15 February 2000
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This was the first of our e-mails to friends setting
out our route and planned date of departure as well as our arrangements in
relation to mundane things like the storage of our furniture, the resignation
from our jobs and the lease on our Cape Town flat.
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7 March 2000
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We left our flat at 9 Firmount Rd on 6 March 2000 but
only left Cape Town the next day after spending a night in the Ambassador Hotel
in Bantry Bay (a mere 5 km's from our flat). An auspicious start!
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16 March 2000
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From Cape Town we
travelled to Cape Agulhas to ensure that we started our trip from the
southern most tip of Africa. From there we
headed north overnighting at Beaverlac in the Cederberg before pushing on to
the Richtersveld
National Park where we
spent 5 days.
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26 March 2000
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From the Richtersveld we travelled into Namibia visiting the Fish River
Canyon, Luderitz,
Sossusvlei and Swakopmund. Our fourth e-mail to friends outlines our travels
up until Swakopmund as well as our deep sea fishing trip off the Namibian
coast.
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5 April 2000
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From Swakopmund we travelled to the Etosha National Park
in Namibia
where we spent six nights. Although the game viewing was disappointing we did
see gorgeous birds and indulged in some superb relaxation..
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12 April 2000
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After completing our stint in Namibia we crossed the border
into Bostwana and headed for Maun via Gantsi. From Maun we flew to the village of Seronga in the northern Okovango Delta
where we spent three days on a mokoro safari.
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17 April 2000
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After having fought off every bug and insect imaginable
during our three days on the mokoro we headed north to Chobe where we spent
three days - two at the Ihaha camp on the Chobe river and one at Savuti. To
say that our trip to Chobe was challenging would be an understatement - it
was absolute hell!
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21 April 2000
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From Chobe and after having spent a couple of days at
the Chobe River Lodge having some much needed R&R we headed into Zimbabwe
and to Vic Falls where we spent a week visiting the falls, canoeing down the
Zambezi, bungi jumping and enjoying tea at the very civilised Victoria Falls
Hotel.
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1 June 2000
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After our stint in Pretoria at the end of our trial run
we headed down to Zinkwazi Beach in Natal where we spent two weeks with our
friends Zoe and Nic Ellender before the four of us (and their dog Peppe)
headed up to Mozambique.
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7 June 2000
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We spent four super days in Ponta D'Ouro with Zoe and
Nic scuba diving and relaxing on the beach before they headed back to Zinkwazi
and we headed north to Maputo.
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15 June 2000
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As we were unable to obtain reliable information about the condition of
the roads north of Maputo
we decided to head north to find out for ourselves what was happening. Our
adventure took us over some non-existent roads and through river beds to Xai
Xai from where we headed to Inhambane and Vilankulos finally ending up in Beira.
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27 June 2000
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From Beira we headed for Malawi
via the Tete corridor. Just after we had entered Malawi
we had our first major car trouble and had to do some on the spot repair work
before limping into Blantyre.
With the Land Rover having been repaired we pushed on to Mulanje where we
embarked on a three day trek in preparation for our Kilimanjaro climb.
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13 July 2000
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After an exhausting couple of days tramping around the Mulanje Massif
we headed north along Lake Malawi and managed
to wile away three weeks relaxing on its beautiful shores. Our last stop in
Malawi before heading for Tanzania was at Livingstonia where we had a full
scale adventure having lost our fishing rod holder on the journey up the hill
(over some shocking roads!!) On entering Tanzania we realised that it was
going to be a lot more expensive than we had thought!
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26 July 2000
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After the initial shock of parting with hard earned dollars had passed,
we headed for Dar es Salaam and then up to
Arusha via the Usumbara
Mountains and Leshoto.
We spent some time in Moshi and Marangu village organising our Kili climb
before setting off on our mission to reach the highest point in Africa.
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3 August 2000
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We did it! Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro was not the easiest or most
enjoyable thing we have ever done but we persevered and reached Uhuru Peak after a marathon summit night..
Feeling exhausted but rather chuffed with ourselves we headed for Arusha and
the Ngorongoro Crater.
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21 August
2000
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After the whole Kili debacle we retreated to the legendary spice island
to lick our wounds. We were met by my Dad and sister and spent a fantastic
week exploring Stonetown, lounging on the beach, scuba diving and enjoying
the fabulous Zanzibari cuisine. It was a great holiday away from our holiday.
Next stop Kenya.
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6 September 2000
|
No Bush Telegraph this time - just a newsletter from Nairobi
about our adventures in Tiwi Beach, Malindi and Amboselli National Park.
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15 September
2000
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From Nairobi we headed
to the Masai Mara, Lake Naivasha and Kisumu before heading west to friendly
Uganda.
En route to Kampala we checked out the awesome
Bujagali Falls.
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10 October 2000
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Our Ugandan stint complete we hit the road north to Ethiopia
via Marsabit and Moyale - reputedly the worst road on the continent! Things
went pretty well except for a bit of car trouble which left us stranded in
the metropolis of Dilla for 5 days.
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13 October 2000
|
The car sorted, we headed for Addis Ababa - one of the nicest African
cities! Our stay was taken up by getting work done on the car, getting
Sudanese visas and gorging ourselves on delicious Italian food and Ethiopian
coffee.
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26 October
2000 Part1
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Nightmare roads - part 2! The road from Gondar to Gedaref is
definitely much worse than its Marsabit /Moyale counterpart. Luckily we made
it to Khartoum, Sudan, in one piece despite the
fact that a journey that was supposed to take five hours ended up taking
almost five days!
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26 October
2000 Part2
|
A retrospective bush telegraph this time looking back at
our journey around the Ethiopian historical circuit. We checked out the
ancient rock hewn churches at Lalibela and the castles and palaces of Gonder.
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2 November 2000
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More visas to be got in Khartoum,
this time visas for Saudi Arabia,
Syria and Jordan.
All the paperwork having been done we headed north to the ancient pyramids of
the Meroe Royal
City (5C BC) - next stop Saudi Arabia.
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14 November
2000
|
From Khartoum we headed
north to Port Sudan where we caught the Al
Judi car ferry to Jedda, Saudi Arabia. After being treated
to some Saudi hospitality (and culture shocks) we headed to Jordan where we took in the breathtaking ruins
at Petra, spent a night in the desert at Wadi
Rum, swam in the Dead Sea and visited
Jerash.
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20 November
2000
|
Our (mis)adventures continued in Syria with a rough night in Damascus,
a tour around the Crak de Chevaliers and the ancient city of Palmyra and a run in
with amoebic dysentery which is apparently very common!
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30 November
2000
|
From Syria
we headed through Turkey
in our race to reach London
before 5 December 2000. Our journey was almost derailed by the Italian
consulate who refused us a Schengen visa. Luckily the Greeks came to our
rescue although nothing could save us from the inevitable Turkish carpet
salesman! It was then on to Greece
where we boarded the Minoan lines ferry from Igomenitzia to Venice and spent a couple of gorgeous days
strolling along the canals in one of the most romantic cities.
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5 December
2000
|
The final edition of the telegraph! The last whirlwind
part of our trip through France stopping for a baguette and a trip up the
Eiffel tower in Paris before heading for Calais and Dover. From Dover we had the most
difficult time of our trip trying to negotiate the M25 in rush hour!
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29 January
2001
|
A last post script......Our triumphal return to South Africa
and our observations about being back! Our struggle to get visas for the UK and the
preparation for getting back to the grindstone in one of the commercial
powerhouses of the world! Watch this space for the Bosman's London letter.....
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25 March 2001
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The first London Letter
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28 May 2001
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Another London
Letter
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