Hi all

We've just arrived in Nambia, we're in Windhoek which has a very distinct German influence as it was owned by Germany after the Scramble of Africa. We've just stopped in the city before heading to our hostel. We all get beds tonight which we're very excited about! We left Botswana today. Its a really lovely place, everyone is really friendly but its a very strange mix of landscape. Most of it is desert scrub land, and the rest is marsh land called Okavango Delta. The delta is like a huge lake but has no outlet. We went out there and slept in the bush! It wasnt as nearly as scary as the masi mara. To get to our camp we had to be taken by traditional wooden canoes called Mukuru (check sp!). On the way there it was not very relaxing as our boat was about as useful as a chocolate teapot and having watched 'Tribe' when the guy went out we were a little nervous about crocs. We didnt see any thank goodness as most of where we went was too shallow and full of reeds for them. The journey there in the mukurus took nearly two hours. We arrived and set up our camp. A hole for the loo and a up turned canoe for our kitchen. What more could you need!

In the afternoon we went for a bush walk and unfortunately stumbled upon a very grumpy elephant. He was not pleased to see us and mock charged us (you get 3 chances!) so we had to crawl on the floor to get away from him! It was really scary but such a weird situation we couldnt stop laughing! Our guide also pointed out hyena tracks and the homes of black mamba and spitting cobra snakes. If we had been attacked by them he said we'd have 15min to live. we quickly moved on!

That night our local guides entertained us with singing and dancing. It was a great fun, but popping to the loo before bed time was terrifying! In the morning a few of us we're taken to the hippo pools. On the way we saw a big male elephand. He shook his head and trumpeted at us! The locals at the camp next to him started banging pots and clapping to scare him away. This doesnt work and makes him very angry. Our guide was saying they are trying to teach the local people not to do this as it makes them hates humans and thus be very aggressive.

Once at the hippo pool we saw up close and personal one of africas most feared creatures. Our guide's cousin was killed by one only recently. The hippos were amazing to see so close and from a canoe, but they made plenty of noise when we got a little too close!

We're going out to dinner tonight since we're in a city, home to one of our guides. We are all very excited to have a menu to choose from and to not have to cook it ourselves!

Hope you are all well

Mair and Adam xxx