Hammamet, Tunisia (Africa)

Hi, the 20th country of 28 in the world tour and this makes it 14 countries for 2007. I go into 2008 with a new way of travelling which is not coming home and move from country to country which will be a new challenge.

To be honest I did not like Tunisia that much as every where you went people were just pestering you to come into their shop and buy something. It got quite intimidating and they used to do it in groups and block you off so you couldn't get out of the shop until you have bought something. I just went down to the beach for a relaxing stroll and no one was there and then out of no where appeared this man with necklaces wanting me to buy a coffee from a hotel on the beach.

I went on a two day excursion which took me into the south of the country and visited various places such as Matmata where all the houses are built into the mountains. We went to the gate of the Sahara Desert and went on a camel. We went to a fruit plantation and saw how people grew and picked dates from the trees. We stopped over at a hotel for one night and ended up sharing a room with a Spanish rock and roller who told me he had dabbled with drugs and liked alcohol. The next day we made our way back to our hotels but stopped at Kairouan which is the 4th holiest city in Islam. We saw the grand mosque and went in the only shop that had fixed prices.

I went to the Medina in Hammamet centre and there was no one there so I got swamped by market sellers try to sell me all sorts for cheap prices so they said and harassed me so I only spent about thirty minutes there and went back to the hotel.

The hotel was very nice but because of the people in Tunisia and the tricks they try to pull on decent people I would never go back and would think again before travelling to Africa unless it was with an organised tour with plenty of activity. It was not all bad though as I met two really lovely couples and a girl that I really got on with and they made my holiday. I owe them a lot and hopefully will meet with them in between my travels. They were really nice and I really enjoyed there company.

The next holiday is the big one. The build up has been intense and the support has been immense. I will prepare to go sixty eight days around the world. Sixty eight days, eight stops, one man, one dream and the penultimate goal for me in travelling. This would only be topped for me by going to all seven continents.

Take care

Robert

Great Rift Valley, Kenya (Africa)

Hi, this was the 19th of 28 countries in the World tour which brought me to the continent of Africa. A country struck by poverty and corruption with people living life on very little. I saw this as we travelled to the different places on my tour.

I set off from Leeds/Bradford for my flight to Nairobi from London. Thankfully there were no delays and I got through to Nairobi at 7am on Monday morning. Kenya is 3 hours in front of England.

On the Monday I joined with the people on the tour and we drove down to Nyeri, which is a 3 hour drive from Nairobi, to the Out Span Hotel. I stopped there for a night and the hotel had electric but had no heating so a man came round at 7pm to light my open fire so I did not freeze.

On Tuesday we travelled to the Mount Kenya National Park Mountain Lodge for a night where they had a water hole in front of the lodge. Animals came up to the hole day and night and the lodge had lots of view points to see the animals in there natural habitats. As well as all of that there were monkeys which tried to get in the lodge and steal all of the food.

On Wednesday we travelled to Lake Nakuru National Park and Lake Nakuru Lodge. We had a game drive in the afternoon and we saw the famous flamingos in the lake. Also there was the Rothschild Giraffe and the Rhino.

On Thursday we went to the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge which was the best lodge on the holiday. It was as if I was in a dream world. The lodge was at the side of the lake and the lake had hippos in it so when they came out of the water to graze on the hotel grounds at 7pm we had to be escorted to dinner by a security guard. As well as that we got to have a boat ride on the lake and see the hippos and wildlife on the lake.

On Friday we travelled to the Masai Mara which is the Kenyan part of the Serengeti plain. A place where they believe that all the cows in the world belong to them. We went to visit a village and see the houses that the people live in. These are made out of cow dung and wood. There were flies everywhere and a lovely smell. We went to the Mara River and saw the dead animals on the bank from where they tried to cross and ended up breaking their legs or getting crushed. As well as that some of us went on a hot air balloon for an hour which was really good as we saw lots of animals and had a champagne breakfast.

I stayed at the Masai Mara up until Monday where we went to Nairobi to stay in the Hilton Hotel. We had dinner at the Carnivore Restaurant where we ate Ostrich and Crocodile plus all the usual meats such as pork, lamb and beef. I also went to a Giraffe park where I cuddled, kissed and fed the Giraffes.

Got up at 5am in the morning and went to the airport for my plane back to Heathrow and then my flight back to Leeds/Bradford. I finally got home at 10.30pm.
I had a fantastic experience and was very lucky to see all the animals in their natural habitats.

Thank you to all the people I went with for a truly amazing time and we had a laugh.

Take Care.

Robert