Austria: Salzburg & Vienna (21 - 25 November)

On Friday (21/11) after a huge breakfast at our Cesky Krumlov hotel, our shuttle bus picks us up to take us to Linz in Austria, en route to Salzburg. It's a beautiful drive through the countryside of the Czech Republic, and as soon as we cross the Austrian border we find the fields covered with snow! The snow is falling heavily, and Mariska is particularly excited as she's never seen snow like this before. After taking the train from Linz we arrive in Salzburg at about 3pm, and catch a local bus to the old town, where the many church spires are flanked by the Salzach River on one side, and the imposing Festung Hohensalzburg fortress on the other. Directly below the hill on which the fortress sits is our accommodation, in a little guesthouse in a former Catholic college. After checking in we rug up and head out to explore Salzburg.
The Christmas markets in the town squares have just started, with stalls selling decorations and trinkets, mulled wine and pretzels, scarves and beanies, and Mozart chocolates. As we wander around with a hot chocolate after dinner it starts to snow heavily, making for a charming scene in the buzzing square.

On Saturday morning Mariska looks out the window and sees that everything is covered in snow! It's been snowing through the night, and there's a good cover around. We make our way across the river to the usually green Mirabell Gardens to enjoy the scene and throw snowballs.
We then get tickets for a tourist hop-on, hop-off bus, which shows us around the town, and in the afternoon we look around Hellbrunn Palace in the snow, and then visit the fortress Festung Hohensalzburg. The visit to the fortress includes a magnificent view of the snow-covered scenery around Salzburg. After dinner at Café Mozart we once again enjoy the magical atmosphere of the Christmas markets.

The next day (Sunday 23/11) we farewell Salzburg and catch the train to Vienna. The scenery is beautiful, as the countryside is covered in snow. Our hotel in Vienna doesn't have our reservation, but it's low season so there's no problem. After settling in we wander into the heart of Vienna's Aldstadt (old town), to Stephansplatz, the square dominated by the magnificent gothic Stephansdom (St Stephan's Cathedral).
We later embark on an epic walking tour of the city in search of a highly recommended schnitzel restaurant, only to find its doors closed as it's a Sunday! No matter; we keep walking and enjoy the elegant and grandiose buildings of Vienna at night, and eventually get a kebab from one of many stands at the city's tram stops. We then had time to visit the lively Christmas markets in the park in front of the aptly named 'Rathaus' (council hall).

On Monday morning we catch the underground train to Schönbrunn Palace, the striking summer residence of successive Habsburg monarchs. After a tour of the decadent interior we wander the snow-covered gardens, watch ducks slipping on frozen ponds, and take in the view of the palace and the city from the Gloriette monument at the top of a hill.

Back in town we explore music, hearing and Vienna's rich music history at the innovative and interactive Haus de Musik museum. After dinner we head out to see a concert at the Musikverein, Vienna's premier concert hall, and we manage to secure last-minute tickets in the stalls for €12 (usually about €50)! The performance is the Sinfonia Varsovia string orchestra from Poland with a trumpet soloist, and it is an enchanting evening in the stunning Golden Hall of the Musikverein. The program includes Mozart, Telemann, Neruda and Elgar, and Vivaldi's Concerto for trumpet is a highlight. To top it off, as an encore the orchestra and trumpeter perform a moving rendition of Ombra Mai Fu, better known as the Largo from Handel's Xerxes, and as the processional from our wedding! How will we top that for our anniversary?!

The next day we head straight to the Hofburg (the Imperial Palace) and take in the morning rehearsals of the talented white Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School, in the magnificent Winter Riding Hall dating to 1730. Following a look around the palace, we take the train to the Prater park for a trip on the famous ferris wheel built in 1897.
In the evening we're up for more Vienna culture, and we make our way to the Volksoper where we get standing room tickets for a performance of Bizet's Carmen for only €2 each. The fee for the cloakroom was more than the cost of a ticket!

Our highly cultured (and cheap) experience of Vienna comes to an end on Wednesday 26 November, when we catch the early train to the airport for our flight to Paris. L'aventure nous attend!

Czech it out! (15 - 20 November)

At another ridiculous hour on Saturday morning, 15 November, we take a train to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam for our flight to Prague. We booked early flights so we don't waste whole days travelling, but getting up at 4:30am isn't that great!
After a stopover in Vienna, we arrive in Prague at lunchtime, and we're driven to our accommodation in Vysehrad just a little south of the old town. We're staying at Arcadia Residence, a pension run by an Italian guy and his mother, where we have a beautiful apartment with a view out over the city, including Pražský hrad (Prague castle).
In the afternoon we take the tram into the city to be amazed at the busy Old Town Square with its gothic Tyn Cathedral, baroque St Nicholas' Church, Astronomical Clock, and statue of church reformer Jan Hus. The evening is spent walking the maze of Prague's narrow lanes, enjoying a Czech meal in an underground restaurant, and taking in the incredibly old and beautiful Charles Bridge after dark.

On Sunday we go on two free walking tours (the student guides get paid in tips at the end), covering plenty of kilometres in the old and new towns, and the left bank of the river which includes the castle. The tours take in Wenceslas Square, the Powder Tower, the Jewish Quarter, Charles Bridge and the castle among many other sights, and we learn a lot about the history of this city and its changing connections in Europe's empires.

We explore the city more over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (17-19/11): the fortress at Vysehrad (including the remains of the fortress dating to the 11th century), more of the Old Town including a stunning view from the Old Town Hall tower, a trip up the Petrin Tower for a view of the city, Prague Castle including St Vitus Cathedral and the tiny houses of Golden Lane, and the Museum of Communism where we learn a lot about the more recent history of the Czech Republic.

Old Town Square and the Tyn Cathedral; Charles Bridge and Pražský hrad

Charles Bridge and the Vlatva River

Other highlights include Czech cuisine such as beef goulash and bread dumplings, buying a beautiful vintage necklace and a harmonica from a cluttered antique store, and watching fireworks from Charles Bridge on our last night whilst enjoying Belgian chocolates.

Our accommodation in Prague came highly recommended, and it lives up to its reputation. It's a bit like staying with family who know just how much to help you out. The breakfast covers us for lunch as well, and the owner Pasquale walks us to the tram stop and is exceptionally helpful.

Prague is certainly a popular tourist destination now, and the locals seem to be slowly warming up to the idea. Under the cold surface the Czechs have a great sense of humour and are just a little quirky - they get along well with Aussies! We also noticed that no one crosses the road unless the signal is green - maybe a legacy of communist rule, together with the extensive and efficient tram system.

On Thursday 20 November we catch a tram to the bus station at 6:15am, and then take the early bus to Cesky Krumlov, a little town in the Czech Republic near the border with Austria. The town dates back to the 13th century and many of the original buildings are still standing - the entire old town centre is UNESCO World Heritage listed, and it's a beautiful town to explore. As it's low season our walking tour ends up being just us two with the guide, who explains the history of the buildings and the town. We then have time to explore the outside of the Cesky Krumlov castle, a huge fortress built over the centuries.
After dinner we wander the deserted streets, drink mulled wine, and are treated to another random fireworks display as we stand on the bridge beneath the castle. Beautiful!

Cesky Krumlov town centre; Cesky Krumlov Castle at night

The Netherlands: Steenwijk & Amsterdam (7-14 November)

At some ridiculous hour on Friday morning (7/11) we're at Heathrow airport for our flight to Amsterdam, and pretty soon we've passed over the Channel and have arrived in Amsterdam. The Dutch know how to run trains, and we walk out of the airport gate pretty much straight onto a train to Steenwijk in the north of the country we're we'll be visiting Mariska's relatives. However the trip turns into a 4 hour epic when we get separated at Amesfoort whilst changing carriages, and then the trains are delayed due to an accident. So we end up seeing different parts of the countryside on various detours before making our rendezvous in Zwolle. At the small town of Steenwijk we're met in the late afternoon by Lammert and Hannie; Lammert is the cousin of Mariska's grandfather. Thankfully Hannie speaks good English and Lammert a little, and at their house we chat over the usual two coffees. Over the next few days they look after us very well, showing us their town, the countryside and various places connected with Mariska's family.

On Saturday (8/11) after a well-deserved sleep-in and a great Dutch breakfast of coffee, bread, cheese, meats and of course brown sugar, Lammert takes us out on a bike ride. We visit the nursery run by Mariska's relatives for generations and the house where her Opa lived as a boy, and ride through the autumn leaves in the forest where he once played. It's an amazing experience for Mariska to visit these places and connect with her family history. We also visit the town centre of Steenwijk, with its cathedral, market and town square.

We go to church in the main cathedral in Steenwijk on Sunday morning, and do our best to sing along in Dutch (rather unsuccessfully). After church we visit some more relatives of Mariska's Opa, Jelle and Boukje, where we have coffee and a conversation mixed with English and Dutch. After lunch Lammert and Hannie drive us to Assen to visit Mariska's great uncle and aunt on her Mum's side, Scherrik and Lien. Mariska enjoyed seeing the Church where her Opa and Oma were married and the house where her Oma grew up.

On Monday (10/11) Lammert and Hannie take us on a beautiful drive to Blokzijl and other quaint towns including Giethoorn. We enjoy the old houses and stroll into small giftware shops where Mariska buys some licksalt and Dutch licorice!! At the Fanfare tavern in Giethoorn we get out of the cold for a while and enjoy a warm drink and pancakes. Back home we pack our bags and enjoy more coffee before making our way on the train to Amsterdam. We really enjoyed the Dutch countryside, and our time in Steenwijk and Assen was very meaningful.

Arriving in Amsterdam in the early evening, we grab some tourist information and jump on a tram to our hotel. After settling in and having dinner we wander around the old streets and canals - it's cold of course, but it doesn't matter!

The next day, Tuesday 12/11, we lace up the walking boots (which happen to be the only shoes we have!) and join a free walking tour through the streets of old Amsterdam. Numerous kilometres later and we've seen many beautiful sights: Dam Square, Old Church, New Church (it's only from the 15th century!), leaning canal houses, the widest bridge and the narrowest house; and also learnt much about the history of this city. After the tour we visit the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during WWII.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are filled with exploring Amsterdam further: The Rijksmuseum (including Rembrandt's Nightwatch), Van Gogh Museum, ALDI (not so much history there but we did get a bargain), Bible Museum, Dutch Resistance Museum, Amsterdam Historical Museum, the flea market at Waterlooplein, and an evening boat cruise through the canals. But we enjoy the little things just as much - chocolate waffles and oliebollen in Leidseplein, huddling under an umbrella whilst wandering the canals, searching through antique stores, carrying our big parcel of souvenirs and sundries around the city before sending it to Australia, all the locals assuming we're Dutch even after speaking to all the other tourists in English, the Christmas lights in deserted streets after the shops close, ordering unknown dishes from a Dutch menu, and Haagendaaz icecream in the freezing cold in Rembrandt Square!

The Rijksmuseum

Exploring Amsterdam's maze of canals

London (4-6 November 2008)

After a couple hours' sleep on the eight-hour flight from Nairobi, we arrive in Zurich at about 7am on Tuesday 4 November, and just make our connecting flight to London. Arriving at Heathrow at about 8:30am local time, we're soon on the underground train to Chiswick, west of the city. It's a surreal experience less than 24 hours after leaving Kigali.
In London we're staying with people we met in Africa - Simon and Tracey are Aussies who moved to London straight after the Intrepid tour, and kindly offered us a room. After some lunch and a shower, we head into the city to see some of the sights. Our wandering takes us past the magnificent Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. It's an incredible contrast from the scenery we've just experienced in Africa! The highlight is attending Evensong at Wesminster Abbey, where the clear voices of the choir resonate endlessly through the cavernous space.

On Wednesday (5/11) we underground it into the city with Simon and Tracey and see all the other main sights of the city on a tourist bus - it's a good way to see the city with limited time. We climb the dome of the beautiful St Paul's Cathedral and have lunch in the crypt, visit the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, take a boat trip on the Thames, and wander through Hyde Park under the amazing colours of the autumn trees. At Oxford Street Mariska successfully shops for a warm jacket, and back in Chiswick we wrap up the day with a beef and Guinness pie at the Bulls Head Tavern on the Thames.

In town the next day the first stop is a haircut for Andrew, which proves to be a successful venture. Then we check out the market at Convent Garden, have lunch at the Sherlock Holmes pub, wander aimlessly in the rain in Piccadily Circus, go to Evensong at St Paul's, and walk around the Tower of London after dark. It's been a short but enjoyable stay in London - the city still has plenty of character and has definitely exceeded our expectations.

Cry for Rwanda (29 October - 3 November 2008)

On Wednesday 29 October we make our way to the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre, which serves as a memorial, education centre, museum, and mass burial site to thousands of victims of the horror which unfolded in Rwanda in the weeks and months following April 1994. The centre includes information on the events preceding and during the genocide, as well as a section detailing other genocide events all over the world in the 20th century (Armenians, Namibia, the Jewish Holocaust, Cambodia and the Balkans). Everyone in Rwanda was affected by the genocide of 1994, and it's memory and consequence is a constant part of life here.

As we walk around the centre we gradually take in the reality of what happened in Rwanda. In one room we are confronted with around 1500 photographs of people who were killed. The enormity of the tragedy hits when we realise it would take six or seven hundred of these rooms to accumulate all the photographs of the victims. Moving on we enter a dark room with clothing of victims hung around the walls. A lone child's sandal is a reminder of the brutality against the young as well as the old.

In another section we see the once-smiling faces of children who were killed. David, age 10, enjoyed making people laugh, and dreamed of becoming a doctor. His last words, before being tortured to death, were "UNAMIR will come for us". Ariane, age 4, enjoyed singing and dancing. She died after being stabbed in the eyes and head.

The head of the UN assistance mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), Roméo Dallaire, had said "Give me the means and I can do more." He had estimated that as few as 5000 troops with authority to enforce peace could stop the genocide. The words of Apollon Kabahizi, a genocide survivor, are justifiably accusatory: "When they said 'never again'after the Holocaust, was it meant for some people and not for others?" It is a sombre and humbling experience.

On Thursday we head into the centre of Kigali on a couple of motorbike taxis, and wander around town. Then we ask around and eventually find the depot for the bus to Nyamata, a town 30km from Kigali, where we are going to visit a memorial site in a church. We purchase our tickets for 600 Rwandan francs each (~AU$1.50), and jump on the crammed mini-bus. Whilst we wait some guys try to sell everything from sandals to perfume through the bus windows. Andrew asks one guy for the English language newspaper, and he soon returns asking for 1000 francs. He´s pointing to a price of 1000 on the paper, which Andrew points out to him is the price in Ugandan shillings. The Rwandan price is 300 francs, which is conveniently scratched off on this paper! We suggest we´ll pay 300 francs, he suggests 500, and the deal is done. Andrew thinks he´s outsmarted him until he realises the paper is over a week old! But it could have been worse - the next guy tries to sell us a newspaper from March 2008!

After the bus ride to Nyamata, the driver kindly drops us at the gates of the church. At this site, around 2,500 people were killed during the genocide of 1994, many as they tried to shelter inside the church. There are no fancy museum diplays or explanations here. The original steel doors to the church are still bent and twisted where the grenades of the army and Interhamwe militia blew them open, and as we step into the church we see rows of church benches with clothing piled high. These are the clothes worn or carried by the thousands of people killed here. A guide explains that the black stains on the walls and roof, yes the roof, are blood stains. It really is beyond our comprehension, but being here brings us a little closer to understanding what happened in this country. Behind the church are mass graves where the remains of around 40,000 victims are buried.

It's a macabre memorial, but it seems that the people here feel it should be left this way. It's understandable - this is the reality of what happened, this is where their mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, cousins were killed. Apparently another church has been built for the locals to use, but as we walk away from the memorial through the town we're reminded that the locals live with this reminder every day, along with many other unseen scars.

On Friday 31 October we head to the north of the country, near the border with Uganda, to visit another World Vision development project. It's a beautiful drive through the 'land of a thousand hills', and we see that practically every available bit of land is cultivated to provide food for this crowded country. The staff of the development project take us along rough mountain tracks, with children running along behind the 4WD, to the home of a lady who tells us of her experiences during and after the genocide. As we sit on wooden chairs in her mud hut she tells us of sending her eight children away for safety, and of fleeing the house when the killers came. Her husband was gone when she returned - only a pool of blood and some bullet holes remained. On the wall to the left of us we can still see the bullet hole where her husband was shot. It's a stark and shocking reminder. She tells us how she had to confront her grief through trauma counselling, and how she now helps others. She also asks us some questions, like whether we have any children. Then she asks whether hearing her story affects us. The tears in our eyes answer her question. We explain that in 1994 as children we remember seeing the news footage coming out of Rwanda and wondering why nothing was being done. Like so many others I'm sure she wonders if things would have been different if someone had had the guts to help.

The rest of the day is spent visiting other aspects of the project, including the farmer's co-op, and a school where we meet hundreds of sponsored children. They greet us and sing for us - as to them we represent their sponsors - and they crowd around us to shake our hands. Some of the children stroke Mariska's arms and hair, amazed and the white skin and blonde hair. They love to practice their English, and respond proudly when we ask their names. These children have so little, but their beautiful smiling faces are a joy. We leave reluctantly.


On Saturday 1 November we head to the tailor where Mariska picks up a dress she's had made out of local fabric, and then go to the local market with our Aussie hosts, Jo and Michelle, to get some food. Then we make our way to a local boys' orphanage with another Aussie expat who takes food to them each week. The orphanage is in an unfinished factory building, and as we enter we hear the voices of the boys joining together for choir practice. It's an amazing sound. The orphanage started when some church members found the boys living in the abandoned factory some time after the genocide. The set up is stark - a few wooden benches, and some bare old bunks. The 'kitchen' is a small brick shelter out the back where the workers cook for 150 boys. They breed rabbits and ducks in the garden behind the orphanage for food. We leave some bags of fruit that we bought for the boys from the market, but it seems like such a small contribution.

We head off to church on Sunday morning with one of the World Vision staff we met earlier in the week, and he takes us to an English language service thankfully. After the sermon some of the members publically express their thanks to God for various things, and a reluctant goat is dragged to the front of the church by one couple as an expression of their gratitude.

Following church we meet up with Jo and Michelle, and make our way to a gacaca. A gacaca is a local community court which has been around for centuries, but the concept has been revived to deal with genocide perpetrators. Five or seven members of the local community sit on a panel as judges, and people are tried for murder and various other crimes before their community. The process is also designed to encourage community involvement and reconciliation. A contact we met earlier in the week has been able to organise our permits, and it's a fascinating experience to watch an appeal case of a man who had previously been convicted of being an accomplice to a murder at a roadblock, and then had the conviction overturned. At this second appeal, initiated by the community, some evidence is heard from both sides, and one witness is dragged off to prison for perjury as we watch. The identity of the victim is unknown, and witnesses to the alleged crime are non-existent or keeping quiet. We have to leave early, but we receive a phone call later informing us that the accused was found guilty of the accomplice to murder charge, and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

On Monday morning (3/11) we farewell Jo and Michelle, and do some final shopping in the town of Kigali. We feel very comfortable here now, and we'll miss the smiling locals, the rolling green hills, the moto-taxis, and the jokes at the expense of us mzungus. Rwanda is trying hard to move on from the tragedy of 1994, and with the assistance of plenty of aid (aka 'guilt money') from the West, development is rapid. The threat of old tensions rising again is ever-present although never mentioned, and apart from the personal scars there are constant references to the genocide in the news, on signs and buildings, everywhere. We've been fortunate to meet some people who have generously shared their experiences, and we will not soon forget our time here. It has been difficult to try to put these experiences into words here, but hopefully it gives some small picture of what we've seen.

We bargain with a driver for a taxi fare to the airport, and soon after lunch we're taking off over the rolling green hills, headed for Nairobi. At Nairobi we spend eight hours waiting for our next flight, which takes us off to Europe.

We've spent seven weeks in Africa, in seven countries, seeing and experiencing an amazing array of cultures, landscapes, animals, foods, and meeting some great people. It is impossible not to be affected by the poverty that is experienced everywhere in Africa. Life really is a daily struggle for many of the people here, as they scrounge together enough to feed their families. How charmed our life seems back home in Australia. And yet at the core people here are often so happy, because they have what is important.

Nairobi - Dar es Salaam - Zanzibar - Rwanda (17-28 October)

We've got some ground to make up now, so you may see things get a little less verbose in this post!

On Friday 17 October we leave Nairobi at 6am for the four hour drive to a small village north-east of the city, to visit our sponsor child Purity. We've been sponsoring Purity for about five years through Compassion International, so we're both excited and nervous on the drive there. After the long drive, it's a surreal moment when we meet Purity. As expected she's quite shy, and only knows a few words in English, but over the course of the day she becomes more comfortable with us, and laughs and talks with us through an interpreter.
We spend a great day there at the development project, which is run in partnership with the local Anglican church. We see their income-generation initiatives including the introduction of milk goats and a fruit plantation demonstrating irrigation methods to villagers. Then we meet Purity's family at their home, where her father Francis proudly shows us his plot of land. Purity's mother Eunice tells us that she wanted to provide some food, but the harvest was not good so they cannot offer anything. When someone in Africa doesn't offer you food, you know it's really because they have nothing. We hope the food parcel that we give to them will provide some short-term relief. After a stop at Purity's school where she proudly introduces us to her classmates, we say our final farewells and head back to Nairobi. It's been an amazing day and not one we'll quickly forget.



On Saturday 18 October we head into the city of Nairobi in the afternoon with Molinter, the eldest daughter of the housekeeper Charles. We take a matatu (minibus), which costs us about AU$0.50 each, and the price means it screams through the city traffic in an effort to get to the destination as quickly as possible. Nairobi is a big, modern city, with some of the craziest traffic known to man. The government has cracked down on petty crime since the post-election violence at the start of this year, so it's now quite safe.
We head to Uhuru Park and the two of us hire a pedal boat on the lake, joining dozens of school-children on excursion. As we pedal away from the jetty we see the police dragging a man out of the water. A boy yells out to us that the man is a thief. The cops drag the thief up on the bank, and beat him viciously around the body and legs with long batons. A number of plain-clothes policemen who have been roaming the park come over to join the beating. We've heard of a zero tolerance approach here, and wonder if the thief will make it out alive. After a while though, he's led away in handcuffs to an unknown fate. The assembled crowd dissipates, and the children return to practising their English on us.

On the morning of Sunday 19 October we head to an English service at church with some friends of the family we're staying with. They're very hospitable and have arranged for us to go to the Nairobi National Park, a large wildlife reserve near the city, in the afternoon. We skip the main park as we've seen all the animals elsewhere in the wild, and instead head to the Animal Orphanage, a home for abandoned and orphaned animals. The highlight is being allowed to go into the enclosure with two young cheetah, a special privilege reserved for foreigners (who, like many places in Africa, pay 10 times the residents' entry fee). Before we pat the cheetah the keeper assures us that cheetah do not attack humans. That turns out, at least in our case, to be true.


Monday 20 October sees us pack up in Nairobi, say our farewells to our very hospitable hosts, and fly to Dar es Salaam where we'll be attending the wedding of Clara, a friend of Mariska's from World Vision, who worked in Australia for 8 months. We're staying with Clara's relatives Mary and Fred, and their two children Eliuter and Anna-Maria, and on our first night back in Dar they take us into the city for some authentic Swahili street food.

One night in Stone Town, Zanzibar a couple weeks back wasn't really enough, and Clara and the family are busy with wedding preparations, so we decide on Tuesday to head back to the intriguing town for a couple of nights. After the three-hour ferry trip we soon find a cheap hotel, and start exploring the maze of streets again. For dinner we head to the Forodhani Gardens street vendors, and buy some great seafood and a sugar cane juice from the crowded, colourful tables.
On Wednesday 22/10 we do some more exploring, and visit some of the buildings we missed last time: the Old Fort - a crumbling stone fort built in 1699, and the House of Wonders - the sultan's former palace, now housing a museum. But just wandering the streets of Stone Town is an attraction in itself - the maze of alleyways is addictive with its with playing children, chatting women, tall old buildings, carved wooden doors, hurtling motor scooters and welcoming calls of "Jambo". After some more wandering on Thursday we take the ferry back to Dar, still with many more streets to explore.


On Friday 24 October we head out to visit a World Vision development project near Dar es Salaam. We get to meet a classroom full of sponsored children writing Christmas cards to their sponsors, and we also visit the family of one of the sponsored children. The girl and her family express their gratefulness for WV's work in the community, and she proudly shows us her school books. The father sends the boys off somewhere, and soon there is a commotion as they chase chickens. A hen is then presented to us with its feet tied, which we have to accept despite knowing that this is a very generous gift for people with so little. We consult the project staff, and take the chicken to a different area, to a very needy family of five orphaned children living with their grandmother.

Saturday is the day of Clara's wedding to Benjamin, and true to 'African time' the 10am service starts at 11am! We understand very little of the Swahili service, but it doesn't matter - it's a privilege to be there. The service incorporates European and African elements, with the women dancing and singing around the couple once the formalities are concluded. The reception dinner is a great celebration, with lots of traditional singing and dancing, speeches, and traditional elements like the women of the groom's family dancing and singing around the bride's mother, as a symbol of respect and gratitude.


After a quiet day on Sunday with our hosts, by 4am on Monday 27 October we're in a tuk-tuk (yes, a tuk-tuk in Dar es Salaam), hurtling to the airport in pouring rain. Our first flight is to Nairobi, and we witness an amazing sunrise over the clouds, and then enjoy magnificent views of the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro from the plane!

After a few hours at Nairobi airport we take our flight to Kigali, Rwanda, and taking in the "Land of a Thousand Hills" is a beautiful sight from the air. This is a beautiful place; Kigali is set on rolling green hills, the gardens are perfectly manicured, and the people are extremely friendly. The people here are desperately trying to put the horrific events of 1994 behind them, and there is a very positive atmosphere, despite the pain which we know lingers for everyone.
In Kigali we're staying with some Australian girls working for World Vision here, and after work they take us into town to look around and grab some dinner. Andrew soon gets a chance to practice his French, which is the official language together with Kinyarwandan.

On Tuesday 28 October we're picked up by World Vision staff, who take us to an urban development project near Kigali. We see classrooms, toilets, water tanks and health centres built through the project, and it's great to see the effective partnership between WV and the local government administration. When the project wraps up it's the local administration who will ensure the effects are lasting.
In the afternoon we head into the city, and with the help of a tailor, André, Mariska buys some local fabric to be made into a dress and bag. The tailor suggests a matching shirt for Andrew. The suggestion is politely declined!

There is so much more to tell of each of these days, but you'll have to wait until we get back!

Today (Wed 29/10) we spent most of the day at the Gisozi Genocide Memorial Centre here in Kigali. If we even attempt to describe the experience, it will be in another post.

The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater (10-16 October)

Friday 10 October, and we leave camp at about 7am in an attempt to beat the Dar es Salaam traffic. It doesn't work. The 500km journey to the base of Mt Kilimanjaro ends up taking us about 9 hours. There are numerous delays along the way, including a diversion where a new bridge is being constructed. While we wait for the traffic going the other direction, some opportunistic guys sell their wares up and down the queue through truck and bus windows. We buy a bag of local Tanzanian cashews for 2000 Shillings (~AU$2.50) before driving on.
As we approach our overnight stop at Marangu, our truck starts to climb uphill, and in the distance we can see the mass of cloud which covers the imposing peak of Mt Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest mountain. At dusk the cloud clears and we get a glimpse of the magnificent snow-capped summit, as we hear tales of painful ascents from fellow travellers, and Andrew fends off an attack of killer ants.

Saturday 11 October sees us drive to Arusha, Tanzania's third largest city and gateway to the safari circuit of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We spend some time looking around and pay a brief visit to the site of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, before driving on to our camp just outside Arusha, at Mesarani Snake Park. The Snake Park and campsite are separate thankfully, though the enclosure housing half a dozen huge Nile crocodiles is only 10 metres from our tent!

The next day we spend the morning visiting the local Maasai village. Of course we're hardly the first tourists to go through there, but it gives us an interesting insight into their culture. After lunch we hit the road in a new 4WD truck to handle the roads, and after camping for the night at Karatu, on Monday 13th we drive around the Ngorongoro Crater rim en route to the Serengeti. After lunch at the entrance to the Serengeti National Park, the game drive begins.

At first in the Serengeti there are few animals to be found, but the plains are amazing in their own right. Serengeti means "endless plains", and the name is apt. The grasslands seem to stretch on forever under the vast blue expanse of the sky, which seems even bigger for the endlessness of the plains. Soon we follow a couple other vehicles to a collection of rocks, where we find a lion and lioness sunning themselves. Nearby two males lie asleep on another rock. It is amazing to see these majestic animals in the wild. Not far down the road we're fortunate to see three cheetahs sleeping under a tree, five metres from the road! Driving on through the afternoon we see a leopard in the distance up a tree, more lions, giraffe, elephants, hippos, and herds of zebra, wildebeest and antelope.
Our camp for the night is at an unfenced campsite in the Serengeti. Our guides assure us that the animals don't usually come near the campsite, but also tell us stories of elephants walking through the campsite, and lions killing a zebra near the toilet block! During the evening a few hyenas sniff around the campsite for food, and at night we go to sleep to the sounds of animals in the bush beyond the camp.

On Tuesday the 14th we take another game drive around the Serengeti in the morning, before driving back on the ridiculously bumpy road to the Ngorongoro Crater. This is an amazing place for Mariska to spend her birthday! Our camp for the night is at Simba campsite on the rim of the crater, with a magnificent view of the large flat crater below. After dinner, with a glass of red wine, the group launches into Happy Birthday for Mariska, and the Danish girls sing a traditional Danish birthday song. Some armed guards walk past, and when we ask if they've had to shoot animals in this campsite before, they reply 'Many times'. The elephant near the showers decides to keep his distance though, and as far as we know some grazing buffalo and a cold wind are the only things to come through the camp that night.

The next morning we're up at 5:00am so we can get down into the crater early. The sun rises over the crater as we pack up our tent, before our group gets into three Land Cruisers for the steep descent into the crater. The Ngorongoro Crater is about 20km in diameter, and 125km around, and is a large flat expanse of grassland, with just a few patches of rocks and trees, one river and a lake. The Maasai people still inhabit the Conservation Area around the crater, and still venture into the crater to graze their cattle. Apparently the Crater has the highest concentration of predators in Africa, and we feel a little sorry for the zebra, wildebeest and antelope that we encounter - it's really a bit of a smorgasbord in this enclosed space! We spend a few hours driving around the crater, encountering lions, a cheetah in the distance, hippos in the river, flamingoes at the lake, hyenas, and vultures feeding on a dead zebra. In the afternoon we make our ascent out of the crater, and head back to our camp at Mesarani, near Arusha. Being the last night, the campsite staff cook dinner for us, and the group sits around recounting tales from the last four weeks.

The last day of the tour (Thursday 16 October) sees us up before 5am, and we're soon on the road for the 6-7 hour drive to Nairobi in Kenya. We cross the border once again without incident, and arrive in Nairobi just after lunch. Group photos are taken, email addresses exchanged, and the group disperses. It's been an amazing four weeks, we've seen some spectacular sights, met some great people, and had a lot of fun along the way.

After attending to a couple errands in Nairobi, the two of us make our way to our accommodation. We are staying at the home of the mother of a friend of Mariska's, and we're met with a hug by the housekeeper Charles before being treated to a great local dinner of ugali (maize porridge), beef stew, spinach and chapati.


Photos below: Zebras graze on the endless plains of the Serengeti; Lions of the Serengeti; The magnificent Ngorongoro Crater; Wildebeest/dinner in the Crater

Tanzania - Dar es Salaam & Zanzibar (3 - 9 October)

After a final stop in Malawi at Chitimba Beach on Friday 3 October, we cross into Tanzania on the 4th. Going through immigration is pretty painless as most of us have pre-arranged visas, and we're soon on our way heading north-east from the Malawi/Tanzania border. The lanscape in Tanzania is incredibly diverse - we drive through tea and banana plantations, then arid scrubby desert, then through plantations of pine and eucalyptus trees.
After an overnight stop at Iringa in central Tanzania, we get up about usual time (6:00am) and drive throughout the day to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city (but not its capital - for the trivia buffs, Dodoma holds that honour). It is a huge, hectic, bustling mess of a city, and is a very interesting place. Traffic is terrible, but we eventually reach our campsite by the Indian Ocean.

The next day (6/10) our truck dives into the city, where we spend some time wandering the rambling collection of concrete, dirt, rubbish and traffic that is central Dar es Salaam. At midday we make our way to the ferry for Zanzibar, on which we are shownto the 'VIP' section. The term is used loosely, but we find some old armchairs and a few honeymooners, and settle in for the three hour trip.

At Zanzibar Town we have to pass through immigration, as Zanzibar remains somewhat independent from the mainland (Zanzibar and Tanganyika having joined in the 1960s to form Tanzania), and then our group winds its way through narrow streets to our hotel. The two of us decide there's no time to lose in exploring this amazing place, so we head out into Stone Town, the old part of the city.
Stone Town is really an amazing place; a maze of narrow alleys, with tall old buildings on every side, with an equally confusing maze of culture. Africans, Arabs and Indians live side by side here, seemingly in harmony, and it's a fantastic experience wandering through the streets and markets. There are no street signs here, and no cars in the old alleys of Stone Town. Every so often a motor-scooter comes hurtling through the alleyway, sending locals and tourists scurrying. The blend of cultures, architecture, and people in this place is intoxicating, and we hope to come back when we return to Tanzania in a couple weeks.
Next stop is the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral in Stone Town, built on the site of a former slave market. After paying the entrance fee we make our way to the basement of a building where we find two of the original cells where slaves were kept before being sold. One cannot describe the emotion of being in a place where hundreds of slaves were crammed in barbaric conditions. We sit on the low platform where they would have squatted with no space to stand or sit, and touch the wooden beams above - perhaps touched by unfortunate hands over 100 years ago. It is devastating, and hard to fathom the evil of mankind that he could treat his brothers and sisters in such a way. Just as devastating is the knowledge that slavery continues today in many places.

The next two days (7-8 October) we split from the group, and the two of us go to Kendwa, in the north of Zanzibar. It's a beautiful quiet place with a beach of amazing white sand and sparkling turquoise water, and we spend time relaxing on the beach, swimming and snorkelling. Hopefully the photos will do the place justice. The time passes, and soon it's back to Zanzibar Town, on to the ferry and back to Dar es Salaam, where we spend another night before our trip to the interior begins.

To the Serengeti...

Just a quick update - we're in Arusha, Tanzania about to head off on the safari circuit through the Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. Looking forward to seeing some lions!

Thanks to those who have sent emails or said hi on Facebook - it's nice to hear from home (not that we're missing it!!). Sorry that we don't have time to respond to everyone individually.

No time to post the details now, but since the last update we've been through northern Malawi, then travelled through Tanzania to Dar es Salaam. We took the ferry to Zanzibar and spent three amazing days there - exploring the maze of culture in Stone Town and relaxing on a stunning beach in Kendwa.
We then headed north-west through Tanzania and last night camped in the shadow of the imposing Mount Kilimanjaro - a spectacular sight.

No internet in the Serengeti I'm guessing, but we should be able to update when we get to Kenya on the 16th.

On a beach in the middle of Africa... (28 September - 2 October 2008)

In Livingstone our Intrepid group splits, and we join up with another group for the journey on to Nairobi. The new group have come from Cape Town through Namibia and then Botswana.

On Sunday 28th September we hit the road at about 7:30am in our big white Intrepid truck, heading for Lusaka, Zambia's capital. We drive for the whole day through Zambian country, villages and towns. For many people traditional semi-subsistence life continues here, and mud-brick thatched-roof huts are accompanied by animal pens, stands of banana trees and small maize crops. The truck stops to buy charcoal from a stall on the side of the road, where women with babies on their back gather around the bags of charcoal, eking out a living.

All along and on the road, a main highway, people walk and ride bikes, and our driver is constantly honking the horn to alert them. Children run out to the road and wave, and people stare as we pass. They know the overland trucks hold the few tourists that venture out here.

We camp for the night just outside Lusaka, a large city which seems to have had money poured into it in the 70s and 80s (judging by the concrete skyscrapers), but hasn't seen much investment since.
On Monday we hit the road again for another long driving day, and camp under the trees at Mama Rula's Camp at Chipata in Zambia, near the Malawi border.

Tuesday morning (30/9) we arrive at the Zambia/Malawi border early in the morning, and a crowd of boys and young men rush over to us carrying eskys full of cold drinks and trays of eggs, hoping for a sale. We get our exit stamp from Zambia, from an immigration official behind a makeshift sign reading "This is a Corruption-Free Zone". The power goes out but no-one bats an eyelid - this is also a computer-free zone. We then pass into Malawi without incident, and it's nice not to have to pay for an entry visa!

Driving on there are instant changes from Zambia. Most of the houses are made of brick, and in front of many homes are brick kilns. The towns and villages we pass are busy and vibrant, and the lanscape is green. We spend a little time in the capital Lilongwe, which is a bustling, quite modern city. Our time is spend visiting the Likuni Mission Hospital just outside town (see Livingstone entry), and it's encouraging to know that our consultation fee for the volunteer Dutch doctor at the private clinic will help provide treatment for those who cannot pay.

In the afternoon we drive to our camp at Senga Bay on Lake Malawi, which is a huge body of water, 500km long; the pride and lifeblood of Malawi. It is a beautiful place where the water stretches out to the horizon, and one can just make out the hills of Mozambique on the other side. Every so often a lone wooden canoe eases past, highlighted against the glimmering water by the fading afternoon sun. The group enjoys relaxing on the beach as the sun sets, with cold drinks including the local Kuche Kuche beer.

On Wednesday we pack up and head to the local craft markets, before heading up the west coast of Lake Malawi. Villages drift pass, as do the faces of hundreds of smiling and shouting children. In the afternoon the truck reaches our destination of Kande Beach, where we decide to upgrade to a beach chalet for the princely sum of US$13 a night!

Kande Beach is a great spot with a sensational long sandy beach. We'll spend two nights here, relaxing and taking in some of the local sights. The village of Kande Beach is right next to our accommodation, which is happily rustic and chilled. Locals play, fish, wash and swim in the Lake, where the water is clear and great for swimming (but not drinking!). This morning we went for a walk through the local village, school and hospital. We met some beautiful children at the school, though it's evident that they are used to tourists and soon ask for money and lollies.

We're just about to head off for a traditional dinner in the local village, though some in the group are concerned about whether their stomach can handle it!

So that brings us up to date. We're half way through this 4 week tour, and are enjoying every second of it. We feel so removed from Australia it's hard to believe we've only been in Africa two weeks.

It's been awesome seeing such diverse sights, and getting to know the others on the tour (a great bunch from Australia, Denmark, UK, Italy, Canada and USA). We're glad though that we have the couple weeks after the tour when we'll get to spend more time with the locals in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Some images below: Dinner in Livingstone with Maria & Trine from Denmark; Breakfast at Senga Bay; Kande Beach; Grade 1 at Kande Beach School.