Marcus and Victoria’s travelling adventures have now moved to http://travelrameke.blogspot.com/

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update.  Sorry no photos as yet … will get done when back in the UK.  The internet in this part of the world is way too tempramental!!

Well we made it safely to Madagascar after all the problems with our flights and so far are having a wonderful time.  It is coming to a very quick end unfortunately.

We organized a tour when we arrived in Tana to take us down the country.  Ended up having our own private car with guide … not really a backpackers way to travel but needs must!!

We have spent the 10 days walking and camping throughout national parks and absorbing ourselves in the local culture and of course watching the local Lemurs and Sifakas. 

lemurs

(Some of the trekking we did to find the little blighters was more strenuous than finding the Mountain Gorillas!) 

We have just had a week on Ile St Marie and island of the east coast of Madagascar … have had a lovely time and finally got time to work on our suntan … Marcus has gone particularly brown and I … well … just freckly!! We have scootered around the island, watched humpback whales playing offshore (mums and their new offspring) and taken in a dive off the coral reef … listening to the sounds of the whales as we went … really fantastic!

Hope all is well at home.  Looking forward to hearing from you soon about what is happening at home.

more about "Photo Sharing by MyPhotoAlbum.com :: …", posted with vodpod

more about "Great White Shark Encounter", posted with vodpod

I guess this story might explain why we were not allowed across the border with the Congo for the gorilla’s or to just go across the border crossing that afternoon!

“Government forces and rebel troops are rearming and recruiting for conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the BBC has learned. US and European Union officials are warning the situation is increasingly tense despite a January peace deal.”

Congo

Hi Everyone,

We have just made it back down to civilization after six fun filled days on Mt Kilimanjaro (Africa’s highest mountain).  We made it!! 

top of the world, mom!

We left Kibo hut at 11.20pm and reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) at 6.24am the next day. It was crazy walking through the night but we were rewarded by being at the summit for sunrise, which was something particularly special! 

It was terribly cold the fingers and   toes were numb … those first few rays of sun were such a positive for us. The walking went well and apart from a heavy head for a few hours at 4700m we had no problems with acclimatisation.

Once we were back down at Kibo hut our day didn’t stop there.  We are always up for a challenge so when our guide asked us if we wanted to descend to 2700m instead of 3700m making for an easy walk out the following day we said ’sure’.  We ended up walking until 6.30pm, having been up since 11.00pm the previous day.  Our bodies were fatigued and our knees sore from all the downhill but we made it and sure enough were the first out the following morning and were back at the hotel in Moshi with plenty of time to sort out our bits and pieces and soak up some rays next to the pool.  Not to mention the massage the came later in the afternoon!

 

Thanks Julian and James for all your tips and advice!

Enjoy the photo, we should have more up on our web site in the next few days.  We are heading back to Nairobi for a couple of days before we head off to Madagascar on Thursday

Hi Everyone, We are just touching base with everyone again.

All is still going really well! We have just completed a two day tour of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The weather turned on us a little bit but the game viewing particularly of Lions and Lion Cubs was fantastic! Since we last wrote we have enjoyed the beaches of Lake Malawi and the company of many local children. We completed a 30km walk up to a place called Livingstonia in the highland area of Malawi (the blisters were not a pretty sight!). We have had quite a few problems with our truck and it offically gave up in a little village about 4 hours out of Dar es Salaam! We local bused it into town …the trip took about 6 hours and we had been on the road for over 12 hours that day!! Entertaining!! We enjoyed three days on Zanzibar … not long enough at all but managed to get in a day of diving and found time to enjoy the beaches as well as soaking up some of the culture of Stone Town. We have a couple of lazy days up to Nairobi and then head off on the final two weeks of this trip up to Uganda (and hopefully the Gorillas … talk is of them moving deep into the Congo jungle and out of reach for tourists … too many poachers!!) We will have to see but our fingers and toes are crossed. Hope this finds everyone well. We have updated our website with a few more photos … still sorting the Serengeti (We took close to 700 photos in two days)!! but will post as soon as we can. Love to all and thanks for the updates at your end. It is nice to have progress from home.

Hi Everyone,

Yes, we are still here and NO we are not in Zimbabwe!!  The day before we were meant to cross the border the company decided to pull out so we are currently in Zambia and doing all the bits and pieces from this side.  We went out on a helicopter flight over the falls today and it was just spectacular!!  The water level is still to high to swim in the Devil’s Pools … so there might have to be a next time!!

The last couple of weeks have been full of excitement.  We enjoyed a drive through Etosha NP in Namibia where we saw lots more animals we were also fortunate to camp in the park on our final night and got an awesome African sunset with a giraffe at a watering hole. We spent three days bush camping in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and then enjoyed a scenic flight over it.  The water levels still need to rise so there was a lot more land than we had expected.  We did game walks with guides and that was the highlight … no barriers or safari vehicles to save you!!  We also had an elephant in extremely close contact with our campsite.  We were taken into the delta via Mokoros (the local dugout canoe).  Ours was a little temperamental (but very authentic) and all my stuff was soaked through on arrival … ahh well … it dried!!

We have just come from Chobe NP in the north of Botswana.  We enjoyed a sunset boat booze cruise on the Chobe river into the park on our first night there and were very spoilt with Elephants and Hippos!!  But there was more in store for us and one of the highlights of the trip so far has to be the overnight in Chobe NP.  We were treated to a fantastic game drive into the park (the guides even went off the road to hunt down the game).  The animals were plentiful and the highlight – two male lions!! We then entered into our bush camp which included candlelight dinner (tablecloths and china plates … something we have not enjoyed for a while). We were waited on and even woke up to hot water in a canvas bag outside our tent to wash with and all that was after an awesome nights sleep in proper camp beds with a duvet!! (Not our half body, tiny 1.5cm thick mattress).

The camping is going well and we haven’t upgraded yet!!  Our group is changing over the weekend and the ones heading up are waiting in anticipation of who will be joining us … it has been a lot of fun so far and a great group so we have been very lucky.

Love to all and we will continue to be in touch as we can.

Thanks for the emails it is lovely to hear your news when we get a chance to be online.
Victoria and Marcus

Hi Everyone,

Well we are now in Namibia and having a wonderful time on the truck!!  The group is really good so we have been lucky (four other Kiwis which is great).  We are with this crowd until Vic Falls then in for a little bit of a change.

We had four great days in Cape Town.  Climbed Table Mountain, visited Robben Island (where Nelson Mandala was held) and took in a wine tour of the region (ended up being a private tour for the two of us and by about four in the afternoon Vic was feeling it!!) Great fun though. Also made it down to the Cape of Good Hope on a peninsula tour.

The camping is going well although the three nights just spent in a dorm has been a nice break.  The days here are realy warm but the nights particularly cold … so the thermals are being pulled out!!  We are on our way up to Etosha NP and that will be our first safari tour after Kruger … looking forward to some more animals and some more photo opportunities.

We took a township tour in Swakopmund (where we have been for the last couple of days) and had some great interactions with the locals … Marcus particularly with the children!!  We finished off today with Quad Biking in the sand dunes … was fantastic!!

Enjoy the photos …

Lots of love,

Victoria and Marcus

Hi all,
We have now encountered the Great White Shark, Vic’s comment about it was: “Like watching paint dry!” (In her defence that was when there were no sharks around!)

But it was a realy amazing experience for both of us to get up close with these huge animals (our largest one was about 4m!!).

Check out our home made Great White Shark Encounter movie …

We are now safe in Cape Town – Peninsular tour tomorrow and we will hopefully fit in a winelands tour as well!!.

Love

Victoria and Marcus