Goodnight from Thomsons Falls

We stayed at Thomsons falls last night. There was a playground next to the falls. This morning we stayed on a bit to dry out because it had been raining for the last two days!

Tilly's 2nd birthday

We missed grandma because she would have made a cake. Daddy bought a piece of decorated rock! Tilly got some lovely presents and blew out the matches on the cake (we didn't have candles)

Queen Elizabeth National Park

We went to the national park and stayed at a wild camp site. Over the river from our camp site we saw two lions right next to some buffalo. The buffalo didn't know the lions were there. I think the lions killed one of the buffalo in the night and I think also they knew they wanted to go after one. I think it was a male and female lion. There was a loop called leopard loop. I thought there were leopards there but there weren't! We tried to look for the tree climbing lions but we only saw claw marks on the trees. I think they used to live there but got frightened away. Florence

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Back into Kenya

We left Uganda and grandma and grandad and drove to Nakuru. Instead of going on to Isiolo we stayed because we realised that the landrover had broken. Today we are at the garage trying to get it mended. Hopefully it will get mended and we can get on our way to Isiolo and then Ethiopia. It has rained non stop for the last 24 hours so we sat in the bar and did our school work and weaving. Thomas

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Bwindi Rainforest

From our campsite in the rainforest we could see volcanoes erupting in the Congo. We stood on the roof of the truck to watch the volcanoes. We saw lots of red fire and smoke coming from the top of the volcanoes.
We went for a walk in the rainforest. It was dark and damp and slippery. Grandad and daddy and mummy and Tilly and Florence and Thomas came too. I liked the rainforest. The roads to get there were very muddy, slippery and bumpy! Nia

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The crater lakes, Fort Portal

The crater lakes were very pretty and there were lots of them. We went for an 8 km walk to see a water fall. The walk was tiring and hot but not for me! Before the waterfalls we had to walk down a really steep hill Which was almost vertical. When we got to the waterfall there was a lot of spray and breeze which was nice. On the way back it was the hottest part of the day so it took longer. When we got back we all had tuna wraps and I ate about ten! I enjoyed the walk a lot. Thomas

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Kampala and the babies home

We camped near the babies home in Kampala. A rat got into the truck so we called the camp site rat packers instead of back packers. When we went to the babies home in Kampala we played with the babies and then fed them, dressed them and put them to bed. It was hard putting them to bed because they all cuddled around you when you tried to put one to bed. We went there for a few days to help until we moved on. We bought what they really needed which was baby nappies, milk, toilet rolls and washing powder for all the clothes. I thought it was quite organised and the babies were very cute. I enjoyed helping out but it was tiring.
Florence
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Eating fried grasshoppers!

When daddy went shopping for tomatoes and green oranges he came back with grasshoppers. They tasted like beef crisps. The girls refused to try them. They were really delicious. Grandad and I also went on a quad bike in Jinja, Uganda. It was really fun because I drove. The girls played crazy golf. We stayed at a camp site right next to the River Nile called Eden Rock. The River Nile has lots of rapids and the next time we will see it will be in Sudan.
Tomorrow we are going to see the babies home.

Aquinoe Learning Centre, Kitale, Kenya

Yesterday we went to see a charity called Aquninoe School where there are a lot of children with special needs. The school was excellent because it had a little play park and the children were happy. The youngest border was 3 years old and he is called Dennis. His mother lives in Nairobi and he stays at school for about 12 weeks at a time. They had run out of electricity because they couldn't pay the bill.
We sponsored two children and gave the school food, toys 2 bikes and paid their electricity bill.

Flamingos at Lake Bogoria

There were millions of flamingos on the lake. They looked pink and some were really White. They looked amazing and pretty. The lake was a soda lake. We also some massive tortoises.

The hot springs at Lake Bogoria

We went to the lake to see millions of flamingos and the water bubbling. At the hot springs the water really smelt. It was so hot that grandma cooked an egg in it.

Crossing the equator in Kenya

Diani Beach, Mombasa

Nia - we played on the beach and we stayed on a villa and we had a swimming pool. I had my own shower. We went to see the dolphins.

Thomas - we went on a boat to see the dolphins at shimoni and went snorkelling. We saw a really big grouper and lots of yellow fish. We also saw lots of other really colourful fish

Florence - I went snorkelling a little bit but I stayed with the life buoy because I was scared of the fish.

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Masai Mara

Florence - Grace, William and Alfie our cousins came to the Masai Mara with us. We saw lions eating a giraffe on our first day. We saw four cheetahs, two when grandma was with us and two when she stayed at the camp. We nearly saw the wildebeest crossing the river. There were really big crocodiles hiding in the river waiting for the wildebeest to cross. We stayed at crocodile camp just outside the park and we had a really good view of the park. One night we saw eleven hyena. We also saw lots of giraffe walking across the park. Every morning we watched the hot air balloons float in front of us.

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Mount Kilimanjaro

Thomas - kilimanjaro is three volcanoes, two small ones and one big one in the middle. It is a fantastic mountain. When we went to the foothills it was raining and cloudy so we couldn't really see it but when we got to Amboseli national park the sun came out and we had a great view of it. Daddy showed us lots of old lava so we knew it was a volcano.

Amboseli National Park is in Kenya. We saw lots of hyena and some lions. There were loads of zebra and wildebeest too. Whilst we were there we went to see a Masai Village. The houses were amazing because they were made out of mud and sticks. They were really dark inside. Their houses made a circle around the middle where they kept their animals. They showed us how to make fire by rubbing two sticks together. When the children are 5 years old they make a mark on their cheeks and bathe it to help them see a long way. They did a wlcome dance and prayer when we arrived. It was really interesting and different from anything else we have seen so far.

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Having fun in Dar Es Salam

We went on lots of slides at wet and wild. Nia thinks Lydia and Deli would have liked it! Beat bit was when all three of us went down a big slide in a rubber ring. Tilly thought it was brilliant too!

Zambia

Zambia

We went to some big falls . We went on a boat trip there were rapids. There is a nice bar area at the camp site. We stayed for one night only. Afterwards we stayed in a town called Mongu. We stayed for 4 nights. The vice president of Zambia came to the hotel. It was a very sandy town. We tried to see the King of western Zambia. Florence

After Mongu we went to Kafue National Park. We saw lots of impala, other antelope, elephants, buffalo, hippo and a leopard. The leopard was about 2km from the campsite. There was a hippo that walked into the bar every day.
Then we went into Lusaka and bought some things for the special unit for the deaf children and for Chipembele.
We gave the children at the unit skipping ropes and frisbies, some exercise books and pencils, crayons, clothes and other things.
42children had to board at the school for 13 weeks each term. It must be boring because they did not have any thing to play with, no televisions or computers. It was a very poor school. When we walked around the school the children wanted to keep touching our hair because it is blonde. Tilly got scared.
Chipembele is a field study centre and local children to learn not to hurt or kill the wild life.
Thomas

We went to North Luangwe and saw lots and lots of animals. We had to cross a 2 metre deep river and the truck had to drive through it. We stayed at Wild Camp and I was scared of the elephants and the hippos so I went inside the truck to eat my dinner.
We passed a lot of poor villages on the way to South Luangwe. The children's clothes had lots of holes. They did not have shoes.
When we got to South Luangwe we camped at a site called Track and Trail.

Florence

Malawi
We went to Lake Malawi and went swimming. Me and daddy went snorkelling at 6 o clock in the morning we saw lots of tiny little fish.
Malawi is a beautiful country because there is the sparkling blue lake.
We would like to go back to Lake Malawi.

Tanzania
We have only just got into Tanzania. It seems a lot richer than Malawi as there are brick houses s well as mud. There are more bore holes with pumps for the people to get water.
In 2weeks time we are going to meet our cousins in Kenya. It is going to be good b ecause we haventj. Seen them for 2 months.
The camping is fun but Florence doesn't want to do the trip again because she misses her friends.

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Elephants

Thomas - When we were driving lots of elephants crossed the road in front of us. I was asleep and Florence had to wake me up to tell me about the herd of elephants
We camped at a campsite called Bum Hill. When we stopped to set up camp there was a massive bull elephant really close by. First we didn't realise it was there. I felt a lite bit scared because it was so close.

All shipshape and ready to go?

Having used a twig and a hundred seed pods to decorate a 'Christmas tree' we made dinner for everyone. Thomas enjoyed the mozzarella but not the salad!

Tilly - daddy doesn't think I will quite make the 2012 Olympics but I am trying!

Passing time in Rundu

Florence - we went swimming in a very cold pool. We jumped in so daddy could take a photo of us. I did a pencil jump. I had to do school work today and watched Shrek in the afternoon on mummy's computer because it was too hot - 40 C in the shade!

Thomas - we caught the tiger fish in less than 10 minutes! It took daddy longer to reel it in than catch it! It was really exciting because it is the first fish we have caught and it is enormous!

Thoughts from Rundu

Nia - I played in the river and got wet so I had to take my skirt off. We went to a hotel the other night for dinner and I had coka rola and Flo had green soda and Thomas had diet coke and Tilly had guava juice. I am having a nice time because I love playing in the swimming pool. Mummy and daddy always wear their sunglasses all the time. The houses here are made out of mud and I would like to live in one because they are yellow and they look good.
Thomas - the truck has had 2 punctures already, and at the moment the truck is being a big pain because it keeps breaking down. At the moment it is at the garage being fixed for about a week. So we have to wait at the camp site. I have just been swimming in a freezing cold swimming pool. I have also been fishing a couple of times but caught nothing! one day I would like to help the people who live in the miniature houses we see along the roads.
Florence - I have been sleeping up in the roof tent whilst Grandma and Grandad have gone back to Windhoek to get their passports. Also it is very hot here and even if you stay in the shade you get really hot. I have mixed feelings about this trip, it started off badly and is still very bad! All the vehicles have broken down. The good thing about the trip is that we are allowed to sleep in the roof tent sometimes. The houses have changed since we left England. They are made out of straw and mud and very small.

The First Day

Thomas -Yesterday we started to drive north to Calvinia but we didn’t make it. There were lots of road works and we broke down.

Florence -There was a little town where the truck got fixed. I said to grandma I don’t get it, why do you want to do this big trip?

Nia – I liked the truck. I liked sleeping in the truck. I saw ostriches and budgies at the camp site.

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