Bulas Adventures

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

2008-02-27T09:41:00.009Z

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??

Champagne , family & home - South Africa

2008-01-03T10:23:00.002Z

5th – 11th December 2007

Even though we had reached both Cape Point & Cape Agulhas (Africa’s most southern point), as reported in the last blog update, we still had a further 1,700 kms to complete before reaching our ultimate destination – Durban . This we successfully achieved arriving at 5, Highgate Road at 16.35 on Tuesday 11th December 2007…… so we can now finally say ‘we did it’ – 11 months, 20 countries & 27,300 miles, thru Europe & Africa, crossing the Tropics of Cancer & Capricorn & of course the Equator – London, England to Durban, South Africa by road….hats off to Bula, what a machine!!

We were met by the very welcoming ‘new’ Mr. & Mrs. Spark (my bro & Vronsie)!! Lots of Champagne & wine & even more chatting confirmed we really were ‘home’ & we have been enjoying the luxuries of home life since! It really was fantastic to be met by family after so long on the road & this was made even better with the arrival on Friday of my folks from Portugal, so now we have the full Spark clan under one roof, a pretty rare event & one that demanded extensive celebrating…..which seems to be continuing!!! It has been a bit of a whirlwind & culture shock catching up with all the family & friends plus acclimatizing back into ‘normal’ everyday life (excluding work of course, one step at a time!) but truly fantastic to see everyone & totally relax!

Since we last left you on 4th December having completely over indulged in the ‘fruits’ of the Cape, we worked our way up the southern coast first visiting the De Hoop Nature Reserve for one last dose of ‘wilderness’ & animals (Cape Mountain Zebra & Southern Right Whales) before traveling along the world renowned Garden Route stopping of at Barrydale to stay with Andre & Anelda (met in Uganda back in August), who were setting up their new farm; we spent 2 fabulous days with A & A & were once again treated to some superb Afrikaans hospitality! From here we continued to George, where (pure coincidence of course!) the International Rugby 7’s Tour happened to be taking place, so after finding a suitable camp site we spent the next 2 days enjoying the worlds finest display their talents whilst we consumed 1 or 2 ales! As per usual we met & made some great new friends, this time a bunch of South African Toy boys & girls, yep they were all in the toy industry, what a small world, & we successfully abused their hospitality for an evening….thanks Clinton, Rodney, Gary & wives, much appreciated!!
From George we decided to crack on thru the Transkie as quickly as possible as we did not have the time to do it full justice & were now eager to see the family; therefore we spent the last 2 nights camping on the Wild Coast before finally reaching Durban as detailed above!

The trip truly reached its conclusion this Monday when Clare left the ‘party’ & flew back to the UK to spend Xmas & New Year with her family, which I am sure will be an equally joyous & boozy affair, leaving Bula & myself to fend for ourselves! We will now be apart for the next 6 weeks before Clare returns to South Africa to re-join Bula & I on our next expedition to Mozambique ……so not coming home just yet….plenty of time to become responsible & grow up in the future, for now there is still too much fun to have!!

So with the trip finally over I could start to eulogize about the lessons we have learnt, the experiences we have shared, knowledge we have gained & how we have become stronger, better people blah blah blah but think I will spare you that one for now, maybe another time or over a few beers when we get together. However, I will just say it has been a truly remarkable & unique experience which has certainly brought Clare & I closer together than ever (well, it was a make or break trip & after 184 nights in a rooftop tent who wouldn’t love me!!) & we will always treasure the year 2007!! If anyone is thinking of doing it, don’t hesitate, get out there now & do it!

No idea what 2008 has in-store but we will worry about that when the time comes; for now the dream lives on! We hope everyone has enjoyed following our trip & reading the blog, we have certainly enjoyed hearing from you along the way & appreciate all the support you have given us.

MERRY XMAS TO EVERYONE & ALL THE BEST FOR 2008

Rain, wind, wine & friends – South Africa! (Namibia - South Africa)

2007-12-05T09:48:00.000Z

11th November – 4th December

20th November 2007 (my mum’s birthday & we remembered)
It’s a clear sunny day & we are cruising south down the N7. The road is smooth, its tarmac & not a pot hole in sight; nobody is driving down the wrong side & we are being overtaken by Audi’s & BMW’S, there is hardly a 4 x 4 or Matartu (African taxi – of sorts) in sight!! We stop at a set of traffic lights, not only are they working but everyone is obeying them……then we see a BP garage with a Wild Bean Café……I knew it, it has all been a dream & we are really on our way to the office! Then we spot a few ‘differences’ - the sun is shining, the fields are full of vines, the majority of pedestrians are black or colored (though this could still be High Wycombe) & then suddenly rising up in front of us is Table Mountain…..it is not a dream after all & we have finally made it - Cape town, South Africa!! Windsor to Cape (via Cairo & a few other places) – 26,100 miles, 20 countries & 305 days on the road – a lifetimes ambition completed! Emotions mixed – euphoria, relief, excitement, satisfaction, sadness & many more – it was certainly a memorable & emotional moment! We stop at Bloubergstrand & sit on the pristine white sandy beach to savior the moment & take in the incredible view of Table Mountain & Cape Town …..What a fantastic trip!

But it was not over yet & we had a rendezvous with Sally & Susan who were flying in from the UK to be with us for the ‘final leg’ to Cape Point; particularly apt as they were 2 of the last people to wave us off from Gloucester Place, Windsor, England (Susan’s house)on that chilly January 14th morning. They duly arrived the following morning with a ‘little’surprise of there own….. Juliet had also turned up! Wow, what an amazing surprise and for once both Clare and I were absolutely speechless, this really was an unbelievable and fantastic bonus! I now had 4 of my favorite girls (poor show from the lads, where were you??) to help Bula and me down the final stretch. Unfortunately the Cape weather was living up to its reputation and it was peeing with rain and blowing a gale but that did not stop us celebrating over lunch in Camps Bay.
As usual I’ve started with the end (or somewhere in the middle) so back for a quick update on the last few weeks since we last left you in Luderitz. After an impromptu night out at Luderitzs’ ‘top’ (only) bar - Barrels - we decided to stay an extra day (hang over from hell!). We did eventually leave on the Monday and managed to see Kelmanshoop, a diamond ghost town, and the famous desert wild horses. Unfortunately, the day ended in a garage in the small mining town of Rosh Pinar when Bula’s rear half shaft hub decided to sheer but luckily we had a spare and were only a few miles from a garage so were soon back on the road.

From Rosh Pinar we had our final off road section – a fabulous 160 km route through the mountainous & rocky terrain of the Ais-Ais Reserve, following the famous Orange River. We found ourselves a great camp site right on the river bank and then managed to get ourselves booked onto a 4 day / 3 night canoe safari along the Orange River! Our party consisted of the guide, 4 young SA lads from Pretoria and a young couple from Cape Town and we spent a very tranquil (if hot - over 40 degrees) time drifting and paddling down river in our Canadian style two man canoes; however, we did encounter the odd class 2 rapid, one of which was particularly tricky and decided to unceremoniously dump us into the river resulting in a few bruises and a very wet tent! Once safely back on dry land and reunited with ‘comfy’ Bula (roof tents are certainly more comfortable than sleeping on the ground) we quickly headed into South Africa legally - we had ‘illegally’ crossed into SA several days earlier during the canoe trip, as we camped each night on the SA side of the Orange River - and our rendezvous with the girls.

So, back to our week with the ‘gang’ and despite a poor start on the weather front we still managed to cram in a whole bunch of activities which included Cape Towns ‘Big Six’ – Table Mountain, Cape Point and the Penguins, the V & A Waterfront (way too much shopping!), Robben Island, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and of course a few Wineries! Add in a few great restaurants (plus more shopping), hooking up with Degs & pals, I think we truly ‘did’ Cape Town! It really was fabulous to have the girls with us and ensured it was a top week to celebrate the culmination of our trip! Big thanks to you all for making such an effort at such a busy time of year & also for your incredible generosity.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, and on Tuesday we waved the girls off, so once again it was just Clare, Bula and I. In order to cheer ourselves up we quickly headed to Franschhoek and the Wine lands, which we fully explored over the next 3 days incorporating a number of excellent drinking establishments, including Boschendal, Fairview, Graham Beck and Rickety Bridge to name just a few! The settings were fantastic, the tours interesting and the wines superb and the only thing that prevented us going on longer was the collapse of our livers……after so long on ‘meager’ rations in the African bush this fine living was now taking its toll!!! However, there was to be no reprieve as we then spent the weekend back in Cape Town with Bob, Jill, Scott and Kate who don’t know the meaning of No - fantastic hospitality and overly generous, thanks. We finally made our escape on Sunday (2nd December) and sought sanctuary in the sleepy retirement town of Stanford a few hours along the East Coast. From Stanford we drove the last 100 miles south to L’Agulhas which is the ‘true’ most southerly point of Africa and the meeting place of the mighty Atlantic and Indian Oceans (Cape Point is generally easier for tourists and sounds better!). We celebrated this momentous moment with take away fish and chips…….our livers couldn’t face the bubbly!. From here we then spent 2 ‘alcohol free’ days in the remote De Hoop Nature Reserve, Whale watching and Hiking – much needed after the excesses of Cape Town and good preparation for what lies ahead in Durban!!
So that pretty much brings us up to date and from here we head along the Southern Coast (Garden Route) for the long anticipated Rendezvous with the Spark Clan (mum & dad arrive on 14th Dec) – that won’t involve much drinking will it!! And if the reunion wasn’t enough my Big Brother, aged 47, finally did the decent thing and married Veronica – what a result! Congratulations Mike and Vronsie, fantastic news & about bloody time!!

Probably only one more Blog update from Durban & then you can all breathe a sigh of relief – no more bloody African stories from Sparky and Clare! Unless of course you are stupid enough to invite us over for dinner……until Durban!

P.S. Sorry Lord still no blood, guts, gore or hardship unless you can count the sewage drains getting blocked at the house in Camps Bay that the girls rented…..not a pleasant experience or smell!!

Tigers, Skeletons & Deserts! (Botswana & Namibia)

2007-11-10T13:45:00.001Z

9th October – 10th November

Okay, what’s happened to the last month? It has certainly shot by and yet we seem to have packed in a years worth of activities! That’s southern Africa for you and I can certainly say we are still having a ball, with the trip delivering everything it promised! Some of the ‘adventure’ and ‘ruggedness’ of the north and east may have gone, but southern Africa can certainly deliver on excitement, scenery and facilities.

We last left you in Maun, Botswana recovering from our various ‘animal encounters’ in the Chobe and Okavango. All started well with England’s epic victory over France in the semis and boy did we enjoy that one (unfortunately no French in the bar but found a few Aussies!). Then is was off into the Central Kalahari Desert for 4 nights of desert camping which was absolutely fantastic – we saw half a dozen cars the whole time and spent 4 wonderful hours totally alone with a male Cheetah – awesome! Dragging ourselves away from the Kalahari we headed back through Maun and up the western side of the Okavanga Delta, where we found a great fishing camp called Drotskys Cabins. Camped right on the edge of the Delta we got our first taste of Tiger Fish fishing (yep, they do have Tigers in Africa after all! To cut a long story short, thanks to some new friends (who we met at the camp), I not only caught my first but an additional 2 Tiger Fish along with 3 cat fish all over 4kgs – Collo you would have been proud! We had a fabulous 4 days at Drotskys which culminated with an evening watching the final………. well at least we made a game of it and our new S African pals certainly enjoyed it – roll on 2009 and the lions!

From Drotskys we finally left Botswana and entered Namibia via the Caprivi Strip with our first night at a place called Popa Falls. Unfortunately Bula decided the roads were getting too easy and decided to throw a wobbly, literally, and it took us 5 hours to cover 50 miles! It turned out to be a stabilizer rod which fortunately the garage in Rundu was able to replace so we were not delayed too long. From here we entered the Etosha National Park for our last major ‘game foray’ and we were not to be disappointed! As we were right at the end of the dry season and it being one of the hottest months (so called suicide month), all the animals were congregating around the water holes which made for some amazing sights and gave us hours of fantastic viewing. During our three days and night in the park we were fortunate to see, along with all the general plains game (zebra, springbok etc), black rhinos, lions, leopards and elephants – also the roads were fantastic so Serengeti up yours!

Whilst in Etosha we met a nice Dutch couple, on a self drive holiday and spent the next week traveling together as we headed south. First stop was at a cheetah farm where we were introduced to 3 ‘tame’ cheetahs, quite bizarre but fun! We then headed west towards the Atlantic Ocean and traveled through the area known as the Kaokoveld or Sothern Damara Land which is one of Southern Africa’s last wildernesses and Namibia’s least inhabited area. The landscape was certainly wild and rugged with no people (a welcome change from the rest of Africa) though we did manage to find the amazing desert adapted elephants, in fact one found us and decided to join us in camp for dinner (see photo)!! We soon hit the Skeleton Coast or Coast of Skulls and it was easy to see how it earned its name; a narrow strip of land between icy, pounding ocean and the stark desert interior, with a relentless wind (and before anyone says anything not caused by me!), it certainly made for a spectacular drive! It was to defeat us when it came to camping but with a name like Mile 108 Camp you might hopefully have some sympathy!! Thankfully we had Clare’s birthday as an excuse so booked into the one and only lodge at Cape Cross where we had 2 fabulous nights celebrating in style! Sights along the coast included the Cape Fur Seals, Black back Jackals (we unfortunately did not spot the elusive brown Hyena) and ship wrecks, though the latter were not as spectacular as expected due to erosion.

We finally reached Swakopmond, a quaint old German town and a pleasant oasis in which to spend the next 3 days. Swakopmond and Walvis Bay are Namibia’s equivalent of Livingstone in Zambia ie. plenty of activities and action for the adventurous. However, we decided to go for the more ‘tranquil’ options which included a booze cruise to see the Seals and Dolphins (unfortunately no Whales) and a spot of exhilarating Dune driving (not in Bula) and an amazing Kayak trip! The more adventurous options included sky diving, quad biking and kite surfing – maybe next time. From Swakopmond we headed back inland (away from the wind) and into the oldest desert on earth – the Namib - for a spot of wild desert camping before reaching the picture postcard area of Sossusvlei and its enormous red dunes. Up at 4 a.m., an hours drive and a mad scramble up the dune almost resulting in a heart attack (sitting in a Landrover for 10 months has not helped on the fitness stakes!), we did manage to catch the sunrise and boy was it spectacular!

From Sossusvlei we continued south through the Namib – Naukluft Desert encountering some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen – rocky mountains and red dunes split by huge white valley floors - Namibia is certainly an impressive country. To make things even better the gravel roads are fantastic, the best by far in Africa, so along with the great camping facilities (toilets, hot water, braai and shops) traveling has become somewhat easier and it almost feels like a holiday.

Today (10th November) we are in the old German diamond mining town of Luderitz, another desolate wind swept coastal town, preparing ourselves for the final ‘off road’ section of the trip before crossing into ‘civilised’ South Africa – a 300km route along the Orange River to Fish River Canyon – and from there an easy 2 -3 day drive (on tarmac) to Cape Town and our rendezvous with Sally and Susan.

It is hard to believe that we are now so near to the end - 25,000 + miles, 10 months and plenty of adventure in between – what a trip! However, I think we are all beginning to feel a bit battered and worn; Bula certainly is, so Durban in a month’s time will surely be a welcome sight.

The weather continues to get hotter as we go into summer and with no rain now since mid October we are certainly not missing the UK winter! With probably only 1 more blog update to go (thank goodness I hear you all say) it will soon be back to reality and earning an honest wage (anyone got any jobs??) but let’s not go there just yet.

Other highlights of the last month include Penny (Clare’s older sister) giving birth to baby number 2 – Louie at 7lb 8oz, Collo P becoming a granddad and we are also heard that a third small Ratcliff was delivered in October – quite a month for new arrivals but I suppose all good news for the toy boys! So until Durban take it easy and keep smiling!

Lots of love
C & G

A Welsh Man in Africa

2007-10-15T10:13:00.000+01:00

12th September to 8th October- Zambia & Botswana

Would this be a ‘Bridge’ too far for our intrepid little Welshman from the valleys of Pontypryd? Not only was this Roddy's first foray into Africa but also his first holiday alone – how would he cope?

Our last update was posted from the shores of Lake Malawi where we spent just one night before heading west and into Zambia (our 19th country) via the remote border crossing at Lundazi. Clare and I then spent the next 3 days and nights traveling through some wonderfully remote countryside, although thankfully the roads were pretty good, making our way south for our rendezvous with Roddy. Two nights were spent camped at a top spot on the banks of the Luangwa River in the remote Luambe National Park, where we had the place to ourselves, well, apart from the Hippos, Elephants, Leopard, Baboons and Monkeys that is! On the morning of the 15th September we drove the final 4 hours to the Wild Life Camp at South Luangwa National Park and were met by Dr Roddy Bridges himself which was to be the start of an amazing and memorable 2 weeks!

For those of you who know Roddy I am sure he will account his ‘adventures’ with far more excitement and passion than I ever can but a second version might help maintain a bit of balance! The first 4 days were spent at the Wild Life Camp where we each had a ‘luxurious’ tent including ensuite bathroom (albeit open to the elements). We spent our time going on game drives (morning and night) relaxing by the pool and eating and drinking. However, we did manage to break this routine to partake in a walking safari which included a night in a remote bush camp, a definite highlight for us all; particularly the close encounters with Elephant and Hippo!! We soon learnt that Roddy has quite a turn of speed, as he ignored the guide’s strict instructions never to run from wild animals, almost knocking me over in his haste to climb the nearest bank. The cause? Again probably two versions and Rod will tell you that the Hippo charged, though the other four witnesses saw it more as a stretch and yawn….. you decide! South Luangwa’s reputation for Leopards and Lions was to prove spot on as we had good sightings of both which in the case of the Leopard has been a long time coming for Clare and I.

Having seen all the key animals (including the extremely rare and elusive Aardvark) it was time to move on and liven things up a bit (there’s not much totty in the bush!). Clare took the easy option and flew to Lusaka whilst Roddy joined Bula and me for a bit of true African bundu bashing! We took the little used and very remote off road route to Lusaka and successfully had a few ‘adventures’ en route, which in summary included a blocked road (fallen tree), bush fires, tsetse flies, a puncture and some very tough 4x4 driving, which Bula hadn’t seen since northern Kenya. After a long 8 hours and in total darkness we were mightily relieved to finally find a camp site. The next day we joined Clare in Lusaka where we spent a wonderful weekend staying with Paddy, Louise, Victoria and Alexandra, who looked after us magnificently, thanks guys. We certainly made the most of regular home comforts i.e. bed, TV (got to watch our first world cup game), laundry, restaurants etc along with way to many beers, particularly when we were joined by the rest of the Leed clan, Willie, Nick and Bob!

Dragging ourselves away from the luxury of Lusaka the 4 musketeers drove the 500 kms south west to Livingstone, the adventure capital of Zambia! We were not to be disappointed. Based at the Maramba Lodge we succeeded in overdosing on adrenalin over the course of the next 4 days.

Day 1; a walk along the top (and edge) of the Victoria Falls themselves.

Day 2; white water rafting the mighty Zambezi River (Clare says never again).

Day 3, Golf at the royal Livingstone Golf Club, followed by a fabulous micro light flight over the falls.

Day 4, a 110 meter bungee jump into the Batoka Gorge. This last hair brain activity was only undertaken by Roddy in order to celebrate his 49th birthday – total madness and will he ever grow up?

All of the above activities were fantastic, scary, amazing and have a full story attached to each (plus DVD footage and photos) so we will just have to show and talk you through it on our return – bet you can’t wait!

Sadly, all too soon we were waving goodbye to our new welsh mascot and it was back to just Clare, Bula and myself. We thoroughly enjoyed having Rod with us and certainly had a lot of laughs along the way; hope he enjoyed it as much. As a quick aside for those who might be wondering, Africa’s population has not increased as a result of Roddys visit, in fact there was not one single attempt to even chat to a female…… must be some sort of record!

Clare and I then crossed over into Botswana and are got on with the real business of ‘traveling’ and reducing our expenditure. Therefore, we quickly retreated into the bush from which we have just emerged after a fantastic week, though was also the start of a serious of ‘close encounters’ with nature!

We first traveled through Chobe National Park and then into the Moremi National Park on the edge of the Okavanga Delta. The game viewing was fantastic, particularly along the Chobe river front where we were to witness our first lion kill – absolutely fantastic! More lion were to be seen en route and Botswana is certainly not short of elephants, we must have seen over 500 in the past week alone. In fact elephants featured regularly in the ‘close encounters’ series and on two particular occasions we had to beat a hasty retreat, once in Bula and another on foot, both pretty scary! We have also had a few ‘intimate’ moments with both hyenas and baboons that seem to like to make themselves at home in and around our camp sites, quite nerve racking I can assure you. Thinking we had had our fair share of scary moments, nature decided to throw one more challenge at us in the form of a huge electrical storm, which some may say is beautiful to watch but from the inside of a roof top tent in the middle of the African bush I can safely say we probably did not fully appreciate its beauty!

So all in all a fabulous week in the bush and we are now re-stocking in preperation for a 4 day trek into the centre of the Kalahari Desert…… will let you know how we get on.

And to cap a great week we returned today to hear the fabulous rugby results from the weekend (thanks Barry), boy, must have made compulsive viewing and has certainly sent those cocky antipodeans packing! Only worry now is we are deep in South African territory and they are not the most gracious race when it comes to winning rugby!

Hope everyone is in fine fettle and winter is holding off (35 degrees centigrade here today) until next time take care.

Lake to Lake

2007-09-22T16:12:00.000+01:00

18th August – 11th September (Rwanda, Tanzania and Malawi)

Another 3 weeks have shot by as have another 3 countries! Boy, where is the year going? I think we last left you on the tranquil shores of Lake Bunyoni in South Uganda and we are once again sat by another lake this time Lake Malawi. In between these two lakes, beaches and water have been a bit of a central theme as we have camped on the shores of Lake Victoria and then spent another week on the golden beaches of the Indian Ocean, so we have had plenty of sun, sand and……. surf over the past few weeks!

So apart from lazing around lakes and oceans what else have we been up to these last 3 weeks? Well, from lake Bunyoni we crossed into Rwanda where we spent a fascinating 2 days in the capital city Kigali, so recently scene of a horrendous genocide (over 1 million people massacred in a 100 days of madness in 1994). It was incredible to see how the country, or at least Kigali and the bits we saw, have recovered and the people returned to a ‘normal’ life. The roads were excellent, country side spectacular and the people fantastically friendly (we also had a bloody good curry!!); in fact Kigali ranks as one of our favorite African cities – clean, safe and hassle free.While in Kigali we visited the Memorial Centre which does an excellent job in documenting not only the Rwandan genocide but also many of the previous genocides which have taken place around the world (what a horrible species we can be) – a truly shocking and fascinating history lesson as well as being a scary one. Unfortunately our time in Rwanda was limited as we had to push on so we crossed into Tanzania through the fairly remote border crossing in the west at Rusumu Falls. From here we headed east across the southern tip of Lake Victoria and on into the world famous Serengeti National Park. However, from here the tale goes a little sour as we experienced our biggest disappointment of the trip so far. Full of great expectations, we were instead hit with huge costs (park fees and camping), one of the worst roads we have encountered to date, not much game and a ‘don’t give a **** attitude’ from the Tanzanians, so sadly we left with rather a negative view which did not improve as we crossed over the famous Ngorogoro Crater. However I won’t get on my soap box now but will write a ‘fuller’ version of our experience separately and post it at a later date in case anyone might be interested. Note, this is obviously only our view based on our experience (and expectations) as we are sure many people will have had a truly amazing time in this part of the world.

Thankfully Tanzania improved as we continued east and after spending 1 night on the foot hills of Mount Kilimanjaro we arrived back at the Indian Ocean (just 80 miles south of Tiwi Beach where we spent a week in early July so 2 months and 3,000 miles might seem a rather excessive detour!). We spent the next 10 days camped on the beach, swimming, relaxing, eating and generally doing very little; we even decided to forgoe the trip across to Zanzibar as this involved packing up Bula, leaving her unattended and catching a ferry or dhow….. far to much hassle and anyway we have to leave something to do for when we come back!

From the beach we headed inland to a fascinating conservation project called Kisampa on the edge of the Saadani National Park, which has been set up and run by friends of the family (well, I last met Rob 38 years ago so that surely counts!) Rob, Jackie, Jeanann and Richard looked after us fantastically (thanks again) and we successfully abused there hospitality for 3 days before moving on. For more details on Kisampa go to http://www.sanctuary-tz.com/.

As a result of our laziness on the beach we were now in a bit of a rush as had a date with the Mr. Roddy Bridges and we all know Roddy and his dates!! So from Kisampa we headed west again back across Tanzania before turning south into Malawi, covering almost 1000 miles in 3 days – some going for Bula! As time was short in Malawi we immediately headed to the Nyika Plateau, a wonderful spot set at an altitude of 2500 metres with some spectacular scenery. We camped at a perfect spot (which we had to ourselves) and took the opportunity of game viewing on horse back!! Yep, we got Clare on a horse for the first time in her life and went for a 3 hour ride amongst herds of Roan Antelope, Eland and Bushbuck – fantastic. However, we both suffered the next day on the backside front! From the Nyika Plateau we continued south to Nkata Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi where we are now, sat with a cold beer. Tomorrow we head to Zambia for our rendezvous with Dr Roddy Bridges (I presume).

Unfortunately, no real gore or disaster to report as has been a relatively smooth 3 weeks, though as per usual Bula has undergone a few running repairs, including me spending 45 minutes underneath replacing the rubber bushes on a rear shock absorber while parked at Hippo Pools (with over 50+ hippos in situ – Clare kept guard) in the Serengeti (thanks to their wonderful roads!). We also had to finally replace her front shocks, while a spot of welding & lock fixing completed the repairs for this leg. Clare managed to get herself sun stroke while out snorkeling from a Dhow & then suffered for a week with cold sores (think after 8 months in the bush she should know better!) but thankfully has now fully recovered. Also, whilst staying at Kisampa we thought the trip might come to a premature end as a result of a bush fire which approached & surrounded the camp for 1 night but thankfully burnt itself out before causing any damage to buildings etc, though it was a bit scary for a while!! Apart from that all fairly uneventful & as we are in the Southern hemisphere everything is much easier so we are eating & drinking exceptionally well so should manage to re-gain those lost pounds!!!!

Our next update should come from Botswana & will include our ‘adventures’ with Roddy…..so until then take care & enjoy the World Cup (not seen a single game yet!). Hope all the Toy Boys & Girls are coping with the re-calls, bad press etc., it all sounds very exciting!!!

‘Gorillas in the Mist’

2007-08-18T17:57:00.000+01:00

3rd August – 17th August – Uganda

Undoubtedly one of the top highlights of the trip so far! Seeing Mountain Gorillas in the wild is just indescribable and we were lucky enough to see 10, including a Silverback and 2 babies (3 & 7 months old), so cute!!! With only 700 (estimated) left in the World this really was a once in a lifetime experience, though we sincerely hope they continue to succeed in protecting them for future generations. However, every reward has to be earnt and getting to them also has to rank up there as one of the hardest physical challenges to date (think Clare can vouch for that!)! They don’t call the Bwindi NP an impenetrable Forest for nothing and it took us over 1.5 hours of hacking, climbing, slipping and falling to cover approximately 2kms – thank god for porters (ask Clare!). But once with the Gorillas all the pain was quickly forgotten & we spent the next hour watching them at play– truly amazing.

In the past 2 weeks since leaving Jinja we have not only tracked Gorillas but also Chimpanzees (another incredible experience), visited the most powerful waterfall in the world - Murchison Falls, watched lions in Queen Elizabeth NP and met some great new people – Uganda is certainly a top spot & highly recommended!

For those tracking our progress we traveled from Jinja (source of the Nile) on Lake Victoria to Kampala and then headed north to Murchison Falls NP where we tracked the
Chimps, camped at the top of the Falls and cruised the Victoria Nile with all its hippos, elephants and Crocs. From Murchison Falls we traveled South along the edge of Lake Albert and down to Kasese at the foothills of the Ruwenzori Mountains (Mountains of the Moon); continuing south we crossed the equator (probably for the last time) back into the southern hemisphere and through the Queen Elizabeth NP to Bwindi NP and the Gorillas. From Bwindi we have traveled back north through the Queen Elizabeth NP, camping on both the Congo Border and Lake Edward, where after over 3 weeks in the tent we spent one night of luxury at the Mweya Safari Lodge – a sit down toilet and hot bath (1st for me in 7 months!!) were much needed and enjoyed! From Queen Elizabeth NP we again headed south to Lake Mburo NP and then on down to Lake Bunyoni near the Rwandan Border which we will cross into after a few days chilling – well cleaning clothes, fixing Bula etc. All in all not a bad few weeks with Uganda definitely one of our favorite countries so far.

However, I know there are a few of you out there who like to hear about the more ‘gory’ bits of the trip and a bit of suffering! Well, apart from the Gorilla Trek itself, Uganda has also given us a few ‘challenges’ – it has rained at some stage almost every day, mostly late afternoon or at night thankfully but it has resulted in some pretty ‘damp’ sleeping conditions which after 3 weeks continuous camping (our longest stint to date) meant we were getting a tad smelly & moldy! The wet conditions also mean mosquitoes and we have both been well and truly bitten (and boy do they itch). In Kampala we had our first incident of crime when they broke into Bula and stole a rucksack containing all our guidebooks, gps reference data, address book and worst of all the entire daily diary for the last 7 months - there goes that book contract! Finally, poor old Bula decided that here 4WD (for those mechanics out there it was actually the half shaft) would malfunction as we were trying to climb up from a remote campsite at the top of Murchison Falls, 5 hours later after a lot of digging, spinning and pushing (we found a few willing local helpers) we were finally rescued and towed to safety. Thankfully the National Park mechanics managed to fix Bula and she has been on top form ever since (fingers crossed) so not all a bed of roses but traveling in Africa never is! Lord & Harris, hope that satisfies your need to know that there is a bit of hardship & suffering?

We have also made a few new friends, A & A from Cape Town and Bini and Peter from Austria, with whom several excellent ‘bush’ meals were shared while consuming significant quantities of beer and wine! I am sure we will ‘bump’ into them again – here’s hoping.

From here it’s into Rwanda, not originally in the plan but as we are so close it has to be done, and then onto Tanzania with the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar beckoning. Therefore our next update should hopefully come from the beach as we intend to have another ‘holiday’ once we reach Dar es Salaam, so until then keep smiling & don’t graft too hard! We miss you all so drop us a quick line when get the chance & let us know you are still alive & kicking!!

The source of the Nile (Kenya)

2007-08-04T07:55:00.000+01:00

3rd July to 3rd August

We’ve made it! No, not finished the trip but successfully followed the Nile (the worlds longest river - 6700 km) from the Mediterranean to its source, well, one of its sources as there is some debate over the ‘true source’. That aside we are currently camped in a town called Jinja in Uganda , on the shores of Lake Victoria over looking the ‘major source’ of the Nile . The place is full over ‘youngsters’ (early 20’s) who have come for the white water rafting, kayaking, bungee jumping etc. which you can do on the Nile but we are waiting for the true Mecca of adrenalin, the Zambezi river in Zambia, before we test ourselves against the ‘full force’ of nature, plus of course where we will be joined by the king of adrenalin himself, Mr Roddy Bridges!!! Tomorrow we move onto Kampala (my birth place) and then on up north to Murchison Falls National Park in search of chimpanzees and gorillas!!

So that brings us up to date but what have we been up to in the last month? I think we last left you in Mombassa where we were camping on the idyllic white beaches of the Kenyan south coast. Well, we managed to drag ourselves away after 6 days of doing very little except swimming in the Indian Ocean , eating fresh fish and fruit while relaxing – it was tough! We were re-united in the last few days with Retu and Victoria (Swiss / Argentinean couple) who we last saw in Sudan which was fun. On the subject of fellow travelers we also found Richard and Sasha (1955 Royal Enfield Motorbike) still going strong in Nairobi , though the bike was under going some repairs (broken frame!!).

From Tiwi beach we headed back to Nairobi to abuse Rogers hospitality once again but this time for only one night as we then jumped into a ‘time machine’ (Boeing 767) and ‘popped’ back to the UK….. how bizarre was that! Six months of pretty tough traveling with plenty of adventures along the way and in 8.5 hours we were right back where we started, as if it was yesterday – most strange! We were back for a family wedding which was unfortunately cancelled but that is another long story; we still made the most of our time catching up with as many friends and family as we could (apologies for all those we did not get to see) which was fantastic! Big thanks to everyone for feeding, watering and housing us during our stay – 5 curries in 9 nights washed down with a few ales certainly helped us regain some of those lost pounds!! It was certainly great to see everyone & has made us realize how much we miss our pals!! Another few days in Portugal with respected families were most enjoyable before it was time to jump back into the ‘time machine’ and resume our intrepid trek south through the Dark Continent.

We arrived back in Nairobi to be reunited with Bula on Monday the 23rd July, so have now been back on the road for 10 days, which again feels as though we have never been away! Bula was delighted to have us back and was raring to go, despite the 5 hour job, draining, removing and replacing the transfer gear box after a ‘foreign object’ got inside – it was messy but I got there ably supported by my assistant mechanic Clare! Despite Roger being in the UK we still ‘utilised’ his house and were royally looked after by Zablon and Tipena, thanks again Roger, we did leave you a few Tuskers!!!.

From Rogers we headed into Nairobi city centre to sort out insurance etc and stayed in Jungle Junction, an overlanders camp not far from where I grew up – lots of happy memories! Insurance sorted we visited the Elehphant orphanage, passing my old school on the way and headed north west for a night on Lake Naivasha. From Naivasha we decided to take a short cut, which ended up taking 3 hours to cover 15 miles, over some pretty tough terrain and getting suitably lost but we eventually got to Kericho and camped at the old Tea Hotel, where Clare beat me at dominoes for the 2nd time (time to stop playing)!! The next day we got our first sight of Lake Victoria at Kisumu before heading to the Kakemega Forest, the only Kenya vestige of the unique and once mighty Guineo – Congolian Rainforest, complete with over 330 species of birds, 400 species of butterflies and 7 different primate species, along with a host of other creepy crawlies and bugs! It was certainly a fascinating place with huge trees and immense undergrowth which we explored during a 3 hour guided walk, managing to spot 4 of the 7 primates including the rare red tailed monkey. However, as it is rain forest we did get rain & this seemed to set the tone for the next few days. From Kakamega we headed north (crossing the equator for the 6th time) to Kitale where we intended to visit Mount Elgon (famous for its cave dwelling / salt digging elephants); we camped in the garden of a 3rd generation settler family run by mother and daughter, both quite potty but extremely hospitable. From here we visited Kenya ’s smallest National Park, Saiwa Marsh, where we were extremely lucky to see the rare De Brazza Monkeys and Sitatunga Antelope. However, that afternoon once again the heavens opened and continued for the next 12 hours solid, which is not fun when you are camping! As well as getting soaked it put paid to our intended ‘off road’ route around Mount Elgon into Uganda, as the roads were now a quagmire, so instead we stuck to the tarmac and entered Uganda through the regular route at Malaba. The crossing was relatively smooth and we soon reached Jinja only for the rain to follow us, so we were in for another damp night. Thankfully today the sun is out and it is hot so wet bedding is out and Clare has managed to wash a few of our dirty clothes, so things are looking brighter again (plus sweeter smelling).

Kenya has been our longest stay (40 days) and a thoughrly enjoyable one, though we won’t miss the roads, with a great mix of game parks, friends and relaxation. We have found the people friendly, the camp sites well set up, and the shops well stocked, so all in all traveling has become a tad easier and much more civilized. Uganda has been described as the ‘pearl of Africa ’ (Winston Churchill) so we are excited about this next leg and hope to report lots of adventures.

As we are now over half way we thought a few facts and figures might be of interest;

Total distance traveled: 17,000 miles ( 27,358 kms)
Bula ailments: 4 punctures, 2 new tyres, 2 new rear shocks, new slave
cylinder (clutch), 2 new rear brakes & a few leaks here & there!
Time on road: 7 months or 200+ nights (85 in the tent)
Countries: 14 - crossing deserts, mountains, savannah, tropical forest & much more!!
Animals identified/spotted : 60 – including the rare / endangered Simien Wolf,
Mountain Nyla, De Brazza Monkey, Sitatunga, Grevy Zebra and White Rhino plus 4 out of the Big Five (Elephant, Lion, Buffalo and Rhino with only the Leopard to find).

Finally, a few best wishes and thanks to the following:-
Pickles on finding a man, getting engaged and confirming a wedding day all in the space of 10 months!!!! Go girl & have fun!
Lee and Gemma on there forthcoming marriage – enjoy Kenya !!
Sabine on her promotion to account manager at SMTUK
Vicky Elmer on being such a star in helping with our rather slow money raising effort – come on there are still loads of you with rather short arms & long pockets – just go onto www.justgiving.com/grahamclare & pledge a few sheckles, thanks.
Jacko on getting caught out & finally getting on with his life!!
And last but by no means least a huge congrats & best wishes to Sally in her personal health battle, we are all with you & you know you can beat it!!

Until the next time, take care & hope the floods have subsided…..you never know there may be a late summer to come!!

I’m tougher than you! Ethiopia vs Kenya!

2007-07-02T08:52:00.000+01:00

27th May – 26th June 26, 2007

We can not believe that it has been a month since we last updated you all!! So much has happened since our last communication from Addis Adaba in Ethiopia yet we are not really that much further south!

Where to start? Well, we are still alive and kicking, though both Bula and us have had a few ‘set backs’ along the way but more of those later. Probably best if I do my usual & work backwards picking out a few juicy high lights.

We are now in Kenya and have been since the 7th June and are currently staying in an old Tea House in the heart of tea growing country, in a place called Kericho (approx 300 km NW of Nairobi) & are on our way south to the Masai Mara National Reserve. So far Kenya has been the story of two halves and quite contrasting ones at that! We crossed into Kenya via Moyale on the Northern border and were immediately confronted with our most challenging roads so far – Ethiopia eat your heart out! We (at this stage we were still traveling with Ed and Sue) had decided to take the more ‘adventurous’ route from Moyale to Marsabit and then west across the very remote Chalbi Desert to the even remoter Lake Turkana (of Constant Gardener film fame). This route took us across some of the toughest terrain we have ever driven (huge credit to the two defenders(and the drivers)) – over desert sands, rocky gullies, volcanic lava plains, slippery mud and the most treacherous, steepest ascent ever (where we almost lost our tent!). It took us five days to cover approx 500 miles with an average of 5 hours driving a day, so as you can see the going was pretty slow; however, the scenery was spectacular and we had plenty to occupy us along the way. Our only contact with civilization was the odd nomadic tribal village, the occasional passing truck and one or two American missionaries (who on one occasion we had to tow / rescue out of the mud), so all in all it was pretty remote and certainly on a par for ‘adventure’ with Northern Sudan. We finally reached the northern frontier town of Maralal in desperate need of some ‘R & R’ but unfortunately both Bula and I collapsed, me with a stomach bug which knocked me out for three days (he was very brave!), and Bula with broken rear shocks, leaking rear breaks, a leaking / sticking clutch and numerous bits and bobs falling off! On the other hand Clare was in tip top condition and proceeded to drink my share of Tusker (local beer) while I was bed ridden – and some of you thought she was too wimpy for this trip!

From Maralal we ‘limped’ down to Nairobi via a few of the rift valley lakes – Baringo (where we had hippo grazing under the tent!), Bogoria and Nakuru – to find sanctuary with Roger (Steve Rees’ Father in Law) who has a wonderful house near Thika and proceeded to look after us fantastically for four days / nights. We recharged our batteries, got Bula fixed and were superbly entertained by Roger (huge Thanks Roger) before setting off north again for a night staying with friends of Mum and Dads (the Coverdale’s) at their dairy farm near Nanyuki. From here we proceeded into Meru National Park for three wonderful luxury nights at an exclusive Lodge (Elsa’s Kopje) with Simon and Claire Marinker who flew in from the UK – a top spot and some serious luxury to enjoy! However, this was slightly tarnished by first Clare, followed by me, coming down with tummy bugs which we meant we had to abstain from the all inclusive drink and most of the food – heart breaking! It was fabulous to see Simon and Claire and we had some fantastic game viewing while in the park including excellent sightings of Elephants, Lion, and Rhino. We are now on route from Meru to the Masai Mara (400 mile trip) to hook up again with Simon and Claire (they flew!) for two nights before they head off to Pembu Island and a bit of sun and sea and we head to the Mombasa coast for hopefully much of the same.

So as you can see Kenya has been ‘eventful’ but extremely enjoyable thus far. We have driven across the equator 5 times already, crossed through extremes of terrain, seen loads of wild life, and met up with some great friends so what can the remainder of our stay offer????

However, in the all the excitement of Kenya we mustn’t forget our last 10 days in Ethiopia! These consisted of 4 great days and nights in the Bale Mountains where we camped in freezing (and very wet!) conditions at over 4000 meters but saw the extremely rare Ethiopian Wolf and mountain Nyala – Bale is truly a wonderful area, though the access road to Bale is right up there with the top 3 ‘worst ever’! Bula escaped unscathed but Ed and Sue were not so lucky in their Defender and had to return to Addis to fix broken rear bushes, a snapped front spring and replace the drivers door window which had shattered, plus repair the front wing after a horse decided to give it a good kick, so we don’t think Ed and Sue will have quite the same fond memories of Bale! It took a few days for all this to get sorted so Clare and I relaxed in a camp site on Lake Awassa, which we shared with a friendly troop of Colobus Monkeys, and prepared ourselves for Kenya.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed Ethiopia but it is a tough country to travel independently through, both emotionally and physically. We have talked about the roads which take there toll physically, but it is the people who make it so emotionally tough; you can never get away from them and their ‘expectations’ (money, food etc), after so much western aid, it is a constant challenge. However, it is a fascinating and beautiful country with so much to see and do.

Well, I think that pretty much covers the highlights although I am sure I have missed out loads. We hope everyone back home is in good form and work, families etc are all well. We will do our best to keep you up to date more regularly as we continue our adventure through Africa.

Bula Vs Ethiopia – The Main Event!

2007-05-27T14:29:00.000+01:00

4th – 27th May 2007 (Sudan and Ethiopia)

Greetings everyone and apologies for the extended silence but the deeper we get into Africa the harder it becomes to maintain communication. Our mobiles don’t work and internet availability is somewhat limited and extremely slow. However, since we last updated you we have successfully negotiated 2,500 miles of some of Africa’s worst roads, crossed the border from Sudan into Ethiopia and made it to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia’s Capital) where we are now spending a few days recovering and giving Bula a well earned rest.

In fact the last few weeks have been all about Bula and her amazing ability to cope with Ethiopia’s roads! Roadside repairs have included 4 punctures, dodgy clutch (air pocket), over heating, leaking rear half shaft and temporary replacement of the rear differential plate – I'm certainly learning a few new skills – but that aside Bula has been magnificent and got us through, under, over, down and up some extremely challenging situations and we are now certainly life fans of Landrover Defenders! We have climbed to almost 4,000 meters (and down again), traversed river gorges, negotiated running mud and tackled some of the driest and rockiest bush tracks but we still have the infamous Ethiopia / Kenya border crossing to come which apparently is even more challenging……….cant wait!

So where and what have we been up to since we last left you in Khartoum. Well, we spent another 5 days in the sweltering heat of Sudan visiting the famous Mereo Pyramids, experiencing the amazing Whirling Dervish ceremony (crazy boys) and following the Blue Nile from Khartoum to its source in Ethiopia (Lake Tana). We were certainly mightily relieved to cross into Ethiopia primarily for two reasons, firstly we quickly climbed into the highlands (the majority of Ethiopia being above 2000 meters and is mountainous, green and fertile unlike the images we are so familiar with back in the UK), where it was so much cooler and secondly we could finally have a nice cold beer, much needed after over 2 weeks of being ‘dry’ and bloody hot!

So what about Ethiopia? It is a truly amazing country with an incredible history but it has certainly been our toughest country so far & our best summarization and lasting memories will be of the country side, the roads and finally the people; the latter whom dominate ones daily lives as it is virtually impossible to get away from people – one veteran Indian traveler told us “it is worse than India”!! With a population of c.100 million they are everywhere and when stopping, anywhere, any time we would immediately be surrounded by 20 – 30 kids all demanding money, food, pens and much more. Walking the streets people constantly yell out ‘farangi’ (Ethiopian for Foreigner) or ‘you, you, you, you’ which does start to grate and test one’s tolerance after a while, plus it makes it extremely difficult for Clare to have a private ‘bush pee’! We could go on about the people and the country but this is neither the time nor the place, suffice to say it is emotionally draining.

As far as sights are concerned we have had a good mix of culture and nature. Our first week was spent following the historical / religious route which took us north to Axum and then back south to the famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela – Ethiopia has an extremely old and religious history which is quite distinct from the rest of Africa. Whilst we thoughrly enjoyed these sites and learning the history, the real highlight has been the National Parks and finally seeing some of Africa’s wildlife (not including the natives)! We have visited two parks, firstly the Simien Mountains where we met and spent time with the endemic Gelada Baboons, a truly amazing experience, and also had sightings of Bushbuck, Klipspringers, Ibex, as well as some unbelievable bird life. We then went to the Awash National Park which was much hotter and drier, where we wild camped with Grivet Monkeys (cheeky buggers stole our breakfast), Hamadryas Baboons, Oryx, Warthogs and the odd lion roaring in the distance. It was also in Awash that we encountered the famous nomadic Afar Tribe who are essentially cattle herders but are pretty intimidating with there long knives, woolly hair and AK47’s! In fact a couple we met in the middle of no where insisted on a lift and as we were not about to refuse there request we stuck them on the roof of Bula whilst we looked after there AK47’s….. bizarre! We also took a trip out East to a place called Harar where we found the ‘Hyena man’ and spent an hour with him at sunset feeding 9 wild spotted Hyenas from a small stick – quite amazing and a once in a life time experience!!!

So, a lot has happened these last few weeks with too much to detail here but hopefully this has given you a flavor. As for the people we traveled with in Sudan, we are about to rejoin Ed and Sue (couple from Gloucester in a Defender) as we have been told it is better to tackle the Kenya border together. Unfortunately Jason (German BMW rider) crashed on crossing into Ethiopia and broke his collar bone so has had to return home, whilst the others are all still somewhere in Ethiopia and are all okay but on different schedules.

As usual a big thanks to all of you who keep emailing and keeping us up to speed on ‘regular’ news, we really look forward to reading these and it helps keep us ‘normal’. Also, thanks for the Amref donations which are much appreciated, though there are still loads of you out there that are earning a fortune and can surely spare a few sheckles? Having now seen first hand the Poverty and conditions these kids survive in, we can assure you that any donation makes a massive difference and as most of you make you’re living from children this is a chance to really give something back. We are hoping to raise £5,000 this year (and in case we you were wondering/worrying it all goes to Amref) but at £500 so far we have a long way to go so please give it some thought – Thanks.

With any luck the next update should come Nairobi, Kenya in a couple of week’s time having successfully and safely negotiated the border crossing.

Still missing everyone loads, hope the UK summer has kicked in and the golf season is going well, take care and don’t work to hard.

Lots of Love, C, G and Bula

Amref Donation link (Just Giving) can be found under sponsorship on our blog site (http://bulas-adventures.blogspot.com/). Also a few sample photos from our 1200 photos already taken.

Africa – we are definitely here!

2007-05-04T06:11:00.000+01:00

10th April – 3rd May 2007 (Egypt and Sudan)

Eight days to travel a 1000 miles – 90% off road, on sand and corrugation (got to be experienced to be ‘appreciated’), temperatures exceeding 50 degrees centigrade, no washing facilities, a plague of Nile fly’s and dust every where – welcome to Sudan!

But I’m jumping ahead because when we last left you we were underneath Bula in Luxor, Egypt with a various mechanics trying to sort out a worrying ‘knocking’; after two days this was sorted (at least we thought so) and we spent the time exploring the fantastic sights around Luxor – the Temple of Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings and various other tombs and temples. On Friday the 13th April we headed south again to Aswan, Egypts most southerly town and a very pleasant place (apart from the constant hassling from the touts). It is here that they have built the Aswan High Dam and it is therefore the departure point for the ferry to Sudan; however this only runs once a week so we had a week to wait. We found a great spot to camp and soon met other overlanders coming from both directions and managed to catch up on all the ‘tips’ for our next stage. While in Aswan we visited Abu Simbel, probably Egypt's most famous temple and also spent a fabulous 24 hours on a Felucca (a traditional Nubian Nile sailing boat).

Booking Bula onto the Ferry was the main objective for the week and it took all week, living up to its reputation of negotiation and hassle. As the week progressed more overlanders arrived which meant we could put the vehicles on a separate barge (as opposed to the people ferry) which would leave 2 days before the ferry but hopefully arrive in Wadi Halfa at the same time. The barge was to carry 3 Landrovers, 1 Toyota Cruiser, 2 Motorbikes and 1 Overland Truck, though unfortunately we were not allowed to travel with Bula which was a worry as thought we might never see her again and be stranded in Wadi Halfa – not a great scenario! However, as the German couple was traveling with a dog & Klaus the owner was allowed to go with the vehicles so promised to keep an eye on everyone else’s vehicles so we all felt a bit better. After 6 hours of ‘formalities’ we loaded Bula onto the Barge and waved her good bye. Saturday night was spent on the Felucca (a real trip highlight & so relaxing!) and Sunday night in a cheap hotel before it was our turn to follow Bula south across Lake Nasser (300 miles). We arrived at the port for 9am as instructed and eventually set sail at 6pm – the time in between being spent watching the amazing spectacle of loading an African Ferry……. quite unbelievable and too difficult to describe here! Once we set sail we had a 17 hour journey which was spent in our ‘1st class cabin’ – an absolute haven compared to the rest of the extremely crowded boat but hardly celeberous and the toilets were definitely not for the squeamish! So much for all the advice not to go to Sudan, as we now had 25 western travelers on the ferry ranging from Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, France, Australia and the UK in all modes of transport – backpackers (relying on public transport), 4 x 4’s, trucks, motorbikes and even a couple of cyclists…… and you all thought we were mad in a Landrover!

We eventually docked in Wadi Halfa, Sudan at midday on Tuesday 24th April, a real dusty one horse border town, so after negotiating our way through immigration, reuniting our selves with Bula (what a relief) and battling with customs (total of 5 hours) we drove out into the desert for a spot of wild camping and prepare our selves for the ‘leisurely’ drive to Khartoum! The fun started almost immediately the next day as we had our first blow out after only a few miles. Tyre changing in 45 degree centrigrade heat & in sand is not something I had practiced much but was it was quickly accomplished with Klaus’ assistance & it was back to Wadi Halfa to repair the tyre, another interesting experience! By now we were traveling in a ‘convoy’ – Ed & Sue from Gloucester in there specially made 130 Defender, Klaus, Alex and Basco (the Dog) from Germany in an overland truck, Retu and Victoria from Switzerland and Argentina respectively in a Toyota Landcrusier, Kevin and Kistina from Denmark in a Defender 110, Jason from Germany on a BMW 650 motorbike and finally Richard and Sasha from Bournemouth on there 1955 Royal Enfield Motorbike. The convoy format made sense as there was only 1 track south and it proved some what challenging, so safety in numbers seemed to make good sense. As it turned out this proved invaluable as we all needed to help each other out at some stage, plus the camaraderie and craic was great; evenings were spent cooking and chatting around the tents recounting the days events and earlier experiences; the only thing missing was a nice cold beer but Sudan is a ‘dry’ country and alcohol is strictly prohibited plus the fridges were all battling to stay cool with in cab temperatures exceeding 60 degrees c.

The trip to Khartoum (600 miles) took us a week with numerous ‘events’ along the way, with the bikers in particular definitely needing vehicle support as most things broke off, leaving us to carry all their luggage and water, with the latter proving essential as consumption was exceeding 15 liters + per person, per day so it was luck that we had bought a 130 liters in Aswan! Apart from the early puncture and subsequent oil seal leak in the rear half shafts Bula held up remarkably well and got us to Khartoum in one piece. In addition to the road conditions and heat we experienced a plague of Nile Fly’s for one evening and a two day sand storm so think nature gave us a pretty good test!

Those were the challenges we faced which may have made it sound a tad unpleasant but in actual fact has been great, with spectacular scenery, unbelievably hospitable and friendly people, wild desert camping and very much what Africa is all about and why we came – so Sudan is currently up there as one of our top spots. We are now in Khartoum, which is still exceptionally hot and unfortunately has poor camping facilities (ie. no running water) so we are treating our selves to two nights in the Hilton – air con, shower, bath and internet – all the things we take for granted back home but fully appreciate after a week or so in the desert! Yesterday was spent at the Landrover garage sorting a few of Bulas minor ‘aliments’ and we were treated to dinner afterwards at the manager’s house with his family, who also volunteered to do all our laundry….. not sure a UK garage manager would provide quite the same service?

Saturday we head back up north to see some of Sudan’s historic sights before heading east to the cooler (and wetter) climate of Ethiopia. So much has happened in the last few weeks and it is fantastic to finally be in the ‘real Africa’. Our experiences are to numerous to detail in the blog but be assured we will bore you on our return. The world, work, schedules etc all seem a million miles away as our daily routine has taken on a whole new perspective so getting back to ‘normality’ could be our toughest challenge yet!

The hardest part is missing our friends and family, particularly as communication is so difficult so hope we have not been forgotten and look forward to catching up over a few beers when we get back. Next stop Ethiopia!

Sun, Sea, Sand…….Wind and more Sand! (Egypt)

2007-04-10T11:29:00.000+01:00

24th March to 10th April 2007

Again I have left if over two weeks to update you all and some of you may be wondering where we have got to, particularly as our mobile phones are now becoming less reliable. Well, we are still in Egypt and actually in distance terms, c.150 miles, not far from El Gouna (our last update 18 days ago); however, not wanting to keep life simple we have traveled almost 1800 miles to finally reach the Egyptian tourist Mecca of Luxor. Ok, so why the big loop and what have we been up to these last few weeks? Well, it has been quite a mix of activities and adventures! We continued to abuse Steve and Jill’s hospitality by staying on in their Villa in El Gouna for another four days, though unfortunately this was tarnished by both me getting a ‘man’ cold and the wind never letting up so we were pretty much house bound. As we were due to meet John and Jan Madigan on the 1st April we decided to leave a few days early and take a trip further south down the coast to a place called Mersa Alam for a spot of camping. However, this proved more difficult than we thought and after only one night in a fly ridden, wind swept diving camp we returned north to El-Quseir and the sanctuary of the Flamenco Hotel where we learnt that camping was not really option along the red sea coast. We also discovered that there really is nothing to do except sit by the pool, dive and snorkel so a hotel is really the only option. Still we were not complaining and enjoyed four nights in the comfort of the 3 star Flamenco (£60 half board). I took the opportunity to go diving and Clare tried her hand a snorkeling when she swam with sea turtles and a sea cow (no not Clare’s mum). We also had a fabulous couple of days with John and Jan who were staying next door in the posh Movenpick Hotel; it was great to spend time with friends and catch up with all the ‘gossip’ from back home, a truly great effort by the Madigan’s for making it over to Egypt and just a shame we had to move on so quickly.

However, 10 days on the red sea coast and with the Sudanese Visa worrying us we hit the road again on Monday 2nd April for the 400 mile trek back north to Cairo. Cairo…… what can one say! Over 18 million people crammed into the sprawling city around the Nile, half a million of whom are living / squatting in the cities cemeteries!! Running water and green space are a luxury, with the pollution reputedly akin to smoking 30 cigarettes a day! However, once again it was the driving that will stick with us and is something which has to be experienced to be believed, the Italians are mere pussy cats!

Avoiding any accidents we successfully found the campsite (thanks to GPS coordinates) and settled into the ‘Cairo cauldron’ for 3 nights. Despite, its reputation noise and pollution we had a great time and successfully got our Sudanese Vistas. The Museum and Pyramids were fantastic and kept us occupied for 2 full days, certainly one of our high lights so far. Having said that 3 nights camping in Cairo (with the mosquitoes and dead animals floating down the river) was more than enough and it was time to move on into the desert.

Before setting off we found Hosam, a back street Landover mechanic who gave Bula a quick refresh, changing her oil and filters and then it was off into the Western Sahara around the oasis route. However, our timing was not good as one of the season sand storms started to whip up and followed us all the way to Bahariya oasis where we soon found a good spot to camp. Thankfully the wind and the sand did die down that first evening though was to return with a vengeance over the next few days.

While in Bahariya we were hit with our first mechanical ‘challenge’….. a leaking few pipe, which must have got damaged during her ‘re-fresh’, typical. With the help of Talat, the camp owner, we managed to get Bula fixed but by this time the wind and sand were back so were forced to stay another night, in fact we re-named the camp Hotel California, as at one stage we thought we might never leave.

Despite still being windy we did decide to move on to the next oasis, Farafra, visiting the spectacular White Desert on the way although unfortunately it was too windy to camp. Another two nights were spent camping at different Oasis, though the sand was now beginning to ‘grate’……and boy does it everywhere!! Just ask Clare about ‘abluting’ out in the open during a sand storm!

Easter was celebrated with a bar of Dairy Milk which Clare was forced to share with a couple we had just met! After 4 nights in the desert / oasis we had a long drive east back to the Nile and Luxor, which certainly bought us back into ‘civilisation’ with a bump! Though it does have its upsides and we immediately found a KFC and devoured a zinger meal each, though I still far prefer Clare’s camp cooking surprises! Then a couple of hours wondering Karnak Temple beside the Nile, followed by a noisy night in the Campsite (we are next to a Mosque which preached and wailed all night).

Today we are catching up on chores in the campsite while waiting for a mechanic, as poor Bula has developed a ‘knock’ which I think maybe the universal joints in the prop shaft…..hey listen to me! Hoping it is nothing too serious as we need to get onto Aswan and catch the infamous ferry to Sudan before our Visas expire. Good’ol Bula has now done over 10,000 miles since leaving the UK and has been as good as gold so really hoping we can sort the knock easily.

So all in all a windy few weeks with extreme variety and some great highlights. We have really got into the swing of camping and consider the tent as ‘home’; Clare is even getting pretty relaxed about the state of toilets and showers and I think we are ready to take on the ‘real’ Africa.

As always thanks for the texts and calls and apologies’ for not always responding but both the reception and the costs don’t always allow but please don’t stop them coming as we love hearing from you. Hope everyone’s respected businesses and jobs are going well, with families and loved ones all in good health. I am not sure when the next update will be as don’t think Sudan is that set up with Internet cafes so until the next time, take care and be happy!

The Dark Continent – At Last! (Jordan & Egypt)

2007-03-23T16:11:00.000Z

12th – 23rd March

The last 10 days since we last wrote have all been about camping, relaxing, sunshine, sandstorms and people! Oh, of course finally reaching Africa and the start of the ‘real trip’.

When we last left you we were about to feature in our very own ‘Indiana Jones’ scene and explore the famous ‘lost city’ of Petra, which we did both by night and then again the following day. What a fabulous place and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, particularly the 2 km walk though the Siq by candle light, accompanied by a Bedouin flute…..very haunting! Clare also declined the assistance of a camel or donkey to climb the 810 steps up to the monastery, top girl! However, we decided the night and day visit were enough, though one could spend much longer exploring as it is a huge site - this move proved a crucial decision as a few days later a rare cold front hit the country and it snowed in Petra! As we were by now camping this would not have been met with approval (to bloody right it was cold enough all ready!)

Camping (finally) has dominated the last 10 days as we camped ‘wild’ (ie. in the desert illegally) in Petra and then the next 6 nights in Aquaba and Wadi Rum. We have felt far more comfortable and at home in our little tent on the roof than in the previous 3 months and Clares culinary skills are proving exceptional (vegetable surprise!!) At the Aquaba campsite we encountered our first ‘overlanders’ and that is no understatement! This bunch were in a variety of vehicles ranging from motor homes, Landrovers (like ours), to unimogs and Mercedes trucks and had been ‘on the road’ from anywhere to 2 to 6 years, putting our 3 months to shame! Most of them were German and kept themselves to themselves but we did spend a good deal of time chatting to Peter and Ann a South African couple (2 yrs) and the fantastic dreadlocked character ‘Mugi’ (6 yrs) who had endless stories of adventure and fun though was beginning to look a bit worse for wear!! (Can you pick out Graham in the pic above?)

We spent the time relaxing & re-organising, with the exception of an extremely windswept and sandy night in ‘Wadi Rum’, a spectacular nature reserve where we had to test both mine and Bulas sand driving skills, almost getting stuck a few times! Bulas contents were re-orangised; Clare did all our washing (by hand), sat in the sun and generally enjoyed doing nothing for the first time since we set off in January. I did take Clare snorkeling for her first time, as the reef and fish were fantastic, which went relatively well until Clare decided to inhale a bucketful of water through her nose…..end of this snorkel (it happens of the best of us!).

Having re-charged the batteries & got a bit of a tan it was time to make the crossing into Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, something we had both been dreading as the border crossing is notoriously ‘difficult’. We caught the ferry at 12.00 on Sunday 18th January from Aquaba and negotiated the exit from Jordan with ease and were soon our way to Africa!! While boarding we had our first stroke of luck as we noticed an Overland truck also loading so introduced ourselves to the driver and tour leader, 2 Ausies who were very friendly and helpful. Entering Egypt and Nuweiba lived up to its reputation and sparing you the details will summarize by saying 3 hours after first docking, a lot of running around like a headless chicken and £70 poorer from bribes and ‘charges’, we finally drove Bula onto African soil – we had made it!

We spent our first two nights in the hippie / diver town of Asilah near Dahab which was a wonderful spot full of open air bars and restaurants lining a small bay and full of young laid back divers and back packers, we fitted in perfectly! We could have easily have spent longer here and also visited more of the Sinai sights but were eager to hook up with Steve and Jill Beaumont, friends from the UK who were in their newly built villa in El Gouna on the Red Sea coast until the 22n March. This involved our longest drive to date, 500 miles and 11 hours – through mainly desert and our first proper sand storm where we quickly discovered Bula, particularly Clare’s door, is not properly sealed and Clare soon disappeared under an inch of sand. Also as a result of this sand storm we did not see the Suez canal as we entered the tunnel virtually blind; however on exiting it was clearer and we were now on the African continent proper and our African trip was about to begin!

We are now in El Gouna, a fabulous 5 star resort on the Red Sea coast, staying, thanks to the massive generousity of Steve and Jill in their Villa. We had a wonderful few days with them before they sadly flew back to chilly England, but I must say they have picked a great spot and when the Villa is finished it will be paradise. Anyone fancying a few weeks away from blighty in the Sun, either for golf or general relaxation would do well to contact Steve about renting the villa (stevebeaumontshiprightofsibson.co.uk ). We plan to ‘abuse Steve and Jills generosity for a few more days, as having all the home comforts – comfortable bed, hot showers, sit on toilets etc is just too good to be true and we are due to meet John and Jan Madigan further down the coast in a weeks time when it will be back to camping.

All in all a great 10 days as it has been warmer and sunnier, we have met some great people and with the camping we finally feel the adventure has started, enhanced by the fact that we are actually in Africa, which so far has been anything but ‘dark’ though we know we have all that to come as we head further south into Sudan and Ethiopia!!!

Sultans, Kings, Crusaders and the bloody Romans again!! (Turkey, Syria and Jordan)

2007-03-22T16:27:00.000Z

24th Feb – 10th March

It has been 2 weeks since we last updated the blog and I must say a pretty eventful 2 weeks at that!! Apologies for leaving such a gap for those tracking our progress but a combination of my laziness and internet access has resulted in the delay!

Where to start and keep it brief?? When we last left you we were at Galipolli in Turkey (boy that seems ages ago!). The remainder of Turkey continued to be most enjoyable as we headed down the western coast visiting Troy (no Brad Pitt unfortunately for C), Pergamon (Roman Ruins) and Ephesus (more Roman ruins but more impressive though have been spoilt by Pompeii!). Heading inland we went to Pamukkale, a very popular (particularly with the Germans) hot springs with sodium white cliffs! We soon hit the southern coast and meandered along the very twisty and scenic coastal road through various holiday resorts. After a huge thunderstorm on the 28th Feb the weather cleared, the sun finally stuck its head out and the Mediterranean looked fabulous – Clare even took off one of her fleeces (I generally like to wear about 5 layers!).

The roads in Turkey continued to be good all the way (even if a bit too twisty at times for C) and we had moved from Hotels to Pensions or B & B’s to us Brits but unfortunately still no camping, though it was probably still to cold to camp (it was definitely to cold to camp!). We ate well, more often than not home cooked with the B & B’s families, far better than hotels and restaurants. We started to see more tourists at the various sites and resorts but met very few where we were staying, certainly no Brits. From Istanbul onwards we enjoyed Turkey, its people are friendly, the food excellent and accommodation clean & reasonably cheap, though their architecture leaves a little to be desired!

On the 1st March after 12 days in Turkey and 1,900 miles we were poised to enter the Middle East proper & we crossed into Syria over a fairly remote mountain crossing on the East Coast with little trouble and were soon in the town of Latakia, which turned out to be of a hole but found somewhere to stay and had dinner for £3.15 (pizza, beer and wine!) Syria is cheap!! The next 3 days in Syria were ‘interesting’ and very different from Turkey! I seem to remember slating the Italian drivers earlier in the trip but they are nothing compared with the Syrians – thank god we are in Bula! It’s not easy to describe but imagine driving down the M1, the 2 ‘official’ lanes soon become 3 and sometimes 4 and not always driving in the same direction! While I watched out for hurtling trucks and buses coming from both directions, Clare kept a look out for herds of sheep and goats grazing on the hard shoulder and central reservation and occasionally interspersed with dead animals, mostly dogs but did include a dead cow in a very bloated state and a donkey! This ‘motorway’ was the main road through Syria to Damascus in the south and was through very arid desert, not a good place to break down; being the Middle East we assumed petrol stations would not be a problem but oh no big mistake! Out of desperation we stopped at a road side stall to ask at which the old fella produced a 5 litre plastic container from behind his shed which he promised me (in Arabic) contained diesel; thankfully he was not lying and we crawled onto the next petrol station where we were cheered up by filling Bula (70 liters) for £4.75 – confirmation that Burglar Brown is milking it in the UK! Having survived the ‘Road of Death’ as we called it we arrived in Damascus and had to negotiate its traffic – another experience in itself! Sites in Syria included a couple of impressive Crusader Castles occupied by Richard the Lion Heart and his merry men, and another roman amphitheatre – these Romans got everywhere. We met out first gay Arab running a restaurant where Sean Connery had apparently eaten; a very amusing meal consisting of 12 courses! We explored Damascus (the oldest inhabited city in the world) and its souks; smoked the hubba bubble pipe and drank dreadful Arabic coffee – (stick to the tea which is pretty good). We had always decided to get through Syria quickly as were not keen on being so close to the West Bank and Lebanon, which at one stage was only 1 mile away! Therefore, we missed a few of the key Syrian sites but were glad to move on as did not find the people as friendly as the Turks and everywhere was much more run down and poorer plus, unsurprisingly, a fairly heavy military presence.

So on the 5th March we crossed into Jordan with high expectations the border was a breeze, but since then is has all been frustration!! Jordan scenery is more dramatic, the people are very friendly, the driving a bit better, but it is much more expensive and impossible to find your way around with the worst sign posting we have ever encountered. We could have driven around Amman all year if we had not eventually stopped and been rescued by a very generous Palestinian (without a back pack). Its hard to describe the frustration but Clare’s best shot is “the lights are on but no one is in” or “loads of sizzle but no sausage” which is a pretty good summary of the place as it has loads of potential but falls well short on delivery. However, we have had some good highs particularly as we have finally managed to start roughing it and use Bula to her max! A couple of very contrasting nights under canvas, the first in the middle of the dessert, Laurence of Arabia territory, which was fab and then another in a car park on the edge of the Dead Sea which we soon discovered was ‘The’ spot for all night Arabian parties, boy what a long night! The Dead Sea though is unbelievable in both the surrounding scenery and the incredibly bizarre ability to be able to float in its water, which was absolutely amazing (apparently even Lord has claimed to have floated in the Dead Sea, though he states he was some what lighter at the time).

From the dead sea we climbed back up above sea level (the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, 400m below sea level) and into the desert for two wonderful nights in an Eco Lodge in the Dana Nature Reserve, which we had exclusively to our selves. Today we have traveled further in land to the famous site of Petra which we will visit tonight and tomorrow so more on Petra next time, but I can say the drive here through the desert mountains was quite spectacular but quite hairy at times & even poor old Bula over heated with the effort. From Petra we are finally poised to enter Africa and should be in Egypt or at least the Sinai Peninsula by Thursday all being well.

After all most three months on the road we are really into the routine which surprisingly is actually quite tough as the traveling, finding somewhere to stay, getting lost, understanding the language etc does take its toll, so we are hoping to “park up” somewhere soon and have a few days holiday!

The Killing Fields – Pompeii to Gallipoli (Italy, Greece and Turkey)

2007-02-24T08:03:00.000Z

13^th -23^rd February

A slightly morbid title I know but it sort of sums up the last 10 days of sight seeing! When we last left you we were ‘hanging’ on the edge of the Amalfi coast enjoying the spectacular scenery even if the roads were the twistiest and most hair raising we have driven so far, particularly as they were also occupied by the Italians!

However, we survived Amlafi and ventured back towards Naples and up Mount Vesuvius which was hidden by cloud; we wound our way to the top only to find that due to particularly high winds, the last few hundred meters were closed, much to Clare’s relief, as it can only be done on foot and looked pretty steep; still Clare managed to experience her worst toilet so far so not a wasted trip! Off back down to Pompeii which was bathed in sunshine, and certainly a whole lot more impressive! We took a self guided audio tour and had a great experience wondering around the vast site taking in as much as we could, but to do it justice you would need a good 6 hours; however we spent a great 3 hours wandering around and learnt lots ( G particularly enjoyed the brothel!) The area is vast and retains a certain eerie feel about it, almost as though time has stood still, which it sort of has!

From Pompeii we headed south east across the bottom of Italy through the Mountains (thankfully not very big ones!) and had a long drive to the seaside town of Metaponto thinking it would be a good spot to stay…… how wrong could we be! Italian seaside resorts obviously close in the off season and when I say close I mean ghost town! After being followed by a suspicious security guard (the only living thing within 10 miles) we were forced back to the main road and checked into a truckers stop at 9.00pm knackered – another lesson learnt!

The next day being Valentines I thought a night in a cave would be romantic so drove to a town called Matera – boy what a place! Up until the mid 1960’s over 15,000 people (called Troglodytes – sounds like something out of Harrogate!) were still living in a city of caves carved out of the side of a huge gorge – quite an unbelievable place. Now a World Heritage site and much of it renovated, including hotels, we booked ourselves into our very own cave, complete with lights and en-suite bathroom – how much more romantic can you get!

Having explored Matera thoroughly we decided it was time to leave Italy behind, fun as it was we were ready for a new country!

So into Greece we went across the Adriatic Sea by Ferry from Bari, unfortunately Clare was not feeling great so the 9.5 hours sleepless and bug infested crossing was not our best moment (G was scared of the bugs!) but we eventually arrived in Igoumenitsa, northern Greece. As it was early (6.30am) we decided to head straight for a placed called Kalambaka up in the mountains and this time they were proper mountains – the Pindhos Mountains! Good old Bula climbed and climbed until we reached the Karara pass @ 1,700 meters and our 3^rd ski resort of the trip; unfortunately it was completely covered in thick fog so visibility was down to a few feet and we headed back down below snow level and eventually into Kalambaka. Why Kalambaka? Well this is the small town at the base of an area called Meteora, which are essentially a series of very old monasteries (1300’s) built on top of the highest and steepest cliffs you will ever see. We spent the next morning visiting 3 of these monasteries, which are still fully functional today and once again scaring ourselves stupid climbing up ladders and crossing high bridges, though this was nothing compared to how the monks used to get in!

From here we continued east round the base of Mount Olympus, through Thessaloniki and along the Aegean coast, stopping for a night at another very quite seaside motel, though not as deserted as in Italy; and I am sure is very beautiful in the summer. We enjoyed the drive through Greece but did not really find the Northern Greeks particularly friendly, though thankfully most spoke English as our Greek needs a bit of practice!

Sunday 18^th and we decided the draw of the exotic East was too much, so had a long day traveling first along the Aegean coast and then, having crossed into Turkey (our first ‘proper’ border crossing), the coast of the Sea of Marmara. I think we were both a bit apprehensive about Turkey which was not helped by the miserable border officials, heavy military presence, freezing weather and bleak countryside. However, Istanbul proved to be somewhat of a revelation, though finding a hotel on the first night was a tad ‘entertaining’. As we got closer to the city, which is vast and has a population of 15 million, we were quickly into the ‘wacky races’ with vehicles everywhere (and we thought Italy was bad!) We got completely lost in the ‘old’ city because I insisted that every Mosque we saw was the famous Blue Mosque (they weren’t but in my defense the do all look very similar) and eventually had to ask a taxi to lead us to the hotel – all very entertaining, though Clare would say stressful! Hotel was good and perfectly located but unfortunately Clare developed a terrible cold so we decided to stay put for a few days and totally chill! Caught up on e-mails, washing etc and Clare took it easy whilst I explored as much of Istanbul as possible (including a Turkish bath!), which I can only say was a fabulous experience and would highly recommended to anyone who has not been. It is a city full of contrasts with loads of history, with a real mix of East and West; the people are extremely friendly without being a pain and the food excellent; we were also blessed with fantastic weather (bit cold!). I could rabbit on about everything we did but will spare you the details for now, just get on down to your nearest travel agent and book a trip to Istanbul.

By Thursday Clare was feeling better and we decided we should move on so over the B osphorus Bridge and a long day’s drive around the Sea of Marmara to the south western corner to a place called Canakkale. From here we took the ferry across the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli Peninsula and spent a very ‘moving’ day visiting the cemeteries and battle fields where over a 120,000 troops died in 1915 fighting over a bit of scrub land – all very sad & left us wondering how men get into these situations?

So as you can see we have stopped off at a few ‘morbid’ but fascinating places which are ‘on the map’ as a result of terrible tragedies but it has been a wonderful experience to be able to visit these places and learn something about the events.

We are still eating and drinking too much, spending far too much money not had a single night in the tent and generally having a ball, so where is the adventure I hear you ask BUT we still have ten months to go so plenty of opportunity yet & we are now finally heading South so hopefully will soon start to warm up……but what a life!

Bulas has now taken us over 5,000 miles, and is still trouble free (touch wood) and we are now in our seventh country with over 500 photos already downloaded and 100’s of stories to recount, so watch out if you ever invite us over for dinner!

What have the Romans ever done for us? (Italy)

2007-02-14T16:17:00.000Z

Sun 4th February – Monday 12th February (8 nights)

Turin, Italy – Almalfi, Italy

Well for a start the Romans built a pretty damn impressive city and in particular one of the most impressive stadiums that we have ever seen! But more of that later.

We all know the Romans were actually quite an impressive bunch and came up with plenty of good ideas and Italy is still a damn good place for food, wine, historical buildings, art and much more but despite building the roads they DID NOT teach the Italians how to drive! They really are quite unbelievable and we have been lucky that Bula has not ‘squashed’ a number of eyeties in their Fiat Pandas! I am now actually beginning to enjoy the ride as we are some what bigger than most! On the subject of Bula, she continues to be absolutely fantastic, though we are now down to just one windscreen wiper…..but Clare doesn’t need to see where we are going any way!

Having recovered in Parma we have meandered our way down through Tuscany and Rome to the Almalfi Coast, south of Naples. The weather has been on and off, with some lovely days and some extremely wet ones! Highlights have been many and started with Florence which we both loved, and spent two days being ‘cultural’. For anyone who has been to Florence try and picture Bula arriving in the main pedestrian street in the centre of town having ‘negotiated’ the many narrow streets! We got plenty of stares and much interest from both the public and in particular the police, but all ended well and we eventually found the hotel. The scenery through Tuscany has been spectacular, though a bit to windy in places for Clare!!!

From Florence we traveled to San Gimignano, reputedly the most picturesque and well known village in Tuscany, before heading on down to Lake Trasimeno and to a recommended self catering apartment off the beaten track. What a fab recommendation, thanks Susan and Sally, as it was a lovely spot which finally allowed us to be self sufficient for a night (though G wasn’t too good with the fire, and succeeded in smoking us out!), you cant beat a bit of home cooking! We stayed two nights and on the second night we ventured into the attached restaurant – FANTASTIC – log fire, 7 course set meal, all traditionally cooked from local ingredients, and topped off with a huge selection of local grappa, though the chili one nearly blew our heads off!!!!

Having got the taste of being more self reliant we headed south and decided to stay about 30 miles north of Rome (G didn’t fancy taking on the Roman drivers on there own circuit!) but this time in a B& B. Run by a mad Italian woman who spoke absolutely no English we had a hoot. Taking the t

rain (50 mins) into Rome each day we got more of a ‘flavour’ of Rome and ended up having two very different days in the city. The first we got absolutely drenched! Having sto

od in line for over 40 mins for the Sistine Chapel they

decided to close it; so thought we would try a bus tour but too wet to sit up top and to steamy to see anything from inside!! What to do? It was Saturday and a Six Nations Day so find an Irish bar an

d watch the Rugby! We did however have a good wonder around after the game seei

ng most of the important sites including the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks who have used the bones and skeletons of over 4000 monks to decorate the cells – all very morbid but quite fascinating. Day 2 we had glorious sun shine and spent most of it in the Colosseum and

surrounding Roman ruins – very, very impressive even if a bit barbaric– over 10,000 men & 5,000 animals killed in a 100 day celebration of the opening of the Colosseum……that’s a lot of killing but still a very impressive stadium!! However, Clare could not find Russell Crowe!!

From Rome we have continued south in the rain, skipped Naples and have spent today trying to kill ourselves!! The Sorrento and Amalfi coasts may be beautiful and spectacular but the roads (with their crazy drivers) were not designed for Bula…..built on the side of cliffs & extremely twisty!! However she was great and we are now having a laugh about it but in the sanctuary of a bar with a large beer!!

So the Romans have provided us with a great and extremely diversified week which we have thoroughly enjoyed; weather has not been perfect but this has not managed to spoil one minute; we seem to have avoided staying in any more brothels, have eaten and drunk too much and are both agreed on coming back to Tuscany sometime in the future.

However, we are also ready to move on from Italy as the budget continues to take a hammering and we are eager to get on with the ‘main adventure’, Africa! Though we do still have Greece and the Middle East in between which we are sure will ‘throw up’ a few interesting exploits on the way – we can’t wait!!!!! We have now been on the road for a total of 31 days and traveled over 4000 miles but are still only in bloody Europe, so definitely time to move onto another continent.

2 - Rocky Mountain High! (Portugal, Spain, France & Italy)

2007-02-04T16:02:00.000Z

26th Jan – 3rd Feb – Faro , Portugal to Turin, Italy

Buon giorno everyone, yes we are now in Italy , Parma to be precise.
Our first ‘proper’ week on the road and we are still alive, talking, laughing and hugging though we have had a few ‘moments’!! An interesting leg which can be summed up with the words; mountains, snow, rivers, spectacular and cold bottoms (Clares)!

After a years planning and preparation for the trans Africa tour why didn’t anyone mention Europe ? It’s big and it’s cold! In all our excitement and ‘fears’ about Africa we totally forgot about the 5 countries and 5,000 odd miles we have to travel before even hitting the Middle East & Africa, made even more challenging with it being January and February – Winter!! With no heating in Bula and campsites closed due to ice and snow we are not best equipped; also finding that the budget is being stretched by the hotel stops! Keep suggesting to Clare we camp but she’s not having any of it (he’s not that brave either, it’s bloody freezing here!).

Okay we might have been ill prepared but we have had a fantastic time through Spain and France crossing the Pyrenees, Ardeche and Alps in the space of a week – 1,677 miles, 4 countries!

Despite being a tad chilly the weather has been fantastic and the scenery spectacular. After the ‘last supper’, actually lunch with mum and dad we finally left Portugal on Friday 26th January. Bula’s alternator had been fixed and her bonnet re-enforced, our own batteries recharged so we were ready…..until we hit the snow in Spain ! First night in a cheap trucker’s hostel outside Cordoba with great tapas for supper (very cold bedroom with separate beds!) Next day headed north towards Madrid and soon hit the snow which upset Bula immediately and she decided to throw off her windscreen wiper!!! Not a problem & easily fixed so on we went. Next few days we spent off the beaten track traveling through the middle of Spain through Cuenca and Teruel staying in a variety of hotels / hostels (certainly not suitable for the Windsor girls & Harrogate boys!!), one night we think was a brothel with very thin walls!!! Temperature remained very cold, -5oc one morning, but clear and sunny so no problems on the roads.

Sunday we hit the Pyrenees and stopped short of the French border in the Ski are of Vielha proceeded by a very spectacular drive thru the Mountains which included the amazingly long Vielha tunnel (5 kms). We decided to treat ourselves and booked into the Paradore Hotel, complete with double bed, bath and open log fire – luxury! Having driven almost 1,000 miles since leaving Portugal we decided to take a rest day in Vielha and visited one of the Ski areas, though decided a broken leg now would not be a good idea so had a bottle of wine and sunbathed instead. Took the opportunity to catch up on emails and generally relax, very pleasant.

From Vielha, Spain we soon crossed into France and headed into Toulouse, where we had lunch and visited the Basilican Saint Sertm – the largest Romanesque church in France – also saw the Rugby Stadium (oh joy!) Other cultural excursions included visiting the Toulouse Lautrec Gallery in Albi which we both really enjoyed.

The next few days continued with more amazing scenery as we followed the Tarn River through the Ardeche Region where poor Bula had another big climb up to 1300 meters. Stopped one night in Aubenes where we met our first English people since leaving Portugal and talk about a small world – they live within spitting distance of Clare’s sister in Bursledon, Southampton and there neighbours are Rosie Bales parents!!

From Aubenes in the Ardeche we soon hit the Alps and once again climbed up to 1,200 meters, Bula has been exceptional (he’s like a proud farther!). Stopping in Savines – le-Lac (near Gap) we were once again in a Ski area, though the real attraction was the Lac De Serre Poncon – the largest artificial dam in Europe – stunning area which we thoroughly explored both in Bula and on foot (our first bit of reasonable exercise, getting fit could be a problem!).

On Friday 2nd February we crossed into Italy through the Ski area of Montagenevre @ 1,800 meters and descended into the fog of Turin .

Yesterday we explored Turin on foot before finding Murphy’s Irish bar to watch the Rugby – Johnny is a god! After 8 pints and a Sambucer I must have had a dodgy pizza as felt decidedly off colour and retired to bed (well I put him to bed once we had negotiated the journey home!!!) Today we are recovering in Parma and I am Never drinking again!!!

So that pretty much brings us up to date. We have already completed over 3,000 miles & been ‘on the road’ for 21 days yet seem no closer to Africa & the warm sun but at least today we finally turned South! I hope not too long or boring – I have left lots out, promise!

BULAS ADVENTURES – LEG 1 (France, Spain & Portugal)

2007-01-24T12:37:00.000Z

Route: - High Wycombe, England to Bordeira, Portugal
Dates: - Friday 12th – Thursday 18th January 07
Total Miles: - 1,549
No. Nights: - 6

At last we are finally on our way and have successfully negotiated the channel crossing, 3 countries and arrived in Portugal. The departure weekend was certainly not without incident both pleasant and concerning but boy it’s a good feeling to have finally set off and be under way!
Having decided to undertake the trip back in November 2005, the past 14 months have been both slow and quick, wanting to get on with it but still not having enough time to prepare every thing! Final vehicle modifications were completed 5 days before D Day, along with our passports, complete with Visas! Along side these final trip preparations we were packing up the house for storage and saying very emotional goodbyes to Mitzi, Family and friends and tying to ensure all the loose ends were tied up, all in all a pretty stressful, though it made a very nice change from flying to Hong Kong and getting ready for Toy Fair!

Anyway enough about the preparations and onto the trip itself! Thankfully the first leg down to Portugal has been a doddle, though we did have a minor panic on the Sunday prior to our ferry crossing when we discovered that the alternator was playing up; after various tests and conversations with James (the man who has re-built Bula) it was decided to crack on and try our luck as the thought of delaying our departure any longer was to daunting! This incident aside we had a wonderful weekend starting with a fantastic surprise lunch at Cliveden House thanks to Susan, Sally and the Rateys, followed by a curry in Windsor with more close friends. Sunday included more food with a pub lunch (for Clare) and a roast dinner with Clare’s sister and brother in-law before collapsing in bed exhausted, a little fatter but very excited!

Monday was an early start to catch the 08:45 ferry from Portsmouth and thankfully everything ran like clockwork. The nearly 6-hour crossing was smooth as could be and we took the chance to catch up on some sleep, watch the film DeJaVu and generally tried to relax. On arrival in Caen we only had a 2 hour drive to Rennes where we were booked into an Campanile Hotel (French equivalent to Travel Lodge), as too cold for camping!

The next 3 days were spent meandering south through France, & Spain with stops at La Rochelle (for lunch), Bordeaux and Madrid. Bula behaved impeccably and happily cruised at 60 mph causing us no problems; we finally arrived in Bordeira, Portugal to be greeted by Graham’s folks with cold wine and beer and in time for a Birthday supper!
Since arriving in Portugal we have taken the opportunity to relax, enjoy the warmer weather and complete the final preparations. Bula’s alternator has been replaced (thanks to Peter @ Dingocroft and Roberto @ Escapes), we have re-charged our personal batteries and Graham even managed to squeeze some golf in! We are hoping to set off on Leg 2 this Friday (26th ), heading west back through Spain and France to Italy

The Finished Vehicle

2007-01-03T10:23:00.000Z

Sponsorship

2006-12-06T17:41:00.000Z

This trip has been a lifetime's ambition of ours & we expect it will be life changing in many ways! We will see many incredible sights both ancient & modern, good & bad, experience a number of different & varied cultures, meet new people & see incredible wildlife! In fact we will probably experience more in these next 12 months than we have already done so over the past 30 to 40 years!
We are incredibly lucky to be in a position to undertake such a trip & it is with this in mind that we are eager to utilise this unique opportunity & help raise both awareness & funds for an excellent organisation that continues to strive to improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves: -

AMREF - The African Medical and Research Foundation is Africa's leading health development organisation who run innovative health programmes in many African countries & aim to strengthen health systems in Africa by working with African Communities & governments. Full details of AMREF's activities & history can be found on www.amrefuk.org/uk.

Why AMREF? Well, they are obviously African based & helping many of the poeple & communities that we will be passing through but we chose AMREF because of their focus on adolescents & children under 5 i.e. those who are most vulnerable to ill health. Having both been involved in the UK Toy Industry for over 15 years we felt this would be a great opportunity to continue our association with kids. We hope to visit some of the AMREF projects on route & will be reporting back with what we see & experience. All we ask of you is to make a small donation to AMREF so we can all play a part in helping these kids stay healthy & you never know they may then even buy your toys!!

Making a donation is dead simple, just go onto the following site & follow the instructions: - www.justgiving.com/grahamclare. Thanks.

Route Map

2006-12-06T15:54:00.000Z

US

2006-09-05T10:49:00.000+01:00

Introduction

2006-09-05T09:44:00.000+01:00

Why drive across Africa you may ask? Bloody good question & one that Clare is still asking! In a nut shell it is something Graham has wanted to do since he left Kenya aged 9, so it was inevitable that at some point we would do it, and now is the time. We have spent the last year preparing our vehicle and trying to learn all we can about the journey ahead. We start from our home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on the 15th January 2007 and head for Durban in South Africa, some 12,000 miles or so across 21 countries, hoping to arrive in time for Xmas 2007.

Not only will this site serve as a diary of our day to day lives while traveling across this harsh, but beautiful continent, it will hopefully also offer some inspiration and useful information to anyone out there who is thinking about taking on something similar or encourage friends and family to join us for a leg!

So search the Blog to catch up on what we are doing:-

Planning
Vehicle
Diary by Country:
Europe; Jordan; Syria; Turkey; Egypt; Sudan; Ethiopa; Kenya; Tanzania Malawi;Zambia; Botswana; Namibia and finally South Africa

The Vehicle

2006-09-05T08:19:00.000+01:00

Bula Bula is her name (which is Hallo, how are you in Fijian) who originally started life as a Welsh Water Board vehicle but is now ready to tackle the challenges of Africa as both our new home & an Expedition Vehicle.

That's Mitzi who has wisely decided to stay home in England with her adopted family, Sabine and Barry Dix, as she thought that chasing cats in the UK would be preferable to being chased by the BIG cats of Africa!

Bula is a 1996 Defender 110 Tdi 300 with just over 130,000 miles on the clock. Recommended & bought from Marc at the Defender Centre (www.exmod.co.uk) she has since undergone a transformation from a standard utility vehicle to Expedition ready, including installation of a My Way roof tent & awning (www.mywaytents.co.za), Engel Fridge, Solar Panel, 2 new seats & many, many more other accessories - the list is endless. We have had the assistance of many people along the way, particularly James Smith who has given most of his spare time over the last few months to make sure Bula is both road worthy & fully equipped. Over the last 12 months we have obtained advice & help from many people & Companies, far too many to name here but special mention for their time, help & advice must go to: - Sam Watson (watsonsam@talk21.com), Mike Crossley (www.simplysafaris.co.uk ), Paul Stevenson (www.mywayrooftents.co.uk) & Peter Newcombe (www.dingocroft.co.uk), all of whom have been absolutely fabulous, thanks.