Example of ants in Africa.

Here you go Dad, an example of the magnitude of ants in Africa!!!

Sisters hit Africa!

The sisters have returned from their exciting and inspiring Africa trek!

Amazing experiences, fantastic photos and sisterly bonding moments were at a high during the trip which included, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Joberg airport (twice), Nairobi where we joined the Rift Valley Wildlife Kumuka tour. From Nairobi we headed to Lake Nakuru National Park, Lake Naivasha and Masai Mara National Park which included amazing game drives, seeing the Masai village and loads of fun! From there we headed back to Nairobi where we picked up more travellers before heading for the Tanzanian border. Next was Arusha, Serengeti national park and the Ngorongoro Crater and back to Nairobi. We met some fabulous people on the trip and made very close friends with the ants which took over our tent on the first night!!! Waking at 5 am with Ants in our pants, hair... in fact everywhere for the amusement of our fellow travellers was an interesting start to the journey!

Below is a small selection of the hundreds of photos taken...enjoy!

A few pics of Victoria Falls, where Mel and I enjoyed 3 nights in a nice hostel (own pool and really cute little huts). In Vic Falls we went horse riding with a tracker who was able to get us metres from a family of elephants, buffalo, wart hogs, gazelle - heaps! We also enjoyed a traditional dinner, a boat cruise, helicopter ride and walking tour around the Vic Falls - although hard to see anything through the terential rain (of the falls) it was an experience.








Then on to Lake Nukuru where there were flamingos, buffalo, rhino, zebra, giraffes and more...in fact we saw a leopard kill a baby warthog, but I couldn't quite catch it on film.




At Lake Naivasha we experienced our first sight of hippos, unfortunately they do not venture out of the water until nightfall, so there are lots of photos of ears & noses. We enjoyed a boat ride and walk and another horse ride where we met with lots of the local kids.



Next we travelled to the Masai Mara, where we visited a Masai village and a fantastic game park...lots of Lions!!!!









and cheetah!
The group enjoyed a yummy dinner at carnivores in Nairobi to break up the trip, the Ostrich was mmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Melli enjoyed a 'birthday' celebration so the staff would sing for us (and she got a cup cake). We love birthdays that last a month!
Then it was off to the famous Serengeti NP and Ngorongoro Crater which were fantastic!

Talk about close to nature!






The Wildebeest and Zebra Migration was incredible.










Thanks to the gang for the great times!!


I would like to say a big thankyou to Mum and Dad for letting me enjoy this amazing experience with my sister and an even bigger thanks to Melli, it would never have been the same without you! Stay tuned for Melli's blog, once it's created we'll link hers for some more great pics and updates.

Mum & Keith in London

Hello All,

Well its been a while again, and quite a lot has happened since the last post. Mum and Keith have been and gone, Alahna has returned and brought her sister Melli back from Australia to live with us on Lechmere Road, and Dave has moved a few blocks up the street, which made room for Tom & Agnes. We have also discovered that I will have to return to Aus to reapply for a visa, which really only leaves me a few more months of work! Real bummer cause if we knew earlier then I would have come back with Alahna for Mike & Amelia's wedding, sorted my stuff out and come back with Alahna, so a bit frustrated with the whole situation.

Anyway back to some interesting stuff, Mum and Keith came to visit me on the 22nd of March for 13 days which was really cool. I have now officially seen all the touristy stuff that London has to offer, or at least that I can handle for a while. We went from the Tower of London to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and everything conceivable in between, including two weekend trips before and after. We all had a really good time, although at times we were all pretty exausted, who would have thought that a 1000 year old city would have so much too see!

We started our journey by driving north to Nottingham to visit Jill, one of mum's friends from Saudi. Jill took us to Sherwood Forrest to meet Robin Hood, then led us on a mini pub crawl, which included the oldest pub in England called the Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which is over 800 years old http://www.triptojerusalem.com/, before going out to dinner. The next day she sent us on our way to explore the rest of Nottingham, which we spent a whole day doing. Nottingham had some interesting sights to explore including the Galleries of Justice, and Nottingham Castle.

From there we went back too London for the week and did all we could before hearding to Bath to visit Mum's friend Pam, she took us out to a really nice pub and we basically had a ball, before Keith and I decided to have a splash in the local Casino.... The trip ended well we saw so much and we all had a really good time, can't wait for the next one.




"Allegedly" the oldest pub in England...


Keith, Jill & Mum in Sherwood Forrest at robin hood's hideout the 'Major Oak'




Keith & I at the Robin Hood Statue outside Nottingham Castle


The place where Nottingham Castle used to be...
The front steps of the Law Courts in Nottingham, where they used to publicly hang people.


A cool pub in Nottingham, apparently used to be a church...

Tower etc

Keith & a guard at the Tower of London


Me outside the White Tower, inside the Tower of Lobdon



My mum inside a tunnel at the Tower of London



Mum & Keith and a Beefeater bear



Mum & Keith at Tower Bridge


Mum in HMAS Belfast

The Tower Bridge, as seen from the back of HMAS Belfast

Inside Shakespeare's Globe


Mum & Keith Bavarian styling

Mum and Keith outside the oldest surviving church in London.

Windsor Castle
....and again...


Bath Lock

Out to dinner with Pam.