Jambo from Zanzibar

I'm in Zanzibar - WOW! It's amazing - all those white sand beaches and turquoise waters in the postcards are real here and it's a tough life coping with it... Yeah right! I've just got back from snorkelling at a live reef on the east side of the island and now the worst part of my evening is going to be trying to finish this post so that I can skip across the courtyard to see the sun set from the bar, beer in hand.

It's not all easy peasy, as Charlie and anyone else who's done camping and the overland truck thing will know. We're taking it in turns to cook for everyone else in allocated groups of 3 and of course it was my group's turn for breakfast the morning that we were in a rush to get a ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar - it was peeing with rain and we'd optimistically gone for a fry up. The most interesting part about cooking with people that you've only just met is the clashes in personality and how easily people get worked up. I'm included in this, as perfect as I am, I was a bit peeved when an 18 year old was getting stroppy with me for trying to tell him to get the carrots into the sauce at the same time as the onions or they'd still be crunchy an hour later!

Ah and I just managed to read all of your comments from the last post - thanks so much and I miss you all too!! There have been quite a few time since I left Judith that I've arrived at the dinner table and been disappointed not to find you all there - this trip would be a million times better if you were all her doing it with me and laughing about things that we find funny but it's too long or pointless to explain to the guys on the truck. That's not to say that I'm not having a brilliant time and that we're not getting on - I am and we are but I miss you all and know how much you would love being here too!

Before I get too mushy and quickly to catch up on the last week: we left Nairobi and Kenya pretty quickly on the way to Tanzania for the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, where we saw lions with cubs and with a freshly killed buffalo, loads of giraffes, buffalo, impala, Grant's and Thomson's gazelles, zebra, wildebeest, haartebeest, hyenas, a few elephants and a bat-eared fox. There was also a cheetah just at the side of road, front paws up on a rock looking for its dinner - that was my highlight :) It's towards the end of the Great Migration of the grazing animals across the Serengeti so we saw thousands of zebras and wildebeest with their month old babies making the trek so that they'll have food in the dry season, due to start in a couple of months. The whole experience was straight out of the Lion King - Simba even means Lion in Swahili! Jambo Simba! And every one says Hakuna Matata - no worries - all the time here!!

There's more but that's the most part of what I can remember for now - will get photos and more details up when I get a chance but access to the internet is rare and it's usually really slow so I've hit the jackpot with this place!

Keep letting me know what's going on at home - I want more gossip!

First stop: Uganda

I've been away almost a week and this is the first chance I've had to sit down and put some thoughts on the blog - it's been pretty manic here and that means I've seen a lot so have loads to tell you all :)

Firstly, this post is coming to you from the lovely oasis that is the Kabira Country Club, a posh resort hotel up the road from Judith's flat - today we're swimming, having a sauna and making the most of the free wi-fi access.

This is my last whole day in Uganda as I'm flying to Nairobi tomorrow afternoon and it's been really great and definitely feels like I've been away longer than a week! For Easter weekend Judith and I went on a road trip with her friends Marcel and Kiki to the south west of the country, crossing the equator on the way. We drove a couple of hours from Kampala and camped in the beautiful Lake Mburo national park on Friday, where we shared our site with a chilled out hippo and loads of warthogs. On Saturday after a 6am bush walk to see hyenas, zebra, topi, buffalo and waterbucks, we headed further south through Mbarara to Kabale, a vibrant town at the foot of the mountains that border Rwanda. There we had an ear-splitting dance session in a club that would give most of the soundsystems at Notting Hill Carnival a run for their money and fell into bed slightly worried that Marcel, our designated driver, has malaria...

Driving on the roads here is a nerve shredding business and even though Marcel was very cautious and had our full trust, we were glad that on Sunday he could more or less have a day off - we were headed to Lake Bunyoni and one of its islands for the day and night and as it's only a couple of miles from Kabale along a dirt road with very little traffic we arrived, nerves and fingernails intact, by lunchtime. Lonely Planet likens the Lake and its islands to The Shire of the Hobbits and it's easy to see why: rolling hills, meandering waters, cultivated terraces and canoes expertly guided by those used to needing to get somewhere quickly in them or not so expertly by the likes of us... The tranquility of the island was briefly disturbed by Judith and I getting a fit of the giggles over dinner - I'm sure it's back to its laid back normailty by now.

So, first impressions of Uganda are that it's a lush and fertile place, Kampala can be a bit hectic but in general the people are very polite and friendly, to the extent that a bus will wait for you top cross the road (no mean feat) for several minutes, just patiently wait. I've learnt some traditional dances and seen stunning scenery, drunk waragi (like gin but femented from millet) and eaten an Ethiopian buffet that had me wanting the room for third and fourth helpings but not finding it. I'll get some photos posted at some point when I have a bit more time - they're worth waiting for.

And as for me and my general state of wellbeing, it's good. There was one wobble the other night but I'm putting that partially down to hormones... I'm still catching up in my travel journal and will do a bit more in a minute after a dip in the pool - determined to keep it up even if it is just bullet points...

Leaving (a bit late)

I was planning to write a final blog post before I left on Weds 4th April but didn't get a minute with all the packing and journeys to deposit my possessions around south London... Moving the large majority of your stuff in boxes single handed is hard work but maybe it's easier to comment on those last few days now that I've had some time away - succinctly, of course I was sad to leave my home, family, friends and everything that is so familiar.

Everything happened a bit in a rush towards the end of my time in London but I packed a lot in to those last few week and will keep those memories with me as I move around: mum and dad waving me off at the airport (not sure who cried the most!), the barbecue at home with my family, Charlie and I taking a trip up the Natwest Tower for cocktails and amazing views of home, Lisa's 30th birthday celebrations, having a great time at my leaving work drinks and seeing as much as I could of everyone I enjoy so much.


I wanted to write a few words on that and have some photos that I can look at when I'm missing home - the view out of my bedroom window in Spitalfields in the snow and a sunset that was pretty spectacular in the city. Although I know I'm going to be seeing a lot more of those, this is the one at home and that makes it special.

In a minute I'll write a bit more about my first week in Uganda and get some pictures uploaded so you can see what I've been seeing - it's been amazing!