Johannesburg to Hong Kong: 28th/29th September 2009

So now, the time has come to depart Africa – it’s been amazing, 8 weeks, 7 countries, lots of animals, lots of new friends, a sky dive, white water rafting, walking with lions, flying in a microlight, quad biking around dunes, hiking, swimming, East coast to West coast, deserts and deltas, mountains and plains, countryside and cities, poverty and riches – a diverse experience from a diverse continent.

Our preconceptions of Africa have changed completely. We’d originally been nervous, worried about the crime, and violence, and war breaking out – how naive. We’re coming away enamoured and stunned by a beautiful place, very easy to visit with lots to see and incredibly friendly people. Everywhere we’ve been we’ve been made to feel welcome and we’ve never felt anything but safe and comfortable (even camping...). Tourism in Africa is becoming much easier and you can do budget or high class just like anywhere else – so get over here if you can!

We’ve decided our favourite country is Tanzania, closely followed by Namibia. It may just be because they are the 2 countries we spent the most time...

Tanzania has such a range of attractions, from the Serengeti to Zanzibar. The people are incredibly friendly and there are tonnes of traditional and very African sights –the masai people, the ladies with their bright colours and their shopping on their heads – the ‘cloud’ acacia trees with their flat tops – and the beautiful blue ocean.

Namibia is a lot more westernised and has just the same amount of variety, but it’s completely different...Deserts, oceans, canyons and Etosha national park. It’s easy to cross into Botswana from Namibia for the Okovanga delta, another major highlight of the trip. We spent the most time in Namibia, just over a month, we would both recommend it to anyone for their first visit to Africa, it has everything, the infrastructure is much more developed than other African countries, which makes it easier to navigate, even under your own steam.

Viva Africa!!

Now we start the South East Asia leg of our trip, first up Hong Kong (12 hour flight, yawn) and then to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and back to Thailand for Christmas with friends on Ko Phi Phi - watch this space!