Day 1 - The first leg of the journey

After a frantic morning at work, I managed to get home by 1pm and, being already packed, I kept myself busy mowing the lawn, tidying the house and triple checking the paperwork, Tracey clearly couldn't wait either and turned up 20 minutes ahead of schedule, bounding up the path with a huge grin on her face.
The traffic report for the M25 wasn't great but we forced down a cuppa and set off fully loaded with gifts for the kids, canera gear and severe excitement.
2 hours of Steve-Wright-in-the-afternoon later and we finally crawled up the drop-off ramp at Heathrow's terminal 5, where only slight queues at bag drop slowed us down, We had the perfect amount of time available to to head to the "Cavier House and Prunier" for a glass of bubbly and a platetr of mixed seafood to kick the adventure off with a bit of class.
The first flight to Johannes
burg was 11 hours and only slightly delayed with a good selection of films and food. We tried to sleep for most of it, managing a few hours at least. I know you're all dying to know how Tracey's got on with the toilets at 39,000 feet, but sadly she can't tell you as she didn't get round to trying them out and when she finally thought she might she came down with a bad case of travel nausea and couldn't stand, let alone get herself to the toilet anyway. I must admit I was a little shaky too but not down to the journey, more the lack of sleep. I had specifically taken my inflatable pillow to stop my head lolling from side to side overnight and then promptly lost it under Tracey's seat when we boarded!

Final Itinerary!

Day 1. Friday - Travel overnight to Johannesburg and on to Livingstone
Day 2. Saturday - Arrive at Lunchtime in Zambia - visit the city markets and sleep
Day 3. Sunday – Micro-lighting over Victoria Falls in the morning and “Kit Yamoyo” shopping in the afternoon
Day 4. Monday - Orientation and start volunteering work
Day 5. Tuesday - Volunteering
Day 6. Wednesday - Volunteering
Day 7. Thursday - Volunteering
Day 8. Friday - Volunteering
Day 9. Saturday - Transfer after breakfast to Waterberry River Lodge - being collected at 10:30am
Day 10. Sunday - Picnic breakfast on Livi Island with lunch at Olga's, a look round the local market and then back for an Elephant safari in the afternoon just before sunset. (Zambia)
Day 11. Monday - River Lodge - sunset cruise on the mighty Zambezi river (Zambian side)
Day 12. Tuesday - Collected from the border (Victoria Falls bridge) in the morning to transfer to Vic Falls River Lodge in Zimbabwe for an afternoon game drive
Day 13. Wednesday – Two game drives in Zimbabwe at dawn and dusk
Day 14. Thursday - Travel back to Zambia - need to be at Livingstone airport at 11:00am
Day 15. Friday - Arrive into Heathrow at 530am

a little over a month to go

Tracey and I have decided what to spend your generous contributions on - Kit Yamoyo - life saving rehydration kits from an inspirational company called Colalife. Did you know 1 in 7 Zambian children die before they are 5 years old due to poor hygiene and subsequent diarrhoea? Tracey and I want to do our bit to help change this.

Anything you can donate to help with this is much appreciated.... you can donate here at our "GoFundMe" page, and we will personally go to the local "Shoprite" store in Livingstone and purchase the equivalent number of Kit Yamoyos to hand over to the orphanage.

Next trip starts next month!

Time to get ready for the next trip, back to the mighty Zambezi river. Where my love affair with Africa first started over 20 years ago.
This time I have a new travelling companion, my good friend Tracey, a primary school teaching assistant and keen camper, also from Sussex who has never been to a third-world country and is incredibly excited to be able to not only see the difference, but make a difference too.
We set off at the end of next month for Zambia (via Johannesburg), arriving in the Southern city of Livingstone, for a week of volunteering with IVHQ. We are booked to work in an orphanage, but will of course go wherever we are most needed on arrival.
It will not only be my first time in the country, but also my first time volunteering in a city - I typically go out into remote villages to work, so I'm intrigued to see how different it will be.
Livingstone is 20 minutes from the famous Victoria Falls which are known by the locals as "mosi-o-tuna" (the smoke that thunders). The Zambezi river flows over the falls and plunges into Batoka gorge where it separates Zambia on one side and Zimbabwe on the other.
I toured Zimbabwe for the first time back in 1995 for 5 weeks with a friend. We borrowed her father's car, loaded it with a portable stove, a tent and a cool-box full of beers and set off southwards - madness - but incredible (apart from the bout of malaria of course!). I returned again in 1997 for another 3 weeks but sadly have never been back. This time, almost 20 years since the last, I will once again be standing at the edge of those falls marvelling at the power, the beauty and the noise of one of this planets greatest wonders and I can't wait. The spray from the falls creates a permanent lush rainforest and bird-life to rival that of the Amazon. The view from above is simply stunning as you see the path the falls have taken over thousands of years.
For our second week we plan to cross the bridge that spans the falls and separates the gorge and will spend some time on safari watching lions and elephants in Zimbabwe.... more VISAs!

Brown Bears in Transylvania, Romania

Footage from the borrowed GoPro!