We were all awake as the sun rose over the Indian Ocean. I broke out of the mosquito net and wandered along the foreshore as the first hint of its glow started on the horizon. It was beautifully peaceful as locals sifted the shallow water for produce and fisherman set off in their wooden boats towards the off shore waves of the reef. A short walk along the high tide line got us all ready for breakfast and after Charlie had completed his Skype interview with Kiwi...

We arrived at the airport in the dark and managed to locate the departure lounge, as denoted by the hand painted sign attached to the weatherboard of the unique little airport. We waited until the sun was up, illuminating the piles of dehydrated fish in the surrounding stalls, and headed through check in. We emerged with our handwritten boarding cards and settled into the departure lounge which resembled somebody's living room, filled with faded armchairs in ever...

The group of locals went on partying until the early hours and their close proximity, combined with an insatiable urge to itch the tetse fly bites on my legs, made for a rather bleary eyed start to the day. I did better than on previous mornings and managed to be conscious before Charlie appeared with the morning round of tea, at which point he also reported the chaos left in the kitchen. There was a rumour that our boat might be going straight to Lagosa, which ...

We rose in the dark and Charlie (my hero) produced a mug of tea which fuelled us through boiling and eating eggs before packing our bags in readiness for the days trekking in search of Chimpanzees. After Charlie had returned from his morning swim we met up with our guide and set off into the hills. It was quite comfortable walking in the cool of the morning but after an hour or so the sun appeared over the mountains and things started to get sweaty. At the end o...

Unsurprisingly it was not a good nights sleep. Having finally got to sleep despite the muggy, mosquito coil smoke laden air or with the music and chatter from the group of locals outside our wall, We were all woken at 1am by what sounded like a 20 strong percussion band. Complete with cymbals they paraded down the street, making an incredible racket and stopping outside the glassless barred windows of our cell for one enthusiastic chorus before marching on down t...