Part 3: Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Greetings from Victoria Falls! Part Three of the journey is complete.  Only 20 more days to go.....

This leg of the journey started in Zanzibar, but the first two days after Dar es Salaam were crazily long travel days - the first was 13 hours with a 4:00am start, then 14 hours with a 3:45am start.  So horrible but it had to be done!  Thankfully things slowed down after that.  Here are some of the highlights:

Lake Malawi, Malawi:
Malawi itself is such a beautiful country.  It is home to some of the poorest people in Africa, but they are also some of the most friendly and happy.  Whilst at the lake we went on a village tour and stopped in at a school that has an average class size of 150 students.  They have an aim of getting 60% of their students to continue past Year 6 (there are not enough high schools so it's super competitive).  I also got up early one morning to go for a run along the beach, which turned out to be more about photography than running.  So special!

A morning run....

...that turned into a photo session

Local school visit

Leaving Malawi as the sun rises

South Luangwa National Park, Zambia:
We have done so many safaris on this trip that it's hard to imagine the next will be any different, but each time there is at least one special sighting that makes the whole experience worth it.  This time it was a leopard up soooo close!  They are one of the hardest to see, so we were super fortunate.  I also got to have my birthday in Zambia and even got a special birthday cake :)

I have an abundance of sunrise pics, probably because we are always up at ridiculous o'clock!

Leopards are not often out in the open.....so happy with this pic!

34 birthday balloons at breakfast :)

CAAAAAKE!!!!!!

Matopos National Park, Zimbabwe:
At this point I realised it was winter.  Sleeping in a tent when it's 3 degrees outside is not much fun!  I was wearing so much clothing and still freezing.  Then getting up at 5am to go on a game drive in an open top jeep (with the guide happily wearing shorts) was ridiculously chilly!  Thankfully getting within 2 metres of rhinos, scaling a mountain and seeing some impressive rock art made the frostbite worth it.

Now that it's getting colder: campfire dinner!

Very cool (3 degrees overnight) campsite.  I had my very own island!

The verse on the tree next to my tent:)

Great Zimbabwe ruins

Safari time! Yep, I'm wearing a sleeping bag..

Cave paintings

My fave rhino shot. We were within 2 metres!

Take the photo before I get charged by angry rhino....

So close!

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
Three whole days to relax in a beautiful setting.  I am discovering as we get further south that things are a bit more westernised and quite expensive.  There are heaps of activity choices in Victoria Falls, but I went with just two: an included visit to the falls (the best bit anyway!) and a zip line canopy tour.  It has been really nice to sleep in and just spend time wandering around town.  It's a bit warmer here too which is super nice!

My foreign currency collection so far including 100 billion note from Zimbabwe!
Their currency is now out of circulation so I'm not actually a billionaire :(

Victoria Falls Gorge - just downstream of the falls

Rocking the safety harness look 

An interesting path between zip lines

One of nine zip lines across the gorge

Tomorrow we spend the morning here then drive to Botswana.  Should be fun!  This leg of the trip is 20 days so I will try to do an update halfway through.   God bless!

Part 2: Tanzania!!!

I am quite happy that Tanzania gets its very own post.  Thankfully I can say after 12 days seeing the sights I'm still in love with this country!  This is what "Part 2" looked like:

Right now I am in Zanzibar, relaxing at a beachside cafe on the northern tip of the main island.  This morning was spent laying in bed in our super nice bungalow, followed by snorkeling and a yummy lunch.  I thought the last leg of the trip was great, but this is even better!  It has been much more relaxing, without as many long bus days and early starts. We have an entirely new crew and mostly new people too.  I feel a small disaster will happen on each leg of this trip - last time it was gastro and this time it was losing my glasses somewhere in the Indian Ocean.....oops.  I really didn't see that wave coming!  Thankfully I have a spare pair.  Anyway, here are some of the highlights from this beautiful country I get to call home:

Ngorongoro Crater
Right from the start I was looking forward to this.  There is something fascinating about a huge number of rare wildlife living on the floor of an extinct volcano - the largest intact volcano crater in the world.  It is by far my favourite game drive so far.  Not only did we get to see some beautiful creatures, but the colours and backdrops made for some really beautiful photo opportunities.

A short stop at a Masai Market

With new tentmate Gemma.  Our tent is affectionately
referred to as "Schnookums"

Masai Village

On our way down into the crater

A zebra crossing....yep :)

Flamingos and wildebeest 

Hyena having a swim

Zebra and buffalo

Hanging with my new friend :)

Beautiful lion.....

.....who then decided to sit in the shade under my window!

Serengeti National Park
Serengeti means open plains, and it really is just that....lots and lots of open grassland that the guides manage to navigate like they know every square metre!  This experience was made amazing by having the best guide ever, and the fact that we camped in the park without even a fence between us and the hopefully not very hungry lions!  We spent two days with our guide Freddie driving one of those safari jeeps with the pop-up top.  My challenge was to get shots that looked different from the last three game drives, so I went with close-ups this time.

Lookout above the Serengeti

Sunset over the Serengeti

Our jeep group with Freddie

Usambara Mountains
This was a highlight mostly because we got two nights in the one place, and the showers were hot with doors that locked and a place to put your clothes!  I have come to judge the quality of accommodation by how many nails are on the back of the shower doors...tis the small things.  We also went on a 12 km walk up to a view point and got to have a lunch prepared by some local ladies.  We have been doing that quite a bit this trip.  It's a great way to empower locals, put funds directly into the communities and help them see that tourists value and respect their culture.

Local food at Mto Wa Mbu

Tasty!

Driving through the Usambara Mountains

Ruby met a Chameleon friend on our walk

At Irente viewpoint

After a beautiful meal, the local ladies danced....
and made us all dance too.  So fun :)

They had the most amusing way of picking up tip money!

Zanzibar
Zanzibar is amazing!  Even though it is a part of Tanzania it still feels like a different country.  Tanzania = TANganyika (former mainland), ZANzibar (series of small islands) Independent Association.  It has been united since 1964 but is still very different both in religion (95% Muslim) and architecture (lots of Arabic influence).  It is 2 hours by ferry from the mainland but it's illegal to take pictures of the ferry...or the port....or government buildings.....or any bridges so no photos of that bit!  We spent one night in the capital Stone Town then two nights at the northern beaches before heading back to the mainland.

Stone Town - the capital of Zanzibar

Alleys of Stone Town

Stone Town sunset

Stone Town sunset

On a spice tour with Ali

Wearing lipstick from the lipstick tree and a Cassava necklace

Beautiful local meal

Our wow accommodation at the Northern Beaches....just a bit of a change from our tent!

Northern Beaches sunset

Before snorkeling pic....visibility wasn't great but still fun!

A 2 hr ferry ride from Stone Town back to the mainland

Next stop: Malawi....followed by Zambia and Zimbabwe :) God bless!