Author Archives: rory

New engine, beefed up hydraulic winch and a bit of TLC, We decided to leave the dents….. we don’t want any “mutton dressed as lamb” jokes. We are off to live in Africa and will be based in Nairobi.

Well what an adventure…despite a bit of random thievery on the boat on the way back and extensive use of our vans facility’s by the crew, the van is now safely back in England. MOT’d, Serviced, Repaired where necessary and … Continue reading →

Well, after Cape Town we went on to Cape Agulhas the southern most point in Africa, over 27,000 miles from our start point in Frome, Somerset. The van had performed spectacularly with only a few problems and nothing that stopped … Continue reading →

11 months, 18 countries and 3 revolutions later we have finally made it to Cape Town. We had a lovely few days with Tom and Victoria in Constantia, Toms company Avoova makes the most wonderful Ostrich Egg accessories and furniture…think … Continue reading →

After the luxury of Okonjima we returned to Windhoek to stay in a backpacker hotel called the Cardboard Box…all of us in a family room but we did splurge on a meal at the famous Joe’s Beer House! After dropping … Continue reading →

George,Fergus and Pippa all arrived with their luggage (unlike Tangier) on Saturday morning and we set off north towards Okonjima, home of the Afrikat Foundation We are lucky enough to be staying at the most wonderful house Grand African Villa … Continue reading →

After our drive along the western end of the Caprivi strip, so called after Heligoland Zanzibar treaty of 1890 whereby we (theBrits) gave Germany access to the East coast of Africa along a thin strip of land along the Zambezi … Continue reading →

Decided after our flight over the delta to do a boat trip and see everything from another perspective. We saw the most gorgeous bird life but no game We also followed our noses to find a wonderful ceramic studio in … Continue reading →

Spent a wonderful few days at Maun Backpackers and managed to get a group together to share the cost of flying over the delta in a private plane. (Thank you Sara and Laura) Amazing. We saw masses of game in … Continue reading →

We met up again with the Dutch couple Charis and Jarijn who we had met in Bulawayo and they decided to come with us to Chobe just across the border into Botswana. Did you know that Botswana has only 1.9m … Continue reading →

Stopped off in Bulawayo to see the famous colonial club full of mementos from past British royal visits with a huge portrait of Cecil Rhodes in the main sitting room. But at $250 per night for non members we thought … Continue reading →

The word Zimbabwe is derived from the Shona words dzimba dza mabwe meaning house of stone…..named of course after Great Zimbabwe! It was originally thought to be a Phoenician city or maybe part of the empire of Sheba or King … Continue reading →

Beautiful drive south from Kariba to Harare to stay with James and Wendy. When we arrived in Harare the rain started (unknown at this time of year) and we even had a hailstorm, which confused us all. We went to … Continue reading →

We spent a few days at Bridge camp on the Luangwa river where we had a fabulous trip down the river on a canoe looking at crocodiles and hippos and of course wonderful bird life then on to Lusaka where … Continue reading →

We spent a wonderful 5 days in South Luangwa at Flatdogscamp The camp is on the banks of the Luangwa river and you can watch hippos and crocodiles in the water from the riverside tents. Elephants, and hippo wander through … Continue reading →

After a lovely few days at Chitimba we decided to press on south keeping to the lake shore, but the first leg was up into the hills reaching Mzuzu before heading back to the coast. No sign of diesel ( … Continue reading →

Bit of an unsettling last few days in Tanzania…4 French cyclists who we met were robbed at gun point, passports money the lot, just outside Dar. They were helped out by Lucio at Mikadi beach, the police didn’t understand that … Continue reading →

We had a wonderful few days on the coast near Pangani and had a bit of a treat in the Capricorn guest house. We barbecued every night on the beach. Prawn, crab and steaks. We went out on a dhow … Continue reading →

We decided to drive out of the national park at Kleins gate and head off to Lake Natron, the lake itself has no exit so is very alkaline and the whole region is extremely remote. The first part of the … Continue reading →

Once we left the outskirts of Arusha heading towards the national parks and we had left the coffee growing area behind the locals reverted to traditional Masai dress. Although fashion and tradition vary from area to area it was explained … Continue reading →