I'm thinking that I owe a big fat post since it's been so long so here goes - may have to come back for more tomorrow though as I've already been in the internet cafe for 2 hours and my tummy will be rumbling before long! I arrived in Hong Kong at lunchtime here (it's 7 hours ahead of the UK) and have been wandering round in a daze ever since! It's so strange to just stop for a second and realise I'm not in Africa anymore and am not with all the lovely friends I made on the trip there... I even patched it up with the know-it-all American boy (patched up the hatchet wound in his head, that is!)
I'm going to be really quite sad going to bed on my own in a room tonight after sharing tents and dorms for so long but I've got lots of reading material (2 novels bought in Joburg airport + The State of Africa - can't wait!) and journal writing to catch up on so there's plenty to keep me occupied... I'm currently feeling ever so slightly rubbish but at least the internet here is about a million times faster than the fastest one I used in Africa... Actually, according to the HK Lonely Planet that I was reading in a bookshop in the station here without the slightest intention to buy, Hong Kong was the first whole authority to make broadband available to every single one of its residents. Not to sure the same can be said for the rest of China...
To fill you in a bit on what's been going on since the last post from Zanzibar it will be easiest to work backwards and then get my journal out (once I've written it!) to refresh my memory of the middle parts... Hannah, Kat, Nic/Yvonne and I left the truck after spending 3 nights at Victoria Falls (or Mosi Oa Tunya - The Smoke that Thunders) in Zimbabwe, one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, no less. We definitely collectively made the most of our time there: bungi jumps (not me, before you ask); gorge swings (yes, me); abseiling bum and face first; microlite flights and my 2 favourite parts - chopper rides and jetboat outings. Wow, I didn't know I had that much adrenaline in me!! The Zambezi River that flows over the Falls is at its highest in 50 years right now so Judith will be relieved to hear that white water rafting was deemed too hazardous for anyone to do until the river had calmed a bit.
I've actually been to Vic Falls once before when I was 4 on a family holiday to South Africa and Zim so as much as you might think it's doubtful that I'd have memories of it, it was exactly how I remembered. We got utterly drenched by the spray (like walking through torrential rain that stops and starts every 5 paces) when we walked to view the Falls, just as I remember from when I was little!
Now I've decided that I need to earn/get enough money to buy/live by a lake, preferably with a waterfall nearby so that I can drive a jetboat around it all day, waterski (still have to learn but that will come!) and fly my helicopter to wherever I need to go!!! Hmm, is Richard Branson already married...?
As promised, I'm off to get some yummy sushi for dinner - it's everywhere here! Don't forget to keep me posted with what's going on at home and I promise to reply to every single personal email in time - should be so much easier now I can get on the net almost daily. Ciao for now :)
