Hi guys - this probably the last blog entry because our travels are (rather unfortunately) officially OVER! This is just a sort of recap of the last 5 months to sum up our adventures! Enjoy!

In the last 5 months we have…

• Witnessed a mugging in Johannesburg;
• Played soccer with native South African's;
• Met the strangest Zimbabwean ever - Dawn Magowan!
• Worked in a monkey sanctuary;
• Cuddled a baby vervet monkey;
• Been bitten by vervet monkeys (Bekki);
• Taught in a rural South African secondary school;
• Sorted rotten fruit & veg;
• Met the chief of Kwazulu-Natal;
• Stuck out as the only 2 white people as we partied with 200 black people in the bush (including the future President of South Africa!)!
• Herded ducks and chickens all afternoon;
• Taught the 'Okie-Kokie' to a South African primary school;
• Been trekking for giraffes on foot;
• Watched a South African moonrise;
• Been woken up at 5am to watch a South African sunrise;
• Stayed in a mud hut with a Zulu family;
• Ridden on the back of a bukky to fetch water from a river;
• Been adopted by the Zuma's;
• Attended a 'Church of Zion' religious event;
• Been given Zulu names - Ngungubane & Sambane;
• Quad-biked in a game reserve;
• Spotted crocodiles and hippos in St. Lucia;
• Spotted 3 of the Big 5 on safari (including a herd of elephants - with babies!);
• Watched a puffadder eating live mice;
• Drank cocktails with our toes in the sand;
• Got stranded in DurbanCity in the dark
• Won at a pub quiz - thanks to our amazing Biology skills!!
• Shopped in the largest shopping mall in the Southern Hemisphere;
• Braved the tallest water slide in the Southern Hemisphere (Dan);
• Watched a dolphin show;
• Laughed at an incredibly cheesy sea lion show;
• Zip-slid 175m through the trees - 35m above canopy level!
• Got stuck in a pub during a massive South African storm (can think of worse places to get stuck in I suppose…);
• Learnt to play pool - badly! (Bekki).
  
  
• Learnt to dance Salsa!
• Visited many Sydney beaches;
• Drank A LOT of goon!
• Partied hard in Sydney;
• Watched a freak show, rodeo, motorcross, dancing JCB's & a firwork & laser light display at the Easter Festival;
• Won Aus$200 for doing the Macarena! (Dan);
• Visited the Blue Mountains (with the most boring tour guide EVER!);
• Saw KT Tunstall!
• Watched a flying electric orchestra!
• Rode on the world's steepest train (yes, everyone screamed!);
• Been gay for 3 weeks (Dan);
• Broke 7 guys hearts! (Bekki);
• Seen an opera at THE venue!
• Flown while hung-over - NOT advisable!
  
  
• Been visited by a ghost;
• Stayed in smelly Rotorua!
• Went White Water Rafting;
• Had mud & sulphur baths;
• Fallen off a Luge (Dan);
• Re-created scenes from Lord of the Rings while visiting the Hobbiton set;
• Been abseiling, caving, black water rafting & climbing in 1 day;
• Swooped in a sleeping bag;
• Been zorbing;
• Walked over New Zealand's most active volcano;
• Managed to be avoided by all dolphins on a 5-hour dolphin watching voyage;
• Met 'Wolf' from Gladiators!
  
  
• Taken a road trip along the East Coast of Australia;
• Fed elephants at Australia Zoo!!
• Got a tattoo! (Bekki);
• Braved a bungy jump!
• Jumped on bouncing pillows!!
• Painted our own boomerangs;
• Gotten an aboriginal man's mobile number;
• Made a campfire on a deserted beach;
• Been sea kayaking;
• Had coconut milk poured in my hair (Bekki);
• Been snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef;
• Licked an ant's bottom on the WhitsundayIslands!!
• Detoured for 3 hours to collect forgotten washing!
• Stargazed in a hammock;
• Milked cows on Bekki's Birthday (in true Devonshire fashion!);
• Made friends with Coops!!! (Our Joey friend!);
• Been horse riding amongst wild kangaroos;
• Leant to ride a motorbike in the Australian outback;
• Visited the infamous FraserIsland;
• Been on the best water slide ever!!
  
  
• Met Dave Hedges!!
• Rode in a pedi-cab;
• Swam in the sea in the rain;
• Terrorized fat Louis!
• Had many Filipino massages;
• Been to a Filipino Fiesta!
• Had a professional photo shoot;
• Visited a paradise island - Siquijor;
• Had our calliouses removed, Sir!
• Snorkelled on ApoIsland;
• Been attacked by mini jellyfish! (Bekki & Max);
• Gate crashed a christening;
• Boogied on down at a Filipino disco.
  
  
• Changed our plans in India about 100 times!
• Been whisked away in our own taxi for a tour of Delhi;
• Had dinner with a local, Shafi, on our first evening in India;
• Flown first class!
• Stayed on a house boat;
• Bought a Salwar Kameez (Bekki);
• Bought A LOT of pashminas (Dan);
• Been trekking in the Himalayas;
• Camped in 3ºC temperatures;
• Eaten our pet chickens - Juicy & Tender!!
• Had afternoon tea with the gypsies;
• Gate crashed a Hindu wedding!
• Slept in fear of the Yeti Woman!!
• Relaxed in a Shikara boat called 'Bob Marley' for a day;
• Blended in with the locals while visiting the MogulGardens;
• Been on a 2-day bus journey through the Himalayas - along the border of Pakistan and on the highest road in the world (around 6000m above sea level!) - with numerous military security checks;
• Rubbed shoulders with the hippy travellers in the mountains;
• Gotten stranded in the middle of nowhere (Lei);
• Befriended many stray dogs (who look more like mini bears!) while waiting for our share jeep to turn up from 2am until 8am!!
• Survived a 26-hour off-road bus journey, which included freezing temperatures, no sleep…oh, and a crash into the side of the mountain!!!
• Been photographed by & shaken hands with what feels like half the population of India (the other half just stared and gave us evil looks!);
• Worn the same trousers & t-shirt for about 4/5 days straight!!
• Travelled on a sleeper bus;
• Travelled on an Indian public bus (and swore never to do so EVER again!!);
• Met the slimiest tourist information guy around;
• Missed our midnight train - oops!
• Shared our bedroom with many guests - including cockroaches, ants, lizards & some sore of pond life!
• Discovered a mouse in my bag! (Bekki);
• Trekked for tigers riding on Kalina - a gorgeous elephant!
• Trekked for tigers in a jeep in the rain;
• Picked mangoes in a mango orchard;
• Ordered a lot of room service in Jaipur;
• Watched a Bollywood movie;
• Got henna tattoos;
• Ridden a camel!
• Driven a rickshaw!
• Had our palm's read;
• Been followed 221km by my Indian stalker who then managed to find our hotel by "following his heart"!! (Bekki);
• Seen the gorgeous taj mahal at sunrise!
• Had the camcorder stolen 4 days before our return home (Dan);
• Taken a boat ride down the river Ganges (and hit a dead cow in the process!);
• Had an evening of mocktails & apple Shisha with our new friends from Kent;
• Been treated as a second-class citizen for a month for being white & female (Bekki);
• Waved goodbye to India as we boarded our final flight!!
  
  
  
  
  We now have friends from…
• South Africa;
• Buckingham;
• South Korea;
• New Zealand;
• Jersey;
• Oxford;
• Edinburgh;
• Ireland;
• Holland;
• France;
• Harrow;
• Newcastle;
• West Midlands;
• Germany;
• Leeds;
• Ukraine;
• New Zealand;
• Sidmouth;
• London;
• Philippines;
• Australia;
• India;
• Surrey;
• Kent.
  
  
  
  We have eaten & drunk…
• Chicken feet - NOT advisable!
• A traditional Zulu dish (that I can't remember the name of!) - consists of maize meal, a tomato relish & some sort of chirizo style sausage! (I hated it but Dan thought it was ok);
• Roybus tea - again, Dan liked it but I didn't! Not that I'm fussy or anything…
• Cactus - surprisingly tasty and refreshing after a long hike in the South African sun!
• Raw sugar cane;
• Bunny chow - quarter of a loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with spicy curry!
• Biltong - like beef jerky (it's awful!);
• Crocodile - really nice, tastes like a cross between fish & chicken!
• Orange wine - weird and NOT tasty!
• Goon - cheap boxed Australian wine! Nasty but travellers can't be choosers!
• Kangaroo steak - Dan liked it but it's not my favourite meat;
• Fresh coconut - which we picked (well, picked up off the beach anyway!), shelled & prepared ourselves!
• Chicken Odoboe - traditional Filipino dish;
• Lechon Baboy - traditional Filipino party food - a whole pig spit-roasted over the fire! The crackling is sooooo delicious!
• Sticky rice with chocolate syrup - may sound awful but it's really delicious!
• Coconut cider - absolutely disgusting! Tasted like rotten coconut! Mmmmm…
• Kashmiri tea - gorgeous Indian tea made with cardamom & cinnamon;
• Chai tea - more gorgeous Indian tea; not sure what's in it though…
• A LOT of curry!!

So, we have packed quite a bit into just 5 months! And we are looking forward to our next travelling adventures! Next stop... Japan & South Korea!!

Love you all!

Bekki & Dan

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