Zanzibar to Nairobi

July 31, 2026 ~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

We got the ferry early in the morning from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar. The entrance to the ferry terminal is quite small and it was a little frenetic getting through the security and into the departure area.

The ferry journey was about 2 hours, and the sea was thankfully reasonably calm as I had forgotten to bring any seasickness tablets with me.

We arrived into Stone Town in the late morning and started with a walking tour of the old colonial town. Through the market, to the slave museum (which was very interesting, I didn’t previously know much about the slave trade in East Africa, so it was very illuminating), churches, the narrow streets, and finally to Freddie Mercury’s house.

We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Stone Town, called Maru Maru. It had the best shower I’d had on my entire Africa trip. I was also apparently in the presidential suite as there was a photograph on the wall in the room telling me that Bill Clinton had stayed in this room some years ago…

A free afternoon so I took the opportunity for a bit of downtime before a wander around the town which was curtailed by some over-eager locals, which was a shame.

The next day we headed to north Zanzibar for a couple of days, to Nungwi Beach. It was so nice to have a couple of days downtime after the travelling so far. At this point it was 34 days since I left Cape Town and this was only the 8th time we were staying somewhere for more than 1 night.

After a relaxing couple of days we were up early to get back to Stone Town in time for the 9.30am ferry. Again a fairly chaotic check in experience, and this time the sea was quite rough so it felt like a long journey back to the mainland.

After being reunited with our truck back at the hotel in Dar, we hit the road north towards the coastal town of Bagamoyo. We arrived in the late afternoon and had a bit of a stroll along the beach where there were lots of dhows being loaded with goods, which we assumed were heading for Zanzibar.

Dhows at Bagamoyo, plus a nearly full moon

Another long drive the next day, to Moshi, which is the gateway town to Mt Kilimanjaro. It was an early start and I was surprised to see the local church full at 6.15am! We were all kept interested for the last hour or so by trying to spot Kilimanjaro peeking out from behind the clouds. It just about appeared when we’d arrived at the accommodation in the late afternoon.

A shorter drive the next day, to Karatu in preparation for a couple of days in Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.

We started early (again!) and got in our jeeps to drive to the Ngorongoro Crater. It was very cloudy and misty, and as we drove along the crater rim, we could barely see where we were going. I was a little worried at what we would be able to see in the crater but as we descended below the cloud, my fears vanished. The Ngorongoro Crater might be the easiest place to view animals that I’ve been to. There are just so many of them everywhere. Lions, zebras, ostriches, warthogs, so many birds, flamingos, elephants, buffalo, serval cats, leopards, herds of wildebeest, I could go on.

After an exciting morning and packed lunch at a watering hole, we then headed to the Serengeti and our camp in the park. It took such a long time to get there, we got lost at one point and arrived in the dark. But we did have a delicious dinner waiting for us, and the most glamorous tent I’ve ever stayed in!

Another extremely early start the next morning, for my big splurge on this trip. A hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti at sunrise. I’ve never been in one before and I doubt I will go again, not because it was scary, it was actually very serene, but I figure I’m once and done with hot air balloons!

It was such a smooth ride, and incredibly peaceful, rising up and down over the plains, and only occasionally hitting the tops of the trees! I was pleasantly surprised at how many animals we could see. Hippos running, elephants, crocodiles, zebras. The light as the sun rose was incredible. And to see the sunrise from above, with the full 360 view was something I’ll never forget.

The landing was a little bumpy, but we did end up upright! And afterwards we had champagne and a cooked breakfast in the Serengeti, certainly a once in a lifetime experience!

After breakfast I joined back up with the rest of the group and we then spent the rest of the day on a safari drive around the Serengeti. Aside from the hot air balloon in the morning, the highlight was seeing 2 lions roaming around, jumping across a small stream and then settling into the shade under the bush. Despite all the animals I’ve seen in Africa, it remains incredible to see the animals in this environment.

We finished up and were back at camp at about 4pm. It was so nice to be back early (ish) and I enjoyed a bucket shower and then a relaxing glass of vino in the lounge tent. Another delicious dinner followed, to round off a truly excellent day.

We finished our Serengeti adventure the next day as we drove out of the park and back along the Ngorongoro rim, and eventually arriving at our final hotel in Tanzania, at Arusha. This was the final night of the trip as it would conclude when we got to Nairobi (a fairly short 4-5 hour drive, plus the Kenyan border) the next day. It’s always bittersweet when a trip ends, and this one more so as I’d had to cancel my original plans to carry on to the Maasai Mara and into Uganda to see the chimps and gorillas. I’m hoping I’ll be able to return one day in the not too distant future to complete this final leg, but, for now, it’s farewell to Africa.

Tanzania – Malawi border to Dar Es Salaam

July 16, 2026 ~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

As soon as we crossed the order from Malawi into Tanzania, there was an immediate improvement in the quality of the road. Unfortunately the roads in Malawi had broken something on the truck so, along with the 50kph speed limit, we limped to our first overnight stop in Tanzania, at Utengule Coffee Lodge, just before sunset. A lovely location just outside the bustling city of Mbeya, which was much more like what I’d imagined an Eastern African city to be like…noisy, busy, lots going on.

We started the next day with a tour of the coffee plantation attached to the lodge. Afterwards we hit the road towards Iringa. It was a long and slow drive as we followed the Great East Road which would eventually get us (in a few days time) to the port city of Dar Es Salaam. This road is the main route for trucks going to and from Dar, taking goods into and out of Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many trucks and, as it was a single carriageway road, it continued to be a slow journey.

Beautiful scenery despite the slow journey

This was another long day and we got to the next accommodation about 20kms outside Iringa in the dark. We left before sunrise the following morning and it was a real shame not to be able to enjoy the accommodation (or even see it in daylight) as it looked nice and quirky.

After 2 long driving days, we had a shorter drive the next day to Mikumi, where we would be staying 2 nights – woo!

On the way to Mikumi, we stopped off at the Baobab Valley where there are avenues of baobab trees. I first saw a baobab tree when I was in Zimbabwe 3 or so years ago and I find them fascinating and quite alien (to this Brit at least) with their fat trunks.

We arrived at the lodge just outside of Mikumi National Park in time for a late lunch. I then had a relaxing afternoon at the lodge and did my handwashing where I was able to wash enough to get me through to the end of the trip. Fortunately my room was big enough for me to drape a weeks’ worth of clothes around to dry!!

Another early start the next day but this time it was for a half day safari drive into Mikumi National Park. The first thing we saw were some impalas with their heads up and alert for danger. Hiding nearby in a tree was a leopard. At first I thought it was sleeping on a branch, but it soon stirred, and dragged the remains of its prey from its hiding place in the tree. The leopard deftly climbed down the trunk of the tree, clinging on to the remains of an impala before getting about a yard from the bottom of the tree where it then flopped into the long grass. Such an incredible sight to see.

Not long afterwards we came across probably 8 or 9 lions lying in the long grass. At first I though there was only 1 or 2 but then as we continued driving they all revealed themselves just chilling in the grass.

And then not long afterwards we came across a family of elephants again very close to the road. We stopped and watched for quite a while. Just such an amazing experience to witness these animals in this environment.

The sightings became a bit more sporadic after this as the day heated up and the animals were taking shelter. The grass was also pretty long which made spotting anything lurking in it quite difficult.

As we finished up in time for a late lunch, we did get another lion and some monkeys as we headed out of the park.

I enjoyed another relaxing afternoon at the lodge before we headed off early the next morning to Dar Es Salaam, the biggest city in Tanzania. A city of over 5 million people and easily the largest city since I left Cape Town over a month ago.

We arrived in Dar in the early afternoon. It was quite a change of pace from the last few weeks. A busy city, lots of traffic and lots of people. After a brief walk along the front near the ferry terminal, we escaped into the air-conditioning in the Hyatt for a cold beverage.

Next up, an early morning ferry to Zanzibar…

Botswana

June 11, 2026 ~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

Crossing the border from Namibia into Botswana was relatively straightforward – unlike most of the countries I’m visiting on this trip, I don’t need a visa.

We had quite a long driving day on a fairly terrible road to the town of Maun which is a gateway town for the Okavango Delta.

An early start the next morning for a scenic flight over the delta which was very picturesque, even if it was quite difficult to spot the animals!

In the late morning we then set off into the delta in an open 4×4 down a long, dusty and bumpy dirt road. After a couple of hours, our driver slowed down a bit as he had spotted lion footprints in the sand on the road. And then just a little further up, we saw 2 lions feasting on a very dead giraffe. At once both the most incredible and gruesome sight I’ve seen.

It felt like it was staring right into my soul

We continued into the delta and after a short game drive we arrived at our tented accommodation for the next 2 nights. I am not much of a camper but I could get on board with these tents, very roomy with actual beds and en suite facilities consisting of a chemical toilet and a bucket shower.

After a delicious dinner and warming up around the campfire (I have misjudged the evening and night time temperatures – it is cold!!) it was an early night before a 5.30am wake up call for a full day of activities the following day. We all got bush babies (hot water bottles) to take to bed which were definitely needed!!

We had a morning game drive the next day, lots of elephants, giraffes, impalas, zebras, and fluffy and colourful birds. We also had 2 flat tyres in the space of 10 minutes which was quite exciting considering you’re not meant to get out of the vehicle when on game drives!! Thankfully no animals nearby and our driver was very adept at changing the tyre.

After lunch and a short rest back at the camp, we embarked on a mokoro trip along the waterways. Mokoros are traditional canoes which were carved out of wood, though the ones we used were made from fibreglass. They are propelled by one guy with a long pole, almost like gondolas. It was a supremely peaceful way to spend a couple of hours, meandering up and down the river, watching the flies and insects darting in and out of the water, a few hippos and the occasional bird in a distant tree.

On the way back we saw an awesome sunset, with all the trees silhouetted against the orangey pink sky, just stunning.

Dinner that evening followed by another bush baby. I’d also doubled up on the duvet and blankets and was, frankly, a bit too warm that night!!

Another early start the next day to drive the 5 hours back to Maun to be reunited with our overland truck before continuing on for another nearly 7 hours to our next lodge near Nata. Such a long day. This lodge was called Elephant Sands and had a watering hole. As we were eating dinner in the evening, an elephant came for a drink which was so cool to see.

Back on the road early the next morning as we headed to our last stop on this brief visit to Botswana, in Chobe. This was a relatively short driving day and we were at our accommodation in Kasane by lunchtime.

In the afternoon we enjoyed a river cruise where we saw lots of elephants walking and bathing along the river, a few crocodiles and hippos. This was the first time I’d seen the hippos out of the water. Lots more bird life and we also caught an awesome sunset before returning to shore.

This was such a brief visit to Botswana, only 5 nights in total but so much great wildlife viewing, and some incredible sunsets.

Next up, an overnight in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe before onwards to Zambia.

Swakopmund to the Botswana border

June 5, 2026 ~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

We left a misty and foggy Swakopmund after breakfast and drove up the coast. Not that we could see anything… We did stop at a shipwreck which this stretch of coastline in notorious for. The ship was wrecked in 2008 and is still bobbing away just off the shore.

We then turned inland and arrived at our next accommodation at Daureb Isib in time for lunch. This accommodation is very near to the Brandberg mountain and in the afternoon we drove to the mountain and had a 3 mile round hike along the riverbed to see some cave paintings, the most famous of which is the White Lady. It’s really incredible to think of the age of these paintings. They reminded me of some similar ones I saw in Matobo in Zimbabwe.

After dinner that evening, I attempted some night sky photography but we’re approaching a full moon so it wasn’t super-successful…

A 9am departure (such a luxury on this trip, it’s often been pre 8am and earlier), for a bit of a drive day to our next stop just outside of Etosha National Park.

We made a couple of stops along the way, and I bought a small local artwork to go with my increasing collection of local paintings from my travels. The bonus is that flat things are easy to carry!

We arrived at some very nice lodges about 20 minutes from Etosha in the late afternoon. I’ve generally been impressed with the quality of accommodation on this trip. In southern Namibia we stayed in a couple of basic motels in places where there wasn’t much going on but, in the Namib desert, the previous night at Brandberg mountain and at Etosha, they have been quirky and interesting and very comfortable. More upgraded than G Adventures or Intrepid in my experience.

We had a full day game drive in Etosha National Park the next day. The park opens at sunrise (about 7.30am) so we were up early and ready to go.

We stopped at a couple of watering holes to start with which had quite a few animals getting their morning drinks before heading out for a day in the bush and savannah.

Springboks seemed to be the most abundant animals in the morning but there were also plenty of zebras and a few giraffes.

The highlight of the morning was a black rhino having a drink and finding some food in a muddy patch. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of different animals on my previous trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe but this was my first black rhino which was really cool to see.

We carried on deeper into the park, to the salt pans which are currently dry. Not much wildlife to be spotted there. After lunch at the Halali rest stop we headed back the way we’d driven in the morning.

It seemed like there were much fewer animals about at this time, perhaps from the heat of the sun. We stopped at another watering hole for a while, there were giraffes, zebras, kudus, impalas and springbok all waiting their turn at the watering hole. And then, far in the distance, 3 bull elephants very, very slowly emerged. We must have waited a good 30 minutes to see if they would come down closer to the watering hole. They eventually started moving, slowly, but we had to leave in order to make sure we’d be out of the park before sunset.

I was feeling a bit disappointed that we hadn’t seen many elephants, especially as Etosha has a lot of them. And then, again when we had driven for quite some time without seeing anything, suddenly in the middle of the road was a family of elephants. We had to stop as they were blocking the road! Really special to see, and they got quite close to our 4×4 which was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!

After that it was time to head back to the lodges for dinner and a rest as it had been a long, but exciting, day.

The next day we had a leisurely start as, for some people, this was a changeover day in the trip. We were waiting for some new people to join us, who were being driven the 4ish hours from Windhoek, and then the people leaving us would be driven back to Windhoek. After we’d all had lunch together it was time to say farewell to our new friends who would be leaving us. It’s always amazing to me on these trips how soon you become a family and develop friendships with people from all over the world who I only met a few days ago. And it’s always bittersweet to say goodbye. My trip in Africa is 8 weeks so I think I’m going to have a few more of these hellos and goodbyes before I leave.

After lunch, those of us continuing the journey headed back to the park for a drive through and out through the eastern end. Having seen relatively few elephants the previous day, the park seemed to be teeming with them on this afternoon. Again we were on a deadline to be out of the park before sunset so there wasn’t quite the same opportunity to sit and watch the animals as the previous day but it was still very cool to see the animals, even briefly.

We exited the park with about 20 minutes to spare and still had another hour or so to go to our next accommodation in Tsumeb. This stop was just a quick overnighter as we arrived late and left early for another long drive day. We were heading to our final stop in Namibia, at Divundu on the Kavango River, and fairly close to the Botswana border. Namibia is a vast country and, as you’d expect on a long overland trip, there have been a few long drive days to get between highlights. This day was one of those. Thankfully a tarred road the entire way (not always the case, especially on our way to Fish River Canyon and the Namib desert), but it was late afternoon by the time we arrived at our accommodation on the banks of the river.

We enjoyed the evening watching the glowing orange sky as the sun set over the far bank of the river. The sunsets in Africa really do seem to hit differently. Brilliant orange and bright red skies. Beautiful.

We started our last full day in Namibia with a breakfast cruise along the river, looking for hippos and crocodiles. And we were successful! We could actually hear the hippos through the night and they sounded incredibly close, though we convinced ourselves that it was just the sound travelling in the quiet surroundings.

I love how hippos just hang about partly submerged in the waters, peacefully bobbing underwater from time to time. Seems like an idyllic existence.

On our way back to the river bank we spotted a crocodile hiding on a small island behind some reeds. It seemed to just be resting and didn’t move at all despite the sound of the boat’s engines. There were also loads and loads of birds flying over us in formation, which looked spectacular against the perfectly blue sky.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing at the lodge whilst some others in the group did an afternoon game drive to nearby Mahango area. I’ve decided that as I have many more opportunities to see wildlife in the coming weeks, I could miss out on this one and enjoy a bit of downtime and relaxation.

Next, onto Botswana…

Cape Town to Swakopmund

May 29, 2026 ~ Cat ~ Leave a comment

I am back underway on the next part of my sabbatical travels. I arrived in Cape Town late morning after a long flight via Istanbul from Manchester, and was greeted by Table Mountain in all her glory. It was such a beautiful, clear day and as I assumed the next couple of days would be the same, I didn’t bother taking a photo…

I spent the first day napping and relaxing after the journey. I’ve been to Cape Town before (in a post which has been sitting in my drafts for about 2 years!! I may yet get round to finishing and posting it), so I didn’t feel in too much of a hurry to be out and about seeing things.

I had booked a full day wine tour to Stellenbosch, Franshhoek and Paarl the following day. There were only 2 others on the trip so we managed to squeeze in an extra stop in the colourful Bo-Kaap neighbourhood in Cape Town at the start of the day. This had been on my list to do so I was glad to be able to see it.

It was a very cloudy day with lots of low cloud hanging over the mountains. As we drove out towards Stellenbosch, our driver bemoaned the weather as apparently we should have been able to see some lovely scenery…

We were at our first tasting at 9am, 2 whites and 2 reds plus some biltong. Not a bad way to start the day!! The weather had lifted and after stops in the pretty towns of Stellenbosch and Franshhoek, both of which reminded me of other towns in wine producing areas elsewhere in the world, we had a short ride on the Franshhoek wine tram before stopping at the next winery for lunch and 3 more wines. The final stop was in Paarl for 4 more wines to round off the day.

On my final day before the tour started, I took the hotel shuttle bus to the V&A Waterfront, in the pouring rain. After wandering around the shopping mall, I ventured out in the rain towards the contemporary art museum, which I had been to on my previous visit.

After lunch and a further wander (it had just about stopped raining at this point but still no sign of Table Mountain), I headed back to the hotel in time for the evening meet up prior to the tour starting in the morning.

I am travelling on this trip with Nomad Africa. Overall it’s 8 weeks but it’s split into 3 sections, the first of which is Cape Town to Victoria Falls.

We left Cape Town bright (well, still cloudy) and early the next morning, and started with a brief stroll at Blouberg Beach where you’re meant to be able to see a lovely view of Table Mountain from across the bay. We could barely see the sea, let alone anything else! We continued to head north, with a stop off for supplies at a supermarket before stopping for lunch at a gas station on the Cape Namibia highway. Thankfully by this time we had escaped the clouds and it was a warm and sunny day.

As we continued to head north, I was struck by the landscape with these wide open vistas, huge skies and then later, craggy mountains as we headed slightly inland.

We are in rooibos country and we stopped at a place that sold rooibos tea, had wine tasting and was growing citrus! I quite like rooibos, and after an hour or so in the sun chatting with my group, we were then on our way to our overnight stop just outside of Citrusdal, in the Cederberg region. There are lots of citrus trees growing in this region, and the place we stayed produces 1500 tonnes of fruit per year for export, alongside its camping and accommodation business.

The next day it was a long driving day to the Namibian border. I was glad I’d arranged my e-visa online beforehand (though the website was fairly temperamental) as it took us all quite a long time to get through the border. Namibia is my 50th country, and I’m sure it will be a good one.

We arrived at our accommodation on the banks of the Orange River just as the sun was setting in a glorious red sky.

We started our exploration of Namibia the next day with a drive to Fish River Canyon, a vast canyon, definitely on a par visually with the Grand Canyon with the added bonus of significantly fewer people! We had a short walk along the edge of the canyon, which meandered sufficiently to get lots of different views of the canyon. You can never quite capture in a photo what you can see with your eyes, it really was spectacular. We then had lunch before continuing our journey north to our overnight stop at Keetmanshoop.

Onwards the next day, towards the Namib Naukluft national park. On our way, we stopped at Quiver Tree Forest where all these trees are apparently growing out of the rocks. We also stopped at Giants Playground where all these boulders appear to have been very carefully placed in various formations, but it’s all completely natural weathering of the stone.

The landscapes on the driving so far have been vast, and surprisingly green. There were rains at the end of April which have caused grasses and other bushes to spring forth which means Namibia doesn’t quite look as I’d imagined. There was more grassland as we headed west towards the Namib desert, and then suddenly there were flowering bushes, mostly yellow flowers interspersed with orange-coloured bushes. It’s so interesting to see not only the landscape here but the flora and fauna too, which is adapted to survive in some harsh desert conditions.

We stayed overnight in Hammerstein before a very early, pre sunrise, start the next day to explore the national park. The park gates open at sunrise, and we joined a long queue to get into the park. We then drove the 45kms to Dune 45 for an early morning hike up an enormous sand dune with a bunch of other tourists. The colours at this time really took my breath away. Extraordinarily red sand dunes with the backdrop of a beautiful clear blue sky. I couldn’t stop myself from just staring at the dunes and the colours and trying to take it all in.

Hiking up a sand dune is quite hard work. The firmest sand is on the ridge, which is fairly narrow, and this dune rises more than 100 metres. It was also surprisingly windy, and I lost my nerve at a flat section about two-thirds of the way up and called it a day.

After that it was time for breakfast before continuing on to the Sossusvlei pan, with yet more red dunes, and Deadvlei, where trees in the pan appear to be petrified, which makes a very striking photo with the red dunes and blue sky. I am certain there is a very similar image which pops up on Windows desktop backgrounds…

After a final stop at Sesriem canyon, we headed to our next overnight stop in the desert. I have to say the rooms we stayed in at this place were stunning, and the nicest accommodation so far.

The next morning started with a super-interesting desert drive and talk about animals and insects that live in the desert, as well as the bushmen, or san, peoples who live off the land here. We had not nearly enough time but everyone in the group found it to be enormously enjoyable.

We were heading northwest towards Swakopmund, and passed through the Tropic of Capricorn along the way, as well as the Moon Landscape, which certainly looked different to what we’ve seen so far in Namibia. It was a long and very bumpy drive to Walvis Bay for a breezy lunch by the sea before we rolled into Swakopmund in the mid afternoon. We are here for 2 nights and have a free day for an assortment of optional activities but I am taking the chance to have a quiet day strolling around the very German-feeling town, doing my laundry and catching up on some admin.

I’ve hugely enjoyed Namibia so far, the scenery has been absolutely spectacular, we have seen some awesome things, and I’m sure this will continue as we head north towards the wildlife…

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