Jumbo = Hello in Swahili.
Well the journey continues....We are on our
way through Malawi to Livingstone/Victoria Falls....a place I have wanted to go
since my teenage years....but let’s start with the last week or so first. =)
After The Masai Mara we headed to the
Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater.
The Serengeti is the Swahili word for
"never ending plains", and they certainly hit that oneon the head!
African sunburnt plains, dotted with Acacia trees and animals as far as the eye
can see.....our days here consisted of game drives, where we tracked down 4
lionesses with 5 cubs between them, creepy Hyenas (they always look like they
are about to get up to something), and saw a black Rhino (from a distance, so I
don't think that really counts) along with a host of other critters big and
small.
As for the Ngorogoro Crater, besides the
jaw dropping landscapes, there was such an abundance of wildlife.... we saw
Zebra a plenty, Giraffes grazing, Mama and Baby Elephants, Wildebeest lounging
around and eyeballing us out of curiosity every time we got near.....which was
a lot as they liked to set up camp scattered across the dirt road. Ancient
Water Buffalos, some amazing birdlife including lots of Ostriches, caught a few
doing there mating dance (highly entertaining), and a pack of 10 lions and
lioness taking it easy in the mid-day heat.
The crater itself (it’s actually a caldera,
not a crater...as the top of the Volcano fell in on itself and did not pop like
a cork) goes from an eerie landscape of twisted and gnarled, red dirt covered
Acacia trees, with barren mountains looming in the background....to a rainbow
of muted earthy colours at inner salt lake, with the pop of Zebras standing
out.....to lush jungle around lakes. Everything a fauna and flora colour
obsessed girl could want! It was just friggen brill!!
I have been so inspired by the
reds/yellows/oranges....and the 300 million shades in-between!
After our days of games drives we headed
off down the long track to Zanzibar, a stunning tropical Island off the coast
of Tanzania. We stayed in the main city of Stone Town for 1 night, Stone Town
has a very strong Muslim influence and for this reason has such an array of
stunning architecture. I have a fetish with beautiful old doors....and Stone
Town has them a plenty, so I went a little snap happy! =)
Day 2 on Zanzibar, our group headed up the
coast for some beach side action/accommodation for 2 nights...I somehow
convinced Brett to hire a car, and we made our way over the seriously crazy
roads (Asian roads you have nothing on the African roads) over to the east
coast to track down a restaurant that I had spied an image on the net about a
year ago, and had vowed someday, somehow to go.... So once we figured out the
name of the restaurant "The Rock" and the general direction of it, we
were off....and yes my lovely hubby Brett was a little stressed! It was well
worth it though...idealic, and sitting on an old coral bed a stone’s throw
across the water from the beach sat the restaurant, stunning surroundings and
the food and wine were marvellous! =)
After lunch we joined our crew on the north
of the Island for snorkelling, swimming and someserious relaxing time....a few
more days there would have been just perfect....but alas we were off again,
this time heading to Malawi and Lake Malawi.
It was a couple of long days of driving and
pitching our tents in the dark. There were lots of very happy campers indeed
when we finally got to Kande Beach in Malawi. 3 nights in the most beautiful
location on the white sandy beaches of Lake Malawi where we got ourselves a
lovely room and proceeded to seriously enjoy some downtime. =) I Went for a
lovely horse ride with Carly (a tour mate) through the forest, finishing up
along the beach, where with we jumped in the lake bareback with the horses for
a swim.
We checked out the local Village, school
and hospital, made plenty of donations and will be sending a percentage of
sales from my (fingers crossed) upcoming Art Exhibition at the end of the year
to the school, to sponsor a child through primary school... there are a lot of
Orphans in Malawi due to HIV and Malaria. Even children with a family base
struggle to afford school uniform and basic school books and stationary, for
that reason a lot of kids don't even get a few years of primary school
education. The Malawi children were just lovely, I even wanted to put a few in
my pocket and take them home with me....and I certainly never say that about
any old kid!
The Malawi people are extremely friendly,
happy and unassuming.... which is lovely and also a little amazing as life here
is quite hard and very basic, the feeling I got though is if you have a roof
over your head and some food in your belly, you are doing ok!
In Malawi, I finally got some time to paint
(painting and journaling on a moving truck on the extremely bumpy African roads
has proved to be a hard feat) and journal, so I will do my damnedest to get
some photos up of how my art journal for the next blog....this one comes with plenty of fab photos from our trip so far.
Baby Baboon bum, Serengeti
Curious Giraffe, Serengeti
Mumma Lion, Serengeti
Brett, in our tent....as you can see he barely fits in....it is quite funny watching him getting in and out!
Impala (I love the "What the??" look on his face), Serengeti
Yep, thats right....we saw a lepoard!!!! Serengeti
Pretty Bird (not its official name), Serengeti
.....Nap time....it's a hard life on the plains!!! Serengeti
One of my first loves....Zebras, Ngorogoro Crater
Sketching and painting the stunning back drop, Ngorogoro Crater
Zanzibar....Noice!!
So next stop Livingstone....where we will
be cursing down the Zambezi River, checking out the Victoria Falls and
hopefully go for a walk with lions... all depending on
how far our money will go.
So ladies and gents, till next time....
xxx Sal
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