samburu.....

Enjoying ‘bia hoi’ home brewed beer at 30c a litre in Vung Tau with John & Liz

Tortoise Pagoda, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ha Noi

We have been to some really interesting parts of the world - although we still have not

made it to South America or India yet - and these are just a few of our favourites. West Africa is much less travelled than East or Southern Africa, mainly I assume because its scenery is not as dramatic and it has much less wildlife. There is still a lot of history and many fascinating cultures. Voodoo originates from here and is still practised; one horrifying story came to light during our first stay in Accra where a doctor had ritually killed around 100 children, and fetish temples can be seen all over the region.

East Africa by contrast attracts many more tourists and understandably so with the snow-capped Mounts Kenya and Kilimanjaro, the amazing Ngorongoro Crater, and the exotic towns of Zanzibar and Mombasa, all combined with an abundance of easily accessible wildlife. One of the advantages of living in Kenya was being able to visit the smaller or more remote game reserves such as Shimba Hills and Samburu, and to see rarer animals such as the Bongo and the Sable Antelope.

One advantage of visiting less well known places is that you can interact with local people on a more genuine and less commercial basis, and eat more authentic food - one of the best meals we have ever had was one of noodles and vegetables at a roadside stall in Laos, and ‘bia hoi’ brewed in small bars all over Viet Nam is often miles better than Tiger!