Victoria Falls 2004

23rd June 2004

Well hello again all!

Well it's been a couple weeks since I last wrote an email giving you an update as to what I've been up to but to be honest, I've been having too much fun to try and find an internet cafe to send emails!

Last time I wrote in Zanzibar I was going on about how much of a paradise it was but it wasn't until we went up to Nungwi beach that I realised exactly how much of a paradise it actually was!

In the morning after I wrote we did a spice tour in Zanzibar which is pretty cool. Basically, you get guided around some plantations and understand all the spices etc they have growing there. Pretty interesting as some of the spices we take for granted look kind of funny before we see them in the little jars at the supermarket. Kind of cheesy but something that has to be done on Zanzibar! We went to Nungwi beach which is at the top end of Zanzibar and I just cannot wait to send the pictures through. We spent 2 days on the beach which was just crystal blue and warm so it was pretty relaxing and a nice break to the camping. We spent both nights at the beach dancing under the stars until 2 in the morning which was great fun although on one of the nights I managed to fall 8 feet off a podium and landed in the sand....but I got straight back up and started dancing again!!! I was feeling no pain!

Went shopping in Zanzibar and spent up big which has actually become a bit of a theme on this holiday but I'll get to that in a minute!

After Zanzibar we headed back to the mainland of Tanzania and made our way into Malawi....spent 4 days on the beaches of Lake Malawi which was just great. It seems the first half of the tour was seeing game parks and animals and the second half was all about relaxing and spending time on the beaches! The people in Malawi were just great and very friendly. I had my fortune told by a Witch Doctor and apparently I am getting married next year and having 3 kids???? Not sure about that!

I bought a chair and coffee table in Malawi as well as some other stuff and have sent all that back to Australia the other day. Scary thing was that the items I sent cost all of USD$50 and yet the postage back to Australia was USD$100. Never mind. If I was buying the same goods in Australia they would cost a fortune!

After the 4 days in Malawi we spent 3 days transiting down to Victoria Falls which was a bit of a crap journey actually. My back was sore and I was having a whinge but it's all good. I think I was just a bit over spending 12 hours a day on the road for 3 days! On the last day of our transit to Vic Falls it was my turn to cook with 2 others so we decided to make Pizzas and cook them on the BBQ! I made the dough and the girls did the toppings and the whole group on tour really appreciated it! Was a great success and there were high fives all round!

And that brings me to Victoria Falls. What a way to finish the trip! We started with a Booze cruise on the first night which was very dangerous. It started at 3.30pm and was sold to others as a "sunset cruise" but for us on tour it was a "booze cruise". Double shots in every drink and by 6.30pm when it finished everyone was real jolly! Great fun and we all kept going until very late!

Surprisingly I didn't have a hangover the next day and went for a helicopter flight over Vic Falls and took some great pictures and video and then in the afternoon I went for a Micro Lite flight over Vic Falls. For those of you that don't know that's basically like a Han glider with a motor and it was very very cool. Some of the others on the trip when for a "gorge swing" and bungy jump but I couldn't quite manage that one...

And then yesterday we crossed the border into Zimbabwe....and went shopping! I went nuts yesterday at the markets and bought about USD$120 worth of souvenirs and although that doesn't sound like much, believe me when I say it is! I had to buy another suitcase this morning to bring it all on the plane! It's so much fun bargaining and bartering with the locals that I just had a ball buying stuff...it's not like I'm there every day!

And last night we all went out as a group for our last Supper to a restaurant called BOMA in Zimbabwe....was a great night and we had a Lamp Spit, Wilder beast, Ostrich, Kudu, Impala, Warthog, Croc Tails, etc.....basically it was a night of eating game and the whole group just went nuts! It's like we hadn't eaten for a month and everyone just ploughed into the food like there was no tomorrow. We went clubbing after that which was cool but I had a relatively early night!

And that brings me to the here and now. I'm in Johannesburg at the moment and am flying to London in 3 hours with 2 other people from the tour which is cool. I'm looking forward to getting to London in 15 hours and going camping at Glastonbury! It's going to be ace!

Anyway, have to go to some more shopping here at the airport....there's too many nice things to pass up!

Hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves. Send me some goss when you get a chance!

Love to you all.

Dave
xxx