Annette and Dave's World Trip - Africa
In and around Nairobi, Kenya
Hi there.
Welcome to our travel blog for the first leg of what we hope will become a round the world trip. We're heading off for Africa for a trip from Nairobi to Cape Town with Dragoman Tours and if all goes to plan, we'll follow up with travel across Asia, Australia and New Zealand during 2008.
We'll do our best to keep the site updated along the way so that everyone who has said they wished they were doing this can enjoy the trip with us.
Current Plans
30/11/07 - weekend in London with the kids before we leave
03/12/07 - fly out to Nairobi
08/12/07 - join the Dragoman tour through Africa
02/02/08 - arrive Cape Town
14/02/08 - fly home to UK
15/02/08 - arrive home All the best.
Dave and Annette.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Annette and Dave
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1
Overview of the Trip
Our trip with Dragoman is in two sections split by a break at Victoria Falls in Western Zambia. The itinerary below is from the Dr... Continue reading »
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2
Stuff To Do Before We Go
There is a lot of information our there on how to prepare for the sort of trip we're doing but it takes some tracking down. The information on this... Continue reading »
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3
Just Because I'm Neurotic .....
I (Dave) was in the process last Saturday of getting all our documentation together for the trip and decided to check on the Continue reading »
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4
A Weekend In London
We decided to spend the weekend in London with the kids before we set off.
Yesterday (Saturday) we went down to Greenwich to the Royal Observ... Continue reading »
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5
On Our Way To Nairobi
We decided to stay overnight at the Renaissance Hotel at Heathrow to ensure we had an easy start for our journey. I'd forgotten that I stayed here... Continue reading »
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6
First Full Day in Nairobi
So the first full day in Nairobi and ever so slightly scary.
Ok, more than a little scary really. It may just be down to our neurosis and the... Continue reading »
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7
Big Scary Animals
Decided to do more than look around Nairobi and bathe in the bath temperature pool at the Stanley today.
Up at the crack of dawn for a tour o... Continue reading »
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8
First Day on the Expedition
Joined up successfully with the expedition on the 8th December. First impressions really good, not least because there are only going to be seven o... Continue reading »
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9
Tanzania Here We Come
First day really on the road and a straightforward drive out of Kenia and into Arusha in Tanzania by lunchtime.
There was only a small h... Continue reading »
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10
Serengeti National Park
Got up at 5.15am (early mornings seem to be the norm out here) to go off to the Serengeti National Park. The road up to the entrance is only about... Continue reading »
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11
Ngorongoro Crater
For some reason we were all up extremely early this morning!
Our driver, Zacari, was determined that we would see the 'big five' animals befo... Continue reading »
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12
En Route South - to Merangu
Drove down to the Merangu Hotel at Merangu today. It was absolutely chucking it down when we got there (so much for African sunshine!) so Annette a... Continue reading »
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13
En Route South - to Lushoto
A long drive down to Lushoto today through absolutely stunning scenary. Again the fertile areas and then up into the mountains towards Lushoto.
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14
A Gentle Day in Lushoto
We had a relatively gently day today. Given the option of a 1.5hr walk up to the local viewpoint and a 4.5hr walk, all but two of the group chose t... Continue reading »
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15
In And Out Of Dar Es Salam
Had a truck day on the 16th (Sun) down to Dar es Salam. Fairly uneventful other than it was noticeable that the closer we got to Dar, the fewer childr... Continue reading » -
16
The Spice Island of Zanzibar
High expectations today - off to Zanzibar for four nights, three in the north of the island and one in Stone Town to the south.
Our trip lead... Continue reading »
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17
Last Days in Tanzania
Friday, 21st December, 2007
We spent the final morning on Zanzibar wandering round the old streets of Stonetown and doing some Christ... Continue reading » -
18
Christmas In Malawi
I can't quite believe it but we've been on the road with Dragoman for 17 days now and they've passed in a flash.
We got down to Kande Beach a... Continue reading »
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19
En Route to Zambia
We finally left Kande Beach on the 28th December and drove down to the capital, Lilongwe. The whole area was very flat and fertile looking with peo... Continue reading »
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20
New Year Zambia Style
We'd been told when we arrived af Flatdogs Camp Site on the edge of the South Luanga National Park in Zambia (flatdogs are crocodiles) that wild an... Continue reading »
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21
Zambia - A Bit Of A Culture Shock!
It's a big country, Zambia, but it's interesting the sort of thing you notice as you travel across the miles and miles of countryside.
The m... Continue reading »
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22
Livingstone and Victoria Falls
And so to Livingstone and the home of the Victoria Falls. It's difficult to understand quite how the locals hadn't come across them before David Li... Continue reading »
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23
It It's Tuesday, It Must Be Botswana
There were mixed feelings as we left Livingstone.
On the one hand, the rains had been torrential all the time we were there and Victoria Fall... Continue reading »
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24
Great Toilets of Namibia
There are some blog entries that just don't fit into the usual flow of the narrative and Thebe Camp in Namibia is one of them. For reasons which I... Continue reading »
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25
The Okavango Delta, Botswana
As if we haven't seen enough water, one of the highlights of this part of the trip was a visit to the Okavango Delta, one of the wettest parts of B... Continue reading »
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26
Back in Namibia - Etosha National Park
One of the biggest challenges of overlanding is not the camping, the rain, the people at the side of the road trying to sell you stuff or getting t... Continue reading »
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27
Namibian Wildlife - Close Up and Personal
Another day, another adventure!
We moved on from Etosha to a Cheetah Park at Otjitongue Lodge (don't ask me how to pronounce it) near Kamanja... Continue reading »
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28
Bushman Culture Namibian Style
We haven't done much cultural stuff since we arrived in Africa so decided to do something about it by going to visit a few bush paintings at Brandb... Continue reading »
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29
Africa - Coast to Coast
The last time we saw the sea was just before Christmas when we left the Indian Ocean behind as we departed Dar es Salam. Since then we've been thro... Continue reading »
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30
Swakopmund - A Seaside Oasis
Notwithstanding the joys of the desert, drop toilets and the unique aroma of the Cape Cross seals, it was with unbounded joy that we pulled in... Continue reading »
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31
Any One for Desert?
I'm sure I've mentioned before that Africa is a big country but the one time when you really start to realise it is when you get into the desert. M... Continue reading »
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32
From Namibia to South Africa
There are some places on this planet which are just magical - special places which have a feel about them that defies rational explanation but whic... Continue reading »
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33
Not The End - But The Beginning Of The End
And so to Cape Town.
After the best part of eight weeks on the Dragoman trip, the end was a tad abrupt to say the least. We had something lik... Continue reading »
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34
Trip Summary - continuously updated
This is a day by day summary of the trip and will be continuously updated as we travel.
Sat - 08/12/07
Met at 10.00am a... Continue reading » -
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Useful Info - continuously updated
This is a continuously updated list of things it might be useful to know for anyone doing a similar trip in the future.<... Continue reading »
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