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