The Start of a New Year - South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland

17th Dec – 24th Feb 2008

Unbelievable! It’s been over a year since we first left the UK on our dream Trans-Africa trip. January 15th 2007 we set sail from Portsmouth and here we are now, 24th Feb 2008, in Mlilawane Nature Reserve, Swaziland – boy what a trip with a life time of experiences and memories…. Will it ever end? Well, as the saying goes unfortunately all good things have to end eventually and we are now in countdown mode for the return to ‘reality’! Our flights are booked for March 12th , so only a matter of weeks to go but hopefully it’s warmed up a bit back home and the shock wont be too great.

However, enough of the future (too scary), what’s been happening since we last updated the blog pre-xmas. Well, Clare returned to the UK and spent a great 6 weeks catching up with the family and friends, while I had an equally fun time with the Spark Family in Durban, though we did spend a wet 5 days over Xmas in Lusaka & Livingstone with the Leed clan (+ Giles) – very boozy and loads of fun, despite mum trying to impress us all with her skating skills & almost breaking her wrist!! We also took the opportunity to get Bula ‘tidied up’ and thanks to Jon (replacement parts) and Leon (Mechanic) she is now as good as new.

Having spent almost a month enjoying the comforts of home living it was time to get back on the road and with the arrival of Jacko on the 13th of January what better reason. We headed north up the coast and spent time visiting Kwazulu Natals excellent game parks, in particular Hluhluwe, Umfolozi and St Lucia, where we not only saw most of the usual game (including the Big Five) but were also fortunate enough to witness a female logger head turtle laying her eggs along with another batch hatching and making there charge for the open sea – fantastic! Jacko proved himself as an expert angler (beginner’s luck I say) by catching 3 Tiger Fish on his first outing and we also managed a good few days off roading along the coastal sand tracks (without getting stuck!). Following a visit to the Tembe Elephant park we ventured across the border into Mozambique where we spent 3 days on the beach with the major highlight of snorkeling with a 7 meter whale shark! Unfortunately, Jacko’s 2 weeks were over in a flash and he was back to the Jungle of the City and the World of Finance (plus much more!). I then had a week to kill before Clare returned so decided to dordle around the Nelspruit area (south of Kruger NP) and was lucky to meet up with Peter and Sabine (Austrian overlanders we met in Uganda – small world) which meant a good catch up over a few beers! I also took the opportunity to try my hand at Crocayaking (one man inflatable canoes) down the rapids of the Mac Mac River – great fun.

Then on 2nd Feb Clare finally arrived back in S Africa and we spent two days ‘re-acquainting’ ourselves in the beautiful and tranquil Forest Creek Lodge. Then it was back into Bula and the tent & a resumption of our road trip. On route to the Kruger we took in the sights of the Blyde River Canyon and spent an afternoon at the Moholoholo Rehab Centre (where I took my Rangers course 3 years ago) before spending 4 fabulous days in the Kruger NP. From the Kruger we took a remote border crossing into Mozambique and then spent 10 days exploring the coast, traveling as far north as Vilanculos. The beaches were nice, the sea warm and sea food tasty plus there was some excellent snorkeling and another superb Whale Shark encounter, though Clare might say differently as she only saw the bottom of the boat due to the 10 ft swell and I don’t think we will be rushing back for a repeat performance!

We are now in Swaziland with only 10 days or so to go before we are due back in Durban. We tried our hand at quad biking and have ventured out on a few game walks, so still trying to pack in as much as possible before calling it a day.

So, think that brings proceedings up to date with only one more short update to come. We are certainly looking forward to seeing everyone, and catching up on all the gossip – not long now! What will 2008 have in store for us I wonder??