Out Of Africa...

Spitzkoppe

Leaving Africa in less than 24 hours...

In no particular order, here’s my quick “Best Of” after 2 months and 4 countries…

**The women’s fashion in Maputo – especially their hairstyles… from the ’30s to the 2000s and everything in between. Fantastic!

**Spitzkoppe, Damaraland, Namibia. Best place that we camped. Magical sunset.

**Dune 45 in Sossuvlei, Namibia. At sunrise. Pain in the ass to get to – because you have to haul yourself out of bed really early, break camp in the dark and then drive like hell once the gate opens AND THEN just climb the world’s tallest sand dune in order to see the sun rise over the Namib. But totally worth it.


The front of the 4x4 before I stepped on that plastic bit and broke the license plate and "bumper"

**Getting driven to the airport by Morgan and Katie. That was awesome and totally helped us relax after a hectic/hellish week preparing – thanks again!

**Wild oysters in Knyssa, South Africa. Washed down with Mitchell’s draft. Damn fine!

**Seeing giraffes loping about in Etosha Park, Namibia. Giraffes are cool. Weird, but cool.


Chasing a giraffe in Etosha

**Maputo, Mozambique. All of it. Period. Oh, except for Fatima’s Backpackers, which is nasty. One of my favourite cities in the world. That fish market will live on in my stomach’s memory…

**Zanzibar’s cuisine. Oh my, soooo tasty. Worth the trip to Africa on its own.

**Seeing Kilimanjaro for the first time. Powerful. Then seeing it again from the gardens of the Kilemakyaro Lodge while eating warm crisps and drinking Kili beer — with a rainbow appearing over the east slope…

**Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Almost didn’t go. So glad we did. I didn’t understand why the guide said “stunning ethereal blue-green vistas” until I went there and saw for myself. You should too.

**The awesome people that have treated us so well and whom we’ve met along the way: Philippe, Januario, Ali, Sophia, Ilse, Hanneke, Flora, Patricia, John

**The Indian food at the Jacaranda hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha doesn’t have a lot going for it but I would return just to eat this guy’s curry and dal again. Seriously good stuff. He’ll soon have his own place or be snatched up by one of the bigger hotels, no doubt.

**Ok, a subset of best food: prawns at Zambi, Maputo; curry at Jacaranda; sprinkbok shanks at Khaya Ngamay Game Restaurant, Cape Town; cashew fruit, Xai Xai, Mozambique; grilled lobster, fish market, Maputo; wild oysters, Knyssa, South Africa;


Enjoying a nice meal (with wine!) in the desert

Not-so Best Of…

**Helene passing out at 30,000 feet. Somewhere over the Atlantic.

**Helene’s eye swelling up to 3 times normal size. Zanzibar.

**Trying to beat the sun going down en route to God-knows-where. Rural Namibia.

**Getting rained on inside the bus, while standing for 3 hours. Xai-Xai to Vilanculo, Mozambique.