Well for those of you who don't know we are now back in the UK. We arrived back on Monday morning early to a beautiful day - which was great. We ended up flying BA as they were the only ones who had any seats available. Martin slept from the time he put his head down till the time we landed (I think)!!

As for myself well it was a totally different story - there was alot of turbulence and I didn't manage to catch any sleep at all, but I did watch 5 movies!!!! Nevermind Andy was there to pick us up which was great and we got home about 11am.

Wizzy was over the moon to see us and she is looking a much slimmer version than when I left in January. Tristram has done a great job looking after her, so I now have to keep myself from feeding her little titbits as it is not good for her... smack on the hand Dee!!!

It is lovely to be back home and the weather yesterday was lovely, except for one heavy shower which almost caught Martin & his Dad out. I managed to weed and prune the rose garden which looks much better for it. Apparently there has been loads of rain here throughout July and August - so everything has grown heaps including the weeds.

Well hope you are all fit and well as we are. I have been in the gym every morning for an hour since we got home (yes I know only 2 mornings have gone by, but at least it's a start).

Loads of hugs and kisses to you all xxx

Our hut after the first day - not far to go then.....

On the trail - Day 1 (I think)

Martin enjoying the views

One of the huts

One of our feathered friends along the way...

Definitely a tail slapper

Wayne collecting firewood....

The fire wood collecting became a bit of a competition at times, even to a point where Jo and I both managed to retrieve dead trees, but ended up needing a bit of a hand getting it back to camp....

I think that the winners were Mike & Wayne in the end.

Dee trying to take stunning photos of breaching whales???

Mike with a whale bone

James bring the welcome beers at the end of day 4

Martin managed to get the staff to take our chilly bin away and fill it up with beer and ice to meet us at the end of day 4 - our hero!!

About halfway through the walk.

This was the hut on the beach that I walked past as I couldn't see anyone there and thought that I had to walk a hell of a lot further (very upset) until James ran down to tell me I had past it - could have kissed him!!

Kerry at the 'sweetie rock'

Jo in them there hills...

Sorry the last photo was once again breaching...

Tail slapping.

We both had a fabulous time and hopefully it will have given us a good grounding for Monar this year - we'll see.

Mike, Jo, Me & Wayne - having fun following the same footsteps!

It was an awesome trail and we were amazingly lucky with the bad weather (we managed to miss most of it whilst walking). The huts are all cool and very different which made it fun at the end of the day (to see who would sleep where). The food .. well what can I say I think most of us probably put on weight rather than loose it - dam good cooks we all are isn't that the truth (or it could have had something to do with the 2 tonnes of snacks that we all took????

Lea - overlooking the Breede River on day 1

We saw so many whales it was just not funny - I don't think anyone of us expected to see quite so many. They are great to watch as they do the sailing (tails in the air), breaching (jumping out of the water), spy hopping (or as we called it eye balling) and generally having a good time. We also saw a few mating as well which was rather a mess of tails, fins and so on. We also heard them a few times which was pretty cool.

Footprints in the sand

The first 2 days were getting out to the coast and mostly consisted of alot of up and down hill and then some more up and down hill. The last 3 days were walking along a coastal track with the 3rd day being a little difficult as about 5km was walking along the beach.

A little friend we saw on the way

That night after a wonderful dinner people started feeling all the aches and pains of the long days walk. We all were not quite so bright eyed and bushy tailed the following morning (especially as we had another almost 15km to go that day).

A whale breaching whilst we are walking the coastal path - awesome. We saw both Southern Right & Hump Backed Whales.

I certainly lost a lot of sweat that first day out and was still worried about 5.5 hours into the walk that I wouldn't make it, but once I got up over the last rise and saw the hut and dam a smiled appeared on my dial and I knew I could do it. A big thanks to Jo who was following me that day as she said I had a bit of a wobble on and I most certainly did!! Mike was there to meet us all as we came down with a lovely ice cold beer - its never tasted better.

Mike with a whale out in front of him

Well the first day walking was a bit of a killer for me. I hadn't slept the night before as I was scared that I couldn't make it - about 7-8 months of not doing anything has played with the weight a bit I can tell you all....

The views were stunning and we reached an altitude of 611 meters as the highest point. We had Cape Vultures, Orange Breasted Sunbirds and Cape Sugarbirds as well as a Cape Cobra the first day (great back paddling Mike after spotting the snake).

First day of the Whale Trail - all ready for the 15km walk (fresh looking and bushy tailed as they say....)

Snow on the mountains in Worcester!!!

We went in two cars (the 8 of us) and started by doing a wee wine tour over the hill not far out of Cape Town (only to choose the right wine for dinner you know)!! Then carried on to Bredesdorp and had lunch at a little pub along the way. Beautiful scenery all the way and once we started playing 'windmill' (Wayne's game) along the way things got very exciting!!!!

Barbs & Ashley - sorry Barbs I know I have you on sideways ...ooops!

We then packed all we needed for the trail which was a five day portered hike which stayed at different huts each night. A total of about 57km (I think) and along the coast so hopefully seeing whales along the way.

Meerkats in the Quiver Tree Forest Camp

We then stayed at a lovely B&B in Worcester for the night and then had almost a full day at Bushwakka to sort things out. We then left the trailer there and made our way to Cape Town. We are staying in the V & A Hotel again, but we decided to do the Whale Trail in the De Hoop Nature Reserve with Leanne, James, Kerry Butler, Jo, Mike and Wayne Santini, as alot of people had pulled out and you have to book this walk a year in advance.

We went to Leanne's for dinner on the Thursday night to meet the others and have a braai. Barbs & Ashley were there which was cool - she is a real little sweetie.

Quiver Tree Forest in Namibia

Well as per usual things changed again and when we left Fiddlers Creek on the SA side of the border we drove all the way through to Worcester. It started to rain and there was even snow on the mountains!!

We got there and went straight to Bushwakka to see the Hewitt brothers about all the things we would like or need doing to the trailer and car while we are home in the UK.

Sorry just had to rush off and do something. So tomorrow we will be staying at The Baths at Citrusdal and then off to Worcester/Cape Town.

First thing we will have to see if we can get flights back to the UK. As it is the European holidays it may be a bit of a wait. Other wise I guess we willo be back home in UK towards the end of August.

We will have to have a day or two with the Bushwakka guys to get things sorted as far as the trailer and car are concerned. I will put some more photos on once I get a card here in South Africa. As we are just literially over the river from Namibia that is why I can still use the Namibian one - which is great.

So sending huge hugs and kisses to you all xxx

Well hope you are all fit and well. Plans have changed again due to the fact that the Kgaladigadi National Park was fully booked and they do not let anyone enter unless you have a confirmed booking.

So we went up to Bossie & Jackie's farm (took the 2 girls and kittens and the dog with us) on Friday afternoon. When we got there Bossie and a couple of mates were going to see if they could shoot an animal for the freezer so Martin went with them.

They got back empty handed, but it sounds like they had fun. We had a great braai that night and then the following morning we took off to just north of Gochas to stay at Auob Country Lodge Campsite.

A really long driving day, but we saw untold game along the way including meerkats, oryx, kudu, slender mongoose and loads of warthogs. A great scenic drive and we arrived to find the lodge itself full and the campsite had a load of people as well. Nevermind we had a nice dinner and an early night (apart from the Afikaaner music not a bad night), they tend to like it very loud, at least they stopped at midnight!

We then drove down just north east of Keetmanshop and stayed at Quiver Tree Forest Rest Camp which was a lovely little camp. We saw 3 meerkats running through the camp which was pretty cool. Then we went for a walk through the quiver tree forest which was pretty good as well - loads of dassies in amongst the rocks.

Today we drove down and through the Vooilsdrift border and are staying on the Orange River at Fiddlers Creek.

07 Aug We had a lovely dinner with Jackie, Bossie and the girls last night. Today we are going out to their farm and taking the girls (with new kittens) with us as Bossie has a meeting and Jackie goes on safari today.

Once again plans have changed and we will leave from the farm and go through the back road to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park which we can access from Namibia. It is a small park which borders Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and is meant to be great. Meerkats and other cool things to see. We will probably spend a couple of nights there which will be really relaxing.

So hope you are all well and sending hugs and kisses to all xxx

Some of the local markets along the way in Northern Zambia.

Well I think that will do for now and I am hoping that I will be able to update the blog each day now as we will be following the main road all the way down to South Africa. I think we will probably spend another 3-4 nights in Namibia before crossing over into South Africa. Then it will be a couple of days before we pull into Worcester first and then onto Cape Town.

To give you an idea as to what alot of the roads in Northern Zambia are like!! I suppose at least they are not as rolling and up and down as some of the ones in Botswana.

Really have to go very slowly as animals and people can step out in front of you at any time - not much of a chance to react..

Us in Livingstone at the Ocean Basket one night.

God do I need a haircut! It hasn't been touched since I left the UK in January - I think I will definitely need to book in for hair, facial and a general maintenance when we get home... Also need to start those exercises again - my look at the double chin and fat tummy - not nice!!

Martin trying to chop wood at Waterberg - he had just finished telling me that his 'chopper' stopped chopping?? Figure that one out....

Martin has improved immensely with his fires - really and truly there was only one way and that was up. He now gets a great fire going with coals ready to cook on by about an hour - so all good.

Me at the top of the Waterberg Plateau - obviously pointing out all the surrounding area???? Does she really know what she is talking about!!

Garth, Trish, Rob and I at Ilala Lodge - lovely lunch!!

Angus & Jenni at the Waterfront having a few drinks with us.

The bike riding day - my don't we all look glam!!! NOT!

Today is just a catch up day and resting day. Jackie is home tonight so we will be able to catch up with her and maybe go out for a meal. Then tomorrow we will leave Windhoek and start our way south - slowly.

Hope you are all fit and well, sending big huge hugs and kisses to all xxx

Kim, Sue & Dee the day we left Livingstone.

Well had a fantastic sleep last night. my God I think I slept for almost 12 hours - obviously needed it.

I am now trying to put some more photos on for you all xxx

28 Jul Livingstone – catching up on the blog and email. Get to see Sue today which is great – these two work so hard! Had a meeting with Garth about the next part of the trip. We need an itinerary and also how much it will cost. We are generally just catching up on things – washing, sleep, with people and relaxing a bit. Dinner out with Kim & Sue at Ocean Basket.

29 Jul Decided today that the next part of the trip was getting up in price and we will leave things until next year now. We will transit back down through Namibia to Cape Town and fly out from there. There is quite alot of work to be done on the trailer since we overloaded it and managed to crack the chassis. Also the car will probably need a bit of work also. We have spoken to the Bushwakka guys and they will be able to fix everything and also we will be able to leave the car and trailer with them until next year when we start again!! We are both getting tired as well and I really can’t wait to get back home. So we will leave on Sunday and start transitting down.

30 Jul Today we are off to Zimbabwe for the night to try and catch up with everyone on that side. Arrive over (visas for Zim – British $55US and Kiwis $30US) and go straight to Garth & Trish’s office. They now work most of the time from the office at home, so we decide to call in and see Mags and Kelly. Both looking great and good to see them, seem very busy and we grab a taxi and go up to Garth & Trish’s place. They both look great; in fact there is not much of Trish left to see she looks fantastic! We all decide to go to Ilala Lodge for lunch and Rob meets us there. Great to have a good old catch up with how things are going – they all look good (Rob has lost a little more hair) and was fab to see them. Get back to their house and ask about Jenni & Angus (who have been living in Vic Falls for almost 3 years), give Jen a ring and she arrives around with wine which is awesome as Trish didn’t have any. Trish is training for a bike ride (320km) around the Tuli region as well as SA and Bots next week. Kids get home and my God they have grown like weeds, Connor and Courtney are so tall. They are off to Zambia tomorrow to play sports against a school about 4 hours north of Livingstone. We get dropped off at Shoestrings to catch up with Leon & Mags and have a few drinks with them. Mags is as ever busy with a meeting, but we have a great chat with Leon and he looks great. Jen & Trish pick up us and we go off to get pizza for dinner. Have a great dinner with Garth, Trish and Jenni. We are going to stay at Jenni’s place as she is on her own tonight.

31 Jul Jenni decided last night that she didn’t want to go for a bike ride with Trish in the morning as she wanted to go to gym instead, so I put up my hand and said I would ride with Trish. Trish arrived around 7.30am and had a spare pair of shorts for me to wear, Jenni lent me her bike and gloves. Trish has a bear banger on her in case we encounter any elllies, lions or buffalo along the way.... We have a fanstastic ride and I thoroughly enjoy myself we do a total of 18.7km which for me is great as I only ride a bike once a year at Monar!! We end up at the boat club and only see impala and baboons on the way. Jenni & Martin meet us there and we have breakfast. This has really made me think that I will get my bike out when I get home and start riding before the snow and ice come. I will also have to get back into the gym and lose a bit of weight – I think 10kg would be a good start. Thanks to everyone in Zim for a lovely afternoon, evening and also the awesome ride Trish. We will see you all again next year and give you all a bit more notice and stay longer as well. Got back to Zambia and read/slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Jenni & Angus are over this side as Angus has to fix a starter motor on the truck, so we meet at Waterfront for drinks. Sammy is also there as he works for Acacia as well and it is great to catch up with him. Angus looks good and was great to catch up with him as well – sorry it was brief, but next year we will have more time. We then make our way down to Livingstone Golf Club as it is Bingo night and I promised to meet Dehy there. What a cool evening and Sarah manages to win two prizes and Jojo gets one also. Sarah has never played bingo in her life (and shes English) and manages to win twice – jammy bugger!! Jo jo is over the moon with her win and says it was because of the lucky pen...who knows! I didn’t win a thing, but had great fun. Got back to Kim & Sue’s house and it was locked, so we put up the tent and camped in their back yard.

01 Aug Today we got some more supplies on board and made sure that everything was set to go tomorrow. It’s our last day/night in Zambia until next year so we just relaxed and made sure everything was ready to go. Went to Fez Bar in the afternoon to watch the rugby (SA beat NZ very convincingly), I actually didn’t see much of the game as Linda came and we had a really good catch up. Went out to dinner with Kim, Sue & Kate to Rhapsody’s.
02 Aug Got up and no water so will have to forgo the shower this morning. Got to Jollyboys and had some breakfast, filled up with water and said our goodbyes. A huge big thank you once again to Kim & Sue who have made our stay in Livingstone even more enjoyable and see you in a few months time in the UK...don’t forget the BIG bottle of champagne that we all have to drink!! Fuelled up and departed Livingstone at 930am. Arrived at the border of Sesheke at 11.50am and finally got through and out the other side at 12.35. Stopped for lunch along the way for about 40 minutes and finally arrived at N’Kwazi Campsite at 5.50pm – what a long day. Total of 418 miles driving. There is an hours time change here – put your watches back one hour (only at a certain time of the year though)!

03 Aug Depart N’Kwai at 9am and stopped in Grootfontein about 12.05, then departed at 12.33 – just wanted to get some nice bread and rolls. (Zambia does not have the best bread around)! Arrive Waterberg Wilderness Camp at 4.30pm, I phoned to book from Grootfontein – what a fantastic campsite. We have a lovely dinner and then an early night. We decided to stay 2 nights here as you can go for walks and game drives in the reserve. We book for the early morning hike up onto the plateau. Total of 343 miles driving.

04 Aug Up early and have a fabulous shower and some breakfast before the 3-4 hour walk. Andres is our guide and fortunately we are the only 2 on this walk this morning. Andres points out certain plants and their medicinal properties that the Bushman use them for. We see loads of animal tracks all around, but only see a Damara dikdik on the way up. The scenery is stunning and the plateau is quite awesome – a 200m high plateau which is about 50km by 16km and dominates the whole area. We spot some rock dassies and klip springer whilst climbing up to the top. Views from the top are awesome – we don’t manage to see any of the wildlife up top which includes white & black rhino, buffalo, giraffe, baboon, oryx, kudu and other small antelope. We see evidence of all of them though!! We have a break overlooking the Kalahari which seems to go on forever. Then make our way down again via Plateau Lodge. All in all a great walk and well worth doing. Relaxing in the afternoon is the highlight of the day for me – as all the travelling makes you exhausted and Martin now agrees as well. Can’t wait to get home and see Wizzy and Tristram. Have a lovely dinner and another fairly early night.

05 Aug Depart Waterberg at 8.30am and stop at Okahandja for a bite to eat for about half an hour. Arrive at Chameleon Backpackers around 12.30. Meet Claire who is going to show us how to get to Jackie & Bossie’s place. I have spoken to Jackie and she said to stay at their place – no one home tonight, but she is back tomorrow, so will be able to catch her up with our travels then. 168 miles total driving today.

Okay I think I am up to date with the text now, so will try and put some more photos on also for you all to see.

Hope your all well and love and hugs to all xxx

Wayne & Lucy in their best 'threads'!!

Lovely dress Lucy.. what is it Prada, Gucci, Valentino????

Thanks a million to you two for a wonderful time in Sinazongwe and hopefully see you in December/January in UK.

Cooksons Wildebeest at North Luangwa

24 Jul Martin took the trailer off to the guy down the road who has a welder, while I stayed back at the camp to update the blog a bit. Martin arrived back as they will not be able to get onto the trailer until 11am. So we have some coffee and then head into town. We go to Manda Hill Shopping Centre and have a lovely big breakfast first. Then walk down to Shoprite to get supplies on board, but they are on strike and it is closed. So we then go into Woolworths where I manage to buy some warmer trousers as I am really feeling the cold here at the moment. We then decide to go to Arcades Shopping Centre back up the road and do our shopping at Spar and then all the meat at Zambeef. Oh yeah I forgot Martin had a well needed haircut yesterday – he was starting to look like a woolley sheep!! Once all the shopping is done we then head back to see how they got on with the trailer. They have made a great job and it will definitely hold until we get back down to Worcester where the Bushwakka guys can fix it properly for us. We have a lovely dinner and get off to bed as it will be an early morning. The steak is fabulous at Pioneer Camp, Martin has had the same meal three nights in a row now!

25 Jul Depart Pioneer Camp at 6.20am to try and beat the traffic through the middle of Lusaka. Stop the other side of Lusaka and fuel up for the drive. Stopped for a bit of breakfast for around half an hour and then carry on to Batoka where we turn off to Lake Kariba and Sinazongwe. We have a good tarred road most of the way it is only the last about 17kms which is on a dirt road. We arrive at Wayne & Lucy’s place about 12.30 and it is great to see Lucy. They have a fabulous spot on Lake Kariba. We have some lunch and then a really good catch up, lovely to see Lucy so happy. Wayne is in Livingstone, but will be back this evening. Lucy shows us around the property and the houseboat which is alot bigger than I thought – can sleep about 30 I think. The birdlife around their place is stunning and there must be about 3-4 different sunbirds in the flowering trees. They have got two lovely dogs; Rangi (who was originally Dane’s and Rodney). Rodney is a fox terrior and as there is a female dog up over the hill on heat he is disappearing regularly to see her. We go down to the lake for sundowners as it is quite a tradition and watch the sunset. Meanwhile the Kapenta Rigs have all come into the harbour as the lake is too rough! Apparently the harbour is meant to be a breeding ground and therefore off limits as far as fishing is concerned – they don’t seem to care though and we count around 23 rigs at one stage. Wayne arrives home and then they phone the man who is in charge of the fishing etc to tell him about the number of boats, he says he is in Lusaka but will see what he can do. Wayne laughs and tells us nothing will be done, but they get a text saying that he is sending out some people to see them now ... once again Wayne laughs and says we won’t see anyone. Anyway about an hour or so later a car pulls in and true to his word he has sent people the unfortunate thing is that they don’t have a boat!!! They ask Wayne how they can get out there and he says not sure, they then drive off and call around to see Keith & Leanne who have also complained, but it is too late to be taking your own boats out to try and police these things. We have a lovely dinner and get off to bed hoping that the wind will die down during the night so that we can go out on the lake tomorrow,.204 miles driving in total.

26 Jul Martin wakes at about 4am due to the Kapenta rigs coming in close to shore and leaving the generators running until the sun comes up! I fortunately sleep through the whole commotion. Unfortunately the wind has not dropped and we are not able to get the boat out to go onto the lake so after breakfast we drive around to the campsite for a look. What a stunning spot. We get back to the house and just relax and catch up on all the years that have passed since I last saw them both. We have a fabulous dinner and then show a few of our photos to them over coffee and amarula. A huge big thanks to both Wayne and Lucy for making us so welcome and we can’t wait to see you in the UK!!

27 Jul Have a lovely breakfast and then also some great cheese on toast before we depart at 12.30. Arriv e at Jollyboys at 4.30pm – great to see Kim again and they are very busy as usual. Total drive 173 miles. We go and drop the trailer at Kim & Sue’s house, get changed and head back to Jollyboys as we are going out for dinner with Kim tonight.

We finally managed to catch up with Sue yesterday and had a lovely dinner at Ocean Basket where Annabel also joined us - great to catch up with all the girls.

We are going across to Zimbabwe tomorrow for the day. We willo catch a taxi to the border and walk across the bridge and then catch another taxi into Vic Falls. I have spoken to Garth Pritchard and will be catching up with him and Trish and also hope to catch up with Mags & Leon as well. Also will try and see Rob if he is around. Will be very interesting to see what changes if any there are over that side.

Well hope you are all well and sending love and hugs to all xxx

Martin & Garth at Kapishya Hot Springs

Okay will try again and hopefully this will be Garth & Martin at the Livingstone Memorial.....

Martin & Garth at David Livingstone memorial

23 Jul We get up and drive to Manda Hill Shopping Centre to meet Garth as we have to get our visas extended for another month. He also has to get his work permit reknewed. We have a lovely breakfast at Kilimanjaro Cafe and then head off to the immigration office located by the Intercontinental Hotel. We go straight over whilst Garth tries to find his man. We sign in and are told to wait at an empty desk for a lady to come. We finally have someone arrive after about 40 minutes only to be told that we were in the wrong office! We had explained to the first guy what we wanted, but be neglected to tell us that we couldn’t do it there and the lady that turned up at the desk was in fact a man!! Oh well Africa I guess. We have to wait around for half an hour or so while Garth gets sorted out and then drive down into the city centre which is where the office is. We manage to finally get a park and get to the building which houses immigration. We sign in and go up to the 2nd floor – no one appears to be at reception so we knock on a door down the hall and speak to a man there and tell him we hope we are in the correct office this time – he tells us we are, but we need to see the lady at the front desk. We tell him there was no one there and he says there will be just to go and wait. When we get back to the front desk there is a lady putting away her hair straighing tongs – I ask her if they work well and she pats her hair and says yes – you have to get your priorities right out here you know. Anyway we got the extension no problem and took all of about 2 minutes so all good. We then drop Garth off at his friends so that he can get the bus to Livingstone and then we go to Arcades the other shopping centre to buy some books and get some supplies on board. We happen to meet Polly who worked with Ian out at Bangweulu and decided to do lunch, Ian also joins us which is great to catch up with them both. We get back to Pioneer Camp too late to take the trailer down the road to be welded so we just have an early dinner and off to bed.

Okay slowly but surely I am getting pictures on and getting more up to date for you all. Pole pole as they say in East Africa!! By the way I have managed to get rid of my cold and alot quicker than the last one which is great news, but I have managed to get atheletes foot and I am sure it is from walking around the swamps looking for shoebills! I have finally got some powder spray which will work quickly as it is really icthy and quite sore as well - sorry enough of my manky feet now and hopefully the summer in UK has been a really good one for you all?? I am actually hoping for a white christmas as I have never had one and also because Wizzy loves to shovel the snow around with her nose - all good fun. Will try to get this all finished tomorrow.

Julie, David & Helly have a lovely holiday and hope the weather is nice. How was the sleep in the treehouse?

Well take care and love and hugs to all xxxx

Martin on the first Shoebill trek!

19 Jul After breakfast we depart Buffalo Camp at about 7.50am and arrive back at Mano Gate at 11.35am. Carry on back to Kapishya and after a half hour stop for lunch (which doesn’t involve tuna sandwiches this time) we arrive at Kapishya at 2.20pm. Now about the tuna; only things Martin doesn’t eat is baked beans and tinned tuna. We had a packed lunch prepared for us on the way into Buffalo Camp and Garth forgot to tell them that Martin didn’t eat tinned tuna and you guessed it we had tuna sandwiches in the lunch. It was lovely to get back to Kapishya and to get straight into the hot springs for a soak – just perfect. Mark & Mel have a stunning spot and a huge big thank you to them both for making our stay so fabulous whilst there. Don’t forget to let us know when you are in the UK! We’ll make sure that there is plenty of Amarula. Total drive 95 miles once again.

20 Jul Depart Kapishya with some seeds for a beautiful tree that Mark assures me should grow in UK – will have to see how they go once I get back to UK. We leave at 8.50am and head towards Mutinondo Wilderness. None of us has been here before and so we use the satalite navigation system’s help. There is about 4-5 different Mutinondo settings in there and we select one which turns out to not be the main lodge. Nevertheless we arrive at the wrong place at 1.20pm. The drive in is stunning, there are heaps of what they call whaleback grantie hills around and also heaps of what looks like virgin bush. We finally arrive at Mutinondo Lodge at about 2pm. We decide to camp as some of the chalets are open which will be really cold in the evenings and the only other one doesn’t really have such a great view for the price. The campsite is lovely with great abultions anyway. As we arrived so late we opt to have dinner at the lodge as our meat is all frozen. We go for a walk in the afternoon and this place is great for walking, good tracks and loads of waterfalls and the birds are awesome. We get back to camp around dark and go up to the bar for drinks before dinner. Have a nice dinner and then off to bed for a well deserved sleep. 136 miles in total and the dirt road in is very good compared to the roads we have been travelling on lately.

21 Jul Martin & Garth are up reasonably early, but I take awhile to trundle out of my bed – the snoring last night was to say the least extremely loud and I feel terrible from lack of sleep. Martin & Garth have found a crack in the chassis of the trailer which gives us a fear bit of concern. We will have to try and strengthen it before we leave Mutinondo. Martin decides to stay and work on the trailer whilst Garth and I go for a walk. After I have made a huge breakfast for us all with lovely strong coffee as well. The plantlife, birdlife and whole surroundings here seem quite different from what we have seen so far. It is hard to capture the experience by photo, but we have a fabulous walk for about 3 hours or so – magical with loads of cool more birds for my book. We get back and Martin has only must received the metal to try and fix the trailer temporary to get us 30km down the road to a welder. We have some lunch and Martin fixes the trailer as best he can. We decide that either Garth or myself will drive out on the dirt road tomorrow as we are much slower careful drivers. We have dinner and also an early night as tomorrow could be a long day with the stop at the welder.

22 Jul Depart Mutinondo at 8.05am with a limping cracked trailer. We arrive at Munungu (at the quarry which has a welder) at 10.10am. The repairs are done to get us to Lusaka and we depart around 10.50am. We arrive at Pioneer Camp around 6.45pm – what a long day! We are staying in a chalet and order dinner at the bar, which will take an hour (almost too long for me as I just want to sleep)! Anyway we have a lovely dinner which I can’t really do justice to and then hit the hay!

I am trying to get as many photos on as possible, but they are taking a long time so may have to give up for now and try again tomorrow.

Love to all xxx

Okay lets try that again...
Claire & Tabitha (fingers crossed it works this time).

On another note I think we are both getting a bit tired of travelling and I know I am really looking forward to getting home in September. I can't wait to see Wizzy who I have missed terribly. Although we have been seeing and staying at places with some beautiful dogs there is nothing like your own little pooch.

It has also been really cold over here, we even had one morning at 5 degrees on the last trip which was just too cold in a tent! I have had to buy some warmer clothes whilst in Lusaka, also due to the fact that hand washing ruins your clothes alot quicker than anything else.

I am off to lunch now so will try and update again later this afternoon to get you right up to where we are now. Garth is coming this afternoon to finalise all the details of our next trip which should be good.

Take care love to all xxx

Claire & Tabitha at home.

17 Jul Today we are off to Buffalo Camp in North Luangwa, this property is also owned by the Harveys and is one of the oldest camps in North Luangwa. I have a friend Claire Lewis who is based in North Luangwa, she works for the Frankfurt Zoological Society and is involved with the black rhino introduction into the park – we are hoping to be able to call in and see her on the way. We are leaving the trailer at Kapishya as the roads are bad and we are using the full board facilities at camp. Still it is a bit of a squeeze with luggage and we also take Hannah with us who will be our cook whilst in camp. Depart Kapishya at 9.15am and arrive at Mano Gate at 11.45am. Beautiful park with loads of potential and only hope they can stop the poaching soon. An elephant had been poached a few days before we arrived. We got to control on the hill which is smack bang in the middle of the rhino sanctuary and see the ranger. He tries to radio Claire, but no reply. He gives directions and we head on down to see her. Arrive at Marula Camp at 1.15pm and find her working away – how awesome to catch up with Claire, I think it has been about 5.5 years since we last saw each other. We have drinks and a big catch up – Tabitha finally wakes up (Claires 5 month old daughter) and I get to meet her as well, what a little sweetie and so good. Ed Claire’s partner is away – whilst sitting looking over the river we see buffalo and elephant – what a stunning spot. We hear all about the rhino programme and hope all goes well with the next introduction. There are heaps of tse fly here in North Luangwa and are a real pain in the butt. Too soon we have to carry on and make our way to camp. We get to Buffalo Camp about 4.20pm and settle in. Total in miles 95 today. We go off on a small game drive as you have to be back in camp before dark. Seems like a lovely region with loads of lion, buffalo and hyena around. We manage to see an elephant shrew which is really cool. Have a lovely dinner and head off to bed – the staff had to put another bed in our room with no end to it and a huge mozzie net for Martin – too big for normal beds. Wake up during the night alot due to the noise of the lions who have killed a buffalo down the road – at one stage they are around the back of the camp and are loudly calling to each other – awesome! I love the sounds of Africa.

18 Jul Early start and we are off with our ZAWA Scout for a walk. We see the Cooksons Wildbeest whilst walking which is very cool. They are very different with a salmon coloured underbelly and out of all the wildebeest are the prettiest – if you can call them that. It is lovely to get out and stretch the legs for a couple of hours. We start back to camp and stop close to the river to have a small walk along the banks of the river – it really is a stunning park. Back to camp for breakfast and we are asked what eggs we want – Garth & I opt for poached. About 10 minutes later Hannah comes and apologies as no one in camp including herself knows how to poach an egg – we go for fried! We are going for a game drive this afternoon with sundowners by the river. We are hoping to get to the confluence, but it is too far so are content with a nice spot by the river instead. We see an elephant come to drink and then crosses to the other side – fabulous. On the way back we see 3 genets which is pretty cool. Get back for a lovely dinner and a few drinks watching the stars.

We should be starting out on the next part of our journey on about 2nd August and it should be about 10-12 days. I am really looking forward to seeing South Luangwa to see if it has changed much - it has been years since I last went there and Martin has never been. Also really excited about Lower Zambezi as I am hoping to be able to try my hand at Tiger fishing ... watch this spot!

On Thursday we will be going across to Zimbabwe for the day to catch up with friends on that side. We won't be taking the car as it is UK registered, but will just walk across the bridge and see whoever is around. I am looking forward to seeing if there are any changes that side as well.

We will have a few days here in Livingstone catching up on washing and getting fresh supplies on board before taking off on the next adventure.

Love and kisses to you all xxx

The black lechwe and wattled cranes on the plains at Bangweulu (Chikuni Game Management Area)

14 Jul We depart Ian’s place at about 8.15am and retrace our steps through the plains filled with black lechwe and wattled cranes (the causeway is uncrossable and has became a bicycle track for the local people). We once again travel through the ‘Gaza Strip’ with the sounds of give me my pen, money and sweets disappearing behind us. We arrive at the ZAWA checkpoint at about 10.45am and try to find a shop selling cigarettes as Martin is scared that he will run out. They only sell methol in this region so get one packet as a back up. We arrive at the gate to Lavushi Manda National Park, which we will be transitting through at about 11.40am. Roads are really bad in this region with a top speed of around 15km per hour; in fact some of the roads or should I say tracks look more like cattle of cycle tracks than roads! Upon asking the ranger at the gate what is inside this park we hear that sable are present, but upon asking if we are likely to see anything the reply is a definite no! It seems that there is a hell of alot of poaching still in this area. We leave the gate at around 12.55 and head through the park and true to the rangers word don’t see any sign of wildlife at all, even the birds are thin on the ground. We stop in Mpika to get some fresh supplies, what a horrible dirty little town – we get hasseled by local people for money and anything really. Not so many shops about either, I struggle to find most things, but we manage to get enough after going to about 4-5 different shops. We arrive at Kapishya Hot Springs at around 5pm and what a little gem of a place. Mark & Mel Harvey are awesome and we have great fun with them. We decide to go full board here as Mel is a fabulous cook and it is great to have someone else cooking for a change – gets a bit tiring cooking every day especially after a long days drive. We have a lovely evening and enjoy hearing Mark’s stories and also recounting our Shoebill experience to them. He puts us right on the so called Chaplin’s Barbets we have seen. They are actually Black Backed Barbets and quite common in this region.

15 Jul Have a great breakfast and then decide to spend the day walking around the region, the gardens are beautiful and birdlife is prolific here – we spend a few hours walking around the gardens, sables, go see the brick works and walk back along the river. We manage to loose Martin along the way (he is not as enthusiastic as I am about the birds). Have a great lunch and then decide to go and see the water fall in the afternoon. Apparently ZESCO the electric company here are planning to put in a hydro station at some point so we get to see the falls before they are completely ruined. Northern Zambia has lots of water falls and heaps of hidden little stunning spots to see what an amazing part of the country. The springs themselves are great, at a constant 40 degree temperature it is fantastic to sit in them and just relax and the birdlife around the springs is fab as well. I have about 2 hours sitting in them (fortunately alone which is lovely) with my binoculars trying to spot new birds. When I get out I am as red as a beetroot and look as if I am ready to burst... We have a lovely meal and evening once again.

16 Jul Today we decide to go up to the main house Shiwa N’gandu (Stewart Gore Brown built this English mansion years ago) and have a tour of the house and then go down to the lake have a picnic and walk around. The house itself needs alot of work in quite a bad state of disrepair and I suspect alot of money will be needed to get it back to it’s former glory. It is fascinating to think about how alot of the furniture was bought in by ox cart years ago and how long it must have taken on those journeys as there were no roads existing then. We meet Charlie Mark’s older brother who lives in the house with his wife and he tells us about some of the history and also where we should walk around the lake. He also tells us about the original site that was chosen for the house which still has remanents of the old brick kilns that made all of the bricks for the house. We decide to go and check it out after our picnic and walk by the lake. The estate is stocked with quite alot of wildlife, mainly antelope and we manage to spot Kafue lechwe, wildebeest, zebra and puku. When we get to the original house site we also spot sitatunga in the swamp. We get back to Kapishya and go sit in the springs for about an hour – lovely.

I will keep trying to get updated fully and also as many photos on as possible. Hope you are all fit and well. We have made a big decision to go back south rather than transit up north after our next part of our trip through Zambia. Main reasons are due to the fact that we have cracked the trailer chassis and there is also other work that needs doing on the car and trailer. Rather take it back to who made it to fix as they know there product the best. We will take off on about 2nd August to do Lower Zambezi and South Luangwa and then come back down through Livingstone and then transit through Namibia and into South Africa. We should be flying back to UK on about 10-12 September.

Love and hugs to all xxx

The famous SHOEBILL STORK!!!! My god it is the hardest trek I have ever done in my life - never to be repeated....

Okay I am trying something knew here so hope it works. I am keeping a diary of sorts or should I say an itinerary (after the fact) of where we have been and what we have been doing - fingers crossed!

09 Jul Early up at the hide in the mahogoney tree to watch for sitatunga – we see 6 in total and also spot Chaplins Barbet (NOT) turns out it is Black Backed Barbet. Go have breakfast and then go for a walk around the park for a couple of hours. Go check out the hide a few times during the day and also take a walk down to the weir. Go for a game drive in the afternoon – hear shots fired at one stage and make a quick retreat out of the area (turns out it was poachers and the anti poaching unit got onto it quickly).

10 Jul I have a horrible cold again, so stay in bed. Garth & Martin go to the hide and spot sitatunga again. Depart Fibwe Camp at 9.50am and return to Wasa to pay park fees etc. Takes about ½ an hour to finally pay – vehicle $15 US per day, Non-residents $10 per person per day and residents $7 per person per day. Depart Kasanka at 11.15am. Drive to Livingstone Memorial spend about ½ an hour there. Arrive Lake Waka Waka at 3.30pm. Go for a walk beside the Lake. 68.4 miles total drive.

11 Jul Depart Lake Waka Waka at 8.30am (50,000KW per person per night) and arrive Ian’s place at Chikuni at 2.45pm. Kids all along the route yelling give me my pen, money, sweets, googles and shades!! Go for a drive around the plains where there are thousands of Black Lechwe and Wattled Cranes – stunning! Last 20km or so before Ian’s place (he calls the Gazza Strip)!¬! Have a lovely braai with Ian & Polly. Roads are pretty bad top speed of around 15km per hour.

12 Jul Go for an early morning game drive out into the plains again – also jump out and take a walk see a herd of 15 Tsessebe which we think is great!! Get back to Ian’s and it turns out that there is usually a herd of around 1000!!! Get to the boat station in the afternoon for our Shoebill expedition (200,000KW per person per trip). Banana boats which are alot more comfortable than a moccoro – we have Cotton & Manuel (ranger/guide). Pole up to Shoebill Camp which to be honest is a dive! Have a drink and then continue on up stream. Stop at a village to pick up to local guides in their own canoe (Tarzan & ??). Continue up stream until the water becomes too shallow to use boats. Get down to the bare feet and begin the walk/wade through the swamps/marshes to find the elusive Shoebill. Wading through disgusting water at times and up to your thighs at times. Very hard work and have to get taken across the river by canoe at one point. Seems a fisherman saw one, but the villagers had scared it off at it chomped through the fishing lines/nets. Martin finds it difficult walking in bare feet and after about 1 ½ hours – no Shoebill. Start making our way back to the boat when Tarzen points out poachers (with dogs after the lechwe). We think that they start walking us that way before we tell them we came to see Shoebill not poachers. All very difficult, no one tells you what is going on – Dee has a bit of a tantrum. At one point my binoculars are taken off me by Tarzen and he tells me to wait here – I see him disappearing into the swamps (never to be seen again?? Who knows). But no he goes up a tree to try and spot another bird for us, but the sun is getting low – too late today. Get back to the boat and start our way back to Chikuni – dark by the time we get back (after telling them we don’t want to call in at Shoebill Camp on the way home. We will try again tomorrow. Polly makes a lovely pasta dinner for us all – fabulous!

13 Jul Martin decides that he will stay at camp (feet too sore for a repeat trip)! Garth and Dee get dropped off at boat station at 6.30am. Ian & Polly are off to Chiundaponde for a couple of days so say goodbye before leaving. Make our way up stream without the stop at Shoebill Camp this time ($370US per person per night – can you believe it)! Once again pick up the 2 boys who guide you to the birds (hopefully we will be lucky today)! It is early in the morning and still quite cold so when we stop the boat we reluctantly take off our shoes, long trousers and jackets and then have to step into the cold murky water – ouch its bloody cold! So the trek begins. Our guide takes his pole from the boat with him and I make the remark to Garth that he doesn’t trust the people around there!! We walk and walk in about up to knee deep water at times and then we are put up on a dry mound of grass and told to wait – they all bugger off and leave us, disappear into the swamps. They return and tell us that we now have to walk through very deep water to get to the other side of the river. We get to a deep part which is up to their waists and they put the pole over this area and we are told to walk along the pole! Now the mystery is clear and we pass the test of pole walking first up only to have me fall off the pole later in the trek (camera and all). We get to an area of swampy reed beds which are literally floating on top of the water – some are thick and others very thin. At this stage Tarzen takes Garth’s hand and leads him whilst I have Cotton take mine. They make motions of walking very fast over this region which we try to do. I can only describe the feeling as trying to walk really fast on a huge bouncy castle, legs sort of up to your neck and trying to walk fast over the moving beds before sinking through. At times when we do sink through our guides drag us out quickly and pull us along. At one stage I get the giggles, you know the type when you just can’t stop. Cotton turns to me and says shish madam, shish madam and the more he says it the more I giggle. It is all just such a surreal feeling... are we really doing this. They have told us that they have found a bird, when I ask how far away they reply is “it’s not far” famous last words! On falling off the pole at one stage I am then almost up to my neck in water, but manage to keep my camera above water. They start to try and pull me up, but I am yelling the camera, the camera so one of them takes the camera, another sees that my binoculars are almost in the water and he grabs them and pulls them up – to Garth looking back it looks like they are pulling me up by the neck with my binoculars (oh to be a fly on the wall with a camera)! Whilst walking, wading falling through these reed beds we hear hippos all around us and they are very close at times – not a nice feeling. Finally we are told to go carefully, slowly and quietly and then we see the Shoebill – my God it is even more prehistoric looking than you can imagine and big, but the big beady eye is very disconcerting and he really stares at you. A big bird up to 1.4 metres in height and related to the Dodo I believe. Tarzen says see fire, fire, fire (meaning take pictures), well after all that with legs like jelly, shaking hands and hyperventilating it is very difficult to keep the camera still for photos, but we manage somehow, I think we both stopped breathing so that we could get the first pictures. After being with the Shoebill for about 5-10 minutes it takes to the air and I manage to get some good pictures in flight as well. We both look at each other and laugh, but the hippos are not happy with us being so close and let us know very loudly. We are asked if we want to see hippo, but we politely refuse as its not the ideal situation to spot hippo in – almost in their pool!! Whilst walking back Garth gets the first leach on his ankle and Cotton says sorry sir wait and proceeds to pull it off, none of your nice painless sprinkle with salt or anything like that just grab and rip it off your leg. I also get one on the way back and it takes about 4 tries to rip it off and boy it hurts. We finally get back to the boat and upon looking down at our legs we have about a billion paper cuts from our toes up to where our shorts come to and the blood is seeping out – not very pretty I assure you. Who cares we saw a shoebill. When we get back we are absolutely knackered and a welcome hot shower is fabulous, but that is when all the cuts sting like hell and start to bleed. After applying antiseptic spray and cream it feels like you have the worst sunburn ever, but we saw a shoebill. It is a trek not for the faint hearted and my recommendation would be a pair of waders if you want to try to see this incredible bird. For me awesome and stunning, but a once in a life time experience and never to be repeated. Late that afternoon we go for a game drive on the plains and once again marvell at the herds of black lechwe and flocks of wattled cranes.

Will try and finish this off a little later - just going for dinner now. Love and hugs to you all xxx

Our campsite at Fibwe Hide Camp in Kasanka N.P.

We set off North with Garth (our guide) on 07 July, started on our merry way abeit very slowly as they are doing up the main road between Lusaka and Livingstone. The first 50km or so was horrible to the point where you actually go off the main road onto a dirt track which had a few major potholes in it, but there was much worse to come!!!

Just as we were driving into the village of Ruze the side back window exploded (with a huge bang, just shattered), my God I thought I had been shot at!! I was the sucker in the back that day, but it seems that it just decided to blow of its own accord. So we had to get out the hoover/vacumn cleaner to clear up all the glass in, around and over me and the back of the car. Once done it was a windy old trip up to Fringilla Lodge on the Great North Road.

We camped and had a lovely dinner there and the following morning their carpenter arrived to help repair the damage. He made a lovely plywood window for us which Garth and Martin then covered in silver duct tape - looks as good as new... well almost. At least we have a window of sorts.

We carried onto Kabwe where we were getting on our supplies and the sim card for the computer, also Garth needed money, but unfortunately no Standard Chartered Bank there. We carried on to Mkushi to fuel up and Garth trying for money but once again no Standard Chartered bank. We were able to get money from the ATM to see us through this part of the trip.

Got to Kasanka National Park and drove to Wasa the main camp to sign in and ask about activities etc. Then we drove to Fibwe Hide Camp which was beautiful. Set up camp (Martin got biten by ants while putting up the tent). Went for a game drive in the area to see the lay of the land.

I made a lovely roast chicken dinner in the potjie pot and we got off to bed. I seem to be getting another horrible cold at this point. The temperature has dropped considerably up in this neck of the woods.

We got up really early to go up to the hide which was located about 12-14 metres up in a huge mahogoney tree to try and spot sitatunga. We waited freezing our butts off for about an hour before we finally saw one - how exciting. By the time we came down after about 3 hours we had seen 6 in total - very awesome. We also saw what we thought were a pair of Chaplins Barbet (only to find out later they were in fact Black Backed Barbet - thanks Mark)!

Came down and had a lovely breakfast then went on a walk with a scout through some of the forest and miombo woodland. What a fabulous place - had a lovely walk and also saw out first Ross's Turaco very cool. Then we went for a drive in the afternoon - started out great until we heard a gunshoot close by whilst driving. After making a hasty retreat we carried on down another region of the park. We found out the next day it was poachers and the anti poaching unit had been dispatched fairly quickly - so we can only hope they got the buggers.

Well it has gotten to dark for me to carry on today so will finish the update tomorrow. Hope you are all well and sending big huge hugs and kisses to all xxx

Kim & Sue from Jollyboys - cool chicks and very dear friends!!

Well sorry it has taken so long to update you all, but we had a small glitch in the system! When we got the card in Kabwe the lady said it would take an hour to open the access for us (which is done in Lusaka). So once I got to an area when I could get wireless I tried, but alas they had not done it - very annonying. Now that we are back in Lusaka, I spoke to the lady in Kabwe today and she was very annoyed to hear that they had not done it - so needless to say she was right on it and now I have got access - YIPEE!!

Boy do I have some stories to tell.... Northern Zambia is just stunning, awesome and unbelievablely beautiful. But will get back to you soon. xxx

Double rainbow at the falls on the Zambia side - very cool.

Bum Hill Campsite - for those of you who doubt this would be the real name.

We are getting everything ready for our early departure tomorrow morning - well as much as you can on a public holiday. We will have to pick up a few things in Lusaka as you get alot more choice and it is usually cheaper there.

The car is sorted out again and although not looking very pretty will hopefully be able to take the weight of the tyres on the rack with no problem now - time will tell and will keep you all posted.

The reception and access for internet and cell phones seems to be much better in Zambia than any other country so far, so hopefully I will be able to update the blog more easily on this trip.

Love to all xxx

Pickle - the dog we were sitting for the weekend before last!

She's a beautiful little dog and thinks she is as big as an elephant! Would take on anything if allowed to - no fear!

This is where we had dinner for Sue's birthday.

I am trying to get a few more photos on now so that you can see what we have been up to.

Feet washing and drying!!!

Just to give you all a little bit of insight as to what we are doing over the next 2 weeks.

From Lusaka we go to Kasanka National Park, then onto Lake Waka Waka from there to Lake Bangweulu then through to Kundalia Falls and onto Kapishya Hot Springs followed by North Luangwa and then back through Shiwa and down to Mutinondo Wilderness.

Very exciting and can't wait as these are places that I have loved to see in the past, but of course none of the trucks go there - hopefully there won't be many people around which always makes it all the more special.

Take care love to all xxx

All os us on Livingstone Island.

The trip to Livingstone Island is just the best. You are taken by boat almost to the edge of the falls by boat and dropped off on the island. You then get kitted out in your raincoats and taken on a wee guided tour of the island. You literially look directly down the face of the falls with 2 guides holding you (so you don't jump?? fall over the edge), then photos by the edge, and over to the main falls side. You can walk out to the edge of the main falls for more photos and then it is back to the dinning tent.

You get very muddy dirty feet and then you are sat down while one of the guys washes your feet in lovely hot water and then dried by another fellow. Then coffee and tea before the main event...eggs benedict... yummy with muffins and scones. What a fantastic experience. We think we would like to do it again before leaving Zambia, but the lunch time spot this time.

So I think I have now updated you all on our last few days, if I have forgotten anything I will definitely get back on and tell you the stories.

Hope you are all fit and well as we are. Sending loads of hugs and kisses to all xxx