Reflections And Your Questions

It’s a new year, and as much as we look forward to what the next year will bring, we also sit and reflect on the year that has been, and for the sake of this blog post, the last few months of 2018 as well. In all honesty, it doesn’t feel at all that long ago when we boarded a flight bound for Chongqing, China, a city that 10 minutes before booking the flight we hadn’t actually heard of. Over the next 15 or so months our journey would take us from the base of Mt Everest to the beaches on the coast of Africa, from being trapped by snow in a Swiss mountain village to the stifling heat of Iran. We loved…..almost every moment, but it wasn’t without its trials. While on the road, and since we’ve been back, we’ve had a similar raft of questions, so for our last blog we thought it would be fitting to answer a few, so here goes.

Overlanding Africa

As the big yellow truck pulled away down the streets of Swakopmund, Namibia, people were hanging out the window, thumping “Hooked on a feeling”, with inside jokes being yelled to and fro. It was an emotional goodbye, culminating in our final act of the tour being Mark bounding down the street like a springbok. As we’d mentioned previously we had initially felt conflicted about signing on to a tour, but it didn’t take long for us to feel at home with an awesome group of people, and 4 weeks miraculously melted away with Absolute Africa. As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun”. It was also nice to not have to organise getting from A to B squashed in vans of questionable safety, with drivers with even more questionable driving credentials, finding places to stay and having arguments about the cost of a taxi into town, and to actually have bed mats in our tent after prematurely giving ours away in South Africa. But above all, it was the people that made the trip what it was.

Moz, Malawi and Making Tracks West

A lot has happened since the last edition, with our trip taking us through 4 countries culminating in trading the local transport for an overland truck. Starting from Mozambique to Malawi, bouncing through Zambia and into Zimbabwe. And, like any part of our journey it started with another interesting border crossing, from South Africa into Mozambique.

South Africa: The Rainbow Nation

On May 10, 1994, South Africa emerged back onto the world scene, as the man known as Madiba, stood atop the dais, waiting to be sworn in to become the first democratically elected African president of the Rainbow Nation. He was a man that captured the world with the way he carried himself as much as by what he said. We’d learned a lot about South Africa in history class, the good, the bad and the ugly. Mark had watched the All Blacks go toe to toe with the Springboks since he was a young tike, and there feels a kinship has been forged between the 2 countries as a result. We both had heard so much about the country, we were both aflutter about the opportunity to explore Africa’s Southern land.

Kruger National Park

“There’s nowhere like Kruger!” affirmed the owners of our hostel, just outside the gates, and to be honest it’s hard to argue. We say this not just because of our African game reserve novice status, but because the scope of the park and the fact that you can explore it on your own are truly remarkable. Whether it’s the immaculate roads, of which they have a purported 6000kms, or the fact you can get a reasonable priced cafe breakfast whilst overlooking Sabie river. While you’re sipping your flat white, elephants sip water at the banks, all at the same price as you’d pay anywhere else in South Africa, they even offer craft beer in the park!

Rwanda & Some Gorillas

Rwanda, it conjures memories of one of the darkest chapters in recent history, when the world forgot, or worse, ignored, the absolute horror that was taking place in the heart of central Africa. While the UN condemned what was going on, in the same breath they pulled back. The maundering Interahamwe went on a 100 day reign of terror, killing an estimated 1’000’000, mainly Tutsi, but also moderate Hutu civilians. After the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), led by current president Paul Kagame, moved in and took control in 1994, modern Rwanda has emerged from its tumultuous past as a beacon of how to pull a country back from the brink.

Uganda: Pearl Of Africa

A chimp gets stuck into some figs in Kibale National Park

Winston Churchill probably summed it up best in his book “My African Journey” when he said of Uganda “For magnificence, for variety of form and color, for profusion of brilliant life — bird, insect, reptile, beast — for vast scale — Uganda is truly “the Pearl of Africa.”

Kenya: Wildlife Paradise

A zebra stares across the plains of the Mara

Suffice to say that as the plane banked over the Nairobi national park just outside the aforementioned capital of Kenya, we had mixed feelings, well, we would have if we weren’t sleeping on account of the 0320 departure. Everything we’d heard or read replaced Nairobi with “Nairobbery” and Mombasa with “Mug-basa” and made it seem like a formality we’d be robbed in broad daylight by a glue sniffing youngster. Couple the recent terror attacks and the fact we’d already had to fly to avoid the border tensions so we were unsure what to expect.

Ethiopia: Coffee with Lucy and Hiking With Monkeys

Sunrise at Blue Nile Falls

As the plane banked for its final descent into Addis Ababa, we looked down at the dry arid landscape below, with a mixture of excitement and apprehension at what might greet us on the other side of the immigration queue. What we found was a country bustling with a sense of eager anticipation about what might lay ahead. Friendly people with big smiles, whether you’re wandering into a shop, attempting (badly) to dance the local dance, or attempting to squeeze into a minibus meant for 12, but has double that, (naturally, everyone will know your name by the end of the journey). Open and inquisitive locals who want nothing in return other than to say hello while you sip on your aromatic coffee, freshly brewed before your eyes. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its challenges, but would we come back? In a heartbeat. Welcome to Ethiopia!