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.