Thank you so much guys for the lift to the airport and for staying with me in my hour of nervousness.

Day 1 - Monday 15th April 2002

Getting on the plane at Heathrow was exceptionally difficult to say the least, luckily I had my forever-trusty friends, Jack Daniels, Ron Bacardi, Johnny Walker and Benson and Hedges to get me through the nerves and curb the anxiety attacks. The flight was 11 and a half-hours long, restless and exhausting but totally worthwhile for 3 reasons.
The first being Table Mountain in all it's majesty from around 3000 metres during the decent into Cape Town airport. The second, standing in-front of UB40 in the queue for customs and third and finally walking into arrivals to see a slim, bronzed Gavin (still looking older than his years I might add) waiting to greet me. It was one of those moments of pure elation that can never be recreated; Gavin had almost completed his lifelong ambition and I was off that bloody massive unnatural chunk of metal we all know as an aeroplane!
On the way back to our suburban accommodation the initial scenery backed up everything I had read on this amazing country, contrasting wealth and poverty was apparent everywhere and the danger became all so crystal clear when Gavin said "ask this person directions, but do it 'nicely' as they're probably armed". On arrival at our accommodation I was apprehensive when seeing a sign on the front of the house (like them all) stating "This property has an armed response". But my flames of fear were soon distinguished on stepping inside to see numerous bedrooms, up-market furnishings and a pool in the back garden, all meeting my usual high standard of living (Tongue in cheek)!
It was at this point when I met Sven and Wouter who were everything I had expected them to be whilst tracking their progress for so long through this web site. Sven is the quieter of the two, he is clear and concise in the way he wants to live his life and bears a remarkable resemblance to the musician Sting. Wouter is a traveller if I have ever seen one and an assured one at that, I'd soon ran out of places to tell him where I had visited before the conversation switched back to Land Rover bits.
The rest of the day was spent around the pool with a beer in my hand thinking of life back 'in the office' as I slowly adapted to the 'lazy life' under the scorching sunshine and clear blue skies. Our South African hosts, Antionette (a physiotherapist) and Arnaud (a Neurosurgeon!) returned from work. Arnaud (with a little help from Antionette) rustled us all up a pasta dish, which went down a treat with some of their sweet chutney and various alcoholic beverages that had been purchased earlier that day by Gavin in the local 'off licence'. Throughout the next few hours of drinking and putting the world to rights 2 exceptionally funny things happened, the first was a box of rose wine which had a 'No Name' packaging similar to the 'No Frills' products Gavin used to purchase from Asda during his secondment in Derby. Only Gavin could be thousands of miles from home and still find a shop that has it's own 'save money by having poor packaging' system in operation. The second and by far the funniest thing of the day was the fact that Antionette struggled to pronounce "Sven" so consciously decided to call him "Sting" to his face as it was easier to say. This continued for the remainder of the meal, cropping up in general conversation and at one point I over heard her enquiring "would you like some more pasta Sting" at which point I could hold my laugh no longer as it was like having dinner with the legend himself.
My eyes could take no more; it had been a long two days and was time for bed…

Day 2 - Tuesday 16th April 2002

I awoke at around 10am, the weather was identical to the day before so I made my way 'pool-side' to soak up the rays. Wouter returned from the airport with a new addition to 'Team Belgium', his brother, who it's worthwhile pointing out bears no resemblance to Wouter what so ever in either appearance or personality (I think he picked the wrong person up at the airport). I can't quite name him at present as I have missed it on numerous occasions, I think it's Rool but I'm just going to wait for Gavin to give him a stupid nickname as he does everyone else.
We all went into Cape Town centre in the afternoon and witnessed 'the peculiar' that is Table Mountain in the middle of this huge city. To put it into context it's like having a massive mountain in the middle of Manchester, climbing it is for another day though. We went round the aquarium and later met up with two other travellers (Holland to Cape Town on motorbikes?), whom I also can't quite name yet, but were apparently in the same area as the boyz were many African countries ago.
We proceeded to a bar and then onto 'Mr Pickwicks' on 'Long Street' for a bite to eat. When the bill came for the food, a quick head-currency conversion made me realise that everything is dirt-cheap, the KFC meal I had earlier only cost me 70p and a packet of cigarettes cost Sven 80p, I started dreaming of buying a big house out here.
What was apparent very soon after being in the city centre for just a few hours was that if you stand still for more than two seconds (night or day) you are approached by someone asking you for money or generally ranting on about god knows what. For any of you who have spent a holiday in any European sunshine resort, you will know that you get the occasional shifty looking man trying to make a fast-buck off you as you walk down the street, well South Africa must be where they all come from. To describe things clearer, all the bars have their very own "Anti Harassment Security Guard" who walks around with a baton (or plank of wood if he's just starting out in the job) and ensures that no one bothers you (for a small price of course), he is probably a crook himself. Then there are the thousands of "Car attendants" who have created a job for themselves by patrolling a small stretch of pavement they've decided is theirs ensuring that the thieves wandering the streets (his mates probably) waiting to steal your vehicle are deterred on seeing his presence. What an amazing progression in crime, paying the criminals to look after your things from the criminals - bizarre hey! What a measurement of how high the crime rate and poverty in South Africa must be for life to have evolved in this way. This country would be a paranoid person's nightmare, it's best to keep a low profile and blend into the surroundings, which is proving quite difficult in Gavin's great big Blue Land Rover with a Coffin on the roof rack. (The coffin was bought to symbolise Dan Acton, so even though the Land Rover crash forced him to cut his journey short through the injury, the thought is he will still complete it in spirit?).
We returned to our accommodation for a quick beer to end the day on...

Day 3 Wednesday 17th April 2002

Today is the big day, the official completion of their quest, England/Belgium to Cape Point South Africa. All that remains to do was drive from Cape Town to Cape Point, the most south-westerly spot in the Africa.
On Gavin and Wouter's return from sorting out the shipping of the Land Rovers back to Antwerp later in the week, we set off. The coastal drive was superb and the scenery as delightful as you are ever likely to see. We stopped just short of our destination for a bite to eat and an old Ex Patriot enquired "I recognised your number plate chaps, it's an English one yes?, how did you get it here?" Gavin explained his full story to him where at which point he almost had a heart attack out of disbelief, he went one "So you drove all the way from England and you had no trouble! You lucky B*****d", he then ended with "Will you do one thing for me please lads, when you get back to Blighty, kiss the ground for me, I miss it so bad". This made me fully appreciate England as well as what Gavin, Wouter, and Sven and Dan for the majority, had achieved, the dangers they must have been so close to, the memories which will live with them forever and the wealth of experience they now take back to their retrospective countries.

Cape Point was stunning, it's one of those 'end of the earth' places that uncontrollably make you realise how important certain aspects of your life are to you & travelling the world has to be right up there at the top of your priority list so as to experience these locations, like Cape Point, that are quite simply mind-blowing.
The Boyz took the coffin off the Land Rover, which as you can image brought a mix-bag of expressions from on-looking tourists, some daring to ask "why"?, some bowing their heads out of respect and others, like the bus load of Japanese, just taking non-stop pictures. I completed my final photo shoot for the web site and all that was left to do now was to sit down, have a glass of pre-planned beer and champagne and let the emotions take over. I think it was all to overwhelming for Gavin and Wouter, the pleasure, ecstasy and jubilation of achieving their dream slowly changed to the realisation that the dream was now completed & over.
On to the next one guys, they'll be other dreams! - Be extremely proud!
We headed back to try and find some accommodation in the heart of Cape Town, it turned out to be a 'backpackers' place called the 'Big Blue', which was my first experience of such an establishment - Bunk Beds!?, but at 50 Rands a night (that's 3 pounds to you and me) I wasn't complaining, to much!
Tonight was the official 'end of tour' party that got started after England stuffed Paraguay 4-0. My first mission of the evening was to work out a way of getting rid of the people who pester you, which I did by simply talking back at them non-stop, they soon got bored of hearing how I single handedly completed my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve one year. This one guy was trying desperately to get away from me in the end, he thought I was weird.
The night was heavy going and by 6am we'd had more than enough where at which point 3 white South Africans made it quite clear that they didn't like Wouter. Any trouble soon fizzled out, but raised many questions for me due to the racist remarks towards him, this confused me immensely as, firstly he's Belgium, and secondly, I entered South Africa assuming any trouble would come from other races. From this point forward I decided that I will investigate the racial issues, past and present, in this country throughout the rest of my stay here to have a better understanding.
One other important point of note for the day was that Gavin came-through just as I said he would with a nickname for 'Rool', it's 'Kanga' ( for Kanga'rool') Go figure?

Day 4 Thursday 18th April 2002

Woke up at around 2pm with a stinking hangover, Wouter and Kanga had gone off to buy a rooftop tent for his Land Rover, Sven was out shopping for a new shirt, (we may have to peel his current one off his back when he comes to change!), so Gavin and I made our way up Table Mountain. Outstanding, what more can I say? The views stretch for miles around and watching the sun go down whilst sipping a glass of red wine was the ultimate in peace and relaxation, smack bang in the middle of this huge, manic city.
That night we went all went out for a meal, as it was Sven's last evening with the overlander's, and after that, upstairs to a nightclub populated by snobbish white South Africans. We returned to our 'ranch' at around 3am where the boyz crashed out. Sven and I decided that the night wasn't over yet so we broached the race issues with a black person outside our hostel. His name turned out to be Alton Beukes about 25 years old, who doesn't make a great deal of money (but an honest one I might add!) as a security guard on the street of our hostel through the night. He lives in Cape Flats, which is basically a very dangerous place to be, night or day, and told me that when he moved in about a month ago he immediately went to see the area gang leader to plead that he not be robbed by any of his people. I kept him in a steady supply of beer and cigarettes all night and promised to send him a particular Beatles CD he requires for completing his collection on the band. He told me of the South African past, the present and what he hopes for the future, I was truly & emotionally moved by some of things he shared with us in general and of his own personal experiences.
At around 5am we took a walk to the nearest 'seven eleven' which could have turned out to be one of the most stupid things I will ever do in my life, but we survived with just a few words from the local gangs and accomplished the purchase of more beers. By 8am we'd definitely had enough so said our goodbyes to Alton (whose shift had now finished) and fell asleep on the sofa in reception, very pleased that I had been educated some more on South Africa.

Alton - You'll be an inspiration for me for the rest of my life. It was great meeting you, that CD will be on its way as soon as I return.

Day 5 Friday 19th April 2002

Awoken by Gavin taking pictures of me (on the sofa) at around 10.30am, I pondered what was I doing asleep on this flee infested thing?, then remembered passing out there the night before.
Sven could not bear to leave the overland tour so decided to stay on for a few more days At 12:00am we were all on our way to Robben Island, home to the maximum security prison (now a UN Heritage site) which held Nelson Mandela for many years for his political beliefs. The guided tour was conducted by an ex-convict of the prison who explained things in a very detailed & lighthearted way, but left me with mixed feelings of sorrow and amazement at Apartheid. Either way his closing statement was sending out the right message 'never again, equality for all'.
On completion of the trip we met Janine, an Occupational Therapist from Durban, who had the courage to wander into the middle of our conversation and introduce herself?! The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking in the waterfront area of Cape Town with Janine and her friend Jack (a Chartered Accountant). I took this relaxed environment to approach the race issues once more for a 'young white South African' perspective. After a few minutes on the topic it was quite clear that they were as much displeased with their history as I was, but demonstrated that they are from a generation that realises the mistakes and are keen to see 'affirmative action' work, therefore building a better country for all.
Six hours later we were somehow on our way to Stellenbosch (50 kilometres east of Cape Town) for a night out on the outskirts of it's large University Campus. The atmosphere was slow to start as we grew accustom to our South African hosts for the evening but as soon as the beers started flowing and the live band started rolling out a couple of sing-alone classics (The Proclaimers - 500 Miles was one to note!) we were ready for yet another night of partying. Our accommodation for the evening turned out to be at a flat in the middle of Stellenbosch (Yan's place, also a Chartered Accountant) which held around 8 of us and after a many more beers in the Springbok nightclub it was time to head back their for a well needed sleep.

Big thanks to Janine, Jack and especially Yan for the introduction to student life in South Africa and the use of his floor.

Day 6 Saturday 20th April 2002

For breakfast we headed to 'Dros' in Stellenbosch, which served a full English for around £1 whilst we planned the day. Arnaud and Antoinette (our first hosts in Cape Town on days 1 and 2) had offered us an evening at Arnaud's brother's ever-vacant coastal beach house in Hermanus (the most Southern tip of Africa) which was a winner for us all. We said our goodbyes and thanks to Yan, Jack and Janine for their hospitality and hit the road. We elected to take the coastal route on the advice of Yan, which turned out to be the correct decision as the scenery was picturesque. Hermanus was a 2-hour drive from Stellenbosch by land rover, which served as ideal chillout and reflection time for us all. On arrival at accommodation number 4 in 6 days, Arnaud and Antionette greeted us with their usual remarkably hospitality towards relative strangers. We spent the early evening and night around a fire in the garden eating 'potjie', a traditional South African dish of meat and vegetables all cooked in the same pot staggered over 3 hours, needless to say it was beautiful, especially accompanied by some of the South African vin rouge.
After the meal we relaxed in the house and listened to Arnaud explain some of the latest technologies in brain surgery along with discussing Asterix (the comic strip). I don't know about the others but for a recognised Neurosurgeon throughout the world he is as much down to earth as the next-man. Truly amazing, and finds the time to travel the world as well in his spare time!?
The upstairs of the beach house could have slept around 30, it was that well prepared for friends to stop over, so I chose a nice comfy single in the corner of the room and promptly started to get bitten by mosquitoes & fell asleep.

Thank you so much for your hospitality Arnaud and Antionette. You really are amazing people, I hope my e-mail address is used when you're next in the UK.

Day 7 Sunday 21th April 2002

Woke at around 11am to a cooked breakfast with the boyz. Today was the last full day in Cape Town before everyone went there separate ways. We all decided to take advantage of the ridiculously cheap prices and do a bit of shopping. Wouter and Kanga decided to head off to Cape Town Waterfront and myself, Gavin and Sven drove out to a huge shopping mall called 'Canal Walk' in 'Century City'. The credit cards all took a battering in South African terms but against the pound we spent little more than £100 and walked away with bags full. It's also worth noting at this point that both Gavin and Sven took my solid fashion advice and purchased some quite decent clothing, maybe I can save these travellers from their shabby dress sense after all!
We all met up back at the 'big blue' again and got dressed for the very last night together. Sven was looking quite dapper in his new purchase from earlier in the day but Gavin elected for his usual polo shirt/combat trouser combo.
We ate at 'Viva Cuba', which was my first experience of a Cuban restaurant and was actually quite delicious. Gavin and Wouter made a few speeches on their long journey and the drinking recommenced. In the early hours of the morning we asked for the bill which equated to a massive 1100 Rands (in English terms around £60, which is ridiculously cheap considering that some of the funnier items on the bill were:
16, Whiskeys
2, of the finest Cuban Cigars
5, XO Cognacs
5, 3 course meals

After trying to get into a private party with little success we retired for the evening to our bunk bedded dormitory at around 5am.

Day 8 Monday 22nd April 2002

Today is another massive day for the Overlanders, it is the day they all say goodbye to each other and ship the Land Rovers back to Antwerp. We awoke at 10am and made our way to the Cape Town shipping yard where a container was waiting to take the Belgian and English Land Rovers along with the 2 Dutch motorcycles inside. The customs people made the necessary checks (none?) and loaded the vehicles into the containers.
This was it, not only was it goodbye to the different modes of transport that had served them so well over the last 8 months it was goodbye to the Dutch team, and the Belgian team that had supported each other through every good & bad time since Sudan.
After the emotional goodbyes it was into a taxi for Gavin and myself and straight to the airport where we picked up a cheap flight to Johannesburg. The flight itself was fine except for a slight technical hitch where the pilot advised us that "engine number 3 doesn't appear to want to start, we'll taxi back to the airport and get a new ignition". Of course I went into a panic attack that lasted for the first 30 minutes of the flight.
On arrival at JoBurg we picked up a hire car and made a quick northeasterly escape out of officially the most dangerous city in the world. Some 3.5 hours, 400km and 30cm away from being in a head on collision at 120kmph we arrived in Nelspruit, just outside Kruger National Park where we checked into a travel lodge for a 'few' light beers before bed. Before we retired we met a Zulu named Elias, and before you create an image of someone that wore nothing but a piece of leather and had a spear in his hand, he was actually the barman in the hotel. Elias told us the most remarkable story of how he lived and survived the slums of Johannesburg before making his way to Nelspruit to train as a barman in the hotel. Elias's story was incredible and summed it up perfectly when he said "I'm living my dream, when I was in the townships of Johannesburg all I dreamt of was this, this is millions of South African's dream, a job & a house, and it proves that your dreams can come true if you want them bad enough".

Kanga, best wishes to you and your wife you are truly a genuine guy and I wish you all the best for the future.

Wouter, well done on the completion of your quest, you should be exceptionally proud of what you have achieved and when it fully sinks in, I'm sure you will be. You're a great traveller and a superb guy.

Sven, Sting, Tommy Graveson, what can I say, you are one of the funniest people I have met. I'll never forget "Hey Baby", "Run Run" and our 'travellers guide to free accommodation'. Keep sending me the updates on your freebees and "Arnie, put another shrimp on the Barby". See you at Everton V Liverpool. You really are one of the greatest.

Day 9 Tuesday 23rd April 2002

We made an early start to complete the remainder of the drive to Kruger National Park. We arrived at around 12am and started the leisurely drive north to our safari accommodation. For those of you who have no idea what Kruger National Park is all about, well it's basically the top right hand corner of South Africa, you pay on entry and then drive along the man-made roads in the middle of the wilderness looking for animals, the park itself is the size of Wales. After around 10 minutes I spotted Giraffe 20 metres from our hire car and 2 hours later we drove past a few Elephants taking in some trees on the side of the road. Whilst driving you actually spot loads of animals (Like Waterbok, Buffalo, Zebra) but the main thing your looking out for is the "Big Five" which consists of Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. With only two of the big five crossed of my list we decided to attend the late night safaris ran by our safari lodge. I thought this was an ideal time to test out my "Fashionable whilst travelling" theory and decided to wear my designer trousers, shirt & shoes (Gavin of course elected for the same clothes as the last 8 months). It was only when we were all waiting for the safari jeep to arrive did I realise that every other person was wearing hiking boots, backbacks & camouflaged clothing along with having such vital 'life saving' necessity items as water, food, a torch & night-sight binoculars. I must admit at this point I did feel a tad silly as they all looked at me with a "You look like your going to a night-club" look, but when Gavin came sauntering round the corner looking like he was about to go on an Ibizian booze cruise with a pack of beers under his arm I felt a lot more re-assured in my own stupid appearance.
On the Booze Cruise..., I mean night safari, we spotted many animals (Jackal, Buffalo & Elephants to name but a few ) but no more of the 'big five', which was slightly disappointing. The jeep also broke down in the middle of the wilderness & after treading in/on god knows what whilst push-starting the jeep into action we decided to kick-back, leave the animal spotting up to an over-enthusiastic yank & crack open the beers. On retiring to our accommodation, we were awoken by a total weirdo who was sleeping in the hut next to ours who let herself into our lodge and turned out our outside light as it was apparently causing her 'difficulties sleeping'. - Gavin 'kicked off'.....

Day 10 Wednesday 24th April 2002

Today was all about driving, the mission was to take a different route out of Kruger National Park so to see some more wildlife & then drive a further 400km back to Johannesburg before dark, therefore not dying via mugging, shooting or carjacking!
Our initial intention to "get up really early" failed as we didn't set off until 11am. The drive through the Kruger was as good as the day before & a hell of a lot more closer to the nature, at one point 2 African elephants were 6ft away from my car window. This absolutely petrified me! but at the same time was an overwhelming experience as I realised that I was in their environment, at their mercy & could do nothing about what their next action would be. Luckily that next action was to start eating the tree's, which allowed the split-second to take one of the greatest photo's I will probably ever take.
After exiting the Kruger we made our way back to Nelspruit, booked a hotel for Johannesburg (a safer option than trying to get a room in JoBurg!) & set off on the long drive back to 'the city with the highest crime rate in the world'. Our plan to get back before dark failed miserably as it was pitch black when we reached the outskirts. What was more alarmingly worse was that the petrol gage read 'empty' & we were in the middle of gangland. We had no choice but to exit the freeway & hunt for a fill-up station or we would be in big trouble if we were to break down on the main road. Gavin spotted some lights in the distance so we headed that way & found our fill up point, a gang populated, run-down petrol station. This was one of the most scariest moments of my life, the time it took to get out of the car, fill up the tank & pay a gangster at a bullet proof kiosk felt like absolute eternity. We made the quickest exit possible, & found our hotel in super fast time.
After checking into the hotel it soon dawned on me that I had a 9am flight to Zimbabwe the next day & had no accommodation lined up whatsoever. The beating of my heart rocked me gently to sleep.

Day 11 Thursday 25th April 2002

Today was the day I visited Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. I awoke with a peculiar feeling of mass excitement at seeing the natural wonder that is Vic falls but really scared of entering Zimbabwe due to the serious problems the country currently has.
My first challenge was to get through the flight from Johannesburg to Vic Falls on 'the crop-sprayer' which I did, just. On descending into the tiny airport (built simply for visitors to the Falls), my eye-line followed the Zambezi river slaloming through the baron terrain until it reached a mass of greenery where at which point it simply just stopped, dropping thousand's of feet into a 1km wide crack in the earth. Above & around the falls was a cloudy mist caused by the spray back that has showered the surrounding area for years, thus creating a small rainforest in harmony with the blazing sun.
On arrival at the airport I made my way via taxi the Tatenda Safari Lodge, which I immediately re-named "A few straw huts". My lack of $US meant I had to pay over the odds for a hut for the night as well as a guided tour to the Falls itself. I went to see the local bank manager who opened my eyes to the horrendous shape the Zimbabwean Dollar is in. He advised me that it is illegal for all banks in the country to sell any foreign currency & also that the only way I could obtain US Dollars was on the Black Market, which incidentally holds a prison sentence if caught dealing or receiving. My only other option was to use Zimbabwean Dollars (the national currency) to pay the equivalent of the price of things in US Dollars, meaning that it will cost about 10 times more than it actually should do.
I had no choice other than to obtain my $20 departure tax to get out of the country via the black market which cost me around £80!

The guided tour of the Falls commenced at 3pm which consisted of the receptionist of the Tatenda Safari Lodge (Precious), his young girlfriend & myself. (I soon realised that there are not many visitors in Zimbabwe at present, especially White ones...). Precious (The Safari guide, come receptionist, come handyman, come restaurant chef) told me about the history of the Falls as we walked from the entrance of the National Park towards the sound of the roaring water & a giant mist of spray spiralling 100's of feet into the air, & then, after about a 10min trek.... there it was!
It is without question the most natural wonder my eyes have ever witnessed, single, double, triple, quadruple rainbows shooting out from every angle as my eyes changed directions. Words cannot do this thing justice, it is quite simply heart stopping. This waterfall is not 'the normal' in the sense that a waterfall usually consists usually of a drop in the land, which the river hits & then carries's on at a lower level. Opposite the 'water-drop point' of Vic Falls is land, almost as high as the waterfall itself & the only escape for the water in the basin at the bottom is a much thinner outlet between the opposing land. The land opposite the falls is separated by this continuation of the Zambezi in its thinner state & of course, a few thousand feet drop down as well. The land to the left is Zimbabwe, & the right Zambia, connected by a suspension bridge used for border crossings ($30 charge) & bungee jumping!?!
I elected to give the bungee jump a miss & just wandered round for a few hours in which time I was quite surprised to realise that there were no barriers & no safety precautions?, it has just been left totally natural. You can quite simply wander up to the very last slippery rock, directly in front of the main falls & just stand there. And that's exactly what I did. Soaking wet from the spray shooting back up out of the abyss below, centimetres from death on that very same slippery rock I just stood there for hours. It's incredible how things become so clear in your own mind when located in that sort environment. Thinking time at it's best!

Soaking wet, with no change of clothes, I headed back to "A few straw huts" with my newly found Zimbabwean friends & returned to my accommodation for the evening. By this time I was feeling physically sick through the lack of food & drink over the last 24 hours (due to having no money to buy any with so I tried to get some sleep. At around 9pm I heard a knock on my hut, it was one of the Safari Lodge workers who I had told my 'lack of money' problems to earlier in the day. He asked me if I would be attending dinner, I replied that this was not possible due to the lack of US or Zimbabwe Dollars I have (i.e. none!) & then by off chance he asked me if I had any South African Rands, to which I replied "some". He advised that the Rand is also a very strong currency in Zimbabwe (as South Africa supported Zimbabwe in the land grabs) so I paid him the equivalent of £3 for which I had a meal with him & the rest of the workers consisting of goat, rice & a fair few Zimbabwean beers! After the meal & a good chat it was back to the hut to slip under the mosquito net and get some much needed rest after a very busy day.

What a day, firstly a small piece of advice for all travellers to Zimbabwe - Take as many $US Dollars as you can no matter what the tourist advice people tell you!!
Thanks so much Precious & the Restaurant worker, you both really did save my life. Without you I would have had nowhere to stay, nothing to eat or drink, not seen Victoria Falls & not been have able to leave the country. You both totally restored my faith in the Zimbabwean people & I will be eternally in your debt.
Today was a massive reality check for me, it made me so grateful for everything I have. I lived for just 24 hours with nothing, but these people live with nothing every day so couple that to a few statistics like '1 in 10 have Malaria' & '1 in 2 have aids' & you realise that your problems are immaterial in comparison.

Day 12 Friday 26th April 2002

I awoke in my hut to bright sunshine beaming through the gaps in the bamboo, I glanced at my watch which read 04:26. "It's light outside?" I thought, & then panicked, jumped out of bed thinking it was 04:26 in the afternoon & that I was going to miss my flight back to JoBurg. It was only after about an hour did I realise that the view on my watch was set to show the date & not the time! (which shows in American format of MM/DD), panic over! it was only midday.
I went to the reception hut where I met Precious who had told me yesterday that he would give me a lift to the airport. Precious advised that he was now unable to do so as he has to work, but one of the "drivers" is going near by & will drop me off. On route to the airport the "driver" (who was more like a gangster) had to make a few stops, one of which was to his home on the outskirts of Victoria Falls. For the past few weeks I have drove past many townships but I was now actually in the centre of one at someone's house & it was quite a rewarding experience to have sampled the real culture & atmosphere of one. His child of around 3 years old ran out of the house to great her father, she notice me sitting in the passenger seat and became slightly apprehensive (no whites in this area) but after a few minutes her curiosity got the better of her & she wandered over to have a look & a throw a ball at me. I was at this point a little less nervous that I wasn't just being driven into the middle of no-where to be mugged & killed, so I used my last energies to talk to the family. I was amazed by the amount of people who were living in this one small hut about 12ft sq. in size but they were just like most other families & were very friendly.
The airport was a bit of a disaster all round. We had to change planes 3 times as there weren't enough passengers to fill any of the aircraft & then to top it all the plane that was supposedly ready to go developed a fault half way down the bloody runway!! A few hours later we were in the air & a few hours after that back in Johannesburg greeted by a smiling Gavin Davidson.
That evening we firstly headed down to a shopping complex called "Lakeside" which apparently used to be a beautiful lake surrounded by shops, the shops are still there but the lake is just a mud bath! After a few cheap purchases we headed back to our next accommodation which was "Brian & Barbara's" who had kindly offered to put us up for the night. Their place was ace, sky sports for the football, pool in the garden & beers in the fridge, what more could I ask for, so in return we took them for a meal (my 1st real meal in 48 hours) and an extremely wine fuelled night out in a JoBurg restaurant.
On our return to the house I think I fell asleep before I actual made it to bed.......

Day 13 Saturday 27th April 2002

13:00, I must have been tired. I crawled out of bed & made my way into the front room to find Gavin watching TV. I told him my plan for the day was to sit poolside in the back garden with a cool beer & relax until my flight home this evening. Gavin totally agreed with this plan & that's exactly what I did for 5 straight hours. It was only during those 5 hours did it actually sink in what I had done in such a short space of time. 3 weeks ago I was at work with no holidays booked for this year & now 3 weeks later I had travelled thousands of miles, saw places I had never dreamt of seeing & am so much wiser for experiences that will last forever. And just when I though life couldn't get much better I heard that Liverpool had been beat by Tottenham & could not win the Premier League!
It's time to go home.
We said our goodbyes to our last hosts of the holiday & set off for the airport. On arrival at the airport we dropped off the hire car that has served us so well over the last week & went to the bar for a final 'Cheap' African session. As the nerves grew, so did the alcohol consumption and by the point of going through to departures I was rather drunk. This didn't stand in the way of an emotional farewell to Gavin & to Africa.
I boarded the plane very late (un-usual for me hey!) & found myself placed between a largish lady & a quite stunning chartered accountant called Sarah (both South African). Initially Sarah seemed very interesting as we exchanged opening pleasantries, but as the vino started to flow she turned into a real bitch! She proceeded to put the entire world (including people on the plane to their faces!) to rights. "Never judge a book by its cover" springs to mind, but it helped pass the time & nerves away before touching down at Heathrow, England.
When on the tarmac I dropped to my knees & kissed the floor twice, one for me & one for the 'old boy' back on 'day 3'. England forever!

I have so many people to thank from the last 24 hours & the entire trip & I hope they all know how much I appreciate them. Here are a few that have to be documented.......

Brian & Barb, thank you for the accommodation it was a pleasure meeting you & I'll hopefully see you both someday soon.

Sarah, I gave you this web address so I hope you are reading this...... You really are one of the nastiest snobbiest people I have ever met. Your 'work is everything' attitude has obviously hardened you to life but i'm afraid to say if you don't start letting your exterior guard down once in a while you going to end up a very lonely women. (However, you are quite stunning!)

Kristy, thanks for the text pep talk at the airport. Great to see you again.

Chris/Becky, thanks for dropping me off & picking me up really early at Heathrow, once again I owe you so much!

Dan, sorry you didn't make it to the end. You got a hell of a long way & it was a pleasure following your progress. I understand you're in Australia now so things can't be that bad! See you soon, i've hopefully gained a good friend in you.

Gavin, what can I say mate other than "well done", you have proved your worth & achieved your dream (against all odds), you should be so proud of this achievement & it was a pleasure & an honour to have completed the final leg with you. Take care & keep being you, no matter what anyone says.