It's been a while since the last one...

As we headed for Uganda, all I could remember about Uganda was the rule of Idi Amin. Can you believe that was from 1971 to 1979?

For anyone who doesn’t remember him, he was considered one of the most brutal dictators of his time and allegedly killed and tortured around 300,000 people for being part of Ethnic groups. He was a total dictator who committed some unspeakable atrocities on his people.

A misty morning looking onto a green valley in Uganda.

Tea plantations cover vast areas of Uganda.

What a terrible way to remember a country but once we entered, it was a different story. It was mountains, lush and green although the poverty throughout Africa remained evident and when we stopped in the first town we came to so we could buy SIM cards, I witnessed a group of kids hurriedly collecting Chicken food that a shopkeeper throughout to feed his Chickens. The kids scrambled hurriedly to fill their pockets. What a terrible sight.

From seeing this I bought 5 loaves of bread for these kids who giggled with delight at the offering they had been gifted, but within less than 1 minute, I was surrounded by a group of 20 or 30 kids all begging for bread. A terrible dilemma then ensued.

Street kids picked up the Chicken feed to eat.

Barefooted and dressed in rags.

Hunger is not the only issue and HIV is still a big killer for the country when it was first discovered, the Government told the people that HIV was a western disease and that if they washed after sex, it was enough to stop it from having any effect. A position it has since corrected.

Ebola was just starting up again when we visited and we were careful not to make any physical contact with anyone!

Without a doubt, though, Uganda has a lot to offer with beautiful scenery, undulating hills, Tea plantations and beautiful sunsets, but, the jewel in its crown. The Mountain Gorillas.

To see the Gorillas you have to do a hike through the Mountains (no surprise there then) and the day we went we spent 7 hours trekking the mountains and were rewarded with an hour spent watching these creatures in very close proximity.

Just hanging with dad whilst he has a nap.

They were completely oblivious to our presence and just carried on eating and moving around and one even pushed one of the rangers out of the way to get passed him.

We were briefed that we would be allowed one hour with the Gorilla family and that we must not eat or drink during the visit and face masks must be worn at all times to protect their health (you were that close).

A Dutch lady who made up the other couple in our group decided to take a sip of water and was reprimanded for removing her mask.

The experience was amazing and the memories I will never forget nor the cost. We paid directly at the office before heading out but many book packages including transfers and hotels.

We paid $700.00 each for the privilege whilst we heard stories of packages costing up to $2000 each!

The experience also took its toll on Charlotte, who after 7 hours of mountain trekking through rainforest and mountains that was something like you see in a movie and exceptionally tough going and at altitude as well so when we reached the road eventually and our pick-up bus, Charlotte collapsed through shear exhaustion but well worth it she later said. There are no Mountain Gorillas anywhere in the world in Captivity and that made it very special indeed.

Next up was Rwanda, Burundi and then Tanzania.

The capital of Rwanda, Kigali is not as we expected and is a beautiful city with manicured lawns, great restaurants and bars and a huge ex-pat contingent. A place I would consider living and I mean that.

Well-stocked shelves in an up-market Delicatessen in Kigali - the Capital of Rwanda.

Beautifully manicured gardens are everywhere in the city.

Even the curb stones look good

Orderly and clean. Is this Africa?

It has to be said that we drifted through Rwanda and Burundi quickly as we had our hearts set on reaching Tanzania.

Tanzania held special meaning to Charlotte and me as we had sponsored a young man through University some years ago whom we met whilst backpacking there.

The must-do photo of Phillipo and I

We had been to the main sites in Tanzania and then literally put a pin on the map to decide where next and took public transport to a small town called Ifakara, a town that we know to be Phillopo’s home town. The young man we now know as Phillipo.

Family and friends

We met Philippo by chance in Ifakara town as we were hiring a couple of bikes to have a look around the place and bikes seemed a good option. He offered to show us his town and his home where he lived with his Grandma. Philippo explained that he split his time between looking after his family whilst trying to finish his University degree. He was struggling as money was tight and he thought he would have to forfeit his education to look after his family and tend the small plot of land the family used to survive on. The rest is history as they say.

Philippo has stayed in touch ever since and we promised we would go back one day to meet him and that's exactly what we did.

Phillipo is in his suit. Not many Africans wear a suit in their home town.

Then and now with Phillipo and Grandma. We haven't changed at all ???

Philippo, is now a grown man and has a daughter and is marrying his partner, Angel, he has a job and a micro business selling clothes on a market stall and when business is slow, he takes to his bike and cycles hundreds of Kilometres to outlying villages to sell his clothes.

After all these years, what a great treat to meet him and his family again and I'm sure we will remain friends for a long time.

The family come to inspect the truck.

Grandma looking after a youngster.

The last time we went his Grandmother was sitting peeling onions outside her house and now, 15 years on, we meet her doing the same.

Life is very special sometimes. What an opportunity we had.

We planned to spend more time with Philippo, but our friend, Henrietta contacted us to tell us she had Malaria and needed to get to Kenya as she had to go home for a few weeks and had booked a flight out of Mombasa back to Denmark, her home. She told us she couldn't ride her Motorcycle as she didn't have the strength and so we diverted and headed for Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania to help out.

By the time we arrived, Henrietta was out of the hospital but still very weak and so we hatched a plan. Henrietta rode in our cab and I rode her motorcycle towards Mombassa. It worked a treat and after a few days, she was able to ride her bike again.

Henrietta before she, unfortunately, contracted Malaria - Check her out at For the love of wheels.

Charlotte and I then headed east towards Lamu island, a small island off the coast of Kenya and very beautiful apart from to get there we were very close to the Somalian border and security was tight and many roadblocks were set up by the Army and police all wielding guns and many with there faces covered for their protection.

We didn't stay long but the level of security was nothing against what was to come later in our trip.

We also encountered water poverty on a grand scale with people begging for water at the side of the roads. As we only have a limited supply, we weren’t able to help so much but it was shocking truth. Another face of Africa that isn’t often reported on.

Another glimpse at what poverty means.

A few random shots of Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya.

Street vendors selling to us through our widow.

Kenya, near the Somalia border.

Superb craftsmanship

Donkeys are used widely for transport and for pulling carts

Does my bum look big in this?

A busy shop displaying a selection of goods

Pineapples growing ready for harvest.

A group of Maasai. A common site in East Africa.

What is it with Elephants and Chilli?

Elephants are the most majestic creatures in the world in my humble opinion but they can be a hazard to farmers as they indiscriminately access farmed land to feed or merely to get to another place and that’s an issue.

Farmers in Zambia have found a unique solution: Chilli fences. They simply put up rope and cover it in Chilli Oil, which deters the Elephant.

That said, Elephants are not stupid. They have worked out that if they go through the fences backwards, they don't smell the Chilli.

Who would have thought ay?

Anyway, as you may have worked out we were in Zambia. A great place to chill out and meet other Overland travellers which is rare for us.

One such traveller is Henrietta. A single girl travelling Africa alone on a Motorbike!

Henrietta chills on her bike.

We met Henrietta in Morocco 18 months ago and have kept in touch since but never met again until Zambia.

She is a brave lady and we admire her greatly. Her social media is For the love of wheels of Youtube if you want to look.

Whilst in Zambia we also saw some delightful puppies being homed at a Tourist lodge. These were puppies collected from the street and then they were starting their training as anti-poaching dogs, helping to sniff out poachers, but at the time of writing, they were more interested in play fighting than finding poachers but oh, so cute.

The butterfly collectors and their assistants.

Another anomaly was bumping into some fellow brits from the ANHRT. The African Natural history research trust. This was a bunch of guys and girls camping in the bush with some of the biggest butterfly nets you have ever seen.

They go out at night and collect data on the moths in the area. I have to say it was great comedy value watching them with their nets but there. The actual function was a little beyond me. Great folks though and good on them getting a gig in Zambia at such tender ages.

On a more serious note, we did some research into the Aids situation in Africa and what it means.

When we broke down and decided to stay in a local village, we gave this lady several colouring books for the kids as payment for hosting us.

The governments initially blamed the west and told everyone it was a western disease; Even worse they advised people that if they wash after a sexual encounter, you would be fine.

Many countries went into denial and refused help.

In Africa currently, there are around 8,000,000 Aids orphans and many are orphaned as their mums have died and the fathers abandon them and seek another wife.

Africa certainly has its problems and each country has its unique problems as well as generic problems throughout. Zambia has such issues and more than anywhere else we have seen at least the proliferation of Charcoal production. Vast areas of forest are being stripped to make Charcoal. This is from softwood and hardwood.

It appears that everyone in Zambia makes and sells Charcoal with bags and bags of the stuff up for sale on the roadside and are visible for miles and miles everywhere in the country and supply is far outweighing demand with a bag full of charcoal taller than me selling for around £1.00.

That's a lot of work to get £1.00 return!

Charlotte sat with the ladies from a village when we broke down. See the obligatory Charcoal in the background.

From Zambia we headed for Malawi and as we entered we met a Swiss couple in a Landrover heading the opposite way. As we see so few white faces we always stop for a chat and they congratulated us on our bravery in entering Malawi whilst there was such an acute fuel shortage.

What fuel shortage we replied.

There is no fuel in the country as the government had run out of American dollars to buy the fuel they need.

At this stage, we had committed to going and had passed out of Zambia and into no man's land between the two borders. We had to continue and out came the map to make a quick calculation ion we could get through the country without needing fuel. We have around 1100km with a further 100km in Jerry cans on the roof.

This roadside vendor adds a whole new dimension to Takeaway Chicken.

After a quick calculation it appeared we were short by around 100 litres but we had to continue.

A few days on Lake Malawi eased the nerves and what a lake it is. It has a land mass of almost 30,000 km2. That's a lot of lakes and many smart entrepreneurs have set up tourist lodges on the sandy banks and made them a delightful place to hang out.

Whilst on one such lodge/campsite, we chanced upon the camp owner and South African guy and his wife who set up business some years earlier and had the place just right.

Two budding entrepreneurs sell their goods on the roadside.

This is how we do 99% of our shopping and the best bit. You stop and the guys and girls hand the goods up into the cab.

He was interested in our truck so the conversation drifted along nicely and then I mentioned the fuel situation.

The guy then tells me he owns a Fuel station, how much Diesel did I need? Job did and problem solved until we reached the Bailey bridge we had to cross.

As you watch the video, just think of my surprise when I got halfway across and looked down into the ravine below and saw a perfectly acceptable drive-through we could have/should have taken.

Malawi and Zambia are so African but each has its personality.

But I said earlier that Elephnmats are the most majestic creatures in the world..... But that was before we went to Uganda Gorilla trekking...... Next time.

And lastly, a few random shots.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Two boys with their only toys. A wheel and a stick.

What a smile.

It's not all glamour you know.

Mops for sale!

Matting for sale.

A boy displays his toy car.

And I said to her ........

Fish from Lake Malawi drying before being packed and sold. Good job this isn't smellavision!

Vendors moving their Charcoal.

More charcoal for sale.

The sun over Lake Malawi

Hello, I'm Fabulous, pleased to meet you

Some of the Southern Africa open and deserted roads

Hello, I'm fabulous, pleased to meet you. Not your usual greeting, but in Zimbabwe where children are often named after their parent's aspirations for them, so names like Fabulous, Blessing, and Wonderful are not uncommon.

And that's where we met Fabulous, in Zimbabwe when we parked up at the N1 Hotel by Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side (they are accessible from Zambia as well).

The Salt Pans. Open and vast.

Fabulous was the Ablution block cleaner or toilet cleaner if you prefer and although that role may have fallen below his parent's aspirations for Fabulous, the Ablution blocks were always fabulously clean.

But that was a hook to get you to read on. Did it work? It's all true but before Zimbabwe, I want to tell you about Botswana.

Botswana is a country the size of France with a human population of 2.5 million and an elephant population of around 130,000.

Elephant Sands. Probably my favourite place.

A country that still supports capital punishment and hangs an average of one person per year.

An English-speaking country (as is Zimbabwe) that also favours driving on the left but this is Africa and so it's optional really.

Botswana was for us, a bit like Marmite, or should I say, how Marmite should be. Thinly spread.

We could drive for a day or two and see nothing or nobody but when you hit the major sights and Oh ’boy!

The first major site we encountered was the Salt Pans with miles and miles of open space and no vegetation, just dry salt pans for miles. We spent the evening alone under the stars as far away from human civilisation as almost possible. Just beautiful.

Next up was the Lodge at Elephant sands.

Someone had the foresight to build a tasteful lodge and camping area next to an Elephant watering hole.

The bar/restaurant was so close to the watering hole, you could sit with a G&T, keep warm by the campfire and almost touch these majestic creatures whilst they played, showed their authority to each other, gurgled the water, farted (a lot) and then moved on. They were queuing up to come and drink. Even writing this brings a lump to my throat. It was a sight I will hold dear forever. There were dozens of them all vying for space and supremacy. The young males play fighting as the old bulls looked on.

The owner did also share with me that while building the accommodation chalets for the lodge, he had lost around 17 toilets as the elephants would come into the camp, pull the thatch off the roofs and tear down the walls and then smash the toilets to get to the water! Thankfully, that’s all stopped now as I imagined being sat in a certain place looking up at an elephant!

During our jaw-dropping visit, I did hear one younger female guest who ventured to the watering hole say, the Elephants weren’t as big as she thought they would be and they were nothing like the ones she had seen in The Jungle Book movie and then, she excused herself as the WiFi was better nearer the bar some 50 meters back from the Elephants. Such a sad reflection on how some humans perceive the world I guess?

An Elephant washing the grass before eating it on the River cruise.

An Elephant crossing a river. Majestic!

When we embarked on a River Safari we were mesmerised, on one river bank, we saw Kudu, Giraffes, Crocodiles, Baboons, Zebra and of course the beloved elephants. In all my years, I have seen these creatures, sure. But never all in one place.

We even heard a Lion roar and I reckon we saw a couple disappear into the undergrowth.

Anyway, on to Zimbabwe and Fabulous.

The reason for us being in that area is Victoria Falls. One of the seven natural wonders of the world.

I won't dwell, but, words like Awesome, incredible, and epic come to mind. Simply, you have to see them understand.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls are just over the border from Botswana (and Zambia) and the town built around the falls has no real soul but is a convenient location to get to see the falls and so we soon moved on and headed south leaving Fabulous to his….. well, fabulous ablution block.

And so Zimbabwe. The country welcomed us like a warm bath. The people couldn’t have been nicer.

The weather was good, the food was average. And we soon settled in.

Part of the tour of Zimbabwe took us to the Kalahari desert to see the San People. A native group that had been displaced some years earlier as the Government had found various minerals on their land and so re-housed the San people so they could access the valuable treasures that lay beneath the earth's surface.

The San dressed for the tourists.

The San people in their now "for tourists only" Traditional dress.

The San people went from hunter-gatherers to living in basic housing, and a more civilised way of life but a few had kept their tradition’s alive and would dance for tour groups and take people into the wilds to show how to make fire, how to dig and forage for traditional medicine. Anything to keep the tradition alive.

We found a lodge specialising in showcasing the San’s skills and we latched onto a tour group who had kindly paid the San people to dance. It all appeared a bit too staged for us so we went back to our truck and made a campfire and broke out the beer.

When they finished the San finished their dance, attracted by our campfire they, came over to see us and asked for Beer.

Drinking our beer and eating my dinner!

We obliged and also fed them with a hot curry we had prepared and arranged to go on a bush tour the next day and we saw how to make fire, forage for medicine including a particular route from a bush that is good for fertility and we have that one stored away…..

Zimbabwe will though, I’m sure be remembered for President Mugabe and his actions around the turn of the century and removing white farmers from their land and giving them to the black locals and the catastrophic failure that has caused, the total collapse of the economy thereafter.

We witnessed some of the aftermaths in Harare, the capital after an invite from a friend of a friend who invited us to stay on their land surrounding their home.

Apart from being amazing hosts, they told of the heartache they had gone through back then having had their farm taken from them. They classed themselves as lucky as they had a little notice to plan where are others had been thrown off their land with minutes to pack a few valuables only.

The worst affected was anyone married less than 6 years and evicted immediately.

Many had taken out bank loans to expand their farms and still owed the banks even though they had nothing and were paying the banks to this day.

Some farmers had seen it coming and sent their sons to Zambia which was offering land for free at the time as they understood the economic benefit of having experienced farmers growing crops. They are thriving whilst Zimbabwe slowly implodes.

Finally, a few words on poaching that is rife throughout southern Africa and an alternative view that a gamekeeper put forward to me whom we met in Harare.

In some areas, the licensed hunting of older games is allowed as this keeps the breeding stock young, raises finance to fight poachers and the meat harvested is given to the local villagers who are then encouraged to shop the poachers in exchange for free meat.

It's not for me to judge?

A few facts about poaching in Africa

(The recognised currency in Zimbabwe is the US dollar after the collapse of their currency).

The value of a poached Pangolin is around $6000.00

An Elephant tusk is worth around $2500.00

The prizes are big and if you have nothing and you need to feed your family?

Thank you for reading this, if you got this far, well done!

The colourful street markets that are all over Africa.

Avocados - 50p a punnet.

A visit to an Elephant orphanage was very emotional.

They also had Giraffe and a Pangolin that had been rescued. And as the sun set, they gave us finger food and Champagne.

The keeper spends 11 hours a day taking the Pangolin to Ant hills to feed. He is the only person allowed to handle this delightful creature.

Some kids on their way to school taking an interest in the truck.

Ice Cream anyone?

Bulawayo street views, Zimbabwe.