After being stuck in Cairo for far too many days, we finally found ourselves waiting for our flight to Nairobi (Kenya). We knew that recent flight changes would not allow us much time in Nairobi before our tour departed, but when our flight was continually delayed we started to get nervous. Luckily the wind was pushing the plane in the right direction allowing the pilot to make up for lost time, so we actually arrived just in time to find a taxi and make our way to the departure point with 15 minutes to spare.

We jump on the truck and are greeted by the other 25 people on the tour, we meet the driver, the cook and the tour leader, made ourselves comfortable and finally found ourselves being able to sit back and relax as we drove to our first destination.

There was plenty of action on this three week trip, which combined the East African game parks with the wonder that is Victoria Falls. The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are East Africa's best known parks, Zanzibar was a tropical paradise that's steeped in history and tradition, we had time to relax on the golden beaches of Lake Malawi, and Victoria Falls offered some adrenaline-pumping adventure activities.

East Africa was an amazing experience, where we had the opportunity to see plenty of wildlife, including the big 5 (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffulo), plus all of the other major sightings of hyena's, hippo's, giraffs, zebras, crocodiles, cheetahs, gazelles, warthogs, ostrich's and a variety of birdlife. It was also quite challenging as it required long days travelling over rough roads in the truck, camping inside game parks during both the heat and rain, less than basic meals were provided, and toilet requirements were met by finding some privacy behind some trees (while watching out for wild animals).

The major highlights included the following:

Serengeti - The scenery in the Serengeti was absolutely beautiful and consisted of vast plains that stretched for miles, the land was dry and harsh, the heat penetrated your skin, but as we bumped our way over the tracks inside our safari jeep we were always on the lookout for game. Our favorite afternoon consisted of watching a cheetah hunting down some impalas, followed by seeing a cute baby lion cub perched on a fallen tree, then finding its parents sitting and walking alongside the track (within a few meters from us), then we drove past some elephants playing, followed by driving past a lake with about 20 hippo's grazing, next it was time to be almost pushed off the road by a herd of buffalo, then on the way home we saw a leopard perched in a tree only meters from the track with a kill in its mouth. It was the most amazing experience of our entire holiday.

Ngorongoro Crater - This area of Tanzania is a hollowed out volcano where wildlife have found themselves in but can not get themselves out, meaning that the opportunities to see game is awesome. The day we drove through was my birthday, and my only wish was to see a rhino. My birthday wishes came true, as our driver saw the horns of a black rhino sticking out of some shrubs in the distance. After a short wait we witnessed the huge beast emerge and seemingly pose for some photos. Throughout the rest of this day we had an even closer experience with mating lions, hippo's, hyena's, plenty of flamingos, zebra's, giraffs, wilderbeasts, elephants and warthogs.

Masai Village - The people of Africa are really beautiful, both in looks and their personality. This was really felt when we visited a Masai village. Here we both had a jumping competition with the locals, sat with the tribal leader in his mud hut, visited the local school and heard them sign the ABC song to us, we gave pens to the children and watched their massive smiles get even bigger, and finally we witnessed their local dancing and singing which was really awesome.

Island of Zanzibar - This was halfway through our journey and it was a great chance to relax for a few days in a tropical paradise. We made the most of our time by soaking up the warm sun, snorkelling in the one of the worlds clearest waters, had the opportunity to dine on some fantastic foods and cocktails, we also upgraded and stayed in an over water beach bungalow which had amazing views (obviously), but best of all the accomodation had a clean toilet and shower (with hot water) which we both thought was the most luxurious thing we had for a long time.

Victoria Falls - When we arrived in Zimbabwe (via Zambia) it was nothing like we expected. Our expectations were of a great tourist location which boasts in having one of the wonders of the world, having amazing sceneries and having numerous amounts of game parks with the worlds greatest creatures, but what we experienced was a run down city which has grocery stores with no food, petrol stations with no petrol, banks with no money, and a civilisation that appears to have no hope. Unemployment is ridiculously high, inflation going through the roof (in August US$1 could buy you ZIM$200,000 but in December US$1 could buy you ZIM$1,100,000) and due to the shortage in everything your only option is to purchase things on the black market. Apart from this, we still had an amazing time as we walked around the Victoria Falls, and then we also had the opportunity to jump in a light weight helicopter and fly over the falls as well, which gave us a great view of this amazing landscape. We had the great opportunity to walk with young (but definitely not small) lion cubs in a conservation area. This was absolutely amazing. Finally, seeing that our time in Africa was almost to a close we made our way onto a 3 day safari in one of Zimbabwe's largest game parks. Again, this was awesome and allowed us to view plenty of game right up close, with the highlight being stuck in the jeep while a herd of over 50 elephants crossed the track all around us.

Needless to say that although it was quite challenging at times we still had the most amazing time in Africa. There were times when we did not think we would make it home alive due to 2 memorable situations; firstly me having one of Africa's most deadliest spiders being on my pillow (inside our tent) as I woke one morning; and secondly when I was a little careless and took Leanne along on a walk through a conservation game park late one day and while following and getting extremely close up to a herd of giraffs we had left the track and was led well into the jungle, only to find ourselves lost in the dark hearing nothing but animals walking (or stalking) around us as we desperately tried to find our way back to camp.

Africa has definitely changed us, and will stay in our hearts forever.