Day 202 to 203: Parting thoughts

As we packed our bags for our flight back to London, we felt a little sad that our travels were coming to an end. We'd really enjoyed all the places we visited in the past six and a half months. We still hadn't tired of our nomadic existence, and constantly moving on and discovering new places had become our norm. Since leaving New Zealand in November, the longest time we'd spent in one place was our six night stopover in London. Home was wherever we were sleeping for the night. We were so accustomed to having only our backpacks; it seemed strange to think that we would soon need more belongings.

Still, we'd always known we couldn't travel forever, and we're very pleased to have had the opportunity to take such an amazing trip. We have fantastic memories of the incredible places we've visited. Every country was unique, but if we had to pick our favourites they would be India and Tanzania. We loved India for the people and the awesome food, and Tanzania for the breathtaking beaches on Zanzibar and the stunning animals of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

After our month in the US, we've mostly adjusted to the prospect of starting "normal" life again. It feels like the right time to be finishing this particular adventure. Thanks for journeying with us through our blog, Facebook status updates and photos.

Day 200 to 202: Take me out to the ball game

Our late train brought us into Chicago in time to enjoy our first live baseball game. Well, the second half of the baseball game at least! We joined in the fun as the Chicago Cubs were roundly defeated by the Houston Astros.

Over the next couple of days, we enjoyed wandering and exploring the different neighbourhoods of Chicago. Here's a few of our favourite experiences:

• A sunny architecture cruise along the river, led by the world's first architectural society
• Visiting the only Threadless retail store in the world - they make an awesome range of T-shirts, and we are big fans
• Dinner with ex-London friends Eric and Sarah Catherine, where we sampled and approved of the famous Chicago deep dish pizza
• Going to the free zoo in the park (though we definitely preferred seeing zebras and lions in their natural habitat)
• Ascending the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) for stunning vistas of the Chicago skylines. I even stepped onto the slightly scary extension - an enclosed ledge where you can see straight down from the 103rd floor to street level

We finished our time in Chicago with cocktails at the top of the Hancock Building and succulent burgers at Weber Grill. Very fitting to end our American trip with yet more great food!

Day 195 to 200: Road tripping and a Michigan marriage

With Andrew and Angie's car boot stuffed to the limit and their fun friend Michelle on board, we started the long trek to Michigan for Matt and Bethany's wedding. Their wedding was the main reason we came the States at this time. Matt is a good friend from NZ, and we were looking forward to finally meeting Bethany - she's from Michigan, and we were always in the UK when she visited Matt in NZ.

Our road trip made good progress on our first evening; we crossed the New York state border around midnight, after driving through a fantastic thunderstorm. We overnighted in a motel in Syracuse and rose early the next day to make it to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side) around lunchtime. We had a good spray-soaked walk to view the falls in impressive action, followed by a rather less inspiring lunch at a mostly empty Tony Roma's restaurant. The drive from this point was fairly unexciting - flat, mostly identical scenery, a traffic jam, border crossing back into the USA - coffee and a snack break helped, but we were all pleased to arrive at Angie's parents house just in time for dinner.

Matt and Bethany's wedding weekend was a fun time of getting to know more of their family, hanging out with the newly married couple, and enjoying a really warm welcome at Angie's parents place. The day after the wedding we had a little unexpected excitement when the tornado warning siren sounded while guests and family were hanging out at Bethany's parents' house. All the Kiwi guys stood out on the front lawn watching the clouds swirl above us, and the sky turn grey-green, until they decided to heed Angie's advice to come indoors. We didn't see an actual twister form and later heard that it hit about 50 miles away. Not much damage was caused, but it was enough to seriously delay our train to Chicago the next evening. Angie's parents kindly saved us from having to arrive in Chicago at ~4am - they came and collected us from the station and dropped us back at the station the next day to catch our rescheduled train - an extra 2 hours of driving for them. It was a huge help for us, and they even sent us off with packed lunches - these came in very handy when the rescheduled train still had to go slowly for tornado damage and took a couple of hours longer than normal.

Day 192 to 195: Peaceful times in Boston

We arrived in Boston in good time for a tasty dinner at Legal Seafood, with the great company of our NZ friend Andrew and his awesome wife Angie, a Michigan girl. We took a post-dinner stroll around Harvard, where we saw all the seats arranged for graduation ceremonies. Everything was set up outdoors, because apparently it never rains for Harvard graduation! Over the next couple of days Angie led us on an excellent walking tour of Boston, including delicious fresh canoli in Little Italy, a laid-back afternoon in waterfront Rockport, and plenty of history along the way.

Day 187 to 192: New England meanderings

From New York, a bus and a rental car journey brought us to Newport, Rhode Island, where we spent a day strolling around the opulent mansions of the Gilded Age. I thought the impressive B&B we stayed at was large enough to be a mansion, with seven bedrooms and an apartment, but the Vanderbilts and their wealthy set built their houses to ridiculous proportions. Newport's coastal setting was perfect for finishing the day with clam chowder, lobster roll, and an enormous dessert at a lively pub.

The next morning we headed up country to New Hampshire. En-route we drove through Providence's pretty 'Mile of History' and wandered around the fascinating Canterbury Shaker Village, where Shakers (an offset of the Quakers) once lived simple lives and produced goods of impeccable quality. As we approached Bethlehem, New Hampshire, we came over a rise to a peaceful lake and thunderous sky. We were treated with a brilliant rainbow and the rare sight of a beaver diligently swimming toward his dam. Moments later a downpour started, and we felt lucky to have come upon the scene at the right moment.

Arriving at our B&B in Bethlehem, the owner Mary came out to our car in the pouring rain with a massive umbrella to help us inside, and we knew we'd come to a good place! We'd booked the smallest (and cheapest) room and she upgraded us to a larger once. Fresh baking and awesome breakfasts went down a treat, and Mary even did all our washing for us; a great help after a couple of weeks on the road! We spent our time leisurely exploring the picturesque New Hampshire landscape, visiting the impressive Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods (where the IMF and the World Bank were created), and headed into neighbouring Vermont, where we drove through the Green Mountain National Park. Sparkling clear mountain streams, quaint villages, covered bridges, and barns that looked just like the typical red toy barn made for a delightful roadtrip. We completed our road tour by taking America's original scenic route, The Mohawk Trail, toward Boston.

Day 172 to 186: Our bite of the Big Apple

What we did with a week in NYC:

• Clocked up a marathon and a half - we explored New York largely on foot and loved wandering in the different neighbourhoods
• Became regulars at Johny's Luncheonette - a bustling countertop eatery serving up cheap and delicious breakfasts...mmm, fresh blueberry pancakes!
• Immersed ourselves in Picasso, Van Gogh and arty design at the Museum of Modern Art, made even more enjoyable by having the $20 entrance fee waived on Friday night
• Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and the entire length of Central Park, including swinging by Strawberry Fields (at my request)
• Savoured southern soul food in Harlem, the best bagels from a Jewish joint and more awesome American BBQ, thanks to excellent recommendations from friends
• Learnt about life as a poor immigrant in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum - an old tenement house that closed in the Depression years and provides a fascinating snapshot of immigrants' lives
• Went up the Empire State Building for fantastic views of....the misty cloud enclosing the viewing platform that day! With bad weather for our last few days in New York, we thought we'd picked a good moment to go up as we could finally see the top of the building from ground level. Alas, it wasn't quite as clear as it appeared! Still, after patiently waiting in the mist, there were moments where the cloud swept away to let us appreciate slivers of New York views.

Day 168 to 171: The Mike and Sara tour of DC

We received a locals' introduction to Washington DC, with Mike and Sara Kruger showing us the best of their city. We'd first met the Krugers in our early days in London and really enjoyed catching up with them five years later on their home turf.

Our DC tour included plenty of interesting history, a visit to local markets, the Peep Show - where fluffy marshmallow bunnies and chickens featured in all sorts of creative scenes, strolling in red-brick Williamstown, mouthwatering BBQ at Hill Country, and the best Red Velvet cupcake we've ever eaten.

When Monday sent Mike and Sara back to work, Michael and I explored the more typical DC sights - the Jefferson Library, the Capitol Building, the National Archives, the Monument Walk along the Mall and the collection of famous planes, rockets and satellites at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Early summer weather encouraged us to walk everywhere and we were left with a favourable impression of DC.

Day 162 to 167: Home and away

Being welcomed back to London after nearly six months away was so friendly and social it felt like one of our visits to New Zealand. We stayed with Caz and Mottie, who put on an impromptu 'welcome back' party for us, with Caz cooking up all sorts of deliciousness in the kitchen.

Beyond being social, our London stopover was a busy time of catching up on life admin and organising our trip to the States. We quickly discovered New York's exorbitant accommodation prices, which was a shock after cheap rooms and plenty of availability in Turkey. Friday morning bright and early we headed to the airport and flew to Washington DC via Charlotte, to start our Stateside trip.

Day 161: It's all over...well, not quite

Boarding our British Air flight to London, our main thoughts were "after all this awesome food will we have a British sandwich to 'look forward' to?" That and how weird it felt to be finally en route to London.

After five and a half months of travel we were still loving the adventure. So much so that we decided to keep up the travelling lifestyle for a little longer. We'll pause in London for several days before heading to the States for a month. We'll travel to Washington DC, New York, Boston, New England, Michigan and Chicago, spending time with US-based friends and attending a good friend's wedding.

Early June will see us back in London to resume life as normal, but until then we'll keep blogging about our extended travels. (And British Airways surprised us with a hot meal that didn't even need salt added - unfortunately they were out of Pimms so we couldn't celebrate!)

Day 159 to 160: Baklava and bazaars

Last days for all things Turkish....back in Istanbul we hit the shops - haggling in the bazaars, finding good deals on fresh Turkish delight and enjoying melt-in-your-mouth baklava. We visited the last of our 'must see' sights - the beautifully lit underground Basilica Cistern and the incredibly ornate Dolmabahçe Palace, the first Turkish palace built in a Western style, but still with the all important harem area. On this last stop in Istanbul we stayed near Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street where all the trendy people go. Being in the heart of the action was a fun way to farewell Istanbul and conclude our time in Turkey.

Day 156 to 158: Reclining in an Ottoman

Amasya was our 'off the beaten track' stop near the Black Sea, before returning to Istanbul. Restored Ottoman houses line Amasya's river, and rock mountains tower alongside with tombs carved into the rockfaces. The river is still dotted with a few old waterwheels, giving Amasya even more of a quaint feel. The city is popular with Turkish tourists, but most other travellers don't make it to Amasya, so it feels more local than Turkey's 'must see' destinations.

Staying in one of the Ottoman houses along the river was a fantastic way to appreciate Amasya's rich history. We enjoyed a friendly welcome and a delicious home-cooked dinner at our B&B. Our room had big wooden windows that opened onto the river and a retro-fitted bathroom tucked into a closet, as the rooms were not originally built with bathrooms. In Amasya we relaxed and wandered along the picturesque riverfront and climbed up to the tombs.

Leaving Amasya for Istanbul is an ~11 hour bus journey, so we found a cheap Turkish Air flight to save some time. We'd thought the airport was nearby, but in Amasya we learnt it was about 40km further than we thought and there wasn't a direct bus connection. So we caught a local 'leave when it's full' bus to Merzifon, the closest town to the airport, and had a great time enjoying incredibly cheap kebaps and cakes in a town completely untouched by tourism. We'd been advised by our bus driver to take a taxi to the airport and we amusingly arrived at the terminal at the same time as the local aiport bus from Merzifon and the Turkish Air shuttle from Amasya. Although those would have been easier options if we'd known about them, we were glad for our fun detour to Merzifon.

Day 151 to 155: Sugar plum fairy chimneys

We headed for the magical landscape of Cappadocia, with an overnight stay in Konya to break up the journey. We'd chosen what was supposed to be the express four hour bus to Konya, rather than the slower six hour services that travelled around a large lake. As our bus pulled into a rest stop near the four hour mark, still 90km from Konya, we realised we'd been duped! The awesome scenery compensated for the longer than expected journey time, with snowy Swiss-looking mountains and wintry trees growing from slate-grey hillsides. In Konya we visited the Mevlana Tomb, where Sufi dervishes once whirled, and a couple of small museums in beautiful old medrese buildings (Koranic seminaries).

Arriving in Cappodocia on an evening bus, we found that the hotel we'd booked was full for the last night of our stay, despite accepting our Hostelbookers reservation. Our stay fell over a Saturday and a national holiday, so a last minute search for accommodation wasn't the warmest welcome. After an increasingly frustrating discussion with the hotel owner, we eventually used their wifi to book another place for half the price and Michael walked to the new hotel to ensure this booking was reliable. We had a very friendly welcome to our new hotel and from this point our time in Cappadocia greatly improved. Our highlights include:

• Walking in the beautiful Red and Rose Valley, where we met only a handful of other walkers
• Appreciating the stunningly unusual surrounds - knobbly rock "fairy chimneys" spread as far as we could see, creating an almost lunar landscape
• Cafe Şafak, which quickly became our favourite spot to chill with a coffee or tasty Turkish food. We randomly met our English friends from Antalya (Matt and Lawrence) and enjoyed a couple of dinners together

Day 145 to 150: Coast to coast

From Çannakale, we made our way down the Aegean Coast to the Mediterranean in Antalya. We stayed three nights in the small town of Selçuk, where we walked out to the awesomely preserved ruins of Ephesus. We'd been warned that food onsite was very pricey, so we came armed with a picnic and enjoyed the novelty of laying out our lunch on the base of a Roman pillar in the midst of the ruins. From Selçuk we visited the ruined cities of Prienne, Miletus and Didyma, which were lovely to wander, but a little overshadowed by Ephesus from the day before.

Around Selçuk we walked to the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These days just one huge pillar remains and ducks paddle in a pond that was once the temple floor. We enjoyed the slower pace of a small town and lovely hospitality from the family pension we stayed in. Four generations lived in the same house and we were

welcomed into their front room for breakfast by the stove on a particularly cold morning.

One of our favourite aspects of staying in Selçuk was experiencing the Saturday market. As we ate breakfast on the pension porch, crates of lettuce were piled high and the road was transformed into stall after stall of fresh produce. Despite the proximity of Ephesus, Selçuk's economy remains primarily agricultural, and Saturday was clearly a big day for local growers. I bought half a kilo of fresh peas for 50p and enjoyed munching my way through them - something that's far too expensive to do in London!

While in Selçuk, we succumbed to spring colds, so our pace since then became a little slower and snufflier. We next headed to Pammukale, where we climbed calcium-covered hillsides for views over the travertines: natural white pools layered onto hillsides, that were once filled with bright blue water but have now largely dried up. They still made a stunning landscape and we spent several hours admiring the views and wandering amongst hilltop Hierapolis ruins.

Our final coastal stop was Antalya on the turqouise coast. By this time our colds had well and truly settled in, so we took things easy and recuperated. We strolled around the quaint old town and chilled out with drinks and panoramic harbour vistas at a clifftop cafe. We went to the beach and stumbled upon a couple of friendly English guys who had been our seatmates on the bus journey to Antalya and spent a couple of hours appreciating Antalya's stunning museum, with statues laid out in elegant rooms, helping us to imagine them as they once were. On our departure day, heavy rain set in, further encuraging us to hibernate at our pension before making the uninviting journey to the Otogar (central bus station) for our onward journey towards Cappadocia.

Day 143 to 144: Grecian horses and royal tours

Public bus was our method for getting around Turkey; chosen more from necessity than preference. We'd originally planned to use the convenient 'hop on, hop off' Fez Bus, which friends and family had recommended. However, after a fair amount of research, we found that the long-established hop-on hop-off service had stopped operating as of 2011, so it was time for Plan B.

Getting to grips with Turkey's bus system initially seemed daunting - bus company websites were all in Turkish and online reservation systems sounded less than reliable. We wanted to travel from Istanbul to Çannakale to start with, so Mıchael phoned a bus company to make a reservatıon. The person he spoke with had limited English, and after receiving some confusing instructions on where and when to pick up our tickets, we decided to head to the bus station and hope it all worked out.

Arriving at the bus station, our overwhelming feeling was: "it's all going to be fine." There were tons of bus companies, with good prices and from that point we booked our onwards bus as we arrived in each new place. The Turkish bus network is extensive and our first bus ride was a treat - the most luxurious model of bus, with huge reclining seats, seatback TVs with English movies, free snacks and drinks and even free WiFi.

We had a pleasant stay in the harbour city of Çannakale, our base for visiting Troy and Gallipoli. We'd booked a hotel and arrived to find they'd upgraded us to their newer, fancier hotel nearby, which was a nice surprise. We spent a morning wandering the ruins of Troy and learning about its history, followed by an outstanding tour of Gallipoli. Rather than a standard tour guide, our guide happened to be Turkey's leading expert on Gallipoli, Kenan Çelik. The first in his family to go to school, he became a University lecturer in Literature and has led Gallipoli tours for over 25 years. In that time he has guided Prince Charles, Prime Ministers, Presidents, and anybody rich or famous who fancies a helicopter tour of Gallipoli with an expert guide. We were given a fantastic overview of the origins of WWI - we were essentially standing on the Gallipoli beaches receiving a University-quality lecture, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We found it particularly interesting hearing the Turkish perspective on Gallipoli - it was the Turkish Army's first victory in many years, though they incurred heavy losses, like the ANZAC forces. Striking it lucky with Kenan as our guide was a huge highlight of our time in Çannakale.

Day 141 to 142: Sunday scrabble - is üeek a word?

A couple of days hanging in Istanbul with Tom and Caitlin was excellent. We visited the huge Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia, a massive church-turned-mosque with impressive Byzantine mosaics. We'd planned to follow up these star attractions with Topkapi Palace, but rain drove us indoors for lahmuçan (Turkish pizza) and kebaps in warm, dry surrounds.

Keeping to indoor pursuits, we wandered the lively and colourful spice market, venturing out once the rain had cleared in time to see Sunday afternoon fishing in full swing on the city's Galata Bridge. Walking uphill towards Taksim Square, the smell of fresh coffee from a cosy cafe proved too tempting and we all decided it was time for a break. Great coffee and a creative game of English/Turkish scrabble was enjoyed, with lots of low scoring 'k' tiles and an abundance of 'i's making things challenging.

The next day we explored Topkapi Palace, admiring stunning tilework in the harem and one of the world's largest diamonds, among other ridiculously ornate royal items. That evening was our last night before leaving Istanbul, so we had a delicious fish meal with Tom and Caitlin before heading our separate ways.

Day 139 to 140: Safety first: Syria later

A news report on our final evening of our Egypt and Jordan tour brought a sudden change to our plans. The situation in Syria had become more violent after weeks of little change and we decided it would be prudent to give up our plans of overlanding through Syria and Lebanon on this trip. Although we'd probably be safe in Syria as tourists, the risk that we'd get stuck there wasn't a risk we wanted to gamble with.

So, after a delicious final dinner and farewells to our tour members, we headed to an internet cafe and found a flight to Istanbul for the following morning. As a nice silver lining, our new flight let us join Tom and Caitlin, who were already booked for Istanbul, and we were even seated together.

Most of the next day was spent travelling and waiting for ages in very slow queues at Istanbul airport. Riding the tram to central Istanbul, temperatures were noticeably chilly and the city streets felt more East than West. After months of unfamiliar surroundings, Istanbul was a little taste of everyday life, and with it the reminder that our trip was soon coming to an end.

Arriving at the tourist district of Sultanahmet, Tom and Caitlin's hostel had no double rooms available, so we went walking and found a hotel just down the hill from them. They had a massive pile of washing they'd been trying to get washed for a while, so we left them to it and had a fun evening wandering around Taksim Square and the lively Istiklal Caddesi, which was packed with locals. We dined at a bustling street lined with bars and eateries and enjoyed being in the thick of things.

Day 138 to 139: Stuffed lamb and half-built houses

We followed the King's Way from Petra to Madaba, stopping in at a Crusader castle and the Dead Sea along the way. We enjoyed feeling weightless as the Dead Sea water forced us to relentlessly float. Being able to stand up in the water when we were out of our depth felt bizarre.

In Amman, the capital of Jordan, we climbed a steep Roman ampitheatre for slightly dizzying views and explored the hilltop Citadel. In the Citadel Museum I found it interesting to see statues from Ammonite times, as it really brought the history of this people to life. From the Citadel we heard the city's mosques calling people to Friday prayers: an eerie sound that echoed around us. Once prayer had finished we saw protestors gathering to follow their usual Friday protest route. Ibrahim told us that most of the protests in Jordan are peaceful, with police handing out water to the protestors. The protests in Jordan are mainly against the government rather than the royal family - it seems that pretty much everyone is very fond of the King and likes to put his photo up in their establishment.

From Amman we drove to Jerash, the stunning ruins of a Roman town. Gates, facades, and pillars had been wonderfully preserved through being buried in sand for hundreds of years. We wandered pillared streets, checkout out underground shops and had Turkish coffee in the Temple of Diana. This was no tacky tourist coffee shop - rather a lone tea and coffee vendor with a couple of steel thermoses and his cat Artemis.

While in Jordan we've enjoyed trying delicious lamb specialities, like stuffed lamb and mansaf: a dish with hot yoghurt sauce and very tender lamb on rice. Prices in Jordan are a lot higher than in Egypt, so our 15p falafel sandwiches have been sorely missed.

Landscapes we've seen in Jordan are mostly stony desert and we've visited various supposed Biblical sites along the way. Some seem more probable than others - the pillar of salt that is said to be Lot's wife looking back means she'd have to be an enormous woman! We've seen a lot of flat-roofed houses with an unfinished floor on top, as we saw in Egypt. Jordanian parents often build pillars on the roof of their house so that their son can build his own house above theirs when he has the money.

Shopping and getting about in Jordan has been more peaceful than in Egypt, where we were continually hounded by anyone who could possibly sell us a service. We learnt to banter along and have fun with everyone, rather than trying to hide away, but even so it's good to no longer be such a target. Michael still gets told "You're a lucky man" at least once a day, which is rather nice for both of us!

Our next planned destination is Syria, so we've been keeping an eye on news reports and Foreign and Commonwealth travel warnings. A warning against 'all but essential travel' to a country means our travel insurance wouldn't cover us if we chose to head there. For the past few weeks, travel warnings for Syria have only applied to a coastal area and one border crossing with Jordan, both of which we can easily avoid. We plan to take a service taxi from Amman to Damascus, crossing the safe border. We can still follow our planned route in Syria, heading into Lebanon and up through Syria into Turkey. We only have three weeks left to visit these countries, so we're thinking of extending our trip by a few weeks so we can spend a good amount of time in each place, rather than rushing. We're looking forward to our time in Syria, as we've heard the people are extremely friendly and welcoming.

Day 135 to 137: Petra's rocky heights

Cleaner streets and more modern buildings gave Jordan a more Western feel than Egypt. Strolling along the Aqaba waterfront on a crisp spring morning, the water on Jordan's only beach was amazingly clear. As island-dwellers, we found it a novelty to see Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt from Jordanian sand.

Our Jordanian tour leader Ibrahim seemed nice, but less personable than our Egyptian leader Michael, so I think we all had a few days of missing Michael as we got to know Ibrahim. We spent an afternoon in Wadi Rum, a desert valley with rock pinnacles and mountains, where we drove around the desert on the back of pickup trucks and saw a fiery orange-red sunset. Goathair tents in a Bedouin camp were our rooms for the evening. The peace of the starry desert night was spoiled a little by the campowners insisting on playing music for us at an ear-piercing volume - that and the massive group of loud Dutch tourists who were also staying in the camp. Not quite the desert experience I'd envisaged!

Petra was a highlight of our time in Jordan. A narrow passage through towering rock led to the Treasury, just one of the stunning buildings carved into the cliffsides. We made the steep climb to a clifftop monastery, dodging tourist-carrying donkeys along the way. As we came back down, I twisted my ankle and was helped by a nearby stallholder who led me to a seat and kindly made me a cup of tea. We purchased some postcards from her daughter as a way of thanking her and I continued down the path a little slower than before, resting up while Michael, Tom and Caitlyn climbed fallen pillars in the beautiful Roman ruins.

Day 134 : "We seem to be experiencing technical difficulties "

Our laptop relaxed a little too much at the Red Sea and for unknown reasons the screen no longer functions. It's under warranty but the nearest Acer service centre is in Istanbul, our final destination. So for the last few weeks of our trip we'll just rely on web cafes and free WiFi on Michael's phone when available. This means our blog will be updated less often and we'll put up more photos once we're back in London. A bit of a pain, but our trip has largely been problem-free, so this isn't too much of a setback.

Day 131 to 134: Desert splendour and Red Sea relaxatıon

The comfortable nıght traın brought us back to Caıro for one more bıg cıty day. Our tour was scheduled to vısıt the Cıtadel and the bazaar, but as Mıchael and I had already been to the Cıtadel we headed straıght for the Khan al Khaleelı bazaar, arrıvıng ın tıme to see the bazaar wakıng for the day. Shopkeepers breakfasted on quıet streets as garage doors opened on stalls. We checked out tents and marquees on Tentmakers Street and sıpped delıcıous Turkısh coffees and sahlab (a tasty Egyptıan drınk made from lotus stem wıth nuts and sultanas) at a local coffeehouse. We rejoıned our group to learn about the archıtecture of the bazaar and clımbed an old mınaret for great vıews. Lunch was one of our usual Egyptıan favourıtes: shwarma (hot sandwıches wıth meat, tomatoes and onıons) and 15p falafel sandwıches.

We left Caıro at sıx the next mornıng, passıng through Tahrır Square where large peaceful protests agaınst the Muslım Brotherhood were planned for the day. We saw a handful of people already ın the square and orange juıce and tea sellers preparıng to serve the protestors. More omınously, we passed an entıre busload of polıce unloadıng near the square, but we later learned that the protests had been fıne. We drove through dramatıc desert landscapes to St Katherıne`s, near the supposed Mount Sınaı. Everyone headed off to clımb or camel rıde up the mountaın, but I decıded to gıve the 3750 steps a mıss and ınstead enjoyed relaxıng besıde the pool wıth surrounds of stunnıng mountaıns.

Our fınal days ın Egypt were spent ın Nuweiba chıllıng out on the beach and snorkellıng ın the Red Sea. Farwellıng Egypt and our fantastıc Egyptıan tour guıde Mıchael, we boarded a ferry to take us across to Jordan. Only the slow ferry was runnıng that day, so the trıp took about seven and a half hours. Most of that tıme was spent waıtıng for the boat to fıll so we could depart and crawlıng at a snaıl's pace once we got underway. However we dıd enjoy travelıng ın style - once we'd passed through onboard ımmıgratıon we blagged our way ınto fırst class. Our tıckets had been taken from us when we boarded and we dıdn't know whıch class we were booked ın - so we decıded to head ınto the fırst class restaurant untıl someone told us to leave. After a tasty lunch and several comfortable hours we were ınvıted to the empty fırst class lounge. We weren't sure ıf thıs was because we had been too noısy ın the restaurant or whether they thought we dıdn't know where the lounge was - but ıt was very pleasant ın any case! The rest of the boat was crowded wıth people sleepıng ın staırwells, but fırst class was a world apart that we were happy to enjoy for a tıme.

Day 126 to 130: Where is my Mummy?

Four days were spent exploring Upper Egypt's stunning sandstone temples and richly decorated tombs. Hot sun and refreshing Nile-side greenery welcomed us to Aswan, where a short boat ride brought us to the picturesque island temple of Philae. After enjoying wandering around the temple we spent time browsing Aswan's lively souk. At 4:30am the next morning we joined the convoy of other tourist vehicles to journey to the tombs of Abu Simbel. Scheduled convoys with police escorts used to be the norm for visiting other parts of Egypt, but now Abu Simbel is the last route requiring convoys and our Egyptian guide Michael thought the last convoy should soon disappear. We were impressed by the massive statues, pillars and detailed carvings in the tombs.

From Aswan we boarded a felucca (traditional sailing boat) for a day and night on the Nile. The trip was relaxing and a good time for getting to know other group members better. The drop in tourist numbers meant we only saw one other felucca sailing along. This made our journey very peaceful but it was sad to see how much the lack of tourists was hurting local people and businesses.

After leaving the Aswan area we drove to Luxor, visiting Edfu Temple and the massive Karnak Temple complex. That evening at dinner Michael (our tour guide) asked us if we'd noticed that all the local women had been covered up. He went on to say that this wasn't normal for Luxor, but the Muslim Brotherhood had threatened to hurt any Egyptian women who weren't fully covered that day. Hearing this definitely made things feel edgy, although we had felt very safe until that point. As far as we know nobody was hurt, but many Christians decided not to send their girls to school for the rest of the week.

On our final morning in Luxor we decided to treat ourselves to a sunrise hot air balloon flight over the Valley of the Kings. Tom and Caitlyn (the Australian couple in our group) joined us and we had a spectacular flight with beautiful weather. Ballooning was followed by a random donkey ride to nowhere in particular. They were funny little animals to ride and surprisingly difficult to stay on if your donkey decided to stop and munch some sugarcane along the way! As I rode along I thought of Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem: definitely not the normal choice of animal for a king!

In the Valley of the Kings we descended deep into the earth to explore the tombs of Ramses VI, VII and VIIII, as well as Merneptah who is presumed to be the reigning Pharoah at the time of Moses. The tombs ranged in size and the carvings and the vibrant paintings retained their colours. We really enjoyed seeing the paintwork in a similar state to what it once was, as the temples we'd recently visited had changed to mostly sand-coloured over the years.

Day 119 to 125: Those revolting Egyptians

Our first few days in Egypt were spent relaxing in Alexandria. The coastal setting and coffeehouse culture makes Alex a great place to unwind and catch up on washing, blogs and Skype with our families. After the recent upheaval in Egypt, life seemed to be continuing as normal on the streets of Alex. We saw a few army tanks along the seafront "Corniche" road, but they appeared to be protective rather than a threatening force. In Alex we visited some interesting sights, including ruins of a Roman ampitheatre and subterranean Egyptian burial chambers, which were discovered in 1900 when a donkey fell in.

From Alex we took a train to Cairo and checked into our hotel right on Tahrir Square, where the protests had taken place. I was surprised to find that Tahrir Square was mostly busy roads with pedestrian areas around the edges. On TV the massive crowds made the square appear completely pedestrianised. People we spoke with in Cairo seemed pleased that Mubarak had finally been overthrown. We saw lots of cars with "January 25" stickers on rear windows, marking the day the protests began. On a street behind Tahrir Square we came across barbed wire remnants of a road block, but otherwise Cairo was business as usual as in Alex, but with virtually no tourists.

We found Cairo more pleasant and much cleaner than we expected. Everyone we knew who'd visited the city had mentioned how dirty Cairo was, but to us it seemed fine - not as clean as Europe, but nothing that made us cringe. Perhaps our month in India has desensitised us to dirt! We had some time to ourselves before beginning our tour from Cairo, so we went to the sound and light show at the pyramids and explored Coptic Cairo and the old citadel. Wandering in downtown Cairo near Tahrir Square was lively and interesting. We chilled out with turkish coffee at a street cafe where locals smoked sheesha and sipped tea and enjoyed cheap and tasty Middle Eastern takeaways from the popular Felfela eatery.

The next day we began our final group tour of this trip. Low tourist numbers mean there are only 8 people in our group where normally it would be about 15. Fellow group members are an easy-going mix of Aussies, Canadians and one American. We spent the morning in the Egyptian Museum where the scarcity of other tourists made for a very pleasant experience. The amount of Egyptian artefacts was stunning and made the British Museum's collection seem tiny in comparison. The treasure from King Tutankhamen's tomb and incredibly well-preserved mummies were our highlights. We took a daytime visit to the pyramids and climbed the Grand Pyramid - more for the experience of climbing the ramps inside a pyramid than the dark little roo we arrived in after the energetic climb! That evening we boarded the overnight train to Aswan. With comfortable two berth cabins and airplane style meals, it was an agreeable way to travel south to see the treasures of Upper Egypt.

Day 117 to 119: End of the road in Nairobi

Finishing 41 days overlanding in Africa felt strange. When we began the trip in Cape Town it seemed such a massive journey and now we were almost in Nairobi. Our last African border crossing, our last bumpy day on the truck...though as we rose before 5am and packed up our tent in the dark we knew we wouldn't miss camping anytime soon!

Once in Nairobi we started farewelling friends from the tour. A small group of us went out to dinner with Emma at Carnivore, an atmospheric meat-feast, rated one of the best restaurants in the world. All four tour members who began the trip in Cape Town were present, so it was a fun way to wrap up the trip before people flew out or moved on. The next morning we headed to the giraffe sanctuary with Bree and Anna-Lisa, where Michael and I let the giraffe lick our faces and take a pellet from between our lips. By evening all our fellow overlanders had left and Michael and I spent our remaining time in Nairobi chilling out with free wifi and good coffee at Nairobi Java House and visiting baby elephants at the elephant orphanage.

Some of our favourite memories of our time overlanding in Africa:

- Fantastic animal encounters in the wild

- Stunning scenery in Namibia and green grass in the desert

- Receiving a warm welcome from locals and being befriended by great kids

- Sampling delicious game meats

- Enjoying the beauty of Zanzibar

Now that tensions have calmed in Egypt, we are pleased to be able to head to Cairo to begin the next stage of our adventure.

Day 111 to 116: The wild locals of the Serengeti

As we drove towards Arusha, gateway to the Serengeti, we were treated to rare clear views of Mt Kilimanjaro. Our visit to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater was a highlight of our time in Africa. We spent three days game driving and camping in open campsites where zebra filed past in the background and an elephant and buffalo came to visit. We were fortunate enough to see the Big Five - lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and buffalo.

In the Serengeti we came across a leopard and her cub at a little distance. As we watched, the mother dragged their kill to a tree directly in front of our jeep. We watched her lug the kill up the tree and stop in surprise as the main body of the kill snapped off and dropped to the ground. "Take two" of bringing the kill up the tree was successful and we watched mother and cub eat and relax. Normally leopards are nocturnal and aren't often seen in pairs, so we were lucky.

The Serengeti rains were later than usual, so most of the herds who would normally be on the plains were still in the woods waiting to migrate. We came across a massive herd of a few thousand zebra and enjoyed watching some of them repeatedly taunting a crocodile by drinking water as close to the croc as possible. We also saw a honeymooning lion couple up close and a large pride with cubs slinking through the grasses.

From the Serengeti we drove to the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unbroken volcanic crater. Our game drive was picturesque, with cheetahs running along the crater wall in the morning light, scores of wildebeest slowly trekking along, and lions tearing into their kill while jackals and hyena edged in to snatch their share.

A much needed toilet break proved more eventful than we'd anticipated. As we headed to the toilet block, Michael started walking around a parked jeep towards the Gents. "Don't go there, there's a couple of lions" warned an American couple in the jeep. They sounded so cheerful we thought they were joking, but they assured us they were serious. So we all piled into the Ladies. Emma tried to have our guide come pick us up from the toilet block entrance, but I don't think he registered what she was saying as he just smiled and waved. Feeling rather nervous now, we "confidently" walked from the toilets to our vehicle. Once safe we turned to see a large male and female lion happily entrenched beside the Gents. Luckily for us they weren't in the mood for moving!

After all the excitement we relaxed at our campground near Arusha, learning about Masai culture from the Masai museum, visiting a local Masai village and shopping at the craft markets. To celebrate/commemorate our last evening camping we had delicious smoked lamb and dessert.

Day 105 to 110: Beaches to die for

Two long driving days brought us across the Tanzanian border to Dar es Salaam, the departure point for Zanzibar. Nightly rain was replaced with constant stifling heat, which didn't mix well with the choking stench of rotting fish wafting from Dar's fishmarkets.

We caught the ferry for a relaxing trip to Stone Town, Zanzibar's main town, where we were led on an amusing spice garden walk by "Ali T in da bush", a man who spoke like Ali G as he described the spices. We visited the old slave markets, now a church, and saw the awful cells slaves used to be crammed into before they were purchased.

From Stone Town we headed to Nungwi, where we spent two very chilled days on one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen. White sand led to vividly blue water where boats bobbed peacefully. However, the next morning the seas were rough and the boats were thrashing around. Our tour group had planned to go snorkeling, but none of the operators were foolish enough to set sail in such stormy conditions, except for one...By lunchtime we'd been approached by a company who was willing to take us out in a speed boat rather than a wooden boat and so off we headed on the roughest boat trip we've experienced. We did see lots of pretty fish and an intensely turquoise coloured sea like we'd never seen before, but as we began the trip back to shore I think we were all relieved to be approaching land. Conditions had become rougher while we were snorkeling and several times our small boat was nearly overcome by waves. After the engine flooded and plenty of water was bailed out, my trust in the boat owners judgment was quickly disappearing and I decided it was a good time to put on one of the life jackets lying around the boat floor. We made it safely to shore, but the waves were so strong that we had to anchor a little offshore. As the waves washed over the brow of the little boat, we jumped into the water and spluttered to shore. Our trainee, Arnold, hadn't grown up swimming and was very nervous of snorkeling in deep water, so nobody let him know quite how dangerous the trip had been until we were firmly back on land. Aside from that adrenaline-charged adventure, the rest of our time on Zanzibar was spent peacefully enjoying the beach, very affordable cocktails and good food.

Day 101 to 104: Lakeside life in Malawi

Lake Malawi takes up 20% of the country and is so large it resembles the sea. Camping alongside the lake was a relaxing way to chill and see village life unfolding. We enjoyed:

Dinner at Mr Smooth's house: Emma organised a local meal for us one evening. Mr Smooth's Grandma cooked a range of tasty veg dishes, spicy eggs, rice and pap/ugali - a thick glutinous maize meal porridge. We dined on a mat outside with a candle and a torch lantern for light, surrounded by plenty of onlookers in the shadows. After dinner we enjoyed watching local children dance with vigour. The medium-sized group of kids quickly picked up more and more children who wanted to join the performance, with us being pulled up to shake our stuff at the end.

Visiting a local daycare centre: Unfortunately our visit fell on a public holiday, so the kids weren't around, but we still enjoyed learning about the Australian lady who had been given land by the local chief to start the centre. Nutrition was an essential part of the centre's goals, so children who might not otherwise eat received a bowl of porridge each day. Emma said she'd once visited when the kids were having a treat - plain boiled potatoes. A long way from what we'd consider a treat.

Succulent spit-roast goat: Our group purchased a goat from a local named Kelvin. We were ready at 7am to see the goat being slaughtered, but Kevin was running on African time. He eventually showed up a few hours later while we were out and killed the goat without an audience. The cooked result was delicious eating, with Emma and Arnold cooking up a range of mouth-watering accompaniments and dessert. At the start of the tour Emma said it was her goal to make us gain 10 kilos through the food and we are becoming a little more "African pretty" than we'd like to be!

Day 98 to 100: The currency of clothing

Rainy season has made its presence felt, with storms and showers following our path north-east. Some cooler overcast days made a break from blue skies and searing heat. Fortunately most rain happens towards evening and we've only once had to put down our tent in the rain.

In Kafue, Zambia, we took a boat cruise to a remote riverside camping spot run by a nearby village. The boat owners cooked us a delicious dinner and we relaxed with terrible wine (purchased in hope from the onboard bar) and a game of Hearts, followed by marshmallow toasting round the campfire to the music of village drummers. Just as Michael and Satoshi tried their hand at drumming, a nearby thunderstorm suddenly moved in, forcing an early retreat to the tents.

A morning boatride and a walk in the bush brought us to the local village, where we were shown around by a man who had 10 children. The village had no electricity, but we found it amusing to see he had his priorities in order - his mud house had solar panels for satellite TV so he could watch the English football! I found it interesting to learn how World Vision was helping the village and surrounding area. While I was at Uni I'd sponsored a child through World Vision and it was great to see how sponsorship benefits communities.

From Kafue we drove to Lusaka, Zambia's capital, where we arrived in time for the Sunday markets. Armed with some socks Michael no longer needed, I had great fun haggling with local sellers. My negotiations secured a copper bracelet for two pairs of socks and roughly 70p, while the same amount and three pairs of socks purchased a pretty cloth shoulder bag.

The following day we crossed the border to Malawi. Another country, another currency. However, getting cash proved to be a "This is Africa" experience in Llongwe, Malawi's capital. There were no shortage of banks, but after to-ing and fro-ing and waiting for over an hour in long ATM queues, our debit request had been rejected by the only banks that accepted Visa. Fortunately we'd been given cash for lunch and in a last attempt before we left, the cash machines finally made contact with our UK bank and gave us cash to spend once more.

The Africa of our imaginations

As we drove through Zambia and Malawi, the picture of Africa we held in our heads came to life across the countryside. Small thatched mud or brick houses replaced the simple Western styled houses of Namibia and Botswana. Basic old fashioned looking towns became dirt streeted villages with a few shops and even capital cities felt like large towns with no high rises in view.

Adverts often lack the hype we've grown used to in the West. An internet provider promoted itself as "probably, the fastest internet connection in Africa" while Jaba Tea simply claimed "It's good, it's strong."

The comparative underdevelopment as we head east tends to stem from corruption and poverty. In Malawi many people live on $1 a day, which in local prices barely buys the plain necessities of life. Contrary to what we might expect, most people seem happy here. I haven't felt bad for being a rich tourist, rather I've been pleased to be able to give my business to locals. The handfuls of people who normally wave at our truck as we travel have become scores of smiling faces and children running to welcome us, which makes traveling in these areas very pleasant.

Day 94 to 97: Being refined in Livingstone - golf and high tea with "locals"

Our first four days in Zambia were spent enjoying creature comforts. Michael and I ditched our tents for a waterfront room on the Zambesi and a group of us headed out to the Livingstone Golf Club for the morning. We teamed up with Cho and Moon, who proved to be excellent first-time golfers. As a treat we hired caddies for a very reasonable price and enjoyed their expert advice and bag carrying service. After seven holes it was getting very hot and cold drinks at the clubhouse was becoming rather enticing, so we called it a day.

Comforts continued with a small group of us taking high tea at the Royal Livingstone, a very posh colonial-style hotel. Decadent amounts of delicious food were polished off, with a refreshing swim in the pristine pool and cocktails on the riverfront deck to conclude. Cheeky monkeys swooped onto our table to steal snacks and wrestle with Tanith for her cocktail. Tanith having successfully saved her cocktail, we farewelled the high life and were pleasantly surprised to encounter giraffe and zebra crossing the hotel driveway as we left.

While in Livingstone we of course visited Victoria Falls, Livingstone's star attraction. We were blown away by the power and immensity of the falls. Lax health and safety regulations let us get as close as we liked to the waters edge at the top of the falls and we watched one crazy adventurer paddle his body board scarily near the lip of the falls. The ways you could die by going over the falls were varied and gruesome, so none of us were tempted to take a dip for ourselves. The spray from the falls was pretty much torrential rain, so we emerged saturated from the viewing walk, with the exception of Cho and Moon who had their own incredibly waterproof ponchos (you could hire ponchos or wear a jacket, but the water still poured in any gap).

The adventure seekers in our group chose to bungy jump from a bridge over the Zambesi river near the falls. We enjoyed spurring them on, but I thought the jumps looked so terrifying I decided I'd be quite content to never bungy jump!

Livingstone was the departure point for most of our group, so we celebrated Bree and Cho's birthdays at a local Indian restaurant and enjoyed a laid back pizza night before saying our goodbyes. Four group members were leaving to continue their own travels, eight were joining another group heading to Johannesburg, leaving Michael, Bree, Satoshi and I continuing up to Nairobi. We had expected at least a few people, if not lots, to join the tour at Livingstone, but the only addition was a trainee called Arnold, giving us nearly as many crew as tour members. As we pulled out of Livingstone to start a new leg of the tour, the truck felt empty and a little lonely with so few of us on board. Still, we figured the next 21 days would give us time to adjust and come to appreciate the benefits of being a smaller group.

Day 92 to 93: Hungry hungry hippos

After a much anticipated punch night, featuring the cooler bin filled with a potent "fruit" punch (mostly alcohol) and punch-fuelled crazy antics, a 6am departure saw our truck populated with many subdued sleeping forms. Botswana's flat landscape was expected to be great for sleeping through, though several interruptions to see giraffes and elephants walking and drinking along the roadside were accepted.

Our destination was Chobe National Park, where the elephant population of 64,000 gave very good odds for seeing at least an elephant or two. An early morning game drive was an awesome experience. We saw hippos lumbering along the road, as well as lazing in the water. It was fascinating to see such a huge creature trot along at some speed.

A rare treat was seeing two prides of lions with cubs at very close range. The cubs were very cute and we enjoyed seeing their rough and tumble play. One pride had killed a kudu (a type of antelope) and we watched as herons edged closer and closer to the kill, until the lion leapt up and chased them off.

The park was rich in other wildlife, with impala, monkeys, elephants and warthogs crossing our path. We revisited the animals on a sunset cruise where we saw baby elephants swimming and chasing monkeys and male elephants locking horns in a fight.

Day 90 to 91: Mokoro journey to the delta

Narrow canoes carried us along reed-lined waters to the world's largest delta: the Okovango Delta. After being poled along for a couple of hours on a peaceful and increasingly hot journey, we made camp in a tree-studded clearing, with Haggis enthusiastically digging us a toilet nearby.

In the hot afternoon we headed to a safe swimming spot, guided by our polers, local Botswanians who grew up in the delta area. A fun hour was spent watching people try to pole the mokoros, with often hilarious results. The soft silty sand of the delta quickly became fuel for a mud war, with the boys specialising in drying balls of sand until they formed solid ammunition. Michael landed a couple of unintentionally destructive blows, with Tanith copping it on the face and Satoshi receiving a strong shot to a tender area. We finished our delta evening with s'mores by the campfire, drinking games and the tunes of Toto's "Africa."

The following morning we weren't lucky enough to spot game on an early walk, though we met interesting insects, tiny frogs and saw plenty of evidence that animals had been active before we got there. Our mokoros brought us out of the delta and 10 of us took a scenic flight to view the delta from a different perspective. From the air we could really appreciate the size of the delta and we enjoyed seeing lots of elephants, giraffes, hippos and buffalo.

Day 88 to 89: Walking with bushmen in the Kalahari Desert

A 480km drive and a border crossing brought us to Ghanzi, Botswana, where we stayed in a peaceful campsite surrounded by the Kalahari Desert. Most of us opted to upgrade from our tents to tiny straw huts for a more local experience.

The campsite supports a number of bushmen people who are expert hunters and live off the land. In Namibia bushmen used to be regarded as animals and it was legal to shoot them. Their way of life may not exist in 50 years, so it was a privilege to have a small group of bushmen lead us on a desert walk. Dressed in animal skins and carrying sticks and arrows, they demonstrated amazing knowledge of desert survival. As we walked they would start digging in the desert grasses and uproot medicinal or edible plants. We watched them build a fire from scratch and saw how they carry water in ostrich eggs to keep it fresh in the heat.

Our evening drew to a close with Michael, Leteloi, Satoshi and I relaxing around the campfire enjoying the quiet of a desert night.

Day 80 to 87: Green grass in the red hot Namibian desert

Plants and mountains covered in greenery aren't typical images of Namibia. Much of the country is desert where very little grows, but our visit coincided with the highest rainfall in many years. Rivers and pools had formed where the land had been parched. Even when we visited Sosussvlei (meaning Dead Lake) the lake had reformed.

The rainfall brought its challenges - over the week we encountered two other overlanding trucks who got stuck in the mud, but we were fortunate and managed to get through.

The week's adventures include:

Rising at 4:30am to climb Dune 45

With sand dunes stretching into the distance we watched the sun rise and climbed down to discover a proper fry up breakfast waiting for us, thanks to Emma and Letaloi.

Looking out for wildlife as we travel from place to place

Michael and I have spotted oryx, springbok, zebra, warthogs, jackals and even a couple of giraffe who had been imported to Namibia.

An evening's mad dash to cross a bridge before the river flooded

With party music blaring and a fantastic storm crashing around us, we raced against the rain and arrived in time to safely cross, saving ourselves an additional 600km drive the next day. Once we were out of the storm zone we found a clearing near the road and set out mattresses to camp under the stars and see a beautiful sunrise the next morning.

Quad biking on the dunes of Swakopmund

A fun couple of hours was spent speeding around the dunes, though disappointingly, there wasn't the option to do more adventurous moves as we had expected.

Watching tens of thousands of seals and their cute pups waddle and splash about

Unfortunately the seals stank - strong "wet dog" smell with a little something extra to really turn the stomach. While the hardier among us "adjusted" to the stench, Michael and I fought the gag reflex and were not ashamed to walk about with tissues stuffed in our nostrils!

Lions and giraffes in Etosha National Park

Letaloi's sharp eyes spotted a brownish object under a tree - which Michael's zoom showed in detail to be a strong male lion and his mate. We watched the male get up and walk a little, and although they weren't as close as we would have liked, we were fortunate to see them, as we spoke with a local who had never seen a lion in Etosha. We also really enjoyed seeing a number of giraffe up close, including some youngsters.

Seeing dramatic mountains and rocky plateaus formed from magma in Spitzkoppe

Wandering in Windhoek

Upon arrival in Namibia's capital city, our truck was greeted by an assortment of intriguing characters - newspaper sellers, blind people with paper sheets telling their story, keyring sellers, and a young man who claimed his brother had just been hit by a car and he needed money to get to hospital. Feeling "welcomed" we strolled around central Windhoek, finding it very similar to Hamilton, our hometown in New Zealand. A similar collection of modern and dated buildings, with nice enough streets to wander and no real standout "sights."

Eating delicious game at Joe's Beerhouse, Windhoek

After much recommendation, Joe's Beerhouse delivered the goods - my zebra fillet was succulent and peppery while Michael enjoyed flavoursome oryx.

Life as an overlander

For those of you who are wondering about day to day life on our camping trip, here's a quick overview.

Campsites are generally very pleasant spots and often have pools which is very welcome in the mid to high 30's heat. We usually leave camp around 7am to avoid driving in the heat of the day, so that means tents packed in the dark and breakfast around 6am. This is rather different from our usual style, so we're still struggling to transform ourselves into lively morning people! Mornings can be very busy to meet the departure schedule and sometimes it feels like we need to leave the moment we've finished breakfast, which isn't something we particularly enjoy. Later in the day we often have blocks of time to chill out and swim, so the morning rush does balance out with downtime later.

Most of our group like drinking and partying until late, so we're a little different in our enjoyment of a few drinks before heading to bed early to cope with the early starts. It would be nice to socialise more with the group, but our "old" bodies need their beauty sleep! The atmosphere in our group is great - everyone is happy to pitch in to make camp life enjoyable and there's a real acceptance of everyone as they are.

Most days we pack up and move on, with an average drive being four hours and a few long driving days of eight hours or so. Roads are generally on the bumpy side and in Botswana they are unfenced, so we make frequent stops while horses, donkeys and cows slowly saunter off the road. Shashe (our truck) is comfortable, with padded seats, some tables, glass windows, lockers, a freezer, charging stations and an iPod jack. In early mornings or as the day gets hotter it's easy to catch up on missed sleep as the truck rocks along.

We work as a team to take care of all the practicalities of camping, with rosters for cooking, truck packing and cleaning. Emma and Letaloi are wonderful - often we'll return from a bushwalk or other activity to find they have kindly cooked dinner for us. We also learn a lot by asking them about things we see along the way. Letaloi is from the Masai Mara in Kenya and we've enjoyed chatting with him and learning about his life.

Day 77 to 79: Rooibus and braais

A hot afternoon's drive from the Cape area brought us to a peaceful campsite with beautiful views of the Cederberg mountain range and rooibus fields. We relaxed with a wine tasting which included a flavoursome rooibus-infused vermouth and tucked into a delicious braai (BBQ) cooked by the camp owners.

The next morning we set off on a ~550km drive to the Namibian border, where we cleared customs in the scorching heat. Crossing the Orange River brought us into Namibia. Heavy rainfall had swollen the river so much that our planned campsite was several metres underwater, so our "change of plan" campsite was a few minutes away on higher ground. Some waterfront bungalows were flooded, but our tenting area was fine and Leteloi had kindly pitched our tents for us. The afternoon was spent relaxing by the huge pool, which was an interesting shade of green (probably due to all the rain) and had some friendly bugs in the murky depths. Still, it made a welcome relief from the mid 30's heat which was wilting us all. Another tasty braai (cooked by us now that we had our truck and proper equipment) and birthday cake were a fitting end to my 28th birthday.

Our next destination was the Fish River Canyon, the world's second largest canyon (after the Grand Canyon). The absence of health and safety regulations let us get as close as we liked to the edge. We dined canyonside and enjoyed seeing a large black and orange scorpion beside the truck.

Day 77: District Six and the townships

In Cape Town our truck tour group visited District Six, where the apartheid system saw black and coloured people cleared from their homes and forced into designated areas, called townships. All the buildings in District Six had been razed except the religious institutions which were spared in a tactical move by the apartheid government. A mall area of new flats were slowly being built for those who wanted to return to their old neighbourhood, but most people were reluctant to leave the communities that had formed in the townships. Looking around us it was understandable, as District Six was still largely empty, despite its proximity to the city.

We were given guided tours of two townships in the Cape area, where we were greeted with friendliness and visited a local beer making business. We sampled sourdough beer in the traditional manner - fresh beer was poured into a steel bucket which we passed around the group. Definitely an acquired taste!

The townships mostly had very small houses built wall to wall, with some hostel buildings and the occasional shipping container acting as a shop. Living conditions had much improved from the apartheid era and we saw the extent of these changes when we visited a hostel. Standing in the lounge/dining area of a six bedroom hostel "house" we learned that the houses had been designed to accommodate 18 men, with three beds per room and a single toilet and shower. At one point the men's families had joined, making for about 96 people per house. Considering that the 14 of us felt cramped and a little invasive as we squashed into the lounge, conditions must have been horrendous for the families who had to live here. In response, some families built shelters beside the township boundaries, where many people still live with no running water or electricity. Directly beside these shacks the apartheid government built spacious brick houses in view of the main highway, to give foreign visitors a good impression of the townships.

When we visited the shacks a group of children welcomed us with amazing trust and enthusiasm. A small hand slipped into mine and Michael and I walked with a beaming child between us. Children were being piggy backed and flipped into the air by our other group members. Apparently young children struggle to recognise white people as individuals, so it's likely they thought we were their friends returning from an earlier visit. This probably explains their exuberance, but it was still a special experience.

Day 76 to 77: All aboard!

From Cape Town we joined a 41 day truck tour, led by Emma and Leteloi, who will take us on a seven country journey of 13,800km, finishing up in Nairobi, Kenya. Our tour group seemed a good bunch, with the 14 of us hailing mostly from the UK, and one girl from Australia, a guy from Japan, and three South Koreans. Only four of us were heading all the way to Nairobi, with most leaving the tour at Livingstone, Zambia, where we'd pick up new members. Michael and I were looking forward to seeing the different landscapes and learning about African cultures, but after a month of enjoying comfortable mid-range hotels in India, we felt a bit soft and weren't overly enthused at the prospect of living out of a tent for the next 6 weeks. We were pleased to hear there were opportunities to upgrade to rooms at various points on the trip and decided we'd take the easier route where we could!

Africa often requires a change of plan and our journey began with such a change. South African authorities had recently decided to no longer allow foreign-registered vehicles with passengers to cross to Namibia, so instead of climbing aboard Shashe, the truck that would be our home for the next 41 days, we had a temporary truck until Namibia, where Leteloi and Shashe were waiting for us.

Day 72 to 76: The tablecloth on the mountain

We arrived in Cape Town in time to see the rushing cloud known as "the tablecloth" covering the top of Table Mountain. I initially thought a big storm was on its way into the city, but soon saw that although the cloud looked like it was about to spill over and flood the city, some weather phenomenon kept it from spreading.

Highlights of our time in Cape Town include:

Visiting beautiful wine regions
We took a day tour around Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, with the stunning Cederberg mountain range in the backdrop. Pleasantly we were the only people on the tour, along with a friend of the tour leader, so we enjoyed a more personal tour than usual. The first winery of the day had a delicious fortified port-style wine for only £4.75, so we decided it would be a good evening tipple for our upcoming truck tour. At the last (and most expensive) winery of the tour we found the first Pinotage that we really liked, along with other delicious wines, but we kept our wallets closed.

Exploring the Cape area
A half-day tour took us around the beautiful beaches along the coast, to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern-most point of Africa.

Wandering in the city and seeing colonial-era architecture
We found Cape Town to be a very pleasant city and we enjoyed strolling around the city and the waterfront and savouring delicious food at cafes and restaurants.

Day 69 to 71: Do Buy in Dubai

Spending money and showing off how much money you have seems to be the main activity in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, these crazy cities surrounded by desert where fancy shopping malls house ice-skating rinks and indoor ski fields. We stopped by for a weekend to visit our friend Teresa who is an old workmate of Michael's from his Genesis days in Hamilton. Teresa has lived in Abu Dhabi for 3 years and we enjoyed being shown around and lunching at tasty restaurants and enjoying coffee at the opulent Emirates palace.

Day 65 to 68: Goodbye India

Mumbai was our final destination and like much of India, it surprised us. We roughly expected it to be a steamier, bigger, dirtier and more polluted version of Delhi. Central Mumbai was in fact very clean, with wide streets and a lovely waterfront along Marine Drive. Around the Fort area the buildings from British-rule days made the city feel similar to London or European cities. At times we did come across choking rotting fish smells which reoriented us, but most of the time there was no rubbish or unpleasant smells. We were in town for Republic Day, celebrating independance from British rule and we enjoyed seeing dozens of holiday cricket games in play at the Maidan Oval park. We joined tons of locals and Indian tourists to see temple cave carvings at Elephanta Island and spent our last evening in India strolling along Chowpatty Beach, where families enjoyed the holiday with toss-the-hoop games and snacks from street vendors.

Leaving India after 4 weeks is strange and a little sad. Random things we'll miss include:

Constant attention

Everyone wanted to welcome us to India and although the fact that we stood out made us uncomfortable initially, we came to realise that 99% of people stared at us because they were curious and interested, and if you are curious and interested in something why wouldn't you stare? We've visited monuments where other Indian tourist seem more interested in us than the sight they've come to see, so we've granted requests and posed in many holiday pictures. We've been filmed walking along the beach and the most memorable question would have to be "why is your skin pink and white?" asked of myself and Laurain, the Dutch girl on our Kathmandu to Delhi tour.

Dated Celine Dion sounds

After hearing the Titanic themesong play in a number of restaurants/cafes and even have someone walk along singing it behind us, we may not exactly pine for "My Heart Will Go On" but it was an amusing blast from the past that seemed to follow us around

Chai wallahs and masala chai

By far our favourite drink was masala tea and it was available absolutely everywhere..many a train journey was made more enjoyable by a cup (or few!) of cardamom-spiced chai

Friendly people

We met some wonderful people who helped make our time in India outstanding. Our driver Vidu in Kerala and Bhupendra, our tour leader for Kathmandu to Delhi humbled us by the gentle way they served us and made our enjoyment their priority. So many people just wanted to greet us and find out how we were enjoying our time in their country. In our last week in India I realised how often I smiled with my whole face in response to those who smiled at me and how welcomed I felt.

From Mumbai we fly to Dubai, where we'll spend the weekend in and around Abu Dhabi visiting our friend Teresa.

Day 56 to 64: Cruising Kerala in the Ambassador

Tropical temperatures and sunshine welcomed us to south India. Our first stop was Bangalore, the IT capital of India. It's not exactly a tourist mecca, but we'd planned to visit a childhood friend of mine who was unfortunately called away at late notice. We'd treated ourselves to a fancy hotel for the weekend so we decided to take things easy, plan our travels for the next week and enjoy the free wifi. Michael's stomach was not enjoying Indian food at that point, so it was good to get in a bit of rest.

We flew from Bangalore to Kochi, where we hired a driver and car for four days (our vehicle turned out to be the stereotypical Indian car, the Ambassador, which made for a stylish ride). Our driver Vidu was a lovely Indian man who really enjoyed driving people around and seeing them enjoy their time in Kerala, so it was a real pleasure to have him introduce us to the region.

We visited Munnar, where vividly green tea plantations spread across the hillsides. A walk high in the national park introduced us to plenty of friendly mountain goats which can only be found in Kerala. Our hillside accommodation near Munnar served up one of the most delicious Indian feasts we experienced on our trip.

Thekkady was our next destination, where we took a jeep safari into Periyar National Park and spotted monkeys and huge squirrels. We hiked for a few hours, but despite our guide's best efforts, the elephants remained in hiding.

A pleasant four hour drive brought us to Alleppey, where we farewelled our driver Vidu and boarded a houseboat for a relaxed overnight trip along the backwaters - miles of peaceful palm-lined waterways, with houses and villages dotted alongside. We stayed an additional day in the town area of Aleppey and enjoyed an autorickshaw trip to a beautiful palm covered beach about 15km away. We went for a big walk around Alleppey, where many locals greeted us with obvious curiosity and pleasure. It seemed that few white tourists spent time in Alleppey town once they had finished their houseboat trip.

We finished our time in Kerala with a very laid-back stay in the small fishing town of Fort Kochi, where we wandered sleepy streets on Sunday morning, pursued by autorickshaw drivers trying sell trips to spice markets - the main selling point being that "business is very slow on Sundays."

Our week in Kerala was very rewarding and we were glad we'd changed plans to include it - we had originally planned to visit Goa, but it sounded like we'd enjoy Kerala more than Goa's beach and foreign tourist scene. Kerala was certainly well visited, but the majority of the tourists were Indian. With the world's first democratically elected communist government and a 100% literacy rate, Kerala seemed to have greater equality than most other places we'd visited in India and we didn't see anybody living on the streets, which was very different from the poverty in the North.

Day 42 to 55: (Not) as calm as a hindu cow

Two weeks into our Indian experience and certain things have become our new normal. Vibrant activity, sharing roads with cars, rickshaws, tuk tuks, cows, goats, dogs, and the occasional pig, spatters of red betel juice on the ground from paan-chewers...and of course, people, people everywhere.

I expected India to be intense with the sheer number of people, the dirt, and the in-your-face poverty...as well as being a fascinating country with awesome spicy food. Overall we haven't found it as much of a culture shock as we expected. It is a buzzing place, which often appears chaotic to our western eyes. Almost everywhere we go people are curious about us as we are clearly foreigners, so we are becoming accustomed to not being able to blend into the background. Cities tend to have lots of rubbish about the place and pollution haze from the hordes of vehicles and it is hard and challenging to see lots of people begging and struggling to eke a living, when we comparatively have so much. I think I find street children the hardest to see, as they always run up to you and pull at your clothing. The best way to get through them is to completely ignore them, which feels heartless but is better than trying to shake them off like bugs.

Taking the metro on the weekend in Delhi was rather like joining a rugby scrum, particularly for men, as women have a dedicated carriage reserved for them which is much less crowded than the rest of the train. Train travel has been excellent in the upper class air conditioned (heated in winter) carriages and it was easy to sleep on the seats that converted to beds for overnight journeys, but the lower class carriages are not heated, and it did get very cold in the past few weeks. Winter fog made for some very long delays - the longest delay we encountered was when our afternoon train from Orchha to Agra was already 8 hours late before it got to us - so our tour group abandoned the train plan and took a 6 hour drive instead.

Exploring northern India has been a very interesting time and highlights for us include:

Treating our tastebuds

with delicious curries, breads, varieties of dhal, lassi and incredibly sweet sweets. We have been really enjoying hot samosas on train journeys and English tea has been replaced by cardamom-spiced masala chai.

Witnessing life and death rituals along the Ganges river

Floating along the Ganges was at times a sobering experience. The river was alive with the activity of boats, Hindus washing in the waters and the flames of funeral pyres where Hindus mourned and tourists clustered above to watch. It looked invasive, like spectating at a funeral. Our boat kept some distance from the burning ghats (banks) out of respect for the families. Although most dead bodies are cremated, certain exceptions (including pregnant women, lepers, those who die from snakebites and holy men) mean bodies are put directly into the Ganges without being burnt. We passed a shrouded body bobbing along, with head and shoulders above the water, which was a rather disturbing experience for us.

Peaceful Orchha and stunning Khajuraho temples

We enjoyed visiting the small town of Orchha, which had an impressive palace and many temples lining the river. An Indian cooking class was a great way to taste new dishes we can try to recreate when we return home. We also visited an awesome temple complex at Khajuraho - known as the kama sutra temple, the beautiful buildings are decorated with thousands of "instructive" figures.

A fog-shrouded Taj Mahal

We visited the city of Agra on one of the colder winter days and saw a mysterious looking Taj Mahal. Our other tour members were disappointed by the fog but we didn’t really mind, and as we were leaving the sun came out in time to light up the marble for a more contrasted view of the Taj.

Seeing Bollywood in action and on the big screen in Jaipur

The Amber Fort in Jaipur was a beautifully preserved palace complex where we enjoyed wandering and there happened to be a South Indian film being shot, so we joined the onlookers. Later that evening we saw the latest Bollywood film at the Raj Mandir Art Deco cinema – we expected to be a bit bored after an hour of watching the Hindi film without subtitles, but it was pretty easy to follow and we enjoyed the music, the dancing, and the cheesiness. Other highlights of Jaipur were a beautiful royal summer palace set in the middle of a lake and the Jantar Muntar observatory with astrological instruments built in stone, which are still accurate today despite being built over 300 years ago.

A serene lake city and a local festival

After our tour finished we headed south west from Delhi to the peaceful lake city of Udaipur. Islands in the midst of the lake have beautiful white palaces and the city is much cleaner than Delhi. An enterprising rickshaw driver took us from the train station to our hotel and offered to be our guide for the day, so we enjoyed being driven around viewpoints, gardens and spice markets. From Udaipur we took an aggresively driven bus to the city of Ahmedabad in the Gujarat region and arrived in time to enjoy seeing many children and families out celebrating the Makar Sankranti festival by flying kites. We also visited Gandhi's ashram and saw where he and his wife lived and from where they led their non-violence movement.

That wraps up our time in the north, we're now off to Bangalore to begin 2 weeks in south India.