18.Ruaha National Park, Tanzania - 12 October to 19 October 2009 On Monday 12 October, the border crossing into Tanzania was surprisingly quick and easy, and on the drive north to Mbeya we passed through the Southern Highlands, a hilly, green, tropical landscape of rich volcanic soil with tea and banana plantations. This was our introduction to Tanzania, and the cool mountain air was a nice change after hot and humid Lake Malawi. Utengule Coffee Lodge is not fa...

17.Back to Malawi - 2 Octoberto 12 October 2009 Back in Malawi after our drive into Mozambique, on Saturday 3 October we drove into Liwonde National Park, just 6kms out of town. We drove up to Mvuu Camp towards the north of the park to find it quite full of campers who were spending the weekend doing a voluntary wildlife count. This was very much in contrast to the next night when we camped at the more southern Chinguni Hills campsite, which overlooks the wide S...

16.Mozambique - 25 September to 2 October 2009 We crossed the border into Mozambique on Friday 25 September and started the long drive across to the coast. We knew that we could only drive as far as Cuamba the first day as the next possible night stop after that was Nampula, another 6 hour drive further on, and we were discovering that the roads were quite rough. Along the road we started noticing red flags flying at many of the villages, and by the time we left...

15.Lilongwe, Malawi - 22 September to 25 September 2009 We left Mama-Rula's Campsite just outside Chipata in Zambia on Tuesday 22 September, and headed for the border into Malawi. A snappy border crossing, followed quickly by three police checks along the road, and then on to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. We had a busy time in Lilongwe and had quite a few things to do, including a visit to the Mozambique Embassy to get our visas into Mozambique. We had decid...

14.South Luangwa National Park, Zambia - 11 September to 22 September 2009 We left Livingstone and the Victoria Falls on Friday 11 September and headed north-east on the road to Lusaka, capital of Zambia. After a long day's drive, we camped at Eureka Camp with expansive lawn and shady trees just 12km south of the city. The next morning we ventured into the city, busy and bustling and hectic, but just on the other side was Manda Hill Shopping Centre, which is qu...