Farewell to the UK (again) After a lightning tour of friends (those of you we didn't descend on can now bring the alcohol back out and relax) and relatives we are flying to Seattle, USA for something we never normally do, a relaxing weekend in a big city. Angela is keen to visit all the locations of one of her favourite films, Sleepless in Seattle, but I have tried to point out that most of the film relates to New York! With my 50th birthday getting dangerously...

Warm beer and old churches Despite the risk of upsetting all our Southern African friends, I have to admit it has been an absolute pleasure to drink real beer again now we are back in the UK. Fizzy tasteless lager is perfect in 40 C temperatures but now we are back in the middle of a typical British summer (16C and copious rain) it has been a joy to sink a few pints of proper beer! After leaving Dad in Cornwall we've thrown ourselves on the hospitality of Al...

Goodbye South Africa It's amazing how time flies! After 19 continuous months in Southern Africa we've returned to the UK. The car and trailer are now stored in a barn at our friends Isaac & Liesel's farm near Vryburg. After a hectic couple of weeks around Howick and Vryburg getting the vehicles re-registered in our own name we are now down in Cornwall at my Dad's house. The contrast couldn't be much different. Britain is looking very green and lush, largel...

I am sure that most of you will appreciate that I am not sat in the middle of the Central Kalahari uploading this blog. In actual fact we are no longer in Botswana, we have returned to South Africa and are currently in Howick, KwaZulu Natal, catching up on paperwork and boring stuff. The Central Kalahari was 8 days of pure magic, a place of stunning sunrises and sunsets (you may have guessed that looking at the latest photo album) and almost empty wilderness. T...

Winter arrives in Maun "Wanted - Crocodile Skinner, 5+ years experience, Pula1250 per month". I decided not to apply for this job advertised in the classified column of the local Maun newspaper. Besides a total lack of crocodile skinning experience, the pay of£100 a month would not cover the rising fuel and food prices that are beginning to cause severe hardship here in Botswana and the rest of Southern Africa. The town of Maun demarcates ...