Catching up.. on travel

It wasnt my intention to let myself slip so far behind with this blog, but I guess life has gotten a little in the way, and it is what it is. So to catch up quickly so I can set myself back on track..

On the travel front I have has some truly once in a lifetime experiences this past 6 months. Back in October I headed to southern Africa for a month. Wow and wow is all I can say. After spending a few days in Cape Town I joined an overland tour that headed up the west coat of South Africa, then across through Namibia and Botswana before finishing in Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean/Zambian border. We had a great bunch of people which made the tour - can you imagine what it would be like being stuck on a truck for 3 weeks with people you didnt like... eek! We saw amazing scenery (canyons, dunes, national parks), lots of animals (after awhile the response was 'oh just another elephant, moooore zebras, where's something more exciting?!), and had some great adventures (most notably jumping into the 'devils pool' at the top of vic falls and lean over the edge of the falls..). Even leaving Africa was an adventure. The day after the tour finished a few of us were to fly from Livingstone to Cape Town before I left from Cape Town the next day. But we turned up at the airport only to find out our airline had lost its charter that morning and there would be no flights, and we wouldnt be able to get a flight with another airline for a few days. So in a massive panic (bearing in mind I had to get to Cape Town by the next night) we ran into a lovely man  who gave us a lift to Lusaka  (a 5hr drive away and where we could get a flight from), gave us a bed for the night, and drove us to the airport in the morning. The generosity of people never ceases to amaze me.

Not to be outdone, January saw me heading to Iceland for a week. Another truly unforgettable experience. While alot of the land was covered in snow at that time of year, enough of the country was still accessable and it actually wasnt tooo cold. Or at least no worse than Britain was at that time. So while there I got to do a few tours, went dogsledding, horseriding on the Icelandic horses, and Glacier hiking/Ice climbing. I was even lucky enough to get a good show of the Northern Lights while there! All again with a great group of people around.

January also saw a weekend in Malta. Last minute cheap flights and very cheap accomodation is always going to equal a good weekend, and I wasnt disappointed.

Then finally in march Mum & Dad visited for a few weeks. It was wonderful to have them here, and to avoid the cold british weather we spent a chunk of the time touring Portugal.