Category: Africa

  • Revolving Fortunes

    Revolving Fortunes

    We had been in Tanzania for ten days already and only just started. It is a big country with a lot to see and do and we were already relishing every moment. The campsite we had arrived at late the previous day was close to the Mikumi National Park which we would normally be keen…

  • To Tanzania and New Friends

    To Tanzania and New Friends

    We were on our way to Tanzania. New adventures, millenia of history and world-famous sites awaited us. When we arrived at the border we were amazed to find the French couple, the Swiss/Indonesian family with the young boy and the French cyclist all there at the same time. We chatted, laughed and shared information whilst…

  • Water, Water Everywhere…A Soggy End to Malawi

    Water, Water Everywhere…A Soggy End to Malawi

    The whole northern coastal area around Lake Malawi was a scene of devastation with roads and bridges washed away in floods and homes and lodges destroyed. People here are used to dealing with challenging environmental conditions but El Nino was making life particularly difficult this year. Our plans had had to change but we had…

  • Battling with El Nino

    Battling with El Nino

    Our first couple of weeks back in Malawi had been fabulous. The southern part of the country was spectacular and between pottery classes, high teas, forest retreats and mountains we had kept ourselves very happily busy. And now, after a bad spell with my back, we were finally heading down from the Zomba Plateau towards…

  • Soaking up the South

    Soaking up the South

    Life was good! We had spent time with our family and friends over Christmas, Henry was cleaned up, I was feeling better and the Malawian people were proving to be as warm and friendly as their reputation held. With all three of us back in good shape we headed out of Lilongwe for the Dedza…

  • Malawian Karma

    Malawian Karma

    We eventually dragged ourselves away from our little piece of paradise on Lake Malawi feeling a strong pull to get to Lilongwe ready for our flights back to our family for Christmas. I kept checking the distance and travel time between us and the airport to ensure we didn’t leave it too late to enjoy…

  • The Warm Heart of Africa

    The Warm Heart of Africa

    We had a plan. It was a good plan and one which meant that one way or another we would be leaving Zambia that day. We would drive to the Nakonde border with Tanzania and find out from them whether the northern border with Malawi was open. If it was we would drive the 100km…

  • Optimism Tested!

    Optimism Tested!

    False speeding tickets, overcharging for camping and very poor facilities. Zambia was not my favourite place at the moment. We drove away from the Bengweulu Swamps with a very bad taste in our mouths, increasingly keen to get out of this country and into somewhere that would be more friendly towards visitors. We had a…

  • The End of a Love Affair

    The End of a Love Affair

    So far we had been enjoying our time in Zambia. The area around the Lower Zambezi was very beautiful with lovely campsites and friendly people. However after leaving the capital for the north east our first campsite had been more than a little disappointing. We spent the next morning applying for our Malawian visas online…

  • Seeing the Best of Zambia

    Seeing the Best of Zambia

    We had left the wonderful Zimbabwe behind and were about to enter Zambia – a country which we had not been sure we wanted to visit at all. Tales from other travellers of corruption at the border, and at police checkpoints, along with tsetse flies and animals poached almost to extinction had put us off.…