Getting exciting now...

Last night in Namibia...goergous sunsets in the desert.
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Hi there friends and family...

In London, UK on a beautiful, cloudy day in Southfields. Why London?  To see an orthopaedic doc...Well, as I'm sure you've heard, had a bit of a mishap whilst in Malawi last week.  In case you haven't heard, here's the abbreviated version:  my kind, but narcoleptic pickup truck driver fell aseep at around 100 km/hr and failed to make the sharp left hander that we were approaching, we sailed down into a ditch...and when the dust settled I was alive (albiet a bruised, bloody mess).  So, I have a small T12 vertebrae fracture, but all other injuries have healed up, and I'm feeling quite good musculo-skeletal wise now...now that a nasty case of malaria/cholera/aemobic dysentry has left my intestines (hopefully permanently this time).  Oh the joys of travel. Do I sound a bit beaten up?  Well, I am!  I've changed my flights to return home for June 17th - a month early. Time for a little couch time with my big ol cat Lolo.

believe me, nothing wakes you up faster than the deep groan of a male lion 25 meters from your tent.

Namibian cheetah farm - somewhat tame...until you pull away ...nice kitty. Lolo, observe what a proper cat looks like!
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So, back to the exciting worl of travel over the past 6 weeks.  Basically, since leaving Namibia, I travelled through Botswana's beautiful Okavango delta in a dugout canoe, saw heaps of wildlife - let's see...cheetahs, giraffe, rhinos, elephants, zebras, lots of snakes, heard lions mating at night...believe me, nothing wakes you up faster than the deep groan of a male lion 25 meters from your tent.  Holy sh*t!  Yeah, not leaving the tent to relieve yourself when they're out there, they might like a weak, injured Canadian guy...as you can see from the photos, apparently cheetahs do.  This particularly friendly cat was licking my leg, and getting a little close for comfort when I tried to pull away from it...bad move.  Very bad.  Cheetah takes what cheetah wants.

Funny horses in Botswana...
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After my cheetah encounter in Botswana, I went to Zambia - Livingstone - is the main town in the south, did a terrifying 111meter bungee gorge swing over the Victoria falls - amazing!  From here, did a marathon slog of 3 straight days through Zambia, into Lilongwe, Malawi.  Public transport in Africa is really playing Russian roulette.  The drivers are kind of like Michael Schumacher on meth, minus the talent and multi million dollar vehicle.  Insert a crappy bus, crappier roads, and a desire to set a new land speed record, and there we have it!  It really is scary at times, as Cliff and I were quite certain something bad would happen on one of these trips...well, it did!

Elephants crossing!
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From Lilongwe, made it up to a beautiful forest lodge for some trekking, then had the accident, off to hospital in Mzuzu, and then recovered with a few cold  Malawi ~coochee coochee~ beers on Lake Malawi for a few days before FLYING to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Spent a few days in Dar, then flew to London, and here I am. I'm planning to see Paris - a quick train ride from jolly old, dreary London I hear - and then return to Dar on June 5.  A week in the mountains, a few days on Zanzibar (nice beach archipelago) and then fly back to poor old Jo Berg - they're really having some problems there at the moment...then Singapore - San Francisco - Calgary - Edmonton on June 16.

Hippos bathing
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Look forward to chatting with you again before I leave.  Hope you're all well, and safe travels for those of you still on the road.  Especially those of you on African roads :)

Scott