The Long Walk Back Home

  Here it is, the final leg of my journey.

  Tuesday 12th was a quiet day. Julian and I made sure our bags were properly packed and moved to the main floor and socialised until the late afternoon. For the evening we joined Julian's cousin, aunt and grandmother for a meal out and toasted our farewell in style. It was a lovely end to our South African journey and made us both more eager to return to this exceptional country.

   At the time of writing this I am sitting in Cape Town Int., awaiting the call to board my flight back home. I am spending the time enjoying some pancakes and thinking over my first grand adventure.

  Two and a half months have past since I said goodbye to my family at Luton Parkway and set off for the great unknown. Flying out of London Gatwick to Kilimanjaro Int. feels like a lifetime ago, even though I remember it as if it happened yesterday. From first meeting Eliphas, our team coordinator, and introducing myself to a bunch of strangers to hugging them all, saying our goodbyes feels like no time at all. I don't believe that I have ever grown more attached to people in such a short space of time as I did with my friends in Tanzania. They were a wonderful group who never left anyone behind and worked the 200% to help the community we were part of.

  Being in and amongst a rural Tanzanian village was a wake up call to how different the world can be. I witnessed a whole community, whose collective wealth probably amounted to the same as one family's back in England, live lives that were not only working but also jovial and full of spark. It certainly gave me a new perspective on life and what's really important to me. I have also learnt the joy of hard work when you're with people who make it seem far less difficult when they are around. 

  If you guys are reading this (I hope you are!) then thank you so much for an incredibly beautiful adventure. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

  After such a ride in Tanzania the voyage around South Africa was a change that was vastly different to the prior. Reuniting with my best friend, Julian, after 2 months apart was something special. Heaven only knows how we're going to cope when I vanish off to university! Together we took in as much of Cape Town as we were able to, from Table Mountain, Robben Island, Kirstenbosch, Stellenbosch and so much more. It was another chance to meet new people and we've made some friends along the way that made our trip that much more enjoyable.

  Now I must return to England. It's a sad day but at the same time I'm glad to be going home. It has been such an adventure that I cannot wait to tell everyone about in person. To everyone who has kept up with my blog, thank you for sharing in my adventure and when I vanish off to another mysterious land I hope that you will join me again.

  Here comes the flipside. See you next time I toss the coin.

Cape Town Adventures

  Another week, another blog post.

  Tech tip of the week: avoid massive international bills by buying local SIMs.

  Tuesday 5th was the day Julian and I made the voyage to visit Robben Island, the famous Apartheid prison of political prisoners. We received a tour of the island from one of the former prisoners who told us all about life in the prison and how things have changed. It was a humbling experience walking the same halls as some of South Africa's most prominent leaders.

  Wednesday 6th saw us take a day to relax and socialise. Beginning with a trip to the cinema to watch the latest marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy. An almighty lunch followed which we had to nurse as we walked around the shopping mall nearby. Just when we though we were home safe, two lovely ladies, who were staying at Green Elephant with us, invited us to dinner. We accepted and managed to eat our way through another immense meal! (First a pizza, then a T-bone steak, we had massive food babies after that!) We made some friends, however, so it was worth it.

  Thursday 7th went as planned with a day tour of the Cape Peninsula. Our duo was joined by a multitude of folks from across the various backpackers in Cape Town so we had plenty of people to chat to and get to know. A day filled with seal islands, penguins, dogs called nuisance and the most south-western point of Africa, concluded with a wonderful Green Elephant pizza night! Plenty of beautiful pizzas and even more pleasant company to round off the day. 

  Friday 8th was a day of great tourism nonsense. Julian and I enjoyed a full day in Cape Town's company gardens. We visited a number of the museums nearby and wandered through the gardens, enjoying the pleasant view. Lunch was my introduction to proper South African Nandos. It was absolutely splendid, if a little more spicy than usual (mild isn't that mild here apparently.)

  Saturday 9th saw us do our upmost to have a day relaxing on the beach. Our discovery that a rather thick and cold sea fog had enveloped the western side of Cape Town wasn't enough to dissuade our motly crew of GE backpackers from trying. All in all it was rather successful. I managed to have a brief dip in the sea, I watched others build a sand castle and, to top it all off, we helped unearth someone's lost football! As if the day wasn't exciting enough we passed by a film set for a 'Bollywood dance competition'! The things you see in Cape Town, eh? 

  God that was anti-climatic. We waited for 5 minutes, waiting for something to happen. Then the stage the actor was on moved, stayed there for 3 and then, the stage moved back down to ground AND NOTHING HAPPENED. 

  Sunday 10th was the day of our tour of the wine lands around Cape Town. We enjoyed a wide selection of various wines, ranging from Sauvignon Blancs to Sparkling Shiraz. I discovered my pallet isn't limited if I go in with an open mind and wine is now added to my stuff I quite enjoy. The areas of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek were beautiful settings for the wine tasting and made the day that much more enjoyable. Frankly we're still recovering from a day of drunking (hiccup) 

  Monday 11th saw us journey up Table Mountain! The mountain's cable car was finally back in operation after being down for maintenance for every other day of our stay in Cape Town. Despite some light cloud we cabled to the top and were rewarded with some stunning views of mountains poking through the clouds. Even though we were over 1000m up, there was very little wind to speak of and the sun warmed us quite rapidly. 

  Doing Table Mountain, as our last major tourist activity of the trip, was a fantastic finale to our adventures in Cape Town. I've been living every moment I could in this marvellous city along with Julian, who has been a stalwart ally and incredible friend all the way through my Capetonian voyages. It has made for a far better holiday than I could have ever imagined!

  Thanks...I think, begs the question what was he imagining this trip to be. Thank you for being a great companion on our first solo holiday together, an adventure filled with wine, penguins, god only knows how many Lord of the Rings quotes and a marriage deal between the two of us. Here's to the next one.

  My next blog post will arrive a little sooner than usual so the flipside shan't be too far away!

  Take care and see you all on the flipside!

Farewell Tanzania, Hello South Africa

  Another week, another blog post.

  Tech tip of the week: Good cameras are very important. Good cameras with optical zoom are even more important.

  Tuesday 29th went by with one of the nicest distractions from the looming finale, the Camps Int. Safari day. This safari had so much to see we all could hardly believe our luck! Close to 1000 Wilderbeasts, approximately 750 zebras and easily 150 elephants. I have never been so close to living The Lion King as I was during that safari!

  Wednesday 30th was broken up with small sets of goodbyes. As people's flights got closer, they were ferried away in groups at different parts of the day. All the way through the ones who remained gave them positive words to leave to and more hugs than should really be legal. The Kilimanjaro climbers and myself toasted them all safe journeys home before retiring to sleep.

  Thursday 31st has been the day. No more dodging, I left Tanzania behind and flew across Africa! My goodbyes to the Kili climbers were teary. My flights were quiet after 2 months of enjoying the company of so many fantastic people. Life isn't going to be the same now, although I feel that it has changed for the better.

  Friday 1st was the day of flight and reunion. The flights weren't long compared to the ones I took to reach Tanzania but I did endure an almighty 10 hour layover stop in Nairobi! Thank goodness for podcasts and mobile games for eating up time. I made it to Cape Town safe and sound, however, and I am now reunited with my best friend, Julian, who will be my partner in crime for this South African leg of my adventure!

Hello everyone to our long walk through the Cape of Good Hope. I'll also be recounting our adventures together, the only difference being that my stories will be funnier. 

At the time of writing (Saturday 2nd) we went on the City Sightseeing Tours that you get in every important city in Western Civilisation.

It was bloody freezing.

However we did get to see some amazing sights. The bus took us all around the Mountain, giving us some amazing shots and views of something the locals call the Table Cloth (which is pretty much when low clouds overcast the mountain, giving the effect of a table cloth.) 

We also ate at the Two Oceans Resturant, where we had the best Fish and Chips ever. Needless to say, it'll be hard going back to the stuff we have in the UK, which pales in comparison. 

Although, something interesting happened on the train ride home. There was a rather persistent beggar who kept on asking for...what was he asking for, mate?

  Who knows Julian? Saturday 2nd was when we scouted out Cape Town in true tourist fashion. We were able to enjoy some of the historical and cultural joys from the top of the City Siteseeing Bus. After doing so much hard work in Tanzania, just being able to sit back and enjoy the big city is a pleasant delight. The only strange moment was this beggar, who I think was asking for change but his English wasn't the clearest. Just another little adventure I guess!

  Sunday 3rd saw us leisurely stroll around Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. We enjoyed a day of exploring the various plant species on display and finding the strangest names of plants. This was shortly followed with a voyage down to Fish Hoek in order to visit Luke, Julian's cousin and almost twin. (Twin?! We're complete opposites, he's blonde, I'm brown haired, he's smart, I'm charming) We had a fantastic evening chatting the world away and watching Simpsons episodes. Just another day in the rainbow nation.

  Monday 4th finally had me get a local SIM card. I'm dreading the bill back home now! We also explored the V&A waterfront for the day and enjoyed Cape Town's Aquarium. I was the child of the group today as my love for fish got the better of me today. The only downside was the persistantly heavy rain that followed us around all day. It's starting to feel like England down in SA!

  We had planned to go to Table Mountain today but there were two big factors. 1: the weather was a bit crap, and it is ill-advised going up the mountain when there's low cloud as you can't see where you're going and you could fall off (I thought the weather in South Africa was meant to be nice, every travel agent lied to me) and 2: it was closed for maintenance until the 10th, really the website should have warned us about this. 

But not to worry, we should be able to go up a day or two before our flight takes off, meaning we'll be ending the trip on a high note (both figuratively and metaphorically)

Anyway, I'll see you guys next week with more funny stuff.

  Changing from Tanzania to South Africa has been an adventure in itself. Going from a group of, at times, nearly 50 people to just myself and my best friend has been something else. Although I deeply miss everyone I said goodbye to in Tanzania, I cannot deny that being in Cape Town with my best friend is one of the best things ever.

  Take care and I'll see you all on the flipside!