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Quit the City: December 2005

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Saturday, December 17, 2005. London to Cape Town, South Africa . . . Howzit". We left London without a hitch. My slip on a banana peel during the last walk down to Osteria Basilica for lunch, was more of an omen than a hitch. I was just not quite sure what it signified at the time, but it became clear a few weeks later. South African Airways initial refusal to let us on the plane was a learning experience rather than a ‘hitch’, according to Phil. After climbing Table Mountain and driving around Cape Peni...

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Quit the City: April 2006

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006. Ilha da Moçambique, Ibo Island and the north of northern Moçambique . . . Salamu Sana. After a few days travelling the width of northern Mozambique we made it to the coast - to Ilha da Mozambique (literally 'Mozambique Island' and known to locals as 'Ilha'). Ilha is the oldest European settlement in East Africa and is a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site . It was the Portuguese capital until it was replaced by what is now Maputo . Thankfully, Phil has seen the movie,. And decided agai...

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Quit the City: June 2006

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Friday, June 23, 2006. From Nairobi to Mombasa to Lamu and back again, Kenya . . . "Come back tomorrow". Nairobi (nicknamed ‘Nairobbery’) is, according to our guidebook, commonly regarded as the most dangerous city in Africa. A bold and an unlikely claim, given what is going on in parts of the rest of the continent. Distance from Nairobi to Mombasa = 425 km. Scheduled hours of travelling time on the train = 14 hours. Time it actually took us to get there =21 hours. Time it actually took us to get there =...

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Quit the City: January 2006

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Tuesday, January 31, 2006. Sehlabathebe, Lesotho . . . Dumela. The Drakensberg National Park lies on the border of Lesotho, so we decided to make our entry into Lesotho part of the hike and walk in. We spent our last night in ‘the Berg’ camping in a cave watching baboons on the ridge below. Ranting aside, we arrived in Shelabathebe desperately searching for somewhere to stay. The village gave real meaning to the word ‘isolated’ and on arrival it looked like we would be camping at the back of someone’...

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Quit the City: March 2006

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006. Chitimba Beach to Likoma Island, Malawi . . . "Happy Birthday Phil". After speeding through Zambia, the plan was to spend 3 to 4 weeks in Malawi, starting with the Lake. When Livingstone first saw the huge expanse of water in Malawi in 1859 he asked his local guides what they call it. They replied "nyasa". Livingstone promptly declared it "Lake Nyasa", presumably not knowing that "nyasa" meant "lake". Now it is simply known as Lake Malawi. Phil didn’t really experience the 40th...

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Quit the City: September 2006

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Sunday, September 24, 2006. Surprised in Sudan . . . "Salaam a leykum". I didn't expect to have a good time in Sudan and, in fact, anticipated problems. Why? A few reasons - not in order of importance:. 1) Alcohol is illegal. 2) Ongoing genocide in Darfur, despite peace agreement. 3) Ongoing strife in the South, despite peace agreement. 4) Australian government travel warning updated just before we left - 'Do not go to Sudan unless you are completely insane'. 5) Alcohol is illegal. Were frequent question...

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Quit the City: July 2006

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Friday, July 21, 2006. Forests and Gorillas, Uganda . . . "She is too fat! After paddling around Lake Bunyoni for a few days in canoes we decided that it was time for us to leave. Not a moment too soon, I thought, after that morning’s experience with our canoe hire. I had a few problems getting the most African part of my anatomy into the canoe, much to the amusement of the man hiring it to us. Ohh Philip, what are you feeding her? She is too fat! She is too fat! That was the last we saw of Lake Bunyoni.

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Quit the City: August 2006

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006. The long road to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia . . . You! I was a bit apprehensive about our journey through the north of Kenya to the Ethiopian border. There is no scheduled bus service and the only way to get there is by private car or to hitch a ride on a transport truck. I overcame my fears of potential bandit attack, which Phil convinced me were groundless, and we hopped on a truck full of mattresses for the long journey to the border. Breasts were a bit of an obsession. When w...

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Quit the City: February 2006

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Sunday, February 26, 2006. Okavango Delta to Chobe National Park, Botswana . . . "Dumela". After days of viewing game in Etosha from the safety of the Toyota Tazz and carefully following the advice of signs in that park - "DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR" - I was a bit concerned to hear about this proposed "walk". Feigning interest to mask cowardice I tried to get some more details. Me: So will there be crocodiles? Me: Excellent. Great. What about lions? Will we see lions? Realising that I was accompanied by a gui...