18 girls 4 guys started out on our tour. Really nice group of people, we have Kiwis, Aussies, Canadians, English, Swedish, and a couple of Japanese. Me and Amy along with 3 others were the youngest and people ranged up to 30-40. A really nice mix of people with their own stories to tell. A few people had left teaching jobs and taken 6 months to a year travelling. The two Japanese women had left teaching jobs at home and taken 12-24 months to travel all over, their next stop is Poland and we're not sure they really understand how cold it will be! I am amazed by what they are doing as their English is very poor and it has seemed difficult to explain itineraries of the tour.
After a briefing we left the hotel and made our way through the manic streets of Nairobi. I thought our road works were bad and mum, these are 10 x worse compared to the Kent roads!! You're constantly tossed around all over the place and the speed bumps here toss you 2 ft off your seat coming back down with a crash! Lots of fun for the people riding the back of the truck!

There are alot of miles to cover but after heading straight out of the city it has been amazing driving along past such different beautiful scenery, ranging from mountains rising high into the sky to all the tiny towns and villages. That little window into other people's life as we flash by really is humbling. The range of houses is vast, most are hand built, sticks and mud huts mostly, baked mud bricks, a few are tiny brick frameworks- some with no windows or doors and with straw/leafed/twig roofs. As we moved further south there were a few more substantial brick houses often with material hung over the front door. We noticed alot of people standing in open areas trying to sell other people's land! There were a lot of signs around saying 'this land is not for sale'. You always pass people walking everywhere, all on their own mostly and sometimes in small groups, women carrying massive baskets, water containers or sand bags on their heads, young boys herding their families cattle. Cattle are like their investments and savings, some will sell theirs to gain another daughters hand in marriage. A lot of people are just sat outside their homes and tiny market stalls just watching the world go by and watch us pass with great interest and stares. We weren't aloud to take photos as they dont like it and will often ask for money in exchange. Lots of young children were carrying containers of water, donkeys also are used for labour and often can be seen with 4 large water containers tied to them. Little kids can often be seen running around with sticks or rolling tyres along, we've seen a few games of football going on in the dusty open areas, its amazing how happy they look, very content with their stick or rusty can. There have been lots of groups of school children and I waved to one young teenager sat under a tree at the side of the road with a book making notes. Alot of people stop and stare at our bus going past but kids and children love to wave to us. I had two tiny ones running towards me from their huts with beaming smiles waving frantically. They always call out and wave enthusiastically.

We were told the African people will call us muzungos which means white tourist and isn't meant as an insult. Haven't really heard it too much. 'Jambo' is hello in Swahili, heard this loads, and mostly it seems it's used to address white people politely.

We drove across the Tanzanian border where we had to jump off the bus to get our passports stamped. As soon as we stepped off we were surrounded by African ladies wanting to sell us jewelry, they would not leave us alone. Snapping bracelets on your wrist and then asking for money. No thank you is appana sante in Swahili but they refused to listen and pestered us all the way to border control, that was quite a shock, not had that kind of harrassment before! There were strictly no photos allowed as authorities would confiscate cameras and it was quite likely you and the tour guide would be locked up in the little prison to the side, my camera stayed well out of sight! We all made sure Ina and Ayumi understood this too! Finger prints were taken and we were guided across into Tanzania.

We headed to our first camp site- snake park in Arusha. It was very very hot, we spotted Mount Kilimanjaro but unfortunately couldn't see it all that clearly. A few people had joined this tour after climbing Kili! Some, like Alex had had very bad altitude sickness but It sounds like it was dependent on which route they took and the level of difficulty. Nevertheless I was happy to just look up at it on the horizon, don't feel the need to climb the thing.

We arrived at Snake park, set up our tents which are pretty good, and headed to the park. I was expecting a few tanks but it was quite a big zoo area with snakes you could hold, massive adders and constrictors behind glass, crocs, and a vulture, owl and monkey that was always asking for food and loved attention. There were some interesting pictures displayed- one showed a snake that had fully eaten a guard that had fallen asleep I was less enthused about camping after that! We also caught a camel ride for 2000 Tanzanian Shillings and got guided around the Maasai museum on the site which was very interesting. The information about the circumcision tradition was all pretty horrendous especially where the girls are concerned- it is now illegal to practice this but it still goes on in secret as they believe a girl will only reach adulthood after circumcision. Mel, a friend on tour found it all too much and started to feel quite faint.

At the park their motto was 'if you can't climb it drink it' the local beer is Kilimanjaro. Tastes pretty good, they had an awesome little bar in a straw hut, run by 'ma' who had worked there for 20 odd years. The place was full with tshirts and memorabilia of travellers, tour companies, all different types of currency, plus bikes hanging from the roof and a fully grown croc skin. We had few beers- staying away from the dangerous shot and cocktail list (ma's revenge was 80% rum mixed with baileys and some other very strong spirit!) and the BBQ was lit. We all got to know everyone on the tour a little better and it was a big barbeque with a lot of meat and side dishes on offer! All cooked for us by staff at the campsite.