A final word
Well that's it. We're back in England now, but before we sign off there are a few more things to say.
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who made our trip what it was
- Toby and Duncan for inspiring us to climb in Wadi Rum
- the Belgians for keeping us company during Sudan ferry hell
- Noah for putting up with the child seat without a word of complaint
- Paul & Liz for wangling us a free night in the Serena Lodge
- Andrew for teaching us about spiders
- Paula for not rubbing in her leopard sighting(s)
- the Huchzermeyer family for finding us a Sitatunga
- Camilla and Stu for introducing us to cheese
- and the wonderful local people of the Middle East and Africa who will never read this blog, but who were so hospitable, helpful and welcoming.
Finally a big thank-you to you, for reading the blog, for your wonderful messages reminding us of home and for enjoying our adventure with us.
We were on the road for 265 days, we drove 33,009 km (or 20,510 miles) and we travelled through 30 countries (including our illegal entry into Angola). We visited 29 national parks, broke down once, identified 246 species of birds and crashed twice. We drove as high as 3240m and as low as -400m.
We drove in some of the most diverse regions imaginable, from the freezing highlands of central Turkey to the scolding desert of Sudan, from the jungle covered mountains of Uganda to the arid salt pans of Botswana, from the desolate skeleton coast of Namibia to the fertile vineyards of South Africa.
Many people ask what the highlight of the trip was, and this is impossible to answer - there are just too many. So the only way to answer is describe the best things about overlanding in Africa - the people dancing on the side of the road as you drive past, seeing the milky way at night as you drink whisky next to a fire and watching the sun rise from you bed every morning. These simple things never get boring, and are what we miss most.
Originally we had intended to sell Brenda upon our return, but by Syria we realised that this was a way of life that we want to experience again so we have decided to keep her. South America, India, the Middle East - we have lots of ideas and lots of time. So until the next adventure, so long, and good bye.
Nick, Amy and Brenda