Road to Johannesburg by Maddalena (from Arusha)

We had 5 intense days driving from Tanzania back to Jo'burg to fly home with only a short break in Botswana, this is Maddalena story.

Day one: So today we woke up at 4.30am so we could get started. We have our android tablets to entertain us but we can't have them till 7.30am because the sun is not up and the light will distract dad. We drove all day to The Old Farm House in Iringa in Tanzania, it was dark when we arrived, mum made dinner and I sat around and talked to mum for ten minutes then we lit some candles together so we could see better to eat dinner. After that I asked if I could make a fire and I did, I collected lots of wood like we do at Wacky Woods the sizes are string, matchsticks, pencils, thumbs, me and mum then got one of the candles and I lit the fire. In the meantime Arabella and Luca were playing cards in the truck. Mum served dinner for us all and I really enjoyed it, it was Spaghetti Bolognese we then all went to bed very tired knowing we have an early start the next day.

Day Two: We woke up in the dark again and drove to the border post to get into Zambia today. At the border post me, mum, Arabella and Luca were waiting for dad to get the import permit. Then 3 naughty horrible boys came over and started talking to us, the youngest boy was 11, the second oldest was 12 and the oldest was 15. The boy that was 11 was doing LOVE SIGNS AT ME he kept on saying I love you to me he wanted to take me ON A PICNIC AND FOR A WALK I ignored him, I looked at my shoes. They were also peeking in our car and saying "give me you music, give me, give me!" all the time, so we said no you can't have it by saying give me and you have to work for it. I and Arabella were begging for dad to come back, it took ages, when dad got back we got straight into the car! Mum gave the boys some chilli nuts because they were asking for biscuits, we just drove off when they were asking for water. When we got to Mpika in the dark we got a cabin and mum and day unpacked and we watch TV, Hotel Transylvania was on, a welcome treat we have not seen TV since Cape Town 4 months ago. And for dinner we had PIZZA and went to bed.

Day Three: We are up at 5.30am but delayed by a puncture so we were taken to someone's house and had to wake the man to borrow his air pump, our puncture was fixed by 7am so we hit the road. Mum made boring old sandwiches again for breakfast again. Finally for lunch Luca got his Triple Decker Pizza he has been wanting since seeing it in Kruger National Park, it was ok. When we got to Lusaka dad got fined for turning in a wrong lane and the lady had to come in our car. When we got to Moorings Campsite in the dark mum got mad with dad for parking in the wrong place and mum moved the truck when me and dad were saying does it matter we are just sleeping and leaving early. Me Arabella and Luca played Uno then had tea and went to bed.

Day Four: Today is not a long days drive but we have a boarder to cross into Botswana. At the border post we had to cross a river on a ferry so we did. They are building a bridge across the river its half done. The river that we crossed was the Zambesi which flows to Victoria Falls if we fell in the river or the boat got out of control we would float to Victoria Falls and die from going down it. It was a good boarder post. We went into Kasane and went into town me and Arabella and mum were looking at the fabrics while dad and Luca were in the supermarket. When me, mum and Arabella were looking at the fabrics we noticed that everyone was eating KFC so we went to dad and dad said KFC was open so we sent for lunch at KFC the last time we had KFC was in South Africa. We then drove to our campsite and went to the hide we saw elephants around a waterhole and when we were in the hid I was getting on a high chair when I accidentally fell and these rude people were complaining and going shhhh to us and one of the teenagers said to dad shhhh and dad said you don't shhhh at me and another lady in the hide said to us when she was exiting don't worry about those people they are just rude. Me and Arabella were setting up a surprise for mum and dad we served them beer and they were sitting around the fire together. Then we went to bed after dinner.

Day Five: Today we have a five hour drive ahead of us. We met a friend called Carol last time in Botswana and she went on the road we are going on and saw 5 elephants so we tried to see more. WE SAW MORE THAN 60 ELEPHANTS AND 2 SABELS on this drive today. When we got to Planet Baobab we had lunch and then got into our togs to go swimming. When we were at the pool we met some boys from Zambia, we played with them and towards the end of the day the boy that was 5 he bit me on my finger my pinkie and also spat coke at me and I decided not to play with them from then, he was also spitting his coke into the pool.

Day Six: Today we stay at the pool and just play. Mum and Dad did the blog in the morning as well as packing and getting all the rubbish out of the car. When we are at the pool we swim, journal and relax.

Day Seven: Today we drove to Nxai Pan were we saw the famous Baobab tree but before I tell you more Mum drove on the sandy roads. We went on a road that was really sandy the whole way and she over heated the car. Me and dad thought mum broke the car. We got to the camp and went on safari we saw Jackal, Springbok, Elephants, Steenbok, Bat eared fox, Oryx, Wildebeest, Ostrich. When we got to camp we had some visitors 2 elephants came into camp, mum and Luca were in the toilets and me, Arabella and Dad were saying they are going to get a big fright. So Mum and Luca came out and went "oh no", a big fright. So the elephant went down to the well which was next to our campsite. This was our last night camping in the bush, mum came over and started cooking tea, Arabella lit the fire and tonight was party night, but no music. So we had crisps, chocolate, biscuits and toasted marshmallows and a can of fizz, for tea we had jacked potatoes, steak, beetroot salad and fried egg. Us 3 kids were exhausted so we went to bed, tonight we had a change of plans because it's normally a boys and girls tent when we bush camp, but we changed Dad slept with me and Arabella and mum slept with Luca, we all went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night when dad went to the toilet and I thought it was morning so I said good morning and dad said no it's the middle of the night you need to get back to sleep.

Day Eight: We got up for one last sunrise safari drive today, we saw a type of owl, 1 lioness with her cubs aged around 1 month. And on the drive today we got the car washed in Francistown and we are heading for the South African border it is our last 2 nights in Botswana and I am feeling very sad that it is coming to the end of our trip. We are staying put (Day Nine) and packing for our flight home.

Day 10 we crossed the border and drove to Johannesburg, we stayed in the hotel and said goodbye to our truck the white elephant, it was very upsetting as we had so many memories with that car and it meant we were going home, dad dropped off the car the next and we waited in the hotel and watched TV. The next day we flew out to Dubai.