I'm sat in the Dot Cafe in Moshi town feeling absolutely shattered after an amazing weekend at Lake Chala. Lake Chala is a crater lake on the border of Tanzania and Kenya which is hardly touched by travellers. It is absolutely stunning and supposedly the deepest crater lake in Africa but it doesn't even make the East Africa Lonely Planet guide. However, Lake Chala is infamous in Hostel Hoff as the setting of a vicious crocodile attack in 2002.

Undeterred, we set off on Saturday morning after approximately four hours sleep to get the dalla dalla to Himo where we would be collected and dropped off at the (hopefully crocodile free) campsite. After a horrendous dalla ride (I'm not sure there's any other kind of dalla ride) we eventually arrived in Himo. Himo bus station was not the most charming of destinations but it was brightened up by a man called Mojo and his motorbike who offered us 'three English dogs' for Lizzie, the resident hostel blonde. Unfortunately some people in the hostel just can't see a bargain when it smacks them in the face and so we were forced to spend the weekend with a blonde Manc instead of three lovely dogs.

After this minor disappointment we were eventually greeted by our driver and his pick up truck. The two boys jumped in the two front seats and the ten of us girls crammed onto the back of the truck. (Incase you were still unsure, yes, chivalry is dead). We eventually arrived at the campsite with varying shades of African spray tan (poor Naomi had all but kissed goodbye to her mzungu days) and wolfed down our lunch before setting off for the lake.

I'd like to say we had a blissful walk down to the lake admiring the scenery and local wildlife. However, it was more of a terrifying descent spent avoiding sharp drops, tree roots and snakes. Still, it was great fun nevertheless and I sat down on a comfortable looking rock to decide whether or not I was brave enough to jump in the water. When it comes to potential crocodile filled lakes I think it's always wise to let someone else get in first. After a solid ten minutes without a crocodile appearance the most pathetic of us finally jumped in and the water was amazing. You can see on the photos how far our we swam (approximately five feet) but at least I still have all four of my limbs.

We got back to the campsite and had a nice hot dinner before cracking open the wine and, most importantly, the marshmallows to toast on the campfire. The consequences of this are demonstrated beautifully by my photo of a drunken Lizzie complete with pyjamas, socks and sandals combo. I knew we should have swapped her for the English dogs.

We had such a fun night and the next day the most adventurous of the group decided to hike around the lake in the blistering sun to cross the Kenyan border. The least adventurous of the group decided to have a short wander to find the elephants before heading back to sunbathe at the campsite. I'll leave it to your imagination which of these categories I entered into but I'm fairly certain I made the right decision. Tanzania yetu, hakuna matata!