Africa, My Africa: The long and winding road..duh, duuuh,duhh.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The long and winding road..duh, duuuh,duhh.

I am a bit of a scatter brain at the moment. I have just not settled back into my work routine yet and I'm wishing I was still in the bush, searching for lions.

My first guest, in my new role as safari guide, is now safely back in the Western world, although I think this took a while; she seemed to spend more time on the ground with the "the world's favourite airline" than in my car (the aptly named Gorgonzola- a bit beastly) whilst on safari! And we did spend many hours on the road; thank goodness my friend and I had 15 years to catch-up on.

There is never a dull moment on a self-drive safari. And we started off well; getting stuck in mud behind three school buses and two safari trucks, fearing we would be camping by the road-side. By day two we were pros. Not once were we lost or dazed, although the driver (yours truly) was often slightly confused. Only on our return to the city did we read all that we SHOULD have read before setting out on a self-drive safari...I'm sure that if we read it first we would have decided to fly!

Being able to enjoy morning coffee on the roof of your car whilst admiring the elephants and giraffes is a safari highlight, but we still managed to stretch our legs during the road trip. Horse riding in plains with Ugandan kobs; sipping on Bombay Saphire whilst getting up close and personal with the hippos; tracking for the chimps; getting boda-bodas around the town; swimming in the crater lakes and rafting down the River Nile.

My first guest, Tania, has promised to write a glowing reference for my next blog, but I know that now my safari skills are being developed (and my photos are soon to be posted), friends and family will be knocking on my door.

A few snapshots of the long and winding road...and some of our adventures along the way!