Into - and out of - Africa

Spec Assistant

2011-10-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Found this great little tool while doing technical documentation at work and thought it deserved a mention.

www.specassistant.co.uk

It does database schema which is really handy for me. Also does .NET reflection and Google Analytics

Well worth the price!

Heading back!

2009-04-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Having post poned the cold weather as long as possible (it is now getting cold in NZ!) we are on our way back to the UK - we should land in Edinburgh on April 27th so looking forwards to catching up soon.

Please send emails, job offers, abuse etc to the usual place, Sharon promises to read hers when she gets access to broad band again. I hope everyone is well, talk to you all soon.

Cheers,

Anthony and Sharon

Some masai mara photos now available

2009-02-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

The Url is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyrandell/sets/72157613803724771/

Made it to NZ, and some pictures at last

2009-02-03T13:52:00.001-08:00

Hi All,

We've made it to NZ and have been catching up with our respective families. For a change Sharon has NOT been complaining about the weather :-)

I've been plowing through my photo's and have posted the first three days in Amboseli (only 101 shots). As this was the start of the trip we were quite excited ("hey look, animals!" ... click, click, click... etc) so restraint was sadly lacking. My editorial skills are also sadly lacking so I apologise for the volume of photo's and would appreciate feedback on which slightly similar images to ditch.

Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyrandell/sets/72157613267618317/

On unrelated news, Sharon and I are now engaged. Despite her father saying no. He came around once I convinced him I wasn't asking to borrow his car. Sigh - oh well - I am sure I will be able to borrow the car now I am one of the family!

Cheers,

Anthony

Sharon's winning photo - as promised -

2009-01-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/news-and-events/Competitions2/

"Sharon Jenner's stunning photo of a chimpanzee taken at Edinburgh Zoo's Budongo Trail won the prize for best photo in the adult competition."

No further comment really needed other than Sharon rocks. And needs to post some more of her photo's (ie catch up with 2007....) :-)

New Year's eve in Cape Town

2009-01-05T02:44:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

Happy New Year all.

We're in Cape Town and celebrated our new year on the waterfront, with beautiful food, fireworks and half the rest of South Africa.

Lots of fun in Cape Town - highlights so far:

Having a shower in the room, plus ensuite toilet - LUXURY!!!
Tour down to the Cape peninsular and cycling through the national park, stopping by the ostrich family with 9 chicks, who were a it watchful but not aggressive - fortunately!

Wineries tour was fun however disappointing in that we only did 3 wineries, could have done a few more. Stellenbosch and surrounds stunning. Driving past Wellington, SA was a touch nostalgic too!

Hope everyone is well, we are here for two more days then on to Sydney. Finally, OUT OF AFRICA - wish us luck in Aussie customs getting our potentially Foot and Mouth soiled footware into Oz...

Cheers,
Anthony and Sharon (soon to be bare foot).

Sandboarding in Swakopmund

2008-12-25T23:10:00.001-08:00

Swakopmund gets 5 days of rain so we have successfully dodged the rainy season. (no more complaints about the weather - I promise).

Yesterday we did a scenic flight over the skeleton coast, sossuvlei and the namib desert during which 3 out of 5 people consumed all the sick bags on the plane - YUCK!!!

Today we go sandboarding which is like snow boarding except faster (80 kph) and sandier and no chair lifts - this could be fun :-) Hopefully no sick bags needed!

Merry Xmas everyone and a happy New Year!

Anthony and Sharon

Survived the Okavango, now for Etosha...

2008-12-21T23:16:00.001-08:00

Oavango turned out too much quieter than expected, although there was
fresh elephant poo outside the campsite on the second morning. Unless
Sharon is hiding a nasty tummy bug!

Plus almost stepping on a baby puff adder -- it didn't hiss very
loudly -- still lots of fun. And the Makoro canoe didn't capsize
which was a relief!

Just been camping beside Waterburg plateau which is very beautiful,
and saw the sunrise this morning. Yes, Sharon is getting better at
mornings!!!

Off to Etosha today for a few game drives which should be a lot of
fun, wish us luck.

Looking forward to Xmas at Swakopmund and New Years in Cape Town.

Merry Xmas to everyone and a drunken New Year!

Tony and Sharon

flooded in Botswana

2008-12-16T06:36:00.001-08:00

So it's rainy season... and that means RAIN. And we're heading into the Okavango delta to wild camp. Wish us luck. Or webbed feet.

Last night we were on a boat game cruise in Chobe and saw lots of Elephants, including some that wanted to play with the boat which was tricky as we tried to dodge the hippos. Very entertaining....

Both doing well, arms if infe without the cast and doens't smell as much now, despite lack of showers!

Sharon is doing well - and not too grumpy at the early starts (5:30am!!!!).

Zonked in Zambia

2008-12-12T06:46:00.001-08:00

After 4 days in Zambia we have seen :-

* Wild Dogs at South Luanga National Park
* Thornycroft Giraffe
* 4 Genets and some white tailed mongeese
* Some hippos feeding
* Been charged by Elephants
* Been menaced by an Elephant wanting the grass under the open topped
Land Rover we were sitting in. It won.
* Avoided the cobra hanging out by the toilets, and the leopard
hunting between bar and lodges at our campsite
* Drank much Mosi beer
* Ran out of Diesel on the way down (what are fuel guages for anyway???)
* Broken the rear bumper on a big rock
* Crashed through some low hanging branches
* Took some wrong turns

We have also camped out in a school room to avoid the torrential rain,
more today, and encountered the joys of the Zambian postal system
after blagging some free packing. Not to mention carrying a chair up
and down Cairo Street in Lusaka to the locals amusement...

Tomorrow or tonight my cast comes off if I have to gnaw the f***er off myself!!!

Tomorrow we head to Livingstone for Victoria Falls and much tourist
hassling excitement...

Ciao!

Melting in Malawi

2008-12-08T06:02:00.001-08:00

Lovely country, beautiful, friendly people, gorgeous lush scenery and
amazing sunsets.

Also some amazing thunderstorms in the middle of the night, moving
through the campsite where you foolishly pitched your tent under a
tree. Oops. No direct hits but some of the blasts sounded pretty
close.

Did a fun afternoon horse ride through the jungle and almost succeeded
in stopping the horses eating the villagers maize crops... Oops!

Tomorrow we head to Zambia, and commence some long drives over rough
roads which should mean very sore posteriors tomorrow night. Wish us
luck!

Zanzibar eaten so you'll have to settle for Lake Malawi

2008-12-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

So the interweb decided to eat the post from Zanzibar, typical Africa!

You'll have to make do with Malawi which is a small country beside a large lake. Still have the cast on so no snorkelling for me, anyway don't fancy bilharzia that much!

We do a village visit tomorrow and horse riding in the verdant jungle alongside the beach, should be a blast. Nice to take a break from 3 long days of driving and chill for a day.

Malawi is gorgeous, but very poor. The people are very friendly and much less hassling than the rest of east africa so far.

And in case you were wondering, Zanzibar was a lot of fun. Stone Town is scenic, decaying and amazing despite all the tourist parasites and tourists. Lots of fun on the spice plantation tour, cheesy but educational.

Cheers,

Anthony

Ngorogoro and Serengeti

2008-11-28T07:41:00.001-08:00

Can I just say one word...

Absolutely bloody amazing!

So that's three, it's my blog...

Very long days to get to the Serengeti via the crater but well worth it. The plains were full of the wildebeest migration that we saw crossing the Mara river in Masai Mara, over a million plus 400,000 zebras and uncounted flies and dung heaps.

The camp site was a bit scary. There was a buffalo contending for the kitchen and we weren't allowed to toilet as there were hyena, elephant and lions roaming the site. Buffalo and Hyena did wander through on the night, plus nearby lion was calling (hey - juicy tourists, over here!) which made travellers diarrhea a bit of an ordeal.

We did see a intact leopard from far away so Sharon happy, plus baboons, lions and zebra shagging. Must be spring. Also a Zebra giving birth very slowly.

Ngorogoro was amazing, much bigger than I had expected and absolutely stunning. We saw 2 black rhino rounding out the big 5 in two days so very very lucky. Also had to fight red kites for breakfast and lunch (campsite much safer so easier to dash to squat toilet).

Now back in Arusha and very tired. Dar es Salaam tomorrow, then ferry to Zanzibar for three days - wish us luck. Still have most of the luggage.

Start of next stage

2008-11-24T01:04:00.000-08:00

Today we transfer over to the imaginitive traveller overland expedition leg of our journey.

This should be exciting and we are both looking forwards but also sad at leaving Kenya.

Currently in Nairobi in a semi-broken internet cafe so excuse the brevity.

So Mark's safe return was a trifle optimistic in it's phrasing

2008-11-21T01:52:00.000-08:00

Mark had to attend a specialist fracture unit in London to get his cheek repaired, CT scans showed a further three fractures that needed attention.

Mark is now doing well and managing cheese burgers and the London tubes so should be considered recovered, if slightly deranged.

I believe that our fractures are healing well, Sharon's splinted finger is now freed and has changed to a much healthier colour (and smell!).

We are, STILL, in Mombasa and currently enjoying:

dealing with insurance companies -- they do have a heart, it's locked safely in a bank deposit box, not sure who the original owner is...
rapid fluid based pore cleansing...

I took Sharon out to dinner on the Tamarind Dhow last night, which provided a fantastic meal and a beautiful view of the harbour and river as we cruised. Apologies to our dining partners who got to hear the gruesome details on the attack. And who turned out to work in banking and preventing pharmacy fraud. Small worlds....

On a cautionary note I would like to warn all readers to beware of dangerous African jumping crocodiles!

In Mombasa and it's HOT!

2008-11-17T00:08:00.001-08:00

So hot the cold shower has no cold water.

We are not made for this weather, I can see Sharon visibly melting as the sun beats down.

The road in is interesting, pretty good by African standards but LOTS of big trucks barrelling through between Nairobi and the port at Mombasa,. This wouldn't be too bad except for the speed variations; some are doing 20kph, some are doing 80kph ... thundering along as they bear down on you as you attempt to overtake a slower truck whilst all involved are dodging potholes and stray live stock. Entertaining!

Mark has safely returned to London and now gets to play with his 20GB of photo's, this may take a while. Don't forget to do some work!

The road to recovery, and a longer winding route towards Kenyan justice

2008-11-14T08:05:00.001-08:00

Apologies for the lack of updates and messages. I have a broken right
arm so typing is a little slower than usual. That also means I can't
reply to many emails and, currently, travel insurance gromits take
precedence (sadly).

We have been discharged from the hospital (on 5th Nov) and since have
recovered a huge amount (except for Sharon's random hair cut, Tony's
reverse monks tonsure has gone - woohoo!). All the stitches are out
and we have finished our respective pill regimes. All concerned are
unrecognizable from two weeks ago, which is a good thing!

Since then we have spent the time:
* Three days with Rae around Lewa - absolutely amazing, including a
trip in a biplane that I probably shouldn't have done. Many thanks to
Rae, Chris, Ross, Hartley, and Ansom for showing us a very pleasant
alternative side to Kenya and apologies to Rossano for the
indecision... and 7 white rhino and a very congenial Klip-springer
* Three days in Samburu during the short rains. Some amazing game
hiding in the lush vegetation including leopard paws, tails and flanks
(but few entire felines to Sharon's displeasure).
* A day in Nanyuki court testifying against muppet #1, who despite
being found with Marks atm receipts and cash stuffed in his grundies
pled "not guilty". The trial was very different to anything I have
ever experienced, surprisingly so.
* Two days in Nakuru, marvelling at the flamingos and hordes of white
rhinos plus baby leopard tail (yes, again not entire, Sharon spitting
tacks).
* Now back in Nairobi - Mark flies out tomorrow and we carry on to
Mombasa to continue the recuperation.

Apologies I can't reply to your emails but rest assured we are ok and
I will reply when we can get internet access plus more time.

A week in Nanyuki Cottage Hospital

2008-11-05T01:46:00.001-08:00

It would be fair to say that this stop was not planned on our predeparture itinerary.

Let me start by stressing that everyone is ok and there are no long term health effects, and also let me apologise for any typos. This is being composed by my left hand as my right arm is broken.

We were attacked by 6 thugs on the return trip from a trek to the Mau Mau caves. Fortunately our guide managed to play possum and then escape to pass warning or this could have been very serious. The thugs battered us, then robbed us in a very haphazard fashion, taking wallets, 1 camera but leaving watches, jewellery and many other valuables.

Sharon, Mark and I have been recovering at the lovely Nanyuki Cottage Hospital and are due to have stitches removed today so are feeling much more optimistic, especially as the urgent dental work has also been sorted.

Apologies that I can't respond to all your messages as my typing is limited, but thank you very much for your thoughts and best wishes.

We have cancelled the Gorilla expedition due to our injuries but plan to continue in Kenya, we are currently dealing with travel insurance which is proving to be only slightly less painful than being mugged. Yes, our sense of humour is still intact so we are all ok!

One of the gits was captured so next Tuesday we get to testify at his trial. The Kenyan judicial system is quite different to anything I have experienced before but I am hopeful they will capture the other 5 brain dead assailants too.

I will update again next week and let you all know how we are doing.

Cheers,

Anthony

Very, very lucky...

2008-10-26T09:48:00.001-07:00

We're still going, and so is the laptop, amazingly.

After two break downs (burst waterpipe, hole in fuel tank) and some
minor surprises on the money front, "how much?" which seem to be an
African refrain, we still think it is all worth it.

Two days ago we saw two male cheetahs making a kill on the road from
Narok into Masai Mara (outside the park, before you pay the entrance
fees, and almost hidden off the road). Mark has sharp eyes and
spotted them. We stayed there for 90 minutes whilst the cheetahs ran
and hid from a Masai who we then bribed to go away. He of course
interpreted this as an excuse to hang around! The cheetahs came back
and took turns standing guard whilst feeding. Gorgeous!

Yesterday we saw the wildebeast migration across the Mara river.
Twice, in one day, and only because Mark and I have poor bladder
control and had to use the facilities at Hippo point (everyone else
had left 5 minutes earlier). Absolute carnage, 4 out of 10 failed to
make the other bank and floated down the river as corpses. Meanwhile
thousands of other wildebeast stampeded into the jam of thrashing,
drowning, exhausted animals. Madness.

Amusingly the Kenyan army, rather than guarding the border, instead
escort tourists to see the crossing sites and the wildebeast milling
around Hippo point. Nice little sideline but they did spend all
afternoon with us while we gloried at the spectacle, so we gave them a
lift back to their base (ak47's, bolt action rifles and all).

Today we did a balloon safari, VERY expensive but did see two lions
making seperate kills in 5 minutes.

I think if we see nothing else for the next two weeks we would still be lucky.

Tonight we have to burn many DVD's so we can actually take some more
photo's. Expect us to burn the midnight oil, after 3 nights of 4
hours sleep, this is very tough.

Can anyone hear the puny violins playing???

In Kenya, day 3

2008-10-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Arrived and successfully negotiated immigration to rendevous with a still functioning Sharon.

Late into Nairobi, early to leave the following morning to Ambesoli game park in southern Kenya. Some "interesting" roads, bumper fell off van and is held on by rope, to be mended :-)

Very pretty, lots of elephants and some naughty lions and a few giraffes.

Now back in Nairobi, before we head to Masai Mara and counting the damage so far to wallets and sore, dirty, dusty, rattled bodies. Everything still works and the hyena didn't break into the tent, it just sniffed around. Scary when you need a toilet break!

She did make it!

2008-10-19T08:26:00.001-07:00

Sharon's emailed post for the blog reads:

"Yesterday (18th Oct 2008) Sharon successfully overcame all obstacles in her way and reach the Uhuru summit of Kilimanjaro. It was very hard going but she made it up and down in one piece. She would like to think she is a better person for it, and has now added pig-headed determination to her list of qualities."

Go Sharon! But um... added????

You might very well think that, but I couldn't possibly comment!

Climbing Kilimanjaro - did she make it?

2008-10-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

If my reading of her schedule is correct, Sharon should have summited and be on her way down now.

I should find out in 12 hours. Any bets people :-) ?

Wildlife to tide you over

2008-10-14T02:22:00.000-07:00

No African wildlife yet, so here's something to tide you over. We made a slightly tamer photographic safari trip down to the British Wildlife Center down near Lingfield, south of London.

This was a photographic day where the keepers let us into the cages with the animals, whilst they fed them. We took ridiculous quantities of pictures - which is good practice for Africa.

The first shot is a Little Owl, the other two are of a Scottish Wild Cat (basically, a REALLY hard tabby).

She was the keepers favourites because they could approach her, she would bristle and snarl (nicely posing for the cameras) and settle down as they backed off.

The other cats would respond to the keepers approach by either:

Bristle, then run away and then hide - not great for photo's.
Or snarl, leap on the keeper and claw the living daylights out of them - this is great for photo's, however somewhat less popular with the keepers.

I've uploaded a number of shots here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyrandell/sets/72157608006182567/

Some of the shots are very similar, I haven't mastered the art of post processing work flow well enough yet to eliminate all the obvious similar shots (also a slight lack of originality in the composing).

Can I just say, in closing, that the little owl was gorgeous...

Now the hard work starts, and some mountain porn...

2008-10-13T02:05:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Sharon this morning, she's made it to Tanzania after some fun at the airport (BA ran out of visa forms for Kenya combined with massive queues = much enjoyment for all) and is off to climb the mountain.

"Minor hiccup with the flight from Nairobi to Kili, but the Ausie boys checking in next to me where onto the case. So we spoken to a Kenyan Airways manager and he spoke to someone a Precision Airways and the little plane they had been sending got upgraded to a bigger plane (40 to 78 seat) and the 28 people who were due to be bumped onto the later flight got on too..... wasn't too keen to spend an afternoon in Nairobi, even if it was going to be in a 'nice' hotel.

Arrived yesterday afternoon and it was noticeably hotter here than in Nairobi - low thirties..... have drunk about six million bottles of water since then and (almost) wishing for the cooler climes of Scotland. Is it still raining?

Anyway tomorrow we start our trek up the mountain. Met the other folk on the trip with me, there are 12 of us in total, all from the UK, good mix of ages too. Six of the trekkers went up Mt Meru first and said it was hard going, but I am hopefully that if we take it slowly, but surely I will make it to the summit.

Must go Kili is showing off her top!

Love to all

Sharon"

Edinburgh Zoo Photo Competition - Sharon won

2008-10-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

Sharon has won the Edinburgh Zoo photo competition, her portrait of a chimp will hang in Edinburgh Zoo reception for the next year. Woohoo!

This is a great omen for the trip, and SHOULD give Sharon impetus to start posting some more of her images online. Sometimes being a perfectionist can slow you down... mind you other times it wins you competitions :-)

No photo however, because she hasn't posted it yet. I might see if I can find a thumbnail kicking around her system and post it here.

Day 1 - 10th October - And she's off

2008-10-10T01:22:00.001-07:00

Sharon has gotten on her flight and is winging off to London, then to Nairobi where she overnights before heading down to Tanzania to join her mountain climbing expedition. Good luck!!!

I think we're over-packed however we are going for several months, and camping all the way. The weight will come down as the various consumables get exhausted and it's difficult to think what else we could leave behind other than clothes.

The photo equipment does take up space but one of the reasons we are going is to take photo's. We've made painful decisions, leaving behind some nice lens and kit to keep the weight down.

I guess we're just a bit too keen on the gadgets, hooray for a chance to play with them!

I have a week left in Edinburgh to organise the house sitter and pack away the remaining stuff and detritus - I imagine the time will go quickly.

Decided chill in the air...

2008-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday was officially the first day of Autumn and the air in Scotland has gained a decided chill - definitely time to be heading for warmer climates....
Still can't believe I have to pack my thermal underwear for Africa. Think I might be doing something wrong.

The route - Tony

2008-09-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

Sharon leaves Scotland on the 10th of October and climbs Kilimanjaro first, then meets Tony and Mark in Nairobi.

Tony leaves Scotland, October 20th (rendevous with Sharon and Mark)

Oct 21st - Nov 6th: Kenya safari
Nov 6th - Nov 13th: Uganda/Rwanda Gorilla trekking with Absolute Africa (Mark returns to UK)
Nov 14th - 24th: Uganda various - staying in or around Red Chilli Hideaway (http://www.redchillihideaway.com/
Nov 25th: Join Imaginitive Traveller trip KAKN in Tanzania and do the route attached below (ignoring day 1 in Kenya).

Jan 2nd: Tour finishes in Cape Town.

Days camping so far ~50 so probably overdue shower and wash. Beat washing to death with stick.

Post Africa:

Jan 6th: Leave Cape Town , fly via Jo'burg to Sydney.
Jan 7th - 13th: Sydney
Jan 14th: NZ.
Feb 22nd - 26th: Melbourne.
Feb 27th - 11th March: Bangkok.

Route URL is:

http://www.imaginative-traveller.com/trips/KAKN

Argggh!

2008-09-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

The car died! Just 6 weeks to go - timing... is everything.

Still hopefully just a duff battery.

Last day in Scotland without constant rain

2008-09-02T08:41:00.001-07:00

Was a while ago but at least the heather was blooming.

Seeing as it's 6(ish) weeks to go...

2008-09-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to say....

Planning for Africa

2008-09-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

Stuff still to do:

~~Vaccinations~~
~~Anti-Malarials~~
~~USD~~
~~Zambian visas~~
~~setup blog~~
~~Travel insurance~~
~~Pack up~~ house
~~Drink~~ whisky
Move in Mark
~~Trial pack~~
~~Panic and remove stuff from too stuffed pack~~
~~Actual pack~~
~~Did I mention panic?~~
~~Get on~~ plane
Argue with check in staff over size of bags