taking some building materials up to Luwawa where there having a cottage built at the Lodge. It was fantastic to see all the staff at Luwawa whom we'd made friends with, but soon found out there were lots of departures, including our feathered friends, Kim and Natalie the chickens, who were taken by one of the staff members who left under dubious circumstances!

When we arrived at Mzgambuzi school we were greeted by lots of excited and happy faces. They lept on to the back of the truck for a ride and began chanting songs with our names in. After chatting to the head teacher George, we were happy to find out that the school had been promised a yearly donation by the US government to help with building maintenance as well as school supplies. We also learnt that they had been told by the local MP they would have a water pump installed as soon as the rainy season has finished. Its already great to see that the new school building is being used for lessons and that a new teacher has arrived to help out George, the only teacher. With the extra funds we kindly recieved from some of you, during our stay at Luwawa we went to the nearest town and brought more cement so that the builder can start cementing the floor. On our last day at the School we had a farewell get together with the teacher and kids by giving them a drink and snacks as well as lots of playing and singing songs. The highlight of the day for the kids was getting a ride in the back of the truck for a short ride up to the nearest village where they climbed off the jubilantly waved us goodbye.
The next part of our journey is where our travel adventure truely began. We made our way to a small town along Lake Malawi called Nkhotakota where we waited until 3am for the Ilala Ferry to arrive. Along with lots of other Malawians and half of their worldly belongings, we waited onthe beach in the middle of the night. In the distance we saw the ferry lights and due to there not being a jetty we waited for smaller boats to collect us and take us to the ferry. With our backpacks on we waded in to the Lake and leaped on to the boat and finally got on the ferry by 4am. Our tickets were for 'deck class' which enabled us to sleep on the top deck of the boat under the stars.
After watching the beautiful mozambique scenary we arrived at Likoma Island 12 hours later, and although the island is nearer to Mozambique it is still considered part of Malawi. This is probably the most beautiful part of the lake we'd seen with the typical postcard image of paradise. We stayed in a beach chalet with a view overlooking the lake and spent our time relaxing on the beach, went snorkelling and saw the various types of local fish. On one of the days we decided to head over to the local town and ended up losing our way and by accident exploring half the island in the midday heat (only we could get lost on an island!!). It was soon time to tear ourselves away from this gorgeous, tranquil place and leave Malawian soil as our visas were about to expire.

Our next stop...... Mozambique, which we'll save for the next blog.

Love Nat and Kim xx

Fond Farewells and Future Plans No 17

Our last day at Open Arms has finally arrived. Although our day is very busy with packing for the next leg of our journey and saying our final goodbyes to the children and all the staff here, we thought we’d take the opportunity to keep all you guys back home updated of our travel plans. During our final week here, we have experienced the warmth and generosity that Malawians are renowned for. A nurse at Open Arms called Gladys, kindly invited us around to her house to have afternoon tea and cake. We sat and chatted about her long and interesting life, and also met her granddaughter who was lots of fun. We were then served an array of yummy cakes and tea to wash it down, so it felt like home away from home! Due to their being a rotation of three shifts at Open Arms, we have spent the week saying goodbye to all the mothers and gave them some sweets, as a very small gesture to say thank you for looking after us during our stay here. Whilst visiting a group of mothers on their night shift, as we were about to leave they sang a goodbye song to us, in beautiful harmony, which made me and even Kim very emotional. This just emphasised the kindness that is always expressed here and rarely shown in the same way back home.
Within the last week two new volunteers have arrived, Issy and Alyssia, both from the UK. This has given us the excuse to take them around the sites of Blantyre, as it was our last time to experience the things we enjoy about the area. Along with the two new arrivals over the last few weeks we have had a regular visitor in the back garden….. a chameleon! It has been fascinating to watch whilst it has been shedding its skin and moving from one tree to the other but it is now a permanent fixture, and so it is the pet to the volunteers house. Luckily the extremely large black and red spiders to the side of the house haven’t decided to migrate inside! This is how we’d like it to stay!We are having a farewell meal tonight with our fellow volunteers and Neville (the director) and his partner Ennifer. Neville has made us feel so at home here, from inviting us around to watch all the 6 Nations rugby games at his home and allowing us to get really involved with all the different areas of Open Arms. He does an extremely selfless job, and it gives Kim and I something to really aspire to.

So now we have come to the final leg of our journey where we will be travelling around Southern Africa for 4 months before coming back home to the UK on July 31st (pop it in to your diary). We wanted to give you an idea of where and when we are planning to go, as we may have limited internet access. From here we are travelling up to Lilongwe for the weekend, and have kindly been offered to stay at Julie’s house, where we stayed previously. We are then going back to Luwawa Forest to the school we are continuing to help build, to see its progress and to see all the children and the Head teacher George. From there our journey becomes far more interesting and adventurous as we are crossing Lake Malawi via the Illala ferry (which is known to be temperamental) to an island called Likomo and then over to Mozambique. We will travel up the coast of Mozambique and over the border to Tanzania. This is the more remote part of both Mozambique and Tanzania but luckily the roads have been improved recently. Once we arrive in Dar-es-Salaam we hope to go over to Zanzibar and from there get a train all the way south in to Zambia. Whilst in Zambia we are going to visit our friend Lara’s parents, who run a game lodge and also do community work, so it is great to have some connections. Of course we will visit the infamous Victoria Falls and then hope to briefly go through Botswana to the Okavango Delta. We then travel through our final country, Namibia and end in South Africa, to see Kim’s mum before our flight home.

I feel exhausted just writing about it but I am sure it is going to be a fascinating and rewarding journey. We will keep in touch as much as we can and look forward to hearing all the news back home as well.

Lots of love,
Nat and Kim xxx