Friday 30th May 2008

Today we rolled into Swakopmond for 3 days of relaxing and fun. Played pool with my little shark son and had a great evening with our tour buddies at a nice Italian restaurant – a very civilised part of Africa.
Thursday 29th May 2008
Continuing south and creeping closer to our 3 day respite from the truck in Swakopmond, we arrive in the early afternoon and camp overnight in the Spitzkoppe desert, which is very similar to the countryside between Karratha and Broome, dead flat for as far as the eye can see except for the huge rocky outcrops that sit like God’s leftovers of some mountain range somewhere else on the planet. We are told to zip up our tents because of scorpions and snakes, again, not unlike back home. We spent the afternoon climbing the massive rock that we are camped next to and the evening around a campfire watching “traditional, cultural” dancing and singing which entailed 4 girls and a guy wrapped in springbok skin singing TV ads in their VERY cool language. Seriously, they sang TV ads. Toyota Cressida, Omo and one that required the guy to pretend he was a rooster in the morning, cock-a-doodle-doing and humping one of the hens. Absolutely bizarre. But again it has to be said that although there was nothing traditional OR cultural about it except for maybe the springbok skins, their language is awesome. They use clicks and kissing sounds in their words like the Kalahari do, who live east of here. Their harmonies were pretty cool too, I liked it. Pete

Wednesday 28th May 2008
As we head south towards Swakopmond on Namibia’s west coast, we stopped for the afternoon and night at a cheetah park. These cheetahs have all been captured and are kept here because they were killing farmer’s goats and/or sheep and it was either this or a farmer’s bullet. So these are real, live, wild, bad boys and we get to pat them and watch them being fed donkey meat. It truly is amazing being this close to such powerful animals. Pete

Tuesday 27th May 2008
Another great game drive as we left Etosha national park. The highlight being a pride of 6 lions that we startled and they all ran to take shelter in a drainage pipe underneath the road, but not before we got some great shots! All up we saw 14 lions today. Woo hoo! Pete

Monday 26th May 2008
Another early start as we head for Etosha National Park where the camp ground is situated right next to a water hole. The group did an afternoon game drive but Kaz and I opted to stay and watch the waterhole from the viewing platform, another decision that was validated when the others got back having only seen a few springbok and giraffe, while we watched as 3 jackals, then 3 warthogs came for a drink. We then went to “the fort” for a glass of wine and a family of 4 mongooses fossicked around our feet looking for crumbs. Since we were on a roll with our “staying behind” policy, we also opted out of the night game drive (and saved $75 per person) and once again sat by the waterhole, this time with a glass of red in hand. Now, to get this story into perspective, when we left Australia we were told by everyone in the know that it would be highly unlikely that we would see a leopard, the most elusively shy animal of the “big 5” in Africa and sure enough, after nearly 7 weeks the closest we have gotten is 200m in the Serengeti and even then he was just a silhouetted shape in a tree (We used someone else’s photo who was in a different car). So, we wandered over to the now floodlit waterhole and before we even sat down, a magnificent, large leopard walked right across in front of us to the water, had a drink, then slinked into the long grass and reeds. Decision validated! Unfortunately, the lighting wasn’t enough for our little Cannon camera to get a decent photo, but the image will stay in my mind forever. Pete

The Cannon Ixus 75’s brilliant night vision

highlights the leopard perfectly!

Sunday 25th May 2008
Today is “Africa Day” and we’re off to Namibia which means another 5.30 wake up and early start in case we get held up for hours at the border crossing, which as it turned out was unnecessary as we breezed through the border and arrived at our campsite on the Namibian/Angolan border mid-afternoon and settled in for an enjoyable night including Kaz & I having a wonderful and encouraging chat and prayer with our tour guide, Malou, and then hustling the rest of our gang at pool – what a team! Pete

Saturday 24th May 2008
Today our decision not to go into the Delta was completely validated as our tour buddies returned after 2 nights out there reporting that in 10 hours of game walks they saw nothing but a few impala and heaps of animal droppings! Our scenic flight this afternoon however was much more rewarding as we got to see the magnificent maze of waterways that make up the Okavango Delta complete with elephants, buffalo, zebra, crocs, hippos and of course, impala. The kids loved the small plane, Elijah imagining himself in a Star Wars fighter ship as the pilot dived and climbed steeply in some fun aerial manoeuvres, although Maddi was imagining herself more in a tiny ship in a rolling ocean but fortunately did not fill the sick bag she was staring into. Pete.

Thursday – Friday 22nd & 23rd May 2008
Several things have conspired to cause us to make the decision not to go into the Okavango Delta with the rest of our tour buddies. The big factor influencing our decision is Elijah’s hand. He is in great spirits but it is quite a severe burn and the risk of falling off the mocoro (small wooden canoe) into the water is quite high (fun for those without burn dressings). They also do game WALKS! HELLO? I saw what the lion “cubs” did when they caught sight of Elijah, ie went into kill mode since he is small and their natural instinct is to pick off the young from a herd. Also, there is a high possibility that you won’t see any game anyway which means the highlight of the 3 days would be the mocoro ride and at $700 for the family, that makes for a very expensive boat ride! So, it’s 3 days of maths, emails, volleyball and family time. Pete

Wednesday 21st May 2008

Today we’re off to Maun, 600kms away and our launching pad into the Okavango Delta. It’s a 9 hour drive and when we get there, I should be able to upload the last 2 weeks worth of blog updates. Pete.
Tuesday 20th May 2008
After last night’s accident, I went to bed with Elijah, certain I would need to give him more painkillers every 4 hours, but one pill at 3am was all it took (and I woke him up to give it to him). The others stayed up talking around the camp fire and watched as a herd of 25 elephants marched through our camp! This morning we woke up at 6, Elijah felt great, so we had a cup of tea and headed off for our second game drive in Chobe and saw buffalo, hippo, warthog, elephant, giraffe, and one lion. We then went back to our bush camp for brekky and headed back to town. Fortunately, 2 doctors have joined our tour (they opted out of the overnight safari last night) so they had a look at Elijah’s hand and confirmed that we had done everything right. The best hospital in the world couldn’t have handled it any better. Phew. (It still hurts but Dr John said it won’t scar- Elijah) This afternoon saw us on another safari, this time on the Chobe River on a boat. Up close and personal with elephants and hippos was the order of the day, complimented by a glass of red and another magnificent sunset. Pete.

Dr John takes care of business

Monday 19th May 2008
We had breakfast and started heading off for another adventure, we drove across the border to Kasane, in Botswana to have lunch, and after lunch we packed an overnight bag for the Chobe National park. We all got into a safari car with no doors and started our Game drive. We saw a family of about 20 elephants with a few babies and my favourite moment was when the Mum crossed the road 5 metres away and the baby ran after her. We kept driving and found a few giraffes. We then stopped for a toilet break and to stretch our legs, and Maddi and Mahalia went to the toilet behind the bush, because the man thought there was no animals around, and then Dad came and said as calm as he could, “Girls get into the car now”. And they looked up and there was a huge male elephant about 5 meters away from them hiding behind another big bush! They ran to the car and we drove off as quickly as we could, I laughed. On the way back to our camp we got some photos of elephants, giraffes and buffalos in the beautiful sunset. Dad reckons we must have seen about 150 elephants this afternoon (there are 175,000 elephants in Chobe). Then we got home and had some dinner and sat around the fire. While that happy moment was around I fell off my chair into the fire but the only part of my skin that got burnt was my left hand. I screamed and Dad picked me up and ran me to the nearest esky and put it straight into the ice. Everyone helped and luckily we had special burns cream and painkillers and bandages with us. So it’s ok. Maddi’s typing for me now because I can’t type. Elijah

Sunday 18th May 2008
OH.MY.GOSH. Jumping off a balcony into Zanzibar water, I’ve done. Jumping off a 100m cliff. I’VE ALSO DONE!!! It was so much fun. Yes, today we went on the Gorge swing. Hopping out of the car and overlooking the enormous cliff face was breathtaking. We all put on our harnesses and got ready for the BIG jump. Mahalia was first, she was so brave, the man held her back like a sling-shot and 5, 4,3,2,1 she sprang into the air and straight into a 70m freefall before the rope snapped tight and started swinging her, another 20m closer to the raging river, until the man winched her back up. She said it was incredible but she couldn’t think much about it at first because of all the shock. After some of the others had a go Elijah took one look and wanted to go tandem with Mum so they went next, 5, 4,3,2,1. After being pulled up Elijah decided not to do it again, the shock was a bit too much for him, but I just couldn’t wait. I went next and the first 3 seconds of it is fine because you are ready to feel like you’re falling, but after those 3 seconds it’s pretty scary! You just keep falling and falling and falling and by this point my mouth was dry my organs went straight up into my head and I couldn’t stop screaming. It was actually funny. Then all of a sudden I was caught by the rope and I was feeling happy again. It was so much fun that I did it again for an extra $20 after Dad’s turn. To be honest I think if you weren’t scared it wouldn’t be that fun. Dad was so funny, all of us were watching him and when he jumped he dived in starfish style! He was pulled back up the cliff and was so stoked!!! It was an awesome start to the day, I’m still excited about it.

After lunch it was another awesome massage for Mum & Dad and I got a pedicure. Mahalia got French tips on her toes the other day so I got red. The lady gave me a really nice foot massage and I loved every bit of it. It was a nice treat. Well the reason why we came here is because... Victoria Falls! so after the massage we went on the falls scenic walk. It was Beautiful. On the first platform we were getting drops of water hitting us, just from the spray, and each platform that got closer and closer we got wetter and wetter. By the end we were drenched and we couldn’t take the camera out or it would get completely wet. There was also this amazing coloured rainbow that was so clear but afterwards it was a bit hard to see from all the spray. By the end we still managed to get soaking wet even with rain coats on! (Fact – Victoria Falls is the largest sheet of water in the world, and David Livingstone discovered it in 1857.) Mum and dad met a lady there who was a Christian and they prayed for the election in Zimbabwe together that is coming up in July. Well it was a HUGE day and we were all wasted so everyone had dinner at a pizza shop and came home. I’m sooo tired!! xoxoxoxoxo Maddi

Camera wet, us wet, everything blurry

COMMENT ADDED BY MADDI ON WEDNESDAY 21ST MAY!

I’m still really happy I jumped the gorge swing twice...

Saturday 17th May 2008
Today was massage day! Kaz had her birthday prezzie and I tagged along for the strongest, deepest massage of my life! The masseuse gave me what I now call “the elbow of death” which brought tears to my eyes but after all these weeks on the truck it was much needed. Kaz & I booked in for another session tomorrow. Mahalia joined Kaz for her first pedicure too which according to Kaz is one of the best treatments she’s ever had. In the afternoon we walked with lions. REAL lions! WILD lions! (They’re only 13 months old and still considered “cubs” but Elijah was still too young). Pete
P.S: That was absolutely surreal-!!!!!- Maddi

Friday 16th May 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAZ! Gino had secretly organised for a special bacon & eggs brekky for Kaz this morning. The kids had prepared balloons and a card from everyone on the truck and they all pitched in and bought her a pedicure, manicure and full body massage which she will have tomorrow in Zimbabwe in the town of Victoria Falls. Unfortunately though, we had to say farewell to Gino today as she flies off to her next destination and we cross the border into Zim. She has become a very close friend and we will miss her greatly. Crossing the Zambezi River gave us our first glimpse of the mighty Victoria Falls. The spray soaks everything and the roar is awesome. Can’t wait to get a closer look. We had dinner at the Vic Falls casino and enjoyed a great show put on by “The Black Eagles” a traditional African dance and singing troupe. They did an amazing rendition of “In da Jungle” and sang a birthday song to Kaz. A very cool night. Pete

Tuesday 13th – Thursday 15th May 2008
We’re off to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, which is a 3 day drive through Zambia. Not much to tell but looonnngg days and early mornings got us to Livingstone, Zambia’s capital right near the border of Zim just in time for a sunset “booze cruise” on the Zambesi River. Very noice! (Picked up the Bilharzia pills at a chemist in Livingstone. You can relax now!) For the past week the girls have been taking turns at sharing a tent with Gino, so tonight being our last night with her, they decided to all squeeze into one tent together, including Elijah. We suspect they ate some yummy midnight snacks though they are all sworn to secrecy so we’ll never really know!

Monday 12th May 2008
Another day spent relaxing by Lake Malawi and another opportunity for Maths homework. Elijah braved the Lake which has the infamous bladder-eating Bilharzia bug that gets into your body through your skin. Although last week’s test showed that this section of the lake is Bilharzia free, rest easy grandparents, I think I’ll still pick up the Bilharzia pill first chance I get. Pete

Sunday 11th May 2008
Well today we drove south along Lake Malawi and arrived in a town just before lunch and drove to a market. Malou, our guide, gave us all someone’s name that were on the tour out of a hat, without telling anyone we all went into the chaotic markets to buy our person a Crazy outfit that they had to wear to dinner tonight!!!! Small pathways, little shops, people yelling and trying to sell you stuff, shoving items into your face, the smells. Well it wasn’t very pleasant. Mum went back into the bus she couldn’t handle it and we were only 3 steps into the chaos. We came across some extremely bad-taste-clothes-shops. Most of us came back on the bus with some cheap bargains we managed to get our outfits down from like $7 to $4. But unluckily one of the girls from the tour got her wallet stolen off her with lots of money! Everyone tried to chase him but I tell you, that market was like a maze so it wasn’t easy. She didn’t get it back in the end. While they were reporting the incident to the police, dad and Elijah played football with some local kids in the carpark who had asked us for our empty water bottles so they could sell them and raise money for their schooling. Mum went and bought them some pens and exercise books from the shop and they were extremely grateful. Mum handed one kid his book and pen and as she turned and walked back to the truck we saw him do a little dance in his excitement. His name was Happy. We then drove to our camp by the lake and set up tents, had showers and got ready to swap clothes... The faces on some people were hilarious. One by one we swapped clothes to our secret people. I got an ugly purple skirt with leopard skin tight pants to go underneath. EwWwWwWwWwWwW. Most of the guys were dressed as girls and poor Jock, who was Mahalia’s person was dressed as a belly dancer! HaHa. Dad had a dress! Mum had an even uglier dress! Elijah was dressed as a Masi, and Mahalia, funnily enough got Jock. He definitely got her back, little miss alien! It was SUCH a fun night, full of laughter. Everyone had a great time. Maddi

Saturday 10th May 2008

Another well deserved rest day and opportunity to catch up on school work. We can’t really take advantage of the long road trips to do maths ‘cause the truck bounces around too much so days like this are gold and it’s hard to imagine a more picturesque spot to go to school. Last night after the kids hit the sack a bunch of us stayed up playing darts and then moved to Jenga. I have to say, it was the best game of Jenga any of us have ever had! On our last attempt we built our little Jenga tower up to the 30th row on a wobbly table and were absolutely beside ourselves as each person successfully removed another seemingly impossible-to-get block. The atmosphere was electric and the banter was hilarious! Who would have thought Jenga would deliver such a memorable moment? Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and today we met 8 of the boys from the local village orphanage who were playing on the beach. They have no toys or footballs and very little in the way of school stationary so we bought them all a Sprite and donated some money to help them out. Kaz also supported the local economy buying necklaces, bracelets and other assorted things for our friends back home from the local artisans who are amazing craftsmen. These guys were trading magnificently carved chairs for a couple of t-shirts with some of our fellow travellers. We finished the day with a pig on the spit and a bon fire on the beach which was kinda spoiled by one of the local witchdoctor voodoo-type guys getting himself into a trance and then eating burning coals from the fire to entertain us. Needless to say, we didn’t stay for that bit. Pete

Wednesday 7th – Friday 9th May 2008
All good things must come to an end as was the case for our time in Zanzibar. Last night was a fitting end though. We had a fresh huge kingfish and a tuna BBQed on the beach. Then it was 3 days of travelling to get to Malawi where once again we had a beautiful beachside camp ground, this time on Lake Malawi, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world. Day 1, Northern Zanzibar (Nungwi) back to Dar Es Salaam; day 2, Dar to Iringa (still in Tanzania); day 3, cross the border into Malawi and down to Chitimba Beach on the lake. These long trips in the truck are killers, but nothing like the ones in Uganda and Kenya. The roads here are far better so we cover much more ground. Observing the beautiful scenery is punctuated by games of boggle and trying to catch up on sleep as we tend to have dinner late and get up at 5am so we can pack up tents and leave by 6am each morning. Pete