Goodbye Africa!

It's been awesome

10.12.2011 - 08.02.2012

Well it’s hard to believe, but I’m sitting here only a few hours away from flying to Buenos Aires which means our 3 month adventure of Africa is officially over! It’s really hard to sum up the experiences of the last 12 or so weeks but I’m going to give it a try. It’s been simply unreal! We’ve seen so many different sides to Africa during the trip, and as this is the goodbye Africa blog, I guess it would be appropriate to list what we considered to be the highlights and lowlights from the trip, although choosing these is proving to be fairly difficult.

The Masai Mara in Kenya was simply amazing. True it was our first safari and so was likely to be our favourite (it was amazing how blaze even we were about seeing the big 5 by the end of the trip), but seeing the lions, cheetahs, leopard and leopard cubs and what can only be described as the most stunning sunset we’ve ever witnessed means the Mara will forever be imprinted on our hearts. We’ve already chosen a few pictures that will be enlarged and adorning the walls of the house when we return.

The rest and relaxation enjoyed on Zanzibar was fantastic too, and felt a million miles away from the 1* accommodation we endured for most of our stay just a week or so earlier in Ethiopia. Ethiopia itself was fairly hard work, a very humbling and unforgettable experience, and was definitely the country which stirred in us the biggest range of emotions. From the elation of climbing to over 4,500 metres in the beautiful Simien Mountains, to the abject poverty suffered by so many in the various villages we visited.

The adrenaline junkie activities undertaken in Vic Falls and Namibia certainly won’t be forgotten, especially rafting the Zambezi and sky diving over the Namib Desert, although the impact of such activities wasn’t so enjoyable for the bank account…..whoops! Keely and I still vividly recall our numerous conversations back in London which revolved around how we weren’t going to get carried away with all the extra activities! Oh well, you only live once!

The people in Africa also deserve a mention! Not just the great group of people we travelled with which definitely made our trip that much better, but also the locals that always seemed to have a big smile on their face, even though it often seems they don’t really have all that much to smile about.

The only thing that makes the conclusion of our African adventure bearable is that we’re now off to South America to do it all over again! Although in fairness the experiences of the two continents are likely to be very different. Africa was generally laid out on a plate for us care of the 3 tours we travelled on, and we only ever had to rely on being up at the right time to ensure we got to the next destination. South America will be very different in that respect as Keely and I will be organising it all independently, and so it’s more than likely we will end up going the wrong way on a long bus trip due to a wonky Spanish translation! But this will also be the first time we’ve really had to chance to travel on a flexible itinerary, and we’re really looking forward to being able to choose just where we go and how long we stay there.

So it’s with a great sense of mixed emotions that we sign off from Africa, but check back soon as the Adventures of Mike and Keely continue in South America! Hasta la vista, baby!

'Stiffler', our home away from home for 8 weeks

BACK L-R. Kim, Simon, Derek, Chris D, Nathan (on windscreen), Chris P, Me, Mike, Kat, Cordelia, Lauren, Hussain, Alex. FRONT L-R. Gilly, Manola, Annie, Sam